My Artists

Elijah does most of his art fresh out of his head.  He has an amazing imagination.  I'm constantly coming across something he drew and saying "Wow!".  I found a couple more pictures of his that I had set aside:

This one I just came across and was wow-ed.  When I caught him later and asked what it was he said it was a puzzle.  You were supposed to look at the picture and the items in the circles and check the one that was missing in the picture.  The circles are: bones (with the check), heart, blood (notice it is blue and red), and brain.  I don't know where he came up with that.  He's seen it in some of our books but those have been packed away for months.  Yeah, I don't know... it just blows me away.

This one is a picture of a Chickadee (as written up top) that Elijah copied the features from a photo online.  Elijah came to me one morning and said we should go outside and look for chickadees in our trees.  I asked him what a chickadee looked like, he didn't know so we looked it up online.  We ended up on a cool website that had photos and recordings of their sounds.  Elijah then trotted off and decided to draw a chickadee picture and then wrote about it underneath.  "Small blackcapped with black bib.  Habitat is trees and shurbs"

Meanwhile, I'm writting this post and Sam has cozied up on the chair and fell asleep.  I guess he aproves.

Art Show

I mentioned earlier that the boys have been doing A LOT of coloring.  I've taken pictures of some of my favorites that they did while we were in our temporary apartment.  There are many more floating around the house that I'll have to snap pictures of.

Sam holding hands with Grammie and Papa by Sam

(he put the first letters of their names under each.  Sam's "S" until recently was a scribble)

Sam holding hands with Grandma and Grandpa by Sam

Spring picture by Elijah

Sonic flying through the air by Elijah

Olympic rings and flags by Elijah

Lilly flower and Bird by Elijah

Flying Robots

Elijah had yet another idea to "recycle" packaging into a robot costume. Elijah drew the design on paper and I got in on the action this time and together we created robot costumes for Sam and Elijah. We used empty soymilk boxes, alluminum foil, and packing tape. They both look pretty cute together. They've been zooming around the house for a copule of days now. The wings are made of plastic/foamish padding that is bendable which is a good thing cause otherwise they couldn't make it through doorways. Last night they were flying around showing off their costumes to Grammie and Papa on the webcam. It was pretty hilarious. We'll have to get Grandma and Grandpa back on and show them too.

Later Elijah wanted to sit out on the front landing and he dragged some chairs, a box, and art supplies out with him. He was out there for a good while, coming in and out as he wanted. I peeked in on him and found him sitting out there in his robot costume, coloring away with his bunny. What a silly!

Elijah's form of Recycling

There is a Curious George episode that talks about recycling that is on PBS a lot (the downside of Curious George is that they repeat the episodes A LOT). Elijah has caught onto the recycling bug but more in the way of reusing. He latches onto my container garbage and imagines things to make out of it. In particular he likes to reuse boxes, especially the ones that come from Costco. He is really rather creative but the downside is that I always have random boxes floating around my house. Here are three of the things he has recently come up with.

Box Robot

Elijah and Josh worked together to make this. Elijah colored it all himself and Dad helped cut out the holes. He had dreams of attaching other things to it like paper towels rolls, egg cartons, pop bottles, etc but he hasn't gotten them to work yet.

Sled/Hockey Table

This box was quickly claimed as a snow sled. Elijah wanted to get a string to tie to the front of it so he could pull it around in the snow. Well, I don't think there will be anymore snow for a LONG time (hallelujah!) so he has decided to draw trees on it. Sam wanted to color on the box too but his doodles weren't Elijah approved so Elijah drew a circle around them with a line through it. Elijah and Josh played a bit of table hockey on it. Josh started playing with a wood apple from the kitchen toys. That too was not Elijah approved so he had Josh draw a picture of an apple and then Elijah promptly drew a circle around it with a line through it. He's taken to noticing signs with the circle and line through it everywhere - no smoking, no parking, no dogs, etc. I think the plan for the box now is to cut out trees from paper and glue them on somehow. We'll see.

School Bus

I've been going through all the boys cloths which I keep in old diaper boxes and ended up with an extra box that surprise surprise Elijah latched onto. This time he had Sam in on it and the were walking around the house with the box on their heads pretending it was a bus. I jumped on that and together we created a school bus out of the box. The boys helped color the licence plates and Elijah wrote the number 42 on the side (4 for Elijah and 2 for Sam). They are quite fond of the bus, unfortunately there can only be one driver and they fight over it constantly. They will both get in the bus and try and drive different directions usually ending up in a fussy pile of legs and wheels. Needless to say the bus gets put in the "bus garage" frequently. They do have some pretty cute moments in the bus though.

The Grandson of two Engineers

Friday the boys and I watched Curious George (our favorite show that unfortunately has been stuck in a rerun rut, except for Friday -thankfully) and George was trying to make a bridge for some chicks to get across some water using toothpicks, marshmallows and playing cards. The show took George through multiple tries with each attempt building on the previous and getting better until he finally had a bridge that would support the weight of the chicks. Elijah was GLUED.

