One Monday Violet was home from school since it was too icy out and school had been cancelled. She must have been in "thinking mode" about a friend's birthday party she attended the weekend prior, because out of the blue, she said to me, "Mom, you know what? Some kids aren't very nice to their moms. This girl at the party I went to was begging and begging her mom to use her phone to take a video, and the mom said no. The girl started freaking out and whining, and the mom just gave her the phone." I asked her what she thought about it and she said something like the girl shouldn't have gotten what she wanted because she was whining. Then she said, "I have the best parents ever!" and gave me a hug...then ran off to do something else. I'm not sure really how to translate that conversation. Maybe she's intuitive enough to understand that since we don't give her what she wants when she whines that maybe she is glad for that fact? Not sure. But I was glad she was thinking about it.
Tuesday, January 29, 2013
Friday, January 25, 2013
Vanessa is Na-nessa
Conversation with Vanessa just now:
Me: (while feeding Eli) Eli is your little brother! Do you like being a big sister?
Vanessa: no, I am Na-Nessa and I am puggle!
Tuesday, January 22, 2013
Rub a dub dub, all 4 kids in the tub
For the first time, all 4 kids made an appearance together in the tub. Violet and Calvin LOVE to hold Eli in the water. Eli loves it too. He splashes like crazy and grabs tub toys frantically and chews on them. I have one of the older kids hold him while I clean him up, then take him out and clean up the rest of them.
Calvin: whole coffee bean=deer hoof print and other observations about Calvin
Calvin helped me make coffee today from start to finish. He scooped the whole coffee beans into the grinder, ground them up, and poured them into the filter, all with my help. He is a kid who is interested in learning how things work, so I explained that the heating element in the back is where the water goes first, then up the tube in the middle, then pours hot water over the coffee beans, the filter lets the coffee through, not the bean grounds, then the coffee pours into the pot. He was mesmerized by every detail about how it worked.
After we finished, he saw a single whole bean on the countertop and picked it up, thought for a moment, then got a very excited expression of awe on his face. He said "MOM!!" and I said, "What?!"
He replied, "THIS coffee bean looks JUST LIKE deer tracks!" That was not what I expected to hear. I am still perplexed how in the world he knew this. I looked up a pic of what deer tracks look like and I was surprised to see the similarity.
A pic of a deer track from google:
Calvin likes to announce how things work all the time, no matter if he's right or wrong, he just states things like they are absolute fact. If Violet isn't around, its serves as great conversation between him and I. If she does hear him make a grand statement about how things are made or how something works, it gives her something to fight him back on saying "No it doesn't..." just for argument's sake. *sigh* She won't just let his comments roll...
Calvin noticed a factory pipe pump out steam or some kind of smoke as I filled the van up with gas after dropping Violet off at school this morning. I made a run to Hansen's to get milk and filled the van with gas at the same time.
He said, "Mom! Do you know how clouds are made? That pumps the clouds out. That thing and God. They both make clouds for the whole world."
He also said, "Roads never end. They go all over the world."
and another, "If you need to get somewhere super duper fast, all you have to do is get on lightning, it will flash you there."
He also thinks about the earth and how it spins in a circle around the sun.
After we finished, he saw a single whole bean on the countertop and picked it up, thought for a moment, then got a very excited expression of awe on his face. He said "MOM!!" and I said, "What?!"
He replied, "THIS coffee bean looks JUST LIKE deer tracks!" That was not what I expected to hear. I am still perplexed how in the world he knew this. I looked up a pic of what deer tracks look like and I was surprised to see the similarity.
Calvin likes to announce how things work all the time, no matter if he's right or wrong, he just states things like they are absolute fact. If Violet isn't around, its serves as great conversation between him and I. If she does hear him make a grand statement about how things are made or how something works, it gives her something to fight him back on saying "No it doesn't..." just for argument's sake. *sigh* She won't just let his comments roll...
