tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-55852842996803016052024-03-20T19:25:13.476-04:00Nestful of loveNest: a place of retreat, (n.)
rest, or lodging.
Sharing stories about life and motherhood from my "nest" to yours. Enjoy!Allisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00217225673648347364noreply@blogger.comBlogger897125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5585284299680301605.post-4664364361019557732020-09-11T20:51:00.000-04:002020-09-11T20:51:16.913-04:00Yoko {Book Summary + Letter Activity}<p><img alt="Yoko" border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="976" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4sVR9-tYHK_qn0h8UIbYs-TGAe6_CYvs0Jw4Z6Sq87UshHIzkOlnXDLGosfd6xE47sAc1VyC2UUKwpjZ7Hl4F99NRH-dj8FyNjNwUek3GhjgZtd1LzRHnRK2zCf0e2i8udbL-DRov3vE/w733-h976/Yoko+1.jpeg" style="text-align: center;" width="733" /></p><div class="bi6gxh9e" data-block="true" data-editor="54ull" data-offset-key="m2cd-0-0" style="background-color: white; margin-bottom: 8px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="m2cd-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><span data-offset-key="m2cd-0-0"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><b>The Book:</b> <u>Yoko</u> by Rosemary Wells. A book about a little kitty named Yoko who loves sushi. At lunchtime at her school, Yoko quickly realizes her classmates think her food is gross. So her teacher steps in and a classmate soon discovers sushi might not be so bad after all! </span></span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="m2cd-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><span data-offset-key="m2cd-0-0"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" data-block="true" data-editor="54ull" data-offset-key="ct9l7-0-0" style="background-color: white; margin-bottom: 8px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="ct9l7-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><span data-offset-key="ct9l7-0-0"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><b>The Activity:</b> Matching letters in our name to letters in foods using dotters</span></span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="ct9l7-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Start by finding some pictures of food (from a magazine, grocery ad, stickers, etc) Place these items on a blank page and spell out each food item leaving a little space between each letter. </span></span></li></ul></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="ct9l7-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Give your child something to identify the letters in the food that are the same as in their name. We used dotters because they are fun, but they could underline or even circle the letters instead
</span></span></li><li><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">We also took time to talk about the importance of our words and respecting others who might enjoy things that we don’t (“Don’t yuck on someone else’s yum.”</span></li></ul><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYcnvsxrBRchhmtvakdhYubWPeujiVYh-NAlFRCSedEoubedEr2WJafqosiHOEinhw3wCTJJCWizgOH9uK1Yz5BeWgvBBW_1yvH5TdpagGDYx5j_Yk53DKFveBFBrQNVAGLAd-QxWjqnk/s2048/Yoko+2.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="976" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYcnvsxrBRchhmtvakdhYubWPeujiVYh-NAlFRCSedEoubedEr2WJafqosiHOEinhw3wCTJJCWizgOH9uK1Yz5BeWgvBBW_1yvH5TdpagGDYx5j_Yk53DKFveBFBrQNVAGLAd-QxWjqnk/w733-h976/Yoko+2.jpeg" width="733" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: transparent;">If you want to see videos of this activity in action (and more activities like it) follow me on </span><a href="https://www.instagram.com/nestful_of_books/" style="background-color: transparent;">Instagram</a><span style="background-color: transparent;"> or </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/700516467462399" style="background-color: transparent;">Facebook</a><span style="background-color: transparent;">! And if you like this activity, please pin it to Pinterest!</span></span></div></div></div>Allisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00217225673648347364noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5585284299680301605.post-13607577396602308152020-09-11T15:57:00.005-04:002020-09-11T15:57:55.345-04:00I Like Myself! {Book Summary + Activity}<p><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="976" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoBKBad1K4_83nt1lQx7jmJZtN_z54t6BYmLJE7GPqMtxXPOqi3pvPV-10cn_Bxe00eFyb1rp4no1VeCzrcx4CNzeiFc_kOXyAOXBCWRhMP96VK_Mu8o2Fj5WwfUhUZKygbigvw2av7OU/w733-h976/i+like+myself.jpeg" style="text-align: center;" width="733" /></p><p></p><div class="bi6gxh9e" data-block="true" data-editor="81p5s" data-offset-key="2nboe-0-0" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-size: 15px; margin-bottom: 8px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="2nboe-0-0" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit; position: relative;"><span data-offset-key="2nboe-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;"><b>The Book:</b> I Like Myself! By Karen Beaumont. A book about a little girl who is determined to love herself no matter what. No matter what people say or if she has purple polka dotted lips, she knows who she is on the inside and loves herself. A perfect book for the beginning of the school year and for teaching self affirmations! ❤️ (See a preview in the COMMENTS!)</span></div></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" data-block="true" data-editor="81p5s" data-offset-key="9mtdu-0-0" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-size: 15px; margin-bottom: 8px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="9mtdu-0-0" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit; position: relative;"><span data-offset-key="9mtdu-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;"></span></div></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" data-block="true" data-editor="81p5s" data-offset-key="5g84t-0-0" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-size: 15px; margin-bottom: 8px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="5g84t-0-0" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit; position: relative;"><span data-offset-key="5g84t-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;"><b>The Activity:</b> Uniquely you (name/letter recognition and positive self talk)</span></div></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" data-block="true" data-editor="81p5s" data-offset-key="dh99s-0-0" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-size: 15px; margin-bottom: 8px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="dh99s-0-0" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit; position: relative;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="dh99s-0-0" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit; position: relative;"><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: inherit;">Write your child’s name in big letters on a piece of paper
</span><br /></li><li>Set out some small items and glue for child to decorate the letters of their name! I used a bag of sequins I got on Amazon and some small stickers. They could also use paint, markers, dotters—>whatever you have on hand.
