Happy Pi Day!

For Pi Day we made tiny pies! It turns out that none of the girls actually like pie but they liked making them!

Our process was to make dough circles (a trick with no rolling pin...another one of my Michigan treasures!).



Then we made the dough circles into pie shell bottoms.








Filled them with apple chunks.








Cut designer tops.








Then I filled them with this boiling caramel sauce and baked them. The pie tops I made were a secret Happy Pi Day code.

B is for Bed

"Manda, this book will be my blankie"

Now say it with me..."awwwww"

B is for Books!

We just got back and you can tell by looking at us that the girls had a great time. Ash Lee is covered in purple juice and markers (I've anti-stain-stuffed it so they should come out), Scout's hair looks like it hasn't been brushed in a couple of weeks, Sydney looks a little wilty from sweating and I look about 3...maybe 4 years older.

First things first, STORY TIME! We made it to story time just as they were starting the first book. I had such high hopes for this. I thought the "Professional Storyteller" would not just read a boring book in a monotone. I thought the "craft" would be something kids could actually do. I thought the snack would be something semi-healthy. I thought the "Singing Time" would not be the "Professional Story Teller" shuffling through a book of finger plays and trying to remember how 'Rain Rain Go Away' goes. April Fools! Oh. Wait. It's April 2nd. The girls loved it though. Which gives me a ray of hope that my inept juggling of circle time looks slightly more graceful in their non-jaded cynic-free cute l'il eyeballs.

We lost Scout, found her again (no it wasn't that easy or that trauma free but it's over and I'll pay for therapy later) and headed over to the play place.

Someone needs to write their doctorate on the social dynamics of a mall play place. The disheveled veteran mothers in their yoga pants, the hyper-vigilant new moms with their constant look of panic, the socially starved Chatty-Kathies, the worn out grandmas, the awkward, out-of-place grandpas...and then the kids. 4 year olds rule the roost in these things. They are the oldest kids (during the school day anyway) and they have almost super-human large motor skills (they can climb toddler sized steps in a single bound!). The 3 year olds don't care what-the-heck anyone else is doing, they just gotta dance! The 2 year olds are frustrated that their slippery socks won't let them climb as fast as they want to and the babies...the poor babies. I spent a good portion of my time up-righting the poor tipped-over babies.

It was great to see all 3 girls really shine and let their alpha-female personalities come out. They all 3 had these troops that followed them around, up the slide, over the turtle, dancing at the mirror. I don't think they noticed what a fan club they each had but I was proud of how kind and patient they were with the kids around them.

Then to lunch! I brought sack lunches but the capri suns were woefully inadequate. Luckily we were right next to a Jamba Juice. Banana Berry is really stainy. Sorry about that.

Off to the library! The girls played in the dollhouse and each of them put on a puppet show for the other two. We picked out books (Sydney: Curious George, Scout: How to be a Princess, Ash Lee: Wide Mouthed Frog). I picked up a book on parenting and all the children's books I had on hold.

Now we're back. The girls are playing some game that involves an imaginary Scout and going to the store.

B is for Budding Authors!

We read a book called Barn Dance! by Bill Martin Jr. and John Archambault (they wrote Chicka Chicka Boom Boom if you're wondering why those names sound so familiar). The girls liked pointing to all the different animals and finding the "skinny kid" as the owl ushered in the "magic time" and the scarecrow began to fiddle.

We listed all the animals in the book and talked about what we knew about them. There were the regular farm crew: pigs, cows, chicken, sheep, horses, goats, mules, mice, geese; and the other "country kin": raccoons, foxes, bunnies, porcupines, crows, skunks and pigeons.

The girls made all the animal noises for the farm animals but some of those other critters were a little more perplexing...what does a porcupine say anyway? Ash Lee let us know raccoons say "Raccoon, Raccoon" but there were some interesting suggestions when we got to the others.

I found a fun book at the library that had pages to reproduce and make our own books. It's published by Scholastic and called 25 Fun-Filled Collaborative Books. I found it at the library a couple of weeks ago and have been waiting for Book week to use it. If you're looking for good summer activities I think this would be fun for the older kids too.

We made our own version of Barn Dance! featuring the 3 girls and their choice of animal dance partners. They learned that making a book was hard work...even a 3 page book!

