Baby Doll in the Kitchen

Our elementary school has a very special award called the Soaring Leader. It's for kids who want to do a little extra at home and for my kids, it's been a huge thing! We typically work on them during off track time and most of the grade-level awards require about 14 or 15 extra projects depending upon the age of the student.

So Baby Doll has been working on hers this week. I love that she is confident enough in her cooking abilities that she first went shopping with her dad, and then she made this yummy fruit dip all by herself. It only has 3 ingredients, vanilla pudding mix, vanilla yogurt, and whipped topping... and fruit, of course, although to be honest, I licked out the last bit from the big bowl with my fingers...

Happy New Year!

I guess my every other day of posting is over. Thank you for indulging me while I took a mini-break through the holidays. We had so much fun at our New Year's Eve party! The kids played games, ate lots of my sweetie's great chile verde, and instead of the traditional countdown, we watched YouTube videos of various music countdowns which was infinitely more fun, like the top 10 Songs that Make You Cry.

There was plenty of silliness!

Don't ever tell this girl to stick out her tongue in a picture!

I taught Dog Walker, Puppy Lover, and Baby Doll how to play Rook, a card game I used to love as a child. It was fun to play with them and watch them learn to think a little bit differently.

As midnight got closer, my sweetie pulled out the fireworks he had been saving since July and even though it was wicked cold, we all went out on the porch and pulled confetti cannons and watched his aerials. The fireworks flashed red and made everything on the ground look pink!

I'm so glad they lifted the fireworks restrictions so we could enjoy watching them. (I have such a cool camera in my phone!)

We hope you had a Happy New Year too!

2019, Here we Come!

I love Christmas and pretty much everything about the holiday season; the lights, the food, the gifts... you get the idea. But when it's over, it's over. I have been known to take out the tree after dark on the 25th, so it came as quite a surprise to my children when I insisted that this year we would be leaving the tree in until New Year's Eve.

That's because my cute little Twizlet (and her mommy and daddy, of course) have been in New Jersey with the other side of the family since December 23rd and we didn't get a chance to share Christmas with them before they left. I couldn't possibly put things away until they were home and had a chance to open their gifts.

Twizlet has gotten to be a pretty good gift-opener and she tore through her paper much quicker than the other babies did. She opened up books first and we had to read each one before she would move on. She felt the same way about the puzzle she got from Crafty.

Jet lag is so hard on little girls!

 She loved the little dishes, but I think her favorite gift might have been the sleeping bag shaped like a moose. She even gave it a kiss on the nose when she first opened it up!

Teach and Twiz also opened their gifts with much gratitude. Then we shared our first FHE with the new Come Follow Me curriculum. I love that we are going to spend more time developing a deeper relationship with Jesus Christ, our Savior.

After that the kids played games while I did several haircuts. I cut Twiz's hair for the first time. It was a little scary since he has "black" hair, but he seemed pleased with the results. Then I cut Twizlet's bangs, Curly's hair, Crafty's hair, and Dog Walker's hair before retiring to the shower.

It was a fun and productive evening, but I'm thinking I will be tired tomorrow. There are always so many things that need to be finished up by the end of the year. 2019, here we come!

Mama's Jewelry Has the Perfect Gift

What do you think about this posting every other day plan? It was weird at first, but it's been a nice break through the holidays. I prefer posting every day though so I don't get confused. Besides, sometimes I have really important stuff I need to tell you. Like the fact that all 5 of my youngest kids are staying with Princess and The Frog tonight... or even more exciting, Mama's Jewelry has asked me to partner with them again right before my birthday so I can get another amazingly unique necklace or maybe even a pair of earrings. I haven't decided yet.

These are fun!

I know Christmas is over, but they will honor their sale price of an extra 10% off if you enter USFAMILYBLOG10 when prompted for a promo code on their website. You'll be surprised to find that their prices are already pretty low and definitely affordable for that special birthday coming up. It's also the perfect time to pick up something for your Valentine while you are shopping.

I love that Mama's Jewelry is a family-owned business because for me it is all about family. They are also one of the few places that still has great customer service and they even offer a lifetime warranty!

Last time I got the Tree of Life, but what do you think about these called the Swirl? So many choices...

...and I've got all the time in the world.