Wordless Wednesday

I'm BACK!!

Holy cow!  How has it been almost 2 years since I posted on my blog?  I think about it often, but I just haven't gotten around to doing it.  I have really missed sitting down and writing out my thoughts and feelings.

Here is what has been happening lately:

• We celebrated our third New Years Eve in Lubbock.  This is HUGE!  We have never stayed in one city this long, and we still love it!  Lubbock has been so good to our family, that we are not sure when (if ever) we will leave.
• Maddison is now 11, Gabriella 9, Brayden 5, and Paisley 2!
• Marco is about a week away from opening his new restaurant, Aspen Creek!  It is crunch time and he's feeling the pressure, but I am so incredibly proud of him!
• I love my job as a Parent's Day Out teacher, and couldn't be more blessed by the church I work for and the friendships I have made!
• We found a church home, for all of us!  Gabriella gave her life to Christ and was baptized last year, and Maddison gave her life to Christ this year and will be baptized soon!

Lubbock has really blessed us in many ways, a few we weren't ever expecting, and some are far better than we could have ever imagined!

So what have you been up to?

Typical Texas Bluebonnet Pictures

Wordless Wednesday

Here are a few of my favorite pictures of the kids together:

 



5 on Friday

I am linking up with Darci from The Good Life blog, for 5 on Friday!  I have been reading them for a few months, found a few great blogs to follow, and so now I am ready to take the plunge and link up myself.

ONE My house right now is a crazy unorganized mess, and it stresses me out very much.  But I have yet to do anything about it.  I am letting it be for now, because I know that if I try to start organizing, the craziness will only get worse in the process.  Cartoons for the boy, nap for the baby, and blogging for mommy wins over the mess.

My house isn't this bad, thank goodness

TWO I seriously have gotten bad at sabotaging myself when it comes to eating better.  I eat great all day, then at night I gorge myself on ice cream (like the whole pint of Blue Bell cookies and cream (it was SO good, I just could not stop)) or candy, really anything sweet.  I am not sure how to control my actions.  I will tell myself in the morning that I will do better than the day before and most days I find I do worse.  I have put up notes for myself that I thought would help for visual motivation.  But when I am brushing my teeth at night, I just feel so deflated and depressed with myself that I couldn't overcome my weakness.  (More on this in another blog post).

THREE The kids are counting down the days till Spring Break (only 7 left), because my mom and possibly my oldest brother are coming into town!!  I seriously cannot wait!!  I am hoping we have some great fun and that loads of memories will be made.

FOUR I recently had to upgrade my iphone to the IOS 7 for a new app I wanted to add (Mint personal finance), and I hate it!  That is all.

FIVE Paisley is growing up way too fast!  She is almost 6 months, and I want time to slow down.  She is my last and I have been savoring every moment, but I still feel like I am missing out.  She is eating fruits and veggies, she is sitting, she is rolling, and she is jumping in her bouncer.  Before I know it, she will be walking and talking.  Please some one tell me how to make time stand still!!

 

Naptime = Playtime 4

Recently, Brayden and I have just been playing a lot while Paisley is sleeping.  He needs way more of my attention while she is sleeping, since he is getting less while she is awake.

Yesterday, we pulled out his hot wheels and just played with his cars.  We played, laughed, and had a great time. 

Remember, the time you spend with your children is really for them, so make sure what you are doing is fun for them as well.

 

Letter Obstacle Fun

It has been very cold here for a few days and the kids really haven't been able to go outside.  Thursday it was snowy (and I kept the girls home from school) and I wanted to do an activity to keep their bodies and minds active but that was also fun.

I found this post from pinterest, and thought I could do something similar.

I used small and colorful sheets of paper and wrote a letter on one.  Then I taped them all over the floor, chairs, bench, and table.  Then I had the kids jump to each letter.

For Brayden (3), we started with saying what each letter was.  For Ella (7), I had her tell me a word that started with the letter.  For Maddi (9), I had her tell me a word and spell the word for each letter.

The next time through, I had Brayden count the letters, Ella made up an addition problem with each number, and Maddi made up multiplication problems with each number.  Ella did lots of +1's and +0's, and I am ok with that.  Maddi did some x1's and x0's, but for the 20's, she tried to figure out what two numbers multiplied together would make that number (ex:4x5=20).

