The girls got Barbie Nutcracker DVD for Valentine's Day. Tonight, Lily and Bella watched clips from the real ballet. Bella said, "Look mommy's dancing!" (That's my girl!) Lily's jaw dropped slightly. She asked questions but mainly watched in amazement. Eventually she got inspired. I decided to show her the following video.
As she watched she said, "They are not very good."
Then we filmed a "good dancer"...
(Thanks to Miriam for leaving her crown behind.)
Friday, February 20, 2009
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Sweet Victory!
So shortly after my last post I saw this...
And shortly after that I saw this...
(I think they were scouting out those ugly things.)
I was so excited...at least the squirrels where using them. 
He's so cute huh?
Some other buddies came. I don't have the knowledge or the eye to distinguish between birds but it was so exciting to see so many different kinds. The girls where really excited too. But still learning to keep quiet and still. They stuck their hands out the window in hopes a bird would land on them. One actually did! See below. 
Of course these guys had to crash the party...
Oh and we saw this bird...
And Lily "spotted" this one, who landed on her finger...
And something else that happened last night...
And shortly after that I saw this...
(I think they were scouting out those ugly things.)
I was so excited...at least the squirrels where using them.
But this morning...aaaa sweet victory!
This is "Handsome"
Because he won my heart by doing this...
He's so cute huh?
Some other buddies came. I don't have the knowledge or the eye to distinguish between birds but it was so exciting to see so many different kinds. The girls where really excited too. But still learning to keep quiet and still. They stuck their hands out the window in hopes a bird would land on them. One actually did! See below.
This one I'm going to name "Beauty" if she comes back. I want a better look at her.
Of course these guys had to crash the party...
Oh and we saw this bird...
And Lily "spotted" this one, who landed on her finger...
And something else that happened last night...
Looks like our poor neighbors will have to endure and yes we will be THAT family with THOSE things in our trees. (Sorry Tom.)
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
For the Birds
On Valentine's Day we lovingly made bird feeders for the neighborhood birds.
I'm starting to wonder if Milk Jug Bird Feeders are just an ugly joke on the neighbors and actually completely non-functional.
So far this has been our only visitor in 3 days...
...and he won't go near the milk jugs either.
So much for recycling.
Now for the girls...
I'll try to post the video. It's 4 minutes long, but SUPER cute!!
I'm starting to wonder if Milk Jug Bird Feeders are just an ugly joke on the neighbors and actually completely non-functional.
So far this has been our only visitor in 3 days...
...and he won't go near the milk jugs either.
So much for recycling.
Now for the girls...
Bella snuggles are always nice, even Snickers enjoys them.
Lily singing at her schools Mother's Celebration
(I missed the note about wearing red/pink.)
I'll try to post the video. It's 4 minutes long, but SUPER cute!!
Monday, February 9, 2009
Pictures!
Found the 'thingy'
Bird Identification is hard, especially with a blurry picture & bad memory.
fyi this deer was walking not running. When they run their toes spread apart and you can see the 'dewclaws'.
Bird Identification is hard, especially with a blurry picture & bad memory.
fyi this deer was walking not running. When they run their toes spread apart and you can see the 'dewclaws'.
Nature Baby Nature
Okay so this weekend I found this blog: http://handbookofnaturestudy.blogspot.com/.
I thought her ideas would give us some direction and focus to our outdoor adventures. Yesterday we went on a nature walk down our street. It's so funny what kind of things fascinate my girls. We saw a stream in our front yard...thanks to the 50 degree temps! We followed it to the drain. The girls were amazed that the snow was melting and flowing down the street. At every drain I'd hear...mommy look at this one, do you hear the water? We jumped in puddles and followed a pretend bear to his snow cave. Lily was able to tell me the birds we saw were crows. Now I know that's not too tough, but I am still impressed.
