Happy 1/2 Birthday to O!

O turned 3 and a half yesterday, and it was a fun excuse to have an small impromptu party. We made homemade ice-cream and chocolate cake in a mug. We used substituted half of the flour with whole wheat flour, and it was a mistake. I also divided the mixture between 2 mugs because O's mug is rather small. That was another mistake. The cake was a little rubbery. It tasted good when mixed with the ice-cream, but it was not good by itself. O said she liked everything about her party except for the cake :)

You can't really tell in the picture, but one of the candles is a half :) O was thrilled to hang the birthday banner, wear her birthday crown, and have everyone else wear hats. She asked me to wear a pink crown "so everyone will know you are mine." We are looking forward to E's half birthday celebration in a couple of months!

Confessions...

After reading this post over at The Snail's Trail, I thought it would be fun to write a confessions post. These are the things that I don't say or show on my blog because I don't think you are coming over here to read about the things we don't do...you are stopping by for ideas and inspiration which is what I try to provide. However, the post (and comments) at The Snail's Trail lead me to believe that some readers might enjoy this post :) So, here I go...

I work on Thursdays and on most Wednesday nights I realize that I haven't brushed my hair since the previous Wednesday.

If the weather is slightly bad (cold or wet), we don't go outside. I'm relieved that I have the weather as an excuse so I don't feel guilty about not going outside (this happens MUCH more since the baby was born, and I am REALLY trying to play outside more as she gets bigger).

One reason that I am happy to stay inside all day is then it's ok for us to wear our pjs ALL DAY LONG! We've been having REALLY cold weather for the past few weeks, and on most days we just stay cozy and comfy in our pjs.

O loves to dress herself and her choices are VERY interesting. I wish that I shared pictures of her on this blog because her combinations are hilarious. She almost always has on a costume, leotard, etc and rarely wears "real" clothes at home. I let her wear her choice of clothes when we go my mom's house, but I try to give her some direction if we are going out and about.

My baby rarely goes to bed before 11 pm. It's 12am now, and she is sleeping peacefully in my arms. I've been rocking and nursing her for almost 3 hours. I love it, and I don't want to put her down. However, it would be nice to put her down occasionally...

We live in the middle of nowhere with no neighbors and no kids nearby. I worry about O not having friends to play with. We are looking for houses in a small town about 30 minutes away because we don't think it's such a good thing for our kids to grow up in such an isolated area. However, there are not many houses for sale, and I am feeling very discouraged.

On Wednesday nights when I am getting things ready for work the next day, I often feel a sick dread of leaving the kids. However, a not so small part of me looks forward to going to work because work is so much easier than being a SAHM. I enjoy talking to my work friends, and I love what I do (I'm a School Psychologist).

I sometimes dread looking at the blogs on my google reader because I know there will be so many things that I want to do that I don't have time to do. I'll keep putting off checking it, but I don't want to miss any great ideas, so I try to catch up late at night after everyone is asleep. As I'm reading the titles of posts, I try to click on as few as possible. I have SO MANY starred items that it is ridiculous, and I almost cringe when I star more posts.

When reading other homeschooling blogs, I occasionally feel a sense of panic when I see something that I haven't done with O. I talk myself down by reminding myself that she is only 3, and the most important things that we do are reading and playing. All of the other stuff is just filler :)

My house (especially since the baby was born) is often a disaster. I'm less stressed when it's clean, but it seems impossible to get a handle on things. I don't remember the last time I mopped. It's been a LONG time. I realized today that I'll have to start mopping regularly once the baby starts crawling...maybe she'll be a late crawler like her big sister (10 months) :)

I REALLY want to be organized, but organization eludes me.

I'm really bad about starting projects and not finishing them for months. I have file folder games that I printed in MAY that I have not finished making. That's just ridiculous.

I have many more boxes of craft supplies than I have room for. One of my New Year's resolutions is to use what I have instead of buying more craft supplies. However, that requires organization in order for me to know what I have...

Although, I've never let O watch tv during the daytime, I've started letting her watch 2 videos (Letter Factory and Signing Time) during the afternoon instead of taking a nap (every other day).

O is a candy fiend. We don't let her have candy often, but she loves it. We have a container of candy from Christmas in our pantry, and we've been letting her have one piece a day. I'm not even sure how that started...

I don't like to cook and I hate baking. When I cook, I cook a lot, and we eat leftovers for as long as possible. I really love my crockpot because I can cook healthy meals without feeling like I'm cooking at all.

I hate to dust, so I don't...my house is very dusty :) I'm teaching O to dust, and I'm hoping that she'll love it!

I still have Christmas crafts to do (photo ornaments mounted on foam core board and memory book ornaments). I'm hoping to finish them by the end of January.

We have JUST gotten O on a consistent bedtime schedule. She goes to bed around 8:30. We are still flexible, but we all like having a set bedtime for her, and we really enjoy reading together as a family every night.

We use disposable diapers when we are on vacation or are out and about. Sometimes it's just easier to throw the poop away.

It's not uncommon for me to realize late at night that ALL of E's diapers are dirty. (I just sent Elliott to find diapers for me to have for the night and there are none...guess it's sposies tonight).

We had a mouse in our house. He's gone, but we are still finding evidence of his existence. He wreaked havoc on my many bins of craft materials.


We've gotten incredibly slack with EC since it's been colder. I don't remember the last time I put E on the potty. I'll do better once it warms up...

