Advent Song

"Hark the Herald Angels Sing"
Advent Song found on Little Flower Bugs website.


1. Light the Advent candle one
Now the waiting has begun
We have started on our way
Time to think of Christmas day.

Chorus:
Candle, candle burning bright
Shining in the cold winter night
Candle, candle burning bright
Fill our hearts with Christmas light.

2. Light the Advent candle two
Think of humble shepherds who
Filled with wonder at the sight
Of the child on Christmas night.

3. Light the Advent candle three
Think of heavenly harmony
Angels singing "Peace on Earth"
At the Blessed Savior's birth.

4. Light the Advent candle four
Think of Joy forever more
Christ child in a stable born
Gift of love that Christmas morn.

5. Light the Christmas candles now
Sing of Donkey, Sheep and cow
Birthday candles for the king
Let the Alleluias ring.

Christmas Bucket List

A few years ago, a dear friend and co-worker, Sandy F., told me how she would sit down with her calendar over Thanksgiving break and write a family activity on each date. Then she would cover each square (with foil I think) and each day one of her four children would uncover that day's activity with great anticipation.

She inspired me to make a similar list and I have added to it each year. I am in the process of adding recipes to this list as well as pictures of each of the crafts. If you have any questions, I'll be happy to elaborate. Please share your family traditions.

1. Bake cookies: Candy Cane Twists, Holiday Wreaths, Meringue Snowflakes, Red and Green Holiday Pinwheels, Stained Glass Cookies, Raspberry Poinsettia Blossoms, Reindeer Cookies , Jingle Bell Cookie Pizza
2. Go to Santa’s Wonderland December 23rd or before (you don’t know how weather will be)
3. Visit Nursing Home-caroling
4. Take treats to priest/doctors
5. Go to a Movie
6. St. Nicholas Day-read story about St. Nicholas and watch Veggie Tales
7. Games Night
8. Puzzle Night
9. Christmas Parade (1st weekend)
10. Make Gingerbread house/cookies
11. Make Jesus’ birthday cake
12. Make a clay dough ornament with cookie cutters.
13. Make choc dipped reindeer pretzels14. Make countdown chain
15. Make & decorate Advent cookie bouquet
16. Movie night- (Charlie Brown, It’s a Wonderful Life, Christmas Vacation, Miracle on 34th Street, Polar Express, A Christmas Story, Elf, etc....) with hot chocolate, Wassail, or hot cider.
17. 24th read story of Christmas-Luke
18. Make reindeer food
19. Bake candy cane twist cookies & read legend of candy cane
20. Make Advent wreath beads/bracelet
21. Ice Skating
22. Crafts with popsicle sticks (See Oriental trading.com for ideas)
23. Make reindeer Krispie Treats, Santa Claus Krispie Treats, or “holiday” Krispie Treats ,
24. Shop in Calvert?
25. Christmas in the Park26. Legend of the Christmas Tree
27. Make S’Mores
28. Gatti Town
29. Horseshoe Junction (go carts, mini golf, etc… in Brenham)
30. Elf on the Shelf ($30 @ Hallmark)
31. Paper plate crafts (see Oriental Trading’s website) . Gingerbread plate.
32. Tissue paper crafts (candy cane, wreath, tree, stocking)
33. “Stained glass” crafts (on transparency or laminating film). Print one of the coloring pages. Place a clear transparency page or laminating film on top. Tape them well. Let the kids color with Sharpies. Saran Wrap works, too. Hang the finished product in the window, or place on top of foil and cover a paper plate for a different look.
34. You and your kids enter a baking contest (College Station’s @ Christmas in the Park)
35. Ice Sculpting (click here).
36. Make an Advent Activity Chain. Here is one I found online. It is not the same as Lauren brought home from church. Here is another one. Here is the Nativity Story on a chain.
37. Santa pom-pom countdown to Christmas.
38. Let your child(ren) pick from the giving tree at church (or Salvation Army tree at the mall) and buy a gift for the less fortunate.
39. (Do this Thanksgiving weekend)- Wrap all your Christmas storybooks and let the kids take turns opening one each night. That's the bedtime story! Thanks, Jennie F!
40. (Again, print this Thanksgiving weekend)-Print this Santa Advent countdown on cardstock. make sure you have plenty of cotton!
41. Here is the link to the Advent Chain my daughter brought home from Religous Education this year. The teacher copied the links on purple and pink to correspond with the candles. Lauren ABSOLUTELY loved doing this and got upset if she couldn't do each one right away!
42. Handprint crafts: Help the kids paint their hands green and paint into a wreath, Santa, reindeer, Poinsettia, or Christmas tree pattern.

