tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-77563052021786739632024-02-19T06:05:47.984+00:00The blessing is in the SEEDDEricahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15792640075088768475noreply@blogger.comBlogger36125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7756305202178673963.post-71157631735878072972013-12-01T11:49:00.000+00:002013-12-01T11:51:39.644+00:00Bailey's 3rd Annual Christmas AdventI've had a lot of people message me on Facebook asking about the logistics of our Christmas Advent Calendars, so I decided to put it all on the blog. I havent been on writing in the blog as often as I'd like, and it's been on my to do list for a while, so you just gave me an excuse! Thank You!!<br />
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Since we have 3 children, we decided to do 3 different types of Advent Calendars, and each child rotates every day by opening 1 thing from each Advent Calendar. This is our 3rd year doing it this way and it works great! As I've mentioned before, my lack of creative family activities throughout the year is made up in the month of December!<br />
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The first Advent Calendar was given to us by Steve's mom when we first got married so it's been in our family for 11 years! That just sounds crazy. It's a simple Nativity Advent Calendar with a door for each day that contains something relating to the Nativity Scene and it comes with a card that you read what each item means. I.E. Day 1 is the star, God put the star in the sky to light the way to Bethlehem, and then of course day 24 is baby Jesus.<br />
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The second one is the Christmas book Advent. I wrapped 24 Christmas books and the kids get to pick one and open one every day, and that's the story we read that night before bed. The Christmas Quiet Book is what they opened today.<br />
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The third one is the Family Activity Advent Calendar. I came up with 24 activities that we can do as a family & typed them all up with pretty Christmas font. Then I printed out 24 numbers, cut them out, & taped them onto small envelopes. I planned the entire month out, putting bigger activities on the weekends and took into account other things going on in the month, and put each activity into the corresponding day. I bought Christmas ribbon and just used mini clothespins to put the envelopes on the ribbon, so it looks like this. :)<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Some ideas we are using this year or have used in years past are:</span><br />
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Decorate the tree<br />
Snowman pancakes for dinner<br />
RAK: Random Acts of Kindness; Don't get caught<br />
Glo Stick Bathtime<br />
Picnic by the Christmas Tree<br />
Trip to London to partake in the Christmas Festivities<br />
Drive around to look at lights<br />
Permission to stay up late<br />
Open a present early (this is always on Christmas Eve, and it's always jammies with popcorn & a movie)<br />
Christmas Craft<br />
Christmas Movie Night<br />
Snowball fight indoors using marshmallows<br />
Make gifts for teachers<br />
Write cards to all Classmates<br />
Go through toys & books and donate to shelter<br />
Dance Party<br />
Fancy Dress Dinner<br />
Candy Cane Milkshakes<br />
Baking & Decorating Cookies<br />
Delivering Cookies to neighbors<br />
Super Spy Sibling Shopping trip<br />
Go with mom to buy a present for dad<br />
Go with dad to buy a present for mom<br />
Re read a favorite Christmas Book<br />
Send postcards to family back in the states<br />
Call family & sing Christmas Carols<br />
Camp out by the Christmas Tree<br />
Annual Squadron Christmas Party<br />
Make Reindeer food<br />
Walk through the city centre & enjoy the lights<br />
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All the kid's Christmas Artwork will be displayed above the Family Activity Calendar.</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">So as you can see, some things we do every year & I've just incorporated it in the calendar, and others are just fun things we can do together as a family. Do you have a Family Activity Calendar? Would love to hear new & different ideas.</span><br />
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<br />Ericahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15792640075088768475noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7756305202178673963.post-50131462829771856692013-08-14T09:58:00.000+01:002013-08-14T09:58:01.175+01:00Taking time...WOW... it has been a long time since I've posted on the blog, Sorry everyone!! I plan on getting back into the blog world in the fall once school has started & we get into our routines. We are enjoying life in England. Travelling every chance we get. Here is just a peak at what we have been up to this summer.<br />
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Some friends & I went & saw Dirty Dancing Live in the West End in London! It was AMAZING!!</div>
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Elora celebrated her 7th Birthday with some classmates. Luau Style. </div>
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A trip to Banham Zoo</div>
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A Day out with Thomas! Showing our face paintings!</div>
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All excited to see Thomas the Train!</div>
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Teddy Bear Picnic with MOPS!</div>
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Punting in Cambridge</div>
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Having a nice day out at a nearby Garden. </div>
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See you again in a few months!! :) </div>
Ericahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15792640075088768475noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7756305202178673963.post-78424645277277729482013-01-10T13:31:00.001+00:002013-01-10T13:31:55.832+00:00All those pins...I went on a crazy pinning night where everything I pinned on pinterest were outfits that I liked. Then the days that followed I found myself at the computer trying to find that one outfit so I could match it. Then it occurred to me I should print these out and put them in my closet for some outfit inspiration. So VOILA!<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"> I can't wait to do it again in the Spring!!</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"> I bought a pack of 4 square cork boards covered them with 12x12 scrapbook paper, copy & pasted my fav outfits onto word to fit as many onto one page as possible, then just print & cut them out. The pack of cork boards came with adhesive to stick them to the wall & I just used pins I already had & pinned up the outfits! Very Simple!</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Since I LOVE my closet so much I'll throw in a few pictures of that as well! </span><br />
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I also LOVE my tie rack, it's perfect for hanging all my necklaces... I think I need another one!</div>
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Then I store all my earrings in the craft/tackle box and my other misc. jewelry rings etc. in the jewelry Box.<br />
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Next project is to paint the vanity and reupholster the stool. </div>
Ericahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15792640075088768475noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7756305202178673963.post-26493096497586435842013-01-09T16:38:00.001+00:002013-01-09T16:38:28.242+00:00Chore ChartFor a couple years now, Steve & I have been tossing around ideas for our children when it comes to chores. We've read tons of articles and talked to other Parents with older children, I think we've heard it all. When it comes down to it though, we've learned that all children and all families are different. So this is what works for our family.<br />
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We believe that our children should do chores as members of this family to help out around the house. We also believe that they should get an allowance to start teaching them the importance & value of money & saving. Where we felt conflicted; we didn't want them to do chores only for money and we also didn't want to just give them an allowance every week, we want them to feel proud of what they've accomplished & think about what they are spending their allowance on and by just giving it to them neither of those things would happen.<br />
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We tried saying "this is your chore you need to do it every day." We found that without an incentive they didn't want to do it, and not only that but let's face it we don't have the energy and shouldn't have to keep reminding them 10 times a day to do their chores and then what happens in the end, mom ends up doing the said chore anyway.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1h33tA-5J_hKtzallPYuoieVVMYK8rVtGOPB4Tgm6jmf_1V4ZEYDjNI1n3tjHnbBy06ExpbKWCFfrZZ-YX8s5F3M_lrqVhBqNBK3F3fj1lBoXH3M4gWJhFKxD472z0d3B7bhXApKM-17S/s1600/036.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1h33tA-5J_hKtzallPYuoieVVMYK8rVtGOPB4Tgm6jmf_1V4ZEYDjNI1n3tjHnbBy06ExpbKWCFfrZZ-YX8s5F3M_lrqVhBqNBK3F3fj1lBoXH3M4gWJhFKxD472z0d3B7bhXApKM-17S/s640/036.JPG" width="426" /></a><br />
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So I came up with a Chore Chart!<br />
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That is visual enough for my 2 year old to understand but exciting enough for the 6 year old to use it. This chart holds them responsible for doing their own chores & will allow them to see results.<br />
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<b>How I made it: </b><br />
I went onto Amazon and browsed their selection of Pocket Calendars, and chose the behavior chart, the link is below.<br />
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Then while I was waiting for that to ship I came up with age appropriate chores for each kid. Then I just went onto Word & found Clip Art matching each chore. I also Color Coded everything per day to make it a little easier to keep track. After I made all the names, days of the week, individual chore cards, & tickets, I cut them out, laminated them and cut them again. The chore cards are about the size of a business card.<br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000EFM9NW/ref=oh_details_o04_s00_i00" target="_blank">http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000EFM9NW/ref=oh_details_o04_s00_i00</a><br />
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Here is a list of the chores we have, which will change as they get older.<br />
Each kid has- morning & evening routine, clean bed room, clean play room, and putting clothes away.<br />
6 Year old- in addition to chores mentioned above sweep 1 room, empty dishwasher, feed the cat.<br />
4 year old- in addition to chores mentioned above, dust 1 room, tidy front door (shoes, jackets, etc.)<br />
2 year old- just has the 4 basic chores mentioned above, but obviously needs more guidance when doing some things, like putting clothes away, all the kids' dressers are labeled, pictures & words; with what goes in which drawer, shirts, pants, etc. so I'll make piles of like items for the 2 year old & he'll put them in the correct drawer. Just an example of how each chore is age appropriate and the expectations are different for each depending on their age.<br />
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As a side note. We have a seperate picture chart that shows our morning & evening routine, this has really helped our middle child stay on track. So for now we have included the morning & evening routine as part of their chores, until the routine is established.<br />
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<b>How it works:</b><br />
Each day as a child does their chore they will flip it over & put it behind the other chore cards. At the end of the day or week we count up how many chores they have done & they get a ticket.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghyaxUGYWc2Kf5MBnhmj4nCyRVfE5ACgGvNbirVRcgTLvew1mv5IvJyHKQA2lL8B227oSTuDGhz5w4Z9ihPmPDhuvI_7_60E7Yh8ID18SU3Xx7lJO2jKWG1Ar4p7bx5pc23qS1gXeJIh7-/s1600/035.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghyaxUGYWc2Kf5MBnhmj4nCyRVfE5ACgGvNbirVRcgTLvew1mv5IvJyHKQA2lL8B227oSTuDGhz5w4Z9ihPmPDhuvI_7_60E7Yh8ID18SU3Xx7lJO2jKWG1Ar4p7bx5pc23qS1gXeJIh7-/s320/035.JPG" width="213" /></a><br />
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For the tickets, I just used clip art on Word & printed them off in different colors corresponding to the days of the week colors.<br />
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At the end of the week they can spend their tickets and shop at the "Mom and Dad Store" save their tickets to get a bigger item from the "M&D store" or trade their tickets in for money. 1 ticket= .10 cents.<br />
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For the M&D Store I just used a basket and went out & bought things that the kids enjoy doing. Play doh, art supplies, sticks of gum, match box cars, dino figures, coloring books, reading books, bonne bell chapsticks, jewels, stickers, action figures(on the cheaper side). Then I used garage sale stickers and just priced everything. If something cost me $1.00 then it is 10 tickets, I open any packages of multiple things like a pack of 2 headbands, 1 would cost 5 tickets. A pack of 5 lizards from the $1.00 store would be 2 tickets for each lizard; and so on. I just keep a nice stock of things, and when I see things when I'm out and about I'll get them to add to the M&D store.<br />
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We've been using this chart for almost a month now, and every Saturday the children are super excited to see how many tickets they've earned & what they can buy. My oldest has saved her Christmas money & traded 2 weeks of chore tickets to buy a La La Loopsy. The 4 year old did just enough of his chores to trade in his tickets for a green lantern action figure, it took him 3 weeks & a few encouraging words but he finally did it and is so proud of that action figure you'd think it was gold!<br />
