twenty lil toes

spring grouping: inspiration and my version

2012-02-18T15:33:00.001-08:00

Here is my version.

Cost: $3.00

I already had most of this on hand- including the nests and moss!- I got two rabbits and one "fleur de lis" type statue at the dollar store and sprayed them silver.

And here was my inspiration...

a little inspiration

2012-02-17T07:19:00.001-08:00

During part of my morning "off" I headed over to a local place, Christmas Point, to have some coffee and read for awhile. And then I headed into their store to check out their spring-y home decor they just pulled out...I got a few ideas.

This chair, though very expensive, was beautiful! I loved the colors of the leaf pattern and it was extremely comfy! The perfect reading chair....

And then I saw this little spring grouping and liked the mix of plants and figurines, etc. I was inspired to come home and begin working on my own as I already have a two tiered metal stand...I'll post a picture once I finish.

And then I saw these pails painted with chalkboard paint...

they may also be in my crafting future.

valentines

2012-02-17T07:14:00.001-08:00

These are the valentines Ben handed out in his preschool class this week...he did such a great job writing his name 14 times! He loved giving them out and had particular colored frogs set aside for particular friends...including a blue one for himself!

we found mice in the house...

2012-02-17T07:10:00.001-08:00

This morning a few little mice were found running around our house...

kids gone wild

2012-02-15T13:40:00.001-08:00

Just in case you get a rose-colored perspective of my life

based on the "highlights reel" that usually get posted online...

check this out.

Monday was not a good day.

My kids know how to lock doors...

and well, bad things happen behind locked doors.

2012-02-15T13:38:00.001-08:00

These events all happened on the same day...

within about 20mins time frame.

My kids work fast and furious!

[note: the baskets at the top of the picture

had been nicely filled with folded clothes before the mayhem began]

beauty.

2012-02-15T13:36:00.001-08:00

After being away from real winters for many years, it has been nice to see the beauty in this winter back in Minnesota. Not to say I enjoy the bitter cold wind but, it is nice to see the little details of winter beauty.

...like frosted trees...

...and the pointy edged frost on a window...

The pictures don't capture just how breath-taking some of these moments of beauty can be...I am so thankful for how God thought of the smallest details in creation.

our "weekend"

2012-02-11T21:02:00.001-08:00

It's kinda funny, our weekends aren't really everyone else's weekend. You see Saturdays are our Mondays...confusing, I know. This particular "weekend" we went down to "the cities" to visit family. It was a great time! Abi-girl crashed on the drive back home.

We had breakfast at Carol's with my grandparents

...always a great time!

a night out

2012-02-11T21:00:00.001-08:00

We went out with my parents the other night to a restaurant downtown and then on to a concert at Orchestra Hall...it was a great night and we loved laughing and eating and spending time with my parents sans kiddos!

It was however a very bitter cold night, which made for a very icy run from the restaurant to Orchestra Hall. Let just say I didn't feel my legs for quite a while!

1st haircut

2012-02-09T16:23:00.001-08:00

My baby girl got her first haircut - a la Auntie Shannon (aka Master Stylist) this weekend! She sat so nice and she looks all grown up now... (small tear...boo hoo hoo).

I did hold her chin so there weren't any major mishaps with the haircutting!

Thank you Auntie Shannon!

valentine photo shoot

2012-02-08T10:14:00.000-08:00

Took a little time this afternoon to take a few photos of the kids.

I needed a couple shots to order pictures to update a couple of frames I have around the house!

I had a few "props" to keep them interested in staying in one spot for more than 30 seconds...one was a basket full of these plastic hearts.

And I have a large piece of black fleece that I hung over the back of a arm chair upstairs in front of our windows to take the shots with the black background. Abi didn't really cooperate too well with this portion but Ben was coming up with all kinds of different "smiles" (ie. dino smile, superhero smile, sneaky smile etc.)

and finally a sweet hug between siblings...

burning bush

2012-02-04T14:25:00.001-08:00

Today (because Saturdays are like my Mondays)...we read a story about the second part of the life of Moses (you know burning bush, plagues of Egypt, and leading God's people out of Egypt) and then we made our own "burning bush" out of toilet paper tubes and red tissue paper. I love saving household things to be recycled into crafts for the kids!

