Flower sandwiches

I feel a lot like I'm entering a new phase of child raising.  I think back to when we just had baby Michael.  I remember feeling like it was a lot of work to care for a baby 24 hours a day, but I didn't feel as busy as when I had a full time job.  There were plenty of times when he napped or was happily playing that I could attend to the house or have some time to read, scrapbook, or whatever.  In fact, I often enjoyed having other kids over when I did child care because it gave me some more work and purpose to my days.

Then along came Jon and being a stay at home mom felt like a full time job for me.  I would feed Jon, tend to Michael, change Jon, help Michael, entertain Jon, repeat.  There were brief times when I could check e-mail or whatever, but I found that to do chores around the house I started including one of my kids to give them the attention they needed.

Then came Becca when Jon was still so young.  By this point someone wanted attention all the time.  Even to check e-mail I often had Becca in my arms or Jon on my lap now.  I found myself working hard to schedule everyone's day so that nap and rest time for all three would overlap, so I could have a small break in the afternoon.

Now, Michael is at school full time.  Jon goes three afternoons a week.  When Jon is home, he and Becca play together so well that I often find myself folding laundry alone or sitting on the couch with nothing to do.  It is so fun to see them growing up, but sometimes I just need to pick one up and force a bit of cuddle time.  :)

So with my free thinking time, I decided to come up with some fun activities for Jon and Becca to do.  There are so many things that I did with Michael at this age, but when I had super young Jon and Becca the days were mostly just too busy.  First up is a fun lunch.  We decided on sandwiches cut in the shape of flowers with carrot stems and lettuce leaves.  Then we used grapes to make rain drops (since it was a rainy day outside that day).  Jon and Becca had a blast with it.