Westley's Birthday

We celebrated Westley's 5th birthday this weekend at the beach campground. The weather was too cold for playing in the sand and water but the kids had a great time playing in the campsite.
Westley got a lot of games that we immediately started to enjoy.

Today we celebrated with our playgroup friends at the park. They enjoyed playing with Westley's stomp rocket and ring toss, and I did parachute time with them which was a hit.
no photos from today though... I was too busy

Happy Birthday to my big 5 year old boy! 

I love you!

Boxed Cookies for Teachers

Westley and Will both had 3 classroom teachers, plus additional interns in their preschool classes. I was trying to think of something to give them, and I wanted the boys to be a part of it but I know there is no way I could get them to make a ton of cards.
This worked perfect.
I had some white nice packaging boxes, so I had the boys draw on them. Usually neither are much into drawing and coloring, but the loved doing so on the boxes. They spent over a half hour coloring them.
Then we made Aunt Cheryl's famous oatmeal raisin cookies to go inside.
They turned out real cute and were well received!

Private Hullabaloo Concert

Angelina's 2nd Birthday party featured local children's singing artist Hullaballo.
We have seen him sing twice before but in busier settings, so this was perfect for the children to get up close, into the music and get dancing!

Thank you Angelina for inviting us to both parties!!  :)

Tumble Gym Bus

Angelina's birthday party #1
We were invited to cousin Angelina's birthday parties!
The first party included a Tumble Gym Bus.
The bus has been converted into a mini gym for kids.
While it could get a bit tight in there, all the kids (and uncle Fred) were loving it!

Building with Major

I just love this picture of the two with an intense focus on building :)

Ice and Water

This easy science experiment has been going on for about 3 days.
Westley was interested in freezing water, so I gave him a freezer quality zip lock bag with some water in it. I put his name on it, and then made one for Will with his name on it.
They have gone back and forth from putting them in the freezer to freeze, then leaving them out on the counter to melt.
We are practicing the cognitive concept of reversibility, and written name recognition  :)

Recycled Robot

The boys and I made a Robot out of paper towel rolls  and shoe boxes I had saved up.
I was proud of my idea to use bowls as feet which helped him be sturdy :)
This was really fun!

Baking Brownies with Thrive Shelf Reliance

After trying and researching a product line, Kevin has taken on a new venture. We are now independent consultants for Shelf Reliance that sells Thrive food products and emergency supplies.

The Thrive food has a very long shelf life (many products last 30 years unopened and 2 years opened) without adding salt or weird preservatives. This is due to the fact that much of it is flash freeze dried and canned in special cans that are double coated not to rust or let in air, pests, etc.

Storing food long term is commonly done for preparing for natural disasters, economic emergencies, or at the most extreme, some type of Armageddon.

However, many of their items are also great for camping, or just to have back up food on hand.

Also, my favorite is the flash freeze dried fruit. It can be rehydrated if it soaks in water for a few minutes, but it also tastes good as is as a snack. I've been packing them as a snack for Westley and Will. 

Please check out our site at www.thriveforever.com 

Here's the boys and Kevin doing their first practice presentation, and making Thrive Brownies (just add water)

The boys gobbled them up!

Preschool Art Show

This month, Westley and Will's preschool at Mira Costa College put on their annual Art Show.
A few large group work pieces are showcased and raffled off. Each individual child also has a piece of artwork displayed.

The philosophy on art at there school is different than what is often seen elsewhere. Art is valued as part of learning in physical, cognitive, social and emotional domains. Projects are child led, individually made and process oriented instead of project oriented. Art is open ended instead or pre-subscribed crafts.
Children have experiences to work with paint, crayons, markers, clay, dough, wood, 3D collage materials, and more.
Teachers document with photos and quotes as the children create art and children are encouraged to talk about their art when it is complete. Often, they create a simple story about their work.
If children show a teacher their art and say "Look!" teachers avoid saying things like "I like it! and "It's beautiful" Instead they say things like "I see you used blue, yellow, and purple paint" describing objectively what they see in the art, or they reflect questions back to the children with statements like "Can you tell me about this painting?" or "How do you feel about what you have made"
Children learn to make the art for themselves, instead of making a piece to please teachers and parents. A

The art show was very nice this year. I loved seeing all the children's art.
I also think it was motivating to the boys. Since then they have done more art at home and school. The next day at school Westley made a detailed painting of a milk machine and a person drinking a cup of milk from it. (wish it would have been his piece featured in the show)

Balancing Bowls

I used to do this in ballet class when I was little.
It was a fun new way to practice balance for the boys. We can use a little more grace in our house :)

Strawberry Picking

We finally made it to the Carlsbad Company Strawberry Fields for picking strawberries.
I still find it insane I can buy a package of Carlsbad strawberries at Henry's for $1.25 on sale, but to pick our own costs $8.50
But the boys totally loved the experience so it was worth it. And those fresh strawberries tasted really good

Zoomars Petting Zoo

While camping in San Juan Capistrano we went to Zoomar's petting zoo.
Some of our friends sometimes take the train up there, as the petting zoo is in walking distance, then have lunch at Ruby's and ride the train home. It is all in a neat historic area with a Mission right by it too.

The boys had a great time riding the little train, playing, and seeing and feeding the emails... up until Westley fed his finger to a pig. We learned the pig bites hurt really bad!
He may have a lasting fear of pigs now, but besides that, they boys enjoyed it

Praying Mantises

Our Praying Mantises eggs hatched, after having them 6 weeks!
We tried to keep a couple in the netted enclosure, but were having a hard time finding enough tiny live bugs for them to eat.
So, we released them in our backyard. For a few days, we could still see them on our plants.
I am disappointed we weren't able to keep one to grow to full size

Will taking this seriously

Westley, looking for bugs (with Major)

Look closely for the baby Praying Mantis