The kids loved getting to climb on the table since it is something that is normally not allowed.  We also changed it up and did different exercises over the letters.  They did jumping jacks, high knees, bear crawl, crab walk, going backwards, and so on. 

They laughed, worked their brains, and their bodies.  I would say it was a successful indoor activity!!

 

I love you because...(Simple Valentines Craft for you Children)

I wanted to let my kids know how much they mean to me since we have had some rough couple of months here and there.  I thought I could make them something for each of the kids that would be tailored just to them.  I came up with this simple craft because of all the Valentine décor floating around pinterest right now.

I took some construction paper and cut out a bunch of little hearts.  Then I cut out 3 big hearts, one for each of my bigger children.  On the big hearts I wrote their names, then wrote I love you because.

I hung each of them on their doors on a ribbon, and wrote on the little hearts things I loved about them.  For example, on some of Brayden's I wrote that he loves to cuddle, he loves monster trucks, and he is a great big brother.  I plan on adding one everyday till Valentine's day (and hopefully for a long time after).  So far I have added 4 hearts. 

 

The kids love seeing what new heart I add to their ribbon every day.  For me it is a great reminder that my kids are very special in their own way.  This is an easy thing to do for your kids to let them know how much you love them. 

 

*I didn't do one for Paisley for obvious reasons (she is 4 months old and would not understand (I will include her in the future though)).

Naptime=Playtime 3 Preschool Fundamentals

Brayden asked to get Super Why cereal one day at the store, and I knew that there would be fun projects we could do together. 

The first thing we did is letter matching.  I looked through the cereal to find all the letters of the alphabet.  This was time consuming.  It took about 30 minutes for me to find all the letters, but it was worth it.

On a piece of paper I wrote out all the letters so he could match the cereal with the letters.  I put the letters in order in the little bowl, but I let him pick out the letters he wanted to match.  He did a great job and only needed a little help from me on the letters that didn't quite match each other exactly.  

After we matched all the letters we practiced writing.  I want him to get better at his writing so instead of doing a certain letter, I had him write out some of the letters with straight lines (A, E, I, H, K, M).

After writing we flipped the paper and traced his hands.  We counted fingers and talked about left and right.

It was a great learning day!

Can't wait to share our next naptime fun!

Snow Fun

Naptime=Playtime 2 Foam Fun

Brayden and I are loving the fun things we are finding to do.  Since he is 3 1/2, I am wanting to do a mix of academic things, fun messy (sensory) things, and arts and crafts. 

Brayden loves bubbles, so I knew he would get a kick out of making his own foam.  I got the idea for foam from the blog, Fun at Home with Kids, and I have it pinned on my Indoor Fun and Games pinterest board.  

Things needed:

2 tbsp. of dish soap
1/4 cup of water
A mixer


I let Brayden help with measuring out, and I let him do all the mixing.  You want to add the dish soap to the water, and mix for a good 2 minutes.  If your foam is creating some peaks, you are done.

 

 

I put down some towels and some fun kitchen gadgets (whisk, spatula, ect.), and I let Brayden play how ever he wanted.  At first, he did not want to touch the foam, but he eventually opened up to the idea of messy, and had a ton of fun.  One of the good things about the foam was how easy it was to remix it if it started to deflate.

 

We played for a long time and we were covered in foam, as well as my kitchen.  Another good thing  about the foam was easy clean up.  I took a wet towel and ran it across my kitchen floor, and I ran a bath for Brayden.  He loved having all the kitchen gadgets and foam in the bath.  I loved that he played till his water went cold.  All of the foamy bubbles disappeared, then it was easy to throw the kitchen gadgets in the dishwasher to get them clean.

 

 

This was a great playtime for both of us!  It was cheap, quick, easy, and lots of fun!  I can't wait till we do it again!

 

Do you have any fun ideas for playing with kids at home? 



Naptime = Playtime 1 Painting and Letter Recognition

Since most of my day is spent catering to baby Paisley, I am trying to make an effort to do things with just Brayden.  This time comes in the morning when Pais takes her nap.  I have been working with him on his letter recognition and writing and also fun things like painting, coloring, foam, and anything else fun we come up with.  I think he has really enjoyed the time that is spent just me and him.  I am going to do a series where I show you fun things Brayden and I are doing, how he likes it, where I found the idea, and how he is progressing.

