After gymnastics, Costas and I went to see Horton Hears a Who today. I thought that it was a really cute movie with a nice message. It's so nice to see a movie for kids that is sweet and kind. Costas enjoyed it. Actaeos slept the whole time (obviously I didn't want him watching it anyways). Afterwards, we stopped for ice cream at Maggie Moo's. A fun day!
On March 29, 2008 at 8 p.m., join millions of people around the world in making a statement about climate change by turning off your lights for Earth Hour, an event created by the World Wildlife Fund.
Earth Hour was created by WWF in Sydney, Australia in 2007, and in one year has grown from an event in one city to a global movement. In 2008, millions of people, businesses, governments and civic organizations in nearly 200 cities around the globe will turn out for Earth Hour. More than 100 cities across North America will participate, including the US flagships–Atlanta, Chicago, Phoenix and San Francisco and Ottawa, Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver.
We invite everyone throughout North America and around the world to turn off the lights for an hour starting at 8 p.m. (your own local time)–whether at home or at work, with friends and family or solo, in a big city or a small town. You can sign up today!
What will you do when the lights are off? Visit Crunchy Domestic Goddess for some great ideas for a family night or even a date night with your spouse!
I am planning to participate this year and I hope you will join me!
Today Actaeos had food for the first time. Yummy brown rice cereal. He ate it all and tolerated Costas feeding him (so I could take pictures). Costas did such a good job that he may be helping me feed Actaeos more often.
We went to an Easter egg hunt at the home of one of Costas' classmates on Saturday. Costas had a great time finding eggs and was really quick. There was great food and lots of fun playing with the other kids. We will do Easter baskets and color eggs next month. Happy Easter!
We took our first trip to Legoland this week. We all had a really good time. On the first day, we began with the rides near the entrance of the park which was a mistake. I always like to look for tips before I head to an amusement park. I read online that the lines weren't too long, so it doesn't matter where you start, but they were long on Thursday. The advice wasn't very good. One nice thing about Legoland is that there are either Legos or a play area for the kids to go to while the parents wait in line. Not so fun for the parents, but good for the kids. So we wasted an hour and a half on 2 mediocre rides, but it got better after that. Costas was able to drive his own car on a road without a track. He loved it! Then we headed to the pirate area. Costas went on a log ride. He also was on a ship that went around while we squirted people with water. There was a great water play area there, so he was there while I waiting in line. Luckily, we brought swim trunks. Next was the area with knights, which Costas is really into now. There he rode on the dragon rollercoaster, which is pretty fast. The last ride was a new ride where we rode a jeep and shot lasers at mummies and skeletons. We stopped at miniland on the way out where entire cities are made out of Legos, like this photograph of Las Vegas. We didn't have time for everything, so we had to come back the next day.
This time I used a better strategy and headed straight back to the knights. There were no lines, so we went on all of the rides there a few times. We also learned about parent swap, where one parent rides with the child, and then the other parent switches and rides with the child, so one can hold the baby. This way Costas could ride 2 times in a row, without waiting in line again. Unfortunately, I didn't know about this the day before. We then went to the area where the kids build and test their own Lego cars. Costas spent over 2 hours in this section. It was his first time playing with small Legos. We saw a 4-D movie which was surprisingly good, with snow falling from the sky and water splashing on us. We headed back to the land of the pirates to ride what we missed the day before and go to the water area again.
We spent the entire day there on Thursday and Friday. We were the last ones to leave the park on Thursday. We were all very tired. We then drove home, which was 5 hours away, as soon as we left. The kids slept the whole way home, with some baby breaks.
I thought Legoland was great, and I think Costas agrees. It's nice because a 2 year old can have a great time, as well as a 10 year old. Since Costas was over 40" tall, he was able to go on most everything. Hopefully we can head back again soon.
Here are the pictures from JCPenney's. I ordered the first 3. I liked a lot of the pictures, but I only wanted to order 8x10s without special effects. Next time I'll have him wear clothes, but I have always liked pictures of babies without clothes.
Our first visit to Storyland. It was for a birthday party. As usual, Costas enjoyed the frosting on the cake. He rarely eats the cake part. We visited all of the story settings. Costas had a great time.
Here are two clips from the little St. Patrick's Day show at Costas' preschool. In the first clip, his teacher told the kids to smile. He looks like he is in pain. In the second video, it is shaking because Actaeos kept bumping the camera. That's his good friend, Elijah. I love the oversized hats! Costas has so much fun in preschool.
OK, so the hiding vegetables in food is a good idea, and it sometimes works, but usually not. I have put carrot puree in pancake mix which was tasty. I also added carrots to jarred marinara sauce, which was good too. Then comes the cauliflower. It is white, which is a good color to blend with in food, but the taste is way to strong. I followed the recipe in Deceptively Delicious and put it in eggs. The results-extremely disgusting to the whole family. I put cauliflower in boxed macaroni and cheese-yuck. I put it in some muffin, following the recipe-again, yuck. Tom told me that he isn't going to eat at home anymore. Costas says, "I don't like it" way to often. I'll keep experimenting, but I think I am done with cauliflower and may not puree again, until it's time to make baby food.
We have a Bumbo Seat that I bought used, hence the lilac color. Actaeos likes it only on occasion. I think it's a little tight around his chubby legs. Today he liked it because he was able to watch Costas playing with his cars. Here are a few Bumbo pictures, as well as some others.
No, not Actaeos' baby fat, my baby fat. With both of my babies, I had to gain 20 pounds before I could pregnant. Then, I gained 33 pounds with both babies as well. Both times the 33 pounds came off without any effort, but the 20 like to stay around. With Costas, I was on an ultra restrictive diet because of his allergies: just turkey, oatmeal, and potatoes for 6 months. That is a great way to lose weight, but not very fun or nutritious. I decided to get rid of those 20 pounds by joining Weight Watchers. Since I am nursing, I get lots of extra points to eat. I have been walking almost every day, which gives me extra points, too. I've lost 5 pounds in week and a half, which I am happy with. I actually have more energy now because I am eating healthier; more whole grains and fruit. I love Kashi Go Lean Crunch cereal, and these yummy honey wheat pretzels from Trader Joe's. Last night I had strawberries with angel food cake which was a nice treat.
This weekend Tom's new Jeep Wrangler finally arrived. It's black with a soft top. He has been waiting for it for months. He has wanted a Jeep for at least 15 years, and is very excited to finally have one. Too bad he has to drive it with a cast on his arm. He didn't want me to post a picture until he gets the big tires and lift put on the Jeep. Maybe next week.
