Computer time

Freckle Foot was showing Wee One how to work the computer. I thought it was cute at first but now Wee One knows how to climb into my rocking chair and likes to play with the mouse.  Maybe that is information I should tell L because my computer has been acting strange lately.

Chop stick skills

Freckle Foot decided that she needed to eat her Fruit Loops with chop sticks. I was impressed she ate the whole bowl of cereal with the chop sticks.

Annual Ocean Trip - Day 2

The second day at the beach was all about digging holes, sitting in holes, being buried in holes. Freckle Foot wanted to be a mermaid. Then Wee One loved crawling in the holes. I would make a hole for Little Loaf and Wee One would crawl over and climb in. Then I would move to make another one but he would crawl out of the one he was in and get in the next one.

The kids found another fort on the beach.

While Auntie was cooking up dinner I had the kids down at my condo. They found large sticks and played horse. Cousin Cutie was a trooper trying to keep up with Freckle Foot while they shared a stick.

I made the kids some Cloud Dough to play with on my deck. They made a huge mess and I was so happy that I could just sweep it off the deck. 

 

 

After dinner we were hanging out on the deck and saw thing little raccoon on our neighbors deck having his dinner. He seemed pretty young and very tame. I think he might live under the condo.

Wee One was just hanging out on the deck practicing his standing skills.

He was pretty ticked off that I made him wear his hat.

Freckle Foot made a drawing of Cousin Cutie. I think it's pretty accurate.

 

Wee One got to play his first game of Zonk with Auntie. 

Annual Ocean Trip Day 1

Grandma Gail was the overseer of the boys who were quite content to hang out with the beach toys.

Freckle Foot was dancing a jig of happiness on the beach this year. In fact, notice how her clothing disappears the longer we are at the beach.

By the end of the day all the kids were head to toe with sand and loved every minute of it.

We have been going to the beach for 3 years now and this was the first time it really felt like summer at the beach. After the kids went to bed I got to sit by myself and watch the sunset.

Wee One's first hair cut and summer cut for Little Loaf

It was finally time to say goodbye to Wee One's baby locks and get a hair cut. I have to say it was a sad day for me since Wee One is our last kid and I will never be able to do this over again. The first hair cut feels like the official end of the baby stage. He was a trooper and endured the strange vibration of the clippers.

Little Loaf got his summer cut. I didn't notice they are making the same face until I uploaded the pictures to the blog.

Now they both look like Daddy.  Although Little Loaf is not crazy about his new hair cut. Freckle Foot keeps telling him how "cute" he looks and he keeps saying he wants his hair back. I have to say it cuts down my time getting the boys ready in the morning. We are going to do this every summer.

Rainbow Rice fun

 Little Loaf was a little jealous of his sister's computer time so I got out some of our rainbow rice. He is loving the art trays. Of course he had to put his cars in the rice. He would say "mommy close your eyes, I have a surprise for you". Then he would bury his car or truck in the rice and then dig it out for me.

Muffin tins

My muffin tins are getting a lot of action in the last couple of weeks, too bad there aren't any actual muffins in them. You might remember we made play dough muffin last week. I was trying to get some laundry folded and put away so I came up with this idea for him to play with in the hall. He loved taking the balls out and rolling them to me. As I ran around the house putting laundry away I would roll the balls back to him. Little Loaf and Freckle Foot found this in the morning and they liked playing with it too. Little Loaf turned the muffin tin upside down and put the balls under it and it looked like it was floating. Who needs toys when you have mom's kitchen tools.

Finding her currency

Since the start of our summer vacation Freckle Foot has been giving me some attitude. We got her a alarm clock that turns green when she can come out of her room in the morning. This was suppose to help keep her in her room until 7:15am. She wakes up around 6am every morning. That is just too early for me to be functional and dealing with the demands of children. I still wake up at 6 am but I have to have a shower and some food before I see my children. Everyday we were battling in the morning and at nap time for her to stay in her room. Then the light bulb went on for me. She had been asking for computer time this summer. She loves to play on the Starfall website. I told her if she stays in her room until her clock turns green and gets dressed in the morning she can earn some computer time. Well that has made all the difference in the world. I don't hear a peep out of her anymore. Although today Teeny Bean (my best friend from high school) was watching the kids during quiet time while I did some grocery shopping. Freckle Foot and Little Loaf got out of their rooms and started playing together. Freckle Foot lost her computer time in the afternoon. She was really bummed. I am sure tomorrow if I hear Little Loaf get up and go in her room she will tell him to go away she wants her computer time.

Good Morning Aphid

The other morning while we were eating breakfast Freckle Foot noticed there was a aphid on our sliding glass door. She found the bug box and wanted to keep it for a while. We have been learning about Ladybugs this summer. Freckle Foot got out our Ladybug books and showed me the aphids in the book. The kids had lots of fun looking and identifying all the body parts of the aphid. Sad to say the little guy did not survive the morning meal before he got squish. It was of course Little Loaf who squished him. Freckle Foot decided she needed to draw a picture of our Morning Aphid.

Zoo Field Trip

Summer field tips to the Zoo mean we get to see all the outdoor exhibits for a change. Freckle Foot really wanted to see the Flamingo's

There was a sculpture of a flamingo's nest with a egg. Freckle Foot wanted to sit on the egg just like the flamingo's do.

Little Loaf really liked the nature play area. He found a turtle shell he could crawl into.

He wasn't sure if this was a real cow. He slowly approached the cow then decided he could touch it. I think he was hoping he could really get some milk out of the utters.

