Making It Our Own

We've been making lots of changes around our house lately. We were thinking we would move, but with the market the way it is we decided to stay here for a while. I decided if we are staying than I am changing a few things. I want to decorate my own way and make some changes. We like our schools and our area. The only thing we need is more space. We had a contractor over today to look at putting an addition on our house. We have plans for more to come. It's really exciting talking about making changes and knowing it could really happen. I've also been painting our playroom (it's unusual, but it is the first room you see when you come in) and I've picked out colors for about 3 more of our rooms. Today we bought a new table for our dining room. We are going to need more space when Lily is no longer in a high chair. Our current table seats only 4 comfortably. I'm so excited for it to get here! I don't feel like I've ever fully moved in anywhere since I was a teenager. Maybe it's time for me to really make this place my own after 4 years of living here!

More Sledding

Jay found Zach's sled in the garage, so now each kid has their own. It's really much better that way. Here they are sledding down the sheet of ice in our back yard today.
They had some trouble getting back up the hill because there seriously is a sheet of ice on top of the snow. Zach sometimes crawled to the top of the hill. It was pretty funny to watch. Sometimes they would be taking steps forward, but their feet would slip so much that they would end up further back than they started. They sure did get some speed going down the hill, so I guess it was worth the climb. They have done quite a bit of sledding these past few days. The neighbors even came over to sled. I guess we have the best hill. I'm also guessing that the tube sleds that our kids have are superior to other types in these conditions.

The Sled

It snowed Tuesday and it was supposed to turn to a mixed mess that night, so I decided to give Ryan part of his Valentines Day present early. It was a sled. When I gave it to him he was so excited. He shouted, "Wow! A sled!" He ran around the dining room table saying, "I can't wait to go sledding!" [repeat 20 times] I asked if he wanted to go sledding now. The whole house practically echoed with his giddy laughter. He shot out of the room like a rocket. This is not unusual, so I just started blowing up the sled. It's one of those snow tube things. Before I had 1/4 of it blown up he reappeared with his socks, shoes and mittens on saying, "I'm ready to go sledding." After I finished blowing up the sled(my cheeks may never be the same) I helped him get his snow pants and coat on. He put on his hat and was out the door. He had to share with Zach because we couldn't find Zach's sled in the garage. When I told him that he was fine with it. He even told Zach he was going to share with him. He talked about the sharing a lot before he went outside. After about 5 trips down the hill he actually let Zach have a turn. Hey, you can't blame a 3 year old for wanting to use his brand new sled a few times before giving it up, right? After a few single trips I suggested that they could ride together and that's pretty much how they spent the rest of their time. They had so much fun. I watched through the sliding glass door because Lily takes after me, she does not like to be cold. They were laughing and enjoying each other. It was great. I even got some video. I stuck my arm through a crack in the door so I could stay with Lily. It worked rather nicely once I put a glove on. If I ever get my video camera to play nicely with my computer I'll post some of the video.

See how happy he looks?!

Money

Zach's new job is to empty the trash every night. Tonight he came downstairs and said, "Daddy, I found this dollar in the trash." Jay, understandably frustrated with Ryan, said, "RYAN! Why did you put a dollar in the trash?!" Ryan replied with a bit of sadness in his voice, "Because it was wrinkled." I start laughing immediately. Jay's stern demeanor softened as he let out a quiet chuckle, then Zach joined in and finally Ryan. Then Ryan said, "Why am I funny?" I couldn't explain to a three year old why his three year old logic was so sweet and innocent, but I could tell him why throwing money away isn't a good idea. I explained that dollars are still good even if they are wrinkled they can still buy things. I told him we should never throw money away. I hope he learns that lesson literally and figuratively before he has to manage more than a few dollars at a time. I know some grown ups who still throw money away. All in all another valuable lesson learned here in the Periwinkle house.

Valentines/ Snow Day

Yesterday was fun. I had anticipated the snow day and armed myself with crafts for the kids to keep the bickering to a minimum. We started the day with some play. We moved on to Mickey Mouse Clubhouse while mommy blogged. Then I busted out the paints and magnets that I bought.

Right after that was finger painting for the little ones. You see Zach took much longer to paint his two magnets than Ryan. When Zach did finish his painting we were about to wrap up our 10 minutes of finger painting, so he went down to play computer games. Seriously, finger painting, totally not worth all the prep and mess for the 10 minutes of fun for Ryan and the 10 seconds of fun before Lily found out that finger paint does not taste good. She recovered a little bit and with much coaxing did put some paint on paper. Mostly she just painted herself. I have cute pictures, but since she is only wearing a diaper I'm not going to post them. All you get to see is her cute little hands:-)

And Ryan's hand too:-)

By the time we finished all the painting and the immediate bath that followed for Ryan and Lily it was lunch time. Then Lily went down for her nap and we called Grandma to say Happy Valentines Day.

When Jay came home(early) he had these beautiful and probably very overpriced roses. They are pretty though, aren't they. He also had a box of chocolate covered strawberries(YUM) and a nice card. Yes we were totally a part of the florists and card companies getting richer, but it's nice to feel loved on Valentines Day:-)




And doesn't Lily look adorable on her little outfit?! Even with all her bruises.

Now? two and a half snow days later? not so much fun.