Random Again

Reading, reading, reading, reading, reading, reading, .......

Rediscovering the art supplies and trying to figure out how many markers have mysteriously dried out, since we never use them
We are getting desperate for new things to do so ..... I opened up my "treasure box" of junk from my childhood and beyond to see if the kids might be able to adopt anything as their own. :-)

What did we find??? Here's a small sampling (this box of junk I have may make for some interesting flashback blog posts next week)

Stickers I had saved from 1984 came to life today, a gum wrapper chain I made during some really boring college days got dragged all over the house (it was over 10 feet long and is now in smaller three pieces), friendship bracelets from middle school (I actually made two of them myself!!) -- Chloe kept lining them up and picking them up over and over, but she wouldn't let me wrap her wrists with them....and some paint-by-number paintings of horses I painted in high school that really caught Evan's attention.... those are going on his wall by his bed, he told me.

I also found an octopus puzzle I made in wood shop in 1988 (back there on the couch behind Chloe), a really old jacks-set my first babysitter gave me (um, from 1983 I think) with new bouncy balls for the kids to fight over, and the siren whistle from Leslie in 1987....

I love seeing new life in these old things :-) Brightens the monotony and boredom caused by THIS:

(the view out the back door)

Things That Start With "C"

** it is so unbelievably COLD outside **


** the latest CHEESY smile **

** CREATIVE mess-making **
(and a CAT always in the way)


** evidence that CHLOE was here **
(her favorite CHIHUAHUAS)


** CUTIE eating CLEMENTINES **
("cremintimes" as she says)

** running in CIRCLES because
they are stir CRAZY!!!! **

No Mommy Don't Picture Me!

Both my kids seem to be on a photo strike, but especially this little stinker:

.....and I don't like it :-(

*********************************

In unrelated news: I made some modifications to this blog layout (which I'll gladly accept comments or complaints about), and I've had time to start putting a good music mix CD together for the kids in the car that has been soooo desperately needed. If any of you have songs (regular radio type songs, not kids music!) that your kids seem to enjoy or that you think a kid would enjoy -- upbeat, silly-sounding, disco-type music -- then leave a comment and let me know. Nothing is too extreme for me to consider, knowing that "Play that funky music, white boy" is one of Evan's loves. :-)

Our Cat

Is this any indication of how cold out it is?? Our little Ruby kitty is packing on the winter weight to stay warm (on her five minute ventures out the front door and around to the back door) and she has noticeably changed shape.

When she lays like this, she looks like roadkill :-)

I mean that in the nicest "I love my kitty" kind of way :-)

The Other Day

It was "warm" on Friday when I took Evan out to play in the snow... by warm, of course, I mean that it was above 30.

I didn't take many pictures since we spent most of our time tromping through the backyard making "kitty trails" (you know, to give the cats somewhere to actually walk when they go out to play). Ruby and Roy followed us all around loving their new play area, so I guess they liked Evan's idea a lot :-)

But after I was sweating a bit too much for my own comfort, we went out front and Evan kept himself busy doing his usual... pushing the monster truck and riding his bike... even in two feet of snow....

Posted by Bree

Did I Tell You??

Evan doesn't want to play Candy Land eight (or more) times a day anymore!

Instead, he now wants to play Chutes & Ladders!

Posted by Bree

Something In the Air

Sunrise this morning.... so pretty...

I think there was magic in the sunrise because we all turned into unicorns shortly afterwards.


I'm pretty sure the only way to break the spell is to put on your winter hat and stick your head in the snow.


This only works if the snow in your front yard is deeper than the length of your unicorn horn.

Boy, were we lucky :-)

Posted by Bree

Naps

There are very few things that are consider worthy of Chloe skipping her nap for the day.

1-- visiting with someone we love and don't see often
2-- visting with Liz, whom we love and see often, but will stay late with anyway :-)
3-- going to my Mom's for our monthly gathering of family, food and noisy visiting
4-- exceptionally beautiful weather worthy of spending every minute of the day enjoying

That's pretty much it.

Nowhere on that list do we see "being at the library."

But, that is what happened today. We were there for TWO hours. How is that even possible?? I still have no idea how that happened. We left here at 11:30am with snacks packed, hoping to be back for a late lunch. I don't wear a watch and I don't have a cell phone. So we pulled back in our driveway at 2 o'clock. It wasn't a purposeful nap-skipping occasion, I guess, but I didn't feel bad about it or regret that we stayed so long... which made it ok.

Once we were home the cuddly sleepy little girl who got to skip naptime because Mom lost track of time at the library, was rewarded with some major cuddly book-reading time with Daddy who was home again today with a very sore neck... (how's that for a rambling run-on thought)

For the record, we have 23 books out at the moment.
Twenty-three.
Yep.

Posted by Bree

About Me

I don't have any good pictures from today so I figured I'd do what so many other blog writers do: make lists of random junk about themselves into a post. ;-)
I found this "5 things" idea a while ago and now seems like a fitting enough time to do one.

What were doing 5 years ago today:

Spending the day with Evan who would have been just over 6 months old… he was learning how to sit up at that age.