Library Day (part 2): Mother Goose Rhymes

2012-01-30T13:01:00.001-08:00

These are a few of the "take home activities" from the Mother Goose books we got at the library this past week. Ben has loved playing with them and saying a few of the rhymes.

Library Day: Mother Goose Rhymes

2012-01-30T12:49:00.000-08:00

I found this book at the library this past week, along with two others written by the same author with the subjects of "People" and "Night". It was a great resource for my kids as they've taken a liking to little songs and rhymes. It is a teacher's type resource with storytime, history of the rhyme, additional activities to do, and "take home items". I copied those take home activities and laminated, and put them on sticks so the kids could play along to the rhymes.

snow play

2012-01-26T16:28:00.001-08:00

Today for family day, we played outside since it was a warm sunny afternoon! We played at the neighbor's backyard playset...Ben thought it was pretty cool to swing and slide in the snow.

Ben and Daddy threw a couple snowballs...

And we build a snowman...

Ben even gave his snowman a hug...it was so sweet.

Happy Birthday Daddy!

2012-01-24T07:00:00.001-08:00

The kids were so excited about Daddy's birthday! They picked out presents all on their own and helped wrap them too. And of course fully enjoyed a large portion of Jay's oh-so-small cake.

As soon as Jay walked in the house from work last night, the kids made him open his gifts. I thought they were nearly going to explode from all the excitement!

At Target, Ben picked out a large container of cheese balls.

This boy sure knows his Daddy!

And Abigail picked out a little heart shaped picture frame from the Target Dollar Spot- she sure is taking after her thrifty mama! We cut out pictures of Daddy & Abi together and put them in. She of course had to open the gift for Daddy...

[disclaimer: my son does own clothing...most days he wears it until about noon...somedays a little longer...but most days he is just in his undies at dinnertime.]

Dresser Re-Do:Finally in Place

2012-01-20T18:17:00.001-08:00

Toddler Battle #153: Meal Time

2012-01-20T14:37:00.001-08:00

In an effort to make our mealtimes with our preschooler and toddler less of a battle and more of a win-win situation, I made little food choice squares. I printed them, laminated them, cut and adhered small magnets to the backs.The idea is, if my children are a part of making the food choices, then hopefully they will be more willing to eat what they have chosen.

Click the link here to download your own free PDF copy!

I am planning on only using these for breakfast, lunch, and snacks- as dinner for the kids is exactly what Mommy and Daddy are also eating. For each time, I add a small amount of choices to the fridge front (we were also having a problem with the kids making the same choices out of the pantry or wanting to pick things that I did not want them to eat- like cereal for lunch). They can pick any of the options as I already feel like any are acceptable choices giving me the freedom to say "YES!" instead of "No, No, No". (I feel like "no" already takes up too much of my daily vocabulary.)

I used a small gift box to hold all my squares with a little card stock divider between each section. I hope this is useful in other households...and restores a bit more peace to families (including my own!) during mealtimes.

more snow!

2012-01-18T20:57:00.001-08:00

Making tracks...

2012-01-18T20:55:00.001-08:00

The kids got to paint with a bouncy ball and tins today, Abi really enjoyed bouncing her ball all around her container (recycled from Christmas cookies purchased at a store) and Ben really enjoyed making tracks with all his little plastic animals and super heros.

Ben and I have been looking at all the animal tracks in the snow so he thought the cream paint made it look like snowy tracks. He really enjoyed this and made 3-4 prints.

Dresser Re-Do

2012-01-18T20:53:00.001-08:00

I received a free dresser from a friend of mine a couple months ago and after Christmas began repairing and then painting. There was quite a bit of chipped wood/veneer on the sides and the drawer edges so I used wood filler and repaired those areas before painting the piece. It's a pale pale blue (I wish I would have picked a slightly more blue shade).

Tinkerbell & my little artists

2012-01-17T20:22:00.001-08:00

Abi has been in love with all things Tinkerbell since visiting Disney World in December. After we watched the movie, Tinkerbell, she wanted to get dressed up like Tinkerbell and ran to get her little green wings...then she wanted to fly so Mommy got an arm workout and made her zoom with her fairy wings!

