Gearing up for some indoor shop class

It's been a busy couple of months.  We moved amidst a huge amount of snow, thanks to some very dedicated friends. :)  This old house we are temporarily living in is quite drafty and with record lows we have been wearing a LOT of layers.

We got our new school room up and running (Such a big room. I am loving the large, albeit drafty, windows.) and then Todd brought in something I never expected.  A lathe!  This is a current picture of our school table:

Why a lathe?  Well, the kids are participating in their annual pinewood derby race for Awana and thought it would be fun to make the cars into shapes. My husband rocks!

Each of the kids chose a theme (okay Sadie didn't really choose hers.) and Todd helped them pencil the shape onto the wooden block.  Then they each got to be helper while he worked on their car. ie., They ran the shop vac. ;-)

Here's a pic of the cars so far.  Left to right we have:

Ellie:  Hello Kitty

Silas:  Race car

Avrie: Boat

Evelyn: Minion

Sadie: Baby bottle

They will get to sand on them and paint them up at Awana.  I'll post finished pictures.  Evelyn was so excited when I told her we had a googly eye that would be perfect for her one-eyed minion!  Sadie has been carrying her bottle around all over the house.  Avrie has already painted a bit on her boat and Ellie and Silas are ready to begin painting next Awana. I can't wait to see what each of them do to create their vision!


Have a blessed day! ~Tammy

Operator error

Sadie is saying lots of new phrases here lately.  The other day she was coloring. She scribbled with a green crayon, then a blue, then a red....smiling and so pleased with herself. :)  Then she scribbled with a white crayon. Of course it didn't show up on the white paper. She then turned to me with a very serious face and said, "It's not working."  :)

Today she announced that she had to go to the bathroom and walked out of the room. This is a new thing that she has not done before.  By the time I got to her she had stripped to nothing.  I took her in and had her sit on her brand new potty seat....

Me:  Sadie?  Did you go potty?
Sadie: (In her sweet little 2yo sing-songy voice.) Nooooo. It's not working.
Me: *giggle* Well you have to make it work. (I made a little ppssssssss sound)
Sadie: Ooooohhh! Okay. (With a great big smile.)  pppsssssssssss

As if making that sound would make her pee!  Fun times!

Have a blessed day! ~Tammy

Gators and Monkies and Birds Oh My!

We went to a fun little place called Jungle Gardens.  They had all sorts of animals for us to see.  We tried to grab a quick family picture here. Not the best, but at least it's all of us.

I thought this huge giraffe statue would make a good picture. I've really got to work on my photography skills.

 

They had several different types of birds. Forgive me for not knowing what type. I think they are all some type of parakeet. ??  I was too busy making sure the kids stayed together to listen. They did let us hold a bird on our arm for free though.

Silas was first. Such a strong arm! The bird hopped right on.

Ellie chose a smaller bird. They put a bit of food in her hand to feed it.

 Avrie chose this sweet little thing.  It wouldn't turn around to smile for the camera though.

They gave her some food too and that got its attention!

Now we're ready to smile. :)

"Oooh! That's pinchy!" is what she was saying.

Evelyn was right there with the others and wanted to have a try. Interesting how animals just "know". The volunteer worker said that they won't always step onto the arm of a smaller child because they sense they are not strong enough. They helper asked me to hold Evelyn's hand so maybe the bird would commit but it wouldn't step onto Evelyn's arm. She got to see it up close and was happy with that.

Todd wanted Sadie to have a picture too. :)

Another attempt at a group shot. I tell ya what....group shots are hard.


You try to get five children to look at the camera, at the same time AND smile.  I figured I would just put them all on here. Between the three pictures everyone looks decent at least one time ....... I think.

Ellie and Avrie thought it would be funny to pretend they were being eaten by the crocodile. Goofy girlies.

Young man Silas wearing his hat that matches Daddy's.

I spotted this plant and grabbed Avrie for this shot. The coloring matched her dress so well.

Then of course Ellie wanted a photo shoot for her. :)

This last one I had to grab. Avrie's flip flop broke.  Not a big deal, but it was a bit ironic. On our last little family vacation to a theme park, she lost her flip flop while boarding a log ride. It fell into the water never to be seen again. So this has now become a tradition.....go on vacation and buy Avrie some new shoes!

This concludes Part 7 of our Florida trip.

Have a blessed day! ~Tammy

Quick, get the camera!

Why did we take a picture of Grandpa taking a picture?  Funny you should ask!



Our little Sadie Bug was a bit messy after dinner. Grandma was super excited to give her a bath in the kitchen sink. Of course I was super excited to NOT have to give her a bath. LOL

Grandma wanted to document the event in a picture and had Grandpa run and get their camera. When Todd and I saw how cute it was that she wanted to capture this fun occasion, we wanted to document that very precious moment. That's all. :)

Here's a closer shot.

This concludes Part 6 of our Florida trip.

Have a blessed day! ~Tammy

Look Who's Walking!

Our little Sadie Bug is very content to just sit with her thumb in her mouth.  When she has actually stood up someone usually jumps in and sweeps her off her little feet before she can do anything else.

At 15 months old I was beginning to wonder when she would ever walk.  The other kids were all around 15 months old when they finally walked on their own, but they all stood on their own around 10 months, cruised around furniture by about 12 months and spent lots of time pushing their push toy around practicing.

We have learned something new with each child and Sadie is no exception!  In just the last couple days she went from barely able to stand to pushing her little push toy all over the house.

Here she is on Friday evening. She had learned how to push all the way to the wall, but hadn't figured out how to turn around yet.

Fast forward a couple days and she is zooming all over the place.

Look - one handed walking!

Have a blessed day! ~Tammy