Pages

Friday, October 26, 2012

Visit to the Corn Pit!

Last week the kids and I met our playgroup at the local market for some fall fun!  They have a massive corn pit for the kids to play in, inflatable jumpers (Bella's favorite), and an animal train ride.  Talk about a fun time:)  The weather was beautiful and it's always great to get together with everyone in our playgroup.  I'm still finding pieces of corn in the washer, but it was worth it! 

Here are our two little cuties having fun:

Giving a pumpkin some love

Found a frog friend

The pumpkin jumper!

Watching his big sister jumping

Bella having so much fun:)


Climbing in the spider web

Snack break for the wee ones:)

The corn pit!

"Swimming"


Taking Elijah's sock off for him



It's hard to crawl in this stuff!


Holding hands

"Hugs" for Elijah!


Animal Train Ride!  Bella and I sat in the horse cart (picked by Bella, of course!).


Happy Harvest Everyone!

Monday, October 15, 2012

Busy Bag Exchange

Have you heard of busy bags?  If you are a parent of young children, you need to try them!  Busy bags are activities designed for toddlers and preschoolers.  Each busy bag contains a different little activity for them to complete.  It can help them with fine motor skills, numbers and counting, colors, shapes, letters, etc.  They are a great activity to have on hand for car rides, restaurants, and even at home when you are trying to get something done (like dinner!). 

Recently, I got to be a part of a busy bag exchange with a few of my friends from our playgroup.  We each made two busy bags activities; one for the toddler age group and one for the preschool age group.  We each made enough of the same activity to swap with the entire group.  Then on the night of the swap, we each went home with lots of different activities for our kids to do!  It was so fun  and pretty easy and affordable to complete the projects.  And best of all, Bella LOVES them!  She has tried out every activity we have, and asks to try one often.  It is really handy to have when I want her to do something quiet while Elijah takes a nap, or when she needs to refocus some energy!  She is able to do both the toddler and preschool activities now, and I think soon Elijah will be able to try some of them as well. 

Here are few of Bella's favorites:

Counting Cards



Puzzles


Stringing beads onto pipe cleaners


More counting cards

She also really enjoys a 'memory' game we got, and a color matching game (I just didn't get pictures of them yet!). 

Busy bags are a hit with us!  I encourage you to check them out:)

Sunday, October 14, 2012

The Little Things

I was just watching Elijah play today, just studying his face, and I started thinking about all those little things that I love about my family.

I love the way Bella twirls my hair.  She loves to sit next to me on the couch and twirl my hair while we watch an episode of 'Curious George' together.  In the morning, she climbs into bed with me and lays next to me twirling my hair until we get up and make breakfast.  When she's tired, she comes and sits on my lap and twirls my hair while we snuggle.  When we read stories, she sits next to me and twirls my hair.  She often requests, "Mommy, twirl your hair?"  It is a little thing that seems so simple, but I absolutely love our special cuddle time together. 

I love the way Elijah lays his head on my shoulder and snuggles with me.  He is definitely a cuddle bug, and it is so sweet the way he wants to snuggle, hug, kiss, and squeeze us.  It's one of those things that I hope he never grows out of.

I love the way Matt calls me Cass.  Although my full name is Cassandra, most people call me Cassie.  Matt usually calls me Cass though.  It's not so much the name itself, but that it represents the fact that he knows me so well.  The way he says my name makes me feel so loved. 

I love the way Bella will spontaneously say or do something so sweet.  She has such a kind heart, and I loves seeing that shine through in her words and actions.  A random hug and kiss is always so wonderful to receive.  And a simple, "love you" is so precious when it comes from your child. 

I love the way Elijah's smile lights up the room.  He has the most amazing smile-it is completely contagious too!  He is one of the sweetest babies I have ever known, and such a happy little guy. 

I love the way Matt plays with our children.  He loves to be around them, and it shows.  As soon as he comes home, the kids are so excited to see him.  He picks them up, gives them hugs and kisses, then throws them in the air and catches them.  They adore him so much-and with good reason.  He continually shows them that he cares for them and about them.  He gives them a precious gift-his time and attention.  They know that they are loved and safe.  He is an amazing father. 

I love the way Bella prays.  There is nothing sweeter than hearing a child praying.  Bella loves to say her prayers.  They are simple and sweet.  She names all the people in her life that she loves and cares for-her family, her friends, and her pets.  She usually repeats names several times, and she is so sincere. 

I love the way Elijah plays with his sister.  He just adores Bella, and it is so fun to see them play together.  He will follow her around the house, play catch with her, help her build block towers (or maybe just helps with demolition).  Hearing them laughing and playing together is so fun.
I love the way Matt jokes.  When we first met, he was always making me laugh.  And I am so blessed to say that he is still making me laugh today.  He is the funniest man I know, and I love his sense of humor. 





I love my family so much!  Thank you Matt, Bella and Elijah.  The three of you continue to show me how wonderful it is to love and be loved. 
I am so very blessed.

Friday, October 12, 2012

Baby Steps

Well, we've been busy around here.  Lots of things going on, but one particularly exciting thing happened on Monday evening-Elijah took his first step!  It was so sweet too.  He was walking into Daddy's arms-and so very proud of himself as he did it!  We are so proud of our baby boy, who soon turns one and is getting so big so fast. 

Elijah at 2 1/2 weeks old

Learning to walk with his toy (aug '12)

10 months old and almost ready to walk!
I was looking back at a picture taken of him at 2 1/2 weeks old-it's just amazing to me that only 10 months later, those tiny feet are supporting him and learning how to walk.  Crazy, isn't it?  It got me to thinking that it's a good thing we learn to walk when we are little.  Elijah doesn't care how many times he falls down, he just keeps trying and trying.  That perseverance is so critical to learning new things.  I'm pretty sure that if we had to learn to walk as adults, we'd all be crawling around because we gave up after one or two tries.  I'm just so impressed with a baby's ability to try, try again.  Elijah has been a very cautious baby, but slowly, he's learning to trust himself enough to take a step on his own.  It's been baby steps though (no pun intended!)-First he learned to roll over, then roll around, then crawl, then stand, then walk while holding onto things, and now finally, he's trying it on his own.    

I've decided that I'm going to use this motivation from my 10 month old and try to learn something new too!  My very patient and sweet husband has tried several times to teach me how to play piano, and this time, I'm determined to learn it!  I played as a child, but as an adult it's proved much more difficult.  It's harder to find time to practice, harder to remember things, harder to tell myself 'just try again!'.  But no more excuses-this is happening!  I'm not promising anything amazing.  I would just like to be able to play chords so that I can play music with Matt while he plays guitar.  I just need to remember-baby steps! 

Let me know if you are learning something new-we can encourage each other:)