It's Official...

LEAH IS POTTY TRAINING... She pulled down her pants under her dress and started for the bathroom. I helped her take off her diaper and I noticed it was still dry. A very good sign. She climbed up on the potty and started to pee. She's not even 2 yet and she's using the potty on her own. So, I guess we will be spending a lot of time at home this week potty training.

Using Our Time Wisely...

I love this qoute from Dallin H. Oaks. I'm going to be pulling back again. I did this several months ago and I will be doing it again. Home is where I'm the happiest. I'm going to be spending less time out in the world and more time at home. Less time on the computer and more time with my children. I'm going to try harder not to waste my precious time on junk. I'm going to be holding myself to a higher standard. The Christmas season can be such a busy time. All I really want is to be with my family and really into taking care of my family.

"We should begin by recognizing the reality that just because something is good is not a sufficient reason for doing it. The number of good things we can do far exceeds the time available to accomplish them. Some things are better than good, and these are the things that should command priority attention in our lives. . . . Consider how we use our time in the choices we make in viewing television, playing video games, surfing the Internet, or reading books or magazines. Of course it is good to view wholesome entertainment or to obtain interesting information. But not everything of that sort is worth the portion of our life we give to obtain it. Some things are better, and others are best. When the Lord told us to seek learning, He said, "Seek ye out of the best books words of wisdom." Dallin H. Oaks, Ensign, November 2007

Homemade Christmas Advents

I can't believe Christmas season has just started. I feel so far behind. I decided yesterday, I need to take care of some business. I did end up going to Black Friday but I didn't go until around 7:00am. No crowds! I talk to a friend about the craziness around B.F. She said there was a mob of people Friday morning. Around 800 people at the Jane, Mo store. This store is located in the middle of nowhere. I was really glad I wasn't there early that morning. It sickens me to find out a Walmart employee was killed by people were just plain greedy. My prays go out to this poor employee's family. A very sad way to start the holiday. So, I decided we are going to focusing more on a Christ like Christmas. Less about the gifts and more about the savior. I came across this great website called The Family Home Evening Spot. Last night, I ended up working on all three advents. I'm going to let each child get a chance to do one of the advent calendars. This will be a lot more work but hopefully less fighting. I was able to download several Christmas Advents from her website.
I just printed off this colorful Christmas Advent calendar and laminated each piece. Each day we will add a new character.
You can find this Advent Calendar from lds.about.com. It's a simple advent that focuses on the true meaning of Christmas. Each day we will pull from each jar a scripture and image to put on the advent calendar. I just dressed up two glass jars with Christmas ribbon. I'm just going to have the kids tape each puzzle piece on the manager. Hopefully, we wouldn't lose any of the pieces and we will be able to use it again next year.

Now, this activity is just for fun. Landon cut out the whole Christmas tree. I cut out all the balls. Landon put all the number stickers on the ornament balls. I decided to tape a candy cane behind each ornament ball. Each day we will count down until Christmas.

One more thing, I'm planning on doing another activity. I'm going to check out library books about Christmas and wrap them up. We will read one Christmas book each day until we reach Christmas. On Christmas Eve we will read about Christ births from the bible.


Logan was very worried about wrapping up the books as gifts. He kept asking me if the Library knew what we're doing to the books. I told him it was okay because we were going to return all the books after we read them all.

Here are all the books from the library. I do feel bad I checked out every Christmas book. I will return them after we are done reading them.

Navajo Tacos

I decided to be brave and make indian fry bread. I found this recipe off the internet. I was really worried they wouldn't turn out okay but they did. The kids loved them even Leah. The only bad thing was Leah was standing next to me on a chair butt naked and screaming the whole time. I couldn't just stop frying the bread. So, I had to stand there trying to fry the bread as fast as possible. Also, Leah ended up pouring hot sauce all over her Navajo Taco. You should of seen the look on her face. She went running around the room and tried to wipe her tounge with a towel. Than she did it again with the hot sauce. You would think she would of learned her lesson.

Native American Artifacts Museum

This week we're learning all about Native Americans. I called this morning to find out how much it would cost to check out this museum. I was pleasantly surprised to find out it was FREE!!! I decided to round up the neighborhood kids and hit the museum with my mom. The museum was a blast. The kids were able to go out back and dig for arrowheads and play in the tepee. The kids decided to divide into two groups the Indians and the pilgrims. We are planning on going again over Christmas break. Highly recommended this place for families.

Back Yard Nature Study

All the kids are off of school this week for Thanksgiving. I decided it would be fun to have the neighbor kids come over and do some bark rubbings. We tried to identify some trees but it was hard. We only were able to identify Micheal's tree which was a white pine.

Homemade Xmas

I planning on making a couple of these crayon rolls for xmas. Check out her at Skip To My Lou for instructions.

I'm also making two John Deere blankets.



Logan doesn't realize yet that the blanket is for him. Logan's my little crafter. He loves to make things with his hands.

Hopefully, I can get to Hobby Lobby this afternoon and pick up some yarn to start making hats and scrafts.

One more thing, I making Leah a little baby doll blanket. Its going to be pink and red with little red ladybugs all over the front side of the blanket.

