Owls 2,3 & 4

We are in the middle of owl mania at our house.

 Which one of these is not like the others?

 The boys both had to have an owl - the green one is Gregory's and the blue is Thomas's.

 Then  Clare wanted to make another owl for a special someone.  She chose the fabrics, cut out all the pieces, and helped sew them together.  She pushed the pedal for most of the project, while I tried to be patient.

Aren't they cute?

Freudian Slip

Gregory's been singing a little song from Thomas' favorite show, The Backyardigans.

I think the original lyrics are "I am the sultan, I'm in charge of everything I see"

Gregory:  I'm exhausting, and I exhaust everything I see.

To which John and I always respond:  Yes you are!  ;)

Cleaning Gameplan

Every year I love the first week of school. 

I like the freedom of time as Clare (and soon Gregory)  head off to school, and I don't have to entertain someone all of the time.  I love that the boys will play happily while I clean the house, and then help with chores.

Some people deep clean for spring or Easter, I deep clean this week.  Before the routine sets in, and while I'm not busy with all of the things that will begin to fill up our weeks.

It's been great so far this week, I feel like I've accomplished alot and am not exhausted.

At this point I will also set the routine for the rest of the year, to be maintained as much as humanly possible.  I think it's going to look like this:

Mondays:  Bottom Floor
Tuesdays: Bathrooms - all 4 (unless I get the basement's on Monday)
Wednesday: Laundry and any Top Floor Cleaning
Thursday:Vacuum Top Level, all stairs, and Main Level (so hopefully it will look okay over the weekend)
Friday: Main level, including kitchen (again, so that it will be presentable all weekend in case of company)

Of course it will all slowly come to a stop, and then slowly pick back up when the baby gets really close.

Generally this style of assigning a day to a chore works pretty well for me, and I know that if I miss a day that I can catch up either on another day or the next week.  Also over the next 2 weeks I'll reassess when Gregory starts school, and if one day just isn't working out.

First Day - Part 2

Clare had a wonderful first day of school!

She loved going to the library, getting hot lunch (she somehow missed milk, but will get it tomorrow), playing with Lacey, her new friend, and everything else.  She said it was great, seemed short, and they didn't even do any math.

 Her siblings were very happy to to see her too.  Thomas ran up and started hugging her the moment he saw her.

 Gregory then got in on the action too.  They really love their sister.

She brought home her first homework - we came up with a "Me" bag that she will present to her class and sharpened over 30 pencils by hand.  My hands have the blisters to prove it.

I'm so glad she had a good first day, I admit to being worried about her all day long.

First Day

First days of school always make me nervous.  I think Clare was a little nervous this morning too.

She was very quiet at the bus stop.  There are about 40 kids who all get on at our stop, so it was quite overwhelming with the kids, all the families, and not knowing anyone.

You can see the back of her bookbag as she got on the bus, I didn't know how to get closer with all the kids.  Maybe I'll get a better picture when she comes home.

 The boys are enjoying their first day without their sister, we cleaned the basement and went on a long walk all before 11am.

Updates to come when Clare gets home, and we get a report from the intrepid 2nd grader.

Last day of vacation!

We celebrated Clare's last day of summer vacation with ice cream.  It was how we ended the school year too.

She is so excited about school starting!

 Gregory and Thomas are excited too, Gregory to start in 2 weeks and Thomas, well just to be involved with everyone else.

I bet he's going to like some alone time with me too, before the baby gets here.

Zoo Trip

Last week we headed to the zoo with our friends.  It was a beautiful day, and the animals were out.

Of course, this panda is always out.

 We got to see the gorillas.  We had a chat about body language since the apes like to sit with their arms crossed.

 We checked out the kimono dragon. (Paul's favorite)

 The kids loved this maze game over at the elephants.  They had to work together to bring the elephants safely home.

 We got a pretty good look at the elephants too.

Cake Batter Truffles

We finally got around to making our Cake Batter Truffles on Monday.

Well Thomas didn't, but that's because he had a runny nose, wouldn't wash his hands, and wouldn't  leave his nose alone for more than 30 seconds.  But he did watch without touching for a while.

Don't they look cute?

 First, you mix, and then you roll.

Then you drop into melted chocolate.  Yum!

 Here are some waiting to be decorated with sprinkles or not.

A total of 5 ingredients, no baking, and deliciousness. 

Can you tell I'm nesting?  We're doing crafts, new recipes, some cleaning, and I'm posting again.  Enjoy it while it lasts.

Morning at the Park

We went to Burke Lake Park this morning with Jennea and the cousins.

We rode the train

 And the carousel - Thomas insisted on a big pony

 Wandered around and saw the lake

 And watched the train go by.  Here we are waiting for it.

 Here it comes.

What a beautiful day! (Well except for the earthquake, but we missed that.)

Hop On Pop

Yesterday, John got home from his first day at a new job, and he was tired.  But when he decided to rest on the couch, he was engulfed by a sea of humanity.

There's 1!

 There's 2! "Make him go!" said Thomas

 There's 3!

 We're so cute!

 Crawling all over dad, who didn't care as long as he didn't have to get up.

 Now's he's covered with pillows, what else can we do?

 Oh yes, push him off!

Chemistry Completed

Just wanted to say that we finished our chemistry set today without any more spills.

The oil and water mini lava lamp was pretty cool

 Clare shook it up, while Gregory watched.

 And then we made a fizzy purple  lava lamp thing with oil, water, cabbage juice powder, baking soda and citric acid.  It was very fizzy.

 Here is the little guy who put a stop to it last time.

 I just love this picture of Gregory, he seems so thrilled to  be involved.

The last experiment fizzed and glowed in the the dark.  It doesn't however transfer to photos well.

Sewing An Owl

Here is the stuffed owl we made after a trip to Joanns this weekend.  I can't believe how easy it was.

 Clare picked out the fabrics and colors, and is smitten with her new friend.

Here is the link to the lovely lady who came up with this pattern and shared it.