painting wars

Left with the warning "only paint on the paper" I looked up from helping the older kids with something to see the paint brushes flying at each other.
I guess they were using some restraint as they only got each others back. #4 was a disaster when finished as he ended up painting with his hand. But they had fun and the paint didn't end up on anything inside so all is good.



A beautiful visitor we had today.

Baby it's Hot outside

Yeah, I'm sure you are all looking forward to summer. But just think of the sweltering August heat-are you really looking forward to that? We went to James' softball game today and the sweat was dripping down on us non players, I felt sorry for the poor guys playing! We've also been dealing with hazing conditions due to what Kilauea is putting out.
#4 has quite the fascination with toilets. He's not so much interested in using them to go potty these days. They are more useful for other things. For example to get that dishrag wet to wash the table with or to give your baby doll a bath. Bet you didn't know these things, not sure where he learned them either. So if you happen to be visiting I would ask that you please shut the bathroom door because I don't know what he'll come up with next!
You may be unaware that there has been a big debate on what flooring we want to use downstairs. Ok, so not so much a debate but indecision on what to do. When James was deployed I tore out the carpet in the boys room. It was in really bad shape and had to go so they've just had the lovely concrete floors underfoot since then. Concrete is fine, it's cool to touch which is great in this climate. We happen to have a few paint cans downstairs because we took the popcorn ceiling off and are in the process of painting them. The children got the idea to load up some paint cans in their big dump trucks and were driving them around the house. #3 threw a can and it exploded on the floor. It happened to be the concrete floor. So his floor is now half painted. This is the "in" thing now-think we should do the same for the other rooms? Maybe he was being a creative genius and not just a punk kid;)

jello, art show and cooking class

We've got pictures galore today. We have had a fun week at school(or at least I have!) We spent one day playing with cotton learning about Eli Whitney, another learning about cells. Here is where the jello came into play. We made a jello cell. They thought it was a pretty neat way to make a cell and I made plenty of jello so we could snack on it afterwards. I must say that as a whole the kids weren't too into the jello. There was much given to others or went down the sink.
It seemed much neater in person.

#2 drawing a cell for her notebook.


We've got another experiment in the works, involving milk and bacteria.....you probably wont' wanna see pictures of that one. #2 wrote labels on the jars warning everyone "this is a science experiment, Do Not Drink!" Although the only people I know that might drink something just sitting around can't read so I'm not sure how helpful the signs are..

With all the painting we've been trying to do around the house #3 has really been wanting to paint. I tried to explain how maybe next year in his new room he could help but he wasn't too happy with that. So I pulled out the paints today and let them have at it on paper. All said and done I think he painted the least but enjoyed it the most. He was very thrilled with all the colors he got to use on his painting.
Don't you see how each brush stroke was so precise.


Here we have #2's art work. We have a house with flowers and birds and then we have flowers and birds.

#1's with a sky, birds and flowers

and here is #1's picture of the 2 of us in the rain


#4 Really wanted to help roll out the dough for supper. He grabbed ahold of the rolling pin with determination and rolled and rolled.....well he was great at rolling on the board but didn't touch the dough at all with the roller!

I had my dd take the picture of #4 helping with the dough, she then got camera happy and snapped alot of shots. Here is how the pizza turned out. It was very yummy! mozzarella and parm cheeses, turkey pepperoni, red onions and pineapple!

Here is our second pizza. It had 3 cheeses: cheddar, mozzarella and parm. pineapple and turkey pepperoni.

Paint, paint everywhere

paint, paint in my hair. Word of advice-don't wear pigtails when painting a room. Especially when you have long hair.....especially when you tend to splatter paint. It is not fun getting out of your hair. Another word of advice, this I should have learned last time I painted a room but some people are just slow learners. Remove paint and block entrance to freshly painted room when small children are present. If the above measures are not taken other things WILL have paint on them, this is assured.

I have realized I keep saying how smart #4 is. Now I notice the other kids saying it. Must stop wording it that way least they start to feel unsmart. His smarts probably has to do with having 3 older siblings to watch. Watch he does and he's pretty good at remembering what he watched. He was sitting on the counter helping me one day. Pulls a candle close to him, opens the cabinet the lighter was in, flips the lighter out and points it into the candle. Now really, isn't it too early to have a talk about not playing with fire?! There is no tricking this kid, he knows what is what!

I intended to post a picture today but alas the battery had died in the camera at the time I wanted to snap a shot. The older 2 were up in the tree in front of our building, barefoot and gathering seeds. I just thought it was a perfect childhood shot. Never mind that we are not in the country surrounded by acres of trees(I did have someone visit last week that said 'wow, you live in the boonies' this had me rolling on the floor with laugher) now where was I? ah, yes children will find the joy of nature anywhere. This particular tree you see is located next to a dumpster and parking lot.