A Third Arm

I took this picture of Caleb on what would have been his first day of kindergarten:I figured I would want to remember what he looked like :) And he could not be serious about it if he tried. First he kept hiding his face by trying to make a 6 with his fingers:
And then he gave me the smile showcased above! Well! Believe it or not, he is really a pretty cooperative kid. In fact, he is getting to be a big help around the house. I used to joke that what I needed was a 3rd arm and today I needed help to steady a pan while I cracked an egg into it and asked him to hold it. He literally was my 3rd arm...and I realized that he is every day. I could see in theory how an older child could be enough help to offset the immense work of a baby, but now I am getting a little taste of that. He folds almost as much laundry as I do! It is hard to believe that the busy little guy who sapped so much of my energy is helping me conserve and stretch it now. He is really a blessing to me :)

Rainbow Gelatin Cubes

Our church had a potluck and I had been saving this recipe for a while:

Striking, don't you think? You don't have to use the same colors, but you need:

4 packages of jello
6 envelopes of unflavored gelatin
1 can of sweetened condensed milk
6 cups of water - divided

Combine 1 package of jello with one envelope of unflavored gelatin and 1 cup boiling water. Stir until dissolved and pour into a 13x9 pan (which should be first sprayed with cooking spray). Chill about 20 minutes.

Next combine sweetened condensed milk and 1 cup boiling water. In another bowl sprinkle 2 envelopes unflavored gelatin over 1/4 cup cold water. Let that stand 1 minute and then add 3/4 cup boiling water. Add to the milk mixture, spoon 1 cup of this mixture over the 1st layer of gelatin. Chill about 25 minutes.

Repeat steps 1 and 2 until you reach the top. Then let it chill at least an hour before cutting into 1 inch squares. I left the milk mixture out and it did start to congeal while it was waiting. I'm not sure there is a way around that, but it didn't seem to affect the final outcome. That is, with 9 dozen cubes, not every single one is going to be perfect, but as a whole, they turn out pretty nice :)

Guillermo's Dog

Just in case you aren't familiar with pronouncing Latin names - Guillermo is pronounced "Gee-yair-mo" - and he does not have a Spanish accent in the least.

While we were at the previously mentioned station event this weekend, we met up with Guillermo, one of the hosts of the show Second Shift, a show that airs from 9 to midnight. It is kind of quirky.

Guillermo had brought his dog...to the concert and Annalise found a new best friend:She was too shy to ask Guillermo what the dog's name was, but she quietly held my hand while I asked him. In the most serious way possible, he said his name is:
BARON VON GRAVYBEARD.
I nearly snorted to keep from laughing, but the dog, upon hearing his name, leapt into the air and barked. Tell me - does that dog look like a Baron Von Gravybeard to you?

Party Hats

Another great craft from ShingLee Kindergarten Art:






And you can wear it two ways :)

Packing - my style

Rob had a couple of (station related) events to drop in on yesterday, so we tagged along and spent one night in LaBelle, where we often stay if we have to be in that area. It is centrally located, which is nice, but it is also an underwriting trade, so it doesn't cost us anything to stay there. The location is a little rustic...but you won't get them for false advertising!

For an overnight trip, I get kind of philosophical, I mean, how much do you really need to pack for a trip that is less than 24 hours long? Couldn't you technically just "get by" for 24 hours? Would the not having to pack/unpack out way the ick factor of not having clean underwear the next day? For two adults, you can consider your options, but obviously this is not a real option with a baby - and once I'm packing for her, I kind of get on a roll. But limited - for an overnight trip - just the next days clothes (excluding what's already on the diaper bag), if someone spills something all over their clothes, they get to wear the other outfit twice, if they spill on that, well, we'll be home soon. (As I side not, I do not pack for Rob, he takes care of that. After 10 years I have learned this well: I do not know what he wants to wear tomorrow.) Also, and I learned this the hard way, if you wear contacts, always always always bring your glasses.

For a longer trip, I'm a strict 3 outfit packer. The baby, I'll go as high as 5, but her clothes are really small. Since we nearly always drive, a lot of times I pack the laundry basket instead of a suitcase. I want to come home with either everything clean or everything dirty. That way, I can either slide it in alongside the next load of clothes to fold and put it all away together or stick it straight in the wash. Once we're home, I find it best to unpack quickly or else it takes a full week, no matter how short the trip.

No matter how long our trip - whether it's our Christmas "world tour" or we're just going to church, I always forget one vital thing. It's not always the same thing (Natalie's sippy cup), but it is usually something that involves buying something we have plenty of at home. I guess I should anticipate this and budget it as an expected expense. I have a friend who is ready for every contingency, and it is nice to go places with her! I used to feel bad about my own chronic unpreparedness, but one day I had to lift her diaper bag! Wow. Preparedness comes with a price!

Walking the Dog

Annalise drew this in my "planner" - there is so much I love about this picture (not the least being the artist), it is so classic Annalise. For one, she has ears - Annalise's people always have ears! Grim faced Mako with way too many legs! When she draws people, if she gives them hands (often they'll have ears, but no arms or hands) they'll have about a dozen fingers on each hand. Both of the bigs (at different times) have amused my by declaring in amazement, "I have FIVE fingers on my hand!" You know, we really take knowing that for granted!

They're baaaack....

A little late this year I think...
Don't take another step!
Do people do this in your neighborhood? For whatever reason, people here chronically steal shopping carts and dump them in canals. I guess these two crabs are thinking "artificial reef".
We've already had one at the front door and one in the backyard...and I think they are just getting started :)

Paper Playgrounds

This was another craft from the Shing Lee art book. It was a lot of fun to do and made the kids think! You take strips of different colored contruction paper and bend, twist, or curl it into different designs. Then you glue the designs onto the paper to make a whole playground of paper slides and jungle gyms.

