Math Skills Monday

Every Monday May and I spend some time working on her math skills.  Sometimes we play a board game and practice rolling and reading the dice and then moving our piece the correct number of spaces.  Sometimes we read the numbers in a recipe and whip up a batch of treats.  Sometimes we see a cute idea on Pinterest that we just have to try out, like these counting muffin cups.

 After finishing our tray of muffin cups we explored with beads until it was time to go to gymnastics.

 After gymnastics we practiced making patterns.

I adore spending three mornings a week with this girl, and I love how much fun we have together.  It is a special blessing to have the luxury of watching her learn first hand.

Miss May

Some facts about Our Miss May.  Her favorite part of school is recess.  Her least favorite part is "sitting in a circle and listening."  She wants to have 50 babies when she grows up.  She will put them in 50 highchairs, and feed them 50 dinners.  They will sleep in 30 beds.  May loves hanging upside down in gymnastics class.  May wishes she could have cookies for breakfast.  May wants her birthday presents to be a surprise.  Her favorite animals at the aquarium are the baby stingrays.

Rock Star in the Making

I'm teaching James to play the ukulele.  Yeah, it's as adorable as it sounds.

Grandparents

I adore how often my kids get to visit with their grandparents.  I love that even though we live 1400 miles apart we get together four times a year.  Twice a year we make the trek to Wisconsin (the coldest and the hottest times of the year).  And twice a year they make the trek to Utah (the most mild and beautiful times of the year, but I digress . . . )

Still, every time I watch the kids loving up their grandma and grandpa my heart breaks just a little for the grandma and grandpa that they will never know except through pictures and stories.  I wonder what they would have called my parents (Papa and Mimi, perhaps?) and how their interactions would have gone.  I am not jealous, just grieving, and ever thankful for the grandparents that we do have.

Children's Garden at Thanksgiving Point

Cowpoke Surprise

One day we walked out onto our front porch to discover some nifty hats - what a fun surprise!  The neighbor girl down the street had gone to a Western Party the night before and brought home some extra hats for us.  What a sweetheart!

Figure Study by May, age 3

 (also a little break to do some ocean landscapes)

 (and a couple of still-lifes - these are potatoes and tomatoes)

Gilgal Photos

May and I took a Friday field trip a couple of weeks ago to a nearby city park called Gilgal.  Originally a backyard-turned-sculpture garden, it is now a public park.  We had a lot of fun exploring this unique space.