Shopping Cart

We ran errands and went grocery shopping today.  I try to strap Celeste in so that she is safe, but it's in vain.  It doesn't matter what kind of cart or how I strap her in, she gets out.  I even tried strapping her into those big plastic toddler seats on the front of the cart but the 5 point harnesses are so big that she just climbs right through them.   We were at our last store and I think she was tired of it, so she climbed out of her straps, swung around sideways, leaned back and relaxed.  It was a much more pleasant trip for all of us!

Scratched Cornea

Mike was cutting trim and got something in his eye.  He tried to get it out but soon his eye was swollen and so painful he couldn't open it.  He drove himself to Patient First, our urgent care clinic in Richmond.  They checked him in and did all the preliminary 'stuff'.  His eye was swollen and he kept one hand over it.  They did a vision test.  They actually asked him to read the chart with his hurt eye and seemed stymied when he refused.   He thought it was funny, I found it to be disturbing that they couldn't figure out why he couldn't take a vision test with his eye swollen shut.  Anyway, once the real Dr was able to see him they determined it was a scratched cornea and sent him home with drops and instructions to not watch TV, work on the computer, or read for the rest of the day.  He was in quite a bit of pain but should be feeling better in a day or two.

The Kazoo

Calvin found this Kazoo in his bedroom.  I don't even remember when he got it, but it has been 'the toy' at our house for the past two days.  Everyone has been begging to play it.  Celeste loves it - I think she loves the attention and clapping from all the kids as much as she likes the noise it makes.  She wouldn't perform well for the camera.  Anna Elise begged to be videoed as well.  

Squig'ms

 

 

 Squig'ms is Mike's nickname for Celeste - it means really wiggly.  She has been really wiggly since she was born.  She is not fun to hold during church!  She started scooting and pulling up to things really early and now that she is 10 months old she is climbing onto things, lots of things.  She can get out of her highchair, even when buckled in, and once out loves to play on the table.  She stands on my oven drawer (which means she can reach hot pans and burners on my stove) and she can get on the furniture too.  She is pretty good about looking first and then turning around and backing off of things that are too high - but when it's the kitchen table, even going feet first instead of head first isn't going to make a big enough difference (luckily she hasn't fallen off the table, yet).

She LOVES to stand at the window.  Usually I am behind her holding her up.  However today she was able to use that wipe container and climb up the back of the couch and then onto the window sill.  She was so pleased with herself.
When upstairs she can go from the elipical to the chair and then onto the couch.  I'm a little bit worried about the next step - the toy shelf is next to the couch and considerably more dangerous.  What will she climb next?

VCU Basketball

I work at Virginia Commonwealth University.  They went to the NCAA tournament for the second year in a row.  Last year they made it to the Final 4.  This year they lost in the second round.  Basketball has suddenly become a big deal around here.  Mike let the kids watch the first part of both of VCU's games.  Calvin was very into it.  He kept calling it Mommy's school (I tried to explain that BYU will always be my school - but he doesn't understand).  Everywhere we go he notices signs and T-shirts that say VCU or have the Rams (the mascot).  Tonight, after his shower, he was playing basketball in the living room.  The hole over the door to the stairs was his basket (it's covered by the green curtain).  I could hear him commentating his game and it was hilarious.  He was playing for the Rams and they won with over a 100 points - Calvin won the game with a 20 pointer.  I should've recorded his description of the game, it was priceless.  I did get some good pictures!

Bath Time

Celeste LOVES baths.  She loves playing and splashing and being naked.  She is fascinated by the water.  It's been an adjustment for me to bathe her more often because she loves them so much!  Both Madeline and Lilah hated baths when they were babies, so I tried to bathe them as little as possible.  Madeline just didn't like getting undressed and being cold.  Lilah hated water, in fact she cried during her bath until she was about 2 years old.  She is finally to the point where she will get into a pool, but doesn't love it.  Anyway, Celeste took a bath on Monday afternoon.  Why?  Because Madeline dumped a huge container of dirt on her.  I took her outside to play with the kids.  I turned my back for a second and for some reason (she isn't really saying why) Madeline dumped dirt all over her.   I was a little irritated, I had just put clean clothes on her after changing a leaky diaper.  She had several tablespoons of dirt in her diaper and it was in her hair, nose, ears - everywhere.  Celeste wasn't really happy about it - but hopefully the bath made up for it.

