Creative play

This is what happens when you declare a TV-free week :

The kids decided to play with produce.  They made up a game of passing it back and forth and had a "picnic."

I moved the table to the warmer living room for afternoon tea.

Just a few shots of Luke working on colors and counting:

Fall 2012 Family Pictures & Some Tips

We had a sweet friend do our family pictures.  It was such a crazy day.  Jeff walked in the door from work and we were scrambling to get everyone ready and figure out what he should wear.  Because I am a great planner like that.  

But ahhhh... we made it.

My lively boys were at their energetic best (you get what I'm saying??).
Julie works magic with that camera of hers!

        

She did pictures last year of the boys when Eli was only a couple months old.  Look how they've all grown!

Helpful tips:

• We used clothes we had and bought Sean and Luke t-shirts from Wal-Mart in fall colors (less than $5 each).
• We used a friend who is an aspiring (and very good!) photographer.  I'm all for professional photo shoots, but that is not Pate budget-friendly right now.  Barter or take advantage of their sweet deals.
• Feed the kids first!  And yourself if you're prone to grumpies, too.
• To help with littles who run, sit them down last, hold them gently in a pose and back away quickly as the photographer clicks away.
• Try, try, try to enjoy the experience and not get too caught up in t picture-perfect shots.  It took me a few years, but I'm better now!

The spot we went to was so beautiful.  And they let people come in to visit and explore.  We are already planning a picnic ASAP.  I thank God for my spunky, happy boys and my perfect-for-me husband!

Some schooling

 I haven't been taking a lot of pictures of work and projects.  Here is a day I had the camera handy, though.  We were learning about nomads and the first villages.

Sean coloring a map and Luke "reading" something (in a cape, of course).

 They did "cave drawings."  Sean drew 2 deer and a corn stalk.

Sean  wanted to make a village out of blocks. Luke was kind enough to not knock them down.  At least not right away.

And what do you do with all those Shaklee boxes?

Make a town!  Sean wrote on each box what he wanted it to be (strr, mol, chrch, wtr prk).  We need to work on vowels. :)

And the creatures created from Zoobs are super-carnivores attacking the town.
Thank you, dinosaur documentaries.

Can't forget this cuddle-bug.  With the remote...it starts early with boys, doesn't it??

Sean has been keeping up with Explode the Code and Miquon math.  Our days have been a little crazy lately, so not a lot of planned out schooling going on.  But I am thankful for grace and that my boys soak up learning in everyday stuff, too!

Nature Soup

I'm a planner.  And sometimes I get to where I am more into the planning of something than actually doing it.  I need a support group, I think.  So, this is me embracing more spontaneity.  The boys wanted to go outside and explore & Eli was napping.  

Sean in his vest, and Luke...well, he dresses himself.  'Nuf said.

This little activity took almost no prep and I just got to walk around with them and talk about what they were doing.  You need a cup and a little water.  Have them find a good stirring stick.  Then just explore and add things to make "soup."  

Crunch up leaves and dried flowers.

Sprinkle on some dirt, add grass and stir it up. Take a sniff...smells like Fall!

Luke climbed up to the fort with his cup.  He's an excitable fellow.

 These are flowers and leaves we collected from our nature walk the day before.  A few carnations were leftover from flowers Jeff had left for me when he was in Cuba.  I like to extend the life of fresh flowers and pull out the ones that are not dead and make a new arrangement.  I also love walking around with the boys collecting things to display God's beauty in the season.  

Luke likes to point out what he picked.

     

Tucked it in a mason jar with rocks in the bottom.

We use these sites for great outdoor activities: Nature Detectives and Handbook of Nature Study blog.

Natural Egg Dye

A new thing for this year- dyeing eggs naturally.  So maybe I should have looked into it a little more and actually planned for it.  But we had fun experimenting.  

First we boiled the eggs.  Miraculously no eggs were broken during transport to the pot.

Then, off to the yard to find some stuff to color the eggs.  

Dandelions for yellow.

Holly berries... because they're red.

Random stuff from the ground.

Couldn't resist a photo op.

Just precious.

Some more stuff from the ground.

Inside we separated it all into glasses.  We had grass, dandelions, holly berries, some purple weeds and pulled blue berries from the freezer.  We poured hot water into each glass and added a dash of vinegar.

Checking out the progress.  They sure do take longer than commercial dye.

And waiting....

Finally, first batch is done.  They look... natural!

I actually love the different shades.  

Next year I will plan ahead and get the other natural dyeing materials in addition to foraging in the yard.

Thank you, God, for your beautiful world around us!

A Lego Desk

Two challenges:  1) Where to put a pretty desk that was handed down from Jeff's grandmother. 

2) A place to store Sean's Legos and allow him to build has become a necessity.

Solution: Combine the two!

He has room to store the blocks, build and display his "models!" 

Plus, the roll-top can keep little hands away.

Luke inherited the smaller roll-top desk (that belonged to his uncle and daddy!).

With Sean's new set-up, he can even bring the drawer out to the living room while 

the little brothers are napping.

  Sean has been at his desk everyday working and loves showing off his creations.

I love when I can organize, make good use of what we have and not spend money!

Rainy day

I don't do the best job of taking pictures as we go throughout the day (and an even worse job at actually getting them posted!).  On this day, sometime in the not-too-distant past, it was kind of yucky and rainy.  I am trying to let them get out in all kinds of weather to explore.  So, once the rain slowed they went on the back porch and puttered around.

 Of course, it didn't take long to discover the stroller box.  Followed by a request to cut out a door.  We love boxes around here.  And just in time for it to start misting again!

*Only the camera person got wet in the taking of this picture.

Then back inside to play while I made lunch.  Measuring cups, various utensils and water make for good play/distraction while I cook.

It is serious business pouring water.

Sometime later I found Sean in his bed reading.  I climbed up on the ladder to get this shot.

I do enjoy a lazy day now and then.