Whew...it's been a little while. I have gotten myself a little busier this fall than I probably should have. Today, is a down day, well until about 3 o'clock when the "weekend" begins and we will run, run, run for 2 1/2 days. Ugh!
So, since today is a down day, I think we are going to have some fun at home. I need to run a few errands first thing, but then we're going to work on some fall activites.
On the list (with no promise of completing):
1. Make a giant tree to begin adding leaves of thanksgiving. It's never the wrong time to teach your kiddos to be thankful, we're going to get a head start this year and enjoy a leaf filled tree for a couple of months!
2. Paint apple prints. I got some nasty apples the other day, called Jonagold. I don't recommend this variety, although the kids don't seem to mind them. Anyway, I have a few giant ones in the fridge that will be perfect to dip into paint and then use like a stamp. I might add in a potato, celery and whatever other produce looks good for painting.
3. Take a walk outside, if the weather holds up, and find fall evidence! The days of spending time outside are numbered, I want to enjoy each fall day we can.
If, and by if I mean when, we don't finish all of these ideas today, they will be for Marvelous Monday. I have book-ended my week so all the business is T-Th...well, except for the week I have MOPS, than it busy T-F. Oh well, Miss M will go off to school next year and be busy five days a week for the rest of her life! This is good practice :)
Friday, September 30, 2011
Monday, September 19, 2011
cute, cute, cute
We've had a couple of cute moments these last two days...
Miss M informed JB that "when you do this it means married," at which point she grabbed JB and started dancing with him around the room. I'm going to guess she gets this from Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast, etc. We went to a couple of weddings this summer so she kept hearing the terms wedding, getting married, shower...I guess since I didn't stop and explain she was on her own to decide on a definition. Ah, if only it were as easy as just dancing around the room :)
Today I was working up in the attic, changing seasonal clothes and decorations, so I left the stairs down. They are in our bedroom closet and the kids don't see them much. JB wanted to go up, I told him no it was dangerous (terrible aren't I, I just didn't feel like dealing with him at that moment, I was up to my eyeballs in kids clothing!!!) Next thing I know he's sitting at the bottom of the steps, Prince Charming's shoes in his lap, looking up the stairs yelling "daddy ta-mere" (translation: Daddy, come here). It was sooooo cute and slightly heart breaking since Daddy is at work.
That's all...I gotta get back on my creative ideas and posting pictures here. Been a little lazy lately and the kids have been happy to do the regular stuff. Give them a week or two...they'll need some fun mom stuff before long!
Miss M informed JB that "when you do this it means married," at which point she grabbed JB and started dancing with him around the room. I'm going to guess she gets this from Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast, etc. We went to a couple of weddings this summer so she kept hearing the terms wedding, getting married, shower...I guess since I didn't stop and explain she was on her own to decide on a definition. Ah, if only it were as easy as just dancing around the room :)
Today I was working up in the attic, changing seasonal clothes and decorations, so I left the stairs down. They are in our bedroom closet and the kids don't see them much. JB wanted to go up, I told him no it was dangerous (terrible aren't I, I just didn't feel like dealing with him at that moment, I was up to my eyeballs in kids clothing!!!) Next thing I know he's sitting at the bottom of the steps, Prince Charming's shoes in his lap, looking up the stairs yelling "daddy ta-mere" (translation: Daddy, come here). It was sooooo cute and slightly heart breaking since Daddy is at work.
That's all...I gotta get back on my creative ideas and posting pictures here. Been a little lazy lately and the kids have been happy to do the regular stuff. Give them a week or two...they'll need some fun mom stuff before long!
Friday, September 16, 2011
Change is in the air...
I've been taking a close look at my two kiddos and have been noticing something astonishing...they are growing up!! Now this isn't really news to me, but all of the sudden they both seem older. It's so bittersweet, you want them to stay little forever so you can protect them and snuggle them and pay $6 for thier pants. But at the same time, it's so fun to watch them learn, grow and develop into the people that God made them to be.
Some observations:
Miss M
1. She is letting me do her hair. She still screams like I'm killing her for the combing part, but she's actually letting me braid and style it. I love it...we've had a MINI french braid every day this week :)
2. She writes her name by herself!!! We've been working on this for over a year and she just had no interest. I print it on everything and have had her trace it, color it, make the letters in shaving cream...she just didn't care. The other day she came home from Sunday School with her name on her paper, clearly not in Miss Kim's handwriting, and announced she did it herself. She's been doing it ever since!! A little peer pressure can be a beautiful thing! I'm so proud of her!!!
