QUEST Fair

Olivia is participating in a pull-out program at school called "QUEST" which is an acronym for Quality Utilization and Enrichment of Student Talents. For their culminating project, the Kinder - 5th grade Quest students held a fair displaying a product of their research topic, much like a science fair. The Kinder students researched an insect of their choice and Olivia chose "the mosquito"; everyone's favorite bug! I asked her why she chose the ever-popular mosquito, and she said it was because they spread disease, and she is interested in diseases caused by insects. They made their models from what their Quest teacher calls, "Clean Trash" (non-food related recyclable materials) and designed and painted them. Then, they researched facts about their insects, and were available to answer questions at the fair. Olivia loved answering questions about the mosquito! She told me afterwards, "That was fun, Mom! I really like answering questions and talking about insects." During the fair, though, I could tell she was a bit nervous because she pulled the mosquito's eyes off. Luckily, her teacher had a hot glue gun, so Livy and I did a quick, little "insect surgery". Eve also wanted to be part of the act. She was telling everyone how to plant seeds to make flowers grow and how a turtle hides in its shell and when it is not scared, "it just cracks out". (her words) It looks like Eve will be ready for her Kindergarten Quest fair too.

Austin Family Connections

We met Nicole and Celeste for a fun playdate at Family Connections before Nicole starts her new job in June. Family Connections has a nice sized book library as well as a really appealing toy library. Unfortunately it is a little bit far from Cedar Park, so I didn't want to check anything out and then not be able to get it back by it's due date (I know myself too well!), but I was tempted to check something out just for the novelty of trying out a toy library. Staci Gray performed some of her original songs as well as old favorites like "The Wheels on the Bus" and "Old MacDonald"; she also read a couple of Dr. Suess stories for the storytime element. The kids danced and sang, and Celeste crawled and crawled. She would have crawled right up there and strummed that guitar, I think! :) Then, there was the bubble mosh pit finale with pepperment scented bubbles. Too cool and best of all it was free! Austin is such a great place to raise kids and we are so happy to have family nearby to share these moments with.

Flutterfly Kids

We spent a recent Saturday morning at Wild Connections Butterfly Farm in South Austin. The butterfly house was filled with Gulf Fritillaries , Monarchs, and various other butterflies. The owners provide fresh fruit slices for guests to hold, so they can get an up close and personal view of the butterflies feeding. The pet turtle enjoyed a couple of our pieces of fruit too. Afterwards, we went on a scavenger hunt through the woods looking for items on a list the farm owners provided. We had an easy time finding " a piece of a bone" and "something that smells good" but never did find "a bird's nest". All in all, it was a great trip and fun family excursion.

Fox Banister

"Fox Banister" is the title Olivia gave to her school report on foxes. Each student in Olivia's class had to choose an animal to research, create a project or display about, and then report on. Olivia chose "wild mustangs", but a classmate had already selected it, so she switched her choice to "foxes". We went to the library and found four books which we read through for the next two weeks. She decided she wanted to do her report and project on how a fox's body features are adapted for survival. Her idea was to dress up as a fox piece by piece (ears, feet, tail, muzzle, etc.) and tell how each of those pieces aids the fox. We were having a hard time finding faux fur at the fabric store at a reasonable price, so we went to Goodwill and bought a faux fur coat for $9.00 as well as some sandals that Olivia could glue fur onto. Grandma came down one weekend and helped us cut down the fur, and she sewed some ears and a tail for Olivia to wear. Then, we used a toilet paper tube covered in fur and a black pom-pom for the nose to make the muzzle. Olivia discovered the "joys and pains" of the hot glue gun! When she had to present her project to the class, she wasn't a bit nervous. She ended up wearing her fox costume most of the rest of the day at school.

Shaving Cream Sculptures

One day after school, Olivia wanted to take a bubble bath and Eve chimed in that she did too. We didn't have any bubbles, but we did find two bottles of shaving cream. Here are some pics of the sculptures they made on each other's heads.

