Of course, he and Kane had to do some playing too. They hopped onto the vehicle together by themselves. They love all the toys that Paka finds for them!
Monday, March 08, 2010
Learning Annma's Trade
Makili got his first bread-making lesson from Annma last weekend. I did my duty and tasted his first product. Pretty damn good.
Of course, he and Kane had to do some playing too. They hopped onto the vehicle together by themselves. They love all the toys that Paka finds for them!
Of course, he and Kane had to do some playing too. They hopped onto the vehicle together by themselves. They love all the toys that Paka finds for them!
Sunday, March 07, 2010
Embracing Mom and Imaginary Friends
My mom came to visit last week and sadly I did a terrible job of documenting her stay. In fact the picture below from our trek at Fort Foster are the only pictures I have to show for a wonderful, if too short, visit. Part of my lack of photographs owes to the fact that Remick boycotted sleep for a while last week (perhaps due to a little dabbling in regular coffee) and there were days that I was completely exhausted. But, we did have an absolutely terrific visit and can't wait to see her again.
One thing I love about seeing my mom is that she always reminds me of something I ought to be doing with my kids, just by modeling behaviors for me. I remember when Makili was a baby, my mom came to visit, and my mom would read him books with baby faces in it. She would point out all the features of the baby's faces, and I remember thinking to myself, "I should be doing that."
On this visit, my mom really impressed on me how much I need to ramp up the pretend play. She spent countless hours with Makili on the floor, racing the police car after Lightning McQueen, giving him tickets. Makili LOVED this. He would beg her, "Give Lightning McQueen another ticket." My mom would indulge every time telling him over and over that he was driving too fast, and it wasn't safe, etc.
This week, Lightning McQueen came to visit us. He pooped on the potty and Makili wiped his bum. He went with us to music class and we all sang "Hello to Lightning, so glad to see you." He played in the road and had to get yelled at (per Makili's request) many times. Makili held his hand in the road. The two of them would take naps together. Every once in a while, Makili would ask, "We're pretending Lightning McQueen is here?" I think he was just checking to make sure I didn't actually thing he was there. In any case, this was certainly a developmental step Makili was waiting for. Thanks Mom.
One thing I love about seeing my mom is that she always reminds me of something I ought to be doing with my kids, just by modeling behaviors for me. I remember when Makili was a baby, my mom came to visit, and my mom would read him books with baby faces in it. She would point out all the features of the baby's faces, and I remember thinking to myself, "I should be doing that." On this visit, my mom really impressed on me how much I need to ramp up the pretend play. She spent countless hours with Makili on the floor, racing the police car after Lightning McQueen, giving him tickets. Makili LOVED this. He would beg her, "Give Lightning McQueen another ticket." My mom would indulge every time telling him over and over that he was driving too fast, and it wasn't safe, etc.
This week, Lightning McQueen came to visit us. He pooped on the potty and Makili wiped his bum. He went with us to music class and we all sang "Hello to Lightning, so glad to see you." He played in the road and had to get yelled at (per Makili's request) many times. Makili held his hand in the road. The two of them would take naps together. Every once in a while, Makili would ask, "We're pretending Lightning McQueen is here?" I think he was just checking to make sure I didn't actually thing he was there. In any case, this was certainly a developmental step Makili was waiting for. Thanks Mom.
Monday, March 01, 2010
About art
So I got this book at the thrift store for 25 cents called Young at Art. It looked interesting and I started reading about kids' development in various artistic endeavors. I realized that at Makili's age, he really ought to be doing more than drawing circles and H's, which is all he ever really seemed into. So I sat him down and give him a bit more attention and encouragement. And almost immediately, he amazed me. He drew this tractor and then a little later he drew me! I thought this tractor was pretty impressive though! It actually looks like a tractor.
And this is the tutu we made for Gabrielle.
We're back on the grid now, but my mom is visiting so we're kind of busy. But I thought I post this while I'm thinking about it.
And this is the tutu we made for Gabrielle.
We're back on the grid now, but my mom is visiting so we're kind of busy. But I thought I post this while I'm thinking about it.
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Powerless
We are one of the million homes without power. So you won't hear much from us for a few days...
Thursday, February 25, 2010
One last look
Before I totally move on from our trip, I wanted to leave one more image. I can't wait to watch these munchkins grow up together. I feel lucky that they are so close in age and will hopefully see eachother with some frequency. Makili LOVED Gabrielle, and I think in her own way she liked him too. Look at what a great big sister she is already. It is so interesting to see how kids' personalities really are innate. They come out a certain way. Sure, we can influence those things a bit, but fundamentally they are who they are. Can Oliviann really be this mellow forever?
