Bath, play-doh and back to routine

While he still fits, I really prefer bathing L in the kitchen sink...


And here's E making another round of no-cook play-doh, showing little bro just how it's done:


In other news...C started back to school on Monday; E started yesterday. Of course, if mama had been paying any attention to school calendars, E was supposed to start last Thursday (oops). It's been nice getting back to the old routine. The girls were pretty much fed up with vacation!

I've signed the girls both up for swim lessons (outside! twice a week! super cheap!) at the YMCA...which D and I just rejoined in order to get going on the whole "healthy new year" thing. There's a child watch at the Y, so I can drop the kids and get some exercise...of course, when Baby L is screaming the whole time and the staff has to come get me, I don't get so much done (as in yesterday).

I rearranged the girls' room in preparation to convert our third bedroom into an office/craft/guest room. Who knows what will happen when we're ready to boot the baby out of our room...but I figure we've got plenty of time before crossing that bridge. Or who knows, maybe he'll get our walk-in closet LOL.

OK...time to wash L's woolies. How about some more comments from the peanut gallery this year? I'd love to know who's actually reading my ramblings and incoherent mommy-brain musings every once in a while.

Birth Art

I'll let the drawing speak for itself:


(OK, no I wont...that's a dog...and that's the daddy dog at far left...the baby dog's head emerging, and the UA-UA-UA are vocalizations, as in, "uuuuuaaaaaa.")

Happy New Year

Santa made it to our house! I'm writing this post from my new wireless keyboard and mouse, gazing at my new 19" flat screen monitor (yay!).

The kids got tons of gifts, and had a jolly time opening and handing out everything. Below is the gang on Christmas morning:


C first came into our room at 4:15 a.m. saying, "Daddy, the presents are here!" I still don't know how we managed to do it, but we actually got her into our bed and back asleep until 6:00.

The kids and I went to San Diego with my parents on the 26th. Poor D had to go back to work, so he missed the 7-hour trip...(which, by the way, only really takes 5.5 hours if traveling without three small children and a poodle).

We were back in town on the 30th. My parents went exploring down South for a few days; we spent New Year's Eve at the neighbors' house where we all stayed up until 12:30. Of course, the kids were up bright and early the next day still...so we went to the Science Center to start the year off with a bang!

The girls go back to school this coming week (C on Monday, E on Tues). It will be nice to get back on "schedule," as the girls have been a little off with all the craziness of holidays. Love to all, more soon.

E turns four!

Today (at 3:29 p.m. Central Time to be specific) E turned four. To celebrate, we had breakfast with family and friends.


And yes, that is a slab of watermelon, not a cake. What can I say, we're weird parents!

Poem

So I've been a little lazy getting to the blog...my parents are in town, and I've been crafting up a storm (all part of my handmade holiday pledge). I did want to share this poem another friend just shared...for all the birth junkies out there:

My baby's not a library book,
so she's not overdue.
My baby don't take long to cook,
coz she's not veggie stew.

My baby's not an elephant,
and I'm not fit to burst.
The time and date aren't relevant,
we're blessed with days, not cursed.

My baby can't read dates as yet,
because she's very new.
So there's no cause to fuss and fret,
if she don't come on cue.

So stop your worry,
stop your asking,
there's no hurry
we're relaxing
in this golden pregnant time,
this pause, which is just hers and mine.

You leave us be, we are just fine.

© Rachel P (Wales)

Merry Christmas if I don't get back before hand. I should have lots of pictures to share after the first of the year!

My boys

Baby L at 6.5 months, with his daddy...

Mmmm...cookies

Thanks again for all the suggestions and recipes from the previous post! Here's my final result:



The swap was great fun...and I've been eating cookies daily (breakfast, snack, dinner - no joke) since Sunday! I also have more recipes and if you need any, I'll help out next time :)

Quick - Cookies!

Anybody have a fabulous cookie recipe to share? I'm headed to a cookie swap on Sunday, and must bring nine and one-half dozen cookies. Yes, 114 cookies. I found a recipe for mint chocolate cookies I might have to make, but if you have a favorite that wouldn't be outrageous to make times 114, let me know!

(and yes, H and M, I'm just now thinking about it. but worry not, I'll show up, cookies in hand!!)

Oh, and by the way, I'm making NO pretenses about "healthy" for this event :)

Promotion!

C was moved out of Montessori primary and into the elementary classroom! In other words, she just got promoted to first grade...that's the beauty of the Montessori though...it's not actually grades, and she'll just keep learning at her own rate. This is a fantastic opportunity for her - she LOVES her new class, has already made two "best friends," and is doing multiplication and lots of "challenging work," unlike in her old class. Don't get me wrong, her old class was great, but she was the "top dog," and without kids to push her, her schoolwork was pretty much stagnating. The new class has kids ages 6-9 (more or less), while the primary was for ages 3-6.

