Is It Spring Yet?

So we all know there are several things that are "big" in the news right now.  One in particular has a lot of people in an uproar.  I'm sure you know what I'm talking about.

Gay rights.  Allowing gay couples to marry. 

Oh boy, the opinions being bulstered all over Facebook (and I'm sure Twitter and the blogosphere) are insane.

I have a rough time with this one.

I KNOW the Bible says that marriage is for a man and a woman.  However, the Bible also says to love others and not to judge others, that only God can judge. 

So I really have a hard time with this.  I have plenty of friends and family who are gay or bisexual.  I do not feel threatened by these people and they are some of the kindest people that I know. They deserve to be happy just like my husband and I do, don't they?

I do not think these people are evil, or of the devil or whatever some people feel about them.  They are nornal people, just like my husband and I.  They have families, jobs, hobbies, dreams, friends...etc.  They just love someone of the same gender. 

I do not feel that I should tell them who to love, or how to love, or that they can or cannot be married.  That is something that they should decide.  I cannot judge these people, that is God's job to judge those as he sees fit.

It's just something that is hard for me, I cannot make a definitive decision on which way to lean.  In the end...does it matter what my "opinion" is.  For all it's worth, it doesn't really matter what I think. 

I cannot force other people to believe what I believe or change who they are, and I wouldn't even if I could. I do not feel that forcing others into things is the way to do things.  I feel people should be free to be who they want to be. 

I have lots of friends who are very supportive of this and I have friends who are totally against it.  I see both of their sides.  Myself?  I'm...riding the fence I guess. I just don't know what to think.

The other thing in the news that frightens me more than gay marriage or no gay marriage, is what is going on in N. Korea.  THAT concerns me far greater than anything else. I have 3 small children whom I love and care for with all my heart, and the fear of a nuclear attack?  Scares the living shit out of me (pardon the language) but it is true.  Now, I have been trying to follow along with the news without trying to get sucked into mass hysteria or anything.  Honestly, it is ON the news but it doesn't seem to be the ONLY news (I don't have cable so I don't know I only see what's online and from what I can tell they are making celebrities more important than the whole N.Korea nuclear threat situation.)

I don't know how many of you have seen the 1983 movie "The Day After".  I watched this movie a looong time ago, and it scared the pants off of me then, and watching it tonight (probably NOT the smartest move I've ever made) just brought back all those frightening thoughts.  I know the movie is a year older than I am, but seriously, it's far too "real" to me.  All of the times in the past year with the whole "end of the world" crap I've scoffed and laughed and poked some fun at some of the stuff, and watched things about the whole Mayan calendar and wasn't worried about it.  Honestly though? A half crazed country with nuclear weapons that has a grudge against the U.S. just keeps my stomach in knots.

I don't know what would be worst.  Following the news and knowing what's going on, or not following the news and not having a clue what's going on and then something actually happening.  Sometimes I think no knowledge of things is much better and easier than knowing anything at all.

Either way, all we can do is pray and let our family know we love them and pray some more and just live our lives the way God wants us too. 

Thus far...those are really the only two things in the news I know anything about.  Other than the man who won the power ball and is using the money to help his family.  That's about all I know!

At home, we've just been doing some spring cleaning, that's always a great time. We've also been doing some Easter crafts.  Today the kids made some little bunny crafts out of paper egg cartons, they are pretty adorable.  We have little froggy crafts to make yet to.  We're definetely ready for spring at our house!

Tomorrow will be exactly a month until the boys turn 4 years old.  Time is flying by!

Keegan recently had his MIBG scan and he was NO GLOW! Which is fantastic news, that means he now officially starts going for scans every 6 months.  That's a big step for our big guy! His MIBG Scan is around 45min long and he did the whole scan UNsedated for the first time!! That is a HUGE deal.  He can now do his CT scan and MIBG scan with no sedation. 






This past weekend we were pretty busy.  Saturday Kams and I attended a Mother/Daughter tea party, later that evening Keegan and I attended a Cancer Survivor Appreciation Dinner, and after that our whole family went to a kids concert (Mr. Stinky Feet, Jim Cosgrove, look up on Facebook).  The kids LOVED IT and had a fantastic time.  It was a great Saturday.  Kams even got to see Miss Missouri 2012, that was a pretty big deal for her.  At the concert our whole family got to go up on stage (with several other families) and join the act, it was a great time! The kids even got to take their photo with Mr. Stinky Feet. 













