Marching in the parade

My boy...playing his trombone and marching with his school band in the Strawberry parade last Saturday....and I'm not a big fan of parades. But this one was special because Trevor was in it. Making me proud. :)

Wee Artists

Yesterday I got down the paints from the very top cupboard in the kitchen. You see, they had been there since Ben and Ava had gotten into them about a year and a half ago, rubbing them into the carpet two separate times. It happened before I could get to them and stop them. That is how quickly they work as a team.

I figured they were probably ready to try the paints again, this time with a little more supervision and structure. Oh and they were so excited. The moment I suggested painting, they both forgot what they were doing and ran into the kitchen as I got the paints down. Of course, they immediately started requesting certain colors, but that was solved by putting all of the paints in the center where they could be reached by both of them. (Notice the blue and purple paints are missing...rubbed into the carpet...)

The painting actually held their attention for quite a while. Ben took the more "modern art" approach, while Ava scattered her colors separately all over her paper, including a "rainbow" in the end.

I think investing in some more good paints, including the colors blue and purple, is in order for this summer. We may even try painting outside if the sun ever makes it's appearance again.

Our dinner

Food, yummy food. My oh-so-kind sister prepared a delicious meal for our family tonight. Pork tenderloin with cooked apples. Add a little rice and steamed broccoli and we had ourselves a wonderful, tasty dinner. And since I worked all day, this was especially nice to come home to. Thank you Jenny! Love you.

Recycling

I try really hard to recycle everything I possibly can. Many of my friends and family would attest to this fact. Just last week, in fact, I took a bag home full of empty boxes and french fry containers from McDonalds after having lunch there. (I wasn't going to confess this because it is, afterall, borderline crazy! But I already let the information slip out to a friend at work, so what the heck?!) After we finished our lunch there, I looked at all of those empty containers, knowing that they almost always end up in the trash can inside the restaurant. And it bothered me. I really hate to waste things, and so bringing them home and putting them into my commingled recycle bin was what I had to do.
But what I really want to mention, on the topic, is something said by my little boy last night. He came to me with two pieces of cardboard in his hand and said, "Mommy, is this garbage or recycle?" Now this might sound crazy, but I was so proud! :) He is only three years old, and this just goes to show you that I, like every other parent, have habits that rub off on my children. So glad that this good habit, (in my opinion), is rubbing off on him!

Now, here is a picture of the silly boy...

Preview of Summer

I love summertime. Sitting outside, drinking something cold, wearing shorts and a tank, watching the kids play... A couple of weeks ago, we enjoyed a very hot weekend. The kids played in the sprinklers, wore sunscreen, asked for "otter pops."
At the soccer game, we all looked for a shady spot to sit. And then, the weather turned gloomy again.

But I'm hopeful that the warm weekend was a preview of a beautifully sunny and warm summer to come...

Helping our feathered friends

Yesterday turned out to be a nice day weather-wise. We went to Corvallis to Martin Luther King Jr. Park for a picnic lunch and a short hike through the wooded area. When we got home I remembered this activity that I had read about. So, having an onion bag handy, I decided to put one together with my kids. We collected little sticks and dried plant stems and added it to some ribbon and raffia that we had, stuffed the bag and hung it in a tree in our backyard. It only took about 20 minutes, and it will be fun to see if it attracts any birds.

Prince Caspian

Last night Trevor and I finished reading Prince Caspian from the Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis. We decided to read this story before going to see the movie which is playing in theaters. So we read one or two chapters every night for about a week and a half. It was such a good story, written by a good author and we both really enjoyed it. Now we'll go see the movie, probably this weekend sometime and I'm so excited. I'm sure it won't compare to the book, as books are usually better than the movie, but I'm expecting it to be entertaining at least.