Catching Up

Oops!  I've been slacking on updating again.  Honestly, there isn't much to report but I'll share a few pictures I've taken over the last month.

Both of my kids are rather artistic.  They will use any scrap of paper or trash and turn it into a work of art, or just use my printer paper I order through Amazon...anything is fair game to them.  I decided to document one of Clara's recent works.  She is really into the Harry Potter series, so one day she decided she wanted to make a banner.  She went and found a Gryffindor Lion and printed it.  After making the paper look like parchment, she freehanded this lion.  I was impressed!  She continued working on it beyond what you see as she went and found some sticks to glue inside rolls she made at the top and bottom and finished the lion.

In other news, the weather is fantastic now!  We are spending time outside each day enjoying the sun and warm temperatures.  It is mostly in the 50s and 60s right now, but the wind can really make it feel cool at times.  On this day the kids and I rode out to the grocery store in Lasnamae for a few items.

 I took a couple of pictures so you could see the housing in the area, most of which was developed just before Estonia restored its independence.

A visiting Marine family hung out with us for the day last Friday and we had a great time in Old Town.  We were able to go up on the city wall, something we chose not to do last year because of the yucky weather.  In the first picture, you can see the garderobe.

 Afterward, we just toured the area, and visited different shops.  Zach attempted to catch every pigeon in sight.  

 While I'm no fan of Shrek, I couldn't pass up this opportunity.  

 He was a pretty good sport too.  

 We didn't do it that day, but I'm thinking I'll take Clara back to do a bit of archery.  

 Lunch was at the Peppersack which is a very fun and tasty restaurant in Old Town.  Our waiter was nice enough to take a picture of us all.

 As we came out of the Peppersack, we listened to this guy outside of Olde Hansa.

 Zach and his new buddy had so much fun together!

 Old Town is never boring, and there was a little entertainment right on the square.  We stopped to listen for a few minutes.

 As you can see, Clara became fast friends with her pal.  

Other than that, Charlie survived another inspection, I'm now teaching three more children for the rest of the school year, and we had family pictures taken.  We've been busy enjoying the weather and our friends in the community.  Yesterday I placed the order for Clara's birthday party next month.  We are getting excited as the school year is quickly coming to an end!

Name Aliens

Clara and I have been enjoying geometry quite a bit.  As we approached the lessons on symmetry and reflections, I recalled we did something with our names in cursive when I was a kid.  So, a quick google search led me here.  This gave me a refresher on criteria, so off to the store I went to obtain oil pastels.  

Of course, we had to get Zach in on the fun.  He was not so interested in finishing his, but did color.  I used his name as the model for Clara on how to transfer the image to the other side.

 Her final creation!  I think it turned out quite nicely!

As I have mentioned, she is quite into Harry Potter.  She created a symmetrical goblet of fire.  

Heroes and Snow

Clara loves to dress up, and has been that way for a long time.  I never really thought much about boys and dress up, until I had a boy, that wanted to dress up. The difference being that Clara likes to be a princess or popstar while Zach wants to be a knight or hero, or even super hero.  Last year, I had a set of kiddie cammies made for each child during the month of the military child.  It was mainly for Clara, but I decided to do a set for Z as well.  It turned out to be a good move!  He likes to dress up like a Marine sometimes.  The other morning when we were getting him dressed he made the request, so here he is.  All he needs are chevrons and boot bands.

He then was watching Imagination Movers which had a super hero theme going so he hopped up and said, "I want to put on my superman t-shirt and cape!"  So we did.  And then his play shifted to the Bat Cave and assorted heroes.  

Now to the snow.  Ugh.  The snow is rapidly melting.  It is in the 30s so I know there is no need for alarm, but this started this afternoon and is in the forecast for tomorrow.  I'm so done with the snow.  I want to frolic in the sun WITHOUT snow gear.