Guaranteed Greatness for Letter G Week

My most favorite ever thing we did for Letter G was something I found on line.  It was a Homemade Gingerbread Man made out of paper bag and stuffing with glue.  We used staples. The kids had so much fun with this and after we were done making him, Ava drew the face and the G shaped buttons on him.  Then we read the Gingerbread story and acted it out five times.  They were squealing and that was the high light of the week for them too.

We also were asked to be Guests as a friends house, Lilly.  We had a snack that was delicious and consisted of Grape Gatorade, Grapes, and G-shaped PBJ sandwiches.  I am so sure the kids didn't enjoy this near as much as the kick we got out of it.

For our service we Took Groceries over to the Gardners since Alexis had been in the hospital for a week and we wanted to Go and see her too.  We also took Alexis a Glittery Get Well Card and some flowers.  The kids got to stay and play with her for awhile and then we had to leave to head on our way to Christian's appointment. Notice, Christian has on his Green sweatshirt.

Getting ready to drop Groceries at the Gardners.

We also got a call from Daddy in Frederick., saying his car bit the dust and was dead.  He needed me to pick him up so off I went.  Grandma called and offered to take the kids for the day so they ended up getting a fun Day with Grandma.  She took them to buys some Gourds and then they practiced writing the letter G at her house.  They had a blast, while I had to go and say Goodbye to our car. :(

One of the activities the curriculum offered was to color and cut out some GOLD pieces and then hide them.  The kids then went on a hunting trip to find them.  They were Gathering Gold.  They loved this.  They played this longer than I ever expected.  Lilly loved it too. 

 Look mom, I found Gold

Some other activities and surprises were Grandma made a Ginger Cake for Daddy's Birthday party and we had Generous Goulash for dinner.  We got on the computer and Googled Gorillas, Geese, and Gummi Bear song.  We made collages with things that start with the letter G and then glued them together.

Our verse was John 4:2

God is spirit and his worshipers must worship him in spirit and in truth.

We also discussed and watched the movie of David and Goliath.  Talking about how God is bigger than all and with him on our side, we can beat Giants like Goliath. :)  It was a Great Week!!

Fabulously Fun Letter F Week

We had so much Fun with F week.  It was another crazy week and lots going on but a few of the activities we participated in were as follows: Watching the movie the Princess and the Frog and talking a ton about Frogs.  We also practiced writing letter F which was not so hard considering that it was one line less than Letter E. . .so the kids did well with that one.  We actually got two calls that week for foster care placements, neither one ending up being placed, but it gave us a chance to discuss what it meant to Foster a child and all about Foster Care in General.  We discussed Fire and if there was ever a Fire in the home, what our plan was to escape.  We talked about what to do if the fire got on you, and how to Stop, Drop, and Roll. 

For our Food ideas, we had fish for dinner one night and then we had Fruit Loops for Breakfast almost everyday that week.  We also had Goldfish for snacks numerous times.  We ate some of Grandma's Fudge that was meant for the bake sale and we ate fruit, of course. 

The kids and I came up with a list on things that start with F and then Ava went with her Nana to get "Fabulous Flowers for her Funny Family."  They were weeds, but she was so proud of them.  We also spent an evening playing Go Fish Game with our Family of Four.  The kids really loved this. 

We spent a day on a Farm and went for a tour.  This was a blast and I will be doing a whole write up on this part alone. 

A few other activities were coloring pages of Fish and learning to wash our fingers and feet.  For our service we made Fruit Loop Necklaces for the Bake Sale.  This was a rather fun activity

Another thing we did was taught Little Man a little of the basics of Football.  Daddy was trying so hard to teach him "hut - set - hike!!" and in the middle of the lesson, Christian, looked up and smiled and said, "mommy, take my picture?" hahaha.  I have created monsters.  Of course, I had to go get the camera to take a picture of him playing Football for F week.  :)

At the end of F week, Ava came to me so excited.  She said, "hey mom, guess what, fumb starts with F, see F-f-f-fumb."  She was so excited and then i realized she was holding up her thumb.  Darn speech issues.  The English Language is just too Hard. :)

Christian and His Special Wardrobe!

Our son has chosen a few select items in his wardrobe that he prefers to wear all the time.  In this process, he has also decided to place a name with each item so we understand which one he is asking for.  The funny thing is we have no idea where some of these names came from, but he is funny when he says them.