Of course his favorite part of the day involved wheels. He loved sitting on the real tractor and trying to shift and sheer.

Wee One's favorite part of the day was the Worm Crawl.

He had fun cruising around with all the giant worms.

At the end of the day all 3 kids were exhausted. Little Loaf even asked at about 6:50 "mommy can we go up stairs (meaning bed) now". Ahh I know I have done my job when they can't keep their eyes open after a day of summer fun.

Sacked out kid

The other night Wee One was fussing and restless and didn't want to fall asleep in the rocking chair like we usually do at night. He crawled down on the floor of the living room and then he laid down. Kicking his little feet, slower and slower until he stopped sound asleep. Oh course I had to grab the camera. We have had the kids fall asleep in their high chairs before but I can't remember them falling asleep on the floor before. Stubborn little guy refuses to fall asleep in his crib, but will go to sleep anywhere else I guess.

Weaving

Freckle Foot is very interested in learning how to sew/knit like Mommy. I saw this weaving project on Our Day Our Journey blog and thought she would really like it. She loved it! She sat on my lap and worked on it till she had to go to Ballet. When she came home she got right back to work. I only did 4 lines for her to weave I thought she needed to see quick progress. We made this project into a bracelet.

Freckle Foot said she wanted to make one for all her friends this summer. She asked if she could make them in different colors, she knows I have a stash of yarn. She picked out yellow, pink, black and a variegated green yarn for her next project. Her enthusiasm is waning a little bit but she is still interested.

New outdoor fun

Thanks to Grandma we have a new outdoor activity shooting hoops. I have had this in the basement hiding for a while. Waiting for the day when the kids were restless and I needed to get a few things done inside. Today was that kind of day.

Scarves a plenty

Wee One was having a grand time with his new scarves activity. I have been wanting to buy a set of scarves since Freckle Foot was little. On my last trip to Lakeshore Learning Store I picked up a set. They fit nicely in a baby wipe container. Wee One and I often have some one on one time after Freckle Foot and Little Loaf go to bed. He also enjoyed playing peek a boo with the scarves. He is starting to talk now so he can say "boo" then giggles.

Wee One flour fun

The other night I was trying to get dinner made but L had to work late so I was on my own. Wee One kept pulling on my legs and wanting my attention so I weighed my options. Give him something messy to do so I could get dinner or put him in the backpack. As you can see I chose the messy option. Thinking I had come up with another brilliant way to use my art tray's from Lakeshore I tossed a little flour on the tray for him. Well he had other plans. He immediately dumped all the flour on the floor then used the tray to push it everywhere. Wee One had a great time and I did get dinner made. It was worth the clean up.

Cozy Siblings

This weekend I walked into Freckle Foot's room and found Little Loaf snuggled into Freckle Foot's bed. She likes to make him watch her play her Leapster. Freckle Foot is always very polite when she asks "Do you want to come in my room and watch me play my game?".  Since Little Loaf is so agreeable he patiently watches her play her game. I am curious so see how long that lasts. It makes my heart happy to see them enjoying each other. Monday morning I will try to remember this moment when they are yelling at each other at the breakfast table.

Play dough landscapes

Little Loaf has an obsession with play dough especially if you add some cars to the mix. Play dough is fun but it drives me a little batty with Wee One around to eat all the leftover on the floor. Planning for some summer fun I went to Lakeshore Learning Store and bought a set of 4 art trays. Little Loaf wanted to play with play dough so I set out a tray for him to play on I thought I was brilliant. Little Loaf was having a nice time with a small amount of play dough. Then I remembered the Filthy Wizard's play dough Dinosaur Island so I whipped up some green and brown play dough. Little Loaf now calls his brown play dough his dirt. "I want to play with my dirt mommy".

We ended up with a whole tray of play dough landscape fun. The can in the corner is Little Loaf's garage. He always has to have a garage for his cars and trucks.

Freckle Foot saw how much fun her brother was having and wanted to do some baking. I handed them some muffin tins and some birthday candles.

Freckle Foot made me a lovely birthday pie with loads of candles. Although this was lots of fun she still wanted a tray of play dough like her brother.

Since I have run out of salt and cream of tartar to make more. She proceeded to get every last bit of play dough we had and added to her tray. She ran up stairs and got her my little pony's. Since Little Loaf had a garage I thought her pony's needed a house. Digging through her room I found a suitable house for the pony's. We are going to have some good play dough fun once I get some more supplies.

The Gang is back in action (a.k.a Mommy feels better)

Here is The Gang hanging out on the deck playing with some bubbles. 

Well it's been almost a year since my last post. Since I stopped nursing about a month ago and Wee One is finally sleeping through the night. I am feeling like a human again. With all my new found energy I have been planning our summer.  I have a few theme weeks planned and lots of random activities to fill in the gaps. 

We started our summer off in our PJ's of course. Shining some pennies. We used vinegar and salt combination; which worked but they weren't getting really shinny so I looked up other ingredients we could use. We added a little lemon juice that didn't really change things much. I really wanted our pennies to sparkle and shine. So I did another quick search on the Internet and it said some people use baking soda. Now I know when you mix baking soda and vinegar it fizzes and bubbles and is loads of fun. What I didn't now is that it would tarnish the pennies and the spoons we were using. Thinking back I am pretty sure that the baking soda was meant to be used dry with a tooth brush. Oh well we have loads of pennies. We will try to make the next batch shinny.