show and tell Friday!

Friday is our laid back, movie watchin', chillin' daycare day. Usually by the end of the week, I am ready for a care free and unplanned time so Friday's are now it! Today was also show and tell day. Anyone can tell you this is so not my favorite day but the kids love it. We talk about our item, pass it around then we trade toys, only if they want to. Here are some cute pictures from this morning!

Lil K and her doodle pad...

K and A with their circus swords. When they brought out their swords, J replied to K, "my sword is bigger then yours". After I stopped laughing and wiped away my tears I told them they were the same size, same toy, and size did not matter. Try telling preschool kids that with a straight face!

Lil A and her baby doll... so cute! She feed the baby, put the baby in the swing, and then threw her on the floor... she is still learning!

Below is another A. He is visiting us while her current provider is off having on maternity leave. He is 3 1/2 years old and fits right in with the older group of kids. Such a fun little guy!

I have 3 others that were present of show and tell but wasn't able to get pictures off- sorry! I will do better next time. (2 left early and one came late)
Have a great weekend and check back soon!

new service, lower cost, new email address!!!

So, today I spent most of the day looking at my house turned up side down. I was in luck that it wasn't too wet that the kids could run around outside on the deck to get some "sillies" out! Dustin has been waiting for the new At&t service to be offered in our neighborhood for a while. Once we found out we could have faster computer service, cool digital features, and save us $50.00 a month we jumped at the chance to switch companies! it was a long day with they installed the service but it is worth it.

However, I must admit my favorite thing is the new channels. We now have a cool retro cartoon channel. Tonight the girls and I watched "Smarfs", and I rejoiced in seeing "JabberJaw and signing the theme song. Wow... can it get any better then this??? It also has Thunder Cats, Flintstones, and The Jetson's. I am already addicted to this station. It even has old school Scooby Doo. Ahhhhh! I am excited!

The only draw is back is that I have had to change my email. If you leave a comment or email my old address, it will forward you to my new one and give you the new address as well. For fear of spam, I am not posting it on my blog! Until next time, I am off to watch more cartoons! Have a "Yabba, Dabba, Do time"...

Today we kicked off week 2 of Dental week. We are talking about healthy food choices for our teeth, brushing teeth in the morning and night, and flossing! Today we made marshmallow mouths. (I got this idea from Gaby's class-thanks!) The kids had great fun coloring their tongues and gluing "teeth" in their mouths.

A had a fun time but struggled to glue the marshmallows vs. eating them! I had extras so it was ok to sneak a few in!

J is showing off his "new mouth"! He said, "Laura, this mouth is bigger then the one I have now".

K is chomping with hers!

C and A were using theirs to communicate to each other. They had a blast using them as puppets.

After A ate a few, she really got into gluing the teeth in her mouth!

A was carrying on his own conversation with his mouth- this cracked me up! He would ask the mouth a question and then he would wait for it to answer!

After a morning of teeth learning activities- we went outside to play! It was nice but still a little cool! K told me, "see mom, my teeth are making noise" as they were chattering!

another month of Mia

Mia Rose is now 6 months old. On Monday we had her check up and shots. I had thought for sure Mia was over 15lbs. She is eating more ounces of formula, eating (2) number 1 fruits and veggies for dinner, and eating every 3 hours. When we got her weight and length, her Dr. replied, "well, she isn't the biggest girl in the class! Mia is 5% for weight (12lbs 4oz) and 20th percent for length (24 inches). She is just a tiny one!

Playing on the table... she was in such a great mood during the visit. I was bummed she had to get shots to ruin it!

She was talking up a storm as we waited to be seen.

Her new game was trying to roll over and reach for my camera as I was taking her picture, and when I would say, "no-no", (in that fun loving mom voice) she would laugh at me.

Our last game was kicking our feet really fast so she could hear the tissue paper crinkle. Then it was a happy moment for her when she actually grabbed the paper and started to eat it. Yep, that is my girl, eating everything she can get her hands on.

Mia is doing so many things. Still intensely grabbing toys, reaching for objects, and rolling over. She has added grabbing spoons, scooting on her back, and rolling over back to front. I have noticed a lot more conversational jabber. She reacts to your facial expressions as well as to your actions! Such a growing little blessing!

Love is in the air.....

Today was our Valentine's Day Party at PGD. Everyone brought treats and cards for everyone to share. We had brownies, cupcakes, peanut butter rice krispies, granola bars, and fruit snacks. Each kid was so excited to tell what kind of cards they had picked out. The morning has been loud, crazy, and not educational but the kids have been fun to watch. We started out our morning decorating our sacks. We went the simple approach and used lunch bags and stickers. (I had colored glue sticks I bought last night but they were all dried up when we used them this morning...bummer) After the sacks were finished we hung them up and took turns passing out valentine cards. The kids had a blast- this probably was their favorite thing. They were so full of pride as they gave each friend a card...again, so cute! As the morning went on, we ate, did a heart picture frame, ate, played a heart game, ate, and watched Charlie Brown Valentine, oh...and ate! Here are some pictures...(for some reason I couldn't get all pictures posted-I'll try to add the rest later) Enjoy!

