Preschool Halloween Party

I was in charge of Adelynn's Preschool this week. Since it is the week of Halloween, we did a party. Before each holiday we are going to have a party for the kids and their parents. I did the letter "H" and the color orange. We had so much fun, and so did the kids...and Mom's too! Here are some pictures from our fun today...

These are the scary monster jaws we had during snack time. Super easy, and nutritious...just apple wedges with almond slivers for teeth, and pretzel sticks with peanut butter to stick on the eyes. The kids loved them.

These are just hot dogs cut in half to be bite size, with crescent rolls wrapped around them to be mummies. The eyes can be ketchup or mustard. Super cute for little ones!

We also drang Orange juice to go with our color.

This is the craft they made. Since the letter was "H", we made scary Hands.

We also strung orange and black beads onto orange pipe cleaner. For letter time they were given a VERY LARGE letter "H" to apply scary stickers too. They loved that, and most did very well. Some stuck stickers everywhere, but most were able to stick them in the shape of the H. Circle time we talked about weather, and it started snowing while we were doing so, and that was kind of fun for them. They also got to each take a turn and talk about their costumes. Adi LOVED that part. She stood right up and went into detail about her being a princess.

During singing time they got to hold pumpkin faces while we sang "The pumpkins are everywhere". It's sung to the tune of "The farmer and the dell." ....

The pumpkins are here, the pumpkins are there, the pumpkins, the pumpkins, they are everywhere....included is up and down and in and out etc. It was very fun and interactive for them.

We also tied orange ribbons on their hands and sang "The Hookey Spookey". It's done to "The Hokey Pokey". ....

You put your orange hand in, you put your orange hand out, your put your orange hand in and you shake it all about, you do the "hookey spookey" and you turn youself around...etc. It was also perfect for their age group.

We also read the book "The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything." It is such a fun interactive book that lets the kids become a part of it by clapping and stomping and nodding and wiggling etc.

And here is the happy group. We were missing a few people due to sick kids, but it was certainly a blast for all of us that came! And Sorry to Heidi for being cut off of the pic...my house is not big enough to get a huge group shot I guess!

This is a busy week with lots of fun halloween stuff, so be prepared for blog overload! Tomorrow is dance class, and they get to wear costumes there too!

Upside Down

Take a minute and watch this. I promise that you will feel moved. You must watch the whole video to get the entire message though. Inspiring!

Don't you just love the part where it turns everything around and it comes to the "misguided" part? And instead of being misguided by believing in Him, it becomes misguiding to NOT believe. AWW! I love it!

Pledge of Allegiance

The following words were spoken by the late Red Skelton on his television program as he related the story of his teacher Mr. Laswell who felt his students had come to think of the Pledge of Allegiance as merely something to recite in class each day.

Now more than EVER, listen to the meaning of his words, and maybe it will hit you like it did me.

"I've been listening to you boys and girls recite the Pledge of Allegiance all semester and it seems as though it is becoming monotonous to you. If I may, may I recite it and try to explain to you the meaning of each word?

I
me, an individual, a committee of one.
Pledge
dedicate all of my worldly goods to give without self-pity.
Allegiance
my love and my devotion.
To the Flag[of the]
our standard, Old Glory, a symbol of freedom. Wherever she waves, there's respect because your loyalty has given her a dignity that shouts freedom is everybody's job.
United
that means that we have all come together.
States [of America]
individual communities that have united into 48 great states. 48 individual communities with pride and dignity and purpose, all divided with imaginary boundaries, yet united to a common purpose, and that's love for country.
and to the RepublicFor Which It Stands
Republic ... a state in which sovereign power is invested in representatives chosen by the people to govern. And government is the people and it's from the people to the leaders, not from the leaders to the people.
One Nation
One Nation ... meaning, so blessed by God.
Indivisible
incapable of being divided.
With Liberty
which is freedom, the right of power to live one's own life, without threats, fear, or some sort of retaliation.
And Justice
the principle or qualities of dealing fairly with others.
For All
For all ... which means, boys and girls, it's as much your country as it is mine.

And now boys and girls let me hear you recite,the Pledge of Allegiance.
"I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."

Since I was a small boy, two states have been added to our country, and two words have been added to the Pledge of Allegiance - "under God."

Wouldn't it be a pity if someone said, "That is a prayer," and that would be eliminated from schools, too?"

Red Skelton

The last couple of weeks

Well, most of you are probably not going to believe this, but it's true...We got a new Kitty! As you can see, Adelynn is HAPPY as can be. I've never really liked cats, and I use to tease my friend Crystal about her cat, but it turns out I have a daughter after her own heart, but these kitty's are pretty cute. Adi is completely smitten. She has been asking for one for a long time. We kept telling her No, but then Saturday she and I were walking out of a store, and there were these kitty's, and it was over from there.
This is Prince Louis. Adi put her Barbies crown on him!
Louis is Adi's favorite, she says "I'm your momma, do you love your momma? I love you!"
OH...we got 2 cats...hehe, we couldn't leave the other one! So yes, there are 2 new kitty's, and the girls love them. The other cat is Princess Giselle. Emersyn is a little rough with them, but she's learning. And Adi is very good at taking care of them and getting there food and water and putting them to bed at night. It's very sweet.
Adelynn started Preschool. I organized a cooperative preschool with several women in the area, and this is her on first day. So cute!


