December {In Pictures}

 

We haven't been slammed with snow as much as I thought we would be at this point (and I'm ok with that).  We have had a few good snow days though.

 

The boys watching the snow fall...

 



 

 

This particular day there were HUGE flakes and it covered the ground in about 30-45 minutes.

 

 

The boys coming in from playing in the snow.

 

 

On December 7, the Home School Group was invited to a Saint Nicholas party at The Seehof.  Soon after we arrived Saint Nicholas arrived and handed out small gifts to each of the children.

 

 

 

Blaine did great and sat at the table for a whole hour!!! The plateful of cookies and candy probably helped. :) 

 

Ryan and Colin greatly enjoyed the unlimited supply of hot chocolate.

 



 

 

 

We only made it out to two Christmas Markets this year.  Tim and I ran through the one at our downtown while on a date a few days before Christmas.  Then on Christmas Eve we all took a small trip to a local town, Forccheim (one of the few that was still open).

 

 

 

This couple playing music was probably the best part.

 



Christmas In Review {The Project Side}

 

This was the first Christmas in 3 years that we haven't been on the move.  Over the last few years I've collected a few decor pieces from Hobby Lobby's 80/90% off sale.  There were a few things still in the original box or still with tags on it.  The last few years I've also collected quite a few ideas, thanks to Pinterest.  Here's what we made this year....

 

  

1.  Wooden Nativity Sign - I originally pinned this a year or two ago.  There is a wife here that owns a Silhouette machine and we (my friend, Marque, and I) paid her $10 to print the scene for us.  We bought the wood and painted it for less than $6 and she came over and put the vinyl on the board for us, and wa-la! 

 

2.  Wooden Merry Christmas Sign - Back in the beginning of November I set up a Mini Christmas Photo Shoot for 5 clients.  Inspired by the link above I made this sign as one of my props to use.  I figured if I made it well enough I could use it as decor as well, so I made it out of wood.  Unfortunately, I didn't have strong enough hooks to hold it this year and it fell down after about a week of hanging across our big living room window. 

 

 

 

 

 3.  Wooden JOY Sign - Not quite the same as the inspiration piece, but I had some extra wood from the "Merry Christmas" sign so I decided to put it to good use.

4.  Fingerprint Ornament - I'm sure you've seen this floating around Pinterest.  The fingerprints don't really come out looking like the fingerprints on the inspiration piece, but it still works.



 

5.  Stamped Salt Dough Ornaments - Who knew?!!  Some stamps and colored ink?!  The possibilities are endless!  Thanks to Tim's Grandma and the box of stamps and ink she sent me a few months back we had plenty to choose from.  We made a good amount of the above ornament and handed them out as gifts to friends this year along with our annual cookie tins and bread loafs.  Ryan and his friend, Liam, also had a great time making these!  The following is one of Ryan's!

  

 

Side Note:  I compared two or three salt-dough recipes and had trouble with the first batch.  I ended up having to add 3 to 4 more cups of flour.  After we were done with those, we still wanted to make a few more and the next recipe I tried turned out great!  I had it mixed, rolled out, stamped, and in the oven within 10/15 minutes!  Just in case you are looking for a good recipe..and just so I don't forget...

*1/2 cup salt, 1/2 cup flour, 1/4 of water. Place on a baking sheet lined with Parchment Paper.  Bake at 250 for 2 hours; turning every 30 minutes to keep flat.

 

6.  Cinnamon Ornaments - No picture for these.  ( I think there's one in the background two pics up.)  I tried making these last year and they were a complete failure.  I had trouble with the consistency in the dough and I ended up chiseling them off the pan.  I searched for a different recipe and I figured you can't go wrong with Martha.  I was right!  The boys were even able to help with them as well.  The above link takes you to her recipe. 

 

 

7.  Subway Art Printable - I have two frames that I kept out and just added a Christmas themed printable to them.  I printed the Subway Art from the above link and cut it to a 4x6 and it is a bit squishy.  If you have a 5x7 frame it would probably work better.

 

For this second frame, I just played with a font and size on Word and printed out "NOEL". 

 

8.  Pine Cone Tree - At some point in the last few years Target had this gorgeous pine cone tree for around $25...if I remember right.  In some after season sale at Walmart I came across small boxes of mini pine cones.  I bought them and stored them away.  This year I found the tutorial linked above and made my own; also getting the worst hot glue gun burn to date!  If you are up close and personal there are some obvious holes, but from a general view, it looks great!

