Days With the Duerksens

Yesterday, I tried my hand at babysitting 3 other children besides my own. I've always respected and admired daycare providers, and after yesterday, I'm not sure how they do it everyday. One day was perfectly fine, in fact, it went better than I thought it might with 2 children under the age of 1! The boys did a fantastic job for being at a new place, and Cambry thought it was great to have other kids here to play with. Delaney even liked Kreed (the other baby)! So, while I know I can do it occasionally, I'm glad I don't have to do it every day! Thank you, daycare providers, you truly are amazing!

Today was rather cold, wintery, and downright gloomy. So, what did we do? We fried things! We made doughnuts -- the whole thing -- mixing-rising-cutting-rising-frying-glazing. It was so much fun! And, while we had the fryer out, we fried some flour tortillas for supper tonight. I had some leftover pork tenderloin so we're going to make some sort of taco salads on the shells -- can't wait! Now it's time to air out the house . . .

SPRING! I noticed these daffodils poking through today -- yeahhh!

I'm a little late on this, but Delaney turned 6 months old almost 2 weeks ago! Some new things she can do: roll over all the time, sit up (with us nearby), eat Cheerio's, laugh occasionally (especially at Caiden), and her newest trick (see picture) -- it's as if she knows it makes us laugh!

Caiden started basketball last week. It's his first experience with organized basketball (aside from p.e.), so I was curious to see how he would do. Yesterday, I got to watch him for the full hour and it was so much fun! The kids aren't in teams or anything, it's kind of a "clinic" of sorts for 4 Saturdays. I'm so happy they're doing it this way so the younger kids can learn some of the basics. They went through it all: dribbling, passing, shooting, jump stops. Caiden is very particular about where his hand should be to shoot the ball. He stops before almost every shot to find the valve on the ball where his finger should be -- at least he's listening to the coach! He seems to have some skills, so we'll just have to see where this all leads!

After the washing machine chewed up Cambry's pillowcase, I told her we would go pick out some material for a new one. I don't sew, I really can't sew well at all. However, I figured a pillowcase couldn't be that hard. On Friday afternoon, we found some fabric (as soon as I saw it, I knew it's the one she would pick)! On Saturday afternoon, I sewed it together. I barely had enough material to work with lengthwise, but I'm okay with how it turned out. There was no measuring involved, and it's not perfect -- crooked seams, etc., but Cambry said, "It's okay Mom! I love it!" Thank goodness things don't have to be perfect to please a 4 year old!

Here are some more photos of the baby chimp at the Sedgwick Co. Zoo! Can you tell that we really, really liked it? This one is kind of hard to see, but the mom is carrying it underneath her.

Cambry and I had a date at the zoo yesterday! I had been planning it for a week, so when yesterday arrived, Cambry was super excited! We dropped Delaney off at Amy's (thanks!), and headed to Wichita around noon. Just having Cambry was quite a treat, and I hope that she was happy to spend some one-on-one time with me, too! Cambry enjoyed looking at the maps almost as much as watching the animals! We had to stop at every single one! One of the tigers was pacing back and forth by the glass. It was fun to see it come back over and over! Such a treat -- there's a baby chimpanzee at the zoo! This was by far our favorite stop. The baby reminded me so much of a human baby -- it stumbled when it tried to walk, it got scared and clung to its mother when the other chimps got too loud, it tried certain things over and over again. We loved watching this baby! And, I just found out from our zoo map that the baby was born in August. She (or he) is the same age as Delaney! Flamingoes...

Yesterday was my birthday -- another ordinary day, really! It was such a good day, though! Here are some highlights: 1. I stopped in at Lincoln Perk for my favorite drink, a dirty hot chocolate. Have you had that? It's hot chocolate with 2 shots of espresso - it's my perfect blend of coffee and chocolate. Usually I have a 12 oz. nonfat, but not today! Today, I did a 16 oz. with whole milk! :) 2. Delaney took an almost 4 hour nap 3. Cambry gave me several "gifts" -- she got dressed that morning without me saying a word to her about it (yes, that is a huge gift), a decorated heart, a flower pot with "flowers" (a stick that she's trying to make grow), and a rock 4. Chelan and the kids made a chocolate cake for me and decorated it -- so sweet! 5. I enjoyed a walk in warm sunshine -- loved it! I even enjoyed cleaning out the van because it was so nice outside.

Today was really nice -- almost 60 degrees, in fact! So, Delaney and I took our first "good" walk together. We've been on walks before, but never without her crying by the end. In fact, there were times early on that I had to end my walk holding her and pushing the stroller home. I was super-excited today when we got home and she was still happy!! I'm looking forward to spring already . . .

Wow! This was a lot of snow! It was knee deep for me in some places -- waist-high for Cambry! Today, the sun came out, Chelan cleared the yard, and we played! You could say that we used a lot of tools to enjoy the day . . . Our bodies (to make a tunnel) Our hands (to help Shammi out -- she was swimming through snow!) Tractors (to clear the driveway -- and everything else)! Shovels (to clear the feed bunks for the cows) Sleds, of course!

Homemade Whoopie Pies -- I had never tried this before today, but I do love them now! A brand new diaper cover -- who knew it would be so fun to get a new diaper cover? Thanks Grammy and Papa for this very "trendy" Christmas gift! Making homemade Valentines Cards with Cambry -- we did finish them later with a little "100 Grand" candy bar at the bottom!

At 6 months, Delaney loves to "talk" to us!

The snow is really piling up today -- this picture was taken around 2:30 p.m. on Tuesday -- looking onto our deck Delaney loves it when Caiden plays with her -- particularly peek-a-boo! It's so fun to see the big smiles she gives her brother! Our cabinets have become an art gallery! I saw this idea in Family Fun magazine and decided it was a good way to display some of the kids' artwork. Truthfully, a lot of the kids' stuff ends up in the recycling when they forget about it. This is one way to keep some of the "nicer" ones! Do you love the Berenstain Bears? We do at our house! Most of these are mine from when I was little, but we've gradually added new ones to the collection for Caiden and Cambry. On this 5th snow day, I finished replenishing the baby food supply. I love making baby food! This week it was green beans, peas, sweet potatoes, and butternut squash. The picture is of squash ready to be frozen.

When we realized there would be a second snow day in a row, Caiden was aching for some "friend" time. So, he called Emily to see if she wanted to come over. Nothing says friendship quite like asking a friend to get out in 0 degree weather to come to your house! Well, she ended up coming over with her mom, brother Jake and sister Jenna. We had a good time playing and then we ate lunch together. Who knew that Cambry's pop beads would be such a hit? We also played with play-dough a little bit and some form of dodgeball (kids going after moms)! Thanks for spending the morning with us, Flaming's! It made our morning go a bit faster. Jenna and Cambry playing with the little piano Sorting beads by shape -- they did also make some creations!