Meg bought some water beads at the dollar store to put in John Paul's stocking.  The kids went NUTS for them, and for good reason - they're a blast!

 

 

They had a great time exploring the textures, and pouring from vessel to vessel.

 

Although Cecilia got in trouble for standing on her chair instead of kneeling...

 

And they were frequently dropped on the floor, but the kids were good about picking them up.

 

Definitely a non-messy, super-fun way to explore water absorption and have a blast!

 

And seriously, look how pretty they are!  They start out the size of small seeds and swell to the size of large marbles when placed in water.  They have the consistency of firm gelatin and BOUNCE! 

An update

 Things are still busy here! We've been doing a lot of this:

 

 

Elizabeth & Mary Claire holding hands after nursing

 

John Paul & Cecilia reading together

Tonight's prayer

A counting prayer:

5 people John Paul wanted to thank God for:

John Paul
Cecilia
Dad
Mom
...  Grandaddy!

4 animals:

Bear
Moose
Dog
...  Horse!

3 foods:

Turkey
Broccoli
...  Ravioli!

Cecilia's choice?  "A bean!!!"

2 Saints to pray for us:

St. Andrew
St. Cecilia

1 thing to say sorry for:

"God I'm sorry for disobeying..."

Cecilia:  "Doggies are nice!"

Not sure she understands penitence yet...

Double duty

 

Sure, it would make a sweet post-nursing picture, except that Mary Claire (on the right) had just puked down my shirt.

 

And of course, the burp cloth was on my other shoulder, since Elizabeth (left) is the big puker.

 

Sigh.

Big Sister!

 

Not surprisingly, Cecilia is quite taken with her new "Big Sister" role.  She LOVES to "hold" and "rock" the babies, with considerable assistance.

 

But what's her absolute favorite activity these days?

 

Kissing!!!