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30 Easter Basket Stuffers for 2024
1 month ago
Saturday, July 30, 2011
Ava's New 'Do
The kids just recently got their hair trimmed and I kept thinking of getting Ava's cut shorter but decided against it since it's so fun to put in ponytails, braids, pigtails, etc. But the last few days of her yelling at me and running away when I am trying to brush her hair has worn me down. So I took her to my sister's salon this morning and she got a new 'do. I am so excited that we won't have ratty hair battles in the mornings now!
Last Days of Summer
Only 10 more days until Summer Break is over. I have had a fabulous time with my kiddos this summer. The only thing I wish would have been different: the summer temperatures. This whole over 100 degrees almost every day of the summer really ticks me off. :) We haven't used our zoo pass the entire summer. For a while, I thought...Oh, we'll go to the zoo soon. And then all of a sudden it got too damn hot! We did do things that we loved though.
Ava had swimming lessons for six weeks, four days a week. She grew so much in those days. She was never afraid of the water, but these lessons at the Swim Club were awesome for her. Instead of being a little tentative about going under water, she decided that it was way more fun to be under water than above. She became a little fish! So fun to watch!
We played a lot in the basement, which is the coolest part of our house. The basement, for those of you that haven't seen it, it's full of...hmmm...how shall I describe it? A mess of toys. That's the best way to say it. Our kiddos have way too many toys. The basement is basically their play land. But at least the mess keeps them busy. And it keeps us all cool, while the rest of our house stays at about 80 degrees with the air conditioner on. Our "mess" has a cardboard house that the kids have colored, a kitchen that my grandpa made for my cousin and I when were were little, a little plastic kitchen, a toybox that cannot even close because it's so full, five or so other tubs of toys (A.K.A. crap), a shelf of books, a table and chairs, a couple of rocking chairs, two rocking horses, a Mickey Mouse ride-on plane, three doll beds, an easel with a chalkboard on one side and a white board on the other (that, by the way, we can't even put the magnetic letters on because B will eat them and we have to keep the chalk hidden because he will eat that too) and a million other things just scattered all over the floor because they have no place. So. The kids have had fun down there. But the more summer goes on, the more I just want to sell almost everything down there so it can stay cleaned up. But that's not really the point, is it? The point is that they are having fun and that they keep busy. It's been great watching them play together. Ava will help Brecken onto a chair so that she can feed him a pretend breakfast, lunch or dinner. And just as easily as she can help him, she will also just as easily grab the chair from right underneath him so that she can use it for her "baby". Brecken has also decided, this summer, that he loves to climb. So we have to get him down off of the table just as many times as we have to help him sit on the chairs.
We have also been doing gymnastics this summer. Both of the Littles go once a week and it has been great watching them and being a part of it. Brecken mostly just plays during his class, but when he gets home he gets himself ready to do a forward roll and we have to help him actually roll. Ava has even learned how to "gently" roll him over. And when we do roll him over, he just smiles...as usual. During class one of the parents even said to me, "Is he ever NOT smiling?" Well, no. He's pretty much always smiling. Love that about him. In Ava's summer gymnastics class there are only two girls. Just Ava and Kaitlyn. We have loved it because she gets so much one on one and she has grown so much. The next class that she does will be the first "without parents" class that she has taken. It will be interesting, but I'm sure she'll do a fabulous job!
We have gone to the Y several times as a family and with friends to swim during the "open swim" times. Ava enjoys jumping in, getting out, jumping in, getting out, jumping in, etc. Brecken enjoys doing whatever the heck he wants as long as we aren't holding on to him which is a little difficult since he is only one and he can't swim. Both of them like the lazy river where we can just float on the tubes in the water.
The random errands that we have run during the summer seem to have kept both of the kids happy to an extent. We have come to realize that B still needs morning naps to keep him happy so it's kind of hard to run these errands throughout the day and still keep him a happy camper. They both liked when we went to my new classroom to work because they got to wander around and play. We also went to Erick's work a few times and they liked running around the office, playing catch with Erick's co-workers and making copies of their hands and faces.
We have spent a short time with the Littles' cousins at the pool also. They loved it! Ava so enjoys being with Lilly and Ethan! I know B does too, but he's just not old enough to really play yet. He mostly got in and out of the pool, ate a lot of ice out of the cooler and sucked on beer cans. Don't worry, they weren't opened. :)
I know that Ava's favorite part of this summer was going to Holiday Island. I love that she enjoyed it so much and I know that as B gets older, he will feel the same way. I started going there when I was five or so and have so many memories of the place. Each summer when we arrived, it was like going to our home away from home. Almost every other day since we have gone, Ava says something about Holiday Island. It makes my heart full because it tells me that Erick and I are making a memory for her there just like my parents did for me. In a few years, our goal is to take the Littles to Disney Land or World and I know that that they will love that too. I still love looking at the pictures from when my parents took me there and I can't wait for my kids to experience it also.
