3/26/11

Life

What a beautiful week. As always we seemed very busy, but produce little for show. I did run out of gas - that makes twice in a month. This time, however, was with all 4 kids and I didn't have a phone. Lesson to me - carry phone. Yup, I'll work on that. I just need to figure out where to put it. Carrying one child in the carrier, grasping one toddler firmly by the hand and keeping an eye on the other 2 leaves litrle in the way of hands.... To my credit, though, I did tell my husband that I thought the gas gauge wasn't working...turns out it wasn't.

We have been working on the letter 'N' for nest. School seems to be flowing well. The twins love it. We tend to only sit down at the table when the toddler is napping, but learning happens everywhere. We continue to bake, build, grow plants, read.... With the wonderful weather we have been able to add daily walks/bike rides to the repertoire. I am loving this. We have taken up bird spotting on our walks. There seems to be a lot of them this year. We made a milk carton bird feeder for the back yard and watched the birds eat the seed. We have already had to refill. I have requested a bird book from the library and we are going to learn a little more about the birds.

The toddler is quite precocious these days. He seems to require constant attention and when he isn't receiving it, he torments his brothers. Boy does he have a loud voice. His vocabulary is growing leaps and bounds. He will talk and gesture to anyone who talks to him, only I understand what he is saying. He, he. There are great things about being a mom. It's like my own secret conversation between just him and me.

The twins have been itching to get outside every spare minute. They have taken a few tumbles on their bikes, but continue to get back on and race around. Twin1 has almost learned to pump his legs on the swing. Twin2 continues to want to build with his fathers tools. Sometimes, we grab some wood and nails and build something. Other times he has to be content building with glue, paper, and boxes. Of course he would much rather use the tools. He is also turning in to quite the artist. With what looks like little thought, beautiful, clear, simplisitic machines flow on to the paper. It is amazing to watch. Twin1 is completely into anything animal. If he isn't pretending to be an animal, he is looking at a book about animals, or checking out the national geogrphic kids website. I have subscribed to the national geographic kids magazine for him. We await the arrive of the first one.

My husband has been playing his final hockey games. This is a bit sad for both him and me because he seems to require that physical element to relieve stress. Hopefully there will be something else for him to pick up during the summer.

Yet another appliance broke. That makes 4 now. Grrr.

3/17/11

Rorschach Test

Yesterday we were playing around with a new painting technique, making our own Rochard designs. As they finished one, I would ask what they say. Usually, they would say face, man...the ususal. Twin1 came up to me and said....


TA DA... Pee pee.



Yup, I see it too.

3/15/11

Diet

We have suffered with diet issues around here, namely with the twins. Now however, with the toddlers recent bowel troubles, we are investigating more diet issues. Sure enough, after a visit to our naturalpathic doctor and some testing, the toddler has similar intolerances. Ug. We sort of figured that dairy was going to be one of them and after our last visit, we made the switch to goat products. We immediately saw a change in his skin for the better, but his desire to keep his poop inside him did not end. The addition of whole flax seeds taken with warm water and flax oil is moving things along, but he is still trying to keep it inside.

Today, we had his allergy testing and are now back to a strict diet: no wheat or corn, no grapes or strawberries, no tomatoes/onions/cucumber/soy, no sugar/vinegar/honey(this is a hard one for me), no beef/pork/turkey (we found this one interesting). He can have rice, though. Ya. I was afraid of that one. So, I guess we will eat up all of these foods that are in the house and then start on the diet strict for 6 weeks and then get re-tested. Oh my.

I have a feeling the baby also has some intolerances. She has quite the rash where she drools. Perhaps dairy passed through breast milk? Oh the life.

3/14/11

New Bedroom Furniture


Last weekend, we received some bedroom furniture for the twins curtesy of a co-worder at my husband's work. Their room went from little boy to big boy. We recieved the 2 captains beds and mattresses, small display cabinet with book shelves and a dresser with a mirror. Their room is now all filled up and they have been busy decorating. Twin2 has been painting up a storm creating pictures of machines to cover his walls. I will post some of those creations later. They are quite something. Twin1 has been searching for the perfect animal pictures.

Home Learning This Week





Here are some of the things we did. When people come to visit, we have been identifying where they are from on a map. And with the tragedy in Japan, we have been learning about earthquakes and tsunami's. We even made a volcano at home. We started some seeds in side for spring gardening. We signed out a book from the library on seeds and found out how to make avocado plants and started our own. We made some banana bread and chicken dinners. Oh, and we have been learning the letter 'M' with various activities. With the warmer weather we have been getting outside at least once a day: biking, walking, or swimming at Papa's. All this, plus a whole lot more. At the moment, all three boys and my husband are disassembling an air purifier that broke to see what is inside and how it works. Never a dull moment around here. Oh, we even visited the zoo.

3/3/11

Giggle


Well if you haven't guessed already... the toddler has taken it upon himself to potty train. Yup. He has developed some new strategies. Amazingly, his aim was spot on. Yes, he managed to pee. What a clever boy.

3/1/11

New Family Photo

Weather



It is hard to believe that last week we were riding bikes and cleaning up the garden. Now this. Wow.