"Momma & Me" Journal

Ok, first things first...I can't take credit for this idea. Totally got the idea from my friend, Sara, who totally got the idea from a website.

That being said, I LOVE this idea! I made it up today and laid it on Libby's bed and absolutely adored the response I got back. I typically won't be telling you what my daughter writes, but today she asked if she could spend some time with me. I decided to invite her (not via the journal) to make brownies with me, which led to her wanting to do a tea party. Already, the journal has helped me spend some quality time with both of my daughters! I can't wait to see what conversations are held thorugh our book. I also can't wait to start one with Grace in a few years!

If you would like to share this treasure with your child, I got the first letter and front page idea from http://mama-jenn.blogspot.com/2010/11/mama-me-journal.html .

Left Overs of a Tea Party

Spending time with my children is something I try to be intentional about. One of the ways I try to spend extra special time with them is having tea parties with my girls. My original intentions were to do one every month. That hasn't happened, though. It usually happens every other month. That being said, we squeezed one in tonight. :)

I love spending time with my girls, and I am going to continue to try to make it a once a month thing. Next year, it is going on the calendar...end of story!

IT IS FINISHED!

Yeah, I still need to get in the sewing room and take care of business in there. {Blush}

That being said, though, I have completely FINISHED John's scrap book!!!!! Yes!!!!!

Sharing!

I was so proud of John the other night! He had some yummy pizza...

and he did such a great job sharing!

So cute!

Snapshots

Yep, this is what I have been concentrating {or trying to, at least} lately. Way back in May Chris bought me my cool sewing machine and I made an apron for myself. (Which I did wear to make the Thanksgiving meal today!!) I had all intentions of making the girl's both aprons, as well...but, when the spare minute (what is that?) came around, I inevitably headed off to scrapbook instead. (I am six pages from being DONE with John's baby book!!) So, my goal for December is to get those aprons done for the girls.

Adjustments to the Behemoth

Chris decided that the air flow was having too hard of a time making its way up the tiny tube, so he added a few extra tubes. Quite interesting!

Thanksgiving!

This year, Chris and I decided to stay home for Thanksgiving. We invited some friends over and had a nice, relaxing day together.

Well...the relaxing started after the meal was prepared. I was up at 5:30 cooking and getting everything put together, while Chris cleaned. I was a tad bit leary about the turkey because it was a Butterball Oven Ready turkey. Other than that I knew it was an A+ meal. Wow! Can I tell you what a delicious turkey it was? It was the absolute perfect amount for our two families, as well!

This is our Thankful Tree. The poor tree looks a bit like Charlie Brown's Christmas tree, but it suited our purposes. :)

So, You Have a Dyson?

Dyson makes the claim that it has the "strongest suction" in the vacuum world. While this is true, they forget to mention that there are more pieces to the puzzle in the effectiveness of a vacuum. My husband, being an engineer (and a clean freak!) sold our Dyson LONG ago. He searched high and low, and we ended up with a Miele. It is a good sweeper, but it still doesn't fit Chris's standards. His issues are with the air watts. An air watt is a measurement of air flow times suction. Yeah, I don't get that either, but Chris does.

In our household we try (by no means are we always successful) to run with the rule of "you can't complain unless you are willing to do something about it". Well, Chris finally got tired enough of sweeping constantly and the floors not being cleaned to his specifications. So, he decided to do something about it. He created his own vacuum. He took a Shop Vac and hooked it up to our Kenmore head. It is a work of art, I tell you, but it certainly slurped up a whole lot more than it should have. *Blush* I guess we have a new means of vacuuming around here now.

I told him he should make this more packageable and start selling it. If Mr. Dyson can do it, so can Chris. Right?

7 Hours

How long does it take to make a few new friends? How long does it take to get to know other friends a bit better? How long does it take for little girls to connect? How long does it take to make 100+ meals that are ready to pop into the freezer for a crazy day? About 7 hours.

Yes, I've been at my freezer cooking again! Seriously though, seven hours, five women, five astounding little girls, an awesome football game if you are a Hawkeye, a not so awesome football game if you are a Boilermaker (sorry Janet and Judy), and 25 meals in my freezer (ok, make that 24 now that one is sitting out to be eaten tonight)...you can't beat it!


Um...why is it that we didn't do this bit at the beginning, girls? I guess I look like I've worked hard all day. :) Also notice the two lovely ladies in their aprons...seriously, why did I not EVEN think to take mine? I worked so hard to make it, and then I forgot to wear it. I'm wearing it when I make my thanksgiving meal!!!


Five precious little girls! Seriously, I think all five of us were a bit worried how it was going to turn out bringing our munchkins...but they played SO well together!!!

Last, but certainly not least...my freezer full of good food to pull out, let thaw, and pop in the oven. No prep work necessary. Sweet manna from heaven for a momma!

Letters

I love watching my kids learn! It is just so thrilling to see each step they take. They don't have to have learned something perfectly for me to get excited, I just enjoy each morsel of knowledge they gain.

That being said, John and I skipped church today because we weren't feeling the greatest. Once daddy and the girls left, I pulled out the letter magnets and pulled a few out for John to explore. It wasn't long before the whole bag was dumped on the floor and he was picking them up and feeling them and just playing with them. I told him what some of the letters were and made simple two letter chunks (such as -at) and then added different beginning letters to them. As soon as I pulled the letters out he started saying "B...B...B" and would pick different letters up and repeat "B". It was so cute!

Of course, he is only two, and he is a boy...therefore, he was throwing them across the living room in about five minutes time. So, I had him help me put all the letters and put them back in the bag.

Over all, it was a fun learning experience and I can't wait to do it again with him...and Grace, for that matter.

Natural Shoppers

My friend, Jenny, came out last weekend and we went shopping together. She saw this gorgeous purse, but decided to be a good girl and not buy it (even though it was priced really well). When she mentioned it to her husband, he told her that she should have bought it and that she should have me go snatch it for her. So, I did!


Adorable purse


Adorable girl holding adorable purse (and look at that pose she struck)

Another adorable girl holding adorable purse...and cars

Artists at Work

Following on the heels of the last post, I thought you might like to see the diligent little artists at work.

The Next Pablo Picasso...

or two! This week our task was color.


Therefore, we turned this...


into this...


and this.

Our finished plate looked like this. :)