Perfect wintertime art/Christmas art

Here is a collection of the art we have been making this holiday season.

handprint snowmen “snow globe”

Penguin handprints

Polar bear art

Watercolor wash surrounding a Christmas tree(oil pastels) on canvas

Gingerbread ornaments

Handprint Christmas tree

And a painting of a tree.  I added three points and the children connected the dots to form a triangle.
Happy art making!
If you are wondering if I gained a few new children all of a sudden, the answer is no!  Some of this art was done at our preschool!

Our weekend trip to Taos, NM

Last weekend we took a very last minute trip with our friends to Taos.  It was just perfect.  There was a little bit of snow on the ground, the weather was cool and we basically had the whole town to ourselves as the busy ski weekend started yesterday. We decided to stay at the Abominable Snowmansion to save money.  It had its perks, had a homey feel, but having to stay quiet until 9am was a bit of a challenge.  Overall, I don’t think we will be back there.  The people were very friendly though and Taos Cow is just two stores down(perk!)

The biggest enjoyment was hiking up a mountain and the town bonfire with marshmallow roasting stations. The children made lanterns at Twirl that morning for the nighttime festivities.   Also, Santa was in a very quaint little bookstore, Moby Dickens.  How dreamy.
The children seriously behaved wonderful the entire weekend and everyone enjoyed themselves.

 

Maddie is 6

Madeline recently turned six.  Her day was just perfect.  We started with breakfast and opening a few things in the morning, followed by a simple get together at a local bagel and treat shop.  Yesterday we had a few friends join us at a gymnastic place and we jumped the day a way. sadly, I did not have my camera for that…

Pumpkin Farm and spider art

Fall would not be complete without a visit to our local pumpkin farm.  Overall we had a great time.  I always enjoy looking over all the different shaped pumpkins  and deciding upon which one to take home.

She was really happy for the chance to go on a hay ride!

Super simple, yet very cute spider art.  Just paint a paper plate black, add wiggle eyes and eight legs, then hang from the ceiling!

First field trip.  They walked to a nearby pumpkin lot and learned all about the different kinds of pumpkins and gourds.  

Happy Fall!

Still Life art time

Last week as I tried to think of something different to do as a family, I decided upon a family drawing night.  I gathered up different items and placed them,  along with art supplies around the table.  I then called my family in to join me and there we spent an hour making art.  It was calm and refreshing.

We have a three year old!

I can not believe my littlest babe is 3! It has been such a joy watching this gentle little boy grow. We are so proud of all the things he is doing now. Just this past week he started writing his name, using the toilet pretty much all the time, and climbing out of his crib just to check on us!

We love you to the moon and back, Max.

 

We had a really simple Thomas the Train themed party out at my mom’s petting farm. It was truly magical.

My mom made him this adorable Thomas out of a cardboard box.

Trying to unfreeze the animal that were accidentally sent to Antarctica instead of the farm!

He loved throwing the bricks back into Diesel after he had a derail!  We also played an animal eye spy game.

He got sad when he realized the wind was too strong for his candles to stay lit!
He was thrilled with his gifts from family.  For presents from friends, we did a used book exchange again.  I love doing this at parties!  Then everyone leaves with a “new” book instead of a bunch of tiny throw a way things and Max is not overwhelmed with a bunch of gifts.

On his birthday morning he awoke to biscuits and gravy, eggs and hash browns.  He also got the 3 year old shirt shown above that I made him.

Playing a new game he was gifted.

 

For his dinner he chose pizza and root beer( a rare treat!!) As he always tells me when I tell him I love him, “I love you more!!”  May this be a wonderful year filled with many adventures.

 

First day of big school

Well, that’s that.  My big kids are off to big school… They both decided they wanted to try out “real school”  instead of homeschooling, etc.  I am still on the fence, but so far they are loving it!  All I can ask for is that they are happy.  I am hoping(major fingers crossed) to open up our town’s first co-op school this time next year!  then I can get my babies back!

 

Tie Dye party with friends

We love tie dye around here! We had a simple color party with some friends and our items turned out awesome! Dharma Trading company is where we buy our dye from, in case you wanted to know.

Happy Fathers Day!

We love our daddy! Here is a quick idea you can make today even though the day is halfway over!

Easter 2013

Here are all the pictures from our Easter gatherings. What a magnificent day we celebrated!

We have been hanging out at our Grammy’s petting farm, gathering for an Easter party and we spent the morning at church. What a busy, but easy going weekend!

This year instead of dying our eggs with natural dyes, Madeline thought to use watercolor paints.  We all enjoyed that much better!

We arrived home yesterday to find new baskets with a few simple treats waiting on our doorstep courtesy of Max’s Godparents!