At circle time they all read their books to each other and all of them were very proud of their accomplishment. I think they all also enjoyed the chance to "read" to their buddies. I think we'll need to do this more often.

We're Baaaack!

Our trip to the Portland Children's Museum was a big hit. It had it's high points and low points, it's sticky points and its sweaty points, but all-in-all, it was a triumph. Here's a blow-by-blow:

We left around 10:30 but by the time I stopped to get gas we were just too hungry to go on. I busted out the PB&J and the kids went to town.

When we got there it was raining with a mix of snow. We ran in and quickly realized that we weren't the only one to have the clever idea of going to the Children's Museum on a soggy Spreak Break Wednesday. The place was packed to the brim with tiny kids suffering from some serious Ritalin withdrawal and their pampering lumbering grandparents. It was like a commercial for Playskool meets Depends. Very strange.


The kids thought the building section was a little dull. Ash Lee liked the hats and the older kids liked running to the top level to bang down on the portholes at us.


The boys ran off to find the digging pit while the girls explored the medical area. There was an ambulance with flashing lights, a working receptionist area and anatomically correct baby dolls. The girls found a little fold out couch and got comfy.


We made it in time to "Jam with Johnny." We sang Wheels on the Bus, If You're Happy & You Know It, I've Been Working On The Railroad, Miss Mary Mack and many other public domain songs ...along with some Original Works (available on CD in the gift shop). It was...long. It only lasted half an hour but Johnny managed to make it feel like a whole week of wholesome family entertainment. We even had to take a potty break. The kids really liked it though and the best part was when Ash Lee & Scout got up and danced in front of everyone...they did the Robot. It was RAD.


Next we went to the Twilight Area where the kids colored with LEDs onto glow painted walls. It was really cool. I took a video so you could get a better idea of what was going on. The flash makes it look bright and shiny but it's actually really dark.

The video is Scout and Ash Lee. Scout says "We are bad bad children, we are coloring on the walls" and Ash Lee says "I'm coloring a picture for my mommy."

The kids all got into the trees for a picture but Ash Lee decided that was a little too dark for her. She went over to the theater section and got her make up started while we finished up the tree pictures.

At this point we lost Ash Lee. I was drawing the butterfly on Williams face (his choice I swear) when Scout took off back toward the trees. Troy went after her and when he got back seconds later, Ash Lee was no where to be seen. Talk about panic time. We were both grabbing kids and running in opposite directions. Troy was giving orders to Random and Savannah who were splitting up and I was YELLING her name (lost child time is not the time for worrying about causing a ruckus). The staff at the Children's Museum was AWESOME. A lady came up to me with a radio and said, "How can I help?" I described Ash Lee (all the while still running around calling her name). She radioed all the areas and followed me around getting more descriptions. All the areas radioed back to her and she was this little command central checking off all the areas ("Clay area clear" "Water Area Clear"). They found her just around the corner from where we were on a stage with a group of other kids having a blast. Troy and I recovered from our cardiac arrest and thanked those people who were so fast. The whole thing lasted about a minute from the time we looked up and didn't see her to having her back with us. After that we gave Savannah the job of holding Ash Lee's hand and Random the job of holding Scout's hand.


Next we went to the digging area (only one exit!) and let them dig around in the rubber chips. They had their painted faces at this point.


Finally, we ate the rest of our lunch at the snack area. Everyone got to pick their own drink. The kids were so well behaved. I took them one at a time to pick out their drink while other kids (aforementioned ADD kids) were running around pushing the buttons and the change return (on our vending machine while we were trying to order and their grandparents just watched with this haggard expression), they just waited patiently and were joyfully grateful when they got their treasured drink.

It stopped snowing by the time we left but it was still drizzling. The ride home was uneventful and now the kids are watching Pete's Dragon and eating crackers...I think I need a nap!

Holidays

On Friday we will be celebrating:

Lego Day (William)
Balloon Day (Ash Lee)
Stuffed Animal Day (Savannah)
Puppy Day (Sydney)
Star Wars Villain Day (Isaac)
Dragon Day (Rand)
Silky Day (Scout)

The posters they made look great and are adorning the dining area of the apartment. I'm interested to see what they come up with for games and songs. Should be interesting!

