2010 - A Year of "Firsts"

Everywhere you look, people are reviewing the year in photos. News channels, ESPN, newspapers, Yahoo... if it's media related, you can bet there are photos to review. 2010 was a year of "firsts" for my family! I thought it'd be fun to go back through my pictures and pick out 10 of my favorite "firsts" caught on film.

Our first "first" of the year had to be from Januray 7th. It was a miserably cold day, Kent was home from work and we witnessed something that day that none of us had ever seen! I was putting away laundry, angry at my hubby for sitting on the couch, when he came in our bedroom and said, "You have to look out the window!" As angry as I was, I took a minute to peek out our bathroom window and there it was, a Sun Dog! It was amazing! I have never seen anything like! It was so amazing in fact, that I devoted an entire post to the blog about it! (Check out my January posts to see pictures!)

And like any good mother, I bundled up Jaxon and headed out to show him the sight! Temps were well below freezing but I wanted him to see this... after all, he may never see something like this again! So here he is, facing the elements to see for himself the beauty that is a Sun Dog!

Our second "first" came in April at the birth of my niece, Alivia! Jaxon had never held a baby and we knew already at that time, that he was going to need lots of practice! So here he is, holding a baby, (cousin Alivia) for the first time!
As I mentioned before, we knew all that practice would come in handy because we were expecting little Maddox! Jaxon was with me the "first" time we got to see pictures of him! Here is Jaxon posing with out "first" baby picture of his baby brother!

In June, we took our "first" family vacation. We traveled to Texas for a week to visit Kent's family for his sister's graduation from high school. Here is Jaxon sitting on top of a Longhorn for the "first" time. I have a feeling this won't be the last time... we had a hard time getting him off that animal! He's already asked several times if we can do that again!

Later that month we found out that "Baby" was indeed a "brother"! Jaxon was so excited to learn that his "first" sibling, would be a boy!

The "first" pictured below, came in July when Jaxon showed a calf at the fair! This is the picture that made the front page of our local paper a week later, another "first"! This was such an exciting first for all of us that Daddy has decided to use his week of vacation in 2011, on the week of the fair!"

Jaxon's "first" day of PreSchool finally came in August. We had been anticipating this moment for months! Jaxon has enjoyed school so much and we all look forward to what's to come

in 2011!

On October 18th, Jaxon became a big brother for the "first" time! Maddox and Jaxon spent an entire day together at the hospital w/ Mommy & Daddy getting to know one another on

the 19th. This picture, along w/ many others, was taken that day!

Jaxon participated in his "first" Christmas program this year. Growing up my siblings and I all got to be a part of the program. Our family has had someone in the program for over 24 years now, that's a long time! I look forward to the day when both my boys can participate!

My final picture (in this review), had to be from Maddox's "first" Christmas! There's something so special about a baby's first Christmas whether they remember it or not!

This will be my final post for the year and what a year it's been! As we get ready for the next chapter in our lives... I can't help but wonder what Adventures Motherhood has in store for me in 2011! Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas from the Welchs

I hope everyone had a very, merry Christmas! We had a wonderful time at the Welch house celebrating w/ family & friends. We started our weekend off w/ Jaxon's Christmas program at church... his first one! Here are the boys ready for church looking so grown up in their Christmas outfits! I posted a link below to our YouTube page so you could check the program out for yourselves... it's worth a watch!

After church we rushed home for supper w/ Grandpa & Grandma, Uncle Micah & Aunt Sam. Jaxon had no interest in food, he was much too excited about opening presents. Here he is showing Max the present he picked out for him... Max seemed pretty excited about his gift which made Jaxon's day!Christmas morning we woke up to another batch of presents, this time from Santa! Here are the boys getting ready to open their gifts. Santa brought them a sled this year. Jaxon's first words at the sight of the Santa loot was, "Look, Santa brought us a boat!"Daddy and I waited to open our gifts from the boys till after the Santa gifts had all been opened. This year Jaxon gave Daddy a very special gift that he made at PreSchool. He was so excited for Daddy to open his gift! The best gifts are handmade w/ love... the proof is in this snowman ornament to Daddy from Jaxon! PRICELESS!!!Christmas day at noon, we headed over to Grandpa & Grandma Meier's for our family Christmas w/ my brothers and sister. Here are the boys w/ Grandpa & Grandma and cousin Alivia. This bunch is going to be trouble in a few years!

