Bunny wants to read the story, too

Setting up bunny to read

I'll sleep down here so he has room!

How stinking cute is this?  Tonight Gabe decided that his bunny wanted to read Mike and the Steam Shovel, too.  It has been his most favorite book for months now - and now he has decided he needs to share it with his bunny. 

Loud, but Fun!

Just one of the fun things little boys can do when they go to work with Daddy!

Reece is Ready!

Reece would like very much to just go ahead and start attending school with the boys!  He just walks on in and makes him self at home - playing with the toys, or today - plops down in the reading chair and grabs a book.

I think he will like it next year when he is 2.  We just have to figure out how to pay for three little kids in school plus a nanny. 

Meal Planning Monday : Feb 13, 2012

I have noticed that simply planning the week out on 'paper' and shopping mindfully is really helping with the grocery bill.  We still have odds and ends that end up in the cart on occasion, but what I do buy tends to end up in a meal more often than not and the amount of stuff wasted has gone done a lot.  We are also not buying nearly as much junk as before. Things like chips and crackers that are tempting when you have no real plan feel wasteful when shopping with a purpose.  Who knew?  We have also not bought bread in a whole month!  That is 5-6 loaves a $3.00 a loaf.  I've found a recipe I like and we are making it at home.  No moldy bread, no mystery ingredients.  It's a win-win!

I'll add links to the recipes shortly.

So this week is looking like:

Monday: Gnocchi with blue cheese and walnuts  (not safe for Gabe, so this is grown ups only - it is one of our 'go to' dishes.  We don't have arugula right now, so I am using broccoli)
Tuesday:  Curried coconut soup with chicken (new recipe for the week)
Wednesday: Black bean burritos with homemade cooked salsa  (we have made this so many times we don't use a recipe anymore!)
Thursday: Artichoke ravioli (Costco) with side salad and garlic bread
Friday: Homemade Pizza (prosciutto and goat cheese)

Linking to OrgJunkie, where MPM lives.

Feb Organization Update!

Cubby unit on the right!

Well, a little over a week ago I decided to take the Feb Challenge and get my dining/living room under control.  Since I got hit with a mega-illness last week and was dragging around with a fever and my head about to explode I didn't get much done - but I was thinking about it!

Saturday we went and bought a 9-cubby shelving unit to use to get the project started.  I purged a box of toys and a baby seat, but clearly still have a lot more to go.  Saturday night we put the unit together and almost instantly the boys started putting their toys on the shelves and in the baskets - telling us they were putting Reece's stuff so he could see it and deciding what should go where.  Doug was amazed, as this was with no prompting from us at all!  I know he had his doubts about the whole idea of the shelves, but I really thought it would work - and it looks like it is going to!  I think I will probably end up going back and getting another unit in the next week or so to finish it off.


So the photos don't show much progress, but things have been removed and we have started organizing the toys.  I also can now see a lot of the top of the table.  The big mess in the back corner is all my scrap-booking stuff.  It needs a new home, so that hasn't been tackled yet, but is coming.

I really wish I could do the empty it out / start fresh approach, but with three little ones and no storage space (or even a door you can close downstairs!  It is all open) it just can't happen that way.  So for now I will be hanging my hopes on the fact it always gets worse before it gets better - and keep plugging away at it.

Linking to OrgJunkie, where all our messes are being showcased for the world ;)

Playing with Light

Gabe looking down at the blue tile on his flashlight

I am feeling pretty crappy today so my efforts with the boys have been pretty low key - however, they seemed pretty content to sit on the couch and let me look at books with them, which is a good thing since I have little to no voice.  Hopefully the antibiotics will start to work their magic soon!

Later in the evening a simple flashlight became a toy that entertained for over an hour.  Doug would see what he could make "fit" in the circle of light.  Then the boys took off with the flashlight and did the same all over the house.  They discovered that when you shine it up through the plants you see shadows on the ceiling.  Then they started taking their little transparent colored tiles and putting them over the top of the flashlight and shining it up on the ceiling.  They were very excited to see the colors and shapes all the way up on the ceiling!  The made finger shadows, mixed colors, and explored how moving closer and farther away changed the shape/size of the light circle. 

I love seeing how something so simple can be so fun.  I kind of feel sorry for the people who plop their kids down in front of the TV all afternoon and miss out on seeing the excitement they have when they discover something new.

Water Beads!