Berry Special Birthday Girl

Our "baby girl" is no longer a baby! We celebrated Genevieve's 2nd birthday by having a berry themed party at Sweet Berry Farms in Marble Falls, TX. Eve had a great time picking and eating strawberries (her favorite food since she was 10 months old) with her family. Even though her birthday party was three weeks ago, she still asks us every time we get into the car if we are going "to de [sic] strawberry patch?" During the party, big sister Olivia read the book, *The Little Mouse, the Red Ripe Strawberry, and the Big, Hungry Bear* to all the kids, and all the children received a decorated straw hat and homemade strawberry bean bags to take home. Since she has been asking to go potty lately, Eve was ecstatic about some Yo Gabba Gabba panties she received. You can see where they ended up! Hope you enjoy the video. :)

Playdate with Tonra and Ethan

With Olivia in Kinder this year, it's a rare day where she can have a weekday playdate, but lucky enough she was off Good Friday, so we got to spend the morning at the park with good friends Tonra and Ethan. Tonra and I met in our neighborhood almost 5 years ago when she was pregnant with Ethan and Olivia and I were on one of our morning strolls around the block. She was nearing her due date and Olivia had just turned one. We had easy conversation that day and ever since. I'm truly blessed by her friendship and I'm praying that once we move and life gets busy we don't lose touch. She is such a dear and special person.

These two spiders are just waiting for the flies to arrive.

Ethan and Genevieve share a picnic lunch.



Olivia is so happy to have a day off from school.



Ethan made Genevieve's day by sharing his box of "Walle" raisins with her.



Playing Transformers and Playmobil turns out to be more fun than the playground.

Before and After

Before and After
See if you can find the two big differences.
Hint: It has nothing to do with the Hulk.

Olivia before 9AM this morning:

Olivia after 12PM this afternoon:

Crowe's Nest Farm

Ms. Boone's Kindergarten Class Field Trip 2009

Olivia's kindergarten field trip was to Crowe's Nest Farm, a non-profit farm designed for educating the public about animals. The kids had a great time riding the bus there, seeing the reptiles in the big red barn, having a picnic lunch and hayride, watching how a cow is milked by machine (this was still painful for me to watch...those who have exclusively used an electric breast pump to nurse their baby will understand!), going on a self-guided tour around the animal pens, and walking through Faeriewood. They had fun just being together and doing something outside the classroom. I felt so lucky to get to go and experience this with Olivia. My good friend Blanca, her daughter, Sabrina, and I rode there together, and it was fun to visit and catch up along the way. Her son, Max, and Olivia were in preschool together where we made this same trip before, but it's so amazing to see how much the two of them have grown and changed in just one year.

Blanca and Sabrina feed the ponies as we wait for the school buses to arrive.

A windy picnic lunch...hold onto those grapes!

Sweetie Pie, the milking cow; I know your pain!

Olivia and her class listen attentively to Farmer Dave.
He squirted Olivia with fresh milk from the cow.
She got a big laugh and said it went into her eye not her mouth!

The look of wonder...priceless!

Magnificent ostriches!


Ms. Boone and her class pet the goats.

Say "Goat Cheese!"

Such a memorable day with my big girl makes me feel lucky to be a mom.

This little lamb made me think of Genevieve and how I hope to be making this trip with her soon.

What an awesome day to share with friends!

Down the Rabbit Hole

"Oh dear! Oh dear! I shall be too late!"
Like the White Rabbit in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, I always feel like I'm running late with this blog. Speaking of rabbits, it's been several weeks since Easter Sunday 2009, and I'm just getting these pictures up. It's still the liturgical season of Easter; does that help my case? ;) Included in the video are some pictures of our cute nieces, Elena and Gabby and cute nephew, Jonah on Easter Sunday. We had a fun family evening out at Corbin and Megan's (younger brother and sister-in-law's) new house in Georgetown. The kids loved running around in the big backyard and it was nice for the cousins to be together again. That is, until Genevieve started biting Olivia! Then, we knew it was time to get our sugar-overloaded Banister Bunnies back home and into their rabbit hole.