We are so blessed to be surrounded by a great group of family and friends. I hope everyone received the gift of just that this holiday season!

Don't forget to check out Jaxon's program below!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-YXU8WMC-4

Little Chefs

Jaxon's PreSchool class made Rice Krispie Treats yesterday for snacktime! At the end of the day, they were all allowed to take one home to share w/ Mom & Dad, Grandpa & Grandma or whoever they wanted to. Jaxon shared his treat w/ Daddy & I both after we ate our lunch... it was delicious! Thanks PreSchoolers for such a yummy treat!

Christmas Magic

Jaxon - "Mommy, did you know that Jesus & Santa are friends?"

Awww, the "Christmas questions"... this year it's more like the "Christmas statements"! Jaxon's been really curious about how Santa gets down our chimney and what happens when people have fires going in their fireplaces. He's also really concerned about his friends who don't have fireplaces at their houses! "How does he get in?" We've been explaining that like Harry Potter, Santa knows magic... works like a charm! Here's a bit of a conversation we had yesterday regarding Christmas!

Jaxon - "Does Santa bring you presents Mom?"
Me - "No, he just brings presents for you & Max."
Jaxon - "Who brings you presents?"
Me - "Grandma gets presents for Mommy."
Jaxon - "Oh, well you better be good, Grandma's watching!"

Me - "You're right!"
Jaxon - "Mom?"
Me- "Yes, Jaxon."
Jaxon - "Is Grandma your Mom?"
Me - "Yes."
Jaxon - "Oh. She's my Mom too."
Me - "No... Mommy's your Mom."
Jaxon - "But Grandma's my Mom too!"
Me - "OK... if you say so!"

Arguing w/ a 4 year old is pointless! The running joke at our house is that Jaxon is destined to one day become a lawyer... after all, he argues better than anyone else we know!!!

This conversation went on and on and finally ended w/ a bedtime story and Jaxon falling asleep. Last year my Mom gave Jaxon a book that has her voice recorded reading a story to him. The story is, "The Night Before Christmas", and I thought since we are about a week away, that'd be appropriate to read before bed. Jaxon was really quiet when I opened the book. He listened very intently. When the story had finished he looked at me and said, "Mom? How did Grandma get in this book?" My response... "Grandma's kinda like Harry Potter too!"

This Mother's Work

Being a "Stay At Home Mom" is a full-time job and I love it, but some days I wish I could do this all day everyday! Mural painting, (next to blogging of course), is my passion and if it wasn't for my full-time commitment to my boys, I'd be elbow deep in a mural everyday of the week, as long as I could find work that is! This project was a sign I made for a family friend who along with her husband and children are giving it as a gift to her in-laws for Christmas. (Since the in-laws don't read my blog I knew I could get away w/ showing it off a little early!) A neighbor had made a sign for the couple years ago, the sign had weathered over time and the kids thought it'd be fun to replace it w/ a new one. Here's the original!

So much fun!

One Can't Make This Stuff Up

As I mentioned in my last post, Jaxon has been busy working on his Christmas list. He has requested that I draw a picture next to each wish list item so that Santa won't be confused about what it is he's asking for. He's asking for things like a big airplane, a robot, a toy honey maker he dreamt about the other night and even a Cheesy Bite pizza from Pizza Hut! I have to say, I love the idea of Santa delivering Pizza Hut pizza... my child's a genius!

Earlier today while working on his list, Jaxon asked me to add something that caught me completely off guard. He asked me to add a toy replica of his cousin to the list. He told me that if Santa could bring him this wish, he could play w/ her whenever he wanted.

One can't make this stuff up and if there really is a Santa, he'd grant this wish for sure... only there would be no need for a "toy replica"!

