Climbing Toddler

Elliot is constantly moving and constantly climbing.  He is pretty inventive too, pushing his stool around and carrying his chair anywhere needed to reach or climb up on what he needs to get to.

Yesterday he climbed up on top of a bar stool without the help of a stool; he is a little man on a mission and I have to keep an eye and ear open at all times.

Today I found him using anything possible to get anything he wanted.  Game boxes, toys, the dog and even his brother if he was in the way... you name it, he will stand on it.

"I do it!" is becoming a common phrase out of his mouth and sometimes he frustrates himself in the process.  Mr. Independent is starting to get an attitude already and we are in  for a bumpy ride if this keeps up.

Reaching to get my oils, he thought he'd help himself to some Lavender for his owie.

"MOM, come and get Elliot!" shouted Everett from the potty.

I asked if he wanted help, but he insisted to do it himself,
even though the stool was twice his size.

He tried all different ways to get it to move across the carpet.

Finally, he cleared the carpet and was able to push it easily across the hardwood floor.

Ethan and I both had no idea what he was trying to reach.
More carpet frustrated him once again.

A Good Morning

Sometimes I wake to grumpy kids that argue and fight... and sometimes I wake to this...

Awana's Crazy Hair Night 2013

Tonight the kids at our church's Awana program were encouraged to do their hair CRAZY!!  Ethan was very excited and at the last minute we pulled off a bug infested patch of grass and he took home 1st place!  Now I hope it washes out!

How did we do it?  Ground-up sidewalk chalk and water made it green, hair spray made it stand up, and the bugs are hot glued to bobby pins then stuck into his hair.  The ants crawling down his face are attached by sticky dots.  The fly, flying over his head was attached by hot glue to a stripped pipe cleaner wire then twisted into a coil so it could be stuck into his hair like a barrette.  Creative and fun, just like Ethan!

Leaf Prints and a Sad Face

The HUGS Art Class I teach once a month gets me motivated to experiment with projects at home.  Today the kids and I practiced the lesson my friend and I will be teaching this month to the older groups of kids.

First, we drove all over town, stopping like crazy people, running up to trees and snipping a few leaves-of-interest from branches and gathering them into plastic baggies for safe keeping.  Once home, we painted the backs of the leaves (the fuzzy part with the veins) with white tempera paint (non-washable) and then pressed them onto black cardstock, leaving behind a beautiful leaf stamp.  Once dry, we colored the spaces and the white areas with colored pencils, leaving a pretty interesting piece of art, just in time for the fall season! 

While painting, Elliot accidentally painted on himself.
Needless to say, he wasn't too happy about it.