goodnight sweet 7 year old!

we have a birthday tradition in our little family of taking a "last day as __" photo.  these are always so precious to me as we reminisce about the year that has past and all the fun we've had and growing that has happened.  to me 8 is a big birthday, it's a milestone and a transition from little kid to big kid.  and this sweet seven year old just cannot wait until the morning.  

goodnight sweet seven year old Anna.  this year has been filled with achievements (finishing 1st grade, student of the year, starting piano, 1st season of tennis, swim team) and the continuation of your reputation as an awesome big sister and helper.  thank you so much for being such a great example of sweetness and light in our home.  we love you and look forward to celebrating with you tomorrow!

week 2 of summer art camp!

this weeks project came from this post over at Deep Space Sparkle.  (really all of our projects will most likely come from this site because it is awesome.  

i wanted to explore the color wheel because i am fascinated by the process of mixing color, and feel like learning about primary and secondary colors is the real basis of art.  (color art anyway)

since we did black and white line drawing last week, the girls were itching to paint.  

 we started with the color wheel, and i had them paint the primary colors first, then mix up each secondary color and paint it in the appropriate spot on the wheel.  no matter how many times we do a color mixing project, the girls act like it's magic as orange, green and purple appear.  

 it really is fun though, to see what mix they come up with.  Avery's orange was spot on pure orange, orange.  but she kept wanting her purple to be more grape and less violet.  

 Anna was surprisingly the messiest with this project due to over mixing. 

 Madeline was surprisingly meticulous about her mixing and painting "in the lines" not wanting to spread one color over the other.  

once we were finished with the color wheels, we painted a face and body, and had a color wheel clown!  

clearly this was a fun project, but it was also good and long.  it took us close to 2 hours to complete, perfect for a hot summer day!

Madeline's Loses her First Tooth!

every kid looks forward to losing their first tooth, but i think little siblings are even more anxious.  after watching Anna lose 9 teeth, Madeline has been anxiously awaiting her moment.  she felt the first wigglings weeks ago.  then the tooth became really loose.  then she showed us how different she is from her sister, by treating the tooth VERY gingerly over the last several days, almost never wiggling it, or playing with it at all.  she refused every offer to help it along, even the dentist couldn't convince her to tug it out.  then, while brushing her teeth, Colin tried to grab her toothbrush causing it to bump that tooth just the right way. finally, she lost that first tooth!

 it's amazing how small it is compared to Anna's.  she has Jason's teeth and Anna mine. 

 i found these toys in their room last week and had Avery put them in the toy room where they belong. tonight I was chastised because Madeline had placed them there in preparation for the loss of her tooth.  my bad.  so, the girls went to work creating a luxurious oasis for the tooth fairy.  there's a spa to relax in,some treats to enjoy, a bed if she needs a nap, and to top it off princesses and ponies hold up a "Welcome Tooth Fairy" sign.  

the pixie dust Madeline discovered the next morning confirmed the fairy did indeed take a break in the hot tub but probably didn't have time for a nap.  she also apparently loved the sign, because there was pixie dust all over it.  i know Avery is dying to lose a tooth, i'm not sure the pageantry is appreciated by Colin.  

art camp!

the kids love art, and art projects, and we are always coloring in our coloring books, etc.  but i wanted to offer them more of a "curriculum" this summer to look at art and creativity differently.  so while were are still constantly coloring each day, on Friday while Colin is napping, we're trying something new and calling it: Art Camp.  

this week's project comes from this wonderful resource.  

it's a simple project to work on line drawing and pattern play.  at first, the girls couldn't believe there was no "color" involved.  but when they were pasting their creations onto their chosen color construction paper, they caught the vision!  

i'm not gonna lie, i got into this too!

1) i demonstrated how to make a big upside down U for the shell, and then a series of other U's for the underbelly, feet, tail and head.  

2) then i showed them how to cover the shell in a bunch of free form lines

3) and showed them how to draw a pattern in each free form area

after that, i thought i'd take a little (well deserved at 8 months pregnant) break on the comfy couch, and check back in when the patterns were done.  but, i was having so much fun, i just stayed and did the whole project with my girlies.  

here is our gallery:

(once Colin woke up, the gallery quickly traveled to higher ground) 

 Anna's turtle"

 Avery's turtle:

 Maddie's turtle:

 i love how each of their turtles turned out so unique.  Anna's is pretty bold, with large black spaces, and most of her patterns are stripes and polka dots.  Avery's is so delicate, small, with sweet swirls and a decidedly vertical orientation.  Maddie's is plump and covered in hearts, she said there's a heart for every person that she loves.  

i think Art Camp is already a success!

California weekend!

 can you believe i traveled to California with my 4 kids at 8 months pregnant to celebrate my sister's graduation from her Master's program, and I didn't take a picture with my sister?  (sorry Ash, we really did come to see you.)  

but the star of this blog post is the beach.  we love our beach time, and the two days we were able to spend were glorious.  the weather was awesome, the kids entertained, the company wonderful (thanks mom, dad, Austin and Holly), and we even saw dolphins.  in a word, our weekend was perfection!

Daddy was jealous of our beach time.  he would be so proud of his little groms. 

the weekend was full of celebrations.  Friday was dedicated to Ashy's graduation  the kids are so excited that she is a teacher, they gave her a whole bag of Smarties!  

Saturday was a birthday party for this guy.

his Grandparents and Aunts and Uncles spoiled him with cars, trucks, and superheros.  and we even got a sneak peek at the new Aquabats season!  thanks for a great weekend California!