Pixie Dust

During our school time Allyson is usually in and out of the conversations. I work with her, but it is pretty much at her leisure.  At this point in time she doesn't have a set routine or curriculum.  Now I did recently buy the first book in the Explode the Code series for her, but we've only done about 5-7 pages in it.  Anyhow, she will hear Jase ask me how to spell words and I will have him sound it out or tell him how to spell a word {I enjoyed spelling in school...yes, I loved school!}.  So probably for the past 2-3 months she has been asking me to spell words.  "Mom, how do you spell friend, love, princess?" and so on.  She'll even spell her own words. "Mom I can spell lion D-H-R-R-E." :-)

Well, the word she always asks me to spell is Pixie Dust.  We heart Tinker Bell!  Today we were in the homeschool room and she asked "Mom, how do you spell Pixie Dust?" I replied with "P-I-X-I-E D-U-S-T" as I always do.  I can't remember where the conversation went from there, but the next thing I know she is spelling Pixie Dust!!! I honestly could not believe my ears!!!  I guess she is actually listening to me!  I even asked her to spell it tonight to see if I could catch her off guard, but nope she was right on! Here is Allyson spelling Pixie Dust this morning! #childgenius

There's an O on my nose

Finn has been teething for what it seems like 2 months now, but no teeth yet.  He has two on the bottom that are close and I would suspect they will in soon.  He wants to gnaw on just about everything.  I have these foam letters that are perfect for him and he goes to town on them.

Right before Christmas I was changing his diaper and while he was chewing on the letter O, it got stuck on his nose.  It was the funniest thing.  He would turn his head from side to side and it would stay there!

I was so glad my phone was handy and I was able to capture video of it!!

Here is also a video of him chewing like there is no tomorrow!

{Sorry if the video has an "X" on it and you cannot see it. I don't know what is going on and maybe it's just my computer when I'm using MS Explorer because when I am using Chrome it is fine...no telling!  I did include a link above each video that will take you straight to the video. If you can see the video in my blog, please disregard this message! Thanks!}

Night Time

Every night we have a routine with the kids.  Their bedrooms are upstairs, so we'll all head up together and they'll brush their teeth (if they did not brush them in my room downstairs).  Jase will then go in his room and look at a book or play Legos for just one more minute (as if he didn't play enough during the day).  We start off in Ally's room.  We have always done devotion together in Jase's room, but it got to be more of a distraction than a benefit, so while splitting them up may take a while longer, it gives them each some one-on-one time and the time seems more productive while in their room.

 

So in Ally's room, she has her own little routine and wants to read like 3 books every night.  She will be stuck on a certain book for a few weeks and we will read it every night.  Lately it has been a Disney Princess book that contains all of the princesses with all their stories.  Now, I don't get to read it, I have to sit there while she reads the stories to me.  She starts off with Snow White, then onto Cinderella, then Sleeping Beauty, then Ariel.  Let me stop at Ariel and tell you a funny from the other night.  She was looking at the pictures and telling me about The Little Mermaid and how she likes to swim and explore.  "And Prince Eric, he likes Ariel. And Flounder and Sebastian are Ariel's friends. And these are Ariel's sisters and they sing a song 'All the single ladies, all the single ladies, if you like it should put have a ring on it.'" I about died {and yes she doesn't say the right words: if you liked it then you shoulda put a ring on it.}.  I asked her if they really sing that song?  She said "yes they do." And her face was so serious! Disclaimer: Ally has heard that song from two places: Alvin and the Chipmunks and Disney Live at Reliant.  Never in a million years would have I expected her to say that!! I just love her!

 

After she finishes her books, then I'll read a devotion that is geared towards preschoolers.  It has a short bible story, a song, bible verse and then a prayer.  The book is great and was actually a hand-me-down from a friend.  We have read through the book probably 5 or so times and we just keep looping back through it.  Repetition is good so they can memorize God's word. Then we'll have prayer time: her first, then me.  All of this is going on while I am holding Finn.  After 20 minutes in there, he is ready to move on! LOL!

