Build A Bear

Today we made our first trip to Build a Bear to make a Valentine's present for Daddy. (No peeking, Daddy.) And one for Jack, too, of course. He chose a triceratops for himself and a husky dog for Jay. The Build a Bear lady thought he was just the cutest thing ever because when she told him to make a wish on the hearts for the stuffed animals, he said, "I wish this day would never end!" Where were the video cameras?! I need some Build a Bear cash for that one!

Getting the hearts ready

Putting in the stuffing

Giving the animals their "baths." I think this was his favorite part.

After the animals were ready, we went to the clothing area. I had thought this would be a great connection for Jesse Bear, the book we are starting next. Not one to like connections, Jack refused clothes. Don't you know animals don't wear clothes, Mom? I guess I should be glad he saved us the extra money. Then we named the animals (triceratops is now Greeny and dog is now Bear) and got them birth certificates. I got out with two animals for about $40, which wasn't as bad as I thought. All in all it was pretty fun and Jack even rode the escalator down without being held.

Jack and Greeny

Craft Closet Fun

I suspect Jack had more fun than I did, but we spent the day working on the craft closet. The first step was to empty it out completely, which of course made Jack and Boris want to play in it.

Hey, Mom! Did you know there's a little string room here?

After getting the boys out of there, I got down to work. I consolidated, trashed, and re-labeled like crazy, and in the end it turned out pretty well.

On the very top shelf I put house stuff--tablecloths, placemats, etc. This has left some free space in the kitchen, which I'm sure I will fill next week. The bottom shelf and below is craft stuff. I am planning on going through my scrapbook stuff tonight, so that's not in yet.

I kept the same stuff in the bottom. I am not sure about those green crates there. They are kind of in the way, but they keep the big bag off the floor and give a little extra storage underneath. I'll have to think about it.

The door is pretty much the same.

While I was doing all of that, Jack was having a heyday doing some important projects. I moved his desk in so he could work nearby and he had a blast.

First he had to paint. This had something to do with Scooby Doo, he said, though I'm not exactly sure what.

Then he made Jay a sticker box.

Next he wrote some stamp stories.

His favorite thing seemed to be painting this kleenex box.

He must have been working pretty hard, because when I walked into the living room this is what I found--and it was only 7:30!

Any Ideas?

I don't know what to do with my craft closet. A little history...When we were moving, I had two days to find a house. Somehow when I looked at this house I didn't see this nice sized closet in the laundry room, so it was a nice surprise when we moved in. But I don't know what to do to really use the space well. When we moved in there was nothing in the closet, so my dad put in the two metal shelves. Then I had a bright idea to put those two hanging shelves below the bottom shelf. Jay will tell you that it was NOT such a bright idea, but he did manage to make it work.

So this is my current decluttering project. I want to make all of our regularly used art supplies easily available and I also want my scrapbook stuff within easy reach. Hopefully next week there will be some much better looking pictures here!

Trains Lapbook

A little while ago Jack saw a copy of Freight Train and immediately wanted to do "train school." Knowing nothing about trains myself, we went to the bookstore and loaded up and for the last couple of weeks we have been learning about trains. We finished up the lapbook today, except, of course, for the cover. We are always behind on the cover. He did, however, add to the cover of the Corduroy lapbook he did a few months ago...

This is the accordion ABC Train we found at HomeschoolShare. I attached it to the folder with a magnet so he can take it out.

This is the wheel showing different people who work on a train. It is really hard to find pictures of that kind of thing!

Our books that we read--a mix of fiction and non-fiction. I think the favorite was Inside Freight Train, which is a pull-apart book. Very cool.

This is his layer book of things that trains carry.

These are his word cards. There are about four million new words we came across, but we focused on the types of cars. Jack was adamant that I put down that a tank car carried water and juice. He did NOT want me to just write "liquids." We were excited to see some hopper cars on the way to Sonic this evening--he even yelled out, "Hopper cars!"

These are the foam cars I made (a la Freight Train) for our new felt board. Now we're on to Jesse Bear!

Turning the Corner

After a long night spent with hot sick child breath in my face and a large cat sleeping on my backside, I woke to find that Jack seemed to be feeling better. After watching some cartoons we had some pancakes, played some trains, and finished the train lapbook (post to come).

He made this track himself.