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Hopefully that made sense, if not feel free to ask questions!Ericahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15792640075088768475noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7756305202178673963.post-87936761823426434082013-01-05T22:00:00.001+00:002013-01-05T22:00:41.203+00:00Warwick, UK<br />
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Our first adventure in the new year was to Warwick. Some friends of ours told us about Warwick Castle & how it wasn't to be missed. Before we go anywhere I usually try and do research about it before hand so we know what to look out for, what to skip with 3 young kids, etc. One of my favorite things to do is to find the treasure's that others have missed, and it is even doable with the kiddos. So here are my thoughts & opinions on Warwick. First, we went early January, it was a gorgeous day and there weren't any crowds.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikqLTCUBcpjVqhUIam8U83ShjNGqrwKJBSKSpyJ1vFzzIZRDKHcfWuZPgrAKwEcWIHY-jxDd7_CQVDAH_AR1aaGC1Djwkt5c82dbAHbiTYuJiYnbTUIrFonfoVgoVjeALTdtWcY9jdLLBX/s1600/004.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikqLTCUBcpjVqhUIam8U83ShjNGqrwKJBSKSpyJ1vFzzIZRDKHcfWuZPgrAKwEcWIHY-jxDd7_CQVDAH_AR1aaGC1Djwkt5c82dbAHbiTYuJiYnbTUIrFonfoVgoVjeALTdtWcY9jdLLBX/s320/004.JPG" width="320" /></a><span style="text-align: start;">Warwick is about a 2 hour drive from where we live, about an hour into it the kids started asking "Are we almost there?" This coming from my kids who often take an hour drive four times a week to the base and back. This means 2 things; the drive was very boring, & we haven't taken long day trips in a while. That must be changed. </span></div>
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We started our journey at 9:30 and arrived around 11:45.Once we arrived, we headed straight to Warwick Castle. Our thoughts on this were since we had to pay admission we would do everything we could at the castle and if there was any time remaining we would venture out.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpoQgGDCZM-39biEHBoInXPeH1m2G1qCA2UnysTPz3F3pCWZrJLdu87DXwdg2S-oLIU9ChoPMAVnEvQblrnxk3FEFp_KLXEtLAalYqSGyDbDe6JdARlD1CtMnny6lWgy06MeSsYwra_WpL/s1600/001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpoQgGDCZM-39biEHBoInXPeH1m2G1qCA2UnysTPz3F3pCWZrJLdu87DXwdg2S-oLIU9ChoPMAVnEvQblrnxk3FEFp_KLXEtLAalYqSGyDbDe6JdARlD1CtMnny6lWgy06MeSsYwra_WpL/s320/001.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Parking for Warwick Castle was £6. The walk from the Car park to the castle was about 5 minutes but it reminded me of a scene from the movie The Labyrinth.<br />
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Once we got to the ticket counter I asked if there was a discount for English Heritage members and it turns out there is; 50% off so it cost us £43 for all 4 of us, Dylan was free since he's under 3. That equals out to be approx. $70 with today's exchange rate. Initial reaction was that it was expensive just to see a Castle. Here are some more pictures with descriptions of our exciting adventure at Warwick Castle.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Great Hall, the largest room in the Castle</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1KLmAw2BDeEuk7FxEa707UZd_QaW6fes9M9Zm1zUpjDhxauUgditJBwxVAobmQoXxDn1iS0Z4WNBboPGu_YICaCbcH56YKxyBQyMoV6jon8JHGpHkFYOiXe9aYWb70pIurmDHEbdNK7WS/s1600/020.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1KLmAw2BDeEuk7FxEa707UZd_QaW6fes9M9Zm1zUpjDhxauUgditJBwxVAobmQoXxDn1iS0Z4WNBboPGu_YICaCbcH56YKxyBQyMoV6jon8JHGpHkFYOiXe9aYWb70pIurmDHEbdNK7WS/s400/020.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: left;">The State Dining Room. 1763; George IV & Edward VII dined here among many others.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: left;">Queen Elizabeth I Saddle & handkerchief</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: left;">The Cedar Drawing Room; everything in the room dates to 1670</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: left;">The Queen Anne Bedroom; Queen Anne sent her bed ahead of her and her trip ended up being cancelled but the bed stayed at the castle. The Leather Chest also belonged to Queen Anne. Another interesting fact she had 17 children and only 1 survived infancy.</span></td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgS5YQlwzyL41FXfReWQ-NgWP1w7K6sfqiR2FNuDs5m3a_gH5vdmQdGh-I-X3vz2QGOrdOrcuvFmyjCbE9h9s92dle_NyLgYA1NZ8oraWvxeujHrQJuqv-ywio-fkKt24WVwiTXDRLu7XPi/s1600/032.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgS5YQlwzyL41FXfReWQ-NgWP1w7K6sfqiR2FNuDs5m3a_gH5vdmQdGh-I-X3vz2QGOrdOrcuvFmyjCbE9h9s92dle_NyLgYA1NZ8oraWvxeujHrQJuqv-ywio-fkKt24WVwiTXDRLu7XPi/s400/032.JPG" width="266" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgC8Y7_OJ8lgN3SsMc6kUJbdFiZxWr1DHDzDPFNj1eNfBmbp5xQMqHa7mPybWGcMU66AF9VMI6Gk7lsBhGIXm2TLlpjFvpHKTz-Cn-zR8OznJpF3_quNXUAV1fjams48gWU5-ZxmRjPl7gF/s1600/035.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgC8Y7_OJ8lgN3SsMc6kUJbdFiZxWr1DHDzDPFNj1eNfBmbp5xQMqHa7mPybWGcMU66AF9VMI6Gk7lsBhGIXm2TLlpjFvpHKTz-Cn-zR8OznJpF3_quNXUAV1fjams48gWU5-ZxmRjPl7gF/s400/035.JPG" width="266" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwQOlmi7ySKW_-4wnlSn35I-8MBhLRBV1evyf2I_6gfluNSFvjT08SRf7QHYXKXQsI5z_ch7Iisq6_Y7Waoi_46xMjyTQ70hlBxtBCP13ySuIXNRUfdXiRKq_JzE-SdWANnffqlTZBrm6B/s1600/040.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwQOlmi7ySKW_-4wnlSn35I-8MBhLRBV1evyf2I_6gfluNSFvjT08SRf7QHYXKXQsI5z_ch7Iisq6_Y7Waoi_46xMjyTQ70hlBxtBCP13ySuIXNRUfdXiRKq_JzE-SdWANnffqlTZBrm6B/s320/040.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">the Library </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqgI7oEBS3_sDm1PlfjkhOZnRz145xAofXnQ0dt-S6cU4OYSF0Z4w8pFfGqZr77eXQj0RqsB92pUTaTZoA7R7ixHUJytMoXz3hb63oIog4BO2-iVNrmWMSHilsbz7Yx0KDYiZG70hxfjo3/s1600/043.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqgI7oEBS3_sDm1PlfjkhOZnRz145xAofXnQ0dt-S6cU4OYSF0Z4w8pFfGqZr77eXQj0RqsB92pUTaTZoA7R7ixHUJytMoXz3hb63oIog4BO2-iVNrmWMSHilsbz7Yx0KDYiZG70hxfjo3/s320/043.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: left;">The Ladies Boudoir; french inspired room</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPh8lO1az15wzcZ3NVyZheDi2j6lDZGkSrpB6vOqqDiQv8r1pnDs5ozshix_6G9hYXQMwqPdVj_ot0iuYfsxOhEXvIdPS12xR84hH0Y85kbomwdWb8bm4zLDOmboK47VjgyUuY8hFbQ0mR/s1600/038.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPh8lO1az15wzcZ3NVyZheDi2j6lDZGkSrpB6vOqqDiQv8r1pnDs5ozshix_6G9hYXQMwqPdVj_ot0iuYfsxOhEXvIdPS12xR84hH0Y85kbomwdWb8bm4zLDOmboK47VjgyUuY8hFbQ0mR/s400/038.JPG" width="266" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: left;">Built in the 1600's on top of a site of another chapel founded in 1119. There was a TINY area marked off by a partition that was where the servants were required to attend chapel.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEy_qKinvVtwURa3Kfn2lY3xubMVK5vKHNr-GSsPwfWsGten-A7WpjmBtKLsIKGN2X8iwHztWJxZvDFvbP2Urh9BlTdhLxUqCZWG7ovN0LPZpCHIYpZSVfJKOafHB_Ahtwz50dWaWnCNrs/s1600/042.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEy_qKinvVtwURa3Kfn2lY3xubMVK5vKHNr-GSsPwfWsGten-A7WpjmBtKLsIKGN2X8iwHztWJxZvDFvbP2Urh9BlTdhLxUqCZWG7ovN0LPZpCHIYpZSVfJKOafHB_Ahtwz50dWaWnCNrs/s400/042.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Music Room</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX96XKg6sux-ibntSS6bo0aDaEAhFpQq-sjbCnnfxi8yVXgc2VmOI62S6Zh-_F3TV5vHhoC8ZxkOI9uzWM0lNoLdZWFK3HRJgkxhlzNrk1DOLdVtW3C3cPWnwwKsywbA4XoeqgLpyZYFul/s1600/044.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX96XKg6sux-ibntSS6bo0aDaEAhFpQq-sjbCnnfxi8yVXgc2VmOI62S6Zh-_F3TV5vHhoC8ZxkOI9uzWM0lNoLdZWFK3HRJgkxhlzNrk1DOLdVtW3C3cPWnwwKsywbA4XoeqgLpyZYFul/s400/044.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: left;">Countess of Warwick's Bedroom;1800's</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnmhgPe0CrLzE4ZHfH7aepxJU5GfKuaFuic8BYFb_AAe2wWyLrUlL6lCkh89B75f9m6lKj8xEWigZIGpL3pvtXildt6U_8E6mWad27WSoGwQAFyeoj3AqKDAmCYEApDCKaeT4NwzVXf8UG/s1600/up-the-tower.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnmhgPe0CrLzE4ZHfH7aepxJU5GfKuaFuic8BYFb_AAe2wWyLrUlL6lCkh89B75f9m6lKj8xEWigZIGpL3pvtXildt6U_8E6mWad27WSoGwQAFyeoj3AqKDAmCYEApDCKaeT4NwzVXf8UG/s400/up-the-tower.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">3 towers & the tower Wall. Total of 530 steps! Elora started crying about 1/2 way through and said "We're going to die, we're never getting home!"</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8Df6Fno3VOXlepI0E_fP__z4G6kWgy_RMavODjlR9ZQjCvSbfNGm5c59T09xxk7WpZdIglhf6QLpQCkrfsf8LVcnIkBgIvn-PtkpU2Ket2Yx0wcZFXhNjr7aicSG2THKWz1jVa4ey5Bv4/s1600/5222877550_c87f18ba21_z.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8Df6Fno3VOXlepI0E_fP__z4G6kWgy_RMavODjlR9ZQjCvSbfNGm5c59T09xxk7WpZdIglhf6QLpQCkrfsf8LVcnIkBgIvn-PtkpU2Ket2Yx0wcZFXhNjr7aicSG2THKWz1jVa4ey5Bv4/s320/5222877550_c87f18ba21_z.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">530 steps & Steve carried Dylan up and down all of them. I'd highly suggest if you have younger kids, do not climb the towers, you can still see great views from the top of the mound which is much easier for the little ones to climb. </td></tr>
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Kid's Favorite things:<br />
Elora age 6- The Princess Tower; no photography was allowed in there but it was a short 10 minute show about a Princess getting ready for a wedding.<br />
Derek age 4- The dueling show; again a short 10 minute instruction on the dueling gents & the tower climbing<br />
Dylan age 2- The playground & The Bird show.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwuZkv2Zx4MueZVtSI-Xqth9J5Zi2-p5Y6kTNGLsGs1X-emuVfubQiFbFngP8GOoUMvpuxF72kKKWUVew7f3r-neM_r0IhU4dISZPFOEVuPNSP5MzGFskO7gzeut-k7WPZ9298Th9Ldmpb/s1600/054.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwuZkv2Zx4MueZVtSI-Xqth9J5Zi2-p5Y6kTNGLsGs1X-emuVfubQiFbFngP8GOoUMvpuxF72kKKWUVew7f3r-neM_r0IhU4dISZPFOEVuPNSP5MzGFskO7gzeut-k7WPZ9298Th9Ldmpb/s400/054.JPG" width="400" /></a><br />
After we had seen, walked, & climbed all that we could at Warwick Castle, without paying extra and doing everything that was age appropriate for our Children we were done around 3:30. I knew for sure I wanted to visit St. Mary's Church, there is just something about Cathedrals that draw me to them, the architecture, the religion, the history, probably all of the above. Entrance was free, but we donated £4.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhScWoWxZsnOr1lqShX4rJtMuMS_kK2p-TeL0UKcWhgogoOLJKi4Z0FU9evNMFiK-R2QumA1g1mS6I_IBa0ASxBsc8U3EpU-wwlXS287Kfl5MtMgRjumoU-C6IpEDuaB_qAvNJcTytA7yHZ/s1600/077.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhScWoWxZsnOr1lqShX4rJtMuMS_kK2p-TeL0UKcWhgogoOLJKi4Z0FU9evNMFiK-R2QumA1g1mS6I_IBa0ASxBsc8U3EpU-wwlXS287Kfl5MtMgRjumoU-C6IpEDuaB_qAvNJcTytA7yHZ/s400/077.JPG" width="266" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Interior Looking East</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihWYK1rUt_q1X-6JErNoWyx9yw1VsDLa7KckmkrbdtREy8SOQJGsmF8c8TMjaDaPD7wolXn9jc1yLc6MaCsobDnealCNKtlOKPir0YfxNdcMLn1XJFb1Xwx7KsDhN7xd8jTJ1uboMRIL_T/s1600/086.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihWYK1rUt_q1X-6JErNoWyx9yw1VsDLa7KckmkrbdtREy8SOQJGsmF8c8TMjaDaPD7wolXn9jc1yLc6MaCsobDnealCNKtlOKPir0YfxNdcMLn1XJFb1Xwx7KsDhN7xd8jTJ1uboMRIL_T/s400/086.JPG" width="266" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Close up of the stained Glass</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbOY-bqz9HqG0P3P1Ls32wwygwG0r74dWwrjK8wSzMIFHKGc-QmqjsVcaOTozyg-GlHi6rmUYOAcE4-LyfoLwg_ggnnQo31BDjd8xijoiAjPY9tj6wg6u8DU7ijkQbB0Jkxmuox3nKpGn6/s1600/080.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbOY-bqz9HqG0P3P1Ls32wwygwG0r74dWwrjK8wSzMIFHKGc-QmqjsVcaOTozyg-GlHi6rmUYOAcE4-LyfoLwg_ggnnQo31BDjd8xijoiAjPY9tj6wg6u8DU7ijkQbB0Jkxmuox3nKpGn6/s400/080.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chapel</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRAA6R4APzKghmzJcfX5TpxDyYsOPqX9J0m1h-lM3OiJOZOQPeO6Mzuj5mCOB_miAgBSjUhgLbcj9CHrHrqMApao0CulZyJYH7AP1Z6Tc_P2ZbmokkhXRRKi-p-wGlc8YIdpzp7drxwziu/s1600/089.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRAA6R4APzKghmzJcfX5TpxDyYsOPqX9J0m1h-lM3OiJOZOQPeO6Mzuj5mCOB_miAgBSjUhgLbcj9CHrHrqMApao0CulZyJYH7AP1Z6Tc_P2ZbmokkhXRRKi-p-wGlc8YIdpzp7drxwziu/s400/089.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: left;">Earl of Warwick & his wife Katherine entombed together</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWIUhiN3ILWXXb3cfMAfHjxjynDB54iT0M9E9Rb1u-lK_DWn_Trpzd4yj3H1Kr65OUoUaRpBh_hH_zrWgeGfvvWcUXurCclZeWL7n5by_aO9S5NQXN2NBbptGa6pz1uI0Djh4qhYeehwbZ/s1600/091.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWIUhiN3ILWXXb3cfMAfHjxjynDB54iT0M9E9Rb1u-lK_DWn_Trpzd4yj3H1Kr65OUoUaRpBh_hH_zrWgeGfvvWcUXurCclZeWL7n5by_aO9S5NQXN2NBbptGa6pz1uI0Djh4qhYeehwbZ/s400/091.JPG" width="266" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: left;">Richard Beuchamp, Earl of Warwick's tomb. He oversaw the execution of Joan of Arc.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Beuchamp Chapel </td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Interior Looking West</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD6nji4IjqZLFvGLEGsKa5uJ1FMZW1VFLymzS2BRj8ovqvQ1biwMFXqipJPdn46bx7McaZtMIpTth6IuO8njHcVGZSQdmbP77DDBLwhQbaY56pIGSdNxxn_If7kIOMadn9xfB8iC3CTH5I/s1600/084.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD6nji4IjqZLFvGLEGsKa5uJ1FMZW1VFLymzS2BRj8ovqvQ1biwMFXqipJPdn46bx7McaZtMIpTth6IuO8njHcVGZSQdmbP77DDBLwhQbaY56pIGSdNxxn_If7kIOMadn9xfB8iC3CTH5I/s400/084.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: left;">William Parr; brother of Queen Katherine Parr and leading courtier during the reigns of Edward VI and Elizabeth I more in next pic</span></td></tr>
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By the time we were done at St. Mary's everything was closing, so that ended our day. We had a great time, we built some memories, and we took a step back into time. Would I say that Warwick Castle was worth the 1/2 off admission, not really. $70 is really expensive for 4 people to see a castle, but I'm glad we did it once & got to see as much as we did, but there is so much more to see and do around England.<br />
