Egg Critters

April 12, 2011

Nicholas' Easter craft pick - Egg Critters!

This was his own original creation, which he uniquely named "Nicholas Relyea."

Writing continues to be challenging for him, so any little way I can sneak in a some practice is a plus.  This day, Nicholas put forth wonderful effort to write name labels for some of our critter creations.

My sweetie posing with "Nicholas Relyea."

The grasp that only an OT mom cringes at...

Egg Critters of 2011:

Froggy

Nicholas Relyea

Chickie

Bun Bunny

Peter Rabbit

& Sheepy



Venturing to Oneida Shores

April 11, 2011

Even with his painful knee, Poppie is always up for a means of enlightening William's little world.  This warm day, we checked out the new playground at Oneida Shores while Nicholas was at pre-school. William especially enjoyed the rocking fish.

My, what a big mouth this one has!

This expression looks like he's thinking, "Did I ride that fish yet?"

As always, Poppie, William just loves your company, love and attention.

Ten Years from Now...

In days when I find myself struggling with getting through the basics of our "new life" ...with all its complexities, little things such as this piece of writing, re-instill that which is most important...

~

Ten years from now, it won't have mattered whether or not the sink was perfectly scrubbed.

Ten years from now it will have mattered that I stopped scrubbing the sink to listen to a problem they were having in school.

Ten years from now, it won't have mattered that the plates were chipped or that the cups were not a matched set.

Ten years from now, it will have mattered that we sat down at the table together, said a blessing, and shared stories about what happened that day.

Ten years from now, it won't have mattered that their books were scattered everywhere.

Ten years from now, it will have mattered that they loved to read and did so in every corner of the house.

Ten years from now, it won't have mattered if they ran off to school with wrinkled shirts or grass stains on their pants.

Ten years from now, it will have mattered that they were always told, "I love you. Have a great day!" as they dashed out the door - wrinkles, grass stains, and all.

Ten years from now, it won't have mattered that their beds were made haphazardly; that there were lumps under the covers and pillows left on the floor.

Ten years from now, it will have mattered that I leaned over their rumpled beds, kissed them goodnight and assured them that even as they slept, they were loved.

Ten years from now it won't have mattered that the couch was threadbare.

Ten years from now, it will have mattered that we sat on that couch and laughed until we cried – and that on that very same couch, I held them when they cried genuine tears of sadness.

Ten years from now, it won't have mattered if there were muddy footprints tracked through the house.

Ten years from now, it will have mattered that they ran with abandon, filled their lungs with fresh air, and connected with the wonder of nature.

Ten years from now, it won’t have mattered if I won every argument.

Ten years from now, it will have mattered that I lived my values.

Ten years from now, it won't have mattered that they didn't get everything they wanted.

Ten years from now, it will have mattered that their deepest needs were met.

Ten years from now, it won't have mattered that I wasn't a perfect parent.

Ten years from now, it will have mattered – and mattered deeply – that I was a present parent.

So today and every day, may I live in the moment with my children, with my eyes to their future.

And let me offer my children the gift of what will have mattered in ten years.

 

~ by Lauren Rosenfeld, M.A., M.Ed. ~

Early Saturday Mornings

Saturday March 26th
With two earlier risers in this house, there are plenty of days we are already downstairs and playing well before 7am.  Nicholas is so into his Legos he asks to "cuddle" with them when watching cartoons.  It's just a minor problem when then thing he wants to cuddle with is made of hundreds of tiny pieces of plastic all interconnected together.  After many tragedies with his rescue truck falling apart, he's now learned it needs to stay on a table for "cuddle time."
 

The bean box is back...and William loves it!

~ figuring it all out ~

Even for this stay-at-home-mom, I'm still trying to figure out why these early play mornings just feel more painful when they occur on weekends than weekdays.

Green milk, ring pops and legos!

March 17th

Right in line with our desire to be home for all holidays (haha), William was discharge two days before St. Patrick's Day.  We had a really fun day filled with green foods and finding some mischievous doings of a little leprechaun who apparently snuck in our house the night before (at least according to Nicholas).

Green is hands-down Nicholas' favorite color.  He loved adding food coloring to our morning milk and mixing away....but heaven forbid he drink his green concoction!  It sure took a lot of enticing to get him to eventually try it.

Our little leprechaun left a few trinkets for the boys.

After the tiniest of sips, Nicholas realized, "It still tastes just like regular milk!"

...and he was back for seconds....

KISS ME

....even if I'm not Irish!

The leprechaun's ring pops were a huge hit!

Nicholas' Lego assembly skills are rather impressive for a 4-year old...perhaps even a touch scary.  He put this city repair truck together with minimal assistance.  He's already talking about going to Lego conventions.

An afternoon topped off with ring pops and Legos makes one special memory for this momma and two boys!

Storms Drains...who knew they could be so fun!

March 17th

Our walk around the block was rather  s l o w  this day, after Nicholas introduced William to the fun of storm drains!

Instant FAN!

They'd search for rocks, leaves or sticks to toss down and wait to listen for the "plop."

completely mesmerized

Yup, and this was right around the time that Nicholas realized William had snatched his rock collection from the "trunk" of his tricycle....oooops.

Just one more plop...

"Yeahhh," the playground!

April 9, 2011

We had a beautifully sunny afternoon...the perfect day for our first trip to the playground for the season. Daddy and I captured some fun shots of the kids just being kids.

As Nicholas has been reminding us, spring is here...finally we had some nice springtime weather. 

As we pulled into the parking lot, William yelled, "yeahhh!" and clapped his hands - it was so precious!  He wasted no time in running to the stairs, like an old-time playground pro.

I'd say one of his favorite things was just trotting around independently on all the stairs.

Nicholas always enjoys exploring the little footbridge and creek at this playground.

~ another round up and down for William ~

Master of the rockwall!

"Watch-out...here I come!"

I'd definitely say William is going to be a huge playground fan this season...just like his brother!

He does so well being patient with these silly sunglasses.  William's eyes are very sensitive to sunlight because his pupils are often dilated.  His little button nose and his wide, large face have presented a sunglass challenge for this momma! 



Bitter-Sweet Milk

March 31, 2011

Finally did it...I dumped "the milk."
This is the breastmilk pumped during William's resection surgery hospitalization last February through March.  After multiple attempts to donate it, but to no avail, we now have the half of our deep freezer formerly consumed with frozen milk packets back for our use.

Gooey paint, a big mess and perfect afternoon fun...

A Mother Who Takes Time

(Author Unknown)

I hope my children

look back on today

and remember a mother

who took time to play.

There will be time

for cleaning and cooking

but children grow up

while we aren't looking.

March 29, 2011

Nicholas couldn't recall a painter's palette, so he told me, "Oh Mommy, just open every bottle of paint and let me take care of this project!  I know how to fix it."

There was a big master plan happening here, mainly consisting of color mixing. 

William just admires his big brother, no matter what we are doing.

fine art....

maybe not...

but certainly a fine afternoon of memories.