Pray for Miss Reagan

Just wanted to write a quick post about Miss Reagan. We have been praying for Reagan for 3 years now..and God is listening. She is having another heart surgery this week to continue to process of healing her heart completely. Please read her mother’s blog for a full report…but she needs our prayers Monday morning at 7am Pacific Time…which is 9am Central Time and 10 am Eastern Time!

http://reflectionsofreagan.blogspot.com/

These pix are from Levi’s Birthday Party in December. We were soooo glad Reagan was strong enough to come to his party!

Rainbow Rice, Eggs and Scooby Doo!

I found another great blog recently. Last summer, one of the boys went to fine motor skills camp where I was given tons of fine motor labs to do with him. Kids love sensory activities and I can use this to shake up those fine motor labs! So after finding this blog, I tackled this fun project with the kids.

http://all-about-the-journey.blogspot.com/2009/12/rainbow-rice.html

Tonight I hit IKEA to buy beads, funnels, spoons, tongs, and tons of other fun stuff to make our sensory tubs lots of fun!

For some reason, I have never like dying Easter Eggs. Not sure why seeing I have no problem dying rice! Anyway, I picked up a dye set at 75% off and let the kids dye their Fun Friday Snack today.

Oh yeah, my kids love dressing up. I have a “Costume Shop” they are allowed to shop as they please. You just never know who is going to appear each day…Superman, Buzz Light Year, Lightning McQueen, Raggedy Andy, A Princess, or maybe even a “naked cowboy,” Today,Scooby Doo was the costume of choice! I love it.

Loving Em..One At A Time: Ava

I started blogging a few weeks ago about my quest to find ways to spend quality attention and time with each child. Ava gets the most quality time because the boys are fortunate enough to be able to attend a wonderful Christian Preschool near our home. Sometimes, my time with her makes me sad that I didn’t have that time at her age with the boys.

Anyway, I am starting to work with Ava on learning to use the potty. I think the most effective method for this is putting a child in undies and planning a day where you are as close to your child as possible and teaching them what to do as the opportunity presents itself each time. This method does work, but it is difficult to stay right by the child all day..especially if you have multiple children. This time around, I am not going to stress about it. Today was our first go at it, and she has shown some signs of readiness…so that is great:)

I have fallen head over heals in love with the blog “Tot School” A missionary mom homeschooling her 3 kids with creative play.

Check it out.http://1plus1plus1equals1.blogspot.com/

On her site, I found an easy assessment that I can use to peg where each child is and keep up with who knows what and what I need to work on with each one!

http://www.1plus1plus1equals1.com/TotSchool.html

I used the areas on the assessment to guide our day today.

Ava started with naming shapes and putting them into a puzzle. I also was able to check her color knowledge with this same activity.

A few months ago one of my neighbors dropped off a gold mine of hand me downs:) Each Dora book comes with most of the items pictured in the book as a play set. Today, I showed Ava the picture of Dora and she had to find the matching outfit and other things that went with each book. I was excited to have the time to teach her today, because this will be an awesome independent play center now that she understands what to do with all the items.

Next we made some brownies together!

And finally it was time for her pinkalicious lunch!

http://michellesjournalcorner.blogspot.com/2010/04/muffin-tin-monday-color-series-rainbow.html

(Check this blog for other fun lunch ideas)

And this is an end to my time….today because the boys will be home soon, and we have church tonight….but will try again another day!

By the way…..I took Ava to the potty about 8 times during these activities. Planning a day like this for your child, really does take the pain out of potty training!

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Busy….So Busy!

Triple Smiles has been busy lately. Lots of fun…but busy! Here are a few highlights of our past few days…

Wednesday, Ava visited Discovery Days for an Easter Egg Hunt with her brothers. She is seen below matching her colors and holding her brother’s hand in line.

Z-man looking at his finds.

L proud of his collection of eggs.

Thursday, We visited a neighboring city’s “Safety Town” My middle son arrived a Safety Town barefooted. When I asked him “Where are your shoes?” He casually replies…”At home!” This fun family adventure features a full sized mock fire truck and a little town. When the kids get older they can drive electronic cars around the roads and even pay a toll through a toll booth!

Friday, some dear friends came to town and we went to the Magic Time Machine. Characters of all kinds wait tables and do a great job of entertaining the children through dinner. Our waiter was a pirate.

The children were served “Bubbly Drinks”

But the HIGHLIGHT of the evening, is when Levi met his hero. He was honestly speechless, but only for a moment. After he regained his speech, he told Woody “You are missing your string, you can’t talk without your string!” Too funny.

On Saturday, Our family was given tickets to the Shrine Circus that traveled through Dallas last weekend. Here are a few of the kids expressions during the show.

And a new week began with Easter Sunday!

A beautiful day to celebrate our Risen Lord!

We had Easter Lunch at my Aunt’s home. We gave the kids their Easter Baskets at lunch.

Ava found her way to my Aunt’s “Doll Room” that is filled with collectible dolls and a Vintage Vanity. These pictures were not posed. I just sat on the bed and snapped while she played.

I caught the boys peeping through the mail slot…

Yes, we’ve been busy….this week, we are watching TV!!!