In the afternoon, though, the fever came back and the snot began to flow. Of course he didn't want to blow his nose or let me wipe his face, so after a while his face developed that sheen so common to sick three year olds. Eventually he gave in and took a couple of chewies, and by bedtime he felt good enough to read through the new issue of Ladybug that came in the mail today.

Snuggly boys

Lest we infect our friends, we have canceled plans to attend book club tomorrow and instead will play at home. The weather is supposed to turn cold, so it may turn out to be a pretty good day for staying in. Hope you are warm, too.

Getting Organized (Day ?)

I haven't taken on any big organization projects since moving the bookshelf into Jack's room almost three weeks ago, so I realized today I had better get in gear. While Jack watched cartoons, I cooked lunch and cleaned out the junk drawer. I forgot to take a before picture.

Yes, that box does say Bacon Mints.

This afternoon it was time to tackle the hall closet. Before pics:

And after pics:

The closet was a little hard for me, because I couldn't decide if tissue paper counted as a wrapping supply (keep it in the hall closet) or a craft supply (put it in the craft closet). I decided on wrapping supply--I know the suspense was killing you. I don't need to buy shirt boxes or small gift bags for at least the next six Christmases. I did cheat a little and add the sack containing my queen outfit from high school back after I took the pictures. I just can't figure out where to put it, and throwing it out isn't an option. You never know when you'll need a good queen costume, and it is loose enough that I am pretty sure it would still fit.

A few bonus pictures...In the top of the closet were a couple of old photo albums from high school. Of course I had to flip through them, and look what I found!

Me filling up the Prizm. I wish I could see the price of unleaded. And no mom, I didn't stop at the gas station at night. That is some kind of weird camera trick. I'm sure of it.

Jay dressed like a monk and dissecting a rat. Doesn't everyone have a picture of their husband like this?

And spam. I remember the evening this was taken, but I can't really remember why we were doing this.

Now it's on to the kitchen!

And Again...

It was a jammie day. Jack seemed to be feeling a little better after spending the entire morning on the couch watch Scooby-Doo. He even played a little and did some work on his trains lapbook. After his bath, though, he started feeling bad again and fell asleep before 6:00. I am not sure if it's a nap or a whole night of sleep, so I am already in my pjs, too. He must have felt bad because when I mentioned going to the doctor, he said, "Okay." Here are a few pics from today. Hopefully tomorrow there will be some shots where he is dressed and smiling!

Holy Cow!

Repeat that about 100 times (maybe a few more) and you will have your very own reenactment of me opening my box of scrapbook goodies from Heather. Heather had a give away on January 1, and she said she was giving away some stuff she wasn't going to use, so I was thinking maybe a large envelope of stuff or something. Maybe a little box. Maybe. So when a large priority box was on the porch, I was surprised. When I picked it up and realized how heavy it was, I was confused. And when I opened it, I was freaking out. Inside was a big stack of gorgeous papers (2 inches thick!) and all sorts of doo-dads, some of which I am not sure how to use, but I'll be sure to find out. Clearly I am not going to be needing any paper for a little while, but since you are not lucky me, you can head on over to Twelve Fridays and see all the cool papers Heather has available. For ideas, check out her regular blog, Sweet Simplicity, to see lots of different layouts. Thanks again, Heather, for the best prize I've ever won!

Testing, Testing...

I'm not sure if I'm more surprised at these results or that I figured out how to get this kind of stuff on here. Now if I could just figure out how to get this underline/linky thing out of here...

More of the Same

I don't have any pictures today because we didn't really do anything. When we got up Jack was still not feeling well, so he watched cartoons for a while and then had some breakfast. Around 11:00 he decided he was feeling better so we went to the library and the grocery store. After lunch, the fever was back, so we spent another afternoon on the couch. He napped from about 4:00 until 5:30, and now is asleep again. Hopefully tomorrow isn't round 3!

Under the Weather

Jack was still not feeling well today, so we stayed in all day and never got out of our jammies. This morning we watched some cartoons, colored, and used the scissors.

I knew he wasn't faking feeling bad since he fell asleep around 2:00. I watched a little TV and then fell asleep, too.
And that was pretty much our day! Jack fell asleep again around 9:00, and hopefully he will sleep a little better than he did last night.

