With the other heart art project being somewhat of a bust shape wise, I thought we would give it another try. Foolproof way to make sure the hearts look like hearts-cookie cutters!
Lots of fun possibilities with these various hearts along with some red and pink paint.
Ella and Mason took right off with stamping their hearts.
Mason liked to stamp one heart several times in one area.
Ella really loved using the small heart.
After a bit, they switched colors.
Time for the big boys to stamp!
The ultimate tongue sticking out with a twist! What a talented boy!
What I loved hearing both JT and Finn say while they were using different size hearts was how they noted size and placement of the hearts on the page. "I'm putting the small heart inside the big one." and "I'm stamping the large heart on the edge." They are both growing up and it's a joy to see their understanding expand on a daily basis.
This one picture describes how this art project went- messy! Not sure why, as we do several things with paint, but all 4 kids decided today was the perfect day to use their shirts as napkins. Their shirts were covered in red and pink paint. Painting smocks are on my short list to make out of old T-Shirts to prevent that from happening again.
Love is in the air at the Apedaile6 house as we prepare for Valentine's Day. Last week, I found a new and fun art project to do with the kids. Just take an empty toilet paper roll and pinch it in the center.The result is a heart like shaped tube. I personally thought after they made their artwork, the hearts also resembled a boomerang a bit. Perfect for little hands to stamp to their hearts delight!
Ella had a great time dipping and placing her red and pink hearts all over the page.
JT and Finn started off with one color. After they thought they were ready for the other color, the boys would declare, "Switch!" This went back and forth several times.
No art post would be complete until JT sticks his tongue out while working.
John and I became proud grandparents this weekend. Thankfully, it was for just the weekend and to a pretend baby. Lindsay participated in a an assignment for one of her classes that requires every student to bring home and take care of a Real Care Baby. It's a fantastic idea and I think every high school should require all of their students to take part in this in efforts to educate about the consequences of sexual activity.
Meet James- we welcomed him into the Apedaile6 home for the weekend.
This is what Lindsay came home with: Baby in a carrier, receiving blanket, small diaper bag which held an electronic bottle and 2 diapers(1 of which is always on the baby).
The yellow fabric on the diaper is where the sensor for the diapers are located. There is one inside the nipple of the bottle as well.
The back of the baby. The teacher chooses a program for each student as to the level of care the baby will need- easy, moderate, and expert. She usually selects moderate, but Lindsay told me a male student on Friday specifically requested expert level as he has lots of siblings. I'm wondering how he's feeling about that choice this morning ;)
How the care for the baby works is when the baby first cries/fusses, Lindsay had to swipe her bracelet over a sensor area- chest or back. That indicates that she is tending to the baby. From there, the baby will need to either be fed, diaper changed, burped(usually after a feeding), or just rocked because they are fussy. Everything is recorded into the computer program and will be reported back to the teacher and that is how each student is graded. Things like how long it took to do the initial swipe, did they take care of the baby's needs correctly, and even if you held the baby correctly are all factors in earning your grade. Forgot to mention that each baby weighs 8 pounds and you have to support their head/neck much like a newborn or the baby will cry and you will get deducted points for not supporting the head.
Lindsay took James out shopping. She had quite a few stares from other customers in the stores. We even spoke with a few parents in the lines who also thought is was a fantastic idea. We also talked about how far the assignment has come from the old days of flour and egg babies.
Lindsay even tended to James in the car. I was a bad Grandma and didn't pull over for safety sake. Though I was a bit worried a police officer might see this and pull me over and I would have to explain and show how it's just a doll and not a real infant.
Proud Momma ready with her baby.
JT really enjoyed having James at the house and wanted to help as much as possible. When the baby would start to cry, JT would cover his mouth and have this look of concern that the baby needed something. It was quite precious and funny. Here JT is rocking James in his carrier.
What makes this baby oh so real is they stay on 24 hours a day! They even mock a newborn baby's schedule and wake up several times a night. Lindsay had her room set up pretty well each night.