Favorite Things ~ Motherhood & the Holidays

One of my favorite things about the holidays is the Oprah's Favorite Things episode! This year, being that it's her last season, she had a 2 part episode... I thought I'd died and gone to daytime heaven! Being that this is my 100th post, I thought I'd share 25 of my fave, and not so fave things about motherhood during the holidays! Enjoy!

25. Having kids means having a good excuse to watch Christmas movies like Polar Express (Jaxon's fave), The Grinch (my fave), and A Christmas Story (Daddy's fave)! However, could someone please tell Jaxon that Christmas movies are only for Christmas time?! We watch Polar Express all year long and though it's a great movie, I'd really prefer to watch it when it's 30 degrees outside not 106!

24. Jaxon & Maddox's Texas grandparents always send the cutest Christmas jammies this time of year. I love jammies, especially the footie kind with a Christmas theme... they make for adorable pictures Christmas morning! The only downside is that Jaxon (who is now dressing himself), sometimes chooses to wear his footie jammies w/out the underwear... this requires special attention when using the toilet!

23. Going to look at Christmas Lights w/ the Kerns!!! This is a tradition that we hope to keep alive every year we can con our kids into going w/us, course it'll be fun when they decide they have better things to do too! This year we are facing a dilemma, not only do we have another child to seat belt in, but the one vehicle we were all able to fit into was recently involved in a car accident. Still trying to figure out how we are all going to squeeze into a different car!

22. Picking out the perfect tree from "Bird's Nest" tree farm! I always look forward to this but forget how cold one can get while scouring the acreage for the "shine a light down from heaven", perfect tree!

21. Decorating the tree! This fun, family event took three days this year and the boxes are still cluttering up my dining room floor!

20. Visiting Santa! Jaxon is terrified of Santa! I thought this would change w/ age... nope! We go every year anyway mainly because I like the idea of planting my child on the big man's lap. Maybe Max will feel differently about the Santa visit!

19. Making Christmas lists! I love making lists and this is a fun excuse to make another, however, Jaxon's list keeps getting longer and longer. Earlier this evening he added the cheesy crust pizza from Pizza Hut to his list... I think I'll add that one to mine too!

18. Making Christmas cookies! Making anything food-wise w/ the help of children can be a little stressful to say the least, but add in food coloring and it takes it up a few notches! I still have stains on my mixer from last year... might be using Max as a good excuse to get out of this tradition this year!

17. Listening to Christmas music like Alvin & the Chipmunks! Again, this is something I like to save for the holidays but we've been jamming all year long to the same song.

16. WRAPPING PRESENTS... my absolute favorite thing to do during the holidays! I can be a little picky when it comes to my wrapping so I choose to do all of it after everyone goes to bed. This way I can save myself from a fight w/ a four year old on his less than perfect wrapping skills! (My OCD takes control of me in ways I can not explain when it comes to wrapping paper!)

15. Picking out Christmas outfits for the boys! I wish this was a much fun when it comes to choosing outfits for myself!

14. Opening Christmas cards from friends and family w/ Jaxon! Trying to explain to him who everyone is however, is not so much fun!

13. Taking a picture for our Christmas card! Need I say more?!

12. Shopping w/ Mom, w/out Jaxon!!!

11. Going to church on Christmas Eve and this year watching Jaxon in his 1st program! Getting to church on time, not so much fun!

10. Watching the "special family movie" Santa brings on Christmas morning after we open presents! Santa always brings our family the new Disney, Dreamworks or Pixar movie so we have something new to watch together! Hopefully this year Mommy won't sit and cry during the movie. Last year Santa brought "Up", I did more explaining than viewing and if you've ever seen "Up", you'll know why!

9. Carrying on the tradition of soup for supper & presents from Mom & Dad after the Christmas Eve program.

8. Searching the Internet for the perfect gift ideas! Time consuming but I love doing my research!

7. Stuffing the boys' stockings w/ hygiene friendly accessories and having them love it because they are too young to care!

