This morning we woke up to freezing rain that covered the ground and trees, church was cancelled, and it ended up being one of those "stay inside and try to get cozy" days. The kids are still in pajamas as am I and we just did lots of fun "stuff" today. What a perfect day to craft, bake, play, watch a movie, and just relax.
Valentine's Day is coming up soon and I brought home my February file from school to sort through what I need to copy and get ready this week. In it I found some old copies of some of the stuff I did last year and thought the kids would like doing them too. First off we made Valentine Monsters. These came from one of my favorite blogs "The Teacher Wife." She is such a creative person, I love her ideas and buying her products. For this project the kids chose a bag, body shape, eyes, arms, legs, hands, and feet. They also filled out an application about their monster that went on the back.
Here's Ava reading the questions and writing her answers. She needed help with some of the spelling but could read everything but one word on her page...she's one smart cookie. She decided to name her monster Cuddles. She had fun making Daddy guess the answers to her questions when she was done.
Ava and cuddles! We'll just keep these around for decoration. At school the kids use these as a place to store the Valentine's that their friends bring them. You never know...there may be some surprises that end up in these bags too.
How cute!
Isaiah came over to join us and started his monster. He hasn't named his yet but liked choosing all of the different colors and parts to create his.
Of course he wanted LOTS of white teeth!
Another activity I found goes along with the Love, Splat valentine story about that famous black cat. My other favorite blog, The First Grade Parade, has so many cool activities made by a lady named Cara Carroll. Last year I bought a Splat unit and in it were some cute reading, writing, and math activities. Today the kids guessed and then lined up hearts that went from one side of Splat's arm to the other. They measured and counted four different sizes of Splat. The first question that came out of both of their mouths before they started was, "Can we eat the hearts when we're done."
I then baked these yummy peanut butter chocolate heath cookies. The recipe was on the back of the toffee chip bag...so I can't take credit for creativity. We've never made these before but they were so good! Gooey and yummy! Warm cookies on a cold day...perfect treat!
These next few pictures are much older...I think I took them at the beginning of January. I found this cute food craft on Pinterest...never thought I'd join that site but love the ideas I've pinned. We used marshmallows, pretzels, mini chocolate chips. fruit roll-ups cut into strips, orange Starburst cut into pieces, Oreos, and Rolos. We used frosting for the glue and attached the marshmallows to a big wooden skewer.
Here is Ava trying to attach her hat.
My Boo doing the same.
An example of the completed project. How cute are they? I also took these supplies to Sunday school and we talked about how God loves us "Snow" much. The kids really enjoyed making them there too.
This guy didn't last long. I think it was eaten right away.
Same with this snowman..a fun little dessert!
At church last week the kids helped to make Valentine's for one of the local assisted living homes in Madrid. Ava was making a Valentine girl. She ended up using part of a coffee filter as the skirt. She's my little creative artist.
Isaiah was working on creating a Valentine man. Spencer...the boy to the left was helping him. He really liked working with him.
It was so neat to see all of the love that went into these valentines. They will definitely brighten someone's day!
I've been doing well and so has our baby girl. I "flunked" the glucose screening that they gave me a few weeks ago so I have to go back for a three hour test on Thursday this week. The same thing happened with Isaiah. My count was really high for the one hour test but was in the normal range for the 3 hour. I'm hoping this time it will be the same situation. I guess my laptop and me will be best friends for three LONG hours as I wait in the waiting room by the lab and get called back every hour. Ugh! At least this will give me some time to work on my long term sub plans. The baby's room is pretty much done. I have a few wall hangings I need to get still and am waiting on a few things I ordered online. I'll post pictures of that soon too. This little one is a kicker...mainly at night when I finally sit down and relax. I think my constant walking around school all day keeps her sleepy and when I actually stop she wakes up!
On the weekends I've noticed I'm much more sore and it's harder to move around. I think it's because I'm sitting more with the kids and not moving around as much as I do at school. I was told by my OB that she was measuring big at my last ultrasound. So I'm assuming this may be another big baby. I just cross my fingers that she's not bigger than Isaiah and doesn't reach the 11 pound mark. Those last few weeks will be painful if that's the case.
I've been having dreams about her! Last night was so real. I was in the hospital holding her in my arms and was just looking at her. She was calm and was such a good baby. I wonder if that will hold to be true? We decided to name our little angel Violet. In the 12 years that I've taught, there has never been a Violet that has come through our district and Andy and I know no one who has a child by that name. So for us it was unique, beautiful, and just right for our family. No clue yet on the middle name. There's still time to decide that. April 4th is the big day! I'm a little scared...just because it's been over 4 years since I've cared for a newborn...I know it will all come back to me. But more than anything I can't wait!
My Three Happy's:
1) This weekend Andy worked on Ava and Isaiah's closet. He added a hanger bar on each side but lowered it so they can reach their clothes, rearranged, and added more shelves. Now they have their own side of the closet filled with just their things instead of a combination of randomness like it was. Check...one thing off the list.
2) Our Valentine Cards we ordered from Heidi...our family friend who owns her photography studio "Captured by Heidi"...came in. They kids are so cute! I'll post that picture on Valentine's Day. She had a great price on mini valentines plus a free sitting...we couldn't pass that up!
3) My friend Lindsey, who I also teach with, had her first baby on Thursday night. Her name is Julianna Jo and she's absolutely breathtaking! I'm so happy for their family of three and can't wait to see her precious face in person!
My Favorite:
1) Andy and I discovered the TV show Parenthood and have been watching it through Netflix. We've managed to knock out the first three seasons and are now waiting for the fourth season to be over this spring so we can start watching those too. Love that show!
