Fixing owees

I forgot about this post. I wrote it up almost a year ago........look how little Leaf is. It really is amazing how quickly they grow.

May 2010
Everest has been into helping everyone and everything that is hurt. He fixes things with stickers. If Leaf has an “ouwee” he puts stickers on it, or if the wall or cabinet has a scratch or mark, he fixes it with stickers. This has lead to many arguments about where stickers can and CAN NOT go (like affixed to the hardwood floors, I am still trying to get some of them off).

Everest “doctored up” Leaf and then himself.

He even put stickers on the bottom of their feet.

Everest was tickled about Leaf participating too. Later this day he added more stickers..one he put in a sensitive area. He cried when he tried to take it off. We had to give him a bath to loosen it up. This is one lesson he learned on his own.

Happy Girl

Aurora is such a happy baby. She has been playing with her mouth and tongue making noises, blowing bubbles, chewing and licking everything with in reach. 

She is saying Mamamamaaa.

Her eyes and smile are beautiful!

I am 7 months old today. (this picture is about a month old)

kitchen

We have been busy in the kitchen...but not cooking. We started remodeling our kitchen last May. Almost a year later we have settled on a plan and started working on it. We knew this would be a year long project, mostly because we are doing the work ourselves, but also because we wanted to "live with it" to make sure it was what we wanted. I am so glad we did. Over the past 6 months our plan has changed many times. We cut the old cabinets and counter top apart and made an island with them. We changed the spacing of the island and the size, then we decided we wanted the oven in a different place. And then we changed again and decided on a cooktop and built in oven. 

Our plan looks different than it did last May, but I am very happy with our decisions. Nathan and our neighbor Brad, put down Hardibacker getting ready to do the tile work. Leaf supervised the project.

Almost done. Thank you Brad for helping and Jeaneen for entertaining the kids and I for the day.

Here is what the finished kitchen will look like, in terms of space. We have ordered our cabinets, they will be in in 5 weeks. We are doing a lot over Spring Break, I will upload picture when I get time.

You are Special!

While I was looking for ideas of things to do for the 25 days of Christmas, I came across a wonderful idea. The Tipjunkie had a gift idea for friends. She had a red plate (a charger- a plate that goes under the plate you are eating off of to accent it) and put vinyl letter on it that said "You are special". She said to use the plate on special occasions- birthday, first day of school, etc. I love this idea, but I wanted to make it more personal for the kids so here what we came up with.

All Fired Up is a local paint your own pottery store and they teamed up with MSGL (Everest's preschool) for the month of February. They donated 15% of their proceeds to the school. We took the kids on a Saturday afternoon.

Each of the boys picked out a plate. Everest wanted a square one and Leaf chose round.

The boys picked their paints (which start out looking pale and chalky) and went to work.

Leaf LOVED the sponge brush, he more or less stamped a gallon of paint onto his plate.

Everest was very proud of his plate and couldn't wait to "cook" it.

Leaf's plate before it got fired.

We are hanging the plates on the wall and using them for special occasions. We thought the plates would have more meaning if they painted them themselves, and they are dishwasher safe!

Building blocks

Blocks are something I think all kids like and every family needs. There are so many different styles, but any blocks will do. We got these blocks from a friend when we lived in Logan and Everest was a baby. They have been used on a weekly basis since we got them.

Leaf and his tower. He was very proud!

Everest decided to build steps.

Leaf trying out a new style tower.....this one didn't stand alone very long.

Everest's steps tower stood well, but he wanted to add support to it. He built columns on both sides. (plus a Lego column)

Then he wanted to add an elevator bigger than he was. He made it taller than me, but didn't have enough blocks to support it. This is the more economical and durable model.

But wait there is more. He decided to add stores and a connecting sky walk. If you look closely you can see the Lego house he built and an airplane. The boys had such a good time building.
Did you notice Aurora on the side lines? She happily sat and watched her brothers build. She chewed on a few blocks the whole time.