6. Being able to get away w/ wrapping up a box of "special treats" from Santa... you know, the stuff your kids walk past in Wal-Mart every time you go, the stuff they beg you to buy. Stuff like, Lightning McQueen crackers or Bob the Builder juice drinks! It's really inexpensive, something they only get once a year and it ends up being healthier than candy and they don't know the difference!

5. Baby Max's 1st Christmas... there's something about a baby's 1st Christmas!

4. Having an excuse to move some of the older toys to the playroom basement!

3. Making special gift tags w/ Jaxon to put on the Grandpa & Grandma gifts!

2. Being able to get all my kids shopping done at the Dollar Store!!!

1. Being able to use the "Santa's Watching Card" for an entire month... & having it work (sometimes)!!!

What We are Thankful for this Year

Jaxon & Maddox are Thankful for having each other to play tractors with!

Daddy is Thankful to have another son to watch football with!
Maddox is Thankful to have warm, fuzzy Jammie's!
Jaxon was Thankful for a giant turkey leg!

Mommy is Thankful to have 3 wonderful males in her life!

Who's Who?!

Can you guess who's who?!

On Sunday we celebrated Maddox's baptism, (almost 4 years to the day that we celebrated Jaxon's). They both wore a little white suit which fit Max a little better than Jax and a handmade white sweater made by my Grandma who passed earlier this year. The blanket they are lying on was also made by Grandma... it's the only time either one has or will use that blankie or sweater again! My plan is to pass the outfit & socks and the sweater & blanket on to their boys to wear someday at their baptisms...

that is as long as their wives are OK w/ it!

Could you figure out who's who above?! Jaxon's on the left and Maddox on the right. Max is starting to look more and more like Jax everyday, although I think Max may look a little more like Daddy while Jaxon looks more like Mommy.

Missing the Chaos

Jax & Max - at hospital day after Max was born

And the Adventure continues... in more ways then I have time to share unfortunately!

Baby Brother Maddox is 4 weeks old today. He is growing fast and while that is what's supposed to happen, I find myself weepy at the idea that this precious infant stage is going by so quickly! He has been showing off some sleepy smiles over the last few days, spending more and more time awake checking out his surroundings and getting to go lots of new places! He got to experience a family trip to Wal-Mart this weekend that was less than enjoyable but usually is when it comes to shopping at Wally World! He slept through his first church service on Sunday and met the ladies at the bank & post office last week. Other than that, life has been pretty simple at home for him... he eats when he wants, gets his diaper changed often & sleeps whenever he pleases. Ahhhhhh, to be a baby!

Big Brother Jaxon is adjusting... and boy, oh boy, has it been an adjustment! He's having a terrible time adjusting to not only getting exactly what he wants, when he wants it, but also adjusting to the idea that Summer is no longer here and Winter is right around the corner! Brushing teeth, taking medicine, putting on outside clothes and not answering the phone when he's told not to, have been more trouble than I'd like to admit these days! To sum it all up, his listening skills have been lacking here at home and Daddy & I are having trouble adjusting to that!!!

There are lots of positives that have been taking place over the past month though too! Jaxon couldn't love Maddox more! We now have conversations w/ Max instead of the rubbery friends, I play the part of Max and Jaxon of course plays himself! Just this morning, they were talking all about what Jaxon does at school and what Maddox & Mommy do while he is away. Jaxon is very gentle with him and asks to hold him often. He loves showing him off to anyone and everyone and begged last week to take him in when I dropped him off at school... he was really excited to show his school friends his little brother for the first time!

Life is hectic but good! I have two very healthy & happy (most of the time) little boys, who could ask for more?! And while I wish I had more hours in the day to blog, clean, cook and bathe I take comfort in knowing that I will have time again one of these days for all of those things and will be weepy at the idea of missing the chaos!

Jax & Max - Halloween night

Jax & Max - 1st big boy bath

My Newest Blog Topic

Meet the newest topic of all of my blogs... Jaxon's baby brother Maddox or "Max"! He came on Monday the 18th after my Dr. decided to induce labor. We are loving every minute w/ him and I promise to share more when things settle down a bit and I get a chance!