<br /></li><li>Make sure to go over each letter and sound in their name as they are working
<br /></li><li>I also had my boys share what they love about themselves and then we looked in the mirror and said nice things to ourselves as I know the importance of self affirmation especially at the beginning of something new (like the school year!)</li></ul></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="976" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNW28PEcs2ZE1Zf0CkEYcVU4faWIYUGdhS17hlCq_KRugLKpBvgu7iYdo2ot4TiJ6UQL_RdIS6C4RFnSG0QMoQmE4yqdynF7ZXZKVwQPYyia4xX_5AQo2bPyJMOHDJLwCSAGq7-5A6VwE/w733-h976/i+like+myself2.jpeg" width="733" /></div><p>If you want to see videos of this activity in action (and more activities like it) follow me on <a href="https://www.instagram.com/nestful_of_books/">Instagram</a><span> or </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/700516467462399">Facebook</a><span>! And if you like this activity, please pin it to Pinterest!</span></p>Allisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00217225673648347364noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5585284299680301605.post-38698648489034597612020-08-20T11:46:00.000-04:002020-08-20T11:46:04.260-04:00Freight Train {Book Summary + Freight Train Sponge Stamps}<div><div class="bi6gxh9e" data-block="true" data-editor="96vvj" data-offset-key="bl7tf-0-0" style="background-color: white; margin-bottom: 8px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="bl7tf-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><span data-offset-key="bl7tf-0-0"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkHcD2Jh4wqV2FFUtC5tmHB-6jltk6FOyJ_u9_D8ZwBn96AjRME4N8r-ymcgoZUp8YcGswwCMGog2MchJHBI1Usjj_5uMvZZk0V5pMcCQBzkvyTiX3i1uObN5ZYsMdeQBGYIqcoGNTujY/s2016/image0+%25284%2529.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2016" data-original-width="1512" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkHcD2Jh4wqV2FFUtC5tmHB-6jltk6FOyJ_u9_D8ZwBn96AjRME4N8r-ymcgoZUp8YcGswwCMGog2MchJHBI1Usjj_5uMvZZk0V5pMcCQBzkvyTiX3i1uObN5ZYsMdeQBGYIqcoGNTujY/s640/image0+%25284%2529.jpeg" /></a></div><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="bl7tf-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><span data-offset-key="bl7tf-0-0"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-large;"><b><u>The Book:</u></b> Freight Train by Donald Crews. Follow a colorful freight train on it’s journey through tunnels, over bridges until it is going, going...gone. Simple words and fun illustrations make this a great book for all the train lovers.</span></span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="bl7tf-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="bl7tf-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-large;"><u style="font-weight: bold;">The Activity:</u> Sponge stamping to create your own freight train (inspired by @buggyandbuddy)</span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="bl7tf-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="bl7tf-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-large;">Start by cutting 3 rectangular sponges in half so you have 6 total sponges, one for each color. (We chose to only use one shade of blue.) Set out a few paper plates with the paint on them.</span></li></ul></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="bl7tf-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-large;">Have your child use the sponges as stamps and re-create the freight train from the story.</span></li></ul></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="bl7tf-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-large;">Use a marker to connect the train cars when the paint has dried. </span></li></ul></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="bl7tf-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-large;">After my kids made their train I let them have full artistic creativity over their next creations. My five year old made his next train fast and blurry like one of the illustrations. I love allowing them artistic freedom to see what they do. </span></li></ul></div></div></div><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-large;"><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTIzIoj3q-xuXuSR0N56Uk0e-yew39i-0R5LSmePlApBcrRWV6lbuA-kugwjvbzsFI1EW4d4uRm7pWc65ckwRitjjgU4zSmEKmIKbK_VMA7_4bdWBCZyFV4KMB155j0oKQ2J0xt9beKQo/s2016/image2+%25282%2529.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2016" data-original-width="1512" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTIzIoj3q-xuXuSR0N56Uk0e-yew39i-0R5LSmePlApBcrRWV6lbuA-kugwjvbzsFI1EW4d4uRm7pWc65ckwRitjjgU4zSmEKmIKbK_VMA7_4bdWBCZyFV4KMB155j0oKQ2J0xt9beKQo/s640/image2+%25282%2529.jpeg" /></a></div><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></div>If you want to see videos of this activity in action follow me on <a href="https://www.instagram.com/nestful_of_books/" style="background-color: transparent;">Instagram</a><span style="background-color: transparent;"> or </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/700516467462399" style="background-color: transparent;">Facebook</a><span style="background-color: transparent;">! And if you like this activity, please pin it to Pinterest!</span></span><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></div>Allisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00217225673648347364noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5585284299680301605.post-9863963108959926862020-08-19T21:53:00.000-04:002020-08-19T21:53:00.867-04:00Ruby the Copycat {Book Summary + Copycat activity}<div class="bi6gxh9e" data-block="true" data-editor="4mikv" data-offset-key="8lk11-0-0" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; margin-bottom: 8px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="8lk11-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><span data-offset-key="8lk11-0-0"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-large;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1ytOxidIq7_5VPGuvwnQSgGtgw5wK9NJfjcwj4wU8KcohWidRohsNPIt-PEAQOi4nx42DkXFM3TGnkxPy1-Hl5pXgaVc23LGPxcS6X98x0c9x3qqyhh7DBQu90bkhBZJNQ1yvZ6bHX7I/s1440/image0+%25282%2529.