Our Roxaboxen Adventures

April 16-19th/ Art/ Mommytography

On Monday, I photographed Jordan working with her oil pastels. You'll notice Jordan has a very hard grip and I think it was due to the music I had playing. Sometimes I play various music in the background when the girls are doing art to influence their work/mood. This time Beethoven's Wig was on and I believe Can-Can in particular during this picture. It's a lively tune and I think that influence the hard & quick strokes she was making. Anyway, it's a great series for introducing kids to classical music and it's a fun sing-a-long for parents too...plus it's very catchy. Our county library has several copies.

 

On Tuesday, I caught this shot of daddy reading to Jordan her bedtime story.....Olivia & The Missing Toy.
 

No picture taken on Wednesday.

On Thursday, I attended a presentation on Montessori Education, specifically geography/cultural studies. I took this picture of the lovely school as I was leaving. (more to come about this school in a separate post)

 

Friday, we went out for dinner & I had this delicious wheat pasta w/ shrimp & asparagus.

 

Then we headed over to VMFA to see their Ancient Ife exhibit (it was leaving on Sunday).

 

I'm wrapping this post up early to include some of the pictures on the upcoming post- Alex's birthday weekend (5/20-5/22)! 

 

April 8-15th/ Honk & Peter Rabbit/ Mommytography

May 8th- Mothers Day.

I won an ipad 2 from Willow Lawn  the day before and picked it up. I couldn't and still can't believe it.

 

We went and bought plants for grandma & great grandma.

Then the family all went out to eat together, and back to grandma's for desserts.

 

No pictures the 9, 10, 11, 12, or 13th. This is the longest I've gone this year not taking a shot.

On Friday night, a stop by Panera Bread for dinner...

 

Then off to Theatre IV to see "HONK". (The Ugly Duckling) I won these tickets from Theatre IV on a caption writing contest :)

 

 

On Saturday, our neighboorhood had their Spring Festival.

holding rabbits....

 

chasing goats...(and no, that's not our house, we live in the more....modest section)

 

pick up the bottle games....
 

skipping rocks....

 

and all the popcorn, cotton candy and balloon animals they could want.

 I think they had a fun time.

 

On Sunday, Kennedy had her first cooking lesson with daddy (belguim waffles). He taught her to use the sifter & did some pouring work. You can't tell, but he is holding & guiding her hand. I really need to buy another one of these (I sold mine on craigslist after Alex), but it's so helpful for kids cooking.

 
Jordan was occupied listening to Peter Rabbit on the ipad. LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this app. It's like a pop-up book come to life and we're still finding interactive surprises within it.

 

Later at grandmas, the girls went out to play. I love this tangled shot of Alex.
 

 then a little rock climbing to wrap up our day.....
 

 

 

 

 

Childs Play/ Adult Play

We took the kids to the old-fashioned  Spring festival here. They had a good time officially welcoming in spring. Plus the weather was beautiful.

start the day w/ice pops and checking out the options...

 

decide on the ring toss, becuase you can both play and continue to eat at the same time
 
do a few crafts (since mommy isn't crafty at home)

 

sneaking and eating basil out of the raised garden beds....

 

more crafting- a wind chime

 

twirling in the sun while the band played on.
 

Then it was off to mommy & daddies date- a cooking class (that I won for Mothers Day!) from Kids in the Kitchen. They normally do cooking classes for kids, however was offering an adult cooking class that night.

The menu....

 

 

There's the hubby in his apron.
 

Bon Apetite!
 

I would very much recommend Kids in the Kitchen for children. Their kitchen was spotless and beautifully done. They have a different full kitchen for the 3-6 range and the 7-up range. Both are fully functional and the 3-6 kitchen is so adorable as everything is "child sized". The owner mentioned one class they'll be offering this summer where the kids will come up with a budget, design the menu, go grocery shopping (basically next door), then come back and cook the meal.

Lastly, it looks like they are going to be doing an "Iron Chef" couples competition  sometime in the future, anybody wanna take us on? BRING IT!

 

 

5/2-5/7 Arachnid Love/ Mommytography Project

I didn't manage to take a picture everyday this week. But here's what I did manage.

Monday (5/2) - We got home from work/school/grandmas late so went to Arby's (our standby dinner place) for their 9.99 family meal. Did you know they offer a family of 4 full meal on Monday-Wednesdays? We are frequent customers and I can't beat paying $2.50 per person. The girls are playing while we wait for our dinner.

 

5/3 (Tuesday). This collection of freshly killed insects, magnifying glass, bug catcher, decaying log and paper was left on the deck at grandmas. No one complained of being stung or swollen......so we're letting it go.