43. Make these adorable Melted Snowman Oreo Cookies by Idea Room Blog. Scroll down below the "pops".
44. Make homemade Candy Cane Marshmallows.
45. Make Mint Thins
46. Pringles can Nutcracker, Santa, Elf, or many others.
47. Print these Nativity stick puppets and recreate the Nativity Story.

48. Bake cookies and send to troops overseas.

49. Make these "Pretty Plastic Light Catchers."
50. Make these Advent Boxes. There is a box for each day in the month of December (up to Christmas Day). Each box holds a small item and a scripture (or Biblical principal) to go along with each day.

51. Make this Advent mantle display from Shower of Roses.

Here are posts from previous years. I hope to consolidate the lists soon.

My Favorite Season

Every now and then people ask me what my favorite season is, and after years of thinking about it, I always used to say the beginning of every season is my favorite. Today I realized that fall into winter is my favorite season for so many reasons. First of all, I love baking, and this season brings so many wonderful baking opportunties with a variety of flavors such as apple and pumpkin. We also go through about 20 boxes of Chex making our Spicy Chex Mix. Second, it is finally cool enough in Texas for my family to spend time outside...the kids playing so beautifully together while Stephen and I can relax with an adult beverage and watch (or join in). I love LOVE football and that is only played in the fall. Also, this is the time our church begins the praparation for the birth of Christ and there are so many wonderful family traditions to practice and pass along. So I've finally made up my mind- fall is my favorite season of all!

All is Well

That's my mantra these days as things seem to be falling apart. Yesterday, as I was preparing dinner, Lauren accidentally spilled chocolate milk in the refrigerator. It spilled down onto every shelf below, and into the drawers. So I got to check "Clean the Refrigerator" off the massive to-do list. How in the world do little crumbs get into the fridge anyway? And how on earth do they get under the glass and lodged into all the tiny crevices? I guess I should have had an old toothbrush handy. This was all after I decided not to be so OCD about the kids playing with Play-Doh, mixing colors, and shredding the big ball into tiny pieces that fall on the floor. I was so calm about that!

So Stephen walked into the house for his quick dinner break and found dinner not on the plates, and me with my head buried in the fridge. I told him he might not make it back to work. So see, I have to tell myself that all is well because in the grand scheme of things, it is. The kids are healthy and happy.

On a positive note, I hope to have a little more time to try some new apple and pumpkin recipes this month. I have already tried a few fabulous apple recipes and posted them on my cooking blog. I made some spicy Chex Mix last Friday, and the double batch was gone in less than 4 days. Cooking and baking always put me in a good mood. I love this time of year and I hope I can make the time to stop and blog about all the fun we are having.

I hope all is well for you, too!

Motherhood Mayhem

Last Sunday I had to take Lauren to RE (Sunday School) by myself because Stephen had a display at the Bridal Show. I had no problems taking her in with Caleb, Abby, and Spencer in-tow, but picking her up proved to be a disaster.

