Thankful for spirals and being a mom

This is my week to host preschool for eight little three- and four-year-olds. We learned about the color pink, the letter G, and spirals today. When Jack looked over my spreadsheet for the semester, he said, "Spirals aren't a shape. Wait. . . didn't you write some big paper in college about the fibonacci sequence in nature?" Close. It was fractals. And spirals may not be your average pre-K shape, but they are much, much cooler.

As one mom was picking up her son today, she said, "You're such an awesome mom." It was because I took the kids in our back yard and let them look for snail shells and take them home. (Side note: When we first moved into this house, Ellen declared that she was starting a snail collection, and proceeded to collect dozens and dozens of snails and empty shells and keep them in a box on the back patio. I know where all the good places to find snails are in our yard.)

Said mom followed up the awesome comment with "I always tell my kids not to touch the gross, dirty snails." I was surprised, and . . . surprised. This is me, the same mom who took the kids to the park after school for a kindergarten class play date and felt itchy and dirty the whole time we were there. Just looking at all the dust and sand on my kids was giving me a mild panic attack. I just never thought of snail shells as being dirty before.

I learned today that if you bring them inside and step on them or crush them up on the table, they make a big mess. And there is dirt inside. Or maybe that's dried up snail guts.

We read the book Swirl by Swirl: Spirals in Nature by Joyce Sidman, which I found browsing the "To Be Shelved" shelves in the children's section at the library. It's really neat and explained spirals perfectly.

I'm really grateful for the reminder today that even though I often don't feel like my mothering practices are up to scratch, in fact, I do have some awesome moments.


My awesomeness of late does not extend to remembering my camera, so here are a few pictures of the very first day of preschool way back in September.


My kids ask to see this one of Elijah over and over because I said he looks like a bobblehead, and they think that word is ridiculous and hilarious.


I love this picture for so many reasons.


Shortly after acquiring this Lightning McQueen t-shirt, Elijah developed an obsession for all things Mater, coinciding with his ability to actually say Mater intelligibly. It was probably also fueled by our summer car trip movie of choice, Cars 2, which he watched more times than I want to admit here. Thanks to a generous friend, he now owns several books and his very own Mater socks, which he wants to wear everyday.

On an unrelated note, Elijah is a pro at hide and seek. If you count hiding in the same place every time. After he was the last to be found (hiding in his closet) I told him it was his turn to count, and he proceeded to count in a language as yet unknown, and then say something like, "Here I come!" in complete gibberish. It was super cute, and also made me happy to be his mom.

Grateful for preschool

Rose has been loving preschool. I have taken very few pictures, and this is one that I stole from my sister's blog. We all took a field trip to the Woodway Fire Station and got the grand tour. It was awesome. Stickers, fire chief hats, hoses + water, and climbing on engines. Best part? No sirens.

Peanut Butter Playdough, Again

1 cup wheat germ

1 cup powdered sugar

1 cup peanut butter

1 cup honey

Mix well and add seven children, cookie cutters, rolling pins, and imagination.

Foxland Growers

Waaaay back at the beginning of the summer we took this field trip to a local farm that supplies florists in Lubbock. The kids loved the greenhouse.

And we got to pick some flowers of our own from their outside cutting garden.

Preschool at the nursery

Ellen's preschool class recently took a field trip to a local nursery. These are just a few of the 100+ pictures she took of the flowers, grasses, herbs, and gravel.

I'm glad she decided to take this one, too!

In all, it was a wildly successful activity. Ellen loved it, and she loved showing us all the pictures she took!

School days

Thanks for posting these pictures about the health, food, and shopping lessons. Ellen loved it.

Boy preschool

Preschool with Jack and friends is totally different than preschool with Ellen and friends.

Although it can be hard to tell the difference since Ellen participates in both. Currently.

For our activity/craft the last time I hosted preschool with the boys, I took this picture of the kids and then printed it and let them decorate around it any way they wanted. Ellen and I wrote a letter to Uncle Mark, who is in the MTC getting ready to head to Chile.

This is the photo I ended up using since everyone was looking forward. The boys decided saying "race car" was the right thing to do as I counted to three.

I love Rose's posed smile in this one. How does a 12-month-old learn to squint and smile a cheezy smile?

I think we're all saying "cheese" here, although it really looks like we're just gritting our teeth and putting up with all this camera nonsense.

