FYI

I just want to impart some knowledge to all of those parents out there that haven't been privy of this information yet!

These are the best "sippy" cups ever. True to the packaging, they are spill proof, leak proof, and as you can see on the purple one, they can withstand lots and lots of gnawing. We have had to replace Emma's (the chewing), and a mom in the mall asked me about them because she had had one that was a dud and wanted to know if mine worked well, but I swear by them and give them as baby gifts all the time. I, personally, only use them for water because I like them so much and don't want to get juice and milk junk all stuck up in the little crevices. Target carries purple and blue, and I was super excited to find the pink and green at Dick's Sporting Goods.

Color-cakes

Yesterday's dinner was pancakes. We do breakfast for dinner at least once a week. It is a great way for me to keep my grocery bill lower, and its just really fun. Tonight we spiced it up a bit by coloring the pancakes! We made pink, purple, blue, green, turquoise, and orange.

While Matt is Gone the Girls Will Play

Matt's at a conference in Florida, so we've been on our own for a couple days. Saturday we went to synagogue and all was well until Emma lost her frog, was crying hysterically, and I pulled Siri's elbow out of joint hoisting her into the car. We wrangled some friends to assist us to urgent care and the whole thing took maybe 1/2 hr. extra. Yesterday our friend Maryanne came to stay with the girls and Ty while I went to lunch with friends, and for dinner we made personal chicken pot pies. This was the first attempt I've made at cooking with them and it was not too bad. There was some impatience on their part while we waited for certain things to cook on the stove, and lots of mouth/nose touching thus resulting in discipline on my part and lots of trips to the bathroom for more and more hand santizer. They had fun cutting shapes out of the crust and brushing on the butter. Then we made blueberry turnovers for dessert. Unfortunately my kids tend to complain at the dinner table, so eating our creations proved much more frustrating than fun. :)

This is what Ty did while we cooked.

With the Turnovers.

New Piggies

Emma and Siri got these piggy banks for Christmas from Aunt Stacy, Uncle Terry, and Elijah. I saw them in a parenting magazine and thought they were such a great idea. One thing that I desperately hope for my kids is that they learn how to manage their money well, thus potentially ridding their lives of a big chunk of stress! So, as you can see, the pig has 4 compartments, SAVE, SPEND, DONATE, & INVEST. (If I could personalize the pig I'd swap out donate and invest for tithe and offering.) So, the point is to start kids off young with a wider view of money than just spending, and I'm really excited about our future with these pigs. :)

We got out the old piggy banks: the Space Needle, Ariel, and the duck, and transferred the funds.