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1440" data-original-width="1440" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1ytOxidIq7_5VPGuvwnQSgGtgw5wK9NJfjcwj4wU8KcohWidRohsNPIt-PEAQOi4nx42DkXFM3TGnkxPy1-Hl5pXgaVc23LGPxcS6X98x0c9x3qqyhh7DBQu90bkhBZJNQ1yvZ6bHX7I/s640/image0+%25282%2529.jpeg" /></a></div><b><br /></b></span></span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="8lk11-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><span data-offset-key="8lk11-0-0"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-large;"><b>The Book: </b>Ruby the Copycat by Peggy Rathmann. A book about Ruby, the new girl in class who just want to fit in...so she becomes a copycat. Things don’t work out quite as she expected and Ruby learns the importance of being true to who you are. </span></span></div></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" data-block="true" data-editor="4mikv" data-offset-key="3hbu-0-0" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; margin-bottom: 8px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="3hbu-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><br /></div></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" data-block="true" data-editor="4mikv" data-offset-key="5ucsn-0-0" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; margin-bottom: 8px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="5ucsn-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><span data-offset-key="5ucsn-0-0"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-large;"><b>The Activity:</b> Copycat! </span></span></div></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" data-block="true" data-editor="4mikv" data-offset-key="avall-0-0" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; margin-bottom: 8px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="avall-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span data-offset-key="avall-0-0"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-large;">Start by grabbing a baking sheet or round cake pan and adding some flour to it. </span></span></li></ul></div></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" data-block="true" data-editor="4mikv" data-offset-key="9csue-0-0" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; margin-bottom: 8px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="9csue-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span data-offset-key="9csue-0-0"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-large;"> Make a few cards with letters, numbers, words or shapes you want your child to COPY. </span></span></li></ul></div></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" data-block="true" data-editor="4mikv" data-offset-key="1gvq1-0-0" style="background-color: white; margin-bottom: 8px;"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="1gvq1-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><ul style="color: #050505; text-align: left; white-space: pre-wrap;"><li><span data-offset-key="1gvq1-0-0"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-large;">Show your child one card at a time and have them copy what is on the card using the flour. And then repeat!
</span></span></li><li><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-large;">To add some interest, write out a few actions on your cards to have them copy. (Bark like a dog, jump like a bunny, fly like a bird, etc.) Then let them make up their own unique drawings in the flour or actions for you to try!
</span></li></ul><div><span style="color: #050505; font-size: x-large;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEuftLT0qp2xUT-VMbDYYbAXlTeBw-2-cwLCIGwgECZF7YRq69okVZdyAzwfDr22sZqTkPWSKLOXXQj94STUQkW7B-QYkHpNsV_aRVGM2Z9iMz2Jrab3Q4XKL2JsD7umBhkPgkITyphg0/s1440/image1+%25283%2529.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1440" data-original-width="1440" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEuftLT0qp2xUT-VMbDYYbAXlTeBw-2-cwLCIGwgECZF7YRq69okVZdyAzwfDr22sZqTkPWSKLOXXQj94STUQkW7B-QYkHpNsV_aRVGM2Z9iMz2Jrab3Q4XKL2JsD7umBhkPgkITyphg0/s640/image1+%25283%2529.jpeg" /></a></div></span></div></div></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" data-block="true" data-editor="4mikv" data-offset-key="7hv2o-0-0" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; margin-bottom: 8px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="7hv2o-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-large;"><span style="background-color: transparent;">If you want to see videos of this activity in action follow me on </span><a href="https://www.instagram.com/nestful_of_books/" style="background-color: transparent;">Instagram</a><span style="background-color: transparent;"> or </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/700516467462399" style="background-color: transparent;">Facebook</a><span style="background-color: transparent;">! And if you like this activity, please pin it to Pinterest!</span></span></div></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></div>Allisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00217225673648347364noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5585284299680301605.post-19434969139093642032020-08-13T09:32:00.005-04:002020-08-13T09:34:37.450-04:00I'm A Dirty Dinosaur {Book Summary + Dirty Dino, Clean Dino Activity}<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRR8pEh7MJ5m0l9Zn7CPp8hpHcEruy7lFKsV-Xfhw2GCXuZwFw28wqAl1qeUwHYVW6C6SFt5w0R0G8Wg1d-NgIXXkdpV63aiOj0TxvU92oMCFZS3TIHR795fZp6xjs38VP2nMzk0SYN0w/s2048/IMG_0969.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRR8pEh7MJ5m0l9Zn7CPp8hpHcEruy7lFKsV-Xfhw2GCXuZwFw28wqAl1qeUwHYVW6C6SFt5w0R0G8Wg1d-NgIXXkdpV63aiOj0TxvU92oMCFZS3TIHR795fZp6xjs38VP2nMzk0SYN0w/s640/IMG_0969.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-large;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>The Book: </b>I’m A Dirty Dinosaur by Janeen Brian and Ann James. A book about a dinosaur who just loves mud. He adds mud to his head, then his face, belly, etc and has fun rhythm and repeating words making this a great story for acting out!</span><br /><span style="color: #050505;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>The Activity:</b> Dirty Dino—>Clean Dino</span><span style="color: #050505;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-large;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; white-space: pre-wrap;">Start by having your kids help you make chocolate pudding (and try not to eat it all).</span></span></li></ul></span></span><span style="color: #050505;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-large;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; white-space: pre-wrap;">Grab two plastic bins and some plastic figurines (we used dinosaurs to go with the book, but you could use any toy that will easily wipe clean)</span></span></li></ul></span></span><span style="color: #050505;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-large;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; white-space: pre-wrap;">Fill the first bin with chocolate pudding (the mud) and fill the second bin with water. (I recommend doing this activity outdoors as it is messy!)