 

5/4-5/6- No pictures. I distinctly remember not taking photos those days. I remembering saying to myself as I laid on the sofa exhausted, "Get up Alycia, find something to shoot, keep going, you can do it"...but I didn't. Oh well.

Saturday (5/7), Alex & I took a morning class at the math & science center on spiders. Warning- this post is not for the squirmish.

Here the kids are simulating how a spider knows when/where a possible food source or enemy enters it's web.

 

Figuring how why spiders don't get stuck in their own webs....

 

Learning about camaflouge.....
 

A series of spider boxes (real) and spider molts (skins) to match up.

 

a whole box full of molt specimens!

 

a pregnant spider, their sacs look fairly proportionate to what I looked like in my 9th month.

 

Examining joints & fangs....

 
 I love that you can see the venom tube so clearly (anyone know the "real" term for venom tube?)

 

a simulation on how venom dissolves its victims from the inside.

 

more hands on.... did you know that tarantulas will flick their hairs at you as a defense mechanism so one should always wear goggles when handling.

 
 

and a goody bag" gift from the center. We used this twice now at home to look up spiders outside.
 

 

 

 

April 30- May 1/ Energy Festival/ Mommytography Project

 April 30th.
So on Saturday we went to Energy Festival at the  Science Museum of Virginia. I won tickets from Macaroni Kids  (you guys wouldn't believe my blessings these days). I gifted some of the tickets to my sister & nephew. He loves science and wants to be a pilot. He even has some air miles already under his belt.

BTW  (I highly recommend checking to see if your area has a Macaroni Kids site, ours does a GREAT job of listing all the family friendly activities around town & has weekly giveaways)

Here are some pictures of our day..... the water animals petting zoo.

 

Then off to sift in the sand to find sharks teeth, shells, and other "stuff".

 

Then off the main area of the energy festival. First some new concept cars....

 

 

The girls received a mini lesson on polymers and their ability to be both solid & liquid depending on pressure.
 

Here they were using sand, dirt, rocks, etc. to see which one allow or blocked the flow of water and why. I'm sure there's a better way to phrase this experiment....

 

creating energy to power the light....

 

making solar bead bracelets (they change colors in sunlight)
 

made solar ovens and smores...
 
 

air experiments....

 
Back on the inside the girls love the "lift your own weight" chair.
 

then off we went to eat at  a local favorite spot....my sister & nephew joined us.
 

 

Okay, finishing up the day. The Picasso Exhibit was on it's way out so we HAD to stop by. (The  art museum is around the corner from the science museum). Of course, no pictures were allowed in the exhibit but in the gift shop I had the girls tell me their favorite. Jordan really liked this one yet I think was kinda weirded out by it too. I have to agree.

 

Afterwards, a quick stop by Krispy Creme (the "Hot Doughnuts" sign was flashing, how could we not stop?)

 

 

On Sunday May 1st, we rested our brains & bodies at grandma's house ........and the girls find ways to entertain themselves.

 

Another great weekend....more catching up to come soon.

 

 

 

 

April 25-29th/ Mommytography Project

Not too much to show...

On Monday, I held class outside today w/my students. Here's a trail that leads from our school to the adjoining park...isn't it lovely. They tried to convince me with all their might to go explore it, but I just couldn't come up with a good enough justification considering I teach Civics. Maybe a lesson on environmental stewardship...do you think my principle would go for that?

 

Tuesday- No picture today...

Wednesday- It was so lovely, we ate dinner outside. We do this often when the weather warms.

 

Thursday-Alex worked on collecting facts about turtles. Ever since our neighbor found one last summer & gave it to her (but it mysteriously dissapeared oneday) she's been begging for another.

 

Daddy also bought home some yummy cupcakes for dessert.

 

On Friday the girls had a little party with their cousins. Alex's same age cousin Laila goes to school year round and lives out of state. This was a farewell party until she comes back for the summer.

 

 
 

They had a great time just hanging out. A big thanks to Uncle Rufus & Aunt Penny for hosting.

 

Easter 2011

I'm still catching up on this blog, but atleast now I'm only 1 month behind :)

Easter this year was met with lots of anxiety. It marked the two year anniversary of my fathers passing and my siblings & I were very worried about how my mother would handle the day. So, Steven & I made the decision to not travel to his grandmothers about an hour away, but to stay close to home & spend the day with my mother & sisters. (Our brother doesn't celebrate holidays.)

