Nice Photos

Every now and then, I need to remind myself that we don't need a reason or an activity for a photo.  Sometimes, a picture really is worth a thousand words.

Clean Up Crew

The citizens have definitely improved their cleaning skills.  Remember the blog post showing their first attempts? 

Still don't think we're ready to give them full responsibility for cleaning the house.

Salem on Ice

We visited the Salem Art and Ice Festival.  Adults enjoying looking at the ice sculptures;  the citizens enjoyed running around in a new town.  Fun was had by all!

Strange Voices

I know what you're thinking.  Every one of these blog posts is about food.  And if they're not about food, we're in the supermarket.  Or Panera.  Both food-related.  So what you're thinking is, "Do these kids do anything other than eat all day long?

Yes!  The use smartphones too!

They have a few favorite apps.  One in particular, has a really strange voice... but these toddlers are just taken by it and request it frequently:

It didn't stop there.  Ashley discovered Karla's phone has these games too, so she left my phone with Adam to play with Karla and Ginger the Talking Cat (called " The Mishy Mishy Game"  in our home).  

Adam slowly adopted the "technology trance".  I was able to take lots of photos of him.  He didn't move!  At all!  It was wonderful!

Meanwhile, Ashley dropped Mishy Mishy in favor of a more "educational" game:

Adam even smiled for one of my photos!

Yes -- the smile was for me, not excitement for the game.  Honest!

Homeschooling, Lesson #14

Today it was Adam's turn to help out in the kitchen.  He's not content to use a simple spoon.  That would be too easy.  He needs a challenge. 

Playing in the Snow

There's been a lot of snow this winter.  More than most of us can remember!  The little ones have loved playing outside:

Snow Helpers

What are the chances that Adam and Ashley will still enjoy cleaning the snow off of our cars in 8 years?

My guess?  Slim to none.  Sigh.

Culinary Diversity

Today Adam tried my breakfast burrito and liked the change of pace.  Ashley is content to eat her eggs without embellishment.

Pop Stars

The A-team belts out their version of the Popcorn song:

S'getti Faces

Fun is a pile of spaghetti!

I like to slurp s'gettis quietly

Mangia!

When did he learn to speak Italian?

I picked it up when I got my tomato sauce mustache.

Do I have a tomato sauce mustache too????

Dairy Aisle

Daddy makes a trip to Market Basket's dairy aisle fun:

Surprise Ending

For our 400th post, this may seem like a relatively unexciting video.  After all, you've seen the kids at Panera before.  Just wait for the last few seconds when Ashley makes a surprise announcement.

Talking 005: Hello Kitty!

We were walking through Nordstrom to get to our car when Ashley spotted these:

Ashley:  I yike deese.  I want deese.  I like these.  I want these.
Mom:  Ashley, sweetie, I'm sorry but they do not come in your size.  They're for bigger girls.
Ashley:  Can I goh up to be a big guhl to wear deese?  Can I grow up to be a big girl to wear these?

How does a Mommy say no to that?

Happy Valentine's Day!

The citizens received Valentine's Day cards this year.  They had a blast decorating the cards with the enclosed stickers:

Wish Mommy would teach me more letters so I can read this by myself.

Stickers!  We love stickers!

Proud of our creations

Roger Williams Park Zoo

The crew headed out to Roger Williams Park Zoo in sunny Rhode Island for a change of scenery.  It's a fantastic little find!  We spent over three hours there and didn't have a chance to see everything.  To be fair, we heard that the "wetlands area" was more of a "mudflat area" and were glad to skip it.

We found one photo op that was too good to pass up:

Yaki - wha?

Before you think Ashley is mumbling because of her full mouth, think again. 

Listen carefully and you will clearly hear:  "yakisoba".

Yakisoba is the noodle dish in her bowl.  The gal happened to be munching on a chicken/cilantro dumpling when I asked the question.  Tricky Mommy.  Good news is that we now have a new "Thursday-evening-I'm-not-cooking-option" for dinner.  As Ashley demonstrates, the better news is that this is a slurp-able noodle, making it wildly appealing to the citizens!

Zoom Zoom

Zoom Zoom.  Sounds like a Mazda commercial, right?  It's frequently the theme of the postprandial procession in our home:

Don Alfredo

We're taking a music class on Wednesdays.  The citizens' favorite song is called "Don Alfredo Baila".  Even though it's a song about Don Alfredo and his el dedo, la mano, el brazo, and el pecho, they seem to think it's a jumping song:

Lyrics to Don Alfredo Baila

Don Alfredo baila, baila, baila, baila
Don Alfredo baila, baila, con el dedo [1]
con el dedo, dedo, dedo [1]
asi baila Don Alfredo.

[1] la mano, el brazo, el pecho .

Translation:
Don Alfredo dances, dances, dances, dances,
Don Alfredo dances, dances with his finger*, with his
Finger, finger, finger, that's how Don Alfredo dances.

la mano = hand
el brazo = arm
el pecho = chest

Karla's Sweater

Why wear your clothes when you can borrow someone else's?

Cookie Update

I was recently reminded by a friend that I didn't share the full outcome of the cookie lesson.  Here it is:

Before you jump to any conclusions because there are no photos of the kids eating these cookies, don't worry.  If you look closely at the "Funny Faces" post, you'll see they are eating chocolate chip cookies.  See?  I do give them sugar.  And chocolate!

Beautiful Dancing Girl

True story:  Ashley ran up to me one evening, headband in hand, asking me to put it on her.  Why?  Her words:  "I want to be a bee-yoo-tee-ful dancin' gurl".  Who can argue with that?

Homeschooling, Lesson #13

Today's lesson:  slow cooking.  

Ashley's grandmother does not understand slow cooking.  Grandma says, "I've spent my entire life trying to figure our how to prepare dinner faster.  Why on earth would you want to make it slower???"  Because it's sometimes easier.  This particular recipe resulted in a fantastic turkey breast with a cranberry-pear sauce.  Watch Ashley demonstrate:

Good Night Gorilla

This book is having the intended effect on the wrong person.

Funny Faces

One mighty fine evenin' we were sittin' round de ole table, shootin' da breeze and makin' all sorts o' funny faces:

Cookie Monsters

Yes, of course they liked the cookies.  These kids, like all kids, inhale sugar any time they see it.

Being the fun mom that I am, we had the cookies for an afternoon snack and for dessert in the evening.  The citizens went to sleep with visions of chocolate chips dancing in their heads.