Pieces Of Our Lives

I am so glad I blog. I spent the night reading back through old blog posts from years ago. None of it seems that far away and yet, so much was different. The kids were so much smaller. Xury was just a baby. The 5 of us did most things together. Now, my big kids have lives of their own and interests of their own and we rarely do things all together.  Sigh. 

Don't get me wrong, I LOVE the big people my kids have become. Tanner is all grown up now and one of my favorite people. She has a few semesters of college under her belt. She has a job at our church as an assistant and worship leader for the youth which ahe loves. She fills our home with singing and so much laughter. She's mature, responsible, fun and just generally awesome but I still miss the days that she sat at the dining room table making fairy houses and Barbie furniture. 

And, of course, as soon as I finished writing that she sat down at the craft table to finger paint with Xury.

She also decorated Aravis. 

Dominick has been building Xury a play table with some left over boards. We switched our play room and living room a few months ago and I took her play table to use as a coffee table so I've been meaning to replace it. 

Xury helped with the sanding and painting. 

Then I sanded it some more, primed it and painted it with paint we had left over from another project. We could've (should've) used nicer wood for the top but we were trying to use up what we already had. I'm still really happy with how it turned out. It's nice and big to accommodate lots of toys and playing. 

He's also been building himself a cajon, a drum box that you sit on to play.

Aravis, meanwhile, made a lovely tea party for Xury. 

Complete with a princess make over 

Then they took the ferrets for a walk. 

And built an awesome castle out of blocks.

In the past month we've added two ferrets and two mice to our household because we just can't have enough pets,  apparently. Most of the pets belong to Aravis and she does a great job taking responsibility for them. She feeds them, cleans their cages and takes them for walks - the ferrets bring her the leash when they want to go for a walk because they are the cutest things ever. 

There's nothing particularly special about any of the things I've written about, except that they're all pieces of our lives, glimpses of who we are at this moment in time. The whole of our lives is made up of these moments and one day, when we're all a bit older, I'll be able to look back and be glad I documented these little pieces of our lives. 

Chilly Days and Sea Turtles

Chillier weather has meant snugglier days with warm pjs and comfy blankets,

puppet shows

and piles of books.

Xury loves looking at books herself lately. The wind was particularly strong and chilly and she asked what made the wind. Conveniently, I just happened to have a Magic Schoolbus book on weather from the library and we were able to find out. 

Snugly pajamas are the perfect attire for sand play on a drizzly day. 

I love to watch her play in the sand box. She can spend hours out there, mixing, molding, creating worlds and telling stories. Childhood is not complete without a dirt pile or a sandbox. 

We've had a week full of marine life. First, we visited our local aquarium again. Aravis spent her time sketching aquarium life in her new sketch book. 

While Xury, once again, chatted up the touch tank volunteer. 

  

 Bracing to touch the squishy sea slug. 

She was entranced by the yellowhead jawfish who burrow and hide but the highlight (at least for me) was catching the parrot fish poop sand.  

And despite the chill and the wind, Aravis was determined to collect water and algae samples.

I was freezing. They were barefoot. I'm glad I always keep a towel and a change of clothes in the van. 

We also took a field trip to a sea turtle rehabilitation facility. 

We learned about sea turtles and some of the reasons that they become sick and injured. 

There were juveniles 

And babies.

These little guys got caught in the surf and couldn't make it out to sea before tiring out. Once the sea is calmer, they'll take them out and deposit them in seaweed like this where they can hide and find food. 

Most of the tour, while geared for kids, was still a little old for Xury and she often left the group to explore on her own. One of the times that she didn't appear to be paying attention a volunteer explained that adult males have a tale that sticks out, while females have a tale that is tucked in. Later, Xury stopped to play on a play turtle and said "Look Mommy! It's a girl because it has no tail." Learning is so personal. You never know what's being absorbed.  

Afterward, we stopped at a park and river walk. Xury has been following butterflies around with her finger out for awhile now, trying to get them to land on her. So, she was immensely thrilled to find this moth who allowed her to pick him up. She was both ecstatic and terrified. 

I don't know if it was too cold for him or if he was just getting old, but we put him in a safe place and said goodbye. 

It's been a week of long sleeves, interesting creatures and a little bit of adventure.