Week 6 - Here Birdie Birdie Birdie

We love to craft! This week we painted bird houses, made bird seed feeders, and put together a bag of items for birds to make their nests out of.

I think the painting of the bird houses was the biggest hit this week. I decided to make our craft mobile since we often have time to kill while waiting to go to different things "in town." We bought the supplies at JoAnn's (with coupons and student discount) and A.C. Moore (with coupons). It was a very affordable project. We found a table at the base park and the girls sat there and painted for over an hour. Charlie had to have her own set of paints because she likes to mix them. The other girls did really well sharing. Kailah and Charlie completed their houses that day, but Kairah and Kaijah still want to work on them. Once I get them hung up I will post some more pictures.
 
Another craft we made was bird feeders. I am thinking we kind of messed these up (that is why we do not have finished project pictures). Charlie, Kairah and Kaijah had fun making them. If I can make the project work out I will post more pictures.

On Friday, we used a mesh produce bag to put together some goodies for the birds to make their nests out of. We used dryer lint (thanks to all the rain I had to use my dryer most of the week), ribbon, yarn, and embroidery floss. From what I read the birds will collect these items and use them to build their nests and it is supposed to help you see the nests easier because the items are colorful. We shall see.

Outside time is so important and I am thankful we were able to squeeze some in this week.

A little rain did not stop Kairah and Charlie from playing on the playground at Hurlburt Field Community Park. I hung out in the tunnel for a bit to try to keep dry. It makes me so happy to see that even a 12 year old can still have fun at the playground.

Charlie played at Uptown Station while waiting on Kairah to get done with her Clarinet lessons. Charlie absolutely loves that playground. She was so proud of herself for climbing the rock wall all by herself. We are still working on getting her to go down the pole by herself. She is still a little bit scared. Although, Kaijah and Kailah did not play, they still got some fresh air while drawing outside.

Another hit at Uptown Station is the pet store. What kid does not like the pet store. Kaijah and Charlie had a great time looking at the birds and fish.

I was so excited that we were able to go to the Panhandle Butterfly House on Sunday. I love to sit on the bench and watch my children explore. Kairah ran around taking pictures of butterflies with her phone and Charlie loved looking a the flowers and "baby alligator" (a toy in the pond). Kaijah enjoyed talking to the ladies that work there. I think I might take Charlie here more once school starts back for my older girls.

One of the consequences of having 4 children with activities is sometimes overload. Charlie had an overload episode this week and all I could do to keep from going crazy was to document it. It kept my mind focused on taking the pictures. It really sucks when this happens, but there really is not much you can do about it. Even older children have melt downs; you just have to sit back and watch. When it is all over then you can hug them and try to make it better. Below is a happier Charlie riding the carousel at the mall on Saturday.

Does the outfit look familiar? It's the one I just finished last week. :D

Some other highlights of the week included a wonderful LtCol allowing us to sit with him at the BX (base Walmart) food court; made soap and cookies with Kailah; Kairah, Kaijah, Charlie and Lew went to see a movie on base; and made our Christmas wish lists (yes I made one too this time, it is so fun to wish for things).