Swimming

Monday was the last day of swimming for the girls.  Ellie on the way wsa very tentative.  She said she was scared she would have to jump in again.  It was almost a total loss when we got there – excuses to go to the bathroom, crying – but she recovered, and had a great time.

Madison was very enthusiastic and determined to jump off the block this time.  She has a great time – waving while she is swimming, smiling, and so proud.  She did jump off the block, but kept a hand with the teacher each time.  She is growing up!  (This is her friend, Micah, swimming with her.)

         

Otherwise, we have had a good week.  We took the girls out on Daddy-Daughter/Mommy-Daugter dates on Friday.  Jeremy and Madison went to Bob Evan’s for hot chocolate, and Ellie and I went to Panera for hot chocolate.  (Bob Evan’s is by far the better deal in case you are wondering.)  We had a great time hanging out.  When Jeremy texted to say they were on their way to pick us up, Ellie frowned and said, “But we aren’t done with our date yet.”  She had been talking non-stop – literally – for the entire time.  Mostly she told imaginary stories about her cousins.  Not her real cousins.  Her pretend cousins.  Yep, not sure if she sees them or just likes the idea of always having a story for every occasion.  Oh well, we’ll indulge her. 

For our activity of the day, we fit in a number of things, but not all of them this week.  Here is the folder to house our plans:  As we complete them, we just take them off the chart.  If we ever neglect one, we can always use it to fill time another day,

    

On Thursday, we did a science experiment, “Which one will erupt?”  It was a fun, easy experiment using baking powder, cornstarch, and baking soda. Here they are, ready to go!
 
They felt each one just to see if they could tell a difference.  Then, they predicted before they started – both with the correct prediction!
   
Then they dripped/poured vinegar into each one to see which explodes. 
      
We refilled the baking soda multiple times and watched it interact with the vinegar.  It was fun, and the cookie sheet contained the mess.
We went to People-to-People Ministries to get a tour and see how we could help from home.  They saw where the toys came down the conveyor belt, where the food was stored, and even played with silly string for the first time.  Our “hands and feet of Jesus” job is to watch DVDs that will eventually be handed out at their Christmas project; they want to make sure the movies don’t skip, pause, or jump around.  We now have at least 4 Barbie movies as well as a few others.  We also now know where we will be taking food donations and how they will be used.  It is pretty amazing work they do there.
We learned about Piet Mondrian, a famous artist, one day.  We tried painting some artwork similar to his.  He is an artist known for black lines in a grid like pattern who used mostly the three primary colors – red, blue, and yellow.  The girls did a great job.  Ellie painted in squares using painter’s tape, and then I colored in the black lines. 

Madison and I made black lines with a ruler together and then she freehand painted in each box. 

I also dabbled in the artwork. 

On Saturday, we had a busy, but fun-filled time with other people.  We went to Luke and Steph’s for brunch and SYF planning.  The kids had a ball playing in the basement for the 2-3 hours it took us to get through most of our stuff.  Then, in the evening, we went to my SYF leaders’ house for our annual SYF reunion.  We are now a pretty big bunch with all our kids.  Most of the night the kids play downstairs, and do little damage, and we talk upstairs.  It is (fairly) relaxing.  In the past we would play Trivial Pursuit and stay up til 1 or 2 in the morning.  Now, we head out of there by about 8.  We use the kids as an excuse, but I think our age accounts for some of it!

Until next time… have a great week.