Later that day, as we were cleaning up dinner dishes, the kids decided to try out a new art technique...pen on wall. After scrubbing for about an hour with a magic eraser, it finally all came off. It kind of looks like there is the state of Texas somewhere in that drawing...

art: shaving cream "painting"

2012-01-17T12:41:00.001-08:00

We painted with shaving cream and a few drops of food coloring in plastic baggies...the kids thought it was pretty neat...(for about 2.5 minutes)

A few birthday pictures

2012-01-13T21:03:00.001-08:00

We headed down to Grandma Mary's house to celebrate Ben's 4th birthday Scooby Doo style! Even though Ben was getting a sick, it was nice to be able to celebrate his birthday with family.

I made a "Mystery Machine" pinata...it was a bit of a dud! It took lots of beatings before it broke open. (I took notes for next time.)

And the Scooby family...

Daphne (Abi), Velma (Jen), Scooby (Ben), and Fred (Jay)

Art Week: Collage

2012-01-12T06:07:00.001-08:00

We talked about how collage is another type of art and looked at Eric Carle's work in Brown Bear, Brown Bear for inspiration for our own animal collage.

Ben and Abi also put on their own puppet shows!

Art week: Day 1 {also library book review}

2012-01-09T12:16:00.001-08:00

I've decided this is officially "art week" at the house...

today we started off with reading two books we got at the library.

I really liked the first one, "I Spy Colors in Art"

(this book was age appropriate and had

some paintings/artworks I hadn't even seen before which was fun)

and then we read a little of "Look Closer"

(This book had a lot of information which we selectively read...

it showed the colors the painter/artist used, which Ben particularily liked

and also up close portions of the artwork...

it also included some more famous paintings like "Mona Lisa")

Next it was time to head down to the easel to paint their own pictures...I told Ben now he is an artist too! He was so excited to be an official artist!

Saturday at Home Depot

2012-01-07T16:44:00.001-08:00

We headed over to the free kid's activity at Home Depot this week...Mommy helped each of the kids build their own "piggy bank" house. They especially liked the painting part, and the free popcorn too!

Saturday at the Library

2012-01-07T12:27:00.001-08:00

We spent this morning also at the library...where my kids favorite things are not books at all but instead are the puppets, puzzles, and computers.

What I'm working on...

2012-01-02T20:08:00.001-08:00

Check out this chevron blanket I'm crocheting...except in different colors: robins egg blue, carrot, corn meal, and white. I may also add a navy blue depending on how it starts looking as I add the bands of color.

I mostly have done smaller crochet projects and this will be my first BIG project. Hope I persevere to the end...

Family Day : Sledding

2011-12-31T11:29:00.001-08:00

We headed to a local church that has a great sledding hill close to our house...the kids had lots of fun using their new sleds they got for Christmas!

2011-12-31T11:27:00.001-08:00

mustache

2011-12-31T11:25:00.001-08:00

The kids had fun wearing mustaches at McDonald's today...

they were punch outs on their Happy Meal boxes.

...and since Daddy can't grow a mustache he got in on the fun too.

just a picture...

2011-12-29T11:35:00.001-08:00

Christmas Day

2011-12-29T11:29:00.000-08:00

The kids left out cookies for Santa...

and were so surprised to see this in the morning!

Santa even wrote them a little note.

Both kids got a sled for Christmas...

now if we would only get some SNOW to use them on!

Abi just HAD to put these little pink slippers on that she got

from her Great-Aunt Jill & Great-Uncle Bill

...she wore them the rest of the morning!

(and this was Abi's awkward "cheese"

with her new favorite book

"Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What do you hear?"

BUGS!

2011-12-27T12:52:00.001-08:00

We had some fun this afternoon, first reading a book about bugs and then filling a "jar" with bugs we found hidden around the living room and then drawing some of their own bugs on the new easel Grandma Mary & Papa Joe got the kids for Christmas.

Mommy drew the web and then Ben drew the spiders.

Mommy drew a butterfly and then Abi colored in the wings

...or really wherever she wanted.

This was the bug jar collecting "game" we played. After we found all the bugs and put them in the jars then they colored their bugs. They had way more fun than I thought they would with this activity!

What I'm Working on...

