Silhouette Frames

For Christmas the boys received some new items for their bathroom.  I found this really cute set at Pottery Barn, but I was having the hardest time finding something to hang on the wall.  Several months later my creative SIL, Amy, told me about how easy it was to make silhouettes of your kids to frame.  I thought that would be a perfect addition to the blank space I couldn't seem to fill.  Here is how it turned out:

 All I did was take a profile picture of the boys, resized it in a word document, printed, cut, painted directly to paper, and glued!  It was that easy!  My mom gave me some old wooden frames that I painted to match and used scrapbook paper for the background.  

 Thanks, Amy, for the fun idea!

Soccer Cubs

 Yesterday was Connor's first day at Soccer Cubs.  To say he loved it would be an understatement.

 He is in a class with 3 other kids and one amazingly patient teacher.  The other children are closer to 4, but Connor towered over them.  I'm not sure if the other parents believed me that I had him in the right class!

This is the first time C has done an activity with no parent involvement.  It was definitely a new experience for both of us.  I don't know any other way to describe it, but Connor has such a BIG personality that he was not afraid to speak up and share his ideas on how they should do things.  He loves to be the leader and is going to have to practice being more of a listener.  It was a humbling experience to sit back and not be able to help redirect his energy. :)

Mimi, Carson, and I sat in the stands and watched through the glass.  The field is completely enclosed which is great for no run away balls or 3 year olds.

The whole 45 minutes was seriously a comedy act.  We had so much fun watching the kids run around with excitement trying to practice their newly learned skills.  They were all so cute!

Connor was putting on a show the whole time and came over to flash a few smiles for the crowd.  He was SO proud of himself.

It is amazing how much he learned in one day.  He came home and has been practicing all his new tricks.  I hope he has as much fun next week!  

Our day also included a trip to the doctor for his 3 year check up.  No one will be surprised, but she said he was about the size of an average 5 year old.  She could not believe how much he had grown (42 1/4 inches and 48 pounds!)  Wow!  

The doctor said he looked just perfect and was so sweet to reassure me that all of our "hard" phases were just perfectly normal for this age.  Of course he loves our doctor so much he would do anything she said. He thanked her after every test or check and was really putting on the charm!

I'm doing my best to soak up every minute with this sweet guy!

Tuesday

Last night we picked my mom up at the airport after she returned from her trip to LA.  Connor had been missing his Mimi and was so excited that she was finally back home.  Carson started noticing that Connor was hogging all the attention and made sure he got his fair share. :)

 

This morning the boys got to play with Emily and Jackson while Beth ran to an appointment.  Beth is using the same preschool curriculum so Connor and Emily got to have "school" together today.  Thankfully Carson slept most of the time and Jackson just joined in on the fun.

This evening I took dinner to some friends who just had a baby and met little Miss Grace for the first time.  She was absolutely precious!  

We have a busy week ahead with some fun things coming up on Thursday that I will be sure to post about.

First Day of Preschool

FUN is the best word to describe our first day!  Connor and I had the best time and caught a little glimpse at how much we are going to enjoy this time together.  More than anything I am just excited about daily setting aside a special time to spend one-on-one with this little guy.

Our day started with a special first day breakfast.  I had seen on pinterest where someone made pancakes into the shape of an apple so I had to give it a try.  It was a lot easier than I thought and Connor was absolutely thrilled!  

Pinterest also came through again with this cute idea of having your child hold a sign for their first day.  For how little Connor likes to pose, he actually did a pretty good job!

 We read a Bible story about how God created every thing, learned about the letter A, did a finger play with the "A" letter sound, had a little music time, and finished with some crafts.  The curriculum had them do a project that started with coloring with a white crayon on white paper.  I knew Connor would not be too interested in just coloring and I was right.

He kept asking me to do it for him.  I told him we could move on to the next activity and that he didn't have to do it.  Skipping the task was NOT an option to Connor so he grabbed a crayon and tried to enjoy himself. Can't you see the joy on his face? :) HA!  