 

Jase's routine is pretty similar to Ally's.  He'll either show me a new Lego scene he has created, or read a book to me or I'll read a book to him.  Then we'll do his devotion.  For Christmas we got two new books and we are currently reading both of them at night.  The first one is one we received from a friend and can I tell you how much we both love it!!  It is called The Jesus Storybook Bible and the way it is written, it is wonderful, definitely a page turner.  Tonight while I was in Ally's room, Jase must have came in her room like 3 times showing me pictures and stories from this book.  I'm so glad he loves it.  It is just like reading the bible, but in a way where it is easy for a child to understand and Jesus is woven throughout the whole book; they do a great job of helping you see the big picture of the bible and God's love for us.  Anyway, a great book and I recommend it! Lastly, I'll read the daily devotion from Jesus Calling.  This is a good, short read and the book is written as if God is talking to you.  I do like it and Jase does too, but some of the scenarios they refer to he cannot relate to; he's still young.  Then we have prayer time: him first, then me.

 

At the end of some most days I feel completely drained and just want to go in their room, say a little prayer, turn off the light and go downstairs.  And if I'm honest, that would cut my time upstairs from 40 minutes to 5 minutes.  But tonight while Ally was looking at an old photo album and pretending that it was a book and telling me a story to go along with the pictures and having me repeat words "say giraffe, Mommy...ok, good", I realized that I'll never get these times back and to soak it up.  And Jase running into Ally's room to show me his Jesus bible and excited about the real stories that took place long ago...I just love it!

Sky Zone

On Thursday we went Sky Zone for some jumping fun! It was Homeschool Happy Hour from 12:00-4:00 pm, so we took advantage of the special...field trip! I had never been there before, but it is a HUGE place full of trampolines! When you arrive you sign a safety waiver, get cool hi-top shoes {bring socks}, listen to a short run down of the rules and then start jumping! It was pretty cool and the kids absolutely loved it, and we were the only ones there {we met some friends there as well} so that was neat.

Here is a short clip of everyone jumping! Jase said he wants to come every week!

25 Years!!

25 years ago to this very day, my mom and step-dad married.  Man I wish I could have found a picture from their wedding day.  And not so much to focus on them, but to show off the do I was sportin'! I had my hair fixed for their wedding and bless the lady's heart (Bernice...I still remember her), but she made me look like a 65 year old lady and I was 7!  HUGE poof in the front with a mullet look going on in the back. Maybe I'm glad I didn't find the pic!

 

In all seriousness though, I am super proud to call them my parents and blessed they are celebrating 25 years together.  They have stuck together through thick and thin, which is a great testimony in itself. Shawn and I have been married for over 8 years and I can honestly say that life does not come without trials.  So in my eyes, 25 years of marriage is an accomplishment that not many people do not reach, especially in this day and age.  May the Lord bless them with many more years.  I love you both!

 

Outside Time

Yesterday Grandma and Grandpa {Shawn's parents} met us at Chick-Fil-A and treated us to lunch.  It was nice to get out of the house and visit with them for a bit.  The kids, of course, loved seeing them!

 

After the kids finished their meals, they traded in their prize for an ice cream cone. I had nursed Finn before we left, but he was eyeing everyone that was eating!! I ended up with Ally's ice cream cone and gave Finn his first taste of ice cream and boy was he a fan!!! He was sucking my finger like there was no tomorrow! 

 

 

Allyson was making shapes in the back seat with a straw she smuggled out the door!

