Beyond Binkies, Code and Make-Believe

Strawberry Jam - unplanned

Our daughter had an idea. She invited her best friend over to make jam for our son's lunch.  We had some Unger Farm strawberries that were bordering on jam already.

I love meatballs

...Especially when they're made out of sand!  I don't like them when they are alive."
This was one of our lighter moments to a day filled with snotty attitudes, meltdowns, arguing, kicking, fighting, poking, etc.. Ahh, summer!  There's nothing like it.

Scooby Doo is better than Daiwa

We had our first experience fishing as family.  This didn't just involve the day we fished, but the days leading up to it with selecting the rod, talking about bait, practicing at the campsite and then buying the worms that morning.  Our children were practicing with their rubber fish dangling from their Scooby Doo and Spiderman rods.  We had our spinner off our Daiwa entry-level rod.

Frank Sinatra - a great way to end the day

I rarely go on YouTube - I do it when I want to see old, dead stars singing great songs.  I miss them.  Frank, Gene, Fred, Bing, Judy.  Here's how I'm ending my night, "Fly me to the moon."

Sidewalk Chalk - it must be summer

In our neighborhood, a sure sign of summer can be seen as we walk through the neighborhood each evening.  We are able to enjoy the ever-changing local art scene.

Barefoot gardening not always a good idea

It was an amazing day today.  The afternoon had those sporadic, fluffy clouds, 68 degrees and a very slight breeze. Perfect time to wrap up my work day and head out to the yard with our son.  He and I were each armed with rakes. He told me he'd be back because he wanted to run inside and get his bright green Crocs.  I chose to go native and stay barefooted.  A lot of times this works out fine.  Not today. We were mulching the spruce tree.

Now you and Mace can play with Leia and me.

Father's Day was much more fun than Mother's Day.  Just a timing thing.  The children, especially our daughter, prepared from the day after Mother's Day until last night for this event.  She's thoughtful and yet always looks out for number one.

Claude Monet - Beyond Waterlillies

The final art/lit project for this school year was a project inspired by the work of Claude Monet.  We were dealing with a short period of time and wanted them to better grasp his style, inspiration and tools.  We gave the children the history of plen aire painting and how paint in tubes revolutionized the art world and the freedom artists could experience with portable supplies.

Rembrandt and print making

For this Art/Lit project, I wouldn't have thought of print making for studying Rembrandt.  I'm just the volunteer.  So with kindergarten students s we embarked on the inky journey to teaching them about Rembrandt through foam scratch pads, ink, ink rollers and a lot of newspaper.

"Kung Fu Panda" Had Us Laughing and Wincing

I stooped to bribing our son today. He desperately needed a haircut. I dangled, "Kung Fu Panda" out there in exchange for a grief-free haircut.  We were OK until he saw the clippers come out.  Then he panicked and blurted out in barely discernible sentences, "I'm just going inside... I don't want to see the movie... I need to be inside... My hair is perfect."