Random Picture Challenge

So here's yet another weekly themed post! But I really liked Brittany's idea to randomly dig through the old photos... all the sweet memories:)

I do'nt have mine as organized as I like! But here is a September 2007 pic and as close as #11 as I could... I wasn't sure when sept 07 began in my folder:)

It's amazing to see the "baby" in Anna's little face! At this point we had Lydia and Christopher so at the time Anna looked SOO OLD compared to them... but now looking back so was still so little:) I think she had been 3 for 3 months and Little Christopher was about 3 months shy of being 2!!

So silly:)

Saturday Sentences - 'Steak

As I made pancakes for the kids, I heard Christopher call to me. He said calmly,"Mommy, I have a 'steak."

I was busily flipping pancakes to immediately figure out what he was saying to me. Then I went around the corner to the dining room to figure out what a "'steak" was!!

Ahhh!!


Yes, he had tried to drink from Anna's cups.... and had a "steak" aka "made a mistake"! Sweet memories.... yes even when it involves messes!

Focus Friday

I was just reviewing my list to see what I might or might not have gotten done this week...LOL

I DID NOT make well checkup appt for the kids!! Just procrastination!!! I'll have to put that on my to-do list THIS week :)

I DID get done plenty!

*Finished organizing the kids' clothes- all are in the bins ready for the attic and OUT of the living room!!

*Penny jars are out and the Guidelines are printed and displayed!

*Morning chore chart for Anna is hanging and she's been marking her chores each morning in order to put her pennies in her jar:)

*And I'm continuing to get the coupon binder together!

*I DID find the size 6 shoes!! But they were all sandals... but between a good pair of 5.5 shoes, size 6 dress shoes and some pink Riley Roo sandals, she'll be fine until spring!

This week's FOCUS FRIDAY tasks ARE:
1. Get those appt. made!
2. Backup pictures off the old computer

The Pee-pee Walk

Lydia is in a weird stage with potty training... some days, in some places she is soo very consistent and TELLS us when she needs to potty. BUt on laid-back days at home or at the park, she has the most accidents... at home??? Isn't that the opposite of how it works....LOL

Here is the dreaded "pee-pee walk" back to the van to get changed...

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Just another glimpse of reality:) And part of potty training:)

Warm Weather = Exhaustion

We had a day full of fun and playing OUTSIDE.... after plenty of cool days this winter, I as again ready for a "peek at spring"! And Boy did we get it today!

The kids and I met Andrea and her crew at the park! We all had a blast!! She has all sorts of cute pictures on her Flickr!! Here are my favorites:






THANKS soo much for sharing these and letting me share them:)

The kids and I then headed to Wally World to pick-up a "few" items! I got just miles from the store and realize that Anna and Chris were totally asleep:) CRASHEd! The only reason Lydia was awake was because she was eating crackers... at least she was eating:) She was asleep as soon as the cracker was gone!

After naps we played outside more. Ate dinner, bathed, talked to Grandma and Grandaddy on LIve Messenger and then they CRASHED again in their beds... not one peep!

Gotta love playing outside until you're exhausted!!

BIG Hair

We've been contemplating Anna's haircut and waiting for the schedules to clear some:)

I'm still not wanting her to cut too much... but every picture I've shown her, she goes right to the SHORTER style!!! Although I do have to admit that I'll be glad to get rid of all the "long hair fuss"... longer washing,not wanting to brush it, knots, always needing to put it up.... so we'll have to see what happens:)

This afternoon we played on the trampoline and Anna had her hair down... STATIC City! But it made a fun picture:)

Ever wonder....

how your kids always come home "dirty" from church socials??

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Yes, my children decided to make "snow angels" on the fellowship hall stage which doesn't get much use during the week... aka.. is a little bit dusty!!

Seriously, my kids will find the deepest, darkest corners in our fellowship hall/education building and PLAY in there!

I was just lucky this time they were in sight... so I could catch their antics!

New Allergy Friendly Eats!!!