2011-12-27T12:03:00.001-08:00

Through the rest of the winter I have a few furniture redo projects I plan on working on...this one I started today (which I got from a friend for FREE! Thank you!!!)...I have plans to put this finished dresser in our bedroom painted blue/grey? We will see where the project goes.

Christmas Day

2011-12-26T22:09:00.001-08:00

The kids helped make Jesus a birthday cake...which was fun, exciting, and of course messy! They helped clean up all the batter that got flung around the kitchen though.

Here the kids are mixing mixing mixing...

As we were opening gifts on Christmas morning (early early), Ben handed us the gift he made at preschool...he has been so excited to have us open it since he brought it home. It was little hand prints with a little poem (which I've read before but brought tears to my eyes)...

Ben loved his Scooby tshirt...

And his dinosaur ornament too...

And his dinosaur shirt...

he was so excited about this one

and wanted me to keep taking pictures with him and his shirt!

Abi loved opening up gifts...

and this was her "cheese" for Christmas morning...funny girl.

Santa brought ball "guns" for the kids in their stockings...lots of fun. (Except when MOMMY accidentally popped Ben in the eye with one of the balls...oops!)

Disney Trip

2011-12-26T22:06:00.001-08:00

My grandparents took our entire extended family to Disney World the week before Christmas...it was such a great time with family and the kids adored every minute with their cousins and aunts and uncles as well as with the characters!

Abi was a whirlwind on the plane...with each thought out and cleverly packed activity only taking up 30 seconds of her attention. I don't know how but, we all made it through!

Animal Kingdom was fun, in the past, we haven't spent much time at this park...the kids loved seeing animals...and I saw some particularly wild animals...(see below)

We went on the safari ride and saw lots of animals super up-close which was neat. This giraffe was trying so hard to get a drink of water.

We were on the back of the ride's jeep and I thought for sure I was going to lose Abi out the back on one of the big bumps!

The kids also had fun in the "Honey I Shrunk the Kids" play area at Hollywood Studios...I remember playing in this area when I was younger. Fun times!

Ben also enjoyed the Dinoland USA even if he was rejected from the Dinosaur ride because he was less than 1/2 an inch too short. He (and we) were crushed.

more Disney...

2011-12-26T22:04:00.001-08:00

We had a private breakfast with Mickey & Minnie Mouse.

We got right onto the Nemo ride at Epcot after dinner one night...this was a big hit with our kids who both love aquariums and the movie Finding Nemo.

We had eaten at France that night...the kids were so wired on some chocolate filled pastry...they had so much energy to keep going!

Although, a nap on the monorail ride sure helped too!

And since the weather was record highs while we were there,

the kids enjoyed quite a bit of poolside time too!

The Winnie-the-Pooh ride was perfect for both the kids, although it did stop a couple times...but it allowed the kids more time looking at all the characters.

We happened to catch a show outside of the castle in Magic Kingdom one day, Abi couldn't take her eyes off of the characters dancing and singing.

And we took the kids on the Pirates of the Caribbean ride, which, we decided may have been a bad choice about half way through the ride. Ben was super jumpy at all the "cannon shots" and Abi was the quietest and still-est that she has ever been.

Good thing they enjoyed all the other rides we went on

...like this one, Aladdin's Magic Carpet Ride!

And of course we waited in a few lines...

The guys were supervising bath time one night...

they looked like they were having a serious meeting in there!

and more Disney...

2011-12-26T22:02:00.001-08:00

The kids loved seeing Tigger, Eeyore, and Pooh.

And Abi was quite styling one morning

on a bus ride to Animal Kingdom.

We had dinner with characters from Cinderella...

And Prince Charming obviously made an impression on Abigail!

We got to ride "It's a Small World" with Grandpa Darrell.

And a few other pictures with Mickey & Minnie Mouse...

Pre-Christmas Christmas

2011-12-26T21:55:00.001-08:00

Before we left for Disney World, we had a Christmas night with my family...

Jack of course got his favorite! CARS!!

And Abigail was so excited to get Dora paints

that she was a constant excited blur in all the pictures.

And Ben loved his book on animal tracks & scat (yes you read that right).

And Hunter was his happy little self jumping around...

