A Scrap In Time

FYI

2011-01-24T15:14:00.001-05:00

I have started a separate blog just for our totschool posts! It is called Looking Comfortable. You can click on the words and it will take you to it!

Whew!

2011-01-24T01:52:00.005-05:00

Well it only took me 2.5 hours to figure out how to great scrapbook elements using photoshop elements. I loaded this one onto a black piece of paper so you could see it....that took me a while to figure out as well. I couldn't understand why the white scallop wasn't showing up....hmm, maybe because the blog background is white you big dummy!!! That is what I get for trying to learn something at 1 am!!!! If anyone follows this blog and wants me to email them this element please let me know!

1st Haircut!!!

2010-12-04T18:08:00.001-05:00

Well I finally broke down and took Shelby Lynn to get her hair cut! I think I was delaying doing it because I felt like once I cut her baby hair she was no longer a baby…but she will always be MY baby! Hair brushing time around here has been AWFUL. She screams, there is big knots, and tears (some may have been from mommy). So I figured it was time! I chose Cartoon Cuts, they specialize in first time hair cuts. Her stylist’s name was Maurina and she was fantastic with Shelby Lynn…she knew just how to handle stubborn little girls, HA!

Maurina and a very unhappy Shelby Lynn:

Hairwashing station, we didn’t do this, I figured the haircut was enough, lol! But it is very cute and we will definitely check it out next time!

The knot that I have never been able to tame!

Each station had its own tv and Shelby Lynn got to watch her favorite movie…Horton Hears a Who!

Her beautiful new haircut!

Getting braids:

Well that wasn’t so bad!

This made me cry…I was so excited that they did this for me!

Lake Fun

2010-11-11T20:06:00.003-05:00

**If you want to see the pictures larger, just click on each one and it will bring up a separate window to see them in!

So I am trying to do a little catch up blogging when I have a chance. I went back and was looking at my blog and realized I really need to keep up with it! So when we went to TN back in Sept. we went to my hubby’s parents and visited their best buds, who are just like family! They live on the lake and we always have a blast. This time their son, Eric and his wife Gretchen were in town. I am excited because they are moving back and now when we go visit we will be able to see them more!

Gorgeous lake view

SL and Harley enjoying the view:

A little sunbathing on the dock:

Norman and his boys, Eric and Chadley relaxing in the water:

Tim getting ready to take us for a ride in the boat:

Jay’s parents’ house is just across the lake from the Bowmans!

Tim let SL drive the boat. She did pretty well and mommy was only a little nervous!

Alena and Shelby Lynn had a blast playing in the doggy door!

The Boys of Summer:

Tim was cracking us up and I think cracking himself up!

Aren’t they sweet! I love these two. They have always made me feel like family!

Peggy’s mom and Norman’s mom:

Sweet Chloe:

Aunty Anne proved she could still ski!

Chadley and Shelby Lynn shared some goldfish:

My blue eyed girl!

Lego Time

SL tried to hula hoop with the intertube:

Uncle Norman and Miss Alena getting their groove on:

As you can see a great time was had by all and I really hope that next summer we can do this more!!!

Where is the year going?

2010-11-03T13:40:00.004-04:00

Wow, so much is going on around here that my poor little blog is getting neglected! Hopefully I can get back on track soon because I really like to document what we do so that when I scrapbook I can remember the details! I have to keep this post quick but here are a few pics from Halloween!
Oh and totschool has totally been put on hold, but SL is doing great in preschool !
She just earned a treasure out of the box for helping clean up...at least she picks up her toys at school, lol!

DEAL ALERT!!!

2010-10-21T18:06:00.004-04:00

Check out this awesome deal:

Crystal® products will be on sale at Rite Aid and Walgreens at $1 off for the Stick and $.50 off for the Roll-Ons and Spray 9/26 – 10/23

Check out the website at:

http://www.thecrystal.com/

Learn all about this cool new "Un-Odorant"!

Catch Up

2010-10-10T10:01:00.001-04:00

WARNING!!! This may be a lonnnnnnnnng post. I don’t really need to state the obvious but I am a horrible blogger. I am amazed by those who can crank out posts every day. I realized that not only am I bad at blogging consistently but I am also behind on scrapbooking, crafting, cleaning and a long list of other things. The reason…all the fun we had this past September! Ok enough of that, here is what we have been up to lately.

Before we left for vacation, SL had preschool orientation. I wasn’t sure about sending her, I was NOT ready to leave my baby girl, but fortunately for me my good friend teaches preschool and the director of the school was really sweet and made room for SL in the class! And since SL already knows her teacher it has made the transition seamless!

Introduction time in the chapel:

The cute door with all the kids names….Miss Anna and Miss Lilly have decorated the classroom and done a FANTASTIC job!

Miss Anna welcoming SL.

Finding the place she will sit:

I was very pleased at how SL seemed to take to the classroom and other kids. The only bad thing was that we were heading for vacation and she was going to miss the first two weeks.

Ok so I decided to break these posts up after all. So one down, a bunch more to come (I know you saying yeah right, but I really must get them done so when I do get around to scrapbooking I remember what happened, lol!)

Vacation Time

2010-09-20T17:07:00.001-04:00

We have been on vacation for the past two weeks and I didn't have internet access. I hope to blog about everything this weekend...stay tuned!

Totschool Bb

2010-08-30T16:51:00.003-04:00

So we did Bb for totschool this past week and what better way to start out B week than a quick trip to the beach! Daddy had to go for work and we went down for a couple of days.

She loved digging in the sand and was quite content to sit here on the (B)lanket for a long time.

We then went and played in the water for a while but mommy didn’t get any pictures since I was by myself and I couldn’t handle the waves and the camera at the same time. After the (B)each we went up to the pool where they were having free hotdogs.

And free mimosas for the mommies, lol!

It was so lovely at the (b)each I thought I would throw in some pictures to this post for (b) for (b)eautiful:

These were all taken at night and that is the moon.

When we got back home we continued with Bb and also our creation lessons. As I was editing these pictures I noticed that Shelby Lynn’s shirts look very similar. We did not do all these activities in one day, it was spread out over two days!

Working on tracing the number 2 from our Mickey Mouse Trace book. I can’t tell if she is going to be a lefty or righty, she is using both hands, this time it was the left:

We also learned about our body parts this week. This puzzle came from the Target $1 section. They have such great education items for only a dollar!

Pasting (B)ody parts on our (B)ig B. This activity came from 2 Teaching Mommies. Another great blog that has all the work done for you!

Brown, Brown Bear. I cut the animals out of different colored felt and let her tell the story…she really liked this activity.

Letter of the Week Curriculum:

doadot B…she back to using her right hand!

Butterfly Letter sort

For our creation lessons we continued with Hubbard’s Cupboard:

Day and Night sort game, I was pleasantly surprised at how well she did with this.

Very Happy when she completed it!

Creation Day 4 craft. I tried to get her to hold it up for the camera, but she wouldn’t look at the camera!

We have the leap frog word builder so I started her on building the (at) words, like hat, bat, mat, ect…

Worked on the B page in her “How to Build an A” book

And her featured toy of the week was her little people barnyard, which she sang Old MacDonald while playing with it! I am trying to rotate her toys and pull out one each week that goes with what we are learning and it seems to be working quite well.

Here are some more pictures of the way our “schoolroom” is set up. This week I got a dish drainer from Target and put her puzzles in, it seems to be working pretty well….puzzles are so hard to store. If anyone has any other suggestions I would love to hear them!

