Gifts and Activities for the Kids

We've never been away from the kids for 10 days, and they are still fairly young--3 and 6.

So I had a little something for them to open each day while we were in POLAND.  Many times it was an activity that they could pull out again later if they wanted.

I found this awesome CD of silly kid songs online for a good deal. 



Randall Goodgame and Andrew Peterson have knocked another one outta' the park!
Take a listen to the song samples here.

I also wanted to find some inexpensive puzzles (around 60 pieces) because both my kids love them and it challenges them to concentrate on one thing for a good amount of time.  Adam does this automatically.  For Natalia it's a skill we're working on.  ;-)

Well, I wasn't finding what I wanted for the right price, so I was delighted to discover amazon sells blank puzzles to make your own!  I confess it made me alittle giddy!  Oh dear.

I bought a pack of 12 (with 63 pieces) for $14 and used the markers I already owned to make three for each of them.  And I have extra for a rainy day!



A big bag of farm foam stickers, regular stickers, hidden picture pages I pulled out of an old Highlights magazine, and an animal mask craft that I saw online and adapted were a few of their other surprises.  All they needed to do for the masks was color the animal cutout already drawn on the cardstock, cut it out, glue it to a paper plate, punch holes in the sides and tie a piece of elastic string through each hole.





Another idea I found online was to use a snack ziplock, partially fill it with small colorful snacks like multi-colored Goldfish crackers, pinch it in half with a wooden hinged clothespin with a smiley face drawn on the tip, and form antennae with half a length of black or brown pipecleaner.  Voila!  You have a butterfly snack.  (Sorry, no picture.)

Lastly I made a simple calendar for the duration of our trip, so they could mark off the days.

I think they enjoyed everything.  I certainly had fun making them!  It's been a week since our return home, and we're still working the puzzles and listening to those awesome and silly songs!

School Clothes...Or Something Like That

Apparently Adam is a returning graduate and Laura Ingalls has taken to wearing black leotards.

Wordless Wednesday: I Say Socks, He Says Marshmallows

Photo Shoot--Part 2, Outakes

Here are a few that didn't make the cut.

Either the lighting was weird and I didn't know how to fix it, I only got one shot in before the kids were moving on to the next thing, or you can speculate just from the picture why I didn't keep it.

And that's a wrap, folks.

Silliness

Meet our new residents!

Miss Jane Bennett, (soon to be Mrs. Bingley)...

And, the one who goes by Froggy, Monkey, Dash, and Bob the Builder...

We're not sure how long a lease to offer them. It'll probably depend on good behavior!

(Ha, ha! In that case NONE of us stand a chance!)

Will It Make Her Smarter? Or Sillier?

I've been a bit baffled by Natalia's DVD choices lately. I mean, how many 5 year old's are INTO Jane Austen?! She's been working her way through them all...and I confess I've got quite the Austen DVD library. Pride & Prejudice, 2 versions of Sense & Sensibility, 2 versions of Emma, Persuasion, Miss Austen Regrets...she loves them all. (I do not let her watch the longer ones straight through--they are for marathoners.) I'd like to think she'll pick up a British accent someday. That'd be cool. But so far they are rubbing off on her in other ways. She's started to use words and phrases like: actually, as a matter of fact, fortunately... (Unfortunately, they sometimes sound more like "fer-tion-ly".) The other day she was in the kitchen with me. As she was about to leave the room she turned to me, bowed at the waist, and said "Till tomorrow then". (I could NOT suppress my howl!) Today, we were breaking in a new writing tablet and she was all ready to practice her letters. The tablet's cover was flipped open above the pad and I watched as she took her pencil, began the first stroke, stopped midway and tapped her pencil point three times on the cover. Then she went back and finished her stroke. (Anyone have a guess as to what she was doing?) Yup...imagining that she was writing with a quill and pot of ink. And, for the past month or so, she's repeatedly asked me to put music on so she can dance. It never fails to make me laugh. She half-steps-half-gallops in straight lines, forwards, backwards, then twirls...meanwhile having a conversation with I'll never know who. I love my silly girl. I love her imagination. It makes me crazy, but I love it. And I love that she shares my enthusiasm for dear Jane.

Family Photo Outtakes

This just makes me laugh.

Natalia was in fine form this evening. (She also insisted on keeping a piece of rolled up paper tucked inside the "bowtie" of her dress all day.)

A Day In The Life

We were driving home from Grandma's today. Adam was zonking out in his carseat. He was a whirlwind until the very last second, as usual when he's getting tired. Natalia noticed a manure spreader driving through the glistening snow-covered field we were passing, and asked why they were doing that. I briefly explained why they needed to get rid of the manure that was in the barn.

"Mom, do all animals poop?"

(Here we go. Potty conversation #5, 934. This is my life.)

"Yes, Natalia. All animals poop."

"Do barns poop?"

"No, barns are objects made of wood. They are not living things. Living things need to breathe, and eat, and sleep......and poop."

