Preschool at Home!

Today is the first day of our month long animal theme. Last night we decorated the room, it's not done yet but it's pretty cool! We have birds hanging from the ceiling, pictures of animals, a section of animal books, and David is working on a farm scene. Gavin is in love with the alphabet and numbers on the wall, proclaiming randomly that it's "abc time!" in which he sings the abcs while I sing "counting".  

We made paper plate owls, where we painted the plates brown, cut one in half and glued it on as wings. I had already cut out shapes for the eyes, beak, and feathers, and the boys glued them on! They turned out so cute, and it was easy enough for even Jared to make one. 

Apple Pie!

After all that apple picking there was only one thing to do - make apple pie! And it doesn't hurt that every time I went to take Gavin's picture he said "apple pie!" instead of cheese. I'm not sure where he got that, considering I have never made any pie ever, and he's never eaten any!

I cut up all of our deliciously juicy apples - they were perfect! Having never made a pie before, I didn't realize you had to peel them... it didn't end up making any difference in the end, so it was ok!

The boys had so much fun stirring the flour and the apples, the fought over who's turn it was. And of course, they ate a few pieces from the bowl!

 I let them smash the dough in the bottom, and pinch it around the sides - they did a great job! This was Jared's favorite part, but he was a little rough...  I don't have any pictures of the finished product because it disappeared by the end of the day! It was so so good. 

"Melcom!"

... it means "you're welcome" in Jared speak.

Great day today!

We went to Jollay Orchards, a local farm. 

the apples were ready to be picked (and eaten...)

Jared took a bite out of just about every apple he saw and carried around big arm fulls of them. 

Gavin ate two WHOLE apples, and by that I mean stem, seeds, and core!

They loved every minute of it. In fact, Gavin has already asked to go back.

And there were goats to feed!

There were geese too, but they were loud - and for once, Jared was scared!

The weather was gorgeous today, and we came home with a basket of apples, two containers of raspberries (and they are to die for!), plus a few honey sticks and peaches we bought at the market. 

All in all, a perfect day. 

"Grandma said stop crying!"

After Gavin goes anywhere, I ask him about what he did. 9 times out of 10 he will tell me a random quote like this, or "Grandpa said shut the door!" I can never get the straight story out of him...

Working on artwork tonight:

Our friends are getting married on Friday, and in addition to their regular old present, I wanted to make something. I've been thinking about it for weeks, and had nothing. David suggested drawing it on the computer and so I did! I think it turned out pretty darn cute... hope they like it!
Makes me kind of sad that my wedding is over...
Or maybe it's just the music. David's gone, and I'm listening to semi-sad music and feeling a little nostalgic. I don't really know for what, I just want to go back in time. All of our friends are grown ups too, and sometimes I feel like I'm not ready! I'm still a kid too....
Ok, enough!

Today I was wondering what kind of kid Jared will be. He still has no real likes or dislikes, and at this age Gavin was really into toy story, dinosaurs, and cars. He still is in fact. But Jared just likes everything, he's pretty content to do everything but wear shoes. I wish he would never grow up!

"smells like you got stink on you"

Gavin smelled my forehead... but no, I didn't really stink...

Today we had a lazy day - hooray! David had to work, but the boys and I took the day to lay around and play! Gavin has already picked up so many letter sounds, it's amazing! We have some glow sticks, which we bent to form all different letters and guess their sounds, he was really good at it.
Jared is such a funny guy, one minute I'm wondering if he's just going to be a total wild child, and the next he's concentrating like mad over his coloring book. The boy has focus! Jen was surprised at how well he sat watching a movie, he was so into it, we hardly ever see him that still!
I worked on a few more things for their birthday party tonight - we got the pinata and it's super cute! We decided it's probably not the best idea for a bunch of toddlers to wield a bat however...
Just took a shower and am off to bed!

Hooked on Phonics!

I made the boys a dvd of phonic alphabet songs - and they love it! Gavin is singing along and dancing, and I think (gasp) learning!

I downloaded a bunch of phonics videos from youtube (search: phonics songs) and burned them to a disc. Gavin already knows his alphabet, but he doesn't know the sounds so I think this will help us on the track to reading! Jared is too little to really get it, but he is learning his letters, and like the music - plus it will make it easier to teach him in the future!

Here's the list:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=saF3-f0XWAY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8uoxWwwB0Y

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iOu-QkmInKc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pyKdUpJQBTY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MikSq9USQsY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UR7PMx6ngjg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xWEiZ0IXOj8

My only problem is that my disc burned weird and theres a big green box and the bottom of the screen... what is up with that?? 

"It was so fun riding the robot dragon!"

We went to the fair yesterday!
The boys had a blast, and the actually let Jared on a ride! We went and saw the animals, Jared touched every one he could. It was a miracle he didn't get bitten. Gavin was really excited about them, but he was more cautious, especially the horses kind of freaked him out. He did want to take a cow home however, so he must have liked it!

Then we went over to the rides, ate corn dogs, and rode more rides! We bought popcorn and then went into the circus. Jared was not happy about sitting still (he never is...) but Gavin was thrilled that he got a free thing of bubbles, and all the popcorn he could eat. We didn't stay long, but we did watch a guy ride a motorcycle on a rope which was "amazing!".
Then we got good and sticky with some snow cones and went home.
We all had a great time and saw a bunch of our friends there.

I spent the night paying for the fried bologna sandwich (it was worth it!)and making these:

Party hats! The turned out so cute! Gavin has been wearing the hat he got at Jen's birthday for days now, so I know he'll love these! Hurry up birthday party, I can't wait!