And who knew Ben would be SO excited

over a bucket of penguins!

The kids also decorated their own paper Christmas trees

And Grandma had a treasure map all laid out around the house.

Ben loved helping find each next place on the pirate map.

Ben's Perspective: Around the House

2011-12-14T12:54:00.001-08:00

Just in case you were wondering what great things around the house Ben thought were worthy enough to take photos of this afternoon...

The corner of the desk with a down pillow feather shoved under the glass...

The trashcan...

The legs of a stool...

The treasure chest...

A blurry close-up of Mommy...

Abi's art project from her class...

Mommy working on the computer...

And a close-up of his own hand.

chapstick & a ruler

2011-12-10T21:45:00.001-08:00

Abigail has quite the obsession with chapstick...

And I made these ruler measuring boards off Pinterest.

Now I can mark off the kids' height and

take it with us when we (hopefully) buy a house later this year!

art time

2011-12-10T21:41:00.001-08:00

Ben and I made a collage by gluing all white paper

and then added details with markers.

From Ben's Perspective: The Dr's Office

2011-12-07T12:26:00.001-08:00

To entertain Ben while we were waiting for the doctor today,

I gave Ben my iphone and he took pictures

around the room of whatever interested him.

2011-12-07T12:23:00.001-08:00

hanging out...

2011-12-05T16:29:00.001-08:00

We went out to eat with Grandma Becky, Papa John, & Tony tonight...

Abi had a sweet moment chatting with Uncle Tony for a few minutes.

and Ben made crazy faces...

and Abi enjoyed "cleaning" the table and herself...

And Ben even shared some of his dinner with Papa John...

Happy Birthday Abigail Rese!

2011-12-03T17:02:00.000-08:00

This "big girl" was so excited for her "Dora bir-day"

she was literally skipping, running,

and leaping for joy all afternoon.

What a big girl blowing out her own candle...

She loves Dora so much she could just eat-her-up!

And then came the explosion of gifts...

all sorts of girly things!

(And this gift- probably the cheapest one of the bunch-

was the biggest hit with the birthday girl...

Dora lip gloss/chapstick...she has a little obsession...)

We were so excited to be able to celebrate

with a bunch of family this year...a first for us!

a snowy night

2011-12-01T18:06:00.001-08:00

We set up the Christmas snow village tonight...amidst much drama and chaos in the house. We also have a little part set up downstairs too.

going on a walk

2011-12-01T16:29:00.001-08:00

This evening before dinner, Papa John & Grandma Becky

took the kids for a walk around the neighborhood.

The kids had fun on their little adventure.

Of course neither child wanted to participate in a cute little picture.

Pictures seem like torture!

showing grandma around...

2011-12-01T14:45:00.001-08:00

Ben was so proud of his classroom today

as he showed Grandma Becky around his school.

she found it...

2011-12-01T14:43:00.001-08:00

Abigail always finds drinking fountains...

...in the library.

...in stores.

...in Ben's preschool.

We need to make her an entire wardrobe

out of waterproof material...it'd be great!

hot tamales

2011-11-30T17:22:00.001-08:00

We made tamales the other night after being inspired by a cooking magazine...so I got all the ingredients, and aside from a few mishaps...they turned out great!

The Ark

2011-11-30T10:55:00.001-08:00

After we read through the story of Noah's Ark, we went up stairs to have a snack in our own (sad little version) of an ark! Complete with animals...(there was only room for a few- a set of tigers, a pair of dolphins, and two doggies)

Eventually, due to space constraints and dueling siblings, we needed a second ark...which makes me think- wow- that ark Noah built must have been huge for everyone to have also survived the 40+ days onboard!

a little bit of JOY

2011-11-28T19:04:00.001-08:00

Just a little look at Christmas around the house...

spelling

2011-11-28T13:08:00.001-08:00

I printed some "spelling" games off of 2TeachingMommies

and pulled out our Bananagrams game and Ben had lots of fun "spelling".

O Christmas Tree

2011-11-27T19:38:00.001-08:00

Abi really wanted nothing to do with decorating the tree, being in any pictures with the tree, or doing anything except watching Dora yesterday...so I quick nabbed her for a picture in front of the tree...I turned that little frown upside-down!

the "perfect" one

2011-11-27T16:03:00.001-08:00

Here we are attempting to get a "family" picture with our just cut Christmas tree. We are all in there (at least a little bit!)...even the tree...