"Do bears need to poop?"

"Yes, bears are living things."

"Is my winter hat a living thing?"

"No, your hat is an object, not a living thing."

"Then why does it hibernate in the closet until next winter?"

Ummmmmmm.....

Cupcakes Anyone?

Thinking of starting a family business...

Sit Like A Lady

I guess she's only doing what I've told her to do...though usually there is a skirt or dress in the equation.

It just make me laugh. It's like she's 5, goin' on 15!

See? Attitude and everything! :-)

Wordless Wednesday--Almost

Evidently I didn't do it the RIGHT way. Instead, the freshly-laundered washclothes should be flat, stacked, smack dab in the middle of the floor. (At least my kitchen floor was clean.)

Sorta' Crunchy

Ever take one of those online quizzes to determine your "crunchy"-ness?
You know, hybrid-drivin', granola-makin', cloth diaperin', veggie gardenin'...okay, you get the idea.

I am not a huge fan of online quizzes...most of them are quite silly and pointless in my opinion. However, I was curious where I would fall on the crunchy scale.

I was kind of disappointed. I thought I'd be more crunchy. I wasn't even middle-of-the-road!
I thought surely raising chickens would be worth something...nope! Nada, zip, zilch.

Fine! I'll make my own crunchy quiz.

Join in if you'd like and post your score in the comment section.
(***This quiz is for fun--not condemnation! Different strokes for different folks, right?)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1. CHILDBIRTH:
4 points--homebirth, unassisted
3 points--homebirth w/midwife
2 points--hospital birth, no pain med.'s
1 point--hospital birth

2. DIAPERING:
3--cloth diapers, wash own
2--cloth diapers, diaper service
1--disposables

3. FEEDING:
4--breastfeed
3--breastfeed, pump
2--pump and formula
1--formula

4. FOOD:
3--buy only organic/grow own, health food store, vegetarian
2--buy some organic, grow some, limited processed foods
1--buy some natural, whole grain foods, local

5. VEHICLE:
4--bicycle or walk
3--hybrid
2--compact car/station wagon
1--minivan/SUV/truck

6. AU NATURALE:
4--herbal remedies, little-to-no makeup, chemical-free hair/skin products
3--some herbal remedies, some chemical free hair/skin products
2--herbal remedies
1--vitamins

7. HOUSEHOLD:
3--green cleansers, make own
2--green cleansers, buy
1--some green

8. THE 3 R's:
5--compact florescent bulbs, consignment shop, recycle glass/cans/paper, market bags, compost
4--compact florescent bulbs, consignment shop, recycle glass/cans/paper, market bags
3--compact florescent bulbs, consignment shop, recycle glass/cans/paper
2--compact florescent bulbs, consignment shop
1--donate clothing, household items

9. COOKING:
3--soak grains, raw milk, meals from scratch
2--some homemade bread, natural ingredients, most meals from scratch
1--some meals from scratch

10. SCHOOLING:
4--homeschool/co-op
3--desire/plan to homeschool in the future
2--private (religious based) school
1--public school

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Okay, tally them up:
25--33 Totally nutty
16--24 Can't deny the crunch
10--15 Kinda' crispy
0--9 Instant oatmeal

Cheap Labor

Got a "honey do" list that's a mile long?

I know some people whose rates are dirt cheap!

On Your Mark, Get Set...

Go! Go! G0!

Helmets...good for riding and scootering and barreling through narrow hallways.

Until Mom bellows "take it to the basement or outside!"

(I've given up being shocked when I sound like my mother.)

Fun for all ages.

The kids think they look sporty.

The parents get a chuckle out of how much bigger an already-unproportionately-large-toddler-head looks when encased in a brightly-colored plastic and foam orb.

Silliness, indeed.

Wordless Wednesday

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...

Lowrise

I am not a fan of lowrise jeans (for myself OR others) for reasons that are obvious.



However, I might make an exception. Just this once.

Revisiting Some Hairy Situations

Hair + kids = One big, fat, continuous ?

Can I get an "AMEN"?

What do you do when...

...your kid has a long mohawk on top, virtually nothing on the sides, a bald spot in the back, and a really long and scary-looking fringe at the base of the neckline?

You buzz it off with the clippers. You heard me. I know she's a girl, but desperate times call for desperate measures.





Eventually you have enough shag on top again to do the whale spout thingy.






But anything (even a flatulent fly) can turn it quickly into this. That's quite the visual, ain't?)




At this point they begin to give you grief about this hair nonsense and it shows.

Then, all of a sudden, one day you wake up with hair envy...

...and you get to start all over with Child #2.

But every month (that's EVERY 3-4 weeks, because this kid's hair growth rivals a Chia Pet!) you have to pull out those trusty clippers again...

...because otherwise this happens. No matter the hair products and hat-smashing tricks. Cockle-doodle-DOOOOOO!

And that's no fun at all.

But, in the end, it's only hair. This too shall pass.

Hope you got a few laughs. :-)