Calvin noticed a factory pipe pump out steam or some kind of smoke as I filled the van up with gas after dropping Violet off at school this morning. I made a run to Hansen's to get milk and filled the van with gas at the same time.
He said, "Mom! Do you know how clouds are made? That pumps the clouds out. That thing and God. They both make clouds for the whole world."
He also said, "Roads never end. They go all over the world."
and another, "If you need to get somewhere super duper fast, all you have to do is get on lightning, it will flash you there."
He also thinks about the earth and how it spins in a circle around the sun.
Eli - 7 months old
Eli tried some bites of food when we were in Texas in December. He tried some bananas, baby cereal, applesauce, mashed avocado, mum mum crackers, and whole grain puffs. He didn't seem all that excited about any of them. He seems like to like the mum-mum crackers. He just prefers to nurse, which is fine. He's gaining weight well, tipping over 20 lbs at 20 lbs and 12 oz. I weighed him at the dr. when I took Calvin to his 5 yr check last week.
I have given him bites of other food since then: oatmeal, toast, bread, applesauce, yogurt, cheese, crackers, noodles, and a few other things, I can't remember. He spits the food out and plays with it with his hands, other times he swallows it. I guess he's not ready for that much food yet. He still only has two lower incisor teeth.
He's crawling AND scooting now. He pulls up onto things like Violet's bookshelf and empties it, grabs anything he can get in his hands and chews on it, and still loves his pacifier and blanket. He laughs easily, and really lights up when anybody talks to him. He likes the element of surprise, playing peekaboo, and especially seems to like Calvin. Calvin knows how to keep him happy - playing with him on the floor, rolling around, letting Eli sit on him and bounce him. Other times he doesn't think through what he's doing and might do something too rough with him. He's a tough little guy and gets over getting hurt very quickly.
Oh, and he loves my sweatshirt strings. He sucks them til they're soaking wet then sucks the moisture out of them. He also likes sucking on a wet wash cloth soaked with cold water.
I have given him bites of other food since then: oatmeal, toast, bread, applesauce, yogurt, cheese, crackers, noodles, and a few other things, I can't remember. He spits the food out and plays with it with his hands, other times he swallows it. I guess he's not ready for that much food yet. He still only has two lower incisor teeth.
He's crawling AND scooting now. He pulls up onto things like Violet's bookshelf and empties it, grabs anything he can get in his hands and chews on it, and still loves his pacifier and blanket. He laughs easily, and really lights up when anybody talks to him. He likes the element of surprise, playing peekaboo, and especially seems to like Calvin. Calvin knows how to keep him happy - playing with him on the floor, rolling around, letting Eli sit on him and bounce him. Other times he doesn't think through what he's doing and might do something too rough with him. He's a tough little guy and gets over getting hurt very quickly.
Oh, and he loves my sweatshirt strings. He sucks them til they're soaking wet then sucks the moisture out of them. He also likes sucking on a wet wash cloth soaked with cold water.
Calvin's alphabet - age 5
We played hangman this morning and he set up the board. I asked him to write the alphabet on the top and he did a pretty good job! Only the J and the Z were flipped around and his N ended up "lowercase".
Monday, January 21, 2013
Sunday, January 20, 2013
Violet's 7th Birthday
We began decorating the night before - putting streamers by her door, hanging twisted streamers around the house, getting balloons and gifts ready. I made a trip to the store yesterday to get "birthday" wrapping paper since all we had was Christmas wrapping paper. Dave and I got her 4 Berenstain Bears books, Looney Tunes cartoon DVDs, and an alarm clock (something she had always wanted so she can wake up on her own for school).
The morning of her birthday started with Dave and I waking her up singing happy birthday. She woke up in her zip up purple with monkeys fleece jammies, cheerful, thankfully. She immediately noticed the streamers in the doorway and said, "ohhh YES! Those are my favorite!" She climbed down from the top bunk of her bed and played with those for a bit. Then we got all the kids dressed and headed downstairs where she was greeted with her balloons, streamers, and presents. She was so happy to see balloons. Grandma Martha was also visiting for the weekend (arrived Thurs night and left today, Sunday). Martha had prepared a yummy dish called baked blueberry french toast so we ate that for breakfast. It was yumm-O!