The first and most hilarious item is the wife beater undershirt tank tops, or as he calls them, his "Hu-Ha"  Yup, we have absolutely NO idea where this came from and it sounds a little odd when he is going around talking about his Hu-Ha and yet he loves them and has to wear them all the time.  They are his favorite.  In fact, he threw a royal fit when I had to pitch an old dirty one at the beach.  He was so angry at me for throwing away his Hu-Ha.  I just bought his daddy some and now they both walk around in the evenings with their Hu-Has on.  So cute.  Ava informed me she now wants some Hu-Has.  :)

Our Mighty man and his HU-HA

The second item is what is referred to as "my candy bar nightdown".  As you can see, this shirt is simply an over sized T-shirt that was given to him by Faith and it has God's Construction Bars on it.  He must think these are candy bars and that is how he refers to it.  He loves to wear this to bed, and would wear it out if I allowed him to.

Thumbs up mom, my Candy Bar nightdown is COOL!!

Another famous and very popular item in this wardrobe of Christian's is his "Hunt Camp Pants" which are a pair of army camo sweatpants that he has had for years.  HE loves them and he thinks this along with his "Car shirt" are the perfect combo to impress whoever he is in the mood to impress.  He often chooses this outfit when wanting to see our friend Erin Berry.  :)  I love it.  He wants to wear this outfit, spike his hair and put some of Daddy's cologne on.  :)

One of the items he chooses to name is a pair of wind pants, black, and they are two sized to big.  However, he calls these his "shiny pants".  So funny.  He complains they are too big on him but he insists on wearing them.  He also has a tank top his aunt Brianna got him with Drums on it and he calls this his "drum" shirt. This is a shirt that he talked about and wanted to wear every night at the beach.  He talked to Pappy all week about how he wanted to wear his Drum shirt. These two Items I am not showing, for sake of saving myself some time, but you get the idea.

Another popular item in his wardrobe is his "football shirt." we totally get why he calls it this, but it is still cute. He runs around saying, "I wear my football shirt." and we know he means his Penn State Jersey. He also got matching Penn state shorts that he calls his football shorts, or his jogging shorts cause they look similar to his daddy's shorts that he wears to job. :)

Last but definitely not least, he has an old t-shirt of his daddy's he calls his "goofy nightdown."  We know where this name came from.  We tell him it is a t-shirt, but sissy wears night gowns and so must he. :)

Visiting the Farm for F Week

This post is weeks behind, but I lost my pics so it has taken me awhile to get this all together.  Our good friend Angel, from my mom2mom group, set up a tour with a local organic farm and we all got to take our kids and walk the tour.  I was extremely interested in all the farmer had to say and I loved the activities for the kids. 

The first thing he took us to see was what he called, the maternity ward.  It was mommy cows that were either VERY pregnant or had just given birth.  There was one that had given birth that day walking around.

This was the picture of the mommy that had delivered. The kids were quite intrigued.  Then the farmer went in and brought out one of the babies, so the kids could pet it and see it up closer.

Then we headed on our way up to the chicken and turkey coops.  They showed us how they moved the crates three times a day so the animals could graze on the grass.  The kids loved the chickens.  Then we headed over to the chickens that lay eggs for us to eat.  The farmer allowed the kids to reach in and help collect the eggs from the chickens nests and place them in the basket.  This was a definitely a favorite activity. 

Needless to say, there were a few eggs broken, but overall the kids did pretty well.  It was a little harder getting Christian to be gentle.  I guess he thought they were not too fragile.

Here they were more interested in the cat under the car, than in anything else.  They did have fun though and we learned alot.  AT the end they gave each of us some sample Raw Milk to try.  Christian drank it right up.

Day Out With Thomas - 2010

A very good friend of mine called and invited Christian and I to accompany Herself and her little boy, Angel, to go see the real Thomas the Train.  Her husband had won four free tickets and she thought this would be a great day for us to get out and spend some time with our boys.  Sort of a date out with our little guys.  I immediately agreed to this, knowing this would be as exciting to see Christian's face when he saw Thomas as it was to see Ava see Cinderella for the first time.  I couldn't wait.  Micah was sad he couldn't go but glad Christian was getting the opportunity.  :)
So, Thursday night we dropped Ava off at Grandma and Pappy's house and left to go home with Christian.  He was so sad and quietly pouted the entire way home.  He was trying so hard not to let us see him with tears in his eyes, but he was sad he didn't get to spend the night at Grandma and Pappy's too.  We tried to explain to him, but he didn't understand.

The next morning, the first thing he said to me was, "go see Big Thomas day?"  He was holding me accountable.  We hopped in the car and drove to Carlisle to pick up Rosita and Angel.  When we got to Rosita's, while we were strapping the boys seats in and getting ready to go, they were talking to each other about seeing real Thomas.  They were so excited.  They kept laughing and talking about Choo-choos. 

Yes he was in a pink seat, I had to use Ava's.  He wasn't too upset, he was off to see Thomas.  :)

When we finally arrived, we were walking across the parking lot the first time Christian and Angle spotted Thomas.  They were in amazement. They both stopped in their tracks and stared, with gaping mouths.  They were pointing and just staring.  I don't think either of them expected Thomas to be so big and so REAL.  :)  They wouldn't even smile for a picture because they were in shock and still staring.

