Children's Garden

House of Dominoes

2009-03-13T16:53:00.000-07:00

Today Gabriel built a replica of our house using dominoes!

Dolls, Fairies, and Popcorn

2009-03-12T16:32:00.000-07:00

Early in the afternoon Orianna and Josephine played with eachother and with their respective dolls. Here they are, all four, swinging together.

Later on the imaginary play of the day was that the children were all in Pixie Hollow, part of Tinkerbell's fairy world.

Here Ryan, Eden, and Marie enjoy a late afternoon snack of popcorn and apples.

Happy Birthday, Eden!

2009-03-11T16:10:00.000-07:00

Today was Eden's 8th birthday. Yesterday Katie had talked about surprising her with a party, but we didn't have any concrete ideas of exactly what to do. After school today we were all sitting out by the field at school, enjoying the beautiful sunshine, when my phone rang. It was Melanie, Eden's mom. She told me she wanted to get ice cream to bring over to share with everybody and wanted to know what time would be best. I told her what time, but then purposely didn't tell Eden about the phone call. I told Katie about it, and we decided to make it part of the surprise.

Once home, party preparations were soon underway. Katie enlisted everyone to help in decorating the playhouse. All the children made birthday cards for Eden and signs to hang up.

Eden was made to stay in the bedroom so she wouldn't see the preparations. Surely she knew what was happening (as we do this whenever a child's birthday falls on a family child care day), so she patiently lay in Josephine's bed and strung beads.

When Melanie arrived, we made sure to keep it a secret from Eden, and we took her around the side yard into the backyard to hide in the playhouse with all the kids. I went to get Eden, to reveal the surprise. She knew that all the kids would be in the playhouse waiting for her, but she was thrilled to discover her mother there as well (with a vast array of ice cream!).

Katie helped to scoop up the ice cream (so many flavors to choose from!) . . .

. . . and the birthday girl enjoyed the celebration . . .

. . . as did everyone else!

Painted Pencils

2009-03-05T16:03:00.000-08:00

Over the weekend I found a package of unpainted pencils amongst my seemingly endless supply of art materials. We took out the acrylic paints, and they all busily painted their pencils.

Once we ran out of pencils, the enthusiasm for painting things was not quite satisfied, so they they painted anything in sight.

Here are the finished pencils . . . what fun!

Lite-Brites in the Dark

2009-03-04T15:57:00.000-08:00

It was a very calm and quiet Wednesday morning. We usually have 5 kids here, but this morning it was just Jack and Luke.

They turned the lights off in the bedroom, closed the curtains, and played with the Lite-Brites in the dark. Unfortunately, when I took the picture with the flash, it didn't look a bit dark . . .

. . . and then without the flash, this is all I got:

Nectarine Blossoms!

2009-03-03T15:40:00.000-08:00

Just a week ago our nectarine tree seemed just about to burst, as it was loaded with tiny pink buds . . .

. . . and now it has exploded into what looks like a bunch of pink popcorn.

Here are the buds, just before opening . . .

. . . and here is the first flower!

Boys' Fort

2009-03-02T15:51:00.000-08:00

The boys spent this morning building and playing in a fort in the nice, quiet, and dark bedroom . . . spooky!

Boys in the Morning . . . Boys in the Afternoon

2009-02-27T15:33:00.000-08:00

In the morning, Gabriel, Matthew, and Luke built an elaborate construction using both blocks and dominoes.

After school, Iain and Jack set up their camp around the swingset and made slingshots, amongst other things, out of tape, paper, and string.

Guest Contributor: Eden

2009-02-26T13:44:00.000-08:00

Katie invited all the kids to "Club Calm." Everyone enjoyed it.

Katie and I had to make some rules or they would go crazy! I was the "helper." We had a really great time.

Drawing was one of the most faivorite activities. Orianna and Ryan liked drawing.

Katie and Gabriel were playing with the Litebrites while waiting for room at the drawing table.

I had to read because they didn't want to do Litebrites while waiting for drawing, so I read them two books.

Jo got her report card for being very good in Club Calm.

The people who drew and didn't want their pictures let us hang them up on the bulletin board.

Marie, Jo, and Orianna decided to bring out the tunnel and pretend they were animals.

I made puppets from a book that my mom gave me called 365 Things to Do and Make. I had the same idea as Rachel, because she had the same thing in her idea book.

Here are my two girls that I made. The one without the bow is Mary Jane, and the other one with the bow is her sister Fancy Nancy.

Jo decided to make puppets just like I did. I don't know the names of hers.

Here are the back sides of her puppets.

Backyard Exploration

2009-02-25T13:43:00.000-08:00

We have a plastic bin in which we keep binoculars, magnifying glasses, bug-catching paraphernalia, compasses, etc. It is Iain's favorite bin, and he asks for it at least once a week, and he asks for it always by calling it "Compass and Stuff," which is now what it is officially called (yes, I put that on the label on the bin). Today, somebody besides Iain asked for this bin. It was Katie. She then asked all the kids if they wanted to go exploring with her. So that was the major activity this afternoon . . . exploring.

Here Jo explores Mamma taking pictures with the camera.

Meanwhile, Lucas worked busily away with the hot glue guns and a large amount of popsicle sticks.

New Hot Gluing . . . Take Two

2009-02-24T13:42:00.000-08:00

This morning the boys discovered the new hot gluing supplies (though Iain of course knew this yesterday) and spent the entire morning creating.

New Hot Gluing

2009-02-23T13:37:00.000-08:00

Here Ria enjoys coloring from a standing position. Honestly, she was originally in a chair, but had far more interest in drawing after getting down.

Over the weekend I went to RAFT and replenished my supply of hot glue gun craft supplies. Needless to say, Iain was anxious to get started.

Lucas joined Iain at the table and created an elaborate home with multiple rooms.

Meanwhile, the girls enjoyed a quiet afternoon playing with dolls in the bedroom.

Gack, Butterfly Hair, and Baylands Park

2009-02-19T11:36:00.000-08:00

There was no school today, and not a very large crowd here at Children's Garden, so we started off the day playing with blue gack and red marbles . . .

Ryan, Iain, and Jo enjoyed their snack out in the playhouse . . .

. . . meanwhile, Katie adorned Ria with approximately a million butterfly clips.

After lunch we explored a new park in Sunnyvale, Baylands Park.

After I took some pictures, Katie borrowed the camera and added these:

Guest Contributor: Katie

2009-02-18T16:01:00.000-08:00

Today we had our first annual art show market. From yesterday to today we have been making arts and crafts. There was everything from paper drawings to colored cds.

Here is Ryan making our famous colored cds:

This is a sign I made advertising my both. Rachel let me put it on her door only if I took it down after. It says, "Buy from Katie she has awsome stuff," which was very true.

We made all of our stuff by hand. Some of the art took awhile to make. We were allowed to use anything we wanted to use. I am pretty sure that we bought everything there was to buy.

This is a photo of my booth. Eden and I got the biggest booths.The younger kids used stools and chairs. I had made some colored cds, bookmarks made out of string, some cds glued together, and some hot glue gunned art.

Jo sat outside about a hour before the art show even started. I do not know how she did it. She just sat there very patiently and it was cold out there! Jo was one of the kids who managed to fit all of their art on a little stool.

Ryan got the picnic table. His art was colored cds and a lot of them. On the table was Rachel's watering can. He took a cd and voila! -- it projected off the watering can. So then people started buying cds from Ryan, not me. Later we found linoleum in the hot gluing stuff. Then I got an idea that if we propped it up on the table we would have a projecting screen.

Lucas and Iain shared an area in the art show. The way it worked was that you would get your area and would use it to put your art. Iain was not here yesterday, so Lucas got to share his area with Iain. Since Iain did not have a place to put his art, I gave him one of my stools. Iain also got to make some art. So we had the art show later in the day.