Where My Adventure Began

Four years ago... this is where my Adventures in Motherhood began!Jaxon was born at St. Elizabeth's Regional Medical Center, a catholic hospital in Lincoln, NE. Every time a baby is born, the hospital plays a recording over the loud speaker of a tiny bell ringing... this was one of my fondest memories of his birth! Jaxon shares his birthday with his Great Grandpa Miller! I remember Grandpa telling me that I should try extra hard to make sure he was born on the 9th... wish granted! No one can prepare you for the feeling of becoming a Mommy! I read all the books, took all the classes and researched all the baby gear... never once did any of that information say to be prepared for the greatest joy life can bring you! I guess it's hard to prepare oneself for that!

The past four years have been amazing and as we celebrate Jaxon's last birthday as our only child, I can only imagine what great adventures the future will bring us!

Happy Birthday, Jaxon!

Jaxon's 1st Party w/ Friends

Since the first day of school, Jaxon has been begging to have friends come and play! Almost daily he asks if one of the 6 can come home with us! So to honor this request, we invited all six to our home for a fun first... a party w/ friends!

On Wednesday after school, the classmates (along with a few of their siblings) came out for lunch and playtime. While Mommy got lunch ready, a few of the other Mommy's brought the kiddos out and helped this Mommy throw the party. (Thanks so much to the other Mommy's... I couldn't have pulled it off w/out you!)

Cody's Mommy, Silvia, is a talented artist and brought face paint markers to personalize everyone's cheeks while washing up to eat. Most of the kids were too busy playing to sit down long enough to have her paint their faces! In fact, when I asked Jaxon if Silvia had painted something for him he looked at me puzzled and said, "I wasn't there yet Mom!" Oh well, maybe next time!

She also brought the cupcakes! These delicious treats were right up Jaxon's alley... there's nothing he likes more than some good old dirt and worms! The kids had lots of fun digging their worms from the yummy dirt and filled up more on the sweet stuff than the actual meal!

Andrew and Olivia's Mommy, Mrs. Amy (who is also Jaxon's teacher), came along for the ride too! She lead us in the most fitting lunch-time prayer I have ever heard in this house! The student's line leader for the day, Aiden, chose "The John Deere Green" prayer in honor of Jaxon's birthday... how very fitting! I need to have Mrs. Amy print me off a copy of this little, ditty! Jaxon has been asking to pray for the tractors a lot lately and Mommy doesn't know the words!

Aiden, Riana and Keaira's Mommy, Shawna, brought extra chairs so everyone would have a place to sit and eat. Shawna is a Mommy blogger too and was so sweet to include our party in her storyline! I must plug her blog... it's a good read! She is very focused on her kiddos and w/ three, still manages to take some time to share stories from their everyday lives. (I've got a tremendous amount of respect for that and her too!) She took some great pictures... check them out here at her blog http://thespiehsfamily.blogspot.com/!



Jaxon & I both were sad to see everyone leave! We had a great time and are looking forward to many more parties w/ friends!

Correct Me If I'm Crazy

Since becoming a Mommy I have been much better about my procrastinating... I plan better, love research and spend way too much time doing it and start a project 10 months in advance because I want to! I can't even tell you how many times I've been told that this will change when "Baby" arrives and to be quite honest, this annoys me! I know things are going to change... let me deal w/ it peacefully!

And so, the procrastination has already started setting in... starting with the birthday party planning. Normally at this point in the game I would have already done a practice cake, this time I don't even have the food color I need to decorate the cake with. I am struggling with the possibility that my useless hand is going to keep me from doing what I want to do and that makes me not even want to start the project.

The other matter that is stressing me to the max at this point is the food. Again, normally, at this point I have the menu planned and the food bought. But this time I am still trying to decide what to fix! I always think that everything on the menu should go with the theme and while cute, this doesn't always work for the crowd that I plan to serve. I am also very budget conscious and while ordering 10 pizzas from Pizza Hut sounds like the best option, the price is obviously not!

