April First

So I was super tempted to show a positive pregnancy test here today as an April Fool's Day joke. Then I thought that would be really mean as we are done with having kids and I don't want anyone to get excited. So I decided against it. :(

I think next year will be great fun with Cordelia as she will get the idea a little better and we can play a few good spirited pranks on her. Elise still has a few years until she can get in on the fun, but she is always happy to laugh along even when she has no clue what's going on.



Do you ever do anything for April Fool's Day? Here are a few links to ideas for fun that I have found...not all are vegan, but they could easily be veganized.

http://www.alililyblog.com/2013/03/april-fools-day-ideas.html
http://www.buzzfeed.com/mikespohr/awesome-april-fools-day-pranks-your-kids-will-totally-fal
http://www.babble.com/crafts-activities/25-april-fools-day-pranks-to-play-on-the-family/brown-e/
http://9gag.com/gag/1976273

Sunday Quote: Obey all the Rules

If you obey all the rules you miss all the fun.

~Katherine Hepburn

Scarf Box

So I am going to come out and admit it here and now. When I first became a mother I had never heard of the term sensory play (gasp in horror if you must). I mean, obviously it is self-explanatory and something most parents do intuitively, but I didn't know it was like a thing with a name. It's sort of like calling hair brushing follicular massage...it's something we all do, but some genius decided to name it.

Anyway, when a mother at story time at the library happened to talk about her baby and sensory play I was confused. What was this business of sensory play? Was there something I didn't know? Would my child be behind in life because I hadn't kept up on the terminology?

OK I totally did not ask those questions, that is not me. I was vaguely interested and googled the term and realized that it was exactly as it sounded, play that engages the senses. Something every parent does without trying. Just hand your kid keys while you are in line at the grocery store and boom, sensory play.

Anyway I don't mean to sound snarky about it, because we love us some sensory play and the whole point of this post is to show you some totally adorable (totz adorbs?) photos of my girls engaging in some sensory play. We enjoy our scarf box around here. It is a box of my scarves, not something I specially made for the girls. They just haul out my vintage scarves and twirl and play dress up and peek-a-boo, it's awesome and they can go at it for a long time.



Here we have Elise discovering the box.


She examines a scarf tentatively


She realizes that there are more, many more


She digs in, adorable.


Cordelia gets in on the action, adorable


I answer the call of the scarves and put one on myself


Elise is not happy when I put a scarf on, not at all


Then we put all of the scarves onto Cordelia


She looks like a post-apocalyptic gypsy from Beyond the Thunderdome


A really charming post apocalyptic gypsy


Elise was not impressed and she was all, "wwwwaaaaahhh." and I was like, "quit being a baby." Not really, I just pulled her into my lap for snuggles and this....


Now I must bid you adieu and engage in some follicular massage.

Balloon-less Fun

Annually there is a small hot air balloon festival in our town. Having lived in NM where we were privy to major ballooning events this is small by comparison, but what it lacks in size is matched with enthusiasm. You see while we lived in NM it was common to see balloons all the time (stealth planes too) and people became a little immune to their magic. Not here in windy WY where it is a rarity to see these balloons gently floating by on one of our eleven wind free days (true story I keep a tally) of the year.

So the town was all balloon this weekend. When we heard that they were lighting the balloons downtown on one of our main streets (our town is quaint that way) we couldn't resist taking the girls out and letting them stay up just a bit late. Only when we arrived there were no balloons, only baskets and flames. Whatever, there was a big old street party anyway. Kids were hopping into the baskets as the flames were set off. People were dancing. There was food. There were bubble pools (carefully avoided by those of us who didn't want bubble solution soaked children to ride in the car). It was great.




 We look bored, but I swear we all had fun





We stopped by a restaurant where our couple BFFs were having dinner and chatted for a moment. Then we walked over to the gallery where I am represented and enjoyed a drink and conversation. Finally I went home with the girls and Eric stayed downtown to play in a concert.

I love small town life!

World's Smallest Snowman

Yesterday afternoon, just as Cordelia was waking up from her nap, we got word that my brother, sister-in-law, and mom were on their way over. The purpose of the visit was to make a snowman with Cordelia. She was soooo excited.

Unfortunately the snow wasn't exactly cooperating. I don't think it could have been any more powdery than it was. Ben was not about to let that stand in his way. He pushed on...


Ben and Cordelia desperately trying to make the snow stick. Ben even utilized a spray bottle, to no avail.


Busy at work, Cordelia giving quite a smile to the camera


Sara resorted to drawing a snowman


She probably exhibited the most sense


Cordelia was quite impressed with the completed snowman


My beautiful mother


Cordelia rolling a snowball


My mother and I stood around being super helpful


Cordelia was pleased with the end result, a very tiny snowman


Mostly she was just so happy to spend time with her family


Sara said that I would regret making that face, but I feel only pride.


After the cold snowman making experience we headed indoors for a little hot chocolate.


Cordelia helped me finish up some last minute food gifts and spent some time having private tea parties with her Sara and Ben. A wonderful afternoon!