Play = A Child's Work!

One of my favorite things in the entire world is to watch my kids play... I find it absolutely fascinating!

“Play is the highest form of research.” ~ Albert Einstein

“Play is not only our creative drive; it’s a fundamental mode of learning.”
~ David Elkind (psychologist, author)

“The main characteristic of play – whether of child or adult – is not it content but its mode.
Play is an approach to action, not a form of activity.”
~ Jerome Bruner (psychologist, professor)

“Play builds the kind of free-and-easy, try-it-out, do-it-yourself character that our future needs.” ~ James L. Hymes Jr. (child development specialist, author)

“It’s not so much what children learn through play, but what they won’t learn if we don’t give them the chance to play. Many functional skills like literacy and arithmetic can be learned either through play or through instruction – the issue is the amount of stress on the child. However, many coping skills like compassion, self-regulation, self-confidence, the habit of active engagement, and the motivation to learn and be literate cannot be instructed. They can only be learned through self-directed experience (i.e. play).
~ Susan J. Oliver (author, Playing for Keeps)

Below is how Daniel pushes Katelyn's buttons... he doesn't like playing with dolls but he knows that if he takes her doll and plays with it then she will freak out and he loves getting a reaction from her! She is not a perfect angelic sister either... the other day I was in the laundry room and I heard Katelyn screaming so I thought that Daniel was trying to hold her and that makes her mad so I yelled, "Daniel, Stop It!" Nothing stopped, she kept screaming so I thought I should walk out to see what was going on... he was sitting on his Power Wheels and she was PUSHING him off and yelling at him because she wanted on! So, the sibling fun has already started:)

“Children learn as they play. Most importantly, in play children learn how to learn.”
~ O. Fred Donaldson (martial arts master)

“Necessity may be the mother of invention, but play is certainly the father.”
~ Roger von Oech (President, Creative Think)

So, go out and play today... no matter your age or whether you a parent or not! We all need to play more!
My friend Leah sent me this amazing recipe and Brendon and I "played" around in the kitchen and made this and it is soooooooooo amazing! You will never order a pizza again!

http://www.familycircle.com/recipe/chicken/grilled-chicken-pizza/

My Last Birthday Celebration!

Last Saturday was CRAZY busy... first of all we had a graduation party in the afternoon for a fine young man who graduated from Brophy! Then that evening, I went to our friends Kyle and Jenni's house for her birthday party and ate some yummy food (Kyle is a fantastic chef!) then I left to go meet my friends for my last 30th birthday celebration! Yes, six weeks later and we are still celebrating! Kristi and I have very close birthdays so we usually celebrate together and we had been trying to find a date on ALL of our calendars that would work and so 6 weeks later, it happened!

Thanks, girls, for a really fun night out!

Arizona Museum For Youth

Last Friday called for getting the kids out of the house! First of all, our carpets were getting cleaned (yeah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) AND our house project was starting! So, we had a lot going on at our house and a lot of people at our house working so I took the kiddos to one of our favorite places called Artville or Arizona Museum for Youth!

Above... Katelyn enjoying the big BLOCK PIT they have in Artville (the section for under 5)

My kiddos enjoying the fun "light" table

Katelyn LOVES sitting in a chair now... she thinks she is so big when she gets to sit in a child size chair all by herself!

Below, she was pulling blocks out of the drawer... she LOVED this place so I think we will get a membership as it will be perfect for summer... something fun to do indoors with A/C! For my "non-Arizona" readers, we consider our summer your winter.... it is really too hot to do much outside except swim so we try to stay indoors as much as possible! LOL!

We met my friends Kim, Susan and Paulina there as well and our kids were putting on a play for us! LOL!

They have this adorable "baby" area that is enclosed with mirrors and I thought the below picture is the BEST!

Katelyn with her girlfriends.... Natalie and Keira!
Katelyn playing in the "kitchen" room!

Then we ventured out of the Artville section and went into the main museum for tons more fun! They have a Fairy Tale theme going on right now so Daniel is dressing up as the "wolf" in Little Red Riding Hood!

Kendall getting all dressed up as "Little Red Riding Hood!"

Of course, there are tables and tables of really cool art projects for the kids to do throughout the whole museum!

Daniel LOVED these spinning chairs!

They had a Baseball Field set up and Wii Stations for the kids to play baseball... I don't think Daniel has ever played Wii before but he caught on VERY QUICK!

Below there was a video camera set up and the kids could see themselves on the TV Screen... they were totally digging this!

Thanks, Friends, for such a fun day!

Friends from Long Island!

We got the best treat when my friend Susan Hohenrath let me know they were coming through Phoenix and had a day to hang out with us! I have known this family since I was probably 7 or 8 years old... not only did they live in the same neighborhood as us in Long Island but we went to the same church. She directed all of the Easter, Christmas, Kids Dances, etc at church and I was in them all and loved hanging out with her. She also had a hair salon in her basement so she did my hair as well!

We went to Tempe Market Place and had lunch and spent the afternoon catching up on the last 4.5 years!

As many of you know, Brendon and I bought my parents home in Long Island when they moved to Nashville (the home that I grew up in!) then when we moved to Chandler and bought a house, it was a really hard move for me because besides my 4 years of college in Oklahoma and my 1 year in Nashville, most of my life was spent in 1 house! However, we have fallen in love with our home and this truly is "home" for me now!

Today

Our next door neighbor's have a little girl who is 6 and she loves playing with Daniel... I think Daniel is completely flattered by that and he is obsessed with her! If I were to give him ANY option like "Would you like to go to Disney Land or play with Reanne tomorrow?" He would say, "Play with Reanne!" He LOVES to play with her! Last night we saw them at Home Depot and he started in, "Can she come over to play? Can I go over to her house?" We said he was going to my parents as we were going to see a movie and he had a melt down (my parent's house is like Daniel's favorite place in the whole wide world!) so I promised that I would call Gretchen today to see if Reanne could come over? From the minute he woke up this morning, he asked a billion times when she was coming over! So after church, he took a nap then Reanne came over and as always, they had a great time!

Moon Sand!

Water Table and Play Dishes!

When Reanne left, Farmer Daniel was sent out to harvest our tomato crops!

A Year in Review....