Mayden's eye: she's back!

if you remember months ago we had a little segment called "Mayden's eye" which abruptly came to an end. Cameron even got in on the action, infact his "action" (read: camera throwing) was the cause of said abrupt end. yes, my beloved point & shoot was dead. 

my in-laws gave us this exact model (twice actually, after one was lost forever) and i love it. it's a Canon Powershot A540. it does a really great job for a point & shoot. when the second one died i had my SLR so i wasn't in a rush to get anything else but taking a big camera all over God's green earth isn't ideal. so finding a used one crossed my mind and i found one for like $30! 

I intend for the kids to use it mostly but I will be sticking it in my bag when an SLR is too big to drag with me. soon you'll be seeing their work!

our favorite PB&J

we've been through a lot of PB&J choices over the years. these are the ones that have stuck. yes, you have to stir the peanut butter but it's so smooth & creamy afterwards that it's totally worth the effort. have you ever read the ingredients in your peanut butter? you should. 

the jelly we started using after my mother-in-law introduced it to us a few years back. it uses only fruit juice to sweeten and has the least amount of ingredients for the most flavor that i've found so far. apple butter is also another good option. we love it! and if you can't remember how to make it for my kids, click here!

the winter of cards

the winter weather keeps us inside a lot and that can get old after awhile with 2 small ones. one thing we found is that Mayden is old enough to play cards with us! Cam has actually played a little Uno from time to time but one round is usually more than enough for him. he has trouble with color recognition (not that he can't do it, he just doesn't want to do it) so the game is great for him. not only have we been playing tons of Uno but Chris taught her poker & war and she got a game called Slamwich we've been playing too. 'twas the winter of cards! 

typically after i put Cam to bed May and I will play a bunch of rounds until her bedtime.

Spring hair

along with Spring comes new beginnings and new hair. i miss the curls but the "get the kids ready to be seen in public" time has been cut down dramatically!

Spring? is that you?

Spring is technically still a couple days away but today sure felt like Spring to us! a nice 74 degrees... of course tomorrow will be 54, but that's besides the point! the kids and i took a walk around the yard discovering signs of new life and hope. we started the beginnings of this years garden. still nothing planted but that will change very soon.

it's not easy being green

today started out by finding the most green outfit to wear, it was all about being green. right down to the underwear (oh yes)

Mayden had a great idea to buy a green apple or pear. we found a green apple and she tried it.... yeah, no.

Cameron on the other hand loved it! this is amazing because up until today the kid has rejected most fruit including any kind of juice. i guess i'll be buying green apples in addition to the red apples from now on!

so we spent the day getting lunch and playing at the park with friends, in short sleeves none-the-less. Happy St. Patrick's Day from the O'Speers!

birdwatching

The kids and I remembered that hawks nest at the Franklin Institute (in Philadelphia) this time of year. We went to the website that broadcasts this but it was too dark here on the East Coast. Looking around we stumbled upon two more streaming cameras that watch birds. If you have a minute you should really check them out, very cool perspectives!

Hawks - should be laying eggs soon

Barn Owls -missed the hatch but have 6 ugly babies to watch grow

Hummingbird - waiting for the 2 eggs to hatch any day now!

we are on high alert for hummingbird hatching! 

they keep talking so i keep laughing

Cam: "Mama, smell my mouth"
Me: *sniffs* "what did you eat?"
Cam: "my boogers"

nice.

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after a bath Cam asks what his scrotum is and i tell him it's name
overhearing the conversation May asks "what's the worm part called?"

i tried so hard not to laugh at this one but just couldn't do it... LOL!

recent writting

this morning i told Mayden "I need you to write me a letter sometime today" her reply was "i don't want to, i don't want to write anything today." then she paused and said "how are you going to make me write something?" wow. that is an excellent question but one i wasn't ready to answer for a few more years. so after i picked my jaw back up off the floor i left her alone. the rest of the day went on and we did some other less "school" like things. as i was putting Cameron to bed i asked her if she wanted to some reading or writing after he was down. she chose writing. on. her. own. ((YAY)) she is much more willing to "do school" in the evenings and writing a list about fun things seemed to be more interesting to her than writing a letter and i'm glad i thought of it because we can make lists of so many things now!

if you need a translation:

Favorite Movies
1. Home Alone 2
2. Mr. Magorium's (Wonder Emporium)
3. The Karate Kid (she did this one completely solo while i was putting Cam to bed)
4. The Polar Express
5. Ponyo
6. My Neighbor Totoro

*a couple of these, namely #1 & 3 i would never have guessed. haha

reading update

so today is Dr. Seuss's 107th birthday! to celebrate we dug out all of our Dr. Seuss books

and we read every. single. one. 

in other news May discovered a misprint in one of her books the other night. if you're not familiar with Lazy Town then i'll tell you that Ziggy & Pixel's names are mixed up on this page (below). i never even noticed before and believe me i've read this book plenty!

we've been reading "Little House in the Big Woods" growing up i was never into the "little house" books but seems to me if you homeschool you must like "little house on the prairie" so we're giving it a try. so far, so good!

as for me, I'm hoping to finally finish this book tonight... i've been working on it for a month or so now!