Tea parties are a frequent occurrence at our house.
I hosted a busy bag exchange for some moms in the preschool group. Got lots of good stuff to keep toddlers busy, and they are educational too! Here are the kids stringing beads onto pipe cleaners.
Practicing letter writing on a dry-erase book. I am debating whether to teach him cursive writing before learning manuscript print, as it is supposed to be easier and helps with reading too. I think he is left-handed like me, but sometimes still uses his right hand.
Blessing our house on the Feast of the Epiphany. In chalk above the door we wrote, 20 + C + M + B + 13 which stands for Christus Mansionem Benedicat ( Latin for "Christ bless this house"). Then we said a prayer, and sprinkled holy water on the front door. We celebrated with a crown cake for dessert!
Lucy bonding with her siblings...
And her daddy :) I need to have Alex take some pictures of me with her. I am usually the one holding the camera!
We attended a Lego birthday party in January. It was very cute, and there were even Lego shaped crayons for coloring :)
On the anniversary of Roe v. Wade we prayed for the unborn, and made this cute elephant hand print craft from Horton Hears a Who.
It was a pretty mild winter, but we did get out and make one snowman this year :)
And Alex got to go out and help daddy shovel during the biggest storm.
The kids also made a cute paper plate snowman craft.
We have been doing a few activities with the homeschooling families from our parish, as well as families that are part of the larger Denver-area group. One of the moms is hosting an art class. During the first class the little ones painted, while the bigger kids learned more about color blending. A few were also interested in learning about sketching. Luckily the mom has her masters in Art Education!
During our last Faith and Culture event, we took the kids around the sanctuary to show them the Stations of the Cross, and then they tried to make a crucifix out of play-dough and modeling clay.
Alex, with his fascination of space and planets, decided to make Mercury (complete with craters) instead :)
With all the fun things the kids have been doing, we thought Lucy needed a little social time too. Leah and Ethan came over for dinner one night, and the babies hung out on the floor. Can't wait til they can play together!
The kids love these bath paints. They can't have bubble baths with Mary's eczema, so this keeps them entertained for awhile :)
Mary Clare turned 2 in February! It was a busy weekend full of parties and fun! We had a kid party on
Saturday, and then had a combined party for Mary and Bobby's b-day at my parents house the next day. Looking forward to all that this year brings!She is starting to get into princess stuff now, and loved her magnetic princess "paper dolls" gift. Her favorite princess is Snow White, and she gets so excited to wear her Snow White pjs every night.
We did a snowflake theme, and the kids made a craft stick snowflake before we had cupcakes.
Then I got out some tulle circles so the kids could pretend they were snowflakes and blow them into the air! That game was a hit!
The day before Mary's b-day was Valentine's Day. After daddy got home from work we had a yummy cheese fondue, with meat, veggies and bread for dipping. Then Alex and I indulged on way too many chocolates after the kids went too bed :)
And now for some more pictures of our new little love. Holy cow, she is already 3 months old! She has become a lot more social, and loves to watch her siblings play. She smiles all the time, and has laughed a few times as well (which I need to remember to get on video). She sleeps pretty well; at least 6 hours at a time most nights. She doesn't usually fall asleep until 10:30-11 though, and is pretty much constantly nursing from about 7:00 pm until then. I look forward to that special cuddling time each night, although I wish I could spend more time with Alex in the evenings. She is very healthy and is gaining about a pound every two weeks. This will probably start to slow down a bit now that she is three months though. So far there are no signs that she will have eczema issues like Mary, but it could still show up in the next few months I guess. Alex and Mary adore her, and can't wait until she can play with them!
