I asked the kids this afternoon; "Kids, why does it smell like nail polish?" (Because I always calmly address my children with 'kids') Connor answered. (As the oldest, I suppose it was his duty to answer). "Oh, Siobhan wanted some, so I opened it for her."
...
Let's review here: Siobhan is 2 and 1/2 Connor is 9. Of the two of these, who do you think would have known not to open the nail polish? Apparently, neither of them.
I thought this stuff only happened in sitcoms. Am I the only one living an insane life like this? Never-mind, don't answer that.
This week is school vacation week for myself and the kids. Correction; this week is school vacation week for the kids, and "play-date-scheduling; craft-project-organizing; cookie-baking; house-cleaning" week for me.
All four of the kids are home. So far this week I have organized four play dates (among two children); taken kids out to lunch and to the craft store; organized a morning of painting; baked chocolate chip cookies AND chocolate chip pancakes; helped kids clean out their rooms; organized dance parties in the living room; and generally maintained peace. (well, a semblance of peace).
I am EXHAUSTED! Don't get me wrong, I love that my job allows me to be home with my kids on school vacation weeks, but how is it possible that four small children can make such huge messes? Or such loud interactions? These kids go from being the best of friends to the worst of enemies in seconds flat. They leave a path of destruction from one room to the next; it's like a trail so you can find the kids if they go missing.
My biggest complaint, however, is the constant "I'm bored!" Actually, that's a lie. My kids don't even have the deceny to admit to being bored. Nope. They just hang around me whining or getting incredible silly.
We built an addition on our house five years ago. With that addition came a play room. Yes. An entire room devoted to PLAYING. to TOYS. I could probably sell all the toys these children own, and pay off the house. And yet.... "I'm bored".
So, from out of my mouth comes: "go play with legos, playmobile, playdough, moon sand, crayons, magic tricks, gears, puppets, read a book, play with dolls, play dress up, cure cancer, I DON'T CARE WHAT YOU DO BUT LEAVE ME AND YOUR SISTERS/BROTHERS ALONE!!!!!!
I know I was never this needy.
Thursday, February 24, 2011
This is what we do in our house at bedtime. Awesome parenting abounds here. However, they are stinkin cute, of that there is no doubt.
I'm planning on sending these two to boarding school when they are teenagers. Given their current antics over this little hearthrob, I get nightmares thinking about the teenage years with these two around.
Today we had a busy day, but it was pretty fun. We started the day at the Burlington parks and recreation family activity expo at the ECHO Center in Burlington. It was a day of reduced admission into the center, and a bunch of area places with tables and booths. It was pretty fun, although very crowded. It was part of the Burlington Winter festival, although we only participated in this. (It was more than enough stimulation!) The kids had a great time; we always do at ECHO. We also enjoyed the various groups that were there. Connor learned he has only 1 more inch and 2 more pounds to go before he is free of a car seat entirely. He's determined to eat us out of house and home so he can get there! The kids also made some crafts and got free gifties like toothbrushes and toothpaste. (Can never have too much of that!)
I think one of my favorite parts of the day was when the kids too part in a free try at a martial arts class. They were both able to break a board with their feet, as witnessed here:
They also did a few other things, like made imaginary creatures out of food:
and learned how to tie knots: And dug for whale bones:
Oh, also when we got there a local radio station (the one we had been listening to on the way down) was broadcasting. They spotted Aisling and asked her if she would like to say hello over the airwaves. She managed to squeak out a quiet "Aisling" and then went pretty mum. Connor tried to whisper a few things in her ear, but it didn't work! It was still pretty exciting though!