</span></span></li></ul></span></span><span style="color: #050505;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-large;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; white-space: pre-wrap;">Read the story and have your kids act out the story as you read it. When the Dino has finally had enough of being dirty, have your child put their Dirty Dinosaurs in the water (the swamp) to get clean! </span></span></li></ul></span></span></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span data-offset-key="5fu2e-0-0" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; text-align: left; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span data-text="true"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-large;">*And if you want to add this book to your collection, you can shop this book from my Usborne site, click here: <a href="https://p10887.myubam.com/">Shop Usborne!</a></span></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6PL-3Z77DGSab4L_JkWQd0yOL1bRhT9S602OJQ1heuwkNyv3965YzlBStabz3xB8AlMI9onixXVq82_cYF1Pi9N89LukJM271orYQ22R21OUdrAAhRFYEBJWf-OlAHKDpfs0aW_k_UKI/s828/IMG_0992.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="819" data-original-width="828" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6PL-3Z77DGSab4L_JkWQd0yOL1bRhT9S602OJQ1heuwkNyv3965YzlBStabz3xB8AlMI9onixXVq82_cYF1Pi9N89LukJM271orYQ22R21OUdrAAhRFYEBJWf-OlAHKDpfs0aW_k_UKI/s640/IMG_0992.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-large;"><span style="text-align: left;">If you want to see videos of this activity in action follow me on </span><a href="https://www.instagram.com/nestful_of_books/" style="text-align: left;">Instagram</a><span style="text-align: left;"> or </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/700516467462399" style="text-align: left;">Facebook</a><span style="text-align: left;">! And if you like this activity, please pin it to Pinterest!</span></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></div>Allisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00217225673648347364noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5585284299680301605.post-19382975440474607762020-08-13T09:23:00.002-04:002020-08-13T09:33:46.221-04:00Growing Vegetable Soup {Book Summary + Soup Sensory bins}<p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-large;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b></b></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-large;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhP3Iyx0RWRAd5cCZEMZtp4N4naSg1BYwwXRxyoRAoENoBhoZ7D1aiYwYmKVJMfuYtdZtt5jyfhSDnDKxo40UG4BuPl101HgkmQ9qC5cnsCvF16-Boyd119iZ11RWm7PsxwJHPNlCgEcbM/s2048/IMG_0929.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhP3Iyx0RWRAd5cCZEMZtp4N4naSg1BYwwXRxyoRAoENoBhoZ7D1aiYwYmKVJMfuYtdZtt5jyfhSDnDKxo40UG4BuPl101HgkmQ9qC5cnsCvF16-Boyd119iZ11RWm7PsxwJHPNlCgEcbM/s640/IMG_0929.JPG" /></a></b></span></div><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-large;"><b>The Book: </b>Growing Vegetable Soup by Lois Ehlert. A book about a family who plants vegetables in their garden and then takes care of them together so that they can turn their vegetables into soup. </span><p></p><div class="bi6gxh9e" data-block="true" data-editor="r2hn" data-offset-key="9ukil-0-0" style="background-color: white; margin-bottom: 8px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="9ukil-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-large;"><b><span data-offset-key="9ukil-0-0"></span>The Activity:</b> “Making” Vegetable Soup sensory bins </span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="9ukil-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></div></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" data-block="true" data-editor="r2hn" data-offset-key="26aoc-0-0" style="background-color: white; margin-bottom: 8px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="26aoc-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span data-offset-key="26aoc-0-0"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-large;">Grab a bin or basket to use as your “garden.” Fill with dried beans (or anything you have for a sensory bin filler: crushed cereal, rice, whatever! </span></span></li><li><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-large;">Grab some fake fruits and veggies (or draw some, cut them out and throw them in) and put them in the container you chose. Add in some other items if you have some: small shovels, gardening gloves, bugs, grocery bag, watering can, etc)</span></li><li><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-large;">Grab a big cooking pot and some kitchen tools (wooden spoons, empty seasoning containers, ladles, etc)</span></li><li><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-large;">Read the story and have your kids pretend to grow the soup and then make and “eat” the soup! </span></li></ul></div></div><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-large;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">If you want to see videos of this activity in action follow me on </span><a href="https://www.instagram.com/nestful_of_books/" style="font-family: inherit;">Instagram</a><span style="font-family: inherit;"> or </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/700516467462399" style="font-family: inherit;">Facebook</a><span style="font-family: inherit;">! And if you like this activity, please pin it to Pinterest!</span></div></span><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></div>Allisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00217225673648347364noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5585284299680301605.post-31965723570567675292020-08-09T22:23:00.003-04:002020-08-09T22:23:52.784-04:00Let's Play {Book Summary + Line Activity}<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img alt="Let's Play Activity" border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxRSdOM2Wd4rwqrXEr7RgmSIxrV7EpO15PjhXGrvXWzXgfBcLCS5PlrviJmF3owTObpFmQJhKQly_N8NMhOzHOQEPvu5ic8vNixJLnWTjm0AJ17uJHoJURJBL5rOBM6I2oz4H8SZCPiqU/w480-h640/IMG_0612.JPG" width="480" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="bi6gxh9e" data-block="true" data-editor="6f8s6" data-offset-key="fn2i4-0-0" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; margin-bottom: 8px; text-align: start; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="fn2i4-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><span data-offset-key="fn2i4-0-0" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-large;"><b>The Book:</b> Let’s Play! by Herve Tullet. An interactive book that takes you on a fun journey with a dot. (Check