Private?

So, I'd like to get some feedback on going private with my blog.  I've never really wanted to before, but a few things lately have been making me think about changing my mind.  What do you all think?  For those who have done it: is it worth it?  For everyone: is it just a pain to read private blogs, making you less likely to read them?  Thanks!

Coupons?

So, I think I need to start looking into being a couponer. The Bug ate (not kidding) 4 bowls of cereal for breakfast, and Beefy ate 2. I'm going to be broke buying groceries if they keep this up. What am I going to do when they're teenagers, and they really start eating?

Father's Day

So, apparently in primary today Beefy was asked, "What would you get your dad if you had lots of money?" 

His response: "When I get lots of money I'm going to get daddy hair."

His teacher thought it was so funny he had to pass it on to my husband.  Beefy had to repeat it to me, and a few other people after church as well.

Silly kid.

Kindergarten Celebration!

Yesterday was Buggy's Kindergarten Celebration.  The kids sang songs for their parents and then we got to go back to his classroom where we got a cool book of some of his projects throughout the year.  I can't believe we are almost done with Kindergarten.  It seems to have flown.  Only 3 1/2 more days of school. I think he's getting excited about having a break, and then 1st grade!

Buggy's Class

Singing "Popcorn Popping"

At his desk.

He had a great teacher this year, Mrs. Williamson.  We're going to miss her.

Karate moves.

Time Out.

Pose for a "nice" picture for Mom.

Buttercup Bag

So, I recently ran across this cute bag pattern, and couldn't wait to try it out. 

I'm pretty happy with the results, and now have 3 more cut out, waiting to be turned into gifts.  Love it.

365

I've always been intrigued by the idea of the project 365 blogs out there.  Since I'm not a very good journal writer, and I definitely don't keep up with a scrapbook, I've decided to give my own version a try.  Call it a photo-journal-blog if you will.

Here's the thing - I'm not a photographer, so if you read my blog in anticipation of seeing great photography, you will be sorely disappointed.  What you will find is pictures (all taken by me, or sometimes a kid or the husband) of some of the little (and sometimes not-so-little) things in our everyday lives.

There will be a picture from every day.  The blog might not be updated every day (who am I kidding, it definitely won't be updated every day) but I am good at playing catch up, and I promise not to let it get too far behind.  And although I can't promise that I will never overlap content between the two blogs, I will try and keep things in both places varied and interesting.

 So, click the link here, or you can find me on the sidebar as well, and enjoy.

Also, I love comments, so feel free.

Good, Bad, and Crazy - 365

Picnic Table

So, after the bunk beds, I just couldn't stop with the power tools.  On Memorial Day, my friend Amy and I built the "bigger kids picnic table".

Her's was stained, and looked really great (sorry I don't have pictures).  Mine is painted this fabulous shade of orange.  Unfortunately, after finishing it on Monday it took until Saturday to get a day that was nice enough to finally pull it out of the garage (stinky, rainy, Seattle weather).  As  you can see, they love it.

It definitely isn't perfect, but for an outdoor picnic table that my kids will get endless pleasure out of....It's good enough.

It's Pink!

I haven't written about this yet because up until recently it was still just an idea, and when we finally decided to act on it things moved so quickly that I haven't really had time to process it completely. 

But first, let me show you Baby Sister's newest fashion accessory:

I've been trying for three days now, and can't get a good picture of her, she is far too active.

A few months ago, Sister's therapist told me about a pediatric audiologist who has been putting hearing aids on kids with a unilateral (one ear) hearing loss and has had really great success with it.  Up until now, we had kind of been told that hearing aids weren't really done for kids like her, because she could hear out of one ear.  Some of the more recent research is showing that kids like Sister (with a unilateral loss) fall through the cracks (educationally speaking) more often than they should, and that aiding them at a young age is having some very positive benefits. 

After a lot of deliberation, and talking with our therapist, and my sister (who has the same kind of hearing loss) we decided that it would be a great benefit to Baby Sister to look into a hearing aid for her.  We met with the new audiologist - who is fantastic - and things went quickly from there.  Sister got fitted for her aid at her first appointment and we got her hearing aid on June 1st.

So far, I've been truly amazed.  I figured we would be constantly fighting with her to keep it on and that we would only get a few hours a day at first, but she has proved me wrong.  She has tried to take it off a few times, mostly when she's bored, but usually if she is successful, she tries to put it back in almost immediately.  Most of the time (except for when we're in the car for some reason) she leaves it alone.  Which makes me think that it must be doing something good for her, because there is no other reason why she would be willing to keep something in her ear like that all the time.

We won't know the full benefit she is getting from wearing it for a while, but we are going back in a couple of weeks for some more extensive hearing tests to see if things are working properly, and if /how much it is improving her hearing.

Although this whole thing has been stressful and made me worry a lot (more than I usually do), overall it has been a pretty great experience too.  I can only hope that as time progresses things will continue to be positive.

And I'll keep trying to get a good picture.  It is super cute, but very tiny.

Stuff I Love - Dolls

I'm a total girly girl.  No doubt about that.  Also, I'm a huge sucker for dolls.  I played with them until I was 12 or 13, (though I never would have told my friends that - how embarrassing) and most of my memorable Christmases as a child revolved around a doll. 

When we first found out that Baby Sister was a girl I dared to dream that maybe I would get a daughter who loved dolls too, but I didn't get my hopes up too much.  It would just be my luck that my little girl would rather play with her older brother's toys than girly stuff.

So, you can imagine how super excited I've been lately as Sister has taken a total liking to baby dolls.  She has one (a birthday gift from Buggy) that she sleeps with every night, and has to go with her almost everywhere.  I love it.

A friend of mine is moving and clearing out some old toys that her children have outgrown, so we have recently come into an abundance of great dolly things.  Including, 3 new Cabbage Patch Kids - my very favorite of all dolls.  Baby sister is in heaven.  She loves hugging them, and feeding them bottles, and playing with all of the cool accessories that all good "babies" should have (hats, blankets, combs, etc.).  I've got to admit.  It makes me feel like a kid again, and I love it.  We are going to Utah in July, and I can't wait to bring back some of my collection that has been in storage at my Mom's house.

I think I'm going to have to get her a bigger toy box.

Alexis Merritt Photography

So you all remember my friend "AM" right?  The one who has taken pretty much all of the photographs of my kids that you've seen on this blog....I'll refresh your memory if you'd like.

Anyway, she has finally decided to "go pro".  You can check here out here: http://alexismerrittphotography.com/

And because she knows how cool my readers are, she is offering a deal to you.  If you book a session before Aug. 31, 2010 and mention that you heard about her from my blog - she will give you 10% off your session.  Sweet!