Shortcake @ 3 months

As shown, we no longer have to work to get you to smile.

Last week you found your voice. You spend large amounts of your awake time practicing your new skill: screechy noises.

Your other new tricks are to blow bubbles and stick out your tongue.

Since you're beyond the swaddle stage I tuck you in to bed at night in a sleep sack. It's one of the few things we don't have in pink, so you're all snuggled up in one of the blue sleep sacks your brothers used. And of course you scooch at night (like your brothers) so when I put you in bed at the top of your crib, by morning you've scootched your way down to the end of the bed.

Bath time has got to be one of your favorite activities. You smile big smiles as I pull off your clothes and the way you look at me as I bathe you melts my heart.

That's all for now. We sure do love you.

P.S. Thanks to Auntie P as I just noticed that all her outfits pictured here are either gifts or hand-me-downs from you. We really like your taste in clothes!

Happy Easter

Shortcake wishing you all a belated blessed Easter!

Photo and head ornamentation by: Agent E

Tuesda'y'

Agent E just asked me "Momma what day is it?". He is studying the calendar as he speaks, "Does it end in 'y'?" I chuckle "yes".

lost in Thee

‎"Sweet will of God, still fold me closer, till I am wholly lost in Thee."
The words fill my soul with tender wonder and my eyes with tears. How I love this hymn.

Agent E, I love you

Dear Agent E,

I love the way you sleepily curl up on the steps each morning. I come and sit down next to you and you snuggle your warm body onto my lap - I'm not sure how you fit but you do. Then I just scratch your back and cuddle you. I love how you remembered it to me later in the day once saying "Momma will you do what you do in the mornings to me?". I've seen you struggle so much these past years as you learn what to do with your emotions and your strong will. I keep thinking about the stories I hear of your papa and how he struggled with the same thing. There's no man I'd rather be married to, his convictions are strong and he is tender hearted. I see part of what was him in you. Keep imagining, keep making us laugh with your fun humor, keep dancing, and please keep asking for cuddles. I love you.

Field Trip: Police Station

What a great field trip! We toured the offices, detective's quarters, questioning room with one of those one-way mirrors, a jail cell, and a police car. Agent H has been envisioning himself a detective ever since. Shortcake got to come too and slept through the tour in her little Sleepy Wrap. That's her strapped to me in that pic there. So snuggly.

Seeing as it was St. Patrick's Day, afterwards we stopped by McDonald's for some shamrock shakes. Mmmmmm!

It started out as a painted puppy face . . . until his thoughtful big brother left the paints out where he could reach them.

Notice: I love the matching game The General is playing there. It's one of the activities from Preschool Activities in a Bag. My parents bought it as a birthday or Christmas gift and then mom made up a bunch of the activities for me. Bless her!

The bliss of slumber

You have no idea the amount of chaos that was going on around her while I snapped this shot. The sweet bliss of slumber . . . and a thumb to suck on!

Shortcake @ 2 months . . . again

My final post for the day is of Shortcake @ 2 months. Don't ya' just love the way her hair sticks straight up? Priceless.

Multiplying Animals

Agent H and I are working on times tables. These animals helped us as we worked on multiples of four. The Lego vehicle that he is holding DID have four wheels so it was allowed. :)

We played a rousing game of Value. Okay I jest but the kids do really enjoy it (maybe it was the left-over conversation hearts that we used as playing pieces . . .hmm)

Well anyway we worked on recognizing the names for numbers and color recognition. I received this game as in incentive to subscribe to The Old Schoolhouse, it was a win-win! If you're interested, they have other decks of cards (addition, subtraction, multiplication, etc) to play with the playing boards.

Preschool: Elijah

Today we built Play-Doh alters and talked about Elijah's prayer for God to send fire from Heaven. We read out of our children's Bible but some of the details were left out so we read it again from our Kids' Devotional Bible (Ours is pretty old but I'm guessing it's something like this one). I love the way Agent E sat riveted to the story.
Next we acted out Elijah parting the water and ascending into Heaven. After a little phonetical review and moon-walking on the letter "M" blue-taped to the floor we called it a day.

Eating a rainbow

We're attempting to pack in a few more fruits and veggies into our diet. I know I tend to get in a rut and I just buy the same old, same old. So I did an online search and came up with this great chart. I laminated it, put it on the fridge, and the kids get to put their initial on it everytime they eat an appropriate item. For Agent E's sake I'm going to let him include dried fruit but I'm also hoping it will inspire him to try something new. We shall see . . .

Oh and while we're at it we're going to see if we can have some fun with these file folder games: Fruit or Vegetable and Medley Matchup.

Tiger stripes & Legos

"I know what doesn't taste good mom, when you roast a tiger and forget to peel off his stripes."
- Agent E
"Mom, why can't our last name be Lego?"
-Agent H

It's a wonder

It really is a wonder Agent H and I get any school done in the afternoons with Shortcake around.

Marshmallow Temples

In preschool last week we learned about the temple Solomon built to God. We built our own versions out of mini marshmallows and noodles. Agents H & E labored on theirs while The General was busy stuffing stray marshmallows in his mouth.

Agent H and his Indian pouch

Agent H stitched up this Indian medicine pouch that came from a kit. It was a bit difficult and he needed lots of help but when it was complete he really liked it. At bedtime he was careful to find a secure place for it because he didn't want it stolen. Silly guy! As I said in my previous post, it fits a Lego guy perfectly.

Shortcake @ 2 months

Blog name: Shortcake
Current tricks: bringing fists to mouth to suck on, sticking out tongue, cooing, still practicing smiles-you really have to work to get one (I think she likes to surprise us).
Accomplishments: Sleeping 7-9 hours at night for a week now!

We just love you Shortcake!

Bread & Jelly Love

Uncle A rocks! He has the creative humor of a designer (because he is one) and you never know what he's going to say next . . . or do. This was his gift to our little girl, love it!

Tot fun & Schooling

This past week was a pretty good week in school despite recovering from some fevers and coughs. We're playing a bit of catch up since we ended up taking an extra week off after little sis was born. Currently our routine has settled in at having a snack and doing some reading together at the kitchen table around 10AM. We've been reading a lot from my favorite kid's magazine God's World News. Then I try to have some tot trays/activities set up for The General, and I'll do some preschool with Agent E while Agent H does some independent work. Later in the afternoon while the other two boys nap Agent H and I work more on his studies.













Fort-building. A very important skill!


















Discovery Toy's Castle Works












Colored scarves
First we covered him and then he would burst out of them. Next we sorted them and practiced the names of the colors. Then we just tossed them in the air and watched them float downward.













Agent E asked to take some pictures. The General and I are checking out some DuckTales on the view finder.















The General has been sleeping with the book Brown Bear, Brown Bear for a few weeks now. I thought it was time that we pull out our Brown Bear, Brown Bear mini activity book that we made from 1+1+1=1. This is the animal front/back match up game that we are playing. I'll try to get a better picture of our book for another post. I think this was his favorite activity from the book.














And finally here's a shot Agent E took of Agent H working on his Indian medicine pouch. It was hard for him but he kept at it and now he's very attached to it. It fits a Lego guy perfectly! I'll have to get an up-close picture of this too. (Done, here it is)

Strawberry kiss

Or in medical terms, Strawberry Hemangioma. That's the red marking you may have noticed on her head. From the information I've read it's not painful and generally fades in color by a child's elementary years. Time will tell in her case. I like to call it her strawberry kiss.