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!