In the kitchen

Cordelia likes to help me in the kitchen. She is the "dumper", meaning she dumps all the measured ingredients into the bowl. Today we made some whole wheat buttermilk pancakes after Sunday School. She looked so cute in her dress and mixing the ingredients, I just had to take a picture. Of course, she made a big mess as she usually does, but I love my little helpers in the kitchen.

It's like he's trying to speak to me, I know it!

Cordelia is picking up words left and right. Tonight she was twirling around the living room saying, "I'm a princess, I'm a princess." I love the learning to speak stage, mostly because I no longer have to guess what she needs, she can just tell me. Some words are coming out very clear, but most of what she says is only understandable to Fred and I, who are with her the most. It is fun to listen to your children as they learn to master the English language. And then there is Torii. He talks all the time and speaks more clearly than Rion did at that age. Yet, I don't know what he is talking about half of the time. This is what I heard the other day: "Oh Juggernoid! And Sub Terra, Ventus, Darkus!" Excuse me? It's like he's speaking a foreign language. And no, I don't even know what I just wrote. I had to take his Bakugan cards out to see what it was he said because after he said it I couldn't even repeat it. I was clueless. It's like Fred telling me what kind of hunting related gifts he would like. Five minutes after he tells me I don't have a clue so I just get him a Scheels gift card. And I try to listen, really I do, but Bakugan and hunting are foreign languages to me. So when Torii talks about Bakugan I just nod and say yes a few times like I'm listening. Then I switch the subject to something I know and we go outside and play baseball.

A new shirt for Cordelia

Here's a super easy and fun project I did yesterday. Inspiration and directions from: http://bkids.typepad.com/bookhoucraftprojects/2010/03/project-55-spring-wardrobe-update.html

I did a little thrifting over the weekend with hopes of finding something for this project. I wasn't having much luck, but then I stumbled upon this pillowcase. I don't know if those are suppose to be birds or butterflies, but I thought it was super cute.
And viola! Cordelia has a new shirt. She was so excited when I showed her. As I always do when I cook I did some improvising with the supplies I had on hand with this too. I used fusible hem to stick it to the tee. You can't see it up close, but it is noticeable when I look at it closely. I may pick up some of the fusible stuff mentioned on the tute for the next one. And I did sew around it because it looks so much better that way. I want to do a tank top with the other bird from the pillowcase.

Spring in ND

Until yesterday we were enjoying beautiful spring weather. Cordelia and I would walk down to the school to pick the boys up and then spend some time at the playground before coming home. The kids love being outside and it's hard to get them to go home. We also walked over to the park the other night and played some baseball on the diamonds. Torii is loving baseball lately and he wants to practice hitting every night. He loved going to the diamonds and playing. He didn't even want to quit baseball to play on the playground there. I'm glad we got out as much as we did because now we haven't been out for the past two days. It started raining yesterday and then today we got five inches of snow. Cordelia was mad that we couldn't go outside today. She even got her shoes on and had her jacket so she could go out. And Cordelia throws the biggest tantrums when we have to go back inside after playing outside. Oh well, I guess that's a good thing to throw a tantrum about. It's also been fun watching Cordelia outside this year. I can really see how she has grown. She wants to do everything the boys do and it's funny when she grabs the baseball bat and says "my turn". Hopefully the snow melts right away and the temps go back up because we all want to get back outside soon!

Must haves

On Sunday Cordelia and I went to Walmart to do some shopping. Torii usually goes with, but he didn't want to for once. Which was great, because then I could pick up all the Easter basket stuff. This might be the last holiday I'll get to do that with Cordelia in tow because she's getting a little too old to fool. I even picked up her little gift for her basket which she carried all around the store, but has since forgotten about. She also found another toy she really wanted in the Easter candy aisle. Someone had ditched a big plush rabbit right at two-year-old shelf level. She put her head on the rabbit and would not move. No amount of bribing was going to get her away from the rabbit. The other people in the aisle that it was adorable and joked I should just get it for her. Finally, I let her pick it up and take it with, but I had no intention of bringing it home with us. And she did carry it around for a couple of aisles worth of shopping. Then she sat in the cart with it and put her head down on it. Then she got back out of the cart and became more interested in the strawberries and insisted on carrying those around the store. So when the bunny once again got ditched in the candy aisle, an oblivious Cordelia said nothing and never questioned where her once "have to have it bunny" went. The kids do not need any more stuffed animals in this house and if I had to leave the bunny at the checkout despite a tantrum throwing Cordelia, I was prepared to do it. Although I was a little nervous that it might come down to that. One of the ladies we saw in the candy aisle saw us later with the rabbit in the cart and said, "well, it looks like she won." "Oh no," I said, "this bunny is not coming home with us." I only half believed myself, but hooray! I won in the end. It was a small victory, but I'll take it.

Bobcats hockey

Last night we went to the Bobcats game with GG. She wanted to take the boys to a game. And she also had an "in" and got the boys onto one of the party buses before the game. (We didn't let them go home on the bus, much to the displeasure of Torii). We had a lot of fun and the Bobcats won. Of course, the boys love Scratch and they had to give him a high five every time he came by. Then GG got Scratch to pose for a picture with the boys.

Church traditions

I love the traditions and memories that just sort of happen. You don't plan them, but they become firmly ingrained in your memory. They are usually the "little" things in life. One thing I will always remember is having hot chocolate at church. When I was a kid we went downstairs to get hot chocolate and it was always a treat. Now we have the new community center upstairs and that is now the hot chocolate location in between services. Once in awhile the church school kids might be using the community center so hot chocolate gets moved back downstairs. I don't know, but the hot chocolate just tastes better there. It's kind of weird to see my kids in the position I once was in. But at the same time, it feels totally right.