We also had some wonderful friends visiting us this past week/weekend.  I have been friends with Rachael for nearly 10 years and we've never met.  Behold the power of the internet! We met on a blogging site (Yahoo 360, gosh how I miss that site!)  Somehow we ended up friends and then Facebook friends.  She's my age and we've just watched each others families grow over the years. I was thrilled whenever they came to visit! We had a great time visiting, we went bowling the kids had never been before and they had a great time.  Found out Kams is quite the natural bowler! She scored a 95 and rarely used the bumpers! Marshall is a pretty good bowler too, he takes it seriously though.  Keegan had a great time rolling the ball down the lane! We made cupcakes and played games on the Kinect.  My sons have decided they are going to marry Lex (my friends daughter).  Well...there is just an 8 year age difference ha! Sorry boys, but she does have a little sister that's just a year YOUNGER than you.  Our friends left early on Saturday morning, and then the craziness started!














On Friday we had HUUUUGE issues with the plumbing/sewage.  Not cool.  We went to do laundry and suddenly we had poo water shooting out of the sinks, toliet, and bath tubs.  NOT FUN!!!

Talk about a MESS!! I was about to blow my top.  The plumber came out and fixed things, all was well.  (So we thought...)

Saturday morning rolls around (and after our friends left to go back to Oklahoma) and I put in a load of laundry aaaaand....poo water backing up AGAIN!!! I flipped.  I had to get my kids in the tub so we could go about our VERY busy day.  That did NOT happen.  Called the landlord again and the plumber came back and did a "quick fix"  Uuuugh.  Not a good fix.  But atleast poo water is not in my house anymore and I'm able to do laundry, dishes, and bathe my kids.  Ontop of it all?  We got another snow storm.

So what does that mean?  The plumber can't come back out until the SNOW is gone.  When he comes back out he'll be digging up our yard (yaaay....) but if it means fixing the sewage issues DO IT! UGH!!! Atleast the snow is melting pretty quickly, so that means the plumber can come sooner!

So Saturday was crazy, so I was glad the kids and I got out of the house for awhile and had some fun. We needed that, I needed that so my sanity stayed in one piece.  There's only so much poo water shooting out of your toliet and tub that one mom can take.  Thank goodness my husband is an awesome guy and took care of everything. 

Still waiting for the weather to warm up, I'm tired of the snow storms, but they are beautiful at first, I'll give them that much. 

I'm waiting for some greener and warner weather, that's also very beautiful!

Mae

Fridge To Book Cover

So we've still been doing Dr. Seuss themed stuff this week and honestly I just love doing Dr. Seuss themed projects.  It's fun, colorful and I get to read some really fun books with the kiddos.

Tonight I did a project for the kids, they were technically supposed to help with it but they all lost interest and wanted to go play with the hot wheels after supper. 

Fair enough. 

So I sat down at the kitchen table with my construction paper and scissors and set about doing my latest activity.  I was supposed to use the hand prints of the kids (they would have fit on the freezer door better!) but that didn't happen so I had to use my own hand prints.

I turned our fridge into the cover of a Dr. Seuss book.  I turned it into the cover of "One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish"  The kids were excited when they came into the kitche and saw the fridge and that it matched one of their favorite books.

I then proceeded to tell them that THIS was the project I was attempting to get them to help me with, but they didn't want to.  THEN they were disappointed they hadn't gotten to help. 

Snooze, ya lose.  Maybe next time they'll want to help.

Not sure what book theme we'll do next, but we'll do something! I kind of love the idea of turning our fridge into the cover of a child's book once a week! It's a great way to have a themed learning week and something for the kids to focus on that week. 

I recently purchased some dry erase learning books at the store.  The kids really enjoying practicing their letters, numbers, simple math, and shapes and colors.  Very proud of how hard they work and how bright they are!

We're still waiting for all of this snow to melt, yuck.  Supposedly we're still supposed to get MORE snow this weekend, BOOOOO!!!! NOT looking forward to more snow.  Where's my sunshine?  Where's my warmer weather?  WHERE OH WERE!

I'm just going to go hibernate until spring actually decides to arrive.

Mae

Date Night

So last night we got to unexpectedly go on a date night, my husband and I, and a couple of our friends.  It isn't often we get to go on a date night, so this was a pleasant suprise! For once we actually had a babysitter.  Most people turn tail and run the other way when they hear we are looking for a sitter for twin boys and their sister.  It has always been that way.  My kids aren't difficult to watch, and I can assure you they are MUCH more well behaved for someone else than they are for me or my husband. 