out his other dot books: Press Here and Say Zoop!) </span></div></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" data-block="true" data-editor="6f8s6" data-offset-key="2k2lf-0-0" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; margin-bottom: 8px; text-align: start; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="2k2lf-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><span data-offset-key="2k2lf-0-0" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-large;"></span></div></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" data-block="true" data-editor="6f8s6" data-offset-key="6c8s3-0-0" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; margin-bottom: 8px; text-align: start; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="6c8s3-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><span data-offset-key="6c8s3-0-0" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-large;"><b>The Activity: </b>Learning Types of Lines and creating patterns</span></div></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" data-block="true" data-editor="6f8s6" data-offset-key="c0gfl-0-0" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; margin-bottom: 8px; text-align: start; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="c0gfl-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span data-offset-key="c0gfl-0-0" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-large;">Go over the different kinds of lines that the DOTS played on in the book (straight, wavy, curly, zig zag, dotted) </span></li><li><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-large;">Have your child practice drawing different kinds of lines for their DOTS to travel on. </span></li><li><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-large;">Have them peel colored dot stickers and place them on their lines. You could also encourage the creation of patterns, create one for them and have them finish it, etc. So many different ways to play with lines and patterns with this book! </span></li></ul></div></div></div></div><p></p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-large;">
If you want to see videos of this activity in action follow me on <a href="https://www.instagram.com/nestful_of_books/">Instagram</a> or <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/700516467462399">Facebook</a>! And if you like this activity, please pin it to Pinterest! </span><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img alt="Let's Play! Activity" border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJzFtk_AYxi5h6aknMmjEFW9S2kE-JLeEdIc3eQy_Wd87H1Hz5r_lEuFUdt3qeU__qcn0o6DMM3NdVPO7svMkk3lq5R1lmszghTo_A5Nmpmu1f0Z3o54ETp36t4_ccwh_szuy22_RhPeY/w640-h480/IMG_0660.jpg" width="640" /></div></div>Allisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00217225673648347364noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5585284299680301605.post-18221748020878694952020-08-09T14:48:00.002-04:002020-08-09T14:50:39.166-04:00Pout Pout Fish {Book Summary + Activity}<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8tYiCuD9GNCEQWmBMys05tVdx7w3TqMOXyPJ837kS-o_yMsIA4nTxXzS_1QbE1bxMbOVvM8W7hbNT_PAczaZ1uLk7L3b-OAdvg9n-siZbDT7exsAkURAxbg6iAbamuv98NrJMBPx4Kos/s2048/IMG_0775.JPG" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8tYiCuD9GNCEQWmBMys05tVdx7w3TqMOXyPJ837kS-o_yMsIA4nTxXzS_1QbE1bxMbOVvM8W7hbNT_PAczaZ1uLk7L3b-OAdvg9n-siZbDT7exsAkURAxbg6iAbamuv98NrJMBPx4Kos/s640/IMG_0775.JPG" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizZ5ni0NYfefu4fJ5BY2G7XDZeE09NJsr1RShLeOKnF9Ou2vuIo9WB4bV3yqh_URZPCFdOkAM5LnIntd0mFzepv76j9iW5JQZrjVeIbkcSO5guXouJQYMTT7lBlJW2raJbVkQB0NKUlQw/s2048/IMG_0776.JPG" style="display: inline; padding: 1em 0px;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizZ5ni0NYfefu4fJ5BY2G7XDZeE09NJsr1RShLeOKnF9Ou2vuIo9WB4bV3yqh_URZPCFdOkAM5LnIntd0mFzepv76j9iW5JQZrjVeIbkcSO5guXouJQYMTT7lBlJW2raJbVkQB0NKUlQw/s640/IMG_0776.JPG" /></a></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-large;"><b>The Book: </b>The Pout-Pout Fish by Deborah Diesen. A book about a fish who thinks life is just glum until he meets a friend who makes him see his potential. He wasn’t made for pouting...there is more to life! </span></span></p><div class="bi6gxh9e" data-block="true" data-editor="5k1dp" data-offset-key="7fn49-0-0" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; margin-bottom: 8px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="7fn49-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><span data-offset-key="7fn49-0-0"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="7fn49-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><span data-offset-key="7fn49-0-0"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-large;"><b>The Activity:</b> Bubble stamping and interactive Pout-Pout fish for a story retelling</span></span></div><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="7fn49-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><span data-offset-key="7fn49-0-0"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></span></div></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" data-block="true" data-editor="5k1dp" data-offset-key="8vto9-0-0" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; margin-bottom: 8px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="8vto9-0-0" style="direction: ltr; position: relative;"><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span data-offset-key="8vto9-0-0"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-large;">I did this activity over the course of two days so depending on the ages of your kids you can split up these activities. </span></span></li><li><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-large;">I used toilet paper rolls as stamps (always save them for crafts!) And had my kids dip them in paint and stamp on paper to look like bubbles for our oceans</span></li><li><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-large;">I did my best to draw the Pout-Pout fish and did not draw a mouth on my fish. I drew the mouth separate and cut out both pieces and grabbed a push pin. </span></li><li><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-large;">Cut a small slit where the the fish’s mouth should go and use the push pin to attach the mouth. (This way the mouth can move from a frown to a smile.) Next read the book and have your kids turn the pout to a smile at the end of the book! Have them retell the story to you and act it out. </span></li></ul><div><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: x-large;">If you want to see videos of this activity in action follow me on <a href="https://www.instagram.com/nestful_of_books/">Instagram</a> or <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/700516467462399">Facebook</a>! And if you like this activity, please pin it to Pinterest! </span></div></div></div>Allisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00217225673648347364noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5585284299680301605.post-52386895241373726542020-08-09T14:36:00.006-04:002020-08-09T14:36:50.553-04:00Nestful of Books {A new adventure}<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCmS4bTzesk4MpP3a9aLMv-hxLm9iEQvLaNFYwq5Dd5Ka6cm7W6DX3D_9y78guJN6bd59gmjoQsBXh7NPs15ftz4KKJAyO-2B_f0cq9_MI6bLDOSul61O2Z0tHnoYaVd3nbGirnzTxLwk/s640/Nestful+of+Books+2.png" imageanchor="1" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0px;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCmS4bTzesk4MpP3a9aLMv-hxLm9iEQvLaNFYwq5Dd5Ka6cm7W6DX3D_9y78guJN6bd59gmjoQsBXh7NPs15ftz4KKJAyO-2B_f0cq9_MI6bLDOSul61O2Z0tHnoYaVd3nbGirnzTxLwk/s0/Nestful+of+Books+2.png" /></a>It has been a while friends! I am coming out of blog hibernation to start sharing some simple activities that go along with some of my favorite children's books. I know we are living in some weird and wild times (especially those of us who are also parenting right now!) so the former teacher in me has been reignited and I wanted to do something to inspire some creativity in myself and also to provide some resources to those of you who are trying to keep little hands busy right now! </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">I would love for you to follow along if this interests you. (I am also on Instagram and Facebook) I will still be throwing in some life updates here and there about my little boy tribe, but this page has always been a creative outlet for me so I am happy to be coming home to it and sharing some ideas that I hope will be helpful to you. So hello blog world. Now I am off to catch up on about 1 million posts from you all!</div><p></p>Allisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00217225673648347364noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5585284299680301605.post-75320310477975028012020-01-08T22:00:00.002-05:002020-01-08T22:00:10.050-05:002019: Year in Review<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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2019 was a joy-filled year for the Renner crew. I know a lot of people truly despised 2019 and were so glad to see it go, but for us, it was an incredible year. I know not every year is a year you want to hold on to forever so I am praising God for this incredibly sweet season and want to remember all of it's goodness.<br />
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<b>January</b><br />
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We started off our year with the excitement and anticipation of a new baby! We didn't have to fix up a nursery, but we did start prepping Aiden's room to add Alder by adding bunkbeds. Aiden started sleeping on the top bunk to get used to it and he did great! I thought for sure that August would arrive before his due date and before our scheduled induction, but he stayed put, which was very nice for this Type A Mama. We had a big snow that we all enjoyed, then Alder fell on the playground at church and had to get stitches in his lip just days before August's arrival. That was a long and exhausting day, but he was a trooper and has a cute little battle wound on his lower lip.<br />
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I worked my last day at my job, which was bitter sweet, but that means my role changed this month to STAY AT HOME MOM! August came quickly on January 25th and all our hearts grew and we were instantly smitten. A few days after August's arrival, Alder turned 2 and we celebrated with a superhero party and pizza with our family. January was a BIG month for our family and a perfect way to kickstart the year.<br />
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<b>February</b><br />
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Drew got a glorious three weeks of paid time off so we enjoyed February thoroughly! There was lots of fort building, the creation of a rocket ship out of cardboard, lots of kisses for August, lots of family walks and adjusting to our lives as a family of five. We also had lots of special visitors who were anxious to meet August! It was a very sweet time for our family and was so nice to all be together as we learned how to be a family of five.<br />
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<b>March</b><br />
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We took our first road trip as a family of five in our new Ford Transit and went to visit my Aunt and Uncle in Michigan. My Uncle works for Ford so he took us to the Ford Rogue factory where the boys got to see real cars on the production line! We also went to the Henry Ford Museum and got to visit my Uncle's office at Ford. Our car-loving boys loved this trip and August was a champ and slept through most of it. At the end of the month, we spent a day on the farm and Aiden and Alder got to ride horses and be "real cowboys."<br />
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<b>April</b><br />
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April brought sunshine and lots of park play dates. Drew started working on building the boys a playground in our backyard and we spent a few days at an AirBnB on the river with my family after my cousin's wedding. We all celebrated Easter together there and had a sweet time together with a gorgeous view of the river. I also started reading books again and heard August laugh out loud for the first time!<br />
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<b>May</b><br />
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We had both Alder and August dedicated at church on Mother's day. It was a very sweet day! The other big event of May was the opening of our community pool! We spent many summer days there! Drew also finished the playground and we had some neighbors over for the "grand opening."<br />
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<b>June</b><br />
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We had our annual Rootbeer stand date with our friends to kick off summer vacation. Went to several Touch a trucks, lots of park play dates. Celebrated Father's day at the Red's game (Alder's first time and Aiden's second time at the ballpark). Drew accepted a new job this month as well, which included a pay raise, which we were extremely thankful for. I turned 34 this month and had a wonderful day. Lunch with my Mom, a family hike and Toy Story 4. I read a few more books and went with my friend Alison to Charm at the Farm.<br />
