Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Easter Gifts

Easter Basket Sewing Project

I decided last minute this year that I wanted to personalize our Easter gift to the kids. They really needed some new church activities and since Lucy is getting older I've been wanting to limit what she has to keep her busy (ie distracted) in church. She's been into drawing and writing, so I thought a drawing notebook would be perfect for her. Since Murray likes to do whatever Lucy is doing, I got him a notebook as well.

This was a last minute decisions, so I used scraps from a dress I made for Lucy a few year ago (it turned out too short...so it's packed away and this baby will wear it)..and I used an old receiving blanket for Murray's. Lucy's fabric was a little short, Murray's was a little stretchy and long, but overall they love the end result and it's definitely something I'll build on in the future...there are definitely ways I could improve on the design, especially if I took more than a naptime to accomplish it!

A few great ideas I stumbled upon to keep your kid busy in church. We have been focusing on telling both of them to keep their hands in their laps. This is especially helpful for Murray...it helps him remember to sit nicely with whatever toy or book he has. If his hands are in his lap, they're not turned around or up off the pew.

At the beginning of church I've been talking to Lucy about what she sees around the sanctuary. She then has been drawing what she sees or about the Bible reading she hears. I also saw on another blog about a mom who writes a few words at the top of the page and has her kids keep a tally of when they hear the words. We gave this a try on Easter Sunday and it worked GREAT!! I wrote Jesus, Alleluia and Joy (it was in the title of the sermon)...she had a blast keeping tally...it did end up being less about the number of times and more about making the tally marks connect with eachother, but it worked...she was listening to what the people in front were saying! We'll definitely keep trying that one!

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Wordless Wednesday

Of course I'm in the window Mom!

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Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Wordless Wednesday

Sweet Baby Girl at 26.5 weeks
(it's a little fuzzy b/c she's snuggled up under my placenta...
it was much clearer on the screen in color)
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Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Wordless Wednesday

Because sometimes it's hard to discern your favorite part of the day...






Tuesday, April 12, 2011

A Moment of Silence

A rare treat on a Tuesday evening, Nick took the kids to run to Meijer for ice cream and beer...it's just one of those days...really, it's just one of those months. I'm so excited for the warm weather. The kids have needed to be outside for over a month and now that it's been an almost daily thing (since Sunday anyway)...they're exhausted! Tired, crabby and WHINY!!! I think it's just an adjustment period. They don't quite know what to do with all the fresh air.

As for the adults in this house, we're just a bit busy and looking forward to May. Well, I'm looking forward to this weekend and then May when I perhaps might see my husband more than in passing! Something about April just piled up on us!

This weekend I'm planning two huge events...and two things I'm super excited for...it's just a lot for 1 weekend. On Friday/Saturday we're having our spring Mom to Mom sale. I'm super excited to look for stuff for both kids and even the new baby! (Yep, we can't store both boy and girl clothes, so we started giving away to people who needed...the girl clothes went first...oops...oh well...I'm not worried, the child has cute cloth diapers to hang out in if nothing else!). Lucy's response to the Mom to Mom sale "It's the best day of the year!" I think b/c we usually give her $1 to buy a toy!

Saturday I'm leaving the sale early to take a train with Lucy to Chicago. Here I get to co-host a baby shower for my big sister! What an exciting time! I'm super excited to see her and some friends and Lucy gets to have a sleepover all by herself at Owie Owie and Tony No Hair's house! The shower is Sunday morning and then by 6pm Lucy and I will be back on a train to Michigan. By midnight on Sunday we should be arriving at our destination and my whirlwind will be over...Nick's will just be beginning (Sunday is Palm Sunday you know). Once Nick survives Easter he has confirmation weekend to prepare for complete with a youth service! Whew...April will vanish before we know it. We're hoping for a relaxing May...so unless it involves no planning, and relaxation don't ask us to join you in May!

It may be a busy month, but we're fairing well. It's all things we enjoy and are looking forward to, so that makes the things that are getting neglected worth neglecting (please don't come to my house this week!) I'll try to do my usual posts tomorrow and Thursday...and we've really been enjoying this warm weather and our time with family this month...it just all seems to happen at the same time!

I think I'm going to go sit and put my feet up and begin assigning tables for the sale while the house is quiet for just a few more minutes! Hope you're all enjoying the spring weather.