<br />Ericahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15792640075088768475noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7756305202178673963.post-49454216990924241692012-10-09T22:09:00.000+01:002013-01-05T22:10:36.596+00:00Planting seeds in my heart<span style="font-size: x-large;">"She wanted to grow in beauty and grace, so she asked God to show her the seeds she should plant in the soil of her heart."</span><br />
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Oh my goodness... God is definitely speaking to me right now!<br />
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I have one of those inspirational desk calendars, on my desk of course, given to me for hosting a party. It says "This little calendar is one way to add flair and inspiration to all your days. Filled with quotes & scriptures sure to lift your spirit and put sassiness in your soul, it'll equip you you to face challenges with the sophistication by the One who always puts you in the best light." How awesome is that!?! An added plus... it's zebra print! ;)<br />
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Ok so first the Blog is called the blessing is in the seedd, because on crazy days it is hard to remember that my family is a major and THE biggest blessing ever.<br />
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Second, if you've been following me at all on Facebook you know that life is just crazy right now; Steve is at NCOA, schooling for the military, in Germany for 6 weeks. The kids have been in school for a month so all the Autumn plays, PTO stuff, Bake sales, after school activities, teacher meetings, all happen this month. Also we're having some assessments done on base so I've been driving there a lot. Had a horrible, but now humerous, "explosion" incident with my child & groceries. The 2 year old has decided he wants to potty train now and scream his head off when we're in public places. Halloween is just a few weeks away. It's just been a rough week.<br />
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I feel like one of those clap-o-meters. You know those things that look kind of like a thermometer & the louder the clapping the higher the meter rises. It only takes one stupid little thing to get me all worked up. A post someone makes on FB, the kids fighting, having to repeat myself 10x in 20 minutes, cleaning up a potty training accident, having to give the kids a bath when all I want to do is lay down and read a book.<br />
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I know things can be worse and I also know that growing in beauty and grace are things I definitely need help with right now. Maybe a little bit of patience as well, but we all know what happens when we ask God for patience... 3 words... Elora, Derek, & Dylan. ;) I love my crazy seedd's, they are tremendous blessings. It's all about perspective, right?Ericahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15792640075088768475noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7756305202178673963.post-16067320477960488622012-10-03T20:22:00.000+01:002013-01-05T22:14:40.871+00:00Do mom's forget......that their child was once a toddler? A friend posted a vent on FB about how it was annoying to go shopping while having to listen to a kid scream the entire time & was frustrated because the parent tuned them out while the rest of the store had to listen to the kid, she ended the vent saying "have some consideration and bloody parent!" AHHHH It took EVERYTHING I had not to post a comment. After stewing for a few minutes I asked myself, does she seriously not remember what is was like when her child was a toddler? Then I came to this conclusion... They must have been through what I'm going through, and it was so traumatic that they just eventually blocked it out. ;)<br />
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Maybe this post bothers me more because I am IN this phase right now, and deal with this everyday.<br />
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Dylan is a screamer, if he doesn't like something or gets bored then he screams as loud & as high as he can. I realize that he's screaming for a reason, and will 99% of the time stop what I'm doing and ask him what's the matter to try and tell me what's wrong. Usually 97% of the time it is because he wanted something & I said no, so when I remind him "No, Sorry Dylan we aren't getting candy today." The screaming continues... if it is convenient I will just leave, usually head straight to check out or if the lines are too long I have also left my cart of stuff. But if I have to get groceries OR I made the 30 minute drive to base just to get these items then I'm going to get those items. I re-assure him that it won't be long. The re-assuring works great with Derek, who gets bored very easily with shopping, not so much with Dylan and so then I just have to grit my teeth, Smile, and bare it!!!! I apologize to everyone who makes eye contact for the screaming and try and get out as fast as I can.<br />
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It's a phase that most toddlers go through, they are learning so much at once like patience, controlling & expressing their feelings, and battling boredom!! All problems when shopping with mom.<br />
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I am getting better at just gritting my teeth and getting through it but the embarrassment is still there and while I'd like to think people understand and are sympathetic to my situation I then hear a friend blame it on the parents and other people agreeing with her, I'll admit it knocks me down a bit and as unrealistic as it is I do want to just stay home with him and not take him out. Again, I realize how unrealistic this is, especially with Steve in Germany for 4 more weeks.<br />
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I can't wait until we are out of this phase, but until then I'll just keep calm and carry on, a common phrase here in the UK that I'm sure was invented by a mom with multiple children in their early years.<br />
<br />Ericahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15792640075088768475noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7756305202178673963.post-34815826983524042422012-09-18T10:22:00.000+01:002012-09-18T10:22:21.575+01:00Anti-Aging Solution for Couches<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><span style="font-size: large;">~~Cleaning my microfiber couches!! All you need is isopropyl Alcohol, a spray bottle, & a white rag. I poured the entire contents of the bottle into the spray bottle and went to town. It took me about 4 hours to finish the ottoman, couch, love seat, and chair. </span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9WL-tvNm08jBuKHRSV1bcXzf2BdbmLfhENdv1wBfsvsRtiHHDJ9RjyFUIU41LScsRBk42dvc92iqfGNsa0FkcMvcR2119zZEARB2L_ZsE4KV54Q5c047JA5hA0wJDSNcvCKHoqEGS_CiT/s1600/001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9WL-tvNm08jBuKHRSV1bcXzf2BdbmLfhENdv1wBfsvsRtiHHDJ9RjyFUIU41LScsRBk42dvc92iqfGNsa0FkcMvcR2119zZEARB2L_ZsE4KV54Q5c047JA5hA0wJDSNcvCKHoqEGS_CiT/s400/001.JPG" width="266" /></a></div><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">This is what the ottoman looked like... we've had these couches for about 4 years now... so admittedly this is 4 yrs worth of sippy cup spillage & attempts of spot cleaning. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>Totally GROSS!!!!!</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">I was SOOO ready to just toss these & get new ones but being the realist I am and having 3 kids 6 & under... yeah no... we are keeping these couches until they move out! HAHA</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnK1R54IQXNMk1JjdfS8idm8rnfJiulIKfo-3tPSSYPGUfpe0UN8zRiPAwEyM2eXPZmqxf7x0w1g5lRrMI7wgBcYE8mBddoF7beNQ583j_W-YY65n0DM6G1cAp-KEIK-pdMoU9LTlyDoWC/s1600/002.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnK1R54IQXNMk1JjdfS8idm8rnfJiulIKfo-3tPSSYPGUfpe0UN8zRiPAwEyM2eXPZmqxf7x0w1g5lRrMI7wgBcYE8mBddoF7beNQ583j_W-YY65n0DM6G1cAp-KEIK-pdMoU9LTlyDoWC/s400/002.JPG" width="400" /></a><span style="font-size: large;">This is the ottoman after I scrubbed it a good 30ish minutes and let all the alcohol dry. Which by the way, in case you didn't already know, it dries super quick.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmmKhJW9261GKtPXeaVl5RnV1zpBcB5BHS2-emCpXP2tcL-bDQufvzyxyOM14ne92wTkehcXnYSsiGmjZR2bFyIr3otmf38xcajO76QWjWysh4pc9X_Xe8Pzj4d5jvqYZ3VlpU-_PGXzpF/s1600/003.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmmKhJW9261GKtPXeaVl5RnV1zpBcB5BHS2-emCpXP2tcL-bDQufvzyxyOM14ne92wTkehcXnYSsiGmjZR2bFyIr3otmf38xcajO76QWjWysh4pc9X_Xe8Pzj4d5jvqYZ3VlpU-_PGXzpF/s400/003.JPG" width="400" /></a><span style="font-size: large;">And this is the ottoman after scrubbing a 2nd time just over the areas that still had the water rings for about 15 mins. Looks SOOO much better. Now, not every single stain is gone maybe if I scrubbed some more and put more elbow grease into it I could get them all off but after 4 hours and seeing this much improvement I was satisfied. :) They only look about 6 months old now compared to 4 years!! WOOHOO!! Anti aging for the couch, who knew!</span></div><br />
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Ericahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15792640075088768475noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7756305202178673963.post-52981978366139784102012-09-13T16:30:00.001+01:002012-09-13T16:30:54.733+01:00Dylan- 2.5 yrsIs there some rule somewhere that says the baby of the family is supposed to grow up SLOWER than the other siblings? I know, I know it's just the opposite; they see their big brothers & sisters doing things and the "baby" wants to do them also. Sigh... he isn't allowed to grow up, we jokingly call his room neverland. :)<br />
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We are ALMOST out of the baby phase, only thing left to do is potty training. The older 2 weren't interested at all until they were 3, so I'm not rushing him, however 6.5 years of diapers I'm about done. He knows what #1 & #2 are, and will tell us when he goes in his diaper, so that's step 1 in the potty training direction, but when we tell him to go on the potty, "No Tank You!"<br />
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He has definitely entered the independent stage. "No, I do it!" or the other phrase that I hear 6x a day "No stwower(stroller) I wok(walk)!" He likes to do everything himself, climbing into the car & into his seat, climbing out of the car, putting on his coat and then zipping it down to take it off, he also wants to do a lot of things that he just isn't capable of doing and he gets frustrated.<br />
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Dylan is a smart little boy, but everyone calls him a cheeky monkey, because they know he's mischievous & curious. He is talking ALL the time now, some cute things he has said (with translation):<br />
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"Dinodaur in tie oww, he eat Wego!" (Dinosaur in time out, he eat Lego!)<br />
"No I not do it, Derdek do it, not Dynan!" -Already putting the blame on his siblings<br />
"Odiber you cuee, Odiber oww my woom!" (Oliver you cute, Oliver out my room!)<br />
"No I no like dat I want chocolate nilk, no I no like dat chicken!" -We've entered the picky foods stage as well.<br />
"I wanna ride on it twactor & a digger!"<br />
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Ericahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15792640075088768475noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7756305202178673963.post-9293096194604958342012-09-10T22:45:00.000+01:002012-09-10T22:46:23.598+01:00Even more confused So my impatience got the best of me again, dang it! I posted on FB how my heart is super happy for Derek, and it is but the more I thought about it my brain is more confused.<br />
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Last week we had an appt with a speech therapist to do her assessment on Derek. After 1.5 hrs she came out and asked if I'd been working with him over the summer, and continued to say he has improved tremendously since June, he only struggles when asked to repeat a sentence, she doesn't think his scores will qualify him to be seen.<br />
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Today he had an appt with the Occupational Therapist for his assessment regarding his fine motor skills. He barely passed, only 1 or 2 points made the difference. He struggles with his grasp while holding a crayon, pencil etc. and holding scissors. The OT said "There isn't anything wrong, or malfunctioning, in his brain, it's just the muscles that need to be strengthened so I will put in a recommendation, but can also give you ideas, tips, tools and exercises to do at home." GREAT!!<br />
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So overall my heart is super happy because the things we did over summer to prepare him for going to school full time, has worked! That was very evident, he has grown by leaps and bounds which is so exciting and I'm so happy for him. However in the back of my mind, I am still left with so many questions.<br />
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I spoke with the Dr at his 4 yr checkup back in March and expressed my concerns and was immediately referred to a bunch of people within the school system. All the details are in the other blog post. Now that the assessments are done, I'm still left with mostly the same questions and concerns I had before. I know this is just one of many steps, and I'm not sure what I was expecting them to say. There is no clear answer, and they aren't medical professionals so I definitely wasn't going to receive a diagnosis, not sure if I was hoping for one.<br />
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He really has improved so much in only 6 months, so I know some of it is maturity related. He starts school full time on the 24th, right now he's only going for 2 hours a day to get him used to the classroom etc. I am still nervous for him but not as much as I was 6 months ago, that's for sure.<br />
I can't end the blog without some pics of my handsome boy:<br />
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Ericahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15792640075088768475noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7756305202178673963.post-46170221376520255652012-09-10T21:31:00.000+01:002012-09-10T21:31:24.926+01:00Women~~~Written a while ago<br />
