Sledding Park Day

When the weather is nice someone from our coop usually sets up a park day. Well, the weather has not been nice, not even close. But a park day was called - a sledding park day!

Anna went down the hill by herself over and over until she was plumb tuckered out. Of course she wouldn't walk back up by herself so this mama had to sled down over and over too.

Mia had so much fun borrowing all the different types of sleds that were there and sledding with different friends.

Anna picked up the camera and took a pretty good picture of me.

It was a good time for all.

Chinese New Year

Every year we really enjoy going to a Chinese New Year celebration. This year we went to the largest one in Colorado. It was okay, but we found that we actually preferred the smaller one we went to last year. This year's show was a little too formal for us with the first twenty minutes being introductions of dignitaries and yada yada yada.

Before the show they played a few games.

The next set of pictures were taken from our seats and aren't very good. I'm sure you are not surprised!

Children from the Chinese school danced and sang.

Everyone loved the acrobat and the lion dance. We have come to expect the lion dance and Mia likes to participate in the feeding of the lions at the end.

I really liked the orchestra from China. All the instruments were ones I had never seen before. It was beautiful music but a little boring for the kids.

Mia loved the magician! Her eyes were riveted the whole time trying to figure out all his "tricks".

When we got home the girls got their red envelopes. In the background they are watching the popular Chinese cartoon, Like Sheep Sheep and Grey Wolf. It doesn't bother them one bit that it's in Chinese!

Happy Chinese New Year!

Last Five Days

On Saturday morning the weather was beautiful. We took a bike ride to the park for play and a picnic. That night, for Valentine's Day, we kept our 11 year tradition of breakfast for dinner at IHOP!

On Sunday the weather finally figured out what it was supposed to be doing (we have had 6 days over 70 so far in 2015).It snowed all day. We took the girls and Maks to visit the breeder and "see" our new puppy who is in it's momma's tummy right now.

The girls are soooooo excited. Dan and I are a little scared of the work. In 35 years of marriage we have never had a dog, let alone a puppy. But we are ready to take on the challenge!

This week is much slower than last, which is good as everyone has a cold. There are no coops, just a few doctor/dentist appoinments. Today I took the kids to Ash Wednesday service. They want to go back tomorrow and get more ashes!

Not sure why Mia looks so forlorn. Maybe she is just really into the ashes!

Valentine's Activities

I am sooo tired! We had four coops this week plus school and our regular activities. Yesterday was our coop Valentine party. We invited Lorelei as she gets out of school early on Wednesdays.

There were fifty kids at the party! First we decorated bags.

Hint: Buy a red Christmas dress and it can do double duty for Valentine's Day.

The party was at a skating rink and the girls had a blast.

Today we went to a Heart and Circulation System coop for young kids. My camera battery died as soon as I was ready to take the first pic.

They really learned a lot at this coop. They listened to a story about the heart, got to listen to their own heartbeat through a stethoscope, and made a craft with the size and shape of their own heart. They also made "blood", red hots for red blood cells, mini marshmallows for white blood cells, tiny pasta shapes for platelets all in a sandwich bag with Karo syrup and oil for the plasma.

Tomorrow they have Valentine's parties at both of their schools. And I'm going to rest and go to the dentist.

Kids in the Kitchen

On Tuesday we went to a Kids in the Kitchen coop. The girls got to make their own lunch and snacks! First they made kid sushi. They squished bread flat, spread it with ranch dip and put vegetables on it. Then they rolled it up and sliced it like sushi!

Next they made fruit salad by cutting up strawberries and bananas and mixing them with yogurt.

After that they made snack necklaces by stringing pretzels and cereal on ribbons. One mom thought it would be great to wear during a hike.I agree. Maybe they would be able to go a lot longer!

The kids really enjoyed this coop and met some new friends!

Madhubani Painting Coop

On Monday we went to a Madhubandi painting coop. First they heard a few stories from India and got to see some of the illustrations. Then they got some brown paper and began their drawings.

After the drawings were complete, they painted them.

The final products!

The class was a little over their heads and I wasn't sure if they absorbed any of the information. But as we were walking to the car I asked them were the Madhubani paintings came from. Anna shouted, "India!". Smile.

Anna's New Preschool

We have found the perfect preschool for Anna to go to all day on Fridays while Mia is at school. It is in someone's house. We looked at several schools that would take her for one day, all day. But they were all very institutional. Then I found this one.

Mia wants to go here too! Too old, little one.

She asked another girl to be her friend and the girl said yes. Anna was so excited!

She will stay her at least until August and then we will see if we are going to have her go to kindergarten where Mia goes or one of several other options. In Colorado, her birthday is one day before the cut-off of October 1.

We All Have Our Jobs

Let's make some Valentine's cookies.

I'll mix the batter.

And I'll lick the cups.

You clean up the mess, Mom.

The Undiscovered Creek

February in Colorado.

Lovin' Global Warming.

Pizza Party

We are in charge of two coops for this homeschool coop session. We will also be going to A LOT of coops from now until the end of May. But it should be fun. My main goal is for the kids to have interaction with other kids on a regular basis, and if they also learn something that's even better.

For our first coop we used a Groupon I found for a kids pizza party.

First the kids got their dough and the toppings they ordered.

Then they spread the dough out.

Next they added their toppings. Mia chose extra cheese. Anna had pepperonis and olives. Mia put a tiny bit of sauce and Anna had no sauce.

They were so excited to eat their creations!

It was a fun coop. Next week we have three coops and two (maybe three if I figure out my calendar entry) Valentine parties.

This weekend we were supposed to go see the play The Wizard of Oz. But with Mia being scared to even be in a room by herself we decided seeing a scary witch and wizard all blown up on stage would be foolish. We like to sleep! Fortunately the theater had a waiting list of people wanting tickets so they gave me credit for mine. Since it's the local theater we go to all the time I will use up the credit for sure.

And we are not beyond purchasing this and raving about how great it will work. We have explained that God will protect her. But she is so anxiety-ridden she needs something tangible. We found this on a forum and if it helped one person's kid, maybe it will help ours. Basically, it catches the bad dreams because they are big and the little good dreams get through the holes. You gotta do what you gotta do.

Bike Ride

Last week I took the girls on a bike ride on a paved trail I see all the time when I'm driving. I had no idea where it went or what it was about. Turns out it is a pretty cool place. The trail hooks up with the Cherry Creek Trail which goes all the way to Denver. They are using some of the land to preserve historic homes which they have recently moved there. We will be able to go through the houses once they are renovated.

It really was a beautiful day for a bike ride, 72 degrees.

I never get tired of looking at the mountains with snow on top.

We came to a creek and saw a little boy playing in the sand. His mom says they come here every Tuesday after a class. I said it must be pretty crowded in the summer. She said they are the only ones ever here. I know where we will be spending a lot of time this summer! The park has only been open a few years so I guess the word is not out yet!

Three days later it was snowing!