February Photo Roundup

Back by popular demand (OK, not really, but stay with me) is this month's collection of random photos that don't quite merit their own post, but which I can't resist putting on the blog anyway.

Lately Anna has decided it's cool to hang out in the toy bin.  She's fun to play with, so I guess it works.

Joy brought home these nifty shades on the hundredth day of kindergarten a few weeks ago . . .

. . . and yesterday was her school's Crazy Hat Day (in honor of Dr. Seuss's birthday), so Joy decorated her beanie thusly.

She also enjoys playing Ticket to Read on our computer.  I think the program expects kids her age to read slower (and, uh, not be reading chapter books on their own yet), so it sometimes assumes she went through a passage too fast to have actually processed it, and it makes her read the passage again.  Sheesh.

This morning, Pink Grandma came over to play and brought a big ball track, which the big kids thought was really fun.

Finally, last week I saw all this at a local train station.  At first I thought Mitt Romney was gearing up for the 2016 election (already?!?), but it turned out everything was just props for an HBO show about journalists.  The things you see when you live near Hollywood.

P is for "Preschool"

It was my turn to teach Daniel's preschool today.  Our focus was on the letter P, so . . .

. . . I made Puzzles . . .

. . . we Practiced writing the letter P . . .

. . . then made P's with Pink and Purple Pipe Cleaners.  And yes, Daniel is wearing his Pajamas.  I'd like to say that I Planned that to coincide with P Day, but I think you know better than that.

The kids took a break to Play with trains . . .

. . . and blocks.

The trains even went off-roading at one Point.

Joy joined us as we used Q-tips to Paint Polka-dotted P's Pink and Purple.

I noticed that the kids Painted neatly inside their letter at first, but as time wore on some of them began to think outside the P.  It was fun to see how each of them chose to Paint (e.g. solidly inside the letter, Polka dots everywhere, chaotic squiggles, etc.).  I'm sure a child Psychologist could draw some interesting conclusions from those dots and squiggles, but frankly I'm too Pooped to think about it much right now.

Four Years Young

Our big boy turns four years old this month!

As he ate his first breakfast as a four-year-old, he even wore the birthday crown his older sister lovingly made for him.

She's also been decorating our home with cars (can you tell Francesco is her favorite?) . . .

. . . and math problems (8 - 4 = 4, as in 4 years old, get it?).

This evening the relations joined us for Daniel's birthday party.

Of all the gifts he received, Daniel seemed most impressed by the socks.

So was Uncle Sean, apparently.

I Heart V-Day

Happy Valentine's Day!

Earlier this week, someone at church organized a Valentine party at the park for all the little kids and their moms.

Anna had a great time playing on the slide.

Daniel was more interested in the treats . . . 

. . . and the puzzle he scored in the gift exchange.

Pink Grandma brought us her traditional Valentine cookies today.  Yay!

Lastly, I know the picture is blurry, but I just had to include it.  "See ya"?  "Get real"?  Since when did conversation hearts get snarky?

Early Valentine's Day

Red Grandma paid us an early Valentine's Day visit this afternoon.

She came bearing gifts . . .

. . . then helped the big kids decorate cupcakes.

Anna is a little young to be wielding a jar of sprinkles, but the Valentine book Grandma brought her was an instant hit.  She's requested it several times since then.

Dots, Stickers, and Family Pictures

The big kids were in an artistic mood today. 

Since Daniel's birthday is coming up, Joy traced Francesco Bernoulli from her Cars 2 coloring book and made a special hat for her brother.

Looks like he's not quite sure what he thinks of it.

The hundredth day of kindergarten is approaching, and each child has been asked to bring a poster board with 100 things attached to it (e.g. leaves, pennies, etc.).  Joy opted to paint 100 polka dots on her board, then she added a few stickers at the bottom for good measure.

Daniel felt inspired to make his own sticker creation (Christmas is never really out of season, right?) . . .

. . . then Joy decided to make one, too.

Meanwhile, Anna had fun looking through a family photobook I made a year or two ago.  It's certainly not in pristine condition anymore, but I'm glad the kids have enjoyed it.  Besides, it's not a final draft that I'd want to keep on a shelf forever, since there are several mistakes and this edition only includes two of our kids.  Fortunately, Anna hasn't objected to that yet.  At this point, she's mainly concerned with finding pictures of Daddy.