Lego Organization

Thanks to the ideas that I found on pinterest, the LEGOs are now organized and ready to be made into new creations.  In the fall we spent one Saturday morning sorting the LEGOs by color.  The original idea was to put all the sets back together.  That seemed like a daunting task and one that the kids could not do by themselves.  The containers that we used for our impromptu sort were of all sizes and shapes.  They were stored in the drawers and were not easy for the kids to use.

My goal was for the kids to be able to play with the LEGOs sooner rather than later because it felt like a waste of money to have LEGOs that the kids could not use.  The day after Christmas I made a trip to The Container Store to buy 20 of their shoe boxes.  I dumped all the colors into different boxes.

This weekend, I finally got around to putting the labels on the boxes deciding to go with color organization rather than set organization.  The deal is that the LEGOs can be played with all week and stored in the right drawer of the LEGO table, but, every Sunday, the "projects" will be resorted by color.  The left drawer is for LEGO magazines and instruction manual which are in a binder with clear plastic sleeves.  Our LEGO table is a garage sale find in our neighborhood.

Thank you to heatherjslife.blogspot.com for the box labels, and alison.knitsmiths.us for the idea to use the same containers so they stack.  iheartorgainzing.blogspot.com also had a really cool IKEA shelving unit that she used for LEGO storage by color; but I did not find that idea until after I had bought the shoe boxes.





So Hard to Be a Group of Three

Reese wanted her friend from next door to come over and play.  The problem is that friend is also her brother's friend.  Most of the time they all play together, but sometimes, it is just the girls or just the older two and one of them feels left out.  It is inevitable; I have heard it since I was young, three is not a good number of playmates.  I have seen it time and time again with different groupings and pairings of kids.  I know that it is hard to share a friend, and I also know that Riley needs one probably more than Reese.  He wants friends to come and play at our house, but he does not like for Reese to tag along.  I told him that maybe in a few weeks, we would go and visit our friends who have boys his age and a girl Reese's age so that he would get some play time with just boys and his sister not bothering him.

Father/Son & Mother/Daughter Time

Resse and I were invited by one of my friends to go and see a play today.  She only had two tickets, so I arranged for Daddy to take Riley somewhere.  Riley and Daddy went to see a movie that Riley has been wanting to see.  This is good for both of them because we have been having trouble with Riley because he does not feel that he gets enough attention and has been acting out to get attention.  Reese likes to spend time with Mommy by herself also.

The play that Reese and I went to see performed by CATCO.

The movie that Riley chose to see.



Reese's "Projects"

Today Reese printed out the Mad Hatter's Hat from the game The Wonder Pets: Adventures in Wonderland.  This was definitely more of an adult project to put together than a five year old project.  I put the paper hat together using a glue stick because we have no scotch tape right now.  It turned out pretty well.

E is for Explore

Our next project together will be more handprints.  I found another idea from Pinterest, an alphabet handprint with each letter a different handprint item.  I am thinking about making this an 8 by 8 scrapbook with a page for each letter.  Then, I may use it as a Mother's Day gift for YaiYai.



iPod touch v. Samsung Galaxy Tablet

We actually own both of these pieces of technology. I decided this year that I was not investing in any more kid specific technology. They both are old enough to use the adult items. I wanted the iPod touch for our travels so that the kids can play games and videos. There are many apps that are only available on iTunes so I wanted access to both the Android Market And iTunes. I have gotten lucky in that Reese seems to prefer the iPod touch and Riley prefers the tablet. Reese enjoys many apps and I actually bought my first app tonight for her, Diego's Magical Adventure. Riley likes to play Angry Birds on the tablet.

Reese's First Gymnastics Class

Reese took her first gymnastics class this fall.  She wanted to take something because her brother is now involved in Archery.  I signed her up for the second fall session.  She was really shy for the first few classes.  She invited her grandpa to come and see her and then did not do anything of the exercises while he was there.  The first time her dad went to see her, she did not do anything either.  As time went on, she did get better and become less shy.  I have to remember also that she just turned five, and she was in a five year old class, but some of those students could actually be closer to six so, as in school, she would be one of the youngest in the class.

These are some pictures from her last class.

The first picture is Reese on the balance beam in the big gym.  The second picture is Reese on the rings in the little gym.  The third picture is Reese receiving her certificate for completing the class.



The Many Faces of Reese

This is Reese at her best.  When I bought her the trunk of costumes, they had Disney Princesses, Disney Fairies, Superheroes, and The Pirates of the Caribbean.  Since The Pirates of the Caribbean trunk did not have costumes, just props, it was perfect for Riley.  I knew that the Superheroes trunk was perfect for Reese, and she loved it.