My Faith and Joy… and Boys!

We went to a birthday party for a good friend, and the kids had so much fun making “cloud dough” from corn starch and hair conditioner!  Kids love messy fun!

I love the few minutes I spend with the kids waiting for the bus in the morning.  All the hectic getting-ready stuff is done and we can just relax together a bit before I send them off to school.  Becky likes to sketch:

And Susie likes to read:

I love these kids!

Several of the kids are…let’s call it…theatrical.  They’ve been channeling that leaning into a production they call the “BSN,” which stands for the “B____ Siblings Network.”  So far, they’ve videoed two installments of the news broadcast, featuring all five of the kids.  Susie has been starting them off with an overall news wrap-up, Becky then comes on with an interview (in which she plays both the interviewer and interviewee), then Jim gives a sports update, then Danny pontificates on any topic that is pressing on his mind at the moment, then there’s a brief “Talking with Tazie” interview where the videographer scrambles to keep Tazie in the picture while asking her questions, concluding with a “light show” where the boys illuminate the darkened foyer with flashlights waving in sync with rhythmic music.  It’s 100% child-written, child-directed and child-filmed.

Here’s the kids’ inventive stage for their most recent broadcast, complete with Jim acting as the human teleprompter, scrolling through Susie’s pre-written speech.

Their dad then takes the videos and splices them together into an iMovie app, which adds a “newsy” sound effect.  Susie is anxious to learn the technology herself so she can take that piece of the production over too.  I’m very impressed!

We had a really fun time going to a church conference in New Jersey about a week ago, especially because we had one of the girls’ friends stay over while she was in town.  It was such a treat for us!

Don’t Danny and his dad look dapper all ready for the conference?

The kids got a kick out of our “magic” milk carton.  Take a look!

(I had dropped the carton and smashed in one corner, rendering it unable to stand upright.  But now it was magical, lol!)