Night 2 was much more challenging for her than night 1. She was already a bit sleep deprived from the first night and James decided to be more demanding on night two. Here Lindsay was trying to do something many new Mom's do for nighttime feedings- catch a few zzz's. If Lindsay's hand slipped and the bottle fell away from the mouth, James would start crying again. Feeding typically took 15-20 minutes and were followed up with burp sessions that lasted about 20 minutes. The baby would make a little happy coo sound when he was full and burp when he was properly burped.
I wanted to share a little video showing this baby in action. I love how the cries are real audio of a baby crying. I love this project so much. To me, besides borrowing an actual baby, this is the closest a student can get to experiencing what parenthood is actually like.
Proud Uncle JT holding his baby nephew.
Lindsay successfully completed her project and returned James back to school Monday morning.
A few observations from Lindsay during the weekend:
- Why do babies seems to cry more at night than during the day?
-How on Earth did you and Daddy do this while working and going to college!?!
-Why does it take so long for a baby to burp?
-I am SO Tired!!!
Lindsay turned her baby in yesterday at school and was thrilled to learn that she earned a 100% on this assignment! My oh so wise 15 year old noted that while she did well on taking care of this pretend baby, by no means does she feel remotely ready to be a parent in any fashion. Well done Reality Baby, your lesson was a success.
The big day had arrived last Sunday- Super Bowl XLVII- and "our" team the San Francisco 49ers were facing the Baltimore Ravens. It had been 18 long years since the 49ers had been to the Super Bowl and John was ready to celebrate! So we decided to host a party and invite our friends from our Small Group at church to come enjoy some grub and yell at the TV when the officials made a bad call.
JT standing by the door decoration declaring the 49er's are #1!
John and JT in their Steve Young and Patrick Willis jerseys.
Even our super busy nursing student made the drive home to cheer on her favorite team! The jacket Sarah is wearing was John's when he was young- vintage style baby.
John went so far in prepping for the Super Bowl that he brought our bedroom TV down to the kitchen so we would have multiple spots to watch the game downstairs. It ended up being a brilliant idea as many congregated in the kitchen to eat and then others sat in the living room to watch on the big screen.
Courtney declared victory over the Ravens on our chalk board.
We had the house decorated super cute, but this gal forgot to take many photos. You'll have to take my word- 49er colored balloons, streamers, and lots of other football decorations made for a very festive house.
Here, our kitchen island with the football field tablecloth and the 49er plates, napkins, and cups.
Food! Oh the food! If someone left hungry, that would surprise me. Lots of yummy sandwiches meatballs, dips, chips, pizza, and even some healthy fruit made for an awesome spread.
Then we also had a dessert table! Two flavors of cupcakes, mini candies, fruit gummy packs, s'mores cracker candy, and cookies stuffed us all to the brim.
Alas, the 49ers did not win :( It was quite the sad site here at the Apedaile6 house. However,with fan faces like this, who could be disappointed?
It's been a busy past few weeks at the Apedaile6 house- sorry for the lag in posting. I'm hoping to jump back into things and catch up. Thanks for being patient and to my friend Ravi who gave me some encouraging words to get back to blogging.
With winter in full swing, I thought it was time to make some crafts that were fitting for the season. Snowmen! While we have yet to get any accumulating snowfall here in middle Tennessee, I found a fun and creative way for the kids to make some snowmen.
All the supplies- paper, glue, bowl of mini marshmallows, and some black puffy paint.
I started by prepping the papers with 3 circles that I outlined with glue.
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Ella was ready to jump right into placing the marshmallows all over the circles.
Mason and Ella had a great time grabbing handfuls of the marshmallows.
JT and Finn decided their friends needed a bit of help in placing the marshmallows on the glue.
JT and Finn starting on their snowmen. Finn thought the middle circle was the best place to start while JT worked on the lower circle.
To be expected, this little craft was a perfect snack. Many of the marshmallows ended up in the kids mouths as they were being placed on the paper.
After the snowmen were complete, the big boys had a chance to draw a hat and face for their snowmen. Of course, JT had to work very hard and his tongue had to pop up.