I made up some rules like: only these tables can get up when these people are selling, no running, do not say mean things if you do not think the item is priced right.

This is Eden giving Gabe an item. Gabe used up his money a lot so Eden and I gave him some more to buy with.

Eden is giving change to Lucas in this photo. The change part was hard for the kindergartners and 1st graders. So we kind of just did the change part ourselves.

We had wallets to keep our money in. The money was paper. To start off you would get one 5$, four1$s, and 25¢. You would make more money so some of us ended up with about 20$ at the end.

Crayon Muffins, Dominoes, and Knitting Lessons

2009-02-10T13:57:00.000-08:00

A couple weeks ago we painted with melted wax, so this leaves us now with . . . crayon muffins!

Maya and Ria try these rather large crayons out on a rather large sheet of paper.

In the afternoon, Ryan and Gabriel passed up the usual Legos for dominoes . . . very fun to build with, and they make such a neat clackety sound when they fall.

Meanwhile, Eden Gave Josephine a lesson in how to knit.

Candle Holders and Rock Candy

2009-02-03T13:39:00.000-08:00

This morning Gabriel worked on decorating a baby food jar with glitter glue and sequins. We later put a tea candle inside.

Later on Ria and Maya made candle holders as well.

In the afternoon, we pulled out the first of the rock candy--which Lucas then took home with him.

Rock Candy!

2009-02-02T18:30:00.000-08:00

Today we experimented with trying to make sugar crystals. We followed the instructions closely, but the solution seems to be SUPER SATURATED . . . practically a syrup. We'll see what happens . . .

Before the end of the afternoon, small crystals were already beginning to form! We'll check it again tomorrow to see what becomes of it . . .

This Week's Guest Contributor: Josephine

2009-02-02T17:26:00.001-08:00

One day J. Emily and Anna played with My Little Ponies and one of them was having a party because J. Emily went to the dentist and found a pony and they had fun.

A Busy End to a Busy Week

2009-01-30T14:45:00.000-08:00

This morning Matthew got to try out the melted wax painting. He made two paintings: one for himself and one for his brother Andrew.

Josephine and Eden took out all the paper and heart punches and made Valentines cards.

Later on Josephine relaxed in the livingroom and crocheted.

And at the end of the day, the children asked for the hot glue gun stuff and had a great time creating.

Weeding in the Garden

2009-01-29T13:49:00.000-08:00

This afternoon we finally got around to working out in the garden. I put "weeding around the bird bath" on the agenda for this week in an attempt to start getting the garden ready for spring. Once we get all the beds cleared out, we can start planting. Gabriel and Eden were great helpers in clearing out the dead nasturtiums and the dead daylilies, as well as a host of weeds.

Here are the dead daylilies which we cleared out . . .

. . . to then discover new growth underneath all the dead leaves. It looks like we'll surely have daylilies again this spring.

Ria enjoyed being outside with us and had fun going inside the bamboo teepee.

Later on, Ria, the great imitator, relaxed on the chair with Gabriel.

Snake Ties and Temporary Tattoos

2009-01-28T08:42:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I rotated all the toys. This is something I'd intended to do every month but have now gone several months without doing so. I have bins and bins of toys out in the garage, so I put away what had been out and took out "new" toys. Well, it took Iain less than five minutes to discover the change this morning. All the snake ties were soon out to the great enjoyment of Jack and Iain.

All the excitement of the new toys meant a very large mess to clean up before school. We put on Rock Lobster, cleaned it all up in a hurry, and then even had a little time leftover for some dancing before we left.

Ria enjoyed hearing Rock Lobster as well.

Last week Katie turned the playhouse into a post office, and today it became a tattoo parlor. Unfortunately, there weren't many children here in the afternoon, so Josephine ended up playing the tattoo recipient time and time again.

These photos were taken during Josephine's tattoo sessions. I just had to include them, as I think Ryan's expressions are priceless (and check out the gap-toothed smiles of both Jo and Ryan).

In the end Josephine looked like quite the biker-chick, all "tatted" up.

More Melted Wax Painting and Violin Playing

2009-01-27T08:28:00.000-08:00

The fun of melted wax painting continued again today. There's something very relaxing and almost meditative about the melted wax. The "paint" is very vibrant and thick and dries (cools) almost instantaneously. Here are Gabriel, Eden, and Katie experimenting with this new medium.

Later on Katie practiced her violin as Gabriel sat and watched. Meanwhile, inside the others continued painting and asked her to play louder so they could hear as well.

Water Globes and Melted Wax Painting

2009-01-26T07:45:00.000-08:00

Now we begin week 2 of the renewed blog . . . there's so much to report! As the kids arrived this morning, the posted planned activities were:

This Week
At Children’s Garden
January 26-30
*Heart Collage Valentines
*Melted Wax Painting
*In the Garden- Weeding around Bird Bath

But first, the water globes are ready and going home! What seemed like a fun and simple project ended up being extremely complicated. As I glued the lids on, they were not completely watertight, but the glue took so fast that I couldn't unscrew them to fix them! Sven then used silicone caulking along the edges -- twice! -- and this took several days to cure. So here are a few photos of some of the waterglobes.

Some chose a woodland scene with deer and evergreen trees . . .

. . . some chose oceanic themes with either whale heads or tails and a blue tint to the water . . .

. . . and then Lucas clever combined the two themes by using a whale head, blue tinted water, and a "Christmas tree" decorated, appropriately enough, with tiny seashell ornaments. It turned out rather lovely.

So today we started our melted crayon painting experiment. It started with an old mini-muffin pan and a whole bunch of old broken crayons in a variety of colors.

They spent some time in the oven at 200 degrees Fahrenheit . . .

. . . and soon started melting into little wax pools . . .

. . . and then were placed onto an electric griddle to be kept warm. Cotton swabs were used as disposable paintbrushes.

Nicholas, Luke, and Gabriel were the first to try it out, and it was a great success.

A Penny for Your Thoughts

2009-01-23T19:51:00.000-08:00

Today ended up being a wonderfully light day. For most of the time there were only Josephine, Iain, and Ria. Since I’ve taken care of Iain and Ria from before the family child care was in operation, it was sort of a lovely return to the olden days and a chance for Iain and Jo to play one-on-one. Iain wasn't interested in the projects, but in the mail that day I’d gotten an advertising flyer that had a bunch of pennies printed on one side. As I was about to drop it into the trash, I suddenly saw how cool it would be to a 6-year-old and saved it for Josephine. Well, I showed her and Iain how they could use the large circle punch to cut out the pennies, and they spent an amazingly long amount of time working on making their pennies. It was a wonderful day to end a wonderful week.

Election Day

2009-01-22T19:24:00.000-08:00

Thursday turned out to be much like Tuesday, where thanks to Katie, my planned projects were shelved for a much more interesting activity. This time it was election day. Katie, Eden, and Josephine decided to run for president. They planned the election, made posters,

created separate voting booths out of manila folders,

created ballots and a ballot box, . . .

. . . and the two older girls composed speeches.

The girls also made little trinkets to be handed out to the kids after their speeches.

Eden's speech:

Katie's speech:

Josephine's speech:

After each girl gave her speech, all the kids all rushed into the dining room to vote. In the end, there was a tie between Katie and Eden. There was then a runoff election, and Katie emerged the victor. Everyone was very pleased with the result, even Eden, who was then declared vice president.

Crystal "Hearts"

2009-01-21T19:02:00.000-08:00

This week the kids made Borax crystal “hearts.” I was a little worried that I had planned projects which were too closed-ended and that I had done the kids a disservice by creating models (my intention in making the models was to entice them). Well, the first child followed the heart shape, just like the model. Then the next child, Marie, asked if her heart could be made out of two pipe cleaners of two different colors. Of course! She cut them herself and figured out how to create the heart out of two versus one, and was very pleased with the result. Josephine followed Marie's example and made a bicolored heart, and then Lucas asked if he could use three colors. Of course! He made a red, white, and blue pole with a small heart on top in honor of Inauguration Day. In the following days children formed their pipe cleaners into the first letters of their names, double hearts suspended from each other, and the shape of the cross. I’m so glad they made the project their own and were able to see beyond the model.