We were blessed with a fantastic primary teacher (Miss K) who has been guiding C from the beginning. When the school moved Miss K into the other primary room, she realized it was time to get C into the elementary. In two days, I'm already seeing a difference in C's work and interest. Her new teacher, Miss M, was also amazed at how quickly C adapted and is thriving in the new class.

Family crafting

The girls and I did these last night:

I got clear glass bulbs and cheap-o acryllic paints at JoAnn. I removed the "lids" and we dripped paint into the bulbs, then swirled them around. It takes a surprisingly small amount of paint (as I realized after the fact), and a little bit of patience to let the paint swirl around inside. We left them drying overnight in egg cartons, and these were the final results!

Yikes!

So I was sitting here at my computer, talking to D, who's sitting on the couch next to me...at 10:20 on the dot, we hear this weird popping noise, then a kind of grinding/harsh motor noise. It took us a second, then we realized it was the pool pump coming on...well, since I'm often sitting here at my computer at 10:20 p.m., I knew for a fact that was NOT the normal pool pump sound.

D opened the door and -whew- stinky burning smoke smell...so he runs around trying to find a flashlight to go out the front door and around the side of the house to flip the breaker. Yup, did you catch that - out the FRONT door and around the side. Nice place for a circuit box, huh? Well, we can't find flashlights anywhere! At that exact moment, Baby L wakes up crying, so I picked him up, and went out the back door to the flooded patio. I gingerly tiptoed through the pooled water, trying hard not to slip on the deadly concrete, to make sure nothing by the pump was truly burning...and then it stopped. Before D hit the breaker.

So...it's POURING rain, pitch black, and we very well may have a fried pool pump. Yippee!

Rainy day not-so-fun

So the good news is, it's raining!
But...the bad news...once again (as in every rain), our patio is flooded. In less than 10 minutes, using only a towel, I sopped up 28 quarts of water! I poured it on our poor neglected orange trees...


My futile attempt to minimize flooding - placing containers where the water seems to pour off the roof the most:

In about 20 minutes, the blue bucket (14 quart) is overflowing, and the gray tub is full too! Yikes. Do I hear home equity loan??

Happy Birthday Auntie A!

Far away in Jaipur, India, my baby sister celebrated her 22nd birthday today! I tried calling to sing the song...but can't seem to dial international numbers on my phone...

A was born at home November 30, 1985. I was just shy of 11 years old, and was lucky enough to witness her peaceful entry into the world. I don't doubt my witnessing her birth set me on the road to homebirth my own little ones. Thanks Mom for showing me early on just how natural and wonderful birth really is!

And...Happy Birthday, baby sister!

(pics taken during A's visit in June)

Rainy day fun

Trying to get into character as a SAHMM (that's stay-at-home Montessori Mom), I pulled out a new "work" for E today. Using a no-cook play-dough recipe from this cool blog (she's a Montessori teacher in rural Mexico), E could make it all herself:


Mixing:

More mixing:
Gathering up the stray bits:

The final product:

Improvised rolling pin (thought up all on her own):

Uh-oh...nothing's safe now!

Baby L is not only horizontally mobile now, but vertically too! Yikes! I'm not ready!

Playing together

This was the scene moments ago...it makes my heart simply melt to see all three kids playing together so nicely! And yes, Baby L is really that mobile now.

Squash braid

I made bread for Thanksgiving dinner...a 100% whole wheat and squash braid!

Before cooking...
And ready to eat:


I found the recipe here, and followed a tip from the first review on using whole wheat flour. Though I'd never heard of it before, there is "white whole wheat flour" (100% of the wheat germ and bran), so as she suggested, I substituted 1/2 white whole wheat and 1/2 traditional whole wheat flower for the all-purpose flour in the recipe. Healthy and tasty!


Oh, except it was extra good with a bunch of butter on top! So long, healthy...

Rearrangement

Catching up after a long weekend away (more on that soon!):

I got the itch again last week (week before?), and shuffled our living room around again. I tend to "need" to rearrange some room just about every month or so!

It's much more cluttery than I'd like, but I took the picture to show off the newly formed reading nook. Those are Waldorf-style playstands creating the wall, and the kids' kitchen and IKEA storage bins making up the other side. Behind the chair you can see the finished wall we added. Long-time readers will remember an early post about putting the wall up. It was bare sheetrock and mud for about 6 months. I think D did a lovely job, no? Careful comparison with the older pictures will also reveal a bit of a paint job, from the teal to a more avocado green (same color as the dining room). D found the paint in the garage, and I rather like it.

Food for thought...

Click the image to get more information on why I'm trying to buy (and do) handmade...

and why you should consider it too!

Try some of these sites for ideas:

Babywearing and Truss Moving

On Saturday morning, the BBBB guests and hosts geared up to move some trusses. Kelley just shared this picture of part of the gang. Since all of us were necessary to move the stack, we strapped our respective babes on our backs and did the ol' heave-ho: