Joyfully Weary

The last several weeks have been a little crazy around our house. Husbandie has been traveling a lot but I can't really use that as excuse; I honestly just haven't been doing very good a sticking to a routine. Starting a whole new unit for the month of April seemed like an impossibility so we just moved over in the animal kingdom a little bit and slowly shifted our focus from reptiles to birds. There is debate in the scientific community about to whether dinosaurs are more closely connected to reptiles or birds so Big Buddy was all for this transition.  We've continued to use a lot of our reptile trays but I also threw together a few new ones.  bird/reptile venn diagram  skills practiced: classification, scientific knowledge, comparing i have made the cards' pdf available here  bird nomenclature cards and figurine matching skills practiced: one-to-one correspondence, scientific knowledge, comparing, vocabulary *i have made the pdf available her...

A weekly reflection inspired in part by Bob Bennett's song "Small Graces". " these are the small graces, the little moments when the miracles come... they are a reminder to the heart there is more to life than meets the eye... He is in the small graces.... small graces pointing me to the larger one... little glimpses of the kingdom come..." belly button hunts learning how to fly a kite rainy day walks tent movies growth marks exploring daddy's "studio's" (student's) work lunch with daddy in the cafeteria  butterbeer  a quirky clearance find a surprise pot of daisies from husbandie Joining these link parties this week. 

A weekly reflection inspired in part by Bob Bennett's song "Small Graces". " sometimes they slip by without notice, sometimes they are very hard to see... these are the small graces... they are a reminder to the heart there is more to life than meets the eye..." games of peek-a-boo basketball school ball love  a tree perfect for climbing  making music at the park   a new muffin recipe - lemon, blueberries, and cinnamon! they way they look at her  a favorite little corner  growth (spinach & snow peas)  sidewalk chalk  Several of this weeks pictures are via my instagram. If you are interested in seeing more of our day-to-day happenings feel free to follow along @joyfullyweary on instagram or twitter . 

I love Easter. Most importantly because it's a time to reflect on the sacrifice Jesus Christ made for us - that he loved us enough to die a horrible death in our place - that he beat death at it's own game - that he reunited us with our Father.  Another thing I love about Easter is that it has become a tradition for my mom and siblings to make the trek from Iowa and celebrate with us. This year was extra special because my sister Sarah and her family joined us for the first time. Here are a "few" photo highlights.  sarah and her family in front of "the bean" we had lunch on the 95th floor of the hancock building, the boys were very impressed  this street entertainer was another big highlight of our trip in to the city  a surprise package for one of the world's coolest great aunts.  our church   really knows hoe to celebrate, "he is risen!"  aren't my nieces crazy beautiful? ...

When I worked in child care one of my favorite things do with the kids was to paint. It's a love I've carried over to mommy-hood and the boys and I usually tackle a couple paint projects a week. A lot of fun can be had with just paint and a brush (or fingers), but sometimes it's nice to spice it up a bit.  Here are some of my favorite ways to make painting even more fun.   Marbled Shaving Cream Prints supplies : acrylic paint, paper, shaving cream, squeegee, and a skewer or a tooth pick process : spray shaving cream on to pan, smooth out shaving cream with squeegee, squeeze dots of paint on to shaving cream, swirl paint with skewer, press paper on to shaving cream, scrap excess shaving cream from paper Marble Painting   supplies: tempera paint, paper, spoons, container with sides, & marbles process: lay paper inside pan, drop marbles in paint, spoon marbles on to paper, tilt pan back and forth to roll marbles, or push them around with a spoon ...