Look at Jay being oh-so-handy!

He cut down our first Christmas tree!

The kids were in awe of Daddy cutting down a tree...

Abi and I so excited to have found our "perfect" tree!

friends: reunited

2011-11-25T13:39:00.001-08:00

Lydia (and her family) were in Minnesota visiting grandparents over Thanksgiving and we got to meet up with them and let the kids play for awhile.

It was cute to see them jump right back into being friends...

2011-11-25T13:36:00.001-08:00

Thanksgiving

2011-11-24T19:01:00.001-08:00

After Thanksgiving dinner, some family stuck around to play a few rounds of Apples to Apples.

Also after all that turkey, Erik & Jack were all cuddled up on the couch relaxing.

There was also a lively ping pong competition going on in the garage.

And Caiti held Hunter...

and got puked on...

Me & and the little (not so little anymore) brother

And of course...the food and the pie!

...and getting the food all ready.

...and Papa Joe imparting wisdom and knowledge

about some kind of jet plane to the boys.

our little outdoorsman

2011-11-24T06:21:00.001-08:00

Ben fell asleep at Grandma's

reading one of Papa Joe's hunting magazines...

what i've been up to...

2011-11-23T10:48:00.001-08:00

While the kids were at Grandma's house for a few days,

I got busy working on some projects...

Making bedding for the great deal of a doll cradle

I got at the Salvation Army last week!

Making some chalkboard trays (idea off Pinterest)...

Enjoying the company of small group ladies

at our small group thanksgiving get-together!

Making these wonderful "trees"... (another idea off Pinterest!)

...driving oh-so-quietly through the snowy streets...

(no screaming kids, no cartoons!)

...and this was from Sunday's church service...

I think there were at least 12 people who were baptized this past weekend. It was so great to see and hear of God's power in people's lives.

2011-11-23T10:46:00.001-08:00

This is one of the "silver" chalkboard trays...

...and another.

playtime

2011-11-19T12:15:00.001-08:00

Ben really wanted to get all his snow-gear on and head outside...he had lots of fun. He did mention a couple times while I was putting on his snow pants that "I never seen these before". He was in AWE of all the stuff that could keep him warm.

...and then snowball "fights" ensued...

and Ben got snow in the face accidentally...

But then he quickly got back to having fun in the snow...

...and making snow angels...

And we wrote his name in the snow...

...and made lots of snow balls!

it's snowing!

2011-11-19T11:10:00.000-08:00

The first big snow storm is moving through the area...

so I took this great opportunity to get some family photos for our Christmas cards!

Here's a little sneak peek of the snowy fun the kids were having.

(and this one was just funny...Abi & Daddy were having a "magical snow moment" and Ben interrupted the picture with a sad whiny face LOL)

a glow bath

2011-11-19T10:26:00.000-08:00

I saw this great idea to give the kids a bath with glow sticks...they loved playing in their bath in the dark. It was not dangerous... I could see the kids perfectly, it looks alot darker in the camera (in case any grandma's are worried).

a great deal

2011-11-17T15:49:00.001-08:00

I stopped by the local Salvation Army store to check out what it was like...a little eh?!? BUT I found a Day by Day Devotional Book for Young Children, a board book, and Hungry Hungry Hippo game for $1.50 for Ben (he loves games lately)...and the big deal I got was a $4.98 baby doll cradle (that actually rocks) for Abi's birthday gift! I've been on the hunt for a cradle that rocks for her birthday for awhile...most are stationary (no fun!). All this one needs is a good cleaning and I'm sewing up a little "sheet" for the "mattress" and a little blanket and pillow set too!

crochet...stitch by stitch

2011-11-17T13:00:00.001-08:00

I've been busy making little crochet projects here and there as I have a few spare minutes. In a day filled with chaos...crochet helps me calm down internally as I count out stitch by stitch.