I try and get a project or activity going for Elijah to do by himself while I put Sam down for his nap. Friday he wanted to build a bridge with marshmallows. I pulled them out and he took off running. By the time Sam was down (we do some mommy-Sammy cuddle time) Elijah was well into making his bridge. With just a little reminding from me he managed to get the shape of the bridge just like Georges complete with triangle sides to support it.

In all it took him probably 1 1/2-2 hours to make his bridge, 85% by himself. We even tested it to see if it would hold up between two Tupperware containers and IT WORKED. Elijah was so pleased with himself.

Josh came home and saw the bridge and was overly impressed. What can I say, I guess it's in his genes.

And if you're wondering... Yes they did eat the bridge for dessert that night.

MIA... playing catch up

It has been a long while since I have really posted to this blog. A lot of my time has been sucked up with the Christ Centered Christmas blog. If you haven't checked it out recently, I will say you are missing out. My mom and I are adding new stuff regularly and thanks to sugardoodle and my new button the word is getting out there. I'm very excited about it! There are also new recipes up on Everyday Recipes including a really yummy recipe for Strawberry Cream Puffs.

Thanksgiving was wonderful other than we were unable to go to Utah and see our families. My dear friend Christina was able to come out, kid free, and we had a grand girls weekend. Thanks Josh for watching the boys! We basically ate and shopped the entire weekend and had a lot of fun. Thanksgiving dinner was made by my amazing husband. Everything turned out so delicious and we timed it pretty well. We had some friends over from our ward and they brought the most wonderful recipe for sweet potatoes with a coconut topping (I'm still working on getting the recipe, I'm not usually a fan of sweet potatoes but these were SO good). We just lounged around the afternoon, looking at Black Friday ads and plotting the next morning. Sam was so tired he fell asleep in the middle of the living room floor amidst all the bussle with his bum in the air. I was worried he would have a hard time going down. We had transfered him to a toddler bed the weekend before and he takes advantage of the new found freedom of being able to leave his room when he is supposed to be sleeping. The poor kid was so tuckered out like the rest of us after such a large Turkey dinner, that my problem was solved.

A couple nights ago the boys decided to sleep together in Elijah's bed. Melt my heart CUTE! Most of the time they just play together and make a mess in their room when they are supposed to be sleeping (Sam did it until 9:30 last night) but there are those rare nights when they are just cute and go to sleep so well.

One of the random things I picked up at Walmart on Black Friday was a Eureka lightweight vacuum cleaner. It was $9 bagless, lightweight, telescoping handle, lime green vacuum so I grabbed it. I love it! Mind you it is not a Dyson (which I also drool over) but it is so light and agile that I can whip it out and get most of the mess off my floor in nothing flat. Another big plus is that my boys love it. Unfortunatly I have yet to have them push it around while it is on, but they are practicing by running it along the floor. The telescopic handle makes it the perfect size for them. Sam is really good at moving the chairs around to get under the table. I'm trying to catch a video of them doing it. I'll post it when I do.

Elijah has been making more labels. The other day he asked me how to spell butterfly. I then found that he had done some other labels by himself and that Sam had gotten in on the action and done one too. I think it's great practice to get Elijah to learn how to control and contain his letters while writing.

We had a really cold day last week. Temps in the teens with powder snow on the ground (and all over my car). We trudged out in it because Elijah need to go to school. When I got home to put Sam down for his nap and took his hat off I had to grab the camera and get a shot of his crazy hair. He was less than pleased with me, but what else are mom's for.

Thankful Turkey Count Down

Tonight with it being Fast Sunday and Daylight Savings, we had dinner early and had time after dinner to do something as a family. I had read yesterday about a turkey feather countdown for Thanksgiving and decided it would be fun for the boys to make and do throughout the month. (I found the idea that you are slowly plucking the turkey in preparation for Thanksgiving to be amusing.) As I was getting my craft supplies out some popsicle sticks caught my eye and the gears turned from there. This is what we ended up making.

We ended up coloring enough popsicle sticks for everyday until Thanksgiving with markers to add color. It was something that Sam and Elijah could both do. I threw together a turkey head and feet and attatched them to a small teracota pot with hot glue. He's a bit of a funny lookign turkey, but you get the idea. The idea is that each day we will take out a "feather" and then write something we are thankful for on it and place it in a jar near by. There are also additional blank sticks in the jar for additional thankful notes.

Tonight Elijah picked the first feather and said "I am thankful for my SELF." So Elijah's name went down on a stick. Then Sam wanted in on the action and we put his name on a stick too. (That crazy kid can't say his name but he recognizes many letters and can SPELL his name, it seems a little backwards if you ask me.) Anyway, I'm excited for the opprotunity to share what we are grateful for as a family throughout the month. We truly have a lot to be grateful for.

I put a stick in tonight too. Mine said I was grateful for testimonies. Every first Sunday of the month members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have the opprotunity to share what they know about the gospel of Jesus Christ. Today's meeting was particularly moving. Strong witnesses were born, I felt the Spirit, and my own testimony was strengthened. There were a few children that bore their testimonies. It's kind of a Mormon joke that the kids always get up and say "I know this church is true, I love my mom and dad, I love my brother's and sisters... etc." But today it hit me differently. Last week I read an article by Elder Oaks of the Twelve Apostles titled "Testimony." He talks about how it is that we can KNOW.

