Easter Swap

We received our Easter Swap package today! Our swap family sent us so many wonderful gifts:) It was as if they knew us for years! The craft stencils, egg decorating tools, stamps, animals, candy, fun chalkboards, German egg ornaments and so much more! This is our second swap and we are still learning the ins and outs. One thing our swap family did that I loved was send postcards from their area for us to see. Such a fun little look into where they live, something I will definately do in future swaps. Thank you Morrisa and family for the wonderful gifts and thank you Wee Pereas for organizing the swap!!! Here are some pictures of our gifts we received and what we sent...

The kids opening our package...

The kids opening our package...

Kb and Kg were hiding the butterflies from our package in the grass and then finding them again!

A close up of the German Easter egg ornaments. More info under the next picture...aren't they just gorgeous!

One of my favorite gifts are these decorated eggs. Our swap family said German homes have a tree decorated with the eggs ornaments on their dining table. We have a little Easter tree decorated with eggs and we added these eggs to our tree. They are beautiful eggs, we love them! R also wanted some rafiti on the tree(she was the master decorator:)

Not sure Kb is holding the animal given to him...he has since claimed the sheep as his! This family knew us well!! We love animals and the kids have spent the night carrying their animals around giving them a tour of our house!

We opened our package right before dinner. For dessert the kids got to try some candy. They loved the chocolate bunnies:) Kg is also chewing a gummy here, had to try a couple things!

My absolute favorite part of our package. These are post cards from the area where they live. Their mom wrote messages on each card...just a wonderful idea and so enjoyable. I wish I would have thought to do the same.

These gummy candies are sooo good! I was hoping the kids wouldn't enjoy them so I could have them all. The kids liked them too...they just saved me from eating them all:)


Morrisa and Family-Stop Reading! This is the info on what we sent, your package is on the way:)

Our swap family had three boys in the preteen ages. I have no idea how to shop for boys that age so I hope we did okay! I was told that they would like American candy(they live overseas in a different country). I have not shipped anything like this overseas before so I wasn't sure what type of temperature they would end up in. I decided I would package every type of candy in separate baggies so if something melted it only melted on similar candy...hope that works okay! I also was told they like to read. I didn't think boys that age would want typical Easter stories so I looked for chapter books for their age that were newer, hoping they wouldn't have read them(I also tried to find stories that fit their interests I was told of). The kids and I then picked out some craft kits. One is a kit to make bouncy balls, one for each boy. The other is a car making kit. From what we read on the package you can assemble and decorate these cars. Then you can race them. For mom we sent a platter in the shape of an Easter egg(decorated with pink and purple...two colors she enjoys). Also, some dark chocolate and a purple stamp pad/flower stamp for her card making hobby!

We used pink and purple paper to wrap everything and give an Easter look!

Party Theme Ideas?

I need some help!! I play bunko with a great group of ladies once a month. The March hostess came up with a great idea to have a Mexican Fiesta Theme...it was a lot of fun and she went all out for it! April is my month to host and I need to think of a 'theme'?!? Ideas I had so far...

Italian Theme-Sangrias and italian food
Hawaiian-A fun punch, fruity/fresh spring type food
Sex and The City-Cosmos and food? Never saw them eat much and food is really an important part of the night so will this one work?

What do you think? I would love for people to share any ideas they have...I need something fun and I was hoping for a little original, which none of my ideas are! I know a couple of the Dicey Divas read this so please don't laugh at me for soliciting ideas:)

Saturday Fun

Kb went to visit Grandma and Papa while Daddy and Mommy were at classes with his sisters. He has never went to visit alone, a treat for him! Kb and Papa swept the driveway together(they really do enjoy these activites...they just need to work on their smiles for pictures:) Kb also played inside with Grandma. Grandma has lots of Easter eggs out for decoration and she let Kb take an Easter basket and 'shop' for eggs. He was having a lot of fun with this when Kg and I arrived!

Kg and Mommy had swim class. Kg loves it, nothing like the little girl on vacation in Florida. She jumps in, goes under water and blows bubbles all the time! She also has class with Cousin H and Auntie L, which makes it even more fun! I am in the water with Kg so I didn't get any pictures...here is a cute one of us in Florida:)
R and Daddy went to Zoo School. They had a great time and R made some really cute projects! Daddy did say that every time he goes to Zoo School the weather is icky and he has to walk across the entire zoo to see the animal they are learning about:)

Handwriting Without Tears

I have had a few people ask me questions about the Handwriting Without Tears program I rave about. Let me say that we have NOT had any formal training for this program. We are parents that wanted to do the best thing we could for our child. This program works great for R. A little background may help explain. R has low muscle tone and ADHD...some of the side effects of her Intraventricular Hemorrhage that developed in her first days of life. She had difficulty gripping a pencil, writing her name and focusing on the task when we started HWT in Dec. 08. Now, three months later, R can write her first, last name and most letters of the alphabet with pretty nice letter form. We have also worked on getting her to write smaller in size. She used to write her first name and take up an entire page. Today she wrote these letters below on this lined paper. Some may look at this and think it isn't that great, the letters aren't perfect in shape or on the line. That is true, but if you think that three months ago she had difficulty even gripping her pencil to write any letters...she has made huge gains! I got off on a tangent, sorry. What I am trying to say is that this program has worked wonderfully for R and we plan to use this program with Kb and Kg when they are ready to start writing letters. For a child that you would like to teach to write their letters or that is having difficulty learning I, as a parent, would highly recommend this program. We are fortunate to have R's private OT and now the school district OT as guides to help and answer our questions. I am sorry to say I don't know how to start on your own without any guidance(a teacher or OT in your area that teaches it???). For R we have the practice book(which I photocopy pages out of), a CD and mini chalkboards(for markers we started with the PipSqueak from Crayola and I broke crayons in half so they were shorter). I really would like to get the wood pieces next! Hope this helps answer some questions!