We were only gone for a little over an hour, but it was still nice to be out of the house with my husband without the kids.  Just adults.  We went to our favorite Chinese resturaunt and we got to have adult conversation and laugh and not worry about a child needing to be rushed to the bathroom, making sure no one dribbled sauce down their shirt, no worrying about who needed another plate of food etc etc.  It was stress free eating.  Nice. 

Not to say I don't like taking my kids out to eat, I actually love taking my kids out to dinner they are well behaved whenever we get the oppurtunity go, which isn't often.  I'm glad I'm not those parents who have the wild child running rampant around the resturaunt.  Mine stay seated (unless they have to go potty) and mine are fairly quiet in the resturaunt too.  They also do not make a huge mess like I've seen some kids their age leave behind.

Having worked in food for 5 years, I can tell you that some families and their children (and I'm not talking babies/toddlers) can be EXTREMELY DISGUSTINGLY messy.  It's awful the messes some families can leave in their wake.  Pretty gross. 

We hate leaving behind a dirty table and do our best to make sure our table is kept tidy while we eat and that the kids don't drop any food on the floor.  My kids are to eat in public the way they eat at home, with manners. 

Anyway, back to our date night! It was a very enjoyable night out with our friends something I very much enjoyed and needed.  It isn't often the hubby and I go out, maybe once a year if that.  The past two years I don't think we've gone out alone on a date at all.

I'm sure we got plenty of stares at the resturaunt because I'm not going to lie...we were laughing pretty hard at some of our conversations, but we were having fun! It felt good to laugh. Laughing is always good for you and we should really try to laugh more.

Although my husband hates having his picture taken (Funny considering I take photos all of the time) I did manage to get a few snapshots of the two of us together.  We don't have nearly enough of those here lately. Yes my husband may be over smiling, but hey it's better than his usual grumpy look in pictures!



When I was getting dressed to leave last night the kids sat in the bathroom watching me straighten my hair and put on my make up.  Before I left my sweet little boys ran over and gave me a hug and said I looked pretty and told me to have fun, how sweet is that?



We had a lovely evening and I look forward to going on another date night again with our friends.  I think double dates are a lot more fun than going on a date with just my husband and I.  Often times we just end up eating...and not really talking, or talking about boring stuff.  Having friends along keeps the conversations and laughter going. 

We weren't out too super late it was only about 30min past the kids bedtime when we got home.  They were finishing up a movie when we got back and we got bombarded with hugs, kisses and "I missed you" at the door.  They were ready for Mommy and Daddy to get them in their jammies and tuck them into bed and do the hugs and kisses and they drifted off to sleep easily last night. 

Though it did feel odd going out in the middle of the week, usually if we're going to go out it's on a weekend, but the sitter could only come last night so we went last night and it all turned out just fine. 

Never forget how important it is to have time out with your husband and friends for some adult time.  It's easy to get bogged down in "mom life".

Get the kids up and ready for school and on the bus.
Clean the house.
Do the errands.
Make sure the dogs go out to potty.
Laundry.
Phone calls.
Work.
Cooking meals.
Helping kids with their lessons.
and the daily list of things could go on and on.  It's easy to forget that HEY we're people too!! We need time away to refocus, regroup and be ourselves. 

I'm not saying do it EVERY night or EVER weekend.  Not saying people should go out and get drunk (I'm against going out and getting drunk I've never been a drinker, even before kids when we went to a couple of bars on the weekends I never drank anything other than Pepsi, I just went for the Karaoke!) But all I'm saying is, sometimes it's nice to let loose and have a little fun  and remind yourself of WHO you are again.  You are NOT just "MOM" You are an individual. 

Mae

March Madness

March is starting to look busier and busier by the day! It seems every day I get to add one or two more things to my calendar.  I enjoy a busy month! Much better than the dull sit around the house and do nothing days of winter! With March comes better weather (I HOPE!) and the ability to do more things out of the house with the kiddos.

Going mad with this snow that we keep getting dumped on us.  Being trapped in the house unable to go anywhere or do anything is getting really really old.  I'm practically climbing the walls and so are the kids. I'm totally not a fan of winter.  1 snow is kind of pretty but after that it gets old, really fast.  It's March it should be getting warmer, and prettier. 

So far we have company coming in from out of state to visit with us for a couple of days, which will be absolutely exciting! I cannot wait!

I will be photographing a good friends wedding this month as well, I'm so happy for her! I was able to photograph for her during her whole pregnancy, and now I'm thrilled to do her wedding now. 

