Advent

This Christmas season we have tried to be more intentional with our family time leading up to Christmas. We started off the season with a list of family activities in our Advent Calendar that we could all enjoy together during this wonderful season of anticipation. B is still very young, so planning activities has been pretty challenging. Also, Jeff has been traveling, so we missed some days. But overall, we are doing pretty good with taking time to sit down as a family and enjoying our time together during such a busy season. Below are a few activities that we have done recently.


B decorating wrapping paper.


B and I decorating Christmas cookies.

Big Boy...Little Bed

We have started the transition to a toddler bed...pray for strength...

Ladies Craft Night

I hosted a ladies craft night at our home a little while ago and totally forgot to take pictures of everyone and their neat projects. The theme was reusing/repurposing picture frames. I had several samples of different ideas that you could make your own to fit any size or style of frame that you had lying around. One of my favorite ideas was a butterfly display that had caught my eye several months ago. I chose a plain 5x7 wood frame that had no glass and painted the frame white. I then glued black, textured cardstock onto the cardboard backing and used a white chalk pencil to chart out where I was going to put my butterflys. I punched out 19 small butterflys from a variety pack of black/white printed paper and arranged them on the grid. For a little pop of color I used one bright yellow butterfly in the arrangement. This will be lovely little piece of artwork for our gray walls in our bedroom.

Gobble Gobble!

I apologize for the slim pickings in the blog postings of late. Got a lot on the 'ol list that needs checked off. Anyways, we had a quiet Thanksgiving Day here at our house with just the three of us...well actually two of us since B fell asleep before we even got to eat lunch. I made a simple turkey breast in the crock pot, some sweet potatoes, stuffing and gravy and called it a day. After lunch we took our cue from B and took naps. Then we got up and did some Christmas decorating.
On Friday, I had to work. Jeff and B had a "Daddy Day" all planned. They went to a model train store, then to the Holiday Tree Festival, home for nap, and then we did a little Christmas shopping.
The rest of the weekend was spent at home, catching up on cleaning, laundry, and "to dos".









That was one sad lookin' Santa. He just did not have it together. I think B knew it too...he didn't want to have anything to do with sitting by him.


Oh, and I meant to post these numbers a couple of weeks ago but never go to it. Here are B's 18 month stats:

Weight - 32lb 10oz, 97%
Length - 35", 97%
Head - 19.5", 90%

Hangin' With the VIPs

This past weekend we had our second to last game of the season and the weather, as expected, took a turn for the chilly. We are talkin' S-N-O-W. Fortunately we were blessed with a room in the very nice and thankfully soundproof, press box at the stadium. This allowed for a more comfortable viewing experience for the coaches' families and a more confined space for the little ones. B, as usual, watched the first half of the game and some of the band at half-time but also took in a Veggie Tales movie. I would have liked to have been a fly on the wall when the custodian came in to clean that room and saw all of the mouth/lick marks and fingerprints all over the glass window in front of the bottom seats. Those kids really know how to have a good time! :-)
Alas, the game ended in a loss for the Pioneers. But hopefully the story will end differently next Saturday. In our last game of the season, the Pioneers will take on our alma mater, Olivet Nazarene University. Got to root for the Pioneers!!

Happy Halloween

This weekend we had a big trip West, and visited family in the Chicago area. We stayed at Papa and Gramma's house and went to Malone's game vs. TIU (we won 34-0) where we met up with GG, Uncle Justin, Aunt Anna, and our friend Bobby. After the game we went to a little party at GG's house where we had some awesome chili and all of the fixins and got to see Aunt Betty. This morning we did a little early trick-or-treating with Gramma before heading back to OH. It was great to see everyone and great to get a win on the road.
On Saturday morning, I was out running an errand and happened to notice a garage sale that looked like it had kids items on my way back to the house. I had been talking to my MIL earlier about things that would be useful to have at their house when we visit and that we could look for at garage sales or consignment stores. So on a whim, I decided to stop and look around to see if they had anything interesting. Right away, I noticed a big pop-up play tent and knew that B would get a kick out of playing in that. I also found a fold-up booster chair with tray that was actually one of the items that we were going to keep a look-out for. They were both a pretty good deal at $5 a piece (thanks Gramma!). Once I got back to the house, I put the tent up for B and he LOVED it. He kept crawling in and out of it and he would sit in it and have us read him books in it. We currently have it set up in our living room now and he has already been in it a couple of times since we've been home tonight. Some other fun things he got to do this weekend were painting a pumpkin at Papa and Gramma's, pet tons of dogs, get tons of doggie kisses, watch movies in the car, and eat special Halloween cupcakes.

Sunday Serenity

Yesterday, we took a nice long walk in one of the nearby Ohio state parks to recharge and appreciate the Fall colors. B had fun looking at and meeting the variety of dogs we encountered and clutched the big yellow leaf that I gave him to hold for an hour before he decided to tear it slowly into tiny pieces.

No Cavities!

