What to do with stained shirts.

Someday I might learn my lesson and not buy the girls white shirts. In the mean time I am figuring out what to do with stained shirts. I got a tie dye kit and the girls and I each made two shirts, one new and one old stained one. Since this was a project that could easily become a disaster we did this outside and enforced the only one person at a time rule. It worked out great. No other clothes were stained in the process.

We had so much fun I could make tie die shirts all the time. Watch out relatives, you might get tie dyed sweaters and socksfor Christmas presents.

Here are one set of results.

Fun on Purpose

I was reading an article about fun and thinking about what your 10 year old self liked to do. Other than read I don't really remember what I liked. It did get me thinking of something fun to do with the girls. Both of them love to paint and often paint their bodies instead of paper. It was a beautiful day so we all put on our swimsuits and had fun painting our bodies.

Edith was totally shocked that we were doing this. She has heard from me many times "paint the paper not yourself." She finally got into it and painted herself orange. Immediately after she was done she was ready to wash it off.

Addie immediately loved this idea. I spotted her back with all colors and she went to work on her arms and legs. She really got into the activity and didn't worry about drips, or spatter, her swimsuit, or washing herself off.

I enjoyed giving myself polka-dot legs. They might be the next fad, you never know. Of course we all had just as much fun washing it off in the hose.

note: purple "washable" tempera paint leaves behind a pink shadow immune to soap and sugar scrubs for several days

Art Projects and Ecotarium

The girls and I had fun creating our own fashion pictures. I tore out a bunch of pictures of glamorous gals from magazines and we started stamping mustaches on them. Then we gave them crazy clothes and tattoos with markers. Best use of a fashion magazine yet.


Last week we headed to the Ecotarium in Worcester. As usual the kids enjoyed themselves. Sarah was the most pleased as they had an exhibit on turtles. The kids enjoyed playing on the outside climbing structures. The highlight was the otters. The last few times we have been the otters had been hiding so it was lots of fun seeing them swim and play.

Preschool Graduation

Addie's graduation ceremony was lovely. The kids all sang their songs and recited their rhymes. All the kids were confident and projected their voices. I even managed not to cry. Get ready Kindergarten here they come.

Easter Fun

The girls woke up and put on their new Easter dresses before coming down stairs. They looked beautiful and their little faces glowed with happiness. Edith immediately saw her basket and carefully took out each item and inspected it. Addie happily looked on. Edith proceeded to find one egg and then Addie wandered off and made us an Easter card. Edith spotted Addie's basket across the room and then Addie finally ran to get it. She also carefully took out each item and studied it. The girls tried wandering off to play. Brian kept suggesting that they should look for their eggs. After they each found a few they stopped looking. We had to keep telling them over and over to keep looking. A half and hour later with some hints to Edith the eggs were finally all found. Nothing like the two minute mad dash we expected. Everything was slow, peaceful and filled with giggles. (and Brian threatening to go back to bed because it took so long.) I am sure it will change as they get older so it was nice to see their attitude to be content with just a few eggs. No competition, just enjoying the moment.

Here Edie shows off some of her loot. New crocs, new socks, and new shades.

After a quiet morning we headed over to Sarah and Jesse's and enjoyed a nice Easter dinner.

Tea Party

We invited some of our friends over for a fancy tea party. Addie had a fabulous time helping to get everything ready. We laid out the lace table cloth and got out some fancy teacups for everyone to use. Addie and I had fun creating place cards for everyone and then Addie spent quite a bit of time choosing where each person would sit.

Once everyone arrived we decided to have juice tea. I think the girls just guzzled down their juice, chomped their muffins, and then ran off to play. The mothers had a more leisurely time. Overall a nice afternoon with friends.

Snow Fun

How exciting to have a snow day. Over 18 inches of snow. Both girls had a fabulous time playing and trying out their new shovels. Lots of snow was eaten and lots of fun was had. Edith did have some trouble walking as the snow is up to her waist.

Creativity and Stuff!

The girls have spent the past two days just playing. Playing, playing, playing. What this means is that they take most of their toys and mix them all up and make things (piles) out of them. It is lots of fun for them but a little maddening to clean up when they are finished. What is the most fun for me is seeing how vast their imaginations are.
Here is how Edith dressed herself today. Can you guess who she is dressed up as?
Answer: Mary. I think she looks just like Mary traveling to Bethlehem. Didn't Mary wear a sequined top hat, silver robe, and a cowboy boot bandanna? The girls love pretending to be Mary. They each put their baby in a bin and listen to O Come all ye Faithful. I have to be one of the wise men and bring the baby a present every time the chorus comes on. Presents can be anything I find. After all, with a good imagination anything can become gold, frankincense, or myrrh.


After we cleaned up the giant pile of stuff (see behind Edith), the girls started up again. This time Addie built a tree house in the living room. Lots of kid furniture, some bins, a cradle, and a boot tray roof finish the project off. Her creations are always all lined up, neat and orderly. Future architect?
And it looks like she has made sure to use plenty of bolts so nothing falls apart.

Before and After

I am crabby because Mom makes me have my hair brushed.

Edith has been getting more and more resistant about having her hair brushed. It gets quite tangled and because she hates having it put up she gets a lot of gross crud in it. Today after she moaned through having her hair brushed, it was time to chop it off. I was disappointed because she had such lovely blonde locks. I did the preliminary cut today and will even it out tomorrow. She requested "short like Addie's, not bald." She is pleased with the new look even though I don't think she looked in a mirror. She reminds me of Ramona.

