Happy Valentines Day

I got my little sweeties a few gifts. Scratch n sniff stickers (I think I'll have to take a few of these for my journal for old times sake), glitter nail polish (will be a HUGE hit since I don't let them have it normally), Hershey Kisses chapstick (one can never have enough yummy flavored chapsticks). Walker got a cute video, Prayer Bear, the kids already love it.

Happy Valentines Day!

Blizzard 2011

We only got outside for a few minutes today. Walker was very upset he could not hold the shovel with his gloves on. The girls climbed snow drifts and rolled down them, met a new little neighbor girl and buried each other in snow. Cullen shoveled snow and used his snowblower on the whole block for two hours today. We were happy to come back inside, get warm and eat gumbo and chocolate chip cookies.

Walker Digging

As I said in my previous post, I'm trying to find kitchen activities for my cute, mischievous and curious little boy. I settled on a bean box, after seeing something similar on a montessori blog. I already had beans he could transfer and scoop up with his front loader but I wanted to try to contain them a bit more (ha!). So I got more beans and pasta and found some small toys to hide inside the beans for Walker to excavate. This goes pretty well and does end up with beans on the floor. Another small price to pay for 15 minutes of controlled activity for my two year old.

Walker Painting

Walker is very ACTIVE. Basically at home all day we are busy bees. I've learned it pays to be constructive with our energy. At least, it still ends in a mess, but it's usually a controlled, anticipated mess. So I'm on the hunt for activities we can do in the kitchen, since that's usually where I spend most of our mornings before lunch and nap.

Carys participated in Walker's first watercolor experience. I have to say it could have been a LOT messier but he did a fair job of getting paint on the paper as well as his body.

Alphabits

I'm not a Veterinarian

I'm not a Veterinarian but I played one a few weeks ago at home. We have two hamsters and they were sharing one cage. I began to notice some bullying from Snowflake against Honey. But since we got the advise to get two Robo hamsters from the "All about Hamsters Book" I assumed this was normal. I began to look this issue on the web and saw that most people with Robo's eventually had to separate them. Well things were going pretty well, it seemed like Honey was becoming the submissive hamster and they would work it out, the way I guess hamsters do, by pushing and tussling.

Poppy was out of town for a few days and the girls and I were downstairs playing with the hamsters and I notice that Snowflake's foot has swelled about three times it's normal size and she's limping all over the place. I had been so adamant about not taking hamsters to the vet, being that they are just rodents. So the next day, it's red and still swollen. I googled the problem and began to see something about them chewing on their leg if it's injured, like chewing it off...ewww. So I see someone suggests take the hamsters to the vet or someone also suggested bandaging the leg. I thought I could bandage her leg and fend off her chewing on the leg. Well after somehow managing to bandage her leg, which is really about an inch long, she hobbled around...and began chewing on the bandage. Foiled by chewing. So I took the bandage off and left her alone.

The next morning, she had basically what looked like a bloody and puffy leg, she'd been chewing on it. This prompted hysteria from Helen, her Mom. So we prayed for snowflake and waited until Poppy came back in town to evaluate our options. To make a long story short we took her to the real vet who gave us antibiotics and pain meds and warned we may have to amputate.



Snowflake is healed (good thing because we really were not going to choose amputation). Truthfully, after the girls and I said our prayers for her each night was when I realized she was part of our family.

Obstacle Course

We've set up a hamster obstacle course with the rarely used blocks. Now the girls are interested in a few unused toys and getting a bit of experience keeping their pets entertained.

Homemade Play Dough

It took me a long time to build up the desire and courage to make play dough. I don't like to make things if I'm not sure how they will turn out. But since I've begun baking, I'm a lot more willing to try and see and just live with the results. So I searched the web and found an excellent recipe for play dough and it works wonderfully. The kids has a fun time with this. Plus their uncle had already given them a big box of cutters and tools from play-doh. Walker actually helped me make a batch, just because he wanted a taste most likely. He did not like it at all. The girls helped clean up at the end. A perfect activity for three.

Snowflake and Honey

We're suckers for hamsters!

We read that dwarf Robo hamsters do better with a partner, but one that is from the same litter or they have already bonded to in the cage. Of course, Poppy left two Robo's behind at the petstore, Snowflake's two sisters. So the day after Christmas we ran to the petstore and picked up the remaining Robo, we named her Honey. The small animal section was cleaned out on Christmas but Honey was left behind, waiting for us.

Once we got her home, she and Snowflake were super happy to be reunited. Honey immediately jumped on the wheel and began exploring her new cage. Snowflake also perked up and was really more alert after Honey came home.

