Sorting Activity

The other day at Wal-Mart I was back by the craft section and saw these curved glass "beads" that were multi-colored. I thought they'd be a fun material for the kids to sort and make patterns with. My boys have tried this before, but today I took them out for all the kids. I first gave them all their own piles to sort. After they did that, they came up with the idea to sort them in the small holes on the papasan mattress. I think they like the sound and the feel of the glass in their hands--not a material they get a lot of time to manipulate.

The first time we played with them, I wanted Ethan to make a color pattern, but he ended up making a pattern by the way he turned the beads. This time I wanted them to play in their own areas sorting by color or making a pattern, but they came up with a fun idea, too. It is amazing how they come up with great ideas without us!

Snuggles with Pa

My parents stopped by last night to celebrate Ethan's birthday with him, because they were out of town for his party. After supper Ethan and Grandma looked at his new toys in his bedroom, and Emmett and Grandpa snuggled together on the couch. Grandpa ended up catching up on some much needed sleep with a quick nap after their long drive home the previous night.

More Birthday Pictures

Ethan Eating his Sundae, Emmett and Mia, Playing in the Trail, Inspecting the Grasshoppers

Happy 4th Birthday Ethan!

On Sun. we celebrated Ethan's 4th Birthday. Friends and family came over to create their own ice cream sundaes. We polished off 2 gallons of ice cream in no time! The kids had a great time, too. They ran all over playing on the swing set and in our Adventure Trails. Aaron even organized a grasshopper catch competition to see who could catch the biggest grasshopper. It was cute to see them all running around the yard chasing after grasshoppers. Ethan received great gifts and many of them Transformer related. He got a lot of new games for us to play as family, which I am very excited about. It is fun that he is getting to the age where we can play games now. Carson ended up spending the night ... they just kept talking and talking. I think they finally crashed just a tad before midnight. Just too much stimulation with new toys and a Transformer pillowcase to sleep on! More pictures to come once I get them from Tabitha's camera!