Silly Chin Guy

Recently, I have helped Leia Rose discover that when you look at a face upside down suddenly the chin looks like the eyes and nose, . . . making a really funny display when the person talks. : ) Leia Rose LOVES this game, . . . especially when I say "La, la, la!" I don't think I've ever seen her laugh so hard!

Playing Monkey

Today we met lots of Artgarden classmates at the Community Center Park for a long playdate after school. Leia had the idea of playing monkey! So here are the monkeys in the trees! : ) There was one point where Leia was sitting on this very same branch and everyone else was holding up leaves for her to "eat." Sometimes monkeys like to be the center of attention! This is Leia Rose, Chandan, Jessica, and Jack. : )

Wheels on the Bus +

Today I taught Annie how to "steer" the little playground steering wheels while I sang "Wheels on the Bus," . . . which became the most requested song of the day. This is Annie's Wheels-on-the-Bus-Face. : )
She also LOVES sliding down the red tube slide, but only on her tummy.
*sigh* And picking up mulch and putting it somewhere else.
And smelling flowers. Sucha cute picture of Annie but, um, I regret not getting the huge rose in the picture. ; )
Lots of fun for little sister when big sister is meeting her friends from school. : )

Strawberry Picking with Annie

Special Scrapbook Pages

ATTENTION SARAH MCDOWELL: DON'T READ THIS POST OR YOU'LL SPOIL THE SURPRISE!!!

Since both Mrs. Schnell and Mrs. McDowell are leaving Artgarden this year, some of the parents suggested that each child create a special scrapbook page for each of them. What a good idea! Leia Rose worked for days on these sheets, making sure that the entire thing was her own work. And I wanted to make sure that the writing (even though I knew I would need to translate a bit) was her own thoughts, sentiments, and lettering as well. The only thing that Mamma did was arrange the pictures and translate. : ) The result was two full pages (front and back) that were truly representative of our daughter.
Here is Mrs. McDowell's first page. The pictures are of Leia's first day in Extended Day (with her lunch in hand) and Leia's Celebration of Life on her Fifth Birthday. The little picture in the bottom right corner is a tiny copy of Leia's interpretation of Van Gogh's "Sunflowers." Her letter reads, "Mrs. McDowell, thank you for teaching me about Africa. I love you!" (And there's also a tiny thank you from Brian and I about helping Leia learn to love learning.) But my favorite part of this page is Leia's collection of kitties. "Sweet Cheeks" even has her purple marabou collar. "Tulip" even has her light pink bow. "Perri Pat Pat" even has her green eyes. "Little Boy Hans" even has his stripes.
Both second pages look really similar. The pictures are of Leia on the very first day of school with her "Kissing Hand" sticker. Leia's actual school picture. And Leia making her "LEIA" pretzel. I had Leia Rose create a list of her favorite Artgarden activities and then we did one of her favorite things: we recycled bits of old magazine to find the letters that made Leia's words. We cut them out together. Leia glued them all on herself. Here was her list: teachers, the art cart, works, lessons, circle time, workbench, snack, playground, and writing work. And it wouldn't have been complete without some dinosaur stickers! : )
Here is Mrs. Schnell's first page and, although the pictures (and my sentiments) are the same, the letter is completely different (and, of course, before I could grab her to tell her that it was supposed to be a "thank you" type thing. Ha!). Her letter reads, "I love you! Did you like my birthday crown?" Obviously inspired by the bottom picture. Ha!
And for Mrs. Schnell's picture, Leia Rose drew a "Teacher Mug." ; )

Playdate with Natalie

Leia Rose and Natalie had a blast with Natalie's special "art stamps" today where Leia was making a card for, guess who: Shenandoah. ; )
They made their creations in these cubbies in the attic to try and escape Natalie's little brother who, honestly, wouldn't leave them alone. And one of the most interesting thing about this playdate was noticing how easygoing Annie truly is (as compared to Natalie's sibling). : )
Annie's favorite part of the playdate (besides eating oranges, I mean)? Learning to play "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" on the piano (with Natalie's mom helping, of course). And afterwards, she sat down looking just like a serious Mozart. ; )

All Gone!