Backwoods Wife

{pretty, happy, funny, real} - The Happy-To-Be-Outside-Again-Without-Snow Edition

Okay, that was probably my longest blog post title ever.  We are sure enjoying the warmer temperatures around here.  The snow has gone, plants are starting to green up a little, the trees have tiny buds, and the mosquitoes are making their prescence known.  Spring is finally here!  Here are a few photos from a recent playdate in a friend's yard.  We spend a lot of time there in the warmer months as her yard somehow seems to have fewer mosquitoes than anyone else's!  Don't know why that is, but we love it!  There's been a lot happening in our yard the last week or so as well.  I don't have pictures yet though, so those will have to be for another post.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Skip on over to Like Mother, Like Daughter for more everyday contentment! :)

 

 

A Revelation

On our trip I discovered why Riley goes from this...

to this...

 

for certain family group photos.  Normally, Riley loves to have her photo taken and to perform.  Try and do a family photo with extended family or while away from home and you will often see a very unhappy child in the photo.  We always thought Riley was just tired or overwhelmed by all the excitement as most photos tended to happen in the evenings.  This trip Riley enlightened us.  After much protesting about not wanting to be in the photo and fussing while the photo was being taken I heard her say (while playing behind the couch), "I don't like getting my picture taken.  I don't like saying goodbye."  It suddenly became crystal clear.  This pattern has been going on for years, since before she could say more than a handful of words.  Riley is our extrovert and loves intensely, so it is hard for her to part with people.  Apparently, the timing of the requisite family photo is generally right before the people involved are leaving to go home or we are leaving to go home.  If it's a birthday party, backyard playdate, or family event with people she sees regularly then all is well.  Poor kid!  We should have picked up on it sooner.  Time to move the family photos to the start of the visit instead of the end!

 

Hendrik and the Wishing Pond

 

 

On our way out of the Vancouver Aquarium, we passed by a pond where people had been throwing coins and, presumably, making wishes.  Hendrik asked if I had a coin he could throw in so he could make a wish too.  I found some change in my wallet and passed the coin to him.  He tossed the coin into the water, and a few seconds later I hear the words, "I wish for lots of lizards."  Yep, sounds like a 6 year old boy's kind of wish to me!   I asked where he wished for lots of lizards to be.  His reply?  "Everywhere."  Here are some photos of the coin pond and the lizard-wishing boy.

 

 

 

(I love how kids try out so many different smiles and smirks!  You never know what you're going to get when you say, "Cheese!")

 

Parades, Houses, and Tomato Soup

The three older children have been playing Duplo together a lot lately.  The most popular things to build are currently parade floats and houses.  One of Abby's essential rooms when planning a house - a sewing room.   I like the way that girl thinks!

Riley decided tonight that she wanted to try tomato soup for the first time.  She loved it.  Now I have a request that she have it for breakfast tomorrow morning!

 

Giggles

Here are a couple of funny things from the last few days...

 

Overheard...Riley singing an original composition, "Apples keep the doctor away...and the ambulance..."

 

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Abby: The other day in the truck Hendrik said that he wished he had Riley's tongue.

Me: Really, why?

Abby: So he can spit better.

 

 

Some drawings from my girlies

This first one is by Abby.  It is a drawing of me blowing bubbles!  (This doodle board gets constant use!)

 

 

This is a drawing by Riley that she taped to the wall on the way up our stairs.  The masking tape finally lost it's hold the other day so I photographed it against the couch.  It is even more lovely against the log wall.

 

 

 

To glitter or not to glitter?

I may have let three small children play unsupervised with two large containers of glitter.  I would definitely classify these sweet children as glitter affectinados.  So much so, that when one bottle fell over without the lid, it was not cause for concern or reporting to the moms present, but rather them quietly rejoicing in quicker access to larger quantities of said glitter.  My living and dining areas look like they have been visited by an exuberant Tinkerbell on steroids!  And you know what?  That is totally okay.  The little girls had fun, us slightly older girls had coffee, and my floor/couch/dining room chairs got vacuumed. :)  I am sure we will be sharing glitter around the house for quite some time, but it is a happy sort of thing to clean up.  It's sparkly, pretty, doesn't damage anything, and you won't find it under a couch a month from now and go "Ew!".  To quote Martha, "It's a good thing."

P.S.  If one is inclined to partake in unfettered glittering, it is much easier to clean up the chunkier variety of glitter often found at drug stores as it all seems to fall to the floor and sweep up fairly easily.  The fine pixie dust variety is a lot harder to dispose of but if you want your house to look a big magical it might be the way to go! 

Here's a random wondering - why doesn't Disney market the Blue Fairy from Pinocchio?  They usually market as many characters as possible it seems.  The blue and silver glitter made me think of her today...

 

 

 

 

Smoothie mania!

I am so thrilled to finally be able to get fruit into our pickiest eater.  We've been making a lot of smoothies the last few days and she has been our number one smoothie consumer.  Hooray!  So far we've only made fruit smoothies with yogurt added in, but I hope to branch out into adding veggies.  It's nice to know the kids are getting what they need nutritionally regardless of the format. 

Some artwork

This is an advent calendar made by Riley that she taped to a cupboard in the kitchen.  It began as a sea serpent, and as the days went by, Riley added more check marks and numbers.  This is not a traditional advent calendar by any stretch, Riley designed it to be a countdown to Valentine's Day. :)  I love it!  (Isn't the purple polka dot masking tape cool?  We found it from kawaii goodies on etsy.com.  It's great for kids to create with and also for taping their creations to walls, appliances, etc., as it doesn't peel the paint or meld for eternity with the surface.)

 

 

 

Singing to the birthday girl

I'll post more photos another time, but here is a little video of us singing to Emma on her birthday.