Follow my friends Brooke, Tate and Jenny as they head to Cape Town, South Africa this afternoon to serve with Sweet Sleep. This will be Sweet Sleep's first trip to South Africa and I pray that God will bless their efforts there. And, I pray that Sweet Sleep founder Jen Gash will find the strength to unbuckle her seat belt and move around (and maybe even go to the bathroom) during their 17 hour flight! (She has never unbuckled on an airplane before ... and she travels a lot!)
If you have never heard of Sweet Sleep before, watch these videos to see what they do and their work in action.
Friday, November 4, 2011
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
The morning after ...
Happy Halloween!! I didn't get the kids in their costumes until 4pm yesterday and we left at 5 to head to our friends' house for dinner and trick-or-treating so there was no way I was getting costume pics up on the blog last night.
Here is Fireman Dave. I really hope he doesn't have to put out any fires because he could not lift that fire extinguisher. It is not a prop. It is the real deal and it is heavy. I just ran it out for the picture.
For some reason, David felt the need to hold his hat on (with both hands) all night long.
Claire specifically requested to be Rapunzel. After studying my options online for several weeks, I finally decided to order directly from the Disney Store because (1) their costume was by far the prettiest, (2) I liked the braided wig versus big, crazy loose hair wig that is not braided (Hello, have you seen the movie? Rapunzel had braided hair.), and (3) I had a 15% off coupon code that made the Disney costume the same price as any of my other options.
Claire got to wear silver sparkle shoes and makeup. She was in heaven!
Scooby Luke was not a fan of his headpiece. This was my one attempt at a photo before Will got home and before Luke scampered off. (This costume was a hand-me-down from big brother.)
Ah, there we go. He finally wore the hat for a few minutes. (Notice older siblings holding his hands.)
Claire and her BFF Kate (posing as Sleeping Beauty ... Claire's favorite princess until Rapunzel came along).
All the kiddos at our little trick-or-treat gathering. Claire is the oldest and Luke is the youngest and one more is on the way (he is not ours).
Our hosts. This is the third year we have trick-or-treated in their ginormous neighborhood.
Much to Will's dismay, we dressed up this year. I already had the Daphne costume and I borrowed the Fred costume from a friend. I knew it would be our last chance to go as a Scooby gang since Luke was wearing the costume this year. I'm thinking neon orange hair is not my best color!
The whole gang.
And now, I'm off to eat some Halloween candy!
Here is Fireman Dave. I really hope he doesn't have to put out any fires because he could not lift that fire extinguisher. It is not a prop. It is the real deal and it is heavy. I just ran it out for the picture.
For some reason, David felt the need to hold his hat on (with both hands) all night long.
Claire specifically requested to be Rapunzel. After studying my options online for several weeks, I finally decided to order directly from the Disney Store because (1) their costume was by far the prettiest, (2) I liked the braided wig versus big, crazy loose hair wig that is not braided (Hello, have you seen the movie? Rapunzel had braided hair.), and (3) I had a 15% off coupon code that made the Disney costume the same price as any of my other options.
Claire got to wear silver sparkle shoes and makeup. She was in heaven!
Scooby Luke was not a fan of his headpiece. This was my one attempt at a photo before Will got home and before Luke scampered off. (This costume was a hand-me-down from big brother.)
Ah, there we go. He finally wore the hat for a few minutes. (Notice older siblings holding his hands.)
Claire and her BFF Kate (posing as Sleeping Beauty ... Claire's favorite princess until Rapunzel came along).
All the kiddos at our little trick-or-treat gathering. Claire is the oldest and Luke is the youngest and one more is on the way (he is not ours).
Our hosts. This is the third year we have trick-or-treated in their ginormous neighborhood.
Much to Will's dismay, we dressed up this year. I already had the Daphne costume and I borrowed the Fred costume from a friend. I knew it would be our last chance to go as a Scooby gang since Luke was wearing the costume this year. I'm thinking neon orange hair is not my best color!
The whole gang.
And now, I'm off to eat some Halloween candy!