Violet hopped, skipped and danced her way through the day. She enjoyed getting up in the front of the Sunday School kids along with her friend Ivy who had a birthday 4 days earlier. They sang happy birthday to her which is always fun for a kid.
I planned a lunch meal including some of her favorite things to eat - grilled chicken, stove-top macaroni and cheese (homemade by me), and broccoli. She ate a huge serving of noodles, broccoli, and a few bites of chicken. Dave was happy to grill the chicken (even though it was only 10 degrees out!) that we covered with a bottle of Sweet Bourbon glaze that we had gotten from Chev Ivo in Galena awhile ago. After the meal Vanessa got super crabby so I put her in bed for a nap before we dished up the cake/ice cream. I think Eli was sleeping too, I can't remember.
Dave and Martha made the cakes yesterday and I decorated them....with purple frosting, of course...she always requests purple frosting. But that's ok, it looked great and she LOVED it!
I helped her light the candles with matches, not the best idea. We played the "happy birthday remix" song on youtube while we lit the candles. She blew them out before we sang but eventually got them all blown out. She wanted the whole "7" on her cake so she got an enormous piece with ice cream. Everybody enjoyed cake...especially Calvin. Martha had a long drive ahead of her so she left shortly after cake/ice cream.
Violet really, really wanted to do her pottery pot....so Dave worked with her on that for a couple hours. It was very messy. We brought in the little plastic picnic table from the deck, which was FREEZING. She sat on a towel to warm her buns. She had to be near an outlet so the motor on the pottery wheel would spin. We tried setting it up on the table, then the kitchen counter top, then realize both places would be too messy. The little plastic table worked great. The first attempt with the clay did not work since it wasn't pliable enough. He added some water and it turned out better.
The end result was something that looked like a little pot, slightly crooked, but it was super cute. No baking, it just dried out on its own with air. I gave Violet a bath while Dave gave the others something for supper, and they were all off to Awana at 5:45 pm. It was "crazy hair night" so Dave spiked up Calvin's hair into a mohawk, and I twisted Violet's hair into two buns on top of her head. Not much I could do to her hair while it was soaking wet.
At the end of the day she said it was the best day ever!
Dave added swirled food coloring to the cakes, it was very pretty but not visible once it was frosted!
Her reaction to finding out her present was an alarm clock. Calvin knew I was giving her one and he was excited to "give" it to her, and was satisfied with her excitement about it by giving me a smile and a thumbs up.
"Ewww" to the gooey clay.
The morning of her birthday started with Dave and I waking her up singing happy birthday. She woke up in her zip up purple with monkeys fleece jammies, cheerful, thankfully. She immediately noticed the streamers in the doorway and said, "ohhh YES! Those are my favorite!" She climbed down from the top bunk of her bed and played with those for a bit. Then we got all the kids dressed and headed downstairs where she was greeted with her balloons, streamers, and presents. She was so happy to see balloons. Grandma Martha was also visiting for the weekend (arrived Thurs night and left today, Sunday). Martha had prepared a yummy dish called baked blueberry french toast so we ate that for breakfast. It was yumm-O!
Violet hopped, skipped and danced her way through the day. She enjoyed getting up in the front of the Sunday School kids along with her friend Ivy who had a birthday 4 days earlier. They sang happy birthday to her which is always fun for a kid.
I planned a lunch meal including some of her favorite things to eat - grilled chicken, stove-top macaroni and cheese (homemade by me), and broccoli. She ate a huge serving of noodles, broccoli, and a few bites of chicken. Dave was happy to grill the chicken (even though it was only 10 degrees out!) that we covered with a bottle of Sweet Bourbon glaze that we had gotten from Chev Ivo in Galena awhile ago. After the meal Vanessa got super crabby so I put her in bed for a nap before we dished up the cake/ice cream. I think Eli was sleeping too, I can't remember.