 

 

 

9. Scrap Paper Tree - I'm sure most of you have seen this on Pinterest.  At first I just had the boys make one for themselves and they decorated the trees with stickers and such.  I still had a ton of paper left and had this grand idea to make our Christmas cards this year based on that idea.  The boys helped make a few of them, but I was left to the other 40 by myself.  :)

10.  Ruffled Tree Skirt - My biggest project!  I just finished it yesterday.  The original tutorial is a no-sew project, but of course my crazy brain decided that it be better long term if I could make it more permanent and washable.  About $15 worth of broadcloth fabric and 10-12 hours of labor and I have this beauty!  Finishing this tree skirt concludes my Christmas projects for this year and I'm so excited to put it all away and move on!

 

 

Next year new stockings!  Someone hit up the sales at Hobby Lobby for me!!!!



Good Times with Blaine

To be perfectly honest, the last three weeks, Blaine has been much more enjoyable and much less frustrating.  He still has his fits and tantrums on occassion, as any child, but they have not been as often as the fun and endearing moments.  His character is really starting to bloom.  Here are two vids of him recently.

 

He still loves music, and he's been perfecting his dancing skills lately.

 

This one was probably much more fun for Tim and me then it was for Blaine.

An Answered Prayer

Today I got to pin my husband!!!

 

For those of you who might be unfamiliar with the ARMY ways...my husband got a promotion today!  I'm so proud of all the effort he has put in toward this promotion!  It has been long deserved (in my opinion)!  He's been at a different post on a detail, but they let him come home for a half a day for the little ceremony.

It is an answered prayer for us! One that was highly unexpected.
 

Just a little back story and explanation for those who are unfamiliar with how it works. As an enlisted soldier Tim is required to go before a board for review and obtain a certain amount of points, which vary month to month, in order to receive a promotion. You can get points by taking college classes, Military Correspondent Courses (a type of online class geared toward Military knowledge), and other Military Training. Three years ago Tim passed the board's review and became eligible for the promotion. All he had to do was have enough points.

 

Tim missed this promotion by 1 point, two months in a row. 1 POINT!!! It was complete torture and has been haunting us since.

 

Shortly after that time, Tim changed his MOS (his job within the ARMY), and the required number of points was even higher. Then, a little over a year ago, the ARMY re-did the point system. The system runs on a 800 point scale. Prior to the "re-do" Tim had around 630 points. After the "re-do", his points dropped down to 300 something. A promotion seemed WAY out of reach.

 

For the last year Tim has been working very diligently to get his points back up. He has taken hours worth of the Correspondent Courses and we also paid a small amount to have all of the extra training/classes he has received transferred into college credit. (Completely worth it!) About two months ago Tim became maxed out in both of these areas, but he still didn't have the points needed to make the promotion list. We have watched the points for the last 3 years and they typically drop during the summer and spike up again in the winter. The only option left to receive more points was for Tim to go to another school.

 

He actually had a slot to go to a school he needs back in March, but it was cancelled last winter when we received his orders to come here to Germany. He's been fighting for the last three months to get another slot for the class. That in itself is a whole other story. For the last few months we have been praying hard for him to get a slot for the class right after the New Year, that way when the points dropped down again he'd be good to go.

 

Long story, semi-short (since you've already got the long version)....Last week the points dropped to 601. Tim currently has 605 points, putting him on the promotion list! We weren't expecting it and Tim wasn't even checking the list. We actually heard word of it from some of his buddies down range. We didn't share the news at first because it seemed too good to be true. Tim wanted to do some double checking and make sure his orders actually came in.

 

All that to say, God is good! He answered a prayer for us in a way we didn't expect and at a time we least expected it. In our minds it is by God's divine hand alone that the points dropped to where they did, when they did.
 

Now...Staff Sergeant Baxter!!!

 

 

Blaine's 2 Year Photos!!

 

We finally made it out to take Blaine's 2 Year Pictures!!  Yay!!!!

 

I attempted to take him out a few weeks ago. We just went to the lake that is here on post. Before I had even gotten my camera out of the van he had managed to find the closest ditch and came out covered in muddy water up to his knees. I figured I could maybe work around that, and decided to continue. We had walked over to the dock and he busted his lip open climbing down. About 45 seconds after that it started raining. I think we were out of the car for a total of about 5 minutes...if that. These were the two pictures I managed then...

 

If you look closely, you can see the wet, muddy pants. 

And the busted lip. 

 

 

This past Sunday, we had a break in the dreary weather and the SUN actually came out!!!  After nap time I packed the boys up and we headed to The Seehof, which is a Palace; practically right around the corner.  This was actually our first time going and walking around. 

 

Blaine knows when the camera comes out it's time to turn the "cheese" on.  Haha.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I managed a few of the other boys as well.  There was one section by the Palace where the leaves seemed to get trapped against the hill, and the boys had a great time playing in them.

 

 

 

 

Love my boys!!! 

