Letter Work---A

For the next 26 weeks (well 25 technically, now), Liam will be learning about the letters in the alphabet, one letter per week. I have planned a bunch of activities and crafts for him to do for this. I thought it would make a fun weekly posting to write about the letter of the week and show you his projects.

So, here's "A" week! Liam sure had fun!

"Big A
little a
What begins with A?
Aunt Annies Alligator....
....A.....a.....A"
-The "A" pages from Dr. Seuss' ABC book-

Making "A" with play doh...I drew a large and a small A on the piece of paper and Liam used the play doh to trace it.

Liam did this on his own...I was so proud of him! (don't know why he's making a strange face)

Again I drew a large and a small A on a piece of paper and gave Liam glue and coffee beans!

For this one, we went through Liam's old Big Back Yard magazines and he cut out pictures of things that started with A and then glued them onto the paper. He also drew the "A" there in the middle.

"A" color pages!

All the A crafts except the play doh one because I didn't want to let the play doh dry out.

To celebrate the end of "A" week, we made "A" sugar cookies!

For Grins and Giggles

"eating" breakfast cereal with silly straws!

3rd Double Square

My 3rd double square is Mountains.
I have always liked mountains. I think that is why I like living in western Washington so much.....so many mountains. They are big, secure, constant. And yet changing too, with the seasons. I like to watch them be covered with snow every winter, and then watch to see how much melts off when hot weather comes.
I knew I couldn't do the big range-y mountains that I love in a single square, so I stitched them into one of my 4 double squares. I was surprised at how long it seemed to take to stitch it out, but maybe it's just because it has been awhile since I've stitched a double square. I added the lake at the bottom to give it some more detail, but I also really like lakes, so it fit right in!

good things to hear

~ I was combing out Liam's hair after his bath tonight and he looks at me in the mirror and says "I really like my hair!"

~ The other day, David was sing-song yelling in the living room "Luv oo mama! Luv oo Daddy! Luv oo Iam!"

~ During the message at Doug's memorial this morning, Pastor Nate spoke from Romans 8:28-39. His main point:
God is for us. God will never leave us. God has a plan for us. God's love for us is never ending; nothing...NOTHING can separate us from God's love.

House Sitting

Here's some pictures of our fun while house sitting for my in laws the past 2 weeks!

Sprinkler Fun

Grassy Boy!

Playing in the pool!

Pool water...yummy! (gross!)

My shady reading spot while the boys are playing outside

Beautiful Clematis

Buckets make almost as good of hats as baskets!

Look what I can do!

Morning cuddles cuz mom's busy (I told David..."if you want to cuddle, go sit with Liam" and he did!)

Truck Art

We are finally home from house sitting for my inlaws, and while we had a good time and it was a nice break (especially from our sauna-home)...it is really nice to be home. Back in the familiar. Back with Sal.....who unfortunately has had way too much freedom to do whatever he wanted and now I've had to kick him off our table a couple of times. Grr, hope he hasn't had time for it to develop into a habit...

Anyway, my mom came over on tuesday and took me shopping for some summery maternity clothes (which, having had one pregnancy end in February, and the other in June, I was sadly lacking in acceptable summery clothes for how big I am!). It was such a nice time out, I left the boys with Jon so it was just mom and I....haven't had that luxury in far too long! She treated me not only to new clothes, but also to Starbucks (twice!) and to lunch at the Macaroni Grill (I had a luscious meal called Penne Rustica!). It was so much fun. On our way home, we were stopped at a traffic light and I noticed that the truck in front of us had writing and drawings all over the back of it in the dust that had accumulated on it. And then I took a closer look and was completely amazed. I dug my camera out and then for quite an intense interval, wasn't sure I would get the picture, because the camera wouldn't start. Kept saying "Lense Error".
It worked just in time and so I can show you what I could never describe....the coolest truck drawing I have ever seen!

Recent Squares!

Here are my three newest squares. I have been progressing slowly lately, but here they are!

Bike: I am grateful for my bike (although my husband says "Why are you adding your bike, you never ride it!") I replied that it's still a blessing and I hope one day to get to ride it more

Then we have sewing. I debated for awhile how I should represent this blessing, and finally settled on what I did. I think it's perfect.

And my third square is for streams/creeks. I love little flowing bodies of water. I grew up with one on my parents property, and it was a source of great pleasure to me.

So, there you have my latest squares!

Happy Birthday Mama-Nana!

My sweet mama had her birthday today. She was already out celebrating when I called, but I left a message and hope she had a great day and I can't wait to hear all about it!
I still haven't finished her present....still working on the embellishments....but I hope to get it done and to her soon!

(David "took" this picture of Mom when she and Dad were here visiting the other day....the wet spot on her shirt is where he got jelly on her, LOL)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MAMA! I LOVE YOU!