Starting out~ all at the table decorating our bags

Eating while we work

Big A is passing out his "mail" to his friends

J and A working on our heart picture frames

Mia has the Valentine vibe with her "Kisses" outfit on and her red shoes

My last surprise for the kids were happy meals from McDonalds. They were very happy to hear I wasn't cooking. Kadyn announced to her friends, "I like happy meals, they make me happy".

It was a fun time, but with every daycare party, I am glad they are over. The kids ate their lunch and crashed. We still have plenty of treats for our afternoon snacks. Thanks parents for making our party a great one!

Is this week over yet?

Normally I am not that anxious about a week coming to an end. We are a busy family and love running around and living our life to the fullest. This is not the case this week, each day I am counting hours down until the evening comes and I can work out (cheap therapy) and go to bed.

Monday morning Dustin lost his job. It wasn't because of hard times or his company is going under but a personal matter. Basically he was thrown under the bus by co-workers and it lead up to this. Things have not been great at this company for a while. We know and believe that God know what is in store our Dustin and our family. I just have to trust. This is a hard concept for me. It is an emotional ride I must say. And it is still so new to us. I know God will provide. It will be okay and we will look back at this time and say, "it all happened for a reason".

To make the week worse, Gaby's birthday hamster Sammy died. Sunday night Dustin notice she didn't look right. He did some research and we just thought she was getting a cold like we have all had. Well, Monday morning the poor thing isn't moving. We thought about switching her out and replacing her no problem. I... had... mom... guilt. I couldn't do it, I couldn't keep this from Gaby. While Gaby was at school, Dustin cleaned out the cage, bought a new hamster and had Sammy in a box ready for a burial.

Gaby came home from school and I broke the news to her, she was very teary and started to cry then I told her about the new one and she chirped back up. We took the girls outside and they got to tell Sammy good bye and talk about their memories of her. As you can see in the picture, Gaby thought it was some what cool that we were have a funeral for the hamster. Really- she was emotional at first.

That after noon she was quick to have her new pet named and welcomed into our house. I am happy that "Sage" will be in our life but sad Sammy is no longer with us.

I remember a song my mom taught me when I was growing up. We would sing it in the car when running errands or whatever... The song "Side by Side"

Oh! we aint got a barrel of money
Maybe were ragged and funny
But well travel along
Singing a song
Side by side

I don't know whats a-comin tomorrow
Maybe its trouble and sorrow
But well travel the road
Sharing our load
Side by side

Thru all kinds of weather
What if the sky should fall
Just as long as were together
It really doesn't matter at all

When they've all had their quarrels and parted
Well be the same as we started
Just traveling along
Singing a song
Side by side

What words to draw from when I think I am at a low in my life. I think to myself, God will be there with me, "Side by Side". And, I don't know what is going tomorrow but He does and I draw comfort from that as well!

Today we had a pretty fun day. Our shape of the month is hearts. We made a heart shaped fish using 1 big heart and 2 smaller hearts for the fins. These turned out interesting...to say the least, but the older kids enjoyed glue, picking eyes out, and putting everything together. Some of the fish already have names.

My younger group each got a red heart and colored them. This is a huge task for them to a) sit still long enough to color and b) not to eat the crayons. Today we were successful in both areas.

Bubble day... Kids love to chase and play with bubbles. We took this activity outside and later watched and discussed the directions the bubbles would "turn" based on where I would stand.

We also had fun playing with textures. Today in the sand area I added moss, twigs, grass. We talked about the colors, sizes, and textures.

Girls afternoon out...new hair cuts!

Gaby and Kadyn had their hair appointments today. For a while now, Gaby has wanted some red highlights in her hair. Today was that appointment. She wanted her hair short so when she played with Mia, she couldn't pull it any more. It was fun to take both girls on an afternoon out. We needed some girl time, one of the many reason I love being a mom to girls...salon days!

Here is Gaby's before picture...

Kadyn's before picture... long and nothing to it...

Gaby's during picture... first time for foils...

Kadyn's first time in foils... she had to be like big sister Gaby!

After picture... such a beautiful girl!

After picture... another beautiful girl! (Although her hair cut makes her look more grown up)

Both girls at the salon after their day of beauty.

