February 24, 2011

Ancient Egypt


This year we are studying Ancient History and we are in the middle of Egyptian history at the moment. Yesterday we learned about The Great Pyramid and the Sphinx that "guards" it. Jenna's assignment was to create a pyramid out of lego squares and so we worked on that together. Then, completely on her own, she surprised me by creating a model of the Sphinx! I thought it was so clever and she was very pleased with her efforts.


Today we're starting on some science experiments that involve making bread. That should be fun AND delicious!

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February 15, 2011

Another Sick Day


My little girl. She's been sick so many times this year. Is it because she's in school instead of at home? I don't like it. She was just sick last week with a stomach bug and then, early this morning, she comes into my room with desperation in her voice "Mommy! I'm going to fro-up!"

Quick rush to the bathroom, hold her sweet hair back from her face and watch as she heaves over the toilet. I have never felt sick to my stomach while watching my kids puking... until now. I thought I was going to lose it! Then, when I thought the worst was over, she sobs "I pooped!" and I look down and see it on the bathroom mat and wonder how the dog managed to do that without me noticing. That's when I see it showing through her pajama pants and I feel so badly for her.

I had to wake Eric up and he helped me get her cleaned up while I started laundry. It was right after he started her bath and laid back down that Alex woke up screaming because he had fallen out of bed. Then the dog started whining to go out. It was a fun morning. sigh.

Marah was in a great mood today, despite the troubles of the morning and so the day ended up being far more easy-going than I had first anticipated.

Alex is not used to having a puppy running around the house. He is okay with her when she is at a distance or just sitting/laying around, but when she starts trotting after him he screams and runs away. He'll come around, right? It's kind of funny. This evening, she was sleeping on the floor and Alex called to me, "Mama? Pemmy." Then he got down on the floor next to her and started poking her belly and calling out to her "Pemmy! Wake up!" and she just slept through it. It was pretty cute :)



Well, besides a few photos, I don't have much else to share. Plus it's late and the laundry just finished up so it's time to switch it to the dryer, load the washer back up, take the dog out, and go to bed!
She doesn't look sick, does she?




I see you!!




Aw... puppy love.



Lady Penelope :P



Make each day count!

February 14, 2011

Happy Hearts Day!


It's been a totally easy-going, no pressure, no expectations kind of day today and I really quite like it. We just bought a puppy so there was no buying presents this year and I really am happy having no worries about the day. I do love Valentine's day and I have gone all out before with fun things for the kids and what-not, but they don't seem to mind that there were no gifts today. We just enjoyed relaxing today and being in each other's company!

Happy Valentine's Day!

February 13, 2011

Penny


This little sweetie joined our family last night and we are very happy. The kids love her, we love her, she seems to love us, and she's peed/pooped outside more than inside so far and so things are going well.



February 10, 2011

Valentine Crafting







I have been putting off crafting with the kids for so long and today I wondered why?! Why do I get so paranoid about the mess it creates? Why do I let my laziness get in the way of the good times I have when I create with the kids? Why have I let myself miss out on seeing how creative my kids are?! They really surprised me today with their cleverness. I even stole some of their ideas for my own Valentines!

I started by showing them a craft I remembered doing when I was in school. The classic heart guy with accordion arms and legs. Do you remember making these? So simple and the girls really enjoyed putting their own twist on these little characters.







Then we made monster valentines for any boys on the list. These were fun and turned out so cute! I love the details the girls came up with.



Mine was totally the most plain and boring!


I made a silly little feathered bird just for the heck of it.


Marah made her own heart girl for her cousin and a little book to send to her as well.


Alex hasn't gotten in on craft time yet (though I do let him paint on occasion) but he was in a much happier mood today. Looks like those antibiotics are working their magic. Thank the good Lord for medicine!


What are you doing for Valentine's day? Be sure to check out my cute little Valentine printable cards over on my design blog: http://ashtinafayelou.blogspot.com



February 9, 2011

A good week turned snotty

So, I thought this was going to be a great week. I had plans for this week. Nothing amazing, but just getting things done and having fun with the family. Unfortunately, Eric got sick with a nasty stomach bug (same thing Marah had last week), then Alex caught a viral infection that left him snotty, screamy, and overall miserable. We finally had to give in and take him to the clinic today to get an antibiotic and he is doing much better. Hopefully tonight he will be able to sleep without waking up several times screaming. It's been a long week.

Alex fell asleep on the floor this morning while watching TV. This is the first time he's ever done so.




I did start the week by putting highlights in my hair and cutting some more layers. I've been learning some new tricks with my flat iron and trying to style my hair more often so I don't feel so blah all the time. Problem is I really am a very low maintenance kind of girl so this is not easy for me.

