Lunch time lego lunatics

Mr. Hill, the gym teacher, runs a lunch time lego group, and of course Max is a member. Mr. Hill sent us a video clip of their creations. It is a grande file, so it will take time to load. Max is second to last presenting his vehicle.

I am a little relieved that the girls seem almost as obsessed with guns as the boys.

Mothers Day dinner

this is where we went...

this giggly girl and...

these two boys came with me...

and these lovely flowers were on the table, for me to keep after dinner. :)

(The picture at the top? A close up of the fondue pan before it was filled with tomato basil cheddar fondue, followed by a citrus broth to cook assorted meats and veggies in, and finally chocolate with Carmel, Oreo cookie crumbs and Malibu rum (tasted a fair bit like a Samoa girl scout cookie) MMM I love the Melting Pot (and kids eat free Sundays).)

Happy Mothers Day

poetry from my kids:

Jedi's are awesome
light sabers are indestructible
I am awesome
and so are you!

by Max

Mom
Pretty Beautiful
Caring Amazing Loving
I love my mom!
Mother

by Avelene

Easter

Much to their delight, the Easter Bunny brought baskets with chocolate for the kids.

Then we made dyes from common grocery items. That was a lot of fun, but a lot more work than I anticipated. We used turmeric, red cabbage, coffee, beets, blackberries and yellow onion skins. They each boiled for 30 minutes, which made for a stinky kitchen (the house smelled of cabbage for several days). The turmeric created deep yellow, the coffee boring tan, the beets pink, the blackberries a vague purple, and the surprise of the bunch, the onions created a beautiful yellow-orange.

The cabbage created navy blue - after soaking the eggs over night. It was nothing short of a kitchen science experiment! And I don't intend to repeat it. We're still eating hard boiled eggs. Strike that, I'm still eating boiled eggs. No one else eats them.

Oh - almost forget, I also showed the kids how to blow out eggs - we have three lovely dyed shells. Wonder how long those will survive... Beautiful.

bike repair shop

In preparation for summer, the kids are doing tune-ups on their bikes. Ave is also sanding down the frame of her newly acquired bike so she can repaint it a more girly color.

Ave is wearing the required eye and ear protection (if not exactly OSHA approved shoes and pants), which means she's YELLING everything she has to say.

twinkle toes

the big chill

Ave's big 2nd grade show was tonight, and they did a show called "The Big Chill." In nutshell, it's a story about kids and teachers excited at the prospect of a snow day. They sang several songs and each child had a spoken line. Ave was one of the weather forecasters. Here she is ready to go before the show:

And here is a video clip - it'll take a bit of time to load:

And here is a clip from Max's recorder concert, there's some fidget time at the beginning, but it's the best clip I got: