Help Me Mama with My Diorama

This weekend, Brenna (and I) took on the first of what I am sure will be many diorama projects. I was vaguely familiar with the term diorama, so thankfully I didn't have to Google it. We didn't "do" dioramas when I was in school back in the...well you know when I was in elementary school. No need to do the math. Much to my relief, a handout from school showed up in Brenna's backpack on Friday giving us the low-down on the project scope and level of complexity. We were to create a "simple" diorama of a zoo animal. All of the dioramas will be displayed in her classroom, and other classes will be invited to visit the zoo. Brenna chose the Cheetah as her animal, because "they run fast and she likes their polka-dots". It was also convenient that she has a Beanie Baby Cheetah, so we didn't have to buy a Cheetah for the display. We did confirm that she would be able to get the Cheetah back. It's a prized possession that she "bought" with the "money" she earns for completing her assignments in Kindergarten. Heaven forbid it become a permanent exhibit...oh the tears...the drama that only ice cream can fix!

Before we got the sheet, delusions of grandeur were going through our heads. How could I get running water into the wading pool and what should we use to create a series of climbing rocks? Would trees made out of empty toilet paper rolls do or would we need to cut branches from the trees out front? Brenna wanted bushes for the Cheetah to hide in. What would we use to create bushes for goodness sake? Should we use a shoe box or perhaps we'd need to use one of the wardrobe boxes from U-Haul (of course then I'd have to rent a truck to get the dang thing to school). So, seeing that it should be "simple" and the enclosure should look like something in a zoo brought us back down to earth. We found a "Styrofoam Diorama Kit" at Walmart, so no need to dream up an enclosure. With some green "grass", Popsicle sticks and tacky glue, we were on our way to diorama-ville. (No, Dad, tacky glue isn't glue that is poorly dressed or spouts off inappropriate comments. It's very sticky and an essential element to proper Styrofoam Diorama Kit assembly.)

Some assembly was required...it was a "kit" after all. Armed with toothpicks and tacky glue, I put it all together having to pry the pieces from Brenna's hands as she dreamed up how it all should go together. If she'd had her way, the opening would be on the bottom and you'd have to use x-ray goggles to see the Cheetah. Thank goodness she has me to keep her on the straight and narrow...well at least properly assembled. The only other thing I "helped" with was the Popsicle stick enclosure. We couldn't have that Cheetah escaping and roaming about the classroom hunting the other animals on display.

The white Styrofoam was crying out for some color, so I asked Brenna what colors we should use. Thinking about all the zoo habitats I've seen, I was envisioning some subtle browns maybe some tan thrown in there, but clearly I am not in sync with the mind of a 5-almost-6-year-old. The left wall of the enclosure is purple, the right wall is pink and the back wall is bright blue. I'm pretty sure if another shade of pink had been available in mass quantities, bright blue would not have even been an option. To be sure, it's the most colorful Cheetah habitat I've ever seen.

Cheetah care was on the top of Brenna's priority list for the habitat. All last week she watched as the level in the milk jug got lower and lower. When Brent went to wash out the empty jug, she made sure he saved the lid for a water/food bowl. She worried all week if we'd drink enough milk or juice to have a 2nd bowl. The Cheetah needed one for food AND water. Luckily on Saturday, we killed a bottle of juice and the 2nd bowl became a reality. She meticulously retrieved small pieces of dog food from the storage bin (not the dog bowls...she's no dummy) and glued them into the juice lid as "Cheetah food". I'm so glad she didn't insist on putting actual water in the milk lid. The other thing she created were some grids made of Popsicle sticks to protect the Cheetah's head from falling objects. Maybe she was worried about neighboring monkeys getting crazy and chucking bananas or coconuts over the walls. The funny thing about these grids is they sit right on top of the Cheetah, but who am I to point out the flaws in her protection system. This was HER project after all. See, I'm growing. I'm letting things go that would normally DRIVE ME INSANE.

It was a fun little project and all made worthwhile when she arrived at daycare Monday morning and was so proud to show her work to ANYONE who would look at it. I just hope it made it to Kindergarten in one piece. It had to survive 45 minutes in the Kids Club room at daycare, a bus ride and playground time before school started. Maybe those protection grids will come in handy after all!

She's a CEO

Today, Brenna was presented with a CEO Award from her Principle, Mrs. Webb. CEO stands for "Chief Example to Others". She was nominated by her teacher, Mrs. Eldridge, for being a "hard worker and great helper" - two qualities she rarely bestows on us, her parents. But then we were put on this earth to merely serve her highness, Princess Brenna, so why would she go the extra mile for us? I'm just kidding. Brenna really is a hard worker and a great helper at home...especially when it comes to helping Austin.