I still need to buy a gift, order a pinata (Jaxon is now requesting one after my nephew's party yesterday), finish the decorations, stuff the favor bags, make the cake and freeze it so I can decorate it and correct me if I'm crazy here but the party is less than a week away now! Oh, did I mention that we are having a party with the school friends on Wednesday, serving snacks at the field trip on Thursday, that I have a Dr.'s appointment this week and the library books are due?! And instead of working on all of these projects... here I sit blogging about it! What's wrong with this picture?!

Pirate Party Planning

Pardon my absence but I've been busy the last couple of days. For those of you who have followed my blog for awhile now, you already know that I am a crazy party planner! I love birthday parties and am excited to now have an excuse to throw two next year... (although Daddy has different ideas about that). He thinks that since our children will have birthdays so close together, that we should have just one big party for the two. I say, OK, but that means I'm going all out! And in case you were wondering, yes, I do already have ideas of how to do just that!

Normally I do a mural on one our basement walls to go with the theme of our party, but wasn't able to finish this year's painting due to pregnancy induced carpal tunnel syndrome. I'm really disappointed because it's something I love to do and Jaxon was helping this year. I plan to finish after "Baby" comes and the CTS disappears, but I'm going to be busy w/ a few other projects so it may be awhile before it ever gets done!

This year's theme is Captain Jaxon's Pirate Party. I have been wanting to do a pirate theme for some time now. There are tons of party supplies out there for this theme and it seems to continue to trend well in the party supply world. Here's the thing about this theme that really bothers me though... it's just not cute enough! Most of the supplies I have found have been kind of scary and I am not into "scary pirates" at all... I like my pirates cute & cuddly! Kent thinks I have lost my mind! "Cute & cuddly pirates? Only you could create a cute and cuddly pirate!" - Kent

I am fully aware that some day my children are going to come to me and say, "Mom, could we go a little less cute and do a little more cool?!", but until then, this Mom is doing as much cute as I can! And while all of the supplies are run by Jaxon first, I do admit that I am very strategic about picking and designing the supplies before they are run by him, making sure to not include anything that isn't cute enough!

Here are few of the things I've been working on! Everything pictured came from Hobby Lobby... I simply added the personalized touches to each product. The image at the top of my post is a serving bowl, it came as a set of two. I plan to use one as a "party favor" dish and the other will serve as a food bowl.

The banner pictured above was exactly what I was looking for but I did make a few changes to it by personalizing one of the tiles. The favor bags were given personalized touches by adding the names of each of Jaxon's party guests.

The formula cans are something I use every year... I simply wrap them in scrapbook paper and personalize them to fit with the theme. And finally, the little, wooden pirate hat on a stick is a fun "add-in" that I place in each of the formula cans along with a few balloons to make centerpieces for each table. These I have also been able to find each year at Hobby Lobby (I love that place)... they cost about 67 cents a piece. I hot glue them to kabob skewers and stick them into the weights for my balloons so they stand up straight.

I have a few more last minute things to finish up and I will be done with this year's party planning. It's bittersweet every year when we get to this stage, but even more so now that I will no longer be planning for just one child, but two!

This Week @ PreSchool...

Here's a review of some of the fun things Jaxon did at PreSchool this week!


Monday, September 20, 2010...
Today in preschool we got to ride on the BUS to go and get our pictures taken. Exciting! The preschoolers also painted with corncobs, rolling them in paint and then on papers to make designs. We sang our new nursery rhyme for the week, "Baa Baa Black Sheep" but we worked on our color recognition by changing the color... of the sheep. Baa Baa "Purple" Sheep made the kids giggle pretty hard :) ~ Mrs. Amy


Jaxon had to be at school a little early on Monday morning for his pictures which was not a problem... he's usually ready to leave every morning by about 6:30 anyway! Out front the big, yellow school bus was waiting w/ their driver who was greeting the kids as they arrived. Jaxon couldn't get out of the car fast enough... he was so excited! When I got there to pick him up, he was grinning from ear to ear... let's hope he grinned that big for his pictures! Daddy had lots of questions about the bus ride... Jaxon's only response was that their driver drove slow, "He was an old man, Dad."


