David Crowder Band

What an awesome night!!
Last night we had the amazing opportunity to attend a David Crowder Band concert at our church. All I can say is WOW. It was a packed auditorium, people of all ages, and God was in that place.
The band are a down to earth, on fire for God, tender-hearted, musically-gifted, spirit-moving, praise-inspiring group that God has granted an amazing task on this earth. There are certain musical groups that just move your soul and the spirit within you is released. This is one of those groups. It brought tears to my eyes to see people from 8yrs to 70yrs moved to dance, sing, raise their hands, and praise their precious Savior. Wow. Now, that is music- when it transcends everything. It seeps into your soul and won't let go. I can't stop singing their songs. Visit their website and it will stream into your living room, too :)
(***A quick sidenote: Happy Birthday Dad!!***)

.....Now back to our regularly scheduled programming.......

Coupon Codes

I often buy things online and when I get to the checkout and it asks for a coupon code I always want to find one. I've used deal sites in the past with some luck, but I have now found THE answer......

www.retailmenot.com

It is awesome and easy! You type in the retailer in the big white box, it pulls up the correlating screen shots, and you click on the right one. Then it gives you a list of coupon codes and the success percentage for each. They have everything from pizza to toys to tools. They have 20,000+ sites listed!! (So bookmark it now, so you don't have to remember later.)

I've used it 4 times now and have been successful every time. My most recent purchase was from One Step Ahead. Now that Julia is outgrowing the pack n play when we travel (not to mention it's heavy and bulky to fly with!), we decided it was time to get her a portable bed like Carter's. (He's been using one for 2 years.) It was on sale, I got 20% off, AND free shipping!

It arrived tonight and she loves it. I highly recommend them. It comes in a small carry bag, with a pump, has built in inflatable sides so they don't roll off. (don't bother getting the sheets, you can tuck any sheet or blanket in around the mattress) It's packs up so small we can throw it in the suitcase. As you can see, she's really excited to use it soon.......
So don't ever leave another coupon code blank again!

Teaching Trays Tuesday

I have never considered myself a follower of Montessori- as a teacher or parent- but it apparently has grown on me.

Julia is wanting to get more involved when we have school time. There are some activities she can do with Carter- and I have two shelves with materials just for her- but I've been trying to come up with some contained activities that will be new to her, somewhat challenging, and let her learn something in the process. When I saw the Tot Trays on the Totally Tots blog, I thought 'this is it'. We can make this work. Essentially they are Montessori-inspired activities arranged on self-contained trays that can be used for direct instruction or independently by the child. They are great for a wide span of ages and make so much sense for us with a 2 and 5 year old. So I browsed some blogs like this and this for inspiration and put together a list of 33 that I liked- as well as a few of my own. They are so easy to put together. I tried out two of them with the kids on Friday and it was a huge hit, so I decided to put it all together. I have a large Sterilite tub that holds all the materials for the trays. You can use actual trays or cookie sheets/pans for the activities. We arrange ours in one of the 6 cube shelves they sell everywhere. You can have them available to your kids all the time and vary the activities or only put them out at certain times. I am amazed how inexpensive (and fun) putting all this together has been. I started this past weekend and have put together 22 of the 31 for under $40 and by the time I'm finished I will have spent less than $50. There are so many things you can do for free or almost free. Here is one of my all time favorites...........

Pick up two sheets of several different colors of paint swatches. Using a glue gun, attach a swatch to each clothespin. You can use the extra to make mixed color cards (like the white square in the picture). The kids have to match the colors and clip them to the cards. This teaches color discrimination, attention to detail, and develops fine motor skills in squeezing the clothespins. To make it more challenging for older children, add different tones of the same colors. We have two blue cards of different tones. (I also attached the swatch cards to cardstock, with hot glue, to make them a little heavier) This only costs 67 cents for half a bag of clothespins plus one stick of hot glue!!!!

This next one is a great life skill, math lesson, and fine motor activity teaching dry measure (and you probably have this stuff lying around anyway) This way the kids can gets lots of practice at once instead of just the two or three times when you make a recipe.........