Feathers for Lunch

2011-11-17T12:58:00.001-08:00

Ben picked "Feathers for Lunch" as his book to take home from his preschool's library... He wanted to read it immediately. We stopped off at a local coffee shop and got a tea and read through his book a few times. It was a great little "date" with Ben! He wanted to share his book...via pictures...oh and he was having fun looking back through the pictures too!

We discussed for awhile what his favorite bird was and he decided it was the hummingbird. He liked its long beak. He also asked a great question "Does it have a tongue?" I had no idea but thankfully I could look it up right there on my phone and let him know that yes, they have tongues and they are actually shaped like a "W"...huh...who knew?

crunchy snow

2011-11-17T12:47:00.001-08:00

Ben thought this was great...

running in the "snow" which was really ice

that had frozen over the grass.

He loved the noise it made as he ran back and forth!

We also brought some ice inside to watch it melt...

a mini-science lesson!

headbands

2011-11-17T12:43:00.001-08:00

I used my die cutter to cut little flowers and made these cute headbands out of them! The pink is the cutest...but my model wasn't sitting very still!

(and yes Ben was a model for this picture by bribery with a piece of candy!)

2011-11-17T09:30:00.001-08:00

Abi waking up to snow...

2011-11-15T05:57:00.001-08:00

When I went down to get Abi up this morning, I told her it had snowed...she immediately said she needed her hat. (She has been wearing this hat quite a bit lately!)

(She doesn't look like she can believe her eyes!)

I tried getting her to go touch the snow in her PJs

but she refused until she got her pink boots and jacket on!

This face says it all....snow is COLD!

Watching with curiosity at the snow melting in her hand...

Ben wakes up to snow!

2011-11-15T05:24:00.001-08:00

Ben was so excited to look out at the snow that had fallen overnight...

He even asked if he could throw a snowball (we've been reading some wintery books to get him caught up on what to do with all this winter weather!).

...the joy of snow...

Pizza Ranch: A Crazy Family Dinner

2011-11-14T18:19:00.001-08:00

Daddy & Ben were making funny faces at dinner tonight. Loved all the laughter!

2011-11-14T17:24:00.001-08:00

Ben - of course - had fallen asleep in the car on the way to Pizza Ranch...and stayed asleep for quite awhile. He woke up fairly well and was excited to get some cheesy breadsticks.

Jelly Telly

2011-11-14T13:41:00.000-08:00

Genesis

I found this interesting site....Jelly Telly. I'm not sure if the kids will like it or not but, I may try watching this Genesis episode tomorrow!

Adam & Eve

2011-11-14T13:20:00.001-08:00

We talked about Adam & Eve and "the tree" today...it went well. I was expecting Ben to be more concerned about the issue of them leaving the garden (from our past conversations). But I found a few resources that helped explain it in a great way...one coloring sheet (above from the guy who made Veggie Tales) Ben liked and I liked the illustration best of anything I found. But the best "story" part was from THIS RESOURCE (they have little mini coloring books that you can print and read, etc.)

Birds

2011-11-14T12:48:00.001-08:00

This past week at the library, we picked up several good books! One being this bird themed book with great colorful illustrations. It talks about the colors of birds and the sizes of birds (big & small)...my favorite page has a single bird in a wintery tree.

Ben's School

2011-11-10T12:29:00.001-08:00

Ben was so proud to show Grandma around his preschool room! He showed her where they sit on the shapes, were they got to pretend to be bears, their leaf artworks, etc.

Last night it snowed...

2011-11-10T12:15:00.000-08:00

more monsters

2011-11-09T06:45:00.001-08:00

Silly Sally

2011-11-07T07:48:00.001-08:00

This week I pulled "Silly Sally" off the shelf for Ben...

he is loving silly humor lately so I knew he would think this book was funny.

(In my attempts to find a silly book last week I checked out "There was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly" - this book however came with way too many serious questions from Ben about why she swallowed all those animals and what happened at the end, etc.)

Brooke's Baby Shower

2011-11-06T20:41:00.000-08:00

My good friend, Brooke, is having a little boy in a few months

her sister and I threw her a shower this weekend.

It is so fun to celebrate these big life events!

Guests at the shower decorated onesies...

they all turned out so cute!

Congrats Brooke!

We are all so excited for you!

my little bugs

2011-11-06T20:38:00.000-08:00

A few extra photos from Halloween...

