Entertaining the kids....in the neverending winter months.

After Sylvie obsessed about her "Sucker fish" we came across this gem of a toy in Walgreens for much less than a fish in a glass bowl costs. It was very cheap and very effective and when she wanted to "hold Nemo" she was unable to because there is a lid on him.



I put Logan's favorite toys of the day on the couch for a photo session for you...
The lion puzzle is stuck together with stickers so the pieces won't get lost. All ziplock bags and tupperware in our house are fair game for filling with treasures of any sort. Today it was rocks from the alley.
And his favorite and I'm pretty proud of this one. He learned to make a pirate telescope by using blue painter's tape and a piece of paper. Then a few weeks later, he started making multiple scopes and taping them together to make them "big." Needless to say, I am missing an awful lot of construction paper and blue tape! And then when we ran out of paper, he taped his baseball bats together. I LOVE these kids,...they keep me laughing every day.



When the evening is winding down and the kids have become bored with their toys they get inspired by messy toys. As in...lets make a mess out of all household items. Here is one example.
I'm sitting here cleaning, computer-reading or on the phone and I turn around to see this....



Followed by this...



Followed by someone getting soaking wet, someone almost falling and splitting their head open...followed by me telling everyone "No more water!" and frantically cleaning it all up with big old towels.

Today I got smart and put all the obsessions with water to good use. I have a spraybottle filled with vinegar and water and I use it everywhere. Vinegar is edible, so even if they squirt it in their mouths, they will still survive. We cooked bacon tonight for BLT's, so the stove definitely needed a good clean-up.



I even got her to dry!



And even though they fight like cats and dogs, they are so darn cute when they love on each other! She was hugging him, not strangling him. Always worth the clarification.

Easter Pictures!

For those not on the once a week email list....

Sylvie's Sucker Fish

This is the ongoing saga about the "Sucker fish" at the library. Our new library has an aquarium, complete with a cookie monster doll inside and a fish that sucks on the glass which we have labeled "Sucker fish." We were watching Mr. Sucker fish and he chose to go under some rocks. Sylvie was all concerned so I told her "Sucker fish went into the tunnel so he could sleep." Well geez louise, she has talked our ears off about that sucker fish going into a tunnel and going to sleep for 2 weeks now! All day it's "mommy, today we go to the library and go see Sucker fish go sleep in tunnel!"
So she talked about it so much to my mom and my MIL that they both went to the libraries (different ones) this week with the kids! I took Sylvie when Logan was in school and she ran over the the sucker fish. She said "Sucker Fish! Come out and Play with Sylvie!" "Sucker Fish, come see the rocks! Look, I have a rock for you to play with! Wake up sucker fish! Come play with Sylvie!!!!" Durn that sucker fish either went to fishie heaven or was hiding very well. Think the library would be okay if I showed up wiht a new sucker fish in a bag for them to add ot their tank?

Logan discusses the Next Presidential Candidate...

Background- you have to realize Logan is not one of those 4 year olds asking where babies come from or why the sky is blue. I never hear him say question words and his conversations are usually limited to things he's intrigued by. They discussed Presidents at preschool for President's Day, so apparently it is an "interesting" subject for him

Today Logan found a dime in the couch.

L: "Who is that mommy?" (pointing to the face on the dime).
Mom: "A president."
L: "No!"
Mom: " Well, not our president now, a president from before."
L: Eyes real big.
Mom: "Do you know who our president now is?"
L: "No."
Mom:"George Bush"
L; Shakes head with disgust.
Mom: "Don't worry, we'll get a new president soon. We're electing one right around your birthday."
L: "Good."
Mom: "Who do you think will be our new president? Clinton or Obama or McCain?"
L: "Obama." And that's all he had to say about that.:)

A St. Patrick's Day message from Sylvie to Daddy

Jorge is out of town until Midnight tonight so we won't get to see him for St. Patrick's Day. Here is Sylvie's message to Daddy...




And a kiss from Logan....

"Drama" - Logan and Sylvie style

Logan and Daddy go to Preschool
Today was "Daddy and Child" day at Logan's preschool (on a Saturday). We were all prepared with matching jerseys (upon request) and dad and son were off. The parking lot is teeny tiny so they asked that the moms drop off the dads and then pick them up 1 hour later. So 45 minutes later, I get a call from Jorge to come get them. As I was waiting for the inevitable freight train to pass, I got more info on a call to Jorge. Logan had been crying for the past 1/2 hour and was miserable.

My little guy....he is doing so well with school and all these fun activities it's easy to forget that once upon a time (like, for the last years before he turned 3-1/2) he was quite likely to NOT enjoy these types of activities. He just doesn't like all the fuss, all the craziness and in this case, I don't think he liked preschool not being a regular preschool day. So poor Jorge had Logan on his lap refusing to throw a football, play floor hockey or eat a snack. He wanted to go home and that was that. He just kind of "shuts down." Last year we went to a St. Patrick's Day parade and he decided he did not want to be there. So literally he tucked himself into a stroller, covered himself with a blanket and took a nap over participating in the parade. As soon as the parade was over, he perked up and was ready to "Go Home. "




Fighting over a pillow
Logan and Sylvie are hilarious to watch together. They talk, fight and play all day long. Sometimes one of them is cranky tired, and things get a bit out of control. This is a series of pics I couldn't help but snap of their little "tiff" the other night when they were both too tired to play nice.

First I looked over from the computer to see this.....Yes ,that's Sylvie on TOP of Logan. Then I grabbed my camera!


When I pulled Sylvie off of Logan, I saw how happy he was to see her


She wanted the pillow. Guess who won....My messy Sylvie. Logan just gives into her 90% of the time.

And the montages we've made of the kids!

Here is our baseball player Logan!

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7228333171862447657&q=logan+baseball&pr=goog-sl&hl=en

And here is Sylvie's First Year Montage.....

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3459459791639374315

What is on our computer "Favorites?"

Me: Babycenter. I follow all these crazy women who have kids born in January 2006 and then I get to pretend I know a lot to my other real life mom friends because even if I haven't gone through it,,...someone has! I love it!

Logan: PlayhouseDisney.com he's getting really into it. He's a lefty so using a mouse hasn't come easily but we've been working on it. Each time he plays, he gets a bit better. He loves "Little Einsteins" the best!

Sylvie: I went hunting on Youtube for some clips of the Disney princess movies. Let me tell you, be careful! I used to go looking for Elmo and he's the worst! People will use the Elmo song and video and before you know it...they cut to a Tickle me Elmo on fire! So I always try to check these things out after the kids are in bed. So...we did find some clips of princesses, but we also found two fabulous video montages with video of the movies and appropriate non-disney songs. I enjoy them...but I am a sap. Sylvie watches over and over. She's very into the Sleeping Beauty and the Prince Slaying the Dragon but I don't think we'll own that movie for a bit longer...it's pretty dark and intense!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vKm58OsPsAM A Cinderella Montage

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iRle_kLoUQ0 A Sleeping Beauty Montage

Enjoy!

What did you dream about last night Sylvie?

My Sylvie is a dreamer. She tells me about the dragon in Sleeping Beauty, about the mice in Cinderella. So out of habit I often ask the kids "Did you have a good night? What did you dream about?". This afternoon she got up from a nap and told me right away "Me dream Papua and Mermaid." (Papua is her pet name for her favorite princess, Cinderella). I said "Wow" and she said "We swam with bubbles!" How cute!

She just came running in saying "oh no, me puppy!" She had hidden him in a piece of dollhouse furniture and was pretending she "lost" him. Of course I had to play along until she miraculously found him! She cracks me up.