Enjoying Indoor Playgrounds again

So it's a wet or cold day.... the kids are bouncing off the walls and I need to get OUT of the house...ever have one of those days??? LOL!

The only problem is that last year it seemed like EVERYTIME we visited an indoor playground (at the mall or fast food restaurant) we brought home an illness.... everything from colds, Fifths Disease to a nasty stomach virus! Not fun or worth it!

We joked about putting gloves on the kids when on the indoor playgrounds, so that they wouldn't put their hands in their mouths or eat with dirty hands! And when they were done playing we were more aware of it and could clean their hands. We did worry that it would be a little odd.... but much better than cabin fever and stomach virus'!!


We tried some out when Ida (the storm) came to visit and we blazed a wet, rainy trail to meet up with family. Grammie picked up the gloves at a Dollar Store and we put them on the opposite hands so that they could use the patterns as grips:)

I was actually shocked that my kids willingly agreed to wear their gloves and LOVED them:) Now that the gloves have been washed they'll just wear them for kicks:)

And get this..... almost 1.5 hours at the indoor playground and it's been over 1.5 weeks and NO illnesses... nothing!

Ahhh... indoor playgrounds are back:)

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WW: Happy 5th Birthday, ANNA!!

May 27, 2004

May 2009

Today is the day!!! The day you have been looking forward to for awhile.... the day you turn 5!!! You are just soo excited to be 5! How did you get to be so old?

I still remember having those first contractions on May 27th in the wee hours in the morning. They told me labor would start SLOW so I should plan to labor some at home before heading to the hospital... I wasn't able to sleep because of contractions, excitement, nervousness, more excitement and Daddy checking on my every minute:)

So after taking a early shower and having Daddy put in some laundry:) we called the doctor. Over the phone she said I should be in the car heading to the hospital. We grabbed the bags and headed there. Oh, can woke up Grammie on the way:)

Your delivery was less than peaceful! But it was worth every push!! You were such a cutie.... even with your cone head:) And you were such a sweet baby... except every night from 7-9pm when you'd scream your head off and wake up townhouse neighbors:)

You've been such a sweet blessing in our lives. It's been amazing to see how much you have changed over these 5 years. From newborn to independent, sweet, helpful and kind little girl! We are soo thankful to the Lord for you! And we pray often that you would grow to be a young woman who loves the Lord with her whole heart, works hard at the tasks she's been called to and attempts to serve others!

We love you, Anna!!

Happy 5th Birthday!!

Here is her montage from last year:

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

And Jaclyn and Hannah Grace were being induced last night. So Anna and Hannah might be sharing a B-day:) I'll let you know and hopefully share some pics when I know more:)

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day!!!

I found a site with some "mother's day" quotes. I thought I'd share:)

* All women become like their mothers. That is their tragedy. No man does. That's his. Inspirational Quotes on Mothers Day by: Oscar Wilde

* The most important thing a father can do for his children is to love their mother. Inspirational Quotes on Mothers Day by: Author Unknown

* A suburban mother's role is to deliver children obstetrically once, and by car forever after. -Inspirational Quotes on Mothers Day by: Peter De Vries

* We never know the love of the parent until we become parents ourselves. Inspirational Quotes on Mothers Day by: Henry Ward Beecher

And here is my favorite:

* And remember that behind every successful woman......is a basket of dirty laundry. Inspirational Quotes on Mothers Day by: Unknown

*******************************************

Dear Lord, thank you for letting me be a mother!! Help me to guide my children gently to You.

And THANK you for the godly mothers you have given Brian and I! Thank you for their sacrifices for us, their love to us, their support of us and their examples to us!!

We love you MOM..... Grandma and Grammie!!

Copywork, Not Pushing Too Hard

One the year goals I have for Anna's school-time is that she will be able to do "copywork". Which means to me that I give her a couple of sentences (hmm..... a poem, memory verse or lines of a book she wants to create) and she can copy them onto her own paper.

So with this being a goal... almost everyday she does some sort of writing. Usually it's on regular notebook paper with guide lines drawn by ME (like the picture on the right)! Or sometimes it on one of our wipe board books (paperless... LOVE it)!

During a recent trip to Walmart, her and I spied a writing tablet that had already lined paper! She immediately asked if we could get it for her schoolwork..... sometimes she is such a "little Kelly"! I told her that we would at a later time and that in the mean time we needed to practice how to write better between the lines.


Last night during a quick Walmart run after our dinner with the deacons of the church. Brian and I picked up the Tablet! And this morning as we were taking out our "school" stuff I showed Anna the tablet... she was soo excited and "ready"!


So I wrote a letter that the kids "dictated" to me for Miss Sue-Sue, the sweet neighbor who kept the kids for us last night! When I finished writing the letter, I got Anna started writing the letter on the writing tablet......


After she finished the first word I looked down at her work and cringed... she wasn't using lowercase letters and it was "sloppy". I almost started to take the tablet away..... but then I got a GRIP!


