Big Changes!

So, recently the new posts have not been coming out as quickly as in the past. The reason, with the new year my husband & I have decided to make some BIG changes. No, not pregnant again (yet), but we decided to take on 2 very big house projects to start this year off fresh & new. They have definitely been a lil'..."consuming" to same the least.

When we moved into our house 2 years back, the front & back yard definitely left something to be desired. We kept meaning to get to it, but if you have kiddos then you know that they can definitely keep you busy with other things (pregnancies too). Well, we decided that we could not wait any longer & this year was THE year. Unlike most of the people in the area who tend to go with the desert style of landscaping, we decided to go more tropical instead. My husband & a dear friend have been working on that project this week & I have to say it is definitely coming along nicely.

Starting from scratch

Getting started

Progress...

For project #2, it is all me. We already have a school room upstairs, but we had always intended for it to end up down in the den eventually. Well, the time has come! Now, instead of keeping things easy & simply transferring our current Ikea-happy school room downstairs, I decided to totally redo it in my favorite design style, vintage/modern. I wanted to create a relaxing, unique, & effective teaching environment that will continue to work even as they grow. So, to start off this project I definitely had to break this huge undertaking down into smaller steps.

Step #1: Empty out the current school room & move all the den toys in.WHOA. I was definitely happy to have some helping hands for this step. It felt like a visit to the gym going up & down those stairs, but we got it done.

Step #2: This took place last night & into this morning. I did not want to just get rid of all the girls old school things, so I had to find new spots for them in their downstairs play areas. Sound easy? Wrong, lol. It felt like trying to put a size 5 shoe on a size 10 foot! After a couple of hours of creativity & organizational skills truly being pushed to their limits, I finally figured it all out around 3am lol.

Now, we are on to Step #3. The paint! This to me is such a huge decision. The furniture, antiques, carpets, shelves, desks, & etc are so fun & somewhat easy to decide upon in my opinion but to me the paint selections can "make or break" a room. So, I am going back & forth with a few ideas, but later today I finally decisions will have to be made. So excited & will definitely be posting pictures of the process & finished product-Yay!

-M&M Momma

Her "heart" hair

The nest day Ashy built a "wall" because she
 "needed to protect her from eating crayons"

She was SO proud

Just Snakes & Birds

The beautiful thing about this age group (2-4 year olds) is that they are so inquisitive & eager to learn new things. It does not take much to totally thrill them & they do not take the lil' things for granted. It is not until later on in life that a lot of kids tend to pick up a know-it-all attitude or the opposite when their inquisitive natures have been snuffed out by adults who got tired of all the questions. 

Now, let me not be the 1st one to cast a stone here. It has been reported that the average "4 year old child asks 437 questions a day". Yeah, that is a lot & I feel like for myself this lil' fact is multiplied by say 3 (lol). Its easy to get overwhelmed by all the questions & to need a lil' "quiet time" every once in awhile, but for the most part we need to try & just embrace their sweet inquiring selves because it won't last forever & we will miss it believe it or not.

Recently, my speculative bunch had been asking a lot of questions about snakes (random, I know). So, I decided to read them a book, "Reptiles" from the Smart Kids series. It introduced the girls to a lot of fun new reptiles that they had never heard about before along with answering some of the questions they already had asked about snakes.

After the book, I found a cool video of a snake shedding his skin. The girls were absolutely fascinated by this process & after the video was over they got down on the ground & began acting like snakes shedding their skin, lol. I further explained to the girls how some snakes are dangerous & some are not, what they eat, where they live, & so forth.

After nap time, the girls woke up to a snake farm I had created with some of our rubbery lil' guys from 1 of their play rooms. They loved naming them, pretending to feed them mice, holding them, & etc. When their dad came home from work, they were very excited to retell everything they had learned & showing him how snakes shed (Apparently, that video was the highlight of everything).

They enjoyed the lesson so much that they asked if we can get our own snake for a pet now. The answer from me, a very emphatic "NO!". Ha ha.

