I loved all the things that girls were thankful for for, but here are some of my favorites.
Tuesday, December 11, 2012
Our Thankful Tree
Our finished Thankful Tree! The girls has a lot of fun adding thankful leaves to our tree. We didn't quite get a leaf on for every day, but we can always aim for that next year!
Monday, December 10, 2012
Thursday, November 15, 2012
Happy Halloween!
I completely forgot to post pics of the girls in their Halloween outfits this year!
Here they are!
A Ladybug, a Butterfly and a Black Cat!
The Black Cat is roaring at the Ladybug.
Good thing the Ladybug thinks this is funny!
Now, that's better!
Sweet Ladybug and Black Cat!
Cute little Miss Butterfly!
Wednesday, November 14, 2012
Our Thankful Tree
Disclaimer: I will admit, even though I love to do crafty things, I tend to slack in doing crafty things with my children. The perfectionist in me comes roaring out at these times! The good news is that I recognize it and I'm working on it. Oh...another a problem....I tend to try and make things way to elaborate with the kids crafts, which ends up just frustrating me and them. Like I said, I'm working on it!
With all that said, this November we are making a Thankful Tree to record all the things we are thankful for. The tree is very simple, but the girls had a wonderful time making the tree trunk and the grass. I cut out a ton of leaves on my nifty little Silhouette...and we have the makings of a thankful tree. See. I'm doing better! Simple and easy! Danny was really proud of me!
Anna was dressed like her sisters, but she wanted to be different, so she put this outfit together. She is currently obsessed with wearing skirts!
With all that said, this November we are making a Thankful Tree to record all the things we are thankful for. The tree is very simple, but the girls had a wonderful time making the tree trunk and the grass. I cut out a ton of leaves on my nifty little Silhouette...and we have the makings of a thankful tree. See. I'm doing better! Simple and easy! Danny was really proud of me!
I just cut a large piece of white paper for them to paint brown for the tree trunk and limbs.
Alexandra loved having her hands messy!
I thought the paper was going to tear several times due to how much paint they put on it,
but it held up and dried very good!
Aubrey's thinking...this is a blast!
I'm thinking...PLEASE don't touch anything but the paper with those hands!!!
I need help, I know!
Paint the paper, Alexandra! Not yourself!
The beginning of our thankful tree!
I love how sassy Anna has become in front of the camera!
Anna was dressed like her sisters, but she wanted to be different, so she put this outfit together. She is currently obsessed with wearing skirts!
Monday, November 5, 2012
Friday, November 2, 2012
She Said...
I was talking to Aubrey today about how she's not doing her best in school.
Aubrey: But mom, if I think too hard my brain will pop.
Me: Aubrey, that has never happened to another human being as far back as Adam and Eve!
Thursday, November 1, 2012
Alexandra and Her Lost Fingernail!
I don't recall ever in my life seeing a finger without a fingernail. Well, leave it up to Alexandra to show me! My little accident prone child has done it again! The first to have an ER visit and the first to lose a whole fingernail. I'm sure there will be many more accidents and I just pray that the Lord keeps me cool, calm and collected through them all.
Last month, the girls asked Danny to build them a fort. This is a regular request, but he decided to do it in an open space instead of in their room or over the living room furniture (it is football season and their shall not be any obstruction to the view of the TV at any time on a weekend)! So to make the fort, he used the high bar stools (along with other things). The fort was a hit and the girls spent most of the afternoon playing in it. After they finally moved on to something else, Alexandra thought she would be helpful and take down the fort. She started pulling on the blankets and before I knew it I heard screaming. I ran over to her and one of the bar stools had fallen over and somehow landed right in her finger. I'm thankful it didn't land on her head!
She cried for quite a while and her fingernail looked a little purple but there was never any dark spots like bleeding under her nail. She could move her finger so I knew it wasn't broken. We put a bag of frozen peas on her finger and that seem to fix her right up!
Over the next several days and weeks, I noticed that her whole fingernail was turning white. I mentioned to Danny and he casually said that she would probably lose her fingernail. WHAT? I have never seen a fingernail come completely off! Granted, I'm the one in the marriage who has never had a broken bone, stitches (from an accident), or been to the ER. Danny cannot make this claim at all!
Sure enough after another week or so, I could tell that it was starting to come loose and eventually the whole nail came off! For the first few days, it was very sensitive to her and she kept telling me that it hurt, so we kept a bandaid and some neosporin on it.
Now, it doesn't seem to bother her at all! I have no idea how long it will take for it to grow back...but I hope it doesn't take too long!