DeCordova Museum and Sculpture Park

After a very crabby morning the girls headed out to DeCordova Sculpture Museum. The museum always has interesting exhibits that change regularly and walking around the grounds on a warm fall day is quite relaxing. One of the exhibits was sculptures made out of rubber. The girls loved exploring the texture of the ginat rubber bands and huge tongue. They also enjoyed the recycled room.

Open Farm Day

We have enjoyed eating loads and loads of fresh veggies this summer as we participated in a local CSA. We tried some new ones to us and ate more lettuce than we could have imagined. We will miss our weekly bounty, but now our Tuesdays will be free again.
Today being the last day was open garden. We could walk around the farm and harvest what we wished. At first the girls were not enthusiastic. They munched on cherry tomatoes while I picked beans. Then I looked for eggplant, broccoli and squash. We finally managed to find 2 pumpkins so each girl could have one.
The highlight, other than the goats and chickens as usual, were the carrots. Addie had a blast using the pitchfork to loosen the soil and then picking out the carrots. If I let her she would have harvested them all. She also searched for the very few remaining onions left behind after the tractors had gone through.
Edith of course enjoyed munching her way through the farm. Cherry tomatoes, then a bell pepper, some chives and a carrot, dirt and all. She managed to soak her shoes, socks and coat and shed them all at some point.
Both girls were covered with mud, dirt, and veggies by the time we left. Messy but fun.
Now I have to get busy getting everything washed and stored.

Storyland and Caves

The Haynes clan headed up to the White Mountains for a weekend of camping. Unfortunately Brian had a fever and a cough so he did not come with us.

We had a great time exploring Storyland on Saturday and then visiting Lost River Gorge glacial caves on Sunday.

At Storyland the big kids were very into lots of the story props. They enjoyed the Three Bears House, seeing the three little pigs and the black sheep. Addie missed Cinderella because she was at lunch but still tried out her throne. Edith was just big enough to go on all the wild rides. She is 36 1/4 inches tall. She tried out the roller coaster, crazy barn and the raft ride. The poor girl fell asleep in my arms while waiting for the raft ride but didn't seem to mind at all being woken up by spinning and water splashes.

At Lost River Gorge we hiked down many stairs into boulder strewn caves. Each little cave had an entrance and an exit. We had to crawl, twist and squirm our way through. Only the Matterns made it through the lemon squeezer though. I wasn't quite comfortable going through a cave that had a clearance of only 18 inches. Edith was really funny in the caves because she was so happy at being the "littlest" and not having to crawl and bend like the rest of us.

More pictures on facebook.

Sculpture Park with Nathan and Casey

Nathan and Casey made one last visit from Vermont before they move back to Michigan. We enjoyed a nice weekend trying not to melt. We went to Andres Sculpture park not far from us on Route 13. We enjoyed a nice albeit humid walk through the woods finding the sculptures. There were many different trails so I am sure that we will go back again.


Addie is riding on the back of some giant monster's spine. She was quite fascinated by this sculpture that had several parts peeking up from the ground.






Addie and Edith are holding hands with the mostly invisible person. Look carefully or you might miss some of the sculptures strategically placed in the woods.

Puddles!

An afternoon playing in puddles. Run, splash, swim and laugh.

Independence Day

On Independence Day Brian put on a great fireworks show for his girls. First the girls had fun with the throwing snappers. Then Brian set to work with the light show. It was great, although a little strange to be so close. The girls in their pj's and Dora chairs inched closer and closer to me as the show went on. Rather than oohing and aahing at the fireworks they would burst out giggling at their favorite ones.

Who is that girl?

Here is little Edie on a visit with Gramma and Grampa. Both of them repeatedly said, "She looks just like Sarah" Well here is a picture of Sarah. Same cuteness, same hairdo, even the same outfit. I guess she did look just like Sarah.

Matterns Vow Renewal

We are still recovering from an awesome party held to honor Sarah and Jesse's 10th anniversary. They had a lovely and very touching vow renewal ceremony with the pastor who married them. Girls in sundresses, boys in hawaiian shirts, and great company made for a fabulous time. And here is a picture of what the kids were doing during the ceremony. I guess the adults didn't know the proper seating etiquette for such an occasion.

Flowers

The girls absolutely love picking flowers. I told them they could pick anything not in the flowerbed. This is the bouquet they came back with. Edith especially enjoyed cramming the flowers down into the vase.

I do need to amend my flower picking instructions though. Pick anything not in the flowerbed that is not an endangered species. The girls each got a lady slipper. Luckily we found one more in the woods so that I could show them and say "don't pick this!"

Grouchy Girl

Well I figured out why Edith is a little grouchy and only wants to snuggle most of the time. She is finally starting on her 2 year molars. Right on schedule for her (6 months beyond the average) she is getting the lower on one side and the upper on the other side.

Fashion Design

I was inspired by a blog I read (who was inspired by a blog she reads) to have Addie draw some clothes she would like to have and then make something. At first she just recreated her favorite shirt. It has grown too small and she is sad that she can't wear it anymore. After a few more drawings including Mary and Joseph costumes I finally found something I thought I could tackle. A gray skirt with purple ruffles along the bottom.

We went downstairs to look at the fabric stash. Addie picked out her favorite purple, but I didn't have any gray. So she picked out camouflage. I didn't think camoflauge matched with delicate purple flowers so I just used the back side which looks gray! I traced one of her skirts and improvised on a ruffle. An hour or so later she had a new skirt. Not too bad. No one was injured in its making either considering both girls were simultaneously trying to help me pin the ruffle on.

Addie was super excited grabbing it out of my hands and putting it on as soon as it was done. Perhaps tomorrow I can make something with Edith. And I do have to say sewing without a pattern is lots of fun. What a time saver to not have to do all that extra and exact cutting and marking.