Monday, February 22, 2010
War Paint
Last time I was home at my parents' house, we went to the Children's Museum, where I picked up some of these watersoluble face paint crayons. Though they are actually designed for this purpose they work great and wash off easily. The Museum has been using them forever (I used to work there). I broke them out yesterday when we needed a minute of calm and let the kids go at it. They were a bit timid at first, and Gabrielle was definitely far more interested than Makili, but both of them had a great time and it was fun to watch the little Indians run around all morning. This is an AWESOME activity for kids and I intend to do a lot more of this! The crayons aren't cheap, but they last a good while. And just in case you buy some, they need to be dipped in water before they will work. 
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Passing Our Days
We're headed home from Arkansas tomorrow, but we've had a terrific visit. I'm sure Gabe and Laura will be glad for some time to themselves without the extra mayhem of four kids, but I've enjoyed the stay a whole lot. We've had great weather (until today) and have had lots of opportunity to be outside (I ran four miles yesterday!), playing golf, walking, and generally getting some vitamin D not out of a bottle. We've been watching the olympics, and playing with puzzles. Today we got out a fun project, which I'll post pictures of later. Good times.
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Top gun
Uncle Gabe took us to see the big airplines, for which he is the navigator. It is sort of weird to be on a military base, but the kids enjoyed checking out the plane, and Raph asked a million questions. It was pretty cool.
Friday, February 19, 2010
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Oliviann Josephine Matty
A lot more pictures to take, but there are four kids here and boy is that a whole lot more than two! Just as one kid stops crying, the next one starts. Oliviann is the mellowest baby on the planet, however. Sweet, sweet, sweet.
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Ski Trip 2010 and a winner
Whew! We survived a weekend of exchange student skiing fun. Only a little bit of halting teenage hormonal action! Not a whole lot of sleep, but fun nonetheless...And the winner of my post 600 giveaway (generated by the random number generator) is Suzinn (which I am assuming is Suzanne - is that right?)
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Friday, February 12, 2010
An Art Project Before We Go
We are headed out to go on a ski trip with 30 exchange students, and then onto visit the Arkansas Mattys, so I don't know how much I'll be posting in the next few days, but I was pretty proud of myself yesterday for the art project I came up with for doing with Makili.
Raph bought me a bunch of block printing materials for Christmas that I've been dying to get around to work on. (So many things going on all the time!) Yesterday I decided to modify the project for Makili.
We used those styrofoam trays that food comes packaged on in Market Basket. I save them for using under plants in the greenhouse, and I've used them in the past to make crafts for decorations, like at Makili's birthday luau. I decided yesterday to try using them as printing plates. I cut them to the size I wanted with scissors, and then Makili used a chop stick to draw on them, though some of his lines weren't deep enough so I also had him draw with a Sharpie, and then I traced his drawing with a chop stick.
Here is a plate ready for printing. As you can see, Makili also liked poking holes. And the smily face was my demonstration for him as to how to draw on there. He didn't do that (obviously).
Then we inked up the plate using some block printing ink and a brayer. Makili really like this part, and of course he chose red.
Here is an inked plate.
Then we put the plate on the paper, turned it over and rubbed it.
Then we peeled off the finished print.
I'm not showing the best works here because a few of you might find Valentines in the mail from Makili and I don't want to ruin the surprise. Let me just tell you that my favorite works were "Tractor" and "Mommy." Limited editions, of course. I LOVED this project and the finished products were really nice. I recommend this project highly!
Raph bought me a bunch of block printing materials for Christmas that I've been dying to get around to work on. (So many things going on all the time!) Yesterday I decided to modify the project for Makili.
We used those styrofoam trays that food comes packaged on in Market Basket. I save them for using under plants in the greenhouse, and I've used them in the past to make crafts for decorations, like at Makili's birthday luau. I decided yesterday to try using them as printing plates. I cut them to the size I wanted with scissors, and then Makili used a chop stick to draw on them, though some of his lines weren't deep enough so I also had him draw with a Sharpie, and then I traced his drawing with a chop stick.
Here is a plate ready for printing. As you can see, Makili also liked poking holes. And the smily face was my demonstration for him as to how to draw on there. He didn't do that (obviously).
Then we inked up the plate using some block printing ink and a brayer. Makili really like this part, and of course he chose red.
Here is an inked plate.
Then we put the plate on the paper, turned it over and rubbed it.
Then we peeled off the finished print.
I'm not showing the best works here because a few of you might find Valentines in the mail from Makili and I don't want to ruin the surprise. Let me just tell you that my favorite works were "Tractor" and "Mommy." Limited editions, of course. I LOVED this project and the finished products were really nice. I recommend this project highly!
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