What Makes Them Mine

Tonight at bedtime we read the book Wings, a cute story about a little boy who is different and a little girl who finds the courage to stand up for him. At the end of the story is a little blip about the book, and how the author wrote it to encourage kids to embrace what makes them unique.

 

Upon completion of the story I asked the boys a simple question: "What makes you different from other kids?"

 

Gage's answer: "I can see in the dark and nobody else can."

 

 

 

Max: "Lots of ducks like to sit on my head."

I treasure moments like these. The honesty and imagination of two little boys who bring us joy. Creative play, childhood happiness, wholesome spirits.

On Being Bored

If this was a post about being bored, it would be completely empty because we haven't been bored in a really - really - long time.

I hope to have wedding pictures to share next week from the union between Dana's brother Adam and a fellow graduate from the Chester High School Class of 2001 Courtney. Just tying up a few prior session's edits before I can dive into them. They are awesome though! And on a personal note, it was great to see a few people from my past and reconnect with classmates, friends and Dana's family. Good stuff!

All 4 kids are growing like weeds and keeping up super busy. Easton and Ember will be dedicated at church this weekend so fun this will take place there for sure!

Max had shots yesterday (the 18month shots a few months late) along with a well child check. We were given a clean bill of health and after a follow up with the ENT specialist hopefully next month the abscessed parotid gland should be behind us!

And big news for Gage: he starts preschool in just under two weeks!! We are very much ready to transition into a new routine and anxious to hear all kinds of new stories from his adventure. I knew he's ready and will have a load of fun! Remember Shelby? Her mom Kelli will be one of his teachers! He's pretty pumped.

Earlier this week Dana sent a frantic message feeling disconnected because she didn't know anything about preschool. Here's the info she requested. I really got a kick out of her message so thought I would share.

Backpack: its gold (parts are metallic even) with a bull and rider on the front. We snagged it at a western store in Bismarck ND.
Supplies: Most of the supplies are provided, but he has to take a box of Kleenex, a roll of paper towels and a package of small paper cups.
Wearing the first day: whatever he wants. So probably "sweatpants shorts" and a long sleeve shirt with his Puma sneakers.
Riding: the public transit bus after school. Mom or Dad will drop him off (whoever gets out the door in time, so probably Dad). :)

We are pumped! Boys are here to visit (the sitter's headed to the hospital to coach a friend through labor!!) so I better fire up a movie.

Random Craft Time

I'm cleaning off some camera space. It has been so long since I touched any pictures of my own family, that the cards are nearly maxed with images waiting to be processed. I came across these and thought I should share. This was a super fun, fast and simple activity that Gage I completely one afternoon this winter. The directions we used can be found at AllKidsNetwork, but here are the pictures of Gage in action.

Here are the supplies we used. Stuff most of us have in the house at any given point. (BONUS!)

No dinosaurs were harmed in the making of this project. I robbed these toy dinosaurs out of our rice bucket, which is another popular winter/rainy day activity. Gage received it from a dear friend on his second birthday and its basically a tote with a 20lb bag of rice in it, along with toy dinosaurs, shovels, tractors, funnels and measuring cups. Let me know if you want more info - its a great way to blow an hour indoors! Anyway, these little buddies washed right up when we were finished with them.

Gage was able to measure and dump all of the ingredients by himself. The dough is pretty stiff, so I helped with the mixing and rolling. These photos were taken on January 12, which for point of reference is 2 days before my birthday, and this year was sometime before we replaced that peach door and window into the porch. What a relief to get rid of some more paint-layered fixtures/trim!

It was much less messy than you might think!

Making it look this easy is hard work. Ha!

We tried the dinosaur prints with Gage's hand (hold fingers 2+3 and 4+5 together when you press down). In the oven, they puffed up funny like there was a big air bubble where he pushed his palm in. Hopefully next time, we can perfect the process. Still fun!

Little buddies are ready to bake! They turned out pretty cute. We even painted a few, but I either didn't get pictures or haven't pulled them off a card yet.

A few things we'll do different next time.

• include Max - he would have loved this! It was fast enough to start, finish and clean up during nap time though so he missed out.
• roll the dough thin, cut into shapes and them form the fossil. I thought they should be thicker to get more of the creature pressed in, but they would likely have baked better had they been flatter.
• adjust baking time, they were still a little soft in the center and probably should have been baked a bit longer.

Overall: we loved it! We'll probably try it again sometime when we need a fast indoor activity!