Keegan's scans have been rescheduled for this month as well.  Due to weather he missed his MIBG scan to make sure his cancer was still no evidence of disease.  Gotta make sure my soon to be 4 year old is still cancer free!! He's been 3 years off treatment so that's a big deal!

The kids are super excited to attend another Mr. Stinky Feet concer (Jim Cosgrove).  He is a wonderful children's performer he comes to our town every year, and the kids absolutely love going to his concerts.

That same day Keegan has also been invited to attend a Cancer Survivors banquet so we'll be attending that.  He could only bring one person and he wanted to bring his mommy as his date so it will be a Mommy/Son outing until it's time for the concert then we will meet the rest of the family at the concert.

Just keeping things busy this month hoping spring will be here soon, I'm tired of the snow and we're supposed to get more this week! BOO!

Sunday morning I made some totally delicious cinnamon rolls, the recipe came from Pinterest but I tweaked it a bit. The real recipe goes as follows (well what I can remember from memory).

1 bag of frozen cinnamon rolls
(Spray a glass baking dish the night before and put your cinnamon rolls on the dish put them in the fridge over night, the next morning take them out and let them rise for about 30min).
Dump a box of instant vanilla pudding powder over the top of the rolls
Melt a stick of butter and poor it over the top of the rolls.
Place in the oven and bake them until they are done
Put the icing ontop and allow them to cool a bit before serving.

I had every intention of making them...closely to the above recipe, but several things got in my way. 

One I didn't have frozen cinnamon rolls only the kind in a tube and luckily I had several tubes of them!
I also found I only had chocolate pudding mix.  Nice.  But not good on cinnamon rolls.
Plus it was morning and I didn't have a chance to set them in the fridge over night.

SO my recipe went as follows...

Open all of the tubes of cinnamon rolls that are in my fridge
Spray my glass baking dishes
Cram those cinnamon rolls into the dish
Melt the stick of butter and pour it over the top
Let them sit a bit and "rise" (I don't think they did much of that??)
I dumped a fairly generous amount of brown sugar over the tops the cinnamon rolls and butter.

I popped those rolls in the oven till they were golden and no longer gooey.
I squeezed the icing all over and allowed the rolls to cool down before serving.

What we got was an ooooh so yummy butterscotch type cinnamon roll (VERY close to what my Grandma made for me when I was growing up only hers were from scratch and a MILLION times better than anything I could ever make). 



They were a huge hit in my house.  My husband said I should do this to them every time I make them.  So looks like I'll be making them this way for a very long time.  The kids ate 3 of them!

I'm very excited for spring to get here, I look forward to learning more and more about my new camera (FINALLY got my DSLR YAY!)  I can't wait to figure this camera out and learn all of the amazing things it can do.  Next task...working on saving up for some new lens and a better flash. 

It's a hobby right now, and I really enjoy it. I've taken photos for as long as I could hold a camera but never really gave it much mind.  My Mother was a photographer and I was always in FRONT OF the camera, something I still enjoy but now days am more comfy behind the camera. It wasn't until I got to my Junior and Senior year of high school that I thought more about taking pictures.  It was something fun and relaxing.  Being on Year Book staff in high school I got to photograph school events and that was a lot of fun! Again, in college when I was on the college paper staff I got to photograph college activities and I realized I really loved this. 

When I graduated and moved out on my own I finally got my first ever digital camera that was MY OWN.  I loved it.  It wasn't anything spectacular, just a little Kodak camera, but it was a VERY good camera! I used it for 4 years.  I got some pretty awesome shots with it. 
When my daugter was born, it was actually the first camera I used with her.  Then I got a new camera, and awhile later was able to get one that did a few more things. 

All Kodaks.  Kodak was my favorite camera.  (I still love Kodak and was sad to learn they were no longer selling cameras).

I used the same Kodak camera a little ZD710 for 5 years.  Good and loyal little camera! I still have it, and I still use it from time to time.  My daughter loves to use that camera now, she's quite the little photographer herself.

For several months I've been using a Canon PowerShot SX40 which is a nice little camera that I happen to really like and trust.

I now have a CANON DSLR Rebel.  I love it, but as anytime you ever get a new camera you have to figure it out and learn about it.  Which means?  Lots of reading about it, testing it out, finding out what this button or that button does and just practicing.  This little camera and I are still in the "getting to know you" phase.  Not quite ready to break that bad boy out for a little photo shoot or anything, so in the mean time my faithul PowerShot for most things I do, for now.

