Blueberries for Sal

Everett finished a reading unit on Blueberries for Sal. We really enjoyed the story and after studying it for 2 weeks, decided to celebrate!

 I had found the Scholastic video so they watched it after Everett had finished reading the book. 

 And I made blueberry cobbler!

Saint Patrick

The past few days we have been studying Ireland and Saint Patrick. I knew very little before about Saint Patrick and we had fun learning together. 

Eleanor coloring a Spring picture. She is getting better about staying in the lines. 

 Our bulletin board with some fun St.Patrick's Day items. 

 The Irish flag. And learning about where Ireland is located. 

 Happy boy!

 A fun supplemental math activity today was Fruit Loop graphing. And then you get to eat the Fruit Loops! 

 Eleanor sorted the colors and then made a rainbow. 

 And not related to St.Patrick's Day, but this was Eleanor's activity card today. She was not able to "relax" for 2 minutes though! 

 And this was Everett's card. He was a dog named Freddy. 

 Some of our books we read. The top book was our literature book for the week (we completed it last week) where we learned all about Patrick's life as a missionary. 

 I'm always impressed by Everett's coloring skills. 

 Some facts about Ireland. 

 Super cute picture of the toddlers playing an iPad game. 

 And we made rainbow crayons! The boys helped peel of the paper on some old crayons and break them into muffin tins. 

 And ta-da! Crayons that make a rainbow when you color with them. And they are also perfectly chunky for little toddler hands as well. 

 Before dinner we watched Veggie Tales: The History of St.Patrick. Not entirely accurate, but a cute video. 

 And dessert- fun cupcakes!

 Which Thatcher Reid inhaled and begged for more. 

 And this picture is blurry, but cracks me up. I showed the children some clips from River Dance and they then decided to re-create it. They danced with their arms stiff at their sides and tried to move their feet as fast as they could. Oh, and they held hands. A fun memory.

 And we ended the day with a green colored bath!

It was a very Happy St.Patrick's Day!!!

Spring Time is Upon Us

We are truly celebrating at our home because Spring is almost here! The warmer temperatures have arrived and it has allowed us to go back to one of our favorites places, our arboretum. 

There was still a slight chill in the air when we visited a couple days ago, thus the long sleeves and fireplace crackling in the background. 

We enjoyed the fresh air, running around in the grass, collecting rocks, and investing ladybugs, worms, and spiders. Oh Spring, how we have missed you so!

Hampton's 5th Birthday

We celebrated Hampton's 5th birthday last week. He was so excited. Unfortunately the stomach virus hit our home (again). Hampton had it a few days before his birthday, and on the day we celebrated it took down Everett. See Everett and I in the corner there. Hampton was so concerned about his buddy. Gigi and I took the healthy ones to the PlayLodge for some fun. Hampton missed Everett (who rested the whole time) but had a ton of fun. I fortunately found some Angry Birds birthday party decor on sale at Target and Hampton received mostly Star Wars items (sticker books, workbooks, action figures). He had a great day!

 Oh what to say about our Hampton:

He is the 50th percentile for height and weight.

He is becoming less of a picky eater, which is wonderful.

He sleeps well-roughly from 7-6/6:30.

He is now able to wear size 5 clothes.

A couple of months ago he showed a strong interest in learning how to read. I began teaching him and he is doing so well! He looks forward to his reading lesson every day!

He has shown an interest in Star Wars. He knows the characters from looking at books.

He likes to play with Legos mostly. He still will do a puzzle every now and then, but we have to initiate it. He has really gotten into playing board games.

He has a wild imagination and says the most witty things. His vocabulary is vast and he uses high level words appropriately and in context. 

This year he has upgraded to big boy glasses!

He tries to keep up with Everett step by step. He is extremely competitive and determined. Most of what Everett is learning, he has picked up. I am amazed at how intelligent he is and what he is able to remember. Such a bright boy!

He continues to be very outgoing and makes friends easily. He considers everyone a friend-whether he knows the child or not. For example, today he walked up to a boy in the waiting room of the doctor's office and introduced himself. Then he began asking the boy questions about himself. He continually amuses me. 

He and Eleanor are not a good mix! I do believe they will be good friends one day, but mostly they argue and fight. She knows exactly what buttons of his to push, and he gets pushed easily. They are like an old married couple and I am constantly refereeing throughout the day. It is frustrating and exhausting, but I pray it will pass. 

He is our Hampton Cole. Our Hampy. Mama's sugar bear. I love the fun he brings into our family. We love this guy!

Photography with Eleanor

Eleanor has always liked having her picture taken, but I recently discovered she also likes to take pictures. I'll have to get a little camera for her one day. Last week I took these sweet photos of her.

 And then she asked if she could take a picture of me!

 Eleanor always says, "we are sisters Mommy." Sisters and friends.