ChildRoots Events

Maddy showing off her book at Retrospective

Maddy is in her fourth of five years at ChildRoots and enjoying many activities throughout the school day.  The day starts and ends in the yard, with lots of playtime and running around.  The kids have "Centers Time" where they choose an activity to focus on, such as the writing table, art area, animal figure, vehicles, trains. They also have "atelier" every afternoon where they spend time with children from their class and from other classes, and the theme and teacher changes each week. Some examples of atelier themes are: math, biology, performance, textiles, self-portraits, games.  Maddy really enjoys her ateliers and tells us about them.  During one of her ateliers, "performance" the kids learned about theater and put on their own play at the end of the week.  Maddy was a "star" in the play, and you can see her costume below.  A video was shared with the families, and it was fun to watch!  As you can imagine, there was a lot of "directing" happening during the less-than-ten-minute performance.

There have been two big ChildRoots events so far this year: Retrospective and March Drum March.  Retrospective was new this year, and it was a time for parents to come to school after hours one day to see some of the activities and masterpieces the kids have been working on.  Steve had another event that night, so just Maddy and I went to Retrospective. Maddy had made a book that she showed me, and we were allowed to bring home.  Different rooms were open for the children to show their parents, such as the art studio, the light table, and a dark room with flashlights and glow in the dark paints.  There was also a room to make paper airplanes and test fly them to prove our engineering prowess (or lack thereof).  It was a fun event!

Steve, Maddy and I all went to March Drum March.  We started in Maddy's Room (South) where the the kids donned the special drum march outfits they had made during the school week prior to the Drum March.  The outfits ranged from capes to skirts, dresses, masks and hats.  Maddy made a skirt with flowers and leaves.  It was a bit big for her so I wrapped and tied it around her as well as I could!  Lots of her classmates were there too, and it was nice to meet more of the other parents.  Kati, Maddy's teacher, read the story The Root Children by Sibylle Von Olfers, which is the origin her school's name, and what the March Drum March is also based on.  After the story was read, we were given drums, and the whole school marched out the door.   Luckily it was a nice day, and we enjoyed the walk from ChildRoots to Buckman, the neighboring elementary school where professional drummers were waiting for us and playtime and drumming ensued.

  

Drawing at the Light Table at Retrospective

The Light Table

Making Paper Airplanes at Retrospective

Maddy as a Star for her school performance

Maddy's March Drum March Skirt

Kati reading The Root Children

Lunchtime at ChildRoots

Jon Visits Portland and Tulips Galore

 

Last weekend we had the honor of  my brother Jon visiting Portland (he was in town for a work meeting) and staying with us.  Uncle Jon and Maddy got along swimmingly and had lots of fun playing together.  On Friday I met Jon for happy hour at Portland City Grill in my work building, then we headed to ChildRoots to pick up Maddy.  For about two minutes, Maddy was shy with her Uncle Jon...that's IT.  And then...buddies for the rest of the weekend!  Jon, Steve, Maddy and I all went to East Glisan Pizza Lounge for dinner and had a yummy dinner and lots of laughs, as Maddy was in one of her super goofy moods (showing off for her uncle, no doubt!

Saturday we had breakfast out, then off to the Columbia River Gorge to drive the waterfall loop.  Jon was impressed by the beauty of the Pacific Northwest and I tried to convince him to move his family out here...we'd sure love to have them closer!  We saw lots of waterfalls and snapped some great photos on the way.  That night Steve and I cooked up some salmon and quinoa and had a nice family dinner.

Sunday our family had a professional photography session at our house, which went well (Maddy's a ham, maybe she should be a model!?!!) with Jon on standby as our "fluffer" if needed (he wasn't needed, but he had a Maddy-made monster puppet on hand just in case).  As soon as that was done, we hopped in the car and headed to Woodburn, OR for a Tulip Festival. The weather was beautiful and we had an excellent time. The tulips were gorgeous, there were bouncy houses, a trampoline jumper and a cow train for Maddy (and REAL ponies, which she wanted nothing to do with...) and yummy treats too.  We got lots of great photos and then Steve had the great idea that Jon and I should do the "Stunt Jump" as brother/sister bonding time.  HA!!!!  Okay, so Jon jumped (see photo below), no problem.  I freaked.  I hesitated...the crowd Ooooohed.  I almost jumped, the crowd Aaaaahed.  How embarrassing.  Then I did it! I jumped, scared silly.  I was shaking so bad for the next 15 minutes I could barely walk...but I did it. (And won't likely do it again).

....and so we had a fantastic weekend together!  Thanks for visiting, Jon! You're welcome any time!

Maddy and Uncle Jon at Multnomah Falls

Dancing in the Tulips

Jon takes the leap (I went after!)

Jumping SO high!

The Cow Train!

Easter Weekend

We had a wonderful Easter Weekend, starting with a play date on Saturday at Maddy's friend Carson's home.  Maddy, Steve and I had made Easter cut-out cookies including hopping bunnies, bunny heads, flowers and letters (C for Carson, J for James - Carson's brother, M for Maddy, Marnie and Malena - Carson's mom, G for Graham - Carson's dad,  and S for Steve) and we brought them over as a treat.  Maddy, Carson and James played and played downstairs, and Steve and I had a nice time catching up with Malena and Graham.

That afternoon we also decorated eggs, which was lots of fun, then Maddy extended play time by experimenting with the colors and using her science kit once again.  A budding scientist perhaps?

On Easter Sunday Maddy hunted for the hidden eggs, which she found pretty quickly with very little help this year (Easter Bunny may need to hide them better next year!) as well as her Easter Basket, mine and Steve's.  Lots of goodies, and Maddy also received play-doh, a Frozen coloring pad and a princess kitty in a purse, which she named "Princess Kitty Peanut".

We went to brunch at the Holiday Inn in Wilsonville, OR, where there was a nice buffet, an Easter Egg hunt for Maddy (= more candy) and the Easter Bunny made a showing as well.  Steve asked Maddy if she thought it was the "real" Easter Bunny and she said no - she thought it was a bunny dressed up as the Easter Bunny...until she saw skin between the Bunny glove and the rest of the bunny suit...then she decided maybe it was a person pretending to be the Easter Bunny.  Can't pull a fast one over on that girl!

After a bit of rest time, Ray and Marcia Brown (Christy's parents) and little Luella joined us for Easter play-time and dinner.  Christy and Andy were vacationing in the Bahamas celebrating their 10 year anniversary (congrats again!) so Ray and Marcia were in town from Iowa caring for Luella.

We made ham, the Faust family special: mustard ring, scalloped potatoes and rolls, and Ray and Marcia brought jello salads which were a delicious addition!  After dinner we had more Easter cookies for dessert.  We all enjoyed the yummy food, good company and lots of play time for Maddy and Lu.  Best game of the evening: Maddy and Luella ran to Maddy's room and we decided on an animal, then Maddy and Luella ran into the living room where Ray, Marcia and Steve awaited the animal role play...lots of fun guesses before choosing correctly!  Luella and Maddy even created an octopus by sitting back-to-back on the floor and waving their arms and legs.  FUN!!

Easter Cut Out Cookies!

 

Looking for Eggs and Easter Basket

Found the Eggs!

Found the Easter Basket!

Mommy and Maddy

Daddy and Maddy

Luella, Ray and Marcia joined us for Easter Dinner

Happy Easter!

Maddy Hatching

The other day I went to pick Maddy up from school and she was playing in a crate next to her friend Karina. They were both extremely excited to tell me that Maddy was a little chick hatching out of her shell. Here's the visual...imagine Maddy saying excitedly: "I'm a chick!" over and over.