Our bulletin board with our Bible verses and Our ABC flip book

I purchased several of these mats from the $1 section at Target to keep on her table for craft time. They come in all different learning themes:

$1 Plan book from Target. If you can’t find them 1+1+1=1 has a great post on this.

And I finally got around to organizing my Totschool supply cabinet, I should have taken a before picture because it was baaaaaaaddddd! Luckily it had doors on it, lol!

and

Here are some books and toys we used this week:

Amazon.com Widgets

Totschool Aa

2010-08-22T17:07:00.003-04:00

I am so excited to start back with totschool. This was our first full week back in a long time and we had a blast. This year I am using 3 different programs to give SL a wide variety of teaching styles in addition to incorporating Bible lessons. I am using Hubbard’s cupboard’s 3’s curriculum and Confession of a Homeschooler’s Letter of the Week curriculum as my primary curriculum but I will also be incorporating lessons and crafts from 1+1+1=1 as well as other sites that I will link to from time to time. Also at the top of my blog each week I will have a link to some of the tools and books we used in our lessons for that week that you can click on for more information about that product. Now on to the good stuff!!

We started each totschool session with “circle” time ( it just the two of us so we really don’t make a circle, HA!). We first did calendar time (Carissa at 1+1+1=1 has a great post on this and we incorporated her ideas), we talked about the weather for the day, sang songs and read our Bible lesson for the day.

Here is the two books I am using for Bible time:

The one for Toddlers is more colorful, but the Bedtime Bible story book is closer to the actual scripture so I read both. Here is the pictures from the toddler one:

After circle time we the spent time working on our “written” work and craft projects. This week we did activities involving the letter Aa and learned about Creation. Here is our little school room (aka my former dining room): I have now incorporated a bulletin board above her table where I display this week’s Bible verse and one project that we have done.

SL loves dinosaurs and I found this coloring sheet from First SchooL which she working on while have ABC fruit snacks.

For her birthday my mom bought her a cute traceable Mickey Mouse book and to be able to use again I put it in a page protector and gave her an erasable marker to use. She really liked this activity.

We worked on patterns. I didn’t think she was really getting this until the next day she pointed out a pattern to me!

Working on Lower case a:

Do a Dot worksheet. This was the first time she successfully put the markers in the dots!

Using scissors for the first time! By the end she was able to make little cuts on the page, now we just need to work on making continuous cuts.

Coloring Earth and learned He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands. She let me trace her hands for the first time, normally she doesn’t like that but she thought it was funny this time!

Playing Adam’s Animals Bingo. I would call out the animal written on the card and she would place it on the picture. This was a lot of fun!

Working an apple puzzle:

Here are our projects from the first part of our Creation lessons. We will finish this next week.

After we would do our craft I would then bring out a toy that went along with our lessons. Here are some things we did this week:

Shape Sorting and Sizing

ABC Nesting Boxes

Animals of the Air flash cards. I picked these up from Target’s dollar section and thought I would keep them for later thinking they were to advanced for her, but she loved them!

On Friday she requested to paint, so I picked an apple tree page to do and she spent alot of time painting the entire page. (and as you can see, Mommy played too)

We also spent a lot of time reading this week. Sometimes with mommy, some with daddy and some all by herself!

We had a great first week and this was just a small part of what we did. It was amazing how great she was and I found that she was actually better behaved with the structure! If you are wanting to start totschool with your little one I highly recommend 1+1+1=1 to get started and confessions of a homeschooler for a curriculum, she has already done all the work you just print it out!! I am linking up this week with:

and

You can click on the buttons above to go and check out what everyone else is learning in Totschool and Preschool!

Holy Belk Sale Batman!!

2010-07-30T14:26:00.002-04:00

So I went to the mall today to see if I could find SL a couple of pairs of pjs, because I had a coupon and Belk was having a red dot clearance sale! Items were marked down 50% with another 50% off that!!! I scored SL clothes for next summer for almost nothing!!! A M A Z I N G deals!!! So this post is for my buddy Melanie, check out what Z will be getting a couple of years, lol!

Oh and I did score some pjs too!!!

Staying cool in some shade.

2010-07-29T14:02:00.004-04:00

So it is still blazing hot here in VA…100 degrees yesterday and on its way there today. So to try and stay cool but yet get the kiddies out my girlfriends and I decided to take the kids to a park that the is in the woods with plenty of shade and a creek to cool off in!

One of two play structures at the park. My friend Amanda and Gena hanging out watching the kids slide.

Ellie having a blast going down the slide…she kept pretending like she was a pirate!

SL and Colin: Ready, Set, Go!

Miss Gena and her sweet baby Jack. Oohhh I could just squeeze those little cheeks…kinda makes me want one…maybe.

Sweet Miss Julia, she is so good!

Shelby Lynn was too busy eating to join in on the swing fun!

The best part! We walked along a little trail that led to this creek and the kids had a blast thrown pebbles.

Colin contemplating life!

Mommy missed it, she had just sat down in the water…good thing I brought a change of clothes. Thanks Amanda for the tip!

Ellie found a little rock to sit on! They all had a blast and Shelby Lynn was very upset when we had to leave the “pool”! Don’t worry sweetie, if it stays this hot we will be going back for sure!

Learning to enjoy the small things!

2010-07-22T15:51:00.001-04:00

If you have not read the blog Enjoying the Small Things you are missing out! Kelle writes a wonderful blog about enjoying the small things with her family and it is so inspiring. She reminds not worry about toys on the floor and laundry not always getting done, but to enjoy the time I have with SL! So today that is exactly what we did! Jay filled up the pool and we got busy enjoying the small things:

Don’t get the bubbles on me daddy!

Off to see the Dinosaurs!

2010-07-22T15:35:00.003-04:00

Shelby Lynn has this huge fascination with dinosaurs so we decided to take her to the National History Museum to see some real ones or at least their bones. While we were there we took in a 3D dinosaur movie. SL didn’t wear the glasses and it was probably a good thing because I think it would have scared her, those dinos came right of the screen and snarled at you! Even Jay said he jumped once or twice! But even with out the glasses on she was not afraid. She would say oh look, that one is flying, or Stomp, stomp roar! It made me so happy to see her enjoying it.

The Museum. It was such a pretty day, but boy was it hot, I think every one in D.C was in that museum to cool off because it was really crowded!

The Elephant in the Rotunda

My 3 yr old can pronounce this better than me!

Dinosaur Bones!

These Dinos are known as duck billed dinosaurs, I thought they were so funny looking I just had to take a pic!

A T-Rex Head! Look at those teeth!

Look at her studying the fossils, cracked me up!

After we looked at the dinosaurs, we decided to go to just one more area, The Discovery Room. It was a big hit with SL. They had binoculars, which I didn’t think we were going to be able to get away from her. The Discovery room is cool, it is for kids up to age 12. They can get a close up look at bones, skulls and fossils. There is a coloring area, dressup area, as well as an area full of children’s books about dinosaurs, animals and scientific topics!

Checking out the crocodile head:

Oooh a spyglass, to help Minnie solve the mystery! If you watch the Mickey Mouse clubhouse you will recognize that song!

The Binoculars! We went to the museum shop to buy them but they were pretty proud of them and wanted $22, so we decided to look at target’s toy section but there weren’t any there. I guess it will have to go on the list for Santa!

She was like uh, mom can’t you see I am busy exploring!