Just yesterday I was driving home, and I started thinking about a friend of mine who is going through some hard things in her life and I started thinking about how through her trials and her honesty about everything; she's actually helped me through some of my own trials. Then I started to think how amazingly strong she is and how I hope some day I can be an inspiration to other women as she has been for me. I got home fed the boys some lunch, and this friend was still on my mind so I decided to write her a message telling her just how awesome she is. Her response to my message definitely brought on the water works, and I will treasure that forever. I'm not taking total credit for that, God put her on my heart for a reason, he knew she was hurting and chose me to be the one to lift her up. Perhaps it's because her and I have so much in common, and it's that common ground that I could relate to, but whatever the reason this has changed me. I got to thinking, how come we as women don't do this more often? <br />
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Why is it so hard for us to write a simple message telling a friend how they've inspired us, how awesome they are, what a great mom they are. Yet, it's so easy to be judgemental, passive aggressive on a post on Facebook, or talk about each other negatively. I also just recently experienced how cruel words can be when feelings get hurt and miscommunications happen. It's time for a change, be the change you want to see in the world. Definitely!!<br />
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~~~So not sure why this never got posted, I was cleaning up the blog a bit and saw the big orange words DRAFT next to this post. Something to add to this post though... A few weeks ago, or maybe it was a couple months a friend whom I haven't gotten to know as well as I'd like, we just started getting to know each other and then BAM orders to England, anyway; she sent me a message. Her message was so uplifting and so inspiring, definitely brought on the water works and it's definitely something every mom needs to genuinely hear. Being on the receiving end of one of these messages is so humbling! I had no clue what to say to her other than Thank You.<br />
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I have a new favorite song, because I often question why does this matter...<br />
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<i>"You're picking up toys on the living room floor for the 15th time today. Matching up socks. Sweeping up lost cheerios that got away.</i><br />
<i>You put a baby on your hip. Color on your lips and head out the door</i><br />
<i>While I may not know you, I bet I know you wonder sometimes, does it matter at all?</i><br />
<i>Well let me remind you, it all matters just as long as you do everything you do to the glory of the One who made you, Cause he made you, To do, Every little thing that you do To bring a smile to His face Tell the story of grace With every move that you make And every little thing you do"</i><br />
~~One of my fav songs from Steven Curtis Chapman<br />
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So after receiving this uplifting message, I am on a mission. I have almost 400 friends on facebook, and hopefully by the end of the year I'll have an awesome blog post to write about. No, I'm not deleting anyone, not yet anyway. I accepted their friend request or sent one of my own for a reason, so instead of "deleting" I am "messaging". :)Ericahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15792640075088768475noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7756305202178673963.post-78939139467265245022012-08-21T00:06:00.000+01:002012-08-21T00:06:05.809+01:00My OfficeSince we're stationed in England and a Home Depot isn't right around the corner, things in the play room are on hold until I can find a place to get the materials I need. So onto the office... :) My office is a tiny room that leads into the master bedroom, naturally it became an office. I want to personalize this space, since when the kids are sleeping I'm usually in here on the computer and/or working on some sort of project. So I am going with black & white, since I just can't get enough of it, with a bit of pink popping out. :) The room is definitely a work in progress, but I am so excited about how it's coming along I have to share!! :)<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFOd0VHGqOpHLyRuBOhiIxVtn6fYLxXdk4UtD5zq_OipAEpWDQw7UByX8vcmimo3dFM2iuXEBv4Un1-JDYQBQgh8JnmQaPKI4LXUjTFZw3BURbSSB67vmR763VqK8FIpqpHGYUhWFP74ut/s1600/007.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFOd0VHGqOpHLyRuBOhiIxVtn6fYLxXdk4UtD5zq_OipAEpWDQw7UByX8vcmimo3dFM2iuXEBv4Un1-JDYQBQgh8JnmQaPKI4LXUjTFZw3BURbSSB67vmR763VqK8FIpqpHGYUhWFP74ut/s400/007.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>On our trip to Ikea a couple months ago I picked up a new desk, 2 expedit bookcases, and a magnetic board for the office. I am on the search for fabric & plexi glass to go on top of the desk. <br />
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So I found pretty contact paper at a store in town and I covered the magnet board with it. SUPER CUTE!! I'm going to turn pink buttons into magnets to add the pop of pink in the pic, but I love it already. (Can you believe I don't have a good b&w pic of Elora! Hoping to get a good one next week)<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5OLeWaWUaNhxKaZOcaaKGN6-ymAkmMaNfrzlMtKT3r4TwhLQClL7SDzJRfix42UrjRt_OhsWvITc-Reh0OpYrU3uf-E_5-22QOsQhjg0j4lLpWh6nMkRd4ntryn3RjOahcQHSzuaQEhDD/s1600/008.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5OLeWaWUaNhxKaZOcaaKGN6-ymAkmMaNfrzlMtKT3r4TwhLQClL7SDzJRfix42UrjRt_OhsWvITc-Reh0OpYrU3uf-E_5-22QOsQhjg0j4lLpWh6nMkRd4ntryn3RjOahcQHSzuaQEhDD/s400/008.JPG" width="266" /></a></div><br />
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So because the magnet board worked so well I thought<br />
"Hey let's do the same thing to the cork board!" <br />
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BTW those are London Theatre tickets to WICKED!! Taking my 6 yr old next week to see it, can't wait!! :)<br />
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I saw on pinterest, somewhere, a picture of a bookcase with the back covered in Fabric, it made a piece of furniture look so different, so I decided to do the same thing. Instead of fabric I chose contact paper in a different b&w pattern. So much easier in my opinion than gluing fabric. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8-evwuwMkh8D7eE2FiXVPPdCBRzb0teFlF7t4JEP3Ty6_NdrjzaIq530hdCQJ35rt__tYOhjUsxgHPOMg3PQVhCgy0YqPkw70MqQXRbzbzdI8_pVKZSE9jq7I-Ur0FApcSf5UWTHN-i2R/s1600/006.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8-evwuwMkh8D7eE2FiXVPPdCBRzb0teFlF7t4JEP3Ty6_NdrjzaIq530hdCQJ35rt__tYOhjUsxgHPOMg3PQVhCgy0YqPkw70MqQXRbzbzdI8_pVKZSE9jq7I-Ur0FApcSf5UWTHN-i2R/s400/006.JPG" width="266" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghu2BRELiqllrqy_Wih_MDB6kNyda2mK2sPLmwEvHwdcgVveLtmbsCaItnQ0nRoBfugkJHyqAq4Qw33J7ScgVCjk3IDFk3LqlOELOcAbxJEeWG4IQIc6atMnH1yxlPJYjfo9vgUEis0_Xa/s1600/005.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghu2BRELiqllrqy_Wih_MDB6kNyda2mK2sPLmwEvHwdcgVveLtmbsCaItnQ0nRoBfugkJHyqAq4Qw33J7ScgVCjk3IDFk3LqlOELOcAbxJEeWG4IQIc6atMnH1yxlPJYjfo9vgUEis0_Xa/s400/005.JPG" width="266" /></a> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">So here's my little corner of the office, right to the left of the book case is the door leading out to the hallway. See my pink button art, love the pop of pink. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkbXxDluqzqVYJTa8FxuAxxCH48nTPyRVUWT0A4MMCtyVKbHduRnFY6Ab_-a5nU1GQ9gix8q4RD-b9MtoAC-tcpcJ1sJiI-6lyICQYVZgG6kf4D3ZSR2FwdKXS5ennijTohLdf7QDrhotU/s1600/009.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkbXxDluqzqVYJTa8FxuAxxCH48nTPyRVUWT0A4MMCtyVKbHduRnFY6Ab_-a5nU1GQ9gix8q4RD-b9MtoAC-tcpcJ1sJiI-6lyICQYVZgG6kf4D3ZSR2FwdKXS5ennijTohLdf7QDrhotU/s400/009.JPG" width="266" /></a>I haven't really found the perfect set up for my bookcase, but this will do for now.I have so many tupperware bins full of craft supplies. I'm working on super cute labels, but again I was too impatient to wait so consider this an after & before picture. I got the striped boxes at Ikea, unsure how they'd look in the space, but I really like them for storing all the USB cables & electronic wires, I could actually use a couple more.</div><div style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div><div style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Since I ran out of storage boxes, I improvised and used boxes I had around the house, and just used the same contact paper I used for the book shelf to cover the box. Can you guess what kind of box it is....</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div><div align="left" class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5EV9lPSgEFNxlfVFifCTvUpLc6E8Kv7JhRQJ11-u2g6MA0NjAQu3ZYD2aIDcZRLPMjvzu74U6b7LeZOoJp34urd4B08BuIRnaICYXTPtAF9BfsjZqlj5PMlcvgWSB1NWCCkgidfKJCtwC/s400/010.JPG" width="400" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">Any guesses....</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDTV-ifdngcZ_OcaHd25kBOB-7q-99YtRwsxdGrUh9CBqZzCcVCmhSu7Ox7pLx6N5eVScsFtSkwKWVa0vTSnq8YzpaOTwAqi-stig3-OvZANuRzgrM7qSRYYYosWQmpNciDt7Bs5fTUsVt/s1600/011.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDTV-ifdngcZ_OcaHd25kBOB-7q-99YtRwsxdGrUh9CBqZzCcVCmhSu7Ox7pLx6N5eVScsFtSkwKWVa0vTSnq8YzpaOTwAqi-stig3-OvZANuRzgrM7qSRYYYosWQmpNciDt7Bs5fTUsVt/s400/011.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Yep!! A Diaper box!! I ran out of contact paper to cover the entire thing so I just covered the fronts for now. I have 2 of these on the expedit bookshelves next to my computer. It still looks a little blah so no pics of the whole thing yet. I'm working on it. :) </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">So what do ya think of my office so far? I am loving it!! </div><br />
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Ericahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15792640075088768475noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7756305202178673963.post-24734715266054301612012-08-15T22:19:00.001+01:002012-08-15T22:36:41.964+01:00Menu Board"Seriously why do they want dinner every single night?" or "It's that lovely time again, Dinner... what is for dinner?" These have been my facebook posts for a while now, with hubby not home for dinner it just made it harder to plan a menu and then stick with it. So after a slump I've decided to stay ahead of this meal called dinner.<br />
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After looking at a ton of ideas off Pinterest for Menu Boards, I finally made ours and I really like how it turned out. Even my 6 year old looks at it and announces what is for dinner to her 4 & 2 year old brothers, it's great! So here is what it looks like:<br />
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I've FINALLY decided on a color scheme for my kitchen, since the cabinets are white and the counters have a gray & black marble look to it, I've decided to go with gray & yellow as the primary colors. :) So when I made this board I kept those colors in mind.<br />
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The overall cost of this project FREE!!! I had all the materials on hand to make it! So here is how I did it:<br />
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Supplies:<br />
12x12 scrapbook paper<br />
12x12 piece of Carboard, I just cut a piece from an Amazon box.<br />
1 box of jiffy cornbread, cut in half<br />
7 clothespins<br />
Colored paper to cover the cornbread box<br />
Menu ideas printed onto 1" strips of paper<br />
Days of the week squares<br />
Glue Gun<br />
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I used my hot glue gun to glue everything on. First I made a list of all the meals my family likes to eat, and did a search to find a few new recipes that I thought they'd enjoy. Then I went onto Microsoft Word and put them all into 7 different categories and assigned each category a color. I Listed them below along with a picture. I chose categories that worked best for us, and it just happened to work out that there are 7, so the idea is there won't be any duplicated colors in a week. If it was a crock pot meal I put a tiny (cp) next to it, so I knew where in my recipe box to find it.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPR8CdkuFRfvNQqJrqdlHm74lKI2oLGSB2hS1MCo_3l1WP2Qeb-7IK_JJg7vDmtNoYfLfTwoNAGDGrrsRg6yyyXUYHGnaJNKgjaokfjtXpK5V_fmpQc2GcWChlTMnHhMG7P6f-0tudoVis/s1600/002.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPR8CdkuFRfvNQqJrqdlHm74lKI2oLGSB2hS1MCo_3l1WP2Qeb-7IK_JJg7vDmtNoYfLfTwoNAGDGrrsRg6yyyXUYHGnaJNKgjaokfjtXpK5V_fmpQc2GcWChlTMnHhMG7P6f-0tudoVis/s400/002.JPG" width="266" /></a><br />
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Chicken- Gray<br />
Beef/Pork- Green<br />
Fish- Blue<br />
Italian- Red<br />
Mexican- Pink<br />
Misc.- Yellow (dinner out, leftovers, and breakfast meals are in this category)<br />
Sandwiches- Dark Gray<br />
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My original idea was to print them out on different colored paper, BUT I didn't have 7 different colors on hand so I "highlighted" them instead. Then I typed out the days of the week and "Menu" and made a thick yellow border around it and printed them all off. Next I cut the Menu Ideas into 1" strips.<br />
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I cut the cardboard box and glued the scrapbook paper on. Then I cut the cornbread box in half and glued yellow paper to it. I glued the days of the week to the clothespins and placed everything on the board to figure out where I wanted to glue everything, once I was satisfied, everything got hot glued on.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7TkfCpJUi8zKCPRq5zjlL1DzsG19iG4lpprbKc7aGv5wzRV_nTNIBDcrm1S_s5t0HSHDoCJ1_wm32KFo2G3SHJDSwx73eifQqRq4Jndy7w4d5nnTEH9YjEHpLLLxXE6WhJ54u7Hp2D9tV/s1600/001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7TkfCpJUi8zKCPRq5zjlL1DzsG19iG4lpprbKc7aGv5wzRV_nTNIBDcrm1S_s5t0HSHDoCJ1_wm32KFo2G3SHJDSwx73eifQqRq4Jndy7w4d5nnTEH9YjEHpLLLxXE6WhJ54u7Hp2D9tV/s400/001.JPG" width="266" /></a><br />
