Lily's Avengers

 Our Lily loves to draw.  She also has an amazing fascination with The Avengers.  I'm not quite sure how it started, but she loves them.  She loves them so much that she believes that we need to have a section at preschool where rather then learning about time, our bodies, and basic reading skills, we should learn about The Avengers.  This afternoon she was drawing and coloring while I worked on the laundry and when she was done she had a story to tell.  

From left to right you have Hawkeye, Ironman (see the thing in his chest), Black Widow, Captain America with his shield, Thor with his hammer, and the much larger Incredible Hulk.  Those three kids on the bottom are her friends Bruce, Brynley, and herself.  They are studying The Avengers in school.

She drew this all on the back of our irrigation tax statement.

Spring is Coming!

I've been working on cleaning out my flower beds and I found these.  Crocuses have always been a favorite of mine, not because they are particularly beautiful, but because they mean Spring is coming.  They promise that Winter is almost over.  They are that ray of sunshine that breaks through the dreariness.

 I decided to eschew housework today and instead work in the yard.  It was sunny and my bulbs and some perennials are starting to come through which means that the remaining leaves and such left from last year need to be cleaned out.

One of my first jobs however was to add the baby swing t the swing set so that the kids could all swing together.  Lily was good to push Gideon and Charlotte and after a morning of bickering it was so wonderful to see them play so well together.  I think that we all just need to be outside.

 This was Gideon's first time in the swing and he loved it, even if it was a pink swing.

Loving the Legos

My girls love Legos.  They have been building with the sets that Lily received for Christmas quite a bit and last week while we were shopping for a gift for their cousin they saw a set from the movie Brave.  They were so excited, asked for it, and I told that they needed to save up their own money for it.  The next day Charlotte brought me her birthday money and asked if we could go get the Merida Legos.  I told her that she didn't have enough quite yet.  The following day it came up again and Lily and Charlotte brought me their piggy banks and asked if they could go get it.  They were still a few dollars short, but I decided to take them to get the Lego set.  Charlotte gave the cashier their money then I paid the rest.  As soon as we got home they set up to the kitchen table and got right to work.

Charlotte helped from time to time, when she took a break from playing with the Merida figure and the 3 little bear brothers.

I'm really impressed with their ability to follow the illustrated instructions.  They needed help sometimes, but did most of the work themselves.

The finished the entire project and were really proud of what they made.  They only gave me cheesy fake smiles for the picture though.  They just wanted to go play with the Legos and mom was making them take a picture.

Gideon didn't get to play along, I keep him far away from the Legos, but that didn't matter to him, he was still happy.

Charlotte's Birthday

Charlotte turned three yesterday.  I asked to stay little, but she refused and insisted that she must grow up.  We had planned a party, but it would be held on the day after her actual birthday so on her birthday we decided to have a fun outing to celebrate.  A few weeks ago we went to Jabbers for a little friend's birthday party and the girls have been talking about it ever since so we decided to go and play for Charlotte's birthday.

They have a toddler play area that was perfect for Gideon.  Look at that guy, growing up as well.

  This swing is a hit with all of the kids.

 Charlotte put on a little puppet show for me.  The elephant and zebra were friends.

 He hasn't figured out how to build with the blocks yet, but banging them on the table is a lot of fun apparently.

 Lily loves the construction zone.  This girl is a builder!  She spent a lot of time building a really big house (this picture is just the beginning of it) and then some boys came along and knocked it down.  She sobbed!  I could hear her from across the room.  One of the boy's mother was there, trying to help her feel better, but it took her a long time to get over the loss.  Finally I got her to start building again.

 She started working again when this other little boy came up to her and asked if he could build with her saying "I don't knock things down."  They played together the rest of the afternoon.

Charlotte is an independent player and entertained herself all afternoon.  She's also quite the builder, but when her towers fall down she just starts right back building them again.  This one fell down several times and she just smiled, picked up the pieces, and started again.

After Jabbers we got some pizza for dinner, because that was what Charlotte asked for, and then headed home for a quiet evening.  At least for the kids, I had to finish getting things ready for her party.

Saying Goodbye

Today we had to say goodbye to sweet Labrador, Oscar.

Shortly after Tyson and I purchased our home we decided that it needed a dog.  I grew up with dogs, Tyson had never had one.  We spent some time looking at the local shelters (because I am a firm believer in adopting dogs from a shelter rather than buying from a breeder) and then one day we found Oscar.  He was still a puppy, less than 3 months old, but as cute as can be and so lovable.  We brought him home with us that night and so since September 2008 he has been a part of our family.  He loves to be with people and developed a protective nature midway through my pregnancy with Lily.

