Sweden's Pony Express

A few weeks ago, Kristen was reading a book about the Pony Express as part of her homeschool curriculum. It was a great book, in my opinion, and we were able to reinforce the idea of the Pony Express by using our good friend, the exercise ball. I would bounce on the ball, holding one kid in front of me, and we we would pretend that that child was a rider for the Pony Express. We changed horses at the way stations every 15 miles or so, and we changed riders after about 75 miles (this worked great for taking turns). I made sure I emphasized that we were riding from St. Joseph, MO to California to take the mail where the train didn't go. Hopefully, this part of history will stick with them a little longer now that we have made a game out of it.

Lunging Forward

Last night marked a milestone in Hunter's life. He has shown me that he recognizes me for a long time now. He breaks into a huge grin almost everytime he sees me when I am not holding him. Last night, though, he not only smiled at me, he physically lunged for me. I was so pleased. I know that this also means he has entered a more difficult stage when it comes to other people holding him and watching him for me, but it is so sweet when babies show such obvious affection for a person.

So remember that trip to IKEA? Well, here is what we got. It is not quite complete in the picture as we still want to get drawers for the bottom middle section. They were out when we went. I also haven't figured out exactly how I want to fill the shelves. But this is what it looks like for now. And, no, we didn't get the baby from IKEA. :)

Happy Eggs

Yesterday, while I was making chocolate lava cake, I accidentally made an egg smiley face in my bowl. I was holding Hunter in one arm and breaking eggs with my free hand. As a result, one of the yolks broke, producing the smile. The other two eggs served as the eyes.