Day 14 - A Walk to Town

Today the girls & I headed into town since the weather seemed to be holding back the rain. We had a few errands to run but after we took care of those, we made a stop at the river to see the swans & the ducks! Photographing an almost 2 year old who seems intent on joining the swans in the river is no easy feat when you don't have another person with you to grab her when she starts climbing on the ledge. It didn't help matters that I was a bit more nervous about the water than I normally am, as the current seemed very fast & the water level was probably about 2 feet higher than it usually is (which also meant the swans were 2 feet closer!).

Day 13 - A Taste of Spring

The weather today was fairly mild, so the girls & I spent some time outside after Anna was home from school. Needless to say, bedtime was very easy today :)

Day 12 - A Reason to LOVE the rain

Day 9 - Blue Skies

With the seemingly ever present grey fog that sits over the UK during the winter, you learn very quickly to embrace what little sun there is even if it is a bit chilly to be out at the park!

Day 7 - Homemade Fun!

I was getting a little stir crazy today with the girls, so I decided I needed an activity that would occupy them for the last hour before dinner. Luckily earlier in the week I had remembered to ask my Mum to email me the recipe for homemade playdough that she used to make for us as children! So I pulled out the recipe, whipped up a batch (using almost every ounce of salt we had left in the house!), colored it into 3 different balls and let the girls have some fun.



Maya wasn't heeding my advice about not eating the playdough (perfectly safe to eat, just not very pleasant due to the amount of salt!) and as a result she spent much of the next hour like this:



Since the girls had so much fun with the playdough and it really costs very little to make, not to mention the benefit of having enough of each color for multiple children to play with and avoid the sibling fights (an hour of peaceful playing=priceless!!), I thought I would share the recipe!

Homemade Playdough (requires stovetop cooking):

2 cups flour
1 cup salt
2 cups water
2 tablespoons oil
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
Food colouring of choice (I used gels, but liquids work well too)

Cook mixture in pan over medium heat, stirring all the time to prevent sticking.
Removed from heat when mixtures comes away from sides of pan. If you want different colors, separate mix and then add colour to each ball. Knead and store in airtight container. Keeps very well!

Day 3 - Snack Time

Day 2 - The Playground

The girls & I decided to take advantage of some nice (read: not totally grey & overcast when we LEFT the house) weather and head to the playground after running a few errands. Miss A decided that she was big enough for a regular swing and Miss M was not too impressed with having cold hands (note to self: remember to carry gloves/mittens for her wherever I go!!). All in all though they got to run out some energy, I got a much needed cup of coffee from the base coffee shop, and we all got some fresh air for a change!

73/365 - Beautiful

The title says it all...

71/365 - A Day At the Park

Not sure who had more fun today at the playground: the parents or the children?







All 6 children together on the swings!

69/365 - Curiosity Killed The Cat

Today Los & I spent a little time cleaning out papers and other assorted items that used to be in our car. One of the assorted items was an Atomic Fireball candy that we had picked up on a previous road trip. For those that are unfamiliar with the candy, it tastes like cinnamon until it starts to get very very hot - hence the name :) Well, Miss A, even though she was told to leave the stuff from the car alone, managed to get her hands on one, opened the wrapper and came out of the kitchen as she was putting it in her mouth.



The next sentence out of her mouth as she handed the Fireball to Los was "I need aqua Daddy" :)

68/365 - Time with Friends

We were blessed with a beautiful spring day today, so Miss A's friend (another Miss A) came over to play today. Time was spent on the playground, running around, and even playing with bubbles!



After the play date, our friends kindly invited us over for another BBQ so I offered to bring brownies (still cleaning out the pantry!!). Of course Miss A jumped at the chance to help again and had move the stool to the counter before I could even grab the bowl! She then promptly instructed me to get my camera - I think I might be creating a cooking diva! :)



Also just for fun, I played with the processing on theses photos a little - I'm feeling a little nostalgic with the impending move and needed to reflect that in the pictures.

67/365 - Dinner Differences

As we're getting closer & closer to our move, I'm realizing that my blog posts might not fall on the day they're supposed to but I am still taking the photos and I will post as I can!

Dinner yesterday was a perfect example of how different our girls are. Miss M will eat anything we put in front of her as quickly as she possible can get it in her mouth.



On the other hand, Miss A sometimes needs a little convincing. Last night that took the form of a promise of a bite of brownie if she ate all of her dinner. Magically, all of her food disappeared! :)

66/365 - The Quiet Moments

Lately I have realized that we 2 children under 3, we have very few quiet moments (big shock, right?!). Unfortunately this often translates to missing moments with Miss A or Miss M because the craziness of everyday life takes over. For that reason, I'm learning to really appreciate the few moments that I have one on one with either Miss A or Miss M. Today was one of those days with Miss M. Just a few quiet minutes during snack time while Miss A was off playing with Uncle Knute & Daddy.



And I have 2 questions for you: When did Miss M get to be so big and have so much personality? And to those who have daughters, where do all the hair clips go? With 2 daughters with CRAZY hair, hair clips are a must and I couldn't find any during the week so we went to Target and got 2 new sets of clips - well in the course of 1.5 days, we've already lost 2 and have misplaced one entire sheet of clips!!! How does that happen?

65/365 - Just a little taste

(Note: These were actually taken yesterday, just not posted!)

We our moving rapidly approaching, we are in the final "pantry clearing" phase. During that process, I discovered several baking mixes that needed to be used up so I decided to make brownies. Miss A very quickly announced that she would be helping to make them and pulled the stool right up to the counter to get in the mix! Even though she was still in her pjs, I though adding the apron would be a good idea. Plus it made her look even more adorable!



And, of course, she got to lick the spoon at the end and she made sure not to miss any of the chocolate!

64/365 - An Almost Daily Event

Most days when the girls wake from quiet time, Miss A insists that we call Ammie (my mum). Miss A doesn't mean that we should use the phone, instead she wants me to get out the laptop so that we can Skype with Ammie. Some days there isn't much talking and all Miss A really wanted was to say hi, but other days she tells Ammie about everything she can think!

62/365 - Sunlight

So I didn't take these photos today - truth be told, I took my point & shoot camera with me to the mall play area with the girls today, and I just couldn't bring myself to post any of the photos I took! These are from 2 days ago and I just had to share Miss M. The evening light is just beautiful. Another thing to love about these spring days!

60/365 - Another Sunny Day!

It's always great when Los can get home early enough to play with the girls for a little - especially now that it's staying light out later and we've had such beautiful weather. This is when living next to the playground pays off!

59/365 - Playground Smiles

They love to climb. They love to swing. They love to slide. They love the sun!

57/365 - Afternoon Light

Today we were lucky enough to have a beautiful sunny day and because the girls' room is on the back of the house, it gets wonderful afternoon light. I couldn't pass up the opportunity to take a few photos when the girls woke up from naptime.

56/365 - Tea Time

We've all been busy getting ready for our move to the UK and today Miss M joined in on the fun. Since England is known for drinking tea, she decided she needed to perfect the art of making tea!