I feel like we haven't done as much as I wanted to this summer. I was so looking forward to it because last summer B was just a baby and we couldn't do much at all. But I feel like this summer it's still a little hard at times. Exhausting, actually. I have LOVED it though. Wouldn't trade it for anything for the world. I love having the privilege of being with my kids during the summer. I know I will have a wonderful year with my incoming first graders, but nothing beats a summer with my own kids.
So I guess my point is that I have about a week and a half left with FULL days with my kiddos before I start back to work. I feel like I need to make them meaningful. How am I going to do that? I have no idea. My first thought is to go here and there and do this and that. But I know that the most important thing I can do is just be with them and play with them. So my head (which is full of what in the heck I am going to do with first graders for a whole year ) should be just about being with them. Playing with them. Talking with them. Listening to them. Watching them grow. I feel like when I go back to work, I am going to miss out on a lot of this. It will be up to their daycare teachers to do this with them. What will I miss? Will they start eating vegetables? Ha! We'll see. Will I miss out on Brecken's first real words? Most likely. Really, I will just miss them. Terribly. Even though I will be with them every morning before school, every evening after, and every weekend, I will just miss being with them all the time. And yes, I know that I sometimes complain, I sometimes want a babysitter for them, I sometimes think, "Can I go back to work now?". But I will miss them so much during the day that it may even hurt my heart.
So I will make these last days of summer count.
Ava had swimming lessons for six weeks, four days a week. She grew so much in those days. She was never afraid of the water, but these lessons at the Swim Club were awesome for her. Instead of being a little tentative about going under water, she decided that it was way more fun to be under water than above. She became a little fish! So fun to watch!
We played a lot in the basement, which is the coolest part of our house. The basement, for those of you that haven't seen it, it's full of...hmmm...how shall I describe it? A mess of toys. That's the best way to say it. Our kiddos have way too many toys. The basement is basically their play land. But at least the mess keeps them busy. And it keeps us all cool, while the rest of our house stays at about 80 degrees with the air conditioner on. Our "mess" has a cardboard house that the kids have colored, a kitchen that my grandpa made for my cousin and I when were were little, a little plastic kitchen, a toybox that cannot even close because it's so full, five or so other tubs of toys (A.K.A. crap), a shelf of books, a table and chairs, a couple of rocking chairs, two rocking horses, a Mickey Mouse ride-on plane, three doll beds, an easel with a chalkboard on one side and a white board on the other (that, by the way, we can't even put the magnetic letters on because B will eat them and we have to keep the chalk hidden because he will eat that too) and a million other things just scattered all over the floor because they have no place. So. The kids have had fun down there. But the more summer goes on, the more I just want to sell almost everything down there so it can stay cleaned up. But that's not really the point, is it? The point is that they are having fun and that they keep busy. It's been great watching them play together. Ava will help Brecken onto a chair so that she can feed him a pretend breakfast, lunch or dinner. And just as easily as she can help him, she will also just as easily grab the chair from right underneath him so that she can use it for her "baby". Brecken has also decided, this summer, that he loves to climb. So we have to get him down off of the table just as many times as we have to help him sit on the chairs.
We have also been doing gymnastics this summer. Both of the Littles go once a week and it has been great watching them and being a part of it. Brecken mostly just plays during his class, but when he gets home he gets himself ready to do a forward roll and we have to help him actually roll. Ava has even learned how to "gently" roll him over. And when we do roll him over, he just smiles...as usual. During class one of the parents even said to me, "Is he ever NOT smiling?" Well, no. He's pretty much always smiling. Love that about him. In Ava's summer gymnastics class there are only two girls. Just Ava and Kaitlyn. We have loved it because she gets so much one on one and she has grown so much. The next class that she does will be the first "without parents" class that she has taken. It will be interesting, but I'm sure she'll do a fabulous job!
We have gone to the Y several times as a family and with friends to swim during the "open swim" times. Ava enjoys jumping in, getting out, jumping in, getting out, jumping in, etc. Brecken enjoys doing whatever the heck he wants as long as we aren't holding on to him which is a little difficult since he is only one and he can't swim. Both of them like the lazy river where we can just float on the tubes in the water.
The random errands that we have run during the summer seem to have kept both of the kids happy to an extent. We have come to realize that B still needs morning naps to keep him happy so it's kind of hard to run these errands throughout the day and still keep him a happy camper. They both liked when we went to my new classroom to work because they got to wander around and play. We also went to Erick's work a few times and they liked running around the office, playing catch with Erick's co-workers and making copies of their hands and faces.
