brain chase

We aren't any closer to solving the location of the treasure - although we're guessing that we will somehow get coordinates and the final location will require us to draw a triangle and use the Pythagorean Theorem to calculate the final location - which was a big part of this week's Bonus Challenge.  Aiden was pumped to learn how to use the Pythagorean Theorem and I was grateful that J is engaged to be sure we get it right ;)

The Art Challenge was melting crayons to make a "stained glass" panel.  Aiden was pumped that his looked like a jagged piece of colorful coral.

The Engineering Challenge included making a tower out of spaghetti noodles and some sort of connectors.  After trying many different types of tape, he finally had good luck with marshmallows!

His writing feedback from his online teacher is always so nice!

school is cool

I went with Keaton's class to the planetarium at the high school (which is super fancy!) and the teacher did such a great job of getting the students engaged under that big dome.  

It was Suess week for Read Across America.  The kids made Trufulla trees from the Lorax with these big poms while I was cooping.  I made green eggs and ham for snack which were a big hit.  The kids all helped crack the eggs and only made about half the mess that you'd expect ;)   Keaton and his classmates love making themselves into signs - and this arrow was directing guests to the zoo.  Keaton and his buddy were dissecting google eyes and putting them on "microscope slides" aka. tape to examine them closer.  Ha!

tidbits

Went to see the Encore's Treasure Island which was really fun for these swashbucklers. They sang some sea shanties and there were raucous sword fights - and these guys were mesmerized.

We are finally getting outside with so many mini breaks in the weather and now it's full fledged no coat weather, and dare I say shorts weather?!

This photo of me at the bottom is a funny shot from an actual game night with couples in the neighborhood. It was raining money and I walked away with the entire pot ;)  Hah, so many memories with good people.

drawing

Aiden just started an after school cartooning class and boy does he love it!  He has been coming home with so many doodles all year, but check out the expressions he's getting out of his drawings lately ;)

brain chase

Brain Chase continues...duh, duh, duh... we have no real guesses on where the actual treasure is hidden, but we've completed some pretty cool projects.  This experiment with milk, food coloring, and a qtips of dish soap was really fun.  The molecules repel and move around as you combine all the ingredients thanks to the fat in the milk.  Then he even printed his Kadinsky like circles on paper.  The art assignment was to sculpt a bar of soap.  Aiden used all sorts of kitchen tools to make a pretty schnazzy owl.

lego night

Aiden's school hosted Lego night again this year.  15 baby pools full of legos, hundreds of duplos to build a castle, and tons of train track covered the floors... along with giddy kids digging and building and showing off their creations.  We also got to see Aiden's paper bag house creation that made it into the display case. 

super readers game

We are pretty lucky that just a few miles down the road is the arena that seats 10,000 and hosts tons of concerts and games. It's always easy to park there and get in and out.  Poor J was out with the worst cough in a long time, but we didn't want to miss this GMU basketball game because the boys had an invite to go out on the court before the game. They were hosting a "Super Readers" kid's night celebration complete with capes for kids who read a certain number of books.  Free tickets and a chance to parade around the court, yes please! We waited at the sideline right by the band that was rocking out (the band has three singers!). The boys danced around swirling their capes. The boys marched right out under the big lights and while Keaton struck a superhero pose, Aiden looked kinda shy and wide eyed. The announcer called them "representatives of all Super Readers" and I think Keaton was especially proud and wanted to explain to the security guard that he does actually read.  I was amused by the big green horned "Tuition Monster" by the college savings plan sponsors. Our number was picked by the golden tickets and we won the fuzzy warm bomber hat, and since they won the game everyone got Mason bobble heads.  The game was like a big party with favors ;)

spirit snow

It was Suess week and in honor of Read Across America both boys had special spirit days.  Mustache day in honor of the Lorax where we dug up the mustache shirt and sharpied a pencil stache on Aiden's finger.  Dress like a Suess character where Aiden wore his old AFYP Suess Adventures shirt and some Horton ears.

I finished this shawl scarf in this cool vintage stitch called the Venetian Plait.  It was a knit along with my friend and I'm really happy with it.

Today was the best kind of snow day! School was on since it stuck only to the trees and grass!

pool n yoga

My view from the pool with lotsa visits with two lessons a week with Keaton and one with Aiden (who just passed two levels in one class!). These guys are both swimming for realz now.  The pool will be even more fun this summer.

The yogi toes at the weekly Kidding Around Yoga were expanded this past week when all the big sibs had another day off from school for Election Day.  

bunny fest

You know what goes well with giant inflatable bunnies?! Bunny masks, balloons, ice cream and giant light brites! 

