Today, Yesterday, Tomorrow

TODAY

This morning was sooo nice outside. Mariah decided to sit out in the sun while Gib and I left to go get his haircut. She played a Volleyball game this morning and her team won all 3 matches. Mariah also found her last green egg that nobody could find yesterday. It was in a tricky spot!

While I was gone, Mariah took several pictures of herself, and one of the sky. It makes me laugh to see her self-poses on my iphone!

And since I had the before shot, I figured why not take an after shot? This is the sky a couple hours later. Thunderstorm warning coming our way.

Whenever I see the gray skies and towering thunderheads, it's hard to remember there is an amazing blue sky behind it all. And every now and then you're reminded....

Gib's haircut.

This is not the best picture, for obvious reasons. I told Kaylahn "Gib doesn't know what he wants. But I think I know what he thinks he knows he wants". In other words, Gib said he didn't care, but he really does.

YESTERDAY

We decided to have a Easter egg hunt with Taryn!

Vids on my facebook. We had a great time!

Her style is to work fast and then heckle/help everyone else

Gib took his sweet time

Mariah quietly but quickly ran all over only stopping to blow dandelion puffs

A LITTLE EARLIER YESTERDAY...

everyone had to find their Easter baskets in the house. everyone's was in a different room.

Mariah - kitchen

Gib - Living Room

Taryn -any room other than kitchen or living room! hahah!

(she was less than pleased I hid it in the bathroom!)

NOTE THE SIMILAR EXPRESSIONS ON GIB & TARYN

THURSDAY

The balloon eggs & chicks project

TUESDAY

Taryn was the T.A. at preschool - usually that's my job. And she did it really well!! The kids were shocked when she called me MOM :) Here she is reading Little Bunny Foo Foo: The Real Story to my kiddos. They could not get enough of it.

LAST THURSDAY

A coworker at preschool had some furniture she wanted to give away. I figured if I couldn't find a place for it upstairs (to save for one of the kids' first homes), I could donate it to the church silent auction later this month. Pretty sure we are keeping both, even though the armoire needs to be refinished. It's kinda pink. That's really not my favorite thing to do, but maybe one of the girls would be willing if they want it since the price is right.

Drop Leaf Table

almost exactly like the one my mom sold when we moved here.

Things were a little different then with 4 kids upstairs, but still it's kinda ironic.

And the Armoire.

We have to put in new knobs, and de-pink it, but it's a nice piece of furniture with lots of storage.

The drawers are on gliders which I love. My favorite part though? Taryn can't see inside the top drawer :))

TOMORROW:

I have to take Taryn back to college. Sigh.

But, we'll see her again in May. Waiting on the final OK from the eye surgeon's appointment scheduler, but everything's been booked for Taryn's eye job 5/15/12. She'll have to go in for a secondary measurement prior to that date. Measure twice, cut once.

And then Taryn will have enough time to recuperate at home before going back to MS&T for June 4th summer session.

Chop-Chop

Chop-Chop is one of my favorite expressions. Today it applied alot!

