Art comes to life

Spring Break offered lots of opportunities for fun things to do around Fort Worth. After having the kids' pictures taken, we headed over to Amon Carten American Art museum. That day, they were featuring artist Georgia O'Keefe. There were activities (and refreshments) for the kids. The timing was perfect since Beth and I had just read a library book about that very artist. At the museum, the kids were given cards with specific art to find, along with questions to discuss to notice and take in the art. There were docents available to talk about the art and artist.

Then, the kids had the opportunity to draw like Georgia O'Keefe. One of the painting showed a flower VERY close up. The kids got to pick a flower and were supposed to draw it close up. They were a little timid at first but did a great job!

I love exposing the kids (and us parents) to culture like this. I love that the flexibility of Kevin's schedule and availability of technology allow him to do things like this with us, while still working. We'll definitely need to make more trips to museums.

Spring has arrived!

Ah, Spring!!!!!! Of course, I finally post this, the day after a cold front came through. Well, I'm looking forward to the weather warming up quickly.

We've had so much wonderful time playing outside. Our house has become an active place for lots of neighborhood kids, playing with our kids for hours. Great fun!

The kids and Kevin snagged a bit of time to ride bikes. It was Jacob's first ride down the road, and he was pretty proud. It was great until they had to come back up the hill. It's a tough ride! Once back in the driveway, there was not time to lose- Jacob had to hunt for snails and roly polys and dig in the dirt.

The simple joys of spring! Great memories!

Life

I know, I haven't posted in a long time. Nothing overly exciting has happened lately.

Beth had a field trip, but I forgot my camera. Beth takes gymnastics once a week and is really improving in her skills. Jacob is signed up for a soccer camp twice a week in May, and he can hardly stand the wait. They are both rocking and rolling in their AWANA club for church. I am amazed at how many scriptures they learn and retain. Spring Break is next week, and we'll have some fun stuff to do. Hopefully, I'll remember to take my camera along.

Kevin is busy as usual with work. I completed my participation in the spring Just Between Friends consignment sale. I am getting into spring cleaning- hard work but feels so good to have a major task accomplished, a part at a time (baseboards and fans today, windows and blinds next week). I'm doing some re-organization of closets and toys. I also completed all the digital scrapbook pages for our 2010 Disney World trip. I had a marathon weekend, completing 17 pages. I haven't scrapbooked since- got a bit burned out. I still have to finish ordering the pages, but I'm loving the way it's coming together in the album so far. Here's a peek at a few of the last pages:

Conversation with Jacob

I found this little questionare for kids thing through Pinterest. (Oh my, so many ideas there! Proudly, I've used about 5 that I've pinned!)

Here are the questions and Jacob's answers. I love the peek into his busy little mind!
What's your name? Jacob
How old are you? 4
What is your favorite color? blue and green
What do want to be when you're all grown up? an Indian, no, umm..... a Cowboy (said with complete Texas twang)
Who is your best friend? Beth. No, Jaxson and Jonas. And Jesus.
What is your favorite movie? Mulan
What is your favorite book? Daniel and the Lion's Den (what we read last night)
What makes you happy? When a friend plays nice with me
What makes you sad? When nobody plays with me
What is your most favorite food to eat? Lots of things (which means a sectioned plate with something in every section- stick cheese, lunchmeat ham, cheese nips or goldfish, yogurt or peaches or grapes and a dessert- candy or thin mints or brownie)
What is your favorite song to sing? (and dance/act out) I'll Make A Man Out of You (from Mulan)
What games do you like to play? Guess Who and Sorry

The Truth in the Tinsel

Early in the Christmas season, I asked Beth what she tought of when she thought about Christmas. She said family and presents. While those things are certainly a part of Christmas, I realized our focus and balance was off. Talking to Kevin, we realized we wanted to refocus our family on the true meaning of Christmas. Jesus wasn't left out of our celebrating, mind you, we just wanted there to be more of Him.

I did some searching and searching online. I saw many things that looked amazing, that really told the story. Since my kids are 4 and 7, I knew we needed something simple and quick. The Truth in the Tinsel fit the bill! It was an e-book download. I printed the pages I needed. I already had most of the supplies in the craft closet, but did go buy a few things(and tweeked a few projects to fit what supplies I had). Reading the Bible passage, the discussion and the craft took about 15-20 minutes. That was great for the short attention span of a 4 year old but still deep enough for the 7 year old to not be bored.

With time being what it was and that it was already into December, I knew we wouldn't have time for all 25 crafts. Some days, we combined the stories and talked about them, making only one craft. Sometimes, we made two crafts. Some, we just skipped altogether. The kiddos really looked forward to this family Bible and craft time!

We all learned so much about the story of Jesus. It was a really special time for our family. I had wound garland with lights and ribbon on the stair rail, but I thought it was still missing something. Every craft we complete was hung on the garland, reminding us every day to celebrate Jesus.

We are already looking forward to next year, making sure we plan the time to complete every single day and honoring our Savior in the Christmas season!

Battle of the Ages- Wordless Wed.

More elf adventures

Our Elf on the Shelf, Tinsel, had a few more adventures before he headed back to the North Pole. I'm glad Tinsel didn't get into as much mischief as many elves we saw pictures of. The kids were pretty tickled with what they found a few mornings.

Did you see him in the stocking?

We even had an elf impersoninator.