Now we have two hamster balls running around the basement but each of the girls now has their own "personal" hamster (their words not ours). We are actually all happy about the new additions, except maybe Kittikens. I think she's just glad it was not a kitten.

We are trying to get them used to us, which is a feat with 10 hands and excited little children voices. So we are not taking pictures up close yet. I'm hopeful we'll get some good ones soon.

Snowman

Carys wanted to build a snowman. It's hard to get me to leave my warm home, even though I love my children dearly. I managed to get all of us dressed and out the door for our second attempt at the snowman. We had tried the day before but the snow was not sticky enough. Even thought this snow was more cooperative, it was still a challenge to build the snowman. Especially with Walker kicking it. But we managed to layer the snow on and Poppy showed up just in time to finish the head and arms and add hair. What a great treat to the end of the day.

Christmas Crafts!

A friend of mine introduced me to cardboard crafts. These ornaments were made by cutting cardboard, wrapping in aluminum, and attaching the string. The rest is glitter glue by kids and the decorating possibilities are endless.


I know this is an old craft but new to us this year. This wreath is made from all the kids hands. It turned out so well, I want to do it again with felt for a wreath we can pull out many Christmases from now.


These are spiced hang ups, another craft from a homemaker blog. What a fun thing these are and great smelling too.

A New Friend!

We got a new friend! Christmas Eve, Poppy brought a little dwarf hamster home to live with us. She's super cute and when she is less shy, I'll post more pics. She's explored a bit in her ball but mostly likes her cage and the few treats we've introduced (apples and grapes so far). The kids LOVE the hamster. They were quiet and did not disturb the cage too much. Carys really wanted to pet her but the hamster is shy. We don't have a name yet, so you'll have to check back later to find out what they choose.

Christmas Baking

The whole gang participated in baking and cooking our holiday morsels. I've been cooking pumpkin and banana bread for church so I decided to give gingerbread a try. The recipe I used worked out, I think my cookies were a bit thicker. But I think with practice in a few years, I'll be pretty good with gingerbread and hopefully able to put together a homemade gingerbread house with the girls.

Sledding

The sledding hill was fun on Christmas Eve. We took a walk to the local coffee shop for a coffee and hot chocolate while he snow lightly fell. The sledding hill was fairly empty and Poppy decided to take the kids sledding. It made my heart skip a beat to see my little ones careening down the hill but they were all smiles and little Walker wanted "more sled"! We need to get another sled for next year, the girls are not afraid to go it alone now.

Merry Christmas 2010

Merry Christmas, Love us.

Happy Birthday My Helen

We celebrated Helen's birthday with a breakfast birthday dinner and cupcakes. This year Poppy was sick and he was unable to participate, I pray he's better tomorrow (or tonight). So things were a little delayed. Thankfully, we seemed to have settled into the tradition of pancakes, eggs and link sausage with lots of syrup for birthday dinners. While it was not easy to juggle it all, we managed to survive, even the girls managed to fight over a few things but mostly played well together. Carys helped me wrap the presents this afternoon and prepare the table. Helen also had an onigiri (japanese rice ball) lunch with cupcakes for her entire class. This Sat. is her party for a few of her close friends and preschool mates.

Walker got a little toy he loves so he was happy for a time and Carys got a little something too since she helped me shop for Helen. I took some pictures and will get them up as soon as we set our computer up. I gave in and Helen got play makeup (totally plastic though she wanted the real "play" makeup) and an entire princess outfit. She's been talking about makeup since she was three. I'm not sure why it's in there but it is. Since I can't convince her to let it go, I have decided to work with it. Maybe we'll find an age appropriate outlet for her love of cosmetics and sparkly jewels.

Thanks to everyone who sent cards and gifts. She was thrilled to hear your birthday wishes.

Outside

Walker also has a blast outside and asks more than the girls ever did to go outside. Of course, right now it's more grunting and pointing but he KNOWS OUTSIDE.
Many days, we are at the park 2-3 times. He loves to climb and is learning to slide.

Worm Hunters Extraordinaire

I cleaned out an area to be completely devoted to vegetables this year. The girls enjoyed excavating in the dirt, many ant mounds were located, roly poly's were relocated and more than a few worms were unearthed. The girls had a TON of fun and Helen found the biggest worm I've ever seen.

Helen and Walker

Usually Helen and Walker are tugging, pushing, pulling, grabbing, hitting, crying, and wrestling. I happened upon this sweet moment, it was not staged. Helen is beginning to learn to read and it obsessed with teaching. She can't read this book yet, she is reading Bob books and is becoming very skillful with Phonics. Walker LOVES to sit in my lap and read so it's no surprise he was sitting in her lap. I can't wait until some of the unwanted physical activity calms down but maybe it never will.

It's Cute Sometimes