Caught in the Act!

I took a couple of sneaky pics of the kiddos this week. I don't own a point and shoot camera so it takes some skill to be sneaky with my bulky slr. This first picture was last weekend when I was trying to finish up dishes real quick before I got the kids to bed. They were goofing off in the living room and all of a sudden it got quiet. I can't believe all three of them fell asleep like this. I imagine Charlie purposely curled up next to his hero, Noah. He gets plenty of face time with Pres during the day. Noah becomes such a commodity. Noah will be playing and Charlie climbs on his back and gives him big hugs.

I have to preface this next photo with the question, "why haven't I discovered the magic of permanent markers until now?" I always keep my permanent markers up high where no one can get to them. Then Noah and Presley begged to use some on this workbook meant for dry erase markers (I cautiously said okay) and oh my goodness, a new wold has opened up to them! Noah has had a love/hate relationship with writing. His fine motor skills needed work since kindergarten. Noah just wasn't into it. But when he gets to use a permanent marker he's writing and drawing up a storm! We invited Presley's good friend, Ella over for a morning and the two gals spent over an hour on this work book listening (and singing) to tunes while I did the dishes. It was bliss! Did I mention Charlie was at a toddler time play date? It was a peaceful girls only morning.

Last but not least...

Now that we are out of March and into April, I have a new art project of the month. Today we made easter bunnies in a spring scene. I promise all my art projects WON'T be holiday centered!! I taught Joy School today and it mentioned making bunnies out of paper plates with all sorts of bells and whistles I didn't have. I decided to make up my own bunny project. Next time I will have to post pictures of the process, but today with 5 little ones in my dining room, working with gobs of glue and paint, that wasn't gonna happen!

I started with the white card stock and then glued some cloud scrapbook paper on top. Earlier I cut up an egg carton to make the tulips and poppies. Then I let the kids paint them while we talked about using white to lighten the colors. We should have glued the grass on last as it made the flowers difficult to keep on. I mentioned before that even young kids are interested in using glue AND paint. Charlie really enjoys it even it he only paints for a few minutes before he wants to see what it tastes like. I think it's important for developing those fine motor skills. Charlie didn't get through this whole project, though. I would recommend it for children 4 and older. Even though they aren't perfect, the kids really enjoyed making these. Mixing mediums makes it more interesting for them. Work on the cutting, the painting, and the gluing all in one project. Why not?