I made this one with Annalise. Honestly, I did most of the making, she helped quite a bit in deciding the arrangement. It was a little over her ability level. But that did not dampen her enjoyment of it. And at the end she couldn't resist adding a few paper kids to play :)

One detail she asked me to make two paper moms and a paper bench for them to sit on and talk. And I forgot to get a picture of it - she had me make a paper mom holding a paper baby to slide down the slide together.

Caleb made his all on his own. I only had to show him how to make steps and make curls and he just took off. The trampoline was his own design.

I thought this one was one of the best projects so far. :)

If It'd been a snake....

...it would've bitten me.

I found it.

My camera battery charger! I was looking for something else I misplaced and thought it might have fallen under our bed. When I reached under I saw a little black something-or-other. As soon as I touched it I knew! It's been there all along! So, my battery is charging. Natalie can walk tomorrow if she wants! She is very close! Now all I have to do is find my camera...

:) Just kidding!

Teamwork

I'm teaching in a volunteer position at our enrichment groups this fall. It's only a 6 week class and it only meets on Fridays, so really it's only six lessons. I submitted about 5 ideas, but the coordinator liked the idea of studying Alaska the best by a mile. It took some whittling to get it down to 6 manageable topics. There are way more than 6 interesting animals! I decided on:

Week 1 - An overview, of sorts.
Week 2 - Native Americans in Alaska
Week 3 - Northern Lights and the Midnight Sun
Week 4 - Sled Dogs
Week 5 - The 3 Bears of Alaska
Week 6 - Alaskan Salmon

The only one I haven't figured out is the Sled Dog lesson. I am really stumped on a craft or activity to round that one out.

Here is how I have it planned out:

I have some books about sled dogs and I wanted to let the kids look at them, then tell them the story of Balto and tell them about the Iditarod. I have a picture book called Painter and Ugly, which is a fictional story about two dogs in the jr. Iditarod (which is real). It's a sweet story and C & A loved it. I wanted to break things up with either a teamwork sort of game or a craft. I just can't find a craft I like or a teamwork game that kids that little will enjoy. So if you know one help me out! I kind of like the idea of a relay game, I just don't have something specific in mind.

***

P.S. the camera battery charger is still AWOL. Rob found a reasonably priced one online, so hopefully that will come soon. So no pictures, but I do have two quotes:

Natalie has started signing please and thank you. Today I gave her something and said "say Thank you!" and instead of signing it, the child ACTUALLY SAID, "THA OO!" She is going to talk our ears off I think!

Annalise came up to me a couple of days ago and very seriously said, "They don't call me Annalise for nothing!" No, they don't!

Cell Phone Pictures...

are better than no pictures at all!

Miss I-Get-Cuter-Everyday - and you ought to hear her talk on the phone, wow what a chatterbox!

The Yu-pik Woman - I am going to teach a class about Alaska to Caleb's group at PEP. These native American hats will be one of the crafts.

I used to do all the work...now I delegate :)

Caleb's latest fascination - The Titanic. Caleb's question, "If we were on one of the lifeboats, would you have covered my eyes?"

Guava Jelly from a friend - now I can make my own pastelitos!I love this picture - it's like I didn't even realize how cute they are :)

'Round Here

As soon as we got back from Ft. Myers I instituted the "new routine", which is not very much different from the "old routine" except I am getting up earlier. And no matter how early I get up, I wake up every one else, so we are all getting up earlier. But this is good. Bedtime is easier than ever! I like to say "hungry kids eat, tired kids sleep" - and yes, I am quoting myself, but that is a central tenant of my personal SAHM management philosophy. A second difference is a renewed determination to work harder. Maybe that goes in waves, but it's nice to be riding that wave again.

Another thing that happened since we got back - I cannot find the charger for my camera battery. This is almost a crisis level event. (And I deeply apologize to the grandparents.) I wouldn't remember anything at all of the last 5 11/12 years if I didn't have pictures. What if Natalie starts walking while it's lost? What if Caleb loses his first tooth? What if Annalise...just does something cute! And online there are tons of duplicate batteries (which I did not lose), but I only found 1 charger for it and it cost more than we paid for the camera. So do I tear the house apart looking for it? Buy the charger or just get another camera?

Well Caleb has done something momentous - he learned how to dog paddle - and he taught himself. He also learned how to tie his shoes this summer, so now all we have to do is get the training wheels off the bike and he'll have hit all his goals for the year! If I could have taken his picture today, I would have taken it when he and Annalise hid behind a railing and said "Take our picture! We're in jail!"

Natalie as I mentioned is still not walking, but she seems sturdier on her feet. Today she noticed her bellybutton - and when 1 year olds get fascinated with their bellybutton...well to me that is just the cutest thing ever! She also is making more sounds and has learned some new hand signs. If I could have taken her picture today, I would have taken a picture of her holding the baby doll and patting its back. (So cute!!!)

Annalise is at a stage where one moment I am exasperated and the next wish I could keep her 3 years old forever. But she told me herself, she cannot stay 3, because she will be 4 next year. I don't really do a lot of preschool type work with her. Mostly she just peeks over my or Caleb's shoulder. But she really is not far behind her brother. If I could have taken her picture today I would have taken it when she raided a bag of hand-me-downs and put on a set of pajamas that are 2 sizes too big and snuggled up with Goldie (her stuffed unicorn).

Rob and I are cute too of course, but we usually neglect to take our own picture!