Crayons and Crooning

Some days I really have trouble coming up with a title. It's like grant writing or something. Anyway, today started with storytime and errands. We got home in the early afternoon and got to work on putting together a box for the Valentine exchange we are doing. We even made some heart shaped crayons from all the old restaurant crayons I'd been saving. See? Sometimes I DO have a plan for the stuff I save!

The finished products

Testing them out

After dinner, Jack wanted to sing some songs.

For those of you who don't know him, no he does not normally put his teeth on his chin when he talks. That's special for the camera!

All day he was a little tired and this evening he seemed to be running a fever. He was asleep by 7:45 so I am trying to get some stuff done now. I hear him coughing and muttering, so it may be a long night!

Playing Catch Up

We were gone all weekend with no way to upload new photos, so now I'm playing catch up. Here is the rundown on our long weekend!

Friday Jack went to his cousin's 6th birthday party. It was full of kindergarten girls, but he had a good time anyway.

Trying to place the petals on the flower

Decorating butterfly wings

Playing the cocoon game

All wrapped up!

After the party, the three grandkids spent the night at Grandma and Grandpa's. Jack got a new Scooby-Doo sleeping bag and the idea was for the kids to camp in the living room, but he was in bed with me around 10:30.

He didn't get that you are supposed to SLEEP in these bags!

Saturday brought lots of play time--at Grandma and Grandpa's and at the PlayDonald's. In the evening we had the family party. It was also Grandma and Grandpa's 40th Anniversary!

The kids love to wear Grandma's old wig!

On Sunday Nana, Papa, and Grandpa Jack came over for dinner and a miracle occurred. Jack actually ate ham. And he asked for more. Twice. I think that he ate more meat at that one meal than he has eaten in his entire lifetime. It was weird.

This is NOT farked. He is actually consuming meat!

Monday I stole away to the used bookstore and came back with some great finds--several HSS and FIAR books for the future as well as some current favorites. Monday night was the big scrapbooking party, which was a lot of fun. Tuesday was slick, so we stayed put and watched cartoons all day. And this morning, after 30 minutes of poking at Boris underneath the bed, we left for home. Now we are catching up on the laundry and unpacking and getting ready to start our short week!

More posts to come!

Confessions of a Bad Cat Mama

I was snuggled up with Boris (aka Bobey) the other night when I came to the horrifying realization that I am a Bad Cat Mama, with a capital B, C, and M. In the rush of everything going on lately, I completely forgot Bobey Day. I don't mean I thought of it but didn't do anything, I mean it didn't even cross my mind! Just in case you don't have it marked on your calendar, Bobey Day is January 7, and is the anniversary of the day we brought home our Super Cat, Boris.

Super Cat in Action

We have done our best to celebrate--or at least acknowledge--this special day each year since we brought him home in 2002. My Christmas present for 2001 was a litter box and cat food and a kitten, yet to be found. Let me tell you, kittens are hard to come by in the middle of winter and at least twice I ended up in tears over this. But we were patient (no, not really) and saw an ad for animals from the shelter being shown at PetSmart. (Or maybe it's PetsMart. I'm not sure, which I think is what they're going for.) I found the cutest little 4 month old kitten, and Jay found this poor little striped 9 month old huddled in the corner of his cage in the litter box. It looked just like his old cat, Bud, so we ended up with two cats--Boris and Bella (we renamed her Biscuit).

Boris the night we brought him home. I thought he looked so big!

Biscuit

Within a week, Boris was under the entertainment center coughing like crazy. We took him to the vet (over and over and over again) and about 5 months and $2000 later he was cured. He looked a little rough for a while, to say the least, but Jay took great care of him and today he is fat and happy. Unfortunately, Biscuit turned out to have FIP and we had to put her to sleep.

Now that is just scary!

Playing rubberbands with Jay

Boris has great dental hygiene. He and Jay floss together every night. Yes, Jay always goes first.

After Jack was born it was a little bit of an adjustment to not being the only child anymore, but he eventually warmed up to him and now they play quite a bit.

Just hanging out on the sofa

It's hard not to like someone who sleeps as much as you do. July 2004

Boris is pretty sure this is his bed, too. May 2007

Sweet Cat

So there is a little round up of Bobey pictures. Those of you who know me well know that yes, 10 pictures is indeed showing restraint. But don't worry, I've got plenty more lined up for his birthday (April 7). So in honor of Bobey Day + 2 weeks, eat some good food, take a sun nap, and drink from the bathroom sink!