5 snacks I love:

*chocolate chips

*bartlett pears
*clementine oranges
*apples & cheese
*popcorn

5 things on my to-do list today:

*spend quality time with each kiddo
*wash and change the sheets on the beds
*work on potty training with Chloe
*bake squash and chicken for dinner
*watch American Idol

5 things I would do if I were a millionaire:

*buy a beautiful piece of LAND and build a house
*help those we love get out of debt
*travel America (and beyond) with our family
*start a family-owned and operated business: an off-road park
*do random acts of kindness (like in the movie "It Could Happen To You")

5 bad habits I have:

*cutting my own hair when I’m having a bad hair day

*talking when I’m confused about something… it makes it worse

*not returning phone calls

*letting the dust build up until I can draw pictures in it, then cleaning it

*picking up after the kids all day instead of teaching them to do it for themselves

5 places I've lived:
*Albion, PA

*Fairview, PA

*State College, PA

*Edinboro, PA

*Erie, PA

(wow….. boring…………)

5 jobs I've had:

*shoe salesman at Dick’s

*daycare worker

*teen mentor (teaching abstinence education)

*preschool teacher

*mom

Ok, hopefully that was fascinating for all of you to read! And since it really wasn't... I'll be back with more kid stuff tomorrow :-)

Oh, and mom, you asked in your comment yesterday why I don't like Thomas the Train -- It's not anything about the toys, it's the just the books. I don't like the author's writing style at all. He's just not a good writer which makes for really boring reading. That's really it.

Posted by Bree

This Morning

These two curled up for some marathon reading sessions on Dad's lap since he is home from work today. (Does anyone else understand the fascination kids have with Thomas the train??? I don't get it, and I really don't enjoy reading it. But they do. And thankfully Todd is a bit more willing than I to oblige them.) I love that even when we are done reading to them, they just grab another and read to themselves... such sweet noise :-)


I played hair salon with Chloe today after she requested braids. Um... it's been years since I've done french braids, but they turned out soooo cute on her!! She sat mostly still for it although I did part of the braids with my hands upside-down and sideways. She learned pretty quickly that all that wiggling just makes your hair hurt more.

Twenty-five off-roading trucks in a caravan blazed new trails in the mud blanket which Evan declared to be: "my best mud ever!"


Chloe actually played play-doh by herself today. This was her creative cuteness at work. She played a lot with the kitchen making pizza and eggs, then it got quiet as she was very busy. After she got down she ran to Todd announcing, "I made cookies and hats today!" Check out those decorated trucks.

Posted by Bree

The Dogs Have It

It is all about the dogs lately here.
These two still play kittens but the dogs have been given some serious cuddling and playing time!

I found them like this in the corner between the chair and loveseat over the weekend. The kittens were sleeping in a pile while Evan and Chloe played puppies...

I think the kids are trying to tell us something....

My dad came over with Dexter, his dog, the other day and it is such fun to watch the kids play with him. Here's Evan playing peekaboo with Dex.


I know Todd wants a dog so much, but it's really sweet to see how much the kids are showing an interest in that too :-)

Posted by Bree

Evan's Latest Art

A drawing of the family... can you guess who each one is?

Here's how he described it --

Clockwise from the top left: Evan, Ruby & Roy (he said "my two cats"), Chloe, then under our cats is Tigger (Uncle Tim's cat), going back around the picture is Uncle Tim next to the letter D, Todd, Cami, Me (drawn on the red car), Courtney, Bailey (Uncle Tim's dog), and Aunt Kim. (Cami and Courtney are Evan's cousins)

Posted by Bree

The Name Game Song

Chloe's version:

"Cwifford, Cwifford, bo Bifford, Banana No Nifford, Fee Fi Mo Cwifford... Cwifford!!" (for Clifford the Big Red Dog)
followed by what she says whenever any camera is pointing at her... "Don't do dat Mom!"



Evan's version:


Can you follow his stream of consciousness??

... pergola, tunnel, snowflake, post, SnotRod (from Cars the movie)...

Snow!!!!!

Does anyone else's little boy do this????
Bobbing for blades of grass anyone??

Love the conehead head!


These two mostly played separately but I tried to force them together for a few pictures.



Chloe just wanted me to hold her hand and walk her through the deep snow. She would sink in up to her hip (which she liked doing!) but she just wanted to stay balanced and not fall over.

She spent the rest of her time being a "snow puppy" today, complete with paw print making...
...lots of digging and scratching and making holes ....
... and eating some delicious snow bones ...I got a bunch of "puppy kisses" on my chin too :-) niiiiiiiiiiice. Then I asked her to stick to licking the snow instead of me.


The snow was perfect for packing and making snowballs so we made a really big snowman... but we couldn't find any sticks for arms... they're all buried under 14 inches of snow.


Evan made the head by himself, and he helped me lift the middle section. He got pretty good at rolling his own after some practice.




He always slams Chloe with snowballs and she is usually oblivious.
I'm still wondering why I waited sooooo long to by myself a pair of snowpants and some good snowboots..... when mama's warm we all have much more fun :-) We lasted almost 90 minutes!!

And in case you were looking for the typical snow shot of Chloe bawling... she didn't complain or even cry a single tear, until we stepped inside and she realized she was completely numb... thawing out really burns!

Posted by Bree