It seems like in the last week or so we have found MORE yummy "new" foods to eat. I'm not a part of one of the major food allergy support groups, so many times I literally stubble upon new foods:)

A week ago Brian was at Walmart reading labels on all the pre-packaged desserts that have NEVER been "safe" for us. But lo-and-behold, Brian found Mrs Freshleys Honey Buns... only the Honey Buns so far... no MILK, EGGS or peanuts!!! Amazing! So far Christopher has been the ONLY taker on this sweet treat:)

On Valentines Day we visited with friends and ate at a new Chinese restaurant. Chinese food is always a little "scary" because it seems all the accidental peanut exposure stories have been from mall Chinese food.....

anyway, I questioned the cashier and was assured they didn't use any peanut products or egg in ANY of their rice!! None of the kids even got red when we ate... ahh, relief and a new restaurant!

This week we found So Delicious ice cream at OUR local Walmart! The kids decided they wanted to try the chocolate flavor first... so Christopher did! He has eaten ice cream after EVERY meal this week.... LOL

he LOVES it!! Yay, we can have ice cream now:) We're getting closer to "normal":)

Sometimes I'll get free samples in the mail. Thrifty and Chic Mom always has some fun ones:)

Yesterday I got this tiny little box of a Total Cranberry Crunch. I LOVE that Total has 100% of tons of vitamins and minerals, including calcium, too bad MOST Total cereal has MILK....

but NOT this new kind!! And guess what child got to have Total as her evening bowl of cereal?? Yes, Lydia!! So if I can get just half of a serving in her... that means she'll be good on a handful of vitamins and minerals!!

Oh, I made a pasta recipe that was on the back of my whole wheat pasta! I was expecting some fussiness just because the veggies, meat and sauce were all mixed in with the pasta! But the kids did great and Brian confessed that he was looking forward to the leftovers this afternoon for lunch!! WOW... looking forward to leftovers is a good sign:)

Happy Eating:)

Photo Luck

I wish I was a great photographer and I could "capture" beautiful artistic pictures of my kids ALL the time... but I'm not! I need to do some studying, read my camera's manual and get more practice:)

But every once in a while I get something I like...

While we were getting some pictures of some daffodils I tried to get a picture of the kids with the flowers. They weren't sitting the way I thought would be best and they tried to humor me by smelling the flowers like i asked...LOL

Anyway, one the first pictures I took I had the camera set on a "program" setting and didn't realize it. This was the picture that came out of that:)



I immediately realized that the picture was a funky color and put it back in the automatic mode... my favorite setting...LOL

As I reviewed the pictures I glanced over this one and then saw how the yellow flowers stood out. Anyway, it might not be a picture we hang on the wall... but I thought it was fun!

Check out Anna's expression behind the flowers... funny! You can tell she was trying to humor me:)

Our Patience Verse

Although I thought I'm a very PATIENT person... I am NOT!

I was thankful that I learned this BEFORE I had kids.... where did I learn my fault??? When I was a substitute teacher. Each day I would walk into a class that was not my own, look at a bunch of kids that I did NOT know and attempt to teach them something:) I'm not sure how many classrooms I was in but more often then not... I found many rotten kids that tested my patience BIG time!!!

And now as a mom my patience is tested daily!! But I have a choice to make in my parenting and walk with Christ. Am I going to be patient and reflect Christ or am I going to get upset and loose it???

Unfortunately, many times I have made the wrong choice and I've had to apologize to my kids !! In fact, Anna now knows that I DON'T want to yell so she'll say to me, "Mommy, you need to say sorry to me because you used a mean voice." Ahhh, the corrections of a child... so needed and hard to take sometimes:)

The kids and I have been discussing and memorizing verses corresponding with the "fruit of the spirit" listed in Galations 5:22!! Last week our topic was patience. The verse I finally chose for us to memorize has really encouraged me this week.....

"Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other's
faults because of your love." Eph 4:2b (Living Bible translation)

WOW! I need to be patient NOT because my kids are perfect but because they are imperfect and are going to do wrong and behave badly sometimes. I need to be patient because I LOVE them and others!

I hopes this helps you as much as it encourages me!

A Realistic Attempt to Exercise, Starfall!!

This morning I was chatting with Andrea about my attempts to exercise at 8am with the kids running around! I can usually get at least 30+ minutes in before the kids need mommy's full attention..... well THIS morning was a little different!

