Playing outside

Oliver got these dump trucks for his birthday from Grampa Steve one year. He took them out to the sand table and they just have a ball!
Wyatt seems to really enjoy them, too. He makes the bulldozer fly sometimes. I don't know what's up with that kid. The boys really shared so well - and usually do when they are at the sand table.
They went out front because it was sunnier and warmer and kicked this ball around for a while until Bob got home. This was after we had lunch (cheese and humus sandwiches and salad) and naps (two and a half hours) and I cut Oliver's hair. He calls himself fuzzy peach head now.

the solar oven

We built this from a kit (obviously) but it didn't work because it kept getting shady wherever I would put it. We tried to cook an egg but it did NOTHING. The egg was completely uncooked when I cracked it. We're going to try again tomorrow in a different spot. I found one that stays sunny for about 6 hours.

Oliver whacked himself with a hammer

This is two days later. He'd barely let us look at it until then. He was helping hammer stakes for the garden when he did this. I was inside and heard his scream. I ran out immediately and there he was crying and wailing. We put Mr. Bump (a cold pack) on it but the finger still swelled up to about twice its normal size.

the finished product.

We still have tomatoes to plant in there but it's a bit cold today and they aren't very big so we're waiting. Here's everything as it stands now. The gourds on the far left, cucumbers next and then carrots. The fake snake is to help keep chipmunks, birds, squirrels and who knows what else out.

After the boys had fun watering the garden with the hose and digging up worms to put in it they did a "we just made a garden" dance. They made up a song to the tune of "we just got a letter" from Blues Clues and danced away!

the garden

We went to Lowe's yesterday and got these stones, the dirt, and some mulch to build this lovely garden! We let it settle overnight (and get slightly rained on) and today we transplanted our gourds, cucumbers and carrots into it. Oliver dug the trenches and helped me cover up the roots once I got the plants disentangled. Wyatt was helpful with covering up the roots, too.

another picture...

Oliver drew this one, too. It's him "when he was just a little boy"

a face

Oliver drew this face. I LOVE the eyelashes!

Oliver's drawing

Oliver drew this on his whiteboard. We usually use it for letter practice and such but after his lesson I let him mess around a little. He drew a house with a tree next to it. That's Oliver playing in the yard.

it was just cute...

stringing beads

We got these the other day at the toy store. I've been thinking about getting them to help with teaching patterns and to improve eye-hand coordination. Oliver was a pro at stringing them after about two minutes but the pattern-making was a bit harder to teach. This is one of the patterns I helped him with.

Wyatt wasn't bad at stringing the beads, either. He had to try a lot harder and was not very fast but he did it! He put all his beads on and off about six times before he got tired of it. I think he only got tired of it because Oliver wanted to stop at that point.

Look at the concentration!

a couple of handsome boys

bob made a sand table!

Oliver and Wyatt got this table shortly after Easter. Bob made it with a little help from the boys. They will stand and play at this table for HOURS. He did a great job. The side Wyatt plays on is a little shorter - not the whole table just the side that holds in the sand. There's also a little step for him to stand on so he can reach better.

*side note - these are one of the outfits the boys got for Easter. Don't they look spiffy?

the new fridge!

The guys called and said they had picked up the fridge and wanted to deliver it today instead of tomorrow. I had thirty minutes to get the old one cleaned out and cleared off so we could receive...this!

This is the inside of the fridge. It is so much bigger than our old one and better organized, too. The drawer at the bottom is the only thing the boys can reach at this point so I put their snacks in it. I'm pretty sure that's not what it's REALLY for but it works for us!

Here is the inside door. All the bins can move except the bottom one and the one on the top right. how convenient!

This is the bottom of the freezer, there are two drawers/baskets. This one is divided in two parts so I put meat on one side and veggies on the other.

This is the second freezer drawer. It opens on top of the other one. I put all our convenience foods in it. The thing on the left is an ice tray! The fridge will make ice if you hook it up. We don't use that much ice so I'm just making that extra storage. Maybe for Popsicles!

our "garden"

We got some seeds from various sources so here they are. I have to be honest and say I really didn't expect a single sprout. Especially after Oliver and Wyatt threw most of the dirt out of this box within a few days of planting. Anyway, they are hardy little boogers! These are tomatoes...

carrots...

and cucumber. Once they are bigger we'll transplant them outside but for now all but the carrots are in the house. This is an applesauce cup, the carrots are in an old plant pot that I filled with leftover dirt from the tomato project.

new room decor