The great butterfly expirement

*****photo overload warning*****

Jazmine got a cat for her 4th birthday.  (Daddy blames Mommy...lol)  Seeing as we already have a very old ferret, a goldfish, and Jazmine's cat (who has a disease that can be transmitted to other cats if we were to get another) Mommy was not to open to the idea of a pet for Isaac for HIS 4th birthday.  But he sure is cute.  And persistent.

"Mommy, can I have a cat for my birthday?"
"No bubs, Socks will get another cat sick."
"How about a dog?"
"Our yard really isn't big enough, plus the cat might get him sick."
"Well, a guinea pig?"
"We already have spooky, I don't think we need another animal in a cage right now."
"How about a bunny rabbit."
"Again, cage not such a good idea."
"Well, a BIRD is a great idea.  I LOVE things that fly."
"The cat would probably not be nice to the bird, and again, it's another animal in a cage.  I really really really think we have enough animals for now. It'd be different if we had a bigger yard or a bigger house."
"Okay, Mommy....maybe next year."

So, after that bedtime conversation this mama felt like a big old scrooge and chatted with daddy.  He came up with a butterfly kit.  Isaac loves butterflies, loves things that fly, and the best part is that we would only have them for a little while.  Let me just say, it was a HUGE HIT!  Isaac LOVED it and is hoping for another shipment of caterpillars this summer.  :)

Here are some pics of the time we had them and then the release.  Oh, and he had to say goodbye to each and every one of them.  Which was ten since every caterpillar resulted in a butterfly.  :).... oh, and on the last pic, you have to look VERY closely to see it, but there is a butterfly on Isaac's shirt.  It absolutely made his day!!  <3

 

Cake baking time!

Well, this craft was supposed to be little cupcakes with a "carrot" and a bunny on top.  Since this mama is NOT a baker, and um, doesn't own cupcake pans, and my disposable ones were well, disposed off....I had to improvise.  So we made a cake.  The kids had a BLAST and think it's the best tasking cake ever....though I must admit, it's kinda gross.  haha

Backyard Silliness

The children LOVE the backyard.  And I love that I can let them just play and play.  They get muddy, they get filthy dirty, they strew stuff all over the yard, my laundry pile overflows on days they are outside, and my dining room (where the backdoor is) is a MESS.  The amount of stuff I sweep up is not for the faint of heart, I tell you that!  But they LOVE the yard, their imaginations run wild, they get lots of exercise, and they sleep well at night when they can play!  I even turned the storage shed into a "fort" for them so they can still be outside in Oregon's ever faithful rain.  :)  Here are a few pics of their outdoor adventures over the last couple weeks. 

Writing 101

Jazmine has always loved trying to write her letters, and basically taught herself.  She came to me one day last year after having written out her entire alphabet.  She asked me if she forgot any letters, and well, I was so shocked I almost couldn't answer her.  After picking my jaw up off the ground I was able to gather my thoughts and help her with a couple backwards letters.

I strongly feel that forcing anything upon a child will ultimately backfire.  I learned years ago that Isaac is his own child, not his sister.  So while he would rather be flooding my bathroom, climbing trees, taking things apart to try to put back together, I do my best to look at the learning in those moments.  (Not going to lie....you can only have a teaching moment with a flooded bathroom so many times before the last shred of patience is lost on that topic...lol.)

Just recently Isaac is finally interested in writing.  He has mastered the letter "I" and writes it on whatever he colors on.  It's absolutely adorable his new-found passion for the letter "I".  For the rest of the letters, well, he will enjoy about 5 minutes a day of tracing time.  I found a couple of cool websites where I can make custom tracing pages for them, and both kids LOVE it.  I write stories for Jaz (like "once upon a time" type stuff) and Isaac just wants to do his name.  Here are a couple pics of the kids enjoying writing time.    

Beach Vacation OVERLOAD

So we took an impromptu trip to the beach a few days ago.  We managed to hit up the coast from Lincoln City all the way to Bandon.  Newport and Florence were our overnight stays, the other beaches were stop offs along the way.  The children had a blast.  We ate at a cute little diner in Florence where the kids got to sit in a 55 Chevy Bel-Air that was made into a table.  They loved it!  (No pics of that, sorry!)  We stopped and did a lot of playing on the beach, hit up the Newport Aquarium, and even stopped by their favorite playground in Bandon.  It was nice to get away for a couple days, though since we weren't planning a trip, I am now busy playing catch-up.  Haha!  TOTALLY worth it, though!  Here are a few (okay, okay, I'll admit it...A LOT) of pics of our couple days away.

Poor, poor, poor blogger!  I was overloading it with all my pics!!!  Okay, here are a few, more posted later, and PLENTY more on Facebook very soon!!!