"What do we mean when we testify and say that we know the gospel is true? Contrast that kind of knowledge with “I know it is cold outside” or “I know I love my wife.” These are three different kinds of knowledge, each learned in a different way. Knowledge of outside temperature can be verified by scientific proof. Knowledge that we love our spouse is personal and subjective. While not capable of scientific proof, it is still important. The idea that all important knowledge is based on scientific evidence is simply untrue."

Anyway, the talk goes into some good detail, but I was struck today by the simple connection of the love for our family and the love of our Heavenly Father. That we can come to know of our Heavenly Father's love and feel it- like and through the love of our earthly family.

There are many things that I do not know, but I DO know that there is a God and that he is my Heavenly Father, I am his daughter. He loves me, he knows me and he has provided a way for me to return to live with Him again. I know that Jesus Christ lives, that He is my Savior. The Atonement is real. I know that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has His priesthood authority on the earth today. I know that Thomas S. Monson is a prophet of God. I love my family and know that we can be together forever. And for this knowledge I am daily grateful.

Boy am I grateful...

...that the paint all over my son's face is watercolors.

His mother had the brilliant idea to let the boys paint bones for a skeleton (I guess actually it was my idea to color the bones and Elijah's idea to paint them). Sam did more painting on himself than the paper. That silly kid.

I found the pattern for the skeleton HERE though I wasn't excited about the size so I photoshopped it to make the body fill an 8.5 x 11 and the limbs on another sheet. I also whited out all the back ground junk. (silly design in my mind, not economical for printing.)

Anyway, Elijah loved painting his skeleton (in the rush to get Sam cleaned up before he spread the rainbow to other areas of his body or the house, I didn't get pictures of Elijah doing his). We then assembled the bones together with mini brads. I punched the holes and Elijah spent the longest time working on getting the tiny brads in place. When we were all done the skeletons went for a dance.

Today I attempted to make skeletons out of pasta glued to paper. Mine turned out alright but the boys just messed around without making a massive mess which is all good by me! Check out Crafty Crow she is doing a series of Halloween posts with party games, crafts, decorations etc.

Elijah's Art

I got a roll of art paper at Target in their dollar section. The boys enjoyed doing big murals with their watercolors. The above picture is Elijah's of our family and a rainbow.
This is a picture of our living room. Complete with rug (big red rectangle bottom right), couch bottom left, table and chairs middle-left, Lamps top-right, TV and DVD cabinet middle-right, buffet top-middle, and tall bookshelf along the left edge.

This is a birthday card he did for his great-grandma with balloons on the front.

The inside has his self portrait along with

a detailed rainbow. Elijah is really going through a rainbow phase. He loves to draw them and loves to sing his original (every time it's different) "rainbow song"

Blue's Clues

Those of you that spend any time around Sam know that he is crazy about the show Blue's Clues. He calls it "ooose ooose" and does the double hand motion on either side of his face like they do in the movie. He begs for it first thing when he wakes up. If anyone happens to turn on the tv, Sam zones in and begs (with big puppy dog tears) for Blue's Clues. For awhile we were surviving on two vhs tapes I got a couple years ago at garage sales (a total of four episodes). It soon became apparent we would need something new before I went totally nuts. Thank goodness for grand ol' Walmart. I found the perfect DVD with four more episodes for $5.00- my lifesaver! And even better it was an Alphabet focused one. Perfect for Sam who is crazy for letters and Elijah is interested too.

Blue's Clues has carried over into the boys playing too. Sam and Elijah both latched onto a sole Elmo notebook that happened to be perfect for sliding a crayon through the rings which necessitated the buying of new notebooks to keep down the fighting. Sam loves his! He carries it around and calls it is "bo'book". He is constantly doodling in it. I often find him at our little art table or on his tummy on the floor talking to himself as he does his intricate little doodles on most every page in the notebook.

One of the episodes talks about writing messages and Elijah has taken paper and written/colored his own messages for family and friends. Yet another episode has Joe and Blue writing labels for various things around the house. This was our project for the past week (Elijah initiated). We cut paper into strips and Elijah had me write down words for him to copy onto the strips and then tape up around the house. He worked so hard on them and it was great practice for his letter writing (the strips help restrict his large, take over the world letters). Sammy of course wanted in on the action and has quite a few of his own strips with doodles on them. Only a couple labels actually made it up around the house. I think this week we will try and do some more.

It is so much fun to see my kids excited about something and learning along the way.

Tissue Crafts for Kids

My mother introduced my kids and I to these simple, low mess, projects. It is a tissue paper art kit from Alex Crafts. Everything you need is included with the kit. It's a great activity for little hands to do with just a little supervision. There are 6 differetn self stick patterns. You peal off the top paper to reveal the sticky surface below a section at a time. Your kid just crumples a square of tissue paper and sticks it onto the pealed section until the entire section is covered and they are ready for a new section to be pealed. Whenever I pull this out, Elijah is very intently involved for a good chunk of time. Today we worked on the fish.