First real glimpse of Thomas.  Stopped him dead in his tracks.

Christian and his friend Angel, both Thomas the Train Fans.  They were completely in Aww, there was the real Thomas. 

We headed on down to the track, following the signs guiding us to the Thomas Station.  First of all, the amount of little boys there was incredible and just breath taking.  Their were little boys everywhere and they were all in their glory.  Literally like Disney for the girls.  So crazy.

Here we were watching Thomas go by while standing at the crossing.  The kids were closer this time and still in aww.  Look at their faces.  The parents are pretty funny too as they are almost as excited as the kids.



We found out the kids had so many activities they could do while spending our day there.  They had a big white tent with TONS of Thomas products, including puzzles, train sets, flags, hats, shirts, sweatshirts, and so much more.  In fact, I am not sure I knew they even made so many Thomas things.  It was crazy and like a small section of Heaven for these two little boys. They were running around exclaiming the whole time, "I want that!!" or "I get this for my birday?" and so on. Needless to say, we didn't get to spend a ton of time there since it was hard to keep them on task. :)

The boys trying on their Thomas Hats.

Then we headed over to get in line for our big ride with Thomas.  The boys had to stand in line, but they were not at all upset.  They got to watch Thomas and Christian kept waving and Yelling, "HI Thomas!!" 

As we waited in line.  The cool thing was we were close to the train, so we could just watch it go by.  The boys liked waving at the people on the train.

Finally Thomas pulled up an it was our time to board the train.  We were the third car back and what exciting times to get on a real Train. The boys again could hardly contain themselves.  They were waving out the window and waving at each other. 

There he Is, coming up the Track.

Here they are entering a real train for the first time. 

They can hear Thomas' whistle. 

Me and My little Man.  What a nice train cabin we were in.

Getting ready for the highly anticipated ride to begin.

After the Train ride, we headed up to the front of the train where we could get our picture taken with Thomas himself.  You couldn't wipe the smile off Christian's face. 

A few more pics of Thomas the Train in real life.

Christian posing with the conductor for a quick picture.

Christian and Angel saying goodbye to Thomas as he was heading in for the day.  His last ride had just finished.  They were waving away. 

One of the fun activities they had for the kids that was included in the ticket. . . Crank Cars.  You used your arms to make it move around the little track.  The boys really liked this game.  We did this numerous times.

They had lots of tables set up for all the boys to play on.  This was under another tent and the kids loved going from table to table to play. 

The boys chose Choo-choo whistles as their souvenirs and we heard them all the way home from Lancaster.  Or at least until they finally conked out. 

I love this picture.  It sums it all up.  We had a Fabulous Day Out with Thomas!!

 

Pennsylvania: Life experiences inspire Heart Walk participants

Pennsylvania: Life experiences inspire Heart Walk participants

Energetically Experiencing Letter E Week

We started out Letter E week with making our own Egg Sandwiches.  I allowed the kids to crack their own Eggs and then scramble the Egg Whites and Yolks.  I am pretty sure they got a bit more on their hands and clothes than in the pan, but they had fun doing this activity.  We actually ended up having Eggs most mornings for Breakfast this week.  We had dippy eggs, egg sandwiches, and scrambled eggs. 

Yummy!!!  They loved their sandwiches that they made themselves.

We also decided to Entertain our Friend Erin Berry with a Princess Tea Party.  The kids had fun eating with her and drinking their tea.  Erin even brought Ava a Princess Tiara for the party. 

We also decided to make Letter E Elephants with eyes and tusks.  This was a bit hard and needed some assistance with the glue, but they were very Excited!!

Ava got her first Eye Exam at the doctors office and we talked about eyes and why we need them and what they do.  We took walks for exercise and did some other Exercise activities.    We also sang a song called, "One Enormous Elephant, marching down the street.  Two large Ears and four big Feet.  He passed a friend, who wasn't afraid to join a friend and form a parade.  Two Enormous Elephants marching down the street. . . ." and you can add from there.

One of the fun crafts we did was The Eye Dropper Filter painting job.  We laid coffee filters down and then used Eye Droppers to drop colored water on the filters.  When they dried, we made them into flowers along with Pipe Cleaners and then Encouraged Aunty One-L with them. 

By the End of E week, the kids were really good at writing the Capital Letter E.  We also worked with Easter Eggs, and discussed how to Encourage someone and Entertain someone.  We learned some cute Elephant poems and songs and sang them while we danced around like Elephants.  We also talked about the story of Adam and Eve and how Eve ate the Fruit and got kicked out of Eden.  The other Bible Story we focused on was Esther and her Bravery.