This turned out to be a wonderfully simple and successful science/art project. We boiled water, and for every cup of water we added three tablespoons of Borax. Borax is commercially sold as a "laundry booster" type of detergent, but basically borax (with a lower case b) is sodium borate (check out Wikipedia for more info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borax ). The kids formed their pipecleaners into whatever shape they wanted, and then we suspended the shapes in the solution using a string. Within a few hours we could see crystals beginning to form, and then in about 6 to 8 hours, the pipecleaners, along with the bottoms and sides of the container, were completely covered in crystals. For complete instructions, check out:

http://www.enchantedlearning.com/crafts/winter/crystalsnowflake/

The Letter Writing Club

2009-01-20T17:29:00.000-08:00

Right now I'm taking a child development class and have the opportunity to plan my own special project. For my project I am going to work on curriculum planning, putting together 2 or 3 projects to be done throughout the week, and then I will restart the blog which I haven't touched for the last 11 months. I love contributing to the blog, thinking back over our days and sharing them with the families, but on average it was taking about five hours a week and just became too much. But with renewed energy and inspiration, here we are again, and I am so excited to share what we did this week!

As the kids arrived on Tuesday, they were greeted by a paper on the magnet board which read:

This Week
at Children’s Garden
January 20-23

*Recycled Paper Heart Mobiles
*Melted Wax Heart Window Suncatchers
*Borax Heart Crystals

The morning started out very slowly, as it was Inauguration Day, so I didn’t have any of the boys in the morning. After Obama was sworn in, Maya’s and Sam’s mothers dropped them off, and the fun began. Maya was very excited to have a project all ready to go-she’s always looking for something to do. Much time was spent using the pencil sharpeners to obtain crayon shavings, and I think they really enjoyed that part of the process the most. I think they showed an amazing amount of focus for 4-year-olds. They were both very proud of their creations (wax paper/melted crayon hearts) and then moved on to cutting paper with a variety of scissors and then drawing with markers.

After picking up the kids in the afternoon, I explained how there were three projects planned and that they could choose whatever they wanted to do. Once we got home, I showed them the three projects and then explained that there were also envelopes, paper, stickers, and stationery out in the playhouse in case they wanted to play office or post office. “Post office,” Katie declared, “I love playing post office!” I made snack for the kids, and while they ate snack and watched a short show, Katie snuck out to the playhouse, skipping the show and taking her snack out with her. Just before the show ended, Katie re-appeared with 6 letters in hand. She handed one out to each child and told them to wait to read them until the show was over. A few minutes later, the show ended, and the children eagerly tore into the envelopes. Here is one of the letters:

Well, there was an immediate stampede on the playhouse. Katie had created a "mailbox" for each child out of bags, and each had a name on it. I was left inside, alone, so anxious to share my projects with the kids, but I knew that there would be time later today and later this week, and that what they were doing with Katie was just so much fun for all of them. They were practicing their literacy skills all in the guise of play. I know for certain that if I had said, “Okay, everybody, today we’re all going to write letters to each other,” that I wouldn’t have had anywhere near the success that Katie did. I snuck outside for a photo of the excitement, but other than that left them alone until things naturally came to a close.

Healthy Cookies

2008-02-28T05:18:00.000-08:00

Today Katie helped me to bake the afternoon snack. We call them "healthy cookies." They are made of shredded carrots, mashed bananas, sunflower seeds, chopped nuts, raisins, honey, and a little flour.

The Garden Gets a Teepee

2008-02-27T04:49:00.000-08:00

We had a sleepover last night with our good friend Samantha, so here are the girls in the morning, along with Emma R.

(L to R, Samantha, Emma, Jo)

And we were later joined by Dylan.

In the afternoon the kids enjoyed the swings.

Katie gives Josephine a ride . . . Josephine looks blissful.

Later Katie helped me to finally erect the bamboo teepee for our garden. Things are starting to come together for spring. We hope to eventually grow some green beans on it.

Ryan and Katie pose in the now completed teepee.

Here's the garden . . . a work in progress.

Later on Katie and Ryan helped me to freshen up the front planters with new plants.

The finished products:

Bubbles and a Rainbow

2008-02-22T04:27:00.000-08:00

Today was the last day of Winter Break . . . back to school on Monday. But until then, there's much fun to be had. Wet and rainy days are perfect for making bubbles. With all the humidity, the bubbles last longer, and when they land on the wet ground, they don't pop right away.

Here's Lucas busy at work making plenty of bubbles.

Ryan shows off a big one that he caught again afterward.

And then later on we discovered a rainbow in the sky.

Lucas ran outside to get a look at it.

Fingerpaint!

2008-02-21T04:02:00.000-08:00

Today we made fingerpaint out of cornstarch, sugar, water, and food coloring.

Ryan painted pictures of characters fighting with light sabers.

Katie created an outdoor scene with a flower.

And Josephine just enjoyed the feel of the fingerpaint and watching the colors mix on the paper . . .

. . . as did Ria. Ria loved fingerpainting, and her art extended up her arms, onto her face, and all over her shirt. I took care of her big brother Iain when he was her age, and he would have nothing to do with the "finger" aspect of fingerpaint. He would only use it if I would give him a paintbrush or a popsicle stick.

Later on Katie gave Josephine lessons in cursive handwriting.

Candles and a Perfect Mud Pie

2008-02-20T03:47:00.000-08:00

It is now day two of our week off of school for Winter Break.

In the morning Eden read to Josephine.

Later we made candles using the gel wax we got from Dylan's mom . . . thanks, Sandy!

And then of course we had to shut all the curtains, turn off all the lights, and test them out.

And then at the end of the day, I found a perfect little mud pie in the back yard. It made me smile. I just had to take a photo.

No School . . . Butterflies and Other Bugs

2008-02-19T03:26:00.000-08:00

It's 3 a.m., I can't sleep, and I'm two months behind on the blog, so what better activity right now, eh?

We had no school this week, and it is a typical cold and rainy February. To take advantage of the rain and help to nudge spring along, the children made coffee filter butterflies. They took coffee filters cut out in the shapes of butterflies, colored them with washable markers, and set them out in the rain.

The rain transformed them into gorgeous tie-dyed butterflies.

Here Claire and Josephine are filling up little pots with dirt and grass seeds. In about a week there should be some beautiful spring-like grass.

And then later in the day we made soap. I had a bunch of leftover orange soap from a previous pumpkin soap stint, so we made shapes using ice cube trays, and then we buried some plastic insects as well--reminiscent of amber.

Valentine's Day . . . and Jo's Half Birthday

2008-02-14T13:58:00.000-08:00

Today is not only Valentine's Day, but also my dear sweet Josephine's half birthday! But unfortunately she woke up with a fever and a terrible cough. Needless to say, she stayed home from school, and after school, when Holger and Eden came over, Josephine stayed in her room looking at her Valentines from school and watching DVDs on the portable player.

Meanwhile, in the diningroom (a.k.a. the studio), Holger and Eden were busily creating.

Stefan, Master Painter

2008-02-12T13:51:00.000-08:00

This morning I took care of Stefan, Niels' two-year-old brother. He kept taking out the paints from the children's studio, and I would over and over redirect him to crayons, markers, basically anything less messy than paint. But he seemed so determined to paint that I finally had to give in. He loved it, and stated with joy each color as he added it to his paper . . . "Orange! Red! Blue!"

