God Blew Us A Kiss

Here was an early valentine I gave Bryce this week.

And here's how we celebrated. I think I ate about half this cake since Wed.

PRAISE THE LORD! So many people have been praying for us and supporting us through this process (which we started when Galina was born). I want to thank everyone who has been with us through this rollercoaster ride. It's really early but we have hopes that this baby will grow and be strong. Our first appointment is next week but my HCG levels and Progesterone levels look great. I'm so excited I can hardly contain my joy! Thank you Lord for this precious gift!

Valentine Suncatcher

Treyton was singing away. He inherited my singing skills, so to combat them I decided to help him make a suncatcher. We took some black paper, folded it in half, and cut out a heart.Just like you learn in 2nd grade.

Then I cut another heart to make the middle open.

He's still singing.

Next we taped wax paper to the back of the heart outline.

The singing slowed down.

And finally stopped! My trick worked.

Then we slathered glue on the wax paper.

And Treyton added the tissue paper.

Now a hint to the wise. I think it would be better to tape the black heart frame onto the wax paper after the kid adds the tissue paper. Otherwise you will encounter this mess.

But since the wax paper was just taped on part of the back, it was easy for me to tuck the tissue paper behind the heart frame.

Here Treyton is relishing in his production.

Let the light shine!

Milk Tops

Treyton's preschool teacher mentioned that Treyton's been having trouble spelling his name. His last name...no prob. It's only 3 letters. But his first name, not so much. So I decided to help him through the use of milk tops. I've been collecting the tops of milk for the past month or two. For no reason really. I just thought someday I'd use them for a craft or something. Then it dawned on me! I could use them to become a sort of name puzzle.

Ironically, I had exactly 7 tops. Two were pink. Humph. Treyton has 7 letters in his name and 2 are vowels. I guess the teacher in me never died.

I began by having him try it on his own to no avail.

So then I just said the letters and he placed them in order. We're also singing "Camptown Races" using the spelling of his name as the lyrics. I think he'll get it soon.

Cute little booger, isn't he? Even if he can't spell his name!

Valentine Wreath

It's upon us. Valentine's Day is this week, and we haven't done anything to celebrate....yet. So I decided to grab my 3 1/2 yr old and get to work. First I cut out a bunch of hearts. Then I got a paper plate.

Next I cut out the middle of the plate.

Then I just added some glue.

Now the fun part...putting on the hearts!

I soon discovered that a styrofoam plate and Elmer's glue don't work so well. So I shifted to my favorite tacky glue. It did the trick. It always does, actually. I love that glue!

I was going to have Galina do this craft too as it is totally in her range of abilities, but she was having so much fun running around, yelling into a cup, that I just didn't disturb her.

Nice hair, Galina. What? Did you stick your finger in a light socket again?

And there's the finished project.

It took under 10 minutes start to finish and adds a little festivity to the house.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Galina's New Hiding Spot

Lately, Galina has discovered the pockets in her bibs. She sticks food in them. Sometimes it's food she "saves" until the end of her meal. Other times it is food she wants to pretend doesn't exist, hoping that if it's hidden she won't have to eat it. Out of sight, out of mind.

I did the same sort of thing with my green beans when I was a kid. I'd push them over the edge of the plate and sort of hide them underneath. It's the little things in life that bring us such joy, isn't it Galina?

My Husband's Questionable Problem Solving Skills

My husband is a wonderful problem solver. Usually. But the other day he announced, "Hey Treyton...come over here. I need your help." I knew this couldn't be good. The last time he said that phrase, in that tone, my son stuck his hand up a toilet to retreive a truck that accidently got flushed by Little Miss Galina. Bryce's excuse...."My hands aren't small enough to reach it." Yeah, right. So this time there were somethings that had fallen behind the TV... a sock, a Daisy toy, a video tape. Don't ask how the sock got there. Anyways, he took my boy and showed him the "treasures". Next, to my horror, he took the kid by his feet and did this...

Like a needle and thread.

He send Treyton in after the lost items.

By his feet.

Poor kid. I'll understand if he'll need counseling for this in the future.

But the good news is he got all the items, unharmed. In fact, I think I saw a little pride (?) on his face after the incident. Treyton's too.