I've been photographing for the local animal shelter for a year now and I really enjoy it. I help out an Illinois based Rescue Group whenever they come to town to do a transport of dogs back to their rescue base in Illinois.  It's fun to see all of the dogs, I really enjoy working with pets. 

One of these days, I'd like to do more with photography, right now it is more of a hobby but it's still something I love, and it's a constant learning process! You never know "everything" you are always learning, it's an ever changing world. Photoshop changes things a lot, and there is a lot to keep up with and learn.  You have to stay ontop of the latest photography "fashions" and styles. 

To help keep me motivated and get more practice, and to show off some of the adorable dogs, children, and families I have photographed I have a little Facebook page sat up for just that.  Fur Ever Yours Photography It's not much but I love it.  (You'll notice in most of the pics I post here on the blog it has the Fur Ever Yours logo on it, and now you know why).  And you can check out the (in horrible need for updating) Fur Ever Yours Blog

Not a whole lot going on at the moment.  Didn't do any crafts with the kids or anything interesting.  My three kiddos went back to preschool today and they were so happy to be back, and I was happy they went back.  That's what being cooped up in the house for nearly a week and a half can do to you!

Mae

Cat in the Hat Inspired Cupcakes

So we continued our celebration of Dr. Seuss's 109'th birthday today.  I sat about making some little cupcakes for the kids that were "Cat in the Hat" inspired.  I think this is probably the most popular Dr. Seuss books out there, next to "One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish" and "Green Eggs and Ham" and "The Grinch Who Stole Christmas", and "The Lorax" and "Horton Hears A Who"  (Oh who am I kidding, they are all pretty popular!)
 
I was all set to make those cupcakes until I realized, I didn't have any cake mix in the cupboard.  I generally like to keep a cake mix or two in the cupboard when I feel like cheating (plus I'm not that great at making home baked cakes).  So I looked up some home made chocolate cake recipes and every single one I came across recquired milk, and eggs...two items that much to my horror were also NOT in my fridge, and I was unable to dash to the store and get what I needed.
 
Thanks to friend I was able to get a recipe that worked FANTASTICALLY, and even I couldn't mess it up.  That's a win win situation right there!
 
Chocolate Cake Recipe

• 1 2/3 Cup All Purpose Flour (Do not use self rising flour for this recipe)
• 1 Cup packed brown sugar or granulated sugar (I chose to use the brown sugar as I've never had that in a cake before and it was really good!)
• 1/4 Cup Cocoa powder
• 1tsp Baking Soda (don't do what I did and accidentally put in baking powder and then realize your mistake and have to carefully scoop it back out and put in the right stuff, that's what I get for not reading in carefully!)
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 Cup Water
• 1/3 Cup Vegetable oil
• 1tsp Vanilla
• 1 tsp Vinegar (yes vinegar)
• 1/2 Cup chocolate chips (I didn't add these as I didn't have any at the moment, but it still tasted delicious without them). 
•  Prehate oven to 350 degrees
• Mix:  Flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt with fork.
• Mix in remaining ingredients. 

 
I had saved 2 small tomato sauce cans and washed them up, peeled off the paper and took off any glue on them.  I sprayed them with oil and lightly floured the insides, I then filled them half way with cake mix (Filled the first one too full and it kind of ... exploded over the edges of the can as it filled, oops). 
 
I baked them in the oven on a cookie sheet until a knife inserted in the middle came out clean (I'm awful at timing stuff I just check it a lot and keep poking it with a knife or tooth pick to see when it's done). 
 
I removed them from the oven and let them cool a bit, then I turned the cans upside down on a plate and gently knocked the cake out of the can.  While it cooled I prepared the cans for more cake in the oven. 
 
I then carefully cut the rounded ends off of the cooled cakes and then sat them in the freezer to finish cooling.
 
I prepared my frosting.
 

• 2 packages of room temperature cream cheese (8oz packages)
• 1 stick of butter
• 2 cups of powdered sugar (you are technically supposed to sift it, but I don't have a sift at the moment so I skip that part and it comes out just fine). 
• 1 tsp of vanilla (or whatever flavoring you would like to use).
•  Mix the cream cheese and butter together first, once it is smooth add in the vanilla.  Once that is smooth add in the powdered sugar slowly. 

 
Once your cakes are cooled you can spread the frosting on, place in fridge to set and then you can finish decorating later.
 
