Lex opened an ice cream shop yesterday, under the dining room table. He has about five flavors (they change daily) and recently started offering fruit salad as well. It’s all very delicious, and you only have to pay when you remind him to charge you. Before my WW meeting yesterday, at 8am, I had two ice cream cones. Delicious! Eve’s baby prefers double chocolate :)
Eve buying ice cream
Lex's ice cream shop - he likes the shop but doesn't like the camera :)
Lex had no school today so we spent the morning with a classmate, sledding down the giant hill in front of her house. Giant, in my opinion, for a couple of 4 and 2 year olds. I found myself scrambling to find a store that still sells sleds this week. Apparently January is past the peak “shopping for sleds” season. I ended up with a pricey (-er than I was planning on buying) sled that’s designed for slightly older kids. It goes really fast and Lex loved it! We also brought along the LL Bean wooden sled. The kids all had a great time. Lex has done some sledding at daycare but otherwise it’s not something we do often. We probably should though.
Sledding - at the top of the hill... this is where he wanted to start from, but I wouldn't let him.
Coming down the hill... see that orange sled at the top? See why I didn't want him to start from there?!
Sideways sledding
The little girls did some sledding on their slippery snowsuit butts. (they took a few rides on the slower sleds too)
I am super proud of my kids today. We went to the dentist and they did amazing. I had to pick Lex up early from school for a 10:10 appointment and we waited in the waiting room for an hour! (unusual for this place) The kids played and we read and they were super sweet. When it was their turn, Eve sat very still and listened closely to everything the dentist told her to do. Since it was her first appointment he had her sit on my lap and she was very calm. Lex, big boy, went into the other chair all by himself with the hygienist and got his teeth cleaned. He let her use the electric brush and all the normal dentist tools that he has, in the past, strongly objected too. He even let her do a fluoride treatment. They are growing up so fast!!
To counter that last statement, here is a picture of Eve sleeping in the car this morning, something she rarely does any more. :)
Eve sleeping in the car
A new place opened up this is a neat little indoor play space. Eve and I went yesterday on their second day of being open. It was cute and she had lots of fun. :) I’m not sure how busy they will be during the summer months, but it’s a nice place to play during these chilly days.
The kids played together so sweetly tonight. I was making dinner and doing kitchen stuff and they were “hibernating” or camping, depending on who you asked. :) They built a fire with wooden blocks and lit it with a Lego match. They tried to build tent stakes with wooden blocks, but they kept falling over, so they made a tent with chairs instead. Lex had a “gun” to kill baddies and ghosts (the first time guns have reappeared since the first time they appeared many weeks ago, not something I’m thrilled about). Eve saw ghosts everywhere and perfected her scared face, all the while with a baby doll tucked up in her shirt “nursing.” It was cute. It might the be longest time they’ve ever played together without fighting and me needing to help or break up fights. I got so much done and didn’t even feel guilty about ignoring them!
Lex won an argument (discussion, really) with me the other day. He is very smart. He has show and tell tomorrow at school and we’ve been talking for weeks about what to bring. He wants to bring his breakdown train and I want him to bring something other than a toy. He always brings toys and the teacher originally asked us to try and get them to vary it. He does vary each time (truck, train, etc.) but it’s usually still a toy. So without being pushy I’ve been trying to suggest things for him to bring that might be interesting to the class. I suggested his new microscope and he reminded me that that too is a toy. After a suggestion or two the other day I said, “Lex please don’t bring a toy again. Let’s try to think of something more interesting.” He said, “But my trains are interesting to me.” What can I say to that? So he’ll be bringing his breakdown train to school tomorrow and I’m sure he will do a great job telling the other kids about it. On their show and tell day they also get to do lots of other things, like check the weather, count the kids, lead the line, etc. They feel pretty special on those days. I LOVE that he gets excited for school.
I realize I’m slacking with the blog lately. I don’t have my computer on every day anymore (though I get email and FB on my phone!) and life just seems to be busy. Nothing super exciting, just busy. Dad and B were here for a week working on the garage, mudroom, and basement, and then Dad came back for another week. That was fun. Hopefully they’ll come back for more :) We’ve had a few days off from school and are just kicking around. Here are a few pictures from the past few days. I’ll let you know if life gets more interesting. :)
Lex made a really cool K’Nex car and started parking it under the little table. He called it a garage, but Alan corrected him a few times saying it was “a carport, because garages have walls.” So Lex made some walls. What I love about his walls is that the left and right sides are perfectly symmetrical and mirror images. The back wall is a symmetrical pattern as well. I love the design work. And the car is cool too :)
Hugs for Grandpa Tom
Hugs for Mommy (not the most flattering picture of me, but cute anyway)
The kids got little plant kits for Christmas from Jim, Julie, and Molly. Lex got a “body snatcher plant” (eats insects) and Eve got a “sensitive plant” (closes when you touch it). We planted them the other day and it took me A LOT of convincing to get Lex to allow us to plant his. He only wanted to do Eve’s because he was afraid of the body snatcher plant :) I eventually read the package word for word and emphasized the eats insects part and he settled down. Crazy kid.
Isn't this cool? They are supposed to stay in the bag until shoots appear. I think it keeps the plants warmer and moister.
These are the moments I love. They decided to play a game together and after some discussion it was decided that the only game Eve is good at is Candlyand (true and it was her opinion that settled the issue) so they played, happily and all on their own. So sweet.
Alan went down to visit his mom today to bring her home from the hospital so the kids made pictures for him to take along. Lex used stencils to make a house with a garage and a pond (and then later was very upset that he forgot to put a chimney on the house). Eve made pink lines and squiggles and traced her hand (she's very good at that).
We had warmer temps and good snowfall yesterday and today and I managed to get the kids out for a bit. Sometimes it’s like pulling teeth to get them outside, but then they always have a blast. We did some shoveling and I pulled them on the sled and we took a walk up the street and discovered a snow tunnel that someone had dug. It was nice. I love the warmer weather :)
Eve in the snow tunnel. This would be a lot cuter if the snow wasn't so dirty!
Three winter kids. I couldn't get them all to stand still at the same time. This was the best I got. Lex looks like he's doing a little dance move :)
Eve doesn't like her mittens. Often I argue with her, but when the temps are in the high 30's I let her do her thing. She makes me laugh because she'll put them on inside, but then promptly takes them off outside and always finds an interesting place to put them, rarely just tossed on the ground.
I have the most awesome men in my life who built me a super cool mudroom. Check it out! It still needs paint and coat hooks and a door into the garage (kind of an important thing!) but otherwise it’s done. We love it!
Recycling shelves straight ahead, cubbies on the left and door into the kitchen between the two.
Cubbies on the right followed by benches, a big one for grownups and a little one for kids. They are supposed to be able to put their own boots on there, but as you can see they want nothing to do with that.