Fairy Beds

2008-02-01T13:44:00.000-08:00

This afternoon Georgia and Anna went out into the backyard and collected a basket full of sticks. I then trimmed these sticks and hot-glued them together to create a little fairy bed for each of them. Afterwards, they glued silk leaves, feathers, and ribbons to them to decorate them. Here is Georgia's bed before being fully decorated:

And here Anna works on embellishing her bed:

Funny Glasses and Cornstarch Packing Peanuts

2008-01-30T13:35:00.000-08:00

Holger spent his morning laboring over a pair of very lovely eyeglasses.

And this afternoon was very light--Josephine left immediately after school for a ski trip with her father, leaving me with just Eden and Jacob. There was a package on the front porch, and fortunately it was filled with not only what I had ordered, but also . . . cornstarch packing peanuts!!! These are wonderful! With just a little bit of water, they stick together and can be used to make really fun constructions. Here is Eden with hers:

And here Jacob works away at his creation, combining the peanuts with colored popsicle sticks.

The Boys

2008-01-29T13:29:00.000-08:00

There was great jubilation when we arrived home from school today at the same time that Iain's mother pulled up to drop him off. Iain was thrilled that he was joined by not one, but two boys--Ryan and Lucas!!! They ran around the yard for a few minutes out of sheer excitement and then asked me to get my camera so I could document the wonderful event.

Niels Joins Us!

2008-01-18T13:22:00.000-08:00

Today we were joined for the first time by Niels. Niels loves Legos, so the entire morning was spent with Josephine, Niels, and Holger creating a little world of their own.

Feathers! . . . and a Crazy Backyard Train

2008-01-17T13:10:00.000-08:00

This afternoon Ria explored the ultra-soft texture of colored feathers.
She was spellbound . . .

And out in the backyard, the kids created a "train" of a bike, two scooters, and a jogging stroller, all connected by hula hoops. With great effort, they actually were able to accomplish a few laps around the yard.

Morning Creations

2008-01-16T13:01:00.000-08:00

This morning the kids got straight to work with construction paper, hole punches, and large rolls of brown paper. They were so busy and self-driven! Here are Georgia and Dylan at work on the floor.

And Holger drew a fantastic picture for his mother (too bad I didn't get a shot of it first) and then wrapped it up for her.

Another Emma and a Happy Iain

2008-01-15T12:54:00.000-08:00

This morning we had a new addition . . . Emma R.! Here Emma and Josephine make collages out of clear contact paper and paper cut-outs.

Meanwhile, Iain worked on a Tinkertoy invention/creation that I'm sure had a very interesting name which I have completely forgotten by now.

First Attempt at Water Globes

2008-01-08T12:47:00.000-08:00

Today the kids tried their hand at making water globes. They ended up with some really fun creations. I'll certainly have to find some more materials so we can do this again another time.

Here is Orianna's "fishtank" globe:

And Katie made a globe with a mysterious piece of white plastic and lots of silver glitter:

Still No School . . . Just a Rainy Day

2008-01-04T13:36:00.000-08:00

Josephine, Eden, Gabriel, Holger, and Lucas all lean on the couch and watch the rain pouring down outside.

Over the winter break I spent a little time cleaning out my art cabinet and came across an old Polaroid camera. I still had a few packages of (very expired) film, so I handed the camera to the kids and let them take turns until the film was all gone. Each one loved the power of choosing who would be in each photo and then taking the picture. All the pictures turned out completely terrible, by the way, but I think all the fun was in taking and posing for them, anyway.

Eden and Katie look at a magazine together.

Happy New Year!

2008-01-02T12:33:00.000-08:00

It's Children's Garden's first day of 2008!!! As school is not yet back in session, we again had time to go to Cuesta Park. Here Katie pushes Eden, Ryan, Holger, and Lucas on the swings.

Eden and Katie on the monkey bars

Ryan, Eden, Katie, and Lucas enjoying the view

The whole gang on the climbing structure

On the walk home . . .

Once home the kids made shrinky dinks outside. Pardon the bright nature of the picture. The sun doesn't always agree with me in taking pictures.

The manufacturer of these play cars recommend them for ages 18 months through 3 years. I'm sure they never had in mind all the fun that older kids could have with them. For example, pair them up with bungee cords and a lawn chair and, presto! . . . a double-decker car. And by the way, for you worried parents out there, the rule is that nobody is allowed to be on top of a car when they are on the cement--only in the grass.

No School -- Cuesta Park

2007-12-21T11:28:00.000-08:00

Today is officially the first day of the school's winter break, and our last day of Children's Garden of 2007. We decided to all walk together to Cuesta Park. Here is everyone before the walk (Anna, Eden, Ryan, Lucas, Holger, Gabriel, and Katie):

It was soooooooooooooooo exciting tromping through all the many piles of leaves on the way to the park.

At the park, brother and sister Gabriel and Eden do some spinning together.

Katie and Eden on the suspension bridge . . .

Anna climbing . . .

Katie, Holger, and Anna

Anna is a very strong little girl!

Here Ryan, Lucas, and Iain enjoy a moment atop the climbing structure . . .

. . . and are then joined by Gabriel . . .

. . . and then Holger!

Meanwhile, the girls )Anna, Eden, and Katie) are on the other half of the structure.

And now the whole gang is together.

Mud, Glorious Mud!

2007-12-18T10:34:00.000-08:00

Ah, California winter is really here now. That means rainy days, wet ground, but very moderate temperatures allowing children to enjoy the feeling of wet mud on their bare toes. This morning the kids had a great deal of fun in the backyard enjoying the light sprinkling rain on their faces and the mud on their feet. I love this photo of Georgia and Josephine. If I ever get around to putting up a photo collage as I've intended, this will definitely be up there.

When it was time to take off for school, I herded the children around through the side yard and out to the front. There lay towels to dry off their feet and all their shoes.

In the afternoon we had a new addition to the Children's Garden . . . Emma! Here Emma and Katie are creating a life-sized portrait of Emma as Orianna (or is it Snow White?) looks on.

Apple Coils

2007-12-14T18:27:00.000-08:00

I'm still getting used to my new camera, so the photography here isn't the best, but that doesn't make apple coils any less fun . . .

Marie:

Eden:

Jultomtar

2007-12-13T18:01:00.000-08:00

A couple weeks ago I made a little jultomte (Swedish for a sort of Christmas elf) out of pipecleaners, red yarn, a doll bead head, and felt for the hat. I showed the kids, and they really wanted to make their own. For over a week they've been asking me to show them how, so today, being that it is a nice long afternoon (Thursdays school gets out earlier), I took out the materials and showed them what to do. All of the older kids quickly decided that it was simply too much work and went off to play elsewhere. But surprisingly, the kinders all stuck around and focused hard on the task at hand. It wasn't easy wrapping all the pipecleaner limbs with yards and yards of yarn, but each one of them fastidiously worked away.

Holger:

Orianna:

Josephine:

Afterwards I set the three little jultomtar in the Christmas tree for a photo shoot, but Holger tried to steal the limelight . . .

Here are the wonderful little dolls that they worked so hard at.

Left to right: Holger's, Josephine's, Orianna's

A Busy Morning

2007-12-12T17:20:00.000-08:00

The kids went straight to work this morning on the hot glue guns. Each time I think I'm out of materials for them to glue, more magically appear. Here is Holger hard at work.

And Dylan (with Jo in the background) also kept busy.

Dylan ended up making these fantastic pirate ships out of shells, artificial leaves, golf tees, and popsicle sticks.

Georgia created a very llllooooonnnggggg thing out of CD's.

And I'm very embarrassed to say that I am posting this a month after the event, and I simply don't remember who the owner of this fabulous masterpiece is. I think it's either Holger or Dylan. If you know, please let me know, and I will give the appropriate credit.

