More Pinterest Inspiration/ Procrastination

I have been thinking lately about why I've been enjoying writing this blog.  Partly it's nice to be able to edit out the parts of my life I'd rather not have the world see and creates a selective memory for me as I look back- I'm writing about the moments of motherhood/wifehood/womanhood that I'm proud of and omitting some of the things I'd rather forget.  Knowing some folks will want to see what we've done in any given week also keeps me motivated to do some cool stuff that I might not have otherwise done, but that we all enjoy.  Mostly however I like to take some of the quiet time I have (usually nap time) and just sit by myself and finish my thoughts.  Without.  Interruptions.  It also gives me a great reason to procrastinate on some of the chores and tasks I should be doing but just don't want to.

So thank you for reading and giving me a reason to write.

Admittedly I got a bit carried away with the cardboard construction but had tons of fun making a few more cardboard city items for the girls.  Ada is really enjoying them.  We even went to a toystore one rainy morning and picked out some more cars.  We got some construction vehicles (construction site has yet to be build, but it is in my minds eye), an airplane, ice cream truck (priorities), and a couple cars.  Please excuse the mess.  We were busy playing.

Got the idea for this at bhoomplay's blog via Pinterest.  The gas station and farmer's market both fold up (the top layer is a little smaller) for easier storage.  It actually fits inside one of the other boxes.  Ada made a water tower with an old playdoh container and 2 egg carton things.  I hot glued and she decorated.

Gas station with shoelace pumps.

Farmer's Market per Ada's request.  I used cutouts from old Cook's Illustrated covers.

The gate is attached with a bent paper clip.

In action.  The box Ada is playing with also has a Pizza shop, hospital (guess which one), her school, our health club, car wash, and a grocery store.   

The airport is a huge hit.  Her little cars frequently take trips to "Massakusetts".

I am very proud of the car wash (light bulb box- folds up nicely- with hot glue and ribbon scraps).  Ada always asks me if we can go through the car wash (we've done it once or twice), and I usually tell her no b/c I would rather spend our money on other things.  Now she can go whenever she wants ;)

Play with dolls/ babies/ daughters is a constant around here.  The Groovy Girls are the latest obsessions- these were passed to us by a girl who I babysat when she was a tiny baby and is going to be a sophomore in college this year- INSANE!

We were out in the driveway the other day so I could paint a little more of the chicken coop and the girls could play in the driveway.  They were driving their cozy coops and drawing with chalk. At some point my brain put together a great counting work with our morning... and this activity was born.   I saw this awesome counting activity using sticks instead of the pricey spindles at The Activity Mom.  I would still like to raid our stick pile and make this, but in the meantime this was super fun.

Note Emma's little one in the background.

Yay!  I figured out how to add video!!!

Then inside for an Olympic inspired lunch.  If I had planned this at all I would have done blueberries for blue, black beans for black and some green veggie for green but alas a red tomato from the garden and a bunch of artificially colored noodles for lunch.

Emma mostly loved the tomato.  She had 3 slices :)

Finally, an oldie but a goodie.  The girls were using teamwork to put all the little letters in the puzzle after they found them in the rice.  I think Emma's favorite part was when we sang the alphabet when we finished.  Love these girls <3

Ada's Sunflowers

I wrote a post, One Little Seed a while back outlining some work we did with sunflowers.  Ada and Tony planted some sunflowers last spring and we saved some of the seeds.  Ada took it upon herself to plant some this spring in the strawberry garden.  Look what happened!

 And since it was such a hot day, we hopped in the pool too :)

We literally were jumping in just after this and splashing.  I think the girls like it when it's wicked hot so they can splash me with water and I actually like it! 

Notice her babies are floating in their little floaties.  She's explaining to me that it's so "they don't go too deep."

Hunting lesson... I think

While sitting at the kitchen table today eating my lunch I saw 2 hawks land on the Ash tree next to our driveway.  I watched for a minute and when it didn't look like they were going anywhere I grabbed the camera and went outside.

Baby is standing.  Adult is in the bottom of the shot checking me out.

Both standing looking up at the birds in the tree.

Looking up at the other birds in the tree.  

Adult

I'm pretty sure it was a parent child hunting lesson.  They stayed for about 2 hours in this tree.  At a certain point the baby (on the right in the above picture) laid down on the branch.

They just stayed there while all the other birds in the tree went bananas.  I started to wonder if they were just trying to stress them out so they would be easier prey?  I took a bunch more pics with Ada when she woke up.  She refers to them as "our hawks"- adorable.