I was so excited to finally get to try this very cool PAHM idea with my kids.  I had been searching for these beads at the craft stores with no luck, so I sucked it up and made a trip to the local "stuff-mart" (aka- Walmart.)  Sure enough, they had them - so I bought a bunch so I wouldn't have to go back again for a long, long, long time. 

We had an early release from school because of impending (turned out to be nothing) snow, so I had a few extra hours at home.  I had thought I would use the time to clean up the disaster area of a dining room/play room - but once we started with the water beads I decided playing with the kids was a much better use of my time! 



For hours they returned to the bowl in the kitchen.  We talked about how big they were getting, what they felt like, then mixed in a different color and they compared sizes, textures, etc.  It was a great OT/Sensory activity for Grayson - he practiced fishing around to pick out the tiny purple ones before they hydrated.  Even when Reece got home he immediately came over and stuck his hands in and squished them, splashed them, and played with them.

The next morning the first thing the boys wanted to know was if they were going to get to play with them again!

Meal Planning Monday : Feb 6, 2012

This week "should" be a little less hectic than last, though I am feeling what seems to be a nasty cold coming on :(  We are finally done with the 'big stuff' in the apartment and are going to take a little breathing room before starting anything else.  Well, that is not exactly true, I am thinking of taking the 28 day challenge and getting my dining room/play room under control.  The mess is driving me crazy.  But at least the renovation push can take a breather.

I'm trying to keep the menu easy this week since I know I am feeling less than up to par. I am still making our bread, I am finding the "everyday" bread to be a big hit and it is saving us about $6 a week on buying store bread - and it is tastier and has no mystery ingredients!  (That's $24 a month - almost $300 a year!)

Monday: Polenta with mushrooms and steamed brussel sprouts
       * today I also made two loaves of 'everyday bread'
Tuesday: Pasta with Grilled Tuna
Wednesday: Chili - not sure if it will be traditional or 5-way yet. 
Thursday: ??
Friday: Grilled Steak and Potatoes (if the weather cooperates)

Linking to OrgJunkie, where Meal Planning Monday lives

February Organization Challenge!

I decided to take the OrgJunkie February Organization Challenge. Our dining room / play room is so out of control.  Every time I round the corner and see it I cringe.  So this month I am going to tackle it and try to make it work.  It has to stay the playroom - because we live in an old house with a cellar - not a basement.  We really don't have anywhere else to put the kids stuff - plus they are still so young (3.5 and 15 months) that they need to be where we can see/hear them!  So what I am hoping to accomplish is a more organized play/storage space for them and to be able to see/use the table (for projects, meals, etc.)

Linking to OrgJunkie, where all our messes are being showcased for the world ;)

Sunday Morning

I'm still slowly introducing ideas from Play at Home Mom to my kiddos.  The glass beads were such a success that we moved on to the colored plastic tiles.  I don't have the chance to set up the cool invitations that PAHM does, but I kind of set it up on the fly.  We cleared the table off together and then I pulled out the bag of tiles, some white bowls, and some animals.  I just put it all out on the table and let them have their fun.  They were a little more 'prepared' for the free play this time.  They dumped them out, named the colors and shapes they saw.  Then the cool stuff started - all on their own they started holding them up and looking through them.  They were excited every time they did it - now you're green! now you're red! now you're blue! and so on.  Then they started holding up two at a time.  (yellow and blue - you look green!) Very cool to watch it unfold.
Grayson was the first to declare a plan.  He told me he was going to make a road.  He started lining up the tiles.  Then Gabe grabbed a dish, filled it and said he was feeding his lion.

Reece and I had some one on one time later where we worked with the pegged blocks.  He seemed to like to put them on randomly, but then pull them off and make sure the block matched the peg.  

Power Lines

Driving home today I was detoured around town for a mystery reason.  What I could tell from a distance was that the street was completely blocked off and there were 4 - yes, 4! - cherry picker/bucket trucks working on the power lines.  And did I mention it was 68 degrees outside - in January??  Well, putting two and two together I decided that the absolute instant I got home the boys and I were taking a walk to see what all the excitement was about.