I used the leftover highlighting creme to add some to Jenna's hair. She loves it and feels so grown up. It's cute. She's supposed to be getting her ears pierced soon but we're waiting on an ear piercing kit that is taking forever to arrive!




We got an Xbox Kinnect this week. I was skeptical about it because I didn't think it would work with Alex around, but so far it seems to be great and we all are enjoying it. I am looking for suggestions on games that will give me a good workout. I need that!

I also got a new camera (well, new to me) this week. I am so excited to have my first DSLR and I'm ready to start learning new things and having fun with it :)




Alrighty then, that's about all that's been going on in my dull little life!



February 1, 2011

Embarrassed?


Seven embarrassing moments I'd rather forget but decided, instead, to share them with you and permanently etch them into this world wide thingamajig.

* When I was in 5th grade I sat at the back of the class at a small table that faced the back wall with my friend/love interest, Gary Byrd. It was just the two of us back there in our little cozy corner and I thought he was the bees knees. Truly. One day we were working quietly and I snarted (you know, sneeze/farted) and believe me, the fart part was quite bellowing. There. We're starting simple. We'll work our way up guys, trust me.

* When I was in first grade I peed my pants. I peed my pants while I was sitting in my chair. However, I didn't pee them on accident. No. I very purposefully took off my zippered sweater with the cute rainbow stripes, sat on it, then proceeded to pee on it. I do not remember what I did with the sweater after this. I only remember that the very important thing that I did not want to miss out on by walking to the bathroom was arts and crafts. Yep. Always the crafty chick.

* When I was in high school my best friend, Stephanie, was going to head to the mall with me. I remember my Grandma was visiting at the time. I took my shower and got dressed to go out, putting on the same jeans that I was wearing before my shower (yeah, I recycle my jeans, get over it). After talking to my mom and grandma, Stephanie and I turned to leave and my grandma says "What's that hanging out of your pants?" I turn and look and my dirty underwears are hanging out the pants leg. Classy, I know. At least she saw them before I got to the mall.

* When I was 8 years old I was visiting my grandparents in Louisiana and my aunt and uncle took me on a camping trip with my cousins. The first few moments we were there a couple of jerky kids decided to dump sandy water all over me. I had sand in my hair for over a week. But that's not the embarrassing part. No, that I did all on my own.

The next morning we headed to a local flea market and I was going to wear my baggy, oversized t-shirt with some shorts underneath. Of course, you couldn't actually see the shorts, but that was okay. Except that while we were making our way to the flea market I realized that I was not wearing any shorts. Nope. Just my underwears and a big ol' t-shirt.

You'd think I learned a valuable lesson from that, but apparently I enjoyed going without essential articles of clothing and so in 5th grade, I was climbing the jungle gym and heard below "You're not wearing any pants!" I, of course, was indignant, shouting back "I'm wearing tights! My mom said that was okay!" So my outfit of choice that day? A Coca-Cola t-shirt and some red tights. Brilliant.

Not satisfied with going pantsless, one day I had no clean shirts and so decided that wearing a jacket with no shirt underneath would be okay so long as I kept the jacket on all day. I was a bit warm, but that was okay... until recess when a friend brought her hamster out to the play yard for us to play with and the hamster decided to climb down my jacket right as the recess bell rang. My friend hastily jerked my jacket zipper all the way down as I shrieked with embarrassment, threw the hamster at her, ripped the zipper back up and ran to class.


* When I was in high school I used a toilet seat cover to protect my rear end from germs. I then stood up, tucked the seat cover into my pants, and walked to my usual lunch spot. There I popped a squat, felt/heard the crinkle of the cover, touched my backside and removed the seat cover in front of my friends without realizing what it was until I had it right in front of my face. Not my finest moment.

* When I was in junior high I had a huge crush on this boy named Richard. As with most of my crushes I thought that he was The One and I fondly imagined our wedding day and future babies with what can only be described as borderline psychotic/obsessive glee. We walked home from school together. I swooned over his bedroom with the teal and purple sponge painted walls.
Then, the moment I never believed would happen happened. He asked me to be his girl friend.

Forget the fact that I was moving hundreds of miles away in a couple of weeks, that was of no concern to us. I mean, we were in love. What is distance when matched with love? It was a few days later when his ex-girlfriend walked by me and muttered under her breath that Richard was only appeasing me to get me off his back until I moved away. Of course, I refused to believe this. A couple of weeks later, when I was living in Cupertino, I walked to a pay phone (a pay phone, really!) and spent about $2 in quarters to make a one minute phone call which went something like this.

"hey, it's me."
"Heather?"
"Um, no, Ashley."
"Oh. Hi."
"Did you get my letter I sent?"
"Yeah."
"Ok... did you write back?"
"Yeah."
"Oh, good."
"Well... I have to go."
"Um, okay. I miss you."
"Okay, bye."
And that was that.

