Ellie's new skills (and other random pictures)

Ellie has been taking a tumbling class, which she really likes. I like it too, because it is really the only class that she has taken, besides swimming, that actually teaches the kids skills instead of just playing games. The soccer class she took? Never once did she actually play soccer.

Tonight was her last class for this season. Usually for the last class the teachers let the family come in to see what all they learned. The girls who taught this class are young; great teachers, but they didn't seem to know that parents usually come in for the last class. I tried to explain to them how it is usually done (I guess I am one of THOSE moms), but I don't think they understood how important it was for parents to take pictures of their little munchkins showing off new skills.

I managed to sneak in some pictures through a little window in the door ;)

Since it was the last class, the entire family came to watch Ellie. Since we didn't get to watch, how did we entertain Rowan? By taking silly face pictures, of course!

Yes, I realize his bangs are totally in his eyes :)

Another skill Ellie loves to show off is her new interest in drawing things and then cutting them out. Here are some examples:

And she wanted me to take a video so she could explain what everything is.

Finally, some random pictures.

Thursday, February 11, 2010

Ergo carrier

An Ergo carrier is the one big thing that I really want for our new baby. Yes, we have a ring sling, that Ellie lived in as a baby/toddler. Her and I trekked all over Cairo, Egypt with that thing! With Rowan, I bought a mei tai made by a mom. I used that a lot when he was a baby to go on walks and play outside. With this baby, since we pretty much have all the required baby gear, all I really want is a nice baby carrier. I figure that I will be wearing this baby as long as possible, so that I will still have two hands free - one to hold on to Ellie and one to hold on to Rowan. I am starting to save up money to buy this carrier, since it is pretty pricey.

Well, lucky for me (hopefully I am lucky!) there is a giveaway for a brand new organic ergo carrier on this blog: http://clotheslinecontentment.wordpress.com/2010/02/11/my-first-giveaway/. If I win, I can use the money I'm saving to buy more pretty cloth diapers :) Feel free to sign up for the giveaway (as long as you are entering to give it to me)! ;D

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

What have we been doing lately?

We've been:

Trying to get a good picture for valentine's day cards

Playing city with our toys

Faking smiles for the camera

Creating valentine pictures

Playing house with our tiny dolls in a soda 12 pack box

Dancing to Glee music

Drinking emergen-C with crazy straws

Wow, gathering all these pictures from this last week really shows how much our kids run around in their underwear.

Wednesday, February 03, 2010

Trader Joe's

This post is long overdue and much anticipated, so here it goes. This is a list of everything we frequently buy at Trader Joe's (and the prices if I have them).

Veggie and Flaxseed Tortilla Chips $2.39
White Cheddar Popcorn $1.59
Pita Chips (lots of flavors) $1.99
Cheese Crunchies $1.59
Potato-lentil Crunchy Curl chips $2.69
Salsa Authentica $1.69
PB & J nut mix $4.69
Dried mango slices $2.99
Kettle corn popcorn $2.xx
Cinnamon almonds $4.99
Cereal Bars (like nutrigrain) $1.69
organic apple sauce $2.19
Organic yogurt 32oz $2.99
Whole wheat couscous ???
Whole wheat cinnamon-raisin english muffins $1.79
whole wheat tortillas $1.99
whole wheat pita bread $1.59
hummus (many flavors) $1.99
hummus white bean and basil $3.99
frozen whole wheat blueberry waffles $1.99
frozen sweet potato fries $2.xx
trader joe's fish sticks $4.99
Swiss beer fondue $5.99
frozen Chicken potstickers ???
frozen Buffalo burgers $5.xx

The items near the end of the list are occasional splurges, and we don't usually buy all of this at once. And we always leave with one new item to try, since there are so many good treats! I'll keep updating this as I think of other items we have tried and would recommend :)

Tuesday, February 02, 2010

Snow Day

It snowed here overnight and lightly all day today. I'd guess maybe 3-4 inches total? Not enough to affect the normal day-to-day activities around here, but enough to cover the ground with a beautiful new coat of snow. There has been snow on the ground here since the beginning of November, but it had been over a month since new snow. So the dirty, icy, old snow is now covered with pretty snow :) I had been waiting for it too! Ever since I found a recipe for the kids to make ice cream with snow, I've been hoping for some new snow. Here is the recipe we used:

• 1/2 cup half and half (milk may be used in a pinch)
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 4 cups crushed Ice
• 4 tablespoons salt
• 2 quart size zipper-seal bags 1 gallon size zipper-seal freezer bag

Fill a gallon freezer bag (halfway) with ice (or snow). Add 4 tablespoons salt. Put milk, vanilla, and sugar into a quart-size bag. Seal tightly, squeezing out any extra air. Place this bag into another quart-size bag to make doubly sure no salt water gets into your ice cream (I skipped this and just risked the chance of leaking). Put the bag of milk into the larger ice bag, squeeze out the extra air from the gallon freezer bag, and seal tightly. Shake freezer bag for at least five minutes. You might want to wear gloves, because it gets really cold. Check ice cream, and if it's solid, dump into a bowl and eat!

The kids had fun with this and enjoyed the ice cream. It was pretty good! The kids also enjoyed making this creation outside with the neighbor kids:





It was recycling at it's greatest really. The giant balls used for the caterpillar were snowmen made weeks ago that had fallen apart. It's hard to tell from the pictures, but the snowballs were almost higher than Rowan's shoulders. So after some heavy-duty pushing and shoveling from Nina and some helpers, they were able to pry the balls off the ground and put them in a line. Then I went upstairs and filled 5 spray bottles with water and red, green, blue, purple, and orange food coloring. The kids had a blast decorating it! And no one was harmed in the making of this caterpillar. Oh wait...



Rowan took a tumble during the construction phase and scraped his cheek on one of the giant snow balls. He went inside for about 2 minutes and then wanted back out to help decorate. What a trooper :)