Blue Baby

This is what happens when you leave a watercolor painted piece of pottery made by Marissa on the floor where the crawling baby can reach it and put it in her mouth. Fortunately, it was watercolor, non-toxic, and came right off and didn't stain anything. The piece of pottery is missing some color but it can be fixed up as well.



This is what happens when Dad squishes her cheeks.

A few things I don't love

I am sure my kids are missing out on some things in life. Fortunately, these things aren't really all that important so the kids aren't really missing anything. Back in December, I realized that I can't stand glitter. You know, the stuff in little containers that makes the kid's crafts all sparkly?! Yeah, I can't stand it. We did a craft at story time with the stuff and I had a really hard time bringing myself to touch it. Weird. I also have a hard time with tinsel (the stringy stuff that you drape over the Christmas tree). I have a package of the stuff and I don't know why but it doesn't get used. I have recently realized that I have a hard time with the fake grass that they put in the baskets this time of year. Wow. I'm a crazy one but I just don't like having that stuff all over and it inevitably gets all over. Just a strand here and a strand there but ends up everywhere. With a crawling baby it's havoc. I wish I didn't like piles of stuff everywhere because then maybe I'd find a place for all the piles I have and my house would be organized. Oh well.

Here's the proof

that Spring may finally be here to stay! We went on a hike today through Price Nature Center, which is just down the road from us. It is a really great place - we've been there twice now. I enjoy walking through the woods with my little buddies (Kemiah sticks with me). I really enjoyed seeing all the new life poking out, so here are some pictures to share this great feeling and our little walk through the forest.

Tying up the loose ends.

Once the snow melted, the first time, I found some dead mice near the chicken yard. They were not in one piece so I was baffled as to what had happened. Really strange. I knew there were probably mice hiding and eating and multiplying but hadn't actually seen any. Then I noticed some holes at the bottom of the bails of hay. Since the hay is all over there were some strange holes all over. At first I thought they might be from the chickens and ducks just digging to find food. Today it was all made clear. I was filling the waterer when I heard squeaking. I turned around to see a chicken jump out from behind the plastic pool holding something in it's beak. I stared and realized it was a little mouse. The mouse squeaked again and the other chickens took notice. The one who had "the prize" ran all over the yard trying to hide but other chickens kept bothering her. I stood there, stunned, watching my chickens getting all excited about a little mouse. So, we certainly have mice in the chicken yard. But, I feel a little better knowing that the mouse issue will at least be kept under control as the chickens take care of them. I had no idea the chickens would be interested in mice. I hope they stay interested and continue to catch them so that the population is kept under control - sort of.

Can you believe this?

I sure couldn't. I woke up to this...

It actually ended up leaving a pretty good covering. Thankfully, by the end of the day it was all gone. This weather is crazy. I am so ready for the Spring weather! I know it will come but I'm afraid it won't last and we'll zoom right into the hot, muggy weather of summer. The trick (as with all things in life) is to enjoy what you have right now. It really was pretty to watch the light snow flakes fall straight down to the green grass. That meant there was no blasting wind so I'll be thankful for that.

I'm not sure

which is worse... Since living on the island, I have become very relaxed about having bugs around the house. On the island there was no way to keep them all out. I did fight them and won a lot but they just kept coming. So now, we have boxelder bugs that invade our house during the spring and fall time. Kemiah is the official bug getter and she'll put them in the toilet for us. Unfortunately, Domonique is crawling all over and likes the bugs as well. The most unfortunate part is that they end up in her mouth (of course). Ugh! So, I'm not sure which is worse... the fact that I'm "okay" with the bugs being in my house and we just deal with it or the fact that my baby eats them. The nice thing is that both problems could be solved simply by getting rid of the bugs and keeping them from coming in through the windows. Maybe I'll just put plastic around the windows and let all the bugs die, then collect and clean them up all at once. Or, I heard if you spray soapy water around the windows it will keep them away. I guess all I need to do is actually do something about it.

Stuck

This was so cute and funny! She has really gotten into climbing over obstacles but I think this one was a little too much for her. She really did try hard though so she is a determined little one. Then she figured out a way around it so she is also a problem solver. She's brilliant!

She wrinkles up her nose when she's happy. It's part of her smile and is so cute.

What a cute baby I have. She was so happy when she figured out how to get around the chair and come get me. She really wanted to video camera that I had propped on the floor next to me but I was quicker than she was. She's so fun!

Comparison

Here's what he used to look like... This is what he looks like now.... His eyes are not the same color as mine but they see just as bad as mine do, so he now enjoys wearing glasses. We picked them up Monday morning and I had to keep reminding him to leave them on his face so he could see better. So that's what's new with Ben.

Price Nature Center

After lunch today, we drove a little to the south of us to Price Nature Center. We parked the car and everyone got out, took off their jackets, and we were off. Domonique actually cried when I put her in the stroller. (Weird, she did that when I put her in the seat of the grocery shopping cart the first time.) We were off on a grand adventure - or just a stroll through the woods. It was magnificent! The air was fresh and piney. Oh wonderful smells. The sound of frogs was in the air. We had a great time walking and playing and picking up sticks and acorns and looking at all the different varieties of leaves that were on the ground. It was a wonderful time together. The drinking fountain was a hand pump so the kids had fun trying to work it and were thrilled when Mom came and helped them get some water to come out so they could get a drink. Today was the warmest day so far and we all enjoyed walking through the woods. Enjoy the pictures.

Help! What happened?

I added those two posts yesterday and it messed up the layout of the blog! Any ideas on how to fix it?

Update... April 12 - went to find help and found what I needed so it's all back to normal and I like looking at my blog again. It's amazing how set in our ways we get that it can really affect us. Anyway, glad things are back to normal.

I can still French braid!

I don't do it very often so I'm a little rusty but the girls really like it - although I have to pull a bit and they aren't used to that so they say it hurts. We had General Conference last weekend for Church so we didn't have to go to Church until noon so I had some extra time to play with their hair. They all looked lovely. I did this one time on the island, too, and I think that was the last time so it has been a while. Just thought I would share my beautiful girls with you! (And they don't have to have their hair braided to be beautiful - they just naturally are that way!)

Indoor fun

It was rainy yesterday so the kids built a fort. Ben had so much fun he was ready to do it again today, but made it bigger this time. The kids were a pack of wolves making their den. He showed me where they had their grain storage and their water storage. Pretty clever wolves, if you ask me.