Crystals

Noah has been asking us to buy him a fancy crystal growing kit. I thought it would be a fun idea to grow crystals but didn't want to pay for the kit. So we looked online and found all kinds of great ideas for growing crystals from stuff we already had around the house (salt, sugar, borax, and alum). These pictures were the crystals made with borax and water. They grow in about 12 hours, so we started them in the evening and when the kids got up in the morning they were all ready. They were very excited about them. It's also been great for Noah to learn all about how they are formed and all the different kinds of crystals there all in the world. He told me he now wants to make a diamond! I wish!

Daniel's Mess!

Just in case you ever come over and find my kitchen floor looking like this you now know it wasn't me! This is Daniel's favorite place to play these days and it gets a little frustrating some days. He will pull everything out of this cupboard! He was just getting started when I took these pictures! I say who needs to spend a bunch of money on toys when you have a kitchen cupboard full up stuff.

Fun at the park

Monday was a bright sunny day so my friend Amanda and I decided our kids needed to get out of the house and play outside. We found a nice little park and had a little picnic lunch and let the kids play. It was a little chilly but the kids had fun anyway.

Noah discovered yesterday that he could climb the walls. He is a funny kid! We were eating lunch yesterday and he told me that the artichoke he was eating tasted like bones. I know what you're thinking but I have NEVER fed him bones! Then later in the day he was eating those candy hearts and he told me they tasted like dishwasher soap, again I have never fed him dishwasher soap. I told him most people say that they taste chalky and he didn't believe me. So when we got home later I gave him a piece of chalk and told him to lick it. He did so and said that I was right it did taste like chalk! I love how little children try to describe things. He told me the other day that the orange I was peeling was making his eyes pucker. Do eyes pucker? According to Noah they do.

Daniel wants out!

Poor Daniel can't go outside as it's only 43 degrees out. Noah and Emma were kind enough to play in the back yard where Daniel could watch. The kids say it's warm outside. I don't believe them!

Emma playing with Daniel from the other side of the door. They had a grand old time and I got to load the dishwasher without Daniel pulling all the dishes out as I loaded it.

Daniel is 11 Months

My baby is 11 months! Where has this year gone?? He still has only 4 teeth, and has been teething for way too long. I can see two teeth just under the gums but they won't come up! So we are dealing with the drool, and crankiness for now. He has also started biting, which is so not fun! Those top two teeth are huge and they hurt!

He loves to throw the duck around.

Daniel has started standing on his own. He did take 7 steps last week, but won't do it again. Noah and Emma are doing their best to get him to do it again!

We are also trying to let him feed himself, which means more clean up duty for me!

I really need to work on teaching him manners!

Sunny Warm Days!

This week we have had a couple of "warm" days. The kids were so excited to go outside without coats on. I personally wore a light jacket, but I'm a wimp when it comes to cold weather. I think it got up to 57 degrees on the day I took these pictures
The neighbor girl, Litzy, was out and wanted to be in all the pictures!

Warm weather to Noah means go dig in the yard and "plant" something.

Emma climbing the fence.

Emma and Litzy playing in the monster car.

It was really nice to get out and see the sunshine since it's such a rare thing!