First Joke

	Willow made her first joke this weekend. Mommy: i won! Willow: No, my won! Mommy: Noooo, I won! Willow: Nooonono!  My won...my two my three!  hehe!!! Two-year-olds are awesome!

Friends

There was alot of snow on the ground when we got up this morning, so naturally the kids wanted to play in it all day   We invited the neighbor girl, Ava (who is Ryvre's age), to come play too and she ended up staying for over 5 hours!  The three of them (Ava, Ryvre, and Willow) played so well together, i lost track of time--at 2:00 i reminded them that they didn't eat lunch, and i talked them into eating bagels.  While the kids were snacking, Ava decided she wanted to go home, so i told her we would go back when she was finished with her snack--when the time finally came, she decided she wanted to stay "just a little longer."  Fine with me!  Finally at 4:30 i took the initiative, and told her her mama was probably missing her.  She agreed, and we all trecked down the street. It was so nice to see the kids playing with someone besides each other, but i do have a new appreciation for the way they interact.  Ava and Ryvre are both 4, but Ava's younger brother is only 1 (Willow is 2.5), and i think that makes a huge difference in the way they play--Ryvre and Willow do literally EVERYTHING together, if one is bored with an activity, they both move on to the next.  Ava, on the other hand, seems more accostumed to ignoring any younger kids, and gets VERY annoyed when they "get in the way."  Willow didn't take it very well at all, she never had a fit over it, but she did curl up in my lap a few times to pout.  She just didn't understand why every time she sat next to Ava, she got up and moved, or anytime she tried to play with her, she got shooed away.  She's never been treated like a pest before! An old friend and i have been talking about getting our two-year-olds together at least once a month.  i wonder how that will go.  Will they all play together, or will he favor Willow because she's his age?  Will he favor Ryvre because he's a boy?  I'm really curious.

First Kiss

	i got a baby kiss last night!  i was kissing Ember's chunky little cheeks (i always say mmm-muah!), and she got mine (she's done that lots of times before, but as more of a "feed-me" gesture) and she said: "ow-wah!" just like mommy!

Good Day

We had a REALLY good day, homeschool-wise!  Ryvre did worksheets for almost 2 hours in one sitting!  i was totally shocked, and it was his idea of course, because he won't do them at all if it isn't his idea.  We did some time flashcards, but he really wasn't in the mood for that.  Willow did really well with her colors and shapes though, which has been a struggle.  For awhile my mom was even worried she was colorblind, but that doesn't seem to be the case at all, it just took her awhile to learn them, and she still mixes them up on occasion, but for the most part knows them.  She even caught on to the time flashcards (we're still on One o'clock, Two o'clock, etc) when Ryvre refused to answer them!  We read three books; one winnie-the-pooh that Willow picked at the library, and two Native American tales.  Then Ryvre did MORE worksheets. The kids didn't fight very much today either, so i was a happy mama!

Native American Homes Project

	That took me awhile, but here it is, Ryvre's craft stick and paper houses.  He was so cute, playing with his little Indians and GI Joes and these, hehe.  You can't see it in the pic, but he even drew a little horse right in the middle, where that blue patch is!

Goodbye Bri

cat update: Bri is truly gone.  The neighbor's-son's-girlfriend moved out and took the kitty with her *sigh* she was a good pet, and is greatly missed.  The neighbor was very sad to tell us about it; he knows we loved her very much.  Ryvre is interested in Native American culture at the moment.  We borrowed Indian in the Cupboard from Granny, and the kids really loved it.  Dale also introduced them to Dances with Wolves and The Last of the Mohekans.  We checked out a stack of Native stories from the library, and little as it is, they had more than we could even borrow at once!  (First time that's ever happened.)  Yesterday, Ryvre and Daddy made a tipi and a longhouse out of paper and craft sticks.  i'll edit in pics later.

Missing Kitty

Bri (the cat) is missing.  Well, not so much missing as...well, first i need to explain that our "custody" of her has been sort of a grey area.  She technically belongs to our neighbor's daughter-in-law.  When she and his son moved in, they brought along this cat that was her mother's, because the old lady didn't want it left with her.  They didn't feed that cat, when she found us she was skinny and sick-looking (the neighbor also confirmed this, along with the fact that they closed her in their car at night sometimes, with no litter box!).  Bri obviously favored us, she'd come to any of us that called, and begged for a scratch on the tummy, she ate our food, and played with our kids.  The neighbor said she wouldn't go to anyone, and when we told him she did come when we called, and even when we didn't, he said as far as he was conserned, she was ours.  Well, three or four days ago, i was leaving to pick up some groceries, and i saw that the neighbor's wife, son, and his wife were all outside, calling for "kitty" and looking around.  Strange, thought i, since up to this point they ignored her.  Maybe they were taking her to the vet or something?  I don't know, but i haven't seen her since, and i'm afraid the kids are coming very close to suspecting something.  I've been holding off their questions with "well, you know, sometimes she stays in the woods and doesn't come when we call" and "maybe she's napping somewhere."  Argh.  i'd at least like to talk to the neighbor about it, so i know to tell the kids that she went to live with someone else, or if she was sick or whatever.  i don't want to lie about something like this.  Ugh, if they did take her somewhere else, that was really mean, because they KNEW we were taking care of her, and would have kept her in a heartbeat.    i'm just not looking forward to whatever conversation is in the future on this one.