Official Incident Report

It's been a while since I had to write one of these up!

Location: The "Park"
Date: March 24, 2008
Time: 12:10, 12:13, 12:15, 12:24, 12:30, 12:35, 12:37, 12:40, 12:55

Summary: Poor Ash Lee.

Description of Incident: Ok so I don't know why I think we can go to the park without having trauma. I think I should schedule our days to always include a session of therapy for all involved immediately following our return.

It all began as we crossed the road (imagine, THIS was the part I was worried about...what a fool) and entered the "secret" park. There's a charming paved trail that leads under some trees that line the river and goes past a house or two until it emerges in this little subdivision park. Very "quaint" as Random says. So we are on this trail when Ash Lee SCREAMS and freezes. She won't move. Why? Because of all the SNAKES!

The trees that charmingly line the charming trail drop charming little seed pods on the ground that freaked the living snot out of that girl. She was convinced that not only were the seeds alive but they were, in fact, going to eat her. I showed her they were just seeds and a not-too-convinced Ash Lee mustered the emotional fortitude to finish the 10 foot journey to the park.

Ok so then the kids are running, playing, laughing, swinging...then...it happens.

The inevitable pee-pee bonk. Of course. The teeter-totter isn't so much of a teeter totter as it is a device planted by terrorists to attack the unsuspecting crotches of small children. Ash Lee was the first victim but by no means the last. After the second time the teeter-totter was outlawed...after the third time (as the kids were getting off when I made the "stay off the teeter-totter of doom" rule) everyone decided it was evil and just naturally stayed away. It wasn't a huge pee-pee bonk...forgotten almost immediately and no crying (just "I bonked my pee-pee" then she was off) but in my opinion, all pee-pee bonks should be noted just in case.

So time passes and we've been at the park for about 20 minutes when Ash Lee needs to go potty. I asked her if she could hold it...no. I asked her if she wanted to go out in the woods...she thought about it (other kids yelling "isn't that illegal")...but no. So I tried distracting her. That seemed to work. I figured we had about 5 minutes before she remembered which was ok since it looked kind of gray and I was feeling the occasional sprinkle.

Then...it happened again.

Ash Lee tripped and fell right next to me. If I hadn't been taking pictures of the kids with Professor Fluffybuttons (the cat that wandered over the fence) I could have reached out and grabbed her...she was that close. She didn't even fall far, it was one of those small little trips that kids do sometimes. One minute she was standing by me nervous about the big fluffy orange cat, the next she's on her hands and knees in a mud puddle.

I throw the camera onto the table and bend down to see what's wrong. I helped her stand up (funny how this isn't a natural reaction in children crawling in mudpuddles) and tried to help her ring out her pants. They were kinda drippy but she was mostly concerned that her hands were wet. I helped her try to flick off the water but then it was getting on her Pink Marshmallow coat and that just wasn't going to be ok. After we assessed the situation and everything was all right, she wandered off to find Savannah (apparently Savannah understands the trauma of Pink Marshmallow stains better than I).

She came back right away. This time she said her finger hurt and she had a huge splinter in it. She says she got it from the mudpuddle but I still haven't quite figured that out. I pulled out the splinter and now she's ok. Although she brings it up from time to time even 2 hours later.

We went back home, past the slivery mudpuddle, over the flesh eating seed-snakes, near the pokey bushes where it's illegal to go potty, across the road, over the poop-infested grass and back home.

End of Report.

If you click on the slideshow it'll take you to a bigger version with captions. I'll add to it throughout the day. Happy Monday!

Just Go With Me Here

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

We had a discussion this morning: To Pinch or Not To Pinch. There were some who claimed that at school or in other homes, it is allowable to pinch a person not wearing green on St. Patrick's Day. I informed them--with great dramatics--that St. Patrick was a very good man and he would be saddened to think that little children were hurting each other in his name. As an American of Irish decent, I informed them with a tear in my eye, I was saddened for him. I also added that in my home, we don't pinch, punch or poke because of poor wardrobe decisions...because if we did..."you'd all have black eyes by now my little preschool fashionistas!" (hehe just kidding I didn't actually say that last bit--but check out their awesome couture today).