Anna wanted to start school about 8:20am! SO as I was setting up my exercise DVD, I setup the computer with Starfall so she could start working. Lydia was finishing her breakfast and Christopher was running around and playing in his room..... started well....

After a few minutes with me NOT totally paying attention to her, Anna's use of Starfall just got silly and she was totally off-task... so I made the "executive decision" to let her play until I was ready to give her my full attention.... cool... 15 more minutes of exercise...

Then Christopher comes into the living room saying sweetly, "Mommmmmmyyy, I have a surprise for YOUUUUU!!" He was holding a gross, full of stinky diaper!!!! I guess he figured he'd take care of his own stinky since i was busy????

He FILLED the toilet with wipes (not the flushable type) and he had stinky alll over his bottom, down his legs (from takig off his diaper) and mysteriously on his stomach!! EWWWW.....

So basically I was DONE with exercising for the morning.... I made it 28 minutes...grrr... Christopher got a bath, the wipes were rescued from the toilet BEFORE they clogged the pipes and the kids got Momma's attention or the rest of the morning:)

Sometimes moments like this made me want to scream!!!

But then I thought of Christopher's proud little face when he came into the living room with his stunky diaper in hand. He REALLY thought I would be proud of him for trying to clean himself!!! So instead of getting mad at him, I got to remind him that I need to change him when he wants to wear diapers.... if he wants to do it himself he needs to use the potty!!

Hopefully your Monday has been a little less exciting????

Onto something cleaner...LOL... we used Starfall for teaching individual letters.... I let Christopher and Lydia sit on my lap and pick a couple of letters to watch and play. Then Christopher does the 3 workbook pages that corresponds to one of the letters we saw on Starfall! This morning I realized that Starfall has print off pages for each letter as well!!! They are very simple!! But the kids cut out "P" words from a magazine and glued them on one of the pages.... anyway, a fun, free resource!!!

***The photo was taken at a neighbors' house when I was trying to get my pic for the Switchflop review!! Fun that signs of spring are showing up all over:)

A Big Snip.... in the works

Anna has always had a hairdresser phobia....LOL

Since we've had to start trimming her hair it's been a PAIN... she's a totally different child at the hairdressers... she screams, pitches a fit like throwing herself on the floor... she is NEVER like that at home!!!

In September Anna decided that she'd "let" ME cut it!! It turned out OK.... but I am not comfortable with anything MORE than trimming the ends. In November Anna let Grandma trim the ends:)

Right NOW it's in need of another trim. But I think it would lay sooo nicely if she had a professional do it... of course she won't agree to it (not even the 2-3 that we personally know)!! AND she doesn't want a trim.... she wants her hair cut SHORT... honestly, she's told me over and over that she wants it short like mine:)


On Saturday afternoon while washing grape jam out of her hair she said that she would let Miss Kim cut it:) So that is GREAT... I am thrilled but now

How much do we cut off??? Do I really let her decide how short it will be??? Oh, it will be sad for me to see her beautiful long hair gone... but hair is hair and it grows back. I'm much more concerned about her haiving a good haircut experience:)

I told her about Locks of Love and seriously, she is 1 inch from having a solid unlayered 10 inches to donate... her hair would be beautiful... but that means waiting another couple months for a big snip!! I'm not sure she is wanting to wait.

So off to search the web for some little girl cuts:) Leave me some links if you have any ideas???

My favorite end of the week pics!

Lydia and the belly paint!


Here is Christopher drawing of an elephant and it's trunk!!

My New Switchflops

This morning I posted over at SIMPLE....

I got the opportunity to review the new heel style of SwitchFlops!! I LOVE these sandals!! They are soo cute!! I like the little heel... I was definitely needing some more feminine shoes!

I also have a pair of basic flipflops from Switchflops for over a year now!! They are really comfortable!

I did a little bargain hunting and found a couple of online boutiques that also sell these shoes and they had some good deals going on... like buy a pair of shoes and get a free strap... pretty cool!!

Can you tell my Picasa still isn't working....LOL!!

