Baby Blessings & Thankfulness

When I realized earlier this year that car seats expire (and that meant several of the ones we were using were expiring this year) I was a little concerned.  Then we were very blessed at our baby shower to receive new car seats for all four children!  (Gift #13) 

With such a blessing I hated to be picky, but the infant seat we received was a car mounted seat, and I was wanting one that could be carried in for those times when the new baby falls asleep in the car.  My SIL assured me that it would be ok to exchange it, so that's what happened on Tuesday.

In some realms, I realize I am an oddball who gets excited about diapers and car seats, but surely the Mommies out there can understand.  I was very excited about this car seat that I found and the fact that I had a $20 off coupon for it!  Isn't this beautiful!?!?!  (Gift #14)

I'm not really a pink person, so when I saw this gorgeous fabric, I fell in love!  And it came with a "winter boot" that fits over the toes for warmth or to keep little sox from falling out or whatever.  Here it is with the sun shade opened:

Every time people have asked me what we needed for the new baby, I would have to answer, "We don't really need anything, except the car seats and diapers!  But I'd really like to have a double stroller."  My goal was to accumulate gift cards or cash or something for the stroller, because those are pretty expensive.  And I really wanted a Joovy.  I've been entering giveaways for the stroller, but honestly, in the back of my head, I didn't think I'd ever get one.  Then I happened to think of Craigslist.

This morning, I am now the proud owner of a Joovy Caboose thanks to a wonderful family of 6 who used Craigslist to bless us!  (Gift #15)  It is not the latest & greatest model, it's not purple, but it is in immaculate condition and will serve the exact purpose that I wanted it for.

The seat in the front is where Rebekah can sit or the infant carrier can attach there!

And the back can be used as a bench seat for Elizabeth or Rebekah (with the seat belt) or as a standing place for Elizabeth if we're on an adventure & she's tired.

As soon as we got up & moving, I dressed the girls and headed outside to get pictures of it in action! Here's EB showing that she can ride standing:

or sitting:

David is holding the sun visor in this one.  So far it appears to be very easy to use and they're enjoying the novelty of the ride! 

Tiny Talk Tuesday

Every time David has trouble finding a letter on the computer keyboard, he says, "Someone mis-learned the alphabet!"

Time for a Shower

I wish my sister, sister-in-law, and best friend could have come in for the weekend to be with us at our baby shower, but that's just not possible, so here's some pictures and a review especially for y'all!  Keep in mind I haven't figured out what settings the new camera needs to be on.  Apparently it's not as automatic as I thought!

The shower was at Aunt Wee's house.  The table was beautiful and I love the polka dots!!!

Lauren did a great job making a polka dot cake!

And the strawberry cupcakes were deee-lish and very cute!

We had a good time visiting

and Elizabeth enjoyed helping opening gifts.

 This adorable footie outfit will probably be our going home outfit!

 We were blessed with new car seats, too!

(ours were expiring soon)

Elizabeth & Rebekah enjoyed using theirs to watch a 

Sesame Street video when we got home!

Belly Shot, 34 weeks

So there you have it.  I think she's dropped, too & getting herself ready to come out soon... just over a month to go!  This is Gift #13 in my list of 1000 Gifts.

How to Make a Pumpkin Pie

I am Thankful

Yesterday I mentioned how much better David was doing on his school work.  Today, we attended the annual Thanksgiving Feast at Thursday school.  We chose not to attend Thursday school classes this semester because of everything that David was going through at the beginning of the semester.  And with the anxiety he goes through, I was hoping that today would be a good day.  It turned out to be a series of small miracles*, as far as David goes.

He spent the morning in the Lego Loft, while I baked and got the girls ready.  *Then David was the first to be completely ready, shoes & all, waiting by the door.  He fell asleep on the short drive, *but woke up pleasant.  He chose to wait through the line with me while Dad secured a table and the girls. 

