15/365: A Great Excuse to Stay Inside

Today was cold. Too cold to play outside. Okay, we could have played outside, but I didn't want to. Instead of sitting in front of the television all day, which is an easy habit to form if you have television, I pulled out the craft supplies. Cameron is a very good artist. He displays the same amount of concentration when painting a plane as he does when snowshoeing or playing basketball.

8/365: My Daughter Won't Let Me Order Cake

My kids like to play restaurant.  Cameron writes the order down and Olivia "cooks" my meal.  I am always the customer.  They even give me a check.  Today they asked me to pay with real money!  (They gave it back to me).  They also take credit, just so you know.

Olivia had a turn being the waitress tonight.  When I finished my meal she asked if I wanted dessert.  Knowing we have a play cake, I asked for a piece.  She said "OK!" and started to walk away.  Suddenly, she stopped, turned around and said, "You can't have cake.  You need to have something healthy, like fruit and vegetables."  Ah, my kids are me.  I love it!

 

 

"Mommy, you can't have cake.  You can only have fruit and vegetables."

Olivia and Mommy's Day of Fun!

 My husband is a Firefighter/EMT.  He has a new position in a fire department that is over an hour away from our house.  Yes, we will be moving sometime in the very near future.  Until then, he is away for many days at a time (four in a row, to be exact).  On the bright side, he is also home for four days in a row.  Sometimes his days home fall during the week, and sometimes on a day that Olivia is not in school.  These days are very special.  Olivia is the second child, and as such missed out on the one-on-one attention that her brother received as an infant and toddler.  On the days we are both home with her she gets to pretend she is an only child.

Our day started out reading stories from the kids childrens bible.  My Mom bought it for them a couple of months ago.  Cameron woke up and wanted to hear the story of Jonah and the Whale (inspired by a story in one of his shark books where a man is reported to have lived inside a whale shark for 15 hours).  After Cam left for school, Olivia wanted me to read the whole thing!  We compromised on two more stories.  

Then there were the dominoes!  I am looking forward to when she wants to play with these again!  I had fun! (Oh, and she did too).

Damien needed to study so he asked if I could take Olivia to the library so he could have a little quiet time.  Before we left she wanted to do one puzzle.  This one is her favorite, and actually, it is mine too!  She does the whole thing herself, although she pretends to need help.  She's so sweet to realize Mommy isn't ready for her to not need me anymore!

Then it was off to the library.  Our first stop is always the table right at the entrance where she does all the puzzles before we can move on.  We lucked out at the library.  I forgot that story time had started back up, so we stayed for that and got to do a craft.  Awesome!  Olivia picked out six books.  Her favorite one is "Shoe-La-La" by Karen Beaumont.  It's about a group of young girls who go shoe shopping.  Now Olivia wants a fancy pair of purple shoes... with heels!  Oh boy.  And of course, Grampa promised them to her, but only if she goes a week without wetting her pull-up at night.  I'll take that deal!

Olivia and I had a super fun, fantastic day, and it was even better because Daddy shared it with us!

We missed Cameron, but when he came home he joined in on all the fun!

I'm Really Bad at Bowling

Really, really bad.  I bowled a 39.  It's shameful.  But the kids had so much fun!!

OK, so I will admit, we had our fair share of grumpy moments, but I will still look back on this day and only remember the good parts!

My Silly Boy

Cameron behind the wall with the robot remote.  Olivia in

the playroom talking to the robot.  Suddenly the robot 

starts dancing and Olivia thinks it's because she told him

to dance.  

Cameron thinks this is hysterical!!!

Olivia?  Well, she just dances with the robot until the robot stops.

Let's see if he can trick her again...

Seriously, she really thinks that when she asks the robot to dance, he starts dancing!

Wait for it...

Really loving the dance moves!  Baby Cameron even gets in on it.

This goes on for at least 20 minutes.

She never caught on, and we never told her.

Caution: Children at Play

It has been rainy in New England for what seems like forever.  Not to worry, the sun is shining bright today!  The last few days have been filled with lots of creative indoor play.  I am so fascinated by children at play.  I have such an age range in my home between my two and the others I care for.  While they frequently all play together, when they are alone, their age differences become very apparent.

Cameron at play:

Yesterday, Cameron and I had the opportunity for one-on-one play in the afternoon.  "Play with me Mommy."  There is nothing else I would have rather done at that moment.  Soak it up, relish it, enjoy it, cherish it, because before long he will be dropping his school bag on the floor and running out the door to play with his school friends.

Man, this kid is so handsome!  Even with

his road rash.  Cam bit the dust on his

bike, but he got right back on!

