~ Fin ~

The great magnificant all purpose end table/chest/game station is finished! Above you can see the heavy duty construction from 4" pine boards, and assembled in a sort of log cabin style with alternate boards overlapping the ends. The top is put together with pine boards as well and is one strong tabletop able to hold up to children and adults alike. The box is just the right height to put your tea down while reading or even to rotate your chair and elevate your feet. Recently Tyler and I have put the backgammon game on it and played a nice game in the afternoon Winter sun. The actual width of the box is the same as the length so that the base is a square, and although it may seem overly large to you it is perfect for holding the boys Geotrax trains. The cover lifts right off for easy access to this wonderful pasttime of train track designing.

As you can see the box fits nicely between our two swivel chairs and acts well as an end table or even as a seat for Ali.

Here are the boys showing off one of the many uses of this wonderful creation of Tyler's and mine. After slaving for four weeks (off and on) we have come to the end of this project.

Yay!

#1 Reason to Bowl: The Shoes Baby!

Tyler and I took the boys on their first bowling adventure today, and let me tell you it was a treat. I never remember bowling as an expensive activity, but it is no longer cheap. It cost us 16 bucks for each of us to bowl one game, and that is with Elijah and Josiah sharing a string, and Josiah didn't even rent shoes (his feet are too small).

Don't you just LOVE those shoes?

I was greatly reminded of that movie Uncle Buck. Do you remember that movie? There is a scene in that movie where Buck takes his niece and nephew bowling. His niece manages to push the ball down the lane so that it hits a pin and stops. Well, I thought that that is exactly what Josiah's bowling ball was going to do whenever he went to push it down the lane. It seemed to take forever for the ball to make the short journey down the runway; but in the end it always made it and he would even knock down a lot of pins. The boys shared a game and when all was said and done they did great with a score of: 78! What a score for a 2 and 4 year old!

Elijah and Josiah loved examining all of the mechanics on the machinery. Whether they were looking underneath the bumper or examining the ball return, they were transfixed on all of the things that they found. As usual Elijah would not stop asking questions, but hey, that is how you learn.

If you find yourself with some money and nothing to do in Maine on a rainy day; go bowling with a couple of kids. They love it, and you will love watching them bowl or just get freaked out by the air coming out of the ball return machine.

Snowtime Fun on the Cross Hill

Growing up we went sledding at this hill across the street that we called the cross hill. This name comes from the fact that at some point a church put a cross on top of the hill for their Easter services. Years later, even though they no longer did Easter service on the hill, the cross was still there. Now, the cross is gone, and everytime that I see the hill I think of the missing cross. Needless to say that even though the cross has left, the name has stuck. It is still called the cross hill by our family and even others in the neighborhood. For this hill was well known as the best spot to go sledding, snowboarding, or skiing. Enthusiasts beware though because the hill is steep and it is a hard climb to the top.

This past weekend Tyler and I took Elijah and Josiah to the cross hill. Now given they are sort of small to be climbing this hill, so we pulled them in the sleds. Overall, I think that they enjoyed it.

My dad pulled Elijah in the toboggan up the hill, but don't worry, dad got him back. He put Eli in the front going down so that Eli blocked the snow from getting into dad's face.

My dad with his two sons... They made Chris go in the front because he is the shortest. Unfortunately Chris knows how to duck, so dad wore his snow mask to protect his face from the oncoming snow. The things we wear in the winter to keep warm...
This picture makes me laugh, They look like grown men in real life, but then you take them sliding.

Until next time, I hope that you enjoy the snow that we have gotten in the past week. If you need someone to go sledding with, give me a call, and I will take you to the cross hill.

Play Doh Can Be Fun!

What can you do with Play Doh?

Growing up we didn't really play with play doh because my mother hated how it got stuck in the rugs. Play Doh was infamous in our house as something that would get you in trouble if you were found in possession of some. Anyway, now that I have little boys and we find ourselves stuck in the house with no where to go and snow all around I wonder to myself, how bad can play doh really be? We got some for Josiah's birthday and the boys really seem to like it: all in all I would say that it is a fun inside activity. But just for the record, I haven't got any stuck in my rug, but it still does make a mess on the hard floor. Needless to say I have to keep a tight handle on this stuff to prevent its banishment from my own household.

Elijah has learned how to use this machine tube thing to stuff the dough into small places. Could be a problem, but I monitor this boy closely.

Josiah is just getting the hang of making a play doh head man.