Catching Up: Almost Forgot... April 2012

Here's Ethan enjoying a few of his birthday presents in April.

Drilling away...

 ...without any pants. (Thanks, Sectors! This drill is still getting a lot of play time!)

 Ready for bed in our cool new Spidey pj's. (Thanks, Great Aunt Linda.)

And then there's this:

What? The dog kennel is not for kids?

Psha. It's fun in here.

Catching Up: "Pay Ou-side"

Since we've moved to the new place Ethan has become quite the little outdoorsman. It's all he wants to do. I don't really mind because there is more visibility at this place, meaning I don't have to be out there the entire time. So once I get the dog poop picked up, I let him out. But he is not a fan of waiting, so he has figured out how to open the sliding door himself and sneak out. Lucky us. It cracks me up though that the second he tastes freedom he forgets all about the wide open door... (2-29-12)

Summer : Water Table as Fall : Rice Table

I love that Pinterest helps me access the crafty ideas I have stored away in my brain from the teaching days. (Seems like it was a lifetime ago I was in the classroom, not a mere 2.5 years.)

Ya know the ones that are so simple they are brilliant? Colored rice is one of them.

 These two wasted no time digging right in. (Frank and Hagrid supervised, of course.)

 They thought it was such a blast.

Goofball.

Ethan tasted it, naturally.

 Katie just wanted to fill every bucket, holder, scoop, and shovel with it.

 They were so excited they even shared the toys!!! (For a little while anyway.)

 Mixing it up was the most exciting part.

Here's Ethan carrying around his tiny little cup of rice.

It's his favorite thing to do at the table now.

And because I never make something without first considering how I will manage it (a blessing and a curse) I made this pul polka dot cover to keep moisture and dirt out. Now if I could just figure out how to get the kids to keep the rice inside the table. That'll be the day. I should have taken a picture of the carnage. It was amazing. I think they literally lost half of the rice in one session.

(For a quick reference I will post the measurements/ supplies in the comments section when I am motivated enough to search for it in the abyss that is the office desk. I'm not in the mood right now.)