Jonathan's Toys

She's getting a little older, so we've pulled out some of the older-baby toys, like Jonathan's little chair.

Lego Gymnastics

Jonathan calls it "the place where a Lego guy can hold itself up."

Grace with her Grandma

A Little Artwork

If you follow our blog or know my son, you know that he rarely draws. So, when he does, I'm going to post about it! The pieces above were created on the same day. Remarkable. My mom got him a cool coloring book for Christmas that is all geometric designs. Right up his alley. He decorated the top pic and labeled it as a pipe organ. The bottom one is the first picture he's ever drawn of people. As you can see, it's "Mom and Grace." He says it's Grace when she learns how to stand up and me wearing a dress. If you have kids who make and draw all the time, you can just smile and nod. I'm just happy he drew something!

Naptime Bliss

Bath Time

Brother and Sister

Lincoln Logs

Thank You, Frugal Bloggers

Thanks to frugal bloggers, I got everything in the above picture (plus one more pack of Post-its) for $.81.

Thanks to Cherissa's encouragement, I got back into couponing. I consider myself a dabbler, not hard-core, but it has been a huge help to us. I was very into it when I was teaching and Jeff was in grad school, but I had gotten away from it. I subscribe to one other frugal blog and take advantage of some of the deals and coupons she writes about.

I bought 3 packs of diapers this week at Target (with coupons) because they were on sale and giving a $5 gift card for the purchase. (Yes, Grace is in cloth, but sometimes disposable diapers are helpful...like when we go to the snow!) Buying the diapers was my first transaction. The stuff in the above picture was my second transaction. I had coupons for most of the things, but not the toothpaste and deodorant. But, we were in a pinch and needed them. My total, after coupons, for everything, was $5.81! (Some of my coupons had higher values than the prices of the items.) But, since I used the $5 gift card that I had earned with the diaper purchase, my total was $.81!! As you can imagine, doing this now and then is a big help to our family budget.

The biggest "aha!" for me is that you can "stack" manufacturers' coupons and Target coupons for the same item, making them cheap, free, or even getting some money back (which I did on the light bulbs.)

I have decided to add one more frugal blog to my reading and see if it's worth my time. I found one that's local to me on the map that's in the footer of my blog. Take a peek! I hope you find some good deals that help your family like I have. And thanks, Cherissa, for getting me started again!

She's Getting Bolder!

Saturday Snowshoeing

Jeff and I decided to "go to the snow" on Saturday and enjoy the amazing snow that the mountains have been enjoying lately. This was our second time snowshoeing with two kids, and Jeff packed the car like he had it down to a science. The drive was great, and both kids were so excited to get started. Grace was cooing and gooing about the snow while we got bundled up before our hike. She got to wear the fantastic snowsuit that I found on clearance for her. And she looked adorable, if I do say so myself. No worries about a cold baby this time.

The tree branches were so heavy with snow! Later in the day, when the temperature warmed up a bit, snow would fall off the trees in mini-avalanches, and you could get dumped on if you weren't careful. It was great.

The snow was so beautiful, as you can see in the pictures. The pictures don't show how complainy our kids got at times. I earned a few gray hairs from frustration on this hike. We learned a little bit more about family snowshoeing: mainly that we were too ambitious and took too long of a hike, and we should only bring the sled for downhill purposes. Jonathan wanted to ride in it instead of walking, which made for harder work for Jeff, and then Jonathan would fall out of the sled and get mad...I won't go on. I feel more gray hairs sprouting.

As is often the case with kids, the memories of the fun and sweet times we had together remain strong, and the memories of the sounds of whining are fading quickly.

We had a really great day together.

I hope we go again soon.

Snowshoeing in a Good Mood

Here's a video preview of pictures to come.

Playing Together, Second Attempt

Sorry it didn't work the first time!

Remember

After months of flirting with it, Jonathan now has it right. "Bernember" has turned into "remember" for good. I'm kinda sad about it. I suppose it's good that he figured it out before kindergarten.

Bath Time

Pruning

This was last Saturday, I think.

Fun Things

Buckles and Straps

Shoes

Dear Grace,

May you have an average-sized foot so that you can actually enjoy shoes when you are older. The odds are not in your favor, but we can hope!

Love,

Mommy

He Really Is a Good Big Brother

Manipulation

Gracie has no interest in putting weight on her legs. I have lots of interest in getting her to put weight on her legs. Soooo...I'm enticing her with forbidden objects, like the phone, remote control, and paper. She can only have them if she'll stand up between me and the couch, and reach for them. Once I prop her up, she does OK. But, if you try to stand her up on the floor or your lap, she lifts her legs so that she can sit down. We're working on it! (Photo by Jonathan.)

