We're Going On a Bear Hunt

One of my favorite childhood memories was car rides reciting "We're going on a Bear hunt, we're going to catch a big one".

It wasn't until I had kids of my own that I knew it was an actual book. It quickly found a place on our bookshelf and in quite a number of bedtime stories. I love this book, and the simple and fun repetition it gives.

Today I took the Princesses on a Bear Hunt. It was one of the most fun days we've had together in a long time.  I'm looking forward to more days like today.

First we had to make it through the "long, wavy grass"

In this activity the Princesses learned to hold scissors and cut in straight lines. Princess V already does this well, Princess C started off well, but got a little sloppy and eccentric with her grass, and Princess R helped me and did the gluing.

Next we had to wade through "A deep, cold river"

You get the idea....this was probably the funnest obstacle.

What's a river without some mud "thick, oozy mud"

Chocolate pudding mud that is.

We took our time in the mud, before venturing through the "big, dark forest"

Princess R brought her mud along. We took a break in the forest to talk about what animals live in the forest and the sounds they make.

Once through the forest we were hit with "A swirling, whirling snowstorm"

For this I created a sensory tub of sorts. I filled a cake pan with actual snow, and winter clothes, and then filled the fruit bowl with cotton balls for a snowball fight. Princess R thought throwing the real snow was much more fun though!

We finally made it through the snowstorm, and found "A narrow, gloomy cave"

With none other than a Bear! Princess V's face cracks me up in this picture! 

We quickly took off back through the cave, snow, forest, mud, river, and grass, and ended up under the covers in Mommy and Daddy's bed. Lots of giggle ensued, with jumping up and down.

They of course really wanted to go on another Bear Hunt.

Priddis Preschool

Princess C's coop preschool is over. People were dropping out left and right due to different circumstances. So we had a big preschool party on tuesday, and that was it.  I'm sad, but it's been so nice not to have that extra place to run every other day. 
Princess V then wasn't feeling too great the last 2 days so I kept her home from school as well. She was just really lethargic and sleeping a lot.  She seems over it now though. She woke up this morning and got right down to playing and screaming with her sisters.

Since they were both missing school I decided we really needed to do something here at home. We called it Priddis School, and I put them to work on activities they need to work on. First together we all labeled a little boy, I found from Pinterest.
Then Princess V got to work using scissors, sorting shapes, and gluing.  Princess worked on tracing lines. Princess R was supposed to be coloring the little boy we all labeled, but she had more fun ripping the labels off, and watching her sisters.

Princess R also woke up sick yesterday, so before Priddis School this is what the day was looking like

By noon she really perked up though. Sickness just doesn't last that long around here. Thank goodness!

Building a Snowman

King Daddy took the Princesses outside in the falling snow last night to build a snowman. it was a bit too chilly, so they didn't last long.  I got a couple pics though.

And apparently my camera is being even more stingy than before. Not only is the flash not working, but I know I took a lot of more pictures than were saved on the card. I guess I should cave and purchase a new one.

Princess R and Sleep

Princess R has always been a sleep fighter. The last few months has been especially hard. Before Christmas we decided to put her in a toddler bed to see if that helped. It didn't. She loved her bed, but it actually made bedtime worse.  She stopped taking naps completely, and would only sleep at night if we held her until she fell asleep. It was really a battle of wills going on here, and she always won out. 
Earlier this month I broke down. I cried, I shut her in her room and let her scream, and felt like the worst mother ever. I didn't think I could do it anymore. King Dad was wonderful. He didn't blame me, he didn't think I did the wrong thing putting her in her room, and he just held me for a bit. I then left him with Princess R and took the other two grocery shopping. It was such a nice trip to spend time with just the older two, and Princess R finally fell asleep and got a nap in.  I was able to put myself back together, and get a fresh perspective on things.

I started brain storming different ways to help Princess R get the sleep her tiny body desperately needed, while not pushing the limits of my sanity. Most days, she will now fall asleep if we put a movie on, and have enforced quiet time. I either let her sleep on the couch or move her to my bed for her nap.  She has been a much happier child since taking naps again. The next problem was bedtime. She still wanted to fall asleep on our laps, and would scream bloody murder if we tried to put her in bed awake. King and I joined forces, and decided we needed to be stronger. We'd hold her for a little, and then sit next to her bed, to  help her fall asleep. Some nights, like earlier this week, just still weren't working out. I had to leave her 3 times when she wouldn't listen and tried to sit on me to fall asleep. So I talked to the King.

I felt that if she shared a room with her sisters, she might sleep better. She loves doing what her big sisters do, and they go to bed fairly easily. King wasn't so sure it would work, but he told me he'd love to proven wrong.  That's all I needed. Tuesday I moved Princess R's bed into her sisters room. She was so excited, and kept running to it all day long, and getting mad at her sisters if they tried to get on it.  Of course Tuesday she hadn't napped, and fell asleep on me at 6:30. Not quite how we were hoping it would go.  With her early bedtime she still got up twice in the night. Once I took her back to bed, and she went back to sleep much easier than in the past. The second time was much closet to morning so I just let her sleep on our bed until King and I got up.
Then last night! She took a late nap, so we let all 3 Princesses stay up later than normal. She got pretty excited about going to bed with her sisters, but wasn't so sure about having to sit in her bed. It was semi successful, but we ended up bringing her back upstairs with the King and I until she fell asleep. Once she did though, it was an easy transfer to her bed. She slept the whole night through, and I woke up to one of the most beautiful sights I've ever seen in the morning.

Mark woke me up to let me know the girls were screaming. I jumped up and ran downstairs, hoping to make it before they were all awake. I did not find screaming girls. Rather I saw 3 sister sitting on one bed, reading a book of fairy tales together. I managed to get back upstairs undetected and get dressed before sneaking back down for some pictures.

This is what makes it worth it. Seeing the smiling faces of children first thing in the morning, as they all play together. I think them sharing a room was the best idea we've had, and it will still take some getting used to, but they'll soon all be sleeping soundly.

Picture post

Where have I been lately?! I haven't been able to do as much with the Princesses lately, between our kitchen remodel, running them to dance and preschool, and making appointments for me and baby Prince.  Here's just a few of the fun things they've done though,

Made bread dough

Done a lot of water coloring

played in the snow

Hung out in their awesome bathrobes

Trying to sneak King Dad's Ipad, and getting mad when we wouldn't let her

And finally discovering that Princess R fits inside a pillow case, with a pillow.

A few updates. Princess  C will be done with preschool end of January. We've had some mom's drop out due to things like a new baby, and lots of out of town trips. We were probably going to pull out end of March anyways to get ready for baby Prince, but this will give us a few months to prepare before hand. I'll be doing a lot more hands on things at home with the Princesses with one less place I have to go each week.

Princess V still loves school, and has learned to write her letters very well. Each week I try to give her a new word to spell. Right now we're working on our last name, and Apple.

Princess R is a handful. She is very attached to momma, but she loves all her family, and will play with others as long as mom doesn't try to leave. Just this week were speech has begun improving with more words, and better understanding on our part.