You could use the binoculars to spy on all the animals that were up high around the room:

She tried out their crayons but was more interested in exploring with the binoculars:

After that we decided to head on out since it was so crowded, plus even though there are some really cool items in the museum….like the Hope Diamond, we didn’t think she would be as interested in those (mommy will have to go back though and check it out!) Outside was this fabulous old carousel that had been on the mall since 1967. Daddy and SL decided to take a spin and rode on a big blue dragon (kinda of like a dino, right!)

While we were outside, I took advantage of the pretty day and snapped a few shots of the museums surrounding the mall and the Capitol and the Washington Monument.

Even though it was hot outside and crowded inside, we had a great day and were really glad we went. We really need to take advantage of living so close to the capital and enjoy outings like this more often!!

Meeska, Mooska, It is a Mickey Mouse Birthday!

2010-07-17T14:10:00.004-04:00

*You can click on the pictures to view them larger

Shelby Lynn turned 3 in June! Unfortunately her daddy was still gone, so I had her party back in TN with family. I had so much fun planning her party…I think I went a little overboard with the theme…..nah that is not possible, lol! My fabulous friend who is also and excellent photographer came and took pictures of the big day. I decided to put them in a collage for easier blogging purposes, these are only a small, small amount of pictures that were taken! I spent weeks looking online to get ideas. At the end of the post I will link to some of my favorite sites!

Here is the Birthday Girl. My fabulous friend found the cute polka dot dress at a consignment sale and when I saw it I knew it would be perfect for the party!

The Decorations

I made a sign for the driveway using my cricut, it matched the invitations (which I forgot to take a picture of). I also used my cricut to make a banner and confetti for the table. I made tissue pompoms and hung them from the ceiling with red, black and yellow crepe paper streamers. (Apparently I forgot to include the picture in my collage. If anyone wants to see them let me know and I will do a separate post.) For party favors, I got big sand buckets from Michaels and wrote each child’s name on them and filled them with goodies! For the party hats I just purchase a package of multicolored hats and punched out white polka dots from cardstock and adhered them on. I cut the ears out of sparkly black foam and cut little slits on the side of the hats and slide them in! Easy Peasy!

The Food

For the food, I didn’t do anything too fancy, just hotdogs, hamburgers, fruit, chips, and baked beans. I did make little cards with Mickey Mouse themed names for the food, like Hot Diggety Dogs!

My fabulous friend and her wonderful hubby made the cake for me. I showed them some examples of cakes I liked and then they took over! It was better than I could have ever imaged! Melanie baked the cakes and Oz decorated…seriously, they should start a business! Melanie and I also made Mickey Mouse suckers which turned out fabulous considering that is when Shelby Lynn decided to roll off the bed during her nap and break her arm! Poor little thing she had a broke arm for her party, but she was a real trooper!

Party Time and Games

During the party the kids worked on a craft. I found Minnie Mouse and Daisy wood cutouts at Michaels for the kids to color. I hotglued little clothes pins to the back so when I sent thank yous I could also send a picture of each child with the birthday gal and it would be a photo holder. The kids did a great job with the coloring!

I used my cricut once a again to cut out Minnie Mouse and her bow to make a game of pin the bow on Minnie Mouse. This was a huge hit! Even the one of the smallest guest got in on the action!

I found the pinata at the party store, I was going to make one that I have found on another blog, but ran out of time. Even the moms enjoyed taking a swing at it!

Here are some of the blogs that I found inspiration from:

Heavenly Blooms

Buell Family

At Second Street

And this site had lots of great partys!

A moment of silence

2010-07-01T00:00:00.002-04:00

quick update

2010-06-28T23:48:00.002-04:00

Just wanted to post a quick update saying that SL's party went fantastically (not sure if that is even a word, ha!). The day before her party not so swell...she broke her arm. Thankfully it is just a buckle fracture which is basically just a bend in the bone. We are back home (we had her party in TN) and tomorrow we will go and get the hard cast on. She is in a splint as of right now. I can't wait to post pictures of the party and I will also post some of her little cast :(
Also please continue to pray for my hubby, he will be home in one week, but it is still a dangerous place and I will not feel comfortable until his arms around us both! Also please pray for his team who was injured, he is expected to be ok but is still in need of prayer!

Happy Daddy’s Day!!!

2010-06-20T10:32:00.001-04:00

Dear Daddy,

I wanted to wish you a very Happy Daddy’s Day. You are the best daddy in the whole world! Thank you for all the things you do with me!

Thank you for taking me on walks

Going down slides with me!

Helping me explore new places!

Teaching me about the animals!

Playing in the snow!

And for great big daddy hugs!

I love you very much and can’t wait for you to come home so we can do more of these things! – Shelby Lynn

Dear Jay,

I want to wish you a Happy Father’s day as well! Thank you for all that you do to provide for our family, being our protector and provider. Thank you for giving me such a beautiful daughter! In all that you do and all that you are, these are the ways I love you!!

Thank you for always making me laugh

I know that you love all your girls and I love that about you

You are the best, a perfect fit for me and I love you with all my heart! I can’t wait to see you! I hope you have a Fabulous Father’s Day. We are sending much love your way!!! -Pam

Look what we did this week...

2010-05-27T18:16:00.006-04:00

Dear Daddy,

Mommy and I have hung around the house this week...can you believe it! A couple times we went out to the store because I told mommy I wanted to byebye in the car! Well today mommy took me byebye in the car and we went to a giant toy store! I got a couple of my birthday presents from grammy and granddaddy early. Mommy and I picked out a swimming pool and a water table to play in. Daddy it is soooooo hot here, mommy says it is over 90 degrees!

My new water table, it came with a polar bear, a penguin, and a seal (mommy keeps calling it a walrus, but I think it is a seal!)

My sprinkler, mommy didn't get any pics of us playing in it because she didn't want to get her camera wet, but it is fun! It has all these crazy arms that wiggle water everywhere!

My favorite, popsicles!

Mommy also cleaned out her closet this week. And that wasn't so much fun. She said she put the pictures up for Aunt Mel....I have no clue why she would want to see them, pretty boring to me. Hi, Aunt Mel!!

ALL this came out of mommy's closet!!!

What a mess! My toys never look like that (wink)!

I thought Mommy's closet needed painting!

Mommy said she got the organizing stuff on clearance at Target, in case anyone was interested (ummm boring again!)

Here it is after mommy gave away a lot of stuff!

Now back to the good stuff!
Mommy got out this new toy for me to play with...who knew she was hoarding my Christmas toys!!! Seriously Daddy can you tell her not to do that! Anyway mommy says this toy is a shape sorter. I don't know about sorting, but I sure had fun!

I think they look best sorted this way!

Mommy also taught me how to use the computer to play games...did you know you could play games on the computer daddy? I see know why you like it so much, it is all I want to do , but mommy doesn't share the computer very well!

My Mickey Mouse Game!

You have to use something called a mouse to play it! Mommy said I did really well, I don't know why she was surprised, it is pretty simple!

Can't wait until you get home so I can show you how to play!!! I love you daddy,
Your Lil Punkin!

We interupt this blog due to no photos.......

2010-05-23T09:53:00.002-04:00

WHAT, no photos? That is exactly what I screamed when I realized my external hard drive had crashed and I couldn't access my pictures. I have hope that my BBF's hubby will be able to retrieved them. So until I can get my pics back or SL and I do something other that try and get her to use the potty, my blog posts are on hold. I think potty training is the most difficult thing I have had to do as a mom! I am seriously tempted to pay someone to come train her...maybe I could take a vacation to the beach while that happened, LOL! So not much will be happening here except mopping and laundry. But in a week, Mel and Z will be arriving so I know TONS of pictures will be taken!! So if I have any readers left we will return in a couple of weeks with hopefully a potty trained, smiling face!! (ummm that would be from SL, in case you were confused, hehe!)

