I will never tire of this

Binoculars!

What do you do when you have 2 kids who are a little under the weather cooped up on a cold winter afternoon? You make a craft!

We decided to make binoculars today after I realized that I had a bunch of toilet paper tubes sitting in the closet. So I got out the stickers and markers and off we went.

This was one of the easiest crafts to make that both kids could do without my help. All I did was tape two toilet paper tubes together and let them go at it.

Easy peasy!

They're so smart

This morning, like we do almost every Friday, we went skating. The arena near us has free skates for children under 5 every Friday so it's a good way to get the kids out on the ice since it's not too busy. Keegan just sits in the stroller watching since it would be too hard for me to try an help both of them, but my father-in-law had said he would come with us sometime so I can finally get Keegan on some skates.

Anyway, Ronan is getting better and better and today, he hardly fell down at all!

He'll be zipping around the ice in no time!

Meanwhile, Keegan has decided since he can't be an athlete, he'll be an academic. This is him a few weeks ago showing off how he knows all his letters:

At Christmas, I got Ronan a Melissa and Doug floor puzzle thinking he would love it. I was right! But not only does Ronan love it, Keegan has become obsessed with it! He is always asking me to get it out for him, and if it's upstairs, he wants to go up and get it. He plays with it so often that I hardly bother putting it away anymore.

I can't believe how good he is at it.

This weekend is family day weekend, so depending on weather, we might head into Stratford to see my dad, brother, and sister. They are calling for 10-15cm on Monday so hopefully they are wrong!

Organization Station

After my calendar falling off my fridge for the 10th time, and my pen jar overflowing to the point that I couldn't get anything in or out, I knew I needed a new solution. So I pinned the calendar to the wall and set out to make things a little more organised.

Back in September, I had bought the Motherword Fridge Calendar, since between preschool, sports, and life in general, we were all of a sudden really busy! Although I really like the calendar, I was finding that the magnets on the back kept falling off, even after hot glueing them back on.

So today, I did this:

  We have a tiny corner wall in our kitchen that was just wasted space, so I pinned the calendar to one side, and a cork board and pen holder to the other. The cork board is from the dollar store and the pen holder is from Staples and is actually meant for a locker, but it was exactly what I was looking for. At under $10 (not including the calendar) this was a cheap and easy fix!

On a personal note, things are pretty good around here. Ronan is all registered for JK and is also signed up for both soccer and tball this summer. (See why we need the calendar?) We are also thinking about putting both boys into art classes in the spring. It'll be messy but so much fun!

Today is Pancake Tuesday so, naturally, we had pancakes for dinner. Keegan had 2 and Ronan had 4!

Pretending to nap

Pinterest

I, like pretty much every other woman on the planet, am addicted to Pinterest. This week alone, I have tried 3 or 4 recipes that I have pinned! I've also got lots of ideas for my one sisters baby shower that I'm throwing next month and I'm sure I'll find plenty of ideas for my other sisters wedding shower this summer. Up until now, I have only ever posted about the kids, but I thought I would change it up a bit and write little reviews of some of the things I've tried from there. I know this isn't an original idea at all and there are entire blogs dedicated to the successes and fails of pins, but since I had a very Pinteresty week, here goes. Of course I thought of doing this after I had made everything, so I didn't think to take pictures, but in future, if I continue to do this, I will try to include pictures.

Taco Pasta Bake
This one is a simple pasta bake but with taco seasoning and cream cheese. Pretty good, I would make it again. (Original Source)

Dorito Taco salad
Taco Salad made with Doritos. Yummy! So good and much less work and dishes than making tacos. I read some of the comments and made some adjustments to suit our tastes, such as cutting the amount of salad dressing in half and adding salsa. I mean, really, you can't have taco (salad) without salsa! (Original Source)

Baked Cream Cheese Spaghetti Casserole
Baked Cream Cheese Spaghetti. I wouldn't make it again. It tasted fine, but it was a lot of work for something that tastes just like spaghetti with meat sauce. Plus, I burned my arm taking it out of the oven! (Original Source)

Buffalo Chicken Lasagna
Buffalo Chicken Lasagna. I made this yesterday and it was really good! We even have enough leftover that we are having it again tonight. It was really easy as well. Aside from cooking the chicken (which I did ahead of time) it was about 10 minutes of prep and then it goes in the crockpot for 5 hours. It was a nice twist on plain lasagna. (Original Source)

As you can see, I have had a busy week in the kitchen, with no fails! This is in addition to recovering from, and putting away Christmas, as well as dealing with a bunch of bureaucratic stuff with Ronan's preschool.

So for those of you on Pinterest, Happy Pinning, and for those of you not, I suggest you get on there! (Or not. You may get addicted)

Proud Mama Moment

Ronan can write his name!