Shadow

Look mom! My legs are really long. 

Fresh breath

I'm very inspired right now to be creative. To write, to craft, to create, to discover. I'm hoping that means another start-up on my blogs. I'm hoping that means more crafting for me and for my kids. I'm hoping that means more organization. I'm hoping that means more play and exploring and discovering with my kids. I'm not sure where to begin but I'm inspired nonetheless and I'm using this inspiration to create a plan of action for me, for my kids, for my home, for the kids I "daycare," etc.

I love when inspiration hits and then capitalizing on it. I know it doesn't always last long so I make a great point to take advantage and make habits out of my inspirations so they stay in place well after the excitement dies down. Hopefully you'll see me more, on here and my other blogs.

Daredevil

I'm pretty sure it's a second child thing; she's got to do what big sister is doing, but she doesn't realize she doesn't have the experience that comes with age therefore the coordination nor the agility either.  She is willing to do anything.  This little accident happened at the river last month.  She took off at full speed down a slightly descending dirt trail and tumbled forward scraping her forehead, nose and even the inside of her mouth.  

A week later, the scab was completely gone (thanks coconut oil!) and she was all healed up and ready to take on her next monkey adventure.  

Bogart

Bogart...

You make our couch look tiny.

Amélie's first time coloring

Amélie loves to try coloring by grabbing a marker and scribbling on a page but the cap always stays on.  Today was the first day I decided to let her have a go at the real thing.

And she loved it.

But I think I made a mistake by letting her pick her own colors.  Yellow was fine, of course, but black, obviously I should have known it wouldn't be a good choice.

I was so busy snapping pictures and next thing I see through the view finder on my camera the marker touch her face...

and with intention, it seemed, she scribbled all over her mouth, with black marker.

And she was so proud.

Just a day in our life

Thought I'd share some pictures that seem to capture a couple events that are regular in our day to day.  

Jordan and I have school time every day (well, almost every day anyway) after Amélie gets laid down for her first nap.  I'm pretty proud of this little punkin who is learning to read, write and use critical thinking skills to solve word puzzles.

Her lines are still a little shaky but she's doing great staying on the lines and she's finally worked up the confidence/courage (not quite sure the right word here) to write them on her own without tracing; look at that beautiful 9 that she wrote on her own!

This is the second book we've used in this "series."  We loved the first one that teaches great math skills along with the dexterity to cut lines.  By the end of the first book (she was 2 1/2) she could cut circles without any help!  (along with many other skills, of course!)  This second book is a more advanced version of the first that also dives more deeply into writing as well.  We absolutely love these books and recommend them highly.  We've also been using several other books that we've picked up from various stores, had homeschooling friends generously pass on to us that they didn't use or we've even gotten one by posting a want ad on craigslist!

And here is my other sweet little munchkin who is all over the place, into everything, climbs, climbs, climbs, tries to escape constantly if the gate isn't up and makes us all smile abundantly.  

I am sure blessed with some wonderful little girls!  Thank you Lord for pouring out such blessings on us!

One day this summer

One day this summer Jordan grabbed my cup of water off the table and decided it looked like the perfect place to stick her foot.  I caught her sitting in her little chair having a BLAST dipping her foot in the water experimenting with dipping each foot and her hands too.  It certainly kept her entertained for quite some time...until it tipped over and we had to clean up all the fun.

Look how much fun she was having!  Sometimes I miss being entertained by such simple things.

The girls

My mom just got back from a really long trip with my grandma.  They were gone nearly a month taking a road trip to West Virginia to visit relatives.  My great aunt got the girls some West Virginia University shirts so I snapped a picture today while they were both wearing them.  Jordan was so excited to wear hers today!  She's so goofy in pictures lately.  She gets a funny grin like she wants to smile but she's nervous to.  In some other pictures I got I asked her to smile big so she opened her mouth really wide, then got distracted watching TV and forgot her mouth was open.  It was quite comical.  

Amélie was having a blast taking pictures.  I took a massive amount of pictures and in all of them she was looking at the camera with a big grin.  She's become a little crawler in the past month.  It's fun to see her moving all around exploring...until she finds cords plugged into the wall or the dog toys (gross!).

My little sweetheart.  She looks and feels so much better when her hair is pulled back, but I'm usually too lazy or she's too much of a stinker!  :)

And this one here is getting some hair that needs taming on a daily basis too.  I'm going to be busy doing hair from now on!  I'm seriously SO thankful for all the hair tutorials available online.  I've learned so much!

Giveaway winner

And the winner is....

#3 - Kelley

Congratulations!  Be on the lookout for an email from me.

silly girls