Checking In

I thought I would share some of the things we’ve been up to since I made a declaration that I would be changing my ways.  I’ve been doing pretty good about keeping the boys busier with crafts and activities instead of just making them go play.

We have now been to the library’s story time for 3 sessions, one each week.  It’s getting better each week but I wouldn’t say I’m enjoying it or looking forward to it yet.  The boys aren’t participating and I spend most of the time thinking everyone is looking at me like “What is with the lady with the obnoxious kids?!” the entire time.  We’re going to keep trying though.

I’m using the microwave timer like crazy, starting not long after breakfast.  It helps them know that something fun or different is coming up and helps me have time to prepare for the next thing, be it snacks or a little activity.

Speaking of activities, we have done little letter crafts for letters A through I so far.  For this series, I’m using the “Now I Know My ABC’s” ideas from Totally Tots.  We’re doing one most weekdays and they only take a few minutes.  I’ve had all the simple supplies needed and I get everything ready before it’s time to start.  I haven’t had the books they recommend, but I have improvised and it has been nice.  Here are photos of all the ABC crafts we’ve done so far!  For one of the projects I had to make some finger paint and it was quite the fail.

The weather has been pretty hit or miss.  We had several really nice, beautiful, warm-enough days that the boys could play outside, but now it has gotten cold again.  I keep telling myself that in a few weeks, we’ll be out there all day and the boys will be playing on their new swingset (a gift from the grandparents)!

We’ve also done some more fun things, including a movie night at home – we made little movie tickets, ate popcorn, and watched “Dumbo”!  I started doing Bible memory verses with Miles and you can see him reading his new verse for this week as well as reciting last week’s here!  We have also played with oatmeal canister drums, made Valentine’s Day fortune cookies, and other cute things.  One of the other cute things I’ll be sharing with you next week!

Next Tuesday we’ll go to our first out of town scheduled event, a class at the arboretum.  Hopefully it isn’t a disaster, but if it is, you can be sure you’ll hear about it here!  We also have a Valentine’s Day party with our MOPS group, so it should be a fun week!

Overall, while I’m not feeling more organized exactly, I do feel better about the time I’m spending at home with my boys.  I feel a little more in control of the time and like they are enjoying themselves more.  Not that we don’t have times of frustration, but it IS getting better!

Just so you all know, we’ll be having more content soon.  Jamie is starting to get settled in, and Krista is close to purchasing a used laptop, so we’ll be back in business then.  We do have some reviews and giveaways coming up as well as a new podcast episode that we recorded this week!