I came in the back door and we promptly left out the front door about 3 minutes later - just long enough to insist the little boys take some potty breaks.  We walked all the way to the other side of town - maybe half a mile? - to see what was going on.  Gabe carried his trusty stick the entire way, poking it in every puddle and grate we came to.  We saw the police directing traffic in the intersection where there was no power.  The boys decided he didn't have a "real" police car because there were no lights on top.  (It was an unmarked one.)  Then we hopped over the railroad tracks - more fun, to be sure!  Finally we came to the bucket trucks.  They were hanging new lines.  Apparently someone had been kind enough to plow their big truck through a few poles this morning and knocked power out to half the town.  The boys were disappointed they couldn't get closer.  It was a long walk - over half a mile each way.  We were out for at least 90 minutes.

Another odd thing about this weather - we saw this coming out the back door on our patio:

It was just slowly walking across the concrete. 

Meal Planning a Day Late : Jan 31, 2012

What a nightmare of a weekend!  We just spent the entire weekend painting and cleaning like mad people to get our rental ready -- all this on the same weekend that I am "supposed" to be getting ready for the new semester.  The one where I am teaching a class I have never taught before - yeah, that semester.  Ugh.  So now it is Tuesday afternoon and I am just now even starting to think about cooking.  We got pizza Sunday night after a marathon day of painting, we didn't even bother to eat dinner last night (Mon.), as we were both just too tired!  How lame are we??  So with what is left of the week we are going to try:

Tuesday: Beef and Blue Cheese Gnocchi
Wednesday: Honey Sesame Chicken in the Crock Pot [our new recipe this week]
Thursday: Fish Tacos that never happened last week
Friday: Lemon Chicken Pasta

Linking to OrgJunkie, where Meal Planning Monday lives

Dentist!

My kids love to go to the dentist, eye doctor, whatever.  They are totally "into" going and seeing the equipment, touching all the "stuff" and getting the sticker in the end.  Weird, right?  So Tuesday they had their 6 month check up at the dentist - and then we had to get two pairs of Grayson's glasses fixed.  Yep - he broke them both.

They were so good - the folks always comment on how great they are - which is always nice to hear :)  One really great thing about their dentist is the totally cool playhouse in the waiting room.  The boys love it and it keeps them contained.

On our way home it was starting to be dusk and we drove through this pass where there are always 1000's of birds feeding.  We hit the timing just right and when they saw it they wanted to go back and watch.  So we turned the car around, parked on the side of the road and just watched with the sun roof open.  I love that my kids notice this sort of thing AND that they are interested.  And as we got home the sun was just setting and they noticed the moon was just the thinnest sliver, but you could see the whole outline - almost like and eclipse.  Gabe announced he was going to ride an airplane all the way to it and then use a parachute to get back down.

Meal Planning Monday: Jan 23

We are continuing our quest to 'use what we have' and keep the grocery budget under control.  Last week we actually did not go shopping - well, almost, we did have to buy 3 gallons of milk ans some fresh fruit for the kids - so $17.  Everything else we had on hand.

This week we did go shopping ($42) and will have to do a mid week milk and banana run - but other than that, we might be able to make it on what we have on hand.  Right now we are keeping the kids food really bland because the youngest has been fighting a nasty stomach bug for going on 4 days now.  There has been a lot of rice consumed in our house in the past 72 hours!

Saturday we made bread for the week using An Oregon Cottage Blog recipe.  It came out really great and we are looking forward to making our bread from now on!

The plan for the week is looking like this:

Monday: Grits, Spinach, and Black Eyed Peas
Tuesday: Tuna Noodle Casserole
Wednesday: Chicken Salad Sandwiches and Sweet Potato Oven Fries
Thursday: Gnocchi w/ greens and white beans
Friday: Grilled Tuna Steaks to make fish tacos

Linking to OrgJunkie, where Meal Planning Monday lives

Saturday

Today had really yucky weather - so we spent the day at home.  I decided to use the time to try making bread for the week for us.  I used a recipe from An Oregon Cottage with only slight modifications.  I am really happy with the results.  This may be then end of us buying store bread!

Even though we were inside all day, the boys (Doug included) stayed VERY busy and played very hard.  Around 4:00 a few of the boys held still a little too long and this happened:

Eggs!

Bear

Fish

Who would think hard boiled eggs could be fun to have for dinner?  Well, if they look like this they are!

Bunny

PreSchooler Fun : Glass Beads

As I went to type the title of the post I realized that my boys - well, the twins - really aren't toddlers anymore!  I don't know why I didn't realize this before.  They are almost 3.5 - so I guess that makes them preschoolers!  Yikes!  When did that happen??  So now I think I need a new label.

