Cousin Sandra Visits Part Two - Chinese Lanterns

Not only did Sandra make candy sushi with the kids, she also brought ALL OF THE SUPPLIES (right down to the tape and string) to make Chinese lanterns, and she managed to include all four of my kids in this project!  She is wonderful!

The kids are already asking when Sandra will be visiting again!  Our visit was too short, but it was so great to see her, and I'm thrilled that my children had the opportunity to spend a little time with her too.

Cousin Sandra Visits - Candy Sushi

 My cousin, Sandra, lives in Florida, and is here visiting family for a few days.  Her father and my mother are siblings.  I'm so happy (and so are the kids) that she had some time to visit us today!  It's always so nice to see her.

Today, she read the kids a book about Chinese New Year and then taught them how to make candy sushi.  Here is how awesome she is - she came all the way from Florida and brought all of the supplies  with her today - Fruit Roll Ups, Rice Krispies treats, pop rocks, and the book!

All four kids made and ate the candy sushi, and they LOVED it.  I think we will be making this again!

Wiggle Kids

Kate and I went to the Swansea Mall yesterday to try a class at Wiggle Kids.  Upon entering the mall, Kate spotted the little merry go round.  She was so excited!  She rode on the elephant, and later rode on the lion.

She was very serious riding the merry go round, but when it was over she said, "That was fun!".

I wasn't sure what to expect from Kate at Wiggle Kids.  She has never gone to a class anywhere before, and she doesn't really spend much time with other kids her age.  When we arrived (we were the first people there), there were colorful balls everywhere, and she immediately started picking them up.

She liked putting the balls in those big baskets in the background.  She especially liked that the bottom of the basket was open so that she could take the balls out too.

There were about eight or nine other kids there for the class that day; Kate was definitely the youngest, I think most of the kids were three.  They all played with the balls for a few minutes to warm up, and then cleaned up by putting them in the baskets.  Kate was not happy that she couldn't play with the balls anymore, so she would not participate in the first few minutes of the class.

She came around, and happily participated in the rest of the class.  One of the activities she enjoyed was called "Chinese Restaurant".  There were pool noodles cut in half, and those were the chopsticks.  They also had pool noodles cut into small pieces to serve as the egg rolls.  The kids had to use the chopsticks to pick up the egg rolls and carry them to the baskets.  I didn't think Kate would be able to do this, but once I showed her how to do it, she mastered it quickly.  Here is a quick video of her doing this:

The class was forty-five minutes long, but after class was open gym, so we stayed for another thirty minutes.  There were different stations set up, but Kate was drawn to the balls and the balance beam most of the time.

She LOVED sitting in the basket surrounded by balls!

She was so deliberate walking on the balance beam.  It was really cute.  She would say each color as she got to it.  Here is a very short video of her on the balance beam:

It was difficult to take pictures in there because there wasn't very good lighting.  I kept trying to get a good picture of Kate's hair; the static was ridiculous from all of the foam and rubber!

She did so well, and had so much fun.  I am looking forward to going back soon!

J is for Jump

 I put a few Js on the floor for Kate to jump to, over, and on.

 She decided to add more letters.  Look at that hair.  Having thin, fine hair in the winter is tough (I should know!); the static is brutal and the hair just sticks to her head.

We read a few books.

I drew and colored a white J on watercolor paper and let Kate paint the page to find the J.  I didn't have a white oil pastel, so I had to use a crayon - oil pastels work so much better for watercolor resist. Next time I do this, I'll make sure to use oil pastels.

Kate also played with her alphabet sponges in the sink.  This child LOVES to play in water.

Hearts by Kate

 Kate made a sun catcher collage heart decoration for Valentine's Day.  I placed the contact paper heart shape on the sliding glass door, and gave her pieces of tissue paper and foam beads to stick on the heart.

 Kate loves glue sticks!  Since we had plenty of tissue paper left over from the sun catcher, I cut hearts out of cereal box cardboard and left this tray for her to discover.

Snowman Popcorn

Snow Play

 It has been SO cold that all of our snow play has been indoors.  Today Kate played with her Mr. Potato Head pieces in the snow.

Earlier this week, Kate and Reagan played with the ice cream set and ponies in the snow.

Ice Wreath Update

I was beyond excited this morning when I looked outside and saw a bird pecking away at our ice wreath!  I didn't think the birds would be able to enjoy the goodies until the ice started to melt, but I was wrong!  Birds have strong beaks.

I ran outside in my slippers to get a picture.  This is the best I could do.  I tried to get closer, but the bird flew away.  He/she actually sat in the middle of the wreath at one point; I would have LOVED that picture!!!

A Few More Snowmen

The girls made these coasters yesterday.  Reagan made the two at the top, and Kate made the two at the bottom.

Collin, Reagan, and Kate had snowmen with breakfast today.

We are reading a few snowman books right now too.  Snow much fun!

A Wreath for the Birds

Kate and Collin put bird seed, oats, cranberries, and water in a bundt pan.

 If you look closely at the above picture, you can see Kate's spoonful of bird seed flying through the air.  Yes, I had to sweep after this!

 I wish she would keep a barrette in her hair; it's always in her eyes!

 We let it freeze, then I ran a little warm water over the back side of the pan until the wreath popped out.

Now it is hanging in our front yard.  It is pretty to look at now, and as it melts, the birds will enjoy it too.