This morning, as we are pulling out of our driveway, there next to the house was a deer! Normally this is how the rest of the story would go...I stopped the car and said Lily look a deer and Lily would look and I'd drive off. But this is how the story goes today...I stopped the car and said look girls a deer. Lily saw it right away, but Bella couldn't. After a few seconds of hearing her struggle, I turned around to get her unbuckled. (I wouldn't normally do this because we are on our way to dance class and if I unstrap her that means I have to re-strap her and we don't have time for that.) Bella got free, stood up, saw the deer and a squeal of glee came out of her. Yes, glee. The deer turned its head, probably wondering what that shreek was, and stared right at us...so we stayed longer (crazy I know, what about dance class?). Then he started walking toward us. I was, I mean the girls were so excited but were really great about staying quiet so they, um I mean we wouldn't scare it. It was only a few minutes and then he turned around and walk away and we headed off to dance class. There was a bonding moment there though.
We went to the library after dance class to find out more about our deer. We got the book All About Deer by James Arnosky. We determined that we saw a White-Tailed doe although Lily thinks it could have been a Black-Tailed doe. I'm pretty sure she's wrong...3 year olds. When we got to the page on deer tracks I, er, we had to go out and check. So out we went and there they were...deer tracks! Can you believe it? I know the way I'm reacting it's as if I've never seen a deer before. But I am having this child-like wonder with nature all of a sudden. We followed the tracks and discovered they were eating off one of our trees, just like the book said. We found some other 'bonuses' the book didn't mention but hey those are the facts of life.
We spent an hour outside today. Amazing I know. We got some sledding and swinging in. Took a 'safari' across Mister John's yard to watch Miss Flo's bird feeders. After this post I'm going to search what kind of bird we saw. My hope is that one day I'll be able to blurt out oh look girls a such and such bird/leaf/flower/animal/etc. But hey we've all got to start somewhere. And I'm right at a 3 year old, um maybe 4 year old level. Perfect!
If I could find our camera attachment thingy, I'd post some pictures. But it's missing right now, so you'll have to use your imagination.
I thought her ideas would give us some direction and focus to our outdoor adventures. Yesterday we went on a nature walk down our street. It's so funny what kind of things fascinate my girls. We saw a stream in our front yard...thanks to the 50 degree temps! We followed it to the drain. The girls were amazed that the snow was melting and flowing down the street. At every drain I'd hear...mommy look at this one, do you hear the water? We jumped in puddles and followed a pretend bear to his snow cave. Lily was able to tell me the birds we saw were crows. Now I know that's not too tough, but I am still impressed.
This morning, as we are pulling out of our driveway, there next to the house was a deer! Normally this is how the rest of the story would go...I stopped the car and said Lily look a deer and Lily would look and I'd drive off. But this is how the story goes today...I stopped the car and said look girls a deer. Lily saw it right away, but Bella couldn't. After a few seconds of hearing her struggle, I turned around to get her unbuckled. (I wouldn't normally do this because we are on our way to dance class and if I unstrap her that means I have to re-strap her and we don't have time for that.) Bella got free, stood up, saw the deer and a squeal of glee came out of her. Yes, glee. The deer turned its head, probably wondering what that shreek was, and stared right at us...so we stayed longer (crazy I know, what about dance class?). Then he started walking toward us. I was, I mean the girls were so excited but were really great about staying quiet so they, um I mean we wouldn't scare it. It was only a few minutes and then he turned around and walk away and we headed off to dance class. There was a bonding moment there though.
We went to the library after dance class to find out more about our deer. We got the book All About Deer by James Arnosky. We determined that we saw a White-Tailed doe although Lily thinks it could have been a Black-Tailed doe. I'm pretty sure she's wrong...3 year olds. When we got to the page on deer tracks I, er, we had to go out and check. So out we went and there they were...deer tracks! Can you believe it? I know the way I'm reacting it's as if I've never seen a deer before. But I am having this child-like wonder with nature all of a sudden. We followed the tracks and discovered they were eating off one of our trees, just like the book said. We found some other 'bonuses' the book didn't mention but hey those are the facts of life.
