Backyard Visitor

"Mommy! Quick, I need a piece of paper to write down my clue! There is a mystery animal in our yard with tracks that look like THIS!"

...Yes, it was indeed a little gray bunny!

Why Sleep Alone?

when you can have a bed full of toys?!

Catapult

My Angry Birds loving boy was thrilled to build a REAL catapult with Daddy...it works great. I have had plenty of tape balls to the head to prove the accuracy of the contraption...

***We told Ben to "pose" with it...and pose he did!

"Wiss Lists"

Sometimes things become so commonplace that they seem normal...until it occurs to me that it may not be typical for everyone. This dawned on me last week at the store. When Ben asks for something new we always tell him to put it on "the list". This was case last week at the store, standing in line waiting to pay for our purchase (that did not include the logging truck he desperately wanted) "...I will put it on my "wiss list" (wish) AND on my birthday list. I would put it on my lost list except that I can't find it" (he is too young for the irony but the couple in front of us couldn't stifle their smiles at his running dialogue over the lists he keeps)...on my wiss list I will write a check mark on what I really really really REALLY love and an X on what, I don't just REALLY love...my logging truck will get TWO check marks...." You have to give him credit for his last attempt....I think he almost convinced the couple in front to go get it for him.

Yes...Ben and his lists... they make me smile, but are such a "normal" thing for him.

The other thing that makes me smile every night is when I remove from his bed the worn, torn, well loved and dog eared, marked up, circled, checked and X'd Christmas Sears wish book catalog. He has slept with it in his bedroom every night since it arrived in November and often times with it right beside his head.

Rainbow Rice Update

Considering the amount of rice we are STILL finding..it has now officially become an outdoor activity...

Rainbow Rice

Thank you pinterest for the idea and my friend Cheryl for the motivation to actually DO it.
Yes, the boys loved it! Ben in particular spent hours (hours!) in the bucket of rice.

I used an 8 kg bag of white rice, 4 ziplock bags, food colouring and vinegar (instead of rubbing alcohol to help the colour set) Ben and I took about 3 cups of rice and 8-10 drops of food colouring with 1 tablespoon of white vinegar and mixed it together in a ziplock bag. We did this for 5 different colours and then spread the rice out on baking sheets. baking the rice at 175 degrees for about 15 minutes helps it dry quicker, it took 3 batches to get it all done. I poured the rest of the white rice into the bin as well.

It was a hit! Well worth the mess...

Jacob's Kryptonite

Jacob is our fearless child.
We have two nicknames for him- the Honey Badger (an animal notorious for being deceivingly cute and innocent looking but ruthless and scared of nothing. He will chew the head of a snake, pass out from the venom, wake up and finish the rest of him...that sums up Jacob). The other name is the "Savage" as in the Ninny and the Savage...the ninny is his nervous, hand ringing, lip chewing big brother who has always been very calculating, safe, low risk, concerned with bodily harm and terrified of his little brothers haphazardness to the point of having nightmares about Jacob's latest escapade.

Until our new addition...

DUH DUH DUHHHHHHHHH.....!!!!!


Yes, that is correct we got a new (to us...refurbished for an awesome price actually) Dyson vacuum for our new house (no central vacuum there so we needed to buy one). From the moment I first turned it on he FREAKED OUT! hysterical crying, shaking, sobbing, clutching my legs and simultaneously trying to run away from the (admittedly much louder) machine.
Now I have to vacuum only when he is napping or someone can hold him at a safe distance (where he will still cry and shriek the closer it gets to him). We keep it i nthe hall closet and EVERY time he goes to get his boots he jumps as soon as he sees it, runs up the stairs with his hands over his ears and whimpers "noooo".

It is pathetic...but I am somewhat reassured that there is some fear in there.

This particular picture happened because Jon only MENTIONED needing to vacuum (again because there was still hidden rice from the popular rainbow rice).