Art, Acorns, and Books

We've been busy around here making art and books and collecting lots and lots of acorns!

Will's class had their first Hands-on Art session on Monday morning and I got to assist with the lesson. They learned all about Jackson Pollock and then did some splatter paintings of their own.

Ready to get messy!

The kids first created a background color by rolling a battery dipped in paint on their canvas. Then they used egg beaters, turkey basters, spray bottles and squirt bottles to add more color and texture to their paintings.

Needless to say, this was an extremely fun art lesson. The kids absolutely loved it and their paintings were all so different. Here's Will's finished product.

Meanwhile, this little guy has turned into a squirrel. The oak trees are dropping acorns by the hundreds and Henry is busy filling his pockets with as many as they can hold.

We've been putting our many acorns in this vase to make a pretty centerpiece, but we still find acorns in the washing machine and in Henry's bed!

When Henry's not busy collecting acorns, he's busy writing books. (Notice how his pencil grip is now correct 100% of the time thanks to his preschool teachers!)

His first piece was in the style of Press Here by Herve Tullet, which is a great book if you haven't read it. The basic premise is that the reader follows the instructions to press the colored dots and gets to watch the dots grow, move and multiply. Henry's book is similar but ends with a surprise monster!

 His next book was about a ghost, which is not surprising since his favorite word to write is Boo!

Such a happy little writer!

I definitely see more art, acorns, and books in our future!

Happy Birthday, Gene!

It was my sweet husband's birthday last week, 

so we celebrated with Nana and Pop on Sunday. Henry was excited about Daddy's birthday!

Don't these two look so much alike?  

It was only in the 60s on Sunday and sunny, so we spent a lot of time outside. The boys came home with oak trees from Fathers and Flashlights so we brought them to Nana and Pop's for planting.

Then we played soccer!

Henry believes it should be tackle soccer!

And after a delicious dinner, we enjoyed some arroz doce for dessert.  

Happy birthday, honey!

Fathers and Flashlights

We have heard about Fathers and Flashlights for years but this weekend was our first time to participate in this "urban camping adventure" that is a fundraiser for the West U Parks.  

We've been planning for Fathers and Flashlights for a few weeks because we needed to stock up on camping gear.  We needed everything from a tent and sleeping bags to lanterns!  Gene was on his own for tent set-up, so he got an easy-to-assemble tent.  On his practice run, he had it set up in our backyard in just minutes.  The little boys were so excited to go camping with Daddy!

Gene and a couple hundred other dads set up their tents on the grounds of Will's school Saturday afternoon. It was hot!

The boys found snow cones to cool off.

And then it was off to scope out the activities.  They had everything: bounce houses, rock climbing, fishing, pony rides, tree planting, tie-dying t-shirts, and much much more!  Here's Henry is a huge inflated ball.

All the moms signed up for volunteer duties.  I helped out with the inflatable Jacob's ladder and got a fancy new t-shirt.

After the boys ate dinner and my volunteer shift was over, I got to hang out with my boys for a little bit.  

The "campground" at night.  

It was a late night!  The lights went out on the entire grounds at 9:30 but apparently the kids ran around with their flashlights for another hour until everyone crashed around 10:30 pm!  Henry was ready for bed.

A cold front came in over night, and temps dropped down to 55 by Sunday morning.  The boys enjoyed donuts and hot chocolate before I picked everyone up.

I am so glad we got to participate in Fathers and Flashlights this year!  The weather was great, the event is incredibly well run, and we all had so much fun.  I'm already looking forward to many more years of camping adventures.

The Pumpkin Patch

We made it to a pumpkin patch this year!  The Houston Arboretum held its first pumpkin patch on Saturday, so the boys and I packed up our wagon and headed out for the fun.

There were chickens to feed,

lots and lots of pumpkins to climb on,

 a huge hay mountain,

and some pumpkin sculptures!

What a perfect way 

to spend a beautiful fall day!

My Busy Boys

These are a handful of snapshots of my busy boys this week.

Will loves library days at school.  He gets to check out books and actually bring them home this year. (Last year they just stayed in the classroom.)  Will is a big fan of Captain Underpants, and he and a soccer buddy started pouring over the book after school on Tuesday.

Henry is excited to have an orange UT chair for soccer games and practice.  He and his buddy took a break from running race and made a chair train while their big brothers played on the soccer field.

Henry and I are loving our special Friday afternoon adventures.  He picked the zoo for our outing yesterday.  It was blazing hot but we had a blast!

And finally I'll leave you with some love notes from my big boy.

I love my sweet boys!

The Week in Review

Last week was a busy week... but aren't they all??

Will had his first early release day of the year on Wednesday, so the boys and I ate lunch at the MFAH, explored there a bit, and then headed off to the Children's Museum for an afternoon of fun. We ran into three sets of friends there!

The Power Play area is the boys' new favorite spot. They ran through the obstacle course,

went surfing,

and climbed and climbed in the gigantic play structure.

Early release days are THE BEST days to visit the Children's Museum because it's not crowded!

Our new Trader Joe's opened less than two weeks ago and I braved the small crowds to visit last week. The boys gamely tried out some of my finds -- roasted seaweed and dried mango. Will loved the seaweed,

but Henry wasn't too sure. He prefers those chocolate-covered ants!

On Friday, Henry and I enjoyed a special picnic lunch and playtime at a new-to-us park before the rains came.

Henry didn't mind the rain because he got a new froggy raincoat!

Gene was traveling again last week and through the weekend, but fortunately the boys had three birthday parties to keep them busy. First off was Bella's birthday bash in Kingwood.

We had two back-to-back parties on Sunday afternoon. After playing hard at the Little Gym, the boys played in a huge bounce house and sat still only long enough to see some reptiles.

 And now with the start of a new week, the fun begins all over again.