First we spread “doughnut seeds” onto a pan.   (that would be cheerios)

Next we sprinkled “plant food” on the doughnut seeds to help them grow quickly.   (powdered sugar)

After 15 minutes in a dark room, look what happened!   The doughnut seeds grew into fluffy, white doughnuts!   (We swapped the cheerios out with some of those little white Sweet 16 doughnuts while the kids were occupied in another room)     The bought it hook, line & sinker.     Now they keep asking when we can grow doughnuts again!

How Stinkin’ Cute Is This??????

Other Random Bits…

I started cross-stitching again!  I haven’t worked on my wedding sampler in over 8 years.   We’re coming up on our tenth anniversary this summer.   I thought maybe it was time to finish it!

Ohmyword, I love these rooms!  Sometime in the next 6 months or so, Savannah will be moving out of the nursery and into Mary’s bedroom.     I’ve got Apartment Therapy and ohdeedoh on my Google Reader list- here are three of my favorite rooms that I’ve bookmarked in the last few months.    I can’t wait to set up the room for both girls- I just love the idea of sisters sharing a bedroom.

Pictures by Wayne Vincent Photography

I love everything about this room- the floors, the light, the mural is just simply gorgeous.  The beds are quite sweet.   My only worry is that it might be too “little girl” four years down the road when Mary is approaching 10yo.   Had I seen this when we bought the house three years ago, I might have done it.

This room definitely has a retro 70′s vibe to it.  I can’t quite put my finger on it, but there’s something I definitely like about this room.  I don’t think I’m brave enough to do the wallpaper in my own house- I’d be afraid that I’d be tired of it 6 months later but I do like it… in someone else’s home!

For more pictures of this room, check out this post at Apartment Therapy

To me, this room is quite simply perfect.  Gorgeous without being fussy.  I love the off center “READ”, the red bed frame, the nighstand.   The chair is perfectly cozy- it’s just right.   Unfortunately we don’t have hardwood floors upstairs and I doubt we’d put them in at this point.  Still, I like the idea of framing storybook prints, mismatched furniture.   I’m on the lookout for a funky old chair and some vintage Fisher Price sets- particularly the schoolhouse.

Isn’t it cute?

The back of the “house”- the doors open and close.

The lower level- Mary has the kitchen set up in there.  Notice the cute pot bellied stove and the little oven.

Middle floor- how crazy cute is the fireplace?

Upper level- the bedroom set.

Cute little bridge.

Their new kitchen set from Kip and I.

We’ve had a wonderful one so far.

On Saturday, 12/20 my family came here for Christmas. We had 11 here for a non-traditional Christmas dinner- Hawaiian steak shish-ke-bobs, marinated vegetable shish-ke-bobs, mahatma rice, a yellow squash, zucchini and onion stirfry, salad and homemade breadsticks.   For dessert we had all kinds of stuff.   After opening presents the kidlets were sent off to bed while the adults stayed up playing games.   Fun night!   The adults draw names and no one buys for the kids except grandparents.    I got a large frame that holds three vertical 5×7 pictures.  I wanted one so I could frame my three favorite pictures from the photography session in August.  I’ll post a picture of it when I’ve got the pictures in and the frame hung.  Oh, also I got a subscription to Readers Digest which I love.    I’ve been getting RD since I was in college.    My Mom gave Mary the Melissa and Doug IceCream set, Nathan a rocket ship set with astronauts and Savvy a set of the three little pigs- it’s three nesting houses and the three pigs and the wolf.  All very cute and the children were thrilled.

On Wednesday, 12/24 we celebrated Christmas Eve and Kip’s 46th Birthday! My sister and nephew came an hour earlier than everyone else so that we could carry on our family tradition of reading “Twas’ The Night Before Christmas”- my parents always read us the version that was illustrated by Tasha Tudor.   It’s out of print now but through some nefarious dealings I was able to obtain a copy for myself.  So, we set the grandkids up on the couch and read the story just like when we were kids.  Then the kids each got to open their present from PapPap (my Dad).   Mary got the most awesome mail set, Nathan got a Dominoe set and Savvy got the sweetest little dolly you ever saw.  Just right for her size.

