New Blog

Hey everyone! Well, after some thought and discussion I'm switching my blog to wordpress. Primarily the reason for the switch is to have a new name for the blog that doesn't include my first and last name. I'm just starting to be more concerned about privacy issues. Also, I've heard great things about wordpress so I thought I'd give it a try!

Here's the new address: http://worldofkimcraft.wordpress.com/

I came up with the name while my husband was playing the video game World of Warcraft. Basically I wanted to express this is a blog about my world that I'm crafting...and maybe a post or two about the crafts I hope to do one day =) Please change your bookmarks and join me at the new site!

The joys of a stay at home mom

One true joy (and honestly some occasional frustration) of being a stay at home mom is all the playing. I love my kids and seeing their creativity in their play. I do not enjoy going "vroom vroom" over and over again with the same car, but luckily playtime has been much more interesting lately. And a few times I've caught the fun on camera.

Here is Ryan leaping up the slide and catching hold at the top, then pulling himself up. He's seriously part monkey. Yes, he'll be in gymnastics this summer!

These boys are in heaven at their friend Luc's house. Poor Luc, his friends come over and only want to play with Buzz and Woody!

Rare peaceful moment when they were both sitting together. Very rare but very sweet.

She was determined on this day to #1, not take off her hat, and #2, to get all the rocks from inside the wall to outside of it on the sidewalk.

My little laundry helper...unfortunately I'd just put those wet clothes in to dry!

Ryan has begun rearranging the furniture...and what better accessory for the activity than rainboots?

Peek-a-boo!

Silliest girl ever!

And finally, this happened on the way home from Zilker park. Molly missed her morning nap that day. She almost never falls asleep in the car, but they both were worn out!

Random thoughts

1. I am taking a Facebook break this week. I read in a NY Times article about how technology is affecting kids where one kid said he would check facebook instead of homework because it let him feel like he was accomplishing something when he was accomplishing nothing. I realized that's me. I would periodically check it and feel good when I got "caught up" on my news feed. Definitely a bit of a compulsive behavior rearing its head there. So...just thought I'd see how hard it would be to go a week without it. Honestly I haven't missed it too much. I'm sure I'll go back after this week, but hopefully not as compulsively.

2. I've started a few commitments to programs or events that have nothing to do with my kids. In fact, my kids would rather I wasn't committed to them. It feels good actually. As much as I love and adore my kids, I need to regain some parts of me that don't revolve around them. It's a bit of a challenge to figure out how to balance it all, but it's a good thing.

3. My son drives me crazy sometimes because he's a miniature me in personality. I'm a planner and I passed it on to him. I find ourselves arguing about what's going to happen in 5 minutes or when we get home. Crazy! I've started saying, let's just enjoy right now and we'll talk about what's next when it's time for that. My habit of preparing him for what's next by telling him in advance has created a bit of a planning monster. Good thing there's still time for his dad to fix him =)

4. My daughter is so unpredicatable on the other hand. At this age I knew what Ryan's favorite foods were that he would always eat. Molly on the other hand will LOVE eggs one day and spit them out and throw them on the floor the next. She's always looking around at meal times to see what else is on the table so she doesn't miss out. She's much more spontaneous like her dad and likes to "mix it up".

5. We are taking lots of family bike rides and we all LOVE it! I told Molly today we were going on a bike ride and she crawled to the bike and pointed at her helmet. She also signs, "Go, go, go" when we're getting ready to take off. Such great exercise that I truly enjoy, and out kids are a part of it too.

Random thoughts anyone?

Playtime at Miss Sarah's

One fun thing we do is go play at our good friend Sarah's house. This day I actually had my camera. Sarah is awesome and keeps fun toys at her house just for the kids that visit to play with. Ryan loves the "chompster" that would get Buzz (a coin purse) and asks for it every time we go there, even though it has found a new home.

I can't resist posting these big blue eyes!

And that's my girl! If there's a Dr. Pepper around (even caffeine free) she knows one of us is supposed to be drinking it!

On rainy days or times we want to get out but not venture too far from home, Sarah's is the perfect place to go!

13 1/2 months- We have a walker!

I missed the 13 month blog post for Molly, but that's ok. I was just waiting for the big news....she's walking now! Honestly she's so good at crawling she hasn't been interested much in walking, but we worked with her some this week and she's decided it's pretty fun. She loves to take a few steps then just dive the rest of the way into your arms. Pretty cute but you have to be on your toes and ready for it! She can stand unsupported and take 5-6 steps when she wants to. I'm ready for her to walk. Park visits will be much more fun and overall less dirty =)

Her hair is getting long...but still thin and straight with just a bit of curling at the nape of her neck. Joe decided to give her "sticky hair" one night after bathtime.

This girl is one to watch. She plays so well by herself, but she'll just quietly get into things like this...

I love my little girl! Not a baby anymore, though.

She's also talking alot and communicating very well. I don't know how many words she has but one of them is "buzz" for Buzz Lightyear...too funny! She'll say and sign please when she wants something instead of screaming and will point to things. She's such a sweet snuggler and overall happy girl. Ryan and Molly are starting to play more together which is really cute. Here's the star of the post taking some of her first steps!

Molly walking from Kim Pollard on Vimeo.

And here comes the skiing!

That picture pretty much sums up our last full day on our trip. We skied, and skied, and skied...and loved it! The weather was a balmy 15 degrees above zero, and sunny for most of the morning. The snow was groomed and the crowds were light. I loved it! And I was totally exhausted by the end of the day, just how it should be.

Ryan said he wanted to ski with us, so we decided to try with him first thing in the morning. He did great getting all the gear and boots on with us. Those were the cutest, tiniest boots and skis ever!

A nice guy in the ski shop found the special rope thing that you use to attach the skis together so he didn't do the splits. Ryan had great balance on the skis and did great while we pulled him along using the little rope thing. He got on the "magic carpet" with me and rode up the tiny bunny bunny hill. And then he realized he was at the top of the hill and his skis started to move on his own, and the poor kid lost it. I got the obligatory pics and we promptly returned his skis. He tried so hard to like skiing, but it was just too much for him.

After Joe dropped Ryan off with the grandparents and we skied all morning we stopped and had a great lunch at this amazing lodge near the top of the mountain. Those logs were so huge!

Look at that handsome, happy, relaxed Joe!

Our view out the window from where we sat at lunch. Beautiful!

And a few pictures of sking.

Sledding!

Ryan LOVED sledding. I thought he might but wasn't sure after skiing the day before when he didn't enjoy it as much. Even though it was -22 we stayed out there sledding for almost an hour I think. I was proud of him going by himself. Always as soon as he stopped he say, "Let's do it again!" Joe, Bryan (Joe's dad), and I enjoyed sledding almost as much as Ryan and my mom got to come watch.

They had this great ice sculpture there too. This town park was so nice!

We took Molly sledding on our way out of town on Friday so she wouldn't miss out. She really enjoyed it until she got snow in her face. The second picture is blurry but you can make out her big smile as she was going down.

And now for the video montage....

Sledding in Winter Park February 2011 from Kim Pollard on Vimeo.