Copper

Ethan would like me to introduce Copper, a project his class is enjoying over the summer. Each week a different child brings Copper home and we journal and photograph what they did with Copper for several days. As you can see this is one lucky horse! He went to McDonald's, played Geotrax, accompanied us to swim lessons and the movie Cars 2! He also met some of our friends and family. Tomorrow he goes back to school and the next lucky kid will have this wonderful opportunity to share with the class. What a great idea and what funny entries Ethan came up with!

Art Monkey

A new art studio opened in our neighborhood called Art Monkey. You can paint pottery, sculpt with clay, fuse glass, tile mosaics and more! Adult and child classes are available and we have been attending a weekly StoryArt class. They read the children a book and their project is always related to the story-it's very cute. Some of our projects are shown below. It's been another fantastic summer activity-in our summer of fun!

Our Butterflies

A big thank you to Aunt Paulette and Uncle Carl for giving us a wonderful present. We now understand Metamorphasis and the kids can explain the life cycle of a butterfly. First our 5 tiny caterpillars arrived in the mail and within about 9 days got longer and fatter and spun coccoons! After only 8 days in their coccon they emerged and were beautiful butterflies. The kids told me we immediately had to go to Publix for flowers and fruit for the butterflies to eat. They had so much fun watching every day for the next stage or activity from our new friends. After about a week we took them outside and released them. One stuck around for about half an hour landing on our bushes and in our hands. It was a wonderful experience.

My Brave Boy

Ethan is such an amazing little boy and here is another example. He had a small cavity that required a filling and we were all very nervous about the use of nitrous oxide/possible side affects, numbing process, etc...but he proved to all of us what a trooper he is-and this smile is after the whole thing was done! Eric said he waved goodbye and thanked the ladies at the front desk as they left. Can you say rockstar!!!!!!

One Pampered Princess

Jillian enjoyed her first time at the nail salon as you can tell by the grin on her pretty little face! In the car she told me she wanted "the lady to do her nails" not mommy at home. We had some time to kill so I agreed to give it a try! Well the place was empty and she had 4 people bringing her drinks and making her feel special. She had a Coke with a straw and while her nails were wet she would say "mommy more coke please" and I had to bring it to her for a sip! No surprise she was in heaven. Mommy daughter time was heart warming and knowing Ethan was getting the same with daddy at the same time made it even better. Let's hope she doesn't ask for this too often!

Max and Ruby LIVE ON STAGE

Oh my goodness, this has to be one of the most fun things we have done with the kids yet. Donelle and I took Ethan, Jillian, Averi and Bryson to see one of their favorite Nick Jr. shows live on stage-Max and Ruby! A few days before Aunt Debbie even helped them get into spirit by making an earthworm cake (Max specialty) out of chocolate and gummy worms! You can see from Ethan's ear to ear grin he could barely contain himself and Jillian was quickly learning words to songs and the hand motions that went with them. They laughed so much and we laughed more seeing how much they enjoyed the show. And the matching shirts were a hit!

Growing up Electronic

I am always amazed at how fast children learn and what technologies they are growing up with that will be second nature to them. They can already work television remotes and the DVD player, cell phones and even the CD player in their rooms. They can use a computer and click with a mouse! Now, E and J are addicted to playing Leapster games and navigate our ipods to reach games themselves. We bought a second Leapster this week so now she has a pink one! Look at the concentration!