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The top box contains all the printed out Menu Ideas. The bottom box contains blank paper strips for any new menu ideas along with a pen.<br />
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I just used a 3M picture hanging strip and hung it on an empty wall in my kitchen, next to our calendar and the grocery list.<br />
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Speaking of... I ALSO made a Grocery check List that is right next to it so when we run out of something I can just check it off as needed. :) I just printed off about 15 and clipped them together. When it's time to go shopping I can just take the list off and there will be others behind it, as it gets low all I have to do is open the document and print more off. I thought about making it all colorful and pretty but then came to my senses and realized it is only a list that I'll have to print off numerous times and will eventually get thrown away. So black and white it is.<br />
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Ericahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15792640075088768475noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7756305202178673963.post-63413599116484091542012-08-08T15:33:00.000+01:002012-08-08T15:33:36.590+01:00Kid's Calendar<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Another great pinterest idea! I saw this and knew I wanted to make one for my kiddos. The gal who I got the idea from made this for her 4 children whom she home schools. I do not home school my 3 children, I don't think I would have the patience for it, however I love this for so many reasons. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0apd3CLO5DiW4aOGpt2wEUpvVwNnEbBQl1DG39G8HTFqB8MBt4GPJwT0W9UkH_9ZwmrLzU-S_tqLoEkkNXtt4L3VktRTQJ0op_LDC8q4nIUN8WDTpgc8KpAxThdM1evar5AgDlIiSApvn/s1600/001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="425" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0apd3CLO5DiW4aOGpt2wEUpvVwNnEbBQl1DG39G8HTFqB8MBt4GPJwT0W9UkH_9ZwmrLzU-S_tqLoEkkNXtt4L3VktRTQJ0op_LDC8q4nIUN8WDTpgc8KpAxThdM1evar5AgDlIiSApvn/s640/001.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">1) During the summer my goal is to work with Derek on the areas he struggles with the most; Carpet Time and Social Activities. He makes friend's easily and always talks about them, but he has a hard time knowing when it is time to play and when it is time to listen and also keeping his hands to himself. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">2) When the older 2 go back to school this will be a great way to incorporate pre-school activities with Dylan since it will just be him & I all day. </div><div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">3) I added the things that I knew my children would enjoy, but also age appropriate things that they each can do. Like the adding of the school day's this is great for Elora; Colors and Pet great for Dylan; Shapes & Alphabet great for Derek. Then everything else we can all do together.</div><div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">4) Everything is right there on the calendar, everything needed for the certain calendar activity is on the key ring, no needing to have a seperate storage area to keep up with.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b>Supplies:</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Poster Board Colored Paper</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Laminator & pocket sheets</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Calendar activities printed out</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">25 metal key rings 19 plastic hooks</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">20 clear thumb tacks(push pins)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Double sided permanent tape</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">So first I found all the calendar activities that I wanted on our Calendar I got them all from these websites:</div><div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="http://www.mamajenn.com/MamaJenn/CalendarTime.html" target="_blank">http://www.mamajenn.com/MamaJenn/CalendarTime.html</a> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="http://www.confessionsofahomeschooler.com/?blogger=http://confessionsofahomeschooler.blogspot.co.uk/2010/04/calendar-time.html">http://www.confessionsofahomeschooler.com</a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="http://www.1plus1plus1equals1.com/Calendar2.html">http://www.1plus1plus1equals1.com/Calendar2.html</a> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Then I printed them out, cut them out, laminated them, cut them out again and hole punched them. Then I put the metal key rings on them. Next I used my double sided tape to tape everything to colored paper that I measured and cut to make a border and give it more color. Then I placed everything on the posterboard and moved things around to make it all fit, once I was happy with that I got busy taping everything down, and adding the plastic hooks. :) Here is a break down of each section.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC-w83nE2mhfDCLAEEm0I_OnvgwMKX9Dg9km811Qa7Hr9oYlkT3E-OYB9XOjfGeEgLczIsmRZem_Rf314JdmfxofdCHy2RHkfUb3JiY1DgcOFj-XbjjUZhxvBUfnvsOs0gukvLIc3m2IU5/s1600/002.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC-w83nE2mhfDCLAEEm0I_OnvgwMKX9Dg9km811Qa7Hr9oYlkT3E-OYB9XOjfGeEgLczIsmRZem_Rf314JdmfxofdCHy2RHkfUb3JiY1DgcOFj-XbjjUZhxvBUfnvsOs0gukvLIc3m2IU5/s400/002.JPG" width="400" /></a><b><u>The Date</u></b>: Here is a closer picture of it, all the days of the week are on one set of rings, months, day, year are the same. I used the plastic hooks to hang the rings on.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMVPNQWga54LmteZLhfgDsiU3a0c0cZcHJkJqIxFkaxmVRSsbjS-WGjbGzvLseP3Z1-Q8alSJvdM8TCVVbh_ch-sWptkFJrTCW4F_W96M9CiRbaW72meCvhVOw26FlgRP-4ttOSgMUVtQH/s1600/005.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMVPNQWga54LmteZLhfgDsiU3a0c0cZcHJkJqIxFkaxmVRSsbjS-WGjbGzvLseP3Z1-Q8alSJvdM8TCVVbh_ch-sWptkFJrTCW4F_W96M9CiRbaW72meCvhVOw26FlgRP-4ttOSgMUVtQH/s320/005.JPG" width="320" /></a><u><b>What's the Weather Like Today?</b></u> Each day has a plastic hook and there are a set of 6 cards on each ring and every day the kids will take turns finding what the weather is like for that day. (at the time of the photo I was short 2 key rings so Friday didn't have a set of cards hanging, but there is supposed to be one there) :)</div><div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b><u>The Temperature-</u></b> I didn't take an individual picture of this, since you can see it in the first picture. Basically the kids will take turns each day to read the outdoor thermometer and color in with a dry erase marker the actual temperature. Since they attend a British School they will also write it in Celsius and for the sake of their old mom and dad also write it in Fahrenheit. :)</div><div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b><u>Today, Tomorrow, and Yesterday</u></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhz3d1eemx_tX9CZcW8w6jvhoXXCrD8ItykitOzp6abCi6iB3WaiQQ10nInhaWdiNViM9sw2ch7J8FrjzXPZiUVBKi5gAEEFfK8B9qlTw7EHxEHXvhy6VUAqVjWAkFuFkWEDojMRZtgjFAo/s1600/003.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhz3d1eemx_tX9CZcW8w6jvhoXXCrD8ItykitOzp6abCi6iB3WaiQQ10nInhaWdiNViM9sw2ch7J8FrjzXPZiUVBKi5gAEEFfK8B9qlTw7EHxEHXvhy6VUAqVjWAkFuFkWEDojMRZtgjFAo/s400/003.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I remember when I was younger, like 4. I always struggled with the concept of yesterday, today, and tomorrow. My children are no exception, I often get asked "When is Tomorrow?" "Are we doing this tomorrow or yesterday?" So I love this little chart, it provides a visual and will hopefully help them understand. It works with the weather chart also, "yesterday it was rainy, what is it today?" </div><div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b><u>Days until/In School</u></b></div><div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I used push pins for this chart, and as you can see in the 1st picture I cut a small piece of white paper and wrote until on it and covered the "In" Since it is summer we are doing a count down of how many days until school starts. Then below that there is space for them to add the days together using hundreds, ten's, and one's. I also have them try to count up to that number. In the 2nd picture you'll see the Days "In" School. (At the time of the photo I was short 2 key rings, there is a set of cards on each pin now.) </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPnlyxAYw3jAbDuUvTuOLYsRllobywMe-G1ttF-zyws2vl9KkIzZSe5if0EVSIcYh9XZxtTFWf_SEDiAH5tW_U53uKLVCsTNW69WzxSm_q-2uKZYtkdpjzi953xaETsmJkDKY2z6speNWj/s1600/006.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPnlyxAYw3jAbDuUvTuOLYsRllobywMe-G1ttF-zyws2vl9KkIzZSe5if0EVSIcYh9XZxtTFWf_SEDiAH5tW_U53uKLVCsTNW69WzxSm_q-2uKZYtkdpjzi953xaETsmJkDKY2z6speNWj/s400/006.JPG" width="266" /></a></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRQQLLaNn2PaKe71Ti21RqvC053BU9jKlOYCdFOQpr80mNrVJ73SIDStsNtemxil5h1vUdBUAKx9lOzh5CqQae8_t2zSPrenReaHKFf6eCw4OeI1Vzi6q7yb2XNqApjPyWpGxkBkBhAA82/s1600/007.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRQQLLaNn2PaKe71Ti21RqvC053BU9jKlOYCdFOQpr80mNrVJ73SIDStsNtemxil5h1vUdBUAKx9lOzh5CqQae8_t2zSPrenReaHKFf6eCw4OeI1Vzi6q7yb2XNqApjPyWpGxkBkBhAA82/s400/007.JPG" width="266" /> </a><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div> <b><u>My Address:</u></b><br />
I didn't take an individual picture of this either, since you can see it clearly in the first picture. With this the address and phone number have now been added, I just used a dry erase marker. Since we're living in England the Emergency Number is 999 not 911 so I just printed out my own and put it overtop the 911 that was already on the pdf file I downloaded for this printable.<br />
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<b><u>____ of the week:</u></b><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDhDG53b2R6oqzcGfglT9NhBUpUt6rvJ7W28VqI8wKlAzvpDap8Ik2z1OFS3wtLiP3SiyJBP5FHbVSDT5CXVAAHmw4yCDPtjyT_CLjQn2yIm25tJMUnqRw2g-mlpophoI87vH_GtjYCeG9/s1600/004.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDhDG53b2R6oqzcGfglT9NhBUpUt6rvJ7W28VqI8wKlAzvpDap8Ik2z1OFS3wtLiP3SiyJBP5FHbVSDT5CXVAAHmw4yCDPtjyT_CLjQn2yIm25tJMUnqRw2g-mlpophoI87vH_GtjYCeG9/s400/004.JPG" width="266" /></a> I loved the idea of having a "something" of the week section so I chose things that would be fun for the 6 year old but also things that will help the 2 & 4 year old. In the blog post I originally got the idea from they did ___ of the day; however when the older 2 go back to school it will just be me and little man and if we changed it everyday we'd be done with the cards in 2-4 weeks. So I changed it to weekly, and we'll see how it goes. I made 4 categories; shape, color, animal, and alphabet. For the alphabet I downloaded the body pdf file here:<a href="http://teachmama.com/2010/03/abc-exercise-cards-hooray.html" target="_blank">http://teachmama.com/2010/03/abc-exercise-cards-hooray.html</a>. I like the idea that there is an exercise associated with each letter. ALSO with the letter of the week we'll review our Alphabet Bible Verse that is strung along the playroom wall's. So for example; The calendar activity says to make circles with your <u>A</u>nkle. The bible verse is from Psalm 18:30 <u>A</u>s for God his way is Perfect. :)<br />
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So there is The Kid's Calendar. They had tons of fun with it this morning, we'll see if the excitement keeps up at least through the summer. :)Ericahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15792640075088768475noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7756305202178673963.post-25324337176908368062012-08-08T13:55:00.000+01:002012-08-08T13:55:58.703+01:00Playroom part 2<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20.78333282470703px;">So my goal was to have the playroom done before the kids got out of school. This didn't happen, however I am very happy with the progress made, and it's almost done!! Here was the list of things to get done...</span><br />
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</span></span> <span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 20.766666412353516px;">This is the trofast system from Ikea, it was a little pricey, however it is very sturdy and should last a long time. We used to have the cheap cubbies from Target with the fabric cubes, but the corners of the unit were destroyed in the move and the fabric cubes had so many liquid stains it was gross, and they lost their shape so I knew I was going with plastic this time around. </span></span><br />
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</strike> <strike style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20.78333282470703px;"> ~Paint the table& 2 stools and get 2 new stools for it</strike><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20.78333282470703px;"> </span><br />
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</span> <span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 20.766666412353516px;">The table and 2 square stools used to be dark blue with Toy Story characters on them, I painted them white and got 2 more stools from Ikea to add to it. It turned out cute. The kids are always playing on it.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20.78333282470703px;">~Hang a shelf for our phone center(the only outlet for the Internet & phone is in the corner of the playroom)</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20.78333282470703px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20.78333282470703px;">~Set up "centers" it works for schools so why not do it at home. <b>(almost done)</b></span><br />
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</b></span> <span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20.78333282470703px;">WOOHOO! So all I have left are the 2 things mentioned above. I have the shelf for the phone but I need to paint it white and when I finally have the time to do it, it's raining outside. Figures. Then setting up "centers" this is mostly done, all that is left is the reading center, but the bench needs to be finished and once the shelf for the phone is up I can come up with a creative way to store books on the wall. :)</span><br />