Monday, October 31, 2011
Menu Plan Monday: October 31
This week is kind of crazy for us with Halloween and work travel and a really big football game this weekend. (Watch this super-cool promo video here if you love college football.)
Monday: Pizza, salad, Halloween candy!
Tuesday: Lime cilantro steak, mashed sweet potatoes (I am going to pick a recipe from Pinterest), salad (WE NEVER ATE THIS LAST WEEK.)
Wednesday: Chicken puffs, green beans, mandarin orange salad
Thursday: pepperoni pizza puffs, salad (ANOTHER CARRYOVER)
The rest of the week/weekend in kind of up in the air. I'm guessing there will be some FAST FOOD involved. Yuck! Hopefully, we can find a Chick-Fil-A!
Check out Laura's blog for more Menu Plan Monday.
Saturday, October 29, 2011
Fall Fun Links
Here are a few fun activities we have done this week to celebrate fall and Halloween!
Friday, October 28, 2011
Preschool Corner: O is for Octopus
Today is my first time to link up to Preschool Corner over at Homeschool Creations. This website has been an AWESOME resource for me for getting started with homeschooling. And, it has some great preschool resources (that are FREE!) for the little man.
Our theme this week was mostly Octopus from our LOTW curriculum.
Oh my word ... how cute is that face. Octopus puzzle.
Octopus letter matching. This is the first time I've included this activity (because I had not make the letter discs yet) but he did great.
Is that a smile I see while coloring? David is normally not a huge fan of all the coloring. I try to break up his schedule so we only color one thing per day.
Playdough is always a big hit with this little guy. He got a little silly with the LC "o". You can find these great playdough mat printables (that you can laminate or slide into a page protector) here.
We also pulled in a few "Ocean" activities for our O week. (It just so happens that we went to the beach at the end of this week too. That was handy planning on my part ... or just lucky I guess.)
We did this measuring with goldfish activity that I found here and we made a fun ocean tot book that I apparently did not take any pictures of us using. He really does love looking through the tot books everyday and it helps us review basics like numbers (1-10), shapes and colors.
Writing the letter O.
Craft time. We made an Octopus and a gold glitter Owl, both of which were found here. We added a little impromptu glitter to the owl because (1) he looked a little plain without it and (2) David loves the glitter glue. It is definitely his favorite crafting item.
Our O board for the week (which also includes some crafts from church and mother's day out.) We got back on track learning our RRSP verse this week, which was "Oh, give thanks to the Lord for He is good." David still enjoys doing all of the activities for our bible verse each week as you can see them on the board.
(David is 3Y, 6M old.)
Our theme this week was mostly Octopus from our LOTW curriculum.
Oh my word ... how cute is that face. Octopus puzzle.
Octopus letter matching. This is the first time I've included this activity (because I had not make the letter discs yet) but he did great.
Is that a smile I see while coloring? David is normally not a huge fan of all the coloring. I try to break up his schedule so we only color one thing per day.
Playdough is always a big hit with this little guy. He got a little silly with the LC "o". You can find these great playdough mat printables (that you can laminate or slide into a page protector) here.
We also pulled in a few "Ocean" activities for our O week. (It just so happens that we went to the beach at the end of this week too. That was handy planning on my part ... or just lucky I guess.)
We did this measuring with goldfish activity that I found here and we made a fun ocean tot book that I apparently did not take any pictures of us using. He really does love looking through the tot books everyday and it helps us review basics like numbers (1-10), shapes and colors.
Writing the letter O.
Craft time. We made an Octopus and a gold glitter Owl, both of which were found here. We added a little impromptu glitter to the owl because (1) he looked a little plain without it and (2) David loves the glitter glue. It is definitely his favorite crafting item.
Our O board for the week (which also includes some crafts from church and mother's day out.) We got back on track learning our RRSP verse this week, which was "Oh, give thanks to the Lord for He is good." David still enjoys doing all of the activities for our bible verse each week as you can see them on the board.
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Photobooks ... my new memory-keeping love!