B had his first dentist appointment last week and "aced" it. He did a great job watching Mickey Mouse while Mommy got her teeth cleaned and then sat on Mommy's lap so that he could get his teeth checked and counted. He has 6 on top and 6 on bottom. He loves "brushing teeth time" (I think because of the yummy toddler toothpaste) and even lets Mommy or Daddy "help" him at end.


B with his "no cavities" ribbon.


B showing off his mad tooth brushing skills early one morning.

Picture Hanging Tip

I saw this tip on how to hang your pictures, straight and with only one nail hole in the wall. All you have to do is trace the outline of your frame onto craft paper or scrap paper, depending on the size, and use painters tape to hang the paper where you want it on the wall. After you adjust and move your various "pictures" around you level them and measure to where the hanger would be on the back of the frame. At that point you just have to hammer a nail straight through the paper, rip away the paper and tape, and hang your picture frame. Voila! No nailing mistakes or multiple holes in the wall. Worked for me, hope it works for you!

Remember Those Bird Pictures...

Well, with the help of my mom, they are finally up on the dining room wall. Check it out!

The Ultimate Toddler Fan

**No actual body paint was used in the taking of this picture. :-)

Hat Trick

...wait that's only in hockey...isn't it? Well, B had some hat tricks this weekend at the game. He did good for a while, but then after we made a slight adjustment, he must have realized that "Hey, I have a hat on and it will be a fun game to take it off and try to put it back on a million times!"

Yum!

Looking for a new recipe for all of those apples this fall? Give this one a try, you won't regret it!

Game 5

This weekend, B and I made the trek to Indiana to watch the Pioneers play at Taylor University. We left on Friday so that we could stay at Jeff's uncle and aunt's house near Indy. B had a pretty good time playing with everyone and was pretty tired Friday night by the time bedtime rolled around.







The whole trip we had wonderful weather and we had a beautiful drive with all of the fall colors. It was probably close to 75 at the game on Saturday. Its always interesting finding ways to occupy a toddler during a football game. Luckily, the visitor's side had plenty of room for him to run around. He was very content for around a half an hour to just put rocks in and out of a cup. It was probably the most I had got to watch a game in a while. The Pioneers ended up losing the game though 12-7. It was a close one and came down to the very end of the game just like last week.

Back In the Game!

Nope, this post is not about football, so if that is what you are interested in reading about, I'm sorry. You will have to wait for another post for that. What I am referring to is, me getting back in the groove. Last Sunday, I (with the help of my wonderful husband) set aside some time to be creative. I dusted the 'ol sewing machine off and set out to work on a new project. No, I didn't start with a small project, but took it upon myself to make a nap roll for B's new daycare class. I found a pretty simple tutorial here and went and picked out the cutest gender neutral fabric/colors that I could find at JoAnn's. Once B's head hit the pillow for his Sunday afternoon nap, I embarked on my new craft journey. I had only washed the fabric and had not made any cuts or anything at that point. But, I finished it....in about 5-6 hours. I did the final binding stitching with the machine just because it was faster but it doesn't look as good as if I would have hand-stiched it. Oh well, I got it done and it he gets to take a little bit of "Mommy Luv" to daycare with him every day.
Now onto some projects that have been waiting for me to complete since before the move....

Fall Monogram

I saw this idea somewhere this past weekend but can't remember where.
Take your supplies...



Start hot gluing silk fall leaves onto your cardboard 3-D letter, layering them.



Hang from ribbon and Voila!

Movin' On Up!

Today, B transitioned to the young toddler room at daycare. This is a pretty big deal in my mind. In this room he no longer sleeps in a crib, but instead on a nap mat/cot on the floor. We were also told that they don't use lids on their cups in this room, so we should practice doing the same at home. Not sure if I'm totally comfortable with that yet... He also, will no longer take a morning nap at daycare. All of these new things on top of some of the new things he has been doing at home has my head spinning. He is growing up so fast.
Yesterday, he was giving us the "I'm concentrating really hard on something big going down in my pants right now" look. When I asked him about it. He pulled at his diaper and said "poopy". Jeff and I were just like, "Did he just tell us that he needed a diaper change?" I guess that is step one on the long road to potty training.
He is getting a little frustrated with his inability to effectively communicate with us but does know some signs and uses them correctly. I have a feeling that we are on the brink of a language explosion though.

All Smiles

Someone finally got his carseat turned around...he hasn't stopped grinning. :-)

Sneak Peak

Here's a little teaser of Ben's room. It's not quite finished but his room may just be the first one that I can put my stamp of "DONE" on...too bad he doesn't spend too much time in it. :-)

Balls!!??

He may have been just a tad bit confused and by the end of the day, had even concocted some wild idea that balls grew on trees. But he certainly had a "ball" this weekend when we took him apple picking. We went to this local orchard where we picked two full bags of Jonagolds and then walked around the orchard.
B thought that they were balls and was picking up all of the small ones and throwing them as he yelled "Ball!". We stopped correcting him after about the 5th time. He loved it. Now I just have to work my way through two large bags of apples. Mmmmm...apple muffins, apple cake, homemade applesauce, apple crisp, apple pie......