Jan-March picture dump and a job for the web-developers out there

This is random but I want to say I really REALLY love technology... For example, I love that I don't have to carry a map in my car anymore, or spend hours planning a trip. I can get in my car, enter a general description of my destination and my phone will find the address and the best itinerary. I love that I can carry books, scriptures, magazines, newspapers, encyclopedia, dictionaries, emails, calendar, shopping lists, kids games, a camera and much more in my pocket. I don't think I could have imagined that 20 years ago (man, can I really look back into my past 20 years?... scary!!) It just makes me wonder what else I'm not imagining right now... what will we be capable of doing 20 years from now.

On the same note I'm amazed by what we can do with a computer and the internet (I'm talking positively here). I love taking pictures and journaling but I never had time for it before. Now it is so much easier. I was looking for a way to print my blog history to use as a photo-album for the boys and I found out it's possible and even super easy, I'm not really satisfied with the options offered yet (for resizing/editing/personalizing), but I'm sure there will be a good option soon... So if there are any programmers/web-designers/printing entrepreners out there reading my blog, please work your miracle and give me a way to extract the text and pictures from my blog and turn it into something I'd want to keep. Thank you.

I really should get better at posting on my blog more regularly so I don't end up having to dump a bunch of random disconnected pictures like today... But oh well.

There was a drum expo/demo at the library one week-end in January. My friend Emily invited us to go with her and I thought it would be interesting. I was not disappointed. I think I fell in love with the drum teacher (just kidding), he was so passionate and so amazingly patient and open to any kind of random comment or participation from the cute little kiddos present. Josh was absolutely mesmerized. It's usually hard to get him to participate in anything public but this guy was so incredible he made everybody comfortable (even me, haha!)

He taught about rhythm, and used the rhythm of our heart as an example for music. I think the kids loved to think of their heart beat as a music theme (I did). Then he talked about all the different drums and percussions he had brought (there were a ton), and let each kid and adult choose one. And then we just all made music... and it was pretty. I don't know how he did it!

At one point he asked the kids who wanted to volunteer to play a rhythm that the rest of the participants would imitate. Josh volunteered and did something really simple that everybody repeated. I could see how proud it made him feel and I just wanted to hug the guy. Then he asked if any adult wanted to volunteer and since nobody did, he asked the kids if they wanted their parents to volunteer. Don't say that to my kid! Of course he wanted me to volunteer. So I had to make up a rhythm for everyone to repeat. Again Josh was radiant. There was a young teenage boy with down syndrome in the participants. He seemed really enthusiast with rhythm (and talented too) and the teacher let him make up rhythms for everyone to repeat, for a really long time. It obviously made the boy very happy and it warmed my heart to observe this act of kindness and acceptance. I was really touched by this man's ability to use a fairly simple musical talent he had, to help build up children's self esteem.

After that he stood up and started walking in the room, stomping on the ground to create rhythms for us to imitate with the drums. It was fun and again he let the children create their own rhythms. Josh volunteered and created a very simple rhythm that made him super happy and proud. Then the boy with down-syndrome created an amazing choreography of modern/tribal dance (a little hard to follow with the drums but everybody tried their best) and again it warmed my heart to see how this man had managed to release this boy's mind from the fear of judgement and let him freely express himself. I was not so brave and quietly passed my turn when Joshua tried to volunteer me a second time, haha! Taking baby steps here...

Later in February (I think), we were invited to celebrate our cute neighbor's birthday. Joshua still thinks he is going to marry Clare one day. A few months ago, he was playing with Braiden another neighbor and they discovered that they both wanted to marry Clare. They looked puzzled for a few seconds, wondering how that could work... and then Josh just told him... "You can marry another Clare". Simple, logical, efficient... just don't marry my Clare.

Josh and Clare playing twister, PG style:

and decorating the windows:

We had a few science experiment days and craft days. Here Josh and William made boats with tin foil and counted how many pennies they could put on the boat before it sank. It occupied them for quite a while.

Josh painted a fish tank:

William painted... something (I tried gluing goggly eyes on a piece of paper and letting him create a monster around the eyes... I don't think it turned into anything... then I gave him straws and let him blow some paint on the paper... again the technique needs to be improved... but it was messy, so he liked it):

Around the same time, Sammy came over to play and we redid the boat experiment, but this time I gave them straws and let them blow bubbles in the water... they liked that better than sinking the boat with pennies.

Sammy kept giggling, it was really cute.

We borrowed a book about knights from the library and we learned the names of a lot of weapons: flail, battle ax, mace... I'm amazed at how they both just soak up this kind of knowledge. So we had a crafy afternoon, turning sticks, cardboard boxes and tin foil into knight artillery.

For Valentine's day, Josh and William made candy filled heart-shaped paper presents for their friends and class mates. It wasn't new, we did the same thing last year, but this year Josh was able to write XOXO on the hearts and cut them up himself. It was a fun project.

William still likes to color himself better than paper, haha... (no he did some really cute ones too):

A very diligent Josh counting the candy pieces:

and then I made chocolate covered strawberries and frozen bananas that the boys gobbled up:

I'm not sure when this was, but it was too cute not to capture, they call it the hugging game:

Josh earned some money doing chores around the house (cleaning windows and chairs mostly), so we went to the dollar store and he bought himself this FBI pretend play kit. He generously offered his 2nd dollar to William who picked a spiky ball. I did not ask him to do that, I was impressed and proud.

We've become pizza experts here. I like traditions... so we made it a tradition to prepare it together (we each make one) and we eat pizza almost weekly now. I had been craving for an egg on my pizza for a long time... there was a restaurant I used to eat at when I was a college student where they put an egg on top of their pizza... I loved those pizzas... so I tried, and it wasn't as good as I remembered... too bad.
So far our favorites are macaroni and marshmallow (pepperoni and mushroom in William's language), and the 3 cheese pizza with gorgonzola, swiss/gruyere, and mozzarella. Yum!

We went to a science club my friend Sarah was organizing. It was great, totally my kinda experiments. We made silly putty, or slime, or if you're a geek like me, polymer. I loved showing the boys the magical properties... how it had the properties of a fluid but also a solid... and when squeezed into a ball it could bounce. Ha!! Makes me nostalgic for some chemistry lab experiments...

February weather was really nice, before and in-between the snow dumps, so we went on several hikes (muddy hikes sometimes). Just soaking up the beauty of Colorado as much as we can.

And we started going to the pool regularly too. We try to go weekly, but with sicknesses, weather and Josh's eczema we've missed a few weeks, but the boys are getting really comfortable in the water.

And lastly my friend Sarah organized a big service project: we assembled kits for kids for the project C.U.R.E. They provide basic medical supplies (pain killers, bandages, hygiene products, antiseptics etc...) for children in developing countries. Sarah is one of those  people that constantly inspire me to be a better Mom and a better person. She has a blog where she posts about the projects she's involved in, and invites friends to participate. It's at: http://raisinglittleheroes.wordpress.com

We gathered enough supplies to make 50 kits! Sarah Stith you are the bomb!