I think these are the cutest little bugs I've ever seen!

a monster

2011-11-04T21:43:00.001-07:00

artwork by Ben

(turn head...it loaded sideways??)

on the side of the road...

2011-11-02T14:39:00.001-07:00

After our walk yesterday afternoon, Abi decided the side of the road would be a great place to sit...on the cold road...just for fun. She wouldn't move to the front step (since we were just in front of our house)...it just wasn't where she wanted to be.

...and yes Ben was throwing rocks.

monsters!

2011-11-02T14:34:00.001-07:00

During Abi's naptime, Ben and I did some fun activities with a "monster pack" printable that I got off of 2 Teaching Mommies... He had a lot of fun with the do-a-dot sheet and the monster dice rolling and graphing sheet (so much that we printed another to do again the next day).

Then we worked on some pattern making with the little monsters and we made up funny names for each monster...lots of fun I tell you!

an experiment

2011-11-02T11:12:00.001-07:00

Ben has been asking to make a "volcano" that he saw in a Chick-fil-A kids meal book for the last couple nights...and finally Mommy made his dream come true...well not quite. He was a little disappointed that it didn't shoot up to the ceiling.

a-maze-ing

2011-11-01T14:10:00.001-07:00

Ben LOVES mazes...

These printable ones I found on http://www.krazydad.com/mazes/

via Pinterest (warning: there are some strange sidebar ads)

Creation

2011-11-01T09:57:00.001-07:00

I've been trying to spend a little time lately intentionally and creatively teaching the kiddos about God, the Bible, and biblical concepts. This week and last we have been talking about creation. I made this felt apple counting game a couple months ago and pulled it out for this afternoon when we were talking about the garden of Eden.

We also made these little light switch covers

to remind us that God made light...

[note: I printed this activity online (CLICK HERE) you can also now look through all the resource links on the above named tab to find other things like this]

Halloween @ preschool

2011-11-01T06:33:00.001-07:00

Ben decided to wear a different costume to preschool this morning for their class Halloween party... (Thanks Jack (a friend from CA) for handing this one down to us!)

Halloween 2011: Part 2

2011-10-31T19:32:00.001-07:00

And here are the kids looking at their candy...

We ended up at the Anderson's (our neighbor friends house)

for pizza and the kids played for a little while.

Halloween 2011: Part 1

2011-10-31T19:30:00.001-07:00

First off to start the evening we headed to Good Samaritan (an assisted living type place down the street from us) and visited with lots of people and got tons of candy!

Then we went around the houses in our neighborhood...

and got even more candy!

Halloween @ ECFE

2011-10-31T11:32:00.001-07:00

The little butterfly at "school" today

Breakfast at Carol's

2011-10-30T19:48:00.001-07:00

We have a tradition of going to breakfast at a place in the cities, Carol's with my grandparents...the kids have lots of fun at these crazy breakfasts!

And Jay loves the breakfasts at Carol's...

as you can tell from his "clean plate".

Parent Day at Preschool

2011-10-27T15:49:00.001-07:00

Jay went with to Ben's preschool for Parent's Day this past week...

The fire department was there to teach the kids about fire safety.

Ben and his little buddy didn't want to get out of the fire truck. (And yes, Ben is being a dinosaur)

Mediterranean dinner

2011-10-25T17:12:00.001-07:00

We had lemon pepper chicken pitas with tzatziki sauce, homemade hummus, and couscous. Yum! Thanks to the special speaker (a Community Nutrition Educator) at ECFE this week in Abi's class I learned of an easy hummus recipe!

1 Can garbanzo beans (drained/rinsed) + 2 med. garlic cloves + 1 1/2 tbsp. lemon juice + 1 tsp cumin + 1 tbsp olive oil + dash of black pepper + 1/2 cup plain yogurt = yummy hummus!

[note: throw all in blender or food processor and presto...done! The recipe did say to let it sit over night or a few hours in the fridge to let flavors blend - after about 3 hrs we ate ours and it was great.]

California girl

2011-10-25T16:59:00.001-07:00

You can take the girl out of California but I think this little girl will always have a little California girl in her! She chose to wear her sunglasses all through lunch even though it was a cloudy, rainy day.