Joyfully Weary

This sweet dress was a Valentine's gift from Maca; she made them over 30-years-ago for Jeremy's sisters. I love the smocking on the apron. Maca has given Little Lady a few of these hand-me-down dresses and that fact that she knows there were her aunts make them even more special.  dress: hand-me-down/diy ( similar $23  or similar $185 ), leggings: old navy ( same ), leopard flats: thrifted A fun little hairstyle I tried for Valentines day (idea found here ); she's asked for the do several times since. I think a lot of it has to do with cabin fever but these boys have decided that pushing Little Lady's buttons is all sorts of fun. Most of the time they are quite gentle with her, but the last week or so they have found lots of ways to make her scream. There favorites are tossing her babies and throwing stuffed animals down the laundry shoot. They will protect her and toughen her up. :)  sweater: gift, shirt: gift ( similar $28 ), pants: hand-me-down...

Big Buddy has moved on to three-digit numbers in his math book and it was suggested to get a Base-10 set . We debated purchasing one for awhile; having hands-on math counters has really helped Big Buddy, and our other children, grasp math facts. We have some  unifix cubes , an abacus , and we have made our own montessori bead bars  and 100 board tiles . The idea of spending almost $30 on another somewhat bulky math counter didn't seem like the wisest decision. I knew, however, that having counters would make learning how to add and subtract three digit numbers a lot more straightforward for Big Buddy. I debated making some more montessori number beads (see ours here ) when I ran across our colored matchsticks . We have used them for counting and building shapes before (as well as some crafts) and we still had plenty left make some 100 counters - at no cost! We grouped sets of tens together and secured them with some small rubber bands (from Dollar Tree). Once we had made...

I've been wanting to add some art to our "guitar wall" for awhile. I also knew I wanted to use some pages from our hymnals. I like the look of sheet music and have been pleased with how it's turned out in other crafts ( here & here ). I originally thought about trying to recreate these flowers .  Which I still may do someday, but since time if very precious right now I decided to go with windmills instead. They add some fun texture but are easy and quick; all 5 took about an hour to put together.  Supplies: old hymnal, scissors, glue stick, super glue, and coins/buttons Step 1: each windmill requires five hymnal sheets, rip them out and then trim to desired size. For the larger windmills I trimmed about 1/2" off the edges. For the smaller windmills I trimmed about 2" off the edges.  Step 2: accordion fold all of your sheets. My folds were about 1/2" wide. If you end up with extra at the end just trim it off.  Step 3:...

The last couple weeks have been good ones. We've had a lot of great family moments: the boys went to a monster truck rally, Little Lady and I had girls' night in, we all went to a Valentine's tea together, and lots of other simple everyday things. We've also been able to host some great people in our home: one of Jeremy's classes, a terrific family we are just getting to know, and a few playdates. And on top of that we've been able to meet up with friends for fun outings around town. I know that family, and the people God has placed in our lives, is the most important thing. I know that time with them is a treasure and is never wasted or regretted. The thing is, though, I like goals and finished projects. There's been times these last two weeks were I've had to look at unfinished tasks and reminded myself that I was choosing the better thing. That talking to my daughter as she completes one more craft, or choosing to hang out with friends instead of fin...

Last week consisted of  few more Valentine's Day themed outfits . Did you dress in reds and purples? How did you and your loved ones celebrate? We have a tradition of hiding hearts around the house for the kids to find. Each kid has there own color and the hearts say something we love/like about them. Jeremy threw out a couple fun date ideas for Valentines (going to a fancy chocolate bar, etc) but I really just wanted onion rings so we ended up going to Red Robin and then we spent an hour our so looking for treasures in a used a book store - it was perfect! cowl: gift ( similar $25 ), sweater: gap ( similar $30 ),  earrings: charming charlie, dress worn as skirt: anthropologie ( similar $140 ), bracelet: old navy scarf: target, cardigan: target ( same ), dress: hand-me-down ( similar $25 ), boots:  dsw  ( similar $80 ), tights: ? ( similar $4 ), bracelet: old ( similar $22 ) Want more? Check out these link parties to see lots of other ladies h...

I've been having a lot of fun the last couple weeks decking my children out in Valentine's decor. Luckily, the all like red and have been willing participants.  shirt: hand-me-down ( similar $9 ), pants: gift ( similar $29 ) Jeremy took the boys to a monster truck rally this past weekend. Mini Man saw the snow cones and asked for one. Jeremy told him, "we are not getting any treats today." Mini Man quickly asked, "why?" So Jeremy me explained that "it's not a good idea, it's like they are robbing you!' Without skipping a beat Mini Man quickly replied, "I want to get robbed!" This kids love for sweets may get him in trouble someday.  shirt: hand-me-down ( similar $9 ), sweater vest: ( similar $39 ), pants: gap ( same ), shark shoes: hand-me-down  (similar $29) shirt: target ( same ), jeans: old navy ( same ) One of my favorite things about being a parent is listening to they way our kids descr...

This unit came together pretty easily. I picked up a few fun heart things (toothpicks and jewels) at Dollar Tree, that I then added to some activities we've done before. If you are still trying to get children to master a skill sometimes simply changing a few of the materials makes the activity exciting again.  Language - matching lower case letter hearts to the correct upper case letter carton the hearts are plaster-of-paris poured in to a silicone heart tray. the egg carton was  originally made for matching letter buttons and has also been used for letter easter egg matching filling in letters with heart jewels *the cards are from,  early learning activities . i printed two per page so they'd be a bit smaller. My youngest two enjoy using these cards to practice spelling their names. sorting hearts pushing heart toothpicks in to the matching color i used sharpies to color the styrofoam, toothpicks are from ...