Quatro de Mayo

We had a fun Cinco de Mayo party this year.  We just did it on the fourth instead.  You may or may not know that May the 4th is also Star Wars day, so after the party we had a Star Wars marathon with the kids.  It was a really fun day!

At the party we made maracas out of our old Easter eggs, plastic spoons and duct tape.  We filled the eggs with rice, beans, macaroni and popcorn.  It was a lot of fun and I still have about 10 maracas left in my house four months later.

We also had a marvelous time smashing a pinata.  It was so much fun watching all of the kids - the little ones who were hitting a pinata for the first time, up to the big ones who swung the stick with purpose.  In the end it was a girl that broke the pinata open.

After everyone was inside, I looked out and saw Charlie smashing the remains of the pinata to bits.  He was so happy out there, destroying something that was perfectly allowable.  It was one of those moments that you wish you could have frozen in time.

Our kids really enjoyed their Cinco de Mayo party and I enjoyed doing something to celebrate the day. We may just have to make this an annual tradition!

Macie Colors

They came in her Easter basket.
A brand new box of crayons.
Washable, of course.
And two weeks later,
Her first time using them.

She knew exactly what to do.
And only ate them a little.

And, not to be unnoticed,
While Macie put her first crayon to paper,
A certain brother was coloring a certain Bad Piggie.
With every green crayon he could find,
All at once.

Recycled Trash Sculptures

Charlie had a special homework assignment for Earth Day this year.

To use recycled materials to create a sculpture.

He had a lot of fun assembling it.

Andy was there to help him figure out how to put things together and to prompt him for ideas.

Charlie loves anything that he does with his dad.

It was about this time that Ephram decided that he wanted to make one, too. 

Luckily we had saved up plenty of recyclables for a second sculpture.

Charlie's sculpture kept growing and getting more complex.

And then it was finally done.

(Ephram wanted to roll around on the floor for a picture too.)

All that Charlie had left was to give it a name and write a few things down.

We were sure this was going to be a Star Wars rocketship of some sort.

But, nope... he went with Andy's favorite instead.

This turned out to be a super fun project for the whole family!

Art by Charlie

Charlie was going through a pretty creative phase in March.

He really branched out in his drawings.

But somehow, they all seemed to have a rainbow in them.

Here are a couple of the pictures that he made!

Lucky 2 Dollars

My mom sent each of the kids cards for St Patrick's Day.

Inside the cards were a sheet of stickers.

And a $2 bill.

They could not believe their luck!

Yes, somehow even the baby understood how special it was.

She had a sweet brother that gently showed her how to open her card,

Take out her stickers,

And her lucky bill.

Here I was, all prepped to tell him 

"Please let Macie have it, you have yours and she has hers,"

But I needn't have had the thought.

He carefully handed it to her,

And even let her hold his for a time.

(A short time.)

Then he sat there and showed her all of the words in his card.

And all of the words in hers.

Meanwhile Charlie was saying

"Take a picture of me mom!"

"Please take a picture of me!"

"Mom!"

So I took a picture of him.

Ephram started playing peek-a-boo two dollar style.

And then Charlie,

"Look!  It really is lucky!  See how it stays on top of just one finger?"

Ephram,

"Ah!  Oh!  Ya-ya (Ephram)!"

And so there were some amazing two dollar bill balancing feats.

And here I thought we were just opening a few cards.

But we had more than an hour of "lucky" fun.

The next day,

While I was vacuuming upstairs,

Ephram wanted to do some art.

So I took out some paper,

And some crayons,

And gave him his card so that he could use his stickers.

When I came back he was so incredibly proud to show me this.

He used all of those stickers to stick that two dollar bill right to the page.

I guess, when you're three, a lucky two dollar bill

Makes for a great piece of art.

Ephram Builds and Paints a Train

His first model building experience, went without a hitch.
(Except the stickers that wouldn't stick, but who cares about that.)
I think his favorite part was pouring glue into the wheel wells.