Wednesday, September 22, 2010...
Today we painted with sweetened condensed milk, making colorful, glossy pictures. It was fun to drizzle and swirl this unusual paint. The preschoolers also sorted a variety of farm products by which animal we receive them from. Eggs and milk were easy, but where does bacon come from? ~ Mrs. Amy

When we get home from PreSchool, it's time to make lunch. Normally I ask Jaxon what they've had for snack, what books they read, songs they sang and if they've played outside that day. He can normally tell me what they've had for snack and if they've played outside but other questions don't get answered until later on in the day.

While making lunch Jaxon asked where sausage comes from, I thought nothing of it because it's not unusual for him to ask questions like this. After telling him that it comes from pigs, he chimed in, "So does bacon!" At that point he went on to share what they discussed at school about farm products, and has been full of questions ever since about where certain foods come from!


Thursday, September 23, 2010...
Today in preschool we completed a new class book, a lift the flap farm book called, "Good Morning, Farm!" I was really impressed with the artwork and I am sure you will love the book when you see it. All of the kids said the nursery rhyme "Baa Baa Black Sheep" perfectly, and got a small piece of candy for their memorization prize. ~ Mrs. Amy

I am so excited to see their new book! Jaxon hasn't said much about it but he has definitely been singing "Baa Baa Green Sheep" a lot this week! (We even drew pictures of green sheep with chalk outside.) After PreSchool, Jaxon had a playdate with his classmate Andrew. They went out for pizza, checked books out at the library, went shopping at Dollar General and played at Andrew's house. Jaxon had such a good time and can't wait to play again soon!

Tuesdays w/ Mommy

Yesterday should have been Library Day but after a bit of car trouble and a very exhausted Mama... the books were put on hold till Friday! Not sure what it was about our day, but I couldn't get going! I fell asleep every time I sat down (which was quite often), and poor Jaxon had to keep waking me up!

In order to keep him busy we did some chalk drawings, watched some movies we hadn't seen in a while and caught up on a few art projects for our farm theme.

Monday afternoon we had popcorn for a snack and I don't know about you, but we never finish an entire bag at snack time. Normally our pet steer, Crutch, gets the left overs! But after finding this cute craft, there wasn't much left for poor Crutch!


All you need for this project is a piece of white paper (preferably something thick like card stock or construction paper). You will also need a pair of scissors, glue, a few markers and leftover popcorn. We started by drawing a sheep on the paper, we then cut him out and drew a face on his head. And finally we were ready to start gluing on the popcorn! Your sheep ends up looking like he's all woolly and ready for winter in his popcorn coat!
For our next little project, we decided to make a piece of corn on the cob, (one of Jaxon's favorite foods from the farm)! Again you will need all of the same things you used for your popcorn sheep but instead of white paper, you will need yellow. There's no need for markers with this project, just a pair of scissors, glue and whole kernel field corn (that's ready for harvest)! This project is great for improving fine motor skills! Picking up each kernel of corn and gluing them in rows also helps with counting!

We also checked on our seed experiment. Jaxon was excited to see the first sign of a plant growing from his pumpkin seeds. (It's hard to see but there is a little, green leaf that has sprouted from his seed.) He also discovered that the seeds are starting to grow into the napkin which is pretty cool!
And I thought since normally I review a few new books, that I'd throw this bit in about our at-home field trip we took the other day to Grandpa's dairy. Grandpa has only cows on his farm but there is another animal that we see quite often when visiting and those are pigeons! In the picture above Jaxon is holding a pigeon feather. He was really excited to find this feather because we are currently reading a new book we got from his school book orders called, "The Pigeon Finds a Hotdog".

The author of this book, Mo Willems, has won 6 Emmy Awards for his writing on Sesame Street. We had never read any of his stories before about Pigeon, but we will definitely be reading some now... this book is really cute!