Family Fun
Flashback Friday: Welcome Home Girls
Girls packed up and ready to leave the hospital NICU and go home for the first time!
Today’s Flashback Friday is the girls last day in NICU as they are bundled up and ready to come home. They spent about a month in the hospital NICU. The main reason they were there so long is that they were growing and learning how to suck and swallow. They weren’t as excited about coming home as we were, ha! By the time we got them bundled up in their carseats they were ready for a nap. Thankful for the amazing nurses, doctors, and people who helped us during our stay in NICU.
My parents and two youngest brothers were visiting the week that the girls came home from NICU. It was nice having the extra help around the house and with the girls. Thankful that we were able to get settled into home even if that meant we were on house arrest for the next few months. They were itty-bitty when they were born (Brina 4.9 and Karlie 3.15)!
Welcome Home sign hung up on the front porch with Dargo sitting on the porch waiting for us to come home.
First nap together in their crib – Brina on left and Karlie on the right!
Grandpa Russell and Brina taking a nap!
Uncle Josh rocking Karlie!
Uncle Lee feeding Karlie and Uncle Josh feeding Brina. It use to take them almost an hour to finish one small bottle with only 2 to 4 ounces in it. They have come a long way!
Grandma Penny helping with the girls!
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Beautiful Plants & Basket from My Thoughtful Husband
Love it when he surprises me with something special!
My husband brought home these plants as a surprise for me a couple weeks ago. He is sweet and I love it when he does the random thoughtful gifts. My only regret is that it was such a busy weekend I did not take a picture of the beautiful basket with both plants green and blooming.
At this time only one plant is still alive. Yes, I have already killed the miniature rose bush. I love the mini roses, but have a horrible time keeping them alive for very long. You can see pieces of my sorry looking rose plant beside the one that is pretty and still green.
I love plants and flowers, however, I am not the best person to grow them. Usually I either over or under water them. I like the ones that are easy to maintain and can handle wet or dry soil and withstand lots of sun or no sun. In other words a very strong and durable plant that handles extremes well. Grateful for a thoughtful and caring husband. Love my plants and basket!!!
I love the basket the flowers came in and have already used it a couple of times since he gave it to me!
It has been fun using this basket for surprises and goodies! Thankful for my husband and everything he does for me.
Love It – Magformers Set
Brina loves creating things with the Magformers!
The girls got a Magformers Set for their birthday. Since then they have played with the set for hours. A bunch of time was spent playing with them during their recent snow days when they did not have school. I love it when they get a toy that promotes creativity.
Magformers are bright colorful magnetic toys that you can use to build all kinds of items with. The set we got contained squares, triangles, and pentagons. They are easy to use and the magnets are enclosed so they cannot be swallowed by younger kids. The pieces always attract, never repel, making it easy for anyone to stick two pieces together to build. The magformers stimulate creativity, engineering, spatial awareness, coordination, and mathematics. You can build pretty much anything you can image from balls, houses, pyramids, turtles, towers, and so much more. This toy has sparked our kids imaginations over the past month and they are still pulling it out to play with it regularly.
Big ball out of Magformers
Of course knocking it down is always a fun task to do too
Brina built all the items in the book first than started creating her own inventions. Love watching her read the directions and put things together. She was pretty quick at it!
Magformers creation
She has spent hours putting together different combinations and items with this set.
Proud of her creation
Making some little items
So much fun
House
Karlie loves playing with them too. She split her time between the magformers and reading some chapter books.
Myrtle the Turtle
Time to take this one apart and start on a new project
Having a blast
Neat creation
Fun toy
There are many different Magformers Sets that you can get. Amazon is a great place to look for them and you can read all the great reviews as well.
“Love It” is a series of posts on items that I use regularly in my household that I love! There are some items in our daily lives that make life more enjoyable, efficient, or just plain fun. I will be sharing with you some of the products that have been given to us (or to me) that have made it to the top of my list. It’s my way of giving a huge thumbs up!
Colorful Snow Art
Red and Blue snow hand prints were found!
After finishing their snowman Rainbow Confetti they decided to do colorful snow art with the leftover paints. Some of their snow art creations turned out really well. Love seeing them get creative. Thankful for an opportunity to watch them play and have fun in the snow.
Blue and green store in the planter!
Red snow heart
Smiley faces always bring a smile
Yes, they even spray painted some of their snow balls prior to throwing my direction. It made for a very colorful snowball fight.
Marking trails with their red paint.
Rainbow Confetti Snowman
Introducing the kids snowman for 2015 – Rainbow Confetti! Shortly after this picture I was beamed with a snowball (can you guess from who?!) Look at the person in the picture holding a snowball waiting for me to snap the picture.
The last snow day we had the girls decided it was time to build a snowman. It was perfect packing snow so they got started. The only probably they had is the originally started the snowman ball at the bottom of the yard and rolled it uphill. It wasn’t until they reached the driveway did they realize that they were not going to make it into the front yard so they came inside requesting help. Between the three of us slip and sliding the big ball of snow across the driveway we managed to get it into the front yard.