Baby Envy and More Hot Glue Guns

2007-12-10T16:48:00.000-08:00

Early in the afternoon David and Ria had some playtime together. David, almost 15 months, is a well-established walker, while Ria, 14 months, just really really really wants to be. Today when David so brazenly walked in front of her, she expressed her extreme displeasure at his "showing off."

After school the hot glue guns were out again, and the kids were extremely busy with their creations.

Lucas made this fantastic train for his younger brother.

Josephine worked hard on her creation.

Marie used one of the felt Christmas tree cones from the week before to make . . .

. . . this!!!

Iain also had a rather creative take on what a Christmas tree should be.

Pollock Painting and Hot Glitter Glue

2007-12-07T16:07:00.000-08:00

This morning Dylan and Josephine painted a sculpture which Josephine had made days before. They used the Pollock drip method. Here is Dylan using a dropper to add purple paint. Did you know that Pollock sometimes even used a turkey baster to drip his paint?

Again, in the spirit of Pollock, Josephine began to make her drips from high above, holding the brush and squeezing it while standing.

And here is the completed Pollock Village:

In the afternoon, we tried out a newly acquired art supply . . . hot glitter glue!

Eden:

Josephine:

Katie:

Eden and Georgia:

And while the girls worked on crafts indoors, the boys enjoyed the sandbox outside. Here are Holger, Ryan, and Jack:

Christmas Trees

2007-12-06T15:58:00.000-08:00

Today we decorated felt cones to make Christmas trees. Anything involving a hot glue gun is fun, of course!

Some went for the traditional green, but we also have turquoise, white, pink, and yellow trees!

Worms and Pretzel Jewelry

2007-12-05T15:51:00.000-08:00

This afternoon Ryan found a worm . . .

. . . and Katie made a necklace out of pretzels!

Holger as Icarus

2007-12-04T15:01:00.000-08:00

Today Holger made wings out of paper and scotch tape. Just don't fly too close to the sun, young man!

Sandbox

2007-12-02T12:21:00.000-08:00

Today Sven set up the sandbox (that I'd gotten months ago), and Josephine helped him to fill it with sand.

All done! Josephine tries out the new sandbox. It works!

Shrinky Dinks and Hot Glue Guns

2007-11-30T11:56:00.000-08:00

This morning before school Josephine exhibits her newly developed reading skills by reading a book to Monica.

After school, Marie and Jacob make shrinky dinks outside . . .

. . . while Eden and Josephine create sculptures inside using hot glue guns.

Shrinky dinks never lose their ability to entertain.

Iain tries out the hot glue gun for the first time. Very exciting!

Tea Party and Paper Making

2007-11-29T11:07:00.000-08:00

We had lunch outside today. I was going to serve them in the playhouse, but they chose to sit out in the sun instead.

Katie and Eden planned an elegant teaparty in the afternoon. They set up and decorated in the kitchen, and then helped Orianna and Josephine to dress up for the event.

Here Katie brings everyone in for the teaparty.

Each place setting was labeled, and Cheerios were served on pretty ceramic plates while tea (water) was poured into tiny little teacups.

While the older kids enjoyed their teaparty in the kitchen . . .

. . . Ria enjoyed free reign in the rest of the house. She pulled up using this chair and used it as a walker to make her way across the room.

Later on, Ryan set up the clothesline and built himself a little one-man fort.

We had our second ever paper making event today. Last time we made white paper, but this time the kids chose pink, so they ripped up all the white, red, and pink scraps we had. It turned out beautiful. Later, Eden and Katie decided to change the color and added more white and yellow, making a pretty salmon color.

Here Katie adds a finishing touch of gold glitter onto her newly formed and still wet paper.

Pumpkin Morning and Crafting Afternoon

2007-11-28T10:52:00.000-08:00

This morning before school, Dylan came over. Dylan happens to be one of the world's greatest pumpkin experts. Because fall is now coming to a close, I figured it's time to cut up and puree our pumpkins so they can become soup later on . . . yum!

I cut the pumpkin in half, and Jo and Dylan scooped out the seeds.

The kids then asked for knives to do some slicing of their own. They had a blast chopping into the pumpkin's flesh.

The aftermath:

The afternoon was filled with lots of crafting. Here Orianna glues, paints, and glitters wood leftovers from the playhouse.

Jacob and Eden work with their wood as well.

Check out Jacob's tongue . . . such concentration!

Play Dough and Plastic Animals

2007-11-27T10:37:00.000-08:00

While Orianna painted with colored glue . . .

Holger and Lucas played with play dough and plastic animals.

Holger is not camera shy.

In fact, when the camera comes out, they all stop what they're doing and pose.

Ah, at last . . . a candid moment of concentration.

Lucas' cat mountain:

Apple Art and Lucas' Cat

2007-11-26T09:44:00.000-08:00

Today there was no school . . . yet again! We had a very small group--Lucas and Holger most of the day, and then Ria and Iain for part of the day (and, as always, Josephine the whole day!).

After Ria arrived, knowing that she loves stuffed toy animals, the kids piled them up in front of her, much to her delight.

For a snack, we had apples, but to literally add a twist, we used my grandmother's apple peeler and this time, instead of just peeling, we sliced as well. Lucas referred to this as apple art, and it certainly turned out fun . . . and yummy!

Jo slices her apple . . .

Holger's apple . . .

For weeks Lucas has been asking me if we can make stuffed toy animals. There has never been a good time for this, but with a very LONG day and only a few kids, today was perfect. I showed Lucas a pattern to a stuffed frog I'd made years ago and explained how he'd have to create a pattern where all the parts are separate. He did so, and then we scanned and resized the parts on the computer. Here is his cat in pattern form:

Each color represented a different fabric, which the chart below explained.

The next step then was to cut out all the pieces, sew them together, and then Lucas stuffed them with fiberfill.

The various pieces were then all sewn together. Here is the creator with his finished cat:

It turned out really cute. Lucas definitely had a vision and gave me many instructions along the way as to where the legs should be sewn, how the head should be attached, etc.

The tail was fantastic, made up of many different fabrics. It sort of looks like that of a ring-tailed lemur.

Such a sweet face!

No School Again . . .

2007-11-21T09:29:00.000-08:00

Today we had a small group . . . Josephine, of course, as well as Katie and Ryan . . .

. . . and Holger. The kids worked with their hot glue guns and made some fun and inventive sculptures. Josephine, who is sitting on my lap as I write this, wants me to add, "and no one got burned!"

After Katie and Ryan left, Josephine and Holger had some fun on the swingset.

The Art Lesson

2007-11-20T09:19:00.000-08:00

Today art lessons were given in the studio by Mademoiselle Georgia, artiste extraordinaire.

A child is to water . . .

2007-11-19T09:06:00.000-08:00

. . . like a moth to a flame.

Here are a couple photos so Marie's mother can see why she was in a completely different outfit at the end of the day.

Sheer joy, eh?

Faluröd!

2007-11-17T08:49:00.000-08:00

This weekend the playhouse underwent a fantastic transformation, from the scary green basecoat to the glorious faluröd, the traditional red of Swedish cottages. Josephine was awesome at helping Sven out with the painting.

Very focused on her task . . .

And once the crevices between the boards were painted, Sven rolled on the rest of the paint.

Painting

2007-11-16T12:15:00.000-08:00

Before I begin talking about the day, I must first say . . . I am caught up!!! I just spent the last 6 hours writing three weeks worth of blog entries, and this is the last one!!!

Okay, now for the day . . . . I unfurled quite a lot of butcher paper and took out the big paint cups and large brushes.

Lucas (a sweet pose, eh? . . . I think the scowling is over--until he reads this, that is)

Holger

Josephine

Jack and Iain digging in the dirt

And Sven took the day off work and started the base coat of the playhouse. No, it won't be Frankenstein green. Eventually it will be faluröd, the traditional color of Swedish houses (and American barns)--sort of a deep red.