Early Spring Planting

Today I watered my newly partially planted garden!  For round 1 we put in strawberries, broccoli, potatoes, peas, carrots, and lettuce.   Can't wait for round 2 next month!

Happy St. Patrick's Day

This morning someone left some green gold chocolate coins on our porch for the kids.  They were excited to see what the Leprachaun left them!  Can you see their green?

Celeste was more interested in the leaves then what was on the porch!

Building

We took advantage of our Science Museum membership and made a quick trip after school today.  The kids headed down to the giant foam blocks first, just like they always do.  We did see other exhibits afterwards.

 It didn't take the kids too long to figure out they needed a 'house' for Celeste to keep her out of their way!

 Next they built this shed and filled it with 'wood', 'blue cheese wheels', 'bread' and other important supplies!

 Here are Anna Elise and Calvin putting the roof on their house.

Celeste finally decided she could make her own door and get out - she was not happy to be left out of the fun!

Party Blowers

Last night I went to the RS Birthday Dinner.  It was great!  As part of the party decor they had blower things (what are those things called?).  The ladies sitting around me donated theirs and I was able to bring 4 of them home to share with the kids this morning.  They were ecstatic!  We had a hard time getting them to eat.  They all blew them at Celeste and she was thrilled.  Most things make her smile or giggle, this was no exception.

PB&J

Madeline asks for a jam sandwich every day.  Every day I tell her if she wants jam, she has to have the peanut butter with it, that's the healthy part.  She thinks about and then decides she will.   Seriously, Madeline and Lilah probably have peanut butter and homemade strawberry jam sandwiches 4.5 out of 5 weekdays.  They love 'em!  Today they wanted to fix their own sandwiches.  The pictures don't really capture the mess they made or the lumpy gooeyness of their creations. 

Flowers or Weeds?

Lilah and Madeline picked these 'flowers' for me yesterday.  They are weeds, but the girls don't know the difference.  Madeline even found a glass jar and put them into water for me - we'll see how long they live.

Dresses

Madeline LOVES dresses and skirts.  Lilah decided to join her today with her new 'spring dress'.  I'm not sure why she calls it that, but it works.  We got Lilah's dress for $1 yesterday.  There is a Salvation Army just down the street from Madelines school.  So on Wednesday's we drop her off and head over for "half-off clothes" Wednesday.  It's been a lot of fun finding some good deals!

A Real Snow Day

It was snowing when we woke up this morning.  Here are the kids when we found out the 2-hour delay was changed to a cancellation.

Dirt

Today we rota-tilled the garden.  Well, where the garden will be.  I'm determined to have a 'real' garden this year.  Last year we didn't even try and the 2 years before were only half-hearted efforts.  It's tilled and a lot of the weeds are gone.  When it dries out we will cover it with plastic and kill whatever weeds are left and then start planting! 

 This is an extra large worm we found.  The kids were so impressed with it's size.  The incredibly dirty finger is mine =)

 

Mike with the rented tiller.

 

Madeline's Competetive Side

Madeline is the most laid back of any of our kids (the only other person more laid back would be her Dad).  She played air hockey with Calvin and Mike (it was a three person table).  Calvin was desperately trying to win and Madeline was just having a great time watching the puck.  This is about as competitive as Madeline gets.

Shopping

We recently switched Celeste from her infant carrier to a toddler car seat.  She never really liked her seat (read: she screamed when we buckled her in) and she is actually really heavy to carry around in that thing - so we made the switch.  Now that the carrier is gone, she gets to ride in the shopping cart seat when we go shopping.  Only, she prefers watching where we are going - so she rides like this (regardless of what I say, do, or how that thing is buckled, she goes right back to this).