classe d'arte

benvenuti in arte classe!

we are teaching various extracurricular-type classes in our little preschool group and i jumped at the chance to teach art.

 we had so much fun yesterday!

i was a little worried that we had too many projects to accomplish, but these kiddos are so artistic, we were able to fit it all in.

i wanted to give a little history, so we looked at a lot of paintings by some of the masters, traveled to italy and holland and spain to see where they lived, what kind of foods they ate, i sang some songs while the kids looked at me like i was a wacko and then we tried to duplicate a few of the easier, more abstract pieces.

they did awesome!

i couldn't be a more proud teacher!

check 'em out:

creating our

Henri Matisse

masterpieces

our 

Jackson Pollock

masterpieces

  rather than letting three preschoolers splatter paint, even though they would have loved it, we kept it clean by placing a piece of card stock in a paper plate and rolling marbles around the plate that were covered in paint. it was a blast and i think i am going to make my own soon :) they turned out incredible!!!

and last but not least;

Pablo Picasso

masterpieces

the whole world in our hands

i was inspired by

one charming party's homemade globe idea 

and thought we'd give it a go.

it was not a project for the faint of heart.

it took several days to complete and there were a few times the kids lost interest.

and, truth be told, there were a few times i got pretty frustrated with it myself.

BUT! now we have a globe that we get to study and learn all about.

these kids are always asking about various places, how far away it is, who lives there, etc. 

like ellie's random, current obsession with "the Ashanti peoples" as she calls them. or jack's hunger for information on the american indians. we always turn to the internet. i thought this might make things a little more hands on for them to visualize and, come on, 

who doesn't love a globe?

mixing the paper mache

and applying

we did three layers. i would suggest doing at least one more. ours is a bit flimsy and it even dried a bit lopsided on top, which ticks me off :)

then two coats of paint

 and painting, cutting out, gluing, and mod podging our continents and oceans in place

big brothers

charlie is almost 16 months.

he is the exact age that jack was when ellie was born.

i can't imagine what it would be like to go through that again.

seriously.

i wouldn't be able to, because those first 6 months with ellie are pretty much a blur in my memory. I'm not sure if its because i hardly slept, had a baby that screamed 24 hrs a day, and i had some pretty bad postpartum depression or if i have just chosen to forget most of those days. probably a combination of the two.

charlie is exactly like jack was. both boys more physically capable then their young brains could handle. like jack, charlie is a climber and gets onto/into everything. he won't eat in his highchair so most days i am following him around, spoon-feeding him as he runs. which, in case you were wondering, results in banana handprints and yogurt smudges all over the place. with three little ones, i can't keep up with the messes. they seem to mutate and multiply like rabbits. jack always had bruises and cuts all over (as seen in the pic below), charlie seems to fair a little better in that regard. 

i am so grateful that jack and ellie were close together, because if it was going to happen, the first and second children seem like the only time i would have been able to keep up with it all! my memories of that time seem to start flowing around ellie's 6 month mark. she was much MUCH happier then, and as a result, so were chris and i. I'm also very grateful that we don't have another little one arriving any moment so i can focus on charlie and enjoy this happy time with his laughs and smiles. and some day, enjoy that special newborn time with another baby brower. some day.

just for fun, here are jack and charlie's weight/height comparisons from our doctor's visits. jack might be the big brother age-wise, but charlie seems to be the bigger brother of the two! although i think jack had a little more hair :)

charlie: 29 lbs 10oz

jack: 24 lbs 15oz

(jack)

charlie: 34.84 in

jack: 31.3 in

(charlie)

doughboys = yumminess

last week we received a gift from uncle reed, our favorite cathy (as ellie calls aunt cathy), kayla, cade, and daniel. it was a set of doughboy sticks! we had no clue what doughboys were, but knowing reed and cathy, we were sure they were going to be awesome. 

and they are! we have been converted to the doughboy ways!

the basic idea for a doughboy is cooking some dough, like a biscuit, over a fire and making a little bowl to fill with all sorts of wonderful concoctions.

we each made a taco style doughboy for dinner, filled with meat, cheese, salsa, and a creamy lime-cilantro dressing. scrumdilliumptious!

then for dessert: a yummy nutella-whipped cream and strawberry filling. 

these were so tasty and very, very fun to make. the kids loved 'em. i definitely see this being a favorite summertime dinner/activity.

thanks loertscher family!!!

also, congratulations to larissa for winning our 300th post quiz question!!!

the answer was white wedding by billy idol.

(which i now hate, btw)

you can contact me via e-mail to collect your prize.

just kidding!

i'll be in touch, my friend.

and a few easter pics thrown in for good measure

 not only did the kids have "the best easter we never had!" as ellie proclaimed, but they also got to go out for ice cream for FHE the next night, thanks to the best grandpa and grandma brower in the whole world! these kids even received a cherry on top of their cones. thanks granny and grandpa!!!

we tried really hard to teach the kids about why we have easter and for the first time, i think they were able to pick up on it. its fun to see them enjoying these special holidays, but its even more enjoyable watching them come to understand who our Savior is and why we celebrate Him.

egg-stra! egg-stra!

we had an

eggstra

specteggular

eggstravaganza

this afternoon