Here's to a day filled with happy moments, new adventures and smiling faces...

When surprise packages arrive in the mail filled with goodies and sweet treats...

And you feel on top of the world....

And you understand that sharing makes the snack that much sweeter...

And you get to try something new, even if it means happily hopping along like you saw others do and figuring it must be right...

And you can stand proud in a jersey 10 times too big...

And finish the day eating an ice cream while pantless in public.

(I saw this quote at Muthering Heights and just had to share our version - helmet angst!)

This week we had 2 whole days of sunshine!! Which for us meant dropping everything and heading outside for some much needed fresh air! So although in many ways we set aside our bug themed activities in pursuit of outdoor adventures, the fact of the matter is when you're outside there is always a lesson on bugs to be had!

Our first lesson was intentional. It was one we had postponed from our rainy ant week. We set out flour, salt and honey on the driveway. Piper then predicted that they would like the honey the most. It took a little while before any ants happened by but Piper was very patient and spent quite a while waiting for them to come!

In the end her prediction proved true! And she was so excited to see them chowing down on the honey!

She also found a spider stuck to some tape - a perfect opportunity to get to check it out up close!

The girls found a junebug crawling around and followed it until it found a hiding place!

Before this rainy month began, I had planned a bunch of outdoor activities. Because of the gloomy weather we haven't been able to do much of what I'd planned. So I was pleased to have a chance to try one of the activities I'd planned: Ball painting!

First, we'd put them in a container with paint, put on the lid and give it a good shake. Then we'd let the ball go on the paper! It was fun to see the different designs it made!

Taitum was more interested in finger painting!

Here's our masterpiece!

We also did some dandilion prints!

Piper spent loads of time blowing bubbles...

And Taitum had fun making bubbles with the bubble mower!

Then fill in the graph according to which bug she rolled and kept doing so until we had a 'winner'! She LOVED this!

Piper also made a spider web by string painting after we read Aranea. She's done this one at Halloween before but enjoys string painting so didn't seem to mind doing a re-do of a craft! Tait gave it a try to but was too quickly frustrated with trying to control the string!

Although this was a week that drifted away from our original plan, it was fantastic nonetheless! Getting to roam around outside is always far better than any academic type activities I could plan! I'd even go so far as to say its likely more educational! I find even I am becoming a wee bit more comfortable with bugs (which is a HUGE step for me!) as we learn about them and what they are up to! I love getting to learn with my kids!

I'm linking up to:

After what has seemed like an eternity of endless rain...

SUN!

A whole day of it, in fact!

And there is just something about sun flooding in through the windows and the smell of lemons that make a day feel simply grand!

Lemons to make...

A strawberry spinach salad with Lemon Poppy Seed Vinaigrette,

which perfectly accompanied BBQ steak and my most favorite food ever - fiddleheads!

(Its good to be a Maritimer!)

Finally, some Whole Wheat Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins!

In the end, the vinaigrette was a bit too vinger-y, there were far too few fiddleheads for my liking and the muffins weren't as delish as I'd hoped. But it was sunny out! So it really didn't matter.

I was happy.

We were all happy!

A sunny day will do that for a person!

Piper asked to play with it and before I knew it we were all joining in! Matt and I with our evening coffees and the girls with their insatiable appetite for play based fun! I have to say play doh is pretty addicting! I got so involved I didn't take any pics of some of the more memorable creations - like Matt's giant dragonfly!

Matt and I ended up being the vegetable makers for Chef Piper who was in the process of making soup! She would tell us what veggies she needed and we'd make them so she could chop them up and throw them in the pot!

As is often the case, Taitum eventually lost interest but was content to stay close by. She worked on buckling her baby into her high chair, busied herself with trying to see what was in the garbage can and when she got the chance, attempting to get a sip out of my empty coffee mug!

Play doh was the perfect activity for a family night with little ones! The girls played happily away as Matt and I chatted about the happenings of our day, the girls listened intently and asked questions (in Piper's case). We, in turn, asked questions we had for them and overall, simply enjoyed our time together!

This week we learned about bees! Piper was fascinated by all I had to teach her about them and by the end of the week she was pointing out bees to her Daddy and telling him that they were getting nectar from the flowers! In fact, she became so fascinated that I had to often remind her not to get too close as we watched them outside! Also, she was very perturbed by the Baby Bumblebee song initially - why in the world would you ever what to squish a BABY bumblebee! :)

Piper made a Bumblebee 'B'.

Taitum did, too, of course!

She also enjoyed this bee color match activity while Piper counted out the correct number of bees on her honeycomb cards!

They both colored bee pictures from the BEES Science Unit @ McTot.

Piper really impressed me this week with how carefully she did each of the activities I presented to her. She is really beginning to take pride in her work and put some time into making sure it is done right! Its so rewarding to see this progression! I've never made a big deal about it if she showed little interest in an activity or did it quickly just to have it over and done with. In retrospect, I believe it had more to do with the frustration of feeling like she wasn't capable of it. Now she has gained some confidence and is learning in leaps and bounds! And asking for more even after our school time is down! It makes this Mama smile!

Because of her love for buttons, Piper was thrilled about this activity - glueing them to the letter 'B'!

Lastly, I leave you with a couple links to resources I've found helpful this past week!

A Link: The Homeschool Club's Bees: Preschool Theme Unit

This link is absolutely full of awesome ideas for learning about bees with preschoolers!

These books are so great for teaching young kids about science! We also read the one about ants last week. They are very simple but teach some key things about each subject, more than enough for a 3 year old!