My least favorite part of the day was when we lost Siobhan. I've been a parent for almost nine years now, and I've never actually lost a kid. (Which is a miracle, considering how many I have) I've experienced those little heart stopping moments, like when you turn around and a kid is gone, but then you realize he or she is just down the next aisle or something similar. Not this time. This time I turned around and she was gone. I mean GONE. We looked around for what felt like ten years, and she was still not there. I went around looking for her and began calling her name. I was unable to find her anywhere. At this point I happened to run into our family doctor, who began helping me look. (That's actually something we look for in a doctor, ability to look for lost children in crowded public places). At last I decided that I needed to go to the front desk to tell them she was missing. However, I had my doubts about this being successful. After all, if she heard her name, what would she do? She's only 2. I also realized, as I began to walk down, that my mind had gone blank. I could not remember what she was wearing or anything. I was very much panicking. At the moment I began to make my way to the front desk, I heard her name over the loudspeaker. "We have Siobhan here looking for her mother". I don't think I have ever run so fast in my life. I grabbed her up and did not let go! It turns out she had wandered away, and an extremely kind woman had noticed she looked panicked. Siobhan had been able to tell the woman where she had been, and she took her back to look for us. (We had already left to look for Siobhan). She was also able to tell the woman her name. I am so proud of her ability to speak for herself, and help herself out. It is not a moment I will soon forget, and one I hope never to repeat.
We were able to end the afternoon on a great note, though, and we went sledding at a great huge hill near our house. Everyone had a fantastic time with that, and I think we'll be going back soon.
Today we had a snow day (duh, I think pretty much the entire country, (except perhaps Florida) had a snow day). We decided to try a new recipe that my dear friend Shel recommended to us. I am so glad we did! It was so fun and easy. It's for "snow cream".
Here is the recipe: 1 cup of cream (we used half and half) 1/2 cup sugar 1 table spoon vanilla 4 to 6 cups of fresh clean snow Mic the first three ingredients together then fold in the snow. Do not over mix or it will become slush. We also added some chocolate syrup to ours, because, well, everything's better with chocolate!
It was so delicious! It tasted like cold, melty, vanilla ice cream!
Here are some pics: (Connor was at a friend's house, so he didn't get to try it. I guess we will have to make more later.... oh poor us...)(Good thing sugar doesn't affect them....)
Aisling made some bird feeders the other day at girl scouts. As her co-leader, I can attest to the fact that the girls enjoyed making these feeders, and were very excited about helping their animal friends find food in the cold winter. They were also EXTREMELY messy to make! (Imagine 13 5-8 year olds covered in peanut butter and bird seed....!) But, also extremely easy to make.
The first one she made was this one:It's a bagel covered in peanut butter and bird seed.
Next was this one:
This is a pine cone also covered in peanut butter and bird seed
Finally was this:It's yarn with cereal and bagel pieces strung along.
We've definitely seen an increase in the bird traffic since she put these up! Today though, I was home with a sick Siobhan, so I was able to actually see some birds at the feeders. (Hopefully my boss isn't reading this, since I am "working from home" right now... but I couldn't resist!) Aisling will be so excited to see what her bird feeders were up to when she was at school!
I was using the little snapshot camera, so there wasn't a huge zoom, and I obviously didn't want to disturb the birds. But, I think it's a good testament to Aisling that her bird feeders will helping our bird friends. I think we will most likely make these again at home; they are so easy and obviously they work!
Connor had his annual Cub Scout cake bake last night. Last year, when he had this cake bake, he ended up unable to go, because he spent the evening vomiting. But, not to worry, this year he took care of the vomiting the week before the cake bake, so we're in the clear.
The theme for the year was "Big Change Round Up". The cake bake is part of a big fundraiser the Cub Scouts do for The Vermont Children's hospital, and that's the theme. Check it out here. The children's hospital is near and dear to my heart, having taken such good care of my breathless babies... but that's another story.
This story is about cake. Connor did nearly all of the work on this cake himself. He was very proud of the cake, and I am very proud of him!
Cracking eggs. (The cake was free of eggshells you'll be happy to know!)
Yep, he's turning on the oven. We may regret this later. Obligatory bowl licking. (I promise this happened after the cake was out of the bowl Well, most of it did...) Frosting: Finished Product: Proud boy: Connor's cake at the auction table. (We bought it back for $10.00. Something seems wrong about this...) Dr. Lewis First was there to help kick things off and auction off the winning cakes. He seems like a really nice guy. He was able to get someone to pay $80.00 for a cake, So he's a pretty good money wrangler too. Of course there was cake eating too.
Connor did a great job. His cake didn't win any prizes (last year he won second place in his den). But, he told me that he was still really proud of his cake. Not bad for the world's biggest perfectionist!
