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Beth found ways to amuse herself at daycamp as well. When the boys were done using the bouncy balls in their obstacle course, Beth glommed onto one of them and played with it for a while. Then a scout leader gave her the second one to play with, and this was the reaction she had. She never did figure out how to get them both to bounce at the same time but she sure had fun trying! 
Right after the poetry recital we all headed to the ball field for Chet's daycamp with the cubscouts. This is his first year at daycamp, and he is having a blast! Archery is his favorite activity so far, but he is earning many other badges as well. These photos show off his parachute man and the wooden box he built. He built his box all on his own, and his parachute man actually flew pretty far!
Beth discovered the piano after the poetry recital was over. (She just can't help herself when she finds uncovered piano keys.) She climbed right up into that chair and began tinkering on the keys. Sarah (my friend's daughter) saw her, and pulled out the music to play a song for Beth. Beth watched her for a moment, put her left hand on the keyboard, and began tinkering along with Sarah with both hands. I can't wait until she is old enough for lessons!
We have been reading Shel Silverstein poems for the whole month with our book club group. Yesterday was the poetry recital, and each of the girls read or recited the poem of their choice. I was so proud of Faith. She was one of the girls who had memorized hers, and she did a very good job reciting it to the audience. Her poem was "Senses" from The Light in the Attic.
A Mouth was talking to a Nose and an Eye.
A passing listening Ear
Said, "Pardon me, but you spoke so loud,
I couldn't help but overhear."
But the Mouth just closed and the Nose turned up
And the Eye just looked away,
And the Ear with nothing more to hear
Went sadly on its way.
Shel Silverstein
I am getting ready to go teach a class on how to make these cards tonight. I have all the pieces pre-cut this month, so hopefully the class will go verrrrryyyyy smoothly!
Kyle lost his first tooth today, literally. He was eating the apple, took a bite, and that little pearly white came right on out. He says he didn't swallow it, but we can't find it anywhere. An emergency message is being emailed to the tooth fairy to let her know she needs to add his pillowcase to her rounds tonight.
I bought Red a dog bed to sleep on. He is getting older, and is always trying to gather up blankets to sleep on. I thought he would like a soft place to sleep. Apparently, Kyle liked it as well.
We were adopted while I was gone. Meet Mr. Kittles. Apparently, he walked right in the door and made a beeline for the dog bowl, and he hasn't left since. He has the brightest, bluest eyes I have ever seen. He was very dirty, though, and in desperate need of a bath. You can tell what he thought of that idea. He is all fluffy and clean now, and making himself quite at home. He is a scrawny little thing, but he should fill out pretty soon.
These are a couple of shots I took in Chicago. These gorgeous tulips were everywhere we went... just lovely. The trees are a forest preserve that was right behind my hotel. Wild geese kept flying by my hotel window. I was thrilled with the scenery and wildlife so close around me.
I took this photo of the kids on Easter Sunday. That seems to be the one day of the year I am guaranteed to have them all in new clothes at the same time. Therefore, it has become a tradition to take their yearly photo together on Easter morning. It cracks me up to see the boys' shirttails peeking out like that.
I should be sleeping. I have to get up early, in just a few hours, and spend my morning getting schoolwork done with the kids before I leave for Chicago. I never sleep well the night before I fly somewhere, though. I suppose it is ironic that I have a job that flies me all over the place and I am afraid of flying. It gets even worse when the weather is murky, and tonight it is raining and blowing pretty hard over my house. This will be a long flight, so at least I might get some sleep on my way to Chicago.
Ali posted a challenge on her blog to take photos of yourself. These aren't the best ever taken of me, but they aren't the worst either. I was actually trying to get a picture of my eyes to make a layout about having green eyes. I will hold off on that layout until I have a shot where my eyes look green, and the bags under them aren't so dark!
Chet really enjoyed creating his first pinewood derby car. He arrived at the derby ready to race! He didn't even care if he won-he just wanted to play. That was a good attitude to have because his car kept coming in second place. Sometimes I didn't see it finish while I was taking pictures, and I would ask him how he placed. He would shrug and wink, and say," Oh you know, second place again." I am glad he understands that winners don't always take the trophy home.
I was driving down the street with Todd in the backseat. Suddenly he sat up straight in his seat and said, "It's the mailman's house!" I glanced over to see what he was looking at, and replied, "Yep, that is the post office!" With a scolding tone that made it clear that I did not know what I was talking about, Todd said, "Mom! That is not a post office! It is the mailman's house!" When I asked him if the mailman lived there, he gave me an exasperated "yes." When I asked him how he knew the mailman lived there, Todd gave me that don't-you-know-anything look and said, "Cuz that is where he goes when he is done working." Well, that makes perfect sense to me!
Beth discovered her shadow while dancing around in circles. She would skip a few steps, and then stop to see if it was still dancing with her. She was singing and crowing like any good Peter Pan would do as she twirled and played. I love this age... At 18 months she is busy discovering the world around her, finding new ways to amuse herself, and discovering a new friend in the bright sunlight.
I asked Jack to cut out wooden letters for the kids to use as spelling manipulatives. Today we painted them, and the kids spent hours playing with them. Aren't they just fun to look at?
I have never been very good at keeping diaries or journals. I start with great intentions, but it always slips by the wayside. I am looking forward to getting this blog together, though, and filling it with things that matter to me. In fact, I think that is why blogging appeals to me. I can mix my thoughts, my photos, random notes, and other stuff in any order I want to.That really is how I scrapbook too... randomly. I am looking forward to getting this up and running the way I want it to look, but for now I have to pack and get ready to fly out to Chicago tomorrow. More later.