We spent an hour outside today. Amazing I know. We got some sledding and swinging in. Took a 'safari' across Mister John's yard to watch Miss Flo's bird feeders. After this post I'm going to search what kind of bird we saw. My hope is that one day I'll be able to blurt out oh look girls a such and such bird/leaf/flower/animal/etc. But hey we've all got to start somewhere. And I'm right at a 3 year old, um maybe 4 year old level. Perfect!
If I could find our camera attachment thingy, I'd post some pictures. But it's missing right now, so you'll have to use your imagination.
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Seriously?
Its snowing again! Can a woman get a break from...
30 minute getting ready to go out in the snow?
cold hands?
almost sledding down the back cliff?
wet pant bottoms?
trying to pull a kid in snow boots out of an infant swing?
shoveling?
cold, crying kids?
heating bills?
dirty water puddles?
runny noses?
I promised myself I'd start taking the girls out daily for at least 30 minutes. I know that seems like a short time, but for someone who hates cold...it's a stretch. The next day it starts snowing...of course.
With all my complaining I should say it has been fun. We've gone on 'journeys', looked for animal tracks, played with sticks (some how that is 30 minutes of fun...seriously!), sledding, swinging, and best of all we caught pretend bunnies. Now I feel I have to not be ungrateful for this beautiful snow, because it really is beautiful. So let me re-try that with a positive outlook...
*That extra 30 minutes getting dress helps speed the day along.
*Cold hands? Well there's nothing good about cold hands except drinking hot cocoa to warm them up...YUM!
*I'm finding a new love for sledding..."mommy's turn by herself."
*that's what driers are for right?
*During this fiasco Lily said "You're doing it mama, I'm almost out"
*Who knew kids like to shovel...to bad they aren't good at it yet.
*Cold crying kids? Not fun either...but that's where that hot cocoa comes in handy again...SWEET!
*Phooey to heating bills, dirty water puddles and runny noses...things could be worse.
To me going out in the snow is like working out. Getting out there and doing it isn't always fun and sometimes it's easier to just turn the TV on, but once we are out we're glad we made the effort.
PS...Don't get the idea that I workout. I don't and I'm not planning to anytime soon...I do believe it is too cold to workout. Yes, it is definitely TOO COLD! ;)
PPS...Our Christmas tree is sitting on our front porch and Lily gives it a hug everytime before we come inside.
30 minute getting ready to go out in the snow?
cold hands?
almost sledding down the back cliff?
wet pant bottoms?
trying to pull a kid in snow boots out of an infant swing?
shoveling?
cold, crying kids?
heating bills?
dirty water puddles?
runny noses?
I promised myself I'd start taking the girls out daily for at least 30 minutes. I know that seems like a short time, but for someone who hates cold...it's a stretch. The next day it starts snowing...of course.
With all my complaining I should say it has been fun. We've gone on 'journeys', looked for animal tracks, played with sticks (some how that is 30 minutes of fun...seriously!), sledding, swinging, and best of all we caught pretend bunnies. Now I feel I have to not be ungrateful for this beautiful snow, because it really is beautiful. So let me re-try that with a positive outlook...
*That extra 30 minutes getting dress helps speed the day along.
*Cold hands? Well there's nothing good about cold hands except drinking hot cocoa to warm them up...YUM!
*I'm finding a new love for sledding..."mommy's turn by herself."
*that's what driers are for right?
*During this fiasco Lily said "You're doing it mama, I'm almost out"
*Who knew kids like to shovel...to bad they aren't good at it yet.
*Cold crying kids? Not fun either...but that's where that hot cocoa comes in handy again...SWEET!
*Phooey to heating bills, dirty water puddles and runny noses...things could be worse.
To me going out in the snow is like working out. Getting out there and doing it isn't always fun and sometimes it's easier to just turn the TV on, but once we are out we're glad we made the effort.
PS...Don't get the idea that I workout. I don't and I'm not planning to anytime soon...I do believe it is too cold to workout. Yes, it is definitely TOO COLD! ;)
PPS...Our Christmas tree is sitting on our front porch and Lily gives it a hug everytime before we come inside.
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