I sometimes realize that I'm doing something just so I can blog about it. I HATE that, and it makes me think I should stop blogging.

I started this blog to document our activities (to one day turn into a book for the kids) and to share ideas. It started off being lots of fun, but lately it often feels more like an obligation than fun.


Ok. That's probably enough. This was fun to write...kind of like a catharsis :) Feel free to chime in with your confessions...I really like comments!

A Drawing of "Baby Sister"

O loves to sell things, so she decided she'd sell artwork a few nights ago. I was her first customer, and I requested that she draw a portrait of E. Luckily, she was taking custom orders, and she got right to work. I LOVE her drawing, and she was very proud!

Family Art Night

We're trying to have Family Art Night once a week (or every other week) and last Saturday was the night! I planned for us to cut paper snowflakes. I folded the paper for the snowflakes to simplify the process and had them in a basket on the table. However, O and Elliott had other plans :) O immediately asked if she could make whatever she wanted. Of course, I said yes. She had a great time cutting and tearing the leftover scraps of paper from the snowflakes. She mentioned that she was making a mask, and Elliott immediately began making a mask and was very involved in that. I finally convinced O to make a few cuts for a snowflake. She unfolded it and seemed quite proud. Then she started tearing it to make it even more original :) E sat in the table in the Bumbo and enjoyed watching all of the craziness. It was a fun night, and I'm looking forward to our next Family Art Night.

Let's Explore...

is closing :( Everything is 40% off, but you should hurry because there's not much left.

Snow Sensory Tub

We've been hoping and wishing for snow, but it looks like it's not going to happen. So, we made our own snow! Fake snow is better than no snow! I bought a snow cone maker (from WM) at then end of the summer (super cheap!), and O was THRILLED to make snow on Tuesday. At first she was only interested in eating the snow, but once she had her fill she was ready to play! She scooped and poured a little, but she especially enjoyed playing with her miniature plastic animals in the snow. She pretended they were hunting in the snow for food. It was fun to watch her play and listen to the story she told as she played :)

A Snowman Vase

O and I decorated a white container (Crystal Light, I think) to look like a snowman vase for our centerpiece. We used sharpie markers and put cut Rosemary in the snowman vase when we were finished. O was very proud and the rosemary smells great! The idea for this activity came from the Frugal Family Fun Blog.

Beauty Shop in a Box

My mom compiled a Beauty Shop in a Box for O and my niece for Christmas, and they LOVE it! She gathered a hair dryer, curling iron, curlers, hair straightener, etc from thrift stores and family members and cut off the cords (for safety). O loves for Guh-guh to put her hair in curlers, and both girls have had so much fun with this wonderful gift.

Snowman Writing Practice

I downloaded these great Snowman Writing Practice cards from Confessions of a Homeschooler. I laminated the pages after printing them (before cutting) and put them together with a book ring after cutting them. They are so convenient, and O has enjoyed using them in the car, at home, and at Guh-guh's house.

Check out Confessions of a Homeschooler for more great printables!

A Snowman Snack

O LOVES bananas so this snowman snack was perfect for her! I cut a banana into 3 pieces to make the body of the snowman. I pu them on a straw, but the straw was really unnecessary. I used a piece of orange for the hat, dark chocolate chips for his eyes and buttons, and a raisin for his nose. Easy, delicious, and fun!

An Easy Ribbon Hairband

Since O is a ballerina now (she started taking dance lessons this year, and she plans to dance in The Nutcracker next Christmas), she enjoys wearing her hair in a bun. I'm not very good at fixing hair, but luckily my mom is! Whenever my mom is around, O's hair is always braided or in a bun. Mom put together this ribboned hairband to "fancy up" O's bun, and O was thrilled, of course :) To make the ribboned hair band, she just tied the ribbons to a hairband. Simple, easy, fast, and super cute in my girl's hair!

Thanks!

Thanks for all of the kind comments! My girls are feeling better, and we haven't had to do a breathing treatment with E in over 24 hours :)

I'm beginning to think I should've never taken a blog break since it's so hard for me to get back to it :) However, my OCD need to document our activities will not allow me to completely stop the blog. I have SO many things that I'd like to blog about...several handmade gifts that I haven't yet shared, many product reviews, fixing cloth diaper elastic, E's Montessori bedroom, our winter activities, our Montessori activities rotation system, etc, but I just haven't had the time to take pictures, and I only have about 3 minutes at a time on the computer...usually late at night when I'm too tired to do much. So, I will be back, but it may be a few days or a week before I'm up and running again. I'm hoping to find a block of time to write about 20 posts at once (set to post once a day) so that I can sit back and be a lazy blogger again! Thanks again for your words of support.

Happy New Year!

It's been a rough week. Both E and O are sick, and we have to give E breathing treatments every 4 hours. Hopefully, both girls are on the mend and next week will be better.

It's been nice to not think about this blog, and I'm feeling a little ambivalent about continuing it. However, I'm sure that I'll get back into a blogging mood eventually...

Taking a Break

Just wanted to let you know that I'll be taking a break from this blog for a while...probably until the New Year. See you then :)

The Best Stocking Stuffer!

E wasn't thrilled about being a stocking stuffer, but she makes a cute one! We're putting the finishing touches on a Christmas morning treasure hunt for the girls and then it's off to bed. Merry Christmas!!!