We stocked up on glitter glue and glitter the other day (I love Dollar Tree!) and made another glitter jar. This time I used an empty pickle jar, so it's much larger than the previous ones.
We only had 1 jar, and I needed both kids to decide on which colors to use. For about 3 minutes neither Oliver or Buttercup was in agreement and it looked as though Mommy was going to have to decide, until Oliver had the brilliant idea to make it look like an ocean! He even picked out 4 of his (least favorite, ha ha) plastic sea creatures to use in the jar. :-)
We used blue and green glitter glue:
I mixed it up with hot water, then added more water and the kids each added some food coloring (blue and green). Then we added blue, green, and gold glitter (the gold glitter represents sand), and tossed in the plastic sea creatures.
Oliver had fun using his flashlight to try to see the animals inside.
It was hard to see them with the flashlight shining directly on the jar, but we were able to see them with the sunlight behind it.
See, a humpback whale!
Oliver has been quite the little artist lately! He sits down at the dining room table almost every day to draw pictures for himself, Elephant, or the rest of us. The other night, Oliver drew these pictures for Theodore:
This one is a manger scene, with a popsicle-stick stable, an angel (the one with the face colored black), Joseph (the tall one), Mary (the one with long hair) and baby Jesus in a manger.
On the other side, he drew this picture of Jesus going to the mountain to pray. :-) 
Isn't my big boy wonderful? I just love him. :-)
We have had an abundance of sibling love at our house lately. Of course it's not always like this, but it makes these sweet moments that much more special! Here's a cute story that happened yesterday morning:
The older two kids and I spent all of the baby's naptime playing at the table with their Playmobile sets. After Theodore woke up, we didn't have much time left for errands and running around outside before lunch. It was such a gorgeous morning that we couldn't not spend some time playing outside, so I cut the errands short and we headed to the trail for a short (30 minute) walk.
Oliver wanted to explore, so we headed off of the trail and down into an area we hadn't been to yet. We found lots of cactus, rocks that were the perfect size for throwing, a trickling creek, and lots of sticks for floating in the water. Oliver got right down to business tossing sticks in the water while Buttercup looked for just the right rocks to throw.
Then Buttercup went over to where Oliver was and started pulling sticks out of his hand to throw.
Instead of reacting angrily, my sweet boy instead let Buttercup take the sticks, and then he pulled several sticks out from under the larger rocks and put them in a pile for her. She thanked him, and they went on throwing sticks.
A little while later, Oliver got tired of throwing sticks and started wandering around in the wooded area. Buttercup decided to follow him, but she needed to cross over a fallen tree branch first. She asked me for help, but I couldn't help her since I was on the other side of the creek, holding the baby. Oliver overheard us talking, and he ran back to help his sister without being asked. And not only that, but he also knew immediately how to help -- he stood on the tallest part of the branch so that she could just take a big step over it! Buttercup thanked him again, and I said, "Isn't he a sweet big brother??" Oliver said, "Yeah, I know, I know. I don't need a hug though, I'm too busy for that stuff." :-)
Then when it was time to leave, the kids had a race from the creek back up to the trail to head home. Oliver was ahead of Buttercup, and then he fell and scraped his leg on some rocks. And my sweet girl said, "Oliver, I'll pray for you for Jesus to make your leg feel better!"
My sweet kiddos make their mama so proud! :-)
Check out The Mob Society for more positive posts about boys in their weekly Let's Hear It for the Boys linkup!
As always, we're pretty busy over here! Here's what the kiddos have been up to lately.
Oliver:
I think the big boy is going through a growth spurt right now, because he's been eating us out of house and home for the past week or so, and has also been napping much more frequently. He's really been enjoying having Grammy nearby and getting to have a "Grammy Day" every now and then. It must be nice to have the undivided attention when you usually have to share it with two other little people. ;-) Oliver still loves to swim. It's funny how 10 months ago he was so nervous about taking swim lessons (even though he was at ease in the pool with me), and he has come so far in lessons that we're trying to decide if now is the right time for him to join a swim team! He is also such a sweet, sensitive boy. He can tell when someone is having a bad day and he usually asks if we can pray for that person and/or do something for them. He's still obsessed with Legos and building all sorts of neat things, and he also likes doing puzzles, climbing trees, playing baseball and soccer, and playing our animal game (where we pretend to be different types of animals). And Oliver and Buttercup are still best friends, always sticking up for each other, helping each other, and they play together really well. (They also bicker really well, too.)
Buttercup:
She's still feisty (and probably always will be), but she is such a sweet girl. Oh, I just love her! She gives the best hugs and loves to snuggle. In the mornings after Oliver wakes her up (we're working on that), she comes to our room and crawls in bed with me to snuggle for a little while. She is also such an awesome big sister. She loves her baby brother so much! If I ask for someone to bring me something for him, she usually jumps up as fast as she can to run and get it for me. She is such a big helper! Buttercup is still a tomboy -- she is usually more interested in playing with boy-cenctric toys and, if we take her shopping for clothes, she usually picks out clothes from the boy section. (She still wears dresses to church though, ha ha.) She loves to do arts and crafts, ride her bike, run, and eat. Some days it seems like she never stops eating! She also still loves to swim . . . but only if I'm with her in the pool. When she turned 3 years old, she was finally able to take swim lessons, but after the first lesson she decided she didn't want to take lessons anymore. So we'll wait a little while for that!
Theodore:
He is growing so quickly and doing so many fun things! It seems like learns new tricks every week. A couple of weeks ago, he learned how to crawl and push himself up to a sitting position, and this past weekend, he figured out how to clap and pull himself to his knees! It's just so amazing to me, mostly because his big brother didn't even sit up until he was 8 months old, ha ha! I guess it's not surprising, because Theodore wants to do everything that his big brother and sister are doing. He never stays still unless he is ex.hau.sted. He's such a sweet baby boy, and he's at such a fun age!
This morning we made these cute elephant crafts! What's really fun is that Theodore got to have one made, too. :-) Oliver traced his own hand and decorated his all by himself!
Theodore is working on at least 1 big tooth right now, so he's been having trouble settling down for naps and bedtime. I wish he wasn't hurting, but I do love the extra snuggles!
It seems like the kids are growing so quickly and that time is literally flying by! There are so many moments and memories that I don't want to forget. Like these:
When Buttercup says "how" instead of "why." As in, "Mom, how are you wearing those pants?"
When Oliver and Buttercup both pronounce "chocolate" as "chock-lick."
The way Theodore's face lights up when his big sister or brother are nearby.
When Buttercup runs to Theodore when they first wake up in the morning, as though the night was too long to be away from him. :-)
How much Oliver loves elephants and sting rays.
The way Buttercup will carry on a ten minute conversation with herself, complete with hand gestures, and punctuated with laughter and the word "booty".
When Oliver and Buttercup are both wanting the same thing, one of them will usually (but not always, ha ha) back down and offer it to the other. :-)
The way Oliver and Buttercup look out for each other and help each other out (although I'm hoping this will be a life-long thing!).
When Buttercup says "swimp soup" instead of "swim suit."
The way Buttercup says words in a silly way by making them all start with a B sound. Like, "Bom, bow are boo bearing bose bants?"
I love my sweet kiddos! Although I wish I could freeze time (only on some days, ha ha), I'm looking forward to seeing what type of personality Theodore has and all of the neat things that he does!