Well, after about 30 seconds he looked up and said "Can I go home now?" I kinda laughed and told him sure as I watched him head out the playroom door. :)  

 He was back in 2 seconds and much more interested in making the paper mosaics that involved glue!  I have made a mental note to change all crafts that start with coloring. :)

He also quickly let me know that one letter a week is not the pace he would like to go. After questioning why we were stopping at A he asked to change chairs and told me "I'll be the teacher and you be the boy. Ok, today we are going to learn about B.  'B'... 'B'... B."  

 God has blessed me with the gift and love of teaching and I can not even begin to describe how wonderful it feels to be able to use those gifts with your kids.

 We celebrated after lunch with some Back-to-School cookies I picked up at the store.

First Day of Preschool = Success!

Getting Ready for Preschool

I have mentioned on here before that this year I will be doing a homeschool preschool curriculum (Little Hands to Heaven ) with Connor. We have been preparing things for the past few weeks and are finally ready to get started on Monday morning.  I put up my old calendar from teaching and we have used it as a countdown for the 1st day of preschool. Connor runs to the playroom every morning to count how many days until school starts.  He can't wait!

The past couple of days I have been working on coming up with a schedule for our day.  It is basically what we have already been doing, but adding school and being a little more intentional with some of our other time spent.  God definitely wired me to be a person that loves structure and having a schedule just helps me to make sure I have time to get everything done.  By no means will our day look like this every day, but at least it gives me something to go off of.      

 Along with starting preschool, Connor is now taking on some new responsibilities at home.  You may have noticed in the schedule there is a "chore time."  Some of them are things he has been doing and some are things we are wanting to teach him to do (wipe off the table, set the table, help with laundry, dishes, etc...).  I am going to slowly add more things for him to do to help around the house. I have quickly learned that not only does it help me, but it keeps him busy and out of trouble! :)  This past week we have been working on making his bed.  He is so proud of his work after he finishes.

Connor is one of the happiest 3 year olds you will ever meet.  He loves hard and fights hard.  His strong will and determination are part of what makes him so special (and are also my constant reminder from God that I can't do this without His help!)  He has enough energy to test you on every single limit and will!  His hugs, kisses, and sweet words of affirmation will melt your heart.  He has a great sense of humor and loves to make you laugh.   His memory still impresses me to this day.  He has whole books memorized and will listen to songs until he knows every word.  Connor has never met a stranger, loves to go to church, cautious about everything, not a fan of sleeping, could eat raisins and yogurt all day long, loves routine, eager to learn....the list goes on and on.  So thankful that God chose me to be these precious boy's mommy.

I'll be back Monday to let you know how our first day went!

Happy 10 Months Carson!

Here is what Carson is up to this month:

Still such a great sleeper!  Usually 13 hours at night and 3 naps a day (usually 2 hours each)  He loves hanging out in his crib even after he wakes up.

Busy, busy, busy!  Sitting still in your lap is a thing of the past.

Loves to shake his head back and forth to get your attention or when he is being silly.

Enjoys playing ball with Connor.

Likes to play pat-a-cake and can do all the motions by himself.

Observes everything that is going on around him, especially his brother.

Started eating a lot more table food and loves it!

Making a lot more sounds and has started saying "bye bye" while he waves.

 Enjoys listening to stories and looking at books.  His favorites right now are the ones with finger puppets.

 So easy going- although he has started "throwing a fit" if you take away the remote or phone from him.

Crawling all over the place.  He is still army crawling, but he gets where he wants to go fast!

Learned how to ask for more in sign language. He doesn't use it all the time, but when he is eating something he really likes he keeps doing it over and over!

I have loved every minute of the past 10 months with this sweet boy!

Pancakes

 

 

"Are you looking for ME?"

We have been busy enjoying our summer and just have not stopped to blog about it.  So for those of you who haven't given up on us and are still checking in, thank you for your patience!  Instead of trying to fill you in on everything we have been up to I'm just going to share a few photos.

Trips to Sea World....

 

Hanging out at home...

 Playing with friends...

Going to see Winnie the Pooh...

 

Begging to start "school"...

 Trying out a few new "smiles"...

 Playing at Mimi's...

The only cure for this Texas heat...

 Be back soon!