Papermaking and a Play

2007-11-15T11:34:00.000-08:00

More fun with hot glue guns . . .

Ryan

Eden (and Orianna)

Holger shows off his latest sculpture, a house:

After Ria's nap, the girls treat her to extra attention.

I know this picture is blurry, but it was just so cute that I had to include it anyway.

Later in the afternoon we tried out papermaking for the first time. We ripped up scrap paper, blended it up with water, and made a pulp bath in a big bin. Josephine and Eden made the first piece(after me, of course--I made the screens and deckles over 10 years ago and never tried them out!).

Here is Orianna making her piece of paper.

She wrote the name Bella (her best friend) in the pulp.

Then Eden wrote a play. Here is the first page of the three-page script:

The audience was very excited to watch.

Here Ryan reads the screenplay as he narrates:

Eden acts out the part of a shark.

What a thespian!

A Birthday and a Wedding All in One Day

2007-11-14T11:21:00.000-08:00

Before school this morning Dylan and Josephine worked on refreshing the window box planters.

Today was Jacob's 6th birthday, so he got a candle in his banana bread. Happy birthday, Jacob!

And then there was a wedding as well.
Flower Girl: Orianna
Wedding Coordinator: Eden
Bride: Josephine
Somewhat Reluctant Groom: Ryan (with much arm-twisting by his big sister)
Musician: Katie

Puppets, Oobleck, Kisses

2007-11-13T10:30:00.000-08:00

Before school this morning the kids took turns giving each other puppet shows. Here is Josephine during her production . . .

. . . as the audience (Monica, Meredith, and Iain) excitedly watches.

Afterwards the girls had some fun on the swingset.

After school Holger draws a very very long limousine-style jumbo jet. He says its headed for America.

Oobleck!!! Fantastic stuff, cornstarch and water, but completely irresistable to touch. Holger, Katie, Lucas, and Josephine all gather around and dig in.

Katie

Josephine

Later on the kids had a hopping ball race.

The other day Josephine decided that because Lucas had the word "kiss" in his name (loo-kiss), she would definitely have to kiss him. This has led to many a chase, and kissing Lucas seems to be a very fun game, which Lucas quickly tired of. So he created this sign:

Holger followed the sign and decided Katie would be a much better target. Here is one very unwilling kissing recipient . . .

. . . and here is the little kissing monster himself.

No School . . . But Plenty of Fun

2007-11-12T09:26:00.000-08:00

In observance of Veterans' Day, school was closed today, so we had children here all day. Here is Holger concentrating on building with notched popsicle sticks.

Then Josephine (still in her pajamas with unbrushed hair) and Holger went outside for a little water fun.

They tried to make a river in the backyard. They first lined up all the wood (from a recently cut-down tree), and then poured water one container at a time.

After Jacob arrived, the kids sat down to make shrinky dinks. The weird expression on Jo's face is due to the fact that it was impossible to take a photo in which she was not talking.

Shrinky dinks before shrinking:

Jacob, Josephine, and Holger watch the plastic curl up and shrink.

Magic!

Later in the afternoon Josephine and Holger experiment with warm crayon drawing . . .

. . . and then they try out fuse beads.

Holger and Lucas on the swings

During Ria's snack Josephine tried her hand as a hairdresser. Ria enjoyed the attention.

What a gorgeous hairdo!!!

Holger saw me taking pictures and couldn't resist posing.

Happy Birthday, Georgia!

2007-11-09T09:10:00.000-08:00

Today was Georgia's 6th birthday!!! The kids wanted to create a surprise party for her, so they put her in the kitchen with watercolor paints while they decorated.

Here she is painting with Josephine:

Meanwhile, Eden decorates the livingroom with streamers of ribbon.

Orianna, Eden, and Marie decorate the table for the party.

Finally, Eden escorts Georgia, with eyes closed, to the surprise.

Holger and the Plastic Sculptures

2007-11-08T09:02:00.000-08:00

Over the weekend I got two low-temp hot glue guns. We took out all the plastic lids that I've been saving for ages, and the kids built fabulous sculptures.

Here is Eden with hers:

We are now joined by Holger, a new student in Josephine's class, who just recently moved here from Estonia. Holger's mother has allowed me to borrow her camera until we replace ours, so these are the first photos from her camera. Here Holger (upside down) poses with his sculpture as Josephine looks on.

Two New Friends

2007-11-06T08:57:00.000-08:00

This morning we were joined by two new friends, twins Meredith and Monica.

Dancing on the Table

2007-11-05T08:51:00.000-08:00

I have to say what seems like a million times a day, "These are not jumping couches!!!" However, dancing on the coffee table is an entirely different story. Go ahead!

Marie and Josephine dancing on the table:

Banana Bread

2007-11-01T08:29:00.000-07:00

Today we made banana bread. The girls all got together to help . . .

. . . but soon they disappeared to play instead, and Ryan took over the job.

Here Diego helps out as well.

After Ria's nap she enjoys some attention on the couch from Ryan and Eden.

Halloween

2007-10-31T07:40:00.000-07:00

Due to it being Halloween, we had absolutely no children (except for Josephine, of course) at the Children's Garden this afternoon. But I did go to school to watch the Halloween parade, and in doing so, I got photos of most of the kids that are in our program. The 5th grade DI class came over to Ms. Bonnie's kindergarten class to help them change into their costumes and then to escort them during the parade. Here are some snapshots of the day:

Anna gets into her costume.

Ms. Bonnie dressed up as Ms. Frizzle from Magic School Bus.

Eden the cowgirl:

Claire (David's big sister) dressed as Belle and Josephine as Dorothy Gale in the parade:

Princess Monica

Jacob dressed as Julius Caesar, of course:

Marie as a renaissance princess and her mother, Nozomi:

Dylan the pirate and his pirate mother Sandy:

Orianna, more beautiful than Cinderella herself:

Georgia, appropriately enough, was Pippi Longstocking:

Pirate Katie:

And Lucas was a bat:

Check out Katie and Lucas' teacher, Mr. A:

The principal, Carmen Mizell, was the Cat in the Hat.

And could there be a better photo of Ryan as Anakin Skywalker, with his future self approaching in the background?

Picnic Snack, Sidewalk Chalk, Ring-Around-the-Rosie

2007-10-30T07:00:00.000-07:00

First, Katie, Josephine, Orianna, and Lucas enjoy a picnic snack outside while the weather is still beautiful (gorgeous sunny days still, but with a crisp touch of fall in the air).

Orianna and Josephine work on a princess with very very long hair.

And at the end of the day we were joined by Samantha, former neighbor but current very-good-friend. The girls played ring-around-the-rosie together.

A New Little Friend

2007-10-29T06:41:00.000-07:00

First I must explain how I got so far behind in my blog posts, which I am now trying to remedy. I do all my posting on weekends, and the first weekend of November, we went out of town, so that put me a week behind. The very next weekend, we had company from out of town staying with us, so that put me even further behind. Then, to make matters oh-so-very-much worse, my digital camera simply stopped working. Fortunately one of the parents has since allowed me to borrow her camera until we find a replacement (my hubby is an electrical engineer who cannot simply buy a new camera, but instead has quite the checklist of requirements and must thoroughly research products first). So last weekend, my first "free" weekend, I spent my time emptying out the memory card of the broken camera (200+ photos on it!!!) and then uploading pictures from the borrowed camera. Now it's time to catch up on the blog . . .

Quite a change from my usual school-aged-children-in-the-afternoon scenario, Mondays now consists of two one-year-olds: David and Ria. David's mother is working in her daughter's kindergarten classroom (which is also my daughter's class), and Ria's mother is working in her son's preschool class, which happens to be the same one my daughter was in last year.

In the afternoon we were back to school-aged kids. Here are Marie, Josephine, Lucas (no longer scowling into the camera), and Anna working on a very long sheet of paper.

