Let's Sing

Matthew's head teacher, Barbara, is so great at singing and playing the guitar with them during circle times each day. She seems to have A LOT of songs that she sings and I could never remember them all. She literally has hundreds...some traditional and others more obscure. I thought it would be nice if the kids had a CD of the top 30 songs that they could listen to at home and in the car. That way we could ALL become more familiar. Plus, I thought it would be a nice remembrance of their childhood at Village.

Marc signed up for recording, mixing and mastering, Barbara said she'd sing, and the school agreed to pay for her time, the duplication/printing fees, and to dissolve the maintenance hours that we are obligated to provide each year. Now it's finished and we're all relieved and excited!


Matthew's artwork graces the cover and Madeleine's is on the CD itself. I took pictures of their masterpieces and the duplicator kindly put it together according to printing specs.

Here's a player with a song from the CD. Just click the arrow to listen. This one pays homage to Matthew...it's a train song. There are other songs on the CD where Marc recorded Barbara doing harmonies and rounds, which I like a lot.

I think the project turned out great. The kids both got grins on their faces when we played it for the first time and they sing along in the car everyday now. They even do the funny sounds that are part of some of the songs...like the spitting sound that is supposed to be like someone walking in boots through a swamp on their way to catch a dinosaur.

Many families bought the CD at our annual festival a week ago. The response has been rewarding. Other kids in the school seem to be responding with the same smile. Apparently there are kids all over town with spit on their windows and captured dinosaurs in their trunks.

If you know anyone that wants a great collection of songs for children, let me know. Special offer to blog readers...1 for $10 or 2 for $15! All proceeds go to the school.

A Day At The Pool

Matthew is on Spring Break this week. We've been low key most of the time since we've been hit by the stomach flu. Madeleine has it today, but yesterday everyone seemed healthy. The weather has been spectacular, so we went to Target and got a kids pool. I was going to get the basic round do-dad until Matthew said, "but I like the whale one because it reminds me of the story of Jonah in the belly of the whale". That's one of his favorite bible stories, aside from Noah and the Ark.

The other cool feature about the whale shaped kids pool, is that it sprays water. The kids were into it. I was into it. We got it.

After bringing it home we put it out on the lawn and I started blowing. It took awhile. The kids kept me going. Matthew gave me hugs and chanted "you are the BEST Mommy EVER" to encourage me to continue. It worked. I finished.


The kids frolicked and I kept the supplies coming...drinks, snacks, more/less water, sun screen, water toys, towels. It was really fun. I loved watching them play and giggle and splash. I took lots of pictures to document it all.

After we finished, I took a moment to check my email/blogs while the kids cleaned up. I came across a blog from a friend of mine. She made a post about her kids and their pool time. Kids, sun and pools go well together. Now we just have to get our kids together for fun in the sun.

This and That

I can't help myself. I have another AMAZING product. It's hard to see the picture, but check it out. It's called "Pure Ayre" and I found it at Walgreens. I've also seen it online everywhere. This product is great for everyone...especially ALL my readers who have children (5 of you).

I've been using it for awhile. However, this week it was really put to the test.

Our bathroom tends to smell like a porta-potty ever since big M stopped using diapers. In talking to other mothers, this seems to be very common for families with young boys. It took awhile to figure out what worked best, but now we have it down. Between Marc and I, the potty area gets cleaned "almost" daily, and I at least, always use Pure Ayre to top things off. It's great and it's marketed as "pure", "cruelty-free", "food grade", and "100% biodegradable". The maker is called "Clean Earth". So, somehow I feel better using it.

The ultimate test for this stuff came by way of a stomach flu that both M's got this week. Needless to say, it came in handy, especially for furniture and carpet. After this experience, I really can't say enough about it.

The other news of the day is that Madeleine is becoming adamant about picking out her own clothes. Here is one of her selections...looks pretty good. I would not have thought about putting a pink hat with polka dots, turquoise shirt with flowers, blue jeans with flowers, and purple socks together...but I liked it.