Dave and Martha made the cakes yesterday and I decorated them....with purple frosting, of course...she always requests purple frosting. But that's ok, it looked great and she LOVED it!
I helped her light the candles with matches, not the best idea. We played the "happy birthday remix" song on youtube while we lit the candles. She blew them out before we sang but eventually got them all blown out. She wanted the whole "7" on her cake so she got an enormous piece with ice cream. Everybody enjoyed cake...especially Calvin. Martha had a long drive ahead of her so she left shortly after cake/ice cream.
Violet really, really wanted to do her pottery pot....so Dave worked with her on that for a couple hours. It was very messy. We brought in the little plastic picnic table from the deck, which was FREEZING. She sat on a towel to warm her buns. She had to be near an outlet so the motor on the pottery wheel would spin. We tried setting it up on the table, then the kitchen counter top, then realize both places would be too messy. The little plastic table worked great. The first attempt with the clay did not work since it wasn't pliable enough. He added some water and it turned out better.
The end result was something that looked like a little pot, slightly crooked, but it was super cute. No baking, it just dried out on its own with air. I gave Violet a bath while Dave gave the others something for supper, and they were all off to Awana at 5:45 pm. It was "crazy hair night" so Dave spiked up Calvin's hair into a mohawk, and I twisted Violet's hair into two buns on top of her head. Not much I could do to her hair while it was soaking wet.
At the end of the day she said it was the best day ever!
Dave added swirled food coloring to the cakes, it was very pretty but not visible once it was frosted!
Tuesday, January 15, 2013
Calvin - 5 yr well child check
I took Calvin in for his 5 yr well child check up today at 9:15 am. He was excited to go, knowing that he would not be getting any shots. He had his boosters done when he was 4. So glad those were done.
Dave is out of town in Minneapolis today and tomorrow, so this morning was pretty busy. I got Violet to school by 7:56 am. Vanessa was still in her pajamas riding in the van though. I went back home after taking Violet to school to get Vanessa fed something for breakfast, clothes changed, and Eli fed and changed too. Then as soon as we had gotten home and completed those tasks, we turned around and got back in the car to go back to Waterloo for Calvin's check up.
I just have to record something Calvin said this morning, he's so silly. On the way home from taking Violet to school, we drove past Bethany Bible Chapel. He pointed out "there's the church building!!" and then asked me why it had a big pointy white thing on top, the steeple. I told him it is a symbol that points up to God because we worship God. He was quiet for a moment, then said, "Its a good thing that is on top of the building. It points up to God so we don't have to. The people inside the church don't have to hold their hands up and point up all the time." The visual of him thinking people inside having to point up all the time made me laugh. You crack me up, Calvin!
So on the way to the doctor, we arrived, and of course, he remembered it as soon as I parked the van. He looked out the window and saw the 5-story building and said, "Whoa! That building has thousands of millions of bricks!"
He pushed the button on the elevator and wondered how it worked. He remembered that sometimes when he goes with Dave in the mornings to take Violet to school that we sometimes see the doctor in the school. I reminded him that his doctor has kids that go to the same school as Violet so that's why we see her there sometimes. He was amazed that she had kids.
We were ON TIME to the appointment! Arriving at 9:10 am or so. We only waited a few minutes in the waiting room (after he "organized" all the colored beads on the wood maze on the wall) when Calvin heard his name called and walked right back to the nurse. First thing he was weighed and measured.
He's 44.2 lbs
3 ft 8 1/4" tall.
Both stats are in the 75% percentile, projecting his overall height to be about 6' when he's full grown. He has grown 3 inches since his 4 yr old measurement.