Not the best picture of Savvy- she was tired and hungry and we were trying to  hold her off with crackers.  But you can see her clutching her sweet baby doll.

Everyone else arrived a few minutes later.   We had 15 for dinner that night- our family, Sarah, Bob and Alec, Mel and Carolyn, Billy (Carolyn’s son), Cheryl and their kids- Caitlyn, William and Chelsea.    We had seven kids that night- 10,10,7,5,4,3,1.   It was wild.  For Kip’s birthday dinner we had lasagne, butterhorn rolls and salad.  There was dessert craziness here. I made: German Chocolate Cake, Lemon Pie, Coconut Cream pie, cut out sugar cookies with frosting and sprinkles and peanut butter fudge.   My sister brought a delicious banana-sour cream bread.   We had spiced pecans from my Mother, homemade peaunut brittle from a neighbor and Carolyn brought Chocolate Walnut Fudge.  And let’s not forget the Scotcheroos that I made Kip for his birthday.

After much eating and opening of presents all the kids went outside and spread the “reindeer food” that the kids and I had made earlier in the day (a combination of oatmeal, glitter and Craisins).    Then we went in and followed the Norad Tracks Santa website.   The kids and I had been watching all day as Santa traveled from China, Australia, Russia, through Europe.   When we saw he was out over the Atlantic, Billy and Cheryl left with their kids and we hurried ours into their pj’s and on to bed.   Santa was almost here!

Christmas morning was SUCH fun!

We usually limit the gifts to three from us and three from Santa + one big gift.   This year we did a little more.  We saved a lot of money by shopping at Toys and Co.’s 20% off  October sale and then Gifted Imaginations ran a 25% your entire order + free shipping sale so we had money left over and used it for extas.

Each child got a stack of three books and each child got a different set of blocks to add to our every growing collection (can you really ever have enough blocks?).  Mary and Nathan also each got a puzzle, a game  and a baseball glove and ball set.

The Big Gift for all the kids was a new kitchen set, refrigerator and wooden food.   There was also an Indian set with 4 teepees, 6 indians, 4 horses, 2 buffalo, 3 totem poles, camp fires, etc.   set out for the kids as a group gift.

Then each kid got their own separate gifts- Nathan got a REAL tool box with tools from For Small Hands- it had a hammer, saw, drill, sanding block, head lamp, measuring tape, safety glasses, etc.   He also got some pirate stuff, the space base set that goes with the rocket ship he got for his birthday last year and this fishing game which all the kids have loved and had fun with.   Mary got a princess dress, some more of the Snap N’ Style dolls, a changing table for her dollys, a set of audio books that included Anne of Green Gables, The Secret Garden and Little Women.  Savvy got the Haba Sticki Blocks which are perfect for her size.   A cute little mushroom house with some figures, etc. in it, a Snap N’ Style doll and pounding toy.  Her two favorite gifts were a toy telephone and a little wool ball from Little John Lane.

Christmas Eve- all ready for the kids in the morning…

Christmas Morning…

We still have Christmas with Kip’s family this coming Sunday and then Nathan’s 4th Birthday next Saturday (1/3) so more parties to come- after that we’ll have a four week break until Mary’s 5th Birthday.  I’m always partied out by February!

One of my biggest PET PEEVES is when I hear parents say that their child isn’t “listening”. I’ve got a news flash- he hears you JUST fine.  What your child is doing is NOT OBEYING.

He HEARS what you are telling him he just doesn’t WANT to do it so HE’S IGNORING YOU.

It is beyond outrageous to hear someone say “She’s only three, I can’t expect her to listen to me.” Whaaaa?   (Thanks, Sarah C.!)   Does she “listen” to you when you say “Let’s go get icecream”?  Can she “hear” you when you say “Let’s go to the toy store”?  Is she able to obey those times?  If you say “Susy- go get in your carseat- we’re going to get icecream!” does she run to the car and get in her seat?    Common sense would dictate that if the child can “hear” the good things and can choose to obey when it benefits her, that she can “hear” you the rest of the time as well.   She has the ability to obey, she is choosing not to. Either these people have a child who is seriously cognitively delayed or my children are brilliant.   Because you know what, my 15 month old is able to obey.  I can give her a command and she knows EXACTLY what she is being told to do/not do.   Sometimes she obeys and sometimes she doesn’t.  We’re working on that.  But it’s certainly not a question of “does she understand”.   She understands juuuuust fine.