'New School'

R started at her 'new school' today! She is going to the public Early Childhood one afternoon a week. They work on Handwriting Without Tears, PT and other skills. Perfect for her to practice and work on these skills! She had a great time today...here she is after school today:) She is still continueing at her preschool and other activites, this is just in addition!

When It's Cold Outside...

...the spring fun must come inside...

Letter H

H is for...Hands and Hello Kitty! I also thought of Halloween, I just didn't have any leftover supplies(it is March so I think I get a pass:)

Payloader Rides

Once again I was reminded that I ALWAYS need to carry my camera with me! Today we had lunch with Daddy, Grandma and Papa at work. We hadn't planned for this and I didn't have my camera with me. One of the guys took a picture with his phone for us(thank you L:)! The guys took out a paper tray and put in a 'kid seat'. Kb loves riding with Papa(he is with Papa in the picture). R rode with Papa once last year and she didn't care for it. Today was the first day she rode with him again and she loved it! We asked Kg if she wanted a ride and she replied, "nope". Looking was enough for her!

In the middle is Papa, to the right is Kb

Day Trip North

We took a trip north today to check on our camper. It is still there and looks great! It smelled like new and we didn't have any rodent issues this past winter! This was our first winter leaving it north and we hadn't seen it since we closed it in the fall so we weren't quite sure what to expect. The kids had fun visiting the camper and the playgrounds(okay, playgrounds were their favorite part:). We are all ready and excited for camping season!!!

This slide was fast...the final curve made you fly down(at least I did)!

The kids learned the chain ladder in no time!

Kg had a lot of fun playing outside!

R reclaimed her sleeping place!

Our little monkeys jumping on the bed(and hiding in the cabinets)!

Finally...Ice Cream

It is finally warm enough out to enjoy dilly bars outside! This is a favorite for the kids during the summer and they had their first treats today:)

Happy Easter from Grandma and Papa

Grandma and Papa gave the kids an early Easter present...a glider for the swing set!

R pulled up a chair and was reading the directions, ready to help!

Papa came over to help R and Daddy assemble the glider today!

The kids LOVE the glider, thank you Grandma and Papa!!

More Springtime Fun

We had another gorgeous weather day today! Here are a few pics...:)

I already broke one of my outdoor rules...dress up dresses were for inside, not swinging. Well, they are washable and what is cuter than a little girl running(rolling, jumping, playing in the sand...) through the yard in tule!

Papa was over to play..Kg recruited him as her swing partner!

This is from yesterday(when a coat and hat were necessary)! We are starting a new project here(yes, we are project people. For those of you that know us in person this doesn't shock you that we have something else going on here. We always have a list of projects and try to accomplish one a year). Digger hotline came out to mark our yard so we(by 'we' I mean the guys doing the masonary work...yeah, yippy, yes we are not doing this project ourselves:) can dig a few holes. Kb had a lot of fun driving around collecting and relocating the flags! We made sure the flags stayed in place until the guys saw them and marked where they were digging)!

Welcome Spring!

We have had such nice weather this week that we were outside for most of it! Hence, my lack of posts here. Here are a few pictures of our week's highlights...

Grandma and Grandpa H made the playhouse even more welcoming! 'Welcome To Our Pad':)

Today's outfit...mardi gra beads(a gift from our Valentine Swap partners), sunglasses on her head like mom wears them and the favorite pink dress:)

Golf cart season has arrived! Papa and Grandma took us for our first ride of the season. Papa still needs to attach the car seats, we made due this time(Mommy sat with the two kiddos:)

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

What a great day! Gorgeous weather and lots of fun. We spent the morning outside playing in the yard. The kids got to play with some of their neighborhood friends! This afternoon we celebrated St. Patrick's Day with dh's family! I have quite a few pictures...A new game the little ones learned. You can throw the balls in the window and out the dutch door(and vice versa)! A lot of running is involved...running to throw the balls inside to throw them out and then running outside to catch them:)

We had our first lunch outside of the season!

R's St. Patrick's Day shirt...

Kb's St. Patrick's Day shirt...

Kg's St. Patrick's Day shirt...

Uncle N doing a little Irish Jig:)

Cousin J dancing too!

Little H dancing:)

R doing a little Irish dance!

B helping Kg twirl!

M and C enjoying the weather(love the hat C:)

Playing a 'flag game'. Who knew it was so fun to run underneath the flag!

Kg and H playing

Cousin B and Auntie M saying cheese!

Some of the guys hanging out!

More playtime for the kiddos

Thank you for hosting St. Patrick's Day Grandma and Grandpa H, we had a lot of fun!