Busy Bag Swap {Part 3}: The Activities

Are you wondering what this Busy Bag Swap is all about?!  You can catch up by reading Part 1 and Part 2!

Whether you are looking to host a Swap of your own or just create some activities for your young one, the following is a list of 21 activities to choose from!  We completed 20 of the activities for our Swap. 

 

If applicable, the link to the original site where we found the idea is under the title of the activity.  If you follow those links, you will find a multitude of other ideas for activities! 

There is also a brief description on the project and a list of what materials you need to complete the activity.  If you choose to do a Swap, this is everything already laid out for you!  All you need to do is email your moms with a link to this post for them to choose their activity and they have details, links, and printables ready for them to use! 

You will also notice that some of the materials have a asterisk next to them.  When getting our Swap together we thought it best to make an Amazon Wish List for the moms to order the supplies needed to help the process move along smoothly.  For some materials, there is more than one option.  It was not mandatory that our moms ordered from our list; it was just intended to help save our mom's some time in locating the materials that they needed.  You can find our Busy Bag Wish List HERE!  Feel free to share with your moms if needed!

1.        Popsicle Stick Puzzle:  Make a puzzle out of a picture and Popsicle sticks.  Modpodge your picture to your sticks, then cut them apart.  You can also label the sticks with numbers to help with number recognition/order.                      

      

       a.      Any 4x6 image.   You can print the image on the above link or print any picture. 

                   b.      Popsicle sticks* (The jumbo size sticks are a great size; 10 per puzzle!!)
                   c.       Mod podge*
                   d.      Exacto knife/box cutter
                   e.      Foam brush


2.      Alphabet Match w/Plastic Eggs:    Letter recognition.  Capital Letter "A" on the top, lowercase "a" on the bottom.  10-12 letters to include the 5 vowels.      

a.     Plastic eggs* (We recommend using the same colored eggs in your bag, so your child learns to recognize the letters and is not color matching.)

                  b.      Permanent Marker
                   c.  Optional: For storage you can use an egg carton vs a Ziploc bag


3.      Number Match w/Plastic Eggs:  Number Recognition/Counting.  The number "3" on top, and 3 dots on the bottom.  10-12 eggs total.

                  a.     Plastic eggs*
                   b.    Permanent Marker
                   c.  Optional:  For storage use an egg carton vs a Ziploc bag

 

4.   Block Patterns:  Draw, color, and laminate cards with assorted patterns and numbers (could also be done on Word, then printed out).  Leave some patterns completed, just to be copied, and some, with a mystery block to complete the pattern.  10 different patterns.
                  

                   a.    Color Printer (Printable found HERE)
                   b.      Laminator
                   c.       Snap Cubes* or Duplo Blocks (enough to make patterns possible). 


5.      I Can Spell:  Words printed on paper and laminated with foam or plastic letter for the kids to match up.  In the bag I received I have the words....cat, how, is, pie, and, the, bus, box, run, two.        

                  a.      Printer
                   b.      laminator
                   c.       Foam Letters*


6.      Rigatoni Stringing:  Just an activity to work on a child's motor skills, or to help him learn his/her colors.  Colored noodles that your child strings onto a piece of yarn.     

                   a.      Rigatoni noodles
                   b.      A way to color/dye them:  link can be found HERE.
                                        i.      Rubbing alcohol
                                         ii.      Food coloring
                                        iii.      Ziploc bags
                    c.       Yarn
                    d.    Pipe cleaners*.  (Our mom genius-ly tied a small piece of a pipe cleaner onto the end of the yarn to make it easy to thread the yarn through the noodle!)


7.      Brown Bear, Brown Bear Matching Puzzles:  Pictures of different animals cut in half and laminated for the kids to match together.

a.      Color Printer (Printable on the above link on pages 14-16)

                  b.      Laminator
                   c.   Scissors
                  
 
8.     Pouring:  An activity to practice motor skills.                    

a.      Funnel

                   b.      Beans or beads  (make sure they feed through the funnel easily)
                   c.       2 Cups.  We used Specimen Cups*.
                   d.   Plastic spoon

*Mom might want to add a small plastic container  to this bag to help contain any loose beans during play time.


9.       Transferring :  Another activity to practice motor skills.                  

a.      Tongs*

                   b.      Ice cube tray or egg carton

c.       Pom poms*

                

10.   Felt Rainbow:  Have your child make a rainbow while learning their colors.                

a.      Printer  (Printable found here.)

                   b.      Laminator
                   c.       Felt
                   d.    Optional: Velcrow*.  It might help to put velcro pieces on each side of the "bow" and at the top to help keep them in place. 


