Current Book List

Who wants to read a list of books? Whether you do or not, here it is! This list represents about half of the kids' books we own. The other half is put away to switch out when we get tired of these. I try to keep seasonal/holiday books around the season/holiday they belong to, but it's no strict thing. We've read most of these books (most multiple times), though there are a few I noticed I haven't read to them (that'll change shortly!)

We have story time every night before bed, and it really is the best time of day for us. The bedroom is clean, everyone is calm-ish, and we end up having some great conversations and learning discoveries through the books we're reading. In our house, storytime isn't a privilege that can be revoked on bad behavior, or something to be done away with because we're too busy playing or doing something else (although there have been exceptions to both). Usually we read two stories minimum, most nights four or six.

Another of my secrets? Most of the books we have are "learning" books, rather than fantasy/pretend books. If I'm going to invest so much of my time in reading to them, I want them to get as much out of it as they can. And if I'm going to fill their heads with books for half an hour or 45 minutes a day (assuming we only have one story time that day), I want them to actually get something out of it, more than just warm, fuzzy feelings and fluff. People are always amazed at how much the boys know, and I think I know why! ;)


Most of the books toward the top are board books or little books with fewer words.

I Spy Little Christmas
Night Time
I Am A Baby
A Good Day
Blast Off! (about space)
USA (fact book)
Biscuit and the Bunny
My Goodnight Book
Let's Paint a Rainbow
Big Thoughts for Little Thinkers- The Trinity
Moo, Baa, La La La!
A Bug, A Bear, And A Boy Plant a Garden
Where is Maisy's Panda?
Doggies
Worm Watches
A Week of Wild Weather
Horns to Toes and In Between
All Wet (water)
Pat the Bunny
Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you See?
Being Honest
Animal Homes
It's a Frog's Life (life cycle of a frog)
Barnyard Dance!
Zzzz (consonant sound z)
The Going to Bed Book
Lots of Rocks
Big Red Barn
Mealtime Prayers
All Things Bright and Beautiful (book of prayers and poems)
Belly Button Book
Oh My Oh My Oh Dinosaurs!
King Solomon
Stories of God's People
The Human Body Riddle Book
I Wonder Why Whales Sing and other questions about sea life
The Changing Caterpillar
Thunder and Lightning
The Skeleton Inside You
Helicopter Rescue
How To Hide A Crocodile & Other Reptiles
The Christmas Story
The Littlest Soldier
Chicken Soup with Rice
Just Right
Going To The Fair
A Bug, a Bear, and a Boy At Home
Where Did The Baby Go?
Chickens aren't the only ones (creatures that lay eggs)
More Fun With Maisy
Harold and the Purple Crayon
Richard Scarry's Little Counting Book
Secrets of the Vine for Little Ones
Samuel Learns to Yell and Tell
David and Goliath
Samuel and the Wake-Up Call
Prayers for Children
The Secret Journey
The Farm Book
The Sneetches and other stories
The Story of Molly Pitcher
26 Letters and 99 Cents
Thank You, Logan!
The Cat In The Hat
Listen To My Dream (Martin Luther King, Jr.)
I See, You Saw
My Body Is Private
Find Nat
When I'm a Daddy- A Little Boy's Guide To Biblical Fatherhood
From Acorn To Oak Tree
The Very Hungry Caterpillar
Africa
