She Can See Clearly Now...

After realizing that Hannah wasn't just crossing her eyes to make things "look funny" a trip to the pediatric eye doctor confirmed it, our big girl needs glasses.  She has been great about it, probably because they are princess glasses that came in a purse for a case.  The first morning she sat at the breakfast table reading all of the letters on the cereal box because they "not fuzzy anymore!"  

Number 1...Done!

Green Goal #1 is done!  Compost bin has found a home right behind the wood pile and has been filling up with a nice mix of browns and greens.  The kids are really good about bringing items out, Alexander loves to add banana peels and Hannah brings the corn cobs out after dinner.  In that way I guess goal #3 is also done as they are great at remembering "natural scraps go in the back" (of the yard that is).   Still not sure how to collect items during the fall/winter when it is not as convenient to go out every day.  Any suggestions readers?  

Reusing our Recycling

I don't know if it is because I joined Pinterest or if it is because I am not working so we are watching our spending but lately I have been taking a second look at things before I toss them in the trash/ recycling bin.  One collection that I started was the tops to Emmett's food pouches.  They are round and colorful so I instantly thought they would make great counters for the kids to use.  We have quickly collected a lot of them and needed a better way to store our large collection.  The empty formula tub seemed like a great solution and it was a perfect way to reuse a container.  Alexander was more than happy to help with the project and he was a great worker!

Empty tub, paper, markers, decoupage...

and you have your own custom container.  

Alexander Had My Camera

Beating the Heat

It is very hard to have a beautiful bright sunny day and have to stay inside, but it is just too hot.  We have been going out in the morning when it is slightly cooler and trying to take an "evening walk" before bed so the kids remember what fresh air feels like.  Even then their little bodies have a hard time processing all this heat, especially Emmett.  I have found myself pulling out activities that we usually do on snow days when we are cooped up in the house.  The past few days it was tent making in the living room...

...and playing cars in a new place.  

Mom, Boys, Museum

To celebrate Alexander finishing Kindergarten with such success, I took him and Emmett up to North Hampton MA to the Eric Carle Museum.  Hannah was still in school so I thought it might be a bit easier with just the 2 boys.  We had a very special day getting to know this wonderful illustrator a little better, enjoying the well stocked library, creating our own pieces of art and having a picnic lunch out on the grounds.  

An Improved Birthday

Alexander has always loved the monthly Home Depot Kids Workshops.  As soon as he learned how to read a calendar he sat down and marked the first Saturday of every month with an "HD" to remind everyone about the workshop.  We have even been on vacation in RI and he has gone to workshops there, with cousins in tow!  When it came time for his birthday party we were thrilled to be able to have it at the Glastonbury store.  The kids were given their own orange aprons and then able to chose between a sailboat or an herb planter.  They worked so hard and did a great job, it was a very special day for all. 

Strawberry Bars and a Good Book

Baptism

Back in April we had Emmett baptized on a very special day with our friends and family.  After all 3 of our children were baptized I saved the water, not sure what to do with it but also thinking it shouldn't just go down the drain.  I finally had some time to think about this and came up with a great solution.  Check back soon to see the finished project!

A Weekend to Remember

In addition to honoring the men and women who have fought and died for our country, there was a lot of activity in our house for a rainy Memorial Day Weekend.  

Alexander turned 6...

and got his first Lego building set, which took him 3 days to assemble.

Hannah got her toes painted for the first time.  

 Emmett learned to sit up by himself.  He must have then realized that it was better to be up higher because the next day he started pulling himself up to standing using the living room ottomans.  He certainly is a mover!

Green Goals '13

I have never been one to make New Year's resolutions, why make change more complicated then it already is?  Over the past few years however, as we have celebrated Earth Day my small steps to being more eco-conscious have resulted in some goals for how I want to live my life.  As time has gone on I have found myself setting some "green goals" based on books that I have recently read or eco-trends that are becoming the norm (bring your own bags, cloth napkins, etc.).  This year I struggled with my goals because I have made so many small steps that I knew I would need to make some more drastic changes to the way I live.  After reflecting on our current way of life I have decided that this year I will work to reduce the amount of food that we waste.  I have always been one to save leftover food and use it for lunch or dinner the next day but what about that half of an onion that sits in the fridge, not needed for the recipe and then forgotten about for 2 weeks until discovered the night before the trash needs to go out.  Yes, I threw those things in the trash because we do not have a compost pile.  So there is the first big change, we will now welcome rotting food to our backyard.  As happy as I am to have a "better" place to put it, I don't want the food to go bad in the first place.  So here are the Daigle Green Goals 2013 edition:

1) Find a nice spot in the yard and set up a compost bin.

