Watch Out, Here She Comes!

This is my latest development. This is so much better than just laying on the floor. Even when on my tummy I can't reach nearly as much as I can now.
I love my new outlook on things.
I know my Mom is always giving me baby toys to play with but these look like so much more fun. I don't think Sophie will mind if I just grab and taste her latest K'nex' creation.

It won't be too long before I am really moving, so, be ready!

Molly

End of the Holiday Season

Our holiday season is long. It seems to start in September when we celebrate Sophie and Henry's birthdays. Then we have my birthday and Halloween in October and then it seems Christmas starts creeping in sometime in November somewhere around Thanksgiving and sticks around a very long time and then finally the season ends with Ian's birthday which is 13 days after Christmas (He has been telling people his birthday is 13 days after Christmas rather than the date lately). Today I can officially say it is done. We had the big birthday party and all is right with the world. Thank goodness!

Here is the cake.

I wasn't very creative. It is just a swirl cake in a bunt pan shape. I stuck a few Indiana Jones lego guys on the top and Ian was thrilled!

As the kids arrived we started with painting. They each had a little wooden segmented snake they got to paint.
This is actually a great time using activity. It took at least 30 min for all the kids to be done. As they finished they went into the boys room and played trains or legos or something.

We then started our games. They were each given an Indiana Jones bag that I had made. (Hurray for after Christmas fabric sales. I was able to make all 16 bags for about 15 dollars. The most expensive part was the straps.) The bags were filled with a few tools or toys the kids would either use later or just get to take home.

In their bags they had to find a hieroglyphics key or translator and then use it to to find their names on a cartouche. For this age group this was actually a bit of a challenge. Most of them are just beginning readers. Some had started school and others haven't had any.

Next we found a big stash of gold and jewels but they were covered with poisonous snakes and bugs. The kids were split into teams and then took turns using little grabber tools, they had in their bag, to pick out the treasure and fill their teams jar. The jewels were just some gold chocolate coins and some red and silver foil covered chocolate balls (Thank you after Christmas sales). When the candy was exhausted and the kids were done we measured to see which team won and then added the spoils to the pinata that would come later.

We used a few gold coins to play an Indiana Jones version of pin the tail on the donkey. This time they were trying to fill Indiana's bag with gold. I am actually quite proud of this poster. I drew the lego figure Indiana just an hour or so before the party. My husband outlined my drawing with markers and suddenly we had another game. Ian loves it and it now hangs on the wall in his room. We thought about coloring it in but liked it just outlined.

My kids think it is required to have a pinata. It would be like not having cake or something if we didn't have a pinata. We tried to make one earlier in the week but it failed miserably. I ended up buying this one. Ian chose a boot. I don't think it really mattered since none of the pinatas at the store really fit our theme. The kids had fun hitting it and it actually broke open this time. Often we end up having to break it open for them. I guess our kids our getting older and can really give these pinatas a whack.



Then we ate cake.


Opened gifts. (Ian got tons of new legos! Two boys gave him some bakugan guys. I don't know anything about these. I guess we will find out!? And a bunch of other things. Thank you everyone!)

And then we played another game while we waited for parents to arrive. This was a version of musical chairs that I made up. I used my Hullabaloo pads and the kids had to walk around the room and when the music stopped one child ended up in the mush pot. But they got to choose the way that the rest had to walk. They could choose to make them walk backward, sideways, hop, crabwalk or whatever. As the kids got out they enjoyed picking something silly for the others to have to do as they walked around the room.

By the time we had ended this game it was time the parents were here and the kids were excited to show them all the fun things in their bags. There was a lot of energy in the room and all were very happy.

The most amazing thing of the whole event was that Molly went to sleep about 5 minutes before the party started and slept through the entire thing.

That was the perfect gift to Mom! I had thought I would end up with her in the sling during the party but somehow it was planned just right and she didn't wake up. Even with all 15 kids bouncing around and having a great time.

It was a great party and I am so glad it is over. I am taking a huge sigh of relief. The holiday season is now over and I can relax a bit.

Indiana Ian

Ian has had an Indiana Jones day. He was so thrilled to open up his "breakfast present". He wore the hat all day and the boys fought over the whip endlessly. We have an Indiana Jones friend party planned for the weekend and all the kids can't wait. I just hope I make it! We invited his whole primary class and so far it seems all 13 are coming. Why didn't I do the easy party at the play place again this year? The smile on his face will be worth it, I guess.

Wish me luck!

Cleaning can be Science

Early in December we put up our Christmas tree. As the kids were taking out the ornaments they noticed that a number of them weren't as shiny as they used to be. They asked about the black stuff on the angels and the baby cradles. I told them it was normal and that they just needed to be cleaned.

