Goodbye Winter

As Winter waves farewell with one last (hopefully) snow storm, we are stuck inside once again. Usually, we would do winter-themed crafts and embrace the falling snow. But not any more. We have had enough snow and Winter-y crafts this year. And it's March!
So we said our goodbyes to Winter by greeting Spring with some fun crafts.

First, we made some fun fork-printed tulip flowers. For Annabelle's tulip garden, I drew the flower stems, so she knew where to print the flowers. For Hazel's, I let her stamp freely, and added the stems later.

Annabelle had to take a quick break from doing her project to talk on the phone though. Grandmom called.

Our next project was popcorn cherry blossoms. I traced each of their hands onto a piece of brown paper and cut it out to use as the tree. Annabelle did a great job gluing the popcorn onto her tree. Hazel, on the other hand, was upset that I wouldn't let her eat the popcorn that had glue on it. I couldn't resist that little pout, so I just let her have a little snack.

And just like that, all was well in Hazel's world.

For our third project, Annabelle did a number matching activity, gluing leaves to carrots.  The carrots were numbered 1-5 and glued randomly to a piece of paper. Annabelle was then instructed to identify the numbers, and glue the correct number of leaves to each one.

While she did that, Hazel played with a container of magnetic  letters and a cookie sheet. I love using these Pamper's wipe containers, as they also allowed her to practice fine-motor skills, sliding each letter into the small hole at the top.

We hope you all enjoyed one last snow day this year. Spring will be here soon, and so will more fun activities. We cannot wait to get outside and enjoy the park, sidewalk chalk, bubbles, and more.

Bubbles, Bubbles

This never-ending Winter has trapped us inside for yet another long week. Cabin fever setting in, the girls becoming increasingly antsy, I had to come up with something new for them to do.
Bubbles!
We haven't broken out the bubbles in months! I don't usually like blowing them inside, since they leave soapy, sticky spots all over everything. But I didn't care anymore. We needed something fun to do.
And it was a blast.
Yes. Just a cheap little bottle of bubbles that Hazel got from her Sunday School class kept both girls entertained for a while.
Annabelle had a great time blowing the bubble for Hazel. And Hazel had a great time trying to catch them.
Squeals, giggles, and joy filled the living room.
All because of a tiny bottle of bubbles.
What's better is that Hazel was able to really work on her core strength. Reaching, leaning, and stretching to get the bubbles. It was beautiful.
I had a great time just watching the two of them interact and play so nicely together. These girls absolutely love each other, but it was especially nice to see Annabelle taking the time to patiently blow bubbles to make her baby sister happy.
And she even added a new word to her vocabulary, "buh." Okay. Not quite a word. But when I asked her today if she wanted to do bubbles, she responded with a very emphatic "buh."
Now we are working on encouraging Hazel to stand with her back to the couch, and blowing bubbles for her to reach from a supported standing position. She tolerated this for a little while this morning, but I ran out of bubble solution, and she ran out of patience as I desperately tried to catch the last bit of the bubbles from the container.

Library Book Review

Every week, we try to make it a priority to visit our public library. We always come home with a bag full of anywhere between 7 and 10 books to enjoy together. From board books, to easy readers, and everything in between. Since going to the library and reading stories has become such a big part of our routine, I thought it would be fun to start a new series here on the blog, reviewing our findings.
This week's books:

"Pomelo Explores Colors" by Ramona Badescu; Illustrated by Bengamin Chaud
"A Cars Christmas" (Step Into Reading) by Melissa Laongero; Illustrated by The Disney Storybook Artists
"Lots Of Spots" (Classic Board Book) by Lous Ehlert
"Legos Mixels" by Shari Last
"Animals In Underwear ABC" by Todd Parr
"Blankies" by Carol Thompson
"You Are (Not) Small" by Anna Kang; Illustrated by Christopher Weyant
"Vacation's Over! Return Of The Dinosaurs" by Joe Kulka

Rather than getting into reviewing all of these books, I will just go over our top three of the eight books Our top three favorites were: "Vacation's Over! Return Of The Dinosaurs"; "Blankies"; and "Animals In Underwear ABC".