Westmoreland Berry Farm

2010-05-15T22:35:00.008-04:00

Dear Daddy,

Well I guess Mommy told you about the pictures. She said that the hard drive crashed (sounds dangerous) and we can't write about those right now, hopefully we can get them later! So instead I will tell you about our trip to the strawberry farm today! This morning mommy told me we were going to a farm where we could pick our own strawberries! I was very excited. We had to ride in the car for a long time, but I watched Elmo so it was ok. When we got to the farm we pick out our basket and waited for the tractor. While we were waiting I saw this cool sign that showed how tall I am. Look how much I have grown!!

Here I am showing, Mommy what a strawberry looks like.

Finally the tractor came. When I was visiting Granddaddy, he rode me around on his tractor, but this one was REALLY big. I didn't get to drive it like I did granddaddy's but it was still fun to ride behind!

Look at all those rows of strawberries! Mommy said to help her find the big red ones!

I found a big red one right away and showed mommy how to pick it!

I helped mommy find all the big red ones, I made sure she looked at all the plants!

Here I am checking out all the strawberries,

Look how pretty!

This one needed a closer look,

Smells like a strawberry,

better see if it tastes like a strawberry!

I really enjoyed picking the strawberries now it is time to go pay!

A nice couple took mine and mommy's picture!

After all that hard work, mommy bought us some ice cream that the farm was selling, but after two bites I told her I was sleepy and need a nap.....so here I am taking one in the car on the way home!

Can't wait to take you to the farm when you get home, daddy. Mommy says when you get back the farm will have peaches and raspberries for picking....won't that be fun!!
Love you from your Lil Punkin!!!

Finally!

2010-05-06T10:18:00.004-04:00

Dear Daddy,

Guess what! Mommy finally got it all together so that I could write you another letter. I have so much to tell you. We have really been busy since you have been gone. As you know we are visiting Grammy and Granddaddy right now and today we are leaving to go visit Aunt Jilly Bean. But today I am going to tell you about Ellie's birthday party and then our trip to the children's museum.
Ellie had a birthday party and I was invited; I was excited! Mommy told me I had to wear a pink princess dress and I wasn't excited anymore. I would have much rather worn my rainboots and coat. But after mommy finally convinced me we should wear one since that was what Ellie wanted to do for her birthday, I decided that it wasn't so bad. I was so excited to see Ellie when I got to her party that we decided that we needed to dance together in our party dresses!

After we played for while, we got to the really fun part of the party....the cake! Ellie's daddy set the cake on fire or as Mommy called it lit the candles. I was so excited to help sing Happy Birthday. Bring on that cake!!

Afterwards Ellie opened her presents, and I decided to sit on her daddy's lap because it was empty and I thought he needed a little girl to cuddle with since his was busy. But then as Ellie was opening her gifts I thought maybe I should go over see if she needed any help. You know it is always nice to offer help to others!

Birthday parties are so much fun and I can't wait for mine. Mommy says we are going to have mine at Grammy and Grandaddy's. It is going to be Minnie Mouse themed and I get to hit a pinata...I can't wait to find out what that is! Wish you could be here for it daddy, but I will make sure mommy takes a ton of pictures!! A few days after Ellie's party we went to the museum...I love that place!
Working puzzles with Colin:

We also went to a dance party at the museum. That was sooo much fun:

I also got to milk a cow, I think I am ready to go work on a ranch like Mommy said you used to do!

Then Ellie and I went grocery shopping. I picked out the food and she rang it up. I really enjoyed getting the food, I LOVE crackers!

Then we got to go play at the water table. This was the first time I played at it. It was really interesting and I didn't want to leave.

Some other things I did at the museum:

Oh here is a picture of me and mommy in the sand box. I am sorry I couldn't look at the camera daddy, but you know how it is when you are busy.

We had a great time and I hope I get to back soon. Well mommy says we have to go pack so I will try to write you another letter tonight. I love you and miss you.
Hurry Home,
SL
p.s. Mommy said to remind you if you click on the pictures you can view them a little larger. She said to tell you she loves you bunches!

Letter to Daddy #2 part 2

2010-04-17T12:58:00.004-04:00

Dear Daddy,
Mommy is a slow blogger. These pictures she put up for me to write about are from when we went to the beach a couple of weeks ago! When Aunt Jilly Bean and Ash came into town we decided since the weather was so nice to go to the beach (that is what mommy calls it, it looks more like a giant sandbox to me!)
Here we are in the pool, the giant sandbox had a pool too (mommy called it an ocean) but it was REALLY cold! So we played in this pool instead.

I really liked trying to jump to mommy from the steps, It was FUN!

Here I am swimming!

I am Flying!

I really liked hanging out at the giant sandbox with Ash!

Then Mommy and Aunt Jillybean wanted to go for a walk. They kept making Ash pose for pictures! I don't think she was really into it. I know how she feels!!

Mommy says this is what we are waiting on:

I can't wait to see you, Daddy! Mommy says her too!

Aunt Jillybean being her crazy self. She really thinks she is funny (I kinda do too!)

Ummm, I am not so sure about this one!

It was neat looking at all the statues but I really just wanted to go back and play in the pool!

The other thing we did at the beach was eat! We went to a couple of different places.

This was at the pizza place across the street. They took FOREVER to bring the pizza (mommy said it was an hour, that was Forever to me!) It was good, but I REALLY didn't like waiting that long so I made sure to let mommy and everyone else in the restaurant know. Hopefully next time they won't take so long!!!

After all the beach, sun, and food it was nice to hang out in my pjs and watch a little tv!

We wish you could have been there daddy. It was fun, but it would have been a blast with you!!
LOVE YOU and MISS YOU,
SL

Letter to Daddy #2

2010-04-03T21:04:00.003-04:00

Dear Daddy,
Mommy is driving me crazy! She is such a procrastinator (whatever that means). I keep telling her we need to write this letter and she keeps putting it off!! I am mad (this is what I say by the way, all the time now, I think it is funny)! Well this is all she has done so far with the pictures so I will tell you about them and hopefully she will get the rest (there is a whole bunch!) up soon.
Mommy and I took a trip to downtown Fredericksburg and took a nice walk. We stopped by the Fire Station to admire the pretty flowers. While we were there mommy showed me, what she said was an old fashioned fire hose. I tried it out, but it didn't work. But I found one that looked like it might and wanted a drink of water but mommy wouldn't let me, see how mean she is when you are not around daddy, you really must have a chat with her!!!
!
*Mommy says if you click on the image you can view it larger.

We have more pictures of our walk but mommy doesn't have them up yet. So here is what happened the next day. When I woke up to my surprise Aunt Jilly Bean and cousin Ash were here! Mommy told me the that the Easter Bunny had brought them. I wasn't so sure about that, but when I went downstairs there was a basket for me and a giant egg for Ash, so who knows maybe he did. I was a little embarrassed by all the gifts but I finally decided to check the basket out!

Then we got all dressed up and went to church and then to lunch. Here are some pictures of us looking all pretty:

Can you believe that is all the pictures Mommy has put up for me to write about, daddy? Well I have to go to bed now, so says Mommy but I hope she gets on the ball and has more pictures put up for me to tell you about tomorrow!!! I miss you. I stand in the middle of the living room and holler, "Daddy where are you, come out, come out where ever you are." I am starting to think this is going to be a VERY long game of hide and seek!
I Love you, SL!

