Wheelbarrelling, Anybody???

     This is just a little video from one of Mikayla's gymnastics classes (She is the one on the far left in the pink t-shirt).  She did a great job as both the holder and the one walking.

Wonderscope

     We recently enjoyed a trip to the children's museum (aka Wonderscope).  The kids always have such a great time there, but it does seem be holding their attention less and less.  They ventured from room to room (it is set up in an old school building) rather quickly.  I love all the different rooms they have there and how they change them up every so often.  There are always the staple rooms of the ball room, the market, doctor's office, and art room.  Last time we were there there was a music room, but it was replaced by legos and some create-your-own tracks for balls.  The water room was closed our last visit, so this time the kids were sure to make a stop and play.  Noah loved the water, but Mikayla was more interested in the adjoined shadow room.  After the museum we stopped for a quick lunch followed by a little shopping.  All in all it was a very fun, productive day.

Hiding in a closet.

Hard at work.

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You can almost see Noah, and if you look really close you can see me.

The wonders of Legos.

He kept wanting to put all the cats, dogs, bowls, and blankets in one and lock them in.

Future vet???

He was trying to put a band-aid.

Face painting.

She kept saying she was an American Girl doll.

Blog Love

     Before a few years ago I never understood the whole blog thing.  But now, now I get it.  I am just a little blip in the whole blogosphere, and I am okay with that.  I really prefer to read them than to write my own.  I have different reasons for each of the blogs that I follow.  Some I follow because I feel I have a connection with.  Others because I can really use a laugh.  And then there are those that I follow for yummy inspiration.  Lastly I have a few that I follow just because.  My favorite blogs hang out on the sidebar.  But one I follow right now keeps tugging at my heart.  It falls into that first category in that I feel that I have a connection with.  I have never met the author, and really just happened upon her blog by clicking on an advertisement on another blog {which I don't usually do}.  What I thought I would be looking at was cute homemade clothes {which she has}, but what I found was someone dealing with the hardships of life with the most upbeat of personalities.  Her motto is to Choose Joy in everything.  I will allow you to visit her site to get the whole story.  Coming up next week there will be an auction to help with some of her medical expenses.  You can find more information about it here.

Things They Say Thursday--Feb. 23rd

     I enjoy writing the Things They Say Thursdays because some of the things my kids say I want to remember.  Writing it on the blog helps to cement the memories and have something to share with them when they get older.  Most of the things my kids say I find pretty cute.  This blog here wrote an article about the things her and her friends' kids say.  They are pretty hilarious.  But be warned that some of her posts, while funny, can be on the vulgar side.
     The other day we stopped for lunch at a restaurant.  Apparently we chose to sit at a table with quite a view of, ahem, the moon.  You see I have this cousin who is in with the crowd of baggy pants wearing.  Noah gets a kick out of every time we see him telling him to pull up his pants.  My cousin and him go back and forth for a while telling each other to pull up their pants.  When we were at lunch the other day I thought it was just another guy who fit in with this crowd.  This time though it was Mikayla who said, "If we were outside I would tell that boy to pull up his pants."  Mikayla did inform me that he did pull down his shirt to hide his bum.  Maybe someone else said something...

She's Crafty

    Really she is, me not so much.  But for Valentine's Day I did do a bit of crafting.  I couldn't resist the title She's Crafy though. "She's Crafty" is a Canadian craft show {we don't have cable} that I tend to watch on late night t.v. Wendy Russell is all about making the crafts easy and fun.  I have recently been introduced to Pinterest, and LOVE it.  I used to spend time perusing crafty websites to find something that interested me, but now it seems as though they come to me.  There are not only crafty things, but quotes, design things, and food.  Oooh, the food.  Yumm...  Back to the crafty part.  I had been wanting to do some decorations for Valentine's day and got my start thanks in big part to some great Michael's coupons.  The first project that I tackled was a wreath.  I don't really have a tutorial for it, but it was fun and easy to make.  It is still missing something, so I might add some ribbon or more hearts. 

     I also made a sweetheart topiary.  It turned out pretty neat.  But to display it next year I will need to buy a better piece of foam for support, and maybe some more hearts just for aesthetics.

Topiary idea from tinyprints.

     I made Mikayla a Valentine shirt.  I simply painted over a paper heart doily onto one of her t-shirts with fabric paint.  I took the advice from the MADE website and heat set it too prior to washing it.

Idea came from here and here.

She doesn't look thrilled here, but she really does like the shirt.

     We even made valentines.   Butterflies for Mikayla and superheroes for Noah.