The nurse led us to room #1 and took his bp and hr.
bp 100/50
hr 96 bpm
She left, I changed him into his exam gown that had zooming rockets all over it. He said his legs were cold. Vanessa sat in the stroller and he gave her books that fit in her lap. Eli was in his car seat the whole time in the stroller.
The doctor came in and greeted us. She asked what questions I had, and I brought up a concern of mine with Calvin having croup sometimes and his constant sniffing/snorting of his nose. She asked a series of more detailed questions about the frequency and timing. Calvin got bored with us discussing so he started playing with toys in the corner of the room. He was so involved with his bead/wire toy that when she got to his exam, she let him bring the toy up on the exam table as she did her work. She asked him all sorts of questions about what he likes (food), about his preschool, about our family. When she got to the question, "What's your mom's name?" he went blank. She said, "What's your dad's name?" He said, "Dave." she said again, "So what's your mom's name?" He looked at me and I mouthed "Maria" to him, he looked like, "oh DUH!" in his head...and said "Maria." to her. Silly boy. She looked at everything...eyes, ears, nose, throat, tonsils, knees, tummy, breathing, heart, toes, muscle strength, etc. She was done with his exam and said the lining of his nose is quite inflammed and isn't surprised what I said about his nasal issues. She wrote a script for a nasal spray (Nasonex) which is a low dose steroid to help reduce the inflammation of his nose and suggested Claritin or Zyrtek to help with his allergies. We'll check back in a month to see if its going away or not.
I asked if I could use the scale to weigh Eli (I was curious about his weight since its so close to his infant seat weight limit of 22 lbs), and he was 20 lbs 12 oz. yay! He can stay in it hopefully til the worst of the cold winter is over.
We all made a stop in the bathroom. Calvin got an angry birds sticker (he was SO excited to get that one!), then we left.
So glad it was a nice visit. He seemed happy to be there, and the younger kids did a great job too.
Dave is out of town in Minneapolis today and tomorrow, so this morning was pretty busy. I got Violet to school by 7:56 am. Vanessa was still in her pajamas riding in the van though. I went back home after taking Violet to school to get Vanessa fed something for breakfast, clothes changed, and Eli fed and changed too. Then as soon as we had gotten home and completed those tasks, we turned around and got back in the car to go back to Waterloo for Calvin's check up.
I just have to record something Calvin said this morning, he's so silly. On the way home from taking Violet to school, we drove past Bethany Bible Chapel. He pointed out "there's the church building!!" and then asked me why it had a big pointy white thing on top, the steeple. I told him it is a symbol that points up to God because we worship God. He was quiet for a moment, then said, "Its a good thing that is on top of the building. It points up to God so we don't have to. The people inside the church don't have to hold their hands up and point up all the time." The visual of him thinking people inside having to point up all the time made me laugh. You crack me up, Calvin!
So on the way to the doctor, we arrived, and of course, he remembered it as soon as I parked the van. He looked out the window and saw the 5-story building and said, "Whoa! That building has thousands of millions of bricks!"
He pushed the button on the elevator and wondered how it worked. He remembered that sometimes when he goes with Dave in the mornings to take Violet to school that we sometimes see the doctor in the school. I reminded him that his doctor has kids that go to the same school as Violet so that's why we see her there sometimes. He was amazed that she had kids.
We were ON TIME to the appointment! Arriving at 9:10 am or so. We only waited a few minutes in the waiting room (after he "organized" all the colored beads on the wood maze on the wall) when Calvin heard his name called and walked right back to the nurse. First thing he was weighed and measured.
He's 44.2 lbs
3 ft 8 1/4" tall.
Both stats are in the 75% percentile, projecting his overall height to be about 6' when he's full grown. He has grown 3 inches since his 4 yr old measurement.
The nurse led us to room #1 and took his bp and hr.
bp 100/50
hr 96 bpm
She left, I changed him into his exam gown that had zooming rockets all over it. He said his legs were cold. Vanessa sat in the stroller and he gave her books that fit in her lap. Eli was in his car seat the whole time in the stroller.
