Wild West Days

Today was Wild West Day at school. Unfortunately, one of the cowboys had to stay home with me because he was feeling ill this morning. But, he rallied in time for the party and we were both able to catch the last 20 minutes of the festivities. The kids made bolo ties, sat around a campfire and told stories, ate a cowboy lunch (hotdogs, bbq potato chips, and root beer (which mine wouldn't touch because of the bubbles)), and listened to country music. Yee haw!

Texas Sledding

After trying all night to upload our video, I'm giving up. There seems to be a problem. Check it out here instead.

Snow Day!

We didn't really believe the weathermen that predicted 1-3 inches of snow in Austin. Because we have spent an entire winter watching the rest of the nation enjoy record snow falls without getting so much as a flurry. Well, we did get one flurry that was lovely and lasted about 10 minutes and didn't stick, but that was it. So, when we awoke this morning to big, beautiful flakes falling (and sticking!) it was a nice surprise! Our preschool teacher called to tell us school was canceled, so we bundled up and headed outside to play.





And play, we did! First, we caught flakes on our tongues while we waited for the snow to accumulate. After a few hours, the snow packed into fantastic snowballs and we had a blast pelting each other and our neighbors. Someone, and I won't name names, but it starts with a B, hit me square between the eyes.








We even managed to build a respectable snow man, complete with a hat, stick arms, a celery nose (because we didn't have a big carrot) and two eyes made out of coal. Our snowman wasn't around for long though. I barely had time to take a picture before two wild boys knocked him down and then laughed and laughed. In fact, we built him three times, just so I could get all the pictures that I wanted.







And since decent snow fall happens (maybe) every 10 years in Austin, we HAD to make snow ice cream. The next time we get this much powdery white stuff, the buddies might be in college! Luckily, our backyard gazebo created the perfect clean snow collection site. I mixed up a quick batch (it couldn't be easier!) and then we set it out on the front porch with bowls and spoons and invited the neighbor kids over. A second-grader seemed thoroughly confused by what she was eating and kept asking me if I mixed Blue Bell into the snow. I took that as a compliment!

We spent the entire day bundling up, heading outside, playing until we were frozen solid, heading back in, throwing our wet clothes in the dryer, getting warm, and then bundling back up for more fun. It was a fantastic day for all. And now that we've had our fill of snow, we are very much looking forward to the 60 degree weather that is predicted tomorrow. Ah, Texas weather! As the saying goes: "If you don't like it, wait a day!"

More pictures here.

Little Campaigners

How many four year old's out there can say they have hosted a Campaign Party? Our two can, as well as many of their little friends. This afternoon, the buddies and their friends threw a "Get the Vote Out" Party in the Park for our very good friend, Ms. Karin. The weather was gorgeous and our fellow Austinites flocked to the park, which was great because we really spread the word about the campaign. We bounced (thanks to Annie, for the loaner) and munched on pizza and cookies while the kids ran around in the sunshine.

Early voting is going on now through Friday with the official Voting Day on March 2nd. Get your votes in! And if you happen to vote in the Democratic Primary in Travis County, Precinct 2, vote for Karin Crump!

Entertaining the 4 year old Crowd

We had a rare day today with a completely free calendar. And since I had a few things that I wanted to get done around the house, I decided to try an experiment and figure out which quiet activities can best occupy a couple of 4 1/2 year old boys. I'm still not sure I have the answer, but we sure had fun today. Here are the activities we tried:

Mosaics
We used My First Sticky Mosaics, which are perfect for beginners. I set my stopwatch to 00:00 and we began. 3:35 minutes into the project, Ben had about 10 stickers placed and said he was tired. Ace powered through and at 15:21 had a finished product. He loved it! I managed to drink a cup of coffee and wake up during this time.