Knitting

Landon's teacher is expecting a baby boy this spring. I pulled out my brandnew knitting hoops which have been sitting in my closet for almost 2 years. I could barely remember how to use the looms but quitely remember how to start them. I'm not sure how to finish them off but hopefully I will be able to figure it out. Landon did a really good job. He ended up doing a couple of rows.

Best Friends

You gotta love double trouble. Leah and Gracie were busy playing in Leah's room. They managed to climb on top of the changing table. I was able to get a couple good shots of them together. I left them alone to play. Big Mistake. I came back into the room and they somehow manage to open the window. It has no screen. I quickly got them down and sent them into the family room to play. They were busy chasing after each. I think they are going to grow up to be really good friends.



While the girls were busy playing the boys were busy playing around and getting into trouble as well. I found these two on my treadmill exercising together. Gotta love boys.

Making Sense Of Numbers

Here's some of the things we did this week to help increase Logan's number sense!

I picked up these cute pumpkins on clearance at Hobby Lobby. I decided to make this into a fun game for Logan. I wrote down the numbers one to five on small pieces of paper. I had him pull one piece of paper at a time. I helped him read each number and showed him how to count out the correct number of pumpkins. He pulled out the number 4.
He placed the number 4 next to four pumpkins
Here's the finished product!

Learning more about numbers and fine motor skill developments!
Logan's working on Dot to Dot worksheet of a turkey.
The little guy insisted on cutting out the turkey!
He even went as far to color and cut out his turkey for display. He wanted to hang it up in his room. He thought his room was lacking in Thanksgiving decorations.

Art Lesson

I Ain't Gonna Paint No More! by Karen Beaumont! A couple of years ago I was introduced to this book at story time. I completely forgot about it. I came across it at the library the other day and couldn't resist the idea of using for an art lesson. We read thru the book several times and the kids were ready to get painting with watercolors. The book is really fun to read. Logan was signing the words over and over again: I ain't gonna paint no more!

Twlight Movie

Last night, I finally was able to attend a mom's night out. A couple of girlfriends from church decided to get together to watch the new Twlight movie. The outing was actually early enough to enjoy my evening away from home. I hardly ever get a chance to get out of the house. So, thanks again, Emily for planning a fun night and for trying to make sure everyone felt included and not left out. Sorry, I had to skip out on Olive Garden. Leroy was waiting for me at home!

Read the book but skip the movie! I had a hard time staying a wake towards the end of the movie. I have a really hard time staying awake watching movies. This one was so bad. The actor who played Ewards was awful... Seriously, if they make another movie for the series they better find someone to replace Edward. Something about his face and hair just made me want to gag. Anyway, read the first book in the series and skip the movie.

Tooth Fairy

Before going to bed last night we read "You Think It's Easy Being The Tooth Fairy?" by Sheri Bell-Rehwoldt. Super cute book about the tooth fairy and it was very well done. The kids just loved it. The book talked a lot about the importance of the placement of the tooth. So, Landon was all set for the tooth fairy to come.

After, he had fallen asleep: I sent into his room to play the tooth fairy. In the book the tooth fairy said to leave the tooth beneath the lower right-hand corner of the pillow. I thought I would find it there but it wasn't. I was really worried I was going to wait him up. He had placed the tooth right under the pillow in the middle. Luckily, he rolled over to his side and I grabbed his tooth. I placed two quarters and called it a night.

The next morning he came running into my room to tell me the tooth fairy came and left him two quarters. He said he found one of the quarters under his pillow and the other one under his blanket. He was so happy. Later on this morning we were all doing our Saturday morning chores. He ended up finding a quarter laying under the cabinet. He came running to show me his latest find. He told me the tooth fairy's wand must of gone crazy. I didn't have the heart to correct him but I thought it was so cute.

I'm so glad he still believes in the tooth fairy. One of his closest friends told him a couple weeks ago that the tooth fairy wasn't real. I'm really glad he didn't believe her. Little kids are growing up way too fast. Landon was really didn't want to take this picture. He really was excited about the tooth fairy coming to our house last night!

Boggles your mind...

You Are Boggle

You are an incredibly creative and resourceful person. You're able to dig deep and think outside the box to get things done. You are a non linear thinker. You don't like following directions You draw your inspiration from the strangest places sometimes. You're constantly inspired.

What Board Game Are You?

Theme Challenge: The Little Red Hen-Part 2

This weeks challenge at teaching tiny tots was The Little Red Hen. I picked up a couple different books based on the theme. The one book that we all really enjoy was The Little Red Hen by Jerry Pinkney. The illustrations are beautiful and very well written. Just like in the end of the book the hen and her chicks enjoy bread with jam. So, we decided to make toast and spread homemade strawberry jelly. I was trying to teach Logan how to spread jam but it proved to be to difficult.

Little Chef Logan

Logan decided he wanted to make his own lunch. He didn't even ask first. I just found him in the kitchen with all the necessary supplies on the counter top. He wanted to make cheese quesadilla for a snack. I decided he is four years old and big enough to start making his own lunch. I had to help him a little bit. I turned on the stove for him and helped him take the quesadilla out of the hot pan. He did everything else on his own. I'm so proud of my little guy.