Build-a-Bear

Josie has been such a trooper throughout all the changes our family is experiencing lately. Before we put our house on the market, we hired a professional stager to help get the house ready. She took out a LOT of Josie's toys, which are already boxed up in the garage. Almost every day Josie asks me where something is and I have to remind her that it's already packed and she can have it back after we move. Our schedule has been crazy with the house showings and packing. She just hasn't gotten a lot of attention or even much "normal" lately. So, tonight Lane and I decided to treat her with a special trip to Build-a-Bear. This was her first Build-a-Bear experience and I think she was the perfect age for it. She loved it! She picked a puppy and named him Tex (so we'll always remember our time and special friends in Texas!).

Filling him up with fluff!

Picking a heart and giving it a kiss!

He feels jusssst right!

Bath time!

Registering and picking a name

Checking to make sure he's okay in his box!

He's all mine and I'm taking him home!

The Little People are now living in the Build-a-Bear box.

Tex, Josie and Baby make a happy family!

A Haircut for Josie

The "Before" Picture

Today I took Josie to get her haircut at a place called "Cool Cuts" (we've also been to Snip-Its...same concept). Whoever thought of this place is brilliant! Josie got to pick out what movie she wanted to watch (she picked The Wonder Pets), and then sit in a red Radio Flyer fire engine as her "chair". She sat absolutely perfectly still the ENTIRE time the girl was cutting her hair. There was no whining or crying. She was totally happy and cooperative. I'm amazed because the worse part of my day, every day, is when I have to fix Josie's hair. She usually reacts like I am purposely torturing her out of spite. So.....I guess the answer is to install a fire engine barber chair in the corner of her room with a TV in front of it. It works!!
Now if there was only a place like this for adults.....

The "After" picture. She was not cooperative in looking at the camera.

Oyster Creek

There's a park here in Sugar Land called Oyster Creek Park. It has a fantastic running trail that weaves in and out of wooded areas along the creek for about 4 1/2 miles. I used to run over there all the time, but now I've gotten lazy and just run in our neighborhood. It had been a while since we'd been over to the park, so this morning Josie and I loaded up on the bicycle and rode over there to play on the playground and see the turtles. We played on the playground for a while and ate a snack, then got back on the bicycle to go a little further down the trail to the bridge where the turtles swim. I was shocked as we got close enough to see that the creek was COMPLETELY dried up. We haven't had significantly measurable rain in the Houston area in over 250 days, so I don't know why I didn't expect this. It was really sad. There used to be hundreds of turtles swimming around in the water. We did see one turtle out in the middle of the trail, obviously looking for water. If I'd known somewhere to take him, I would have. The whole place smelled like death and there was a big group of vultures in the middle of the dried-up creek bed.
But at least it presented a "teaching moment" for Josie. I told her we needed to pray and ask God to send some rain so the turtles can swim again. She said "Okay, tonight when I go to bed and we say our prayer, I'll ask God to send rain for the turtles." So, then I got to teach her that we don't have to pray just at mealtimes or at night before we go to bed. I told her that God can hear our prayers anywhere at anytime. So, we said a prayer right there while riding on a bicycle together. Then she asked me "Where is God?" and I was relieved when she accepted the answer, "God is everywhere! He's all around us!". Not sure if I'm ready for deep, theological questions yet!

Majority of the state of Texas is in a severe drought. The city of Houston is starting to regulate water usage. People can only water their lawns on certain days and at certain times. We're encouraged to take 5 minute (or less) showers, which I'd be happy to do if they could increase the water pressure so I can rinse the soap off faster! Unfortunately, meteorologists don't see an end in sight unless we get a tropical storm this direction. So, please pray that God will send some rain (even in the form of a tropical storm!) to Texas!

The Life of a Stay-at-Home-Mom: Day 1

Friday was my last day keeping the twins. So, today was my first official day as a "stay-at-home" mom! Josie and I celebrated with a mommy/daughter date to see the"Winnie the Pooh" movie. This was Josie's first trip to the movie theater. She ended up sitting in my lap for most of it, and I'm not sure she really followed the storyline of the movie. But she told me she had a good time. When the movie went off, she said, "I want to watch it again!" She said her favorites were "Piglet" and "Tiger" (not Tigger). I thought the movie was super-cute! We both had a great time! Now that it's just the two of us we won't do special stuff like this every day. But it's nice to know that we can!

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!!!