Soda Can Robug

We built a robug for Richard's birthday. Watch it go. Julien is wearing his new retro Star Wars shirt.

The rock

Julien went rock climbing for the first time yesterday, at the Children's Museum. He got pretty far up the wall.

Ice kitty

Ice sledding

Julien discovered that ice sledding is very fast. What fun! Sebastian wanted to sled too, so I pulled him up and down our slick driveway.

Ice storm

A couple of weekends ago, when Richard was out of town for a conference, there was an ice storm.

Bedtime story

Reading the children's book for the Musee d'Orsay.

Ice and snow

Sebastian has two new words, ice and snow. He has become obsessed with going outdoors to play. He loves his boots, mittens and hat and does not want to take them off when he goes inside. Which usually means lots of crying. He's going to be an outdoor boy, just like his brother.

Book trail

Kiss

Tara, the vice president of the BABS board (soon to be president when my term is up), invited us all over for brunch. Maia and Sebastian gave each other hugs and kisses. Julien played pet shop with Tara's husband, Spencer. Spencer pretended to buy a scorpion from Julien. Julien was thrilled.

Bowling

Richard was out of town this weekend, so I organized lots of outings! On friday night we hung out with Julien's classmate, Isaac and his family. We went out bowling, which was a first for Julien. It was really fun to do something so different. Even Sebastian took a few turns.

Night time routine

Sometimes the night time routine takes forever, but it is still one of my favorite parts of the day. When all goes well the boys love their bath, which they take together. The bathroom gets very wet in the process. After PJs they tumble into Julien's bed. Julien reads a story, then I read a story, then we lie down for an "underneath story," which is really a discussion. For the last two weeks we have been imagining floats for a parade- an insect float, a manatee float, a Star Wars float, a float for all his favorite books, etc. Every night we come up with a new one. Then we all get up for Julien to go potty one last time. Then we tuck him in and then I take Sebastian in to our room and nurse him to sleep.

At some point this will all simplify. For now, I am happy to have a bit of time each day just concentrating on the boys without too many extra distractions.

Puddle

Sunday was particularly warm, but it was also rainy. Finally, in the afternoon, the sun came out, so we went out in the yard to play. The boys went straight for the puddle. By the time we came in they were both completely drenched and very, very happy.

A muddy hike

It was a lot warmer this weekend so we all went out for a hike at Griffy lake. We had not realized quite how muddy it would be. Julien loved it.

Balloon tangle

Richard's mom sent us Valentine balloons (as well as flowers and yummy chocolate). The kids were thrilled with the balloons.

Valentine Party

Julien's Kindergarten class had a Valentine's Day Party yesterday. Julien's favorite song that they performed was "I'm gonna mail myself to you."

I was impressed that most of the boys gave out homemade valentines.

Snake touching

Sebastian was apprehensive about touching the snake. But he did, very gently.

Neal's Party

Julien went to Neal's birthday party at Wonderlab this last weekend. Neal is a friend from Hoosier courts pre-school. Julien was very happy to see all his old buddies.

Peanut butter play dough

We recently made peanut butter play dough, following a recipe from the "Peanut Butter Party" book. Lots of fun.

Last week Julien had me read "The Young French Chef" as his bedtime book every night. It is a recipe book my sister and I used when we were little girls (published in 1969). It's great. Julien's favorites (to read) are "Mackerel in Foil," "Crepes" and "Chocolate Mousse," although the only recipe we have actually made so far is for crepes. When I read it I skip the intro that says, "This book is intended as a beginning book of French Cooking, to introduce American girls to the joys of French Cuisine." But I do read the section titled, "Before you begin," which includes, "If you are roasting meat or deep-frying, protect your hair from odors with a scarf."

I'm not sure what he likes about this book, the promise of good food? That children are expected to be capable of making something of substance? Is it the similarity to a chemistry experiment? Or is it just the straight forward declarative sentences?

Science Experiments

Recently, we have been doing simple science experiments in the kitchen. Mostly we have been mixing food coloring, baking soda and vinegar and watching it bubble over. Richard and Julien also bought a small chemistry set and have started to do a few more complicated experiments. Sebastian has not gotten involved in this activity yet, but I am sure he will soon.

The end of the hike