Still Sick

A few weeks ago Cali had fifth disease (actually Cori had it too) and it seemed like it took forever to get rid of it.

As a follow up, it seems that Cori caught some sort of influenza, then passed it on to Cali who passed it on to Cassi. It provides worrisome fevers, extreme crabbiness, hellacious coughs and annoying sneezing that doesn't seem to subside. It's so fun.

Cori missed 2 and 1/2 days of school since hers started on a weekend. Cali may never be the same kid again I'm afraid. We all fear there will never be an end to her crabbiness. And Cassi is on her 3rd day home from school with a cough that racks her whole body.

To make things a little better we decided we were due a muffin tin lunch today. We had to make a quick trip to Fred's and we saw these fun orange muffin tins on the clearance rack. $4.00 was too good a deal to pass up so we bought them.

On the way home Cassi decided what to put in them for lunch. She chose green eggs,(I think St. Patrick's Day and Dr. Suess's birthday were on the brain) sausage and toast. I thought it would be fun having breakfast for lunch since they had cereal this morning so we went with it.

I added green yogurt, cut up pears and I threw in some cupcakes while I was cooking lunch. I iced them with green and orange and added them to tin. We had a good time and it made everyone a little happier but just a wee bit!

Cassi had fun being super silly posing for pictures. Cali just wanted to get to those cupcakes!





If you want to see more great muffin tin ideas go check out Her Cup Overfloweth on Mondays. There is fun stuff there!

Boogs-got a haircut

He's wiggly and won't sit long for a picture but here are a couple. He looks like a handsome little man, doesn't he?

Dissecting Salmon

The girls had the opportunity to dissect salmon at school today. Scott and I were supposed to volunteer in the classroom however he ended up having to go to work at the last minute.

Fortunately we had a little surprise planned for Cassi and so he did get to participate although it was a little differently than one might expect.

It turns our that Scott will not be here for Cassi's actual birthday. Well actually he may be in by that night but even that is up in the air currently. She is a bit sad about this. Also, her birthday usually falls over Spring Break so it's not often that we end up taking cupcakes or treats to her class. It just doesn't seem to happen.

He and I talked the other day about the fish dissecting thing and figured it would be great fun if we made a cake that looked like a salmon and hid some surprises inside, relevant to the dissection of said fish. Then we took it a step further and decided we could make it a special thing for her birthday since he might not be here that day. Really it was just a little something extra to make up for her sadness.

Well, it was a hit! Daddy decorator came through once more. One never really knows another's true hidden talents, do they?

Dissecting the real fish was a little touch and go as Cassi is feeling a little under the weather, in. fact everyone is. Still she enjoyed it, cautiously.

We didn't tell her about bringing in the cake but we OK'd it with her teacher. When she came into her class the cake was at her desk.

Scott went about explaining it just like they'd taught the dissection earlier in the day.
There were salmon eggs inside; our fish was female. There was also some waste in the vent.

I never really doubted the fact that it would be a hit but it makes my heart sing when my girls feel special. Especially when we manage to do something unique and fun. Plus, if we can be cool parents for just a little longer, well that is just 'icing on the cake'!

Night Sledding.

You won't really know all of these folks but I think these pictures are fun. If you click on them they will get larger and you can see some of the things that made me giggle.

This gal was trying to slow her sled down but ended up spewing snow in her daughter's face which made her daughter VERY unhappy.
This was the only shot of Cali remotely close to sledding all night. And we had her on nearly flat ground. Just not her thing tonight!

This is a shot of Cassi after nearly taking out a little boy who walked into the sledding path. She started out sitting upright and when she noticed him she laid herself out to the right and sent herself into a spin to avoid hitting him. Here she is lying motionless trying to get her heart rate back down where it belongs I think. Sweet Girl!

This picture I loved for the grins on the first two girls in the picture. Cori is in the front. You can't really see either of their eyes but the smiles are reflecting almost as bright as Em's glove. When you make it bigger it will be quite clear what fun they are having. Amber was behind the two of them giggling too, you just can't see her face.

This Dad cracked me up. He was really enjoying the time with his kids and it was rather infectious to be around. I couldn't help but smile each time he came down with them.

Cali's happiness from earlier in the day vanished in the night wind. :(
She has been quite sick so I've got to give her a little leeway. She was also cold and didn't want to get covered with snow coming down on a sled.

She did enjoy the hot chocolate I brought along

but quickly decided sitting in the car watching a video on her DVD player would be a far better experience. How 'bought her little friend. I think his mood needs little explanation.

And this one too! Don't you just love her hat?

Cori brought along her snowboard. She is just learning how to fall actually.


I hear it is the place to start. She has a long way to go but seems determined. I hope she sticks with it. It just seems like it 's something she should do.

Hopefully the weather holds out and the wind dies down. The kids are already bugging me to go again tomorrow. Anybody want to come along? I'll bring the hot chocolate!

It's a Happy Day!