Pipe Cleaner Free Play:
Next on our agenda: fun with pipe cleaners! This idea came from a friend. I handed each boy a pile of pipe cleaners and told them to "create something special and surprise me". And then I started my stopwatch, left them to it, and promised not to peek. Here is what went down:

2:50 - Ace said he was done. It was too hard.
3:48 - Ben triumphantly showed me his spider-robot.
4:13 - Ace (who was still trying, despite telling me he was done) said, "I can't make ANYTHING!"
5:22 - Ace (sobbing hysterically now), "It's too hard!!"
6:36 - I finished consoling Ace and gave him another mosaic to work on.
9:24 - Ben finished his "squiggly, wiggly spider!"
10:17 - Ace: "I'm tired."
13:56 - Ben started crying because he wanted to make a flower and was struggling.
16:16 - I made the &*@! flower and we called an end to this activity.
Despite all the interruptions, I managed to unload the dishwasher and load our breakfast dishes. And have another cup of coffee.

Cookies
I needed to bake 5 dozen cookies for an event this weekend. And the best way to occupy pre-schoolers when you need to bake cookies is...let them help! Honestly, I can't remember the last time I made cookies alone. It takes twice as long with little helpers (and I won't even talk about the clean-up) but they have so much fun. They scooped and measured and dumped and we practiced simple math skills. I forgot to set my stopwatch but the time really flew by. Check out the cloud of pudding powder as they dumped and shook.


Puzzle Time (which turned into Spider Man Activity Book Time)
I got to work rolling the dough into balls while the buddies went into our toy closet to choose their puzzles. Ace came back with a large transportation puzzle. Ben returned with a Spider Man activity book.

00:00 - Begin!
4:15 - Ace's puzzle was complete. Then, he took it apart so he could do it again.
8:26 - Ace's puzzle was complete (again). Then, he packed it back in the box, fetched his Spider Man book and sat down with Ben.


14:30 - Ben finished copying a slew of letters on a word scramble page. He didn't unscramble them but did a nice job copying them.
32:16 - Ben finished connecting the word LIZARD as he followed the path.
I cleaned up the colossal mess that was created by the cookie-dough making, baked the cookies, and made migas for lunch.

Stick Puppets
Actually, I just handed the buddies some popsicle sticks and markers and they decided to draw faces on them and put on a puppet show.

00:45 - stick puppets completed and puppet show rehearsal began.
01:37 - "Mo-ommmmm! We're ready! Come watch our show!"
32:33 - I watched the last of a very silly series of puppet shows.
I didn't get a thing done during this activity.


Game Time
I left the game choice up to them. What did they choose? Twister. This particular mat used to be mine in the late 70's, early 80's. Time burned: 19:08.
I did some minor housework and chatted with a neighbor who stopped by. We marveled at how small and closely spaced the dots are, compared to how we remembered them.


Highlights High Five Magazine
Our March issue of High Five arrived today. We spent 13:08 checking out our favorite recurring features, all in the "Let's Puzzle It Out" section. Then, we found a cool triangle collage in the "Let's Make It" section. One of us decided to make one. Total time burned: 31:03. While Ben was drawing, clipping, and pasting his triangles, I finished cleaning up our lunch dishes, started a load of laundry, and packed two lunches for parent's night out at the YMCA. Wahoo!!

Of the activities, their favorites were Mosaics (Ace) and Pipe Cleaner Fun (Ben). Isn't it funny that the activity that each of them liked the best was the one that the other didn't manage to complete?

Ace the Ace and Ben the Ben Meet Mo the Mo

This is how we're talking now, after a very fun evening with beloved children's author, Mo Willems. He read his latest stories: Cat the Cat, Who Is That? and Let's Say Hi to Friends Who Fly!

Mo danced around as he read his stories and encouraged audience participation. The buddies loved it, even though they were peering from the back of a very large crowd. After he finished his readings, Mo took questions from the audience. We learned a bit of inside scoop about his future books. This Spring, he will release two new books in the Cat the Cat series. Because his daughter needs to see an orthodontist. And...(drum roll)... he is working on his final book in the Knufflebunny series! Another tidbit from Mo: it takes 5,000 years to write a book. And, he is 5,000 years old.

Ace had a question too, but didn't get to ask it until we met Mo to get our books signed. He asked, "When is your birthday?", much like he asked the Zookeeper about the lion cub's birthday yesterday. As it turns out, Mo's birthday was last week. So, happy birthday, Mo!

