Jokester

So, today Jaden told Grandma H a new joke (that he learned from Mali)...

J: Knock knock
G: Who's there?
J: Banana
G: Banana who?

J: Knock knock
G: Who's there?
J: Banana
G: Banana who?

J: Knock knock
G: Who's there?
J: Banana
G: Banana who?

J: Knock knock
G: Who's there?
J: Orange
G: Orange who?
J: orange you glad I didn't say banana?

Then, he says, "wait.....I have another new joke for you."
J: knock knock
G: Who's there?
J: apple
G: apple who?
J: orange you glad I didn't say banana?

Cracks me up that kid!!!

A Hike Near Home

A weekend in the mountains and the finally cooler weather inspired us to go for a hike in our local mountains the following week. Definitely less trees and more rocks here - but a unique desert kind of beauty nonetheless.

Taking a little rest

Daddy got the hard job!

Enjoying the view

having fun (and motivated by periodic snacks and races with daddy)

Alivia decided she needed to hike a bit herself

Need to Make Dinner?

Need to occupy a kid or two?

Grab a strainer and some pipe cleaners and see what kind of crazy creations they can make!

This only entertained Jaden for about 5 minutes - but I think on another day he could be interested for longer.

Since that was a bit hard for Alivia's dexterity I gave her a bowl with a bunch of plastic cookie cutters - and a strainer - since her brother had one that was what she really wanted!
Just as a side note - you have to be willing to have things ALL OVER your kitchen floor for this to be an acceptable activity. But, sometimes you just have to choose - clean floor or dinner made!?!?!

A Trip to the Mountains

Since it has been summer in the desert we were MORE than excited to head up to the mountains with the mariachi on a recent trip. The schedule allowed it so our family went up a day early to enjoy a little R&R with the pines.....

Of course, we had to explore the grass

Riding on Daddy's shoulders is ALWAYS the best place to be! SOOOOOO big!

I had a magnifying glass I had been saving for Jaden

to explore with on a special expedition and it was a big hit. He explored leaves, flowers, grass, trees......and said "WOAH, it's so BIG" every time he looked at something!

checking out the tree....

Alivia LOVED pinecones. Of course, just like everything, she wondered what they tasted like and tried exploring with her mouth too!

I still can't get over how ridiculous AND adorable these pigtails are!

Some friends let us borrow a baby carrier backpack and it was SO nice!

We didn't do much of a real hike but it was handy to carry

Alivia around as we did a little exploring!

We had a great day exploring but I joked with Stephen that if anyone had asked us what we did all day they might have thought we were pretty boring. He reminded me that perhaps other parents of 2 kids 3 and under might think it sounded like the perfect day as well!

We stopped by a little park/visitor's center for a short hike (aka about 2 blocks worth) and discovered a stream. Jaden had a lot of fun throwing rocks, leaves and pinecones in. We discovered that the pinecones were the most fun to watch float downstream!

Of course, you can only LOOK at a stream for so long when you're 3. So....While it was a bit cool it wasn't too bad and....who wants to try to keep a 3 year old boy OUT of the water when he really wants to explore!?!?!?

After a short nap in the backpack Alivia was ready to explore as well.

and keeping this girl away from water is near impossible!

closer...

closer....

closer.....

happiness!

Since we didn't have a change of clothes we had to get down to the diaper. It was probably a bit chilly for that but, we sure had a happy girl!

After the weekend events with the mariachi we stopped at a resort out in the mountains by a lake. Jaden got to go on his first pedal boat ride.

He thought it was fun for about 10 minutes. Then he wanted to get off of the "boring" boat and go on something a bit faster! No motor boats on this small lake though.

And, pedaling was a bit harder than I remember.

Maybe we'll wait until he can pull his own weight on the pedals before we try this again!

I sure do love this family of mine!

All that in a watercolor box

All that in a watercolor box

Today I totally lost my cool....

... over a box of watercolors.

We were going to make a card (which kind of needs to be mailed by tomorrow).

Jaden wanted to paint it with watercolors.

But there was this box on the table - one he decided needed to be a "house".

So he started painting that instead.

Soon I looked over and the colors were all mixing together.

He just wanted to make black water, was the reply.

Now I know it is just a box of watercolors.

But this DRIVES ME CRAZY!

Of course there is artistic value in learning about color mixing.

Of course it is just a box of cheap paints.

Of course I do not want to be angry with my son about something so silly.

Of course I do not want to deter him from painting when it is clear he loves to.

BUT, it DRIVES ME NUTS!!!!!

WHY????

Was it about prudent use of materials?

Was it about messiness?

Was it because I wanted him to finish the card and he was focused on the box?

Here we go....

I was the kid that kept my crayons neatly in the box with their wrappers so you could always read the color.

I sharpened them carefully and would frequently reorganize them in the small boxes within the large cases so similar colors were together.

I didn't like using watercolors because there was no way to keep the yellow and orange pure without getting a new glass of water for dipping every few minutes.

I barely remember ever painting with paint yet I KNOW I never did anything like combine red and white to make pink. If I painted with pink it was because there was pink paint offered.

I was the one that enjoyed "completing" something within a given framework not just starting from scratch. Ask me to draw a bird - ok I'd work on it. Give me a blank piece of paper and tell me to draw something - it'd take me forever to have an idea.

This artistic incompetence qualifies as an area of which I DON'T want to pass my hang ups on to my kid.

Today I failed.

I flipped about the color mixing and messiness of the watercolor box.

He was seriously upset.

The tears were real, not just in protest.

He just had a great plan in mind.

He needed the "beautiful black water" to complete his house (it was the cement).

He just wanted to do something "really FUN," he said.

Was this REALLY a battle worth fighting?

Did I really need to win a clean watercolor tray and risk the cost of inhibiting my son's imagination, creativity, and joy?

So, I apologized and let him do what he wanted.

After all, who am I to squash the vision of this creative boy at the great age of 3?

And you know what...the watercolor tray isn't THAT bad.

There's only enough paint in it for about one more go anyway.

And my son brought his "beautiful black water" over for me to see with an unbelievable look of pride on his face.

Crazy that a watercolor box can make you evaluate

Your self

Your values

Your past

Your parenting

Your decision making

Whew, glad that one's over. Maybe we'll skip art tomorrow! My brain needs a break!

Bertie the Bus

We received this GREAT magazine second-hand from a friend. http://www.redan.com/ThomasandFriends.htm. It has lots of great activities for learning letters and numbers. Some activities are a little harder than Jaden can really do on his own at 3 but, because it is Thomas, he is SUPER interested. I talked him through several of the pages and I was really impressed with all that he COULD do!

The magazine also comes with activities and crafts that you can make. And, the second my little guy saw the idea for making a Bertie the Bus he COULD NOT get it out of his head. This morning, while waiting for the cousins to arrive for the weekend, I could tell he was impatient. I asked him to think of 2 things that he would REALLY LOVE to do today while we waited and we could pick one of them. He could only think of one.....MAKE BERTIE THE BUS!!!!!

So, I scrounged my stash for an appropriate sized box and got out the red paint.
I thought he was going to get tired before painting the whole thing but he did a great job of sticking with it. I guess because it was Bertie!!! We made a few modifications and ended up, not with a piggy/Bertie bank like the magazine suggested - but with a Bertie whose door can open and close to put Little People in!
He's been driving it all over the house since the second I deemed it dry enough!
What a fun craft! (even if I was hesitant at first). Sometimes I just have to get over the "mess" and "work" and just have FUN!!!!

There's just something special

about a little girl

in pigtails

for the very first time