We have spent a short time with the Littles' cousins at the pool also. They loved it! Ava so enjoys being with Lilly and Ethan! I know B does too, but he's just not old enough to really play yet. He mostly got in and out of the pool, ate a lot of ice out of the cooler and sucked on beer cans. Don't worry, they weren't opened. :)
I know that Ava's favorite part of this summer was going to Holiday Island. I love that she enjoyed it so much and I know that as B gets older, he will feel the same way. I started going there when I was five or so and have so many memories of the place. Each summer when we arrived, it was like going to our home away from home. Almost every other day since we have gone, Ava says something about Holiday Island. It makes my heart full because it tells me that Erick and I are making a memory for her there just like my parents did for me. In a few years, our goal is to take the Littles to Disney Land or World and I know that that they will love that too. I still love looking at the pictures from when my parents took me there and I can't wait for my kids to experience it also.
I feel like we haven't done as much as I wanted to this summer. I was so looking forward to it because last summer B was just a baby and we couldn't do much at all. But I feel like this summer it's still a little hard at times. Exhausting, actually. I have LOVED it though. Wouldn't trade it for anything for the world. I love having the privilege of being with my kids during the summer. I know I will have a wonderful year with my incoming first graders, but nothing beats a summer with my own kids.
So I guess my point is that I have about a week and a half left with FULL days with my kiddos before I start back to work. I feel like I need to make them meaningful. How am I going to do that? I have no idea. My first thought is to go here and there and do this and that. But I know that the most important thing I can do is just be with them and play with them. So my head (which is full of what in the heck I am going to do with first graders for a whole year ) should be just about being with them. Playing with them. Talking with them. Listening to them. Watching them grow. I feel like when I go back to work, I am going to miss out on a lot of this. It will be up to their daycare teachers to do this with them. What will I miss? Will they start eating vegetables? Ha! We'll see. Will I miss out on Brecken's first real words? Most likely. Really, I will just miss them. Terribly. Even though I will be with them every morning before school, every evening after, and every weekend, I will just miss being with them all the time. And yes, I know that I sometimes complain, I sometimes want a babysitter for them, I sometimes think, "Can I go back to work now?". But I will miss them so much during the day that it may even hurt my heart.
So I will make these last days of summer count.
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Random
I'll try to sit down and write later. But for now...a few pictures, a few videos...
Oh, and I tried to put a caption on all of them, but Blogger isn't my friend right now. It kept moving my pictures around.
Oh, and I tried to put a caption on all of them, but Blogger isn't my friend right now. It kept moving my pictures around.
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| More interested in the television than posing for a picture. |
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| Fun with Playdough |
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| Painting! |
Monday, July 18, 2011
A Date with Daddy
He took her to the Wichita Children's Theatre to see Pinocchio. They went to the noon show where they got to have pizza, soda and a cookie. They sat on carpet squares to watch the show, which was very comfortable for Erick. :)
When I asked Ava to tell me what Pinocchio was about, this is what she said:
"Pinocchio's nose grew. He had a hat and clothes on. Pinocchio's father was named Papa. And he had shoes and went to school. At school, he learned. His nose was THIS long! It grew because he didn't tell the truth. I liked the blue fairy."
I'm so glad two of my favorite people got to have some time together and that I got some alone time at home with my other favorite person.
Friday, July 15, 2011
Girlfriends
I've been thinking, lately. I know, that could be a bad thing. But it's about having friends. Girlfriends. Well, I guess guy friends too, but I doubt any guys are reading this besides my husband and that's a big MAYBE. :)
I 've just been thinking about all of the great friends I've made during my life...in grade school, middle school, high school, college, and beyond. Like I said, I'm mainly talking about GIRLfriends here, but there have been a few guys that have been great friends too. I'm talking about ones that you can talk to about anything, lean on at all times, tell your darkest and deepest secrects, cry to, listen to, help, get help from, etc.
Girlfriends are important.
Don't lose or let go of the good ones.
I have a few good ones in my life right now. I may not tell them enough, but I appreciate them so much. And I have also let good ones go. I'm not sure how that happens. Life, I guess. But here is a shout out to all of you...and I think you know who you are. Love you, ladies! No matter if I haven't talked to you for years. You mean a lot to me and I will never forget what we have gone through together.
All of you have helped me grow some way in my life. And for that, I thank you. All of you.
Here are just a few of my girlfriends throughout my life. I stole their pics from Facebook, so I hope they don't kill me. :) Oh, and for my only friend that doesn't have a Facebook page...you would be on here to if you had one.