Watch It Grow (plants)
Blue Hat, Green Hat
Frog and Toad Are Friends
Merry Christmas, From Biscuit
The Magic School Bus Out of This World
The Magic School Bus Plants Seeds
Big Thoughts for Little People
Biscuit's Pet and Play Easter
Will: God's Mighty Warrior
The Story of Jonah
All About Sound
Giant Squid
Little Bear's Visit
Tiger's Bedtime
Big Wheels (construction trucks)
Baby Animals
Richard Scarry's The Firefighter' Busy Day
Fish
Sea Turtles
Glaciers
The Old Steam Train
Catch Me, Catch Me
Super Grandpa
Minerals
The Fox on the Box
Baby Dear
Biscuit Finds a Friend
Stepping Through Time (shoes)
Building the New Road
The Cat That Sat
Meadow
The Airplane Book
Dolphins
Biscuit Wins a Prize
Frogs and Toads
Baby Farm Animals
The Four Seasons for Little People
Look Inside Your Body
Creepy Crawly Caterpillars
Questions and Answers: Science
Biomes of the World: Grasslands
Bob and Larry's ABC's
Oh The Thinks You Can Think
When Jesus Was Born
One of the Family
I Wonder Why Horses Wear Shoes and other questions about horses
Pig at Work
Chameleons, Masters of Disguise
Holidays: Thanksgiving
Turn to the Sea
Great Day for UP
Questions and Answers: Planet Earth
Fox in Socks
Cars: Race Team
One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish
Winter on the Farm
Taro and the Tofu
Winter: Discovering the Seasons
I See Animals Hiding
The Little Red Hen
Winter Days in the Big Woods
Going to Sleep on the Farm
Wise Words for Little People
Water's Way
Little Bear
The Magic Whistle
Secrets of the Rainforest: Plants and Planteaters
Humphrey the Lost Whale
Penguins
God Is In The Night
Camels
What is a Flower?
Raggedy Ann Stories
Raggedy Andy Stories
Tundra Swans
Long Ago in a Castle
Read and Learn Bible
The Bible in Pictures for Little Eyes
Yum! A Tale of Two Cookies
Wonders of Rivers
I Wonder Why Fish Don't Drown and other neat facts about underwater animals
Busy Beavers (National Geographic)
How Animals Hide (National Geographic)
Acid Rain
Getting To Know Nature's Children: Chipmunks and Beavers
Do They Scare You? Creepy Creatures
The Night Sky
The Alligator
The Good Bad Cat
Animals In Winter (National Geographic)
Max the Cat 1-2-3 Counting Book
Knights
Happy Thanksgiving, Biscuit!
Snowy Winter Day
Hats! Hats! Hats!
Sharks
I Wonder What a Rainforest Is and other neat facts about plants
The Nursery Treasury
Thidwick the Big-Hearted Moose
Trains
The Fascinating World Of Wolves
carrot/parrot
The Truck Book
The Goose Family Book
Gentle Giant Octopus
Christian Mother Goose Tales
Skin, Scales, Feathers, and Fur
Four Seasons for Little People
Expert Guide: Birds
God's Plan for Growing Things
The Tale of Benjamin Bunny
Jesus Who Helped People
Jesus and the Children
The Wonder Book (Bible Stories)
The Tale of Squirrel Nutkin
The Tale of Ginger and Pickles
My First Book of Poems
Petersen First Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians
The Ten Commandments
Jesus' Stocking
The Easter Story
Aware and Alert
God Loves Me
Starfish
Etain and Midir - Irish Legend
The Tale of Johnny Town-Mouse
Look At Your Eyes
Kitten's First Full Moon
Weather
Good Boy! Dog's Best Friend
Baby Sea Otter
Curious Geroge and Friends
Sometimes I Wish
Alligators and Crocodiles, Great Creatures of the World
Stories To Read To The Very Young
Big, Big Storybook
Lift-A-Flap Castles
Uncover: Frog (3-D book about a frog's innards)
Pooh's Easter Egg Hunt

