100's day

Please forgive the fuzzy poor pictures but this is what happens when the day is almost over and I am to exhausted to check my photos :)
This Friday was 100 days at school and in honor of our word for the year we continued to CELEBRATE at home too. From the door way of their bedroom I hung red circles and circles with school shapes saying 100's day.

Mister C made a banner to hang from the mantel along with 5 or 6 worksheets for the family to do that were all about 100

I made an apple, lined paper, pencil and book circles to decorate with

Mister C stopping just for a moment for the allotted 1 picture in his 100's day glasses he made at school

Mister C picked dinner with the help of little miss. I tried my best to make it look like  100

We then sat at the table and listed 100 things we like and popped 100 kernels of popcorn (thanks Aunt Sissa for the idea)
  Mom, dad, brother, sister, Nana, Grandma, Grandpa, iron man, Cousins A, K, G, A, E, and A, Uncle T, M, S, D and S, Aunts M, B, M, J, R, and K, friends, barbies, books, Beverly Clearly, drawing, painting, math, popcorn, mint cookies, sunny days, daises, princesses, superheros, netflix, Jake and the Neverland Pirates, people park (little people),camera, guitars, music, dancing, a clean house, Cheetos, bugles, soup, applesauce, purple, red and yellow, pink, blue, flowers, fishy, Wallowa, beach, floating on the lake at Wallowa, warm bath, Germer Family Day, birthdays, shopping, God, Jesus, tea, Kit Kat, hot chocolate, Starbucks, McDonald's, strawberries, sugar cookies, salt, Mrs. Meyers, Mrs Mary, sparkles, ridding bikes, boots, magic, Wii, board games, legos, coke, juice, sprite, Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, playing outside, sandbox, drawing with chalk, sour chips( salt and vinegar), ice cream, daddy chair, flying with dad, hide n seek, waterfalls, drawing with mom, racing, duck duck goose, and having our friends over to play


We have celebrate so many thing this month and I look forward to posting more this week. Hope you have find something to celebrate today!

Snow fun

Late February and we get a little snow, How crazy is that! We rushed outside after breakfast to play in the snow before it melted this afternoon. After a few hours of fun the snow is gone from the front yard and the toys and snow clothes are drying in the house. What a fun way to start our day.

Book giveaway winner

I did not forget about you all and the free book. I have been sick for a week and with tax season here, I was just doing the best I could to get by for a while :)
So the lucky winner drawn from random pieces of paper by little miss herself, #7
-Miss Melney it looks like we have one more reason to stop by and visit you real soon. Thank you all for your ideas for Valentines day. As I was sick this year we celebrated kind of late. I hope to have the post up later tonight.

Happy Valentines day...

A quick stop at the park while out  running errands turn into a little photo shoot for Valentines day.

a little out of focus but you have to love the smile on my boy. 

Hope you have a wonderful day! Don't miss the giveaway posted below this one.

mystery giveaway

Ok last time no responses on the children's book giveaway but no worries it has found a good home. So I will try this one more time. This time it is not a children's book but a mystery novel.

   The mountains bow down (a Raleigh Harmon novel) written by Sibella Giorello an FBI specialist joins her mom, Aunt and her Aunts crazy friend for a vacation cruise through Alaska. Shortly as the ship sets off it looks like FBI Agent Raleigh is no longer on vacation but on the case of proving her hunch that the death of a famous movie stars wife is not a suicide but a murder. As she works to juggle personal life, work life and unraveling the mystery before her Raleigh must answer many questions that will have a lasting effect on many of those around her. An easy enjoyable read that would be great for a long rainy nights it looks like we are going to be having again. I look forward to reading other books by Sibella Giorelle including The River Runs Dry, The Clouds Roll Away, and The Stones cry out.

So you want a copy??? Just leave a reply letting me know what ways your favorite Valentines day tradition is. Don't have one? then an idea of one I can start with my little ones :)
The giveaway will end Friday February 18 2011 at 11pm

a Dream...

