Mosaic Monday

I was reading the "Midway" section of the Sunday paper last night about Prairie Moon Waldorf School just outside of Lawrence, KS. It's a private preK-12 school that uses a method of teaching I haven't come across yet in my research on teaching methods. Basically, the Waldorf method uses an artistic, integrative and classical approach to teaching. I'll post more about my educational method musings at another time. Anyhow, that article inspired me to have the girls do some art today and they loved it! They made a simple mosaic (with no rhyme or reason to their design at this age) out of dried beans/peas/lentils. The medium they placed the beans in is a mixture of 1/3 C salt, 1/3 C flour (may need a bit more) and 1/3 C water. Mix well and press it onto a plate (we used pie tins). Then you decorate and let it dry for 2-5 days. Enjoy!

Abigail examining her bean before sticking it in the dough.

Maddie's finished mosaic!
Abbie's showing me her finished product as she digs her finger into the edge.

We then used the extra beans to make a shaker toy, they did not make it back into the edible stock :)

Congratulations Clinton!

Another one of Jeremy's flight students, Clinton Brown, got his wings! He soloed in record time with just 8 hours prior to his first pilot in command (PIC) flight. Stay safe and enjoy the view! Congrats!

Our Saturday

Jeremy went flying on Saturday and after Maddie's ballet class, we went to have lunch with him and bring him home. He took the girls out to the Cessna 172 just to hop in and check it out. Madeline doesn't like flying as much as Abigail. She usually wants me to hold her and then once we're in the air she falls asleep while Abigail is gripping the yoke trying to fly the plane (we used to have access to a 2-seater in Alaska, so the girls always had to fly in our laps...) and I'd get airsick from the bumpy ride & Abbie's rough flying skills.
Jeremy's busy buckling the girls in...Madeline is smiling now, but she was screeching "I don't want to fly!" when the camera was turned away.I think all of Madeline's complaining got Abigail a bit worked up and she started to freak out too. I got her out of there immediately - I didn't want her to be scarred and lose our 4th generation pilot (as I'm betting she'll want to be a pilot more than Maddie, although this photo doesn't help my case).

Later that afternoon, the girls and I decided to go exploring around Fox Ridge (as we were car-less while Jeremy was at school with his study group). We walked over to another playground that I discovered on a previous walk with Abbie. The girls loved the swings and the tall slide. And there was lots of shade, so that was super nice too.


She loves to let go and hang backwards. Fearless.
Madeline has discovered that when you lie on the swing, twirl around, and then lift your feet up you can spin around super fast.

We continued to walk around and pick up various leaves and rocks and came upon a really neat tree. It was full of big, lumpy, bright green "hedge apples" or osage oranges. We picked 3 of them and brought them back home to decorate. They're now sitting on our front step and anyone who walks by is enthusiastically invited by Madeline to come and look at them . She calls them The Batastos - that's their family name :) We can't wait to decorate with pumpkins next!
This was our collection bag - it's got the 3 hedge apples, various tree leaves and a few rocks.
These things were super sticky. Madeline realized that after she removed them from her cheeks.
She didn't like the sticky sap either :) And yes, Abbie had her new (thank you Michelle!) swimsuit under her dress, which came off once we got home.
Here are our Batastos. I found random washers, screws, fasteners, and even a bent nail to decorate them with. Hopefully the squirrels won't run off with them...we'll either have a very sick squirrel or possibly a flat tire to deal with.

Our Front Door

We were lucky to get a townhouse that had "good bones" when it came to the landscaping in the front and back. The tenants before had lots of rock, pavers, terracotta pots, juniper trees, and other accessories (wind chimes, lanterns, etc). It gave me a great starting point, however, our front walk desperately needed work. It was full of pea gravel that the girls would gravitate toward as soon as we were either going outside or coming in. They'd grab handfuls and sprinkle it all over the shared walk and our neighbor was visibly annoyed by the ball-bearing, fall-waiting-to-happen, mess. I told her I was getting rid of the rock (because I too was annoyed). Those words were a trap for me - I had to do it now. I needed that motivation though, because I was going to work on the yard after the baby was born.
Anyhow, it took me 3 days to do. I could only work outside when the girls were happy and when it wasn't too hot. So, that means before nap time or after bed time (7pm). Yard work is hard with kids wanting to be right there with you...or running loose around the parking lot (yikes!). So between wrangling the girls and doing lots of bending and hauling (all the pea gravel out front filled some rock beds in the backyard) and digging, and planting, it was finished. I couldn't be more happier with the end product. I'm actually quite proud of myself - I guess all those HGTV shows paid off :)
Here are the Before & After photos:
Before :( Notice that the shrubs beneath the window were in need of trimming too.

After :) I was able to catch the maintenance man as he was trimming other shrubs and asked him to spruce ours up too. It's all sort of zen-like and that's not a typical style I'd choose, but it actually makes me feel some serenity (NOW!) as I walk past it ;)
Before :( a close up of the rock bed.

After :) The pavers could've been leveled a bit more, but hey, it's good enough for me!

Another close up...

FYI: The two bushy plants in front are Blue Mist Spirea and the four other plants are Liriope Big Blue. It was fun to go to Wal-mart and Lowes and pick out plants for a whole new zone that would actually survive the winter here...there were so many to choose from - I loved it!

And here are my big helpers:
Madeline will learn soon enough that a dress isn't the best clothing to wear while working outdoors, nor will she need a purse :) Maddie and Abbie rarely sat on the steps while I worked, but at least they were being good listeners when I did have to ask them to get out of the parking lot.

