Cultivating Childhood

My baby is two!  Button is an incredible joy.  He is always the charmer with a smile that takes over his whole face. He loves his big brother and tries to get hugs from him whenever he can. Kisses are also a favorite, and Buddy is often the recipient.  It's so nice to have affectionate kiddos! Button loves  being the baby.  He revels in identifying himself as "da baby".  He also loves to correct us if we say something to his older brother like "poor baby" by reminding us emphatically that " I da baby".  Good thing we aren't having any more kids because I think that he would have a really hard time being usurped of his role.  As his mom, though, I'm enjoying every minute of his "babyhood" as I know it goes by much too quickly. He still is infatuated with his belly and will often be found rubbing his bellybutton for comfort.  He's recently taken to sucking his thumb, but we're wondering if it is just teething.  Only ti...

Our new firetruck tent is now center stage for my budding actors.

I haven't blogged about our "homeschool" much lately.  Mostly this is because we really haven't been doing much.  It's summer, and we have been trying to take advantage of the rare sunshine that we get here in the Pacific Northwest.  We've been enjoying going to parks, playing in water, and exploring our new sand table.  We try not to underestimate learning through play.  Mommy tries to take a backseat to this learning, and let them do their own thing as much as possible. We've been especially enjoying our sand table.  Technically, it's a plastic train table, but we've put it outside and added sand to it.  The boys are really enjoying it.  I believe that one of the best sounds in the world is siblings giggling and playing with one another.  They are also learning to work out their squabbles so Mommy doesn't have to intervene every time there is a problem (although it does still happen a lot). As for our "formal homeschooling," th...

So, I'm trying to learn to make my own cleaning supplies.  For the most part, it's usually a lot cheaper, and I know exactly what products I'm using.  It's a lot safer and it doesn't take much time once you've gotten your ingredients together. I started this after I picked up the book, Clean & Simple: The Old Farmer's Almanac .   I had already been thinking about making my cleaning supplies from scratch, but this book gave me the encouragement I needed to actually do it.  Since then, I've found that the internet is a great resource for all things DIY as well, especially this blog . One item we've had good success with is making our own dishwasher detergent.  I got the recipe off DIY Natural , and it's really working for us.  Basically, here is the recipe: Homemade Dishwasher Detergent 1 Cup Borax 1 Cup Washing Soda 1/2 Cup Kosher Salt 1/2 Cup Citric Acid  (I found this in the bulk section of Central Market, but you can also get it onli...

Last week, Buddy begged for us to go to Country Village so he could go to the " train coffee shop ".  We hadn't been there in months, so we made a day out of it. After mommy got her coffee and the boys had fun playing at the Village Bean Coffeehouse, we headed over to the pirate-themed playground.  Buddy climbed up the Crow's Nest all by himself. We also just had  to do the fun train ride around the village as well since we hadn't been there in a while.  Buddy really wanted to ride in the Caboose.  The boys both loved it. Another new and exciting thing for us this summer is the addition of a tent!  We don't have any camping trips planned except for backyard camping.  The boys LOVE playing out there.  It's like their own personal playhut.  We took our beanbag chair out there along with a bunch of toys.  I'm pretty sure we will be using our tent in rainy days as well since we get the impression of camping out! More park days!...

Now that the sun is finally out, we have been trying to get out and do some fun things as a family. One of our favorite places to go is the Ballard Locks.  We just love the botanical gardens there and watching the boats come in and through the locks.  Usually, if we stay long enough a train will go over the bridge in the back so it has to come down.  This is always a special treat. There is also a fish ladder at the locks, and we were able to see a large group of salmon coming through on their way to fresher waters. We also put the boys to work this summer.  They were super excited about helping wash the car.  I'm sure they got that one spot on the door that they worked on for most of the time super clean.  =) No summer is complete without some time at the beach.  We headed over to Richmond Beach one morning.  The Sound is just gorgeous. More fun to come!