Father's Day

Sylvia was very excited to celebrate "daddy's day" as she called it.  I did an interview with Sylvia and Erickson.  Below are their answers to my questions.  I interviewd Sylvia first but Eric must have been listening because he gave a couple of the same answers.

What is daddy’s name?
     Daniel                      
     Niko
How old is daddy?
     33                              
     4
How much does daddy weigh?
     I think, um...60          
     What?
How tall is daddy?
     I don't know             
     He's 4
What is daddy’s favorite TV show?
     news                          
     news
What is daddy’s favorite food?
     scrambled eggs         
     eggs
What is daddy’s favorite drink?
     water, cold water       
     milk
What is daddy’s favorite color?
     dark blue and light blue     
     4
What is daddy’s favorite music?
     bands
     figgle
His favorite thing to do is
     play with me
     play downstairs with me
He likes to wear
     t-shirts 
     blue
My daddy is really good at
     juggling 
     news
I like it best when my daddy
     tickles me
     plants
My favorite thing to do with my daddy is
     to do something fun
     play downstairs
When my daddy goes to work he usually
     rides his bike
     what?
What does daddy do at work?
     designs things
     plants
What does daddy know a lot about
     music
     4   
What does daddy like to do for fun?
     play outside
     to works

Each year on Father's Day I try to have the kids make a gift for Dan.  I've bought the supplies for stepping stones last fall but never got them made so it was the perfect project.  It was a little trickier than I expected but the final product turned out nice.

I've taken a picture of the kids with Dan and their gift each year on Father's Day.  I'm sure not all of our gifts will stand the test of time so it will be fun to look back at these pictures.  You can click on the "father's day" label to see previous pictures from Father's Day.

The kids are each wearing a shirt about daddy.

Sylvia's says, "I love Daddy"

Eric's says, "I dig my dad"

Drake's says, "handsome like daddy"

Finger Painting

Eric had his first finger painting experience last month. I've been hesitant to get the paints out for him because he doesn't stick with one activity for long and I never have any idea when Drake is going to wake up from nap. I decided it was about time this boy did some finger painting and his sister joined us too. These were taken right after nap and he was a little sweaty.
Did I mention that he's always on the move? Eric moved on to playing with buttons and coloring with markers while Sylvia was still finger painting.
Sylvia later cut Easter eggs and crosses out of the finger paint papers they made. We took them to Melrose Meadows on Easter and Sylvia stuffed them in the mailboxes of some of Great Nana's friends.

ta-da

Sylvia and Erickson were given a fun collection of St. Patrick's Day activities from our friend Emily. Included was a set of beads to make a friendship bracelet. Eric was so proud of himself as he strung the beads to make his bracelet. Also included were coloring sheets, a Eye Spy sensory box filled with reminders of the meaning of St. Patrick's Day, and leprechaun moustaches for taking funny pictures.

S Y L V I A Painting

I had some preschool shopping to do so I took Sylvia along with my to Michaels. She loved looking at all the "projects." We bought these letters and got them painted last weekend. Sylvia picked out the colors and did the solid coat one day during Eric's nap.
She decorated them with dots and strips the following day. This girl loves to paint.
I love that you can see the concentration in her face. Her tongue is even hanging out in one. This is the final product. Sylvia asked if we could hang them up in her room. I need to put a coat of modge podge on them and find some hooks and then they'll be ready to hang.

Pudding Painting

Today at preschool, the students got to finger paint with pudding. Mrs. Berends sent the leftovers home with me for Sylvia to enjoy...and enjoy it she did! She didn't even know what pudding was before starting this project but I'm pretty sure she won't forget now.

All Fired Up

We took Sylvia to All Fired Up a few weeks ago after she had a successful week of using the potty. I love watching her be creative. She had so much fun painting a butterfly container and mug that she picked out.


Dan went and picked up her pottery earlier this week. We waitied to get it until she had another successful week. She loved using her new mug for hot cocoa today.

Thank You Cards

A couple of weeks ago, I helped Sylvia make some thank you cards for a few Christmas gifts. She enjoyed having so much freedom with the art supplies...especially the glitter. I apologize to those of you who received one of our glitter filled envelopes.

Step 1 - put glue on the paperStep 2 - spread the glue all aroundStep 3 - pick what color letters to usestep 4 - put the letters on the paper (in order)step 5 - cover up all the excess glue with glitterthe final product

Sylvia's Projects

My girl loves to do projects and help out. I don't take pictures of all the things we do but occasionally I like to catch a few shots of her in her element. While playing with toys she is all over the place, moving from one thing to the next or one room to the next. But, set her at the table with a "project" or let her help out with tools and she will be so focused.

Helping Daddy build a gate back in March.
Caring for her baby while she helped me out in the garage.
Here she's "sewing" a necklace.
Cutting has been a recent favorite, especially with all the wrapping paper scraps laying around. She's getting very good with the scissors and doesn't even need me to help her open and close them anymore.