I pulled up along the drive and parked behind a SUV. I told Caleb and Abby not to get out until I could make sure there were no ants in the grass. First I checked for the stroller, but it was not in the van. I took Spencer's carrier around and told Caleb and Abby that it was safe to get out. Within a few seconds, Caleb was screaming. He was covered in ants. I yanked him up and onto the street in front of the van and made sure Abby was okay. I started smacking the ants and watching them surround him on the ground. A man walked by, staring, but not offering help. I picked Caleb up and put him on the hood of the van and tried to call a friend to pick up Lauren. She did not answer. Then, Abby said she had to go potty. This was the first day she was in panties. There was a man in the SUV in front of me and he did try to help. He gave me a few wipes so at least I could wipe Caleb down. I had to get the kids inside. Caleb begged me to carry him and I guess that Mommy adrenaline kicked in because I carried Caleb AND Spencer in his carrier and managed to hold Abby's hand.

We went straight to the family bathroom where I set the carrier down, left Caleb (still crying) on the floor, and put Abby on the toilet. I opened the door to look for someone to help. I found one friend and asked her to get Lauren. Then I started asking strangers if there was a first aid kit. I left all 3 little ones in the bathroom and went to the teacher's workroom where we did find a first aid kit.

Long story short, we found some Benadryl spray which allieviated the pain a little bit. Leslie brought Lauren to me, and Julia helped me get all the kids out to the van. Wow, what a day.

Back To School

Oh my goodness, I am so behind. I had to stop what I was doing to post a story that Lauren's teacher just dropped by to share with me. Let me begin by saying that Lauren hasn't played out side much this summer because it has been too darn hot. When she does play outside, she often comes barreling into the house screaming about a spider or a wasp. Yes, we do have a lot of wasps, but EVERYTHING is a wasp to her.

So her teacher just stopped by my classroom to tell me that the other day, Lauren walked up to her with her hands cupped together and asked where she could put "it." Her teacher asked her what she had and Lauren told her it was a grasshopper. MY LAUREN had a grasshopper. She wanted to know where she could put it to bring it home. With much consideration of Lauren's sensitive nature, her sweet teacher told her that it might be best to take it back outside to be with it's grasshopper family.

I am so happy to hear that Lauren is already making good friends and has not come home once telling me that someone was making fun of Tinkerbell or that someone was going to take her to the zoo where the monkeys ate the people.

Next year I will....

How many times do you say that?

Let's face it, we are busy moms and we can't remember as much as we used to now that we are keeping up with our kids.

Last night we went to watch the fireworks at the George Bush Library. We learned last year that we could beat traffic and get good parking by watching the fireworks from the top of the nearby parking garage. We had to park 3 levels down, and not knowing how many more levels there were, we walked all the way to the top with 3 small kids and the heavy carseat. Note: Next year we will park by the elevators and use them!

We didn't know what time the fireworks actually started and we began to say, "Next year.....we will bring the wagon....arrive later....etc..."

And as we left, we exited the South end, which took us back to the main traffic. Next year we will exit at the North end!

So how will you remember all these things 'next year'? I actually have a family planner where I make all my notes and it is paying off. I started it because I was constantly saying we should do 'this' or 'that' next year and then I'd forget. Also, I thought it would be neat to one day pass it on to my kids. I used to keep birthdays on the planner, but Facebook reminds me of those now. It is month-by-month, and I list all holidays plus traditional meals and the recipes for them. I am currently adding crafts for each holiday. My favorite thing about it so far is the 25 days of Christmas Fun which was an idea from a co-worker. For summer months, I have a list of ideas of all the different things we can do so the kids don't get bored.

At the end of the Family Planner, I have a page with a list for planning parties. That way, I don't have to brainstorm what we need each and every time. Personally, I think this planner is ingenious! I don't know why all families don't have something similar.

4th of July Fixins

I've just posted tons of 4th of July recipes on my food blog. Check it out and let me know what I'm missing. Also, feel free to join my group on Facebook: Aggieland Mommy Cooks.

