Haircuts and a Science Experiment

Well, we finally gave Michael his first haircut (sniff, sniff)!

Dan did a really nice job making him look like a boy without taking off all of his cute curls. I still saved a bunch in a ziploc bag!

The other picture is of David and Sarah recreating an experiment that they saw on a Mythbusters show about ninjas walking on water. Polly Pocket is trying to walk across the custard cup filled with cornstarch, water, and red food coloring. We discovered that if she jumps hard enough, she bounces across the top without sinking. If she tries to walk slowly, she sinks right in and gets stuck! After we discovered this, the experiment broke down into covering Polly, the table, and our hands with pink goo. It was a lot of fun!

Michael Sings

Today we had our last family music class for the spring session. As usual, the kids and I had a good time singing the songs and doing the dances together. What made today especially nice were Sarah and Michael's responses during the class! Instead of sitting on my lap, looking suspiciously at the other children, today Sarah sang "Pop Goes the Weasel" loudly enough for everyone to hear her, volunteered to be the teacher's echo, and jumped up to grab another little girl's hand for the "Shoo Fly" circle dance. It was fun to see. I don't think anyone there knew she could talk before today.

Michael also seemed very interested in the music part of the class today. He kept crawling over to the shakers, rhythm sticks, etc. and bouncing up and down on his knees. When it was time for David to echo the teacher singing, "Do, mi, so," Michael very clearly sang, "do, o, oh." We all laughed, and then he did it again for "So, so, do!"

We tried to record him doing that at supper tonight, but I'm not sure if it worked. This is the boy who shows little interest in walking or talking. Maybe solfege (singing do, re, mi) will be his specialty! :)

Finally, We are Back!

You may have heard about our unfortunate computer crash. The hard drive just quit working last Friday, and we have spent the last week or so setting up a new computer, etc. I think it is safe to blog again!

As you can see, the kids do enjoy driving the little tractor around the yard. Sometimes it pulls rocks, sometimes water, and sometimes other children!

We finally have most of the garden planted. Sarah especially likes planting things. David loves to water anything he can find, and Michael mostly tries to eat the dirt. He needs several baths a day now.

We have had a couple of sad losses at our house--Beak-Beak the parakeet (about 4 years old) and Mr. Algae Eater (unknown) both left their earthly home this week. We don't think the two were related, though Hello (the cat) loved them both dearly. The kids handled it pretty well, but have been a little more emotional than usual.

More news and pictures will arrive as I find them!

The tulips are up

Our tulips are up! You might have to click on the picture to see them very well. The previous pastor planted the row along the sidewalk, and the kids and I planted the clumps by the steps. We had a good Sunday, but it was hot! The bank sign said 95 this afternoon.

The kids and I like checking to see how the plants are doing each day. The peonies are growing especially quickly. Sarah did try to open up the tulips that hadn't bloomed yet, but we stopped her. David was going to flip the tulip petals inside out so they would stay open better, but we stopped him too. Now we just admire their pretty colors. Did you know that the purple ones have blue insides?

David has met a new friend, the bumblebee who followed us here from the house on Penrose. The bee likes the tulips and lives under our porch, we think. More wildlife pictures will follow....

Our Week

This is just a quick note to let you know that the Redhage children have been enjoying the beautiful weather outside this week. This wears them out pretty well, and certainly wears out Mommy and Daddy!
Today they scrubbed the cars, refilled the birdbath, dug in the garden, played in the sandbox, rode Tractor and Car, and built an elaborate fort out of cardboard boxes. The name of the fort is David's Hideaway, and it is "a safe and fun-filled place for people of all ages to play," in David's own words. Their other slogan, however, is, "No Babies Allowed!" Michael can come in with special permission only. He spends an awful lot of time in there for not being allowed!

Hello kitty

This is a picture of the kids greeting Hello, our cat, when they got home from our big trip Friday night. Hello is almost one year old and is quite a lot of fun for us. He spends most of his time either playing with the kids or running away from them.

Today was a good day. We went to Family Wellness for David's gym class, where he learned to skip! Sarah, Michael, and I went swimming while Dan did some shopping. We met Dan's parents for lunch at Valentino's, where it was Customer Appreciation Day--free meals for all! Dan very graciously offered to take care of the bill for the whole family. :)

After lunch, we went shopping at the natural foods co-op to find rice flour for our nephew who is allergic to wheat. Our next destination was Family Wellness again, this time for doubles racquetball. We are quite tired and sore, but it was a lot of fun.

The kids and I left racquetball early for David's OT appointment. Miss Stacy said that next week will be his last session, as he has reached all of his goals! We are so happy about that, but a little sad that we won't get to play with Miss Stacy anymore. Today David jumped over cylinders on the trampoline with both feet together, rode a scooter to the end of the mini-mall sidewalk, rode a bike without training wheels or much help, wrote the letters X, Y, and Z, and found beads hidden in yellow putty.

After OT, we all went to Sam's Club, where they have carts with two seats for children and plenty of room in the basket for another to ride. It was a lot of fun to see all the things they have there. Sarah really liked the car parked next to the snack bar.

To finish this very busy day, we went to Shoe Carnival to continue the endless search for shoes that fit Dan and look nice. We found two pairs in his size! Hooray!

On the way home, we even went through the car wash. All the kids were asleep by the time we got to the Lennox exit.

Sunny Day and Rainy Day

On Friday, after we finally arrived back home, David ran into the house and disappeared upstairs. Pretty soon, he came running outside wearing a new outfit and yelled, "It is SUMMER!" He and Sarah used the hose to clean the birdbath and make misty rainbows in the yard.

The other picture is of our Robot Helpers. It was cool and rainy today, so the kids stayed inside for the most part. We were getting ready for supper and needed some help setting the table, so called on our Robot Helpers. They are quite good at helping, but the little one has some trouble seeing out her eyehole if she raises her arms.