3/30/2012

Art class - self portraits with collage

We recently found ourselves with a free afternoon in which to make ourselves some self portraits. In the past we've made self portraits with a graphics program, which was super fun. So when I brought back the idea with old magazine collage, the kids jumped at the idea. Even Max, who didn't really have the slightest idea why we were cutting up perfectly good magazines.


So I started them with realistic looking portraits, trying to get them to match their hair and eye color and such. From there we let loose and made some really wacky ones, complete with fuzzy bunny slippers, yoda heads, and pignoses, just for good measure. Love it. What good is art if you aren't free to express yourself, right?




3/29/2012

Drawing class - castle edition

So I recently picked up a drawing book titled "How to Draw Fantasy Castles", thinking it would be good to help the kids work on perspective and introduce some new architectural elements into the castles they already draw ad nauseum.



The book was great at teaching perspective and also gave instructions on how to draw themed castles, which my kids were all over.


After practicing our 3 point perspective and 3D drawing, we tried our hand at themed castles, which the kids then embellished to their little heart's content. Our themed castle collection included one inspired by the landscape in Lord of the Rings, and each child made a castle in the shape of his or her name. 


3/28/2012

(nearly) worldess wednesday


Scenes from the ranch... 
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3/26/2012

Joy in disguise

So this is the weekend that I've been dreading for months. All of the extracurriculars descended on us for an overly scheduled weekend. I've secretly been calling it the 'weekend of the perfect storm'. Some people can do it with style and grace. I on the other hand do not. I prefer peaceful, freeform weekends where we can plan spontaneous trips to the park with friends, and I can catch up on whatever didn't get done during the week.

All that to say it was a "divide and conquer" kind of weekend.

Bleh. 

But you know what? I was wrong. Very wrong. I started to realize just how wrong I was while goofing off with Alex as we waited for the results of the design contest for the regional Pinewood Derby.  48 hours, entirely way too many performances of the church musical, and a trip to the symphony later, I was convinced.

This weekend that I was so sure was designed by the enemy to turn me into a stressed out tornado was really a gift. A weekend to reconnect with my oldest child, and cherish him for who he is. And who he's becoming. To be totally psyched about how much he loved that symphony performance, and to laugh at him as he teased me in the grocery store.

He's been through a crazy whirlwind this year, and he's been thrown into more stressful situations than he ever signed up for. But he's taken it all with grace and determination. He's a keeper that's for sure. And we're so lucky to have him.


3/23/2012

First photo walk

It's a right of passing. At least in this house it is. The first time Mom hands you the camera and says "have fun!" That day occurred for Max earlier this week. A zillion photos and a dead camera battery later, this is what we have...



  (this one's my personal favorite...)

What we really have here is more proof that this kid is truly a Peterson...

3/22/2012

4 month check up

Has it really been four months since we brought little dude home from the Motherland?
As the weather has improved, and little Max has had the opportunity to be outside more, his behavior has improved dramatically. He still has the whiney attention seeking tendencies found in your typical toddler, but he's a tidge less whiney when he has the chance to ride bikes and fling mud. Ick. But whatever works.
So aside from the flying mud, here are some other fun things we've figured out this month:

Time outs. By himself. 5 minutes on his bed. No more mother/son wrestling matches trying to establish who's boss. Whew.

He has a new favorite phrase "I don't know." He likes to whip it out when he's trying to worm out of schoolwork. Cute, but I'm not buying it.

His Sunday school teachers say he's doing way better in class. Yahoo for little dude who recognizes that our rules apply even when we aren't around. Double whew.

3/21/2012

(nearly) wordless wednesday


fruitless...
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3/20/2012

Garden identity crisis

My garden is currently suffering from an identity crisis.
It thinks it's mid-April, but it isn't. Dude, it's March.


This is what my garden is supposed to look like this time of year... Brown, dead, bleh. 
Waiting for the color to come.


This is what it looks like now. Full of cheer and charm.

The daffodils and hyacinths are starting to bloom. The irises, wild geranium, and and lillies are so big it's not even funny. My rosebushes even have leaves on them.
What is the world coming to?
It's craziness I tell  you.
And we're loving every moment of it.