Dramatic BW

2010-03-30T09:17:00.003-04:00

I have not entered the I Heart Faces challenge in a while and I have missed it! This week's challenge is dramatic black and white. This photo is dramatic to me for two reasons, first is I think the contrast in it turned out pretty well, but the main reason it is dramatic is personal....it was the last weekend my husband and I took our little one to the park before he left for overseas. Her expression represents exactly how I was feeling that weekend!

Letter for Daddy #1

2010-03-28T20:50:00.006-04:00

So since daddy is away, SL and I have decided to write him a weekly post to let him know what happens each week!

Dear Daddy,
This first week that you have been gone actually flew by. Mommy and I were very surprised because it didn't seemed like we got a lot accomplished. This week I decided that rain boots were a necessary accessory, because they just complete the look, you know! Every morning while mommy was fixing breakfast I put them on...they look so good with my ducky pjs!

I also decided to try them with out any pjs...we will send you the pictures in an email (I know you wouldn't want the world to see me in all my glory, ha!)

This week went we to Ellie's house to play on a couple of different days. Mommy forgot her camera the first time and I was mad because I wanted to show you how we all sat on the sofa under the blanket, drinking strawberry milk and eating chocolate chips (that's right just plain chocolate chips! Ellie's mom is way cool, she lets me do all sorts of things that mommy won't let me do at home!)
The next day mommy was going to take me to the park to play but when we got into the car we realized it was dinner time, so we took some Happy Meals over to share with Ellie and Collin.
Here we all are sitting at the picnic table under the swingset.

Here I am telling Collin a very funny secret!

Apparently he is like ALL boys and was more interested in his nuggets, but I thought it was funny!

After we ate Ellie and I decided we needed to swing to work off that Happy meal!

Mommy and I also did a little bit of Totschool this week. I got to paint with something called water colors. I did a little bit, but it is not as much fun as paint-with-water. I had hard time remembering to dip the brush in the paint after the water. The other ones are more logical, all you have to do is dip the brush in the water and then on the page the color magically appears (makes more sense don't you think, daddy?). Well here is mine and mommy's painting:

This week mommy brought out something called a workbook (I am not sure I like the name of it, but so far it seems ok!) We talked about the pretty shapes that were on the front. I knew most of the them but kept calling some of them by the wrong name. She kept saying the moon was a crescent and the tall circle was an oval...you really must talk to her about that daddy, because it was frustrating! As you can see I decided that a shirt was not necessary for totschool (neither were pants).

Well that's all the pictures for this week daddy, we will try to do better for next! I helped mommy put together a special package for you, I hope you like it! We love you and stay safe! Miss you bunches, SL and mommy!

Its a whole new world.

2010-03-22T23:06:00.000-04:00

So I have been dreading this day for months. The day my sweet hubby leaves. This morning bright and early (5:30) he left. Alone, with just my babe for 4 months. I feel so bad at times for even writing this post when I know that other families experience this for much longer, some as much as 18 months. But this is kinda of my first time. We were apart 7 years ago when he went into the academy and that was for 13 weeks but we did see each other for a couple of times. This time no weekend visits and where he is going is very scary. But I know many have done this before me so I can too! This will be my prayer for Jay while he is gone:

Psalm 91

¹ He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High
       will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
² I will say of the LORD, "He is my refuge and my fortress,
       my God, in whom I trust."
³ Surely he will save you from the fowler's snare
       and from the deadly pestilence.
⁴ He will cover you with his feathers,
       and under his wings you will find refuge;
       his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.
⁵ You will not fear the terror of night,
       nor the arrow that flies by day,
⁶ nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness,
       nor the plague that destroys at midday.
⁷ A thousand may fall at your side,
       ten thousand at your right hand,
       but it will not come near you.
⁸ You will only observe with your eyes
       and see the punishment of the wicked.
⁹ If you make the Most High your dwelling—
       even the LORD, who is my refuge-
¹⁰ then no harm will befall you,
       no disaster will come near your tent.

¹¹ For he will command his angels concerning you
to guard you in all your ways;

¹² they will lift you up in their hands,
       so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.
¹³ You will tread upon the lion and the cobra;
       you will trample the great lion and the serpent.
¹⁴ "Because he loves me," says the LORD, "I will rescue him;
       I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.
¹⁵ He will call upon me, and I will answer him;
       I will be with him in trouble,
       I will deliver him and honor him.
¹⁶ With long life will I satisfy him
       and show him my salvation."

I highlighted the two verses that I will repeat over and over til he comes home! I love you baby!

Nursey to Little Girl Room

2010-03-17T19:44:00.006-04:00

For some time I have been wanting change SL's room from a nursery to a little girl's room. I have poured over PB catalogs looking for inspiration. I think the reason their furniture and other items look so amazing is because of the rooms they are in. I don't know if they build them as sets but I would LOVE to have a home with walls and ceilings like the ones in their catalog!
After finally deciding on what I wanted, I knew my hubby and I had better get started (he is leaving Monday for overseas...which is a whole other post). So after SL took her last nap in her crib we decided to start.

This picture makes me sad and happy. I love her expression in it, but little did she know it was her last time sleeping it!

When I was pregnant with SL I painted her room in an animal theme. I thought it would be hard to paint over it but surprisingly it wasn't.

Here is SL "turning" the screws to her crib. She kept saying turn, turn because..........

That is what daddy was doing, taking down the crib.

I love this pic and had to throw it in.

Here she is playing on the nursery's matching toy box. I hate to take it out of the room because it was good storage but it just won't go. My hubby wanted me to paint over it, but I couldn't. It went with all the bedding and if we have another baby I would like to be able to use it again.

Here is what our guest room looked like after we took everything out of the nursery.... what a mess!

The Next Step was to sand over the mural.

More sanding.

Be sure to lay down sheets because it makes a MESS! *Tip, I just used sand paper, but if you have a mural that is painted on really thick you may need a power sander.

The Fabrics going in the new room.

I am bummed because this is the only pic I have of my sweet friend, Amanda who came to help me paint.

Amanda had the great idea to give SL a brush (she was laughing because she knew it was something I would have NEVER done, but I am sooooo glad she did!)

Look at those sweet brush marks.

After we painted it was time for my hubby to get to work framing my "board and batten" wall that was inpired by PB. I decided I wanted fabric in my grid so we had to mark it off before we put the rest of the wood up.

Getting closer.

Go here to read about this mishap!

The wall with the base coat on it. ( I knew unfinished wood would take a lot of paint but WOW, it took 4 coats of paint) This could have been due to the fact the we used Behr paint and primer in one, for this project I think a separate primer would have worked better.

Finally done painting! When I decided to do this wall I didn't realize how popular the were in Blogland (ha!) As I have been working on her room, several of the blogs I follow have done posts on the them. You can go here, here, and here to read more about them and see some great ideas!

Now on to the lighting!
I had my hubby take down the horrible light that was in the room ( you know the ones that look like boobs, ha!)

I found this great chandelier at Home Depot. I was going to try and find one that I could paint so as not to spend more than $40, but when my mom saw this she said she would send me some $$ for it because she thought it was perfect!!! Thanks mom!!!

I think it is too!!

Now for the BIG reveal:

( I got the toddler bed on Craigs List for cheap! Her crib is supposed to convert to a toddler bed but I felt like it sat to high on the floor.)

My mom had made these great curtains for my sister's daughter's room. It had a huge window in it, which SL's room doesn't so I was able to use one set for the closet which by taking down the doors made the room feel larger.

The other half of the curtains on the window.

(The white Flower light is from IKEA.)

