Sensory Bottles

This is a first of many posts about learning activities for infants and toddlers. When we first moved to Indiana I began searching for ways which J could play and learn at the same time. I came across this idea: sensory bottles! Just sorry that it took so long to post about it!

As you can see, we have a lot of different varieties and options. Some of them are quieter than others :) and I will show you more of them at a later time. The point is that you have things that are fun to look at and your child can learn while playing. 

Bottles from left to right: 1-water, small balloons, pony beads; 2-small pompoms; 3-corn kernels; 4-water beads; 

5-Christmas ribbon, star confetti

More of our sensory bottle choices.

We have these stored where J can reach them and play with them whenever he feels the need. However, sometimes, I will pull out the whole crate and we will look more closely at certain ones. (For example, we have ones that are for a particular season.) These are great learning tools and I didn't expect them to be so popular with him. His favorites are the ones with rice that have objects hidden, the ones with water and balloons floating inside, and the ones with water/food coloring and baby oil.

I wanted to start out with this post--just to show you that we have been busy in the last year--and I will post about how to make these at a later time. Until then, think about what tools you can use at home to make educational toys and activities for your children. Remember, playing along side of them is an important teaching tool too!

Now. Go have fun!

Along For the Ride

Wow. It has been a while since I have blogged. Almost an entire year. Things were super busy when we moved. And, since we moved to northern Indiana, our Internet connection has been a little sketchy at times. 

Alright. Where do I start with this post? I'm not even sure. I feel like I need to re-introduce myself to you. Has it been that long? 

Yes.

Since my last post, we have moved to Indiana, J turned one year old, he started walking and we had another baby! Okay, it hasn't been that long. :) We did have another baby added to our family though. My brother and SIL had a beautiful girl back in September. J and I were able to go out to North Carolina in November to meet her. Our family is extra blessed to have another niece in the family.

                                                                                                                                  

Well, what can you expect out of me this year? I have a lot of blog posts up my sleeve from the last year. Activities that I tried with J and things that we have done to make our lives easier-such as organization! I plan to share those with you starting on my next blog post. Hopefully that will be sooner than a year. :) 

So, hang on! It's going to be a bumpy ride!!
**For more on what we've been up to, check out our family blog here.

God's Will Made Clear

"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope." -Jeremiah 29:11

So time has come and gone since I last was able to blog. Things have been insane around here. I read a quote a few weeks back that sums up the very thing that we have been trying to learn for about a month: Patience is more than endurance. A saint's life is in the hands of God like a bow and arrow in the hands of an archer. God is aiming at something the saint cannot see, and He stretches and strains, and every now and again the saint says--'I cannot stand anymore.' God does not heed, He goes on stretching till His purpose is in sight, then He lets fly. Trust yourself in God's hands. Maintain your relationship to Jesus Christ by the patience of faith. 'Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him,' -Oswald Chambers.

For a few years, we have been praying for Jeremy to find a new job. At first his search was just in the area and then, when he couldn't find a job, we broadened the search to Florida. After the birth of our son, we decided to search in North Carolina and Indiana where our families live.

Jeremy almost had a job in Raleigh, NC and we were so close to moving there but that didn't work out. When Raleigh didn't work out, we tried to find a larger apartment to rent in Clearwater. We found the perfect place. A quiet condo with 24 hour security. We would feel safe enough to have Jack there. We were so excited and made plans to move and sign paper work and everything. A couple of weeks before we were supposed to move, Jeremy found out that his job would be giving pay cuts. We were devastated. What was God trying to do??

Little did we know, God was working out every detail according to His plan--not ours. A few weeks went by and we were told about a job up in Indiana near where my family lives. We were sure that it would not work out. Jeremy went through many interviews with the company in a period of weeks. Each one seemed to be getting better and better. Finally, on Monday (March 5th), they told Jeremy that they wanted to hire him. Jeremy said that he would like to visit the company before officially saying he'd take the job. So, we were Indiana bound that following Wednesday. He had an on-site interview on that Thursday and agreed to take the position. So, we will be moving to Indiana in a week and a few days!

We are excited about this adventure that the Lord is taking us on and thrilled that we get to do it together! It will be wonderful to see our families more often. We will miss the friends that we have made in Florida and are very thankful that we have Facebook to keep in touch! We might even take vacations to Clearwater! We know our way around . . . why not?? :o)

Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers as we scurry about these next few weeks. When we get settled, I promise to blog more often. Since we'll be in a bigger place, I will be doing more crafts that I find on Pinterest. I will share as often as I can. See you in Indiana!!

God's Will

It's been quite a long time since I've been able to sit down and write. I kind of miss it but I have not really minded missing it because the time has been filled with family.

