David Shannon writes this funny children's book Too Many Toys. In this story Spencer has so many toys his parents don't know what to do with them all; they're taking over the house. In the end, Spencer finally decides to part with some and he fills a box with the ones he wants to get rid of. When his Mom returns to get the box, she finds it toppled over and all the toys are scattered across the floor. Spencer ends up saying, "We can't get rid of this box, it's the best toy ever!"
When we were at Sam's Club the other day, we brought our groceries home in this really large box. This box has been a boat, Toy Story reading chair, and tonight has turned into an art canvas. Ava and Isaiah took their bath and then we all spent the rest of the night decorating the box. Isaiah drew things like lightning bolts and Jackson. Ava drew Isaiah, Jackson, and a kangaroo (kind of random). These are just a few of the things they drew. Anyway this plain ordinary brown cardboard box, is now radiant with color and creativity. This reminded me of the story that we often read and I just got a kick out of how many toys we have all over our house and the most entertaining toy of the night was this box.
We'll see if we have school tomorrow. The snow accumulation is suppose to be over 10 inches. If we're home, I'm sure we'll have a day of crafts, movies, and what the kids call "The Beach" (we pile up all the chair and couch cushions and add all the pillows and blankets we have to make this gigantic pile that they jump into...I have some pictures from this weekend of them doing this I'll have to post later).
My Three Happy's:
1) Inexpensive toys like "the brown box" that provide entertainment
2) Snow, Snow, Snow...that means a possibility of a delay, early out, or no school tomorrow
3) Jackson...he drags in mud and snow, slobbers all over the floor, chews up bones and leaves crumbs all over, and sheds his fur everywhere...but he is the best dog anyone could ever ask for! We all love him so much, even though he's like having another kid. :-)
Monday, January 31, 2011
Saturday, January 29, 2011
Our Little Guy is Growing Up
I can't believe how much Isaiah has grown up in the last few months. My little baby boy is now a kid and it's hard for me to accept that he's becoming more independent each day. This morning we had to run to Sam's Club and to Target to pick up a toy for a birthday party the kids are going to this week. Anyway, I'm so used to Ava being the "Shopper." Now Isaiah is taking after is sister and enjoys making his own choices. Here's what the kids ended up with when we walked out of the store:
Ava: Isaiah:
1) Hello Kitty toothbrush 1) Batman toothbrush
2) Dora toothpaste 2) Toy Story toothpaste
3) Princess bubble bath 3) Toy Story bubble bath
4) "Fish" cherry shampoo 4) "Fish" cherry shampoo (may have been influenced a bit)
5) Hello Kitty galoshes 5) Frog galoshes
6) Brown strappy shoes 6) Gray cloth slip-ons
7) Tinkerbell slippers 7) Spider Man slippers
8) New outfit for American Girl doll 8) Imaginext Batman helicopter
Needless to say our kids have us wrapped around their little fingers. We have grown to accept the fact that when we leave Target we will not only be leaving with bags of things but a long, pricey receipt.
Tonight when Isaiah was brushing his teeth, he really showed us that he can now brush with "big kid" toothpaste. He was using that training stuff that can be swallowed, but now he can brush and spit all by himself; we of course brush after he's done to make sure he's gotten toall his teeth. He just looked like such a big boy on his stool in front of the mirror. When I put Isaiah to bed tonight were were reading a book called ABC Under Construction. It's about the alphabet and how a playground is being constructed out of letters. Anyway he was able to recognize A, B, O, and with a little prompt "I." He always tells me if a letter I read is in his name and if it is, he counts how many times he sees it. When I read the "I" page he said while pointing to his name on the wall, "Mommy, I have two." I still think of him as being my little one but these little things I see everyday are just a reminder that he is growing up.
***I keep forgetting to share this with you. When Isaiah goes to bed, he always requests Andy or I to sing these three songs to him.
1) We Will We Will Rock You (from the ISU football game)
2) Jesus Love Me
3) Amazing Grace.........................what variety! :-)
When I checked in on Ava to say good night, Andy was reading out of the Disney Halloween anthology. He was telling me that he had read a few sentences wrong in one of the Aladdin stories and Ava corrected him. He said "there" and she said, "No Dad, it's here." It's amazing what details kids see everyday that we as adults pass by.