When we pulled into the parking lot of the library, Annabelle informed me that she wanted to get a book about dinosaurs. And before I even had a moment to look for a Jane Yolen dinosaur book, she had already found "Vacation's Over! Return Of The Dinosaurs." This book, written in a cute couplet-style poem, toys with the idea that dinosaurs never went extinct, but rather went on vacation... to outer space! It was a very playful story with wonderful illustrations, as well as mini-biographies on several different species of dinosaurs on the inside of the covers.
If you know our family, you will know that blankies are a big deal in our house. We always have a mountain of blankets in the living room for everyone to pick off of after dinner, while we all snuggle up on the couch to wind down for bed. Annabelle has no less than 3 blankets on her bed (even in the Summer), and Hazel is following in her footsteps. So this book was very relatable for the girls. Cute, descriptive language makes up this little story about loving and sharing blankies. It was a wonderful read for Hazel.
This next book somehow flew under my "potty humor" radar, despite the title "Animals In Underwear ABC." I'm a big fan of Todd Parr's simple, colorful illustrations, and allowed Hazel to put it in the library bag without one look at the title. But maybe that was a good thing. Annabelle loves reading the book to Hazel, turning the pages, lifting the flaps, and singing the alphabet song. And yes, the underwear part is very silly.
As Hazel is big enough to reach the board books at our library, and is starting to really enjoy reading, I am excited to see what books she chooses next week. Annabelle loves picking books, and reading them together every week, and I look forward to what she wants to read about next week as well.

Groundhog's Day

This week, we learned all about Punxatawney Phil, and his special day, Groundhog's Day. Annabelle learned through gross motor games, work sheets, and projects. It was a very successful week. Here are the activities we did.

Wake Up Groundhog Game

What you need:

• Large Blanket
• Light Switch

How To Play:

Wrap child up in a blanket, and instruct her to hibernate. "Good night, groundhog Annabelle. Enjoy your hibernation!"

• Leave the light on, or turn it off.
• Shout: "Wake up, wake up groundhog [insert child's name]. Today's your special day!"
• Child pops up from blanket, and looks for her shadow.
• If the light is on, she sees her shadow, and hides away for six more weeks.
• If the light is off, she does not see her shadow, and she jumps up, proclaiming that Spring is here.

This game can be adapted for a group of preschoolers, by allowing all the children to hide under their blankets, and choosing one groundhog. The other children wait to hear the groundhog's proclamation. Children can take turns being the groundhog, or even the Mayor who wakes the groundhog from her sleep.

Lego Shadows

What you will need:

• Legos
• Flashlight
• Large paper
• Pencil
• Markers or crayons
• Grey or black paint

Hazel enjoyed playing with Annabelle's tower

What do to:

• Instruct child to by build a tower with her Legos
• Turn the lights out and demonstrate how you can move the flashlight around the tower to change the size of the shadow.
• Allow child to do the same, and choose where she wants the shadow to lay on the paper.
• While the child holds the flashlight in place, trace the shadow on paper.
• Then, lay the tower down and trace.
• Allow child to color in the tower, and paint the shadow.

Silhouettes

What you need:

• Large paper and easel
• Adjustable light source
• Pencil, crayons

What to do:

• Instruct child to sit still by the easel and trace her shadow silhouette
• Allow her to color it in

Groundhog tunnels

What you need:

• Tunnels, boxes, blankets, or whatever you come up with to create your tunnel

What to do:

• Play! 

The girls had so much fun chasing each other through the tunnels, playing peek-a-boo, and just being silly. Hazel even discovered that she can sit up in the tunnel.