I'm hoping you'll just go with me on the pinch ban...my research indicates Saint Patrick was in fact, a good man and probably wouldn't be too happy to realize we hurt each other for not wearing green. Especially since he wore blue most of the time. :^)

7 Days in A Week

Here are the girls singing our 7 days in a week song that we sing everyday during circle time. I thought about making them do it again because Scout was doing some weird eyebrow experiments, Sydney was stroking her imaginary mustache and Ash Lee was off on planet Space Cadet for a couple of bars but that's just kinda who they are. Weird, quirky, silly but oh so cute.

Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday
There are 7 days, there are 7 days, there are 7 days in a week.

Smile!

Yesterday we were outside playing when Savannah got the grumps. Scout and Ash Lee started singing this song to her to get her to be happy. It didn't work right away but they were relentless and totally cute. Eventually she came over and played with us. I give Savannah a lot of credit for pulling herself out of the grumps. When people start singing peppy songs at my face, it is NOT my first instinct to get LESS grumpy!

I finally got new batteries for the camera so I was able to record them today. Here are the words just in case you can't quite understand:

If you chance to meet a frown,
Do not let it stay,
Quickly turn it upside down
And smile that frown away.

No one likes a frowny face,
Change it for a smile,
Make the world a better place,
By smiling all the while.

P is for Pickles

We went to the store this morning. I needed to grab a couple things from the dollar store so we went there first. Dollar stores are MADE for 3 and 4 year old girls. Everything was AMAZING to them. Pink fluffy things leftover from valentine's day, cheap plastic shiny mirrors, hot pink lipstick, flashlights, candy...it was overwhelming to them.

We stopped by JoAnn's to use their potty (this time it was for me :-P) but we ended up walking through the store finding things that started with P. There were huge bolts of pink and purple fabric, cascades of purple and pink flowers, piggy banks, paint, pails and pictures. Plenty to see although our favorite thing was walking down the wind chime aisle (P is for Pipes) and picking out which ones we liked best. Noisy free fun with clean bathrooms...does it get any better?

Next came WinCo which has Ps everywhere. I had packed a lunch for the girls so they sat in the cart (Ash Lee in front, Scout in back) and pointed out the big Produce sign, potatoes and pork. We were a little confused for a while through dairy...B sounds very similar to P so they pointed out the butter and bananas on the yogurt cups. Frozen foods was better...popsicles and pizza!

We were almost done when the girls started to get thirsty. There were old people walking around carrying cups of juice. I'm not sure where they got it because I couldn't find any free sample tables. Maybe it was just Free Juice for the Elderly Day at Winco. We hurried through the rest...past the pickles, pretzels, bread (close! bread starts with b) and got in the way back of a long long line. Luckily, a new checker came by and invited us to be the first in her line. WOOHOO!

The checkout went ok until Ash Lee saw a bug flying around. The bug was probably 10 feet up in the air, against the far wall and so small I didn't see it for a while but it was still pretty traumatic. Since at WinCo you bag your own groceries I couldn't distract her very well (although trust me I tried...much to the girls' embarrassment). The thing that worked was to have Scout jump up and down between the cart and the fly shooing it away. The fly didn't even notice but it was enough for Ash Lee. Yay for Scout and her Fly Shooing!

The only hitch with the ride home was the girls fighting over who was going to hold the middle seat belt...yep...you heard me...who was going to HOLD THE MIDDLE SEAT BELT. There's no way I was that weird when I was little. I buckled in the Imaginary Girl and that appeased them both.

We're back home, food is put away, everybody's had drinks and now we're off to do circle time!

P is for Performing

Yesterday the girls called me in to see the performance of their play. I brought the camera in to snap some stills of the girls but when they started it was so hilarious I had them do it again so I could film it. The problem with that is that when the camera comes on the girls lose their minds. Oh well, so our girls are over-actors and camera hogs...doesn't sound too far off from "real" actors to me!

One note before you see this...the beds WERE made at some point in the morning but after a couple hours of fort building and play performing the room looks like a tornado hit it.

Anyway, here is their performance. I think the plot was this: The Evil Pig Lord appeared and tried to eat the girls. Some were eaten but one got away by jumping into the ocean...or something. Enjoy.

The Pig
By Savannah, Scout, Sydney and Ash Lee