Been Awhile

The last few months have been crazy over here at our abode.  We've had birthday parties, doctor appointments, first day of school, lots of family and friend visits, and potty training!

Part of the "getting back into routine" of a new school year means back into the blogging routine for me. :) In the upcoming weeks I hope to detail some of the happenings that have occurred over the summer.  

This is the first real school year for us.  I have done homeschool preschool with Missy for the last year and a half, but not as structured as I had hoped.  Well... not as often as I had hoped... I didn't want to be TOO structured for preschool.  And I don't want that to sound like homeschool is not real school.  It is!!  *I* just didn't commit as fully.  

I can't believe that Missy is old enough to be in Pre-Kindergarten!! I still kinda remember like it was yesterday when she was thrusted into my arms and my dad was yelling "WHAT IS IT?! WHAT IS IT?!" and the doctor yelling excitedly, "IT'S A GIRL!!!"  Now she is four!  I realize that it isn't college or anything, but it is still full day!!  She is still out of the house from 8am until 3pm, Monday through Friday!  Being a stay-at-home mom has given me the luxury of being with my children all the time.  Seeing them through everything!  I admit... I'm kind of a helicopter parent.  Sure, I let them fall and get bumps and bruises.  And I'd let them get dirty if they were into that sort of thing (they totally are NOT into that sort of thing and are CONSTANTLY asking me for a baby wipe to clean their hands, faces, arms, feet, etc).  But I am not that parent who can sit on a bench and watch them play from afar.  THEY don't LET me sit on a bench and watch from afar.  Believe me, I sometimes wish I could.  So having her gone all day is... well... weird! 

She is LOVING it!!  She loves her teachers.  She loves her classroom.  She loves that she can do art everyday because she can pick her own center during center time.  She loves that she gets Ms. M to herself during rest time because she is just about the only student who does not sleep.  She loves that her future husband is in her class (her words - not mine).  She was even ecstatic that she got a homework assignment!  She has even decided that she will hang out with a different classmate everyday so that she can get to know all of them!  My little includer! :)

Her teacher is awesome!  She saw us at church after the first week of school and came over to say hello.  If it was possible to love her teacher even more, she does now that we all go to the same church.  Missy is often afraid to go to sleep because of bad dreams... so she asked Ms. M to pray with her before rest time.  Ms. M, being the awesome person that she is, did not hesitate.  She told me that she is more than okay especially knowing that we have the same faith to do that with Missy if she requested it.  I understand that she can not initiate it and that it can't be on a whole classroom level, but I'm very pleased that she is allowing and helping Missy to practice her faith in the classroom.  Ms. M is enjoying Missy's desires to have "deep conversations on pickles", her sweet way of keeping all her classmates accountable to their actions, her attention to detail, and the fact that she WILL call her out if she doesn't see her at church.  :)

Thank you for sticking by me through this long hiatus! I'm looking forward to spending time with you all again soon!

Until next time,

-Monica

New Home... New Wreath!

I'm BAA-AACK!!

I've missed you!  We are in our new home.  And all the boxes are unpacked!  I told myself that I would not take my computer out of its bag until everything was unpacked.  :)  DONE!

We live in a cute little home with four rooms.  That means we can have a playroom that can convert into a guest room when needed!  YAY!!!  Guests no longer have to feel like they are in the way as they sleep in a room filled with action figures and cars and little boy stuff.  Actually, I guess they are sleeping in the playroom... so still surrounded by toys and therefore they still may feel like that... but they can KNOW that they aren't.  :)  Both kids will be sleeping in their own beds rather than one sleeping on the floor somewhere.  And that makes for a perfect compromise to me!  

The night we finished unpacking, I ran to Hobby Lobby (I am so excited to live near a Hobby Lobby!!) and purchased materials to make a new wreath for the front door.  I was itching to do something crafty, but like blogging, was waiting until everything was unpacked first.   I had a coffee filter wreath at our last home, but I was having issues with how I was going to transport it safely to the new home.  Then, the night before we left, a friend was dropping me off after a farewell dinner and inquired about it.  So... I gave it to her!  Problem solved!  