11.  MagnetFaces:  Just a fun activity.  Two blank faces and lots of facial pieces to choose from for your child to create a face!

a.      Printer.  Printable for faces and facial pieces.  (Love, yours truly.)

                   b.      Laminator
                   c.       Magnets*
                   d.   Optional:  Magnetic Sheet* or Tin. 

*You can print the faces/facial pieces directly onto the sheets and then cut them out.  It wasn't in my budget to do this for all 10 moms, so I bought small adhesive magnets to go on the back of all the facial pieces.  I added two small magnets to each bag for the mom to attach to the back of each face, if they choose to.  The faces can be placed on the refrigerator or on a cookie sheet for play time.  To make this activity travel friendly the mom has the option of printing the faces onto a magnetic sheet after the fact.  In the original post there were no faces...the creator placed all the pieces in a small round tin for storage and play time.

 
 

12.  HomemadeFishing Game:  A magnetized fishing game.  (This has been a huge hit with our boys!)

                      

a.      Construction paper or foam*

                  b.      Laminator (if you use construction paper)
                   c.    Optional:  Safety Pins
                   c.       Magnets*
                   d.      Yarn
                   e.      Dowl rod

*Our mom choose to use a type of safety pin and stick it through the fish's mouth; only using one large magnet on the end of the fishing pole. 


13.  Button Snake:  Approximately 20 small rectangle felt pieces with a small slit cut in the middle.  One piece of felt sewn to the end of a piece of ribbon (about 8" long), with a button sewn to the other end of the ribbon.  The kids are just supposed to sew the button through all the felt pieces. 

                 a.  felt
                 b.  ribbon
                 c.  button
                 d.  scissors
                 e.  needle and thread (Optional: sewing machine)

 

14.   Hot Glue Rubbing Plates:  5 pieces of cardboard with different designs on them made with hot glue.  The kids then take paper and crayon and rub over the design. 

                  a. cardboard
                  b.  Optional: Spray Paint
                  c. glue gun
                  d. crayons
                  e. paper (will need to be replaced by mom as needed)
                 
*Our mom choose to spray paint the cardboard pieces different colors and she put designs on both the front and back of the cardboard. 


15. MeasureIt: An activity for measuring different pictures with different items.

                   a.  Printer.  Printable found here.
                   b. various pieces of string, twine, ribbon, straws, etc

 

16.   Spin and Spell:  A spelling game for beginners.  Each nut contains a different set of letters and the child spins them around till a word can be made.  Word cards can be printed out for those learning so they can match up the letters on the nuts with the letters on the cards.

a.      large bolt

                   b.      1 screw on nut
                   c.       3 larger nuts that will spin around bolt

d.      Stick on letters*, or a label maker
1st nut: FLMNRS
2nd nut: AEIUO
3rd nut: DGPTS

                  e.     please print off cards with possible word combinations  (printable HERE)

*If you can't purchase enough stickers for all the bolts, a label maker is a great alternative!  A permanent marker won't work.  :(

     17.   EyeSpy Bottle:  A small plastic bottle with small items for the child to find hidden in the rice.  Include a list or pictures of the items the child should be looking for.

 

                   a.  Small plastic bottle with the label removed - maybe a mini Gatorade bottle since they have wide mouths, but depending on what you add inside a water bottle would probably work
                    b.  glue gun or gorilla glue to glue the cap on
                    c.  rice
                    d.  small items that will fit in your bottle.
                    e.  Optional:  Camera, printer, & laminator to take pictures of the items going in the bottle.

 

18.  Lacing Cards:  Different shapes cut out of craft foam with holes punched evenly all around the sides.  Yarn or shoe laces for the child to lace the shapes with.

                    a. Craft foam*
                    b. Shoe laces, string
                    c. Printable from link, or just general shapes

19.  Pattern:  Different pattern sequences.  Extra pieces for the child to finish the pattern.  Minimum of 5 different cards/patterns with enough extra pieces to continue patterns.

                     a.  Printer (Printable found HERE.)
                     b.  Laminator
                     c.  Velcro dots to attach the extra pieces*
                   

20.   Cube Counting Tray:  An ice cube tray with each cube numbered and a bag of small items like beads or beans.  The child would put the corresponding number of beads into the ice cube trays.

            a.  Ice cube tray or egg carton
            b.  Magic Marker or label maker
            c.  Beans or beads*
 

 21.  Pipe Cleaner Beading:  Different colored pipe cleaners and beads.  Child is then supposed to thread the colored beads onto the same colored pipe cleaners.  If your child is too young for color recognition it’s great for motor skills.  You can also add number learning to this activity by specifying how many beads you want him/her to put on each pipe cleaner.

a.       Pipe Cleaners*

             b.      Beads*

  Whether you are choosing to do a Swap or just make some activities of your own, hopefully these posts will help to make it all easier.  :)  Let me know if you have any questions!!!