Leap Day

Happy Leap Day...What did you do with your extra day?

Toothless

Ethan lost his first tooth. I couldn't believe it when he came to me about a month ago and told me he had a loose tooth. I grilled him on what had happened, did you fall, run in to something, do something you shouldn't have???? Nope, just an early loose tooth, I mean he's barely 5 and growing so quickly.

He was excited and kept playing with the tooth, which of course got looser and looser everyday. He would complain that his tooth would never come out and that it hurt when he ate and wished his tooth would just come out, then we started talking about the Tooth Fairy and he really wanted that tooth out!

Finally for lunch one day we had strawberries and when he bit in to the berry his tooth popped out and dropped through the center of the strawberry and on to the table. He couldn't have been happier!

That night we put his tooth in the special Tooth Fairy Pillow I'd made for him. He wasn't sure he wanted the Tooth Fairy to take his tooth. I even caught him saying good bye to his tooth..."Good bye little tooth, I'll miss you." What a kid!

In the morning he woke up at 6AM and came running down the stairs waking the whole house. (Keep in mind this is the kid who slept in until 7:30 Christmas Morning) He was thrilled with his Tooth Fairy haul: A Cars 2 car, a dollar coin and a note from the Tooth Fairy (with a tooth on it!)

Now he keeps checking for more loose teeth and Avery's been wiggling hers saying she has a loose tooth..

Out Of This World

I took the kids on an "Out Of This World" adventure last week. We visited the local planetarium.



Ethan wanted a ride in the Mars Rover,




But settled for walking on the moon.




Avery touched a 4.5 billion year old meteorite.

and we all found out we don't want to visit any planet where our current weight would smash us like a pancake.

Museum of Natural History

A new museum opened up not far from us so we took a family outing to check it out. They had 4 different levels with different types of things on each level.

The kids liked the animals scenes,






but really got in to the dino exhibit.







We found a few "classrooms" designed for kids to explore in. We loved the puppets...





And the costumes best!

Golfin'

Since the weather has been so nice for February our family decided to get out and take advantage of the warmth. We hit the "links" for a game of mini golf.

Ethan is all business when he golfs. Tries to have good form and concentrates on making his game better each time. I love it...he's so serious.




Avery took a few pointers from her golf pro.



Then ventured out on her own.





Then gave up completely and decided she could help the rest of us by giving daddy a handicap.



We had a great time and with our Pass of All Passes we'll be able to golf for free all summer!
Watch out US Open!

Ornithologists

Thanks to Winter Wednesdays at the Aviary my kiddos are becoming bird experts. We gathered up some friends and headed to the Aviary again.


It really is a great place. Different birds put on different displays every time we're there. The king vultures did a little dance for us and we walked right up to a peacock putting on a tail feather display for a couple lady birds.

Avery was determined to feed the Sun Conures...and she did. She was still a little scared, but let them sit on my hand and eat out of her hand.


Ethan was fabulous and fed them all by himself...he even had one land on his head and let it perch there for a minute before ducking to get it off.

We are excited the Aviary extended Winter Wednesdays through March. We may get yet another trip in!

I Love Pinterest

If you haven't tried out Pinterest and you like to craft or cook, if you have kids, if you need creative inspiration in any way you really ought to look in to it. I have become addicted. At first I pinned lots of great things, now I pin lots of great things and make them! I've probably tried 50+ new recipes, experimented with a few cleaning tips and crafted lots of great things with my kids! It's really rewarding for me. I feel crafty, but don't have to come up with every idea on my own, just add my personal touches to someone else's idea.

For Valentine's Day this year my friend Pania and I made this cute banner from Pinterest.


The kids and I took a paper towel roll, shaped it, and dipped it in paint and stamped heart attack paper.

It was an easy, but great craft.
I was impressed at how cute each page turned out.



They turned out so well in fact I added lettering cut on the Cricut and framed them. We gave them as gifts to grandparents and Aunt Amy. I put one on our new entryway table and we mailed many more off as cards.

