Appreciating Teachers

Last week was Teacher Appreciation Week and we are SO thankful for Adam's wonderful teachers.  They have been a huge blessing for our family.  

Step 1: Make the cookies.

Adam has been so into cooking lately.  He likes it so much that he often doesn't want to be done.  The other day, we finished making a recipe for pulled pork and Adam said, "I want one more ingredient...Milk!"  It took me a while to explain that this recipe did not call for milk and that it would make it taste yucky.

Here he is with his favorite ingredient: eggs.  The first time he ever cooked with eggs we were making muffins.  I told him we needed two eggs, so he got two eggs out of the carton and tossed them (whole and uncracked) into the bowl with the flour and oil.  It was hilarious!  Now he knows that we have to crack the eggs before putting them in.

 Mmmmm..yummy cookies.  I am GOOD at cooking!

 Here is the rest of our gift.  Unfortunately, I cannot claim this idea for my own.  I found so many cute ideas on Pinterest that it was hard to choose - this one I stole from my friend Susie's board.  Thanks for doing the heavy lifting, Sus!  Lots of ideas for future years.

Adam and I talked about giving the presents on Friday morning.  On the way to school I asked him where we were going.  He said, "We're going to the Christmas Tree!"  I guess that's where he thinks presents come from.

I was so proud of him - he did a great job giving a present to each of his teachers along with a hug.

Thank you to all the teachers out there!

For the Record

This post exists mainly to put Adam's second black eye on the record.  He was apparently very excited for snack one day at school.  As he ran over to the table, he tripped and caught a chair right in the eye.  Luckily he is just fine...he just looks a little tougher.

 Some good puffiness going on in addition to the color.

 Not the best picture of Adam, but it shows the color on his upper eyelid.

 Come on, Mom.  I'm fine.  Forget about it.

 Gotta throw in a few photos of The Girl.

 She's been busy growing some hair and some teeth.  She also recently learned to rock her baby and continues to love dancing and playing with her brother.  She waves at everyone, which makes getting out of church a bit of a process.  At her 15 month appointment, she weighed 20 pounds and 14 ounces.

 Having a great time with Daddy while Mama was away for the weekend.

 Future foodie?  At least she's going for the produce, right?

 Speaking of food, someone tried using the spoon all by herself the other night.  There is some room for improvement.

First (Ever) Field Trip!

I got to go along with Adam and his class on his first field trip ever.  It was a big day and we had a great time.  Mama was TIRED when it was all over, though, but I was so glad I was able to go.  Clara got to stay with my friend Sheila for the day so it was Mama and Adam's special day.  We were off to Ticonderoga Farm!

 We spent a few minutes in the classroom before we boarded the bus.  It is so cool to see Adam being a leader in his class.  He is in charge of passing out everyone's velcro pieces in the morning and putting them back on the board showing that they are "at school."

Adam's first time riding on a school bus!  He's sees his friends do it every day and is always very interested in it.  He was so excited when he realized we were getting ON the bus.

Sitting in his seat. Yes, that is a black eye he got tripping and falling into a chair at school.  (He was excited for snack).  It's almost gone now, but it was a pretty good one.

The farm was pretty sweet - tons of stuff to do.  We started with the animals.  He loved this goat and there were chickens walking around everywhere.  Lots of chasing them around...until one pecked at him...then not so much chasing.

There were lots of climbing structures, playgrounds, and other areas to explore throughout the farm.  We walked over a super long wobbly bridge that went over a pond and we also had a hayride.

Goin' through a tunnel.

 This was BY FAR the highlight!  There was a giant hill with multiple slides going down each side of the hill - a total blast!  We must have gone down at least twenty times.  Luckily we pretty much had the farm to ourselves, so there was no waiting at all.

After a couple of times with Mama, he said "I want self."  This allowed me to get a couple of pictures.

 He tried a couple of different methods.

 He was so tired after that he fell asleep on my lap on the bus ride back to school.  Success!

Momcation 1.0

Momcation 1.0 (name implying that there WILL be Momcation 2.0, 3.0, etc...) was a complete and wonderful success!  We went small-time for this one in order to get it in before my friend Sheila moves away, but it was an amazing time away with the girls.  We stayed right up the road, which was handy since more friends could join us for different activities throughout the weekend.  I think the best part was being able to be guaranteed uninterrupted sleep through the night!  It was magical.

At dinner on Saturday night. 

Me, Lauren, Jess, and Sheila

Pedicures on Saturday afternoon.

Hot tubbin' Saturday night followed by cheesecake and wine in our hotel room.

Lauren, Me, Sheila, Jess, and Jessi

The "Last Meal" on Sunday.  Notice my ponytail has returned since I am returning back to the land where small people grab my hair.

Sheila, Me, and Lauren

The kids stayed home with Phil and they did great.  I was SO thankful to Phil for giving me this weekend away with friends.  He joked that I should put this photo up to make it look like they watched TV the whole time.  They actually went to the park and of course Home Depot and Trader Joe's.  Even though the weekend was wonderful, I was ready to see them all on Sunday.  I kind of like them :)

I am so thankful to have such wonderful friends here.  Thank you Friends and Husband for such a fun weekend!

Busy Bags

A few weeks ago, I had no idea what a Busy Bag was.  Now, my life has been changed.

I got an invitation to a Busy Bag Party.  For all I knew, a Busy Bag was a bag full of snakes.  But, if it meant a chance to hang out with girlfriends, I was definitely in. 

Step 1: Figure out what a Busy Bag is.

They are apparently very popular with moms of small children, since I found about a million blogs that talked about them.  Good thing I'm finally catching up with the times, thanks to my friends.  Luckily there are no snakes involved.  A Busy Bag is simply a ziplock bag with an activity that would keep a 2-4 year old busy for a bit without sticking them in front of the TV.  The idea of the party (besides hanging out with friends) was that each of us (14 friends) would choose a Busy Bag and make 14 of them.  Then, at the party we would swap and you would leave the party with 14 Busy Bags for your child to use.  Brilliant!  

Adam has already been playing with his a lot.  Here's the Bag that I made.  It's number cards with dots and you place beans on the dots.  It works on fine motor skills as well as counting.  It seemed so simple to me, but the kids love doing it.

 He's busy!

 Here's another one of his favorites - using the pinchers to put the pom poms into the ice cube tray.  Just a note: Even though Adam knows what maracas are and has even played them before, he calls the pinchers maracas.  I don't know why, but he likes playing this game in the bathroom.  Maybe because the first time I showed it to him I was trying to get him to stay on the potty.  (It worked...25 minutes doing "maracas" and pom poms on the potty.  Did not pee even a little bit the entire time.  We are not potty trained, needless to say.)

 

Clara likes this game, too.  Here she is playing her own version (minus the "maracas").

Put it in!

 

I'm lovin' the Busy Bags.

Patriotic Cuteness

I joined Pinterest in a moment of weakness a few weeks ago.  So far, it hasn't gotten too out of hand and I'm actually using it to give my front porch a facelift.  There are some really cute ideas out there, I tell ya.  I stumbled across this little gem and couldn't wait to make my very own.  How cute is this Fourth of July wreath???

 

 I am so pleased with how it turned out.  I will say it's a little time consuming, but very simple.  You can do it while you sit on the couch watching American Idol...not that I would know...

**CLICK**  If you're interested, here's the tutorial I used to make it **CLICK**

 Here's a close up of the cute little springy stars.  I love it.

 

 I've also pinned some tiered flower pots and a couple of other things that are next on my agenda.  I'll keep you posted.  

Now...how early is TOO early to hang a Fourth of July wreath on your door?