Early Sunday morning, I set out our Easter table (gifts) on the deck for the girls. It included our resurrection eggs, two books (Benjamins Box & The Beatitudes) , a Mary-Mary CD and some candies.

 

Later Sunday morning, we did go to my mother in laws for our Easter breakfast and so she could see the girls.

 

 

Grandma's family basket

 

and checking out the seedlings...
 

Then it was off to my sisters for dinner & play at her house. My mother met us on the porch.

 

She enjoyed watching  just being surrounded by all her grandchildren. I think it's hard to dwell on death when you're surrounded by so much life.

 

 
It turned out to be a good day. I was even inspired to take a picture of myself to post here. Hope you had a wonderful Easter.

 

 

Jordan Turns 3

 
On April 21st my little Jordan turned 3. We really celebrate birthdays around here and try to make them a multi-day celebration (this one lasted 3 days). So on Thursday (4/21) we took her to see.....something that made her eyes dance with joy....

All of her favorite characters from Sesame Street.

 

and she was pretty much in heaven the rest of the day......

 

 

 

 


 

 

She even got to get on her first ride, Prince Elmo's Spire

 

with several more rides to follow. Afterwards, her favorite meal...Mac & Cheese

 

On Friday we  went to a petting farm to see this guy 

 

and she had her second favorite meal: Grill Cheese, tomato soup, fruit & choc. milk

 

On Saturday, I had won tickets for a Easter egg hunt/pizza party at a local bouncey place.

 

 

This is one of those parent forced pictures. Clearly the girls didn't want to visit the bunny and I "made" them....hence the looks on their faces.  Lesson learned for next time.

 

and then later in the evening our own neighborhood had their Easter Egg Hunt so we briefly went there for maybe 20 mins....just long enough to collect some candy filled eggs for our own hunt later in the week. (Terrible, I know)

 

Plus we had to hurry back home to officially have the family birthday party.

First up is the royal birthday crown....

 

The royal birthday cake &  cupcakes
 

The royal gown....(thanks grandad!)
 
and the rest of the gifts...some furniture sets for this royal dollhouse.

 

Happy Birthday Jordan. You are amazing, creative, full of life and a definetly coming into your own. We love & cherish you more than words could say.

Science Fair

Alex participated in her first science fair last month (first grade, age 6). The entire project was done independently. The only thing the first graders were given were books &  posterboard. Alex chose to research & create illustrations for the "White Tailed Deer" and I think she did a grade job. There are a few spelling errors, run on sentences, etc..... but it's all hers. I should note that this was my first time also seeing it. Alex loves doing research and she's done several more "projects" on her own at home since the science fair. (Grey Wolf, Galapagos Tortoise, several types of butterflies & spiders, just to name a few)

I was late getting there and Alex already had a small crowd gathered around her.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I had assumed that students were given a list of topics to research from, as the "white tailed deer" is I think, somewhat random. When I asked Alex about it, she reminded how we had seen a dead deer on the side of the road recently on the way to grandma's. Evidently it got her thinking about why a deer would be on the side of a busy road in a built up area. I remember us talking about how the land used to be covered in woods and with all the new construction, the deer were having to find new homes. This conversation must have stayed with her as she chose to research habitat and the deers relationship to mankind. I love the Montessori philosophy for giving her the opportunity to turn a personal experience/interest into a wonderful learning opportunity.

and here's a quick video of Alex presenting to me. Sorry for all the background  noise, horrible camera angles, etc.  

Dressing Trees.....

Every year the students at VCU's fashion department perform this annual "dressing of the trees". It's so magical at Maymont during this time and we've gone for about the last 3 years now. We spent the morning there recently and here are some pictures from the day.

Probably my favorite shot of the day.... Jordan dancing w/the tree.

 

and I really think I can the tree personalities in the below shots. One can't help waiting for them to come alive, like in the Narnia stories.

 

 

 
 

and other pictures from wandering the park include.....gathering little bouquets.

 

See the ladybug on her finger? Love this moment.

 

trying to convince daddy to pick the "real" flowers.....nope :)
 

heading off on the trails.....
 

to climb trees and rocks.....
 
 

then visit a few of the natives.....the magnificant.....

 

 
and the not so magnificant.....

 

and the missed....

 

A quick walk through the farm to feed the animals
 

Then back to just playing in the trees
 

 and the streams.
 

or getting a ride from daddy :)

 

Want some ideas for encouraging outdoor play...visit these two sites below. Even if your child is older, the many ideas in the first site can be modified for older elementary kids to adults alike.

http://progressiveearlychildhoodeducation.blogspot.com/

http://www.naturerocks.org/