How have we gotten so many books? Hardly any of them were bought new. Most of them were bought for 50 cents or a dollar from the thrift store or yard sales. Some were given to us, or we bought them new if there was something in particular we were looking for or had birthday money. And we regularly get rid of books we don't like or don't want anymore. My favorite thing to do with those is trade them in at a used bookstore!

Happy Reading, everyone!

-Amanda -_-*

Sick Days

Who knows if it's the changing weather, exposure to germs from outside of the house, or what, but none of us are feeling the best today. I'm thinking it's going to be a day for movies, playing outside (if/when they're up to it), and maybe throwing a chicken in the crockpot. After I take out last night's chili that no one ate. I guess no one was feeling that well last night, either, because normally it would have been GONE!

As much as I don't like being sick, I have to say there are some advantages to it. It's nice to have a lazy day every once in a while, and to be able to do some of those "sitting down" things that you don't have time for when you're feeling better- things like mending clothes, and making crafts for the craft fair, and reading extra stories to the kids. And yes, even watching movies you don't normally watch. We have a ton of nature documentaries and other nifty stuff on our Netflix queue, but usually the kids want to watch Backyardigans, or Busy Town, or Kipper, or things like that. They like the other stuff, but it isn't their first choice most of the time.

Last weekend, I brought the kids geocaching. This cache was farther away from the house, but still an easy find once we got there (and once I figured out how to work with the coordinates on the GPS!) I'm actually learning a lot about mapping, and coordinates, and am having my eyes opened a lot more to what's around me by looking for the geocaches. This last one we found, we ended up taking a little walk along the way, and the kids threw some rocks into the water, had fun running around, and Brennan found a bright green frog so small it could fit on my thumbnail. I don't even know how he saw the thing! But, they passed it back and forth several times, then Brennan tried making it swim in the water, before I finally made them let it go so they wouldn't kill it. It was so cute!

This week I also brought the kids to the Lynnwood Park Zoo. A lot of the reviews online said it was dirty, unkempt, not worth going to, etc. I thought it was a delightful little place! True, the cages did seem a bit small for some of the animals, and it wasn't the most stroller-friendly place I've ever been, but the kids had a great time, and the man who runs it even brought a few of the animals out for the boys to pet, and gave them some extra food to feed the goats. We'll definitely be going back there! It was so nice and outdoorsy, and a great place for the kids. Nick, towards the end, got out of the stroller and started walking with us. When he saw one of the monkeys, he stood completely still and stared at it, and watched it for several minutes, even after I called him and tried to get him to move on. He finally did, and then got entranced by a cockatiel or something like that the same way. That one, he had a bag of snacks in his hand, and was taking out handfuls and shoving them in his mouth without taking his eyes off the bird, pretty close to someone watching a movie and eating popcorn. It was so funny! You could just see him calculating, trying to figure out what this thing was, watching it's every movement.

Also this week, we went to the thrift store and found some new books. What were they? Arctic and Antarctic, Shoes Through History, something about different kinds of flowering plants, My Body Is Private (appropriate and inappropriate touching), The Eye, a school book that has a mix of fic and nonfic stories on various subjects, and Biscuit's First Thanksgiving, because we all like Biscuit so much!

We also got a chalkboard, and the kids have been using it to draw on, scribble on, spell on, and I'm sure we're still at the tip of the iceberg of what they'll end up doing with that thing. My family had one when I was growing up, and I used that thing a LOT!

Did I write about our spider in the window a while back? She's still there, and she has an egg sac. We've watched her make a new web most mornings when the blinds are up, and we've seen her catch a few insects. Yesterday a black praying mantis parked itself above her web, and they watched each other for a good part of the day. It's been so interesting to watch the spider! I'm glad we didn't kill it when it first showed up.

Also, the kids are really getting into Adventures in Odyssey. I'm going to have to start switching out the CDs in the car more often, because it's the only thing they want to listen to anymore!

Colin is collecting stuff outside. He found a something he calls a starfish, and it does look like one. I thought at first it was the base of a (very) small tree, but Matthew says it looks more like the bottom of a mushroom. In either case, we let it dry in the windowsill for a few days, since Colin found it in the ditch after it rained, and now he's got it in a box with a few other treasures from outside.

Last but not least, Nick may finally be starting to speak! He's said a few more words the last few days, and today already he's said "cup" and "off". Woohoo!

More adventures later!

-Amanda -_-*

Learning Lately

Colin has been working on numbers this week. I printed out a counting chart and stuck it on the refrigerator- 1 through 20. The first day, Colin found it, and tried counting, and could only get up to 16 very slowly. I helped him the rest of the way. Every time he passed the refrigerator after that, he would stop and count up to 20. It only took him a few days, and now he'll look at it once a day or so, and count. He's got it! Prior to this, we've counted to 100 a few times in the car, and he has a Curious George movie he watches every once in a while that I think counts to 30, but I've never made a point of teaching him to count, so that's pretty good!

Colin also found a toad yesterday, and noticed the camouflage on its sides and back, and pointed it out to me. I think he talked about it with Brennan, too, because Brennan found a snail today, and brought it inside to show me, and was telling me about its camouflage. We read a book today called How Animals Hide. I think it's a really old National Geographic book. I'm trying to read some of the books we haven't read in a while at bedtimes, because when they pick, they tend to pick the same ones over and over! So, I've been picking some, and they've been picking some.

(Colin also just told me that he learned we shouldn't murder- because it's bad!)

We've also watched some pretty cool videos on The Kid Should See This blog, about shapes, crayons being made, a violin being made (from sapling to finished product), a couple versions of Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring, a video about this couple that collects plastic from a beach and makes art out of it, a couple videos with bikers doing crazy stunts, how to make puppets, and too many others to name. They've also watched a DVD of Magic School Bus about bugs. Nature theme lately, much?

