Baby Shower Ideas and Crafts

Yesterday I helped to host a baby shower for a sweet couple at church, Kathryn and Clayton and their sweet girl-on-the-way, Alexa. Lane married Kathryn and Clayton a couple of years ago, they've been great babysitters for us, and now they are having their first baby! So, I wanted the shower to be special.
I've been wanting to try making a watermelon carriage for a while now. (The last baby shower we had, watermelons were out of season....even in Houston.) It took me longer than it probably should have because I was so scared of messing it up! I probably worked on it for about an hour. But honestly, the hardest part was getting all of the watermelon out of the rind. Then I just carved a scalloped design around the edges I'd cut. It turned out really cute! While I was working on it, Josie asked me if she rode in it when she was a baby. Then she asked me if she could ride in it now. Then she asked me if her baby could ride in it, too. The answer to her questions was "no, Josie", but she did get to eat some watermelon. :-)
I also combined a few ideas I found while browsing on baby shower websites to make Alexa a hairbow holder/ blessing board. I painted a pre-cut board and hot glued ribbon on it to make a hair bow holder. At the shower, we passed out cute paper for everyone to write a prayer or blessing on. Then they clipped them to the hairbow holder. I also gave Kathryn a small photo album to save the prayer/blessing cards in when she takes them down to use the hairbow holder for actual hairbows. This turned out SUPER cute! I will definitely use this idea at every shower I host from now on (for girls, anyway...).

I love this song!!!

This song caught my attention the other day when I heard the words to the first verse. I know we all have doubts sometimes about our "place" in life. Sometimes life seems so monotonous with the little things that we do day in/day out. I feel like the culture we live in doesn't appreciate my "job", since I don't have a thriving, important career. So, I have to remind myself that my job really is THE most important job. And every little thing that I do is not only loved and appreciated by God, but it is also watched and observed by little eyes.
So....thank you, Steven Curtis Chapman, for your words of encouragement and this catchy tune that's been in my head all day. :-)

Happy Birthday U.S.A.!!!!

Happy 4th of July!
We celebrated our nation's birthday this year by making a couple of crafts. We made a red, white & blue wreath with Josie's handprints. We also made a stained-glass star. To make the stained-glass effect, I had Josie color with red and blue crayons on plain white paper. Then we used a cotton ball to rub cooking oil over the paper, which made it see-through. Then we glued the "glass" between 2 pieces of construction paper with a star cut in the middle. Both projects turned out very cute!

We also made a flag cake. I used a Hungry Girl recipe to make the cake. It's just a box of extra-moist chocolate cake mix and a can of cherry coke zero. We used cool whip for icing and then used blueberries and strawberries to make an American flag. It tastes sooooo good!!!! Very light and refreshing! :-) Plus, we had fun making it, too! Yummy!!!

Splash Day at the Mall

Today we went to the outdoor mall in Pearland to play at the splash pad. There's also a little fountain about 8 inches deep. I think they liked "the pond" more than they cared for the sprayers splashing up from the ground. After we ate our snack, our friends, the Fryer's, showed up. So then we got to play some with them. They all had a great time playing in the water!

You can't really tell by the picture, but Josie and Nathan are
holding hands as they walk into the water. So sweet!!!!

Snack time in the shade

B.F.F. (Best Friends Forever!)

Last night after church I went to go pick Josie up from class, and they were out on the playground. Josie and Zoey were playing in the little house, which was no surprise. However, I was completely shocked as I got closer to them to see how dirty they were! Apparently, they'd been giving each other dirt baths with the dirt floor in the house. They were both absolutely filthy! Their arms, legs, and faces were COVERED in dirt. They'd both taken off their socks and shoes, too and had filthy feet. I should have been mad, but they were sooo dirty that it was actually pretty funny. Needless to say, I had to give Josie a bath before I could put her to bed.

Cousins!!!!

We were blessed this past weekend to have Lane's sister Mary Anne and her family come for a visit. They were visiting Kevin's family in Baton Rouge, and decided to make the 5 hour drive to Houston to see us. It was a quick visit. They were only here for about 24 hours. Saturday night we took them out for some of the best Tex-mex around at Pappasitos, then MaryAnne and I took the kids to the pool. Josie was so excited to see her cousins, Faith and John Derrick. She even eventually warmed up to their dog, Prince Harry the Charming One (who was very well behaved, I must say). It's always good to see family and we were so thankful for their willingness to make the drive, even for such a short visit. Since moving to Houston, God has really taught us a lesson in the importance of family and not taking them for granted.

VBS 2011

Our VBS theme this year was "Voyagers: The Search for True Treasure" (and don't ye be confusin' that with pirates, argggggg!). The kids had a great time as we searched for the true king, the true teacher, the true power, and the true strength. I particularly enjoyed watching Josie progress throughout the week. I'm sure she didn't really grasp everything that was going on, but she would come home singing the songs. Of course, when asked "Josie, who is the true treasure??", she sometimes still says "the pirate!!!" instead of "Jesus!!!" (There was a "first mate" in the skit that she called the pirate.)
I taught the 4 year olds, and these are pictures of our classroom.