Before blessing the meal, our leader asked if anyone wanted to share something they were thankful for real quick.  A little boy raised his hand, then a little girl, then in a room crowded with people, *my shy David raised his hand.  The other two were called upon first and *David waited his turn to say, "I'm thankful for my Legos."  In front of everyone.  People laughed, not meanly, but in an "aw, that was a cute and very honest answer" way.  *And David did not freak out about the people laughing.

During the meal, David went back through the line *by himself to see if there were any more brownies or chips for seconds... twice.  He *waited patiently for everyone to be done eating and *never said he was ready to leave.  It *never bothered him that a preschool girl from the next table kept coming over & staring at him.

Today probably would have been a disaster a few months ago, but today I am thankful for this gift.  I got to see my sweet boy again.   I will call this #12 of my 1000 Gifts and a wonderful way to Countdown to Thanksgiving.

Trucking along in First Grade

My camera has been circling the drain, so thanks to Target's Deal of the Day, I was able to get a new one this week!  Yea!  And it's been a while since I got pictures of David doing his school work, so I spent some of my time today playing with the new camera while David was doing his work.

Working on his Handwriting Without Tears...

I thought it was kinda funny that me taking close up pictures of him at strange angles didn't phase him at all.  Guess he's used to it by now!  Next, he's doing his Math-U-See review sheet.

 

He really loves those Crayola Erasable Colored Pencils!  (and I love how much stress they save us!)

I am really happy with how school has been going this week.   We finally had a week that is not riddled with doctor's appointments and we're on week two of a new non-stimulant ADHD medication that seems to really be making a difference in his concentration.  He's staying no task much better and able to do much more work in a shorter amount of time. 

We've also started using Explode the Code Online. After getting the hang of it, David is doing really well and has made it through 3/4 of the exercises for Book 1 in just three weeks.  It has really improved his reading skills & confidence in reading other school work and reading to Rebekah, so I am very happy with the program.

And I'm pretty happy with the natural light photos I'm getting from my new camera, too!  : )

Brave Girls on Dance Day

I believe Elizabeth had her bravest day yet in the gymnastics room at The Little Gym!  Look!  Her feet are off the ground!

 And she's in mid-air!

 Looks like two of the girls are following the instructions.

 Not sure why EB had to be snuggled up to her friend 

while she tried to tie her shoes.

 Linking together to make a chain...

 and the train moving across the room.

Every day they do a "solo performance" at the end of class.

 

 Then the daredevil girl climbed all the way to the top

of the play place...

and I had to go in and get her!

Thinking about Christmas Cards...

Designing our family's Christmas card or Christmas letter is one of my favorite things to do each year.  I love pouring over the photos that best capture the year.  2010 has been a hard year, but I am still excited about the Christmas card.  So when I saw the chance to get 50 free cards from Shutterfly, I thought it was worth checking out.

I have personally never used Shutterfly's services before, but I really enjoyed looking through their Christmas card designs.  I like how they have more traditional designs but also have plenty of modern and colorful cards to choose from. 

I love the Celebrate Family Christmas Card!  I love the colors, the hint of Christmas without being to kitschy, and you just gotta admit that's a cute picture on their sample.  It leaves me wondering if it's even possible to have all my kids smiling & laughing & looking generally the same direction.  I almost picked this one for our cards this year.

I also really liked the Spot the Snowflakes Christmas Card because I thought the pink would be a good choice for us this year.  We have lots of pink going on this year.  And I really like snowflakes.  I also like how it includes two different photos.

So which card did I choose?  I can't tell you that!!!  You'll just have to wait & see!  But I did find what I thought will be the PERFECT card for our family this year!!!  And I am very excited!  And it's there at Shutterfly!

Our cards will be going out after Christmas this year... so that we can include Baby #4.  So watch for them late.  But please go ahead & send me your card!  Because I love getting Christmas cards & pictures just as much as I love sending them!

So where did you find your family's perfect Christmas card? 
Are you going to try the "Bloggers get 50 free holiday cards from Shutterfly" link, too?