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</span> <span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: x-small; line-height: 20.766666412353516px;">So in addition to the above mentioned:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 20.766666412353516px;">~Finish the kids reading bench</span></span><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfO5QXDTkyrJAltSlh64TLSBxqPcLWzd-A-8Mvm-N1AgOrTCWKy6m4c2ICuOfqgF-io1Cv6QpylLesOieE2caC9qhUBbG3iwSE6HeZIZcWWm2xn_AOfD9bz3569iJJzrQSEbvbfuMj2prb/s1600/016.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfO5QXDTkyrJAltSlh64TLSBxqPcLWzd-A-8Mvm-N1AgOrTCWKy6m4c2ICuOfqgF-io1Cv6QpylLesOieE2caC9qhUBbG3iwSE6HeZIZcWWm2xn_AOfD9bz3569iJJzrQSEbvbfuMj2prb/s320/016.JPG" width="213" /></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 20.766666412353516px;"><br />
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</span></span> <span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 20.766666412353516px;">The white bench on the left, is actually a coffee table from Ikea. I will be getting a piece of wood and 2" foam all cut to the appropriate size, and I have already ordered outdoor fabric(because let's face it, 3 kids ages 2, 4, & 6... outdoor fabric is the way to go) to cover it. Then we'll drill the seat pad onto the coffee table and voila a reading bench for the kids. The opening on the front is a perfect spot for books and then on the side it has enough room for 3 storage bins, YAY more storage for toys!! Except since it is the "reading bench" I might just have baskets full of books!! </span></span><br />
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</span></span> <span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 20.766666412353516px;">~Hang shelves for the books</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 20.766666412353516px;">~Find a colorful carpet</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 20.766666412353516px;">~Buy 3 more bins for under the bench</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 20.766666412353516px;">~ Hang 3 pictures of the kids </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 20.766666412353516px;">~Figure out what else to put on the walls</span></span><br />
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</span></span> <span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 20.766666412353516px;">So here are some more pics of the playroom and a few other projects I've done in there. :)</span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOMf2XBqdeBKYTgc1Cco4JqSl3Ytw4GbcOLJzEe1B-PUj0hhBXYqGbRYEpWf1U-ucrdrgp1m3xWhKThT-1-xC1Pct1OC__EptSv_iJpaLUrlQ7QFh5ikbHln7roeTu7q-vNO3qzqyjKfAJ/s1600/017.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOMf2XBqdeBKYTgc1Cco4JqSl3Ytw4GbcOLJzEe1B-PUj0hhBXYqGbRYEpWf1U-ucrdrgp1m3xWhKThT-1-xC1Pct1OC__EptSv_iJpaLUrlQ7QFh5ikbHln7roeTu7q-vNO3qzqyjKfAJ/s320/017.JPG" width="320" /></a>another view of the play room</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEho4Q1Z63YLlgYZS_mq2KXrFdKa21fG-WV0sZ5KnvHmynudmym9ZyPaHc0ZPwwoOlrI0zjv8InKQifSr61xSrr32JVJZTTKVij0HPnnPDUnfwiO2Uk_wrQeMzA-cb7Sk8kWjr3aTVifmpad/s1600/011.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEho4Q1Z63YLlgYZS_mq2KXrFdKa21fG-WV0sZ5KnvHmynudmym9ZyPaHc0ZPwwoOlrI0zjv8InKQifSr61xSrr32JVJZTTKVij0HPnnPDUnfwiO2Uk_wrQeMzA-cb7Sk8kWjr3aTVifmpad/s320/011.JPG" width="213" /> </a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiD0V6gmdZyBwrVaoCtPe4-daXnjfH1Cv6jggxIizqlZdSmBoAQ1LGE8cHwlH9pt3MMQiq7P4x_LWUs-hSsiI6Ww5dZunMZYdgUD3xkhaZrCPJnkZN-ab16oFkZyyXf0yUpzu_PisbuHLmw/s1600/012.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiD0V6gmdZyBwrVaoCtPe4-daXnjfH1Cv6jggxIizqlZdSmBoAQ1LGE8cHwlH9pt3MMQiq7P4x_LWUs-hSsiI6Ww5dZunMZYdgUD3xkhaZrCPJnkZN-ab16oFkZyyXf0yUpzu_PisbuHLmw/s320/012.JPG" width="213" /></a></div><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 20.766666412353516px;"><br />
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</span></span> <span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: x-small; line-height: 20.766666412353516px;"> </span><b style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: small; line-height: 20.766666412353516px;">Lego Table </b><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 20.766666412353516px;">Bought the $8 end table from Ikea and glued Duplo Lego plates onto the top. I chose the Duplo instead of the smaller Lego's for many reasons, when the time comes that we're ready for the smaller Lego's I will just sell this whole set and make another one with the regular small Lego's. :)</span></span><br />
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</span></span> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuFvf8FnUrwpb6VypNGDl0s7RokdnMgz9yfJiiI35Q3b4B73_hHpIO9oq0ynPBC7lY2VqddVx_8J7uGJ9w5k0ZLo-AlmqhfQMF0-zQ-13vjawFdnsGCgXIbhcudOU767ccA3hM5F0TFwng/s1600/010.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuFvf8FnUrwpb6VypNGDl0s7RokdnMgz9yfJiiI35Q3b4B73_hHpIO9oq0ynPBC7lY2VqddVx_8J7uGJ9w5k0ZLo-AlmqhfQMF0-zQ-13vjawFdnsGCgXIbhcudOU767ccA3hM5F0TFwng/s320/010.JPG" width="320" /></a> On pinterest I found these Alphabet Bible Verses; turns out a woman makes them and charges $60. Well I had the brilliant idea of making my own and this way I could choose my own verses. I liked the circles so I stuck with that idea, just changed the colors. Here is how it turned out, super cute I think!! I'm also going to incorporate it into our kid's calendar.(another blog post about the calendar to come)<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRo_cMYgb1lc6Yn81Buea06wLMAyN_1cyCDdfzQ_nWR-HyT9ix5nmdOvwn3fI2t-NQhhFuR7X3bqTS8Cz8icqUIhR4SxxjsDcqngSaZL40hNeQQ36uI2aT7HyXP3n0mDStfLI9ktujJA8p/s1600/008.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRo_cMYgb1lc6Yn81Buea06wLMAyN_1cyCDdfzQ_nWR-HyT9ix5nmdOvwn3fI2t-NQhhFuR7X3bqTS8Cz8icqUIhR4SxxjsDcqngSaZL40hNeQQ36uI2aT7HyXP3n0mDStfLI9ktujJA8p/s320/008.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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It was more time consuming than I thought it would be, and for some reason Microsoft Word started running really slow, but they are done and I LOVE it.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDXPzXPhebdhApxINwTJToyJfowzXgsknaw97O0xUNIrDbpKesxF3p6mC2_FP5QRY-mMrE0S0pjGM6H-jDWDeoX6WNrbC7ymc055vHANIaq6smJ9kiUmreJjCGKEC8TWeDpm5rsM_E26G9/s1600/001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDXPzXPhebdhApxINwTJToyJfowzXgsknaw97O0xUNIrDbpKesxF3p6mC2_FP5QRY-mMrE0S0pjGM6H-jDWDeoX6WNrbC7ymc055vHANIaq6smJ9kiUmreJjCGKEC8TWeDpm5rsM_E26G9/s320/001.JPG" width="320" /></a></div> My latest project that I just finished is the kid's calendar. I got the idea from pinterest, a mother who home school's her 4 children made this for their "classroom" I LOVED this idea even though I don't home school. One of my goals this summer is to do carpet time and more social school activities with the kids and this is a perfect introduction to that!! Check back soon for more details on the kid's calendar!! :)<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div> So there ya go!! Super excited about the playroom, it's come a long way. I'm terrible about taking "before" pictures, I never think about it until AFTER the project is done, but trust me this is a huge improvement, I even love playing in there. At the beginning of this whole project the goal was to make the room more useful so the kids would play in it more, who knew that the result of this whole project was that I would play in it and spend more time with my children!! The Blessing is in the SEEDD :)<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>Ericahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15792640075088768475noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7756305202178673963.post-1046338388152744862012-06-18T14:43:00.000+01:002012-06-18T14:43:13.061+01:00Perspective part 2I actually wrote the last post on perspective a couple of weeks ago, didn't add anything to it, just couldn't bring myself to post it until today. I know I'm so cheeky. I just couldn't post it, without having some sort of results. Like I mentioned in part 1, I just can't fail and posting "my dirty laundry" for all to see and then not following through on those resolutions I made for myself... that would be the definition of failure for me. <br />
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So I decided all this towards the end of May, and set these resolutions for myself. So far so good! <br />
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1 & 2 Keeping the right perspective & choosing Joy- How easy it is to dwell on the nail polish in the carpet, or the sippy cup that has been hiding under a bed and what once was milk is now a solid, or the tantrums of a 2 year old, frustrations of a 4 yr old and sassiness of a 5 yr old. The title of the blog is the blessing is in the SEED, and this right here is all the perspective & joy I need. I have started printing out quotes and bible verses and have them sporadically around the house as a constant reminder that each and every day is a blessing and not to sweat the small stuff :)<br />
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3) Organize/Re-decorate the house- This is where a lot of transformations have changed. The garage and backyard were cleaned/organized. The playroom is undergoing a major change and it's almost done, just needs a few more decorative touches to add some color. Expect a post or 2 soon. :) Steve made 2 trips to the recycling centre/landfill. I'm also in the middle of re-doing my office, I'd like to get the playroom done first and then will finish the office. We took a trip to Ikea and also placed an order online for delivery so we got new furniture for both spaces which is why both are being worked on. Since we had to pay a flat rate delivery fee we wanted to get everything that we wanted to save money.<br />
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I also created schedules and printed out morning & evening routine charts for the kids. These are so awesome, it's amazing how much of an impact some pictures, and words on a piece of paper makes! :)<br />
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So that's what we've been up to for a couple weeks now, we're a bit excited to have started these projects that we've been wanting to do for so long and not just starting them but we're almost done! The feelings of joy, peace, and accomplishment, ahh it's wonderful.Ericahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15792640075088768475noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7756305202178673963.post-55564429612033440032012-06-18T14:17:00.000+01:002012-06-18T14:17:52.144+01:00Perspective part 1After talking with a great friend on the phone and openly admitting that I stress out about stuipid stuff, but let more important stuff pass by; I'm going to try and change that. How the towels are folded, which toys go into which bin, how the dishwasher gets loaded; little things like this bug me. However things like, filing receipts and important papers, putting laundry away, organizing, meal planning, etc. I always put off until the last minute or don't do it at all and instead have piles of paper or laundry(of course behind closed doors or cabinets so the house doesn't appear to be chaotic.) I should be grateful that the towels are folded, toys are put away, dishwasher is loaded instead of stressing out that it isn't done "right".<br />
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<em><span style="color: blue;">"A pebble held close to the eye appears to be a gigantic obstacle. Cast on the ground, it is seen in perspective. Likewise, problems or trials in our lives need to be viewed in the perspective of scriptural doctrine. Otherwise they can easily overtake our vision, absorb all our energy, and deprive us of the joy and beauty the Lord intends us to receive here on earth." Richard G Scott</span></em><br />
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I know I'm not the only one who feels this way, or else there wouldn't be best selling books with the title "Don't sweat the small stuff" out there. Unfortunately stressing out about the small stuff does absorb my energy and it does take away my joy, which is so ridiculous! So, it's time for a change. I'm making some "mid year resolutions" :)<br />
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-Remember to keep things in perspective, don't sweat the small stuff<br />
-Always choose Joy <br />
-Organize/re-decorate the house<br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #0b5394;">-I know this isn't exactly with the theme of this post, BUT, your house is a reflection of you, and when you enter your home you should be overcome with feelings of peace and tranquility. This isn't the case for me. I have feelings of eagerness, anxiety, and sometimes of being overwhelmed. I immediately think of what didn't get cleaned or how this room is not how I like it. Decorating and Organizing just got placed on the back burner, I had other priorities and didn't think that taking time and money away from my family to make a room more homier or to organize a cabinet or 2 was as important; lesson learned! </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: black;">So here I go letting everyone know another of my imperfections, and for a perfectionist with a type A personality, this is hard to type because if I fail, I won't be the only one who knows it. HA</span>Ericahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15792640075088768475noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7756305202178673963.post-24532386061896466822012-06-08T10:07:00.000+01:002012-06-08T10:07:25.697+01:00Playroom & SummerThe kids are out of school this week, for half term. Since they are in a British school they get out of school July 20th and start again the 1st week of September. Since their summer break is only 6 weeks compared to 11 like the American Schools have, they have 1-2 week long breaks throughout the year. <br />