Vacation 2010

Who knew that 7 days would not be enough to see everyone we wanted to see last week when we went to Fort Worth?

We drove to Cowtown Monday, checked into our hotel, and went to visit my dad. After a late dinner, it was back to our room to try to put the kids down. It took hours, they were too excited.

Tuesday Mandy and the boys came out to swim with us at the hotel. It was another day without a nap. That night we met Arman and his kids for dinner at Central Market. We were pleasantly surprised to see our long lost friend, Todd there. Again, we got the kids in bed close to 10 and they did not go right to sleep.

Wednesday morning we ran errands to places we don't have in town like Party City. No naps. Then we went to visit with Stephen's family where Jeff, Lynda, and Corey met Spencer for the first time. Another late night...not good for Mommy and Daddy, but we did stop by the liquor store on the way back to the hotel. Mudslides=happy Mommy.

Thursday morning was spent packing and loading the van. Then we went to lunch with one of Stephen's friends at the restaurant right next to the hotel. That's where I lost it. Or should I say them? I realized I didn't have my wedding ring and Aggie ring on. Poor Stephen, I made him run to the hotel in the rain to start the search party. He and the manager even went through the laundry because I thought I put them on the dresser next to the clean towels. I knew there was a slight chance that they were in the bathroom bag. When he got back, I went to the van to check and there they were. I was just so tired when I took them off and I was in a zone so I didn't even think about what I was doing.

Our next stop was to Rochelle and Tommy's where Stephen spent about an hour unloading. That night we met some friends from the old Young Adult Group at Fuddrucker's where we waited out a great storm. The kids had a fabulous time. I enjoyed seeing some of my dearest friends.

Friday morning we headed to Joe T. Garcia's for my old neighborhood reunion. Amy, Lisa, Shannon, and I all met with our families. It was the first time we were all together since about 1980. We made it back to Ro's house in time for our first nap of the week. Kids napping=happy Mommy. And that night was my 20th reunion. Am I really that old? What a wonderful time I had with old friends. I was amazed how many people I knew from elementary school. And of course I got to see my BFF, Hyla.

Saturday morning we went to see Hyla's beautiful new house and we got to swim at her neighborhood pool. I could have stayed all day. I pictured Hyla and me poolside with cocktails, without a care in the world. Maybe one day.....
We had to leave earlier than I would have liked to so we could take Stephen to the airport to rent a car to get to Waco for a wedding. Then I was on my own.....with all 4 kids....for a little while. I took them all back to Ro's and was so blessed to have the help of her family. I got the kids in bed by 9:30. Again...happy Mommy! Caleb was so cute. He said, "Mommy, you are going to be lonely without Daddy so I will sleep with you." And he did.

Sunday morning I packed as much as I could while taking care of the kids and waiting for Stephen to return from Waco. We barely made it to return the car to the airport at 2 and then we took the kids for the snow cones we had been promising all week. Can you believe we didn't even have time for snow cones ? Craziness! We went to say good-bye to my dad and at 4:20, we were on the road for Aggieland. And by 4:30, Abby was saying she had to go to the bathroom. We thought she was kidding and would forget but she kept saying it so we stopped. Not only did she go potty, but she had a dry pull-up. And, just like Willie, we were on the road again. That is, until the "Don't make me pull this car over" lecture. Yep, we had to pull over. And by Hillsboro, Spencer was awake and hungry. We made it home at 9:20. Gone are the days of a straight 3 hour trip without stopping!

Home Sweet Messy and Chaotic Home.

Spencer Christian

We have been pretty busy around here with the addition of our precious new son.

On Thursday, May 6, I went in for my 36 week appointment and found out I was dilated to a 4 and 60% effaced. For me that meant the baby was on his way. I was excited until I found out that my doctor was not delivering that weekend. I have been through so much with this doctor, I did not want anyone but her to be a part of this special moment so I went home and put myself on bedrest. The doctor told me to come in first thing Monday morning.

