Mother's Day Weekend

What a lovely Mother's Day weekend!  There was lots of family time, some peace-and-quiet-time for mama, and loads of delicious food.

While Gene took Will to a birthday party on Saturday, Henry helped me make a huge double batch of our favorite chocolate-chocolate chip cookies (for a school party, teacher gifts, and Mother's Day gift).  Yum-o!

Gene took the boys out to a park in the afternoon to give mama a break, and then he came home and cooked dinner!

Our first pesto of the year, made from basil in our garden.  It's our favorite summer meal!

 The boys enjoyed cracking open some peanuts after dinner.

We spent Sunday afternoon with Nana and Pop.  We delivered a tin full of cookies and this painting by Will.

 And then we let the boys splash outside in the pool.

 Daddy taught Henry how to shuck corn.

And Pop taught Will how to play chess.

Will caught on right away.  If you know Will at all, you'll know that a strategy game like chess is right up his alley.  He challenged Daddy to game immediately.  Halfway through, Gene had two of Will's men and Will had five of Daddy's!

Will won!  So proud!  (And just for the record, Gene was not going easy on him.)

 To end the day, I got a few family shots.  My boys with their mama.

 Gene with his mama.

 And Gene with his dad.

I hope your Mother's Day was spectacular!

Mother's Day

I spent yesterday celebrating Mother's Day a couple days early thanks to special Mother's Day receptions at both boys' schools.

Henry's class had a Mother's Day Tea right after drop off.

The kids all loaded up their moms' plates with goodies and served us!  Henry knows I like a little fruit with my sweets.

Henry was having a blast (there was food involved!) so I'm not sure why he isn't smiling.

All the moms made it to the tea!

The preschoolers sang a super sweet song about mothers.

 Henry was right next to one of his favorite friends, Ainsley.

 The kids gave us roses

and these little boxes -- perfect for jewelry!  

The teachers also asked the kids all about their moms.  These were Henry's answers:
1.  With Mommy, I like to "go to Chick Fil-A."  2.  What is your Mommy's job? all she does is wash the dishes.  3.  What is your favorite thing Mommy cooks?  tortellini  4.  What does Mommy do while you are at school?  she doesn't go anywhere.   There you have it!

In the afternoon, Will's class had a special Mother's Day program right before pick-up.  Fortunately, I have a wonderful friend with a daughter in Henry's class who was able to pick up Henry for me and bring him to WUES so I could attend Will's program!

The program started with each child reading a note about why he loves his mom (Will's was:  I love my mom because she is nice) and presenting her with a rose.

Then these sweet kindergartners sang five different songs and each table read a special poem about mothers.  Mrs. Power also put together a beautiful PowerPoint presentation full of drawings from each child, including voice-overs, and pictures of each child as a baby and now as a big kid with his mama.  It was definitely a labor of love and very special for all the moms.

We all left with Mother's Day booklets filled with special letters, a hand-print butterfly, and more. Will's teacher also asked some questions about the moms.  I think it is funny that Will think I am really good at "soing."  I don't sew at all, but I have fixed his bunny Baxter, and that apparently made quite an impression!

I tried to get a picture with my big boy, but it was the end of the day and Will was a huge goofball!

Notice that he's not a goofball for Mrs. Power?!?!

I am so thankful for the three wonderful teachers my boys have this year and the extreme thoughtfulness that went into the Mother's Day programs.  Being a mom is a lot of hard work, but so worth every minute.  Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there!

Field Trip #6

Henry's class went on its sixth and final field trip to the Downtown Aquarium today.  And because I had to stay home with my sick big boy who has strep, Daddy tagged along with Henry's class.  

The carousel is always a favorite.  

These kiddos decided not to ride the Ferris wheel.  I would've been sitting there on the bench with them!

Pretend-playing the carnival games.

At least half of them went on this Lighthouse Dive.  Henry was not one of them.

 Inside they saw the bat rays

 and tiger  

and ended the day with another ride on the carousel.

Henry said thumbs up to his fun day out with Daddy.

Stuck at Home

Will has been sick with a low-grade fever for the past three days, so we have been stuck in the house.

We have made pumpkin muffins, played Toot and Otto, built a truck out of Legos, watched Richard Scarry's Busytown videos, eaten ants on a log, made an underwater volcano, 

built Star Wars Legos forts out of building blocks, taken naps, had special lunch (at home) with Daddy, painted pictures for Gramma and Grampa's Maine house, 

read lots and lots of books, played Rush Hour Jr., worked on some math and reading worksheets, played Sticky Blocks on the computer, eaten "dirt and worms," 

found eggshells under birds' nests, played Ducks in a Row, watered our herbs, worked on puzzles, and hung out with Gramma and Grampa.   

And now that the weekend is here, we are all hoping that Will's fever is truly gone so we can finally get out of this house!  

Book Drive

The last service project of the year at Will's school was a used book drive.  The books are being donated to three schools -- one of which I used to teach at!  I was so excited to help with this project and clear off our bookshelves and donate books we've outgrown. They are going to kids who really need them, and each student will get 12 new books!  Amazing.  

 

The boys did a great job picking books to donate (only a few in the donate pile ended up back on our bookshelves!).  Will helped me load up the wagon and cart our three boxes of books to school.  After three days, WUES donated over 12,000 books!  What could be better than the gift of books? 

Art

The boys often bring home art from school or art class, so lately I've been compiling photos of the boys' art work to make into books for them (easier than keeping the art forever!).

Here are some of my favorites from Henry:

A Yellow Flower

Ladybug

Beachball

A couple of weeks ago, I volunteered to help with Will's art class at school.  They were working on stained glass "windows" in the style of Louis Comfort Tiffany.

Other school projects included these:

A Tree (in the style of Georges Seurat)

 Angry Birds (block prints in the style of Andy Warhol) 

 Self Portrait (in the style of Frida Kahlo)

Flowers (in the style of Vincent Van Gogh)

Will's favorite is Snowman at Dusk.

And here are a few from the art class Will took at the Glassell.

Flying pig sculpture 

and a flying pig headpiece

penguin sculpture

and a rocketship

I love my boys' art!