E is EXCITING!

I am a little behind here. We recently (not sure I should say recently) did the letter E. We started by doing our standard E stickers on a construction paper E. Not very exciting.

Next, I came up with what I thought was a clever idea! Shocking I know. Anywho, I found one of Bob's gray socks. Ollie stuffed it with some leftover batting from a craft project. I took three paper plates, one was left hole and two I cut into elephant ears. Next, I had ollie paint them gray. When it dried, we stapled on the ears and I cut an x in the center of face where we stuffed the sock for the ears. I then drew on a face. Absolutely adorable!

Finally, I saved 3 egg shells. I washed them thoroughly with soapy water. I had Ollie put glue on the page. Then, one at a time I put the egg shells down and let him smash them with his hand. This was great fun for my two year old. When it dried, he painted it. It turned out really cool. I enjoy helping him create 2-dimensional art with different mediums! Even my former art teacher hubby was impressed!

It's Jesus' Birthday!

Today we celebrated Jesus' birthday with a group of moms and kids from our Bible study. The party started at 10 am and we had the best time! Too often I think we get so wrapped up in presents that we forget the reason we celebrate: The birth of our Savior.

We started with a bit of free play before decorating party hats with stickers. I have found that stickers are THE best craft item to have around for preschool age kids. They absolutely cannot get enough of them.

Next, we had a bit more free play before we decorated a heart ornament and talked about how Jesus came to earth because of his great love for us. I bought the ornaments at Hobby Lobby for $0.33 a piece. We used markers to decorate them. Paint would have been a disaster! The kids seemed to really like the crafts.

We had a lunch of soup, bread and salad before we wore our hats and sung happy birthday to Jesus. I wish I had thought to get out my video camera. IT was precious. The kids decorated and devoured cupcakes before running away to work off a bit of that yummy goodness.

All in all, it was a fun morning. Unfortunately, I was a bad photographer and did not take near enough pictures. I guess there is always next year!

Yippee!

My Great Big STOMPING...

We did D this week. We started the week by decorating a construction paper D with Dinosaur stickers. Now for those of you who don't know Ollie, he LOVES dinosaurs. Completely infatuated so our first day with D was a hit. Later when we spelled dinosaur out on the fridge he ran and started pulling his stickers off the D and putting them on the fridge. He's so funny.

Next he created a construction paper dog. This did not get the same enthusiasm. As a matter of fact, I think he did it just to make me happy. Poor kid!

Finally, we did two things in one day. I got him a Melissa and Doug dinosaur floor puzzle. We did this together. He was fascinated with it once it was put together. The puzzle is 4 feet long and has many dinosaurs on it.

Lastly, we made great BIG STOMPING DINOSAUR FEET! That phrase comes from a song on Ollie's favorite show Dinosaur Train. We used 4 big grocery bags, 8 white triangles and some tape. We glued 4 white triangles onto the side of the bottom of the bag like nails. We put one bag into another opposite. So the opening of one bag goes towards the back of another. Then I cut holes for the feet. I used tape to reinforce the feet. So CUTE! I do think I should have used lunch sized bags for him. he could hardly walk!

Big Boy

My little baby Dawson is already 2 months old. He is growing so unbelievably fast! He went on Monday to his 2 month appointment. I was lucky enough to take both children. Ollie behaved very well and just got a little worried when the doctor had to dig a stitch (left my the NICU) out of Dawson's belly button.

Dawson is growing quite well. Here are his stats:

Weight-

Birth: 6lbs 14oz 3 weeks: 7lbs 11oz - 15% 2 months: 11lbs 13oz - 52%

Length-

Birth: 19.25 inches 3 weeks: 21inches-48% 2 months: 23.5 inches- 70%

He is smiling cooing and throws out and occasional laugh. He is sweet and wonderful. I didn't realize my heart could love two people like this!

C is for...

Last week, Ollie and I had a blast learning about the letter C. And encouragingly he is now able to tell me the letter's name and sound for A,B & C. This week, we decorated a C with Cheerios. Many of them got eaten and it was quite enjoyable.

We also made two camels. We started with one but Ollie wanted the "Mama" to have a baby so we made another. He was able to put the neck, head and humps in the correct places. I think the camel was his favorite project this week.

Finally, he made a caterpillar by painting half of an egg carton and adding a piece of pipe cleaner for antennas.

It's really exciting watching him learn. I love this time together. It's great to see him run to his Daddy each night and drag him over to the window to show him his new artwork and talk about it. Right now, learning is fun and I hope it stays that way!

They grow a little too fast

Last night, I did my nightly ritual of checking on my Ollie bear before bed. I noticed he didn't have sleep dog, only a slew of other stuffed animals. I went to get sleep dog and brought it back to his room so he'd have it if he woke up in the night. On my way, I started thinking about how one day he won't want sleep dog anymore. One day I won't get to hold him. One day he'll leave home and I'll be left with only sleep dog to remind me of what a wonderfully sweet little boy I have. I love him so much. Even though my days are tough sometimes, I don't want either of my babies to grow up and leave me. I want to hug them, hold them and play with them forever. I praise God every day for them. They are truly a gift.