• Before work this morning, I thought I could finish the Host Family application form if I hustled. It was mostly done, just Interests & Hobbies and stuff like that left to complete. Gib wants us to host a guy his age from Spain. He got the info from his high school counselor. I almost finished it, but realized that it was my turn to make the Wednesday Sonic Run for an assortment of drinks and needed to leave a little early.
• I got ready as fast as I could and drove off without thinking about the milk I was supposed to pick up for preschool. You know, those cute little cartons of white and chocolate? I was mentally rehearsing everything I wanted to say in a parent-teacher conference and turned right at my corner instead of going straight - had I taken the straight road I might have remembered because it takes me near GFS.
• I remembered when I pulled into preschool that I didn't have today and tomorrow's milk with me. Oops! Luckily the director had opportunity to go get it, and I volunteered Pre-K to skip chapel today allowing her to do so since we are basically having it tomorrow with our Easter celebrations. And by the way, the conference went great. And with no chapel I had LOTS of extra time....
• So I rotated kids in a fine chop-chop form through 3 art projects before lunch, and scrambled to finish one we started yesterday. And then, wouldn't you know it on the playground the other teachers reminded me of a cute Little Bunny Foo Foo we did last year and since we've been reading it every day I just HAD to start it today too. So that made 5 art projects, one easter story, a jelly bean cross activity about Easter which included a review involving eating the right color jelly beans, then we voted on which ones we liked and didn't like, took a hand tally, and then documented our work. At the end of the school day we cut open the balloons we covered in tissue paper and glue that have been drying since last Thursday. They turned out soooo cool. I will post a pic later. My phone is charging. Gib likes to play games on it and return it to me with 5% battery left.
• Taryn got a chop-chop today! She got a new hair style. Another picture is needed for sure! She took about 5" off and got it layered. It's very cute.
• On the way home I had to stop for dessert for youth group tonight. I was going to make cinnamon rolls but the yeast problem last night prevented it. So Twinkees, Ding-Dongs, and strawberry Zingers won the day. Taryn and Gib put the chicken alfredo casseroles in the oven for me and I had a whole hour to sit down before I had to run it up to church. I had a nice chat with Taryn and Gib.
• Then it was off to church, set out dinner, and then run to middle school chop-chop before all the guys finished off the food to get Mariah and another friend in youth group. Luckily church is about 3 minutes from middle school and I think there was a Twinkee or two left for the girls.

Which reminds me of another favorite expression: If ya snooze, ya lose.

20 days later

Oh wow - I am SOOOO tired. Every day. All the time.

The light at the end of the tunnel is extremely close and incredibly loud. Haha - I read that book recently. It was pretty good in a weird sort of way. I like all the times the main character said extremely and incredibly. However, I think I will stick to watching the movies first. On the plus side, I'm like a year ahead of myself since I probably won't see the movie until 2013.

On the preschool front - I am cruising along during the day, and gimping along from 3:00 on. Dr. Seuss was great, followed by weather which was less than great but still fun. Especially when we made a 3 day mural in the Eric Carle style illustrating one page from Little Cloud. What made me smile every time I looked at it, besides it being a work of art - it wasn't in my lesson plan. I just winged it one day and it ended up lasting for three days! We did two days of blue and white fingerpainting and sponge painting. Then we made aluminum foil covered blocks which we dipped in paint and then stamped on the mural to make houses and roof tops. Our fingers made tree trunks and blossoms. And someone's entire hand painted the grass. It was a glorious mess. The last step was to cut squares and rectangles for doors and windows out of paper painted earlier in the year from another class' Eric Carle study. I let everyone do it themselves gave them a glue stick and they finished our scene. I didn't see it until a few minutes later and I burst out laughing - I am especially fond of the bright red "window" in the middle of a tree that I announced must be a tree fort. It's my favorite part of the whole mural.

Cloud dough was amazingly popular and also incredibly messy. After cleaning the room/carpet after painting and tracking dough all over the room (for 45 minutes after school), I brought in an old quilt. It doubled as a king size welcome mat and picnic table. We got to eat lunch and snack on the floor picnic style while our painting project taped to our table dried. We liked going tableless for 2 1/2 days. Besides, it about took that long to get everyone cleaned up anyways and boy did I learn on day 1 not to let painty kids go within 25 feet of the carpeted areas. We went outside one nice day, ate lunch and then lay down on it to watch clouds. We called it the Cloud Walk. Then we went outside one rainy day and jumped in puddles and poked sticks in the creek. We called it the Rain Walk. Both days were awesome!
We also made our own versions of It Looked Like Spilt Milk. The kids were great at making clouds and then deciding what they looked like. When they saw the finished booklets they were all sooo proud to read them to mom's, dad's, and grandparents!