"Oh boy, everyone is looking at me. Good thing Mommy's here for back up."

"Look at this awesome certificate. I rule this school!"

Brenna and CEO her girlfriends. It's good to have friends in high places.

Here's our girl. Already on the road to success.
Let's just hope she doesn't take a wrong turn in Albuquerque!

Paint and Earth Day

Brenna loves to paint, but I don't care for the prep work and the mess of painting. Plus after about 15 minutes, she's bored with it all and then I have to clean up after her. For the longest time, these were the types of paints we had in our arts and crafts bin. I'd get a plate down from the cabinet and squeeze a little of each color(well a lot of pink and purple, because those are her FAVORITE colors) onto it. And then after a little while, a request for more paint would be made. Will the madness ever end?


A little over a year ago I discovered these little jewels.

Finally some paints that don't require me pouring them out onto a plate. She can easily open the lids and the rainbow of colors makes her happy. There are not one but TWO shades of pink in the packet. The only draw back is the paint runs out fairly quickly. We found ourselves in the running out of paint situation recently. It looked like I was going to have to buy more paint pots to feed her painting addiction. But in a moment of sheer genius and in honor of the 40th Anniversary of Earth Day, I painstakingly cleaned out the empty paint pots and refilled them from the paint jars. Am I going to save the earth with this small contribution to recycling? No. But I am going to grin with joy the next time she asks me if she can paint, and I can tell her "Yes, you can sweetheart. You go right ahead!"

Mmmmwaw

This is dedicated to all the ladies in his life. Well, okay, it really applies to everyone he loves, but I was trying to make him seem a little suave and debonair.

Swinging into Spring

When we went to the local Wallyworld to purchase this swing, there was no doubt in our minds that Austin would enjoy it. The first time we put him in it, the expression on his face said, "Oh no, what torture device have they strapped me into now?" As soon as the swinging commenced however, a look of abject joy overcame the terror, and it has been a love affair ever since.

Happy Easter

At 6:55 this morning, I heard Brenna's door open and the pitter patter of her feet coming down the hall. This after last night telling me that the later you let kids stay up the longer they will sleep in the next day. I knew this was just a ploy to stay up and finish watching the movie on the Disney Channel, but I held out a sliver of hope that she might wait until at least 7 o'clock before getting up. I tried to convince her to go back to her room and read books until a decent time, but she peeked over the railing at the top of the stairs and noticed the Easter Bunny had paid us a visit. I knew there would be no going back to sleep and Austin was stirring, so off we went to see what goodies the Easter Bunny brought us.

Brenna's basket

Austin's basket

This is what we woke up to this morning...more snow. It didn't stick around long though. By the time we got back from lunch, it had already begun to melt.
We tried to pretend that it wasn't winter like outside and the kids got dressed in some of their new spring outfits. Brenna picked out the pants to go under her dress, and I told myself she was emulating an Easter egg, so I wouldn't cringe every time I looked at her. At least the colors in both the dress and the pants coordinate somewhat.
After lunch, we hid the eggs the EB left in a basket on the dining room table. You see the EB knows that we have two dogs that would be able to sniff out candy and chew through plastic eggs, so he leaves them for us to hide. Brenna found the 27 eggs in no time flat with only minimal help from us. Austin even got into the action when Brenna "hid" some of the eggs in the play kitchen for him. He couldn't decide which was more fun - putting the eggs in his basket or throwing them across the room.

Egg Hunt Utah Style

What do you do when it snows the week before Easter covering the egg hunt playing field, the weather forecast for the day of the Easter Egg Hunt calls for morning snow showers, and temperatures are in the 30's? Lesser cities might have called the whole thing off, but the die-hard egg hunt organizers of Herriman simply improvised. There must be provisions for this kind of thing in their disaster preparedness manual, because the hunt must go on. They moved the Egg Hunt under the pavilion and roped off a large area with caution tape and make-shift fences. The Egg Hunts were divided up by age group, and the local fire department engine's siren sounded the beginning of the candy grabbing frenzy. They reloaded the hunt area after each age group, so everyone got a fair shot at the loot.

For Brenna's age group, they didn't allow parents into the hunting area. Brenna took that news pretty well and my heart swelled with pride. I was prepared for begging and pleading for me to come with her, but she went in the hunt area and patiently waited for the siren to go off.

Brenna gathered up her share of the goodies and seemed to be having a good time, but then the wheels fell off the bus. She couldn't find me in the sea of parents and was all tears when I made my way through the crowd to her. All of the drama was quickly diminished when we got in the car and she started going through her basket. One egg contained 2 quarters, a chocolate coin and a sticker...jackpot!

Mommy: "Smile Brenna"
Brenna: "I am smiling"
Really? That looks more like abject misery.

Happy Easter!