As children came along we came to see just how wonderful he really was.  While he was hyper and a bit crazy with adults, he was gentle and protective of the babies.  Our children have known him their entire lives.  He has been someone to cuddle with, climb on, and playmate.

A year ago we decided that Oscar needed a friend so we adopted Franky.  They played together and took care of one another.  Over the last several months, as Oscar had gotten sicker, they seemed to have grown closer.  Franky cuddled up with him more often rather than running through the yard chasing each other like they used to do.

 Towards the end of last summer I noticed that something was just not quite right with Oscar.  He seemed to be experiencing some lameness in his hind legs.  At first I thought that it was just stiffness from getting up after a nap, but then I noticed it happening when he has been up and about for a while.  He was also very hungry, all the time, and started to put on weight.  Then the seizures started.  Small at first, just little ticks in his face that were hardly noticeable, they got worse, and eventually he was having grand mal seizures.  We took him to the vet who at first was sure that it was just a case of epilepsy, apparently it is fairly common in middle-aged Labradors.  She was going to run some blood tests to rule out other causes, but not to worry.  I didn't, I felt so relieved, epilepsy could be easily treated.  A couple of days later I got another phone call, something was off, it could have been lab tech error, so they wanted to do it again.  I took Oscar back in and they checked his blood sugars, again it was low, and I mean really low, mid-30's.  Dogs are like people here, it should be over 80.  It was his low blood sugar that was causing his seizures.  The vet ran one more test and that was when we learned that Oscar had insulinomas in his pancreas, tumors that were causing his pancreas to secrete too much insulin, causing his blood sugar to be too low, which is what was causing his seizures.  At this point treatment wasn't an option.  Our veterinarian prescribed some steroids for him to act as an insulin blocker to keep the seizures away.  We have known since last November that he wouldn't be with us long.  Our veterinarian advised us on how to know when it would be the right time to let him go. 

Over the last few weeks Oscar has stopped playing, he is just lying around waiting for more food.  It has been a very hard decision, but Tyson and I felt that the time had come to let him go.  Monday was a beautiful day.  It was sunny and warm and he got to spend a lot of time outside on the lawn with the girls.  I also took some pictures of him with each of the kids.  

Charlotte loves her puppy!

 Oscar has been Lily's buddy for her entire life.

 Gideon was sad that I took his toy away for the picture.

 These pictures actually confirmed for me our decision that it was time.  Normally Oscar would be smiling with the kids cuddled him or sat in his lap, but he just looks sad to me.  I told the kids that Oscar would be dying, I was not sure that I could really explain euthanasia to children so young, but they accepted it when I told him that he was going to pass away and that we wouldn't have him anymore.  They have known for several months now that he is sick and that he would be dying someday.

This afternoon Tyson and I took Oscar to be put to sleep.  It was so hard for us, we loved our dog, he was ours before we had children, but he was so wonderful with the kids that it just made us love him more.  I thanked him for being such a good dog and then he was gone.

Last night we used some clay and made a paw print from Oscar that we could keep.  I also went through several years worth of photographs and printed off dozens of pictures of Oscar and the kids.  We picked up a photo album and today put the pictures in it, talking about what we loved most about Oscar and the fun things that we did with him.  

We will miss him so much, but that is the risk that we take when we choose to love someone.  With great love comes the possibility of great loss and you know what, he was totally worth it.

December 21- Lily's Winter Dance Recital

The scripture for the day was John 11: 40-44.  In this passage Jesus raises his friend Lazarus from the dead after three days.  This is yet another demonstration of Christ's power, as well as his compassion for his friends.

Today ended up to be just too busy, so we weren't able to get to our activity, which was going to be making snowman and Christmas tree pizzas.  However, we spent the entire day as a family, preparing for our trip to grandma's house, and then went to Lily's dance recital in the evening.

The dance school that Lily attends had their winter recital on Saturday.  I love the recitals, it is fun to watch all of the classes put on their shows.  There are the tiny ones like Lily all of the way up to high school girls so the shows are diverse.

Lily's class did well...for a group of 4-year-olds.  They are always fun to watch.

Gideon was well behaved throughout.

And Charlotte loved watching all of the dancers.  She can hardly wait until next year when she will be old enough to start taking dance classes.

 She's such a happy little ballerina!  I think that her favorite part is when the show is over and she gets picked up from the stage by her dad and he gives her flowers.

December 13- Making Homemade Candy Canes

This morning started earlier than it should have.  It seems like once every 2 weeks or so Gideon decides so wake up for the day before 4 am.  It is exhausting!  I get a lot done in those early morning hours, but by early afternoon I'm so tired!  I had planned today's activity for quite some times, but I was seriously reconsidering given how early my day started.