The first thing Brayden wanted to do was paint a Christmas picture.  I used green washable paint and painted his hand 6 times and we made his handprints into a Christmas tree.  I put lines on the bottom of the tree and let him use brown paint to paint in the trunk of the tree.  Then I asked him if he wanted to add ornaments to the tree and of course he said yes, but he painted them around the tree.  Silly boy!  I let him paint how he wanted with out correcting him since it was his picture.

 

 

With Brayden being 3 1/2, I also want to work on his writing skills.  I wrote his name on a piece of paper with yellow marker, and had him trace over it.  The yellow is easy for him to see and easier to follow than hash marks.  After we tried his name, we worked on the letter A. 

 

 

I don't want to push Brayden to do more than he wants, so this was all we did on this day.  His attention span isn't very long, so we moved onto something more playful.  I do think he enjoyed his time with me.  I know I enjoyed being able to focus on just him.

 

I can't wait to show you more of what we do! 

 

Any suggestions are welcome!!



 

Our Christmas 2013 Part 3

Catch up on Part 1 HERE

Part 2 HERE

Christmas morning was great!  I love seeing the kids dig into their stockings.  I had some bigger plans for the kids' stockings, but those were ruined by two girls peeking in my closet.  Oh well, they loved everything in their stockings and it all worked out.  Ella's big Santa present was a bow and arrow, Maddi's was a scooter for her American Girl, Brayden's was a Superman and football, and Paisley's was a giggly pig.

My dad and step mom headed for Christmas with her family, and we headed to my mom's house for Christmas with the McGregor side of the family.  It was small, but very nice to catch up with my uncles, an Aunt, and a cousin and her little girl.  We opened presents and had dinner there.  My mom made all the kids pjs and Brayden put his on immediately.  She also got each of them a game and we had fun trying them out.  The night went too fast, and of course there wasn't enough time spent over there.

Thursday morning was spent watching the kids play football in dad's backyard.  Paisley napped in my arms, as Brayden, Ella, and Maddi tried to figure out how to catch, throw, kick, and tackle.  Then came the task of packing up everything, getting some snacks together, and figuring out how to fit everything in the car.

It took forever to pack up and make sure we had everything we needed to bring home.  Marco packed up the car (then I repacked it so everything would fit better).  The car was packed full, and I don't think we could have fit anything else. 

We headed to get the dogs and start our long drive home.  Paisley did good on the first leg of the drive home, but not so much after we stopped for dinner.  She threw a huge fit, so we ended up pulling over so I could feed her again in the car.  It worked out though, because Brayden needed to go potty while we were stopped.  Once I thought I had her calmed down, we started back on the road and she started throwing a mega fit.  So much so, that I had to switch spots with Ella while we were driving.  There was no where to pull over, and I wasn't about to have Marco pull off to the side to possibly be hit by a semi.  So Ella and I switched spots.  She loved sitting in the front for the few minutes it took me to get Paisley calmed down and asleep.  Then, we switched back.  It was an exciting drive home, needless to say.

Unpacking the car when we got home was no fun, but we managed to get everything in the house.  Then we opened up our gifts to each other.  The kids did an amazing job of picking out gifts for each other.  This year instead of dollar store gifts, Marco took them to use $5 for one thoughtful gift.  Brayden got each of the girls a Ty animal from Cracker Barrel.  Both Ella and Maddi found great gifts but they were over their $5 spending limit.  Both girls said they would give their own money from their piggy banks to make up the difference.  What amazing girls!  Maddi got Brayden a superman shirt with a cape, Ella Hello Kitty slippers, and Paisley a little piano toy.  Ella got Paisley a ball toy, Brayden a superman cape, and Maddi some silly stompers slippers.  I really love that they enjoy buying and giving to each other.

We had an amazing Christmas and the only thing that would have made it better would have been getting more time with everyone.  I am glad that the kids and I went in early with out Marco, it meant I was able to spend time with my two best friends.  Even with all the stress, I am very happy we made the decision to go leave the house for Christmas.  The kids had a blast, and it was more than worth it!!

Thank you if you read it all :)  I didn't realize when I started writing about our Christmas that it would end up so long!