Elfie the Decorator

Looks like someone wanted to add to my tree! 

Whoops..

Looks like Elfie (his new name today) got hungry. He must know I like a clean house! Can you spot the Christmas shout out?!

Ellie visits The Kenny's

As much as I know I need to update my blog on all things October..I wanted to share with you all, Ellie, our elf. He was named by Cara..and surprisingly not princess themed. We recently read The Elf on the Shelf and it prompted me to have some fun this year with it. I have decided our elf, Ellie, is a little silly. He likes to get into the girls stuff and make em laugh. So I will be posting pictures each day of Ellie's adventures at our house. Enjoy!

The Mind Jar

So I have been absolutely obsessed with Pinterest lately. For those of you unfamiliar, it is a smorgasbord of all things awesome! People pin a bunch of great ideas for having young kids..and I take full advantage of their FREE ideas.

So I came across something called a mind jar. Honestly, I was attracted to the glitter, cause that is Cara's weakness, next to candy. A mind jar, is basically a way to get kids to calm down and take a deep breath. So the premise is when kids are losing it i.e. having a meltdown because they want to do anything they want without rules, you shake the jar. Once shaken, all the glitter loosens and matches the craziness of the child. But as you watch it, in complete silence, you watch the glitter swirl and swirl until it settles at the bottom. And by the time it's done, ideally the kids have calmed. I saw this concept and went to the store immediately to get materials. I got a small ball canning jar. Added a tbls. of glitter glue to a cup or 2 of warm water. I also added some red food coloring and extra glitter to make it more appealing. We tried it out last night..and it was awesome. I set a rule that once the jar is shaken, no one talks until the glitter settles. They both sat on the ground and just watched it. It was awesome. I have yet to use it during a meltdown, but surely it will relax them, even if for only a moment so I can gather my thoughts!

He Smiles

This video is worth every 2 minutes and 11 seconds.

Gymnastics

Cara just completed her second session of Gymnastics this week. She's in level 2, and I must say I'm pretty impressed. Most classes, the parents sit in a room and observe through a big window or watch the kids on the tv's..so you can't hear them. Well, for her last class, they let the parents sit in the room and take pictures and video. It was such a great experience. I am amazed sometimes how smart 3 year olds are, more amazed at their memory! They warm up playing a bunch of different games. It's funny cause sometimes randomly Cara will say "what do you wanna feed the alligator" and will spread out her arms and legs. I just go with it and feed the thing. It all makes sense now that I saw them do that in warm up. Their teacher is fantastic! She really engages the girls. I captured a pretty awesome video of Cara doing a flip over the bars. Please excuse my video quality though..it's terrible!

Enjoy!







This is the alligator game. Also worth noting, Emmy and Cara, best friends, insist sitting on top of each other.

Fall is coming..

Yes, it's Mid-August meaning Fall is on the cusp of making it's debut! I love Fall.

1. Christmas
2. Fall

My two favorite times of the year.

So summer is winding down. It's been a hot one! I received a newsletter from Georgia Power on how to save on my electric bill and found it humorous I was just now, middle of August, receiving it. Could have probably helped me better in May when the temps started reaching 90's.

Girls are doing great! Sam had her 18 mos. appointment last month (don't judge me, we were a little behind). She's doing great! Definitely petite and quiet. I'm going to go ahead and confirm, she isn't taking after me or my side of the family. She's saying some more words lately and really starting to show her personality. She's definitely the baby of the family and loves her Momma. Her latest thing is taking off her diaper. I am thinking we may be pre pre stages of potty training. I say pre pre, because when I put her on potty she screams. Fingers crossed though, it's around the corner. I would love to check off diapers on the grocery list. Sam and I are going to start attending MOPS. It's a faith based mothers of preschoolers group that meets at a church by us. They provide childcare and the mothers get together and gab about being moms..of well, preschoolers. I HAVE to start getting Sam used to the idea of being left with others. She is NOT a fan. I feel like that will be a good situation since I'll be right outside.

We just registered Cara for Pre-K this week. She starts next week. She will be attending Discovery Point in their Pre-K II program. They decipher by age because I felt like she should be in the final Pre-K program, but since she's an October baby she doesn't make the cut. I guess I'm okay with her being the oldest/smartest kid in the class...lol. It's a bittersweet milestone! She's continuing in another session of gymnastics and next up is dance. I also have her registered to take a Young Chefs class this fall.

Busy, busy fall ahead!

I have confirmed our dates for Clearwater/Disney. October 10th through 13th. We will be staying at the Hyatt in Clearwater for two days to get our beach time in.

Looks like it's gonna be a miserable stay...


After that, Magic Kingdom or Bust!


Cara's actual birthday gift is having dinner at Cinderella's Castle, which includes a photo package and a meet and great with Disney princesses! Followed by a firework show! I will be taking a gazillion pictures, and will probably be sharing mobile uploads as we are there. I can not WAIT! I wanna do something special for Sam as well, so I'm still doing research.

After we return we will be having a joint birthday party for the two, and hopefully, fingers crossed, we'll have some Cinci visitors in town for it!

Less than two months away for vacay..can't wait!