hidden pond

Hidden Pond is one of the best field trips for a kid like Keaton and his love of everything creepy crawly.  The big draw is a chance to go "netting" off the dock where each scoop captures a variety of creatures.  Can't forget the huge collection of snakes too!

heritage and literacy

Aiden's school hosted Heritage and Literacy Night. We were welcomed by a gym full of families representing their heritages with food and displays. Then they open the classrooms to show off all their work. Aiden's poem about Mudpuppies was accompanied by a big research book where the "interesting facts" section was bursting at the seams. He was also happy to show us his paper art of a "community celebration" which was his birthday where he was drooling over his cake.

little loving hands

Our March and April Little Loving Hands boxes were fun and instigated good conversations with the kids about needy people. March was a comfort pack for families at a homeless shelter that included a stenciled no-sew pillow and a memory game with painted wooden hearts and stenciled bag. April was a grocery bag with pipe cleaner flowers to decorate it for the food bank. They suggested using hand prints and Aiden created this creative idea of an apple tree with his hand prints. He did such a great job making the pipe cleaner flowers all on his own, my crafty guy.

yoga meister

Keaton is guy that mimics his crowd.  Kidding Around Yoga is the perfect match for him because he can be calm and joyful at the same time.  He was so, so excited to see some of his yoga buddies at kindergarten orientation - and I'm so glad he will have familiar friends from the neighborhood when he starts in the fall.

art by KC

Keaton's favorite Mo Willems interpretation with "Don't let the shark drive the boat!"  

The restaurant kid's menus have been full of fishes and sea turtles lately.

Keaton had a buddy over for lunch the other day and they wanted to sing a long to Purple People Eater - and then they drew them from their imaginations (which is something there teacher is always encouraging them to do).

Keaton's class went outside on a beautiful day for small group time and drew what they saw around them.  Keaton was sitting right by the big bed of tulips. He'd point out the seedlings and seeds he saw around them too.

art by AB

Who doesn't love a camouflage frog pencil drawing?

That is some 3D pattern art entitled "Snail Party!!!"

One of my all time favorites: Aiden with a Patriots jersey on and Keaton in his recognizable brown and maroon striped shirt, standing in our backyard.  The drawing includes the stairs up to our deck and the doors out to the patio.

Those big black lines that look like a giant chick are actually the numbers 100.  This is Aiden's 100 day celebration picture of a farm.

tennis

We had some rain change up some Earth Day celebrations in our neighborhood, so we will reschedule celebrating our earth after it stops raining - ha! But the sun came out full force for the tennis team kickoff!  Aiden was at a birthday party, but they let Keaton in the mix with the big kids.  He wanted to stay for two hours!

bday circuit

So many spring birthday parties lately!  Even one early morning at Chuck E. Cheese on the teacher workday with these smiley guys both invited.  Aiden had an invite to go to the Kennedy Center to see a three man show of Moby Dick (which apparently used a lot of hats).  Another invite to a Minecraft party where they all play on big screens in the same mode. 

tidbits

Cheering at the parent/teacher basketball game! Pom poms in the face for all the parents!

Face paints up the play date game for this sly cheetah guy!

The laser tag birthday party where the dads were invited to play too - dream come true for party crasher Keaton who has been invited to two parties for Aiden's buddies in the last few weeks - so not technically a party crasher when generous hosts include brothers!

interview with KC

One word to describe you would be: 

A knight!

Why do you like being a kid? 

It's fun to wear costumes and stuff like really cool costumes!

If you could be any animal, which one would you be and why? 

Cheetah, because they are super fast and I like to run and then I'd be as fast as a cheetah 

Tell about a funny time in your life. 

When we were cuddling and Aiden walked up from getting home from school!  He scared us, Ahh!

What is your favorite thing to do? Why? 

Play medieval times with costumes and stuff because I love costumes 

What do you love most about your brother? 

That when he has money he got for his birthday and I don't, he gets me a treat prize because one time he really did that!

What was the nicest thing you did for someone? 

Get them an extra present, I think I did that?

What do you think you will be doing 10 years from now? 

When you're a teenager, do you have a job? Like can I catch robbers? (15 year olds don't usually have that type of job) Do I still have a mother or anything? (You will still live with me) Really, then I guess teenagers just sit around and play video games?

What is the grossest thing you can think of? 

Boogers or blood!

What is your happiest memory?

When it's Christmas and people give me toys or even my birthday!

tidbits

Keaton was excited to pick out this Orioles hat the other day and now pops it on backwards to make everyone laugh. 

We've been getting out to play before school starts on some beautiful mornings lately.