I think she likes!!!

Ahhh, All ready to sleep!!

So the room is not completely finished. I am planning a "princess reading nook, a dress up area, and couple of the projects which are all already in the works. But I will save those for another post but here is a little sneak peek at one of the projects:

Nail Gun Near Disaster

2010-03-13T21:03:00.003-05:00

So here is a little update. We are redoing our daughter's nursery into a little girl room! I can't wait to show the finished room, but for now I will tell you what NOT to do with a nail gun..........staple your finger to the wall!

Ok, so my hubby didn't really, but it was CLOSE. I was downstairs and I hear the nail gun then I hear: ARGGGGGGGG! I think I about passed out and threw up all at once. I ran up the stairs and by the time I got there he realized it wasn't so bad. The nail went thru the first layer of skin and split his fingernail but that was all. WHEW! I will post pictures of the finger and her finished room tomorrow hopefully!

Just Us Gals!

2010-03-03T15:47:00.002-05:00

It was mommy - daughter day for me and SL on Monday. We had a great time. We went to the mall and had lunch. After lunch we went shopping for new hairbows and a bracelet for SL and a cheap sweater for mommy. Aeropostle had select items marked down 70% off and I bought a cute pink sweater for $10, score!!

SL loves her juice boxes!

So I love reading blogs and spend more time reading others than I do updating my own. I am trying to get better about this. One of the things I see fellow bloggers doing is taking pics of themselves in the mirror and it always cracks me up. So I thought I would join the trend and since we were in the family restroom I could do it with no one watching, Ha!

After shopping we went to the Buzzy Playpark in the mall. SL had a blast, she kept running by me saying, "This is Fun!"

After the mall we went to Maggie Moo's for some yummy ice cream, didn't get any pics, too busy eating our delicious (as SL said) ice cream.
We then headed over to Borders (or the "library") as SL calls it. Right when we walked in they had a huge display of gray bunnies and SL just HAD to have one, ha! So of course mommy just HAD to buy it. I think the child must own about 10 bunnies.

What a great day and she was a perfect angel the whole time! We absolutely have to do this again!

What have we been up to?

2010-02-23T22:35:00.002-05:00

Want to know what we have been doing this week? Go here and read all about ( just click on the underlined here to see her blog.) My best bud has been visiting me and she has been blogging all about it! She has several posts from our week!

Disney On Ice

2010-02-16T15:53:00.004-05:00

For SL's Valentine's day, I wanted to take her to see Disney on Ice. I was hoping that she would really enjoy it b/c she loves, loves Mickey Mouse. It was 2 hours long so I thought that may be a little much for her and it was all the way up in D.C so I didn't know but we went for it anyway. And let me tell you how glad I am. She LOVED it and was good for the entire show, unbelievable!!! I highly recommend it.
So I decided to dress her up in a cute Lady and the Tramp outfit that had been her cousin Ashley's and once again tried to get a cute picture. And once again she would NOT smile for me!

Her hair is getting sooo long.

Still trying to get a good picture.

I love how she is lying in this one!

These are the looks she gave me when I tried to get her to look at me!

So off to the show.
Here is how the stage was set:

Eating our $30 hotdogs and chips:

Daddy looking REALLY excited

Oh No, the Zamboni Machine broke, maybe Mickey Mouse can fix it

She didn't know quite what to think when all the characters came out:

Her Favorite , Goofy:

The show was 100 Years of Magic and feature scenes from different movies.
Here is Finding Nemo

Aladdin

Pretty Minnie Mouse:

Sitting on Daddy's Lap to get a better view:

Toy Story:

Here's Woody doing a trick:

Mickey Mouse came back out and she got really excited.
She kept saying, "Do you see Mickey?"

She wanted to touch the characters!

It's a Small World After All

At intermission, I bought her a Mickey Mouse and a pennant to go in her room.

Jimney Cricket!

Oh No, Monstro ate Gepetto!

Who's the leader of the band?

Beauty and Beast:

Mulan

The whole cast:

The Day Before

2010-02-14T09:36:00.005-05:00

Yesterday daddy was home and we got out of the house for the first time since the blizzard! We were very excited. I dressed SL in her cute V-day outfit and tried to get some pictures. That girl will NOT pose for me and never flashes me a smile. Of course the minute I put the camera down she is all cute, Ha! We went to Mimi's Cafe for lunch and then mommy's favorite place Target! When we got home SL had a Valentine's Day Card waiting for her from Granddad and Grandmuh( this is what she has decided to call my mom!)

I love these little boots

I asked her to show me her heart

TaDA!

She found Daddy's hat and decided to put it on!

What Came in the Mail?

Reading the card

This is her favorite part, it is a little sparkly heart!

Hopefully today we can make some V-day cupcakes. We were supposed to go to Amanda's and do this but daddy came home so we decided to see him. Disney's Mickey on Ice is in town through Monday and I really want to take her to it so maybe I will have some good pictures to post!

Blizzard 2010

2010-02-10T13:48:00.014-05:00

We have had the most amazing snowfalls here in VA. Basically we have had 2 big snows in one week! It has been so cold and windy though that I haven't taken SL out in it. Also my hubby has been gone so I haven't felt like getting out in it without him. We have had such a crazy 2010. I have so much to write about and I don't know if I will every get caught up (I never even finished writing about our vacation last July, Ha!) Hopefully I can get caught up when my hubby gets back (it is hard to blog with a 2 year old), because we have major news! We have added to our family and no I am not pregnant, we didn't adopt, and it is DEFINITELY not a pet. So you will have to wait until a little later to find out (I am such a tease, LOL).
Anyway, Melanie, here are the pictures of our blizzard...these are especially for you!

The Snow is starting:

A little more:

Now we are talking:

Night time:

Time for Snow Cream!
First take a bowl of fresh clean snow

Add milk, sugar, and vanilla:

Scoop and Serve:

Enjoy!

After it has snowed all night, this is what it looked like in the morning:

Melanie, here is your door pic!

And just when we thought it was over we get 5 more inches just a few days later!

Check out these killer icicles:

We have a major case of cabin fever, so here are some things we have done to pass the time!
Cute Outfit time:

I got bored and decided to dress SL up!

Pretend Time:

This is the new game SL came up. She lined up her animals on top of the box and was having a little play!
Potty Time during the blizzard:

She decided all by herself that she wanted to use the potty! (she didn't make a deposit however, but it is a start!)

I tried to make lunch interesting one day by serving it in a Valentine Heart ice tray.

I used butterfly cookie cutter to cut out peanut butter sandwiches, she had goldfish, and animal crackers and animal fruit snacks. (can u guess the theme?)

Yum!

Dress Up Time! She Loves this old sun hat of mine. Glad to see that it is being used!

My craft blog is up!

2010-01-19T16:46:00.001-05:00

I have decided to start a new blog just for crafting and keep this blog about family and SL's totschool.

So if you want to see my new craft blog please goto
http://confessionsofacraftlifter.blogspot.com/

Merry Christmas!!

2009-12-10T13:06:00.004-05:00

Here is our Christmas card this year. Thought I would share with all my blog friends!

Included a pic with Santa. She is looking a little shy, but she went up to him all by herself and told Santa she wanted a bike for Christmas! Mommy was very proud!

Well taking a break until the new year! Will be back in January with lots of Tot school post and hopefully will start with my craft blog as well!! I hope everyone enjoys their holidays!!

Hello old friends

2009-11-29T09:55:00.010-05:00

Hello blog friends, I am back.