I wanted to use red strips of Fruit Roll Ups, but lo and behold I of COURSE was out of those.  By that time I could ask the Husband to run to the store, so he looked for those roll ups, and of course they didn't have solid red ones.  They had red ones with tongue tattoos, red and blue ones, purple ones, etc etc...but no solid red ones.  So instead he picked up a bag of Tizzler pull and peels (NOT my favorite candy in the world).  It served it's purpose. 
 
Below is the finished product (one of 6).  They were pretty tasty! The kids definetely loved them.



We watched the Lorax this evening before the kids went to bed, I love that movie. I was kind of wanting to show the kids the movie the "Cat in the Hat" But I wanted a cartoon version of it, I was never a fan of the Mike Meyers version, I didn't find it very kid friendly, I was very appalled when I watched that movie for the first time! I figured poor ol' Dr. Seuss was rolling in his grave from all the suggestive behavior and NOT kid friendliness in that movie! My kids have never watched that one yet.

We'll see what kind of little activities we come up with tomorrow to do! I think I'm pretty well out of food ideas to go along with the whole Dr. Seuss theme!

I wonder when the kids go back to school on Monday if they will do any Dr. Seuss themed activities?  I'm betting they will!

Mae

My Favorite "Famous" Birthday

There are two famous birthdays that are totally my favorite.  One is that of Walt Disney and the other is of Dr. Seuss.  Two amazing men who helped found the world of creativity and imagination.  These are two very inspirational men and who have always been heroes of mine that I've always admired.  (Along with Laura Ingals Wilder and several others!). 

We have like, every Dr. Seuss book and I've read them to my kids since before they were even born.  So when it comes to Dr. Seuss's birthday and "Read Across America"  Oh yes, I  get totally excited and involved! Every year the kids and I do crafts and activities at home.  Thanks to Pinterest I have even MORE fun ideas I can do with the kids now.

Today we had a Dr. Seuss inspired lunch.  I spent all afternoon preparing this tasty dish, if you wish for the kiddos.  Before we sat down to eat I read "Green Eggs and Ham" and while they were eating I read "One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish".

I thought it was a nice lunch, the kids sure thought it was hilarious and they had fun pointing out what they were eating and where it was in the books I was reading to them.



We had the obvious, green eggs and ham deviled eggs with the yolk filling dyed green
Fish toast (One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish Blue Fish) with cream cheese dyed red or blue
Who Pudding (The yogurt)
Our ham was just bacon as I found I was out of ham steaks, but bacon works just as well.
We also had "pink ink" for the Yink that drinks pink ink.  I didn't have anymore strawberry milk so I just put a couple drops of red food coloring in their milk and stirred it till it was pink.  The kids thought that was super fun. 

I think tomorrow I'm going to pick up some of those multi colored gold fish crackers and let the kids have those for snacks. 

I am thinking of making a cake that looks like the hat from..."The Cat in the Hat" (as if you didn't see THAT one coming!)

Before I put the kids to bed I read "Oh the Thinks You Can Think" (I wanted to give them something to think about as they fell asleep!) and in the morning I'm going to have them draw me pictures of what they were dreaming last night. 

Then tomorrow afternoon we are going to read the Foot Book and Fox in Socks and do some craft projects around those. 

I have a whole weeks worth of fun stuff planned out full of Dr. Seuss!

Hopefully the weather will be nice enough next week though that my kids will be able to go back to preschool.  However, we have some friends staying with us with their two young kids until they can get back on their feet, and I think they would have some fun doing the activities I have planned.  Give them something to do other than watching cartoons all day or playing by themselves. 

I picked up some new dry erase writing boards for my kids the other day and they absolutely love them.  The kid are doing very well writing their letters and some simple words and their names.  Very proud of them.  Kams is starting to put together some simple sentences and even reading a few words here and there.  Keegan prefers math things though.  He loves numbers and counting! Yay! Marshall is all about his shapes and colors, he's a little artist. 

The boys' favorite thing to do is sit down with the blocks and "sculpt" Mommy.  They always make the most wonderful sculptures of me, I love it.  They are so funny! I feel very honored to be the subject of their art.  I always encourage my kids to be artistic and draw and be creative.  My daughter is like me and leans more towards writing, she is NEVER without a notebook and is always writing words and jotting down "stories" that she loves to read back to me.  I love hearing how imaginative she is! So very proud of my children.  I've always encouraged them to use those imaginations and have fun. 

So here is to Dr. Seuss!! "Oh the thinks you can think!"

Mae