Playhouse Walls -- Building Paper

2007-10-28T06:20:00.000-07:00

Playhouse construction continues, and here Josephine helps out Sven with the next step--putting up building paper. First, they took down the old temporary building paper, which was only up to protect the house from rain while Sven finished the roof.

There were staples in the wood, so here Josephine helps Sven to pull them out with pliers.

Once the new paper is up, it's time to cut out the doors and windows. Here is Josephine, carefully supervised, cutting out a window . . .

. . . and with a little help from Pappa . . .

. . . there's a window!

School Time and Tool Time

2007-10-26T08:55:00.000-07:00

Eden has let us borrow her wonderful doorway puppet theater. I set it up in the hall today, and Marie gave it a try.

Soon, however, they changed their minds and played school instead. Eden, of course, was the teacher. She had her three students, Josephine, Orianna, and Marie, lined up on the bed, and she read books to them.

And where was Iain during all of this? Why, walking around the house looking very necessary and important (and tough, as you can see from his facial expression) wearing a toolbelt.

Later in the afternoon the girls all decided to make crowns. Here is Marie showing hers off . . .

. . . and here are Orianna and Josephine working on their crowns.

2007-10-25T09:14:00.000-07:00

Today we received a bunch of notched popsicle sticks from a friend of mine--what fun for building!

Here is Ryan with his creation:

Eden worked away at a sort of rainbow tower.

And here she is, finished and proud:

Orianna wanted to build her own rainbow tower, like Eden's, and had a lot of trouble. It kept collapsing on her, but she was extremely patient and determined and would rebuild each and every time. Here she is with her tower, both relieved and proud:

Earlier this week I bought a bunch of mini pumpkins and assorted gourds for fall decorations. Josephine and Orianna helped out by arranging them in a bowl.

And here's what happens when you let two five-year-olds play with a digital camera . . . comical photos.

2007-10-24T07:31:00.000-07:00

This morning we had a larger crowd than usual. Here's snacktime . . . first the boys' side of the table (Diego & Dylan):

. . . and then the girls' side (Josephine & Orianna):

We made another batch of spider soaps today so that Dylan and Diego could each have one.

I bought a battery-operated pencil sharpener because I've gotten several blisters from sharpening colored pencils. Little did I know that the pencil sharpener itself would be far more fun than the colored pencils. Here Orianna gives it a try . . .

. . . and then Josephine has a turn.

Update on Rosie the June bug:

We temporarily donated Rosie and her habitat to Josephine's kindergarten class, as they were studying insects at the time. Miss Bonnie, the teacher, actually found another June bug which she added to the habitat, so that Rosie could have a friend. We recently got back both Rosie and her friend and decided we should let them go. One of them, however, was not doing well. We don't know which is which, but we like to think that this is not Rosie. Its legs are a little damaged and it doesn't move too much. Rosie, on the other hand, (or what we like to think is Rosie) flew happily away.

Eden and Josephine look at the two June bugs before we release them.

Since the injured June bug didn't move very much, we could not release it. Everyone donned gloves and took turns holding it. Here is Ryan:

. . . and Josephine:

Finally, the kids all moved into the still-unfinished playhouse and set up an insect hospital.

Shuttle Launch and Kidwriting

2007-10-23T07:01:00.000-07:00

This morning we got a phone from Iain's father alerting us, just seconds beforehand, of the shuttle launch. We turned on the NASA channel just in time to see the shuttle lifting off. So we had snack on the couch and watched it soar through the air.

In the afternoon I was reminded once again about how fabulous it is to have a mix of younger and older children. While Katie (fourth grader) was doing her homework, Josephine (kindergartner) was hovering nearby, wanting to do her own "homework" (writing in her journal--self-assigned). When Katie finished her homework, Josephine shared her journal with her. Katie went through, page by page, reading Josephine's words, writing the adult version underneath, and pointing out the similarities. At their school, this is the method of teaching used, and it is called "Kidwriting." Katie was absolutely fantastic at it. She did and said all the things that the parents and teachers are trained to do, only without the formal training. Josephine was completely engaged and was so proud to have her work acknowledged.

Katie also looked at all the drawings that Josephine did, and commented on small specific details: "Oh, I see she's wearing high-heeled shoes," and "That pencil even has an eraser." Once again, Katie was exhibiting skills that child care professionals learn through training, how to respond to children's art. This showed me two very important things. First of all, for Katie to respond in the way she did to both the words and the art, she must have experienced that herself for years, proving to me that this school is a wonderful place for my daughter. Second, it shows me what a beautiful, thoughtful, and talented child Katie is.

New Feature . . . Labels

2007-10-20T13:09:00.000-07:00

I've added a new feature this weekend to the blog . . . LABELS. At the end of each entry, you will see the word LABELS, followed by names. If you click on a name, you will get every blog entry containing that person. I'm putting all the labels at the end of this blog entry so that you can give it a try.

Walk-A-Thon

2007-10-19T11:43:00.000-07:00

Today was the annual Walk-A-Thon at Josephine's school. I met up with Josephine and Eden after school, and they had each already walked about 10 laps. I joined them on the track and we spent the rest of the afternoon (and early evening!) walking.

Every 5 laps, the kids would earn a prize. Once they hit about 25 laps, they were eligible to have their hair sprayed with colored spray. They loved it. Here is Eden getting some color . . .

. . . and Georgia . . .

. . . and Josephine!

Here Josephine meets up with some of her friends and classmates . . .

. . . and they pose for a group shot: Josephine, Orianna, Claire, and Georgia.

Josephine and Eden both ended up walking until the very end, 6 p.m. (and they'd started some time around 2 p.m.!!!). Josephine completed 50 laps, while Eden did 52. They were absolutely fantastic!!!

Spider Soap

2007-10-18T12:05:00.000-07:00

Today we made soap. We started with a huge block of glycerin soap. Everyone of course wanted to touch it and feel how smooth it was.

Then I cut it up into smaller chunks so that it would be easier to melt.

The kids wanted to try out cutting up the soaps themselves, so they gave it a go with butter knives.

We then put the cubes into a glass container and microwaved it.

After a few minutes, you can see that it is partially melted.

And here it is almost completely melted.

Meanwhile, the kids placed each of their spiders upside-down in a silicone muffin pan.

I poured the melted soap into the muffin molds.

And then we waited for the soap to harden.

While the girls all chose purple spiders, Ryan chose two small glow-in-the-dark ones. It turned out really nice, and he even tried it out by going into a dark closet--and they glowed!

Gourds!

2007-10-16T11:01:00.000-07:00

Last month we had a very unfortunate event in our garden. Heavy winds blew over (and basically destroyed) our garden arch which was loaded with hanging gourds. We had not yet re-erected it, for fear of damaging the plants growing on it, but today, with the help of a new friend, Dylan, we set about fixing things.

Here Josephine and Dylan are examing the gourd plants, searching for damaged gourds that are certain not to grow to maturity.

We picked the ill-fated gourds and sliced them open to get a glimpse of what is going on inside a growing gourd. Dylan showed everyone our amazing discovery.

When you look up close, you can see the tiny little seeds lined up inside.

Here is a larger gourd, which is almost "spongey" inside.

Then we took out shovels, bamboo poles, and rope, and set about re-erecting the arch. Dylan was a huge help in this.

Yippee!!! Now the gourds have a better chance of finishing off their growing season, now that they are off the wet ground and once again hanging as they should.

Dylan was worried about the larger gourds, thinking they needed support instead of hanging like that. I showed him how thick and strong their stems are, and then I showed him in a gardening book pictures of hanging gourds, even bigger than ours, just hanging. He spent his entire snacktime excitedly looking through the whole book, thrilled at all the garden photos inside.

Homework, Flying Angel, and the Art Table

2007-10-15T10:37:00.000-07:00

Just a few randowm snapshots from the day . . .

