Ballet

Mattie our oldest yet still very little girl (I am just in denial a bit about her growing up) is ready to start learning ballet. She did a tumbling class at three and did pretty well so we figured she was ready to move to the next step and boy was she excited. Since starting she has learned so much, her favorite is the Pirouette ([peer-WET] Whirl or spin. A complete turn of the body on one foot, on point or demi-pointe. Pirouettes are performed en dedans, turning inward toward the supporting leg, or en dehors, turning outward in the direction of the raised leg.) and the Sauté (sautée [soh-TAY] Jumped, jumping. When this term is added to the name of a step, the movement is performed while jumping. As, for example, échappé sauté.) They start the class by stretching and then learning a dance which is the same for many classes in a row, till they master it. After that they do a free dance with fun props like fairy wings or big stuffed carrots. Then the learn some more form and one more free dance before all is said and done. Mattie loves the little girls in her class too, we were fortunate to get a smaller class (only 6 girls) so they all get a good amount of attention plus their teacher is amazing with them, could not ask for better. I want to get a video of her dancing eventually, she is so cute when she dances and sings.

The Dump

We went on a field trip to the dump. I know it sound glamorous doesn't it! Ha! The kids loved it though, I am sure Oliver said "truck" over 100 times . . . at least. I wish I got more pictures but we were never really standing in a safe place to put Oliver down so I was one handed. Learned a ton though, most importantly NEVER through away plastic bags . . . they hate it, causes big headache for them since they blow all over the place. Also don't throw away paint, oil, chemicals and electronics. All those things need to be recycled. I was amazed also by the amount of trash that was there, we are working on our second mountain! Nice, trash mountains. The neatest part though was how much they salvage, bikes go to kids and adults who need them, computers to schools and low income families, even tires go for padding under play structures. All in all it was a great field trip and I want to take the kids back again when they are a little older and can understand it a little more and not just ogle the trucks and tractors.

Building Our Own Sandbox

Cora the Builder, can she fix it? I think she can!

So we built our own sandbox. I was going to buy one for Oliver for his birthday in August but they can be so expensive to buy, especially if you are looking to buy a wood one. I figured we could build it for less and we should do it now so they get the whole summer to enjoy it (and quit digging in the dirt).

I got the idea from Here and followed their plan pretty closely. We had to modify it a bit because some roots where in the way so my ends are not actually at the end but I plan on using the overlapping long side board for supports for seats! We ended up using 14.5 50lb bags of sand (one broke in transit) because I felt if we filled it up more than that it would constantly be spilling over. I might get a few more though, we will see. Also my local Home Depot did not sell Cedar so we got Redwood which should also not rot sitting on the ground, well at least not as fast as most other woods.

And yes I used my awesome double jogger to move the sand from the truck to the backyard :-P





And here is my little awesome helper Cora, she was very good at bringing me nails when I needed them and helping put sand in the box.

Raising Painted Lady Butterflies

We got a Butterfly Garden from Papa and Grama for Easter and the kids were super excited to get it started. I waited a month before sending off for our free caterpillars (they were free with the Butterfly Garden kit) because I wanted it to be warm enough to raise them outside ;-) but we just got them and they are moving and ready to grow! So far them have just been slowly moving around very slowly but in the next week or so they are going to travel up to the roof of the container and turn into Chrysalis, during this time they are going to turn into butterflies but before they do that we have to put them in another observation habitat and that is the part that I am most excited about, I think the kids will really enjoy watching them break out of the chrysalis and fly around until we let them go into our backyard, hopefully just in time for our hydrangea to bloom for them. The coolest part is that we can go HERE and order more butterflies whenever we want, so I want to do it with the kids every spring. It is also apart of the Kindergarten curriculum I got so it will fit right in!

She Rides!!

Mattie has always been a little intimidated by her bike, even with the training wheels. However today we pumped up the tires and she practiced while I washed the car. After about a half hour she seemed confident enough to go for a ride around the block so we did, and she did awesome!! At first she was a little hesitant when we came to hills (driveways :P ) But after a few tries she free sailing so to speak. I am so proud of her!

His Favorite Game

Where is my little boy? I can't find him anywhere . . .

There he is!



I love how kids think if they can't see you, then you can't see them.