* However, my most embarrassing moment. So embarrassing that I cannot even believe I'm sharing it but part of me feels like it would be good to get this off my chest. In high school (yes, high school) I stole stickers. However, that's not even the worst part. Read on. I stole stickers. I did not have any grand ideas for the use of these stickers yet I felt they were worthy of my thievery. The worst part of this is not that I got caught (though that part was certainly not fun). No, the worst part of this is that while I was in high school, I stole stickers from one of my closest friends. In her room. While she was in the bathroom. She caught me when a sheet of them fell out of my shirt.



Now excuse me while I retreat to the far recesses of my home and cover my head in shame. Not sure why I shared these little tidbits of horror with you, but hopefully you'll share some embarrassing moments with me so that I feel a little better :)

Now, I'm tagging seven people and hopefully they'll come up with their own bloggy list of embarrassment for our voyeuristic entertainment!

- Ryan (dude, draw them. Cause that'd be sweeeet.)
- Elizabeth M
- Mandy (Amanda) L.
- Mom (get back to blogging!)
- Maegan B
- Brittany F
- Erin V

September to January... What?!

Yep, I said it. I need to get these pics blogged and so I'm just gonna go for it. Maybe this chore will help me to stay on task and keep this blog updated more regularly in the future. I mean, who wants to blog five months in one sitting? Technically I could blog even more than that, but I am just gonna go by my camera's current memory card and blog back through September. So sit tight and enjoy... or skip this post if you don't care :P It's all good.


September

Marah started kindergarten.

Jenna baked her brother's birthday cake.

I discovered she could use some anger management counseling.

Marah frosted the cake.

I let go of some perfectionism... no, really I fixed it later.

Alex loved his first Thomas toys.

I made a banner for Alex and Marah's party.

I also bought some overpriced toys for the cake.

Marah had her friend Mya over for the party.

She looked cute as usual.

Alex loved blowing out the candles.

Alex got some Toy Story matchbox cars. So cute.

My girl looked so old!

Marah was so excited to get the baby doll she had been wanting.

She also liked the cooking set from Nana and Papa.

Alex enjoyed it, too.



October

We had an impromptu Monster House movie night.


Scary faces?

Always scary.


Always cute.

Annual trip to the pumpkin patch.

My loves.



Auntie Tera with the little buddy.

The haunted trail was scary!!

My girl.

Hayride.

I like him.




Visit to Aberdeen.

Zion and Marah.

Cutie pie nerds.

Ready for the Nerd-o-Rama.



We're cool.

sigh... too cute.

My nerdy sister-in-law.

Alex got up to crash the karaoke.

Rosa was the cutest grown-up nerd :)

Karaoke with dad. Too much cuteness.

Prepping for Zombie Prom.

Rosa getting zombified.

Zombie bride.


Zombie bride and zombie fairy :)

He's all mine.


Zombie love. Don't judge.

Best family portrait of the year.

Old man jammies. Bwahaha.

Jenna's art.




Halloween cupcakes.

My boy got his hairs cut.

Trick or Treat time!


Alex was in heaven!




November

Not much to report for November. We just did one craft (so sad).




Jenna's art.


Got my craft room cleaned for the first time ever. Glad I took a picture cause it was trashed again in about 2 weeks.

My brother came to visit, already blogged about it.


December

The only time this winter that I have taken Alex outside to play.

Made a seahorse plush for my friend's baby.

Made a pirate silky blanket for same baby.

Made the best peanut butter cookies ever.

Introduced Alex to watercolor.

Jenna made Marah a crayon plushie for Christmas.

The Christmas movies made their rotation on family movie nights.

We loved staring at the tree, as usual.

I made some cute headbands.

We frosted spiced cookies.



Marah and Mya played make over.

Alex started sleeping "in" his toddler bed.

Marah wanted to show off every make up item she got in the kindergarten gift exchange.

Night Before Christmas. It's tradition.

Photo in front of the tree on Christmas Eve. It's tradition.

Jenna left Santa a note this year.

Jenna got her Moxie Girl.

Marah got her "lip flosh" and nail polish and body spray.

Alex got a computer.

The girls with the dolls I made them.

I made the BEST ham ever in the history of the world. No lie.

My wonderful second family spent Christmas at our house and it was great.


January

Alex thinks Grandma is awesome. I have to agree.

I think Alex is awesome.

The way to dress when it's time to go outside.

My best friend had her 8th baby.

Marah lost both of her front teeth at the same time.

Whew! Okay, don't let me get that behind again! I need to be better about taking pictures again, too. I've really been bad about that the past few months. Now, on to the other things that need to get done. I had a very sick little girl on Sunday and she stayed home from school yesterday and so I am so behind on everything and I need to get back on track. Ready, set, go.