 

After we got home, we went out back and played on the playset.  Finn would crack up when I pushed the kids or when I would swing with him.  I had Jase catch some of it on video! {If the video isn't shown below, you can watch it HERE.}

 

 

 

And before I went inside, I caught the kids having a light saber duel. Disclaimer: Ally would NOT stop saying the word "kill", she was way into it!! {If the video isn't shown below, you can watch it HERE.}

 



My Big Girl

Jase was doing his school work this morning and usually Allyson will just play and occasionally she'll want to do "work" too. This morning I was helping Jase and she said "where's my school book?" My mom had just bought her a numbers sticker book, which is right up her alley! She did great this morning and finished 3 pages before getting down from the table.

This afternoon I was folding clothes in the living room and Ally came downstairs and asked if she could help! Well, sure! She has been wanting to help me more and more lately, I am really enjoying it. Yesterday she helped me move clothes over from the washer to the dryer. I don't want the kids to dislike these tasks, so I'm glad they like helping me, at least for now!

 

School at Home

We are well into our second semester of Kindergarten and it is going well.  Now don't get me wrong a lot of the days and maybe even most days are hard, but at the end of the day I can say that it has been worth it and I'm glad the Lord laid it upon my heart to do this.  Being able to see his growth and light bulbs go off first-hand has been a blessing.  And to be able to spend all this extra time with him has been priceless; life is so short.

 

Here are some things that have taken place this week.

 

We are using Explode the Code for reading and as you can see what is on his mind . . . Star Wars!! I do love his imagination though!!  A cape prompted Luke Skywalker, mad made him think of Darth Sidious and seeing a cane brought Yoda to mind!

 

 

He found a head band, why not sport it?

 

 

This has to be one of my favorites. Daddy came home and was reading Peter Pan to Ally in the playroom and Jase was busy playing the Wii.  I was around corner in the kitchen working on supper, and when I peeked in and saw Jase had joined them (with Wii controller in hand), I had to capture this moment.

 

 

Jase received a birdhouse kit for Christmas from my parents and he and Daddy put it together Tuesday evening. We have been studying birds in science, so this was a great tie-in to our lessons.

 

 

I went downstairs to check on Finn and when I came back I found this note.  This is the second time he has left me this note.  I asked him if it was the same note from before and he told me no, that he had just written that one. Times like these make me smile!

 

Phenomenal Brownies

Over the last week have been talking about God's truth and what exactly is truth in our lives. We read a story with two boys that were hiking in the forest and the topic of creation was brought up. One of the boys said that he believes what his science teacher told him about creation and that the world just appeared with a big boom; it just made itself. And then the other boy stood firm on God creating the earth and to just look around at His creation and how it speaks to us. A little while later they headed back to one of their houses and there was a plate of brownies sitting on the table. The boy who believed the science teacher's reasoning of creation asked the other boy if his mom made them and he responded with "no, they just made themselves." It was a good way to sum up the story and relate back to the truth of God's creation.

On one of the pages was a recipe for some Phenomenal Brownies. Jase immediately asked if we could make them. I scanned the ingredient list and the only thing I was missing was the unsweetened chocolate squares. I told him I would pick some up and we would make them soon. While at HEB on Sunday I found the squares and after school yesterday we decided to make them.

 

 

I preheated the oven, sprayed the pan, had the kids put the chocolate squares in a pan along with the butter, we measured out the ingredients.  Oh no...I see a problem!!  They want me to beat this for 10 minutes!?!?  We are old school at my house and do not have a kitchen aid mixer, so the 10 minutes of mixing would definitely be "hands on".  At this point in time Finn is asleep and Ally and Jase are both on chairs next to me and I have a cake in the oven. I SO should have read the instructions prior to starting!! Oh well, here we go.  I set the timer for 10 minutes because I certainly do not want to beat one second longer than I have too.  Jase lasts for 1 minute and 15 seconds and then both of them bail on me.  I moved the mixer by the stove because I either started melting the chocolate or decided I better melt the chocolate before the 10 minutes is up {I can't remember}.  Anyway, 1 hand stirring the chocolate and butter and the other beating the sugar, eggs and vanilla!!