Focus Friday

I'm not sure how to explain my week... except we had fun and I was focused on other things... although I did START on my Focus Friday tasks they were NOT completed!

The plan for the pennies WILL start next week. I will have it together by this weekend. I DID start using a chore chart for Anna's "morning chores"!! Having her chart in place will allow us to keep her accountable for those chores AND make it easier to reward her:)She's been using it for 3-4 days now and it's already helped with our morning routine:)

The Duggar Rules is printing NOW so I can finally check that one off my list!! And the kids clothes are still in the living room. We are headed to "town" this evening an MY plan is to pick up another bin, so the clothes SHOULD be packed tommorrow:)

THIS Weeks Tasks:
1. Get the coupon binder finally ALL together!
2. Make Well Checkup Appts for Lydia and Christopher
3. Find Anna's old size 6 shoes for Lydia (where did they go)??

What's Up, DOC??

So you've read about our ongoing food saga... LOL... Lydia is just not eating much. But she still is eating, so Grandma doesn't have to worry... her parents are softies too :)

Tonight I was cutting up carrots to cook for supper. Lydia walked into the room and I offered her one of these cute little cut-up carrot pieces... NOPE wasn't going to have it...

SO I told Brian to watch.... I went back into the fridge, grabbed a whole carrot, rinsed it off and gave it to Lydia. She said "welcome" and walked away munching on the WHOLE carrot???? Why does she like WHOLE, unpeeled carrots??? not sure, but she WILL eat it, well at least some of it!!

So for dinner she had raw carrot and a couple bites of cooked carrots. Then before they brushed their teeth, Lydia ate 3/4 of a bagel??

The Battles Continue.....

As a side note... I am battling Picasa... I don't know why it is acting up again?? So excuse the uneditted pictures until I re-install the program!! GRRRR....

SIMPLy busy:)

I've really enjoyed being apart of SIMPLE... it's a fun "job"! I get to contact companies and try out some products that I think my kids will like:) Recently I've been able to try out some products I LIKE... he hee!!

A couple of weeks ago I reviewed a pedometer from Walk4Life!!! I have really enjoyed tracking my steps daily. I saw clearly that I NEED to work out daily in order to get the recommended 10,000 steps...

I can proudly say that I did it yesterday!! I got 10,100+ steps!! And today I'm almost there, too:)

This week I am getting together another review... to be posted on Saturday AM!! It's from a company called SwitchFlops... so cool and CUTE!!

Check out SIMPLE when you can!!! Since I'm one of the SIMPLE Moms, I can't enter the giveaways... but YOU can:) We've got a giveaway right now for a CUTE wristlet from Borsa Bella and some Organic lotions from Natures Paradise:)

Homeschooling LOVE

I REALLY, REALLY struggled with my decision to homeschool when Anna was almost 3. We had two families that we were close to that BOTH decided enroll in preschool. Anna was soo TIMID at the time that the decision seemed easy until they talked about everything their kids were doing at school! Oh, how I wanted my little girl to have other friends and be excited about school......

Anyway, we made our decision and stuck with it as lonely as it seemed some days....

But daily I am thankful for our decision to homeschool. Ok, ok, I'm still in my first year... LOL... but I've LOVED having my kids around the table with me learning. They share what they think, they do their work and it's just awesome to see them LEARN and Grow!!

Lately one of the COOLEST benefits has been to see the kids interact with "schoolwork" together! We do our devotion together and each one gets a chance to do the activity with the lesson. Lydia and Christopher gather around the laptop or book when Anna is practicing her reading:) And now Lydia and Christopher work together on Starfall ABC.... Christopher is learning how to use the computer and reviewing his letter sounds and Lydia is learning her letters!!



Another way they interact is by "teaching each other". For example, in the car yesterday Anna and Christopher sang the ABCs to Lydia over and over trying to get her to sing all the letters. If I had Anna and Christopher in a preschool class, Lydia would not have this precious time with them!