For Annabelle's worksheets, I found these templates, and printed out about a dozen of them. I'm sure I will be making more copies, and using them as her handwriting improves, and she begins to tell more stories. For this activity, she practiced writing the letters "W" and "S", as well as writing the words "Winter" and "Spring". After practicing handwriting, she drew what she likes to do in the Winter, and what she likes to do in the Spring. She drew a picture of herself making snow angels and grass angels. She also drew herself having a picnic and eating an apple in the Spring. And yes, she did use a yellow marker for the snow.

My New Normal

Before Hazel's diagnosis, my life was relatively normal. I am married to the love of my life, raising two young girls, just under 2.5 years apart. I stay at home with the girls in our town home in the middle of Suburbia, while he works a manual labor job for 50+ hours a week. We attend church on a weekly basis (sometimes more!), where we are active in ministry, both serving and being served.
Normal.
Then my world was rocked with the word "achondroplasia".
My youngest is now considered a special needs child.
Specialists, x-rays, adaptations, therapy, and her future were being discussed in a serious matter.
I reached out to other parents through social media. I never thought I'd be so thankful for Facebook and Instagram. The other moms I talked to seemed to be so casual about their children's diagnoses. It seemed so normal for them. I went through the "this is the stuff that happens to other people" feeling over and over again. It didn't feel real. It didn't feel normal.
It felt strange. I wondered if her x-rays got mixed up with another child's. Maybe she's just really short. Like, really, really short. I knew though, that those thoughts were untrue. Hazel has achondroplasia. Just like she has red hair. It's a part of her.
In the end, Hazel is still Hazel. Nothing has changed about her. We just got to know her a little better.
And she is little and loving it.

Why We "Do Santa"

Growing up, my Christmas traditions consisted of Christmas Eve service, an angel on the tree, and Santa. I remember waiting in line at the mall to sit on his knee, and whisper my wishes into his ear. Light up shoes and Pow-pow-power Wheels. While Santa always had other gifts in mind, I never stopped believing in him because he failed to bring me those two items. We always left out a few cookies (sometimes homemade, other times packaged) along with a glass of milk for him, and a few carrots for his reindeer. I remember bouncing down the stairs, hair uncombed, still in my jammies, making sure the jolly old man enjoyed his treats. cookie crumbs, half-eaten carrots, and an empty milk glass sat on the kitchen table. He was here! Stockings were dumped, and wrapping paper was torn. Soon, the morning tradition was over, but not without me shouting, "Thank you Santa!" out the window. My poor parents!
My husband had a slightly different experience. His parents chose to skip the Santa traditions completely. They still gave and received gifts, but none of them were from Santa. There was no talk of reindeer or the North Pole. No cookies and milk were left out.
So when we started our own family, we were faced with the question of which traditions we would keep, and which ones would fall by the wayside. It wasn't an easy decision. We wanted to honor our faith, and keep Christmas about CHRIST. I admit, at first, I wasn't too keen on the idea of "lying" to my kids, conning them into good behavior, lest an old man in a red suit fills their stocking with coal. But by the time Annabelle's first Christmas rolled around, I began to soften up to Santa again. Her second Christmas, she was 17 months old, and starting to understand a little more, and I became mush. I just couldn't make it through December without Santa and his reindeer.
I realized that Santa is more than that though. He is more than just a sleigh-flying cookie-eating, reindeer-feeding old guy.
I enjoy giving my girls gifts, and receiving no credit for it.
Santa is when we don't let the right hand know what the left hand is doing (Matthew 6:3).
When you hear stories of people paying for a family's meal at a restaurant, or leaving notes of encouragement on someone's windshield, or paying off layaways at the department stores, that is Santa.
So, I encourage you reader, be more Santa this year. It doesn't have to be as big as paying off someone's layaway purchases. It can be as small as helping a stranger load groceries into their car, or buying a stranger a coffee.
We do Santa because it adds an extra level of joy and love to this season.
 (By the way, I still want a pair of light-up shoes).

One

And just like that, she's one.
So here's a little bit about our joyful little girl.

And of course, Hazel is little & loving it!