Friday Spanish, documented

En la feria de San Juan
En la feria de San Juan yo compré una guitarra, tarra, tarra, tarra, la guitarra.
Vaya usted, vaya usted, a la feria de San Juan.
Vaya usted, vaya usted, a la feria de San Juan.

En la feria de San Juan yo compré un piano, la, la, la, la, la, la, el piano.
Vaya usted, vaya usted, a la feria de San Juan.
Vaya usted, vaya usted, a la feria de San Juan.

En la feria de San Juan yo compré una pandereta, eta, eta, eta la pandereta.
Vaya usted, vaya usted, a la feria de San Juan.
Vaya usted, vaya usted, a la feria de San Juan.

Use any instruments you like!

Yogurt again!

I made yogurt and was trying to decide what to do with it all, when a friend suggested I use it for our preschool Spanish class snack.

Perfect. Each child got a bowl of plain yogurt, and then we discussed flavor options, which they could choose from. I had sugar, vanilla, sprinkles, frozen raspberries and blueberries, cinnamon, and nutmeg on the sweet side; salt and pepper grinders, taco seasoning, dill, and chips for dipping on the savory side.

All of the kids seemed really happy with their choices, and the moms were especially loving the yogurt chip dip made from taco seasoning. You could also use onion soup mix here.

If you missed it last summer, here's the recipe again for homemade yogurt, with some tips I have learned along the way.

Yogurt
8 cups milk (whole is recommended until you get the hang of yogurt making, but you can use skim, 1%, 2%, or reconstituted powdered milk)
1 packet unflavored gelatin
1 cup plain yogurt (must have active cultures)

Turn your EMPTY crock pot on low.

In a saucepan, heat milk and gelatin to 190 F. Place pan in a cool water bath until milk reaches 110 F, stirring occasionally. Pour mixture into crock pot and stir in plain yogurt. Turn off crock pot and let sit for 8-12 hours. Refrigerate finished yogurt. You can use your homemade yogurt to start your next batch.

Tips:

1. I only used whole milk the first time I tried this. I have always made it since then with powdered milk. To make a quart of powdered milk, run your tap water until it's hot, then pour a quart of hot water in the blender. With the blender on low, slowly add 1 cup of powdered milk. Repeat to make 2 quarts. Add one packet of plain gelatin to one of the quarts of milk and blend until smooth. Scoop off the foam (or let sit until foam disappears). Then strain and heat.

2. After turning off your crock pot, place a towel over the lid to slow the cooling process.

3. I always check after 8 hours, and it's always done and ready to go in the fridge. I transfer the yogurt to clean yogurt containers I've saved.

The corn maze

Our trip to "The Maize" this year was an event.

Pumpkin portraits:



Rose riding backpack-style:


Jack found marker number 9! We're almost through.


The whole (older) gang:


On top of the bridge:


We are waaaay up there:


Down the steps on the other side:


We're so high!


This is the clue sheet to help us make the right turns:


Nothing like wide, hard-packed paths in high corn stalks to bring on running in children. We made it through in record time. It's a good thing they almost always chose the right way the first time.


It was windy, chilly, and a welcome departure from the 90-degree weather of the week before.


Also fun -- the hay bale maze for tots.


The animals: sheep, hens, ducks, goats, a gigantic pig


This is a particularly cute animal:


This one is a climber:


Almost free! (Or about to jump in with the goats.)


Ellen wanted to end it all up with her own pumpkin portrait:


Happy fall fun!

Leaves are falling all around

Happy fall. We've updated our spring popcorn tree to a fall leaf tree. Many fun preschool activities revolve around this tree on our front door.

Caen las hojas
Caen las hojas alrededor
En los techos, en la flor
Caen las hojas en mi nariz
Manos, pies, y soy feliz.

Leaves are falling

Leaves are falling all around
On the housetops, on the ground
Leaves are falling on my nose
On my head and hands and toes.

Picking flowers for preschool

One of our recent preschool field trips took us to Foxland Growers, a farm just outside of Lubbock that grows flowers and some vegetables that you can pick yourself.

We caught the tail end of the season, but the kids loved walking the rows and finding flowers to take home.

I asked Ellen if she wanted me to help her put her jacket on. Her answer? "No mom, because this is how scarecrows do it." Of course.


Hey there, Jack Jack.


Hiding out in the tomatoes.