Caleb's Birthday

Wow, I can't believe how busy we've been! I feel like life is on fast-forward. In the middle of all the craziness we had Caleb's 4th birthday. It amazes me that he's already four. Where has the time gone?

He received lots of great presents.

And he had a great time playing with everyone.

Unfortunately, he adamantly refused to blow out the candle on his cake. Madeline was happy to step in, though!

Up next: pics from Dallas.

Have a birthday-tastic day!

Pictures from my iPhone

Sometimes I'm running around with the kids and I realize I should be taking pictures. Usually this hits me about the time I remember that my camera is at home... or not charged... or whatever. Luckily, my phone comes to the rescue. Now I just need to make the effort to get the pictures off of it once in a while!

A while back we had several days in a row that were really warm but rainy. After putting up with the cabin fever for a while I finally put the kids in their swimsuits and took them outside. It turned out to be really fun, and now they always ask to play in the rain!

Have a rain-tastic day!

Recent Pictures

Our kids love the golden arches. I'm sure they'd eat there every day if we'd let them. I'm guessing it's something to do with the play areas in the restaurants, the fried food, and the toys that come with them... but that's just a guess. :-) So anywho, we took the kids to get happy meals this weekend. Madeline was all about the big creepy clown statue. She wanted to sit on it, so we had a photo op.

Caleb... not so much. Wouldn't touch it with a ten-foot pole. He was way more interested in the apples with caramel dip. It's the main thing he goes to McDonald's for.

On a totally different note, we (and by "we" I mean "Josh") worked on the play set this weekend. It's now all water sealed and cleaned up. And I finally lightened up and let the kids get sand for their sandbox. It was a big hit. Now it's all they want to do.

I guess the constant tracking of sand into the house is totally worth it when they enjoy it so much.

Have a family-tastic day!

Flashback

Sarah is dealing with Samuel's eczema right now, so I thought we'd have a little flashback to Caleb's eczema days. Here's a shot of his poor face. It's amazing how much better it looks in the picture than it did in real life.

Here he is all coated in vaseline before bed.

Poor baby. After every bath we had to grease him up.

It's funny how quickly you forget something that was a daily challenge. I still remember putting lotion on him constantly and trying to keep his skin from breaking open on his joints. I remember the way he would rub his face against his blankets because it itched. Thankfully he outgrew most of it by a year and a half. Hopefully Samuel won't have it this bad. Life with exzema isn't fun.

Have a flashback-tastic day!

More Projects

I'm amazed that I ever get anything done. I'm always multitasking... in a bad way... the way that means I work a little on everything and finish nothing. Oh well. Check out these cute metal flowers I found in Hobby Lobby today! They are about to begin a new life as curtain tie-backs for Madeline's room. I'll post a picture when they're actually on the wall and holding back curtains. Until then I'll leave you with this picture. It was just an excuse to try out my new camera anyway.

Have a multi-tasking-tastic day!

The First Day of Preschool

Caleb started preschool today. He only goes three times a week, but it's still his first "school" other than Sunday School. He set off this morning with his new red backpack and the biggest smile on his face. When the teacher opened the door he hung back to be the last one in, (it was a different teacher that he didn't recognize) but as soon as he saw his teacher it was game on. He ran right into the room, told me bye, and didn't look back.

Now pick-up time went a little differently. Since it is 100 degrees outside the kids didn't get to play on the playground today, but the teachers let them go out for just a few minutes right before going home. He didn't want to leave, and I hated to make him go, but it was still 100 degrees outside.... and Momma doesn't do 100 degree weather. We met up with Daddy for a surprise lunch, and came home for nap. What a great morning!

Have a school-tastic day!

Cuties

Back to School Bash

Once again we had a blast at the church's back to school bash. The kids loaded up on pizza, cookies, and the ever elusive capri suns before heading out to the kiddie pool area. (They both have an unnatural love for capri suns. They very rarely get to have them, so it was a big deal.)

Madeline is fearless in the water... in a bad way. She kept putting her face under just to see what would happen. She fell and went under a few times, but it didn't faze her in the least. She just got up and kept going. When I first walked her into the water she charged straight into the "deep" end without hesitation. (Thankfully the deep end is only 2 feet deep.)

Caleb has gotten much braver around water. He had a great time, although he didn't want to stand under the fountain. That didn't stop him from making Ms. Chelsey (one of the awesome college-aged girls from church who sits for us sometimes) go under it a few times while he watched. LOL This year he was much more low-maintenance. He just did his own thing and played with the other kids. He didn't need Daddy right next to him the entire time.

Overall it was a great time!

Have a pool-tastic day!

The Quiet Book: Shapes

I liked this page in concept, but I'm not sure it's gonna work. That makes me sad because it took a really long time to make. I saw an example of one online, just with 9 shapes instead of 12. The shapes are double layers of felt with jumbo snaps. The outlines and words are embroidered.

I think the major downfall of this page will be the snaps. I liked the look of them, and I liked the fine motor skill practice that it would make. Unfortunately, they're really hard to unsnap. Getting them on there is a piece of cake, but for now I'm going to have to unsnap them every time he wants to play with it. Not cool. I could have just done velcro, but that felt like the easy way out. I also wanted variety throughout the book. Oh well, we'll test drive it a bit and see if it works.

And this is a random picture of Madeline. She decided that she wanted to wear leg warmers. Who cares if it's 102 degrees outside? She absolutely refused to take them off until bedtime. LOL

Have a fashion-tastic day!

The Quiet Book: Cover

I ran out of embroidery floss, so in the meantime I made the cover for the book. It's basically a three ring binder made out of fabric. I used heavy weight fusible interfacing for a little stability, and 1.5" inch book rings. There's a pocket on the back for any extra pieces or little surprises I might want to tuck in it.

I originally meant to include a closure flap with some velcro, but I got distracted while I was sewing and forgot to pin it in before I closed it up. I may pick the stitches and add it later, but for now it can just stay open.

First of all, please ignore the huge red marker streak across Caleb's face. He's really into art these days. Anywhoo... while I was sewing, Caleb was writing on his little marker board. He said he was making a shopping list. He wrote "milk" and then asked me how to spell ice cream. I spelled it out (while I was sewing the cover and forgetting the closure... so much for multitasking...) so I wasn't really watching what he was writing until he was finished. He held it up proudly, and I just had to snap a picture. If you can read preschool-ese you can tell what the list says (except for the top line... which says "milk" by the way). It's milk, ice cream, peas. Maybe I should take the hint that he wants to write and actually teach him how to write some letters. At this point he's just making it up as he goes. I don't want him to make any bad habits that'll make it harder to write correctly later.

And here's Madeline... a little rumpled from nap, but very happy to have her cast off!

Have a great day!