Visit

Papa and Granny stopped by last night to drop off a Christmas present of Drew's that was too big to fit in my jeep on Christmas Eve.  The kiddos couldn't wait for Steve to come home from work and put it together.

So Steve tackled this while I fixed dinner.  Can you guess what it is?

Ta Daaaa!!!!  Air Hockey!  The kids love it and have been playing all evening.  Nothing like a new toy one month after the Christmas toy excitement has worn off.  (Yes, that's Kate in a bathing suit.  She was playing swimming pool while daddy put the air hockey together. hehe)

Tonight's dinner:

(Something I want to start posting with pictures just to keep a record)

Parmesean Crusted Baked Tilapia

Fried Potatoes (I've been fixing these a lot lately...yummy)

Corn

Biscuits (We have biscuits a lot for dinner...something I got from my dad)

and strawberries.

Usually I take a pic of dinner and send it to my best friend, Vivi, but of course in the rush of getting the air hockey finished I didn't.  I did take a pic of the potatoes but everyone has seen fried potatoes before, right?  No?  ok then...

yummy!!!

Steve said we should invite his brother John over for that meal... :-)  Now that's a compliment!



Coupons

I am determined to start using coupons.  I cut them out and put them in my purse (sometimes) and then before you know it they are expired because I have forgotten about them. 

Today I cut out close to twenty coupons out of the Sunday paper of items that are on my weekly grocery list.  I AM GOING TO USE THEM. Ha!  It's my goal this week.  Wish me luck!

Hammer and Nails

I get A LOT of inspiration for play with my kids from a preschool teacher named Teacher Tom.  He is a Seattle, WA cooperative preschool teacher at Woodland Park Cooperative PreSchool.  You can find his blog here.  Most, if not all, of the learning (thinking) which takes place at Woodland Park is playbased learning.  Woodland Park's philosophy is children learn through play and real life experiences.  I try to incorporate as much of that philosophy along with many of his ideas with my own children.

Teacher Tom has a woodworking center with real tools at the school for children as young as two.  I thought we would start with the basic hammer and nails and we began hammering. 

We talked about safety (especially since I forgot safety glasses) and just as Teacher Tom recognized, children are especially cautious when you allow them to have real tools.

Kate said she wanted to build a lemonade stand when she got bigger and Drew said he was going to help.  They did very well and even though they missed and hit fingers they continued pounding and learning how to use their first real tool.

Two days in and both are still very interested in going hammering.  Who knows what these two will build one day.  As Teacher Tom says, "As humans we have being alone, we have talking face-to-face; for everything else we use tools. The more tools we know how to use, the more experience we have using them, the more the world opens up to us. It's really that simple."

Remembering Challenger

25 years ago today the Space Shuttle Challenger did not make into space. I was in my high school library when it came across the television. It was the first American tragedy I remember living through and although a teenager interested in mostly boys and cheerleading, I remember mourning with the rest of the country and realizing how a country comes together in difficult times. To the team of the Challenger...thank you for your courage and dedication to America. You are remembered.

Not Night Terrors

The past two nights this little guy has kept me up screaming for hours.

Normally, he's a pretty good sleeper.  But the past two nights...screaming, tantrums like crazy. 

I thought for sure he was having night terrors at three like Kate did when she was two.  But then, in the midst of all of the crying he held his ears and said my ears hurt!!! 

He has been sick the past week (we've all had the flu) and it hit me he could have an EAR INFECTION!!!  After waiting three hours in the waiting room at urgent care, it was confirmed.  Severe! ear infection.  Poor guy.  Now, if I can just get him to take the medicine...

Winter Wipeout and More

There is one show our whole family looks forward to every Thursday...Winter Wipeout. It's pee your pants funny. I've never seen our kids laugh so hard. And it's all in good fun.
ABC Thursday at 8pm. Try it. I promise you'll have some good laughs. Here's the promo...






and Drew says, "Mom, I'd try all that stuff!" and Kate says, "I wouldn't mom." (of course) Hehe.
It's so funny hearing them laugh so hard.

******************************************************************************
We are sick again. Influenza A. Thanks winter. This is the worst we've ever been sick...ever. It stinks!

Thank goodness for happy mail I received today...Pottery Barn, Ballard Designs, Hanna Anderson, Mini Boden...something to get me past the crying, coughing, mommy I need this and this and this...
and more snow our way...Yay!!! We love snow...but not sickness.

*******************************************************************************

Snow snow snow

We woke up to this gorgeous-ness!  (I'm still learning my camera settings...sorry!)

So this immediately followed...

Then this...

and Steve was a gem doing this...

and I stayed inside tackling this...

All before 9am!!!  Victory!