And while I'm writing this blog, Matthew has turned into a rhyming, singing scientist. That is, a boy who says he's a scientist that sings about how things work and tries to rhyme all the words as he goes. Very interesting and cute. He just sang all about batteries, how they work, when you take them out, where they go and on and on.

Time to pay attention to the kids full-time now, especially since I think Matthew just dropped the big play dough activity box on his foot.

School Days

School days are full of memories. There are many different kinds of school days at Matthew's school. In the last short while we've had Crazy Day, Picture Day and now Library Day. I'm hoping for Coffee Day to be implemented.

The kids had a good time listening to the story teller, Sue. We've been going to see her for years now. She's a sweet lady and really good at telling stories to the kids.

M&M picked out books and a movie to take home. Matthew picked out a train movie, of course. Madeleine picked out a truck/tractor movie. Matthew was so excited...he'd trained his sister well. He got 2 DVD's he likes.

The field trip created a child free zone at the school, so that parents could set up for the annual Festival. It's a fun day for the families and a lucrative one for the school. This year the theme was "Under the Big Top", complete with cotton candy and popcorn.

I handled the Bake Sale table for the morning shift and then joined the family for the festivities.

Matthew got his face painted. He saw his friends with a Spider Man face, so that's what he wanted too.

The weather was really spectacular for the festival and the next day too. On Sunday, we went to church and then headed over to the beach in Pacifica. It was time for Family Day. It felt like a mini vacation.

The kids had Marc working hard on sand castles. I think they did a good job of managing Dad. Madeleine even found time to strike a pose.

Say "Cheese"

Earlier in the week we had "Crazy Day". Today we had "Picture Day", but for me it seemed like Crazy Day. It was my work day at the school, so it was a full day. I brought a snack for everyone...items that don't stain. Parents that couldn't stay the whole day left instructions (make sure my child takes their coat off for the group picture, can you change her shoes when she goes out to play after her photo?, etc.) and various bags with personal items. I did it all...lined everything up like an assembly line, memorized important details and executed perfectly as if they were all my own children. At this point in the year, they sorta feel that way. We're all like family now. I changed them into their play clothes and gave them a hug and a kiss before they went out to play.

I can't believe Matthew is graduating next month from preschool. I toured the school when he was 3 mos old and today he took pictures in his cap and gown. All the parents were proud of their kids. They were all so handsome/pretty. They know each other very well now and are like brothers and sisters. They know little things about each other...who likes dinosaur's, trains, action figures and butterflies.

I think Matthew will miss everyone. He's had a great time at Village and had the best teachers and parents taking care of him and the other kids. We were one of the first one's in this morning and were greeted by his head teacher Barbara. She was sitting at the table ironing the caps and gowns. His other teacher, Theresa, was putting all the puzzles out for them to play with between pictures (solo, group, grad solo, grad group). They are very dedicated and loving. We have been blessed to find such a wonderful school.

Madeleine is ready to be next at Village. She had a great time playing all day and fit right in with all the kids. She started to sit with everyone for the group picture so I went to get her, but everyone said to just leave her. She's around the school so much she's like a mascot. In the end, she got up on her own. It will be her turn next year.

The photo lady was really nice and let me use my own camera to take these pictures. Madeleine's dress will likely look pink instead of white in the real pictures, but these are nice for blogging.

Those Crazy Kids

This week, Matthew's school had "Crazy Day". They get to think up crazy ways of dressing for school. Matthew told me he didn't want to dress crazy, he wanted to act crazy. Probably all the kids were thinking just that.

Matthew is very specific about what he likes to wear. Jeans and a long sleeve shirt with a picture. I was curious to find out what he'd like to do for crazy day. I thought that maybe he'd get crazy and wear short sleeves, or maybe different colored socks, or maybe his shirt inside out? He would have none of it. There was no changing his standard gear. However, he was fine with augmenting his usual attire.

So, he settled with crazy hair and a crazy nose, which turned into crazy cheeks, since the nose made him sneeze. He was so cute. Madeleine decided to join in on the fun too. Those crazy kids!

Good choice of the family color on the noses...orange!