Puppets

Logan came up with another craft idea after looking through The Friend, making puppets. Logan wanted to make a vampire:

Ali made a cute blue-whiskered cat:

And, of course, Eli had to get in on the action. But he just wanted eyes on his paper:

To tell the truth, the play acting lasted about two minutes and then Logan decided he just wanted a bag and tore all the art work off, and then Ali did too, but it was fun while it lasted.

Parent Day

I got to go to the best Parent Day. We went into a big room with lots of tables and plenty of room, and made costumes out of paper bags. The kids were supposed to pick their favorite character from a book to impersonate. Ali was a My Little Pony dressed for a ball and Logan was a Lego Fireman. Obviously:)

Here is Logan with some great school friends Edgar (Mario), Ava (a monkey from a Naughty Monkey book), and Jared (the mouse from the If You Give a Mouse a Cookie books).

Magna Tiles

Logan has played with the magna tiles at his school almost exclusivly for the past two years, so I suggested to his grandparents that he might like some for Christmas. He did, and so did Ali and Eli. They are easily the most played with toy in our house, by all of them. I am constantly amazed at the structures they come up with. (Magna Tiles have magnets along all their edges making them easily connectable, they are colorful and yet slightly see-through. I'd never seen them before Pre-School, and I have only seen them online, not in stores.)

They build houses, cages, spaceships and cars. They always have doors that can open to the inside so their toys can go in. Everyday they come up with something new. I love these toys and the creativity they inspire.

Fireman

Grandma and Grandpa Eldredge, I promise that we don't usually play with the toys we borrow from you this way, but this was too cute. I had to snap a picture before I told my little fireman to get off his firetruck before he broke it:)

Coldy

This one is a coldy like his mom!

Fashion Sense

She was so proud of herself for doing her own hair.

Ready for Summer

This little guy looks as ready for summer as I feel!

8AM

Three things happen in the mornings around here that make me a very happy mommy. #1 All of my kids are at a fairly self-sufficient age (where at least they can play well together unsupervised without wrecking havoc on each other or my house), #2 Jason gets Eli out of his crib when he goes downstairs for work around 6:45am, and gets the kids all breakfast, and #3 Ali and Logan have afternoon preschool. So, why do these three things make me happy? Added together they equal the fact that most mornings I feel no need to get out of bed before 8am! I do sometimes come down to find the TV turned on, the candy bowl raided, or huge messes, but these occurences are actually quite rare. Most days I come down to find three happy kids, playing nicely. I also often find fantastic forts (for some reason this seems to be a morning activity).

For a little while I wondered if I should feel guilty about this neglect. I quickly decided not to. This is a small, magic window of time that will soon disappear. The kids don't seem to mind one bit, and of course know where to find me if there is a real problem. And this mommy is so much happier with a little more sleep. We all (but mostly me) win!

Their Spots

Much like Sheldon of The Big Bang Theory, my kids all have their "spots" on the couch. This fact is well known around here, and if anyone is found to be sitting in someone's spot, they are expected to move when the person whose spot it is asks them to; and most of the time the person moves without complaint, acknowledging that they were in fact sitting in someone else's spot.

Wind Chime

Logan was so thrilled with this wind chime he made while the kids were all helping me bake. I rewarded his creativity by hanging the beautiful creation out on our front tree for a few weeks:)

Photo Spree

The kids got ahold of my camera. After scolding them I laughted as I deleted the 100 or so pictures they took, including this gem.