The only reason the weather unit was slightly sub-par was I came out 0-3 on science experiments. Turns out if the humidity is 100% the static balloon trick won't work. Mom says the material she gave me was wool, but I say not because my lightening experiment failed. That would be after a full minute of electrical build up involving aluminum, Styrofoam, and "wool". Good thing I had an app for lightning and thunder! And finally, the tornado in a jar that I know works, didn't work for us. No funnel cloud. Just a wimpy dust storm of red glitter. What a bummer.

So as 4 year olds exhibited in their facial expressions the respectful version of "you're lame", and after I had already explained when I was 0-2 that all scientists fail and have to try, try again, I finally pointed out with my 3rd strike "And THIS is why I paint!" To which, the most adorable and astute little gal laughed. She totally gets me. Every time she laughs at one of my jokes that go over everyone else's head I thank her for laughing and tell her to put a sticker on her Good Deeds chart. The first time I got another chuckle and when she saw I meant it, she goes, "serious?" and I'm all "Yeah, you get a sticker for laughing" Now when it happens everyone else tries to laugh sincerely about 30 seconds too late. Priceless! My little fan has received at least 5 laugh-at-Ms. Chrissie's-hilariously-sarcastic-jokes sticker rewards. When the kiddos reach 10 they get to go to the treasure box. One day I gave out a record breaking 24 to one child. It was for finding 20 examples of opposites in the classroom. The other 4 were for boring stuff like raising your hand before shouting out answers, helping a friend, doing a challenging puzzle, etc. It's a good thing I stocked the treasure box!

Which leads me to our current study of Opposites and Left/Right. I have to say so far this is my favorite! Since I know a good thing when I see it, we created (drum roll please) the Outdoor Opposites Walk! Inspiration was received when our wet/dry chalk coloring experiment outside our the classroom resulted in about 1/2" of wet chalk mud oozing on the sides of shoes. I prohibited anyone from entering the classroom and another Walk was born! We enjoyed a perfect day of sunshine as we ran to the farthest tree after gathering at the nearest tree. Found the tallest tree and the shortest shrub. Stood on stairs to see who was highest, lowest, first, last, etc. We found a basketball hoop that was down from wind and decided it was perfect for going around or going under. The kids had an easier time of the limbo move that going under required than I did. I only wish I had my camera with me, but it was on the carpet I was determined not to spend another hour cleaning! I am also enjoying our Practice Egg Hunts in the classroom twice a day. I give opposites words instructions, the best pairing being Hot/Cold if the kids need help finding it. Inside the egg have been stickers, jelly beans and this week - instructions to do something involving opposite actions with the stuffed animal that is visiting school with each child all week long. Too cute!

But the best preschool day ever was today! Taryn is home for spring break and she got to be ME today - the old me - a teacher's assitant. She even got paid! I volunteered her as an extra set of hands but when we needed a 3rd sub for the day she was IT. Taryn was, of course, fantastic and the kids loved her! Jail time at recess now involves hair styling and massaging so I highly recommended it to her and that's where I found her when I hit the playground. We worked, worked, worked today, didn't let the ink dry on her check and cashed it on the way home, got groceries, and then made cinnamon rolls. And while you are being impressed, let's consider that apparently the last time I baked was in 2010 when my yeast expired. I tested one and thought it could have grown a bit more, so decided to use 3 packets in hopes there'd be enough kick to raise the dough. That was a good call I thought. Cinnamon rolls turned out yummy and they didn't even look like intestines. I got a lot of grief and comments from my only son that they would probably be carcinogenic. Then he ate two of them right out of the oven.

Poor Mike is pulling an all nighter. He works a ton of overtime. Too bad there's no OT pay.

I took him dinner and a cinnamon roll. In between like 6 trips to the middle school for Mariah. Every day I thank the heavens above she is not in two plays. Music Man and volleyball are more than enough right now!