It isn’t the most beautiful snowman with the leaves, sticks, and dirt sticking out of it, but for the most part it is one that was built primarily by the kids with only a little assistance getting it into the front yard. They did a great job and had a blast. They “painted” their snowman with a mix of water and food coloring in a spray bottle then named him “Rainbow Confetti”. Skipper was there to supervise the construction! I do have to say their snowman lasted for several days and was one of the last ones in our area to completely melt so they did a great job packing in the snow plus they built him under a tree so it was a little more shaded.
They would roll up more big snowballs and break them down next to the bottom of the snowman to build up a strong base. I think the “breaking” and jumping up and down on the balls of snow were the real fun, the snowman just had the benefit of all the extra snow around it.
Rainbow Confetti was a mix of random colors from red, yellow, green, and blue. They decided to use the fox hat. Rainbow Confetti’s face was made completely out of vegetables that the critters running through the yard could eat. Cherry tomato eyes, carrot nose, and an orange pepper mouth!
The kids colorful snowman. They did a great job!
Snow Days In South Carolina
Karlie could spend an entire day outside in the cold she loves it so much!
A couple weeks ago we had several days of snow in South Carolina. The girls loved it. They had a blast playing outside in the snow. It was great having a little extra time with them. Not sure they went a full week of school the last part of February or the first part of March with the snow days here and there. We’ll take the extra days together though and pack in as much fun as we can. Snow does not last long in SC so when it comes you have fun for the brief time you have with it. As you can see from the picture above the snow on the ground behind Karlie has already melted since that morning.
Back deck covered in snow.
She looks so sad now that the kids are back inside…. Skipper loves snow days because the kids come out and play more. This is the face I saw looking at us in the window shortly after the kids had come inside for lunch. Looks like she is giving them her sad puppy eyes in hopes that they will come back outside and play again soon. Don’t worry they were back out within 30 minutes or so.
Oh no she is not going to through that snowball at me….. Yes, I got beamed with snow balls quite a few times. Our storm door got it too a couple times as Karlie waiting for me to come out. Guess those were her practice throws!
Waiting patiently for me to finish getting ready so I can join her outside!
Brina pretending to plant in the snow or at least knock off the remaining snow from the planter.
Magnolia leaves loaded with snow!
You can still see our bulls eye target!
The evergreens branches were heavy with the snow!
Sweet Snow Day Treats
Hot Chocolate
Usually after the kids come back in from playing in the snow they want something hot to drink. Hot chocolate and apple cider are typically the most popular favorites in our house. The other day we had hot chocolate with heart marshmallows which was a hit with the kids. Snow days through us a little off schedule, but the extra time with the kids is so worth it. Sitting around the table sipping hot chocolate, talking, and laughing is one of the best parts of having a snow day.
Hot, delicious, and sweet! Perfect on a cold snowy day!
Chocolate Snow Cream. The girls have made snow cream with me so many times over the past years that they do it all on their own now. This is a batch they whip up during the last snow storm.
Here are a couple of snow cream recipes we like to use:
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Counting My Blessings: Week In Review
Last week was super busy, but truly amazing at the same time. The girls and I were able to join Jake at his work conference in Orlando, Florida. While he was in his conference the girls and I bounced around town, explored, swam, went to the Disney Parks, and so much more. We had a blast and met people literally from around the world.
The kids were up at the break of dawn every day and were going strong until about midnight every evening. After Jake’s conference ended we had a couple days together as a family to spend time exploring. Thankful for our time together, the fun, memories, and the opportunity to go on the trip. With the altered schedule and long days I was not as consistent in writing down my blessings, but as I reflect back there are many things for which I am grateful for last week.
I want to be accountable to you so the following are snip-its of some of the things I am thankful for this past week. Counting My Blessings – Week In Review:
Monday – Thankful that we woke up on time (3:00 am) and made it safely to Orlando, Florida. Grateful for an opportunity to stretch our legs at Downtown Disney before heading to our hotel to check in and Jake start his first conference meetings.
Tuesday – Thankful that the girls and I were able to spend the entire day at Animal Kingdom. They did fantastic and we had a blast seeing all the animals, going on rides, safaris, watching the shows, and so much more.
Wednesday – Thankful for a chance to play miniature golf with the kids, even though we lost 3 balls and had crazy high scores, we had grand time. Grateful that the resort had several pools so we spent a good part of the day bouncing around from pool to pool, swimming, and splashing around with other kids at the resort.
Thursday – Thankful that I was able to spend the day at Magic Kingdom with the girls. Even more thankful that Jake was able to join us after lunch once his conference ended. It was great spending time together as a family and having fun!
Friday – Thankful for a day with the entire family at Epcot. The girls loved the rides, shows, and learning about the different countries around the world. Thankful for my brother’s family who watched the house and pets while we were awhile on our trip.
What are you thankful for today? I encourage you to take the time to write down a few blessings that you have in your life today. It will help cheer you up and turn your focus on the amazing blessings you encounter each day!