I LOVE to see my children loving on each other, encouraging one another and cooperatively playing with one another... i KNOW these things can happen while kids go to a traditional school, but when you're homeschooling they need to happen. My kids need to have best freinds and I'm glad they have found that in each other... on the good days :)

Mommy Socialization... lunch with friends

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Originally uploaded by finadrea

I mentioned last week that we had "run into" another pastor's wife on a Tuesday morning...LOL.. we pastor families only get out on Tuedays:)

So today we managed to get to the library AND eat lunch together!! Sure... it was a little busy and loud, but the kids did GREAT!! And we're looking forward to getting more time with each other.

And bringing in the girls that couldn't be with us :(

Oh, can I tell you how sweet it is to finally have other "young" (that's for you Jenny.... just enjoy it) SAHMs to have lunch with!! It's just nice to have other people who are at a similiar stage and many times have the same struggles....

It is FUNNY that we all happen to be pastor's wives too... that is an extra connection we have! But that is NOT a requirement... we are hoping to find other moms needing some socalization( LOL), too!!

The sweet smell of incense can make you feel good,
but true friendship is better still.
Proverbs 27:9 (Contemporary English Version)

We had a good time this morning/afternoon... maybe we can plan something for next week?? If not there is always PJ Story time on March 3rd!!!!

Showdown with the "Picky Eater"

Yes, the "Picky Eater" is still lurking in our home... it always appears at dinnertime... usually on the face of my littlest one:(

It seems like Lydia is getting more and more limited in what she'll eat. She's turning up her nose at anything we put down in front of her... like this afternoon she didn't even eat her hamburger, refused a chicken nugget, NO appleasauce and just nibbled on her french fries (after everyone was done)???



Since meals are already noisy and too busy we have decided not to create more craziness by "forcing her to eat". But we DO limit if she can have a biscuit or more fruit if her main entree isn't touched. Occasionally she'll eat a bit to earn an apple slice or biscuit....


This weekend we had a SHOWDOWN:) We ate dinner and Lydia didn't TOUCH a THING!! She said at dinner she was hungry but she never ate.


After dinner the kids and I made cookies. Lydia was offered her dinner again in order to enjoy the cookies:) She took the news pretty well but DIDN'T EAT!


Brian was starting to get a little worried about sending her to bed hungry... so he offered her the dinner again... NOPE ... "picky eater" wins again!


Finally as Christopher and Anna were brushing their teeth and I was cleaning the cookie mess, Brian came into the kitchen holding Lydia in her PJs! He said that he just couldn't send her to bed hungry..... so we offered her Cheerios with soymilk (she has YET to drink ANY soymilk EVER). Good 'ole Daddy!!

The "picky eater" gladly accepted the offer:)

She piled Cheerios on her spoon and stuffed it into her mouth! HUGE bite after HUGE bite!!

I've worked in a "soup kitchen" before... and this kid ATE like she had missed a few meals :(

So.... who WON the SHOWDOWN???

Not sure.... but I think it's a good compromise with our stubborn 2 year old. She's NOT going to eat the sweet treats and drink up juice if she won't attempt to eat her dinner. I think Cheerios with soymilk is a good alternative right now... protein, calcium and good carbs!

We have also started to limit her juice! So she'll get her 2 cups (mixed half with water) and then she'll have a choice of water or soymilk. So far she is a water fan... but it's been then all the sugar and empty calories of juice....

Anyone got some "out-of-the-box" getting kids to drink milk ideas???? I've already tried chocolate... she spit it all down the front of her ruining the shirt she was wearing... never thought chocolate was that powerful...

What to do with the Valentine candy?? **UPDATED!

Well Andrea and I made plans to to SOMETHING...ANYTHING together today.... and in brainstorming we figured out we had a BUCKET LOAD of candy that we could use to make grahamcracker houses!! LOL

My mom makes beautiful, homemade gingerbread for houses almost every Thanksgiving/Christmas season... this year she was extremely busy... moving from Saudi Arabia back to the US and then make plans to travel abroad again for 2.5 months:)Maybe next year we can make them with Grammie... if they stay close by

So in an effort to have something FUN for the kids, to use up the candy and to be creative we DOVE right in:)

These were our "supplies" : CANDY, graham cracker (allergy friendly), icing (allergy friendly), plastic spoons and plates to attempt organization!! LOL

After letting the kids decorate their "sides" we realized it was going to be harder than we thought to actually BUILD houses... hmmm?? that's why we always used milk cartons at school!! LOL

Our final graham cracker "creations"... Chris' first and then Anna's :

None the less!! The kids had a GREAT time!! Lydia and Taite even napped in the same room... eventually... he hehee! The trampoline was a big hit and so were the chicken nuggets!! Anna got to play with Caleb's Leapster and teach Caleb how to drive the GATOR! So funny... and sweet!

