Picture Perfect ... Almost!

It's been a busy month since Christmas!   The highlight was definitely D turning 5 and celebrating with 3 separate occasions.  She has learned all of her letters - recognize, write, and tell the sound.  She can count to at least 250 in front of her class.  She continues to be outgoing, friendly, and amazingly verbal. The weather has been very unusual for our area.  It's been cold and windy, with negative wind chills on several occasions.  D even missed school one day for cold weather. We've had a couple of days warm enough for bike rides. We've had snow.  Dry, light snow that isn't good for doing much in.  But it has caused us to miss 4 days of school. We've kept ourselves busy inside with different activities.  But it's been a challenge to keep 2 energetic, extroverted children entertained throughout the cold days. There were lots of blocks - legos and wooden. We made...

I HATE changing the sheets on the beds.  There isn't a reason, it's just one chore I don't like to do!  I try to change them on Thursdays because that's laundry day around our house.  Today I remembered how I used to play under the sheets as my mom changed them.  She'd whip them up and I'd jump under them and hide.  Then she'd try to flatten out the lump I had become with tickles and gentle mashing.  I also remembered how the Abundant Mama course I'm taking reminds me to find the fun in the mundane and be playful with my kids.  So when it came time to change the sheets I invited D and S to come upstairs and "help." We had a great time hiding in the sheets, making lumps, and just laughing together.  It made the task of changing sheets much more enjoyable!

I can't believe today is D's fifth birthday.  It's amazing how quickly the time has gone.  She is a lively, spunky, beautiful little girl who I love beyond words.  Some days she drives me crazy but I wouldn't change her for anything! Here are a few of her favorites: TV show - Sofia the First Song - Poison/Billie Jean remix and Get Ready by Straight No Chaser Toy - ALL of them Book - Nursery Rhymes Movie - anything with a princess   D this year ... February 2013 March 2013 April 2013 May 2013 June 2013 July 2013 August 2013 September 2013 October 2013 November 2013 December 2013 January 29, 2014 HAPPY BIRTHDAY BIG GIRL!!!

Today was another day where it didn't get out of the teens and the wind blew!  I can't count how many days like this we've had this winter.  WAY TOO MANY!! So what do you do when it's gross outside?  Here's a peak at what we do. Read books Play with the waffle maker Play games Eat cookie dough Run around the house like banshies! Hopefully the snow we might get tonight doesn't turn into a 12 inch flurry that we're known to get!  We might just go even more crazy!

We had D's fifth birthday party at a local gym yesterday.  She invited her preschool class plus 2 other friends.  In total there were 15 kids ... the reason we didn't hold it at home!  The theme of the party was princesses and pirates.  I was proud of D for choosing both as the theme and thinking about the boys who came.  The gym did everything except make the cupcakes!  They decorated the snack room with yellow and purple (D's favorite colors) and 5 year old balloons.  The kids spent 45 minutes in the gym with a teacher playing games on the equipment and bouncing.  A great thing to do since the weather has been so nasty lately!  Then they moved to a dance studio for parachute, bubbles, and dancing in the dark with a disco ball.  Afterwards they had pizza, juice, and cupcakes for the last 20 minutes.  They even provided themed goody bags for the kids!  D and all of her friends had a blast!  ...

Project 52, week 31 - Bokeh Bokeh is that beautiful blurry background and foreground you see in professional photos.  I learned how to create this in Momtographie last Spring.  I was glad to see this as this week's topic for Project 52.  I was pleased to see this photo had the bokeh in the front instead of the back! Project 365, Days 80-86 I continued using the prompts from Capture Your 365 for this week's photos.  I also tried to continue incorporating play and activities with the kids.   Day 80 - Abandoned Toys played with for 5 minutes then left where they laid. Day 81 - Upset S couldn't have another cupcake! Day 82 - In a bowl Fishy crackers for snack Day 83 - Eight After searching all day for an 8, D ran upstairs and brought down her Lego booklet. Day 84 - I didn't use a prompt but loved this photo of D. Day 85 - Fresh air After snow, cold weather, and wind we finally go out to play! ...