Butterflies

No, not another post about bugs :) I saw this idea in one of the Martha Stewart Living magazines under "good things". I saved the picture thinking someday I'd make them. Well, they're all done! Maddie and I picked out the colored paper lanterns (she just had to have the orange, although it doesn't quite match the rest of the room, it still looks lovely), coordinating paper, glue dots and got to work. It was a fairly quick and easy project as I cut the butterflies out while watching the evening news (Jeremy's hooked on all things Palin now). The girls thought it was so neat to lie in their beds staring up at them...we all had fun, even Abbie who watched while we put them together at the kitchen table.

Spider update

On Sunday the wind was fierce, but so nice and cool. It blew our spider away. I'm a bit nervous that it somehow will end up in the house (like it decided to hide by our door until the wind died down and then made its way inside when we were going in or out).

I should have killed that sneaky spider...or set it free far, far, far away when I had the chance ;)

Spider!

We found this spider spinning a huge web outside our front window and I have no idea what it is. The girls and I have been watching it for a few days now. The huge rainstorm we had demolished its web, but it rebuilt it. I threw a shrub branch into the web to show the girls that it'll attack whatever lands in the web (I actually tore part of the web down doing this), but it amazingly got rid of the branch and rebuilt again. I want it gone, but Jeremy says to let it be. I took a couple pictures and tried to identify it online and am now totally creeped out by all the spider photos I just looked at. I think I'll put it in a jar for the girls so observe it up close and then set it free - far away from our front door.

Here's looking at its underside. Gross.

And again...
And here's one I found online that I thought matched - it was unidentified, but it has the same orange "armpits", black and yellow striped legs and the two white dots on its back end. So gross!

Super Saturday Plaque

Our ward's relief society had Super Saturday this past weekend and I signed up to make this cute wooden plaque. I had multiple obligations that day, (Maddie started a pre-ballet class) so I grabbed the goods to make it at home. I didn't want it to sit in my closet forever, so I got to work on it last night.
Well, it's done! It's an "O" for O'Neil (we haven't picked out a name for the baby yet, so no, it's not a clue for that) and I hung it up in the girls' room over Abbie's crib. It was super easy to do - the hardest part for me was picking out the paper, color of paint and ribbon...I gave myself too many options. Anyhow, I'm pleased with how it turned out and just wanted to share :)
The pictures flanking the "O" are just pages out of an old Mother Goose story book. I liked the somewhat vintage feel...and it was a good way to recycle an old book in disrepair.


And just for fun - here's Maddie after ballet. She wanted to wear her pink dress to class (the only requirement is that the kids wear socks) and asked me to take her picture outside as she stood by a light post. I didn't have her pose this way - she did it all on her own :)

Tummy Shot

For all who have been asking...mostly those in Alaska...here you go! 31 weeks down, 9 to go, and I'm so ready already :) The pregnancy is going very well, but I'm just worn out from carrying all this extra poundage out front (especially since we now have a multi-story house that I get to walk up and down all day long) and occasionally a child or two on my hip...

Thank you Alaska!

We often receive questions as to why we want to keep our Alaska residency instead of switching to Kansas residency for tuition purposes. Well, it's for one major reason...the Permanent Fund Dividend. Here's why we're excited as we will each (all 4 of us this year and 5 of us next year) receive THIS. Thank you Sarah Palin and thank you Alaska!

Swimsuit Saga...continued

So my sister-in-law, Amber, just informed me that Madeline used to wear her swimsuit over her clothes like Abbie does. I completely forgot about that! Sheesh! How could I forget these things?! So here's Maddie, at around the same age as Abigail at home in her swimsuit. By the way, this is the one Abbie used to have, but during a late night drive home from Omaha, we had to change a diaper in a parking lot and it was accidentally dropped on the ground and we drove away...we didn't realize until we were home and Abbie "needed" it.

Rainy Afternoon

Thunderstorms were in the forecast today - I was actually thrilled because it meant that it wouldn't be too hot. There was a big downpour, then it just sprinkled a bit and the girls wanted to play in it. I didn't see lightning or hear thunder, so I let them get geared up in their raincoats and boots. They loved it...well, Maddie more so than Abigail.

Here's Abbie trying to get back into the house...do you think her coat is still a bit too big? Poor thing can't look sideways without getting blinded!
Maddie loves it! Abbie has now sat down to kick off her boots and whine.
Abigail just wanted her coat off after all. I let the girls draw on the dry steps with the chalk. That was the condition - only on DRY pavement. Well, I went back to cooking (this was right off the kitchen/dining room so I could keep an eye on them). I checked on them shortly after because it got quiet - note that quiet play with my girls equals trouble. They were both soaking the chalk in puddles and drawing on themselves. It was all over their clothes, legs, even the top of Madeline's hood!
After washing up, Abigail decided it was time to play with the canned goods. See the look I'm getting? Yes Abbie, it's ok :)
Oh yeah, you may be wondering why she's in a swimsuit. She loves to wear it around the house. Either that or she carries it around with her. She sleeps with it too. Don't worry though, I tie it up in knots so she won't get it tangled around her neck. Anyhow, she started cleaning up a bit and decides to try building a tower of cans.

She gets four high, they tumble, and she continues cleaning. She's such a big helper! Most times I don't even need to ask her to help, she sees the need and fulfills it. Amazing.

How can I get Madeline to model that behavior without saying, "hey, look at your sister, she's helping, why can't you?" or "Abigail, can you eat like Maddie by NOT throwing food everywhere?" I try to encourage good behavior by pointing out what the other is doing in a nice way, but I still worry that I'm doing it wrong. I want to say things in the right way so they're not growing up always comparing themselves to one another that would make them feel bad about themselves. The worries of motherhood...