Alphabet Adventures 2011: Letters F, G and H

F is for farm, G is for Gramma, goats and gems, and H is for hill and Hill Ridge! Gramma took the boys and I out to Hill Ridge Farms in Youngsville for some gem mining and some good old-fashioned fun!

The boys posing as a goat and a sheep--it was so hot!

The big slide! Xander somehow stopped in the middle, stood up and had to fix his burlap bag.
Now he made it down.
Zack's turn!
Back up the hill for another round. Mommy even took Eli down the slide once, but he didn't really get it.
He did enjoy in the corn house. Thank goodness he wasn't putting things in his mouth yet!

Duck races

Train ride
Gem panning
Some cool stuff--we found some amethysts, quartz crystals and other goodies.
Xander just enjoyed playing in the dirt. He was so hot and out of it, he was having a lot of trouble listening.

It was still fun for all!!

Alphabet Adventures 2011: Letter E

E is for Elmer the Elephant! The boys and I love the book Elmer and its sequel(s). We've read it several times. Then as I was looking through my old teaching files, I came across an Elmer that could be colored! So I copied it for each of the boys. I was going to have Zack write a story about when Elmer met a chameleon, but school time hasn't been going as well as I would have hoped.

Eli in the Bumbo seat

Xander deciding if he's going to eat his lunch or not. I used elephant cookie cutters for the sandwiches and they have nuts as a side.

One of Zack's baby elephants

There's Elmer!! While we were coloring, I had the boys help me retell the story of Elmer. Elmer was a patchwork elephant who wanted to be elephant color. So he found some elephant color berries and made himself elephant color. But then, well, I won't spoil it for you, but Elmer made the best joke and every year they celebrate Elmer's Day with a big elephant parade.

Xander still pushes down really hard with his crayons. I keep trying to tell him that he doesn't have to push down hard. He just complains that coloring makes him tired. I probably colored just as many of his squares as he did.

Oh yeah, E is for excited,

ecstatic,

and eccentric little boys!

Alphabet Adventures 2011: Letter D

D is for Danny, diving, (and door, darts). The boys and I headed out to Uncle D's place for some fun in the pool. This was Eli's first trip to a pool. I had taken the boys to the Kdale pool a couple weeks before, but Eli stayed home with Daddy.

Xander mostly stays on the steps, but he was able to walk around a little more than at Gramma's pool.
Okay, Eli, let's go swimming!
I don't think so Mommy!!!
Loving my boys. And Eli hanging out in the shade instead. He was quite happy to sit there, watch the boys, watch the trees and look at this toes. And these boys love their Uncle D!!!

Alphabet Adventures 2011: Letter C

Since we are about to cover 3 or 4 letters today with Gramma, I figured I should get some of the other letter blogs done. So...

C is for Clubhouse!!! Since we finally finished installing these two things,

We had boxes to make these. They lasted about a week. The boys turned them into forts and fought about getting inside each other's clubhouse. So really, they only lasted about two days, then they just fought over them. Finally I was done with them being in my living room.

Just once...

Just once, I'd like to be the first one to eat my ______ (insert any food or meal or snack here).

Just once, I'd like the dishwasher and laundry to do themselves.

Just once, I'd like for all three boys to sleep at the same time besides at night.

Just once, I'd like for somebody to go to time out with whining, screaming, sitting on their heads or stomping their feet at me.

Just once, I'd like to get through a day when nobody pushes, hits, bites, pinches, climbs on top of or otherwise irritates their brother. Or call the other one a meanie.

Just once, I'd like little boys to clean up their toys, books, plates, socks, underwear, etc. without dragging their feet and having to be told a million times.

Just once, I'd like somebody to remember that there are some rules that have been in place for three years, at least.

Just once, I'd like to eat a whole chocolate cake or ice cream sundae or milkshake and not have ANY of the calories, fat or sugars count.

Just once, I'd like to sit at home, blog, read, watch tv while someone else brings children to swimming lessons (where I have been sweating like crazy!), goes to Wal-mart, goes to storytime, goes to the grocery store, plans meals.

Just once, though, I'd like to remember that they are only this way once, that they will grow out of it, and that someday, they may have children that drive them crazy.

Wordless Wednesday: Courtesy of Two Crazy Older Brothers

(Yes, I quickly reminded the boys that Eli could not have that many animals around him and we removed them.)

Alphabet Adventures 2011: B

B is for baby and bath!

Maybe not. This is what I found when I went to pick him up to shower him.
B is for BEES!!! The boys and I went over to Kim's house and Nate joined us with this little adventure. First we made the bee puppets. Then we read a book about bees. And for a short time, while I still had their attention, we made the bees go from a flower to the hive. We also looked around the house for things that started with B.
Zack's was anatomically correct, based on the Weekly Reader he was using. Except the googly eyes, of course.
B is for BLUEBERRIES, brothers and buddies! The day after the bee adventure, Kim and I took all four boys blueberry picking at Vollmer Farms. This is what over one hundred pounds of kid looks like in one wagon.
They told us not to pick the "red-back" berries, but with my children being color-blind, we had lots of very red ones!
All Nate wanted to do was pick the berries and eat them.
Nate and Kim
Eli decided he was done blueberry picking, so Nate and Xander and I took him to pick a few strawberries. That didn't last too long either. The boys ate berries on the way back. I kept hearing "That's my basket!" from them in the wagon.
They had a nice little playground with a pirate ship. And some monkey rings for my crazy monkey to swing from.
Nate carefully walking the plank off the pirate ship

This is our loot of strawberries. When we got back to the market, I realized that every single berry had a bite taken out of it!
Eli with a full tummy of milk, hanging in the Adirondack chair.
Zack and I enjoyed the blueberries for a couple days, shared some with Gramma, and froze some too. We're going to use those to make blueberry cheesecake -- YUM!!

I have pictures for D and kinda-sorta E, but we're going to work on C tomorrow, since we finally got the toilet in the boys bathroom installed (let me tell you, that's a whole 'nother blog!!).