The doctor came in and greeted us. She asked what questions I had, and I brought up a concern of mine with Calvin having croup sometimes and his constant sniffing/snorting of his nose. She asked a series of more detailed questions about the frequency and timing. Calvin got bored with us discussing so he started playing with toys in the corner of the room. He was so involved with his bead/wire toy that when she got to his exam, she let him bring the toy up on the exam table as she did her work. She asked him all sorts of questions about what he likes (food), about his preschool, about our family. When she got to the question, "What's your mom's name?" he went blank. She said, "What's your dad's name?" He said, "Dave." she said again, "So what's your mom's name?" He looked at me and I mouthed "Maria" to him, he looked like, "oh DUH!" in his head...and said "Maria." to her. Silly boy. She looked at everything...eyes, ears, nose, throat, tonsils, knees, tummy, breathing, heart, toes, muscle strength, etc. She was done with his exam and said the lining of his nose is quite inflammed and isn't surprised what I said about his nasal issues. She wrote a script for a nasal spray (Nasonex) which is a low dose steroid to help reduce the inflammation of his nose and suggested Claritin or Zyrtek to help with his allergies. We'll check back in a month to see if its going away or not.
I asked if I could use the scale to weigh Eli (I was curious about his weight since its so close to his infant seat weight limit of 22 lbs), and he was 20 lbs 12 oz. yay! He can stay in it hopefully til the worst of the cold winter is over.
We all made a stop in the bathroom. Calvin got an angry birds sticker (he was SO excited to get that one!), then we left.
So glad it was a nice visit. He seemed happy to be there, and the younger kids did a great job too.
My scene walking in:
Sunday, January 13, 2013
Tired mom
If I had a dollar for every time someone said to me this morning: "you look tired!" I would be rich. :P One of my bloodshot eyes must have given me away.
Time for a long nap! At least...as long as Eli and Vanessa sleep for their naps today. Dave is hanging out with Calvin doing things and Violet is at a friend's house until Awana tonight.
Looking forward to the rest!
*update* feeling better after 2.5 hrs of sleep!
Time for a long nap! At least...as long as Eli and Vanessa sleep for their naps today. Dave is hanging out with Calvin doing things and Violet is at a friend's house until Awana tonight.
Looking forward to the rest!
*update* feeling better after 2.5 hrs of sleep!
Thursday, January 10, 2013
Calvin found a toothpick IN the couch cushion
A very weird, odd discovery was made this morning. I was sitting on the couch feeding Eli. Calvin came up to me and pressed his hands into the couch cushion nearest me to lean up towards me for something, probably to greet Eli. He suddenly said "OUCH!" and jumped back with a start. He said "something poked me!!" and started to gently feel where he had pressed the cushion and found something sharp again. I was perplexed for a moment...wondering what in the world was sharp poking out of the couch cushion. I felt for a pokey spot too. I got poked. Calvin pressed further on "the spot" and found a toothpick poking out of the couch cushion. He pulled it out, amazed. Both of us started laughing. What were the chances that toothpick would have been discovered? So funny. Calvin was cracked up about it for the next few moments and wanted to go tell dad about it immediately. I wonder how long it had been there?
Tuesday, January 08, 2013
Vanessa got to play in the snow today, thanks to Violet!
Violet rose to the occasion this afternoon. She is being such an amazing big sister! I picked up Violet from school today and Calvin and Eli were napping. I suggested that Violet take Vanessa out in the snow to play since she doesn't get much of a chance go out. I'm usually tied up with Eli and can't leave the house. Violet was more than happy to do so. She got very excited about taking Vanessa outside in the snow and showing her what little kids who are 2 can do in the snow, like make and toss little snowballs. She was (and is being) very sweet right now and I love it when she is like that. Sister bonding.