Here is my sweet four-year old writing a letter of thanks and maybe her heart isn't into it.... but the worse thing for me to do is harshly criticize her work. So I gently reminded her to use lowercase letters and to do her best work! And I demonstrated a couple of letters or reminded her to trace mine from the originial letter, if she needed help.

When she was finished I praised and praised and praised her! Even though I thought her first couple of words weren't as formed as I liked, I thought she did an amazing job. Especially for her 1st copywork assignment, which ended up being longer than I would have normally started with. But she did great!


I was reminded through this internal struggle of mine how my "job" as the kids' mom and teacher is to encourage and guide them. Sure, I need to instruct and teach them what is right but I need to do so with much love, gentleness and graciousness. I think of God's gentle ways with us..... "He leads me beside quiet waters.... He guides me in paths of righteousness..." (from Psalm 23).

This picture is one of my favorite "schooling" pictures....so far!! It looks like she is "just" coloring but it's actually a color-by-word number.... so she's using her reading skills! Anna loves our school-time. She is soo ready for some structured learning and so school-time can be soo fun and exciting.

My daily hope and prayer is that I can challenge and encourage my children in their "studies" without it being stressful or trying to accomplish what I want!! And I am able to enjoy this time with the kids when I'm not so "driven"!! And I'm able to model and encourage character traits - self-control, patience, hard-working, etc - during school-time which is a HUGE benefit to homeschooling....

Little BUSY hands

Anna didn't want to nap today.... sometimes she naps and other times she doesn't:) Anyway we don't have anything goin on this evening, so it was a good day to skip a nap:)

First we did her reading lesson (didn't get to it this morning). Then we worked on her new little clock toy (teaching her how to read a clock). Then I tried to get her to nap with my on the couch, but she watched our town mantenance team put up the Christmas wreaths:) Finally I thought I should start working Prizeatron, so Anna worked on some math manipulatives... just playing (and secretly learning).

Finally she was bored and needed something to do... so I put her to work sorting through all the 330+ pictures I ordered last week!!! And she did it.... hahhaa...

One picture was of her last year dressed soo funny (she had picked out her outfit) pretending to use a microphone to sing. Anna held up the picture so I could see it and she shook her head and said, "This picture is weird. I'm not going to put this one in my pile!!"

( I don't have the pic on my computer so here's another one from yesterday.)

Picky Eater strikes again

Lydia is such a picky, picky eater!!! I am having a time with her and her "I don't like that!"


On Monday night she refused to eat ANYTHING on her plate. As we were all finishing I asked her, "Lydia are you hungry?"


She responded, "Um-uh" and shook her head yes. She had licked her chicken and made so at least she attempted to try it.... right???


Anyway, her answer broke my heart and I did something I swore I wouldn't do for my kids..... I gave her a bowl of Cheerios with soymilk.


I have been against just giving them cereal because my younger brother was always given a bowl of cereal when he refused to eat his meal. And now as a college student, he is still so picky.... now this might JUST be his personality and have nothing to do with giving him cereal.... but I've always wondered....


But how could I let me little down from the table knowing that she was hungry??? I know that if she was really hungry, she would have eaten her dinner and not been so picky...so I know that argument well....


What do I do with my picky eater????

Siblings... even watch TV alike

I caught this the other day and had to snap a pick. We've been working on Anna about this but I'd never seen Chris:)

The Bride and Groom - Sort of

Here's another "Anna original"... she drew it of her Uncle Scott and very soon-to-be Aunt Bea...

Just in case you were wondering, Uncle Scott is the green one and Aunt Bea is the purple one:)

And this is what the description underneath says:
(dictated by Anna, written by Mommy)

Uncle Scott and Miss Bea getting married. Miss Bea and Uncle Scott have 2 grown
feet because they can be in the family.

So I guess all those who are in our family must have "two grown feet" at least in a silly little girl's mind:)
My kiddies are definitely NOT lacking in imagination and silliness:)

***FYI.... Lydia added the green to the picture... just the wedding decorations that she thought Anna overlooked:)

Daddy Snuggles

Lydia is such a snuggly baby....we just can't resist getting some kisses in all through the day:) Even at the park!!!!

This was such a cute shot but it needed some tweaking....since my computer won't download any new programs :( Andrea editted the picture for me (in abot 5 seconds) and e-mailed it back. Here's my favorite of the editted picturs she sent back!! Thanks Andrea (here's her photography website!!!

When you Know.....

your little boy is too big for the baby swing.



And here is Baby Sister trying to be too big.....

Coolster Tumblers at the park

The kids have loved these new cups!! They have been drinking soooo much that Christopher has pee-peed through his diaper, Pjs and sheets TWO mornings in a row!!! Anna was wanting soo much milk and juice I would have had to go grocery shopping two extra times a week (so she got her limit and then its good 'ole water).

Little Girl Curls