I know there's a silver lining in all of this. And spring break is next week!

You Can Do This Too!

On the preschool front: Dr. Seuss was fun! I have to say I'm still not the biggest fan of reading Seuss, but the kids liked it. I'm glad I made the artwork project go 3 days.

The only bummer was a barfer all over the lunch table while we were eating Thursday.... yep. My coworkers kinda laughed at me when they said they could tell by my voice that it wasn't good when I talkied for help. I moved everyone and let two other helpers clean up the mess while I stayed with the non-barfers who kept right on eating, while discussing everyplace they've ever barfed. I, however, lost my appetite and just listened and watched them chew (safety requirement) and tried in vain to redirect the conversation. The vomit clause in my contract allows me to skip that clean up duty and also I don't do spiders or insects that crunch if stepped on. But, my contract also states that if there's a problem with a bird in a classroom, a lost hamster, or a lizard on the wall, and other unforeseen incidences and happy/unhappy accidents, my number will be up, and I'll cheerfully take care of it. (There's not really a contract in writing, just so you know... it's just common knowledge!)

There are lots of Dr. Seuss books in the library center and I'll leave them there for the whole month. The next unit is weather. I'll take 2 weeks for sure on it. Maybe 3 depending on how cooperative Mother Nature and the kids are. It's anyone's guess which will be the deciding factor.

We will learn about clouds, wind, rain, thunder & lightning. I hope we see real clouds, jump in real rain puddles, fly a kite, and play in some mud. But if it's nothing but sun and blue skies, I found a couple apps for thunder and rain that should be fun without the tornadic excitement of last weekend. And you know, we could always jump in a kiddie pool with 2 inches of water in it. And then add dirt after we're done jumping in it to make mud pies. Sure hope all the kids have galoshes. The parents have been warned to hold off on those pretty spring dresses and new duds for the next couple weeks. I have lots of stuff to do within the unit - games, art, food, etc. I think I'm firing all cylinders for the Creative Curriculum we follow (math, literacy, social studies, technology, science, art & music).

All that should last a good 2 or 3 weeks! And I love it, but I really can't wait to get my old job back!

Ok, so I just made Cloud Dough for the sensory table which has a great consistency to it. It's like moon sand if you've ever felt that. It's something that kids will dig into and not leave for awhile. Easy to make too. I also saw a recipe to try for Rainbow Playdough. I'm going to compare it to my favorite playdough recipe, but what I liked was the tip to get food icing for the rainbow colors and this recipe has you add the color at the end, whereas mine it all goes in at the cooking stage.

For the curious:

Cloud Dough

8 cups flour

1 cup oil (baby oil suggested but I used regular canola blend because baby oil is toxic).

Squish

the consistency is crumbly until you squish or form it into something, until it crumbles again. It's soft and feels good!

Rainbow Playdough

2.5 cups water

1 1/4 cups salt

1 1/2 tsp cream of tartar

5 tbsp vegetable oil

2.5 cups flour

wilton food icing for color

The example was shown with 4 colors. It's probably on Pinterest somewhere. I'm not all that saavy with it yet. Anyway to make it, you mix it all together except the coloring. Cook low heat until smooth. It will be lumpy. Mix frequently until the water absorbs and sticky dough turns into a dryer looking ball not stuck to the sides of the pot anymore. Put on a counter with something like parchment paper to protect from coloring. Knead and then pat out portions and drip on color. Knead til smooth. Repeat for more intense color if needed.

Bubble Art

small cups

bubble solution (purchased or your own mix of 1 tbsp liquid soap to water)

4 tbsp paint

straws (if you take a teeny knick out of the straw below where the mouth will go to blow bubbles it will prevent soap from being accidentally sucked up).

You blow with a straw air into colored bubble solution until there's tons of bubbles overflowing. Place a piece of white paper on top of the bubbles and pop 'em. Repeat until paper is covered. You can cut out different size circles to make bubbles for hanging artwork on fridge, classroom wall, etc.