I should be cleaning the kitchen, putting laundry away, finishing my lesson plans for Monday, dusting the upstairs...the list is always endless. But I think watching a movie with Andy sounds better. Hope you all have a relaxing night too!
Ava: Isaiah:
1) Hello Kitty toothbrush 1) Batman toothbrush
2) Dora toothpaste 2) Toy Story toothpaste
3) Princess bubble bath 3) Toy Story bubble bath
4) "Fish" cherry shampoo 4) "Fish" cherry shampoo (may have been influenced a bit)
5) Hello Kitty galoshes 5) Frog galoshes
6) Brown strappy shoes 6) Gray cloth slip-ons
7) Tinkerbell slippers 7) Spider Man slippers
8) New outfit for American Girl doll 8) Imaginext Batman helicopter
Needless to say our kids have us wrapped around their little fingers. We have grown to accept the fact that when we leave Target we will not only be leaving with bags of things but a long, pricey receipt.
Tonight when Isaiah was brushing his teeth, he really showed us that he can now brush with "big kid" toothpaste. He was using that training stuff that can be swallowed, but now he can brush and spit all by himself; we of course brush after he's done to make sure he's gotten toall his teeth. He just looked like such a big boy on his stool in front of the mirror. When I put Isaiah to bed tonight were were reading a book called ABC Under Construction. It's about the alphabet and how a playground is being constructed out of letters. Anyway he was able to recognize A, B, O, and with a little prompt "I." He always tells me if a letter I read is in his name and if it is, he counts how many times he sees it. When I read the "I" page he said while pointing to his name on the wall, "Mommy, I have two." I still think of him as being my little one but these little things I see everyday are just a reminder that he is growing up.
***I keep forgetting to share this with you. When Isaiah goes to bed, he always requests Andy or I to sing these three songs to him.
1) We Will We Will Rock You (from the ISU football game)
2) Jesus Love Me
3) Amazing Grace.........................what variety! :-)
When I checked in on Ava to say good night, Andy was reading out of the Disney Halloween anthology. He was telling me that he had read a few sentences wrong in one of the Aladdin stories and Ava corrected him. He said "there" and she said, "No Dad, it's here." It's amazing what details kids see everyday that we as adults pass by.
I should be cleaning the kitchen, putting laundry away, finishing my lesson plans for Monday, dusting the upstairs...the list is always endless. But I think watching a movie with Andy sounds better. Hope you all have a relaxing night too!
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Together Forever
Our Family
This is a slide show of our family. These are pictures that were taken of our family by our friend Heidi who is now the proud owner of her photography company "Captured by Heidi." She's so talented and creative. Once the weather turns nice again, we will definintely be going back to her.
This is a slide show of our family. These are pictures that were taken of our family by our friend Heidi who is now the proud owner of her photography company "Captured by Heidi." She's so talented and creative. Once the weather turns nice again, we will definintely be going back to her.
Our Little Loves
It was such a beautiful day in Iowa that the kids played outside for almost an hour after school. They haven't used their swings or played on our play set for such a long time. While I started dinner, Andy took them out back. They had a blast...here are a few pictures of them playing. Notice Ava's pink mittens that Isaiah wanted to wear.
This last picture was taken while they were finishing dinner. What cuties!
My Three Happy's
1) Warmer weather again...above 35 degrees!
2) Learning how to use Animoto to make mini slide shows
3) Getting a new dishwasher today (They came out today to install it and didn't have the model we ordered. So they were going to upgrade us to the next model for free...but they didn't have that in stock, so they upgraded to the next. All in all we ended with with a Bosch dishwasher that was two versions better than what we had purchased.)
My Three Happy's
1) Warmer weather again...above 35 degrees!
2) Learning how to use Animoto to make mini slide shows
3) Getting a new dishwasher today (They came out today to install it and didn't have the model we ordered. So they were going to upgrade us to the next model for free...but they didn't have that in stock, so they upgraded to the next. All in all we ended with with a Bosch dishwasher that was two versions better than what we had purchased.)