When Cameron plays it usually involves building something.

Our house is filled with wooden blocks, wooden trains, wooden

people, and Tinker Toys.  Imagination fuel!

Yesterday Cameron built a train track surrounding a city.

When he builds, he does not like for me to see the process, only 

the end result.  He likes to reveal his masterpieces!  Ta da!

Close up view, just because.

Next he asked me to build a slide for the trains.  His idea, and 

a brilliant one!  We used blocks and hill train tracks and voila!

When we were finished Cameron asked if he could

go on the computer.  For a long time I was resistant

to the computer, along with all other electronic media,

for the kids.  But he learned how to use the computer at

pre-school and it IS an important skill.  We limit the 

time to 10 minutes per day (only if he asks) and only

PBSkids.

Inspired by one of the games, Cameron asked if we

could make brownies.  So we did!  From scratch, of course!

Little Cameron at play:

This kid is a riot.  At 1 he is very into getting into things.  I mean that in the literal sense.  He loves to climb into things.  He also loves to walk around the house pulling things off of shelves and putting them on the floor.  Rearranging, as I have learned to call it.

Today he discovered that his favorite cabinet

for pulling things out of, is also great for

getting into!

Little Cameron interacts with the bigger kids,

especially Big Cameron.  They have a bond, 

and it is great!  But he plays so differently

that a lot of the time he is off exploring, tormenting

the dogs, or following me around to "show" me 

one thing or another.  This age is fascinating, for him

and for me!

Olivia at Play:

Darling, darling Olivia.  At almost three she is quite the little Ms. Independent.  She can play for a solid hour without needing any interaction from anyone else.  All of the toys have voices; cars, trains, dolls, the chalkboard.  You name it, they all talk.  She is really into sorting and organizing.  Her play involves having the animals talk to each other, but when they are done she will put them all into something.  Usually not the something that they belong in.  She is so busy that I can never seem to get a photo of her, just the aftermath.  

For example, while cleaning the toy room

this morning, I discovered that the wooden 

robot basket only contained one robot.  Hmmm, 

where couldshe have put those?  Ah, yes!  Lined up on 

the art easel.  That's where I would have put them!

Ah, children at play.  Fills my days, intrigues me and makes me happy!

Dancing Queen

Olivia loves to dance.  While all the other kids that I watch are sleeping, 

Olivia and I spend some time working on our dance moves.

Her favorite songs right now include, Party in the USA by Miley Cyrus, 

Dancing Queen from Mamma Mia!, Hot Dog! by They Might be Giants,

and Brown Eyed Girl by Van Morrison.

She has some pretty incredible moves!  I have no idea where she gets

them from ;)  I have been trying out some of her moves on Saturday

nights when I go out dancing with my fabulous friends/co-workers.  

The bottom left photo of the above set of pictures is the move we call 

"The Heisman", and below is the "Oops, I did it again!"

She really gets into it!  I love my new camera!  I feel like

I can actually capture the energy in my photos.

I love the tongue in these photos.  She just cracks me up!

We paused quite a bit to give Sydney some love and affection.

Olivia adores both of her dogs, but she and Sydney have a

very special bond!

This is how Olivia and I spend our "rest time" lately.  Not so much

resting, but a whole lot of exercise and fun!  Keep on dancing, baby girl.

Olivia

When Olivia was born, my Mom gave her her very first Olivia The Pig book.  I swear, she was not named after the pig, but she certainly does live up to the silliness of that cute little swine!  We adore the Olivia books in our house.  That pig is such a riot, and so is our darling Olivia.

So, when we read that Olivia would be making an appearance at the Children's Museum of New Hampshire, we knew we had to find the time to make the trip.  We told our Olivia that her favorite pig would be at the museum, but I do not think she was fully prepared for what she saw!

While we waited for Olivia to arrive, our Olivia demonstrated her coloring skills.

Finally, Olivia arrives.  I couldn't get a photo

of my Olivia's face, as she was sitting on my lap,

but believe me when I say she was awestruck!  

After a reading of the original "Olivia" book, Olivia the pig went into the hall

for a meet and greet.  We hung back.  The crowd was huge and the parents 

were actually pushing through the crowd to be the first ones in line.  And we 

wonder why our children are so impatient??  Anyway, while we waited for the line 

to go down, Olivia made a pig nose.  She loves it!

We could not leave the room before she finished

her coloring.

OK, now it is perfect!

Finally!  The two Olivias meet for the first time.

Oh, and Cameron came with us too!

This is his favorite part of the museum.  

Making butt imprints is so cool!

We had a fun day!  My parents bought a pass,

so we will be going back again when Clifford is there!