Butterflies, Chicks & Webkinz, OH MY!

We have had a BUSY weekend! Our butterflies have emerged from their cocoons, we are babysitting baby chicks for a friend of mine that had them in her preschool and we have been participating in Webkinz activities.

Morgan got a butterfly hut for her birthday. It's been about 3 weeks now since the larvae arrived on our doorstep and now we are ready to release the butterflies. We do need to wait for a nice warm day to make sure they survive. Morgan still thinks that her Monarch butterflies that we released last fall come to visit her :-)

My friend, Laura, puts chicken eggs in an incubator every year for her preschool classroom. This year they had 4 eggs hatch. She has a new baby at home and really didn't want to take them home over the weekend, so of course I volunteered. Morgan has been such a big helper. She sits by them and talks to them, pets them and begs me to "hold them just one more time." I have to admit that I have enjoyed having them here too!! Ava doesn't really care for them, but she doesn't mind them either. Izzy just sniffs at them and walks away. On Monday morning they will go back to preschool and I am sure will be moving to their "forever home" sometime this week where they will go on to lead the life of a chicken laying eggs for the rest of us to eat!

This weekend is also Webkinz Extravaganza. We have 2 stores in town that sell Webkinz. They have had games and prizes since Friday. Morgan spent Friday with a friend since their was no school. She got to enjoy a day of Webkinz activities with her friend and came home with a new Webkinz pet named Pep. I didn't know what Webkinz were until a few months ago when she got one for her birthday. Now, we are slightly addicted. Between Morgan and Ava we have 7 different pets. If you have kids and don't know what they are you need to check out the website. She has adopted her pets online and has the virtual pet on the website, along with bedrooms, furniture, food and everything. She has to feed them, take care of them and play with them so they stay healthy. She earns Webkinz cash by playing games. I have to admit sometimes after the kids go to bed I play the games too!!

Check this out!

Watch this video and tell me.....how many of you would take this hike?

What the manuals don't tell you about raising kids

All about POOP! For those of you that have read my blog you know we have had issues with poop in the bathtub. For those that know me personally - you know that with kids poop seems to be the topic of conversation frequently. Well, today we stepped outside to look at some baby animals that Morgan found (dead unfortunately) and Ava began walking around. Next thing I know she is reaching down for something (almost in slow motion) but way too fast for me to react in any way but yell, NOOOOO!!! She reaches down and there it is fresh in the yard......dog doo doo!!!! Gag, gag, cough, cough. Once she did it there was nothing I could do but grab her and run inside to the bathroom and throw her in the tub (clothes and all) as fast as I could (praying that she doesn't decide that now would be a good time to suck her thumb). Yes, we got her cleaned up just in time and I am pretty sure she realized what she did wasn't a good idea because she was trying to get it off her hands. What ever happened to the leash laws?? And for those of you that have the "don't poop in my yard" signs posted near your house, I am pretty sure the dogs can't read!! So....what have we learned from this? Inspect your yard before letting the newly walking one year old loose in the yard!

Comments anyone? I would love to hear your opinions on this topic :-)

Kitchen Helper

Ava and Morgan both love helping in the kitchen. I find it easier to get things done like cooking and cleaning when they are kept busy with something. Most days, when I am cooking, I will set Ava on the counter to watch or play with spoons & spatulas. This is what she decided to do as I was unloading/loading the dishwasher and trying to make supper on Sunday!

12 Weeks to Better Photos - Week 2

Ok, so I think I have perfected lesson 2. It was on ISO, shutter speed and aperture. ISO is film speed. You choose your film speed depending on the lighting available. Shutter speed is how quick or slow the shutter opens and closes. You can create different images based on how quick the image is captured or how slow it is captured. I took the following pictures to practice ISO and shutter speed. ISO was 1600 due to being indoors and in low light. Shutter speed varied from 1 second to 1/1000 of a second.

Do you see how the water looks like it is running down the glass or kind of blurred? The shutter took longer to open and close - about 1 second

In the second picture the shutter closed much quicker. 1/200 of a second. It froze the image much faster so you can see all the water droplets.

If you are interested in 12 Weeks to Better Photography just click on the link to check it out.

Crafty Sunday

Most of our day today was spent in the art room creating! You see, last night after the kids went to bed I decided to scrapbook. It has been MONTHS since I have gotten any pages done. Well, when Morgan woke up this morning and saw I had scrapbooked without her I was in trouble! Below are some pictures of our projects. Notice the bad hair on both the girls.....obviously we didn't make it to church today or even decide that we needed to clean up or brush our hair :-)

This little person (who apparently is me) has been perfected since taking the picture. She now includes a dog (Izzy) on a leash and a second person (Morgan) holding my hand.

May Day baskets we made with a kit that Morgan gets sent to us monthly from Sweetwater Kids Club

Ava playing in the toy room, as you can see pulling all the puzzles off the shelf and of course not putting them back together again!

Flashback from the 80's (pause music at bottom to hear video)

Who loves Caddyshack? Stupid, yes, but soooo funny! I had a little flashback of Caddyshack tonight. Watch the following video and see if you can figure it out!