The Buddies Meet Barbary Lion Cubs

This afternoon, the buddies and I took advantage of a rare opportunity to see a pair of 5 week old lion cubs. And cubs from a species believed to be extinct in the wild and with only 100 alive in captivity, at that! The cubs' parents were donated to the zoo last year and are the first animals to conceive at the Austin Zoo. The family is believed to descend from the Barbary subspecies and their genes are being tested to be sure. If they are, they will be taken to Morocco and bred with other Barbary lions. Aren't they sweet?


The buddies loved seeing the furry little guys. The questions from the spectators included:

Q: Are they really as soft as they look? A: Yes!
Q: How can you tell them apart? (typical, non-twin-having parent!) A: We spend a lot of time with them so they look completely different to us. (of course they do!)
Q (from Ace): When are their birthdays? A: January 12th


After we spent plenty of time ogling the sweet little cubs, we took off to make the rounds of our usual favorite spots at the Austin Zoo. And that took about 15 minutes. Then, we rode the train and played in the dirt a bit before heading home.

Happy Lundi Gras!!

Darwin Day

This morning's adventure took us to the Texas Natural Science Center for their annual Darwin Day celebration. It was the most well-run, family-friendly museum event we have been to yet. As we entered, each boy was handed a Passport and told to collect stamps as they followed in Darwin's footsteps, answering questions from the friendly exhibitors. We learned about fossils and their place in the theory of evolution; we marveled at live rattlesnakes; we peered at tiny sea creatures under microscope; we gazed at an actual specimen collected by Darwin himself during his famous trip to the Galapagos Islands; we explored various fish, orchids, and plants and enjoyed the lessons that each expert shared with us. Once, we'd collected all 8 stamps, we unscrambled the letters to spell out HMS Beagle (that was Darwin's ship) and received a prize.



The buddies also made noodle art prehistoric tortoises, sequined bird masks, and dug for dinosaur bones in the sand. As the highlight, we sang Happy Birthday to Charles Darwin (who would have turned 201 yesterday) and then enjoyed a couple of pieces of cake.

Check out the rest of our pictures here.

It's Fun to Play at the YMCA!

We've been spending a lot of time at our gym this winter, and not just because I am training for a 10k. The buddies are obsessed with basketball and on most days the gymnasium at our local YMCA is completely free. They run around, they shoot, they dribble, and they play passing games. We're working on correct shooting form and some of us are making progress. Others have been influenced by a 5 year old regular, who has a pretty accomplished granny shot. But, they are having fun and burning off some energy on cold days and that's really the important thing.



One perk of belonging to a family-friendly gym is they constantly have activities for the kids set up in the lobby. This week, the buddies made several Valentines for kids at our local Children's hospital. Their creations went into a large box that was picked up today and delivered to the kids. The buddies decided their valentines would "make the kids happy and then they'll feel better".

Don't Break My Heart

I've been running a little Valentine sweat shop these days. First, Steve made 50 cute little lollies out of clearanced mini candy canes purchased in January. Well, actually I made the first 4. Then, Steve critiqued my process, came up with a much better one, and so was rewarded with the task. That'll teach him!

Next, I wrapped them up and added pretty ribbon. Then, the buddies wrote their names on stickers and attached them to the lollipops. Voila! Pretty little Valentine treats for all our little friends.

We distributed them with excitement at our playgroup party. And then, I discovered that very few made it to their recipients' homes in one piece. The pretty little things are fragile, unfortunately.

So, today, we busied ourselves reinforcing the ones for the preschool class with card stock hearts decorated with more stickers. Ben even cut out a few of the hearts for me. I think I like them even more now.



Hopefully, a few of them will survive the beating they'll surely take as the 4 year and 5 year olds trek from school to their moms' cars to their homes. If not, at least we have some pictures of the cuties!

Field Trip with Cousins

After school today, we jetted off to meet our cousins for a quick afternoon visit to the Wildflower Center. It is free all month long and this afternoon was probably one of the sunniest winter days of the entire month.








We climbed towers, looked for fish, identified trees and plants, and even played with the puzzles inside the Little House. But mostly, we just ran amok in the fresh air and wide open spaces with our cousins.