At Hobby Lobby, I purchased a foam round wreath, aqua colored yarn, 4 different colors of felt (red, pink, ivory, and white), and a large chipboard letter.  It wasn't much, but I spent about an hour slowly walking around the store looking at all the goodies!  Missy would absolutely love this store!!  :)

Anyway, that night while catching up on Grey's Anatomy, I wrapped the wreath with the yarn.  It took FOR-EVER!!  It was glued on one side with tacky glue so that it stayed put.

This is what it looked like about 2 hours in.  See!  F. O. R. E. V. E. R.  The next two nights, I worked with the felt.  I found this tutorial on Pinterest.  It was super easy, but also a little time consuming.  I measured and cut mutiple squares in different sizes in the colors I chose.  Then each square was rounded on the corners, then cut into a spiral.  Then the spiral was rolled from the outside in, and then glued with tacky glue.  I hope I'm explaining it well.  If not, the tutorial contained more pictures than I thought to take.  :)

Once all the rosettes were made, I painted the letter.  

As I was putting the wreath together and playing with placements, I changed my mind on having a plain solid black letter and added polka dots. :)  Then I hot glued it all together, added a weight to the back of one side (anything small and heavy will do) so that it hung more evenly.  As you can see in the pics, it still doesn't hang perfectly straight... I have to find another thing to add a little more weight.  Finally, I added some ribbon to hang it from! 

I love it!  Its bright and cute.  :)  And easy!!  Although very time consuming.  :)  

Until next time!

~Monica

Movement

It has been 6 months since "The Accident."

Sometimes it seems as though it hasn't been that long. There is still an emptiness inside, but the pain is dulling. I catch myself often, not knowing whether to say "my sis has" or rather "my sis had." Sometimes I feel that it does a disservice to speak about them in the past because it feels as if they are still very much all around me. But at the same time, they aren't presently with us.

I have to remind myself everyday to just keep going. It would be so easy to just mourn the passing of my sister and her family everyday; to sit there and look at all the pictures that are out there; to reminisce on all the memories. But is that healthy? I don't know. I feel that I have an obligation and a responsibility to keep going. I am not forgetting about her or the memories I have. But I am not standing still either. God did not take me from this earth. I still have a purpose here, and I need to remember that and keep moving forward.

Forward. Moving forward is hard when one holds on to what is behind. But in order to grow and to be productive, movement is necessary. Moving forward can be scary when devastation has happened. But God calls us to be strong and courageous.

"Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the instructions Moses gave you. Do not deviate from them, turning either to the right or to the left. Then you will be successful in everything you do. Study this Book of Instruction continually. Meditate on it day and night so you will be sure to obey everything written in it. Only then will you prosper and succeed in all you do. This is my command—be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” (Joshua 1:7-9 NLT)

God spoke those words to Joshua right after He told him that Moses had died. Joshua did not see Moses die nor did he get to say his good-byes. He simply heard from God that his leader, his friend, his mentor had died. After a period of mourning, Joshua had to move forward. He had to lead people. He had to move so that God could use him.

I am trying to do the same without forgetting the legacy they left behind.  I have to move forward so that I may leave behind my own legacy.

Are you creating a legacy?

Until next time!
~Monica

Something Slept in Our Beds!

Early one morning a few days ago, while I was trying to wake up, Missy came in to my room and started jumping on my bed. I reminded her that we do not jump on beds because she may fall off and bump her head. I then proceeded to tell her the story of the 5 little monkeys that were jumping on the bed.

"But I NEED to jump on the bed!" she explained.

"Why do you NEED to?" I asked with a sigh.

"Because there is glue all over me and jumping gets it off!"

"There is glue on you?"

"YES! Last night when I was sleeping a pumpkin came into the house and slept on all our beds and now there is glue all over us and I need to jump to get it off of me!!"

There you have it folks! Missy found a cure to get the pumpkin glue off of you!! Now if only I can find a way to keep pumpkins from coming into my house in the middle of the night! :)

Do any of you have any ideas? :)


Until next time!
~Monica

Just Checking In!

I've been on a little blogging hiatus recently. Taking time to recover and rest. I've also been gearing up for the move! It's right around the corner and I've been organizing and labeling (have I mentioned that the Hubs got me a label maker?! LOVE!). The end of the month is approaching and my list of projects is dwindling!

We have a little over a week left in this home and then we will be off on a new adventure!

I'll try to post little updates on Facebook if I don't get to actual blogging. :)

Until next time!

~Monica