3/19/2012

Book review - 101 Bible Adventures

It's been awhile since we had a fun book to share. We were recently thrilled to receive 101 Bible Adventures: The Ultimate Quest for Truth by Carol Larsen. This book is a collection of action packed Bible stories. Each story comes with a quick birds eye summary of the story, a key verse, and an application section to help the kids relate to the story.
With an emphasis on action, and excitement, this book does a phenomenal job of catching kids attention. While the stories are simplified slightly for younger readers, the heart and message behind the stories remain true to the original text.
Mom says: these stories are perfect for bedtime. They short-ish in length, and the application points are perfect conversation starters. I also think this book is a great tool for the Sunday School teacher arsenal. I'll definitely refer to it as I plan future lessons.
My 8 - 9 year old kids love listening to these stories. My oldest has been known to sneak peeks at the upcoming stories while he's supposed to be doing his school work. I pretend to get mad at him, but I'm not sure I can get that mad at him for it.

We received this book for review purposes, as always, our opinions are %100 our own.

3/16/2012

Letter to Max

Dear Max
Today is your 8th birthday. Your first one here in the states, and the first one with a real family of your own. You have been super duper excited all month long, and have asked several times each day how much longer you had to wait.
You haven't opened up about your past too much, so it's hard for me to know how people have recognized your special day in the past. You knew the tune of happy birthday and a few of the words when you joined our family, and you also recognized the relationship between cakes and candles, so I'd like to think that those were part of your celebrations in Russia.
You were totally psyched about the idea of birthday week. We've led up to your special day with a trip to the zoo, to the playground with friends, to the pool, and plenty of outside time in the garden and on your bike.
As far as gifts go, you had a list ready for us long ago. Your very own Thomas the Train engines (that no one can ever try to steal.) and a helium filled balloon. You even gave me some money to help cover the cost of your gifts. I didn't have the heart to tell you it was play money, and therefor completely worthless.
You've lived a rough life, but you're such a resilient little dude. I love your little heart and your ready for anything attitude
Love, Mom

3/15/2012

Celebrating St. Patrick's day with music...

I'm not Irish
I've never been in an Irish pub
I don't even like beer.
 But I love Celtic dance music. So in honor of St. Patricks day here's my favorite scalawag group, Gaelic Storm making a ruckus. Give it a listen, warning you might just have to do a jig while listening to it...


I also really like this one:


3/14/2012

(nearly) wordless wednesday

Under the sun...
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3/13/2012

St. Patricks day snacks

This year for St. Patricks Day I'm thinking about planning an entire days menu around festive food that didn't take forever to make, and my children will still eat it.
It's on a Saturday, so why not?

So here's what I'm thinking
Breakfast of green fruits and veggies. Apple slices, grapes, kiwi and lime fruit salad. I'm also thinking about omelets with spinach, green onion, green pepper and maybe a little bit of pickles just for Max. If I thought my kids would eat it, I'd put green food coloring in my eggs. But that's never going to happen.

Lunch:
Inspired by this Lucky Lunch we're going to eat leprechauns for lunch. I"m planning to use a small tortilla as the head, make hair and beard out of shredded cheese for hair and beard, green grapes for eyeballs, and a red apple smile.  She used some rainbow candies for desert, I"m thinking about mint milkshakes

Dinner

 For dinner we'll do shamrock pizza with peppers sliced to look like shamrocks. How fun? Ok the girls will never eat the pepper, but it's still cute, right?

 

I'm also thinking about making rainbow fruit skewers like these that someone else made. Yum.


and these pretzel bites with green m & m's. Yum dude.

3/09/2012

Melted crayon wax take 3

So it's no secret that I have a thing for melted crayon. We've melted it in pools over the George Forman grille to make patterned paper, melted tiny chunks of it with the embossing gun, now I hear that you can melt it over an open candle flame. Say it ain't so
.

Oh yes, it is.

The original idea for this project was to use it to teach pointillism. Although beautiful, pointillism isn't  really our thing. We just wanted to play. So we did. We started out with a candle, broken crayons and a variety of objects to "paint" on including scrap paper, old useless cd's, and soda cans. While yes, the candle did melt our crayon enough to allow us to make dots, it was time consuming, and fitting 4 crayons around a tiny candle flame without overwhelming it was an exercise in frustration.


So then we started getting crazy. What if our canvas was hot enough to melt our crayon on contact, so we could have a continuous flow of melted wax. Hmm.


Enter both the George Forman grille and a hotplate (covered in aluminum foil), as well as a canvas that conducts heat (aka handfuls of old cds). We turned our hot surfaces on their lowest setting and set to work, careful not to put the cd directly on the heat sources, (which fyi, makes it's own interesting artwork - don't ask). On the low setting we were indeed able to get the cd hot enough  that the crayon melted on contact, and though there was a bit of bubbling and warping, the finished cds turned out beautiful.


When they were cool enough to handle, we tied a string through them and hung them in the window.

3/08/2012

The Sunday school dancer...