I had sucha fun afternoon with Gaby and Kadyn. My babies look well polished and so darn cute. It is such a blast to do girly things with them and enjoy the time so much! I hope as they get older they will still ask me to take them to get their hair done or spend the afternoon with them. What a great moment for me as a mommy!

extra pictures from this week...

Kids love playing dress up and doctor. This time Kadyn was "sick"! Thanks goodness for friends like these!

Doing some cookie cutter art...

Mia (5 mo) doesn't get much floor time during the day for fear of kiddos tripping on her, but when she does, she loves her caterpillar toy. It was given to us by a church friends of ours and it is her favorite. (Thanks Matt and Rachael)

Showing off our finished art work

the girls club

Here are some picture of the newly formed Peanut Gallery "Girls Club". After lunch I was getting hands and faces washed and I look over and see all three toddlers sitting by each other. We were getting ready for nap time, they were worn out... I snapped a couple of pictures of the best friends!

(K in light pink was born in August 07)

(A in the dark pink was born in September 07)

(A in the blue was born in October 07)

It is fun to watch them play. The like to hide under the table and jabber to each other. I am sure they understand it very well. Such cutie pies!

my exciting night!

It is no secret that I love tattoos. When I was in college my best friend Katie Marie and I went to Fine Line (when they still operated out of a house on 29th street) on a Saturday morning and got tattoos. I got a music clef and she did a heart shaped music note( I even have this event scrapbooked). Over time, my tattoo was fading and didn't look very well. I decided to cover it up and go with 2 butterflies. A larger one for Gaby (being the big sis and first born) and a smaller one for Kadyn. Little over a year later I got a sunflower on my leg for my "small group" of sisters that are my best friends. We all have them.
Tonight 2 of my friends were getting tattoos. So, we all met up at Fine Line to support each other and gawk at the end results. It is a bonding thing. I still needed to add Mia's butterfly so as we waited for Lisa to get inked, Dawn found the perfect image. It was a fast decision. Jennifer, our favorite tattoo artist fit me in, inked me up, and completed my tattoo journey. Here are some "fresh" tattoo pictures. I am so excited to show these off!

Tonight I added Mia's lil' butterfly and the clouds around the other two.

Up close picture... let the healing begin! Ouch!

my new toy!

This is my new toy! I had been looking for something small enough to fit in my bedroom and that I could late at night or during nap time. I found what I have been looking for at Walmart. It was a great price and even has a place to plug in my Ipod... I am uber excited about that feature. This will help me on days I can't make it to class or if I go over and need extra time exercising. I am thrilled!

My weight loss journey is doing good but not fast at all- I know, I know- if I do it at a slower pace, it'll stay off. Well, I want a fast pace loss then I can work at maintenance! This "diet" or life changte is taking over my life. Last weekend Dustin and I had a date night. By my choice I wanted to go Olive Garden. I stressed about that meal for like a week. Could I just eat half? Fill up on salad, drink lots of water... the thoughts go on and on. The day finally came, I saved up 20+ points for the night. And, we get there, I ate, and still have half of my meal on my plate and I was stuffed. I was excited!

I am learning some good tips from my meetings at Weight Watchers. The first thing I started 3 weeks ago was writing down everything I eat. I never knew who much I snacked on things until I saw my list. Two weeks ago, I started writing the times down I was eating. This allowed me to identify if I was really hungry or just eating because. These tips really helped me with a good weight loss last week, we'll see how this week goes.

Another habit I never thought I would have is exercising, I LOVE IT! I love Jazzercise. They have tons of classes and they met my needs. I have been going since December and I have seen how I feel if I have missed a class. I love the social end of it, love the music, and the moves. It makes you feel great all over.

I don't talk about my diet for everyone to say, "look at me", but so I am accountable to what I am doing, so I feel better when I am doing these things, and so my family is healthier. It is nice to talk about the good as well as the bad.

Week one of Valentine/Love week...

This week we have started new learning concepts and our theme is Love/Valentines Day. Today we were busy doing a couple projects and getting some supplies prepared for tomorrows craft.
Here are all the kids working on the coffee filter art. The 18mo and younger do craft time with me so I can make sure crayons and markers are not being inhaled!

A is hard at work coloring his filter- after they finished with the markers, we dropped water on the filters to see what would happen next. Some of the kids didn't want the water on their art, they made the choice.

My under 18 mo. group needs a little more help on holding the paper down, holding the marker, and getting the markers on the page vs the table. Little K did a great job on her own... but she kept watching Kadyn just to make sure she was doing correctly!

My case in point- I ran to the bathroom to help another kid and when I did, Lil A decided was trying the marker. Of corse, I had to capture the moment first then take the marker away!

One of our last activities for the day was making red noodles for tomorrow. The kids enjoyed putting vintager and food coloring together and shaking! Everyone had a turn and some really got into it!