all God's creatures

Sydney loves all God's creatures and she is afraid of nothing! She noticed this tiny web between the wood rail on our porch and pointed it out to me. This is her hand in the picture.

Happy Easter

Easter baskets filled with fun surprises
an egg hunt

brunch at our club

How was your Easter?

Peaking

Griffin peaking at our easter egss drying! I wasn't able to take any pictures of actually coloring the egss because I had both kids and Griffin on my lap.

Boo boo

Saturday am Griffin pulled a kitchen chair down on himself. The wound was gaping and would not stop bleeding so I loaded up both kids and drove to the ER. After some dermabond we were back home and feeling a bit better.


I am praying the scar is small.
My poor boy was so brave, mommy was scared and probably has a few more gray hairs.

Markers Anyone?

Griffin loves to color with crayons and markers but he also likes to eat markers! It was a nontoxic marker and I fished out the tip that he was chewing on.

Dutch Baby

We recently tried this recipe for a dutch baby and boy was it yummy. It is similar to a crepe and very versatile. We topped ours with cooked apples, but blueberries or strawberries would be delicious! I think this would make a lovely dish for brunch.

First Field Trip

Friday Bill and I went with Sydney and her class on her first official field trip!

The day started with breakfast at school- blueberry muffins and strawberries.

Sydney's teacher talking about walking around downtown and staying together.

Sydney and Cadence on the bus! (she informed me last week she is going to marry Cadence when she grows up because she loves him so much!) Bill riding the bus! He was cracking short bus jokes (do not worry I am the only one that heard them)

At the park downtown waiting for the concert to begin

marching

dancing

hooky pooky- "put your left foot in"

walking down sunset ave

Sydney got tired and daddy was happy to carry her

Pizza party back at the school

being outdoors triggered some allergies and breathing issues

It was a great day!

My World

I live in a world where...

• there will always be finger prints on my oven door


• there are trucks and cars on coffee tables


• there is a constant pile of laundry


• a kiss heals every boo boo


• a little boy puts colored pencils in my dryer which causes an awful noise when it gets into the motor (I was so happy my dryer was not broke)


• if you cannot eat in 10 minutes you will have a little person on your lap


• there are no chairs at the kitchen table because someone climbs everything


• a leotard or princess skirt goes over every outfit


• kids eat crayons and paint occasionally (do not worry its nontoxic)


• a little girl goes to sleep in a ballerina skirt


• sleeping in is 6 am


• 1/4 cup of sand in shoes is the norm

...and I would not have it any other way!

Popcorn

We love popcorn! We get it honest from my mom I think-she loves popcorn!

I watch Griffin very closly so don't worry but he loves popcorn. This past weekend we made our own kettle corn and it was amazing! The recipe is so easy and rather quick (we just used salt after it was done).

Bird Nests

I got this idea from Lisa Leonard's blog. We actually made these twice, the first time with a paper towel like material (too soft and fell apart easy) and the second time with cut up grocery bags (worked so much better).

So you start with a bowl covered in saran wrap on wax paper, dip paper strips and overlap a few layers.

we put a few cadbury eggs in ours

I made some small ones with paper bag strips and I plan to use them as place setting on an Easter table.

Snuggle bugs

Usually if you are looking for one of my kids you will find the other. They love each other so much. This picture was taken when Syd was recovering from the stomach bug and strep throat and she was watching a video- Griffin just had to be close to his big sis.

oatmeal bin

This past Saturday Bill was working and the weather was cold and rainy so we were in the house all day. I am not sure what your kids do when they get bored but mine get whiny so I needed something fun to entertain.

We got out the oatmeal bin that I created when Syd was just little. This was Griffin's first time playing in oatmeal and he though it was hilarious! Despite the big sheet there was oatmeal all over the floor but I had my vacuum handy and it was a quick clean up.

I have a few adorable videos of Griffin just cackling but I cannot seem to upload them so you just get pics.

Sydney tired of the oatmeal play long before Griffin.

At some point noodles got mixed in with oatmeal but we also have some large shells and some plastic fish that they kids can dig for or sift out. They love scooping and filling pie pans with oatmeal. We do not and will not have a sandbox (we get enough of that at daycare) but we do have an oatmeal box.

what do you do with your kids on a cold yucky day?