It was a good thing we all got so much exercise, because afterward, we decided to join our cousins on their quest to eat their way across Austin, one food trailer at a time. First up was dinner at Odd Duck, where the boys polished off gourmet quesadillas and nibbled as much as I would let them on my New York Strip slider. Owner-Bryce walked over to our table after we had finished and asked us how everything tasted. Deeelish! And lucky for us, Gourdough's Donuts is right next door. We ordered four of the made-to-order, obscenely huge, delishously topped creations and passed them around the table. Ben and I highly recommend the Bring the Heath and Ace likes the Chunky Monkey. Our very fun afternoon ended with my two boys telling me they had tummy-aches from "too much donuts".

Dizzy

Lovely park day today!

Little Campaigners

The buddies and I are helping out with a friend's campaign for Justice of the Peace. Karin is smart, dynamic, and a true community advocate and we just love her. Yesterday, we delivered yard signs to a few of her supporters.

Afterward, we rewarded ourselves by checking out a new park, just 3/4 of a mile from our last delivery. The park sat at the edge of this:

And had a really cool climbing structure, like no other we've found in our area. Score!

The only thing that irked us is that we've lived in Austin for 4 years and are just now discovering this awesome park! We'll be back in the summer, when we can take a swim in the lake.

Bake Sale for Haiti

The kids and moms in the tiny section of our little neighborhood threw a bake sale this afternoon. And raised $554 for the Red Cross. And we have a matching donor, so the kids are sending a little over $1,100 to a devastated Haiti. I. am. nearly. speechless.





It all started yesterday afternoon, when one of our favorite little neighbors, a first-grader, brain-stormed with his mom about ways they could help. They decided on a bake sale and his mom quickly rallied the other moms. Word spread quickly as we baked, made signs, contacted news stations, and arranged for our neighborhood entrance sign to advertise our plans.



We were so honored by the way our community rallied around our kids for this great cause. We live among generous and kind-hearted people and this shows that a little idea can make a big difference. Go kids!












As I was tucking the buddies into bed this evening, Ben said, "I wish my piggy bank was full all the way to the top. Because then I'd have enough money to send water and food and doctors to everybody in the whole world."

They Have Dreams...

We abandoned our MLK Festival plans this morning and decided instead to celebrate National Day of Service by being good neighbors. One of our favorite neighborhood playmates is in the hospital with a severe case of the flu, so we took in his little brother for about 24 hours until his Mimi arrived to help.

We enjoyed the time with our friend. He is a wild boy too, so he fits right in around here. We even had a surprise visit from our former neighbors and we were so glad to be home to catch up with them.


Between playing outside, eating pizza and snacks, watching movies, and playing trains, we made time for a quick lesson and art project on Dr. King. I explained to the three boys that a long time ago, there were different rules for different people. Some people could play at a park, drink out of a water fountain, and sit in any seat on a bus that they chose. But, others could not. We all agreed that this wasn't fair and I told them about Dr. King's dream to change all that.

And so we cut out hand prints in many different colors and each boy told me their "dreams". That part didn't go exactly as well as I'd hoped. Ben: "I have a dream that someday it will be quiet. Because Ace snores and it wakes me up." Ace: "I have a dream...(loud pretend snoring noises)." Neighbor Friend: "I have a dream...about Lightning McQueen!"

Video Thank You Notes - Bloopers!

Yes, I know I have been neglecting this blog since the new year. What, you ask, has been keeping me so busy? The buddies are creating video thank you cards for all their Christmas gifts this year and I am their Chief Videographer and Film Editor. We have just 3 left to go, so I took a break this evening to create a bloopers video from the process. Enjoy! And rest assured, we have a few activities lined up this week that I'll definitely want to share.

Under the Big Top

The Shriner Circus is in town this weekend, so the buddies and a few of their friends enjoyed their first circus experience today. We oohed and ahhed at the many acts that graced the three rings. We saw elephant acts, trapeze artists, acrobats, aerialists, tigers, lions, and clowns. The elephants and the trapeze artists were favorites, as well as a particularly silly clown and his dog. The buddies also tried their first cotton candy - Ben loved it but Ace said it tasted like paper and was too sticky.

Sweet Sleeping Brothers

We found the buddies like this tonight, a few hours into bedtime:

One bed, two boys, and a very cold night. If only they'd get under the covers...

Roller Skating!