a kid at heart

Ever wondered what the term "a kid at heart" means?

I'm pretty sure it includes the following:

contagious laughter



sticking your tongue out just because it's fun

making hats out of every day household items like mommy's french press cozy

and dresses out of paper bags from the hardware store

rocking out on your guitar

showing off the chewed up food in your mouth because really who wouldn't want to see that?

jumping as high as you can and yelling at the same time with your eyes closed

Anything else you would add?

hairstyles

As hair grows, hairstyles seem to change around here.

Mommy has fun seeing what she can do with it.

Peter's hair is fun to slick up into a mohawk (not sure how much he likes it).




And Hannah is delighted when I take the time to french braid her hair.

Now if I only had enough time to do my own hair.

school days

Hannah loves school.

I realize I haven't said very much about her school experience. So here is a taste of it

This morning she woke me up incredibly excited because today was "Green Eggs and Ham" day at school.  It is currently her favorite book and she really wanted to bring it with her to school.

The Cat in the Hat met her at the gate into the school yard. They had green eggs and ham for snack (which ironically, she didn't even taste).  And of course, read the book.

Peter assisted Hannah in carrying her book home

Hannah also loves the days where I come to school with her.  Last Thursday was Pajama Day and since it was my workday,  I got roped into also wearing my pajamas to school.  While I felt a bit silly on the way there, Hannah assured me "It's okay mommy." 

I think the funniest part of the school day is "snack bar" where they can come stand around a short island and eat handfuls of cheerios to get them through circle time and onto the official snack time.  I'm pretty sure Hannah never passes up an opportunity for snack bar.

Here's a picture of the inside of the classroom.  

(Although it doesn't usually look this crowded - this was our special Thanksgiving Feast with friends and family.)

Hannah sits at the green table for snack time and I can generally count on hearing what they've eaten for snack everyday.

Outside she loves riding the double tree swing or the horses or bikes with her friends.

And friends are definitely the best part of the school experience.  Every night she prays and thanks God for Stephanie and Saillee (two of her buddies).

I can't believe it's time to register her for next year.

(By the way can you see how much she's grown up?  The pictures at the top of the post are from today and the ones at the bottom are from the Fall.)

ladies' getaway 2012

This weekend I took a break from all that mothering entails -
 no laundry, no cooking, no cleaning, no teaching, no need to answer the question "why?" over and over again,  no redirecting, no timeouts.
And it was glorious!
 To just be me for the weekend - with 4 other girl friends!

We headed to the Santa Cruz mountains for one of the perks of being pastor's wives (free cabins at Mission Springs).

The weekend consisted of long conversations over delicious food.

Gorgeous walks along the coast 

and

time to ponder 

who God is 

and what He has made!

It was good.

(p.s. all of the above pictures of food are from Gayle's in Capitola - it was amazing!)

valentines

Tomorrow is Valentine's Day.
And of course, I remembered at 4:30pm this afternoon that Hannah could bring Valentines for her whole class of 24 tomorrow when she goes to school.  Eeeks!  I was out of town all weekend on a fabulous girls' getaway (more to come on that later), have a sick hubby who is at work and a rambunctious 1 1/2 year old who is definitely not going to let any art fun pass by him.  So what to do?

One thing I have discovered about myself as a parent is that I am extremely practical.  (Sometimes a little too much so.)  As I walked the aisles of the Nugget grocery store I thought about and discarded all crafty, expensive or candy related ideas for something simple that Hannah could participate in and give out with joy tomorrow.  And really, what parent is not going to be excited to see among the paper and candy an orange for their child to enjoy?

So this is what we did.

I bought a bag of "Cuties" with just enough for each student to have one.



I got out a sheet of white address labels and let Hannah color them pink to her heart's delight.

Then, I wrote "love, Hannah" on each one.

Cut them down a bit.

And she (who absolutely loves stickers) - stuck them on and put them in a bag.

We made a couple on large oranges with big heart cutouts for her teachers.

Some of them apparently deserved a little kiss.

And we are done in 20 minutes and it only cost $5!

I look forward to her excitement in getting to pass them out tomorrow and I'm glad I didn't give up and wait until next year to do Valentine's for school.

(if you are feeling a bit behind and short on time like me, feel free to use this idea!)

sick days

Today is a sick day around our house.
Matt came down with this cold on Monday, Peter on Tuesday, me on Wednesday and Hannah today.  I called into Hannah's school for the first time to report that she is sick and won't be there.  (and boy, what an upset child did I have when I told her that she couldn't go to school- I guess at least she loves her school.)

Everyone is still in their pajamas around here (and it's after 10am).

Laying around, and playing...

in forts

and with playdough.

Hearing the word, "NO!" 

and learning some valuable lessons about sharing with our siblings.

We are working hard 

at play.

Experimenting,

Being silly

and feeling a little lousy in between.

If you are sick, I hope you are having as much fun as we are!