Here's To The Day...

Here's to a day filled with happy moments, new adventures and smiling faces...


When surprise packages arrive in the mail filled with goodies and sweet treats...



And you feel on top of the world....



And you understand that sharing makes the snack that much sweeter...


And you get to try something new, even if it means happily hopping along like you saw others do and figuring it must be right...


And you can stand proud in a jersey 10 times too big...


And finish the day eating an ice cream while pantless in public.



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Raising A Kid...


“Raising a kid is part joy and part guerilla warfare.”
~Ed Asner
(I saw this quote at Muthering Heights and just had to share our version - helmet angst!)

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The Sun Came For A Visit!

This week we had 2 whole days of sunshine!! Which for us meant dropping everything and heading outside for some much needed fresh air! So although in many ways we set aside our bug themed activities in pursuit of outdoor adventures, the fact of the matter is when you're outside there is always a lesson on bugs to be had!

Our first lesson was intentional. It was one we had postponed from our rainy ant week. We set out flour, salt and honey on the driveway. Piper then predicted that they would like the honey the most. It took a little while before any ants happened by but Piper was very patient and spent quite a while waiting for them to come!


In the end her prediction proved true! And she was so excited to see them chowing down on the honey!


She also found a spider stuck to some tape - a perfect opportunity to get to check it out up close!


The girls found a junebug crawling around and followed it until it found a hiding place!


Taitum was rather intrigued by some ant hills we found. It was so cute to listen to Piper explain what they were to her!

Before this rainy month began, I had planned a bunch of outdoor activities. Because of the gloomy weather we haven't been able to do much of what I'd planned. So I was pleased to have a chance to try one of the activities I'd planned: Ball painting!



First, we'd put them in a container with paint, put on the lid and give it a good shake. Then we'd let the ball go on the paper! It was fun to see the different designs it made!



Taitum was more interested in finger painting!



Here's our masterpiece!



We also did some dandilion prints!


Piper spent loads of time blowing bubbles...


And Taitum had fun making bubbles with the bubble mower!


Inside, we spent some time  doing a bug graph from the Pretty Bug and Creatures Preschool Pack at 1+1+1=1. Piper would roll the dice...


Then fill in the graph according to which bug she rolled and kept doing so until we had a 'winner'! She LOVED this!


Piper also made a spider web by string painting after we read Aranea. She's done this one at Halloween before but enjoys string painting so didn't seem to mind doing a re-do of a craft! Tait gave it a try to but was too quickly frustrated with trying to control the string!

Although this was a week that drifted away from our original plan, it was fantastic nonetheless! Getting to roam around outside is always far better than any academic type activities I could plan! I'd even go so far as to say its likely more educational! I find even I am becoming a wee bit more comfortable with bugs (which is a HUGE step for me!) as we learn about them and what they are up to! I love getting to learn with my kids!

I'm linking up to:

Tot School









For The Hard Mommy Days

If you've ever had a hard Mommy day,
And felt like everything was falling apart
And you're running to catch up with life...

Read this.


And remember your not alone!
And the craziness is worth a laugh in retrospect!
And some days just surviving is the greatest success!

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Sunny Day Lemons

After what has seemed like an eternity of endless rain...

SUN!

A whole day of it, in fact!

And there is just something about sun flooding in through the windows and the smell of lemons that make a day feel simply grand!


Lemons to make...

A strawberry spinach salad with Lemon Poppy Seed Vinaigrette,

which perfectly accompanied BBQ steak and my most favorite food ever - fiddleheads!
(Its good to be a Maritimer!)




In the end, the vinaigrette was a bit too vinger-y, there were far too few fiddleheads for my liking and the muffins weren't as delish as I'd hoped. But it was sunny out! So it really didn't matter.

I was happy.

We were all happy!

A sunny day will do that for a person!



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Who Likes Long Weekends?!

Who likes long weekends?!

ME!

I already told you about our family night.

But the fun didn't stop there!

Oh no!

We went on a favorite family outting the next day - the public library!

And found lots of 'buggy' books!



That evening we were able to spend time with family as we celebrated my sister-in-law Mya's boyfriend's birthday (Happy Belated Birthday, Brendan!)

Oh and enjoyed this fabulous cake by Mya!



Triple layer dark chocolate carrot cake with pineapple jam and coconut cream cheese frosting between the layers.

Are you jealous yet? :D

Sunday we were off to church and sang a new song I am in love with - As We Gather (We Will Worship). Although, I have to say, I like our worship team's version of it much better but maybe I'm a little biased! ;) Go take a listen!

That afternoon there was actually no rain AND the sun decided to show up! So Matt and I nabbed the opportunity to work on our shutter transformation!

Goodbye, Blue!




Hello, Brown!


So today has been lazy and mellow. Just perfect!

My book club book arrived last week - The Ministry of Motherhood - and I cozied in to begin reading it this morning! I am so thrilled about having joined this book club! (You still can, too!)


Then....
I went shopping!

Online that is! There are so many great deals out there right now!

Like Scholastic's Teacher Express Dollar Deals! I got over $100 worth of resources for $10! Say what??!

Also, I nabbed some Eco Nuts at Baby Half Off for 50% off! I've been wanting to try this forever! This was my chance! I'll likely use them mainly for washing Taitum's cloth diapers but if I love them I just might start washing everything with them! They're all natural and free from man made chemicals (among other really good things!). All in all, I'm very excited to give them a try! I'll let you know how it goes!



Speaking of safer products, I came across some sunscreen worth sharing! Thinksport Livestrong Sunscreen! I found it on Baby Half Off, too but even without a deal its fairly affordable! I recommend reading the info they have on their site about the sunscreen. It makes me feel a billion times better that I'm not only protecting my family from the sun but from known carcinogens found in the majority of sunscreens. 


