Sebastian Turns Eight!

Tonight after dinner we drove down to Augusta to celebrate Cousin Sebastian's eighth birthday!

The girls were very excited about the party, but we had to have a talk before we left about how it was Sebastian's party, and they wouldn't be getting any presents. That left them a little bit subdued, although still looking forward to cake.

Sebastian opened his presents first, and he got lots of fun gifts.

It seemed like this skateboard from Nana might have been his favorite--his face sure lit up when he opened it!

Our kids did great watching him open his presents--they wanted to play with his new stuff, of course, but they waited pretty patiently.

Then it was time for cake! Nana made a delicious devil's food cake for Sebastian.He did a great job blowing out the candles.......and then we all did a great job eating it!Emily thought it was very yummy, especially with a little ice cream on the side........and even though Kate let it be known that she would have preferred a pink cake, she really liked it too.Then it was time to play with Sebastian's new toys, which he graciously shared with everyone.Eventually the girls started to crash down from their sugar high, and it was time for us to go home. This is the face of a little girl who is up past her bedtime.

One more hug for the birthday boy and then we hit the road. Happy Birthday Sebastian!

New Bath Scrubbers

Today at bathtime the kids got to use their new scrubbers from Aunt Marilyn, which they were very excited about.

They did a little bit of scrubbing, but it turns out that they're even more fun just to play with. The doggie and reindeer got the privilege of taking a bath of their own with Fred, Daphne, and Velma.It's always fun to have new bath toys!

Snow Urgency

Today the sun came out in the afternoon and lit up our snow, especially the 12 inches of new stuff we got last week. Since the weather is turning warm soon (rain predicted for Sunday night, yuck), we felt a sense of urgency to get out and play in it before it melts.

It was a little too deep to sled on the big hill, but the girls liked playing on the banks that the plow guy piled up.

Emily really loves snow--it's one of her very favorite things.Kate likes it too, depending on her mood. Today she was pretty happy about it. Connor, of course, is always excited to get out in the snow. It makes him feel like a puppy again!The girls tried out the Rink of Dreams too, although they still prefer to wear their snowboots on it instead of skates. Maybe next year we'll actually be skating on our rink.They like to play hockey, and to play with the chairs.......but for some reason Kate mainly wanted to crawl on the ice today. She said she was being "a penguin". Not sure where that came from, but at least she was having fun.Finally the kids climbed the backyard snowdrifts a few times. These are really high not only from the wind, but also because every time we shovel the deck we dump the snow into these piles. The kids played Queen of the Mountain for awhile.Eventually they got cold and we had to go inside and warm up. Hopefully we can play some more tomorrow before the rain comes and ruins the snow.

KIds in the Kitchen

One of the things the girls like best is cooking in the kitchen with Mama. Today she asked them if they wanted to help her make some chocolate chip cookies, and (of course) they said yes.

Usually when the girls "help" in the kitchen, Mama brings down their little table from the playroom. This is a lot easier for them than standing on stools to work at the counter.

The kids really like to measure and pour things. There are always a few spills and sometimes a few extra ingredients get into the mix, but that's part of the adventure of letting them help.

Sometimes even getting the ingredients out can be hard for a little one. In the photo below it is taking all of Kate's strength to deliver the brown sugar bag to Mama.Today they did pretty well with taking turns. Sometimes it doesn't go so well (they are just 4 and 2 after all), but the kids were excited to eat cookies so they were on their best behavior.Finally they got to their favorite part: The mixer!First, of course, Mama gave them a stern safety lecture.......and then they got to run the mixer! They love to turn it on and off and switch the speed from high to low.Adding the ingredients in while it's mixing is fun too.Just watching it go around can be surprisingly entertaining.Mama took over when it came time to do the actual baking (they're not quite old enough to work around a hot oven, after all).

Finally it was time to sample the finished product:

Delicious!

Two Surprises

Today we started off with our typical Saturday routine: Drop off Kate at Grandma's house, then Mom takes Emily to gymnastics class in Augusta.

But today we had a couple nice surprises. First, Nana and Sebastian showed up at gymnastics to watch Emily!

Em was excited that they were there to watch her. She told the rest of the class all about it during their circle stretching time.

And then she went through the class with a little extra energy!She climbed mountains.......did cartwheels (sort of)........did rope flips.......and walked balance beams!By the end of class, she was exhausted!Then we went back to Grandma's to pick up Kate, and Em wanted to stay awhile and play.Emily and her Pop Pop have a special game they play called Jail. Pop Pop will "break the law", and Emily has to put him in jail (the chair) and lock him up, until he breaks out and runs away. She then chases him, catches him, and puts him back in jail. Pop Pop usually sets a limit of 4 times playing jail (smart move), and Emily just loves it.

After the 4 times were up, Em and Kate settled down to quiet playing so the grownups could chat. Grandma and Pop Pop's playroom has lots of fun toys, like puzzles....

....cars and trucks........and books to read.Then the girls got their second surprise of the day: A package of gifts from their Great Aunt Marilyn (Grandma's sister)! The first things they opened were bath scrubbers - a little reindeer and a little dog. The kids were thrilled with them!Emily asked if we could take a bath "right now!", but Mom said we'd have to wait until later.Then they opened the rest of the gifts, which included some great books........and this neat set of cards to play with. The cards have one part of a vehicle on them, and the goal is to put three cards together to make a full vehicle. The kids really liked playing with these, and they actually worked together on it, which was nice. Thank you Aunt Marilyn for the great gifts!It was nice to have a couple of surprises today to liven up our regular Saturday routine.