3. She does things on her own that we've been doing as part of our routine. Like putting her shoes in the shoe basket as soon as we get in, no reminder needed. She often puts her dishes in the sink without reminder too, and when I ask her to help me with something she jumps to respond! I see vacuuming, laundry and toilet cleaning in her future :)
4. She has eaten her dinner every night this week without complaint. She is either growing up or I need to make ham and cheesy potatoes, spaghetti, swedish meatballs and breakfast for dinner on a four night rotation for the rest of her life. It's glorious not to fight through the entire meal!!
5. She's bored doing many of the things we've been doing forever, even going to the playground. If there isn't a friend there her age, she is at a loss, she doesn't want to just run, run, run or slide, slide, slide. She wants to play elaboratly imaginative things that JB really could not give a hoot about!!
6. Our conversations are just getting richer and richer. I love it...my baby girl is becoming a little lady :)
JB (don't get your hopes up too high...he's only 2 1/2)
1. He prefers to call us Janet and Scott (cute or not cute?? we think cute and then sweetly correct him)
2. He wants to do everything "by my big self"...ADORABLE!!
3. He is really talking a ton. I was sooo worried about his speech, and his articulation is still iffy, but he's stringing together sentences and thoughts. It's so great to hear what he's thinking. Although he's not above just shrieking if something doesn't suit him. (we're working on it!!!)
4. He wants to help me with everything "I hop you mommy". His services are limited but the heart behind it is worth a mess or a longer process almost every time :)
5. He is really learning to play by himself. It is adorable to watch him play with his trains and make them talk and vroom and whatnot. He and Miss M are actually pretty good playmates. They can last about 20-30 minutes before a crisis. Works out great, I can accomplish something, then when they melt down I can jump in and "save the day".
I treasure these times, I know all to soon I'll wish I could turn back the clock and relive these moments. I love being a mommy, and although you wouldn't always know it by my attitude, my frustration and my lack of compassion, I really can't imagine doing anything else more fun, important and exhausting!! Thank you Jesus for this gift!!!!
Some observations:
Miss M
1. She is letting me do her hair. She still screams like I'm killing her for the combing part, but she's actually letting me braid and style it. I love it...we've had a MINI french braid every day this week :)
2. She writes her name by herself!!! We've been working on this for over a year and she just had no interest. I print it on everything and have had her trace it, color it, make the letters in shaving cream...she just didn't care. The other day she came home from Sunday School with her name on her paper, clearly not in Miss Kim's handwriting, and announced she did it herself. She's been doing it ever since!! A little peer pressure can be a beautiful thing! I'm so proud of her!!!
3. She does things on her own that we've been doing as part of our routine. Like putting her shoes in the shoe basket as soon as we get in, no reminder needed. She often puts her dishes in the sink without reminder too, and when I ask her to help me with something she jumps to respond! I see vacuuming, laundry and toilet cleaning in her future :)
4. She has eaten her dinner every night this week without complaint. She is either growing up or I need to make ham and cheesy potatoes, spaghetti, swedish meatballs and breakfast for dinner on a four night rotation for the rest of her life. It's glorious not to fight through the entire meal!!
5. She's bored doing many of the things we've been doing forever, even going to the playground. If there isn't a friend there her age, she is at a loss, she doesn't want to just run, run, run or slide, slide, slide. She wants to play elaboratly imaginative things that JB really could not give a hoot about!!
6. Our conversations are just getting richer and richer. I love it...my baby girl is becoming a little lady :)
JB (don't get your hopes up too high...he's only 2 1/2)
1. He prefers to call us Janet and Scott (cute or not cute?? we think cute and then sweetly correct him)
2. He wants to do everything "by my big self"...ADORABLE!!
3. He is really talking a ton. I was sooo worried about his speech, and his articulation is still iffy, but he's stringing together sentences and thoughts. It's so great to hear what he's thinking. Although he's not above just shrieking if something doesn't suit him. (we're working on it!!!)
4. He wants to help me with everything "I hop you mommy". His services are limited but the heart behind it is worth a mess or a longer process almost every time :)
5. He is really learning to play by himself. It is adorable to watch him play with his trains and make them talk and vroom and whatnot. He and Miss M are actually pretty good playmates. They can last about 20-30 minutes before a crisis. Works out great, I can accomplish something, then when they melt down I can jump in and "save the day".
I treasure these times, I know all to soon I'll wish I could turn back the clock and relive these moments. I love being a mommy, and although you wouldn't always know it by my attitude, my frustration and my lack of compassion, I really can't imagine doing anything else more fun, important and exhausting!! Thank you Jesus for this gift!!!!
