Happy Mothers' Day!

I am such a lucky mother! Oh how I adore them!
Since I won't be with them on Mother's Day, we made a craft for the kids to give G-Ma on Mother's Day (she and G-Pa will be caring for them). They had fun twisting tissue paper around the ends of the pencils and gluing the flowers on. Turned out cute.

To all the mother figures in our lives - Thank you and we love you!

Bday party

Here she is, showing off her new dress and bike at the start of her party.

We played balloon volleyball and Bingo.

Opened great presents. Here's Grandma telling her about a neat lip balm making kit.

Here she is opening a new silky nightgown fit for a queen from GMa and GPa.

Then it was time for cake. She requested a blueberry cake.

This pic was taken the day before when we set out to make her cake. Big Sis gave Lil Sis an early bday present by babysitting E! so that Mom and Lil could have one-on-one time to make her cake. :)

Birthday bike ride

See that concentration? After the purchase, we broke in the bike with a ride to a nearby park.
She rode the whole way there! Mom walked by her side, helping along as needed.

Heading home after a yummy picnic and play time - still smiling!

This guy needed a helmet so he could ride with us too ... it came with extra protection gear. LOL.

Happy Birthday Lil Sis!

This little girl turned 4!
We celebrated the weekend before, since Dad wouldn't be here on the official day.
He made her a HUGE omlette, smoothie and hashbrowns to start the day off right.

Here she is opening a card from GG and Joe Joe (one of her favorite cards!).
She'll open their gift on the actual day.

Look at that sisterly love! An embrace to show thanks for a super gift.

Then Lil Sis was sent on a scavenger hunt. She had clues going around the house that led to the final clue - saying we'd be taking her shopping to pick out her own bike! She twirled around, and threw the cards in the air with excitement. (Mom sure wishes she had been standing with the camera in a different spot - but this back shot is still cute).

She zoomed around the store for a good 45 minutes before deciding this was the winner.

Snakes

I'm not sure how it all got started - but one evening E! was yelling, "Snake! Snake!" and ever so excitedly peering over a small object on the floor ... a pillow feather. He'd breath over it and watch it wiggle. He'd protect it and carry it around in an empty plastic Easter egg shell. He'd chase his sisters with it, and they'd squeal and run away. The snake was his buddy for a few days this week. I was secretly hoping it would last longer - I approve of this kind of pet!

Pottery Play(dough)

We used our super soft homemade playdough for a pottery lesson. Big Sis kept saying how much she loved, "Pottery Barn." I'd reply, "Me too! But this is just plain pottery." Hee hee.
We learned the pinch technique to making a bowl, as well as introduced the coil technique.

Big Sis' wanted to make a vase.

E! enjoyed taking apart any coils.

Lil Sis had fun too.

Germany

Last week, we located Germany on the map and globe, and colored the German flag.

We decided to learn about two of German's famous authors: the Grimm Brothers.
We read a book about the pair, and learned that they went around collecting favorite fairy tales that had been passed down through German generations. Because of their love for their country, the brothers would write the tales down (adding flourish as necessary) in order to preserve a part of their homeland's tradition. Cool, huh?

So we read the Twelve Princesses, Rapunzel, Hansel and Gretel, and Little Red Riding Hood.
We talked about the typical traits of a fairy tale, and then compared the four stories.  

There are many more stories in our Grimm Brothers book waiting to be read; and so many fun projects we could do with each one. Not sure how much time we'll have, but we want to pursue more.

I wish I had a picture of the girls dressed up during our Little Red Riding Hood Day. Big Sis dressed as Little Red Riding Hood, and Lil Sis and I (and E!) were wolves. We danced to this song - on repeat - all morning. I'm sure they'd do the same sort of thing in public school ... lol. ;)

Green is great

We've always been fans of smoothies ... and we're going green {again}.
We used to drink green ones, then it stopped, and we're bringin git back

This Lil Sis will drink them on some days, then some days she won't ... it's still a hard call.

But this guy downs them like ... well, like most things. lol.