Last week we put the tree away and those same ornaments were put away looking just as dingy and still in need of a good polish. This week we returned to our study of the elements and read a book about silver. We learned that silver will tarnish and the book gave us directions to remove tarnish. We don't have many silver things in our house. We don't have actual silverware or any silver dishes, but my kids remembered the silver ornaments. We had just packed them back up into the Christmas ornament box still covered in tarnish. The kids really wanted to try out the "experiment".

At first I didn't want to go dig them out but then I thought. If we don't do it now then I will never get around to doing it. So I went and dug through the Christmas box that I had carefully packed just a few days before and found the box of ornaments. We took out the five ornaments that most needed a cleaning and then followed the directions the book gave us to clean off the tarnish.

This is really very simple. I can't believe I waited so long to do this.
Aluminum foil, a pan, some boiling water and some baking soda is all you need.

All we had to do was dry them off and wipe some baking soda off of them and they looked beautiful again.

Then I quickly put them back into the ornament box and back out to the bin of Christmas items to wait for next December when they will come out and hang on the tree again. I hope they still look this good. But hopefully I won't be so slow to clean they up. The kids sure loved this very simple project. I am glad they thought of it.

Do I want to be Mary or Martha

This morning Sophie made the observation, much like Anne of Green Gables, that the year is new, with no mistakes in it. I said "not yet". I really wish I could say this day even went with no mistakes in it. But at least each day does start afresh and we can make changes and try to overcome our short comings.

The new year is of course the traditional time to set some goals or in my case a focus. In the past I have tried to pick a word that would represent what I wanted to work on. This year I have decided to use an image or a story to remind me of the changes I want to make. I have felt a lot like Martha recently. Cumbered down with chores, activities and just stuff. I have not been choosing that good part.

I found this image online when I googled Jesus with Mary and Martha. I really like this one and I think I am going to print it out and post it on my fridge to remind me of this story and it's lesson for me this year.

I have noticed recently that I tell my boys "I will in a minute" or "Not right now" when they bring me a book, to read to them, or a game, they want me to play. I often get frustrated because I am doing laundry, cooking, cleaning and taking care of the baby and I don't get around to doing anything fun with my kids or my husband. I think I need to think about what is more important, the laundry or a story with my boys. Is it better to get the kitchen clean or teach Sophie how to make bread, do dishes or use her new watercolor pencils. There is no end to laundry and cleaning but I only have so long to play with, read to and teach my children. I need to choose the better part more often. Sure the chores still need to get done but somehow I need to find a way to do these things without sacrificing time I could be spending on better things.

I haven't thought this through completely it is just an idea that came to me today. So for the new year I am going to think about the story of Mary and Martha and try to "choose the better part" in all aspects of my life.

Physical

Spiritual

Emotional

Mental

Social

Wow! there are all sorts of possibilities. I have a whole year ahead of me, with no mistakes in it yet. I guess we will see what I choose to do.

Always on Her Tummy

Whenever I set Molly down these days she quickly rolls onto her tummy.
I used to be able to put her under her toys and she would be happy for a bit batting at the objects dangling down. Now she gets onto her tummy and pushes up and looks around or she arches her back and, with arms raised by her sides, she kicks and kicks. We call this flying. everything is off the floor except the tummy. I know she wants to get moving but I am really not ready for her to be mobile yet.

My baby is growing up too quickly!

Soup is Good Food!

Last night at about 5:00 I alternated between the fridge and the pantry trying to come up with something to eat for dinner. (I really need to start menu planning!) We had spent the day at the park and I was a little cold so I wanted something warm. I kept thinking soup sounded good. We had just had chicken for dinner the night before so I didn't want to make chicken soup. And I didn't have any other meat that sounded good either, so I knew it was going to have be a vegetable soup. I started pulling stuff off the shelf and adding it to the pot. I was so surprised how well it turned out.

I dumped in a bag of frozen vegetables that had asparagus, squash, a bunch of green beans and of course carrots and peas in it. I added them to a box of Vegetable broth that I found in the pantry. I threw in some garlic cloves, a bay leaf, and some basil. One can of diced tomatoes and one of black beans. I didn't have any potatoes and we had just had noodles so I decided to throw in the rest of the rice that was left over from last nights dinner. The soup ended up tasting great! I was surprised. My experiments don't always turn out so well.

The only thing lacking was a slice of fresh bread to serve it with. Instead I just made some toast. I couldn't believe my husband had three bowls for dinner and was thrilled to take some to work today for lunch. My kids on the other hand are not that fond of soup, despite my efforts to make them soup lovers. I have been making soup for dinner at least once or twice a week all Fall. I love soup and it is actually a lot easier than I thought.

My kids did eat at least some of the soup in their bowls. They still complained at the soup but, with fresh pumpkin chocolate chip muffins for dessert, they forced it down. It is always good to make sure there is an incentive when serving something I know my kids aren't going to appreciate as much as I do.