This cute outfit was made by my friend

Melanie

. I absolute love it and wish I have one for Christmas (hint, hint). Actually I think I may attempt one myself.

Check out how cute the back is!

Here SL is Mousercising:

Boy does she love that mouse. She gets so upset when the show is over. We joke and call it her crack, lol!

We went to my friend Debi's house for Thanksgiving supper. Debi was the first friend I met when we moved here and she has been there for me so often! She cooked a huge dinner.

Debi's husband, Pete, deep fried a turkey:

I made Paula Deen's green beans and a pineapple casserole. You can find the recipes

HERE and

HERE

Jay and Pete:

Debi's son, Alex:

(I can't believe that he is this big now! And when did stone wash black jeans come back in style, lol!)

Debi brought out a tub of toys for SL and she loved them. She had to sit in the tub to really enjoy them, lol. I loved the toys because they were all old Fisher Price toys from when I was a kid!

Debi has three dogs and SL had a blast playing with them and they were so sweet with her!

Rudy makes a good seat:

And this last pic cracks me up because Libby used to hate Jay and run from him and bark and bark at him. But for some reason she really took to Jay this last time and just loved all over him!

We had a great Thanksgiving Day!

"At Home With Friends"

2009-10-19T23:32:00.005-04:00

Joshua Bell's "At Home With Friends" was recently released on September 29. I will be honest and say while I had heard his name I have never listened to anything by him. But when I say the track list and some of the "friends" performing with him. I love Kristin Chenoweth so I was excited. I will have to say I thoroughly enjoyed this. I normally am not a fan of retakes but the version of Eleanor Rigby was probably my favorite and shhh don't tell any Beatles fans but I liked it better than the original! I highly recommend this even if you think that you don't like this type of music, I have to say that there is something for everyone on it!

Please be sure to check out his fabulous website at http://www.joshuabell.com

Album Tracklisting (Originally performed by):
I Loves You Porgy featuring Chris Botti, trumpet
Come Again featuring Sting, vocals
Oblivion featuring Carel Kraayenhof, bandoneon
Cinema Paradiso featuring Josh Groban, vocals
Para Tí featuring Tiempo Libre, various
My Funny Valentine featuring >Kristin Chenoweth, vocals
Maybe So featuring Edgar Meyer Sam Bush and Mike Marshall, strings
Grieg: Sonata No. 3 featuring Sergei Rachmaninoff (Zenph re-performance)
Eleanor Rigby featuring Frankie Moreno, piano & vocals
O, Cease Thy Maiden Fair featuring Nathan Gunn, baritone
Il Postino featuring Carel Kraayenhof, bandoneon
Left Hand Song featuring Regina Spektor, piano & vocals
Chovendo Na Roseira featuring Dave Grusin, piano
Look Away featuring Edgar Meyer, bass and Chris Thile, mandolin
Variant Moods: Duet for Sitar & Violin featuring Anoushka Shankar, sitar
I'll Take Manhattan featuring Marvin Hamlisch, piano
Left Hand featuring Regina Spektor, vocals

Thanks to One2One for sending me this great album to review!

Our New Etsy Store is Open!!

2009-10-09T14:28:00.002-04:00

Finally after months of talking, my friend Debi and I finally have our Etsy store up and running!!! I am so excited. It is a big relief to actually have items in it. Please go here: http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=7980249
to check out what we have for sale. You can also check out the link over on the right of this blog! I would love any feedback that you have! Be sure to check back weekly as I will be adding new and different items!

Harry Connick, Jr

2009-10-09T09:44:00.008-04:00

Have you heard? Harry Connick, Jr has a new album out called Your Songs. I was so excited when I found out that he was releasing a new album. I have always liked his voice not to mention that he is very easy on the eyes. So thanks to the

One2One Network

I was able to preview this album. It was a rainy day, perfect for crafting and a little crooning by Harry. I will say that I really enjoyed my afternoon. For the most part I really enjoyed the album. I do personally think that there are just some artists that should not be covered, Elvis Presley and the Beatles are two. It was hard for me to enjoy those two tracks because I could not get the original artist's voice out of my head, but other than that it was fabulous. Perfect for a cold rainy day because it warmed me right up. Be sure to check out his website

HERE

And you can watch a behind the scenes video HERE

Here is a list of the songs:

Album Tracklisting (Originally performed by):

All The Way (Frank Sinatra)
Just The Way You Are (Billy Joel)
Can’t Help Falling In Love With You (Elvis Presley)
And I Love Her (The Beatles)
(They Long To Be) Close To You (The Carpenters)
Besame Mucho
The Way You Look Tonight
First Time Ever I Saw Your Face (Roberta Flack)
Your Song (Elton John)
Some Enchanted Evening
And I Love You So (Don McLean)
Who Can I Turn To? (Tony Bennett)
Smile (Charlie Chaplin)
Mona Lisa (Nat King Cole)

Free unit study and lapbook!

2009-10-09T09:11:00.001-04:00

Click on the button below to download a free unit study called Autumn Treasures from This Old Schoolhouse!

http://www.theoldschoolhousestore.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=191_202&products_id=12934">http://trish.theoldhomeschoolhouse.com/christie_files/mscgrfx/AutumnTreasures.jpg" alt="Download N Go" border="0">

Tot School

2009-10-05T09:29:00.011-04:00

*Shelby is 27 months*

Well we had a slow start back to Totschool this past week. Here is what we accomplished:

I got this puzzle a the Duck, Duck, Goose consignment sale in Knoxville, TN. Let me say I have been to a lot of consignment sales but this was the Granddaddy of them all! I mean it took me 3 hours to check out and that was a the presale that wasn't even open to the general public!!!
I was very excited about this puzzle/game and couldn't wait to show it to Lil Bit, but of course she didn't find it very interesting. She really doesn't like puzzles, I think it is because she is very impatient, something I am trying to work with her on. She gets very frustrated if she can't do something correctly the first time (she is just like her daddy!) He said he didn't really care for puzzles either as a child, which makes me sad because I love them!

After these pictures were taken she was over this activity. The good thing was when I said clean up, she help me put every piece back in the box. Normally she only will put away one or two items and then tell me she is done. As part of tot school we have been working on cleaning up and having to implement some timeouts when she refused to help. And I am happy to say this week we only had one timeout and the rest of the time she was very helpful and had a sweet attitude about cleaning up!

This next activity was a surprise because I really thought she was too young for it and thought it may bore her. Boy was I wrong! She played with this for a long time! I will definitely be bringing this out more!

I picked it up at Ross for less than $5! The possibilities are endless with math and pattern teaching tool. For our purposes this week I just got out the first sheet and only one color.

We had recess this week with daddy at a new park we found. It had a great play set but best of all it had soccer field which were fenced in with really nice artificial turf on them. We practiced hopping and running. I can't wait to bring our ball, hula hoop and other outdoor toys there! Since we don't have a backyard this is a great place where she can run and I feel safe. I just wished I had found it at the beginning of the summer! Here are my favorites and I had a bunch!

I had to share these next pictures of her wearing this hat before we left for the park. She really didn't like it at first and then she was ok with it.

What a mean mom for trying to make me look cute, she says!

"Well I guess it is not such a bad hat"

Mommy says she is jealous of my curls!

Here is another cute outfit from this week. I got this one and the previous one at consignment sales, except for the hat that came from Children's Place.

Be sure to hope on over to
http://1plus1plus1equals1.blogspot.com/2009/10/tot-school.html
to see what Carissa and everyone else did this past week!

Changes are coming!

