I am trying to get back into the habit of capturing moments with my camera. I do get some with my cell phone as it is usually faster and closer at hand and share those on Facebook but for awhile my regular camera was just not being kept close by. I have moved it upstairs into my bedroom/office where the kids and I hang out most of the day. I do love how my new master bedroom is so big. There is the bedroom portion where our bed, dressers and TV are and then a big open space with a chair, lamp and bookshelf and then an alcove type area that is the home office. We've split it up into two desk spaces (one for me and one for our home computer and Jared's space for homework baring that I haven't covered it with other projects).
So here are some highlights from the past month.
Benjamin loves to color! So much so that he doesn't understand what he can color on versus what he can't. Which means he loses his coloring privileges frequently! He even lost book privileges for awhile there. When he gets too quiet I know something is going on and unfortunately I don't always catch it in time because I am on a conference call and have headphones on that block out a lot of the sounds the kids are making if any.
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| 08/28/2013 |
I don't always like it when Jared has the camera and snaps pictures of me but I figured I would throw this one out there. I am happily crafting downstairs in my dining room on an idea I have been working on for months. More details to come!
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| 9/11/2013 |
I've been finding a lot of blogs lately about ways to entertain your little ones and teach them things. One of the ideas I found (of course I forgot the source by now) was for taping a tube to the wall with a bucket underneath for kids to put balls through. The lady I found this from did it in her kitchen while cooking dinner to keep her youngest entertained so she could get the dinner on the table without too much fuss. I loved the idea and finally executed it upstairs. It took a few times of me showing Benjamin and Elizabeth but they caught on and had fun. Benjamin took to trying to throw the balls into the tube, unsuccessfully, but his arm for throwing is getting better. Elizabeth eventually removed the bucket and just had fun watching the balls roll across the room.
Benjamin lost interest or Elizabeth took over (I'm not sure which) and he went off to play with his Tractor book.
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| 09/23/2013 |
Most of the time Benjamin will not hold still for me to take a picture. I get the camera out and he will run off from what he was doing. Drives me nuts! I'm just trying to capture moments of his childhood! But then I have days where he brings me the camera and begs for me to take his picture over and over again. I love how this one turned out! His eyes sparkle! His poor lips though are still quite chapped from this dry Utah desert air. I get them almost healed and then it starts up again.
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| 09/24/2013 |
The kids watch a lot of TV. I love the days where they can find their own entertainment all day and last without having to have the TV or play on some electronic device. But unfortunately those days are far apart. Elizabeth was really needy and I could only give her so much attention so I turned on her favorite show (Mater's Tall Tales) and propped her up on the bed. Benjamin crawled up on the other side and decided to watch TV with her. I turned my head to check on the kids and saw the sweetest sight! They were cuddling! She wanted to be close to her brother and he was letting her! I grabbed my camera and captured the moment with a huge aaahhhh from this mother's heart!
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| 09/25/2013 |
Elizabeth loves to collect toys and walk around with them or put them in some type of container. For instance puff balls into a glass baby food jar or a large glass bottle. Crayons into a plastic container. Phineas and Ferb figurines. Balls. Usually she stays with a theme and wants all of the similar item together. She will get so frustrated when her hands are too full and she can't get the rest of the similar items in her hands. One morning she was in the hallway and let out a distressed cry. I went and checked on her and she was trying to collect and carry all of the puzzle pieces. I saw her issue and brought her a bucket. I put a few in and she smiled and filled it up with the rest of the pieces she wanted and then happily walked around with the bucket and her collection. It really is funny to watch her collect her toys to play with. Yesterday Jared pointed out to me that she was putting her collection in the lid of a box and then standing in it and had the biggest smile on her face. Love this little girl! In this picture I just love her blue eyes. She had brought her collection over to show me while I was working.
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| 09/26/2013 |
Kids these days start learning how to use technology so much younger than we used to. It comes so naturally to them and just amazes me. Jared takes our Surface to school with him each day as he has a text book or two on it and can take notes and it is very light. When he gets home Benjamin frequently drags daddy's backpack out and tries to get to the Surface. Elizabeth also loves to play with the Surface so Benjamin will jump up on the bed so he can get away from her and be out of her reach (for now). Benjamin looked so relaxed laying on the bed with the Surface propped up in his lap watching Netflix.
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| 09/27/2013 |
Okay so as I mentioned before I've been working on an idea for my kids. A crafting idea! A learning idea! A teaching idea! A hands on idea! I started on this project back in WA and I've been working on it slowly in my spare time (Jared always laughs when I say that). On September 11th I was able to take a picture frame and cover it with Velcro. I've been making different things for the kids to use to put on the Velcro board that they can play with and learn with. I've learned hot glueing the Velcro onto plastic is not the best method. So I will have to buy a lot more sticky backed squares of Velcro. Not too long after we moved into our new home I knew I wanted a space to be able to work with my kids and help them learn and play. I really want to get a little desk and chairs for them to work next to me on coloring and other projects so I can keep a close eye on them while I am working. This weekend I finally got my Velcro board hung along with a picture frame that is going to highlight a letter and color of the day. As I continue to put my collection together and get pictures of the kids using different things I will try to share what I have found and I am using as I have found some great free resources of women who just love to share what they are doing with their own kids! So grateful for people who are willing to share things for free and just ask that they be given the proper credit!
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| 09/28/2013 |
Elizabeth has become quite the book worm. Just goes to show how different children are! She loves to smile for the camera too!
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| 09/28/2013 |
Anyways that about wraps up the last month roughly. Though I have one sneak peak I will share with you of a project I am working on that is almost finished!
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| 09/28/2013 |