J and I signed up for a knife skills class at Sur La Table where we learned how to easily cut peppers, tomatoes, etc. They turned all the cut up veggies into gazpacho and served cheese and lemon lavender biscuits too - and then we snuck in cupcakes afterward ;).  

school is cool

Springtime planting seeds! Mo Willems week with pigeon puppets! 

good patient

This good patient had three appointments in a 24 hour window. Both the boys have shiny whites now after a good cleaning at the dentist.  Then it was time for Keaton's 5 year well visit appointment to go along with his kindergarten registration!  Then a final visit to be sure that his eyes are in good shape - 20/20.  

At kindergarten registration (orientation this week!) he picked out Suess' Oh the Places You'll Go to read while we waited, which was pretty poignant if you ask me.  Then he surprised me and made me laugh by telling the registrar that he wants to be called Carter at school - we'll see ;)

art by KC

A few random pieces from Keaton's school art - Pizza with yarn cheese and pipe cleaner peppers!  They learned about shadows and drew their own from cutouts they picked. "Monster Lizard Yawning" with stars at each little joint is a black on black a constellation creation.  "My kite would fly to my roof" has jumbled letters to his name because the wind blew them all around ;)

brain chase

Brain Chase Week 8 is complete and all the art and engineering challenges have been super fun!  We have cracked the code, but it doesn't all make sense - so does it count as a half crack?  Dunno, but the experience makes it all worth it regardless of whether we hit the jackpot this week!  But cross your fingers and toes that we are able to piece it all together - so far we are zeroed in on Italy!  

The engineering challenges in this last half of the Chase included the creation and testing this catapult, testing out some corn starch oobleck, creating a Rube Goldberg machine, and creating a diagram to help solve a problem.  The art challenges included foil sculpture, a perspective building drawing, and potato/apple stamping.  That top right is a combination of collage, foil sculpture, and apple stamping for his final called Flight of the Night Owl.

The last sealed letter from Max included a seed that we were required to grow to reveal the bonus challenge clue.  We weren't sure what we were looking for, but eventually we found the word "Journey" written on the side of the bean blossom (which fell off as we were trying to figure it out, but I'm just glad it grew enough for us to find it).  When was the last time you got a clue off a plant?! Other bonus challenges had him alphabetizing the latin words for coral and then searching for in an online museum gallery.

cartooning

Aiden's drawings inspired from his cartooning class at school.  Cowboy Caterpillar!  Classy Pig! Chillaxing Eggs and Bacon! Totem Dog!

bday at school

It was fun to coop with the birthday boy and watch him move his picture from the 4 to the 5!  We made pudding dirt cups and the kids had fun crushing the chocolate graham crackers.  Keaton made it to the top of the jungle gym all on his own swinging his legs up.

soccer

While spring struggles to stick, soccer season has begun!

whoosh

These cousin buddies all survived the foam sword onslaught with big smiles on their faces.

happy

This is what I look like on my way to Ikea too!  Hooray!

chillaxin

Thanks to G&P for the new Megatron giant guy!  Cameron loved him so much he wanted him to cuddle up on the couch with everyone.  Aiden and Cameron reading at the end of the day with Cameron's carefully placed blanket over their heads ;)

party guy

This funny five year old was ready for his party!  He had his piñata face ready.  He loved the rocket ship his brother and gran worked hard on for him.  He was more than ready to blow out his candles and went for it before we finished singing.  The very specific cake photo he picked out was matched by his daddy and he was thrilled.  Digging in what Aiden named the Moon Sand Excavation and eating rock candy on the rocking horse added to the fun ;)

party people

Lotsa party people (28 kids and 23 adults) enjoyed the break in the weather with blue skies!

Cousin buddies with the grabber hands!

party fun

Party in the park is our favorite because you have build in fun on the playground!  Add in stomp rockets (man do those things go high!) and a moon rock hunt (aka. eggs wrapped in foil)

party details

Aiden was so happy to help create the treat bags for Keaton's party.  Each one was a personalized alien with it's own twisty straw antenna.  We made five cakes and four dozen cupcakes between the party prep and the spring fling cake walk donations at Aiden's school.  The inside on the cake J worked hard on (with real royal icing!) was the coolest blue velvet that looked like a cool moon even without icing. One of the hottest presents was this meteorite dig kit - one kid dug while the other looked out for a hint of the rock and they switched back and forth until they were covered in dust.

air and space

An afternoon at the Air and Space museum to get ready for the space party!

cake happy

Happy 5 to this guy!  Birthday numero cinco complete, but how did time fly and make my baby five?!

Giddy smiles fueled by tons of treats and Keaton's daddy made space shuttle cake.  More coming soon!

roosevelt island

Some fun with photography on Roosevelt Island:

boat cruise

Cruising the Potomac checking our the cherry blossoms and the monuments:

wired

Baked and Wired cupcakes waiting for our boat cruise with these hooded brothers and grandparents!