I is for Imagination

There are two versions of my kids: 

a kid on a device

a kid not on a device

When they are on devices, it's mostly quiet and calm and clean around here. The 3 C's.

When they are not on devices, they make messes, they problem solve, they argue, they cooperate, they are loud and silly.

You can see the dilemma right? So I guess we will just continue with a little bit of both. 

It's going to be fine.

Andrew is always writing and drawing things, 

then comes along and tells anyone who will listen all about it. 

I have to shoo him away: "It's my turn to talk to Lisa".

Avery's version of playing is this:

Bea comes and knocks their secret knock on the door. Avery goes outside and they walk up and down the street talking. Sometimes they sit in their spot beside McKenzie's house and they talk. 

Middle school stuff. 

Here is a sampling of Andrew's work, depending on what he's obsessed with at the time. 

He made up his own planets on this day.

Evan has been making elephant toothpaste. 

He expects it to be a big exciting chemical reaction like the ones Mark Rober does, but every time it's just very similar to vinegar and baking soda. 

But that doesn't stop him from pouring and running, like it's going to explode.

"Everybody stand back!"

So last week we had a cancelled day of school because of the crazy rains and flooding throughout the valley. 

With the kids home, I declared that they could not get on devices during the hours they would have been at school, and my house exploded with imagination. 

Toys, experiments, noise. 

Me and Avery spent an hour making this marble run. She is so fun to be with. 

She teases and jokes and is so smart. 

She also jumped out of the picture, darn her. 

I would say cars are the toys my kids play most consistently with. 

Cars and Legos.

They go through Pokemon obsessions still.

This particular day they were playing "flip it or rip it".

It is a version of Russian Roulette where you pick between two cards and you have to rip the one you pick to rip, no matter how valuable it is. 

I suspect they watched a YouTube of this because Andrew is wearing this headband reminiscent of the Russian Roulette scenes in The Deer Hunter.

So what brought this weird/terrible game to an end is when Andrew ripped one of his very favorite cards and was in tears about it. 

Duh! 

I put an end to that. I hate when they destroy their toys. It is just gross. 

A lot of Avery's time is spent texting with her friends. She has so much fun with it. 

Koda is a big part of our play. The kids pet her until she gets overwhelmed and runs away from them. 

Andrew had to disguise his turkey so that it doesn't get eaten on Thanksgiving.

He chose to dress it as a race car driver. 

Evan spends a lot of time drumming. 

For band in 6th grade you have to choose an instrument. He wanted percussion, but A LOT of kids want percussion, so they do try outs.

He didn't think he would "make it" but he did! And he loves it. He's getting pretty good at tapping a beat on every hard surface in the house. 

I grew up with tappers in my childhood home, so I know how to cope. 

ha