2009-09-28T22:35:00.007-04:00

So I haven't posted in awhile because my mother had major back surgery(lumbar fusion) and I went home to be with her. Needless to say totschool has not happened. In addition to that I have been working hard with a friend to start a business and I so excited that we are almost ready to reveal our new etsy shop and in addition to that I will have a new, separate blog just for crafts and this one will remain our family and totschool blog. I can't wait to introduce it to everyone. Some things that I will have for sale are my custom canvases, digital greeting cards and photo albums, door and wall hangers, and camera strap covers.
Sneak Peak:
Here is an example of a set of custom canvases I did for a client's nursery:

**click on the picture to see a larger view

If you are interested in having me do something for your nursery or any room in your home, please feel free to email me and once my etsy shop is up I will update the site with that address.
Just wanted to let those that follow know where I have been and what we have been up to. Totschool is continuing and I will post along with my fellow totschoolers on Sunday, but you can always click on the button to the right to see what everyone else has been doing while we were off.

Tot School "F" weeks

2009-09-12T20:31:00.015-04:00

**Shelby Lynn is 26mths

So we are still trying to do one letter for two weeks. We were supposed to go out of town this past Friday, so I didn't have too much planned. Unfortunately my niece who we were going to visit got sick so we reschedule the trip for Oct. I have not been to my sister's house in over 10 years so I was bummed to have to postpone.
Anyway here is what we did do:

One morning daddy didn't have to go into work until late so here they are working a farm animal puzzle that I got from the Target $1 spot (don't you just love that section!)

We also had some lessons in home ec. Here is Shelby Lynn "Folding" towels (it was more like unfolding, Ha!) My favorite thing though is she started singing the clean up song all by herself, I wish the video camera had been handy.

Whew! This is hard work!

We also listened to her silly, giggle songs especially the one on "F"ollowing Directions (maybe this one will stick like the clean up song). She enjoyed shaking her tomtom that we got on our vacation to Pigeon Forge, TN.

Here is a pic of her letter flip flash cards I also purchased at Target. I love these, on the back it has questions for me to ask her about the letter and picture. She really enjoys this activity.

We also learned the song "Father Abraham" and learned motions to go with it, she really liked the turn around part. My sister gave me several of the "Wee Songs" song book and I love them!

Here she is trying to play. She loves the piano and I am hoping that she will want to really learn how to play and practice! I always wanted to play but I hated to practice, so needless to say I am not that great.

I also started reading her toddler Bible to her and we talked about God creating the earth. I was really surprised at how much she enjoyed the pictures in the book, since they are pretty simple. She listen to whole part I chose to read and I was really excited because sometimes story time is pretty hit or miss.
We also reviewed letters A-E and she remembered them all, so even though my totschool is hit or miss at times she still is learning and that makes me happy!

I bought some really neat window clings at the dollar store and put them on the window above her little table and she talked about them alot as well. I wish I had more pictures to share, because I love seeing lots of pics on other blogs.

Next week we are heading to TN to visit Grammy and Granddaddy. Please say a prayer for Shelby Lynn's grammy as she is having major back surgery. We will be taking a break until we get back. Once we are back in town I hope to get into full swing with Totschool and have lots of pictures and links to activities we do!
Please be sure to go see what everyone else is learning in Totschool by going here:
http://1plus1plus1equals1.blogspot.com/2009/09/tot-school-at-beach.html

FAVORITE PIC:

This is just so sweet! I love that they are both in their pjs!

a glimpse at summer totschool

2009-08-30T23:16:00.015-04:00

So this summer was hit or miss with official totschool. We traveled so much and had company a couple times so we didn't keep to any sort of schedule. A lot of learning took place in life school however (this applies to both mom and Shelby Lynn). Shelby Lynn is learning about sharing, patience and showing kindness to others and mommy has learned some of the same lessons in her adult relationships, lol! We tried to still implement a letter every tw0 weeks and I was not successful at all, but we did learn the letter "D" and since she already knew "E" we did some review. This week will kickoff our official Totschool and we will continue with the letter "F" and also start our Before Five in a Row curriculum. I also got a new cabinet to organize all of Shelby Lynn's learning toys that I don't keep out all the time and can't wait to share that with you. I also want to try to be better about implementing the system that the Duggars use with their toys, I try to rotate the toys out but after her birthday this year it has gotten out of control, Ha! Here are few pics of what we "officially" accomplished and hopefully this week I will finish our Lancaster vacation posts and other fun activities we did this summer!

Here she is coloring her "d" coloring sheet from her sesame street and working on a number puzzle. She kept going back and forth between the two!

This was Shelby Lynn's favorite "D" activity, growing sponge Dinosaurs, she played with this for almost a hour, and I was shocked and please to get the kitchen clean while she did this! It was a great activity that we started together and talked about colors and she counted the dinosaur and sorted them and then I was able to let her play on her own. She loved squeezing the water out of them!

Here is is working with her magnetic "d"s and trying to draw with chalk. She also got the Leap frog magnet toy for her b-day that not only sings the alphabet but also when you put in a letter is says the name and sound. She loves it!

Here is a few pictures from this summer that I want to share but probably would not do a separate post:

Love this summer outfit.

Just a swingin'

The girl loves her pink boots and her music!

A sweet baby bunny we found outside our gate, apparently our neighbor had a nest in his backyard! We don't see this too often since we live in a townhouse!

please be sure to check out all the other fun times that were had at http://1plus1plus1equals1.blogspot.com/search/label/Tot%20School

Update

2009-08-29T16:30:00.002-04:00

If you would like an update on all the we have been doing please check out my BFF site. She is so much better at posting than I am! But not only does next week officially start a new year of totschool for us, I am also recommitting to updating the blog hopefully twice a week!

Here is Melanie's blog

picturecrazymomma.blogspot.com

She has a lot of great pics from the past two weeks!

Vacation Alert

2009-08-11T10:08:00.002-04:00

Just posting really quickly to let anyone who follows me know that I am on vacation and that is why there have been no posts. I have limited internet access. When I get back I will probably have to do 3 or 4 post a day to get caught up! I hope I still have followers left, lol!

Our Family Vacation to Lancaster

2009-07-25T15:24:00.006-04:00

In July, we decided to take a family vacation with just the three of us. This was the first time since we had had Shelby Lynn that we were able to do this. We chose Lancaster, Pa as our destination and let me say we had a blast. We stayed in a bed and breakfast called

Laurel Inn the Hollow

and the name of our house was the Carriage House. It was wonderful because we had the whole house which was build in the 1800s to ourselves. Jay and I kept saying how peaceful it was and how we felt like we were at grandma’s house. After staying in a B&B I have decided that is the only way to travel with a toddler. I will say it is difficult to find ones that will take children under the age of 10 but we found a great family ran one! The house had a sweet fenced in yard which is where we at most of our dinners. The weather was perfect for sitting out on a blanket. I loved how Shelby Lynn was free to run around. We live in a townhouse and she doesn’t have that much room. It also had a swing set and Shelby Lynn swung on the big girl swing for the first time!
I have decided that since we did so much on our vacation that I will break them up into days for the blog posts.
Here is Day 1:
We couldn’t check in until 4pm so we took our time driving up (only about a 3hour drive). Once we got to Lancaster we just kinda drove around until we could check in. When we saw the yard and the little bar-b-que we decided to run to the store and cook out! This is how we spent the first evening and it was soooo relaxing!

Our wonderful old Carriage House:

The sweet backyard where we did most of our picnics:

Shelby Lynn’s favorite part of the B&B:

My favorite picture from day 1:

Some more pics from our great first day: