Art Appreciation - Day 3

Today we learned about Vincent Van Gogh. Did you know that he was a Christian? He at one point gave everything that he owned away to the poor. He was an art teacher and a preacher! I'm sure you already know that he was a great artist too. He is most famous for his painting "Starry Night". This is one of our Daddy's favorite paintings so we made him our own version today. 

When we were finished we looked outside and it was pouring down rain. Mommy looked at us and said

"You wanna go outside and play in the rain today?" Was she joking? For a few minutes we just gave her a confused look, not sure if we should run for the front door or if this was just a mean trick. Great news, she was being serious! We went outside and ran through our driveway, laid down and made "rain" angels and splashed in puddles upon puddles! It was soooo much fun. Mommy said our neighbors driving by must think she is crazy but if this is crazy then crazy is fun!

Art Appreciation - Day 2

Day two of Art Appreciation Week! Today we learned about Pablo Picasso. We tried our hand at Cubism which was just okay. Did you know Picasso used very little color during this time? BORING!

We had to spice it up a bit so Mommy let us helmet paint. Yep, that's right! We strapped a paint brush to the top of a construction hat and painted with our heads! What a hoot! Can't wait to see what's next. Hope you are all enjoying the week with us!                 

We wouldn't want to leave Jacey out so here is a picture of her just being cute.

"All children are artists. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up" ~ Pablo Picasso

Art Appreciation Week - Day1

Hey everyone. This week is Art Appreciation Week at our house and it all started today. Each day mommy is going to teach us about a well known artist and we will get to model his work. We also get to do something fun and messy with paint which is our favorite part! Today we learned about Michelangelo. He painted the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel on his back! We thought that must have been awful tough so we thought we'd give it a try. 

 

Next, we got to splat paint. Now that was exciting!! We stuffed panty hose with unpopped popcorn and dipped it in paint. Then mommy let us stand on a chair ( I know right? That never happens!) and drop the paint bomb onto the paper. Guess what happens? SPLAT!


We can hardly wait until tomorrow. We are going to learn about some Picasso guy and cubism, whatever that means. Stay tuned...more fun to come!

My Fearless Leader

Jacey here! This is a picture of me and my friend Brayden. His mommy and my mommy are great friends and so are we! Brayden was born 2 months before me so he knows his way around the world a bit more than I do. I don't mind though because he always shares the latest and greatest with me.We had a sleepover last Friday and he brought this cool new blanket to lay on. It had swinging monkeys that made cool noises, things to grab at and things to kick..it was the best! Our mommys and daddys hang out quite a bit which means that we get to see a lot of each other. We even went to see our first fireworks show together. Mommy thought that I would be scared but I was such a big girl, I didn't even cry at the loud noises. I loved all of the pretty colors and best of all, I got to hang out with my good pal Brayden. I have so much fun with him and something tells me that he'll always look out for me.Well, it looks like my time is up. My brothers are wanting the computer so they can brag about some silly art thingy they did today. I can't wait until I'm bigger so that I can have fun with that messy stuff, mommy says it won't be long!

 Loads of love:)     ~ Jacey

Take Me Out To The Ballgame

A couple of weeks ago, our life group headed out to Victory Field to catch an Indian's game. Who won? I have no idea! I'm not sure how many of us actually watched the game as we were too busy socializing but we all had a great time. Jacey and Brayden did a great job at their first official baseball game. What good sports! The boys as always had a blast and James and I loved hangin with family. Here are a few pics from the night.

Legoland

Hey friends, it's Jalen! Sunday we celebrated my 7th birthday! I know, I know, you can hardly believe that I'm growing so fast right? Instead of getting a ton of presents that Mom says will end up in next year's garage sale, my brother and I always get one or two small gifts and our choice of a family mini trip. Mom and Dad tell us that the memories will last longer than the toys and I'll admit, I sure do love traveling to new places! This year, I chose Legoland Chicago.

We started the birthday morning just as we always do with cake for breakfast! This is one of my favorite family traditions:P

Once inside the museum, we were able to walk through lots of exhibits, all made entirely out of legos!  

We entered a jungle with hippos, tigers, monkeys and snakes all constructed of tiny plastic bricks, pieced together one by one. I wonder how many hours it took to build such a masterpiece? I hope they stopped for snacks!

Mommy and Daddy's favorite exhibit was the mini replica of Chicago. It was amazing! Every tiny detail was there from the sears tower down to road construction being completed in the middle of Michigan Ave. There were dog walkers on the beach, shoppers galore and lights that shined through the stained glass windows of the beautiful churches. The pieces even moved so that the whole city was in action!

We rode a hanglider and we even took a tour of the lego factory where we made our very own souvenir lego. I was in charge of pushing the button that stamped the factory name on top.

My favorite part was when Daddy helped us build a giant tower out of lego bricks. 

Jacey took a little nap while we worked on our project.

It took a long time but we finally finished! Can you guess who's inside?

Before heading home we stopped at my favorite restaurant, The Rainforest Cafe!  Thanks Mom and Dad for such an awesome birthday! I'm already planning for next year.

Hmmm...an African Safari sounds like fun! Do you think we could make it there and back in a day? Probably not huh? Well, let me know if you have any ideas. I love exploring new places!

The Perfect Morning

Five years ago, my perfect morning would have consisted of my favorite black suit, a starbucks in hand and my favorite song on the radio while driving into to work. My agenda for the day would include managing a staff of 25+ people, 140 children, answering telephones, returning emails, scheduling, problem solving, answering questions and addressing concerns. My how things change! Last week, my day started out with my alarm clock going off around 7am. (a hungry baby crying for her bottle) I then decided to take my work outside to the front porch. There I sat, feeding my newborn baby and sipping on a glass of ice tea. A warm summer morning breeze was blowing and dew drops were still on the blades of grass in my front lawn. A cardinal was perched in the tree and a chipmunk was running through the mulch. Across the street my neighbor was wearing a straw hat and landscaping his side yard. Ah yes, now this was the perfect morning! I love that life has slowed down for me to enjoy little moments like these. It's days like this that I am reminded of how grateful I am that God is in control and not me, that He knows what is best for me and that my life is going according to His plan and not my own. I thought I had it all figured out, that I had a 5 day, 5 month, 5 year plan and that I was happy. That was before giving my life completely to him. Wow! What a difference it has made.

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. - Jeremiah 29:11