Ooh La La

It's a good thing I gave up shopping for Lent (other than groceries). Mike has suggested this sacrifice be extended beyond Easter in fact, in light of recent developments: Mariah was invited by Felicie's mother to spend July with the family in France!

Felicie's mom said they would:

• see the Eiffel Tower,
• go all around Paris
• Notre Dame cathedral
• boat ride on the Seine
• Disneyland
• the chateau of Versailles
• go to Burgandy and Champagne region (where Felicie's parents were both born. I'm pretty sure her mother's family has a vineyard. maybe all French people do, kinda like our zucchini gardens)
• Also under consideration is a trip along the Atlantic Ocean for a few days. They have a villa in Italy so I wonder....

Is that not totally awesome or what?!?! Mariah will be going with Peyton who we got to know last summer. Even after Felicie and Lillion returned to Paris, our two families have stayed in contact. Peyton's dad is in the music business and we have gone to several singer/songwriter parties at their place. In fact, he's playing at the Bluebird again and we are going this Friday to catch the round. Tickets sold out in 6 minutes, so I set an alarm and was just waiting for the online reservations to open at 8am!

The girls are sitting side by side on the flight both there and back. I'm not sure they will be seeing alot of each other while in France, as the two families may have separate plans. I imagine they might do a sightseeing and/or shopping day together. It is a once in a lifetime opportunity for them both. The other family is driving them up to Chicago as they have family there and there's a direct (nonstop) flight to Paris. I think Mariah is going to get a little mini-vacay with another family while she is at it!

Meanwhile, we are in lock-down mode to save money for all the upcoming travels. Mariah and Gib had to give up Florida which is a huge bummer! We hope maybe our favorite Floridians might head our way instead? I also had to give up a trip I hoped to go on in May. Luckily, the cruise in April to celebrate our 25th anniversary is still ON. I'm glad we don't have to give that up!

No More Waiting

We are all safe and sound after a big tornado outbreak. My head kept telling me nothing to worry about much. Still, I moved the vacuum cleaner out of the tornado closet and unlocked the door to the Man Cave in case we had to seek underground shelter. The Bubble of No Trouble lived up to its reputation. The kids were let out of school at 11 in anticipation of severe and life threatening weather, but we were spared. Praise God! Did you see some of those photos??? We waited around all day to see what was going to come our way and were glad nothing much did.

And, here's another thing some people have been waiting for:

I had to give away my red & white Cat in the Hat bag to another child who was absent the day we painted the red stripes so she could get straight to work on the white stripes that was the project kicking off our day. I meant to do one for her after school the day before, but forgot. So mine's plain brown instead of red and white. Everyone's was slightly different and oh so adorable. On Thursday we finished it with glitter glue, feathers and sequins which also aren't on mine. I wish you could see the class photo but I can't put that kind of stuff out on the internet. The kids were alot cuter!

Remember the Rock? Part Christmas gift to Grammy and part anniversary gift from Grammy to us... well, we've been waiting and waiting for new inventory since Ronnie said the other choices were too big, except for one and it was #3 on the like list.

Today we made it out there and it didn't take us long to find a new favorite rock. It's the one falling off the pile as the dude moves a bunch of pallets to get to our rock and then separates it to go get it weighed and tagged. Can you believe you buy a huge rock by the pound?!

I can't believe we don't have a geologist or two in the family - we love rocks!

We are so excited to put this baby in the yard.

The new "smaller" rock weighs around 450 lbs. At .25 a lb it came to a little over $100. We were pleased at the price too. Hopefully Ronnie will agree that he can get it into our yard with his machinery. Or we'll have to go back to the rockyard, and it's just getting dangerous. Grammy spotted a giant stone goose. She looked at it but I firmly said, '"NO!" She loved her Aflack Goose but somebody broke off its beak playing jokes on her with it.