Airplanes

Thursday's summer activity was to make paper airplanes... but not your typical paper airplane. Again, I found inspiration from pinterest and found these paper and straw airplanes to make. They were quick and easy to make and once again the kids had a blast playing with them. If I were to do them again I would let the kids color the paper first and then make the airplane. After making the planes they took them upstairs to the playroom and flew them all around. Another great summer activity! Later in the day we practiced writing the letter A, for Airplane!

Wednesday:

Wednesday's activity was to make a photo collage using old magazines. I took poster boards and drew a tree on them and then gave the kids magazines, scissors, and glue. They cut out lots of pictures and had fun gluing them inside the tree. They spent about an hour this morning cutting and gluing, it was a great start to our day! After they were done with that part I printed preschool worksheets with the letter T and pictures of trees for the kids to practice writing. Heidi loves practicing her letters and Noah is finally starting to get interesting in writing letters. Ben said it sounds like I'm homeschooling the kids, but trust me... this is just a way to keep the kids from getting bored this summer.

Summer Fun

This summer I have made a list of summer activities we are going to do.

Each day we'll pick one activity, some will be indoor activities and some will be outdoor. Today's activity was to make homemade ice cream. The kids were very excited about this one. We followed the recipe from a blog I found on pinterest: http://www.vippins.com/how-to-make-homemade-ice-cream-in-a-baggie/.

I set all the ingredients out in cups and bowls before we started so the kids could pour in each thing by themselves. Then they stirred the mixture and finally I shook the mixture till it was thick like ice cream. Heidi tried to shake it, but it was too cold for her hands. Noah didn't even try. The kids were so excited to eat the ice cream they made themselves. It was a fun start to our summer vacation.

Preschool Lessons

Here are some lessons I, the mommy, has learned from preschool:

1. Empty your child's shoes before coming in the house, otherwise you'll have half the playground on your living room floor. (lesson learned on Sept. 6, 2011)

2. Little girls need to wear shorts under their dresses, especially if your child is a "monkey" on the playground. (lesson learned on Sept. 8, 2011)

Craft Time

My kids love crafts and there is a store in Austin, Lakeshore Learning Store, that offers free crafts on Saturday. We went today for the first time in a long time and had a great time. Today's craft was making a presidential briefcase, in honor of President's Day coming up. The kids got to glue on sparkly dots, foam shapes, stars, and other crafty type items. They also got to blot dots on their briefcases to add color. They spent about 30 minutes working on their briefcases, it was so much fun to watch both kids be so focused on one activity. After that we walked around the store and played with many of the toys the employees had set out on small tables. The kids had a blast and it was a great way to spend a Saturday while Ben was at work.

Snow Day

Last week we had our annual snow day of the year. Here in Austin we usually get one day in February that we get a small amount of snow. This year it snowed overnight and when we woke up our yard was covered in snow. Well, I don't know about "covered" since you could still see some grass sticking up, but it was enough for us. When Heidi woke up I took her to the window and had her look outside. In the softest most innocent voice she said, "snoooooooooow." She was so excited to see snow again. Noah gave the snow the funniest look. Last year for the snow day he was only 13 months old, not really old enough to remember the snow. When he looked outside his eyebrows furrowed and he stared at the white stuff covering his outdoor toys.

After breakfast the kids got bundled up, and of course I could not find both of Noah's gloves so he was stuck with wearing one of my gloves. He didn't mind. After we were all dressed we went outside to play in the snow. The kids couldn't wait to attack that snow. Heidi immediately fell into the snow and made a snow angel. Next she wanted to make a snowman, but the snow was too powdery and wouldn't stick together. Noah walked around and looked at all his toys in shock of the snow on them. After some play time the kids and daddy tried to have a snowball fight, but again the snow wouldn't stick. Instead of snowballs they had a snow-dusting fight. It was very cute and fun.






After all the outdoor excitement we went inside and cuddled by the fire to warm up. Unfortunately the snow didn't last long. The sun came out and by noon most of the snow had melted. One day of snow is enough for us here in Austin. We're looking forward to next year's snow day.

Heidi-isms

Heidi is such a talker and often says things that we just can't believe came from her mouth. So here a few:

As we were walking through Kohl's Sunday night Ben and I heard her say, "Sucks for you mommy". I asked her what she said and she stopped in her tracks and said it again. Then I noticed she stopped right in front of a display of women's socks. "SOCKS for you mommy." (1/30/11)

During bedtime prayers Heidi prayed, "and God can you help my mommy to follow my directions the first time I say them." (1/31/11)

After tripping over a toy in the play room she got out her pretend phone and called her daddy. Here's how the conversation went, "Daddy can you come home now? I just lost my balance and can't seem to find it." (2/1/11)

"Today is Tuesday and the next day is Threes-Day". (2/8/11)