Just so you can see how not wild this area is.  They are in the tree right above my car.  If you look close and follow the bottom right branch the adult is standing just before it gets green.  The baby is on the second big branch up from the trunk towards the right about 5 ft. from the trunk, laying down.

Adult

I couldn't help thinking as I saw them there about how animal babies learn things.  Our human babies learn by imitation of course but we can communicate so much with language.  I was thinking about trying to teach our babies how to feed themselves without talking and at first this task seemed daunting...then we went outside to the garden.   Emma watched her sister picking cherry tomatoes then just went at it.  She didn't need "instructions".

Yes, we told Emma that the red ripe tomatoes were better to eat than the green ones.  But she needed to test this anyway. 

Handing me the green one (Ada gave it to the chicks)

YUM!

A weekend for Mama

I have been working on a post for weeks that speaks of the awesomeness of my husband.  It's still coming.  In the meantime I will note that one of the awesome things he has done for me lately is take the children on vacation...without me.  Alone.  In our house.  For 2 nights and 2 days.  AMAZING!

I have been able to tackle some big projects as well as watch a ton of tv while doing it:)

I did accomplish a switcharoo to our art cabinet to include a bunch of Olympic themed trays.

Bookmarks to color from activity village.

Coloring page from abcteach.

Collage tray.  I put gold and silver and "bronze" in here as well as red white and blue.  We haven't done one of these for months so I know Ada will be excited.  The spoon is for the colored rice.

Stamps and glitter- USA and red white and blue...GO TEAM USA!

And made a Pinterest inspired "toy" for the girls as well.

I still have 2 boxes of paperwork to go through, but the craft closet has finally had it's much needed face lift.

Before (I took this months ago when I wanted to get this job done)....

And after months I finally covered boxes with contact paper (instead of the fabric I had planned on) and wrote on them with sharpies (instead of the little labels I had planned on making)...and it is wonderful!

The floor is clean and you can close the closet doors and walk through the room without stepping over piles.  I have one empty box on the shelf so I have a little room to grow.  I'm so psyched!


I got the hallway painted and hung up some of the girl's artwork in those little glass clip frames and I did my best to hang them in a straight line.  I had toyed with the idea of painting a stripe of a different color down the hall, but I like this MUCH better!

I didn't specifically take a before picture, but I have one from when Ada had us put up a "gate" each night to keep the "alligators" out of her room.

It was the same color as our living room.  Not a bad color, just a little dark for a hallway.

Most of the pieces are Ada's, but there are a few of Emma's.  The walls are the same color as the kitchen- pale honey.  It's bright and cheery and pretty neutral.  Mostly though- it feels like our house.  Once our bedroom is painted I'll feel like the house is "done" as far as paint goes.

My favorite one is the middle one here.  One night Ada was talking about her "friend" James.  It was clear to us that this was an imaginary friend so we asked Ada to draw a picture of him.  This is what she drew, then said, "This is James.  He is tall."  I love this girl!

These ones are hung horizontally and are 8 x 11.

These are on the oposite wall and are hung vertically and are 4 x 6

A wonderful weekend indeed.  Thanks to my fantastic husband for facilitating it!  I feel refreshed and ready to play with these kids all week long!!

***************UPDATE***********

The new stuff was a hit.  The diaper box-gone car toy was the first thing Ada noticed and was all into it.  We went to the beach and camping and parked in the garage.  She doesn't always play with things the way I envision so I was thrilled that this one worked out. Emma woke up and joined in too :)

After breakfast Ada changed into a ballerina and we did some artwork.

Ada working on a collage (she loved using the colored rice).  She made a shark.  Used rice for the body, puff ball for the head and tinfoil for teeth.  

The collages here are Emma's.  The bookmark on the left is Em and Ada's is on the right.  

Cooper's Hawk

Just got some confirmation that our hawk is a Cooper's Hawk.  Turns out it was the male who built the nest this spring and as we suspected he has been doing most of the hunting for the family.  I'm convinced now that the picture in the last post was one of the 2 babies as I have now seen each of them on little flights and I am astonished that they have grown so quickly.

I tried to relay to Ada how special it is that we have been able to see this process so closely and that most people never get so see wild birds like this.  She is totally unimpressed.  This is the first time I have ever seen such a thing.  When I feel frustrated that she doesn't seem to care about these birds as much as I do I must remember how my mom must have felt when I rolled my eyes as she dragged me outside with a sleeping bag to sit in the yard and watch a meteor shower or to see King Tut at the MOS.  Kids don't really understand that these moments won't happen again necessarily and just how special they are.  I suppose it's up to the adults to realize for them and to create the opportunity to appreciate the special things in life... even if they don't really get it until they're grown up.