My Valentines Leftovers

Norah and I played Go Fish and Memory with a box of leftover Valentines. She had so much fun with them!

We bought the box after Valentines Day (originally thinking we'd do something creative with them for her My Little Pony birthday party, which didn't happen) and cut apart each Valentine. The box, like every other Valentines-in-a-box that you can buy in February, came with 2 cards in each of 7 designs. We played a few rounds of Go Fish this afternoon, and then I showed her how to use them to play Memory, which she took to her room for quiet time. Once she's tired of playing games with the cards we'll probably cut them up and make a collage of her favorite ponies.

 

 

My Little One is FIVE!!!

Norah Lynn Renae is five!

Really and truly. She asked me in the car this morning if she was going to Kindergarten tomorrow. She figured that she can start Kindergarten now that she's five. I had to break it to her that she starts with everyone else in August.

 

We celebrated her birthday yesterday by attending Toby's first baseball practice (it's SPRING here!!!), eating lots of olives and pickles, and then going out to Chopstix for "slippery noodle soup."

Happy happy birthday, Norah!!

My Party Girl

I don't think I can believe the rumors. Mean, nasty rumors that say my baby girl is going to be five this week. I think I am just going to ignore them and enjoy Norah as she is, at four.

Her on-the-street fashion sense is easily the best in the family. She even has a pet monkey, which is all the rage these days. (P.S. She is also sporting wings in this outfit that you can't see in the picture.)

Her birthday party on Saturday was just a glorified play date, really, and she had so much fun. She gets along well with everyone in her class. Even while hoarding cookies in her cheeks like a chipmunk.

She loves to take random pictures of her family, usually when they are unaware, or sneaking something like a lollipop.

She loves surprises, parties, and discovering new things.

She can wear a crown with such confidence that no one thinks to ask, "What's the occasion?" and instead they assume, "She is some fancy princess so we must give her ice cream and strawberries with every meal!"

We love this little bug so much, and she is such a light in our family!

My Kids Fall Asleep in Weird Positions

Norah wanted to go back to a crib. This was her solution:

No, she did not spend the entire night in that little box, although she wanted to, and was disappointed to discover upon waking that she was in her bed.

Toby likes to read before falling asleep. Sometimes he's so tired that he falls asleep while attempting to turn out his book lights.

My Night to Cook: a journey in photos

We made an attempt to cook the fish one Tuesday, while the Philosopher worked late. It was... interesting.

I made this loaf of bread first:

Then Norah helped me bread the fillets.

 

I had to document each kiddo trying a bite of fish:

 

And after all that, this is mainly what we ended up eating for dinner:

From now on we're letting the Philosopher handle the fish frying (and baking and stewing and ... everything else).

My First Aquarium Visit

We are so excited about our new aquarium passes!!

I went for the first time with the kids this week, and we were able to take my cousin and his family along too. It was so cool! There were touch pools and sharks and an octopus just like the Mystic Aquarium. But there were also tons of jellyfish, turtles, a play area, and lots of places to explore (and get lost in.... Thankfully we all stuck together on this trip and we didn't lose anyone!).

 There is a really neat area where you can experience being "in" a wave. Norah and I spent a while there, watching the wave crash over us.

We also (of course) spent time being goofy for the camera. Toby's cousin, Tova, is adorably in love with whales, and they even got to see some grey whales while they were here on vacation!

After a few hours at the aquarium we worked up an appetite for huge plates of chicken fingers and some fish tacos. Wahoo!