A few weeks ago I read some comments about an upset mom about her child coming home from Daycare with colored hands. She couldn't understand how they could permenently color her childs hands and only have the comment 'it should wash off soon'. I thought for a moment....do I know this person? Is she talking about me??....But then I saw the picture of her son. Y'all think I am bad about paint....his hands, up to his elbow, were very bright magenta.So today I got out the very cool foam paint from Discount School Supply. The very cool foam paint that says right on the can that it is....washable, nontoxic, and earth friendly. It happend to be....magenta. Not really thinking about the story I had previously read, I foamed it all out onto the table. "ohhhh, PINK!" "I LOVE this stuff" "Hey guys, come quick, Annie put out shaving cream...AND IT'S PINK! I am sorry....to those parent that don't love little magenta hands....so sorry. As soon as they put their hands in, I could see the damage. I had seen that color on hands before...I knew that it wouldn't come off. I knew it would take soaking in the bath, maybe several nights, to get it off. I let them play....up to their elbows....and when they were done...we washed. and washed, and washed. Needless to say, we will not be purchasing this washable foam again.But....they did have a very good time, and...'It should wash off soon!' 
"I'm makin salad"Indeed he is...he has been working on it for some time. The rule in the yard is no picking leaves and flowers off of the living plant, but if you find them on the ground, they are all yours. I have seen them sometimes...pull the flower off, ever so gently and sneekily, then quickly drop it to the ground...."Look, I found this on the ground!"...I just remind them the plant won't be pretty if they keep picking the flowers off....then let them use it...what else can I do....But he found this all on the ground...It's hard to see, and I think he might have put that big rock (tomato?) on top of all the greens, but it was rather colorful. And very yummy by the way.
'C' is working hard scooping and filling up the white bucket. He is on a mission....
Almost to the top, he scoops a couple more shovel fulls, and pat,pat,pat, he is finished.
Aurrrggghhhh.....he grunts, and pulls, and lifts.....
Up over the rocks...not an easy task....remember that bucket is full of heavy, wet, sand.
At this point he gives it one last tug....and...he makes it. Some fell out, but he didn't mind. Mission Acomplished.
cutting in half....geometry
Heeaaavy....science,building mucles
Dumping, measuring, pouring, lifting, sifting, manipulating...sand...I mean cupcake batter. Imagination....
'D' is very interested in spiders. Almost every book we read, he can spot a spider somewhere....and Everyday he shows me the spider under the slide. "Annie, Annie, Spider under (the) slide!" He is always very excited to see it. 
"Taxi, Taxi's here!...Who needs a ride?" "I do...I do..." "Where do ya need ta go?" "My home, the one in Seattle...It's by the water!" "I need 5 bucks".....
Sometimes I need to leave for an hour or so....I make sure that it is a good reason though, and try not to do it too often. Luckily I have GREAT friends that help take the boys to Dr. Appts. and what not...but today...today was important. Every other year our Elementary has an auction. This was our last auction...and when I saw that you could spend a day with Mack Strong (retired Seahawks fullback) I knew I had to have it. So this was the day he came. He got to school around 11am and spent the whole time with Drew...at lunch, at art, reading, at recess....and at the end of the day, I wanted to go take some pictures and have my other boys meet him. Luckily....I have GREAT daycare parents (that's all of you) and Dacia came to cover for me. Mack Strong was awesome! He genuinly loved the kids and all their 9,000,000,000.00 questions....and more signings. What a trooper. This is a day that we will never forget. Thank you Mack!
Here is one of our yummy lunches. French dips, watermelon, apples, and milk. I know...I should be doing it family style (kids pass around dishes and get their own food) but with 8 kiddos, it's just easier to have it all done and ready to go. We sing open-shut-them and then we all eat. They can have seconds as long as they eat or try everything on their plate. When they are finished they bring their plate to the sink....then off to nap time!
We were so excited today to see this beautiful bird eating away......what is it...
The kids have been talking about storms, soooo.....we decided to explore them a little more. I found some books on weather and we read them. We talked about rain storms, wind storms, and hail storms. We talked alot about Thunder and Lightnening because the thunder is the scarey part. Some of them remembered the big storm we had last year when the power went out and trees were down everywhere. We saw some pictures of houses that had been blown down, but I assured them that the wind around here does not get that strong.
They are being the wind....blowing the clouds around. (they wanted yellow to blow) 
We also have little boats at the water table. I was encouraging them to blow the boats around like the wind.....Kamil needed his goggles to get the job done right!
Boomer was looking a little rug-u-muffin. Brian let us borrow his dog grooming kit, so we had no excuses. We did this a couple weeks ago, and now I look at this picture and he looks so dang cute....haircut remourse.
Bzzzzzzzzzzzzz.......At first he was a little scared, but then he loved it! He wanted more and more.
It's a little like giving yourself a haircut at home....not really knowing what you are doing and all...but hair grows back, right? And.....the kids had fun. That's the important part.