2) Develop a system for getting the food to the compost bin.

3) Teach the kids what can be composted and how they can help. (Maybe a new chore for the chart?)

4) Keep better track of those little bits of recipe surplus.

5) Start a collection of recipes that can be my "go to" for using the most frequent of surplus items.  

Not a bad list, we will see how it goes and what other goals might stem from these changes.  Any of you make any recent green goals?  

What a Chore

Last fall a coworker of mine gave Alexander a notepad of weekly chore charts.  He loved the idea and it really helped encourage his independence and self-confidence.  The problem became filling out a new sheet every week, the paper became an extra chore.  We also had the unfortunate event of losing a chart one week, Hannah coloring on a chart another week and few nights out in the driveway digging through the recycle bin looking for the missing chart.  I liked the outcome of the chores but it was becoming one of those things where I was working harder at it than the kids.  Around the time that I was thinking the system needed to change I remembered I had some Staples Rewards to redeem so I went shopping...

They did have their own packaged magnetic chart system, but I didn't think the layout would work for us and the chore suggestions were a little more than what Hannah would stick with.  I ended up getting this great magnetic dry erase board and a package of printable magnetic sheets.  I hung the board on the kitchen wall (using those great Command picture hanging strips) as that is a spot that the kids walk by frequently but is out of the way of other items.  I then used the printable sheets to create 3 columns; Alexander, Hannah and a section for chores that are Done.  I had the kids help me think of chores that they felt that they could do daily  and I chose one to challenge them with and we typed those up as well.  As I was cutting the chore list items out, Alexander took the scraps and put stickers on them.  He then cut out the stickers and added them to the top of the board as extra decoration (I think he likes recycled art more than I do!) which I think was a nice chart.  We are now a bit more organized about our chores and I love that we can change the chores whenever the kids are ready for more responsibility.

Dining Room Part 2

With the recent "surprise" project of our broken pipes we have had to put some of our design projects on hold.  I wanted to wrap up a few indoor to-do's before we get too far into Spring and all of our extra time and energy is spent on outdoor to-do's.  I thought the dining room chairs would be quick fix and they did not disappoint!  After so many things going wrong lately it was nice to have a project turn out as I was hoping it would.  When I first starting thinking about the dining room face lift the color scheme of yellow, black and grey came to mind as something I would like to explore.  I was also mindful that the set is from the 60's and I wanted to be true to that era/style.  When I went to the fabric store I found this great stripe fabric that was the perfect mix of those things.  

Before

Afters

Now on to wall color and window treatments...

Beat the Blues with Purple

A certain someone had a case of too much inside because of bad weather blues.  So I took out a book, a large piece of paper and a purple crayon...

Sorry for the cliffhanger, no picture of the final artwork...but he was happy for the afternoon!

Just Because...

Because it was going to snow Eric decided to work from home...
Because he was home he scheduled an appointment with a sub-pump company...
Because we had someone coming to work in the basement I went to the back corner (which I try to avoid at all costs) to move some things...
Because I was in the back corner early in the morning, the sunlight drew my attention to the water dripping...
Because I noticed the water dripping Eric looked in the hole...
Because Eric looked in the hole he saw the wet insulation, walls and supports...
Because he saw all the mess he turned off the water and called a plumber...
Because the plumber came he cut a hole in the wall behind the downstairs bathroom (which happens the be the kids playroom) and found a leaking pipe...
Because the hole was found while still leaking, the pipe didn't break and flood the first floor.

For once this winter, I am glad it snowed.

Seusstastic Day!

As the kids are getting older it is fun to see their interests starting to develop and come out.  As parents, we try to foster those interests in healthy and supportive ways.  That is easy to do when your children love to read!  We celebrated Dr Seuss's birthday with 2 more of his books (believe it or not we did not have a copy of The Cat in the Hat!), 2 new soft friends and some "green eggs and ham" (idea from Pinterest of course).