February 2013

As I was looking for this month's pictures, I realized that I never pulled out my camera.  Luckily, I at least got some shots on my phone.  It doesn't help that we had an extended stomach bug that had us out of commission for awhile.  We did valentines, but the boys wanted store bought Kung Fu Panda and Angry Bird ones so no cute little Valentine Day crafts.

I have started having Ryan and Justin each make their own calendar each month.  This is Ryan's.  He traces the numbers and draws a picture to go with the month.  It gives good practice writing numerals, gaining a sense for days, weeks, and months, and gives us the chance to talk about upcoming events.  I make a monthly calendar each month as well and they can refer to it to know what happens on what day.

Justin is quite the reader.  Ryan would rather play on the wii.  We are working on some basic sight words.  He loves making simple sentences when Mario, Luigi, and some of his other favorites are involved.

The boys both did golf ball painting.  It's like marble painting, but with a golf ball.

Painting on shapes.  Some of them became targets for various games.

Balloons from the Dollar Store!  Each balloon was weighted down by a toy.  Beanbag toys were thrown at the balloons and points awarded for each one hit.

Justin's 100 Days of School necklace.  Each group of 10 Fruit Loops is divided by a tab labeling the count.

The boys cut and pasted to make Koopas.  Yay, Mario!  I found the template at chicaandjo.com. 

Obviously we had to make Marios.  I had to put both boys' on the blog too.  I found a Mario coloring picture, printed it out enlarged, and then used it to help me make a template so the boys could cut and paste.

They also made the goomba mushrooms.  The templates for them is also from chicaandjo.com.  I wish the site had more templates because I don't have an artistic bone in my body.

Justin made this dinosaur.  It is quite different from Ryan's dinosaur below.  They both had fun though.  They also enjoyed using stencils to trace various shapes.

January 2013

January meant Rob had to leave Idaho and go to Washington DC for training.  Before he left we decided to have a mini vacation.  We went to the Mobius Science Center in Spokane, ate at Carl's Jr (with a play area of course), and stayed at the Holiday Inn.  We enjoyed swimming in the pool and then we went to bed.  In the morning, Rob took the shuttle to the airport and I returned to Coeur d'Alene with the boys.  It was nice to have some time together before being separated again.

A lot more snow than we have seen in awhile.  The boys enjoy it, but I wasn't missing it.

We got the boys swimming again.  They have lessons twice a week and I take them once a week just to have fun.

Ryan and I made a "Hey Diddle Diddle" nursery rhyme book.  This is the cover.

 

We talked a little bit about wants and needs.  Probably a good thing to talk about in December before Christmas and birthdays.

The boys REALLY enjoy collage type projects that involve markers, plastic shapes, feathers, and stickers.  I don't find them particularly exciting or beautiful, but they have fun.

We made snowflakes and talked about symmetry.

Experiment! Baking soda and vinegar blew up our balloon!

Justin labeled the steps in his notebook.

 

December 2012

December is a busy month with Christmas and the boys' birthdays.  This December is the first in three years with snow.  Christmas just feels more like Christmas when it is winter.  We took advantage of the winter weather by sledding, building snowmen, having snowball fights, and seeing the Christmas lights.

 

The experiment!  Justin wanted to put marbles and some other things into water tinted with food coloring to see what would change color and what wouldn't.

We read a little about Hanukkah and played dreidel.  I had the boys make tally marks to show how the dreidel landed and then we graphed our results.

We went to the CdA resort to have their famous gooey desserts and to see the Christmas lights in the downtown area.


 

The boys have really enjoyed building different marble runs.

We made "gingerbread" houses out of graham crackers, frosting, and candy.  Ryan ate more candy that he used on his house.

We decorated Christmas trees.  The boys really like the peel and stick foam stickers.  Basically the more they peel and stick, the better.

Sledding on Cherry Hill!  I can't believe I let Ryan go down alone.

Play doh!  Grandma doesn't mind the clean up as much as I do.  I swear they somehow get it all over.

Our snowman.

Snow angels.

Down the hill in the yard.  Not as big as Cherry Hill, but still fun.

My baby turned four.  I can't believe it.

My big boy turned 6. :)

November 2012

November was a busy month for travel!  Rob arrived from Namibia right before Halloween and just got time to settle in before Kathryn and her parents left for Brooklyn.  Meredith married her partner, Jordan, and Rob was left behind in Idaho with the kids for a few days.  When Kathryn returned to Idaho, she did laundry and packed for the family trip to Seattle to see Grandma and Grandpa Weber.  From there we drove on to Portland to see Cho, Amy, and cousins.  

 

Fast food is still a bit of a novelty after being in Namibia.  Ryan loved his Burger King crown and the Mario moustache "prize" from his meal.

Justin finally found a tree that he could climb.  Grandma and Papa have a lot of trees, they are just primariliy really tall pine trees.  The cherry tree is a cinch to get up and down.  The boys thought climbing was more fun than raking.  Who can blame them?

Yep, we ate out again.  Ryan wrote IHOP on the back of the kids menu.  IHOP is a favorite with the boys.

We stayed near the Space Needle in Seattle.  The boys liked riding the monorail.  The driver let them sound the horn before we left.  They thought that was cool.  Grandma Weber joined us in Seattle and then we drove out to their house in Port Hadlock, WA.  The boys enjoyed the ferry.

The dinosaur exhibit at the Pacific Science Center was one of many cool exhibits.  We spent many hours at the museum and the boys would probably move in if they had the opportunity.

Seattle Aquarium is not really worth the visit in my opinion.  Perhaps we have been to too many really good aquariums.  The boys loved playing with the aquatic themed flannel board more than checking out the exhibits.  There were a few interesting things though.

I thought that the boys would enjoy seeing the diver cleaning the giant tank in the aquarium.  They wanted to move through at a rather fast pace.  A bit surprising since aquariums are generally popular with them.

Justin enjoyed the window seat Grandma and Grandpa Weber have in their living room.  It would be fun to have a little reading and writing nook for him to settle in.

In Oregon the boys enjoyed playing Pokemon with their cousins.  They really enjoyed just about everything as long as they could be with their cousins.  I wish we lived a little bit closer.

Cho and Soup at the OMSI.  Science can be a hair raising experience.  We go to the OMSI almost every time we go to Portland. 

Krispy Kreme is always an important stop when we visit cousins in Portland.

My kids don't like pizza, but they love Out of This World Pizza, which they call Pizza Planet.  It has so much for them to do and the pizza is decent which is nice for the adults. :)

Back in Coeur d Alene I took the boys out for an eagle watching picnic.  We saw a few eagles and had a great time despite the cold weather.