Monday, September 12, 2011
worship
Yesterday in church we sang one of my favorite hymns...I have a lot of favorite hymns actually. I grew up in a Baptist church that sang hymns and only hymns, usually set to organ and piano music, for most of my childhood. Somewhere in my late high school years someone started adding "choruses" but those hymns stick in my brain unlike any praise song I've heard! Maybe it's because I sang them for so many years and heard them played in my home, maybe it's because they are generally more "meaty" than the average praise song and maybe, just maybe, I'm old!!
Anyway, here's what we sang yesterday, perfect for a day of rememberance!
’Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus,
Just to take Him at His Word;
Just to rest upon His promise,
And to know, “Thus saith the Lord!”
Refrain:
Jesus, Jesus, how I trust Him!
How I’ve proved Him o’er and o’er;
Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus!
Oh, for grace to trust Him more!
Oh, how sweet to trust in Jesus,
Just to trust His cleansing blood;
And in simple faith to plunge me
’Neath the healing, cleansing flood!
Yes, ’tis sweet to trust in Jesus,
Just from sin and self to cease;
Just from Jesus simply taking
Life and rest, and joy and peace.
I’m so glad I learned to trust Thee,
Precious Jesus, Savior, Friend;
And I know that Thou art with me,
Wilt be with me to the end.
Anyway, here's what we sang yesterday, perfect for a day of rememberance!
’Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus,
Just to take Him at His Word;
Just to rest upon His promise,
And to know, “Thus saith the Lord!”
Refrain:
Jesus, Jesus, how I trust Him!
How I’ve proved Him o’er and o’er;
Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus!
Oh, for grace to trust Him more!
Oh, how sweet to trust in Jesus,
Just to trust His cleansing blood;
And in simple faith to plunge me
’Neath the healing, cleansing flood!
Yes, ’tis sweet to trust in Jesus,
Just from sin and self to cease;
Just from Jesus simply taking
Life and rest, and joy and peace.
I’m so glad I learned to trust Thee,
Precious Jesus, Savior, Friend;
And I know that Thou art with me,
Wilt be with me to the end.
Saturday, September 3, 2011
a collective "aaahhh"
We're back...
Quick update since my last post...Irene didn't amount to much here at our humble abode, OCMD website on Sunday morning said visitors can arrive as early as 12 noon...we packed up the car and left the house by 11:15 and were on the beach by 3 on Sunday afternoon :)
We basically had OCMD to ourselves until Tuesday when about five more people joined us...by Thursday we could see the holiday weekend crowd arriving and today when we left it was bumper-to-bumper! I think it was Tuesday when we all sort of settled into our "beach house" and our vacation "routine", at that moment, Tuesday on the beach, I think there was a collective "aaahh" from all five of us (my mom spent a few days down there with us).
Highlights:
1. the beach
2. the view at our place was AMAZING...we could lay in our bed and look out a HUGE window wall out onto the bay...same view in the living room, gorgeous!!
3. the beach is free
4. parking is free (at the beach) (and at the boardwalk it's only a dollar an hour...OCMD beats OCNJ on that one!!!!)
5. playing with the kids on the beach...non-stop action but sooooo fun! Maybe I"ll relax on the beach when I'm 60!!
6. dinner with my lovely mom at a restaurant called Dead Freddies...basically a bar with a playground for kids...conservative mom handled it well (and treated)
7. the beach
8. riding surrey's on the boardwalk, twice! The kids LOVED this, mostly they like that they sat in a basket in the front while we sat behind them. Miss M kept saying, "we're in the front and you're in the back sitting in carseats"
9. watching the kids faces on rides (I see a future for Scott and both kids and season pass to Great Adventure...they both loved the thrill and begged to go on the big rollercoaster, thank God they were too small!!!)
10. the fact that we spent $250 to rent our place for the week (don't ask how, just thank God for miracles)
11. watching people crab with a chicken leg tied to a string (this was creepy and fascinating at the same time...and yes, blue crabs really are blue!!)
12. spending a week with Prince Charming, he really is charming when he isn't working out in the hot sun on your roof for 10 hours a day!!
13. have I mentioned the beach????? I am such a beach person, I could sit there ALL day and play, swim, read, snooze, sip lemonade, eat pb&j and people watch. Prince Charming tolerates the beach, and he does it much better now that we have two little ones that take after their mama. I think we could have gotten to the beach each morning by 8 am and stayed until 6 pm and the kids would have been thrilled, exhausted, but thrilled!!