I'm making a chart of the main constellations to put up somewhere. I want to learn those, and Colin is interested, too.

Brennan is learning the alphabet by sight, and we're trying to reinforce the potty habit, as well as cleaning up messes- that goes for all of them!

Nick is saying a few more words, but not really talking all that much. He's very good at getting his point across, though! And he's finally started pointing for things he wants.

We've also done a little studying about Rosh Hashannah. Colin likes hearing the shofar. Brennan, not so much! I'm going to try to make challah today, if I remember at a convenient time before it gets too late. Either that or honeycake. I don't think we'll be able to do both today, though if it turns out we can, great! I'm at my midday slump, though, so nothing is looking like it's going to get done right now (even though I know I'll feel more up to working later).

That's all for this week!

Today Was A Very Pumpkin-y Day!

Today was Friday Dessert Day. And since it's September, and September means Fall, and Fall means Pumpkins, and Pumpkins mean Pumpkin Cupcakes with Cinnamon Brown Sugar Buttercream Frosting, that's what we made! :) Recipe I found last year and fell completely in love with here: http://www.mykitchenaddiction.com/2009/10/pumpkin-cupcakes-with-cinnamon-brown-sugar-buttercream/

Colin, at another point today, found some orange fabric in my fabric stash that I'd gotten down a couple nights ago. He pulled it out and said, "Mom! Let's make pumpkins!" My first thought was a resounding NO for many reasons, but I said yes, and it was actually pretty fun. I thought over a couple different possible designs, then started looking online for an actual pattern. I found one that was actually really simple- and made one for each kid!


I used this pattern http://www.modabakeshop.com/2009/10/garden-fresh-fabric-tomatoes.html as the basis, made them a little bigger (I traced my biggest mixing bowl), and then changed the top to make them pumpkins instead of tomatoes. Colin, Brennan, and Kailey all traced the bowl for theirs mostly on their own, then I cut them out, and did the sewing, and they stuffed them. They also chose the fabric to be right side out or inside out, and chose the color for the tops. All three of them wanted theirs the same, leaves out with the green top. Bella's I made leaves out with a brown top, and then Nick's is the one plain side out with a brown top. Aren't they so cute?

Thoughts, Contemplations, and Mind-Meanderings

Warning: You're looking inside my brain here. Things may not be completely coherent/worded correctly, or in the order they would be if I were to write out a list of my "educational goals", and some things may be glaringly missing. I'm just jotting down some of the thoughts I have about this upcoming schoolyear, to get them straight in my own head. No bashing, please :)

With the start of a new school year, and this being the first year Colin is actually "of school age", I've been thinking a lot more than usual about what I want my kids to learn, what I want to teach them, and how. I believe, especially at these tender ages, that less is more when it comes to school work. Before I've even started officially "schooling" him, Colin has started teaching himself to read, and knows basic math to a degree. He has me constantly spelling words to him, even though, so far, he can only write his name (which he didn't even want to practice doing, just one day said, "Mommy, I wrote my name!" And he had!) He's taking dance classes, and wants to start several sports- baseball, soccer, and bowling have all been requested within the last week. The kids all love singing, listening to music, and reading stories. But what do I want to teach them?

So far, through reading books by the truckload, our constant field trips, answering their questions in as much detail as they want, and letting them explore and discover on their own, I think they're on track for where they "should" be, if they were getting a boxed-curriculum education. Okay, well, Colin more than the other two. But I don't see how to divide educating one from educating all three, because the other two are going to pick up on what the one learns, to some degree or another. Matthew and I have talked about getting the Math-U-See curriculum for math, when we can afford it (Christmas present, anybody?) I want to up our field trips this year, if possible, or at least expand them a little bit to more than the Aquarium and rounds of the parks! We actually are in the process of getting a trip to Mike's Farm planned with a play group we're a part of. Mike's Farm is a big, well, farm, that does seasonal things- strawberry picking, pumpkin patch, Christmas light show, as well as educational field trips for schools and other groups.