The Unplugged theme this week is HAPPY. This made me grin just thinking about the broad range of interpretation we are bound to see from everyone.

Cori had a friend over today; we have the day off from school. After eating homemade biscuit donuts (Yeah, I know, I'm great huh :) I told them about the theme. Some times they are really into it and others not so much. Today they looked at me and their eyes screamed "Yeah, so what!". Knowing Cali needed some attention from them I told them how HAPPY Cali would be if they would be willing to do a simple project with her.

I saw Rainbows made from marshmallows at No Time For Flashcards the other day and knew it would be a perfectly simple project for her. I was equally aware that the older ones would not appreciate it near as much as she would.

Regardless, I forged ahead, showed them what I had and set them loose. Cori did not enjoy it much. She made her rainbow from sharpies instead claiming she really dislikes marshmallows.

Cassi and Alli made do with it and made their own versions both of which were cute.


And Cali really loved it as much as I knew she would. The thing that made her the happiest however was EATING all the marshmallows.


It has been really sunny here today albeit windy enough to send us to OZ. Still, Cori needed to be outside to be HAPPY today.

I found her falling backwards, over and over, into the soft thick snow. She was thrilled with herself and having a grand time. She gets angry at me for taking pictures but I loved the ones I got.

Cassi's happiest moment today was likely to be the minute she realized she was going to LOVE the new flooring Daddy is installing in her room.

She wasn't real sure when I told her about it and was concerned she wouldn't like it as much as carpet. Now that she has seen it going in, HOT DOG, she is bouncing around everywhere.

So, all in all, a VERY HAPPY, unplugged day with the best yet to come. Night sledding with friends from school, tonight. Keep your fingers crossed we don't blow away!

Green & Gold, Glittery Gooey Fun,

Yesterday was our day to host preschool with our friends. Cali looks forward to her preschool days more than just about anything. And when it is her week to have it at her house, whoa baby!

We decided it was a bit too early to really get our friends excited about St. Patrick's day (even though we are!) so we went with the letter G as our theme. And to tell you the truth, it may have been the best week I've ever hosted. The kids loved the projects, they were into the books we chose and had more fun with snack than ever before.

We started our day making 'GREEN GOO'. I saw this idea here at Ramblings of a Crazy Woman.

I made one batch the night before and it turned out real well. Cori helped me make another batch before leaving for school that morning and it was more like a silly putty texture.




When I tried to get Cali to help with the 1st batch I made she was completely grossed out (in a fun way) and I got such a kick out of it that I decided to wait and make the last batch with the kids during preschool time. I AM SO GLAD I DID! They were hysterical; whipping some science up, Bill Nye style! Aren't these pictures too funny.

We also made some glittery green G's which I saw here at No Time For Flashcards

I swear I really do have ideas of my own. :) It's just that when I need something specific, these gals really come through for me.

I made a muffin tin snack for the kids too.

I used green grapes, baked snap peas, celery with peanut butter and Scrabble Cheez It's. I pulled several G's from the box before everyone arrived. They piled some crackers on their plate then I dropped a couple G's in the pile when they weren't looking. We played a bingo-like game looking for G's which then turned into everyone taking turns calling letters to find. They loved this game. I couldn't get them away from the table.

After snack we made grasshoppers in the grass with our thumbprints.

They even enjoyed that far more than I expected. I told them they were creating a story that they could read to their families. I wrote "Grasshoppers in the Grass" on their papers and had them read them to me. I know it worked for Cali since she was reading it again to me this morning as she was folding it up to mail to Grandma.

Lastly we planted grass for the kids to take home. Scott found some cute little plastic buckets for the kids to use. We put some rocks in the bottom, filled it with a soil mix. Added some grass seeds with a tiny bit of dirt over them and sprayed it down. Cali's bucket is residing in near the front window which gets nice sunlight. I am hoping the kids see some sprouts by our next preschool day. We decorated the buckets with stickers.

I haven't a clue what my next theme will be; I've not decided yet. I'm a bit fearful I won't top this day. I am 'G'rateful for it though! :)

Unplug Your Kids-Creating with Bottles

This weeks unplugged theme was BOTTLE. I had an idea right away; one we have done before but simple enough for Cali and fun for the older kids too!

We've saved these small green bottle since New Year's Eve. They were from individual servings of sparkling cider. The kids loved drinking them and we all thought the bottles were great too.

I gave the kids several shades of green tissue paper and had them Mod Podge torn strips of paper to the bottle.

I made one with them; here are the 4 after one round of paper and glue.

The next day we decided to finish them. Wren had spent the night so her finsihed mine to take home to the big city. We were all quite tired from our late night performance and it shows.




While we were spending time our down time in the green room that afternoon we made some tissue paper flowers for Laura, our director. I borrowed one to take a photo although we are on a mission to find a lovely orange bloom to put in each vase.

It's starting to look a wee bit like St. Patrick's Day around here.