Mrs. H

October Photo Challenge

It’s been a while since I did a monthly photo challenge, and the last one I did, I failed miserably. But, I thought it’d be fun to do one with Becca – have her help me find things to take pictures of… and I thought others might want to participate, too… and get your kids involved. So – if you’re participating, and you’d like to share your pics, be sure to “like” my Facebook page and then SHARE your pictures on the comments of each day’s photo post! Bonus points if your child actually takes the pictures! 🙂 We’ll start Wednesday!

Sunday Sorting

Often on Sunday afternoons I’m left trying to find something -ANYTHING- to occupy Becca so we can watch football. This is one that seems to be a favorite – she’ll do it, and then come back to it later. And the best part is, I can do this with her fairly mindlessly while watching the game! 🙂

What you’ll need is an ice cube tray, and a bunch of poms. You’ll need to sort through the poms before you give them to your child, to make sure that what you are giving them will actually fit in each cube space. Then, dump them all into a container, and let your child sort! It’s the most fun if you have different sizes as well as different colors, so they are having to sort on more than one level of thinking.

Looking to buy poms? You can find them at any craft store, or save a trip and have them delivered to you! Here is an AWESOME option from Amazon for just $8.74 (Affiliate link – thank you!):
Pepperell Craft Making Assorted Pom Poms, Standard Colors, 750 Per Package

Total Prep Time for Mommy: About 3-5 minutes – just because I had to gather materials and sort the poms to make sure what I was giving her would fit and make sense.
Total Play Time for Becca: About 15-20 minutes at a time, several different times throughout the game, and then later in the week, too.

Happy Birthday

Well, so yesterday we celebrated 4 months of Grayson being here… and today we celebrate Cody being here ** years! (Number has been starred to protect the innocent…) So, I thought I’d take a moment to say Happy Birthday to the man who has thoroughly changed my life, and brightens my world every single day. He’s the best father I could have ever imagined to dream for my children, and the most amazing husband, partner, and friend that any girl could ever dream to have. He leaves me speechless in moments of thoughtfulness when he randomly arrives home with flowers, or just knows that I need my shoulders rubbed. He loves our children and me with a love that is so astounding, and so unfathomable that it often leaves me speechless. In moments when he smiles with Grayson and helps him stand, in moments when he flies Becca around her room like a butterfly before bed, and in moments when he looks over one or both of them to smile at me, I catch my breath. He’s the most wonderful man. I love him so much, and I’m so blessed to be celebrating this birthday with him.

I love you, Baby.

4 Months

Wow. Seriously. This boy is already 4 months old! Where has the time gone? It doesn’t seem like it’s really been a year since we found out he was going to be joining our family. After an agonizingly long pregnancy with Becca (even tho it was only 37 weeks long, it felt more like 370 weeks…), and an equally agonizingly long first eight weeks of her life, I fully expected Grayson’s pregnancy and first eight weeks to be the same. Granted, the last two weeks of pregnancy felt like about 20… but all in all, it flew by. It seemed like we had just found out we were pregnant, and then we found out he was a boy and did our big gender reveal for our parents on Christmas morning. And then suddenly, it was May. So I shouldn’t be surprised that he was born on Memorial Day, and then suddenly it was 4th of July, and then the start of football season, and then the 26th. Again. Another month passed.

Our little man is growing rapidly, learning to roll over, making lots of talking attempts, and successfully saying “mama.” He loves looking at himself in the mirror, and is a Tummy Time SuperFan. He knows his way around the dinner table, and is constantly wanting to eat. He LOVES his sister immensely. She can get him to smile bigger than anyone else, and he loves to just sit and stare at her while she plays, eats, talks… well, while she does just about anything. He’s definitely Becca’s number one fan. And she’s his. They are super cute together.

Before we know it, the next 4 and 8 months will have passed, and I’ll be writing about our little one year old. Determined to enjoy every moment, and cherish every milestone!

Apple Volcano

There are LOTS of blog posts out there about how to make apple volcanoes, but if you haven’t done this with your kids, you really really should. It’s super fun to make the apple “explode.” Simply cut the core out, leaving the bottom in tact. Pour baking soda down inside the apple, and replace the core. Then, place it on a tray and pour vinegar over top! That simple! Becca enjoyed sticking her hands inside the “bubbles” and feeling the volcano. Then, she found the vinegar smell interesting, and enjoyed playing in the soap in the sink to help her hands smell better. All in all, it was a super fun after dinner activity!