Well, it doesn't feel even slightly Spring-ish around here yet. But it's time to get that Christmas wreath off the front door. And the snowman off the mantel...perhaps tomorrow. Friday we "celebrated Spring" by making Snow Dough (box of corn starch + 2/3 C. veggie oil + glitter). Mostly because Mommy didn't even realize that Spring had arrived.
They loved it. It mashes together, holds a shape, is silky soft to the touch, and crumbles apart again.
Absolute mess. But for the (almost) hour they were completely content (we're talking barely a bickering word!), the clean-up was worth it.
No wonder there's so much laundry around here.
Predictably, Vivian spent quite a bit of her time taste-testing. The glitter may make an interesting re-appearance at some point.
Now onto Spring-ier times!
Because you're wondering, no baby yet. 38 weeks this week! However, we've been plenty busy getting ready for that big arrival. Last week our parish priest, Fr. Derrick, joined us for dinner to talk Baptism Prep. And to color pictures (supervised by a few of his youngest parishioners).
And we got new carpet. TA-DA!
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| So soft, so clean... |
Which was a TON of work for Tim. Moving furniture, tearing up old carpet, fixing things as he went, cleaning up all the dust and carpet mess, moving furniture back, etc. And at nine months pregnant, Sarah isn't much good for any of that. So two of her cousins came to help during their spring break, while Mommy and the girls disappeared to Grandma and Grandpa's house for a few days. Where they discovered something new: Lucky Charms. And did what every kid does...eat only the marshmallows (as often as they could get away with it).
We also did some little projects for St. Patrick's Day. Stickers are always a hit with these two and Mommy found this idea: read the number, put on the correct number of stickers, color the number. Easy and they loved it. Viv needed some help, but she actually was more engaged in the whole idea than Mommy expected, so that was good!
And we read lots of books on our mini-vacation to Grandma and Grandpa's. It's always great to have new books to read (which is why we're at our library at least weekly)! PS check out the t-shirts again. The girls LOVE them and wear them all the time. Future Xavier Musketeers!?!?!?
But we're back home, in our own beds, with our fabulous new carpet. And today we did some fine motor work. Only they have no idea they're doing work. Another easy project that the girls spent at least a half an hour fully concentrated on: beads and shoe stings from The Dollar Tree to make necklaces. Success.
While they were engrossed in that, Mommy was making a grocery list for over 20 crockpot freezer meals that she hopes to put together before Baby arrives. Perhaps this will help avoid absolute chaos at 5 PM every night? Well, it can't hurt.
Any ideas for keeping these girls good at the grocery for what is sure to be a two hour trip??
We're keeping busy. We got the new mini-van, we're STILL working on getting them into the same room (Viv naps in the crib because she just CANNOT stay in that big girl bed during naptime; at least bedtime is going really well), we're keeping up on our theme weeks (last week we did seasons...didn't take any pictures somehow...), we're getting new carpet (finally) at the end of the week thanks to a very unexpected tax refund, and of course, continuing to prepare for Baby. We ordered size 1 diapers from Amazon. That's it...anything we're missing? We hit 37 weeks this week. Which means Baby is pretty safe and healthy whenever it decides to show up. That's always a relief.
A few pictures of what we're been doing (sorry, mostly taken quickly on the camera phone)...
Friday, we went to the Botanical Gardens with our friend Jill and her little boy, Pete. The computers were having a problem so we got in free. And they validated our parking, so that was free, too. What a day!!! Here are the girls in a "pod" at the kids' jungle exhibit that's going on right now - loved it!
Friday night Tim left for the weekend to do this:
He was actually helping with a youth retreat for the diocese and somehow ended up in a skit as a member of the cast from Duck Dynasty, which hadn't entered our radar until Tim had to be one of them...Reality TV...no, make that 97% of TV is so very, very bizarre.
While he was with the high schoolers for the weekend, the girls and Mommy had a sleepover at Grandma and Grandpa's. As you can see, it was super fun and full of cheese-y smiles. (Huge thanks to Amanda for the adorable Xavier shirts. We love them!!!!)
Finally, these two are currently obsessed with making nests. AKA piling up every pillow and blanket they can get their hands on to cozy up. Often, their books, fake food, toys, dolls, animals...EVERYTHING...has to be in the nest, too. Apparently, Mommy isn't the only one with Nesting Hormones these days.
