Halloween...

Here's what they looked like first thing in the morning...before the boys were even wearing shoes.  Jonathan is Laval from Lego Chima.  (He's just wearing a character sweatshirt and we'll add a cape to it tonight.  Easy...thanks to my friend, Sarah, for the idea.)  Grace is a kitterina, which, for those of you not familiar with the imagination of the four-year-old, is a kitty ballerina.  This was Grace's idea.  Benjamin is, in his words, a train driver.  Maybe the easiest costume of the three.  (He'll tell you, "I'm a tain diver wif my bandana!")

Happy Halloween!

The "Biggerest" Banana

B:  Can I have zat banana?

Me:  Yes, you want this one?

B:  Zat big one is the biggerest zan you!

Pumpkin Book Report

Jonathan's teacher let us all know at the beginning of the year that she has the kids do a lot of projects.  The load hasn't been bad at all so far.  This is Jonathan's first project for her.  The kids had to do a book report on a book they'd never read before.  That narrowed it down a lot for him.  He wanted to report on a Redwall book that he had already read, but that's not what the instructions requested...anyway, after much discussion and gnashing of teeth, he chose to read the seventh Hardy Boys book.  There was a lot of written work in the book report, but the fun part was making a foam pumpkin into the book's main character.  Here's Jonathan's pumpkin character, Frank Hardy.  He wanted me to take the picture so that you couldn't see his hand holding up the pumpkin.

This project was a good exercise in planning ahead for us.  We worked on it a little bit each night so that we wouldn't be overwhelmed and have tears on the final night before the due date.  I'm learning the best way to walk Jonathan through the writing process that seems to work with his personality.  And, as always, I made sure that he did the hands-on work, not me.  (He cut the zillion felt strips for Frank's hair and placed them on the pumpkin...he wrote "Bayport High" on the old cap and I painted over his letters...he glued on the googly eyes and drew the mouth and nose with a Sharpie.  I'm sure you know that if it were my project, I would have made the nose and mouth out of something.  But Jonathan liked it this way, and I'm so happy he did it himself.)  You can see that Jonathan is proud of his own work.

Jonathan's Lego Bug

During the summer, when we weren't at family camp or some other big outing, I let Jonathan spend his free time the way he likes best...which is reading or building with Legos, and not always in that order.  He really seems to soak in the unstructured time to learn and create.  And once school starts, he misses his playing and reading time terribly.

So, each summer, it seems that August is the time that he's in his element, his sweet spot for creating things.  Around August 7, before 3rd grade began, he created this bug.  The method for posting videos to Blogger changed - at least on our computer - and I finally figured it out, so now I can share the Lego bug with you.  (It's not at all hard to post videos here, I was just messing up one minor step.  User error!)  So, for all the little Lego-loving buddies out there, here you go!

Part 1

Part 2

How the insides work

Lego Puzzle Step-By-Step

I posted the video of Jonathan's sliding Lego Puzzle here.  You'll want to watch that video before looking at the step-by-step pictures he had me take (below.)  He wanted to show, in pictures, how he built his puzzle.

Lego Puzzle Video

I've been having trouble posting videos to the blog for some time.  If this one makes it through, prepare for a barrage of videos.  This one is a test...complete with the whining in the background.

Unstoppable

A long time ago (or what seems like it,) when the "youngers" were both very little, somebody told me that they would be unstoppable once they put their heads together.  I mentioned earlier that they have been playing together lately, and I've been loving the stage.  However, tonight, they were both playing at the table while I worked on dinner, and I think they began to "put their heads together."

Benjamin said, "Hey Mama, wook at us!"

And they both had pencils sticking out of their noses.

Here we go...

From My Photo Stream

I went on a women's retreat last weekend, thanks to Jeff's prodding encouragement.  And it was great.  But this post isn't about my weekend.  It's about the weekend that the kiddos had with their daddy.  I missed everybody a lot, but when I found these pictures from Jeff's phone on my photo stream, I could see why they didn't miss me all that much.  They were having too much fun!

Boxes

Awhile back, we got to the point in our unpacking process that almost all the boxes were gone.  (Not everything is in its perfect place yet, but that's a slow process!)  There have been three or four hanging around the house in concealed places, though.  This week, I unpacked a couple of those, and the kids rediscovered how much fun boxes are for goofing around, eating grapes, or flying in spaceships.

Swinging

He still thinks swinging is hilarious.  Benjamin has always been the one in our family who laughs the easiest, from the time he was a little baby until now.

Sliding

I can't decide which picture I like best!

Overheard on the Monitor

Jonathan:  Hey Benjamin, I have to go back to school today.

Benjamin:  OH!  But I wanted you to stay home!

Jonathan:  I know, but I've gotta go back to school.

A Long-Awaited Stage

Well, it's happening.  My "youngers" who are now frequently mistaken for twins in public enjoy doing the same thing at the same time!  (And those who think they are twins would quickly change their minds when they heard Benjamin and Grace talk.  But since they both weigh about 40 lbs., I understand the confusion.)  After a couple of years of needing and enjoying opposite things, Benjamin and Grace are enjoying activities together!  Be still my heart!

They both like to sit and destroy play with Play-Doh.

They both like to sit and listen to long-ish books, and more than one at a time.

They can work together to do the alphabet train puzzle without my help.  OK, Grace does most of it, but they are still doing it together.

And there's no picture of this, but they both like to color, too.  They can enjoy complicated discussions together, and sometimes they're not even arguing.  They can play together without my help.  This is life-changing for me.  I'm so thankful!

What We Have to Work With

This is a post about teeth, so if up-close pictures of teeth gross you out, consider yourself warned!

OK, here goes!

Jonathan got his bottom braces.  When he got his top braces, the top wire started out very zig-zaggy, but straightened out within 24 hours.  (Ouch!)  You can see that post here.  Here's how his teeth look now, with a straight wire on top.  (He has told us, with a smile on his face, that he has Mater teeth.  He won't have Mater teeth for long!)

Here's what we have to work with on the bottom.  Yes, that tooth way over on his left needs to be right next to those three in the middle.  You can see the big space left by the two teeth the dentist had to remove to give the wayward tooth some room to travel back to its rightful home.  He was pretty sore after getting the bottom braces, but he took it like a champ.  Whew!

What Grace Made for Benjamin

And she taped it to his wall, too. (I'll make sure she gets a new green marker, don't worry.)