Saturday, January 05, 2013
Igloo
Rachel got the kids some snow-brick-making tools. When the snow was perfect for packing, Dave and Violet went outside and started building an igloo, which Dave was determined to make complete. They made a lot of progress, but didn't finish. The snow melted and it fell down before they got the chance to finish it, but it certainly looked cool. I hope we get more perfect packable snow cuz we have to make a snowman before the winter ends! Calvin is reserving a carrot in the fridge for the perfect day.
Friday, January 04, 2013
Vanessa in a big twin bed
She slept on the twin bed last night, woke up at 2 am and tried to climb in bed with me, but I carried her back to bed. She cried on the way back to her room and demanded to sleep in the crib, which she seemed more comfortable in. She went back to sleep, thankfully, without a peep. Tonight she will try the twin bed again, we will see how it goes.
Tuesday, January 01, 2013
New Year's Eve 2012 with Hardingers
This visit blended right into Shawn and Kim's visit. They left Monday late morning, and my family arrived right around noon.
Rachel had been busting it in the kitchen, prepping baking for the family's meal, planned for around 2 pm. She heated up a smoked ham which she had sent directly from a smokehouse in NY, and also made potatoes, asparagus with hollandaise sauce, cranberry-orange sauce for the meat, creamed corn, and wine. The meal was very delicious! I asked Rachel to do the meal planning/cooking to make this visit with my family possible so I didn't have to do that part.
I wish I remembered more details about this visit. I was pretty tired from our long day of travel. Still great to be with family though! Jay and Molly came up with Stella. She's changing a lot! Mouth full of teeth, eating lots of food, and crawling around! We learned a new game called Malarky and discovered that my mom is a good maker-upper-of-answers-to-weird-questions. We played the telephone pictionary game again too later in the day. Violet played along with us and did GREAT. She's a good reader and drawer and thoroughly enjoyed playing with us. I think she felt very grown up. Rachel served up some meatballs, fancy cheese, crackers, bacon wrapped shrimp, and other snacky stuff for the night's food.
A few pics from the visit -
Shawn and Kim gave us a wooden peg thing to decorate as a family project. My mom and Violet took to that right away. Calvin just wanted to color on his own.
Violet was eager to pour and flip pancakes on her own on Tues morning, Jan 1st ~ she did a great job.
Eli and Stella!
2 pics of Stella:
Uncle Jay created a treasure hunt after being inspired by the pirate hats that Violet and Calvin created with black construction paper and a little help printing and cutting out skulls and crossbones. I drew up a map of the house on the main floor which got taped to the front panel of the box to give them directions. Dave helped the kids make a "boat" out of cardboard, and Jay hid treasure all over the house and marked it on the map with a yellow dot. This kept them entertained for hours. So fun for them!!
Eli and Rachel
She came up with the idea to make snowflakes with coffee filters - they loved making those too.
Rachel had been busting it in the kitchen, prepping baking for the family's meal, planned for around 2 pm. She heated up a smoked ham which she had sent directly from a smokehouse in NY, and also made potatoes, asparagus with hollandaise sauce, cranberry-orange sauce for the meat, creamed corn, and wine. The meal was very delicious! I asked Rachel to do the meal planning/cooking to make this visit with my family possible so I didn't have to do that part.
I wish I remembered more details about this visit. I was pretty tired from our long day of travel. Still great to be with family though! Jay and Molly came up with Stella. She's changing a lot! Mouth full of teeth, eating lots of food, and crawling around! We learned a new game called Malarky and discovered that my mom is a good maker-upper-of-answers-to-weird-questions. We played the telephone pictionary game again too later in the day. Violet played along with us and did GREAT. She's a good reader and drawer and thoroughly enjoyed playing with us. I think she felt very grown up. Rachel served up some meatballs, fancy cheese, crackers, bacon wrapped shrimp, and other snacky stuff for the night's food.
A few pics from the visit -
Shawn and Kim gave us a wooden peg thing to decorate as a family project. My mom and Violet took to that right away. Calvin just wanted to color on his own.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)