Smiles

Proud Big Cousins....

With A Sweet Little Newborn!

I just couldn't help myself! I had to share this new life!

We are all so blessed and happy to have him in our family!

Smiles,

Nikki!

It's Playtime~Days 7-9

We are excited to share some more playtime with you! We actually did two of these in one day because we were having so much fun!

Day # 7

Mega Floor Doodles

I got some large pieces of cardboard out and covered them with paper. We got out our markers and had some fun drawing.

Pie Pie drew a Zhu Zhu Pet named Wharton.

I drew a house with a sun and a rainbow.

Pants helped me draw a snowman and then she drew an apple tree.

It was a little late in the day so they weren't feeling highly creative, but they did enjoy it.

Day # 8

Sensory Play

I decided to do the sense of smell for our sensory play. I picked out various spices, extracts, and seasonings.

For the extracts I put them on a q-tip. The dry I just put right in an envelope. The girls had to guess what they were just by smelling them.

 Unfortunately their sense of smell hasn't developed fully yet. I gave them some hints and then they could guess what it was.

Day # 8

Water Play

This one got a little messy. Food coloring + water play = stained hands. Don't worry food coloring eventually comes out! My girls got their swimsuits on. When you play with water you have to wear your suit! (That's what they said anyway!) I filled up a bucket and two small bins with water. They each got to color their own water with food coloring.

Pants got a little carried away and made a very dark black. We will definitely need to invest in some more food coloring for the next project that will need some!

They had a great time pouring and playing until the fun got a little out of hand and it was time to move onto something new!

The Play continues!

More to come soon!

Addicted to the Wii!

Also known As: The Wii Has Claimed My Children!

For Christmas we all got a Wii Game system. It is a lot of fun, but my children have become slightly addicted. I swear they count down the seconds until they can play it again.

 They use it as a bargaining tool. "If we do school. Can we play more Wii?" I use it too! "If you don't behave, you can't play Wii!" It actually works pretty well in my favor. Although recently I noticed they argue a lot when they aren't playing Wii. Is this so I will tell them to play a Wii game so they are quiet?!

They do enjoy it and have fun together, so it was a good gift choice. I'm just hoping we can keep the addiction under control so we don't need an intervention! I'll call you if we need to get together and have one!

 Let me know if you need any help in that department too!

Maybe we can help each other!

Smiles

I Am A Nerd.

The other day Pants walked up to me and put these glasses on. She told me, "I am a nerd.". She asked me to take a picture. I said, "Yes!". I hope you enjoy it too!

How can I repay the Lord for all of His goodness to me?

Psalm 116:12

Smiles,

Nikki!

It's Playtime~Days 4-6

A variety of things have kept us from doing this challenge daily. I knew this would happen, but we are still trying. We are going to finish eventually! I think I already said that though, so onto to the Play!

Day # 4

Block Building

We got out two sets of blocks and got to work.(or is it play?) I set up some block dominoes. Pants helped me.

They fell over before we finished.

Pie Pie found this very hilarious!



Pants made a beautiful town.

Pie Pie made a BIG tower, but she chose to keep it top secret. (No pictures allowed.) Sorry!

Day # 5

Family Time Activity

We played Apples to Apples first. This game did not work out too well. Daddy and I kept picking each other's cards. Not so much fun for the girls.

Then we moved onto UNO. The girls liked this game a little better. Pie Pie ended up winning!

I was game for one more game! The girls picked Candyland. Pie Pie beat us at this game too!

Day # 6

Play Islands

I wasn't so sure about this challenge. I didn't know if my girls would like it, but they did. We laid our pillows out and used some blankets too.

Pants and Pie Pie had fun jumping from island to island!

Pants decided that our blue blanket was water and went swimming.

Then she dove under the water to find some treasure.

Pie Pie spent most of her time on her own private island!

More Play To Come!

Smiley-Quotes

Marriage Can Be Funny!



I recently read a great book titled Happily Ever Laughter. It was edited by Ken Davis. I encourage you to read it if you get a chance. It was great! I wanted to share some of the funnier quotes form the book. (I know that these don't pertain to every man and woman, but I think you will enjoy them anyway!)

"I married my wife for her looks-

but not the ones she's giving me lately."

-unknown-

"In every marriage more than a week old,

there are grounds for divorce.

