Friday, November 29, 2013

Making Ornaments with Caelie

 I picked up some tile scraps at a yard sale
and played with them. I made these two little
ornaments and put them on
Andrew's Birthday Present.
 That was just the beginning.
 Caelie was out of school and stayed with
me one day - so we went to look for
smaller tiles to make ornaments.
She can pretty much do this by herself
so she made LOTS of ornaments.
 Here are the two styles she made that 
first day.
And here is a close up of my 
favorite! I really like the pink!

Since then, Brandy and Andra have came 
over and we've made more ornaments.
But - I didn't get pictures.
I started making ornaments with them,
but ended up putting away tea sets
and making Andrew's cake with Brilyn
while the girls crafted away.
My ornaments are not finished yet.
BUT - I plan to do this again
when Grace and Olivia are here,
so I'll try to post pictures.... and instructions, then.

Thursday, November 28, 2013

Happy Thanksgiving!

May you be blessed as you
Give Thanks and make yourself
a blessing to others!

Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Grace's Gymnastics Expodition

 Grace had a Gymnastics Exposition and she
was excited. She seemed confident when 
she went out onto the floor.
But - from the floor she looked out and
saw LOTS and LOTS of people.
I think we failed to fully prepare her for that.
We forgot that when a child performs
for the first time you are supposed to tell
them to look out at that audience and imagine
all of those people in their underwear!
So.... she didn't know to do that.
And she got a little bit of stage fright.
 So...she was "too shy" to do all of her routines,
but she did do the rings.
And the bars.
I think those are her favorite events.

Sometimes this kid is shy and sometimes
this kid is courageously confident.
(she often sings with confidence in the shopping cart)
But she is always loved!
And her little dog ears are adorable!

Monday, November 25, 2013

Olivia at Gymnastics

 Olivia is an adorable little gymnast!
 She pays attention in class and follows
directions and it's obvious that her
teachers adore her.
We went to see Grace participate in a
Gymnastics Expodition
and Olivia had a make up class coming
so she did it on a Saturday morning so
her Great Grandparents from Missouri
could watch her, too!
Isn't she a cute little thing?
I think she enjoys the spotlight.
She may be a tiny little thing
but her confidence is HUGE!

Friday, November 22, 2013

Caelie The Cheerleader!

 Caelie attended a cheer clinic and got
to perform with the High School 
Cheerleaders at a High School Game.
Heather and her girls went with me to watch!
Caelie didn't know we were coming.
Just look at her surprised smile!
 She was happy to see Grace!
 And she did a great job cheering.
 She attends a private Christian school
and if you'll notice, the cheerleaders
actually wear clothes that
cover most of them up. I love the
long sleeved cheer uniforms!
After the game, we went back to
my house for a movie night.
Grace and Olivia enjoyed the movie
but Caelie was so worked up that
she just bounced around the house.
She just could not contain all of
that energy and excitement.
 

Thursday, November 21, 2013

Grace Can Cook!

 I got a new batter dispenser for making
pancakes and cupcakes and Grace
just had to try it out.
Now - I think she's going to
want to cook pancakes every morning.
If you mix up the batter she can really
cook them ALL BY HERSELF. 
 She did the first batch perfectly round,
but the next batch she got creative with.
We had pancake pumpkins, pancake snowmen
and pancake teddy bears.
So far she's made blueberry pancakes,
cinnamon spice pancakes and when I took
her home she made us strawberry oatmeal
pancakes. She's quite the cook!
Now - I guess I have one more reason
to miss that girl when she's not here.

Tuesday, November 19, 2013

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ANDREW!!!!!

 Brilyn had been telling me for awhile
that "Rolos" are her favorite.
They're her Daddy's favorite, too.
So - she wanted to make her Daddy
a Rolo Cake for his birthday.
So.... I made sure she was here when
we made Andrew's cake - and I let
her pour all of the ingredients into the bowl.
She even got to crack the eggs!
When we finished the cake we sent
Andrew a video!
Isn't this a pretty Rolo Cake?
 We celebrated Andrew's Birthday
on Sunday.... but his real
birthday is TODAY!
So.... HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ANDREW!!!!!

Monday, November 18, 2013

Visit to the Museum

Grace and Olivia
love museums, so we went
to out local museum while they
were here.
Our museum has undergone
a lot of changes lately and is now
more hands - so I thought the
girls would like it!
 I was right! They loved it!
I think they liked the giant lite-bright
feature the best. They make
I love you, Mom and I love you, Dad
signs and we took pictures with my
phone and messaged them to
their Mom and Dad!
 There was a little horse statue for roping.
Olivia needed Grandpa's help, but Grace roped it.
This picture was the only one I got an it
is out of focus, but you can see that
Grace roped that little horse!
 There were skeleton's and bones to discover.
 And the girls quickly discovered the
bone Olivia recently broke.
The clavicle or collar bone.
And here they are in Little Prairie Bonnets.
Hopefully, these will be useful on
field trips for years to come.