I love this next one, too for practicing shapes- and its virtually free! Using popsicle sticks, write the words 'triangle', 'square', 'pentagon', and 'octagon' on the corresponding number of sticks. Using markers make matching dots for each shape set. The kids assemble the shapes by matching the dots and at the same time learn the number of sides, corners, and the shape names. This was perfect for us because we have been working on the difference between hexagons and octagons. As they get older you can add 'heptagon, 'nonagon', 'decagons', 'dodecagons', etc.......
And this is something I had never seen before, nor even thought of- but lots of fun. Using a spice/cheese shaker (Garden Ridge) and dry spaghetti. The kids have to fill all the holes. If nothing else, this one definitely works on patience and task endurance.......
You should introduce the available activities to your kids and let them choose which to do. They work at each independently. There is opening of containers, arranging, and cleanup involved with each and is actually part of the process in teaching kids to be independent and responsible. They should be instructed to keep all items on the tray (the best they can) and have a dust buster and kid-sized dustpan available for cleaning up if needed.

I'll post more pictures and instructions next Tuesday. If anyone wants the complete list, please feel free to email me :)

Seasonal Selections

I don't know why I do this to myself!

I get hooked on products that are only available for a limited time..... and I do it every year. In the winter, it's Celestial Seasonings Candy Cane Lane decaf green tea with Peppermint Mocha creamer. It's pure heaven in a cup to me. I buy up several containers of both when it's on sale at the end of the season, but the inevitable day always comes. The supply runs out. Today I opened my last box of tea :(

Well, fortunately I can move onto my next seasonal obsession............ :) There is hope!

Unfortunately this one comes with way more calories. Who is the crazy mastermind that decided to put out GS cookies right before bathing suit season?! And next season for me is Cadbury Mini Eggs. Luckily my kids like the cookies and chocolate, too, so I won't be the only one eating them :)

Power of Persuasion

Carter was making a picture the other day- for Chris of course. Everything he makes is for Chris (his best friend). He's the 28 yr old state trooper who lives behind us and plays with my kids for hours in the backyard. He is every little boy's dream.- a grown up who can still play like a kid. We adore him and thank God for him all the time. They are expecting their first baby in August and Carter refuses to acknowledge the coming addition. I think he's feeling a little ousted :)

While he was coloring the other day, he told me.....

"When I colored Chris I made him red and blue because I'm trying to get Chris to like the Wolfies (NCState)."

(Chris is a diehard Duke fan. If you're not from ACC country these ties run to the core, go back generations, and rarely ever change- kind of like bloodtype- a deep-hearted commitment.)

"I'm trying to get Chris to like the Wolfpack just like you can get Daddy to like watermelon."

After I stopped laughing. I said, "You're exactly right Carter and I think we will be equally successful."

Boby Lapbook

We've been studying the body for several weeks and just assembled the lapbook for this unit....

Carter drew the circulatory system on the outline all on his own. It took me a minute and then he started explaining what he was drawing.....
We spent two weeks in co-op talking about the body and its parts, how to stay healthy, and doctors and hospitals. We've been working on some other activities since and just finished...
We've also been using this book which I found at the Barnes & Noble children's sale shelves for $9.98! It's an awesome book! Right now I'm using primarily as a visual for my science lessons, but the text is great and pop-ups awesome. (The space one is on sale for the same price, too!)
Here's the opening about the layers of the body....
Carter was intrigued by the brain system and how the nervous system works. All afternoon he kept saying. My eyes saw that, the message travels to my brain, my brain made a decision, and sent it through my nerves to make my hands do it....... Yes, he gets it!!

Pajama Picnic

Mondays are the one day of the week we don't have to leave the house. We've started having school in our pjs which everyone loves. We spend the morning working upstairs, then the kids play in their tent while I make lunch. Several weeks ago, they asked if they could have lunch in the playroom in their tent. I couldn't think of as good reason not to, and they actually ate really well. So now it has become a Monday tradition to camp out and picnic in the playroom in our pjs. It's so funny to think how things like this get started :)


And even better, my kitchen floor doesn't end up looking like this...... at least until dinner time :)

Happy Valentine's Day!

It's been a great week leading up to Valentine's Day. We loved God's gift of a 'spring peek' and spent as much time as we could enjoying the outside.

At playgroup the kids had fun making card bags and painting hearts out back....

After a yummy lunch, they all got to decorate their own cookies.....

