I shouldn't be blogging

I should be cleaning. But oh well. ;) I feel guilty about not keeping up with blogging this week so sacrifices must be made.

Tuesday, thankfully, everyone was well enough for us to go to EcoArts. We took old fence planks, cut them up into 5"x5" squares, pounded nails around the outside edge, and voila, had ourselves some looms. We wove our "fabric" from recycled tights and nylons. Yes, you read that right. We cut discarded hosiery into rings (horizontally across the legs) and then looped each ring around the nails. We found that a pair of little girl tights works best for the 5"x5" shape. Adult nylons or tights may need a slightly larger loom. Now, the first two things DH said when he saw my sample were "What is it?" and "Why are you making that?" but the children had no such questions. Everyone had a great time and Cassia now has several new My Little Pony blankets. They have been taking a lot of naps since Tuesday. But if you really want something constructive to do with them, you could use one as a coaster or sew several together to make a pot holder. Just be careful you don't pick up something so hot with them that you melt the nylon! The adults there all raved and said it was the best project yet. :) It is quite addictive once you start weaving. Give it a try!

Wednesday was Greyson's 2nd Birthday!!!! Hooray for Greyson!! We had a great day. We met DH for lunch at a park near his work (secondary facility of his company that's about 20 min from our house, in case you were confused by the logistics there) and ate In-N-Out and chocolate cupcakes. Then we did a little hiking in the park and discovered a little pond/reservoir/natural spring. We're not sure what it was really, but it was fenced in and there were some koi and a turtle in it. It flowed down through the rest of the park in cute little streams with cute little wooden bridges over it and the whole thing was just absolutely irresistible. DH had to go back to work but we kept on investigating the water sources. Cameron figured out that there was a second stream flowing down and we had to discover where that was coming from too. And then we found another trail and hiked until our sandaled feet could not take the incline any longer. Everyone was high on the spirit of exploration and adventure. It was a good day.

On our way back to the car, we stumbled across the Marin History Museum which happened to be home to a train exhibitition! What luck!



We still had a few minutes until our meter ran out so we spent a bit in there. They had this cute little kids' section with toy trains set up and lots of art supplies. C & C both made train tracings which they cut out, decorated, and made into presents for Greyson. :) It was so sweet. He's really gotten into trains over the last month so it was incredibly thoughtful of them to do that, I thought.

Today, Thursday, we started the day with Grey's 2-yr old check up. He lost a few pounds from his illness last week but other than that all looks well. I jokingly asked the ped for some tranquilizers for C&C because they were being their usual silly selves, but she only consoled (?) me by saying that her 8 and 11 year old daughters still act that same way together. Oh goody. I really was under the impression that they would grow out of this someday. Maybe when they're 18. ;) No, they really weren't that bad - they just have no concept of either indoor voices or sitting still.

Next was ballet which we barely made it on time to and then we took a "field trip" to the farm. The kids had a great time helping me pick out the veggies and weighing them and then we went and looked at the chickens for a while. (Many of them were missing the feathers on their back. Is this something I should worry about as far as their eggs are concerned?) On the way home, Cameron asked me if I could make pancakes for lunch and I thought that that might just be the perfect use for what was left of that single pint of tiny little strawberries that we were lucky enough to get. And I was right. Mmmmmm. Strawberry pancakes!

For school, aside from all the wonderful learning that went on at the doctor's office and the farm (oh I didn't mention that at the pediatrician's Cassia and Greyson spent a lot of time learning all the fruits and vegetables on the nutrition chart and that Cameron read all the signs to them: phonics & science right there.) I read You Wouldn't Want to be a Slave in Ancient Greece to them while they played with LEGOs. I figured that was good enough for the day and then set off to work making Greyson's birthday cake. We're having a little party for him tomorrow at Favorite Park Day so I'm making him a dairy-free Thomas the Tank Engine cake. Here's the recipe I'm using. I hope it's good. :) And I hope I don't totally mangle a perfectly good cake trying to make it into a train. I really should watch less Ace of Cakes. It fills me with delusions of grandeur. ;)

OK, I can no longer put off straightening up the kitchen and getting dinner started. Hasta pasta!