Stuff we've been doing

 

L saw papier mache in a story book and has been asking me to make it with her for a few weeks now. I finally embraced the potential for an incredible pasty mess and we papier-mached some balloons today. L handled the measuring, mixing and newspaper shredding and I cleaned up. N and C got in on the action, too, and we now have a family of newsprint balloons waiting to be painted and animated tomorrow.

 

L and C both caught colds this week and it's been rainy, so the past few days have felt long and dull. I turned on Sesame Street for the first time ever for the kiddos on Thursday and they were so enthralled with the cuddly Muppets and slick video presentations I had to laugh out loud and take a picture. I don't know how children get anything out of that show. It moves so fast, even I couldn't keep up.

 

C is not content with just being beside us while we carry out our daily projects and adventures. He needs to do them right along with us. He loves to work the paintbrush and crayons and during our weekly around-the-world book club at the library, he wants his own craft materials so he can make just what the other kids are making.

 

L loves to sew. If I'm so much as sewing a button back onto a shirt, she wants her own needle and thread, too. Last week we made this quilt together for her babies. She stitched each of the squares together by hand (over the period of several sewing installments during the past month or so) and I ran it through the sewing machine to attach it to some fleece backing. She was so proud of her handiwork.