14. a Christian radio station (why is it that everywhere I go in the US they have good Christian radio stations...Philly...nothin')
15. vacation food...need I say more???
16. Miss M saying about 100 times a day, I have good news and bad news, the good news is I'm with my whole family at the beach...(the bad news varied from things like I lost giraffee, there's no more bologna to I only got to watch Tangled twice)
17. my mom coming for a few days...and no, we didn't use her as a babysitter! It was just nice to have her company, the kids LOVE to be with her, she loves the beach and we got to play games at night after we put the kids to bed! All highlights!!
I could go on...
We had such a great week together, that's my favorite part of vacation. I don't think I really care where we go, I just love that we were all together doing fun stuff. No talk about work, bills, church, family issues, hurricanes (well maybe a little, the whole island was still boarded up when we arrived!!) just playing, relaxing and enjoying each others smiles, laughs and hugs!
And when we got home we got a good laugh at what was in our fridge...1 gallon jug of water, 2 Mr. Iced Tea pitchers of water, our regular water pitcher, 10 sippy cups filled with water and all our nalgene type bottles filled with water and a rotten tomato! Good-night Irene!!
Quick update since my last post...Irene didn't amount to much here at our humble abode, OCMD website on Sunday morning said visitors can arrive as early as 12 noon...we packed up the car and left the house by 11:15 and were on the beach by 3 on Sunday afternoon :)
We basically had OCMD to ourselves until Tuesday when about five more people joined us...by Thursday we could see the holiday weekend crowd arriving and today when we left it was bumper-to-bumper! I think it was Tuesday when we all sort of settled into our "beach house" and our vacation "routine", at that moment, Tuesday on the beach, I think there was a collective "aaahh" from all five of us (my mom spent a few days down there with us).
Highlights:
1. the beach
2. the view at our place was AMAZING...we could lay in our bed and look out a HUGE window wall out onto the bay...same view in the living room, gorgeous!!
3. the beach is free
4. parking is free (at the beach) (and at the boardwalk it's only a dollar an hour...OCMD beats OCNJ on that one!!!!)
5. playing with the kids on the beach...non-stop action but sooooo fun! Maybe I"ll relax on the beach when I'm 60!!
6. dinner with my lovely mom at a restaurant called Dead Freddies...basically a bar with a playground for kids...conservative mom handled it well (and treated)
7. the beach
8. riding surrey's on the boardwalk, twice! The kids LOVED this, mostly they like that they sat in a basket in the front while we sat behind them. Miss M kept saying, "we're in the front and you're in the back sitting in carseats"
9. watching the kids faces on rides (I see a future for Scott and both kids and season pass to Great Adventure...they both loved the thrill and begged to go on the big rollercoaster, thank God they were too small!!!)
10. the fact that we spent $250 to rent our place for the week (don't ask how, just thank God for miracles)
11. watching people crab with a chicken leg tied to a string (this was creepy and fascinating at the same time...and yes, blue crabs really are blue!!)
12. spending a week with Prince Charming, he really is charming when he isn't working out in the hot sun on your roof for 10 hours a day!!
13. have I mentioned the beach????? I am such a beach person, I could sit there ALL day and play, swim, read, snooze, sip lemonade, eat pb&j and people watch. Prince Charming tolerates the beach, and he does it much better now that we have two little ones that take after their mama. I think we could have gotten to the beach each morning by 8 am and stayed until 6 pm and the kids would have been thrilled, exhausted, but thrilled!!
14. a Christian radio station (why is it that everywhere I go in the US they have good Christian radio stations...Philly...nothin')
15. vacation food...need I say more???
16. Miss M saying about 100 times a day, I have good news and bad news, the good news is I'm with my whole family at the beach...(the bad news varied from things like I lost giraffee, there's no more bologna to I only got to watch Tangled twice)
17. my mom coming for a few days...and no, we didn't use her as a babysitter! It was just nice to have her company, the kids LOVE to be with her, she loves the beach and we got to play games at night after we put the kids to bed! All highlights!!
I could go on...
We had such a great week together, that's my favorite part of vacation. I don't think I really care where we go, I just love that we were all together doing fun stuff. No talk about work, bills, church, family issues, hurricanes (well maybe a little, the whole island was still boarded up when we arrived!!) just playing, relaxing and enjoying each others smiles, laughs and hugs!
And when we got home we got a good laugh at what was in our fridge...1 gallon jug of water, 2 Mr. Iced Tea pitchers of water, our regular water pitcher, 10 sippy cups filled with water and all our nalgene type bottles filled with water and a rotten tomato! Good-night Irene!!
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