Another bit of common sense:  Seriously, if you can’t get your three year old to obey, what are you going to do when she’s fifteen?  Do you think they just arbitrarily decide to obey at a certain age?  Are you counting on being able to reason with them as they get older?  What if the child doesn’t like you reasoning?  Then what do you do?

Honestly, this is just baffling to me.    Why would you not just teach them to be obedient at a young age?

Thanksgiving Craftiness

In an earlier post I mentioned planning for the holidays.   Yesterday we did one of the Thanksgiving crafts I had picked out for us to do back in September.    Using some cardstock and $1 ink pads from AC Moore, the kids used their fingerprints and thumbprints to make these cute Thanksgiving Turkeys.  We made cards that we are mailing to grandparents and some elderly relatives that live in Virginia and New  York.  We also made place cards for the Thanskgiving table.    Here’s some pictures of our handiwork:

Kip traced the kids hands and then they did the coloring to make handprint turkeys.

Mary made these handprint turkeys all by herself.

Busy Box

I mentioned in yesterday’s post about Savannah’s Busy Box.  Here it is.

A 10cent pencil box that I got from Wal-Mart on clearance.  Filled with odds and ends that we’ve picked up.

A tin that the covers pops on and off, film canisters, a change purse that snaps open, a little zippered bag, a bottle with a cap that twists on and off, two scoops, the hard plastic thing from the inside of a tape roll, straws bent into triangle, a flexi-mouse, a block with a jingle bell in it, a piece of ribbon, and a yellow coin keeper.   This is enough stuff to keep her busy for quite a while.  Opening and closing things.   Hiding the ribbon or the block inside of the different containers and she looks for them, etc.

Thursday,  October 9, 2008

Mary- completing her reading/language arts assignment.

Craft Time-  Nathan and I built the race car.  Mary and Daddy sewed this coin purse.

Friday, October 10, 2008

I spent the morning cleaning out the freezer.   Throwing away some stuff, reorganizing what was there.  I made a list of everything left in the freezer and then planned the meals for the next month around it.   I’m wanting to clear out both freezers in preparation for the holidays.

Newly cleaned out and organized.

Bottom drawer.

Middle drawer.

Top drawer.

List of what is in the freezer.

Menu for October 15-November 15.

Nathan- off to retrieve the newspaper for me.

Flowers on front porch.  The bird house was made for me by a family friend in New York.  Several years ago she removed all the siding from her entire house and put on cedar shakes by herself.   The roof of the bird house is made from the old siding she pulled off her house.  Every time I see the bird house it reminds me of home.

Flowers blooming on our front walk.

New block basket from Blueberry Forest.    Doesn’t it look inviting?  The kids have been building many buildings, roads, forts, castles and animals.

Nathan with his race car.  Look at his little grumpy face.

Trying to be funny here…

With his FAVORITE rocket ship.   He loves this thing!

Do we have a problem here??    The boy needs a belt.

Sweet Savvy during story time.    We hauled out our stash of Halloween books and have been reading a pile of them every day.

Mary-

Our favorite one- a little bit sassy for my taste so I skip over some parts but man, is Jerry Seinfeld funny or what?

We bought the Redbox 120 piece Light and Sound Marble Run off Amazon recently and have been having so much fun with this thing!  I think it’s really good for developing logical thinking skills in kids (as well as THIS GAME that we use for the same purpose) because you really do have to sit and puzzle out how the pieces will go together, make adjustments and changes to get the marble to drop just so or run a certain way.

The first night it came we all sat down and built this one together as a family.

Nathan is working on his hammering set but you can see Mary in the background building her own marble run.

Mary, mid-construction.

Kip and I built this one on Thursday night.