To make the best of things we got started on our advent activity earlier than usual.  We read from Matthew 5:2-16 which is a portion of the Sermon on the Mount.  Not only do we learn what Jesus wants us to do, but this shows Him as a teacher, and a great one at that.

For our activity we had planned to make homemade candy canes.  I decided to go for it and got everything together.  Lily helped with adding the ingredients to the pan.

 Charlotte preferred to stir.

 And Gideon sat next to me looking cute.

 Seriously, look at those big eyes, he's so cute I could seriously devour this kid.

 Well...I stepped away for a minute, and as anyone who makes candy knows, that is a bad idea.  I swear that the thermometer was at 250 degrees when I walked away and when I got back it was at 320 degrees,  That's a problem when you are supposed to remove them from heat at 280.  So, I poured the burnt sugar into an old jam jar that I could just throw away, because seriously, what else was I going to do with it, and then started over.  Whoops.

 The second time I watched the thermometer like a hawk and boy was it BORING!  It took ages.  But eventually we got there, I poured it out and added the coloring and flavoring.  I had intended to make a green stripe too, but I grabbed the red food coloring because I wasn't paying attention so I had 2 batches of red instead of one.  Whoops.  I tell you, I need sleep.

 I worked it all together and low and behold, it eventually looked like candy cane material.  I started putting it all together a bit too early though.  If I make them again, which I probably will, I will wait until it is a little cooler.

 I cut it into strips and the girls ran with them from the counter to the kitchen table and shaped them into all sorts of things.

 They were pretty proud of all of their candy canes.

 They turned out pretty well, not too bad for the first go around, even with a burnt batch.

If you'd like the recipe and tutorial I found this one here.

Snow Day

This morning Gideon decided to be up for the day around 4:45 am.  I looked out the window to discover 3 inches of snow on the ground.

 Gideon played quietly in the living room while I got some work done and everyone else slept.  He finally noticed the Christmas tree and was transfixed!

 When the girls woke up I mentioned the snow.  They ran to the window and asked right then if they could go outside and make a snowman.  It was still dark.  I made them wait until the sun came up and after we had breakfast.  As soon as we were done with our German pancakes they were off to get suited up for the snow.

 It was so clod that the snow is powdery, not good for a snowman at all, but that didn't stop them from trying.

 We didn't play in the snow much last year so this was Charlotte's first real snow experience.

 Lily loved it!  I had to make her come in before she was frozen through.

They were sweet though, Tyson had to go to work so the girls went over to his pick-up to try and help clean it off for him.  They couldn't reach much, but at least his headlights were clean.

December 1st- Decorating the Tree

December has come again and in this house that means that it is time for our advent activities to begin.  This Year, rather than having a chain I decided to create something a bit more permanent and came up with the Christmas Box.  In this little chest there are 24 star-shaped envelopes that hold a couple of little treats for the kids as well as a scripture for the day and an advent activity as we get ready for Christmas.

 For our scriptures we are reading each day about the attributes of Christ.  Today we read from Luke 8:41-56.  In this passage Jesus raised the daughter of Jarius from the dead.  We learn from this that Christ was compassionate.

 Every December 1st our activity is to set up and decorate the Christmas tree.  The girls were so excited and hounded us about it all day long!

 Charlotte preferred to localize her efforts and Gideon watched.  I'm sure that he is wondering what on earth is going on.  Tyson laid him under the tree looking up at the lights and he was in awe!

 Lily was very focused on her work and for some reason felt the need to wear her daddy's tie with her dress.

 It is fun when the kids decorate the tree, you never know what you will end up with.  I might leave Charlotte's section alone, for a day or two, then I might have to balance out the tree before I lose my mind. 

I'm excited for tomorrow's activity.  I'm very curious to see how the girls will respond when I tell them what we will be doing.

Painting with the Girls

We have spent so much time outdoors these last few months that we are having a hard time acclimating to being indoors so much.  Yesterday we spent some time painting.

 Charlotte is still very new to the process, but she holds her brush well and is learning to control her movements with it.

 Lily still likes to play with color for the most part, but one of her paintings was her self-portrait.  In her eyes she has very long hair.

Apparently she sees herself as Rapunzel, but with brown hair.  Lily says that those things around her are books, because she has to have lots of books.

 Gideon sat in the high chair and watched his sisters paint.  Cute kid!

He was very intent on devouring this teething toy.

Hopefully we can keep coming up with new activities because otherwise cabin fever is going to set in way too soon.