On May 10, I went in and I had progressed just a little bit. I was amazed at what bedrest did. I had made it to 36 weeks and 5 days, a new record for me. I told my doctor (who I LOVE...have I said that?) that Lauren was going to have her first program on Thursday and I couldn't imagine missing it. I also had to consider the fact that my doctor was not on call that weekend either. She told me she could get things moving by stripping my membrane a little. And so she did.

When I got back to work maybe 15 minutes later, my eyes couldn't adjust. It was as if I had stared at the sun. As I stared at my computer, I realized I was seeing flashing circles. I remembered that this is a sign of preclampsia. I called my school nurse and she had me come down to check my blood pressure. It was elevated. I have never had elevated blood pressure before. The doctor's office said to go to the hospital so Stephen and the kids picked me up and took me right over. Then he took the kids to a neighbor's and came back. The doctor stopped by at 1 and said she hoped to deliver Spencer before her 5:00 C-Section.

She stopped by at 5, but I was not quite ready so she came back after her C-section. We started pushing at 6:36 and he was born at 6:44. He weighed 6 lbs. 5 oz. and was 19" long.

He was checked for a "grunting noise" which indicates fluid in the lungs, but it corrected itself. Amazingly we were discharged (with no indications of jaundice) before 48 hours...another record!

We thank God every day for our new gift.

Great burgers-poor policies

Blogging is where we go to vent, right?
We have a very popular hamburger bar/grill in town named, 'Koppe Bridge'. It has been voted best burgers in town. We went there for the first time in April. Not only did we like the food, Caleb loved his grilled cheese sandwich and those of you who know Caleb know he only eats about 7 things. There are even many, many deserts that he does not like. So as you can imagine, we were thrilled that he was adding one more food item to his list.

We went back to Koppe Bridge just a few weeks ago and we ordered 2 adult baskets and 2 kid's baskets. Each basket comes with tons of fries. Caleb scarfed down his grilled cheese and begged for another one. Stephen asked how much it would cost to get another sandwich and they said we would have to pay the same as buying another kid's basket, $4.95.

Are you kidding me? $4.95 to melt a piece of cheese between 2 slices of bread? Well, we did not buy one and Caleb cried until we left.

Today I finally got around to writing a letter to the owners. Here is my letter:

To Whom It May Concern,
A few months ago my family of 5 ate at your Wellborn location for the first time. My husband and I were amazed that our 4 year old son loved your grilled cheese sandwich because he is an extremely picky eater who only eats 5 or 6 things. My 5 year old and 4 year old often asked to go back to your restaurant so we returned a few weeks ago, after the birth of our 4th child. My husband and I each ordered 1/2 pound baskets and our son had the grilled cheese basket while our 5 year old daughter shared her basket with our 2 year old daughter.

Our son ate his grilled cheese in record time and asked for another one. My husband asked if he could just get a grilled cheese sandwich and the employee at the counter asked the cooks. We were told we would have to purchase an entire grilled cheese basket or pay the same amount just for a sandwich.

We were dumbfounded. Why would you charge someone almost $5 for 2 pieces of bread with a slice of cheese? We told our son that he could not have another one and he cried until we left.

I do not know if this is your policy, or just something your cook made up as he went along, but I wanted to bring this to your attention and give you the opportunity to respond.


And her reply:

Hello Mrs. Arnold,

Thank you for your email and the feedback regarding your experience at our restaurant on Wellborn Road. Our kid's grill cheese meal is indeed $4.95; however, a grill cheese ala carte with chips/fries is $3.50. The kid's grill cheese meal comes on regular bread, while the regular menu grill cheese is prepared on Texas toast. Two slices of cheese are used on each sandwich.