We went to visit my family in Indiana over the holidays. It was wonderful. Probably the most enjoyable trip up North that I have had in a long time. Maybe because we were able to show Jackson off to our family and friends. It ended up that Jeremy came back as regularly scheduled but Jack and I stayed for a little while longer. It was nice for Jack to be able to spend time getting to know my family as we don't see them very often. We were also able to meet my nephew, Samuel, who was born in November of 2010. It was so cute to see how he and Jack responded to each other being in the same house for a little while. My mom actually was able to fly back with me and Jack and we just took her back to the airport this morning. It was a fun two weeks with her here and the weather was BEAUTIFUL!

Now that you know why my posts have been absent, I feel like I need to share what is on my heart. I cannot share fully at this time. But, our church is having a revival coming up in a couple of weeks and that has got me thinking about God's will for my life.

When you become a wife, God's will is clearly laid out in front of you. It is God's will for you to be a "help meet" for your husband (Genesis 2:18, 21-24). When you become a mother, God's will is clearly laid out in front of you. But what happens when things aren't so clearly defined? How can you determine God's will?

There are things that are so heavy on my heart right now. I want to seek God's will and to honor and please Him. The moment I think we have it all figured out, God changes the plan and I have to seek Him all over again. Although I don't know what He has in store for me and my family at this time, I do know that His will is always best. We'll see what happens and I will let you know as soon as I can.

Cookie and Ornament Exchange for the Holidays

At the church where I attend, the ladies like to get together frequently for fellowship. We enjoy the Christmas holiday because we have our cookie and ornament exchange. We always have it at the home of a lady in our church. She decorates her home beautifully!! Her and her husband like to do various crafts and Christmastime is the best time to see the crafts that they have made. Here are a few pictures from our cookie/ornament exchange and a few pictures of the decorations.

Their tree is beautiful and has a lot of homemade ornaments.

On their front porch . . .

She made this toy soldier out of flower pots!!! Incredible! I asked her if I could add this to Pinterest. Let me know if you ever make one. :o)

I love the Holidays! (and Facebook!)

I am so excited! First off, Christmas is just around the corner and that means we finally get to spend some time together as a family. Hopefully Jeremy won't have to take his work on vacation with him. Secondly, I had NO idea how many giveaways stores and companies did during the Christmas holiday! Almost every company out there has a Facebook page now. I guess that I just never really noticed previous years that they did giveaways on Facebook. This year, I decided to enter in a few (or more). So far I have won a sippy cup from Nuby and a couple of computer wall papers from Burt's Bees (wahoo).

Every day this month, I have been entering the Graco's 12 Day's of Christmas Giveaway on Facebook. On December 1st, they gave away one car seat; December 2nd they gave away 2 infant car seats; December 3rd they gave away 3 digital video monitors; etc. Each day they add an extra winner. Yesterday was the 6 days of Christmas giveaway. They gave away 6 of their Sweet Slumber Sound Machines and I WON! :o) I am so excited! I never win anything! I am really thrilled!

It's space-saving design makes it ideal for traveling.

I am excited about this because it offers 12 high-quality soothing sounds just for baby (including lullabies, nature sounds and white noise).

You can even plug in your MP3 player so that you can play your baby's favorite songs!

It also has a soft glow nightlight!

I really can't wait for it to get here! I love Graco!!!

DIY No-Sew Scarf

I have mentioned my Pinterest kick that I've been on lately. Well, to be honest, with the holidays coming, I haven't really had a whole lot of time to be on the look out for anymore cool things on there. When I first got on it, I found out that you can make your own scarves out of old (or new) t-shirts. Now you can too!

Here's what you need:

Men's Large or Xlarge T-shirt (old or new--if it's new, make sure to wash first!)

Paper or Styrofoam Plate

Sharpie or other pen

Scissors

Fabric Glue

First, take your t-shirt and lay it out flat . . .

Second, cut the shirt along the side seems and lay out flat (You can skip this step if you want and just cut two at a time but I think the circles are harder to cut that way.) . . .

Then take your plate and trace as many circles as you can (I was able to get 6 on each side of an XL shirt) . . .

Next, cut out your circles just inside of the sharpie mark . . .

Then you cut a spiral in the circle shape . . .

Stretch your spiral cuts out until they look like this . . .

Next, take your glue and glue 2 strips together (I didn't have any glue so I tied a knot) . . .

Then you lay the glued strips together. Since I knotted the strips, I took an extra piece of the fabric and sewed it around the knots to keep it all together. That will go at the nape of the neck. If you are gluing the strips, you can get a nice embellishment such as a broach and glue onto it.

Your finished scarf should look similar to this . . .

These will make great Christmas gifts! To check out more ways to make your own no-sew t-shirt scarf (or to see a video of how to make this scarf) click here. Have fun creating!