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So this particular day I woke up to the sound of giggles, and there was a request for pancakes for breakfast. First things first, a cup of coffee. Then I made pancakes with a fresh fruit salad. Afterwards I turned on the British cartoons while I cleaned up from breakfast. We colored some pictures for Daddy. Had another cup of coffee. Kids played with play doh while I started a load of laundry. Pulled out all the supplies for painting, and set that up. Debated on another cup of coffee. Colored some more pictures for daddy then we played hungry hungry hippos; looked at the clock and it was only 9:30 AM. AHHHHH... what are we going to do for 6 weeks while the kids are out of school? It's definitely time for a summer schedule for the sanity of SEEDD we need a schedule. <br />
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We have a section of the living room designated as the playroom, my goal over the next month, before the kids are out of school, is to revamp the playroom. My list is as follows:<br />
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~Get rid of small pointless toys<br />
~Organize all toys in new baskets<br />
~Label all the baskets<br />
~Paint the table& 2 stools and get 2 new stools for it<br />
~Hang a shelf for our phone center(the only outlet for the internet & phone is in the corner of the playroom)<br />
~Set up "centers" it works for schools so why not do it at home.<br />
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If you have any tips or suggestions on how you survive summer, or plan to survive, lol, Throw them my way for sure & I'll be sure to share any ideas I get. :)Ericahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15792640075088768475noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7756305202178673963.post-39750776644808781182012-05-21T18:49:00.000+01:002012-05-21T18:49:01.347+01:00A day in the Life As a mom to 3 kids 5 and under, everyday things just get in the way. I saw this poem on facebook the other day and it is sooooo spot on:<br />
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<div class="text_exposed_root text_exposed" id="id_4fba7ab823f4d9d34179136"><em>You Give a Mom a Muffin<br />
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If you give a mom a muffin, she'll want a cup of coffee to go with it. She'll pour herself some. Her three-year-old will spill the coffee. She'll wipe it up. Wiping the floor, she will find dirty socks. She'll remember she has to do laundry. When she puts the laundry in the washer, she'll trip over boots and bump into the freezer. Bumping into the freezer will remind her <span class="text_exposed_hide">...</span><span class="text_exposed_show">she has to plan supper. She will get out a pound of hamburger. She'll look for her cookbook. (101 Things To Make With A Pound Of Hamburger.) The cookbook is sitting under a pile of mail. She will see the phone bill, which is due tomorrow. She will look for her checkbook. The checkbook is in her purse that is being dumped out by her two-year-old. She'll smell something funny. She'll change the two-year-old. While she is changing the two-year-old the phone will ring. Her five-year-old will answer and hang up. She'll remember that she wants to phone a friend to come for coffee. Thinking of coffee will remind her that she was going to have a cup. She will pour herself some. And chances are, if she has a cup of coffee, her kids will have eaten the muffin that went with it.</span></em></div><br />
I've recently been on a "schedule kick" I don't know why I haven't thought of it before, I LOVE schedules always have. So last week I was tired and exhausted, for many reasons but mostly because I didn't feel like I accomplished anything that I wanted to get done. So last Weds. I made and printed off a weekly cleaning schedule for myself; a morning & evening routine for the kids including pictures, and then I sat and scheduled out my entire day. It wasn't until I typed it all out that I realized I do a lot during the day, and just because my to do list grows instead of shrinks doesn't mean I've failed. I realize to some scheduling out your entire day would drive you insane, for me it is doing the opposite. <br />
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Just a glimpse of how our day goes:<br />
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7:00 AM- Wake up, shower, get ready for day<br />
7:45 AM- Get Kids Up, eat breakfast<br />
8:05 AM- Kids Get dressed, brush teeth, get ready for school<br />
8:25 AM- Take Elora & Derek to School<br />
9:15 AM- Start Daily chores<br />
10:30 AM- Time with Dylan, playing cars, coloring, watching Dinosaur train, whatever he wants to do<br />
11:30 AM- Pick Up Derek from School<br />
12:05 PM- Lunch<br />
12:30 PM- Boys Nap/ More Daily Chores plus free time for mommy which lately has been napping<br />
2:45 PM- Pick up Elora from school<br />
3:30 PM- Snack<br />
3:45 PM- Homework/ organized activity for Kids<br />
4:30 PM- Start dinner; kids get to play outside or if raining TV time<br />
5:30 PM- Dinner<br />
6:00 PM- Clean up from Dinner, kids do chores<br />
6:30 PM- start bedtime routine<br />
7:30 PM- Lights out for kids<br />
7:35 PM- Finish any daily chores<br />
8:30 PM- Time spent with Steve<br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">9:30 PM- Catch up on Facebook, e-mails, prep for next day, watch dvr shows while folding laundry</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">11:00 PM- Bed :)</span>Ericahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15792640075088768475noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7756305202178673963.post-10454852392215509942012-05-09T14:56:00.000+01:002012-05-09T14:56:08.347+01:00Stonehenge~ Jan 2012As most of you have seen the pics on Facebook, we went to Stonehenge, and a few other places. However you don't know the entire adventurous story. I think the motto for that day was simply quoted by Dory in the movie Finding Nemo "Just keep Swimming." <br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEia4Gaka7UBm0uaH-rr0RZlrWBN_2nxd13ex_lu2QYlBIN_pM-UlQKNxMLqxQlQo7hoiNiaAmosWxJyq8VIHsbSLsidNExK_MBpFxhg_dENh0OAxuKwnfewciC8n0MV-OXhWOOPHHRoQ9y1/s1600/402570_10150519437195758_614730757_8825689_448309153_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEia4Gaka7UBm0uaH-rr0RZlrWBN_2nxd13ex_lu2QYlBIN_pM-UlQKNxMLqxQlQo7hoiNiaAmosWxJyq8VIHsbSLsidNExK_MBpFxhg_dENh0OAxuKwnfewciC8n0MV-OXhWOOPHHRoQ9y1/s320/402570_10150519437195758_614730757_8825689_448309153_n.jpg" width="320" /></a>It was a chilly day, but nothing compared to Minot. We left at 7:30 AM and started our 3 hour drive. The kids were great the entire ride, when we arrived at Stonehenge we ate our picnic lunch. We received a membership to English Heritage as a gift from Steve's mom and family so we didn't have to pay to enter. The entrance to Stonehenge is actually across the street and you walk through an underground tunnel and come out the other side, the kids thought this was soo cool. The ground was very wet, and there was about 2 inches of mud, we hadn't realized that there wasn't a paved walkway around, so we had to trek with the 2 kids and push Dylan in the stroller through the mud. "Just keep swimming"<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLNdc-Ql_YGTCbHtQe4R4pNrTZc9OkW_KDsW9F5Ye6MnvmHhMWu4InsKrBApgY_0GOI7oK2wwqE4JZXWgJWQ2fIs9puz-7PaFkMCE45FfrpmF4Yn5eVnwucCWykoav5b9HZaYiWJx4oFm5/s1600/381245_10150519437390758_614730757_8825690_2046757492_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLNdc-Ql_YGTCbHtQe4R4pNrTZc9OkW_KDsW9F5Ye6MnvmHhMWu4InsKrBApgY_0GOI7oK2wwqE4JZXWgJWQ2fIs9puz-7PaFkMCE45FfrpmF4Yn5eVnwucCWykoav5b9HZaYiWJx4oFm5/s320/381245_10150519437390758_614730757_8825690_2046757492_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
Elora wanted to push Dylan in the stroller, but with all the mud and there were so many people there we said no. She had lost her mind, it was so bad we had to give her a time out on one of the benches, for 5 minutes until she finally calmed down. "Just keep swimming"<br />
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We also saw a few other things that were in the area, we figured if we were going to drive 3 hours we better make the most of the day. We forgot to get extra pounds from the ATM so when we tried to find parking near the cathedral it was too much for what we had on us, so we parked quite a ways away in a 2 hr parking spot. "Just keep swimming"<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjQpb7hC2ZUpRnHqJsCSe_6p715xtENay3Kpe8jXT4K5c5tTsI1dbrPO0DyBzlnYX-DRqztS6akh4Ev56ZL-DPgCJL2NC0Nw4OBxDKxIC5_FCF1egDLjVi5k0YtVRhpPzRafLkdHEhwBPV/s1600/402908_10150519440640758_614730757_8825714_424232757_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjQpb7hC2ZUpRnHqJsCSe_6p715xtENay3Kpe8jXT4K5c5tTsI1dbrPO0DyBzlnYX-DRqztS6akh4Ev56ZL-DPgCJL2NC0Nw4OBxDKxIC5_FCF1egDLjVi5k0YtVRhpPzRafLkdHEhwBPV/s320/402908_10150519440640758_614730757_8825714_424232757_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
After all the sites, everyone was hungry but we had a long drive back so we decided to get McDonalds, which by the way if you haven't had European McDonalds it is DELICIOUS! We plugged it into our GPS which took us right into the center of the city, there was no parking of course so I hopped out and ran into the restaurant to order our food. Placed the order... they don't accept swipe cards, I only had 5pounds so, had to cancel my order and just got 4 burgers. "Just keep swimming"<br />
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Overall the day was great, we got the chance to see a ton of neat stuff and had tons of fun with the kids, even with all the unexpected events. Enjoy the pics :)<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYsjSEQpjJByTmwD3iDdMiWVvMR_SX8QVbkP0yUHr4qQRMp7-F3bwLysCYRccdjNr_VSn74CyJmXJ29pn-Kkki_16Qt8FJfiasNY0jeUfdtyUJoFn4he-N0PpH3o1DolhdB1mvYr23cRuV/s1600/407143_10150519449510758_614730757_8825752_1967504600_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYsjSEQpjJByTmwD3iDdMiWVvMR_SX8QVbkP0yUHr4qQRMp7-F3bwLysCYRccdjNr_VSn74CyJmXJ29pn-Kkki_16Qt8FJfiasNY0jeUfdtyUJoFn4he-N0PpH3o1DolhdB1mvYr23cRuV/s320/407143_10150519449510758_614730757_8825752_1967504600_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBoCl3paOq58rk6GQB_Qq9Vm5NW8M3XtMJaLz1YXVt52-kAhjgJt2KEHm5j223EOVB8f4esMimWUPvWmJgyjSJW7MH1BV6saoPQeJ18lPfFYHDqPvxwuh6meMMw-ZuhDgVu6og2wdjw9XU/s1600/384470_10150519449160758_614730757_8825751_1702982908_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBoCl3paOq58rk6GQB_Qq9Vm5NW8M3XtMJaLz1YXVt52-kAhjgJt2KEHm5j223EOVB8f4esMimWUPvWmJgyjSJW7MH1BV6saoPQeJ18lPfFYHDqPvxwuh6meMMw-ZuhDgVu6og2wdjw9XU/s320/384470_10150519449160758_614730757_8825751_1702982908_n.jpg" width="213" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxvUZ6rxrzzT7CPzSgBx8G90csKyr_ulk7ZYkUAVhqHNu0nopWJXFx76oqn0U-OOBF3IOoc7cKbDPMbYq2fE4Yvq0vsIQQflPDbrBoqs2wN_dBea9NWSOex3ConeLn6xgt6DQocqAl4vWJ/s1600/378426_10150519446480758_614730757_8825740_695642521_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxvUZ6rxrzzT7CPzSgBx8G90csKyr_ulk7ZYkUAVhqHNu0nopWJXFx76oqn0U-OOBF3IOoc7cKbDPMbYq2fE4Yvq0vsIQQflPDbrBoqs2wN_dBea9NWSOex3ConeLn6xgt6DQocqAl4vWJ/s320/378426_10150519446480758_614730757_8825740_695642521_n.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>Ericahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15792640075088768475noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7756305202178673963.post-8068760023742108652012-05-09T14:20:00.000+01:002012-05-09T14:20:44.293+01:00<span style="color: blue;">HAHA SO I'm going through some of my blog posts and noticed this draft, I never published it because I was still in the mentality of "my kids aren't perfect but noone else has to know that!" Yeah what a difference a year makes!! After hearing Derek's evaluation and then reading this, things make so much more sense now. So here's the unedited blog post from July 2011.</span><br />
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A comedian by the name of Anita Renfroe has a theory called the "room in da womb" theory. With the 1st baby, there is not a whole lot of room in there so they are over achievers, and must fight for every inch in there. With baby #2... "Hey look at this, it's kind of comfy in here, but wait it looks like there was someone in here before me hey that's not fair! And I'm going to tell her it's not fair for the rest of my life!" Baby #3 "Hey look at this, there is tons of space in here, I'm loving this, I'm just going to relax in here!"<br />
This description fits my children perfectly! The personality of Son #2 is wearing me down lately. Derek is definitely his own person, which I'm sure I will be very happy about when he is a man and with a family of his own, but right now I would say he is definitely my strong willed child. Terrible Two's... no way, that was easy! How old is that saying anyway, because every mom of boys I know has agreed that it should be called the Terrible Three's! <br />
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Today we went bowling with a group of other mom's and their children, we know them very well. Before we entered the building we went over all the rules. "We will be on our best behavior, we will not eat here except for some cupcakes so do not ask because my answer will be no! Do you understand what I said, please repeat it!" Oldest child, "yes mom I will be very good and won't bug you or ask you any questions." Middle Child, "yes mom." My response... "ok what did I say?" "umm... what?" So I proceed to explain again but this time using 10 words or less... ok repeat what I said. "K Mama!" Sigh... ok just going to settle for that. <br />
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We are all having a great time, except for the high pitched screams coming from child#3 who is always content until he's out of food and then he'll let you know. By frame 4 "Mama, I'm hungry! I'm hungry! Mama, Mama, Mama!" After I told him no about 20 times, he decided to take a friends snack, another little girl saw this and didn't like that he had her snack and tried to take it from him to give it back. Derek was not having this he proceeded to push, slap, and pull her hair to get her away from the snack pack that he had a death grip on. Yes... this is my son. I grabbed all 3 of my children and left the bowling alley mortified and cried the entire way home.<br />
