Coins

Coins! We've worked on coins before but it didn't seem to stick. I'm realizing that much of this parenting/teaching thing just means to introduce topics over and over and in different ways. It's ok if they don't get it the first time, or if it seems it goes over their head.

So Emmett did coin rubbings and wrote the coin names.

Eisley pulled coins out of her putty (basically silly putty). The two year olds tried to do the coin rubbings but it didn't work very well. That's ok! They still have fun being part of the group.

And I finished my pillow, following THIS fabulous tutorial.

Giving away his toys

Today Emmett told me that he wanted to go through his toys to give some away to kids to who don't have as many. We had the sweetest conversation about his desire to give to others. He also told me that when we "run out of money" that people will help us. So, we went through our ottoman of (mostly McDonalds) toys. We had a give bag and a save pile (yes, the save pile is much larger). He even chose to give some of the toys "still likes" to other kids. I love the heart of this boy!

CAT

Emmett drew this picture all by himself. Drew it and labeled it himself. Didn't look at a picture of a cat, didn't ask us how to spell cat...totally on his own.

And the sweetest part was that he "made it for his sister to cheer her up."

Snow inside!

I love playing OUTSIDE in the snow.

But sometimes playing INSIDE in the snow is even better!

Ender even got to play!

Hanging out with Grandpa

We hung out with my dad tonight. What a fun treat! After eating dinner we walked or slipped on the ice a bit.

Puzzle Jumping Game

We played a fun game today. Here's how to play.

Grab a puzzle piece off the window cill,

climb up onto the bed,

jump to the other end of the bed,

jump off the bed into a pile of blankets and pillows (careful not to jump onto your baby brother),

place the puzzle piece in the puzzle.

Repeat over and over until the kids run out of energy (we even got out our alphabet puzzle with 26 pieces). Make sure to have "rockstar" music playing in the background.

Isn't she fabulous?

How I love these two!

Just looking at this picture makes me heart jump with love!

Roll over baby!

dI love photographing this kid for a few reasons, 3 of which I will share in this post.

1) He doesn't run away from me or put up a fuss when I pull out my camera.

2) Look at those eyes.

3) He rolled from his back to his tummy for the first time today (thanks editor Eric!).

Ice Cream

When your child brings you the tub of ice cream, the ice cream scoop and a bowl, how could one possibly say "no" to that child's request for ice cream. For the record, that child was Emmett. These photos are of Eisley because I couldn't get over how cute her little lip looked as she tried to get every last drip of that mint chocolate chip!

Cootie Game

What is going on here? You may be asking yourself. Well, it's a game of "Climb up and down the stairs like a snake to make your Cootie" game. I'm accepting suggestions for a better title for this game.

Basically they rolled the dice and then depending on which number they rolled, that is the body piece they could chose to add to their "cootie". Like most of the activities we did, the 4ish year olds loved it, one of the 2 year olds enjoyed it temporarily and the other 2 year old enjoyed observing. Great heavy work!

Paper Snowflakes

A great craft for Emmett, who is quite good at using a scissor. The others struggled with this one a bit. We used both construction paper and coffee filters. The bonus of the coffee filters was that they are already circular so you just have to fold and cut. Also the coffee filters are very light so they are easier to cut. Unfortunately I don't have any pictures of the coffee filter snow flakes, but they're basically the same, just white.

Step 1: Fold and draw your design.

Steps 2-4: Unfold

Step 5: Tada!

Despite my persistent instruction on the proper way to hold a scissor, Eisley decided that her own way was much more efficient.

Handome Boy

My little photo shoot of this handsome little boy.

Flour

I've been wanting to do a non pencil/paper writing/letter/number activity with the kids for a while. I had thought about letting them draw with their fingers in a pan of shaving cream, but when my friend blogged about using flour in a similar sort of way, I decided to go that route this morning instead. Let's just say the 4ish year olds loved it. The 2 year olds loved sprinkling the flour everywhere except in the pan.

Camera Game

Eric played a really fun game with the kids today. He took a few up-close pictures with our point and shoot camera. Then he'd show the picture to the kids and they'd have to guess what the picture was of. The kids had a blast. It was amazing how they often would guess the object before I did! So fun!

Uno Moo aka Farm

We got a new game tonight. Uno Moo (unofficially, Uno Farm)! The kids loved it. I'd highly recommend it for this age group. Even Eisley was able to play with just a bit of assistance. The game basically consists of matching colors or animals. The only pieces are the colored animal figures and the barn. Very simple and fun.

Then we had to photograph the boys in their coordinating snowboarding monster attire.

And the very bizarre photos of all 3 kids who were just moments from bedtime and definitely acting like it.