So I have been lurking at a great site called Play at Home Mom and it has tons of great ideas.  While I can only wish to be so creative and offer my kids so many great things, I figured I could at least start small.  Since I am not at home during the day I can't really set up the 'invitations,' but I have been trying to offer up a new activity every few days when I get home.

I gave the boys to containers of glass beads and sparkle beads (both out of the floral department), a couple white bowls, and spoons.  I had the red and blue glass beads in one container and the clear and yellow sparkle beads in the other.  When I set them out the first thing Gabe asked was "How are we supposed to do this?"  I told them they could play with them how ever they wanted.

First they just stuck their hands down in them and wiggled their fingers, then they pulled the beads out and looked at them.  Then the scooping, pouring, and mixing began.  This simple set up kept them fully engaged for almost 40 minutes.  When they were done they picked them all up and even brought me the containers to put up so their little brother wouldn't get into them when he got home. 

I was amazed at how much they enjoyed this.  (They even asked for it again Thursday morning!)

Morning Commute

This morning happened to be prettier than usual, so I snapped a few pictures.  We were having snow flurries, but the sun was out - which is always nice.  You can't really tell from the top picture, but the sunrise was pink.  I couldn't stop where I wanted to for the second picture, but the mountains were kind of glowing.

Meal Planning Monday (well, almost) : Jan 17, 2012

Yeah for long holiday weekends!  Of course, this meant that I did not get around to meal planning because I had an extra day.  Somehow more time often translates into less accomplished! Well, maybe not less - but different.  I did get a nice trip to Costco accomplished, as well as some serious deep cleaning to the upstairs wood floors, so maybe it all balances out :)

We are continuing our "use what you have" project.  We spent right at $50 last week.  I haven't done a regular shopping trip yet this week.  I did grab 6# of ground beef ($18), ravioli ($9 for a big bag), and a 3 pack of pizza ($11) and a gallon of milk ($4) at Costco.  So those $42 dollars will make at least 10 meals - just not all this week.


Plan for the remainder of the week:

Tuesday:  Soft Tacos / Taco Salad Choice
Wednesday: Asparagus Ravioli and Grilled Chicken
Thursday: Crock Pot BBQ Pork Chops, Baked Potatoes, and veggies
Friday: TBD...

Saturday: Polynesian Flank Steak w/rice and stir fry veggies and grilled pineapple  (never got made last week)

Linking to OrgJunkie, where Meal Planning Monday lives.

Monday night bath time...

Homemade GeoBoard!

Still taking inspiration from the Play at Home Mom blog and often scratching my head wondering, why didn't I think of that? 

The boys LOVE these boards at the Discovery Museum, but I honestly never thought to make them myself.  Then I saw them on the PAHM site and realized that there was no reason in the world we couldn't make one, too!

We made this Doug's project to do with the boys on Monday when he has them at work with him at the hardware store.  Throughout the day he sent me pictures showing me the progress they were making.  It started with showing the boys how to put the screws in the pegboard.  Doug said he went to do something and came back and they had done a whole row and started on another.  Then he found Gabe in the nuts and bolts isle taking matter into his own hands and getting more!

Then they played around with the spacing of the bolts and he showed the boys how to use the drill to attach the nuts to the screws.  (Yes, our 3.5 yr olds use power tools...)  

This turned out to be a great success.  The boys spent a large part of the morning working on making the board with guidance from Daddy, then they played with it on and off all afternoon.  Now we are working on a smaller one to have at the house. 

The next day Reece went with Doug to work while the boys were at school and he immediately found the board and started playing - and yes, Doug let him use the drill, too.  (He's 14 months old.) 

Sunday Afternoon

Snack Time!

Sometimes all it takes to make them happy is popcorn :)

At work with Daddy

Clearly working hard!

Reece Helping in the Kitchen

Today Reece got to 'help' in the kitchen while his brothers were with Doug.  We started with just big tube shaped pasta stirring it in a pot.  Then he got out the colander.  Before it was all over we had added two more shapes, some cupcake papers, a chopstick to thread the pasta onto, and a canning jar.  He spent almost an hour on the floor scooping, threading, dumping, and banging -- and chewing on -- the pasta. 