Last month, the girls asked Danny to build them a fort. This is a regular request, but he decided to do it in an open space instead of in their room or over the living room furniture (it is football season and their shall not be any obstruction to the view of the TV at any time on a weekend)! So to make the fort, he used the high bar stools (along with other things). The fort was a hit and the girls spent most of the afternoon playing in it. After they finally moved on to something else, Alexandra thought she would be helpful and take down the fort. She started pulling on the blankets and before I knew it I heard screaming. I ran over to her and one of the bar stools had fallen over and somehow landed right in her finger. I'm thankful it didn't land on her head!
She cried for quite a while and her fingernail looked a little purple but there was never any dark spots like bleeding under her nail. She could move her finger so I knew it wasn't broken. We put a bag of frozen peas on her finger and that seem to fix her right up!
Over the next several days and weeks, I noticed that her whole fingernail was turning white. I mentioned to Danny and he casually said that she would probably lose her fingernail. WHAT? I have never seen a fingernail come completely off! Granted, I'm the one in the marriage who has never had a broken bone, stitches (from an accident), or been to the ER. Danny cannot make this claim at all!
Sure enough after another week or so, I could tell that it was starting to come loose and eventually the whole nail came off! For the first few days, it was very sensitive to her and she kept telling me that it hurt, so we kept a bandaid and some neosporin on it.
Now, it doesn't seem to bother her at all! I have no idea how long it will take for it to grow back...but I hope it doesn't take too long!
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
Tuesday, October 30, 2012
Martha Speaks
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Our local historical theatre holds monthly children's productions and this month was Marta Speaks. I didn't tell the girls ahead of time that we were going, so they were super excited when they woke up and found out our plans for the morning. Anna and Aubrey went to a few last year, but I thought Alexandra was too young and wouldn't sit through the musicals, so this was her first one. She did great, but Martha Speaks was also aimed more to the preschool age, whereas most are not.
It always helps to keep the girl's attention when we are sitting on the front row, too!
It was one of the better productions that we have seen and we're looking forward to going back in December to see the Night Before Christmas!
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| Alexandra and Anna reading books before the play started! |
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| Aubrey reading her book! |
Thursday, October 18, 2012
Aubrey's First "Restriction"
Not the typical milestone a mom would want to record, but a "first" nonetheless! Yep, Aubrey had her first restriction. She was not allowed to watch any television for two days. I think we are a middle-of-the-road kind of family when it comes to television. I don't think the girls watch too much of it (most days), but we certainly allow our children to watch television. How else am I going to get any house work done if not for an occasional Disney movie...and it's also helpful to put a LeapFrog movie on for the younger girls when I really need to concentrate on school with Aubrey. I don't feel quite so bad about it since they are learning their ABC's and numbers. The other day Anna was singing, "punc-punc-punc-punctuation" as they sing in one of the Leap Frog movies!
Anyway, back to Aubrey's restriction. Aubrey was put on restriction for talking, being disruptive and disrespectful during our small group time. I stayed home with Anna since she had a cough and I didn't want her spreading any of her wonderful germs with the other little kiddos. Danny was leading the small group. Before they left (and many times since the last small group) we talked to Aubrey about her behavior during the small group. She is not to talk because she is there to listen and learn. When she talks, she is being disruptive and disrespectful to the adult that is talking and she is being distracting to the people trying to listen to the discussion about the word of God. She has her notebooks that she can write in and she has her bible that she can look through and "read."
Since Danny was leading the group, I knew it would be hard for him to really focus on Aubrey and her behavior. He had her sit right next to him, but she whispered throughout the discussion and was even passing notes back and forth with her friend.
Once they returned home, Danny and I sat down with Aubrey to discuss how she thought she behaved at the small group. She agreed that she was talking and being disrespectful to Daddy while he was trying to lead the discussion. We decided that she should lose a privilege for her disobedience and we decided she would not be able to watch TV for two days. Of course, she cried and cried, but that really was the reaction I wanted. I want to take away something from her that she cares about so maybe the next time she's in this situation she may think twice. Truth be told, I think she cares more about the fact that her sisters will get to do something that she won't, whether it be TV, playing their LeapFrog games, etc. I don't think taking away from her this one time will correct her behavior. We will have to be consistent and she will have many more things taken away from her before she realizes that her disobedience has consequences.
Danny and I (as I'm sure most parents do) struggle with disciplining our children. First, Danny and I were raised very differently so that comes into play a lot. I'm just naturally more of a disciplinarian than Danny is. My prayer is if I stay consistent with my discipline now, her older years may be slightly easier because she (and her sisters) will be able to fall back onto the instruction they received and were taught in their earlier years. It's also a struggle to focus on their heart change and not just a behavioral change. I've read a couple of books that discuss this and it makes total sense in my head, but implementing it is much more difficult.
