Arts and Crafts, Winter 2015

Being a kindergarten teacher and a parent of two kiddos, I should be up to my elbows in art projects and crafts, right? But I realized that that had simply not been the case and a belated new year's resolution is to be more into that kind of stuff with Finley and Dagny.  And boy have these three snow days provided me the perfect opportunity to get started!

Beading (after an expensize trip to the craft store, just kidding - Michael's coupons are awesome!):

Homemade playdoh

Making and decorating gingerbread cookies with our friend, Sadie.

 Painting

Finley's proudest painting piece - a firetruck in a station!

Paper freight train project (I forgot to take a pict of Dagny's but she did a great job with BINGO markers on her train, too).

 Finley's been much more interested in drawing and such and that's so exciting - but scary, too, since I'm not so talented in the drawing department!!
Airplane:

Walking snowman on magnadoodle:

 His clay polar bear from school:

Rocketship on launchpad:

Every night when Dagny goes off to bed with Dan or me, Finley asks to sit and draw together.  He'll ask us to teach him how to draw something (a cat, a supermarket, a tree) and even offer to teach us (a bucket truck, a set of railroad tracks).  I love that he's into this now!

And I guess I'm not too shabby of an artitst afterall. I painted this winter scene at a paint night with a bunch of girlfriends this past weekend!

And now, I'm the resident cardinal expert!

Museum of Natural History - NYC in November 2014

Way way back in November, Aunt Caitlin and her sweet private equity firm treated all four of us, plus herself, GG and Grandpa to a free visit to NYC's Museum of Natural History.

The kids were excited to see the huge dinosaur skeletons and they were not disappointed!

 There were even bones under the floor!

 But it was a lot to look at, so Finley needed a ride about midway through.

 Aunt Caitlin was a great tour guide :) The whale room was awesome!

 Then, Caitlin showed us to a delicious Italian restaurant around the block.

 Dagny very much enjoyed her meal and it was a great way to end our museum adventure.

 Thanks, Aunt Caitlin!
 Oh and then we hopped in the car to drive back home to Boston and the kids' loveys had quite a party!

Two Raccoons?!

A couple months ago, I joined a facebook group that connects sponsors with sick/terminally ill children and their families.  I was matched with baby Tad who was born with a congenital heart defect back in June and has already had three open heart surgeries, the most recent one at Children's Hospital here in Boston.  The family is from North Carolina, but they have temporarily relocated up here for Tad's treatment.  I have had the privilege of visiting Tad and his amazing mom in the Cardiac-Intensive Care Unit at Children's twice in the past couple of months and since the facebook group is called "the sunshine box project," I always bring a box/bag of items to bring some sunshine and cheer for both mom and baby Tad.  Tad's heritage is part Cherokee and his Native American name is "Thundering Raccoon" so his nursery at home is filled with raccoons.  Before my most recent visit to the hospital, the kids and I went to buy him a new one. We've talked about "the baby at the hospital" a lot and both kiddos are very curious about him and hopeful for his recovery.  Finley really seems to understand why I'm getting to know the family and why being kind to others can really make a difference.  That afternoon, Dagny brought along her beloved raccoon in hopes of finding a friend for the baby and to our great joy, we found the exact same one at the toy shop in town!! Oh and she happened to be wearing her raccoon shirt, I couldn't get over the raccoon-iness of all of this!!

 Here she is showing which raccoon is Tad's ("the one of the tag, mommy.")

 Tad's mom LOVED the adorable and very soft raccoon I brought for Tad and sent me these photos the next day. Oh and the giraffe was from our first box of sunshine!

  Tad is doing alright, but is still not well enough to go back to NC though they are hopeful by early February that will change.  It's been the most moving experience to befriend Tad's mom and be a part of their Boston medical adventure.  Of course it makes me so very thankful for what we have been blessed with, but it also makes me realize the power of the human spirit and how capable each one of us truly is when we are challenged by unthinkable situations.

Right now, we are assembling a Valentine's Day Box of Sunshine for Baby Tad, his mom, and his big step-sister who couldn't be more deserving :)

Mini Snowstorm 2015

We got a dusting a couple weeks ago and both kids were pysched to get out in it (even though you could nearly see the grass through the thin layer of snow).  Finley helped Dagny make a tiny snowman and then made one for himself.  Dagny LOVED her snowman!

 And kept checking on it while we played elsewhere.

 

 Then, it was time to sled!!

Both kids had a blast and we were totally impressed at how Dagny was able to trek back up the hill over and over while towing her sled!

 Soon, Dagny realized that she preferred going down the hill luge style!