Proud Parents

My fam sure made me feel special on my birthday! The night before, they asked me to get lost for a bit (my pleasure! I enjoyed a bike ride and animal watching adventure) ... when I came back there was a giant cardboard wall built with a sign that said, "None shall enter until your birthday." So cute. The next morning I was instructed to break down the wall and see my b-day party. They had wrapped presents, cleaned up the living room, had a balloon -- but most of all, the kids were overflowing with excitement! I love how excited they could be for someone else's birthday!

We ate one of my favorite meals: luxury grilled cheese sandwiches. Rosemary bread and pepper jack cheese. Plus, delish salads (I truly love a good salad!) and sparkling berry juice.

Then, they got me my fave treat: a huge chocolate chip cookie from Paradise Bakery -- with the Eiffel Tower!

Another proud parent moment: Take Your Daughter to Work Day. Big Sis is officially old enough to go with Dad on this special day, and KPMG had a full agenda of fun planned from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.. She toured the building, got an exclusive trip to the tip top (38th floor!), played games, had a pizza party with dad and the parents, counted lots of candy and made a board about what she wants to be when she grows up:

She'd like to live in Hawaii, eat berries, and be a ballerina teacher. (I guess I need to get her in a dance class again!).

La Tour Eiffel

After learning fun facts about the Eiffel Tower, Mommy and Big Sis made paper 3D models of it; and Lil Sis decided to make another symmetrical picture.

We also read, "Who Stole the Mona Lisa" by Ruthie Knapp - I totally recommend it! Then colored our own versions. Later in the week, when running into Costco Lil Sis squealed out, "LOOK! LOOK! It's the Mona Lisa!" Sure enough, in the Photo Lab they had a large reproduction. :)

Full on Monet

We learned about Claude Monet and the impressionist painting style.
So, just like Monet, we left the "studio" and headed outside to paint a nature scene.

Everyone had a sponge, and tins full of paint. We followed instructions to make similar but unique paintings. We began with taping a "fence" to the painting, then worked on the grass, then sky, then a small pond on the corner of the page.

It was gorgeous weather, and the girls concentrated and tried their best.

After our sponge work, we painted a few detailed lily pads.

This is about the time when I had to call Poison Control for E! (I think this was my first call to them.) In a small window of opportunity, he had sucked paint off of a sponge. His mouth was a nice white/blue mix. Luckily, water did the trick ... whew!

Here's Lil Sis' painting before we took the fence off. Isn't it marvelous!?

Here's Big Sis' painting after the paint came off, making a nice white fence. I love her sun and lilies. She took great care with this painting. Looks fabulous!

Here's mine and E's ... I'm telling you, school is too fun for Mommy not to participate. E! even helped me out by adding bursts of red. :) I really like it. Not sure if anyone else obsessed over the movie "Clueless" in their teenage years - but I'll give a prize to anyone who can quote the Monet-related line from the movie.

J'aime crepes!

To keep with our Parisian theme, Mommy made crepes filled with almond butter and bananas for breakfast ...

YUM!

This kid can eat. Seriously.

Bonjour!

Last week we learned about Paris a bit. There are soooo many fabulous children's books about Paris! We probably checked out a good 15 or so ... we started with the classic, Madeline. For our "1,2,3" lesson that day, we talked about symmetry and enjoyed studying the symmetrical illustrations in Madeline.

Here's Lil Sis' symmetrical drawing of the girls in a line, trees on the sides, and a baseball (drawn especially for E!).

Here's Big Sis' symmetrical drawing of the Eiffel Tower.

Crossing the finish line!

We've been counting down days until tax season ended ... so on the big day, the girls wanted Daddy to make a grand entrance and an official finish. The note on the door says, "Get ready to cross the finish line!"

They spent a good 30 minutes making this streamer finish line!
Then they waited and waited and waited for his car to pull up.

Cheers erupted and Dad came in with all his glory (and Thai takeout)!

I love this picture. Everyone ran to hug him and congratulate him.
Emotions were high, and we're so glad we have such a dedicated man to lead our family!