I love when my kids tell me what they want to do or hope to be when they grow up. I love it even more when I can talk it through with them and they start to really believe their dreams can come true. A book I once read suggested mapping out for your kids how to reach there dreams in a way they can understand. I also wanted to give them role models who have done what they hope to do.  Well Little mister has decide he no longer wants to be a Brain surgeon ( Sorry Dr Gillium we still think your amazing but his dreams have changed) he now wants to be an Author and to tell you the truth he just might. He has already written a few little books which he got to share with his class at school. His idea for writing came from his love of the Ramona Quimby books by Beverly Cleary.  We have one book left to read and then we will move on to some of her other great books. This spring we plan to make the trip to visit the streets she wrote about and the park here in Portland. While looking up Beverly Cleary on the computer we found she is 99 and lives in California so Little mister asked if we could write her a letter to say thank you for her books.  So we sat down one rain afternoon and wrote to her.

A Ramona Quimby Q...

Even Little Miss joined in the fun...

The back of the envelope was signed with "Ramona Q" and a B for Beverly Cleary.  Look at that smile he is so proud and could not wait to get this letter in the mailbox.

We had so much fun and I loved that the kids sent these off in the mail understanding that we may never hear back and we are not sure if she when she will get them but now she knows we are thankful for her books. Thankful that she pursed her dream, and gave hope to others. Plus we got some good practice writing in :) Now little mister wants to meet a publisher, not sure how to pull that one off?

What's your dream? What small steps are you taking to get there?

Book Review

 I got another book in the mail yesterday to review...

      Read and Share  Stories about Jesus by Gwen Ellis is a board book full of bright pictures and short stories about the life of Jesus.  Each story includes bright and cheerful pictures and easy to understand message as well as fun discussion questions.  A great book for infant to 4 yr olds. Much older then that will enjoy the easy to read words but  need more of a story.  This book could be read all at once or one story per night. My kids wanted to read the whole thing at once but they are 3 and 6. This would be a fun gift book or a great one to have around the house. The part I enjoyed most was the conversations we had after each story by using the question in the book. I would recommend this book if you are looking for a fun way to introduce your little ones to the life of Jesus.

Celebrate...

Here it is the first of February and I have just now decided on my word for the year. I wanted to really think about it and pick one that felt just right! I had a word all picked out but then I started reading a book that changed it all. My dear friend Jess who is an answer to a longtime prayer and who loves me even though she knows so much about me and my messed up ways, got me a beautiful book for my birthday. I am embarrassed to admit I put it away and kind of forgot about it. I found it last week and picked it up to read, I have not put it down since then. I even carry a highlighter with me to mark the parts that really speak to me but to be honest I have a feeling as I read it again over the years the whole book may be marked up. Each and every little chapter spoke to me and I have even read bits to my Bible study group. If I had the money I would go out right now and buy one for each of you! The book is called Cold Tangerines by Shauna Niequist. The cover says celebrating the extraordinary nature of everyday life and that is what she does through each short story of her life she shows just how extraordinary God is. It got me thinking do my kids know that I think they are amazing, does my husband, my family(in laws too), my friends, the wonderful group of ladies I meet with at church? Have I taken the chance to tell those around me just how amazing and unique I think they are? It makes me sad to think how often I have let that chance go by without saying anything or better yet doing something to let those around know just how wonderful they are. How many times have I rushed on by or not answered an e-mail or phone call because I just have to many things to do? Why have I let my to do list become the thing I live by, ok I will always love a to do list but I need to add to it not just daily household things but eternal things. So my word for the year CELEBRATE! I hope to celebrate life's little things that add up to  make  something amazing, my friends and family who help me everyday to move closer to being the women God has called me to be. To teach myself and my kids along the way to stop and see God in the everyday things and celebrate! So my blog may look different and I hope my attitude too as I take on a new adventure of trying to Celebrate each day.