We had a fun music time Friday afternoon, waiting for Daddy to come home.....
Julia likes to say, "I love these flowers that the brown-box man brought us!" (Well actually Daddy.....and Mr. UPS, I guess!)
All ready for our family breakfast. We had yummy French Toast casserole, mmmm! The kids were so sweet opening their cards.
And giving away hugs and kisses.......
Then it was time for our annual scavenger hunt. Thanks Mimi and Grandpa for all the fun surprises we hide along the way. They scampered through the house squealing the while way.....
The last surprise was tickets to see Playhouse Disney Live on March 1st- Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Handy Manny, Tigger &Pooh, and Little Einsteins. They are crazy excited and will be surprised when they see everyone live in person :) .............the countdown begins.... We were supposed to have a cold, rainy day- but it turned out to be warm and sunny. Lunch was a picnic in the yard and some cloud-watching......
....then Claire and Lily came over for the day. Nothing better than a sunny day with your friends!
......well, mostly. The kids played great together. We played games, did art projects, had school time, played in the yard.......Then Lily came in and announced she needed to get dressed. She put on a play dress, head scarf, and high heels and announced she was marrying Carter. Off she skipped into the backyard where he was playing basketball. She soon returned sobbing.... hyperventilating, actually. Emotion streaming from every pore in her body :( Remember that cry from your teen years of heartbreak? That was it. It seems Carter doesn't want to be bothered with marriage when he's playing basketball. Poor Lily. She was devastated. I tried to distract her, get her into something else, no luck. So we were just sad about it for a while, then I had to tell her the truth. Boys don't want to get married until they're much older (some not even then!). So hard to hear, but it seemed to work .......

....she left her clothes in a heap on the floor next to her deflated heart balloon.........so symbolic.... ...and was folding his laundry while he played games!
So maybe they do have a future :)

We ended the evening with a romantic dinner, okay not exactly. I read an article about using Valentine's Day to celebrate your marriage and let your kids see how important it is to your family. So we made a gourmet meal for us (the kids didn't want any anyway).....
...and celebrated. We are so thankful for where we are right now. It has not been an easy road, but we've come through a lot, we've grown as individuals and a couple, God has blessed us beyond belief, and we've weathered many storms. It's been a rough few years since I've had Grave's disease and we are starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel and realize how much stronger we are today.

And how can you not smile when surrounded by these sweet faces!

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!!

"God has loved you with an everlasting love."

Bring on the Spring!

One of the great parts of living in NC is the fluctuations in the weather. We get bursts of spring in the midst of winter that sure do a body, mind, and spirit, good :)

We had a whole week of 'spring' that we knew wouldn't last so we savored every day playing outside with friends.......

As much as they love the sandbox, they love the mulch, too. Such a great place for the trucks to work.....
One of our favorite parks.......

Playing ice cream store.......
And the uniform of the day is......red. (just a funny coincidence)We have tasted spring and it was good! We can't wait until it's here to stay :)

Off to the Zoo!

This week has been bitterly cold and snowy. After daytime highs of 17*, today's 71* felt down right tropical!! Carter has been begging to go outside all week. I finally let him on Thursday because his friends were willing to join him. (This Mommy doesn't play outside below freezing.). It was in the 20s, but they didn't seem to notice. It was so cold, I didn't even get the mail some days.

Anyway, a warm front came our way and we couldn't way to feel the sunshine. Our friends invited us to the zoo. The polar bear was very playful, swimming around with his bucket on his head and standing against the glass playing with the kids.

They were so excited to run and climb on the playground.....
Carter, Michaela, Julia, Lizzie, and Will (Kendall was in the stroller)
Checking out the elephants.....
The new helicopter in the conservation house......
A memoir from the past week's snowfall, still frozen in the shade. The kids had fun throwing snowballs at each other.
It was a great day topped off with dinner on the grill. We're looking forward to the warm week ahead. Look out park here we come!

Awana Cubbies

I was so excited to learn that the church up the street from us had an Awana program. I didn't do it when I was a kid, but many of my adult friends did and it became the foundation for comprehensive Biblical knowledge and scripture memory. It makes so much sense to start memorizing when you're young and your brain is like a sponge. When Carter turned 3 we noticed how readily he was memorizing everything around him. He would correct us if we skipped a word in a book, even if he hadn't heard it in months. I decided we need to store God's word in his heart, instead of just Franklin :) and truck books. I truly believe in the power of the Word alone. We may not see it now, but a planted seed will grow in time.

He and Ginny started last year and absolutely love going. Besides the lessons, crafts, and music, there is also game time in the gym which is a big highlight. Awana games are even patented! They started this year and added more friends- Rachel, Leah, Lizzie, and Lily. They have the greatest leaders who just spill over with love and enthusiasm for God and for these kids. This is something no parent ever takes for granted. It's hard to believe their last year of Cubbies is almost over. It has been a wonderful experience for all of us and I am still amazed he can recite his verses from a year ago.


When I see this picture of him singing praise it just melts my heart. I pray his innocence and love for God reamains in his heart always......