Andrea blogged with more of our day together... including video and pictures!! Check it out HERE!

Thanks for a great day guys!! See you at the library tomorrow for reading time!!!

In Their Time

For MONTHS I've been attempting to potty train Christopher (and Lydia). After Christmas both just decided to wear underwear and have been doing WONDERFUL (minus Lydia's pee-pee on the floor Friday and BMs).

On Saturday Christopher was pottying and then announced, "I have to make a stinky." And then just out of the blue climbed on the potty and did "the deed"!! Brian and I were in and out of the room getting cleaned up for the day and Christopher did it all on his own....

Last night during choir practice I had both Lydia and Chris announce that they had to potty. I took BOTH up to the nursery bathroom and they BOTH made BMs in the potty....

I've been offering the kids all sorts of "prizes" for this BIG event!! LOL But really it needed to happen "in their time"!!!

I'm sure if I would have kept track of when they usually had their BMs I could ahve scooped them up and given them this "victory"! But would they have continued????

I LOVE that they BOTH have shown initiative int his area:) I look forward to a cleaner and less diaper dependent week. But I'm also have low expectations with a goal to encourage even MORE!!

So here's to our NEW week!!!! Happy Monday everyone:)

Saturday Sentences - Valentine Edition

Christopher was working in his "V"s this week in his workbook!! What V section would be complete without a picture of cupid, right? :)

Anyway, Christopher was immediately drawn to the picture. He just looked at it!!!

Then he looked up at me and said, "Mommy, I like his shoot!"

hahahaa.. he like the bow and arrow :)

We've been chuckling all week about Christopher is our little cupid... usually just in underwear with all sorts of weapons... usually toys that he has turned into guns.

**********
Last night I fixed a meal that Brian had been asking for and I set the table with our cloth placemats, used our gobblets for ginger ale:) and put candles in the middle of the table: Our Family Valentine Dinner:)

Anyway, Brian and the kids were outside playing as I set this all out:) So the kds came in from playing and asked for something to drink and I told them that their drinks wereon the table.

Anna walked into the dining room and gasped, "Oh, MOmmy it's beautiful in here. Is this our Christmas stuff??"

LOL... I was glad the kids enjoyed having some of our "nice" stuff out:) And that we could enjoy our Valentine Dinner together:)

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!!!

Focus Friday

Is it already Friday, again??? LOL


My two tasks were to organize and clean out the shelves above the washer and the cabinet under the kitchen sink. Thankful BOTH places needed a little bit of straightening and sorting out but they didn't take long...

I thought of listing all the other "extra" projects I took on this week around the house, but my finger hurts from where I cut it ask I was changing pictures in one of picture frames.... ha hahaa.. Anyone who knows my house KNOWS I'm not good with decorating and/or placing pictures... so the fact that I was doing it and then cut myself is kind of funny... seriously, it's a little deeper than a paper cut but it stings still.

OK... the first 2 things we have been meaning to do FOREVER:
1. Print off a list of the Duggar House Guidelines for our family to start learning... these are soo practical and could be used in ANY family... not just the ones with 18 kids:)

2. Develop a reward system for the kids' chores. We're thinking pennies in a jar for chores well-done. The kids need a little more motivation:) Maybe even a list of reasons that pennies might need to be taken out??? And for those of you who might think pennies are CHEAP... umm, I'm cheap and my preschoolers would LOVE getting 5 pennies versus a nickel.... they'll learn soo enough. And it's for motivation right now!!

3. Finally, I need to sort through the clothing the kids have outgrown and get it OUT of the LIVING ROOM:)

A Realistic Day

This morning we woke into the reality of living and caring for preschoolers and toddlers:) Christopher crawled into bed with us at 6:30ish. Anna hollered out at 6:50, "I pee-peed in my bed!" waking her sister,too!!