Our product pricing is set up to reflect many associated costs, that including the actual cost of the product as well as various direct and indirect expenses associated with the restaurant business. Based on those factors, we do not sell a small grill cheese sandwich as a side or regular item. My staff was correct to state that the item is not available for pricing as you requested, and the alternative suggestion the staff should have given you was to order the regular size grill cheese for your son. Unfortunately, we cannot do a double sandwich option on our kids meal. I am including a link to our on-line menu.

Thanks again,

Glenda Ross
CFO/Owner
The Koppe Bridge Restaurant Group

http://www.koppebridge.com/id15.html

SERIOUSLY?

I guess we'll be trying some of the other burger joints in town.

What's New?

So life is just as crazy as ever and about to get even crazier. We have a never-ending list of things that need to be done around the house. I am happy to say that Stephen is officially finished with his classes at church, but his full-time job 12-9, video business, and online classes still make for little family time. He has actually had to turn down several video jobs recently and has 5 weddings between now and the end of June. I have asked a babysitter to come be my "Nanny" on those days.

I am 35 weeks and 4 days pregnant and trying to stay positive about getting to 37 weeks. I pray that Spencer will be the healthiest baby of all and won't have any bilirubin/jaundice issues. I am grateful that he didn't come during or just before Lauren's recital last night, but there are several events this week that we hope to make.

So looking forward, I am getting excited about Spencer's arrival and Stephen being home for at least a week. After that he will be able to work a normal 8-5 schedule throughout the summer and I hope we can have a "normal" family schedule until school starts again.

So that's it in a nutshell! Hopefully I'll post a little more often when Spencer is born so I can journal his milestones.

Kids doing chores

I posted earlier about starting a "bead system" to get my kids to help out. I am amazed at how much they really can do, even my 2 year old. They love to earn beads and sometimes offer ideas to me like today when Lauren (5) washed her hands and used the towel to wipe the faucet, handles, and behind the faucet. She wanted beads. Why not?

I bought some little beads (a little bigger than a pea) in the floral section at Hobby Lobby and they put them in 4 oz baby milk bottles. The older kids have to fill up to the 4 oz line to get $5, the 2 year old doesn't have to get as many.

So here are just some of the ways they earn beads or get them taken away:

Earn beads:
3 for putting laundry in washing machine (front loading)
1 more for taking the laundry bag back to the sorter
3 for emptying the dryer into a basket
3 for taking their own plates to the counter after each meal (2 year olds can do this)
3 for putting silverware away after I have taken all sharp objects
3 for putting shoes in shoe cubbies when we get home
2 for letting the dog in/out
3 for putting water in dog's bowl
3 (or more) for helping others without being asked to
5 for making their bed without being asked ...note..once my daughter made all the beds just for beads
3 for making bed after being asked
1 for each chair they wipe with a wet wipe
4 for bringing in junk from the van
behaving in church
1 for wiping bathroom counter
doing something helpful without being asked


Beads get taken away for
arguing
not picking up toys when asked
pushing, hitting, kicking (not really a problem in our home)
clothes on the floor
being silly during prayers
not picking up toys in the tub
leaving cups/dishes outside

This list is growing....I love how it works. Not only does it teach the kids responsibility and respect for the home, it helps me do things that are really hard since I am 34 weeks pregnant. I think the older kids could possibly empty more dishes and stand on chairs to put them away, but the 2 year old would want to too and I am not ready for that.

To this day I HATE doing dishes because my mom always screamed (and I mean screamed) at me about the way I did dishes. That is not the way I want to teach my kids. I want them to realize that if we all work together to take care of OUR home, Mommy and Daddy will have more time to spend with them.

Happy Birthday, Caleb!

20062007 2008

2009

My baby boy is 4 today! I really can't believe it.

Right now Caleb STILL loves Thomas the Train and can not only get on the internet by himself, but he can find Thomas videos on YouTube! He quickly learns the songs and sings along. He spends hours putting his tracks together and watching his trains run along. He loves going to the nursery at church because they have a wooden track. He also begs to go play with the train table at Barnes and Noble.He not only knows his alphabet (upper and lowercase) but he uses them to spell out his name. He can also identify numerals and counts to at least 20.

