We did a puzzle then inspiration struck and Eve decided to paint a picture of the puzzle. Another time we did this puzzle we ended up drawing it with crayon. I guess she likes this puzzle!
Inspiration
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Author Archives: Tessa
Tin can robots
While I spent the afternoon working on my resume and largely ignoring my children, they spent the afternoon working on tin can robots and largely ignoring me. A win-win situation (until the bedtime battle :/) Lex got the idea from a crafty magazine he has. I think it’s the last craft in the magazine he hasn’t done. He’s been asking for a few days if I would get out the hot glue gun, but I just see all sorts of ways that could go wrong so I’ve been putting him off. Today I remembered some glue dots I had in my craft supply, so I broke them out and fortunately they worked well!
Little tinkerers, hard at work!
Lex’s creation, “Can Man” has a crane and a light on top, a “problem solving” mode, and if you look closely you can see eye brows over the nut eyes. Clever boy.
Eve built her robot and then decided it needed to be tucked away for safe keeping. I talked her in to letting me take a quick picture before she put another pint container on top and taped them up.
A few other pictures from the weekend…
We did the “Haunted Office” Friday night with Rosy. The kids worked hard on it and we all had fun. Then we un-haunted it so Rosy could have an un-haunted bedroom for the weekend and snuggled in for a movie night.
This is the note I was curious about. When the bucket tipped the note fell out.
“Tricked You!” Funny boy.
Saturday morning Lex and I saw a beautiful sunrise! Unfortunately it disappeared quickly. Lex tried to get a picture but this is all he got before it was gone. We agreed to enjoy the memory of it. :)
Snack time!
They are always so proud of their snacks when they make them themselves. They are often so proud they want to take pictures!
I asked Alan what we should do with the awesome Lego costume now that Halloween is over. He decided this would be a good idea. Hilarity ensued, of course.
Snow!
Today I am thankful that when the flurries fly we can turn on the heat without giving it a second thought.
And fly they did this morning! On the drive to school this morning Eve talked excitedly about building a snowman when she came home from school. Sadly, for her, the snow never stuck and the flurries stopped in the early afternoon. I assured her there would be PLENTY of time for snow this winter! Forecasters are saying it’s going to be a cold winter this year :/ Which brings me back to being thankful for a warm house!
Cranky
Today I am thankful for family who loves me, even when I am cranky.
Date night!
Today I am thankful for my sister who happily watches my kids so hubby and I can have a date night! Gusanoz and Argo! A good night.
The basics
Today I am thankful for the basic necessities… electricity, water, and warmth.
November Thankfuls
Happy November! Today I am thankful for my funny, smart, clever, crafty, amazing children who keep me guessing every day.
No more reading at the table – An update!
After a month or so of my “no reading at the table” plan I figured I’d post a quick update. I know how much you all are concerned with the dining situation at my house.
Overall the plan has been a success! Lex’s table manners have improved and he is no long as sloppy and disgusting to eat with. He thinks and plans and joins in the conversation. He laughs and participates. This evening I decided to start our annual “thankfuls” at the dinner table. With no fuss Lex jumped right in with a thoughtful thankful.
That said, there is one down-side to the plan… Lex no longer eats!! That’s maybe a slight exaggeration, but in the past he would plop down with a book, check out, and eat whatever you put in front of him (with some limitations, of course). Now he bounces around in his seat, chats, laughs, gets up, sits down, fidgets with whatever he can reach and doesn’t eat! (that doesn’t actually sound like very good table manners, does it?!) Sometimes I have to set a timer for him or take his food away at a certain time, just so we can move on with the day. I swear his calorie intake, and books read, has been cut in half!
Sigh. I guess you can’t win them all. But at least he’s less messy and gross to eat with. :)
Tricks
After filling up on treats for snack, the kids spent the entire afternoon creating tricks. It started as a whispered plan in the office. A plan to play a trick on me. Then they asked if they could use the cotton balls and when I asked why they said, “Just to play a little trick on you.” They promised it wouldn’t hurt and that they would clean it up (that’s the real trick on me!) so I said sure. They were thrilled. As often happens with games in this house, what started as a simple trick ended up being worked on for hours and blossoming into a full-fledge Haunted Office! The prep work took so long that I didn’t even get to go through it tonight. I agreed to leave it set up for the morning and promised Alan and I would go through it together. Lex wants to set up scary lighting and Eve has plans for sound effects.
Since the element of surprise was already gone, thanks to very loud whispers, I decided to take a sneak peek.
HAUNTED OFFICE (in haunted lettering)
Open door all the way for a surprise!
BOO (with a ghost in the first O)
This is Lex’s trap. When you open the door all the way, guess what happens?!? It took him several tries to get it just right. The door kept bumping the bucket and knocking it down. He was frustrated, but kept trying and finally got it positioned perfectly.
The view from the other side. Pretty tricky, eh? There is an orange note tucked into the bucket, along with cotton balls and scraps of paper confetti. I haven’t peeked at the note, but I’m curious what it says. :)
Eve’s trick. Hers involves you standing still while she pulls the rope. The element of surprise with her was completely lost when she told me all about it at dinner time. :) She also has a series of other “traps” that involve you standing still while she wraps a string around your wrist and captures you.
I will practice my surprised face for the morning. Rosy, the kids don’t read the blog (yet!) so you may want to practice your surprised face too, just in case the office is still haunted when you arrive. :)
Halloween 2012
This is the treat Eve wanted to school, but I said it would be to much to make 35 of these. Instead I surprised her with them for after school snack. She was excited. Lex was apprehensive and said, “Pudding? What’s pudding?” He wouldn’t even try it! He actually ate barely anything all day… saving room for candy, I suppose!
After school snack.
Then we hopped in the car and went trick-or-treating!
Our first stop on the trick-or-treat path was Gommy and Popcube’s house!
I would have loved to be on the other side of that wall! Imagine a giant yellow head peeking around the corner! :)
Popcube had a fun time with the Lego costume!
We only stayed for a few minutes, just long enough for hugs…
… and candy!
And a few quick laps up and down the driveway. I didn’t discourage that!
Then we did a bit of trick-or-treating at the mall. I told the kids we could go there just in case it rained in the evening. It was packed, as usual, but they kept it together and I didn’t get too crazy!
No good pictures from the mall. Here Eve is excitedly waving at a 6′ Goofy walking around. I had to hold on to Lex the whole time because he can’t see or hear very well with that huge head on!
After we did the lap we hung out for awhile and did some people watching.
Then we picked up a pizza and headed home for dinner. The rain held off and it ended up being a great night for trick-or-treating!
Waiting for trick-or-treaters. I think the kids had as much fun with this part of the evening as they did with the gathering-of-candy part.
Trick-or-treat!
Once again they barely made it off our street, but we all agreed they got plenty of candy!
Some pre-bedtime wrestling with daddy. Sugar them up and then wear them out! :)
Happy Halloween!
As I said to Eve as we snuggled this evening, tomorrow is the first day of November. Do you know what that means? Twelve days until my birthday!!!