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<b>July</b><br />
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We celebrated the 4th of July in our cute little downtown, got spoiled with free box seats (and unlimited free food) at the Reds game with our dear friends, visited the Air Force Museum and took another road trip to Nashville. We visited the Storybook houses at Cheekwood Gardens with our cousins and had a sweet time visiting together. Drew and I also celebrated 10 whole years of marriage and I got to go to Indy for a girl's (and August) trip. Our little baby also turned 6 months old.<br />
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<b>August</b><br />
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I helped host a bridal shower for my sister in law in Columbus this month, we made more visits to parks and got lots of visits from the Ice cream man. We spent a lot of time at the pool since both boys were not able to go down the "big" slides by themselves. Alder rocked potty training and spent his last night sleeping in his crib to make room for baby brother. It was a very big month for this kid! He handled all of the transitions so well.<br />
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<b>September</b><br />
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August started sleeping through the night in his own crib and got fitted for a helmet to round out his sweet little head. Aiden had his last first day of preschool this month and started soccer! We went to our first football game in Drew's new school district, had a blast with family at Kings Island where Aiden rode his first roller coaster and then went on to ride it 5 more times. (We then decided we were going to have to invest in passes for Christmas.) We started our celebration of fall early by Apple picking and the boys helped me bake an apple pie with our apples. Drew officiated his sister's wedding and the boys were the cutest ring bearers. We had a lovely day celebrating and I got a new brother in law. While there were many things to celebrate this month, we also lost my sweet grandma, Junebug. She went to be with Jesus very peacefully after living a very fully life. I'm so thankful she got to meet all three of my boys. We will miss her presence terribly, but are thankful for the influence she had on my life.<br />
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<b>October</b><br />
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We started our Halloween (and Aiden's birthday) countdown and did a halloween themed activity almost every day! Lots of costumes and visits to pumpkin patches and lots of "spooky" books were read. We pulled off my favorite family costumes to date and dressed up as the Peanuts Gang (Totally Aiden's idea!) Aiden was the Great Pumpkin, Alder was Linus, August was Snoopy, Drew was Charlie Brown and I was Lucy. We also celebrated Aiden's 5th birthday that same night with the coolest and most spooky cake ever made by my Mother in law and Sister in law.<br />
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<b>November</b><br />
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We spent our Thanksgiving with my family in South Bend at Camp Raybird, where my sister works and my brother in law is the Director. We had the whole camp to ourselves and all bunked up in the camp lodge. We used the lodge kitchen to cook our meals, the guys got to go hunting and the kids got to hike and climb on the rock wall! We had so much fun just doing life together in the lodge! We also took the boys to see Frozen 2 and started our countdown to Christmas with a fully decorated house.<br />
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<b>December</b><br />
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December was full of holiday themed activities both at home and out and about. We drank lots of hot chocolate, had another countdown (of course!), did lots of baking and made cookies for our neighbors, watched lots of Christmas movies, visited the zoo lights and Winterfest, had a snowy play day and rode on the Polar Express! August loved all the Christmas lights and dancing with his brothers to the Charlie Brown Christmas soundtrack. We had lots of fun celebrating with our families and felt so blessed and thankful to wrap up the best year together!Allisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00217225673648347364noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5585284299680301605.post-82186172244392171862020-01-03T15:24:00.001-05:002020-01-04T22:04:23.099-05:00August's Birth Story<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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August Terrence Renner.</div>
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The story of the day my little sunshine baby was born.</div>
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Friday, January 25th 2019. I woke up to a cold morning, small snow flakes dancing in the sunshine out my window. We had been anxiously waiting for this day. We woke up knowing we would be welcoming a new baby in to our family! My induction had been scheduled for a week and a half because of how things went with my delivery with Alder (quickly) and I was already pretty far progressed, but we thought August would come on his own since everything about him was not quite according to our plans. A week earlier there was a lunar eclipse and a super moon. I thought he was coming that night, but he graciously waited until my Mother in law could be back in town and my Mom was over a cold so they could both help with the big boys and so we could have everything settled and ready.<br />
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At 10 am we took one last picture as a family of 4 and then Drew and I loaded up the car and waved to Aiden and Alder out the window as we pulled away. Being induced is just such a different experience from actually going in to labor. No rushing around or panic. No having to hurry and make a plan for the kids. Drew compared it to going to pick out a piece of furniture. You want a couch, you go purchase one and come home with said couch. Induction is similar. A baby is coming, you go to the hospital and have it and come home with said baby. This was my third induction so we were not complaining about being able to calmly say bye to our boys, have someone we trust to watch them, etc.<br />