School starts at 9:00. It's a little early for her:)

They learned the letter B and the color red, so they got red Balloons. She was really excited about it.
We had the swine flu here at our house, as well as strep and hand foot and mouth...it was great. Well, on that Sunday we had started to recover, but weren't well yet, so we put the mattress up and let the girls play on it as a slide. It was loads of fun.
Woohoo!

I re-arranged the living room and the couch now lies underneath the window, so during the day the black gets really warm, and Adi and I LOVE to lay there and soak up some rays!
Emi loves food, and when we were eating some Ice Cream Cones, she wanted her OWN!
This is right after we got to remove Emersyn's cast. It healed very well, and everything is going to be fine!
The girls love to play the piano:)
Here is a cute picture of Emi with grandma. Grandma is showing off her cards, and Emi loved them. Emi mostly just loved Grandma I think.
Aww! Sweet cuddles! We miss you grandma!

Another Adiism

Adelynn is 2 going on 20. Here is an excerpt from our conversation tonight...
Adelynn: "Mom, your ruining my life."
Mom: "What did you say?" (I wasn't sure if I heard correctly!)
Adelynn: "Mooooom, your ruining my life."
Mom: "I'm pretty sure I'm not ruining your life!"

Any of you other mothers with girls probably recognize the line, it took me a moment to figure it out, but I knew it had to be from a movie because she's always spouting lines off...it's from Barbie and the magic of Pegasus. Man the things that girl picks up on!!

How you can help...

This sweet little girl named Taylie has cancer. By posting this link to her website on your blog, you can help. 2 dollars will be donated to this girl for every person that posts her link on their blog. An easy way to help out right? Go visit the website, and go visit this blog for more details, and be sure to leave a comment so the 2 dollars will be donated.

Frustration...

Well, I'm not TOTALLY frustrated, just a little. I actually just had the BEST weekend ever with my Mom and Dad coming to visit, and they even stayed here at the house with us! It was so fun, and my girls were totally spoiled, and we all loved every minute of it. Grandma took them shopping for some new clothes, and we made cards, and ate lots of yummies, and just had a good time. I will blog more on that later, because I took some great photos...anyway...on to my frustration, Emersyn's hand.
Yesterday was Emi's appointment at wound care again, and needless to say, it did NOT go good. When I got there I was already frustrated because Emersyn had unnaturally been VERY GRUMPY for about 5 days (since her last wound care appointment). I had called the Doc to see if she may have an infection, and he said no because there were no signs of infection like fever or throwing up, but to just give her tylenol and keep her happy. It didn't help. One night she was so upset she just cried and cried for 3 1/2 hours till she finally gave in at 11:30 and then was up about every hour after that. Anyway, this went on for 5 days. Yesterday I was anxious for some sort of answer. I got one...not one that I was very happy about, but I got one. Here it is, when they changed her dressing, and when they unwrapped her hand, they discovered that the nurse who had changed her dressing the last time had wrapped her hand wrong. She had somehow bent the pinky and ring finger in half, and then wrapped them together to the others standing up! No wonder she was so upset, it was hurting her so bad. The doctor came in, and I don't think he was too pleased either. We then had to spend a 1/2 an hour trying to see if she had lost functionality in her hand. It was so sad. She couldn't move the little fingers. After we worked with her for a bit though, she moved them slightly, so that's good. Then as the Doc examined her hand he said that there is a fine line between keeping a dressing too dry, and too moist. That's why they put different kinds of ointment on it. One's that provide moisture, and one's that absorb moisture. They start by giving it moisture of course, seeing that it is burnt, and they go from there. Anyway, apparently Emersyn's hand has been to moist, because between her fingers the skin has begun to decompose! Oh! As if it wasn't bad enough having her hand warped together in a completely uncomfortable position. So they decided to now use an ointment that absorbs moisture, and wrap each finger individually, and then weave stuff between the fingers, and then cast it. Hopefully this will help. On the bright side of things, her palm had begun to scab, and the Dr. is thinking positively that we won't need to do any skin grafting because Children's skin rejuvenates every 2 days as opposed to Adults every 45! Amazing right? He said that if she was an adult she would definitely need some skin grafting, but since she's little, we should be OK. So, I suppose we will count our blessings and be grateful that as soon as things straighten out she will be on a good road to a healthy recovery, with no Plastic surgery needed. Thanks everyone for your thoughts and prayers.
Oh, and by the way, some of you asked how she burnt her hand....it was the lawnmower. She was outside playing on the slide while Daddy mowed, and I took sister inside to help with the potty, and when Caleb went to dump the grass, she hauled tale over to the mower and touched the engine. :( It's amazing how fast accidents can happen.
Thanks again for all of your support, I think she is getting better. And now that I have vented some more frustration, and now that she's being happier, I am sure we will make it through this just fine.