Caleb, Mommy and Daddy love you so much. Your sisters do too. You bring so much joy to our lives. We can't wait to see how you grow these next 4 years.

Feb 21-March 15, 2008 Scrapbook pages

I just learned how to do collage pages. I don't want to use them often but they come in handy for those occasions where I have tons of great pictures and don't want to do more than one layout. The program I used is soooo easy. All you do is click on the pictures you want to use and choose from 2 collage layouts and the program does the rest. It recognizes the people in the pics and crops all by itself!

A friend figured out how to get the paper behind the picture collage.

Then I decided to add some embellishments.

Aha! I just figured out how to add a picture that I don't want and then when I put the collage into Scrapbook Max, I put a paper scrap over it and use it for a title or journaling. I always date my pages.

Jan. 6- Feb. 20, 2008 Scrapbook pages

January 2008 Lauren 3 years, 5 months, Caleb 21 months, Abby not even 1 month.

February

Kids and Chores

Last summer I made the coolest chore cards ever for Lauren and Caleb. I even took a picture of them doing each chore so that my husband could make a sticker out of them and we could put them on the chore chart. If they did 6 out of 7 chores each day, I gave them a coin, After 7 coins, they could choose from the treasure box. It worked wonderfully. Until school started! Maybe that's my husband's fault because he is home with them in the mornings and just doesn't discipline himself to follow through.

A friend was telling me what she does instead of a chore chart and I think I like it. Each child has a plastic jar that they have decorated. When they do good things/chores, they earn lima beans.....more beans for harder chores, less beans for simple chores. When the children do not obey, they get beans taken away. When their containers are full, they get to pick from their prize box.

So right now I am trying to make up the conversion chart. So far I have the following ways to earn "beans":
-taking your own dishes to the counter (even my 2 year old can do this)
-hanging up coats and putting shoes in shoe cubbies
-making the bed without being told =5
-making the bed after being reminded =2
-taking your toys upstairs the first time I ask = 3
-pick up toys outside before coming in = 3
-pick up toys in bathtub = 2
-put away toys on the floor before bed = 5
-clean up playroom before bed = 3
-wiping bathroom counter = 2
-bring junk out of the van = 4
-sharing your special toy = 5
-saying prayers nicely without being silly = 3
-being quiet in church = 7
-setting the table= 5



How "beans" get taken away:
-arguing =5
-leaving clothes on the floor =1
-not picking up after arts and crafts =3
-Pushing = 4
-Hitting = 4

As the kids get older, the list will change but I don't have to hang 3 huge posters and this list can be for all the kids no matter what their age.

I am adding to this list as we speak.

2009 is finished and posted

I completed the last 2 pages last night. I added one layout in August (Lauren's Shamu party) and one more in May (first swim and Ring Around the Rosie). Now I am excited about starting 2008.

My newest layout post

I have finally scrapped Caleb's 3rd birthday party. Check it out here. I waited until the end to do this one because I could not find a layout that I liked and I knew I would have to make my own. Plus, there were so many pics that I HAD to use. Birthdays are very important and I want the kids to have lots of pics of each of their special days and all those who made it special. I think the layouts turned out perfect. Just 2 layouts left....or is it 3? Then I can get a book made and begin scrapping 2008.

Catching up....

I have completed 2009 with just a few gaps. I am currently working on filling in those gaps so it may be awhile before it looks like I have a new post but scroll down...I've just added a layout in April, May, and November. Don't forget to click on pictures to enlarge.

December 2009

Christmas

Lauren's Christmas Party

Misc. Girl Scout Events

Playing in the Leaves

Carnival November 21

November- Mini Young Adult Ministry Reunion

Click on pictures to enlarge.

Lauren's 1st Field Trip

Halloween

Lauren's Halloween Party