Beat-Box Girls and Some Other New Skills

We have finally gotten back into the swing of regular life after our whirlwind November. This week, we stayed home quite a bit. We are taking a break from all activities except gymnastics, so our mornings have been calmer and easier to fit projects into.

Magnatiles continue to be a favorite activity. Sophie has been extra creative with them, branching out into some really interesting designs.

The girls watch a lot of BrainPop during the week. They pick out all of their topics, of which there are hundreds, so I am often surprised at their new knowledge during the day.

Sophie and I were walking around the dollar store the other day, picking up items for her upcoming birthday party, and I heard what sounded like beat-boxing happening behind me.

"Where did you learn to do that?"

"BrainPop."

Of course.

When Delaney returned from gymnastics, I asked them to give Cullen and I a demonstration.



I love BrainPop.

Sophie met a friend at the gym a few weeks ago while we were waiting for Delaney. He is about 7 or 8, and they hang out and play games on the iPad together...checkers, Temple Run, etc. He wanted to play chess this week, and she declined, saying she didn't know how. That night, however, she asked Cullen to play with her. She set up the board by herself, and made it through about half of the game before her attention span gave out. She asked to play each night this week, and now she is looking forward to a match with her new buddy.

We pulled out the paint after a long crafting vacation. I had a certain picture in mind for my Christmas decorations, and tried to commission Delaney to paint it. She wasn't interested, but Sophie was.

I asked for a snowman on a blue background, with certain specifications for his look. I don't know if I have ever told Sophie what to do while painting, and I was a little bossy about what I wanted this time. She was very patient with me, and did everything I asked.

It turned out perfectly! I made the outline of the circles for this guy, but she did the rest. I am so happy with the result.

Isn't my bathroom cute?

Delaney painted a cool view of Santa.

Once Sophie was finished with my picture, I set her free to paint whatever she wanted. She was quite happy with that.

We definitely need to get the paints out more often. The girls are so creative and have a lot of fun, and I need to increase my mess-tolerance back to its previous state.

And finally, my favorite picture from the week...Delaney's new favorite place to read. :D