I have been faithfully reading The Mom Creative's 31 days of memory-keeping posts during the month of October. She is a full-time working mother of two who loves to read, craft and SCRAPBOOK! (I think we were separated at birth. Ha!)
Scrapbooking will always be my first crafting love, but I just don't have time for traditional paper scrapbooking at this time in my life. Right now, this blog is my main form of memory keeping, but I like to have current things to hold and look at in real life (i.e., not on a computer screen).
My first photo book was of our most recent trip to Disneyworld. I think I purchased a $10 Shutterfly Groupon and then paid about $8-10 for shipping. So my total cost was about $20 for a $30 book.
Thanks to The Mom Creative's series, I've made two other photo books (for great deals) and a journal over the last few weeks.
The first photo book was another Shutterfly book for 40% off. I think I ended up paying $20 for the $30 book plus shipping. (If I had spent $30, I could have gotten free shipping but I didn't have it in me to make another book and the coupon expiration was fast approaching!) I made a book of Luke's first birthday party.
I am posting this book since I never posted any pics of Luke's birthday party. (FYI ... the first page is blank because it was the invitation, which I've already posted here, and I didn't want all of our personal info on the Internet.)
The second photo book and journal were FREE thanks to special coupon codes from The Mom Creative and they were from a new website called Paper Coterie. (These coupon codes have expired but she currently has a code for a free memory keeper, which is a super nice box for storing mementos.) I received the journal yesterday and I am impressed with the quality. I should receive my photobook today. (This photo book was made of Luke's professional photos at Newborn, 4M, 8M and 12M for a first year sort of book.)
I know the photobooks are pricey, but if you watch for great deals on Snapfish, Shutterfly and other photo sites, you can make them whenever and order them on sale!
Happy memory-keeping!
Scrapbooking will always be my first crafting love, but I just don't have time for traditional paper scrapbooking at this time in my life. Right now, this blog is my main form of memory keeping, but I like to have current things to hold and look at in real life (i.e., not on a computer screen).
My first photo book was of our most recent trip to Disneyworld. I think I purchased a $10 Shutterfly Groupon and then paid about $8-10 for shipping. So my total cost was about $20 for a $30 book.
Thanks to The Mom Creative's series, I've made two other photo books (for great deals) and a journal over the last few weeks.
The first photo book was another Shutterfly book for 40% off. I think I ended up paying $20 for the $30 book plus shipping. (If I had spent $30, I could have gotten free shipping but I didn't have it in me to make another book and the coupon expiration was fast approaching!) I made a book of Luke's first birthday party.
I am posting this book since I never posted any pics of Luke's birthday party. (FYI ... the first page is blank because it was the invitation, which I've already posted here, and I didn't want all of our personal info on the Internet.)
Click here to view this photo book larger
The second photo book and journal were FREE thanks to special coupon codes from The Mom Creative and they were from a new website called Paper Coterie. (These coupon codes have expired but she currently has a code for a free memory keeper, which is a super nice box for storing mementos.) I received the journal yesterday and I am impressed with the quality. I should receive my photobook today. (This photo book was made of Luke's professional photos at Newborn, 4M, 8M and 12M for a first year sort of book.)
I know the photobooks are pricey, but if you watch for great deals on Snapfish, Shutterfly and other photo sites, you can make them whenever and order them on sale!
Happy memory-keeping!
Monday, October 24, 2011
Menu Plan Monday: October 24
Here is our menu plan for the week:
Breakfast treat: French toast casserole & bacon
Monday: Creamy baked flautas, mexicorn, salad
Tuesday: Chicken puffs, green beans, mandarin orange salad
Wednesday: Slow-cooked chicken & vegetables, bread machine wheat rolls
Thursday: Lime cilantro steak, mashed sweet potatoes (I am going to pick a recipe from Pinterest), salad
Friday: pepperoni pizza puffs, salad, campfire cookies
Saturday: caramel apple muffins (breakfast); I think we are having friends over for dinner so our menu is still up in the air for now.
Sunday: Leftover buffet
Check out Laura's blog for more Menu Plan Monday.
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