Call Day #46, 2/26/14

Getting ready for our history activity. Wearing way-too-big gloves. Why gloves? Because we were working with raw chicken. Why raw chicken? Because we're going to mummify a chicken of course.

 Making a mummy involves lots of salt to dry out the body.

 We added spices as well but I doubt they're going to cover up the smell as we go forward.

 Mummification Day 1 complete. The girls thought it was fun and even named our soon-to-be mummy. It is called HeHer "because we don't know if it's a boy or a girl."

Oliver is not happy with Daddy's baby-proofing. Protesting not being able to get into bathroom drawers and empty them of brushes and toothpaste. Sorry, buddy. We got tired of not being able to find our toothbrushes when we needed them.

Before going on a walk the girls tried to close the garage door by saying "Closed sesame." We've done such a good job convincing them that our garage door opens for them when they say "Open sesame" (while we covertly push the door opener) that they think it will work in reverse.

Running. They needed out of the house.

Call Day #45, 2/24/14

They came downstairs this morning telling me that they were getting married. If you can't tell, that's Claire the bride, bear the groom, and Eleanor the flower girl (see her dress-get it?) with a basket to carry the flowers. They start thinking things up as soon as they awake.

Eleanor also had big plans to copy her favorite piece of art from the gallery right outside her room at dance class. It was a canvas with a black background, so here she is working on the first step of recreating it.

We went to Aldi. When we got home, Oliver unpacked some things out of the bags. When he found these grapes, he was unhappy because he couldn't get to them. Unfortunately, I missed the trying-to-bite-through-the-package shot. Once we got him settled into his chair and he ate his fair share of grapes, he was happy again.

We're leaving our hieroglyph scroll and our cuneiform clay tablets outside for several days as the first step in a series of tests to see which material was more likely to last and preserve records of ancient cultures. We all love the hands-on activities of our history studies!

The pointing has really taken off in the past few weeks.

Just being cute.

He learned to get the ring on the peg today.

Learning so much every day now! Check out a few tricks.

Call Day #44, 2/20/14

School this morning included trying our hands at writing in hieroglyphs.

The writing is fancy but hard to do. We all painted on this long piece of paper which will be turned into a scroll after the paint dries.

Soon it was time to take Oliver to the doctor for his one-year checkup. The girls got lots of stickers. They were worried about how he'd do with all the shots he'd get today. They do really care. Also, they just don't want to hear him scream.

Doing okay post-shots. Three of them. He recovers quickly and was happy drinking out of his sippy cup.

Oliver got stickers too. Two of them with a tongue depressor sandwiched between, perfect for little ones to hold (and chew) on. One of his stickers said "superstar" so that's what he got called for the rest of the visit especially since next up was a finger stick. Made it through them all and he was a happy boy the rest of the day, through choir practice and all (just forgot to bring the camera). Anyhow, he's healthy and 24 lb, 10 oz.

Call Day #43, 2/11/14

The boy likes books. He pulls them off the shelf, looks at them, and tosses them behind him, ending up with them all scattered like this. He likes them enough that I can even leave him in there with the door shut when I need to go get something and he's happy by himself, closed up in his room, looking at his books.

During lunch, Claire cried out "Look, the owl!"  Eleanor had spotted this bird from a distance last week and thought that's what it was. Today, it was closer and we could tell it definitely wasn't an owl.

We decided it might be a broad-winged hawk. In any case, we had fun watching him.

Showing off some signs.

After lunch, the girls wanted to do some art.

 Happy to be painting.

We're having fun watching the Olympics almost ever afternoon for an hour or so.  Today, I surprised them with an Olympic snack. We made the Olympic rings out of fruit on mini bagels. They thought it was fun and delicious.

It was such a hit that it turned into dinner, they ate so much of it!

This song was in my head because of how many times a day I seem to say "Hold on, I'm coming." Girls thought it was great for dancing.

Not to be outdone by his dancing sisters...

Call Day #42, 2/9/14

Playing with one of the birthday presents he got yesterday. (A day late so Erik could be a part of it.)  He got them shortly before bed so really didn't get to play with them much til this morning.

