Today in School: Peanut Butter Playdough

We are on a roll with the dough!

Today we went with the peanut butter option.  There are lots of recipes.  I chose this one and added some oatmeal to it.  The boys loved working with it and eating it!  We refrigerated the dough we didn't touch and will use it tomorrow at snack time.

Today in School: Salt Dough continued

When the boys had enough with the dough, we chose some shapes to paint, dried the shaped dough in the oven and painted them the next day.

The boys had so much fun with this.  We'll be doing it again soon!

And, this picture has nothing to do with school or salt dough . . . I LOVE that Evy can blow bubbles for Merritt.  Go Big Brothers!

Superheroes

Well, they've been playing superheroes for months now and it was a "dream come twue" when they each were able to pick out a costume to buy.

Evy--Spiderman
Merritt--Ironman

But, they switch out with each other and then throw a Batman and a Superman (Thanks, Aunt Elise!) into the set.

And, sometimes, they wear several different Superhero costumes at once.

The following videos show how the boys have combined their diving lessons with their love for all things jumping . . . and how I'm not afraid to put of ton of laundry on hold to play (like that is a real hardship, for sure). BTW, youtube is being a pain, don't think I recommended the videos that come up when our video is complete.

Today in School: Evy's Triumph

Our first goal is for Everett to write his name with ease.  Last week, he took a huge step in that direction and today he mastered "Evy."  We have quite a bit of fun together in school (while Merritt is sleeping).  We work on number sense, phonemic awareness, science experiments, and writing skills.  He just amazes me with the connections that he makes .  .  . and he is just a hard worker, always eager for the next thing that we are doing, asking if we can have 'school' after quiet time, and taking pride in the work that he does.

I'm trying to soak in every moment we have.

Currently, we have 'school time' with Merritt before lunch (circle time, reading, an art project, and music time) and then when Merritt goes down for a nap, Evy and I hit the markers and crayons once more to work on readiness skills.  I'm still working on the structure of it, but the boys are having fun and that is really what matters.  

Today in School: Salt Dough

Now, this activity isn't anything super special, but it was one that I wanted to do with Everett to keep working on developing this dexterity and strength in his hands.

Today in School: More with Colored Glue

The boys wanted to paint more with glue . . . so, we made suncatchers, an idea I found at Time for Play.

I knew that both boys would enjoy it, but I was surprised to see how much it was an activity to help Everett develop the muscles needed for writing.  He is pretty low-muscle toned which accounts for some of the hardship he has with writing, and this activity was great for him.

We picked out some cookie cutters, had a great time with "free paint," and then filled in the cookie cutters (on wax paper) with the color of glue that we wanted.  It was great for Merritt because we were able to continue our conversation about color.

It did take several days for these to dry . . . and in the end the boys like to play with them rather than hang them in the window.

Go Chersh

Merritt was up all night and it is Stake Conference.  That means Merritt stays home with Mom.

He watched his dad and brother get ready for church, putting on pants and donning their ties.  He was very upset when they left without him.

An hour later, he brought to his mom a long sleeve church shirt and a tie.  They were both hanging in the closet; so, it took effort for him to get them.

He motioned that he wanted them on right now.  After donning the churchy dudes, he smiled brightly and said,"READDYY."

When his mom explained that he can't go, he was sad and repeated over and over,"go chersh," with his chin lowered to his chest.

He really was ready to go to church.

ps, there are like several errors in this post, and instead of correcting them, I leave them in a testament to how exhausted I was for being up with him.   And, once he got over the not going to church, he walked around the house saying,"Miss Evy." 

Last, last week:  We had oodles of fun week.  Lunch date with Dad, swimming lessons, Pizza and Movie night as a family, Evy started school with me, and we even started 'school' with Merritt as well.

This past week:  played with friends, hours swimming in the pool and sliding on the waterslide, Dad was at work a lahahaht (poor guys, it just gets worse from here on out).  Evy finished learning how to write his name!  (boy is writing hard for him, but he didn't give up)  Evy's EEG is today.  Played superheros while others had to start school.  Delivered chocolate chip cookies.  Made suncatchers.

