Easter 2012

We tried to dye our own easter eggs with natural dyes this year.  We tried tumeric, cabbage, grape juice, blueberry juice and paprika.  The paprika was yucky.  It stuck to the eggs and was icky.  The cabbage made for some nice purple, but the tumeric was our favorite.

It was good fun, but unfortunately we left the eggs out to dry and forgot to put them in the fridge.  So they were not edible.  Bummer!

Our best friend Max

We lost our Max today.  It is hard to say goodbye.  He was a big part of our family.  We will have to get used to a new stillness at home.  No more barking at the front door when someone is walking by.  No more greetings when we come home from work and school.  I will miss the doggie snuggling the most.  Max was a great snuggler.  He was not a perfect dog, he barked a lot and wasn't the greatest walker due to the barking.  He did not like water of any kind and the diabetis was hard on him and us.  We had a great 12 years together and no dog will ever take his place in our hearts.  We are all full of tears but have made a special paw print and framed it along with his collar and a great picture we took of him this fall.  It seems that there are never enough memories.  I occasionally find funny things like a chewed up pen or a ball stashed in a strange spot.  It is comforting and sad to find memories every where I look.

First Day of School!!  It is hard to believe that we now have a first grader and a second grader.  They are growing up too quickly.  This year should bring lots of new adventures for both of them. 

Goats!   Kate has discovered that you can go inside and brush the goats and feed them.  She is a master of working the goat feeder to jiggle it for more goat food.  Now that she can brush the goats, she will be unstoppable.  The goats are her favorite thing to visit at the zoo farm.  We can hardly go to the zoo without visiting them.

Our first Twins game.  We even rode the light rail downtown.  The kids had a blast and it was bat day so they each got their own bat.  They are full size too, not like the mini bats that we got when Justin and I were kids.  We could see great even though our seats were near the top.  It was so fun, that we can't wait until next year!

Knitting Frenzy

I have been on a knitting frenzy lately. I have finished many projects that I started a year or more ago and never completed. I have had an intermittent headache as a result. I am happy to say that I am going to be felting two purses tomorrow and wearing my pink/red malabrigo scarf before my jacket has went out of style. I even seem to have repurposed Alex;s alpaca hat. I was able to make and attach earflaps so that even though he stretched it out, it will still work. Next will be some fingerless gloves. Maybe I can make those in one day.....

Star of the week

Kate was star of the week at school this week. She is so funny! The book that she wanted read was "Ten Apples up on Top". Justin and I also stayed and had lunch with her. We were both amazed that she takes SO long to eat. She was one of the last ones done and still did not eat all of her lunch. The funny story that she shared with the class was that when she was born we thought she had monkey toes. She could hold your finger with her toes and I was convinced that she would be one of those people who could use their feet like their hands. What a unique thing for her to share.

Goals for 2011

Hopefully 2011 will be a fantastic year! I hope to end this Candida diet soon and still be in my best shape ever. Even though I can't eat bread, cheese, or have wine at least I have lost all that baby weight plus some more. Financially hopefully we will catch up and make some ground. The past few years have been hard. I am also setting the goal of finishing what I already have for all of my crafts. I am working on a batik quilt for Kate's bed and one for my own. They are beautiful and I won't buy anymore fabric until they are done. The same goes for my knitting projects and scrapbooking too. I have more than enough paper and it will be fun to finish what I started. I also hope that Alex and Kate continue to flourish in school. They are both so excited and reading so much. Alex, Magic Treehouse and Kate, Dr. Seuss. I love to see them so excited about learning.
Lastly, reuse, reduce and recycle. It is time to get rid of the things we don't use, no longer need, or are broken. We will start with all the dead computers taking up space and then on to ebay to sell some things that can go to another family. Horray for 2011!

Finally Fall

We finally got some nice weather for a leaf walk. I almost thought that we might not get very nice colors. We went to Thomas Lake and took some wonderful pictures. The ones of Kate did not turn out the best, but I was able to convince her to go out again later for some more. She had a great time collecting leaves.

No Sleep

Kate has decided not to sleep past 6:15 a.m. We have tried many things this week to get her to sleep and none seem to be working. We have black paper over her window to make it dark. She still wakes up with the sun. We are playing soothing sleep music, that is not making her sleep either. We even kept her up until 9:00 p.m. last night and she still did not sleep in. Even playtime at the park is not helping.

Maybe it is just a phase and she will sleep at least until 7:00 soon! My fingers are crossed!

Alex is almost reading

I am so excited! Alex is almost reading words. I can't believe that he can understand his letters so well and he is not even four yet. He loves his letters and plays with them everday. We have some easy word flashcards too and he is learning his "at" words. He can spell grocry and rocket all on his own. So he is picking big words too. He will be reading books soon.

Kate can escape

Unfortunately Kate has learned how to open her door. She can now sneak out of her room and is she is very good at doing this quietly. I don't thin Justin and I are sleeping very soundly anymore because we are always on high alert for Kate.

Fire station tour

Justin took Alex and Kate to the firestation for a personal tour of all the firetrucks. Alex has been obsessed with fireturcks ever since that day. They both got a fire hat as a souvenior. It was a true kids dream, Mike showed them all the important buttons to try out and they got to sit in the drivers seat and try out as many buttons as they liked. We are so lucky to have a firefighter friend!

Easter

Alex and Kate looked so cute dressed in thier Easter best. They both enjoyed hunting for easter eggs and all the fun treats the Easter bunny left for them.

One finger walking

Kate is walking around now holding only one finger. It is amazing she should let go and be walking in no time. She is very interested in keeping up with her big brother. Everything he does, she wants to do. They get along so well. He loves his sister and she loves him. It is so fun to see them play together.

Molars

Kate is getting all four molars. She has been really cranky lately. Today all she did was crawl around following me in the kitchen. It is really hard to make dinner one-handed! Hopefully they will break through soon and she will feel better. I tried those teething tablets and they did not work at all.

Blowing kisses

Kate learned how to blow kisses. She even makes the MMM sound when she does it. It is so cute! She also hugs and pats your back when she gives hugs. She is definately Daddy's girl. Right now we are even because Alex is prefering that I do everything. I hear "no, momma do it" alot.

Stairs

Kate has just learned how to do stairs. She goes from the dining room to the playroom in a snap. It is amazing how quickly she has learned how to go up and down. She has amazing upper body strength and can even go down head first with out crashing. This weekend she crawled all the way up stairs to her room. It is a good thing that we have gates or she would be all over the house. She is also cruising alot too. She walks for quite a distance pushing her hippo. She will be walking in no time. Then, I am sure that she and Alex will be fighting over the shopping cart. He loves his shopping cart. He is constantly filling it with toys and pushing it everywhere.

Army crawl

Kate has started crawling army style! She can go anywhere and fast. Now there is no stopping her. She pulls herself up on her knees, but will only go one move forward before she gives up and goes back to the army crawl. She is now sleeeping just like Alex, on her tummy with her butt up in the air. It is so silly.

Alex is addicted to his cars. Especially Lightning McQueen. He takes them everywhere.

Roll around and around

Kate has decided that she no longer needs to try crawling. She simply has to roll wherever she wants to go. She has improved this skill a lot in the last week and has become quite fast at rolling. She does get hung up on the couch or a toy from time to time.