I also made chocolate cupcakes with strawberry cream cheese butter-cream frosting and strawberry pina colada smoothies for our Sweethearts dinner, both recipes from Pinterest. And for dinner tonight...a shredded crock pot chicken taco recipe...from Pinterest. So go, now and get on Pinterest. Happy Pinning!

Our Little Ballerina

After a post blowout bath Avery was admiring the dancing pig on her PJ's. She loved the piggy's crown and asked me about what she was wearing. A tutu. Quickly Avery remembered seeing a tutu of her own in her closet. I asked if she wanted to put it on with her crown prize from the dentist...YES Mom!

She was instantly transformed into a lovely ballerina.




She had some great moves and put on 2 or 3 shows to entertain Ethan and I!



We love this little girl!

Teeth

Both kids took their first trip to the dentist this week. They were both brave and did a great job.

Ethan got to have x-rays taken of his teeth. Avery thought maybe she wanted to have a turn, but quickly lost interest and headed over to the lounge chair in front of the movie.



Ethan had his teeth cleaned, counted and inspected. He's got one little cavity starting so we're going to try to get the tooth to rebuild with fluoride treatments. It was amazing that the dentist could look at his teeth and gums and predict what work he would need to avoid braces...Apparently tooth spacing is hereditary...sorry pal!


Avery had her teeth brushed and counted then the dentist came and examined her teeth. She was patient with the process and only bit the hygienist once, and she said it was the nicest little bite she'd had in a while.

A super first trip, 2 clean sets of teeth and 2 great prizes! Perfect!

PS Ethan has his first loose tooth. I was amazed and sad...my baby boy is growing up way too fast!

From House To Home

We've lived in our house for 2 years now. I don't know why, but we've put off decorating for a while...a long while. It may have been the fact that we patched holes in every wall when we moved in, but finally over the last couple of weeks we've put up the dozens of things I've had hanging out around the house (in cupboards and closets). We hung things in Ethan's room, the bathroom, and the kitchen...

We spruced up our room...





The landing on the stairs...






The entry... (even Bob commented on how nice this addition makes our house. More welcoming than a big empty spot and now this isn't the "take down to the basement someday" dumping ground.)



I've been collecting things for an "old" display for years. I gathered keepsakes from both sets of grandparents, yard sales, my brother's old barn, and great grandparents. Finally I gave them a home in the kitchen.


I love how each one turned out.



It's amazing what a little decorating will do for making a house a home.

One Snowy Day

This winter has been lovely. We've played so much outside because it's been warm and dry. We really have had only one snowy day here. Luckily this mama had an inkling and a bit extra energy that day...we made the most of our snow!

We started with a snowman. We didn't have enough snow in the front yard to make our snowman so we started rolling in the back yard, then I carried our heavy, wet snowballs to the front yard...note to self, wet, packed snowballs are very heavy and don't roll across the drive way, make a better plan next time!

Then we packed a little more of the snow around the base and middle to make our fella sturdy.






Finally the kids used a cute Snowman Kit I got as a door prize to dress our Frosty Friend. (Ethan picked the hat out of his collection!)

We were pretty proud of our frigid fireman.





Ethan was feeling daring and started a snowball fight with mom...it was great. He's got a good arm and super aim...must get that from his dad. He and Avery both made snow angels.

We were having so much fun I decided we'd better do as much as we possibly could with the snow we had, so we grabbed Ethan's sled and headed off to the park! It was perfect. We had the park to ourselves and there are lots of different levels of hills.

Avery wanted to sled all by herself...sure, hit the little hill. She did great and even insisted on carrying the sled back to the top on her own. Fabulous!


Ethan chose the tallest hill. He went down on his bum, on his tummy, on his back and face first. He loved every minute.


The kids took a trip down together...



Then Mommy took a trip down with each of the kids.

It was a perfect day and the kids can't wait for the next snow day!