Tiny Talk on Thankfulness

While we haven't been posting what we're thankful for daily this year, we've still remembering the season with our Thankful Turkey!


You can tell what's most important around here.  These are the first ones they came up with:

The kids are enjoying adding to our turkey's feathers and coming up with something unique each day.  The rules are that they can't say the same thing as someone else on the same day.  So Elizabeth could be thankful for her family, but not on the day that David already said it.  Hopefully by Thanksgiving, we'll have a very full Tom!

My sister is hosting her 30 Days of Thanksgiving again this year.  Check her out.  She's cool.  : )

P.S. - It's  46 days 'till Christmas... 6.5 weeks... and I'm almost ready to skip straight to the Christmas decorations.  I finished my Christmas shopping for one kid today!

Feliz Dia de los Muertos!

I've never celebrated Dia de los Muertos before.  But then again, I've never been in a Spanish class and I've never taught a Spanish class and I've never been in mourning.  This year it all changed.

 David's Skull

This year, even though I have never taken a Spanish class before, I have started teaching it to the kids.  This consists mostly of David asking me how to say something in Spanish, I say I don't know, and he says, "Why don't we call Kalaya?"  (that happens to be my BFF and she happens to be a Spanish teacher!)  We're making a folder of the words he learns from her.  He wants to know how to say things like SCUBA diver and manta ray and Battle Droid.

Oh, we also have a set of beginning lesson plans we're working through - so far we've done the Spanish alphabet and animal names.

So I figured, this year, I'd introduce them to a little international culture.  We already tried to make a pinata and discovered that I need better instructions.  We planned on making maracas from our gourds, but the things are still green!  Then today, David just happened to be playing with a Lego Skeleton and our intro to Dia de los Muertos began.

Elizabeth's Skull

I explained how, in Mexico, they celebrate today as a day to remember the dead and that they decorate with skeletons and skulls... but not in a scary way, it's a celebration of the people they love.  I asked David who he loved that had died.  He replied, "My Great, who made my Great Blanket.  And my Grandma.  And my Papa."  So we thanked God that we had those people in our lives and decorated some skulls.

Mom's Skull

Maybe next year, I'll think about it enough in advance to get a library book or do something a little more elaborate as the artistic skill of the kids increases.  I did find the following links that looked like they'd be pretty helpful for future reference:


Day of the Dead Mini Unit - includes good background info
How to Make Sugar Skulls - step-by-step with photos

Did anyone else do any celebrating today?

Tiny Talk Tuesday

Two really cute things were said in the car on Monday by David & Elizabeth both.  I was driving & couldn't write them down.  I have no recollection now.

Elizabeth's was one of those things where she used the wrong word in a sentence & it turned out hilarious.

David's had something to do with the fact that putting an ice cute in his arm pit tickled.  What does that tell ya? 

A few moments later, Elizabeth decided she wanted to tickle her armpits with an ice cube also.  I told her no, because the ice would melt & get her clothes all wet.  (Seemed to not matter with David, because he'd already gotten himself wet doing this several times... and he was wearing a muscle shirt anyway.)  She promised not to get her clothes wet.  Then I heard these words come out of my mouth:  There is no way you can put an ice cube in your arm pit and not have it melt on your clothes.

Later that same day, I heard myself saying these words to the OLDEST child:  Are you licking the floor!??!?!?  STOP THAT!!!!

What a day.  Perhaps I should have called this Big Talk Tuesday.

November ONE

Here it is, the first day of another month.  Seriously, it does get faster every month!  Can you see any changes in the kids from last month?  I definitely see some longer hair.

 

 Hanging out on the couch with a minifigure.

 

Oh, those eyes.

I love those eyes.

I always wanted eyes like that.

And now I have them.

 I caught Rebekah doing a little decorating in her kitchen area.

 At this moment 

she's adorable.

I really need to remember this moment

when I'm racing across the room to save something

from being destroyed by her.

Belly Shot, 31 weeks 

David hugs and kisses Baby-Sarah-inside-my-tummy

all day long.

More of my Month ONE posts.