So by 8:30, I had both girs' beds stripped and washing. The dishes washing and I was cleaning pee-pee off the kitchen floor. The floor??... you are wondering... yes, Lydia just could NOT get herself to the potty today??? I had to clean the kitchen floor once and then clean the bathroom floor 3 times!! yes!! THREE!!!

The plan today was to finish up some schoolwork from the week, bake cookies and then hopefully give some out.....

hmmm, instead I cleaned the floor, washed laundry, controlled the mess while attempting to teach the kids to "play with ONE toy, put it away, then get another"...

So the day didn't go as planned!!! LOL

But we had a good lunch with Daddy, I got my Focus Friday tasks done, Grandma (on the phone) and I got the summer clothes organized for the kids and we took a walk!!

So it wasn't a BAD day... just a more realistic day than my plans.... it was what life with three preschoolers is REALLY LIKE!!

"We are not meant to be God's perfect,
bright-shining examples,
but to be seen as the everyday essence of ordinary life
exhibiting the miracle of His grace.
Drudgery is the test of genuine character."
- My Utmost for His
Highest, Oswald Chambers

So I am thankful for grace today! And thankful for our sweet time of reading and conversation together before naptime!! And maybe, maybe, maybe we can bake some cookies this evening.

Here was an encouraging blog (on realistic parenting)I read today: Loving the Beautiful Mess!!

***The pic was from this summer when I traveled to see my parents and brother with the three kids! Always interesting!

Neat Painters

This morning, after schooling, we decided to paint!! I had them all set-up outside until ONE huge gust of wind took all our papers and tore down the easel....

After I gathered all my stuff, I had to get over the fact that we might have to paint inside!! Yesterday with just paper, glue and scissors was CRAZY so paint is even nuttier, RIGHT!!!

Well the kids really wanted to do it and I wanted them to enjoy the paints from Grandma and Grandaddy! And I LOVE giving the the opportunities to create:) So I let them have at it... while mantaining order of course:) I couldn't believe how NEAT they were!! I was AMAZED!! I even got to take pictures of them:)

Yes, even Lydia did a great job! See her little fingers.... those were the ONLY fingers with paint on them at the end:)

Enjoying a WARM Winter day:)

We picnic-ed outside:) The weather was soo nice... the kids and I had on flip-flops:) I was a little chilly in a short-sleeve but it was a NICE break from heavy jackets, layers and sweaters:)

Then the kids got in some more trampoline time. For some reason the session today became all about wrestling! They had tons of fun being silly with one another. I have to admit that Lydia usually starts it:) Here was a pic of Lydia laying across Christopher and Anna is tickling his feet:) he is screaming between giggles:)

Then, of course, they had to swing a little bit before we went in for naps:)

Our Valentine Morning

With Valentines Day quickly approaching I thought it would be fun to use our morning to talk a little about Valentines Day (via books) and then make Valentines:) WOW... I pulled out all sort of stickers, paper, etc that we have in various places around the house!! And the kiddies got to work:)


In searching for a versus or saying for our church sign I was brought to a verse in 1Corinthians! It states, "Let all that you do be done in love." 1 Corinthians 16:14 I think it will be another "love" verse for us to memorize this week:)

Having all three kids with their little paws in all the supplies was a little CRAZY... but even this simple verse reminded me of the reason I was making the cards with the kids: to be active with them, encourage their creativity and hopefully be a blessing to others during this holiday as we hope to share some with others:)


These were two of favorites:
Christopher's :)

Anna's:)


I finally had to give Lydia scraps of paper to glue together and she was happy:) But was quickly bored and entertained herself in her room for the rest of our craft time. (ohhh... her room!!! Just think DISASTER!!!)

And my little Anna found herself a Valentine Sweetheart... LOL!!

I asked Anna just a second ago what she a thought "a sweetheart" was. Her answer was "sweetheart means when you are being kind to someone else." Ohhh... she is soo sweet! And I'm soo thankful for her friendship with Caleb... they are like family to us:)