Meal Planning Monday : Jan 9, 2012

Last week was a success and we pretty much stuck to the plan.  I decided to continue the pantry clean out project and plan with what we have and try and keep the new purchases to a minimum.  I went shopping yesterday and spent a total of $32.  Of course, we will have to buy milk and bananas midweek, but I think we can keep it under $40 for the entire week.  Not shabby for a family of 5.  The chicken was w/ bought last weeks' budget and the steak was in the freezer.

Saag Tofu

Monday: Chicken Slouvaki w/ whole wheat pitas
Tuesday: Saag Tofu (Yum!!)
Wednesday: Pasta w/ chicken and veggies with homemade bread
Thursday: Polynesian Flank Steak w/rice and stir fry veggies and grilled pineapple
Friday: Freezer soup/sauce with homemade bread
Saturday: Left overs

Sunday: ? Shopping day ?

Linking to OrgJunkie, where Meal Planning Monday lives.

And since I never list them - I thought I would today - for breakfast we usually have pancakes, oatmeal, cereal, peanut butter toast and fruit, eggs and sausage, grits.  For lunch there are a lot of left overs, chicken nuggets, tofu, hot dogs, PBJ, cold plates, etc.  Snack consist of lots of fruit, gold fish, crackers, cheese, pretzels, etc.

Exploring Ice

While Reece was taking a nap today we spent the entire time outside since it was in the 50s - which is a treat for January.  The boys helped me clean flower beds, played on the trampoline, went around and around in the swings, then we explored the ice that had formed on the little swimming pool that never got emptied (I know, I know - but we're busy!)

They were both enthralled by the fact it was solid - they touched it and were surprised when it offered resistance - and by how cold it was, given it was not cold outside.  They both found little trucks and brought them over to see if they would stay on top of the ice.  This lead to a great conversation about why we don't go on the ice.  Then they smashed it up with the trucks and saw the big pieces would float.  They fished some out and looked through them, too. 

We need to try and remember that at this age everything is new and exciting. 

Playing in the Dark

In my search for new ideas of things to do with the kids I came across a really great blog that has tons of easy ideas to try.  I knew I had some glow sticks in the kitchen somewhere, so I tried the 'hide and seek' in the dark with them.  It was a huge success.  They stayed in the kitchen with Doug while I hid them and then they ran around the downstairs looking for all the glowing sticks.  Once they found them they continued to play with them - linking them together, making shapes with them and just being silly in general.

When it was time to go up for a bath the glow sticks went with them and they took a bath in the dark, playing with them in the tub.  They learned they float, loved how they would make the whole tub glow, and generally had fun until the water got cold.  Gabe even took his to bed with him!

Nothing to see here...

Doesn't everyone play with their Mr Potato Head while naked wearing snow boots?

Making Letters

More fun on the kitchen floor...  

Gabe is really into letters and numbers right now and wants to know all about what letters make up what words.   While he can't write the letters yet, he knows them all and figured out he could make a few with his drum sticks.  That lead him to ask for the wooden spoons in the kitchen so he could make an "A."  Then he wanted more to make more letters, so I gave him a few packs of wooden chopsticks that come with take out and he made letters on the floor while I made dinner for about 30 minutes.

Meal Planning 1/2/2012

My first meal planning of 2012 - wow!  This week I decided to steal an idea I saw on someone's blog a few months ago and try to make a real effort to use what is in my house and keep purchasing to a minimum.  I know I'll have to buy about 4 gallons of milk and 2 loaves of bread along with bananas or other fruit - but I poked around in my cabinets for things I already had - things I bought for meals that never got made, etc. and made my menu from that.  On Sunday I spent $31 for bread, milk, hot dogs, bananas, and some produce.  We'll see how it goes!

Sunday:  Loaded Baked Potato Soup
Monday: Chicken w/ sausage dressing and asparagus
Tuesday: Bean Burritos w/ homemade tomato salsa
Wednesday: Stir Fry w/ Tofu and veggies
Thursday: Left Over Night (or omelets if there are no leftovers)
Friday: Pizza Night
Saturday: Baked ham, mac and cheese, and  veggies

Linking to OrgJunkie, where Meal Planning Monday lives.

UPDATE: We did pretty well this week.  I did have to take a Thursday milk and bananas run - so that was $10.  I also grabbed two big trays of chicken breasts to freeze since it was on sale for under $2 pound.  I spent  a total of $27 more, for a total of$58 for the week - and I have 6 bags of chicken in the freezer now.