Finally, Shining Dawn Books is offering their Facebook friends a choice of one of their products for $5.00! I haven't ordered yet because I simply can't decide! But I have until May 31st - hopefully, I'll have my mind made up by then!



To end our lovely weekend, the girls and I went to my parent's house for some delicious strawberries and cream! It might not feel like summer in these parts but at least it tasted like it!

How was your long weekend?

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Family Night ~ Play Doh!

There is something about having my little family together for a fun evening that is just so delightful. Granted, I spend pretty much every moment of every day with the girls doing fun things but when Matt is home and there is no rush to get the dishes done and the girls to bed, its extra special. Family night for us is pretty impromptu though. At this point, we don't really plan it. Our weekends are often full of places to go and people to see. But every once and a while we find ourselves home on a quiet Friday evening with nothing to do but enjoy each others company!

A game night or movie night is generally out of the question. We want everyone included and right now, Taitum is just too young for board games (although I do intend on eventually planning a game night with toddler friendly games...someday!) and is uninterested in most movies. As well, we like to do things that encourage conversation and interaction. So where does that leave us? This weekend landed us around the kitchen table with a big lump of play doh!


Piper asked to play with it and before I knew it we were all joining in! Matt and I with our evening coffees and the girls with their insatiable appetite for play based fun! I have to say play doh is pretty addicting! I got so involved I didn't take any pics of some of the more memorable creations - like Matt's giant dragonfly!


Matt and I ended up being the vegetable makers for Chef Piper who was in the process of making soup! She would tell us what veggies she needed and we'd make them so she could chop them up and throw them in the pot!


As is often the case, Taitum eventually lost interest but was content to stay close by. She worked on buckling her baby into her high chair, busied herself with trying to see what was in the garbage can and when she got the chance, attempting to get a sip out of my empty coffee mug!

Play doh was the perfect activity for a family night with little ones! The girls played happily away as Matt and I chatted about the happenings of our day, the girls listened intently and asked questions (in Piper's case). We, in turn, asked questions we had for them and overall, simply enjoyed our time together!

Rejoice with your family in the beautiful land of life! 
~Albert Einstein

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Busy Bees!

This week we learned about bees! Piper was fascinated by all I had to teach her about them and by the end of the week she was pointing out bees to her Daddy and telling him that they were getting nectar from the flowers! In fact, she became so fascinated that I had to often remind her not to get too close as we watched them outside! Also, she was very perturbed by the Baby Bumblebee song initially - why in the world would you ever what to squish a BABY bumblebee! :)



Piper made a Bumblebee 'B'.


Taitum did, too, of course!


She also enjoyed this bee color match activity while Piper counted out the correct number of bees on her honeycomb cards!



They both colored bee pictures from the BEES Science Unit @ McTot.

Piper really impressed me this week with how carefully she did each of the activities I presented to her. She is really beginning to take pride in her work and put some time into making sure it is done right! Its so rewarding to see this progression! I've never made a big deal about it if she showed little interest in an activity or did it quickly just to have it over and done with. In retrospect, I believe it had more to do with the frustration of feeling like she wasn't capable of it. Now she has gained some confidence and is learning in leaps and bounds! And asking for more even after our school time is down! It makes this Mama smile!


Here she is carefully writing out the letter B on a printable from Owen's Family. (They also have several other bug printables that are super cute and worth checking out!)


And in this pic she is showing off her do-a-dot letter 'B'. I was so proud of her for actually perfectly filling in each of the dots to form the letters instead of just going crazy with the markers, as she often does! After this pic, she didn't want to mess up her work so she flipped the page over and had fun dotting the back side!


Because of her love for buttons, Piper was thrilled about this activity - glueing them to the letter 'B'!


Taitum also enjoyed this but spent most of her time trying to remove the buttons from her gluey fingers! It gave me a good laugh and it kept her occupied for a long time! All part of the learning experience, right? (And cheap entertainment!)

This was my favorite artwork of the week:

Piper's monsters! Aren't they just so monster like?!

Lastly, I leave you with a couple links to resources I've found helpful this past week!

A Link: The Homeschool Club's Bees: Preschool Theme Unit
This link is absolutely full of awesome ideas for learning about bees with preschoolers!

These books are so great for teaching young kids about science! We also read the one about ants last week. They are very simple but teach some key things about each subject, more than enough for a 3 year old!

A Video: This is a compilation of the insect section of Life. Piper and I watched all of the insect part together and she was enthralled with it (as was I - simply amazing!). The only 'problem' was that she flooded me with questions the entire time. Questions I could have answered had I been able to hear the narrator over her! Not that I'm complaining! I love her questions but next time, I'll remember to watch it first myself so I can more easily explain things to her...I think having her listen to the narration herself to get the information is something she will have to learn in time.




That's all for this week!

I'm linking up to:




Tot School




Best toys for toddlers

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I love motherhood.

We're a smiling family.

I'm a covenant keeper.

I love my husband.

I am above self pity.

I am a nation builder.

Motherhood=Adventure

Worth more than rubies.


“I am more convinced than ever that even in the midst of the mundane, burdensome, and oftentimes frustrating tasks of life allotted to me as a mother, God wants me to find his joy. He wants every single day of my life to be a celebration of his blessings, whether large or small. He wants me to celebrate life ~ the life He has given me.”

~ Sally Clarkson







My Hubby

My Hubby
He's my bestest.

Piper

Piper
She is my compassionate, dramatic, fun to be around 6 year old. She loves to shop, get dressed up fancy and anything else that screams girly!

Taitum

Taitum
She is my goofy, snuggly 4 year old who loves to sing and dance and smile all day long!

Renly

Renly
She is our one year old smarty pants! She does all she can to keep up with her older sisters and to keep them in line!

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