Butterfly template can be found at skip to my lou

These can be found at Little Bit Funky

Reality Check

     It is 2012.  We are ever so slowly climbing out of this time that they call a recession.  Other than the effects of prices on food and gas we have remained relatively unphased by this time in history {PTL}.  I mean, I voluntarily left a good job with a good company in the midst of the recession to start my own in-home daycare.  More than words can ever express how I am grateful for that job and the people that I worked with.  But this post really has very little to do with that.  I have always lived in a suburb.  A sheltered life from all the violence and poverty that we only see on the news.  Believe that I know that it exists.  I remember being in Atlanta and at each exit from the interstate there would be a panhandler.  It wasn't until the recession hit that I saw that firsthand just down the street.  But was given a fresh reminder the other day that there is still great poverty and homelessness.  Public libraries serve as daytime shelters for the homeless.  Usually I take the kids to the library on a weeknight, but this time we went on a weekend day.  We didn't notice anything out of the ordinary in the library.  It was when we were driving out that I noticed at least two vehicles where people obviously were living in them.  All of their possessions were stacked high in them.  Immediately I was thrown back into the reality of the sheltered, blessed life I live.  My heart hurt for these people that I didn't know.  Now I am left with ideas swarming in my head of how I can help.  I can't change it all, but every little bit does help.

Things They Say Thursday--Feb. 9

     Last week I posted about our little night visitors, and this week is something similar.  Noah is a sleep talker.  Every now and then we can hear him in his room with random sayings when he is completely asleep.  He is even better at saying some random things when he is just waking up.  Even though we have been working on it, Noah still sucks his thumb at night.  When he comes in our bed Mike is pretty adamant about not allowing him to have it in is mouth {it can be pretty loud, and right in your ear}.  If he puts it in, Mike will take it out.  The other morning Mike was taking Noah's thumb out of his mouth when Noah asked him to stop.  When he did it again Noah said that he was a big daddy lion and roared at Mike.  He was still half asleep.  It did give us a good little morning laugh though.  {Later he recanted his lion for me, so maybe he was more awake.}

My Environmentalist

     We love to take walks.  At a park, or just around the neighborhood, does not matter.  Recently Mikayla has added a little bit to our walks.  I'm not sure if it is something that she learned in church or something she got from me and my disgust on our walks.  You see I like to point out how rude people are when they dispose of their garbage out their car window instead of a trash can.  So I started telling Mikayla that we needed to take care of the earth so that it would remain beautiful for a long time.  Somewhere along the lines that got translated into God wants us to take keep the earth beautiful {enter church here??}.  Now when we go on our walks I am sure to give Mikayla a plastic bag so she can help pick up the trash {I usually the one with the dog and her bag}.  It used to be I would just let her carry as much as her little hands could hold, but I was a little embarrassed when most people's trash is beer cans or cigarrette wrappers.  Really, that mom lets her daughter carry a beer can?  She really does have a heart for how the Earth looks, and we have a goal to spend one day just picking up trash. 

     Before our neighbors moved the mother shared a story of a time in which they took a walk to a park with Mikayla.  Mikayla was picking up trash like she always does, but it was making her lag behind.  Her friend was anxious to get to the park and wanted to make sure Mikayla was safe and keeping up.  Mikayla was explaining that she was picking up trash because God wanted the Earth to look pretty and that we needed to take care of it.  Her friend's comment back was that God also wanted to make sure that Mikayla was safe.  It continued all the way to the park, and the mom couldn't help but watch and be thankful that her daughter had such a caring friend in her life.  We both took a moment and agreed that we must be doing something right to have such caring girls.

Things They Say Thursday--February 2

     On any given morning I wake up with some littles in my bed.  You see we have night visitors, almost nightly.  Mikayla only makes her presence once in a while, but Noah, well let's just say it is a rare occurence when I wake up and he is not in my bed {good thing we went for the king bed}.  Not saying that I mind.  Although the boy will try his best to completely take over one of our pillows, or even better use a body part as a pillow making it so I feel guilty if I move.  But one morning when both of them were in our bed, Noah looked at me and said, "Mikayla and I came into your bed because we wanted to snuggle with you."  Ahh...  He is definitely my little snuggler.

Single Parenting

     Well {sort of}, at least for two nights a week for the next fifteen weeks.  I have always had complete respect for single mothers, but now I also have a complete understanding.  Mike has classes two nights a week which just leaves the evenings to me and the kids.  One night each week I have to hurry up out the door and go pick up Noah.  The past few weeks we have been going to the library, which the kids love having free choice in the books they choose.  We also have showers, homework, and dinner to get done all before bed.  It is a lot of work, but it makes me appreciate the nights that he is home so much more.  And though it may sound strange, but I find myself more on task on the nights that Mike is not here.  I think I have a better grasp for when and how things get done and can keep the kids on track, and sometimes he can be a bit of a distraction {for both me and the kids}.  For the next few months I will be keeping the kids busy with the hopes that they don't miss too much the time they don't get to spend with dad.