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This is the same son, who sneaks things into his bed that we have no clue where he even gets them from like purple puffy paint, magazines, straws, juice boxes(we never have juice boxes in the house), snacks, and of course dino's. Sigh... some day he will grow out of this... someday!Ericahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15792640075088768475noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7756305202178673963.post-89533324489460916452012-05-09T13:30:00.000+01:002012-05-09T13:30:12.486+01:00Derek's Evaluation<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrfHWOrOjBzRNXpNOb6UT6ZrsIgfGkG1U8Dk6MewfLhsQGCZShxXb7ibmoZb-xxDYvUTVK_T6jOnowXbEObkGrRynuMrrlAWuDiKKoojLtLAFedW2BEOfo7Yah3TxIsl5C23aA5STKYCpb/s1600/derek1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrfHWOrOjBzRNXpNOb6UT6ZrsIgfGkG1U8Dk6MewfLhsQGCZShxXb7ibmoZb-xxDYvUTVK_T6jOnowXbEObkGrRynuMrrlAWuDiKKoojLtLAFedW2BEOfo7Yah3TxIsl5C23aA5STKYCpb/s320/derek1.jpg" width="213" /></a>After 2 months of waiting, even though it has felt a lot longer than that, Derek had his evaluation today. The e-mail we received said it could last from 1 to 3 hours, it only lasted 45 minutes. Now most people wouldn't complain about that, and I'm not; exactly. When I arrived Steve was walking out of the classroom with Derek, they had already talked to him and given them their findings, the only thing left was some paperwork that Steve didn't know the answers to such as; when did your child first; roll over, crawl, walk, say a pronoun... etc, you know all the questions that only a mom of one child would know the answers to off the top of her head. <br />
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I asked how everything went and what we do from here? This was the response I received "Your son is a very polite smart little boy, who loves dinosaurs! Honestly, from reading your e-mail we were prepared for a handful but he did everything we asked without hesitation and was very sweet."<br />
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"He has an issue processing big sentences. This could be why he struggles in big group settings, because there are too many details being thrown at him and his brain can't process it all, it goes into overload and that's why he melts down. He is frustrated because he knows he's supposed to do something but he doesn't understand any of it. So when talking with him use smaller sentences and do things in steps. Such as please pick up the book; once he has done that then say Go put the book on the shelf; then when he's done ask him to Come sit down. Most cases we would normally say Ok go pick up the books put them on the shelf and when you've finished that come sit on the carpet." <br />
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They tested his general & fine motor skills. He scored perfectly on the general motor skills, like jumping, running, hopping, etc. However he only scored 20/60 on his fine motor skills, things like the way he holds a crayon to color, a pencil to write, cutting paper, holding a fork etc. <br />
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Derek saw a speech therapist and she said he was right where he needs to be for his age, so no problems there. He also had his hearing and vision checked, passed that with no problems.<br />
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Where we go from here? They have 45 days to get back to us and set up a consultation meeting to discuss what they have found, what they think needs to be done, and set up any referrals for treatment, therapy etc. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifLlLnwWcDmLKrb3b5D7Pv9E1Gtm8JvzNKeRl1nlsJNlmIIVRG9NBwlS_X_U4ZHIpWHjw_G9Q6R7zrEyIo9DNnpKSo1GLKBqQ8BLa8XW85S-dpfSo4JCq3Lxchg4Nuw27EVd3EXRrpwfSh/s1600/derek.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifLlLnwWcDmLKrb3b5D7Pv9E1Gtm8JvzNKeRl1nlsJNlmIIVRG9NBwlS_X_U4ZHIpWHjw_G9Q6R7zrEyIo9DNnpKSo1GLKBqQ8BLa8XW85S-dpfSo4JCq3Lxchg4Nuw27EVd3EXRrpwfSh/s320/derek.jpg" width="238" /></a>So we will just wait. I expected to hear a little more of the results today, and was a little disappointed that we could wait up to 45 days, but I think about where Derek was when he first started school to where he is now. He has grown so much in these 5 months. He now has best friends that are excited to see him. We went to a festival on Saturday and surprisingly there were about 5 of his school buddies there, every time we'd go to a new booth, or area of the festival there was one of Derek's friends and they would growl at each other and chase each other around us, typical boy stuff. Usually though it's Elora who runs into so many friends, it was very surprising and I was excited for him! <br />
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We have only received one bad report from school in the past 5 months, compared to his first 3 weeks when we were being pulled aside EVERY day after school. So things are coming along, taking each day as it comes.Ericahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15792640075088768475noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7756305202178673963.post-29168868499865328142012-03-29T16:53:00.000+01:002012-03-29T16:53:52.565+01:00School MusicalAs this school term ends, Elora's class has been working hard at their end of the term play. They performed the Gingerbread Man and when the teachers asked the students "who would like a speaking part?" Elora rose her hand and then she "auditioned" since she projected the loudest and had such enthusiasm she was cast as the Little Old Lady. Everyday Elora came home reciting her lines and the lines of the other students as well. We didn't realize until we saw the play yesterday that she has the biggest part. She had the most lines and the most acting on stage.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjn_U4Ysxr5Iv_zxCPECN6p73SQ5I_YjVHpF-Acv1c4d3EdqDBIZfBYliyvy9lZFRgCI16msEPShC5NY-d1ZulNWn-xIZlaGHiNA82BKcokNvU9cPyTm5poYNXaUmXgQXf2bpGLbYdHIVVu/s1600/038.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjn_U4Ysxr5Iv_zxCPECN6p73SQ5I_YjVHpF-Acv1c4d3EdqDBIZfBYliyvy9lZFRgCI16msEPShC5NY-d1ZulNWn-xIZlaGHiNA82BKcokNvU9cPyTm5poYNXaUmXgQXf2bpGLbYdHIVVu/s320/038.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Elora with her "boyfriend" Aaron, he was a narrator</td></tr>
</tbody></table>She was in her element, when they would run off stage to chase the gingerbread man she would pass us and never once broke character. She is soooo dang cute!! I only recorded the scenes that Elora was in, and once again it took all night for the videos to load but here they are. After Elora's scene, the gingerbread man encountered some donkey's & some horses and then the fox. They are supposed to be in High Definition but they aren't on my computer, hopefully they are on yours, Enjoy :)<br />
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<a href="http://youtu.be/0TxDJG0HBm4" target="_blank">Gingerbread Man part 1</a><br />
<a href="http://youtu.be/5HGBwxoV7A0" target="_blank">Gingerbread Man part 2</a><br />
<a href="http://youtu.be/BzENmCOPsHs" target="_blank">Gingerbread Man part 3</a><br />
<a href="http://youtu.be/nrlFINRJXII" target="_blank">Gingerbread Man part 4</a><br />
<a href="http://youtu.be/Xyv1h2uyDmU" target="_blank">Gingerbread Man part 5</a><br />
<a href="http://youtu.be/rw_-iLzQPBQ" target="_blank">Gingerbread Man part 6</a> (this was the very end of the play & I didn't know Elora was up again so I missed the beginning trying to get my camera ready, but basically she decided to bake another gingerbread man and put him the oven... then the video shows the rest)<br />
<a href="http://youtu.be/3z8T0TdVLlk" target="_blank">Finale</a><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>Ericahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15792640075088768475noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7756305202178673963.post-77361528110773931062012-03-28T13:19:00.001+01:002012-03-28T13:24:42.986+01:00Talent<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxa8MFSXrgBhn89tjjuQKi7aWier7mjP03OiuyAWcDeirKWDSs0qZ0Kzbx0oSE8Tpxsce2zdEYuPYQN3oWxNa61PRGAO0ac1VQCKi9A1p6SOUj1kKFMYwBcFLPIatWah9xU0YGwutwo3UK/s1600/010.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxa8MFSXrgBhn89tjjuQKi7aWier7mjP03OiuyAWcDeirKWDSs0qZ0Kzbx0oSE8Tpxsce2zdEYuPYQN3oWxNa61PRGAO0ac1VQCKi9A1p6SOUj1kKFMYwBcFLPIatWah9xU0YGwutwo3UK/s320/010.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
Elora has discovered her talent and what she really enjoys. Musical Theatre. After only attending a brand new school in a foreign country for 2 weeks she decided she wanted to join singing squad, an after school chorus program. She never really talked about it much, but was always singing the songs she learned. As long as she wanted to go and enjoyed it, was all that mattered to me. <br />
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Yesterday she had her first performance. I got to attend the rehersal at their school and then Steve went to the city wide chorus concert last night. They sang 5 songs and I took video of them all at the rehersal, for some reason over here in England it takes an extremely long time for videos to upload so after 24 hrs they are all done, you can see them below.<br />
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To answer the 1st question; YES that is Elora that you hear above everyone else! LOL. 2nd comment, yes Elora was directly in the middle and the instructor stood in front of her and blocked the view, but I moved so the last 2 songs you can see her very well! :)<br />
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I wasn't completely shocked at her performance you may remember seeing videos of her at 2, 3, & 4 singing VBS songs. She was hilarious and had everyone laughing. Afterwards a mum told me she's going to be a star! This morning as I was walking Derek & Elora to their classes, I had about 4 different parents tell me how Brilliant Elora was and that she stole the show last night; the entire audience went mad they almost couldn't finish their performance, lol. So enjoy all the video's :) We are very proud of our little Star!!<br />
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<a href="http://youtu.be/oNnnESWV8qU">London's Burning</a><br />
<a href="http://youtu.be/KRZqFKTugbc">April Showers</a><br />
<a href="http://youtu.be/fNXiqV7o9nw">Australian song bird</a><br />
<a href="http://youtu.be/Ix2Ds-aDAJE">Head, Shoulders, Knees, & Toes</a><br />
<a href="http://youtu.be/EqBal_FgDig">Busy Body</a>Ericahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15792640075088768475noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7756305202178673963.post-63635683756281355132012-03-26T17:08:00.004+01:002012-03-26T17:18:27.510+01:00TWO!!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjau8duhXLCUtfOt5uKHDPXrYCVvGCV6CeQIFNzZdIcA_A1WH3oS6_Mb8lLQWfj0BxRcP-OYkarAhM4XA0UQrxri8ib-mHq9mQbMuyKuG55-u794hEvTetbFiJ1EYGhVAitubQKCuUJB5Te/s1600/431132_10150650495475758_614730757_9214048_1191015757_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjau8duhXLCUtfOt5uKHDPXrYCVvGCV6CeQIFNzZdIcA_A1WH3oS6_Mb8lLQWfj0BxRcP-OYkarAhM4XA0UQrxri8ib-mHq9mQbMuyKuG55-u794hEvTetbFiJ1EYGhVAitubQKCuUJB5Te/s320/431132_10150650495475758_614730757_9214048_1191015757_n.jpg" width="320" /></a>I can't believe my baby is 2!! I keep telling him he's not allowed to grow, he has to stay my little baby boy forever, he smiles and says "Noooooo!" Which is his new favorite word, he answers No to everything, even if the answer is yes, he still says No. I don't remember his brother or sister liking that word so much. Another word he likes is Dummy. Yep... that cute little blonde blue eyed boy says it in the right context. He used to call Steve & I that when he'd get upset with us, but after spending numerous 1.5 minute timeouts and explanations that it's ok to be upset but not to call us mean names, he now resorts to calling his cars dummies when he gets frustrated at something. In England, they call their pacifiers, Dummy's. So what I've been doing the past couple of days when he says it is distract him by saying "what you want a dummy?"Then I give him his Binky, he's all confused but it's working! </div><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJYdMRjhp04xka-7YLyXfMskmwhpkMYFrRZ6GyC_5gkcwtBWqHaJMiRVjqODRZC5WM0yULcSE6Ft7rnKqnCnzQRBkHCwTp9644AZdpHjD62QUpXmtuiVWv8TUo54c3oG6rhXSRvyMyGaK_/s1600/541795_10150681435390758_614730757_9314280_1485244791_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJYdMRjhp04xka-7YLyXfMskmwhpkMYFrRZ6GyC_5gkcwtBWqHaJMiRVjqODRZC5WM0yULcSE6Ft7rnKqnCnzQRBkHCwTp9644AZdpHjD62QUpXmtuiVWv8TUo54c3oG6rhXSRvyMyGaK_/s320/541795_10150681435390758_614730757_9314280_1485244791_n.jpg" width="320" /></a>We had his 2 year check up today at the Dr's and he weighs 24.6 lbs and is 33" tall. How does he go from 6 lbs 10 oz to 24.6!! He's a normal little boy, obsessed with cars & dino's. He loves playing outside and the weather has been gorgeous in the low 60's. He has stopped signing since he is speaking more, he's saying 2-3 word sentences now. Dylan still loves to snuggle & read books, when Elora & Derek are gone to school he wants to read OR watch "HOWWW" aka House. We swear he's going to be a Dr when he grows up he'll sit and watch a good 15 mins of it and then he'll go off and play but when he hears the music for the end of the show he'll come running "Howw ober! OBER!," and grab the remote to try to change it to the next show. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5Lyhpno3Fi1PFOIMqn7HIWmFulmPuUqepaxTDFZ2BJGCScL2AGfJhpm6PwIgFPx9sJyGqr78XVs6-TqhqFgVQ5M4qlZiIlbZvYJp0bvYFSwCzkPs0I2TWPJ7mxLXHr9KvbZkrk9qYN9fL/s1600/294967_10150681433780758_614730757_9314263_1550029345_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5Lyhpno3Fi1PFOIMqn7HIWmFulmPuUqepaxTDFZ2BJGCScL2AGfJhpm6PwIgFPx9sJyGqr78XVs6-TqhqFgVQ5M4qlZiIlbZvYJp0bvYFSwCzkPs0I2TWPJ7mxLXHr9KvbZkrk9qYN9fL/s320/294967_10150681433780758_614730757_9314263_1550029345_n.jpg" width="320" /></a>We just had his 2nd Birthday Party and it was a construction theme, he had a great time playing with the stuff, I'll post pics and details in a diff post. :) With all the news about Derek, I felt I had to post something about the other 2 :)<br />
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Dylan is such a sweet little boy and I thank God every day for surprising us with such an awesome Blessing :)Ericahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15792640075088768475noreply@blogger.com0