When I focus on the behavioral change, the girls will learn if they behave a certain way, they will receive a reward of some type so that's really the only reason for their behavior change. With a heart change, they fully recognize their sins when doing something wrong and understand that they are sinning against God. They also realize when they do something right, it is pleasing and glorifying to God. There are entire books written on this subject, so this is my extremely abbreviated explanation of the difference between the two.
As I said, disciplining according to the word of God is difficult for me (as I'm sure it is for all parents). I absolutely want to make sure I do it correctly, but I also realize I'm human and I'm not going to do it perfectly. Through continued prayer, I know God will show me the way!
These are a few of the books I've read on behavior vs. heart change.
Anyway, back to Aubrey's restriction. Aubrey was put on restriction for talking, being disruptive and disrespectful during our small group time. I stayed home with Anna since she had a cough and I didn't want her spreading any of her wonderful germs with the other little kiddos. Danny was leading the small group. Before they left (and many times since the last small group) we talked to Aubrey about her behavior during the small group. She is not to talk because she is there to listen and learn. When she talks, she is being disruptive and disrespectful to the adult that is talking and she is being distracting to the people trying to listen to the discussion about the word of God. She has her notebooks that she can write in and she has her bible that she can look through and "read."
Since Danny was leading the group, I knew it would be hard for him to really focus on Aubrey and her behavior. He had her sit right next to him, but she whispered throughout the discussion and was even passing notes back and forth with her friend.
Once they returned home, Danny and I sat down with Aubrey to discuss how she thought she behaved at the small group. She agreed that she was talking and being disrespectful to Daddy while he was trying to lead the discussion. We decided that she should lose a privilege for her disobedience and we decided she would not be able to watch TV for two days. Of course, she cried and cried, but that really was the reaction I wanted. I want to take away something from her that she cares about so maybe the next time she's in this situation she may think twice. Truth be told, I think she cares more about the fact that her sisters will get to do something that she won't, whether it be TV, playing their LeapFrog games, etc. I don't think taking away from her this one time will correct her behavior. We will have to be consistent and she will have many more things taken away from her before she realizes that her disobedience has consequences.
Danny and I (as I'm sure most parents do) struggle with disciplining our children. First, Danny and I were raised very differently so that comes into play a lot. I'm just naturally more of a disciplinarian than Danny is. My prayer is if I stay consistent with my discipline now, her older years may be slightly easier because she (and her sisters) will be able to fall back onto the instruction they received and were taught in their earlier years. It's also a struggle to focus on their heart change and not just a behavioral change. I've read a couple of books that discuss this and it makes total sense in my head, but implementing it is much more difficult.
When I focus on the behavioral change, the girls will learn if they behave a certain way, they will receive a reward of some type so that's really the only reason for their behavior change. With a heart change, they fully recognize their sins when doing something wrong and understand that they are sinning against God. They also realize when they do something right, it is pleasing and glorifying to God. There are entire books written on this subject, so this is my extremely abbreviated explanation of the difference between the two.
As I said, disciplining according to the word of God is difficult for me (as I'm sure it is for all parents). I absolutely want to make sure I do it correctly, but I also realize I'm human and I'm not going to do it perfectly. Through continued prayer, I know God will show me the way!
These are a few of the books I've read on behavior vs. heart change.
Friday, October 5, 2012
Close Encounters at the Zoo
After Aubrey, Alexandra and I picked up Anna from her first spend the night with YaYa and Tom, I surprised the girls with an afternoon trip to the zoo. We have to drive right past the exit on the way to YaYa's so I thought it would be the perfect pitstop for the afternoon. Needless to say, the girls were shocked and delighted that we were there!
It was still a little warmer that I would have liked (90 degrees in Oct.), but there was hardly anyone there and the animals were out and about. We got to see many of them up close and we could stay and visit as long as we wanted with each animal because there weren't a ton of other people waiting to see them, too!
It was still a little warmer that I would have liked (90 degrees in Oct.), but there was hardly anyone there and the animals were out and about. We got to see many of them up close and we could stay and visit as long as we wanted with each animal because there weren't a ton of other people waiting to see them, too!
The White Rhinoceros was grazing so closely to us that we could hear him eating the grass!
The elephants were active as well.
We were able to watch how this elephant drinks water through his/her trunk.
Lucky for us, he/she was really thirsty!
I could barely get Alexandra to take her eyes off the elephant long enough to snap a picture!
The cobra was crawling all over the place!
The girls are always excited to go into the reptile houses...they are my least favorite!
We needed to get a little map lesson into our afternoon as well!
Alexandra did not want to be left out of the map lesson.
She asked me to take this picture of her with the map!
We always LOVE when we have close encounters with the apes!
These two were definitely marking their territory, but luckily they were just eyeing each other down
and no physical contact between the two was made!
The apes were so close to us we could have touched them (if not for the very thick glass between us)!
After this picture, one of them came and sat down with his back leaning up against the wall and glass!
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