The trick is to find,

and continue to find,

grounds for marriage."

-Robert Anderson-

"Any married man should forget his mistakes.

There's no use in two people

remembering the same thing."

-unknown-

"A woman knows all about her children.

She knows about dentist appointments and romances,

best friends, favorite foods, secret fears and hopes and dreams.

A man is vaguely aware of some short people living in the house."

-unknown-

"Men wake up as good-looking as when they went to bed.

Women somehow deteriorate during the night."

-unknown-

"A man will pay two dollars for a one dollar item he needs.

A woman will pay one dollar for a two dollar item

that she does not need, but it is on sale."

-unknown-

"I'm certainly glad my husband and I are not exactly alike;

if that were the case,

one of us wouldn't be necessary."

-Ruth Graham-

My Personal Favorite!

"I love being married!

It's great to find that one special person

you want to annoy for the rest of your life!

-Rita Rudner-

Smiles,

Nikki!

Smiles

Beautiful Sunset





The heavens declare the glory of God;
the skies proclaim the work of His hands.
Psalm 19:1


Who doesn't love a sunset or a sunrise?! The beauty God has created for us, on this Earth, is a drop in the bucket compared to what we have waiting for us in Heaven! Get out into nature and enjoy it. If you are not an outdoorsy person, like me, look out your window! There's gotta be something that will make you smile.

Smiles,
Nikki!

P.S. A BIG Thank You to my Dad for the picture! 

It's Playtime~Days 1-3

I joined my friend's challenge on Broken Treasures. She found this challenge here. She liked the challenge and decided to go for it. I'm proud of Elizabeth for taking the time just to play with her kids.

I am also trying to do this challenge.  It is properly named! It has definitely been challenging for me. Homeschooling is pretty hands on for us. I'm finding it hard to give my kids even more time. But I decided we will do all thirty days no matter how long it takes!

At this time in my life I am not blessed with having the Internet in my home. Because of this reason I am not able to put each day separately like my friend is. So, I'm going to be giving you several days at a time.

DAY # 1

This day was supposed to be a mission statement among other things. My life is a bit chaotic (okay- messy) right now. So, if I had spent the time doing this step I probably would have never gotten started at all. So we just jumped right in to the actual doing!

DAY # 2

Build a Fort

We don't have much to make forts at our house, but we did our best. I pulled some kitchen chairs into our living room and draped blankets over them. We put pillows and blankets inside. They had to get their flashlights and turn off all the lights. We had fun scaring each other. Lots of screaming! Pie Pie also needed a snack. The girls were not happy when it was time for bed and the fort had to come down. It may have to come back again soon!

Sorry the pictures aren't very good. It's hard to play and take pictures!

DAY # 3

Play with Play-Doh

We just played with some of the store bought stuff. It's been so long since we've gotten it out. Pants thought we didn't have any! I got the big basket out and we dug right in. Pie Pie had fun pretending hers was pizza dough and making spaghetti.

Pants cut out lots of different shapes and then we made a sheep with modeling clay.

I made a snail and then cleaned out all the old Play-Doh. I like when the Play-Doh is nice and squishy. No hard and crumbly Play-Doh for us! It's actually kind of relaxing to sit and squish the Play-Doh in your hands!

More play to come! If you want to join in you can. I'm a little behind so it's no big deal if you start late. I'm also following the order of what Elizabeth is doing. I noticed she was doing the days a little differently than the original challenge. I also might skip some and do something else depending on my own kids. The point is to spend time focusing on your kids and just play.

Maybe I'll even come to your house and make you play with us!!

Proud Mommy

We started our new session at Lighthouse Learning Christian Homeschool Co-Op this morning. I was the lucky lady who was teaching about ladybugs. They are actually very helpful beetles. They eat a lot of pests that destroy our plants. I decided we were going to learn how to draw a ladybug. We got this really cool book from the library that showed you the steps.

The reason why I am a proud Mommy today is because Pie Pie decided she wanted to do the teaching, of the drawing, at the chalkboard for the other kids. Before class started she drew a sample for practice.

 

She also drew a spider, just for fun. Then when it was time, she drew each step for the class. She was very patient and waited for everyone!

I asked if she was going to be a teacher when she gets older. She said "No Way!". I think she just wanted to help her Mommy out and I was very happy to let her!