 



The 10 minute timer finally went off and I hurried the rest of the steps along.  Finny Finn was now awake {10 minutes of hearing the mixer, I can only imagine}. While I had too much going on at once, they turned out great!! This was the first time I have ever made homemade brownies, but after tasting them I can tell you that they were worth the work!! They were *phenomenal*!

Today's Pinterest Trials

I could not sleep last night, so I spent some time on Pinterest and came across some things to try today. {As if I don't have enough to do!}

The first one was a "game" {sounds more appealing than a busy activity} that involves putting clothes pins on a note card. Super easy and Allyson loved it! I cut note cards in half and then wrote 3-4 letter words {except her name} on the note cards. Then I wrote the letters of the alphabet on the clothes pins, 2 of each letter. And I wrote the vowels in a different color for later teaching. At first I put lowercase on one side and left the other side blank. {Most of the words on the cards are lowercase with the exception of a few names.} Then I decided to go back and put letters on the other side of the pins, just in case they were not attached to the strips of paper, it would make it easier for her to find. I put lowercase letters on the back side and hind sight I should have put capitals. Oh well! I'm not doing it over again. {And Alisha I owe you some more clothes pins! ;-)} I ended up cutting out strips of card stock and putting the pins on there so all of them would be facing the same direction and she could find the letters faster. I put everything in a gallon Ziploc and wallah! Now I did not actually read the details of the Pin; I saw the picture and ran with it!

Ally really had fun doing this. She was able to find the letters to spell the words on the cards. She has not perfected opening the clothes pins yet, but she is getting there; great fine motor skills practice.

 

 

 

And lastly, Vaseline on your eyelashes! If you know me, I do not wear make-up everyday . . . No time for that! I ran across this Pin that said putting Vaseline will darken your eyelashes and thicken them a bit. As you can see below, it did add a little bit more volume, not a ton by any means. And it is only on my top lashes in this picture. My current mascara was almost out, so I cleaned off the wand and put Vaseline on it. I do not have the best technique of applying the Vaseline to the wand!! If you see me out and about and wonder why I have grease on my eyelashes, you'll know why! ;-)

 

Daily happenings

I took Finn to the doctor today for his 5 1/2 month 4 month check up.  All checked out great and he is a happy, growing baby boy!! He weighed 16 lb 2 oz and measured 26.5 inches long.  The doctor said that he is below average on weight, but above average on height.  And in the words of his doctor "long and lean, just like we like them." Never in my life have I been described as long and lean, but I'll take it!!

Since I posted about feeding Finn the other day, I thought I'd update that we are now moving onto 2 feedings a day, and this evening I cooked some carrots for him and also mashed up some avocado.  Finn wasn't too keen on the avocado (give it time!), but he liked the carrots.

A couple of funny things happened with Allyson today.  The first one happened on our way home from the doctor. I was driving and all of a sudden she screams to the top of her lungs, with fright in her voice.  I turn around and she is holding her finger, still really scared.  Then I noticed something red bubbled up . . . what in the world, did she bite her finger and it is bleeding like crazy??  I grab her finger (while at a stop light on Center Street) and realize it is a lady bug!! She was completely freaking out!! I shewed it off her finger and a few seconds later she is screaming again, I guess it flew back on!! Haha! I got it for sure the second time and let it out the window.  I could not believe that the lady bug scared her so bad.  Well, let me take that back, I can believe that it did, but still!  I pulled up a picture of a lady bug on my phone and showed her that they are cute little insects.  She wasn't buying it!

Then after baths, we were in the living room and she was serving me food {this takes place all day long: she will make a wonderful wife one day!}.  On the menu tonight was fruit smoothies.  She had a cup and a miniature picnic basket for bowls and two princess lip gloss wands for spoons.  She asked me which one I wanted: a coconut or strawberry smoothie.  "I would like a strawberry smoothie please" I said.  She replied with "no, you would like a coconut smoothie!" She is something else!!  I struggle with being indecisive, but obviously she did not get that trait passed onto her!  Allyson knows what she wants!