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
I've Figured it Out!
So it's taken a few weeks, but I think I figured out how to post pictures. I'm still working on sizing, placement, and rotation issues, but other than that everyone can begin enjoying them!
We had a great night tonight. It was one of those "perfect nights" in my eyes. When we came home, the kids were in super moods. They played well together, were kind to each other, listened to us, brushed their teeth when we asked them to, and went to bed when it was time. I couldn't have asked for a better evening with my little ones and Andy.
I can't believe how much they have both grown and learned. Andy and I try to work on some reading or math skill each night with them. Whether it is counting or letter and sound recognition, we try to spend at least 5-10 minutes doing some kind of learning activity. Isaiah can count objects up to 13, knows the letters, A, B, and O, and recognizes circles, squares, rectangles, traingles, and ovals. Tonight he was cutting so well with scissors while we were doing crafts and even used his marker and said "Mommy I made an O." There it was...wobbily of course, but legible. I'm so proud of my little guy.
Ava knows all of her letters and sounds, can sound out and read three letter words like cat, mop, ten, fin, etc. She can also read the word "the" and recognizes it when we read stories to her. She takes great pride in finding that word numerous times on the pages. She can write most of her letters and numbers and can count to 40. We have been using the "Handwriting Without Tears" blocks and both of the kids like to build letters with them; they also enjoy just exploring and making random designs and pictures. They are both like sponges. They love learning and anything we can do in the form of a game really sparks their interest. The other day we hid Mercer Mayer "Little Critters" with letters around the house and I gave clues as to where they were. They loved being "detectives" and found all of them. It's hard to believe my babies will both be in preschool next year!
We had a great night tonight. It was one of those "perfect nights" in my eyes. When we came home, the kids were in super moods. They played well together, were kind to each other, listened to us, brushed their teeth when we asked them to, and went to bed when it was time. I couldn't have asked for a better evening with my little ones and Andy.
I can't believe how much they have both grown and learned. Andy and I try to work on some reading or math skill each night with them. Whether it is counting or letter and sound recognition, we try to spend at least 5-10 minutes doing some kind of learning activity. Isaiah can count objects up to 13, knows the letters, A, B, and O, and recognizes circles, squares, rectangles, traingles, and ovals. Tonight he was cutting so well with scissors while we were doing crafts and even used his marker and said "Mommy I made an O." There it was...wobbily of course, but legible. I'm so proud of my little guy.
Ava knows all of her letters and sounds, can sound out and read three letter words like cat, mop, ten, fin, etc. She can also read the word "the" and recognizes it when we read stories to her. She takes great pride in finding that word numerous times on the pages. She can write most of her letters and numbers and can count to 40. We have been using the "Handwriting Without Tears" blocks and both of the kids like to build letters with them; they also enjoy just exploring and making random designs and pictures. They are both like sponges. They love learning and anything we can do in the form of a game really sparks their interest. The other day we hid Mercer Mayer "Little Critters" with letters around the house and I gave clues as to where they were. They loved being "detectives" and found all of them. It's hard to believe my babies will both be in preschool next year!
A Little Winter Fun
Andy and I took a class after school (required of course...one of our technology sessions) and learned how to use this Animoto program. It's so easy and fun! Hope you enjoy my first little slide show of "Winter Fun."
A Little Winter Fun
A Little Winter Fun
Saturday, January 22, 2011
Beauty Salons...They're Not Just For Women
We've had a busy day so far...we watched The Lion King, played, played, and played, the kids took baths (while eating popsicles), and we'll be going to the Ballard boy's basketball game tonight. The kids are really looking forward to sporting their Ballard clothes and cheering on the Bombers.
My Three Happy's:
1) Catching up with all the laundry... well almost...I think I've done 6 loads already.
2) Scentsy Burners: I love how they make the whole house smell yummy.
3) Living in the Ballard Community: It's filled with so many neat families and we've made so many new friends while living here. It seems like we know almost everyone when we go to sporting events.
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