A few days ago, I took Smart Flint Goldensword and his apprentice to the Bay Area Discovery Museum. As we were about to leave, I had the following conversation with my son, otherwise known as "The Negotiator":
Me: Hey Sam, we're going to leave in five minutes.
The Negotiator: Well, actually, how about six minutes mami?
Me: How about four minutes?
The Negotiator: Ok, five is good.
Saturday, July 17, 2010
Monday, June 28, 2010
Weekend Shenanigans
It's been pretty hot the past week in our hood and Smart Flint Goldensword doesn't fare well on land if he isn't involved in some sort of water war. So, we decided to make water balloons.
Here is Smart Flint Goldensword looking all sweet and cute with his weaponry before the war begins....
Reinforcements.....
Smart Flint Goldensword did elicit a recruit for battle...She turned out to have a pretty good arm despite her size (we think that was part of the plan):
Somebody's happy......
One other shenanigan this weekend including putting up a tent. It's pretty interesting to see how much joy the kids derived from that thing. I guess we need to go camping.
Here is Smart Flint Goldensword looking all sweet and cute with his weaponry before the war begins....
Reinforcements.....
Smart Flint Goldensword did elicit a recruit for battle...She turned out to have a pretty good arm despite her size (we think that was part of the plan):
Somebody's happy......
One other shenanigan this weekend including putting up a tent. It's pretty interesting to see how much joy the kids derived from that thing. I guess we need to go camping.
Experimentation
I was trying to figure out a new snack for the kiddos and thought some fruit juice shapes would be good. Cute, huh? Yeah, real cute....
We assembled the necessary ingredients (fruit juice and unflavored gelatin):
After combining the ingredients, we diligintly chilled it for three hours and got this:
It's not pretty but Sam and I were hopeful. I mean, it looked like it would work and it did have the consistency of Jell-O. So, we proceeded with cutting out our shapes. Here's Smart FLint Goldensword doing a demonstration:
And here's what we ended up with.....
Cute, right?
Right.
Only problem is they tasted horrible...I mean like throw-up in your mouth horrible.
Next time, I'm using the fake stuff (i.e. Jell-O) with all the crap they put in it to make it taste better.
We assembled the necessary ingredients (fruit juice and unflavored gelatin):
After combining the ingredients, we diligintly chilled it for three hours and got this:
It's not pretty but Sam and I were hopeful. I mean, it looked like it would work and it did have the consistency of Jell-O. So, we proceeded with cutting out our shapes. Here's Smart FLint Goldensword doing a demonstration:
And here's what we ended up with.....
Cute, right?
Right.
Only problem is they tasted horrible...I mean like throw-up in your mouth horrible.
Next time, I'm using the fake stuff (i.e. Jell-O) with all the crap they put in it to make it taste better.
Summer Vacation -Day 12 -The Zoo: Part Deux
We had a chance to catch up with some friends we hadn't seen in a long time. Despite the time we spent in the "carnival" area of the zoo, we did check out some animals...Like this bear chowin' down on a hunk 'o meat....
The children minus Miss Hunter:
Goofin' around....
The train ride:
The children minus Miss Hunter:
Goofin' around....
The train ride:
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Summer Vacation -Day 10 =Structured Play is Genius
I was complaining commenting to Brad how our children are getting on my last nerve keeping me busy and that I needed some downtime to dream about carefree things such as looking and feeling like the woman in this picture:
Nice, eh? She's healthy, vibrant, in wonderful shape, etc, etc, etc.....Instead, I feel more like this:
In a moment of genius, Brad said, "Why don't you just create a schedule for yourselves?"
It was genius. And I was jealous because, after all, I'm the teacher in the family, right? Anyhow, this morning I set up "stations" as opposed "jobs" which is the Montessori term Sam is usually familiar with these days. And so, I present to you....drumroll, please....
The Marker Station:
The Play-Doh Station:
The Arts-n-Crafts Station (formerly known as the "Marker Station"-like how that works?)
The Jenga and Beginning Writing Station:
The Fort Station:
By the way, in between the Arts-n-Crafts station and the Jenga/Beginning Writing station, I hoofed it over to Mollie Stone's to grab some lunch and take the kiddies to our local park. Below is footage of their shenanigans as well as Izzy's athleticism. Clearly, her athletic abilities are a result of my gene pool. Ahem....
As a result of this newly implemented routine, I:
1. yelled less
2. picked up less
3. had a messier house
4. had happier children
5. took away Sam's spywatch until tomorrow because his ears are not listening well rather than throwing it in the trash (to make a statement, obviously, of who is running the show these days)
6. made spaghetti and meatballs for dinner
I'm going to go ahead and give this a 75% success rate. I'll shoot for higher tomorrow...I'm too exhausted right now to think straight. I barely have enough energy to finalize this post (which started early this morning during the Play-Doh station time frame).
Nice, eh? She's healthy, vibrant, in wonderful shape, etc, etc, etc.....Instead, I feel more like this:
In a moment of genius, Brad said, "Why don't you just create a schedule for yourselves?"
It was genius. And I was jealous because, after all, I'm the teacher in the family, right? Anyhow, this morning I set up "stations" as opposed "jobs" which is the Montessori term Sam is usually familiar with these days. And so, I present to you....drumroll, please....
The Marker Station:
The Play-Doh Station:
The Arts-n-Crafts Station (formerly known as the "Marker Station"-like how that works?)
The Jenga and Beginning Writing Station:
The Fort Station:
By the way, in between the Arts-n-Crafts station and the Jenga/Beginning Writing station, I hoofed it over to Mollie Stone's to grab some lunch and take the kiddies to our local park. Below is footage of their shenanigans as well as Izzy's athleticism. Clearly, her athletic abilities are a result of my gene pool. Ahem....
As a result of this newly implemented routine, I:
1. yelled less
2. picked up less
3. had a messier house
4. had happier children
5. took away Sam's spywatch until tomorrow because his ears are not listening well rather than throwing it in the trash (to make a statement, obviously, of who is running the show these days)
6. made spaghetti and meatballs for dinner
I'm going to go ahead and give this a 75% success rate. I'll shoot for higher tomorrow...I'm too exhausted right now to think straight. I barely have enough energy to finalize this post (which started early this morning during the Play-Doh station time frame).
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