I want them to learn at least one other language. We're starting on Russian, because Matthew speaks it, and that will make it that much easier. He's wanting me to learn Pashto so he can keep his fluency in it, so they may end up learning that sooner or later, too. I would love to learn Hebrew and Greek alongside them someday, and maybe other languages, too. Spanish would be useful, French or German might be nice. Really, whatever languages they take a fancy to. After you get over the initial language barrier it's easier to pick up additional languages. Why not learn as many as possible? Who knows what their futures will hold? Knowing at least one additional language will open up so many more possibilities for them!

Most importantly, I want to teach them to love God, to pray, to memorize Bible verses, and read the Bible. I don't think I've been doing as well on that score as I could be, because I don't think I'm as close to God right now as I could be. That needs to change for me to instill those values in them. We've started reading a missionary story called It's A Jungle Out There, written by a man who grew up in the jungles of South America while his parents worked there as missionaries. The day after reading that he and his brother rode a log down a river and nearly killed themselves, Brennan jumped out of a fallen tree in our front yard, and hurt his leg. Maybe that isn't the best story to read them. But...

I want to teach them courage, respect, compassion, responsibility, perseverance, honesty, self-control, and more. I want to teach them to be virtuous. Most people forget those things when they talk about educating a child. I think they are even more important than teaching the three R's (which most people today also struggle with!) By the time they're grown, I want them to know how to budget, how to cook and keep their house clean, how to write fluently. I want them to always have a book that they're reading. I want them to be men who are respected by those around them. I want them to live their lives completely for God. I'll use whatever means and methods I can to help them learn those things :)

Home Again

Here we are. Moved again, Matthew is back from deployment and training and everything else that has kept him away for over a year, back from evacuating from Hurricane Irene. Home again.

I'm keeping this year low-key in regards to "schooly" things we do. Colin is currently teaching himself to read, understands basic math concepts, takes dance classes, and asks questions about anything and everything he sees. We read lots of stories in a variety of subjects, depending on the season, current interests, and what we find at the library, and most of them are nonfiction. And never forget the field trips! We haven't been doing as many lately, because of heat and exhaustion and gas prices and See First Paragraph. But, we've been having fun at home, and learning has been happening when I least expect it!

Brennan has hurt himself again, jumping out of a tree. I keep wondering when he'll learn that jumping is NOT a good idea! X-rays didn't show a break, but it's the same leg that he broke earlier this year. They put a splint on it, and said to bring him back by next week if it continues hurting. He's still refusing to walk on it, so we'll probably have to.

Nikolai is starting to talk. He's only got a few words, and those aren't distinguishable to most people without REALLY listening. "oosh" for "shoes", "ah-sss" for "ice", "ta-da!" when he gets something he wants, and he goes around saying "deedle-eedle-ee" to just about everything. No "ga-ga goo-goo" for this baby! Trilling is much more fun!

I'm hoping to do a weekly post to keep tabs on what we're up to, and to start logging some of our "schooly" things. I'm also hoping to start them on a chore chart again, so we'll see how that goes!

Until our next adventure,

-Amanda -_-*

Cooking With Children (and a summary of our day)

Today was fun. I don't know how I can say that in a day that was mostly spent doing errands and housework, but we made it a fun day, anyway. The kids have been going a little bit nuts, since there's been a wildfire burning for over a week, and it's too smokey outside for them to go out most days. Energy has been at an all-time high, so to give them a chance to at least get out of the house, we all went to Sam's Club this morning. Nick fell asleep in the car on the way home, and I sat in there with him after we got back, and had some pretty good time to myself. It's crazy that I have to sit in the car just to get a few minutes' peace! Tiffany was inside, and the kids still kept coming out to me to ask if they could have more lunch, or do this, or do that, and it was like, "Enough already!" But at least they didn't wake Nick up this time.

This afternoon, amidst playing and cleaning and making enough paper airplanes and boats to restock the Air Force and Navy, I put in Jean Butler's Irish Dance Masterclass for them. Colin and Kailey have been wanting to take dance classes lately, and that at least gave them a taste of what it would be like, as well as some other cool extra features. They had a great time!

The kids have been learning to make bread. I'm hoping that I'll be able to put Colin in charge of that task within another year or so, after he gets a little better at reading. He's already showing an interest in cooking, probably in part because I keep telling him the things I was cooking at five years old! We made instant potato bread (in the bread machine) today. The kids just dump in the ingredients, although last time when it was only Colin helping me, I let him measure the flour. He scooped it up, swiped the top with his hand, then wiped his hand on his shirt as he poured the flour into the bread pan before I could even say anything!