Thursday, November 14, 2013

A Visit From Goldilocks!

We were a home school family,
and my youngest two sons
were outside the box thinkers.
While it was a struggle at first
to figure out how to teach them,
I loved the fact that they saw
and experienced things so fully!
And I think Olivia might be a
lot like them!
Why?
Because when I took the girls home
last week their Momma wasn't there.
(She had went to home group after baby sitting
a couple of neighbors so their Momma
could go to the doctor.)
We let ourselves in and they
wanted to show me their doctor stuff
in their toy room.
And - their toy room was a mess!
Grace said, "Oh, no! I know I cleaned
our toy room before I went to your house!"
And then Olivia said, "Someone's been playing
with our toys!"
Then Grace said, "Someone's been playing with
our stethoscope."
And Olivia said, "Someone's been playing
with my blocks."
Then Grace said, "And someone's been playing
with our Barbie's!"
And then - Olivia thought she KNEW
what had happened!
"Oh, no!" she said. "It must have
been Goldilocks!"
Once she figured that out she insisted
that I check the beds.
Nope.... no one was sleeping in Grace's bed.
Nope.... no one was sleeping in Olivia's bed.
Nope.... no one was sleeping in Momma's bed.
Nope...... Goldilocks was nowhere in the house!
Grace tried telling her that Goldilocks
is only a pretend character,
but Olivia wasn't buying it.
We had to check the chairs.
And once we cleared the house she still
wasn't too sure. She even wanted
her Daddy to check again
when he came home.


Tuesday, November 12, 2013

Trick or Treat 2013

 Look at my adorable little
Trick or Treaters!
 Asher even had a costume.
Grace and Olivia were a day late,
but I was so happy to see them
I didn't care what day it was.


Monday, November 11, 2013

A Baby Shower for Our Newest Addition!

Weston will be here soon,
so Heather and Brandy planned a
baby shower for
him and Alyssa!
 His room is done in camo, so they did
the shower in camo, too.
I had my doubts at first, but it turned
out really cute.
 Billy is a cowboy who loves to hunt
so hopefully, Weston will share his
passion for adventure.
 We found this burlap in the hunting department
and used it for table covers. It was about
the same price as a disposable
table cloth - but it's much cuter!
 Isn't Alyssa adorable, too!
Brandy ended up not being able to attend
the shower due to a last minute business trip,
so I was needed to help out a bit. So - I only snapped
a few pictures and then handed the camera
off to Grace. She took this last one and many
many more, and did a great job!
 


Friday, November 8, 2013

Mining

 At the Pumpkin Patch there was a place
to go mining for minerals.
The water was a little bit cold,
but all the girls wanted to try it anyway.
 It was pretty fun. 
We got to sift sand through this little
sifter and when the sand was
washed out by the water
the gemstones would be left behind.
 We found quite a few. Once we were finished
sifting our sand, we went around and found
sand poured out on the ground and sifted that,
too, and found even more pretty little stones.
This is what the sifter looked like.
If I were handy, I think I'd make one to take
with us to the river when we go Razor
riding. Then, the girls and I could sift through
the sand by the river while the guys went
for wild Razor rides. 
Who knows... we might find something interesting.

Thursday, November 7, 2013

Super Slides......

 Would you take a look at these slides?
They're HUGE!
 And all three girls climbed up those 
towers and went down them.
 It looked like so much fun!
The slides weren't too fast at all.
Grace actually had to push herself to 
keep sliding.
And if you went to far....
You'd go SPLAT!
Right into the mud.

Wednesday, November 6, 2013

Pedal Cars

 Grace and Brilyn rode the pedal cars!
Brilyn needed help, so Andrew
gave her a ride.
 Doesn't that look like fun?
 Grace wanted to try it, too, so
Heather got to get in on the fun!
Look at those girls go!

Tuesday, November 5, 2013

Riding REAL Ponies!

 There were REAL ponies at
the pumpkin patch!
 And all three girls were brave
enough to ride them.
The lady running the ride started out
walking beside Olivia - thinking she might 
need a little help holding on.
But she quickly noticed that Olivia 
knows how to ride a horse!
She was even dressed to ride.
Just look at those adorable little boots!