Play-Doh on Friday… (Savvy’s first time with play-doh)

The rest of these pictures were all taken Saturday, 9/13.

Savvy having an afternoon snack.  Doesn’t she look comfortable?   Ignore the messy hair- I can NOT find a little brown hair bow for her anywhere.   I’m annoyed because the girls have these cute brown dresses to where for the fall but alas, no matching hair bows are to be found.  You wouldn’t think it would be that hard to find brown hairbows.

After lunch Kip and the kids put together an ant-farm.   They were SO excited about this!

Savvy- during the ant farm construction- scooting all around the floor.  Ignore the crumbs, please.

After dinner we all went outside to play- Savvy in her swing.

We found this HUGE snail in the backyard!  It was so cool…  I wanted to bring it inside but Kip said NO.  I can’t imagine why???   What?  Three cats and a dog aren’t enough?  And now we’ve got ants too…  Seriously, that is the biggest snail I’ve ever seen outside of an acquarium.   Of course Mary is the one who found it- she has a good eye for catching wildlife like Kip does.

The thing I love about this book, other than the gorgeous illustrations, is that it has really encouraged Mary to grow in her “little Mommy” ways which is something I want to see. She consults the book like it’s a manual of how to care for your babies. So she’ll get “Annie” out and check the book to see what she needs to do. Then she’ll follow a lot of it- except the taking Annie outside part- Annie is NOT allowed outside!

Here’s Annie.

“Little Mommy” by Sharon Kane- I thought you all might enjoy seeing the pictures.

There is so much I love about this last picture.   I love this little girls room- the soft, buttery yellow walls.  The cafe shuters.  The pink and white chenille comforter with pom pom ball fringe and the eyelet bed skirt.  The pink lamp and the pictures of flowers above the bed. Mary loves that the two dolls have a little bed.   She’s asked for a little doll bed for Christmas and I am quite sure Santa will be bringing it.

I’m doing Mary’s room sometime this winter- we’ll be putting Savannah in there and so will be getting it ready for the two girls to share.   We have cafe shutters on 6 windows already upstairs- I will probably order them for girls room as well.   Upholstered head boards so that I can use the other existing furniture I already have in the room without trying to match the headboards to the dressers.    I may try to copy somewhat the bedding in this picture.   Anyway- I love this picture below.

The Birthday Girl!  ONE YEAR OLD!

Sweet profile.

Opening PawPaw’s present- PLAN TOYS Matching Animals and HABA’s Building Blocks Torrino

There were so cool- way neater than I expected.  The kids have been having a blast playing with them!

Opening PapPap’s present- HABA\’S Fantasy Land Blocks.  These are just the most gorgeous blocks- worth every penny.  Perfect size for little hands.

Opening presents from Daddy and Mommy-

Clothes, Creanimaux blocks, a wooden Chelona Book.

Her Birthday Cake.

Playing with her new toys!

This was Savannah’s BIG present from Daddy and Mommy- this beautiful “heavy” baby from Joy’s Waldorf Dolls and the Haba Doll Stroller/Walker.   She just holds her baby and babbles away to her.   Very sweet.  The baby doll smells heavenly- it’s filled with millet and lavender so not only does it smell good, it feels like a baby, which I think she likes.

Savvy’s Birthday Dinner-

I made The Pioneer Woman’s Roasted Ricotta Roma Tomatoes, Marlboro Man Sandwich and Fresh Corn Cassarole.  Also salad with homemade croutons and yellow cake with homemade chocolate cream cheese frosting.

These are from her “family” party in early August-

Savannah Marie- 11 months old, almost 12 months old. sniff, sniff…

We had “family dinner” with my family on Saturday, August 2nd. We celebrated Savvy’s first birthday, my nephew’s 10th birthday, my sister’s 31st birthday and my brother’s 30th birthday.

Savvy with Uncle Mikey

Savvy, uninterested in her birthday cupcake. Papa James is holding her- looking at Mema.

Opening her present from Mema.

It’s a LOUD Noah’s Ark! Cute, but seriously, it’s loud.

Cute little profile.

Another cute profile.