For Friday Dessert Day today, we made ice cream in a baggie. We got the recipe from here: http://crafts.kaboose.com/ice-cream-in-a-bag.html I had some of my chocolate almond milk ice cream, since I can't have dairy anymore. The almond ice cream is pretty good. The consistency is right, the flavor was good. It had a very strong almond taste, which was good with the chocolate, but I think the chocolate coconut milk ice cream was a more neutral chocolate taste. I'll probably go back and forth between the two depending on what I feel like. I didn't like the rice milk ice cream- it seemed too sticky, syrupy, I guess you would say, though you got used to it after a few bites. And soy is just gross. BUT, that's not what I was saying. The kids loved our ice cream project. And then we made brownies, just because. Do you need a reason to make brownies?

Also, Matthew called today. Colin got to talk to him, and was so happy about it! Brennan was being a little grump, and had already been pouting before I tried giving him the phone, so he just sat there and didn't say anything. I think he should have had a nap.

When we read bedtime stories tonight, we were in the kids' bedroom. Brennan's bed is just a mattress on the floor, since Bella and Nick are in the two cribs that convert to toddler beds, and Brennan still falls out of bed on a regular basis, so him being on the bottom bunk with Colin wasn't working. Nick and Bella were sitting side-by-side on Brennan's mattress, feet on the ground, and Nick started bouncing and bouncing. He bounced for probably most of two stories, getting up in the middle to take the first book from me that I finished, then he went back over, sat back down, and started bouncing again, like he couldn't sit still to save his life. He probably can't! It's so much fun having boys! I love the energy and enthusiasm they bring into everything they do. It's so much fun watching them play, even if it does mean dirt and water everywhere, and them having to change their clothes three times a day (or more!).

Well, I think that's all for tonight. Happy Independence Day!

A Whale of a Tale or Two... or Three!

Today has been full of adventures. Okay, maybe not "full", but there have been a few pretty good stories to come out of it.

This morning, all the kids woke up super-early like they have been now that summer's nearly here, and the sun is rising earlier, and I was able, for the first time since moving to North Carolina, to get everyone dressed, fed, and ready for the early service at church. Amazing, isn't it? Anyway, continuing on, it gets better. I sent Colin, Brennan, and Kailey outside while I got Nick and the last couple things (Tiffany stayed home with Bella), and got out the door. While I was doing so, the kids found "candy leaves" somewhere in the front yard. As I was shooing everyone to the car and realizing "candy leaves" is probably something they should not be eating, Brennan starts waving one at me, and I see that it's a leaf covered in bug eggs. That, yes, they had been eating. Candy button-style.

Tiffany freaked out about it when I told her after church more than I did. I'm used to such things with the boys. She, on the other hand, has girls. Kailey was horrified when Tiffany asked her if she'd eaten any. "Colin and Brennan were, I wasn't!" Lol!

Moving on to story 2, I got Colin some baseball stuff for his birthday, and we've been playing every once in a while (that kid is a natural. On his birthday, he'd never held a bat before, and by that afternoon was hitting balls across the street). We played a little more this evening. He's attempting to learn how to bat while I'm attempting to learn how to pitch, and trying to remember everything I overheard while Nathan was in Little League about how to hold a bat, and all the rest. Brennan and Nick were running around, Brennan wanted a turn to bat, so I pitched a little to him. His "hits" are me miraculously hitting the bat when I throw the ball, but he thinks it's spectacular. When he swings the bat, it's usually vertically, and even then it's not for every pitch. But the boys were having fun, and I'd pitched all the balls to each of them a couple times, then Nick starts walking around and picking up all the balls while I was still pitching, and putting them back in my bucket! He did that for most of the rest of the time we were playing! It was so cute, watching him in his little I-just-started-walking fashion, picking up those balls. And then when he got tired of that, he took the bat Brennan had been using, and started walking around with it. I tried getting him to stand still so I could toss a couple balls to him, but he didn't want to.

Also today, the kids wanted to fingerpaint. They didn't understand that that meant using your fingers to paint. Colin had an orange glove all the way up to his shirt sleeve, and Brennan's hand was covered in red. Then Kailey had to join in the fun with blue and white. Kids! At least we know they'll have fun when we make Matthew's homecoming signs! And, this is why I only buy Crayola!