So it's come to my attention  that angel #4 is not quite an angel in Sunday School. He's got ants in his pants during the lesson, and refuses to do his seat work (which is odd, because he loves it at home). Friends and staff from church are offering a myriad of excuses such as:

Oh he's still adjusting (perhaps)
Its just the language barrier (nope, that "sit still and be quiet" look is the same in both languages. Trust me.) 
He'll be "better" when he's had more time to adjust... (not likely)

The bottom line is my kid is not respecting someone else's authority. And that is not ok. Yes his world has been turned upside down by international adoption. He needs extra grace. Yes, has a social history full of pain and rejection, which means extra hugs and kisses. Those are truths. Not excuses. Deep inside this boy is a child of God who will someday become a man of God. But not if people let him get away with negative behavior.

We've considered several options:
1. Give him a teenage buddy to help him "understand" his environment (which probably won't change anything because it's an authority issue, not an understanding issue)
2. start using the positive reward system - which I loathe. Shiny gold stickers make me think of a puppy trained to preform, not a child of God with an obedient heart.
3. Find someone he does respect to lead his little heart (aka Mom, Dad or Grandma). Which yes, will work. But not for the long run. I can't go to college with him to be his conscience.
4. Be willing to feel helpless. Sometimes when I face a huge problem (that I didn't create but am still responsible for "fixing") I have to wonder if the source of the problem isn't just God asking me to be willing to be helpless for a little while.

Yes, my child I have asked you to fix this problem. No you don't have solution today. And that is ok, because there is an answer, and I will show it to you when the time comes. I just need you to understand that I am in control, and it's my problem to fix through you.

That I can do.

And to all those Sunday school teachers who have been rather annoyed by my son who is dancing around the room during story time - my sincerest apologies.

3/07/2012

(nearly) wordless Wednesday

 
the lonely road...
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3/06/2012

I love that you...

I love that you are so willing to try everything
I love that you have a burning desire to help me cook, clean, and are ready to jump into whatever crazy project I dream up.
I love when you say Oh-kay!
I love it even more when you say "Mama hug?"
I don't love it when you whine, ask me the same questions incessantly, and hog the train toys.
I love it when another member of the family steps outside for a second and you slip out after them, then proceed to run free for a few moments before we chase you down and convince you that it's really not ok to run around in the freezing cold in a t-shirt. Or bare feet.
I love that you are a water boy, wanna-be cowboy, and forest ranger all rolled into one.
I love that you are a part of my family...
Mostly, I just love you.

3/05/2012

Surrender to spring

I had high hopes for my winter this year. I had visions of knee deep snow mounds ripe for Max to play in - American style. Last year we had a winter full of fun snowy activities and I was pumped to do them again with Max. Our snow activities from last year included snow sculptures, snow paint, snow candy and our annual snow hike. This year didn't get enough snow to do any of those things. Of course.
And now that March is here, we're ready to give up on winter. Not that it's impossible to get clobbered with 8 inches in the next few weeks, but given our winter I'm not holding my breathe. So from here I guess it's time to turn our attention to the garden. While theres still not much to do out there yet, I'm totally psyched to put a shovel in that little dude's hand and see what he's capable of.
Bring it on spring, we're ready for it.

3/02/2012

33 years blessed

It's interesting to see how people choose to celebrate their birthdays.
Some members of our family have been known to celebrate their specialness for an entire week. We won't name names. Ok, it's all of us.
Since we are a family that is rich in being (as opposed to a family rich in having) we tend to not make a huge fuss over gifts in favor of family fun activities. This year I celebrated with home made cookies, reading in the sunshine, swimming, playdates, multiple breakfasts in bed and scrapbooking with friends. 
These are a few of my favorite things.
And this is how I chose to celebrate the passing of another year. 

3/01/2012

On communication

So Max's communication skills are improving every day. At first he was repeating common word groupings like "don't touch" and "shut the door" but he's now starting to put new word groups together like "Max no hungry" love it. Love it even more when he puts the words in the wrong order and we get to tease him about it. My current favorite mishap - "Max eat Alex?"

And now that the words can come and are starting to make sense, the floodgates are opening. What he likes and dislikes, the way we should spend our day, and the things he worries about. He misses Igor, his best buddy from the orphanage, and can't wait for him to come home with his new mom and dad (who happen to be friends of ours). When our schedule deviates, he needs constant reassurance of what the plan for the day is.

We're also starting to discuss the concepts of feelings, and how our actions affect the way other people feel. As in - if you break that, Alex will be angry. Do you want Alex to be angry? Clearly he's never put these emotions into words before. So good to be able to use words to build positive relationships.

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