This coming week we are hoping to finish several projects (one of which is updating the blog with some overdue posts), spend more time with Dad before he goes out of town, and revel in the fact that we can play ALL DAY LONG!

Today in School: Colored Glue

Today, with our school time that we had with Merritt, we painted with colored glue.  I remember doing this when I was younger and couldn't wait to do it with the boys.  We made the glue today and our first rorschach art pieces.  Great activity to continue to talk about color, take turns, discuss what the splotches look like (beautiful butterfly, long-armed turtle), talk about what colors combine to make new colors; and the boys had a blast shaking the glue to make the "paint."

Here is the website that reminded me of it in the first place:

No Time for Flashcards:  Art with Colored Glue

And, this is just a bonus picture of the boys lazing around while Mom and Dad got ready for the day.

Wanted: New Swim Cap

(This petaled beauty is from AquaPro)

I've kept that swimming thing up.  It is exhausting and usually some muscle group is screaming at me.

Last night was the hardest work-out by far.  My first swim, a couple of weeks ago, I made it through 8 laps.  Last night it was 44.  So, I am getting better.

I'm in the water so much my cheapo swim cap is wearing out.  I need a new one.  Also need a new swim suit.  They can wear out so quickly in the water.

My flipturns . . . well, they are beautiful.

I do have a ways to go in technique and endurance to get where I want to be.  I have a couple more swimming lessons scheduled.

Evy really likes to watch me do my "swimming" research and quoted Michael Phelp's swimming coach (Bob Bowman) to his swimming teacher last time (keeping goggles half in the water when taking a breath during the freestyle) and he is into perfecting the 4 year old push-ups after watching me start my own routine of them.

I am doing good. Not any kind of competitive material, but it is better than sitting on my butt pouting cause I can't run or even walk fast.

Today in School

We've started back to school here in the house.  Here are a couple of pictures during the school time we shared with Merritt this morning.

We called these Color Jungles.

And, Merritt is a puzzle fiend; he blew through most of the ones I had in the house (no small number).  I've got to find some harder ones for him.

A Mention

So, when Erik drove the boys to Waco to meet up with me and the Moores, there were a couple of hiccups.

In an effort to occupy Everett, Erik deemed Everett the photographer and he took 200 pictures in the car that looked like this:

Chills and Thrills

swimming lessons

snow cones

going to the gym

cleaning house

staying cool

saying goodbye to beloved family

helping others

visit to Waco

lunches with Dad

lots of packing, unpacking, and laundry

We made the most awesome goodbye present.  Here are some pictures we posed for it:

I hope that they call me . . .

From Erik's Mission Reunion trip this summer to the series of lessons in his primary class on missionaries and the fact that we have like 9 young men on missions from our ward right now, Evy is very versed on what a missionary does.  And, when we had the missionaries over for dinner, he was prepared to put his knowledge to work.

He dressed the way he knew missionaries should dress.

He had his scriptures.  (did you know there is a section on Spiderman, Superman, and Batman squeezed in all that ancient verse?)

He had a great time with the missionaries at dinner.

I *heart* him so

Merritt took all his clothes off during  "play time" at the gym's childcare center yesterday.  Thankfully, I had duct-taped on his diaper.  As I dropped him off this morning . . . found out about the "streaking" . . . I realized I didn't tape his diaper this morning.

But, all was well.  He was too busy and comfy in today's clothes to bother stripping them off and running.

Merritt is my active, cuddly kid.  As we were walking down the stairs yesterday, I was carrying him.  He turned to me, pointed at me, and said,"Friend!"

So sweet and the first time he has even used the word.

He keeps me on my toes but is worth every little bit of effort.

I love you, Merritt!

Chills and Thrills

Last week was very busy and productive.  We even took some down time and visited the grandparents, went on a date, and had a dinner party!  YAY!

It is so freaking hot.  Like H!O!T! hot.  Like 109 yesterday, feeling like 116. And I am scared to check out today.  It barely got below 100 last night.

Evy and I are getting ready for Sunday.  He has his first talk in Primary and I am teaching RS. 

We are still doing the swimming lessons and trying to keep up with all the summer laundry.

And, my swimming is going well.  I am worn out but good.