Friday, February 24, 2012

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52 week ABC photo challenge - Join the Fun!

Carleigh's First Haircut

Yesterday Carleigh hit a big milestone...she got her first haircut! I think its pretty amazing because it seemed to take forever for her hair to grow even a little bit. It was only last Easter that I was able to put a bow in her hair and just recently she has been sporting pigtails (if I can get her to sit still long enough for me to do it). But because of her slow/sporadic hair growth, her hair was all different lengths. So yesterday Tara of Hairspray Salon in Woodstock, VA gave her a haircut! Just enough off the back to bring it all to one length and a bit of a trim in front so she has actual bangs. Our baby looks so much like a big girl now!

Waiting patiently while her brother gets his hair cut

Before 
During
After!

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Daily Habits

We all have daily habits, little routines we are accustomed to following. Even my little ones, 3 and 21 months have certain things that must occur every morning or the rest of the day just doesn't seem right or even can suffer because of it. For instance, every day after they hug and kiss their Daddy goodbye, Nicolaus watches out our back door to see when John pulls his truck out of the garage. He shouts, "He's driving!" to Carleigh and we all race to the front door, open it and wave at John as he passes by, honking and waving right back at us. Every once in a while Nicolaus will get preoccupied by a yummy breakfast or pretend play with his trucks and forget to keep his vigil by the door. When he realizes he has messed up his ritual, the little guy just falls apart. Even once he is cheered up, throughout the day he will remind me in the saddest toddler tone "We didn't wave at Daddy this morning."

Prayer is like that for me. When I devote a chunk of time to praise, worship and petition God, the day is just better. I feel lighter, like I can go through my day with purpose and worry free. On the days when I let life just happen and pile up without me giving it all to God, something is just off. So in this 2012 Season of Lent, instead of giving up something like chocolate, soda or pasta, I'm adding something to my life.  For the next 40 days I will seriously commit part of my day to prayer. I am embarassed to admit I already don't have a daily prayer habit, and most days I do say a little prayer here and there, and we always say a prayer at mealtime (Carleigh and Nicolaus don't let us forget that one). But I certainly do not have what one would call a daily prayer habit, or at least not one that will help me to know God and myself the way I need to.

Dear Heavenly Father, as I begin this journey to building a better prayer habit, help me to center my life around You and your purpose for me. Help me make the time every day to slow down and reflect on you, and remind myself that it is all about you, God. Help me to read the Bible with what it will take to truly know and understand You. Thank you for this life, your greatest sacrifice and all that is to come.

Amen

Saturday, February 18, 2012

Thursday, February 16, 2012

Tactile Letters

Tactile letters and numbers are printed with a textural component helpful for little learners. Kids just trace each letter or number with their fingers to develop pre-writing skills and letter recognition. Hopefully these will be a stepping stone for Nicolaus to writing.


You can certainly buy sets of tactile letters and numbers, but I thought making them would be a fun and easy project for Nicolaus and me. All we needed were basic flashcards I found at the Dollar Store, glue and sand John already had on hand from another project. I filled the shape of the letters and numbers with glue and Nicolaus piled on the sand. I'm pleased with the results and am looking forward to incorporating these into lessons for Nicolaus.