Feeding Finn

Around Thanksgiving, we started feeding Finn cereal once a day and he was a fan!! In the past few weeks we have added in a some fruits {bananas, apples, and pears} and he likey!! Last night I boiled some pears and pureed them in the Magic Bullet {I love this thing!} and then froze them in ice cube trays. It brought back memories from when I made Ally's food 3 years ago; it doesn't seem that long ago.  I went to the store this evening and stocked up on apples and pears and am looking forward to making some more food in the next day or two.

 



 

I was running a little late with 5 month old pictures, but finally got around to taking some and I thought they turned out cute!

Cousin Weekend

Jase was so excited for this past Friday night: his cousin Coby was coming over to stay the night.  They ate pizza, they played the Wii, they played Legos . . . it doesn't get any better in Jase's eyes!!

Then on Saturday evening, we picked up Ethan and headed out to the Aeros hockey game.

After the game, we got to go on the ice and that was really cool! They passed out miniature hockey sticks, but they ran out about two people before us, which was a bit of a bummer, but the boys still had fun.

 

New Nephew

I have an older brother on my dad's side, from a previous marriage.  His name is Brett and he is 5 years older than me.  I didn't see him a ton growing up since the only time I would see him was on the weekends while visiting my dad and he did not go to Dad's as often as I did.  Even though I did not see him very often, we still had a sibling bond and connected when we were together.

Brett and I have not stayed in great contact throughout our adult years and I honestly did not know of his son, Ethan until not that long ago. To make a long story short, I reached out to Brett's mom and set up a time for us to go over and visit Ethan.

On December 23rd, Shawn and I took the kids over to see him.  He is 10 years old and in the 5th grade and looks so much like my brother!!  And actually he favors my dad's youth pictures as well. 

Ethan and the kids hit it off . . . they are cousins!!  And Ethan was super sweet, still really innocent and had such a sweet spirit.  I'm so glad we went over there and visited with him, it was really a blessing.

As we drove off,  I became super emotional.  I mean I had just met my nephew.  Even though we are moving to Africa, I am determined to stay in contact with him and do things together before we leave.

Children of the World

The weekend before Christmas, the Children of the World International Children's Choir visited our church.  Our family had the privilege of being a host family for two boys in the choir that weekend.  We were host family last year to two boys and an adult chaperon and it was really a blessing to have them in our home.

After we picked them up on Friday night, most of us went to Casa Ole and then we all went on a hay ride to look at Christmas lights.  Me and Finny rode inside Daddy's truck because it was pretty chilly outside.  Everyone had a great time that evening.

Saturday afternoon we all met at a local park so the kids could get outside and play.  Everything was going smooth until Allyson became a victim on the tire swing . . . poor thing puked everywhere! After we got her cleaned up, I headed back to the house and Shawn stayed at the park with the boys.

After the park, Shawn took the boys to the San Jacinto Monument and showed them around.  He took this picture of them and I thought it was great!

Bernard just loved little Finn.  He rode in the car with me a couple of times and when Finn would cry, he was right there trying to soothe him, it was super sweet.

After dinner and baths, we all had some Christmas cookies, hot chocolate and watched Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas together.  It was a nice and relaxing evening.  And Allyson thought she was so big drinking her hot chocolate!!

 

Sunday morning ended our time with the kids and we brought them back up to the church, where they would perform during our Sunday morning worship service.  All the kids did a great job and what a blessing to watch them perform.

 

We thoroughly enjoyed having them in our home for a couple of days.  And I know our kids grew attached to them.  May God bless their efforts here and be with them as they are away from their families back home.

 

 

Time for a Shave

My mom got Jase a shaving kit for Christmas and he loves it! He has already shaved twice and he thinks he is so big!! I love watching him, and you can tell he has watched Daddy shave a time or two!