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The Importance of Friendship
Friendship plays a major role in an ordinary person’s life. Having few good friends is like a blessing. They say a friend is need is a friend indeed. But that will be like seeing a blessing in a micro term. A friend is someone who is always beside you, not just during the times of need. Having a relationship as beautiful and pure as friendship works on several layers. You can confide in someone. You can always share your stuff with a friend. You will always find your friend standing for you during the times of distress and sadness. Experts say, a person with good friend circle lives a longer and healthier life. They are the best medicine for our boredom. Sending friendship sms and cards make our lives exciting and fun.
Agree, one also has the support of parents, lover, kids and siblings but having a friend is like a shot in the arm. A knight in the shining armor, your mate offers you wonderful health benefits. Friends are known to improve your immunity system. Apart from acting as a wonderful support system, friends can keep you motivated and can also comfort you. Relationships provide us stability. They are an amazing source of relaxation.
In this world where you will find cut-throat competition at every place, having a good friend is a great source of relief. It’s all give and take in a relationship. People should be motivated and inspired enough to make new friends and cherish older ones.
http://inspirationandmotivationforall.blogspot.com/2009/05/importance-of-friendship.html
I 've just been thinking about all of the great friends I've made during my life...in grade school, middle school, high school, college, and beyond. Like I said, I'm mainly talking about GIRLfriends here, but there have been a few guys that have been great friends too. I'm talking about ones that you can talk to about anything, lean on at all times, tell your darkest and deepest secrects, cry to, listen to, help, get help from, etc.
Girlfriends are important.
Don't lose or let go of the good ones.
I have a few good ones in my life right now. I may not tell them enough, but I appreciate them so much. And I have also let good ones go. I'm not sure how that happens. Life, I guess. But here is a shout out to all of you...and I think you know who you are. Love you, ladies! No matter if I haven't talked to you for years. You mean a lot to me and I will never forget what we have gone through together.
All of you have helped me grow some way in my life. And for that, I thank you. All of you.
Here are just a few of my girlfriends throughout my life. I stole their pics from Facebook, so I hope they don't kill me. :) Oh, and for my only friend that doesn't have a Facebook page...you would be on here to if you had one.
These, of course, are not ALL of the girlfriends I've had in my life. Just a few...
I found this site and I agree with what it says...
The Importance of Friendship
Friendship plays a major role in an ordinary person’s life. Having few good friends is like a blessing. They say a friend is need is a friend indeed. But that will be like seeing a blessing in a micro term. A friend is someone who is always beside you, not just during the times of need. Having a relationship as beautiful and pure as friendship works on several layers. You can confide in someone. You can always share your stuff with a friend. You will always find your friend standing for you during the times of distress and sadness. Experts say, a person with good friend circle lives a longer and healthier life. They are the best medicine for our boredom. Sending friendship sms and cards make our lives exciting and fun.
Agree, one also has the support of parents, lover, kids and siblings but having a friend is like a shot in the arm. A knight in the shining armor, your mate offers you wonderful health benefits. Friends are known to improve your immunity system. Apart from acting as a wonderful support system, friends can keep you motivated and can also comfort you. Relationships provide us stability. They are an amazing source of relaxation.
In this world where you will find cut-throat competition at every place, having a good friend is a great source of relief. It’s all give and take in a relationship. People should be motivated and inspired enough to make new friends and cherish older ones.
http://inspirationandmotivationforall.blogspot.com/2009/05/importance-of-friendship.html
Sunday, July 3, 2011
Funny
Just a little funny to share...
Ava went to the grocery store with Erick and then he told her they needed to make one more stop. Ava asked where they were going and he said they needed to get something at the liquor store. She said, "Can I get something?" He said, "No, this place is just for grown-ups." So they went in and got a little something, the cashier let Ava pick out a sucker, and they left. When they got back in the car, Ava said, "Daddy, I don't think they even knew I was THREE!"
When Erick told me this, we both had a laugh and I told him I hoped this wasn't a look into our future... Ava coming out of the liquor store as a teenager and saying, "They didn't even know I'm seventeen!"
Ava went to the grocery store with Erick and then he told her they needed to make one more stop. Ava asked where they were going and he said they needed to get something at the liquor store. She said, "Can I get something?" He said, "No, this place is just for grown-ups." So they went in and got a little something, the cashier let Ava pick out a sucker, and they left. When they got back in the car, Ava said, "Daddy, I don't think they even knew I was THREE!"
When Erick told me this, we both had a laugh and I told him I hoped this wasn't a look into our future... Ava coming out of the liquor store as a teenager and saying, "They didn't even know I'm seventeen!"
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