Dear Griffin

Wow our baby boy is 18 months old! We fall deeper in love with you by the day. You are a ball of energy and so full of life. You have a great disposition and are such a giggly little guy. I will share a few highlights at this stage. -lots of words: mama, daddy, out, help, baby, no, yes, Sydney, ball, go, water, bubbles, more, cracker, cookie, tractor, truck, car, nose, eye, cup, dog, quack, moo, love you, night night, hello, bye, vacuum, Bud (nickname for daddy)wow, yeah -you have a huge appetite and you eat a huge variety of foods. your record is 4 nutrigrain bars (daddy just kept feeding you) -you are happiest outside and cry when it is time to come in. when we go out you automatically start picking up sticks in the yard and throwing them over the fence (you watch daddy do this all the time) -you love to ride in your wagon and go for walks down to the pond to see the ducks -you love music and dancing! you are always entertaining the ladies at school -you sleep through the night consistently, thanks to tubes -you feed yourself with a spoon and fork but if you get impatient you will use your hand -you like to color with crayons, markers and you do like finger paint -you will point to your nose, tummy, hair and eye on command -you still adore your big sis and you won't play whatever she is playing -you love cars, trucks, trains and balls and you throw everything -you climb everything also! You bring so much joy to our lives and we are so thankful for you! Love momma, daddy and big sis

Giveaway

There is a fun giveaway going on at the Vintage Pearl, chcek it out and enter to win.

A Garden Picture

Sydney drew this picture of a garden and gave it to her daddy

What do you see growing?

Tomatoes, blueberries and carrots

She is so creative and loves arts and crafts

Playing in daddy's shed

Griffin loves to be outside and often cries when he is brought in. Regardless of the temperature he wants to be outside. Griffin is definately Bill's son, he will walk around the yard picking up sticks and throwing them over the fence! He also likes rummaging through the shed. So cute.

Another giveway by Lisa

Check out the latest giveaway and do a little shopping at Lisa Leonard's blog/shop. I adore her creations. I have my eye on a few things for gifts. What do you like?

Pollyanna

Meet Pollyanna our friends new baby! She is 6 days old and so sweet. Bill took this picture right as she started to cry and wanted to eat.

She looks like her big brother, only more girlie! I could have held her all day.

Holding a newborn is so precious. I admit I did smell her, I just cannot resist that new baby smell.

Devotional for all ages

Sydney and I have been reading nightly devotionals from the book Devotionals for Girls ages 2-5 God and Me. A few nights ago we read a devotional titles Insults and the scripture verse was Matthew 7:12 "Do to others what you would have them do to you." Each devotional has a little story and this particular story was about a brother and sister who do plenty of name calling and how hurtful it can be to others. At the end there are three questions about the story/scripture and then a prayer and an activity. Sydney usually answers the questions very appropriately and I believe she understands the lesson. She folds her hands during the prayer it is precious. Most nights she wants to do two! Even though the book is geared for 2-5 year olds it is a lesson for all of us and the scripture usually speaks to my heart. Do you have a special devotional book for you or your kids that you think is great?

Pampers Gifts to Grow

Do you log pampers gifts to grow codes and earn points? I found out about this halfway through Sydney being in diapers. Griffin only wears one diaper at night otherwise it is cloth for him but I still grab the code strip out of the diaper package and log them on the pampers site. With so many points you can pick various things and I figure why not since I am buying diapers anyway. This site Queen Bee Coupon has a list of codes that you can log and earn points, check it out.

Are you watching?

here is the link to watch these bald eagle eggs hatch- this is happening in Iowa and there are two cameras in the tree to catch all the action. I heard about it on the news and Klove and decided to check it out, very cool. Update*** At least one of the babies has hatched, we saw a fuzzy gray baby this morning!

I'll Start

Okay so here is how this works, I will start by presenting a question and then I will give my answer. Please share your response in the comments. What character trait do you have that you wish you did not have, at least part of the time? I am a multitasker. In general I think this is a great quality or trait to have. I am highly productive and I can do lots of things at the same time. I can make two or three things at one time, dinner for tonight and tomorrow night and also prep for another meal, supervise kids crafting- no problem. I usually have a list of things to do and I tackle them at the same time. I think this trait is bad at times when I just need to relax. I may be watching a show or movie but I am usually also cutting coupons, folding laundry, ironing, painting my toes or something. Sometimes I wish I could just sit and do one thing and not feel guilty. I feel I balance things well but I probably do need a little more relaxation time.