Another lesson I did with the girls recently came about from a "Max & Ruby" episode. Ruby was going on a bird hunt to try & identify various birds in hopes of earning a Bunny Scout badge of some sort. Ever since that episode, Aidann has been asking me what every bird she sees is, every bird, lol. Eventually, I decided we needed to take that kid out to get her very own bird watching book so she could start trying to identify them for herself too. We went to Lowe's & checked out the different bird houses & feeders & then we got a lil' bird scouting pamphlet of birds from around this area for Aid. She was completely thrilled by the lil' thing & felt so empowered. She went to work as soon as we got into the parking lot identifying birds, lol. She actually did identify a dove on her own, impressive.

For the lesson, I began with a book as usual. I went the more fun route & selected "Are You My Mother?" By Dr. Seuss. After the book, I took some time to first ask them what they already knew about birds & then I filled in the blanks. During play time we took binoculars we had made from toilet paper rolls & bead necklaces & began our bird hunt. We pretended to find birds up high in a nest that were missing their mother (Aid informed me that she was injured by a dump trunk..Hmmm) & pretended to dig up worms out of the ground for the babies. The girls then pretended to climb up the tree (aka slide) & feed the birds their worms. We also pretended to rescued some birds & put band-aids on them, held baby eggs, & built birdhouses. The girls really enjoyed using they imaginations & binoculars & are looking forward to our upcoming field trip to the zoo to see & learn more about birds.

Kiddos definitely can ask a lot of questions, but instead of letting it annoy us, we should embrace it. That is an admirable quality to feel free to ask questions & not feel embarrassed about being "wrong" or feeling stupid. If we nurture this in our kids & build up their confidence to ask when you don't know will help to create some great & very teachable students/people in the future.

-M&M Momma

Our snake farm

I spy with my lil' eye

Holding an "egg"

Got Chocolate?

If you live in Arizona, let me just throw out a lil' reminder for all of you "The Chocolate Affair"! It is this weekend & always a fun thing to do, the kiddos especially enjoy making chocolate pizzas. It is at Murphy Park in historic downtown Glendale. The times & dates are as follows:

Friday February 8, 2013 from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m.
Saturday February 9, 2013 from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Sunday February 10, 2013 from noon to 5 p.m.

Sunday Funday Pictures & Such

Ready for church

This is how I rock out!

Relaxing at church

Exhausted after church,
relaxing with her hero

Dunkin' Who?

So, after the kiddos enjoyed a 4-1 appointment at the doctor's office & a few shots for everyone, we then decided to treat the ladies to the ultimate doughnut shop, LaMar's Donuts!

If you live in Arizona, this is a pretty cute place to visit. Right when you walk in there is a plethora of donut option right in front of your kiddos to choose from, the ladies were definitely overwhelmed at first trying to narrow their picks down to just 1. Eventually, Aidann opted for chocolate (of course), Asher got coconut (thinking it was vanilla, of course), Austin got chocolate, & daddy & I got a long john each. The girls eyes where huge as they tried to patiently wait to get their lil' toddler fingers on their donuts selections. We carefully secured their lil' bibs & then let them go at it! We tried to partake in conversation, but we mostly just got "Mmmmm's" & "Nom-Nom's". I guess we found a new tradition after dr's visits. They definitely asked that we go back again very soon. Only $7 for all of us!

LaMar's is a very well-known donut franchise that has been around since the 1960's. It has a more personal & old school feel to it & has been voted in the top 5 donut shops in the US. They have your classic flavors (glazed & chocolate) along with the more unique flavors (Devil's food, spice donut, & MANY more!) They are made fresh daily & in taste test after taste test they have beat out Dunkin's & Krispy Creme's over & over. The only odd thing are their store hours, they are closed by 2pm!?

Anyway, I definitely recommend at least taking your kiddos there once. Its just a good & sweet time for the family!