So many changes lately with my littles!  First, Ocean just turned 10 months and is just so brave and climbing everything.  He stopped trying to walk and won’t even hold my hands and walk anymore – just crawls with furious speed.  He loves all food, now has 4 teeth coming in, and loves to watch Koral and play with her.  He’s getting pretty rowdy and can take a fall, so they are starting to become more equals than big sister and little baby.  He climbs on the couch and has learnt how to get down feet first – he has used his drum to climb up onto the coffee table, and then fell off.  If allowed in the bathroom, he will do everything he can to lope himself into the bathtub, which is so scary I always keep the door closed unless I’m right there. 

Koral has found her words this week in a big way!  She suddenly clicked and is full of new verbal observations and questions.  The very first conversation we had was “Mom –why yellow?  Orange juice, why yellow?”  I suddenly realized why she was calling all the yellow things orange for a week – she loves orange juice and we call it orange.  We looked at oranges, then the juice, called oranges by name, and she seems satisfied.  What a great little brain!  Later more followed, like why Milo doesn’t woof, etc.  Yesterday why said “Koral go beach.   Koral like beach!”  Wow, I certainly hadn’t heard her say “beach” ever before!  It’s been amazing! 

I also began a new thing myself – a daily calendar video for kids.  Why?  I used to teach preschool for a year, and every day we did “circle time” – it was always the same sort of introduction to the day:  Calendar with songs, weather, and intro to the day’s activities.  So, being in a world now where absolutely everything is on YouTube or online, I looked for a current daily circle time for Koral to watch with me in the mornings.  And there was not one.  So I milled it over for a month, and decided it would be easy to do – it’s very repeative.  But the thing is, you can’t skip a day.  So it’s EVERY day, in case viewers rely on it, like teachers that have lost their voice and don’t want to struggle through calendar and just play this one, or kids that need routine, etc.  So far we’ve done this for a few weeks and it has been simple enough.  My goal is to continue for a year and see if I get a following worth continuing.  Plus, as an added bonus for me, I get to put some cute moments from my kiddos into a little edited vid every night!  We do each day one day in advance, so on Friday we film for Saturday, etc, and everything comes out on time.  #FunDailyCalendar

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOQ9pZ3vfadN6DvKlbg0RSQ

At first I wondered if it would end up being a stressful time suck – but actually, I’m getting MORE done!  Its exciting to plan the fun thing each day, and Koral and Ocean are loving it, too.  When I might have just watched tv with them – more Sherriff Callie’s Wild West, again – instead I would clean up things and prepare for a fun, unique activity!  The weather has also been heaven this warm winter and we have lived outdoors from 10 to 5 most days – Ocean will nap in the middle and Koral and I will play sandbox, do DYI home improvement projects, and play all sorts of things.  The only part that really takes time is the editing and posting, which I do after they are in bed.  I enjoy it, and I’m getting faster, but that doesn’t mean that some nights I would rather curl up with a book instead.  The last two nights, I was done in time to sew some projects, and I have invented a new lily pad for jumping on made out of outdoor marine vinyl.  I plan to sell them in sets of 3, 6, or 9 – I will be working on the design and making more.  Also, yesterday I made a prototype of one of the little Resurrection Gardens I plan to sell for Easter.   These have a little cave and look a lot like a fairy garden. Koral’s is a “bear cave” for her littlest pet shop bear.  Finally, I will be working on turning an old vintage crib with the spindle bars into easter crosses to also sell – or for memorial day.  J 

Synopsis – The kids are amazing and I am LUCKY.  I love playing with them and love their sweet natures.  I enjoy #FunDailyCalendar immensely.  Life is good.