happy birthday, dr. seuss...annnd....we're back!

well, hello there! apparently i'm on the nine-month plan, as it's been nearly that long since i've actually published a post. there've been a couple of puny little posts hanging out in my "drafts" box, but i never got back to them. oopsie. actually, i've been trying to sort out all this blog stuff in my head all this time, but that's a post for another day.

so why today? well because it's dr. seuss' birthday, and we had a darn fine time at doodlebugs, that's why. pure genius that man was, i tell you, and if he's not an inspiration to share your craziness with the world, i don't know what is. so here we go.

i set up three seussish stations for the kiddos to explore, all inspired by various seuss stories. first up, fish bowls inspired by the cat in the hat and one fish two fish red fish blue fish. a fish bowl outline, permanent markers, and water colors. there were all kinds of cool creations swimming around in those bowls!

next up? crazy creatures inspired by there's a wocket in my pocket and if i ran the zoo and pretty much every other dr. seuss book there is.

this little one just decided to go ahead and write her own book. yes!

and finally? OOBLECK! this was definitely a favorite, especially with the younger littles. we liked it much better than the king did in bartholomew and the oobleck.

even the kids themselves were works of art (aren't they always?) today. some came dressed in formal seuss attire: stripes, colors, wigs, polka dots, crazy hair, and any other wild combination they could think of.

this lasted all of five minutes before he spied his "robin" suit, which he preferred. hmmm...seuss and batman? whatever, right?

easter bunny day

dear blog, it's been a long time. sorry i've neglected you. i'll do better (maybe). how about a little easter recap to catch up?

we had some special visitors (in addition to the easter bunny, of course) this easter....grandma holly and grandpa andy came for the weekend. after enjoying a much appreciated day of gorgeous weather on saturday, we decorated eggs that evening.

a close-up of eric's favorite "anakin" egg...he wanted to make sure this shot found

its way to the blog.

the next morning, the boys were tickled to find many of their stuffed bunny friends waiting patiently for them downstairs...quietly gathered on the rug, presumably invited together by the E.B. him- (her?) self. then, we dashed outside, managing to beat the snowflakes to the easter baskets on sunday morning.

back inside, goodies were discovered and devoured by all.

the day was rainy, but that seemed only to enhance sam's adventures...

seemed like the right kind of day for warm, yummy pretzels & soup, so that was easter dinner...

thanks, bunny...mama thinks this holiday is her favorite.

friend party, finally!

are they here yet? what about now? now? NOW?????

last weekend, we finally had a "friend party" for leif...his actual birthday was only two months ago. sickness, busy-ness, post holiday no-more-celebrating-anything-ness...it all contributed to a little delay in the festivities. but, we finally arrived at just the right time, and (crazy, high-energy, six-year-old) fun was had by all. oh yah.

there were cool dino headbands,

balloon craziness...followed by nerve blasting balloon popping,

a little gift envy (oh, that one's so hard for me...),

and an awesome, daddy-designed dino cake!

oh, and yes...a pinata. giving an old ax handle to the above mentioned crazy six year olds? what a great idea! but, it was fate -- leif discovered it hanging from the ceiling at the local discount store. no way that thing wasn't coming home with us.

we didn't escape without a little snow and a lot of wind (i guess a january birthday just kinda sticks with ya), but we did make it outside for the pinata. just on account of that, i'm chalking the whole thing up as a success.

doodlebugs 3.11.11, green pepper clover

did you know that a green pepper cut in half horizontally creates the shape of a four-leaf clover when you stamp it? neither did i, but the folks over here did. so we gathered up our little leprechauns and stamped the time away...

and painted, and drizzled, and scrubbed, and dabbed, of course.

for some added magic (and scent), we sprinkled green jello over our art just for fun. shaving cream? lime jello? no one can say we stink. ;-)

here is eric's masterpiece, encased in a layer of paint and jello so thick that green pepper wouldn't even think of rotting. here's to st. patrick's day, green paint, green peppers, and anything else that reminds us of spring!

doodlebugs 1.28.11, heart art, part I

and so began our adventures with hearts at doodlebugs.

this time we used heart stencils cut out of tag board

and potato heart stampers to create our works.

we also experimented a bit with color mixing; everyone began with four blobs of white paint and a cup of red, which they could mix into the white.

the result was a lot of pink, red, and white magic with a few distinct heart shapes peeking through. i think they look sweet grouped together (see above).

doodlebugs 2.4.11, heart art, part II

more hearts!

construction paper hearts, white glue, scissors & paper...endless possibilities. leif was the inspiration for this one, telling us about making heart shaped fish in kindergarten.

i love watching the youngest artists learn to use scissors...such a tempting and fantastic tool.

look how adept this little guy has become, and he's two!

next up, fingerprinting. this started out with a little demonstration of how you can make a fingerprint heart by making a little "v" with your fingertip, but of course, that was far too limiting for these innovators, and they went to town with fingerprints and handprints galore.

and when the supplies came together, the printing got even more creative. one artist even used his forehead and nose!