Hey kid, you have a red ninja on your back!

giant bunnies

Yards Park was hosting a mini fest to celebrate the arrival of this art installation of giant blow up bunnies. It was bright and sunny and giant bunnies seem to make everyone smile.

school is cool

So many moments from the preschool photo roll lately... Highlights as always are movement and music class, block center,   and the playground (where you were the wagon puller with two kids riding over the bumpy snow). You loved pajama day and started a back scratching lineup.  You love creating an "office" with a roof and desk for your keyboard and phone.  You love talking about space and making a jet pack to wear.  You love the new "very official" sign in sheet where you write your whole name.  You loved bringing in your violin to share with the class on my cooping day.

brain chase

We are on Brain Chase Week 2 and the adventure is even better this time around.  In addition to an online "writing teacher" that sends you feedback on your different writing samples, they added art and engineering challenges.  The art instructor the first week taught them about shading to draw an egg (Aiden worked on his for a long time to get it just right).  The engineering instructor asked them to create a "bouncy egg" by experimenting with what happens when you submerge an egg in vinegar.  After many squishes ours burst leaving its membrane shell, which the boys thought was pretty cool.  The second week he experimented with creating a paper airplane he could control and creating a collage out of old magazines.  He was pretty pumped by his final product and very first collage.  The clues in the videos he's figured out so far use a special decoder ring that twists.  It's pretty cool!

reptiles

The toy shop we used to frequent was hosting a reptile show (just after swim/ guitar and time for brunch at Orso) and the boys were pumped.  They asked for brave adults at the end of the show to hold that giant snake.  J jumped at the chance and was in the "danger job" close to his head, although the mom at the end was getting "hugs" and had to pry his curled tail off her arm. Ah!

thaw

The valentine's candy is all gobbled up and the last snowzilla piles are finally fading away (although that big snow pile ice chunk is still there, but about half the size).   The boys and their buddies were outside without coats playing in the squishy yard.  The thaw might not last through the spring, but we'll take it!

snow day

It's easy to forget that Tuesday this week was a snow day after a Monday holiday, because the rest of the week was 50/60 degrees!  But here is the snow from the snow day - and if we'd had a snow day for this amount of snow in Ohio we wouldn't have ever been in school during the winter. But it was just enough to enjoy some sledding and not quite enough to make shoveling a task, but plenty to enjoy an excuse for a warm cocoa when we came back inside.

school is cool

Keaton's class visited the post office (same field trip Aiden went on back in the day) to see the big sorting machines and everything behind the scenes. Keaton kept imitating the noisy post office that says grbrrrrtt!

Feelings week at school meant that the teacher took photos of all the kids looking happy and sad and they made posters describing those moments. The angle of these photos makes them look like caricatures!

More play with the old school keyboards, playdoh, potato heads, and a sensory table full of colorful noodles!

good list

It was coooold around here, so we cozied up at the movies with our buddy Devin and Snoopy ;)  

The Puppy Bowl followed by the Kitten Bowl was a huge hit around here on Super Bowl Sunday!  

Aiden is hooked on drawing and animating with Javascript in Khan Academy lately and he made a program to look just like his new BeanyBoo puppy.  

Keaton gets in some playtime with his future kindergarten buddies every week.  It will be great for them to know so many familiar faces in the fall.

little loving hands

Our second Little Loving Hands box arrived a bit ago, and it was three crafts this time!  While Aiden was busy doing the bead weaving flag keychain which he knew how to do, Keaton glued together all the cutout pieces for the military solider man card.  Then both boys were excited to put on some plastic gloves and get to work on the tie dye bandana. Thankfully, they concentrated on not making a mess ;)  The next morning it was dry and ready to pack up for Our Military Kids to send to the children of deployed soldiers.

love bugs

Our neighborhood Valentine's party is put on by the Mom's Club and I was on the party planning committee this time around. The theme was Love Bugs and we sponsored the nearby nature center to come with live bugs for the kids to "cuddle." The boys were so brave carefully picking up the shiny beetles and they even convinced me to hold the long millipede.  We had a bunch of bug crafts: a heart caterpillar card, beetle balloons full of beans and rice, a toilet paper tube ladybug puppet, and a butterfly magnet clip (which I organized).  The kids also decorated their own cupcakes and enjoyed lotsa treats!  The dance party led by my super fun friend was a highlight for Aiden. He had his face painted like a love puppy and Keaton wanted a dragonfly (since that is his class at school).