Have you figured it out yet? Ok, let me give you a clue.....the girls were taking a bath and I was busy cleaning the bathroom, not really paying much attention, when I hear Morgan yell, "EEEWWWW, MOOOOOOOOM" Of course I ignore her, because I am BUSY CLEANING! A couple seconds later, "MOM, EEEWWWW, POOP! Ava pooped!" Ok, that got my attention! Quickly, I got the girls out of the tub and dried off, but those of you that have kids know that it doesn't end there. I'm sure I don't need to go into the details, but drain the tub, pick up the "stuff" carefully in toilet paper and flush then begin to clean and disinfect. Of course we can't just disinfect the tub, we have to take out EVERY SINGLE TOY that is in the tub. Now in my house that includes old plastic hand soap bottles, foam letters (26 in the alphabet), squirt fish, etc. etc. Just another day in the life of being a mommy!!

Fun pics from the week

Not the best picture with True Value in the background, but I took this after the storms last week.

"Mommy, can I take this for a spin?"

"Let's go!"

"No I didn't turn the TV off again, it was Morgan!"

"Don't move or I'll shoot!"
Good oral hygiene

Thoughts for the day

Time can bring you down.

"Time is a companion that goes with us on a journey. It reminds us to cherish each moment, because it will never come again. What we leave behind is not as important as how we have lived."
- Patrick Stewart

Live each day, every single day, with the understanding that one does not necessarily lead into the other. Hug your family. Tight. Put aside What Does Not Matter. Tomorrow could be a completely new kind of normal.


I came across a new blog while "surfing" the other day and wanted to share it with you all. It was both inspirational and heart wrenching at the same time. I couldn't help but cry while reading, so get your tissues ready and be prepared to spend some time taking it all in. This woman is an amazing photographer, as well as a mother who recently lost her precious 3 year old daughter to a preventable accident. You can view her blog here Sheye Rosemeyer Photoblog She really puts things into perspective and makes me want to spend every second of the day with my girls, love them and keep them close.

Spring Storms

I love Spring! I especially love spring storms. I am a little bit of a freak about watching the weather channel, especially during storm season. I love http://www.twistersisters.com/ and looking at their pictures. They use to have a show on WE about chasing tornadoes. Dana and I have talked about wanting to go on a chase sometime, but will probably have to wait until the girls are bigger. Yeah, crazy, I know. I know some of you have probably experienced devastating storms, living in tornado alley. I don't know what it is about it that draws me to storms. Tornadoes, lightening, and rain can be both beautiful and devastating at the same time. Maybe it's the thrill of the chase. Even when I am watching storms and tornado warnings on TV I find myself getting a little excited when a severe storm or tornado warning is active for our county. At the same time, it saddens me when a devastating tornado hits a populated area like Greensburg, KS last year. 95% of their town was destroyed. You can click on the following link for Aeriel photos of the damage. http://www.kansas.com/static/slides/050507tornadoaerials/

As I write this entry we are in the middle of a thunderstorm warning for our county. Not too bad, but straight line winds have knocked over our trash can, play equipment and patio furniture. And there is something strange in my tree that wasn't there before. I think it's a big chunk of cardboard or something. Below you will find some of my favorite pictures off of the Twister Sisters web-site. Amazing that they were able to get that close to take such beautiful pictures.






As I close for today, I am hoping for an active Spring full of thrilling and exciting weather, yet the safety of all those affected.

Fun Spring Day

I love Spring! I especially love when the flowers start to bloom, the grass turns green and the birds and bugs come out. No, I don't like bugs, but Morgan does! She absolutely LOVES to search for bugs and play in the dirt and do all those things that you would normally think a little boy should be doing. Actually, one of her best friends is a boy!

Have you ever stepped outside and said, "It smells like rain?" Well today was like that, but it smelled like Spring! It was a beautiful 70 degree day. We spent the day outside as much as we could. After Morgan's Spring program at church we went home and got on our outside clothes, loaded up the stroller and bike and went to the pond. Today was also a perfect day to feed the fish. We like to take bread to throw into the pond and watch the fish surface for a snack. Morgan gets so excited watching them and listening to them eat. Have you ever heard fish eat bread before? It is so funny! Make a fish face with your mouth and then smack your fish lips like you are giving someone a kiss. That's what fish sound like when they are eating. We also saw turtles swimming and a big frog floating in the water. When we got home Morgan enjoyed playing on the trampoline and Ava played in the sand.

For those of you that have sand boxes or even spend time at the beach - it might be a good idea to talk to your older children and remind them that putting sand down their sister's pants is NOT FUNNY! Especially when they are still in diapers! As you can imagine, both the girls needed a bath after today, but poor Ava was covered in sand. And I would have to say that I have never seen that much sand in a diaper before! Didn't seem to bother her a bit. I think with both my girls, the dirtier the better!!

SMILE!

Never frown because you never know who is falling in love with your SMILE!!

Morgan has been covered with tooth fairy dust yet again! It is amazing how the simplest things in life can make a little girl so happy! I think I get just as excited as Morgan for the tooth fairy to come because I get to see the look on her face when she wakes up in the morning to discover the new crisp dollar bill that was left for her. Not only that, but knowing that my little girl is still just a little girl and believes in the magic! I know that someday it will end for her so I have to enjoy it as long as I can.