Volcano Fun

My ever questioning kiddo started asking me all sorts of questions about volcanoes today so we decided to have an impromptu volcano day. 

We watched a few videos of volcanoes at Kids Learning Videos, especially ones that had footage of lava flowing which is what most of his questions were about.

Then we used these directions for making an easy volcano at home.  We had so much fun!

I loved the idea from the site above of making the volcano from a plate plus small container/cup covered in foil (in a pan).  It made for super easy clean up.  My little helper dissolved the tablespoon of baking soda into the two tablespoons of water (with some food coloring added, though we were out of red).  I added the two tablespoon of vinegar.... and then we added more because it was so fun!

He thought it was so amazing!

I was so glad we had nothing on our schedule so I could say "yes" to learning a little more about volcanoes!

Talking about money...

Sometime before Christmas, our son decided he wanted a remote control car.  We told him that it wasn't something to put on Christmas lists (partially because we had no intention of buying one) but that he could certainly start saving money for it.  We knew between Christmas and his birthday he'd have money given to him as gifts and thought a concrete goal would be good.

So anytime he ended up with money, he would tell us "I'm going to put this in my money bank for a 'mote control car!".  We offered a few extra chores to earn a little more.  He even got a dollar from a kind lady after he returned her gloves that she'd dropped in a parking lot (long story but sooo cute).  He also decided not to buy a few things because he didn't want to use his "car money".  I was so proud of him that during all this he still generously brought money to Sunday School as they were raising money to buy farm animals for impoverished families.

Often he's asked for help "counting his dollars".  Its given us lots of opportunities to explain the differences between the ones and fives, etc.  Finally last week, he and Dad went shopping for his remote control car.  They counted out the money to bring along (setting a budget) and carefully picked out one that our son though was cool and Dad thought might work well for him.

So proud of his new car!

The dog thinks its pretty fun too.

We have lots of money lessons ahead of us, but so glad his first "saving goal" was so much fun.

Almost Wordless Wednesday: Not Just a Rug

 

A handful of years ago when we bought this rug, I had no idea that one day the rectangles and patterns would become imaginary houses, garages, parking lots and roads for our creative boy who loves playing cars.  (And yes, he does have a play rug with roads on it, but he tends to prefer this one).

Snowmen Brothers

I know, I know... another post about snow :)  This afternoon the weather was beautiful, warm enough to make the snow wet and just right for making snowmen.  So we made two.  My silly kiddo says they are the "Bucket Hat Brothers".  We had so much fun playing in the snow!

Wordless Wednesday: More Snow!

This weekend we ended up with close to a foot of new snow!

Fun with the Letter "L"

 

We had lots of fun with the letter "L" last week, focusing on "L is for Lion".

He practiced making the letter L on the whiteboard, using Legos, while eating pretzel sticks at snack time and in the snow!

Books

There are so many great books about lions, it was hard to pick.  Here's some of the ones we read:

• Lions by Sandra Lee
• We're Going on a Lion Hunt by David Axtell
• Herbert the Lion by Clare Turlay Newberry
• The Happy Lion by Louise Fatio

L is for Lion Craft

1) I cut out two long rectangles of yellow paper.  He figured out how to make an "L" with them and glued them to the paper. 
2) Then feet, a head and tail were added.
3)  He carefully glued the yarn mane (notice he's using a toothpick to avoid touching the glue -- he said it was too sticky) and drew the face.
4)  We also added some letter stickers to spell "lion".


Lion Paper Plate Mask

 

We had lots of fun making this mask together!

• I printed out the lion face from thebestbirthday.com (I did a search on pinterest for a lion mask crafts and let my son pick which one to try). 
• I cut it out and he started coloring.  He was very insistent that the teeth needed to be gold, the chin green, and nose yellow.  I think he had a reason but its escaping me right now. 
• We glued extra pieces of yellow and brown construction paper to a paper plate (to cover what the face didn't) and then glued on the lion face. 
• After cutting out the eyes, we added more "hair" -- squares of construction paper with long cuts in them. 
• I added a string to hold it on and let him try it out.

My favorite part was that he immediately went upstairs to put on a brown shirt so he would look like a "real lion" to scare Dad when he got home!


A Lion for Lunch

Wordless Wednesday: An Afternoon Checkers Game

I usually don't post phone pics but couldn't resist -- oh his expressions at the beginning of the game.

Adoption and Privacy

One thing I struggle with whenever I think about writing an update on our adoption process is how much to share.  Where is the line between the information we want our family and friends to know and too much information published on a public space like a blog?  How do we ask for prayers for a specific situation without saying too much?

Please know that even if we have specifics of a potential match, are meeting someone who is considering adoption, or have made a match, I will not be sharing much information on the blog for a number of privacy reasons.  I have no idea yet what that would look like, as we are not there yet and I'm still learning. 

Our profile was viewed last week and, for a number of reasons which I won't go into, we found out ahead of time.  It gave us a unique opportunity: prayer. 

I count it a privilege to be able to pray for the expectant parents who are considering adoption, looking at profile books at the agency, etc.  But I don't pray that they pick us.  I pray that God gives them peace and discernment as they walk through a time of incredibly huge decisions.  I pray that they have a support system that is understanding and can give wise advice instead of tearing down their decisions.  I pray for their health, safety, and for their growing baby.  That if they do decide to make an adoption plan, I pray for the families they meet and consider, the family they choose, and all the adjustments ahead for the expectant parents and the potential adoptive parents.

Even after a child joins our family someday, there will likely be details of their history and first family that won't be shared with our extended family and friends.  Our future child's history is their own, we want to be the ones to share it with them, and let them choose who to share it with.

Here's a few articles I found helpful...

Should You Tell All?

Adoption and Privacy: Protecting Our Daughters' Stories

She's Healthy, That's All You Need to Know

Watercolor Thank You Notes

After a full and wonderful birthday, I wanted to be intentional with helping my son say "Thank You".  Last year we made some quick thank you notes together, but I wanted to try something new this year.

So about a week ago while he was busy with something else, I took a white crayon and wrote "Thanks" and "Thank you" a number of times on a white drawing paper.  Then I got out his water colors and had him come over.  I told him there was a secret message for him to find :)

As he painted and told me all the letters he was finding.  Once he had a word uncovered completely (he was kind of working all over the paper at first), we read through the letters and identified the word.  Then I explained that I wanted him to keep painting and find all the "Thanks" and "Thank you" messages so we could send them to everyone who came to his birthday party.  He thought is was a great idea and went to work (as I wrote "Thanks" on a second sheet with the white crayon).

After the paint was dry, I let him use one of my scrapbook scissors (a big deal to him) to cut out the words.  He did the first handful and I did the rest while he glued them on colored paper folded to be cards.  Then we talked about all the people who helped make his birthday special while I wrote in each thank you note.

A fun way to say to "Thanks"!