Finding cups his sisters leave around.

After church Eleanor wanted to try to make star-shaped little lights so she cut stars in a piece of paper and rigged this up.  She wasn't super happy with the results so we'll see if there's a version 2.0 another day.

Claire poses in front of their bedroom door.  A new heart is added for each of them each night while they're asleep that says something we love about them.  It's been a hit with them, with Eleanor reading Claire's heart for her each morning.  This is really my favorite application of Valentine's Day.

More flags!  Going to have to set up a new banner to add the ones we made today.  Watched some Olympics too, of course.  Some of the first ones we made were of those countries who tend to dominate the winter Olympics.  It's definitely helpful as we watch, making it more accessible and interesting to Eleanor.  Her favorite sport to watch thus far?  Figure skating because "I like their pretty outfits."

Call Day #41, 2/7/14, Happy Birthday, Oliver!

 I thought Claire was taking a long time to do her morning chore in her room (which is normal) but it was so quiet that I decided to check on her.  She was asleep on the floor for 1.5 hours, in the morning, before even having breakfast.  She had earlier said her tummy hurt, and it was clear she wasn't feeling well.  We cancelled our midday and evening plans with others to make sure we didn't get anyone else sick and settled in for a day at home.

 Unintentionally captured Eleanor's feelings at having little brother being able to reach her artwork.

Able to paint in peace.  Working on a "cave painting" since we've been talking about what we know about some of the earliest peoples.

The BIRTHDAY BOY!  Can't believe he's 1!

Playing with cars.

We didn't have a birthday party with just the four of us but had to do a little something.  We had some pumpkin muffins with a glaze which were cupcake-like.

They met with Oliver's approval.

The girls had tea with theirs, in fancy cups.

It's fun to celebrate.

We started making flags of countries that are participating in the winter Olympics a few days ago.  Eleanor got into it so we made some more today.  She liked seeing how many medals each country has won and figured out that it corresponded pretty well with how cold their climate is.

We talked about the Opening Ceremony happening tonight and made little torches.  Here they are enacting the torch relay.

We Skyped with Grandma and Grandpa.  Skyping with the tablet is pretty crazy because, thanks to its portability, the girls sit still even less than the do when Skyping on the computer.

Eleanor was excited for the Opening Ceremony to begin.  She and Claire had gotten ready for bed, set up the living room to eat dinner while watching it, and were ready for it to start at least an hour and a half before it was due to start.  Then, they were antsy.  So, why not play outside in their pajamas?  Bonus: keeps Oliver entertained too.

Flags so far.  They make quite a festive decoration for living room Olympics-watching.  I've learned some I didn't know too.  Can you name all of these?  Anyhow, eventually the ceremony got underway and the girls enjoyed it.  Watching the Parade of Nations was such a hit with them both--the flags, the clothing, all the activity.  Eleanor sat watching with a pad and paper and we now have a list of twenty something more flags she'd like to make.  As it turns out, Claire seemed okay the rest of the day, but I was glad we ended up at home.  Cuddling with them both on the couch and enjoying the beginning of the Olympics was wonderful.  So much so that they were up til 9:45.  A good, full day.

Call Day #40, 2/4/14

We're getting geared up for the Olympics this week.  The girls are painting Olympic rings.

We've just recently started doing history as part of our school.  The introduction talks about what history is and how historians know what they know.  We read about archaeology, and the girls were eager to try out a dig.  Here's our version in our backyard sandbox.  We divided the area into quadrants to mark where we found each item.

 Claire showing off one of the "artifacts" she found.

 And another.

Eleanor records what was found.

Digging.

When we brought in our finds they wanted to "clean them up and put them in the museum."  I hadn't planned on this but it was straight from a book we read.  Clearly, they were listening to that one.

 The "exhibit team" and their display.

Whenever Oliver wasn't sleeping, he was fussing.  Tylenol helped some but clearly he wasn't feeling well.

When you feel bad, sometimes lying down on the floor and crying is all you can do.

The girls have discovered that the big tub in Mommy and Daddy's bathroom fits them much better than the average sized tub.  "Sister baths" can continue!