Valentine's Day party

One thing I really love about being blessed to stay at home with Lindy is that I can participate in her school functions. Yesterday she had her Valentine's Day party at school.

Beforehand, she had homework--to decorate her treat bag.

So on Wednesday morning she spent time blinging her bag. She was thrilled to use glue, stickers, and glitter glue. Have I mentioned I'm a bit of a control freak when it comes to crafting with Lindy? She is a messy child and being messy doesn't bother her ONE BIT.
In the past I've experienced some frustration when doing these types of activities with her because she just won't sit and work on something for very long. (Did I mention she's three?) This time I was so proud that she sat there for a while intently working on her assignment.

She was very proud of the end result and if you'll notice the shiny streak of glitter glue, that is NOT a mistake. It is a very intentional #1 according to Miss Lindy. They've been studying numbers in school this month.


The mothers take turns volunteering to help with the parties. The first station was a food activity. YUM! She LOVED frosting and decorating her little heart cake and subsequently savored every pink morsel!

After the food station, she went and played games and sang songs...

Here she is showing off her Valentine bead heart that she made.


Then it was time for some fun on the playground. I'm glad she stuck to the swings since she was wearing a dress (thanks Grandma & Grandpa) and tights and maryjanes...

I really have to hand it to teachers. After 90 minutes in a school environment, I'm EXHAUSTED! I feel so thankful for the love and commitment they show for kids on a daily basis!

Happy Valentine's Day!

One can only wonder...

...how this happened at preschool.

BTW, anyone have any tips on removing Play-Doh from clothing?

San Antonio Asian Festival

Last Saturday while Mommy was away, Daddy took me to the San Antonio Asian Festival downtown. We met up with my little friend, Lily, and her mommy and daddy. I got to wear my pretty Chinese dress and Daddy even put a matching red and gold bow in my hair. I liked hanging out with Lily. I'm quite the helper when it comes to Lily and Miss Elissa is very patient with me when I help.

Our first stop was to watch the Chinese Lion Dancers. Truth be told, I was kind of scared at first...Between the big scary lions and the loud drums, I got kind of worried. Daddy took care of me and after a while I had lots of fun watching and listening. The lions are so colorful!


A big part of the fun was eating some yummy food! I am a big fan of Chinese food and I frequently request it. I especially love dumplings, wonton soup, egg drop soup, and fortune cookies. I also love to eat sushi but we didn't get any at the festival. Confucius says, "Wise man steers clear from sushi sold at festivals..." My daddy is pretty wise, no matter what Mommy says sometimes.


There was a lot to see and do at the festival--more than we could fit in during three hours. Daddy decided it was time to go when the REALLY big men in REALLY big diaper-looking outfits came out and were hugging each other. I thought that was pretty silly. I have already been asking to go again. Maybe next year Mommy will get to go. I'm really glad my daddy is so much fun and took me out for a fun Saturday outing.

The End

Words...

How can it be that three months from today, my baby will be four years old? That sounds REALLY old to me. Okay, okay, it might not be really old but it sounds less like a baby and more like a kid. I haven't been blogging as much recently because we've been busy with life and sometimes it doesn't seem like there are as many milestones to record as when she was a baby and toddler. Neither my photography skills or equipment are good enough to warrant just taking and posting a bunch of pictures of her. However, every day I'm amazed by my sweet child and fully aware that she is changing and showing more signs of being a bigger kid...

One of the areas I see Lindy growing by leaps and bounds is in her language skills. Lindy is a very verbal child and has been that way for what seems like forever. If you've met her, you know I'm not exaggerating and I don't say that to brag. She speaks very clearly and uses big words and long sentences. Hmmm...somewhere in the recesses of my memory I remember a chubby little girl who got teased at school for that very same thing.

Lindy cracks me up with what she says and lately I've really noticed that she isn't just talking in such a random manner but that she's carrying on(and dominating) very full, deep, and long conversations. She also experiments with words and sometimes she uses certain words in perfect context, other times she's not quite there...
Within the last couple of months I've heard her exclaim, "awesome," "that's cool," and, much to my chagrin and surprise, "that's BORING," and "I hate this." BIG NO NO! She also says, "whatever" but not the sassy version. Just the laid back, go with the flow version...The other night over a Philadelphia cheesesteak, she saw a picture of the Liberty Bell (which she still calls the Crackin' Bell) and said, "Don't look at me, I didn't do it."
I really felt the twinge of her big girl ways when I heard her make mention of H*nnah M*ntana not too long ago in a store. What?! Where on earth did that come from? Since then, she's mentioned H*nnah M*ntana several times and commented that she has long, straight, yellow hair and that she sings. Not sure who is sneaking this stuff to her but so far the J*nas Br*thers haven't come up as a topic, so I feel pretty safe that we haven't been completely infiltrated by Disney.
As I hear Lindy adding more words to her vocabulary, learning how to use them, and wanting to know what they mean, I am reminded how important it is for me to make good choices with the words I choose and how I use them.

There are so many challenges that come with raising a child and one of them is the added accountability. I think this verse in Proverbs 16:24 is perfect to dwell on and share with Lindy, "Pleasant words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health to the bones."

So, here's to sweeter souls and healthier bones for all of us!!!

A very princess Christmas

Although we try not to be excessive with gifts, it would be impossible to cart them to where ever we are for Christmas. So, while Santa had located Lindy in Colorado, we celebrated our Christmas at home on New Year's Eve. Santa, Mommy and Daddy, and some of Lindy's other gift givers were all on the same page when it came to Christmas 2008. The theme was definitely princesses, princesses, princesses.





Lindy also got a great art easel from Grandma and Grandpa.

She still LOVES to cook in the pink kitchen she got last year and was happy to get some new gadgets for the kitchen.


It would be easy to have a complete priss on our hands but we also want to appeal to her athletic side, too.

While most of the presents were for Lindy. Mommy and Daddy got a couple, too...



For years I always heard people talking about how kids make Christmas fun and what a blast it is experiencing it through their eyes. After having Lindy for three Christmases now, I totally get it.

Colorado Christmas

Better late than never, I am finally documenting our Christmas in Colorado. We spent close to a week in Estes Park visiting Don's family. Twelve guests and one puppy converged on what I imagine is normally a quiet household in a very peaceful location with deer, elk, and an occasional bobcat in the yard...


Lindy was very excited to play with her five cousins. No offense boys, but she especially enjoyed playing princess with Sadie (19 months), Livi (3.5), and Brooke (6.5).


She also enjoyed being with her grandparents and aunts and uncles.




There were presents on Christmas eve, as well as Christmas morning. Santa with all his wisdom managed to find Lindy in Colorado. On Christmas morning the first thing Lindy asked was, "Is there snow?" Then she quickly followed up with, "Did Santa come?" What fun it was watching all the kids open their treasures...



There wasn't nearly as much snow as we had hoped for and there was a whole LOT more cold than we could fathom. It was REALLY cold and REALLY windy. Thankfully, the natives hooked us up with some extra gear to protect us from the elements and help keep us warm so that we could venture out in the snow and walk the streets of Estes.





On our last day in Estes we went to a local glass shop where the artisans make their wares in front of the public. It was fun to watch the artist construct a bowl in a matter of minutes.


Despite many of the family members fighting sickness, everyone had fun playing, visiting, shopping, watching sports, and of course--EATING.

Stay tuned for another post about Christmas and some other pre-Christmas catch up posts.