Valentines Town

Jonathan decided to build a Valentine out of Legos today. He tells me he's building Valentines town out of Legos, and it's going to have buildings and Valentiney things on the gray baseplate. It's going to be a decoration for our house for Valentine's day. And, since most of the Lego guys don't have cars, they can take a taxi or bus. He says he's working on them.

In my mind, both my kids are wearing cute, matching, red shirts, and they're smiling while holding up the Lego heart. And I have printed out this picture on photo cards for Valentine's Day and sent them to everyone we love. Something tells me that's not going to happen by February 14, but it's not because we love you any less!

Valentine Scavenger Hunt

You might remember that Jonathan got to go on an amazing scavenger hunt last year, courtesy of the very crafty Alicia. Welllll...I saved it and I'm going to use it again this year! I'll just need a few new, tiny prizes. I thought I'd share the clues with you. Click on the picture to enlarge it. It should get really big. If there's one you can't read, leave me a comment and I'll answer in the comments section for everyone.

And here are the directions. Enjoy!!!

Hope for Haiti

I just had to share this link from a very talented friend of mine.

Dorothy blogged about Craft Hope for Haiti, and I'd encourage you to read all about it. Proceeds from this Etsy shop with go to Doctors Without Borders for relief in Haiti. You can donate your crafts so that they can be sold to benefit Haiti, or you can visit the shop to make a purchase and know that your money is going to people who need it. I see that Dorothy's creations are starting to be listed!

I love how God has gifted each of us differently to share our time, talent, and treasure to help those who need it. And I hope you'll go see what Dorothy made. Beautiful things!

At Our House...

there's a whole lot of reading going on right now! Jonathan's current favorite is the Big Green Book of Beginner Books by Dr. Seuss that Todd and Corinne gave to the library for his birthday. He loves it so much that I may have to spring for a copy of our own when we make the trek to the school library with our box of books. (We have to read them first, right?) I don't know whether he's reading the words or enjoying the pictures, but it's very fun, either way.

Ten Months

Our baby girl turned ten months old on Saturday. This year is going just as fast as everyone said it would.

This is how she "un-sits" herself so that she can creep instead of sit. I'm not sure this is legal in the world of baby gross motor skills, but nobody told Grace.

These pics were taken first thing in the morning, and Jonathan wasn't dressed yet. He had to get in on the month-birthday shots with his sis.

Here she comes...

Not technically crawling, but as my sister says, "She gets around!"

Oh, and I just realized that I accidentally kept my pictures posting small after the Baby Legs post. Sorry, Grandmas, I'll reset the size a little bigger next time for your enjoyment. :)

Baby Legs Trial and Error Tutorial

(Quick note about Haiti, my post below: the response has been overwhelming! Looks like I am going to be making some personal sacrifices to make good on my promise. But, a promise is a promise, and I know the needs in Haiti are so much more important than my wants. I am thankful to be a messenger and be able to help.)

Now, about the Baby Legs. I've never had any real ones for Grace. But, as often as I have to change our sweet girl's soiled diapers, and as much as she dislikes being on the changing table, and as many times as I've had to pull pants up and down over her diaper, I thought those cute legwarmerish things would be great.

I remember seeing the idea of cutting off the toes of socks and making them into Baby Legs a long time ago. The heels would be the knees. So, when I saw this pack of socks on clearance in the girls' (size 7-14) section at Target, I thought I'd give it a try.

Here's my trial pair. I cut off the toes...

pinned and hemmed them...

using the "B" stitch...

and, voila. But, they didn't stay up on my wiggly girl's legs with the hem at the top.

I turned them upside down, and then the hemmed part fell down over her feet. So this was the "error." And then I Googled "Baby Legs Tutorial," which is what I should have done first!

I used this cute, easy, excellent tutorial with my second pair of socks...

sewed them with the "B" stitch again...

and now, VOILA! Perfect! I am now a huge fan of these homemade Baby Legs. Grace wears them all the time.

I cut off the hem on the first, failed pair and remade them using the second method. The "tube" part of the sock becomes the cuff at the bottom. I lost a little length on the brown pair due to trial and error, but not too much. Big girls' socks work for Grace, but I'd use grown-up ladies' socks for a baby or toddler any older. (Grace wears size 12 months.)

Here they are on my willing little subject. She's been wearing them with shirts, under dresses, under rompers...they have been great for an extra layer of warmth or on their own.

Now I'm on the lookout for cute socks on clearance. And Grace is on the lookout for treasures under furniture. Finding little treasures is one of her favorite pastimes.