Castles in our toy room

Elena bought the kids a big blow up vinyl castle for Christmas. It took us about an hour with a hand pump to get it full. I suppose that it is about a six foot square with four foot high walls. There are holes formed in the sides the size of about 20 plastic balls that came with it. The kids like to push the balls through the holes as fast as they can. Olivia really likes to jump around in it and do somersaults.

The natural gas company here announced yesterday that for the people who pay their bills on a system that averages the costs throughout the year will have to up the payment by 40%. Ouch. Natural gas is about the most expensive thing going these days. Our propane is no treat either though. Our electric heater sales have been through the roof this year too. Who would have thought that running a hair dryer would be about the most cost effective way to heat a room?

We've been seeing lots of cardinals, bluejays, and pheasants recently along with the batches of finches. Elena heard an owl the other night.

Zach is very close to both standing and crawling right now. He flips onto his belly, pushes himself up to the standard crawl position then straightens his legs and makes a big upside down "V" and gets himself stuck there. He rocks front to back but just doesn't move. He can scoot around on his belly if he sees something that he really likes like stray dog food, a bit of cracker or a toy.