Josephine "helping" Lucas do his homework (she is really intrigued by the fact that he has homework and likes to watch him do it; however, for his sake, after this photo she was removed from the couch so he could continue without interruption) -- Lucas is behind the paper, hiding from the camera, as usual.

Anna is wearing a beautiful white dress and wings. Very angelic . . .

Art time . . .

Full House

2007-10-12T15:32:00.000-07:00

Today we had a very busy cap to a very busy week. This week was "parent-teacher conference week" at school, and the kids got out every day around noon. The kids loved the longer afternoons full of long periods of play. Here they are today playing "family" and going on an airplane ride. They have the kitchen chairs lined up in rows and under the chairs you can see the packed luggage.

And for the first time today, we reached our maximum capacity! My license allows for 6-8 kids (8 requires a bunch of signed papers, which I've been working on). So today we had 8 for the very first time ever. They are a very fun bunch. Here we all are:

top row: Orianna, Josephine, Georgia, Jack, Eden, Marie

bottom row: Iain, Gabriel, and me--Rachel!

Painting

2007-10-11T15:30:00.000-07:00

This morning I had a different crowd than usual . . . two wonderful 4-year-old boys. Here are Gabriel and Iain painting.

More Forts, Finger Knitting, More Playhouse Shingling, and Cornstarch Sculptures

2007-10-10T10:21:00.000-07:00

Today we had three separate forts built in the backyard. This one belonged to Orianna and Josephine . . .

. . . peek-a-boo! And there they are inside, drawing and snacking.

Ryan built his by leaning bamboo poles up against the swingset.

And here is Katie and Eden's fort.

Inside, Katie was teaching Eden how to finger knit. Katie was fantastic at it . . . I'd never heard of such a thing before! Here is a link to an article on it from Wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finger_knitting

There are more links from the article to instructions.

And here is Katie with the completed scarf . . . all knitted using her fingers!

Sven came home early from work to finish the shingling on the playhouse.

Later on I took out cornstarch packing peanuts, and the kids sculpted with them by dipping them into water.

Katie, with the help of an abundance of water, turned her cornstarch peanuts into a pile of mush, and the entire activity into a completely tactile experience.

Egg and Spoon Races and Fort Building

2007-10-09T10:04:00.000-07:00

Today we had fun with egg and spoon races. Josephine got a wonderful toy for her birthday a couple months ago . . . plastic spoons and eggs that "crack" when dropped to expose a beanbag yolk and egg white inside. Here are Katie, Lucas, Orianna, and Josephine just before the race . . .

. . . and, they're off!

Another race:

Later, in an effort to build a fort, Lucas and Ryan used the firewood and ended up making a very interesting sculpture in the lawn.

Meanwhile, Katie made her own fort using a sheet and the clothesline.

Pretend Candy and Swings

2007-10-08T09:02:00.000-07:00

In the morning, Josephine and Diego were busy at the art studio.

In the afternoon, Orianna and Josephine were taken up with making candy (out of paper) for a pretend birthday party . . .

. . . . while Marie and Lucas played outside on the swings and in the tent.

Shingles!

2007-10-07T08:54:00.000-07:00

This weekend Sven made great progress on the roof.

Here he has attached the fascia and barge boards.

Here he is attaching the flashing.

Then he put up tar paper.

And finally, half of the house is shingled!

Snacktime and Tinfoil People

2007-10-05T19:14:00.000-07:00

Before I could get the snack on the table, the girls were busy drawing, so snacktime doubled up as art time as well. Here are Eden, Georgia, and Iain . . .

. . . and on the other side, Jack, Josephine, and Eden (again).

Later in the afternoon we made people out of tinfoil. At a training session for Josephine's school, I had done this, and the kids had been wondering about my "tinfoil girl" sitting up on the shelf, so we decided to try it out. They were GREAT at it. Here is Josephine and her creation:

And Georgia made a person as well:

And here is Eden, intent on forming her person:

Jack simply enjoyed cutting tinfoil with scissors.

Here's everyone working together with Jack and his grandmother in the background:

Josephine continued working on her person, adding little pieces here and there.

Paper Spiderwebs

2007-10-04T13:20:00.000-07:00

Today we made paper spiderwebs. They are made in the same way paper snowflakes are made, only using black papers. The one problem, though, is that eight layers of construction paper are too difficult for children to cut, so I ended up doing the cutting. They were great at all the other steps, though.

Here is Eden carefully folding over her paper using the bone folder.

Once Eden finished her cobwebs, she went on to color on blank sheets of black construction paper with colored pencils. The effect was really striking.

Ryan's photos are great and show the whole process, from beginning to end (with plenty of fun facial expressions along the way). Here he is folding the paper.

Next, using the spiderweb template, he traced onto the paper using a white colored pencil.

After I cut along his tracings, he unfolded the spiderweb.

Ta da!

Here's Marie unfolding her spiderweb . . .

. . . and then also taking a peek through it.

Orianna also made a spiderweb. Here she is folding the paper . . .

. . . and then opening it up.

Pumpkin Stickers

2007-10-03T13:09:00.000-07:00

After decorating for Halloween yesterday, we found some foam pumpkin-shaped letter stickers left over from last year. Here are Katie and Josephine spelling out words and making drawings to go with the stickers . . .

. . . and then I thought for once I could sneak up on Lucas and get a picture of him working, but he has a sixth sense about the presence of my camera, and made his face before I could snap the shot.

Witches' Brooms

2007-10-02T12:18:00.000-07:00

Today we made witches' brooms out of brown paper lunch bags, sticks, newspapers, rocks, and string. It would have been a very difficult project had it not been for the handy household paper shredder.

Here is Josephine balling up a sheet of newspaper to stuff the broom.

Once the bag is stuffed, a few rocks are thrown in for weight, a stick is stuck inside, and another bag, this time shredded, is placed around the first bag.

Then the two bags are tied together very tightly.

Here are Orianna and Josephine with their completed brooms.

Anna's Birthday

2007-10-01T18:33:00.001-07:00

Today is Anna's 5th birthday!!! So we stuck a "5" candle into her banana bread and sang to her. Here she is blowing out the candle. Happy birthday, Anna!

Anna Today Anna and Jo drew large pictures on very large paper . . .

. . . while the boys played just outside the door with small plastic animals.

Josephine Is Sick

2007-09-27T17:18:00.000-07:00

Last night Josephine came down with a fever of 103, and so she couldn't go to school today. I still took care of Ryan, Eden, and Ria, and Josephine was in quarantine in her bedroom (with a portable DVD player to make it easier for her). She did extremely well, though did say over and over that she wanted to come out to play. The other kids seemed to miss her just as much and sent in love letters and small handmade presents to her. Very sweet.

Eden and Ryan cooked the spaghetti that they had made the day before.

It turned out great . . . looked, and tasted, just like real spaghetti!

Things were very quiet as they enjoyed the fruits of their labor.

Even Ria was pleased with the pasta.

Eden held out some noodles to Ria who eagerly ate them up.

After lunch we actually watched television . . . gasp! No, television is not a regular event at my house, but the night before, I had watched and recorded an episode of Good Eats with Alton Brown (great show--scientific explanations of cooking) on which he had made . . . pasta!!! We watched as he explained all about gluten and then showed the process for making handmade pasta, just like we had done the day before.

Ah, a rare photo of me (and Ria)! Eden asked for the camera and took a photo of us.

Later on Ryan got to try out the electric griddle.

Eden and Ryan experimented quite a bit with the electric griddle and the crayons, melting the crayons, making huge puddles of wax, and rolling unmelted crayons in the warm wax. When they were done, the paper had stuck to the newspaper beneath, and the result is actually quite stunning . . . something you may see in a modern museum.

Towards the end of the afternoon Eden and Ryan enjoyed board games. Here they are playing Race to the Roof.