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We arrived at the hospital and checked in at 11, I was hooked up to pitocin by 12:30. Then we waited. Drew went and got lunch in the cafeteria, I ate a popsicle and blissfully listened to August's steady heartbeat on the monitor and tried to soak everything in knowing it would be the last time I would experience the wonder of childbirth. The nurse came back in and broke my water at 1 and things started happening after that.</div>
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My contractions started picking up and the plan for me was always to get an epidural, but I wanted to wait on the epidural until I felt I absolutely had to have it. There's just something about feeling the pain of contractions, knowing you are that much closer to meeting your baby. I felt like i needed to "work for it" at least a little bit (as if carrying the baby for 9 months wasn't work enough). I bounced on the ball for a while and walked around the room, rolled on some Stress Away and then we watched HGTV to pass some time. </div>
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Around 4, the doctor came in again and I was really starting to feel stronger contractions. I was 5 cm, 80% and the doctor suggested if I wanted an epidural to go ahead and call for one in case things picked up quickly (good advice because spoiler alert, they did.) </div>
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I was given my epidural from the sweetest man ever. He was 75 and could be retired, but chooses to continue to work because he loves it. I know a lot of people have issues with the amount they can feel after an epidural, but this man did his job right. I did not feel clumsy and still could feel pressure, but no pain. Glorious. Good work doctor. Around 5 o'clock I started feeling a ton of pressure. Basically it felt like I had a bowling ball just pressing down on my uterus. I thought maybe the epidural was not quite working properly, but then the doctor came in and checked me and all that pressure...that was the baby ready to get the party started. I was fully dilated and 10 cm. With each of my babies, when I know they are about to physically enter the world, I can't help but cry when I think about actually meeting them. It is so surreal knowing what you have been anticipating for so long is actually happening. So many happy tears. </div>
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The doctor started getting her scrubs on and the nurse asked me to do a practice push. So I started pushing and she immediately yelled to STOP because she could see his head. So the doctor finished getting her scrubs on, I pushed twice, the doctor told me to open my eyes and our boy was here. He came out yelling and ready to eat at 5:13 pm.<br />
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That feeling when they put your baby on your chest is a feeling I won't ever forget. And since August is our last baby, it is something I am sad that I won't experience again. I already miss his tiny body scrunched up on my chest. It is very euphoric getting to meet your baby and be in such a natural state with them in their first moments outside the womb. It is the closest to heaven I feel like you can get on this Earth.<br />
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I spent the next hour skin to skin with my boy soaking him in and studying his tiny features. He had no trouble latching and wanted to eat and eat and eat. Then they took him to get measured and it was Daddy's turn to hold our boy. August looked right up in to our faces as if to say, "here I am Mom and Dad!"<br />
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Our nurse, Anne told me that she felt like angels were in the room all day because everything went so smoothly and I was so calm. Everything about the day was wrapped in sweetness from the kind nurses to the anesthesiologist. I'm forever thankful for being able to experience pregnancy and birth one last time. Staring in to August's face for the first time I knew that he was always meant to be part of our family. What a gift he already is to us.<br />
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Allisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00217225673648347364noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5585284299680301605.post-17333351489117848382019-08-08T15:05:00.000-04:002019-08-08T15:05:01.193-04:00BUSY MOMS CAN COOK {SIMPLE recipes from a busy Mama of 3}<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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As a busy Mama of three little boys ages 4 and under, I am ALWAYS on the hunt for simple meals that are quick to make and don't require 20 different ingredients. One of my goals for 2019 is to cook more for my family and eat out less so the recipes I am sharing today are all recipes I have made within the last two months that we have enjoyed eating and that I haven't stressed about cooking! Win, win! But first a few things that have been making my life easier when it comes to cooking dinners for my family...<br />
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+<b>Make a "Meals for the week" Pinterest board. </b>Save all your meals you are making that week to this board and then you have the ingredients and recipe easily accessible when you go to make them!<br />
+<b>Plan out your meals each week.</b> I do this on Sundays and then my sweet husband goes to the grocery store for all the ingredients or I will use Kroger Clicklist and pick it up Monday morning.<br />
+<b>Make a meal board to display in your kitchen.</b> Display it where you can visibly see your meal plan so you can be more likely to put it in to action! You got this!<br />
+<b>Group your ingredients for each meal together. </b>As I unload my groceries for the week, I put ingredients together for each meal. Obviously they can't all be put together because some are refrigerated and some aren't, but having them grouped together helps me out big time!<br />
+<b>PREP anything you can in your spare time during the earlier part of the day. </b>I can't begin to tell you how much this simple change has helped me. While Aiden was at preschool and while the other two nap, I cut up veggies, thaw meat, mix spices, etc. I do anything I can to make the evening meal making easier! This has been a game changer for me.<br />
+<b>Get yourself an Instant Pot!</b> Knowing I can cook frozen chicken or frozen beef quickly with my instant pot has been huge for me. Honestly, in the past I would simply not cook dinner if I had forgotten to thaw the meat needed for that nights recipe. That sounds terrible, but it was so discouraging to me when I went to start cooking and the meat was rock hard. So this gives me no more excuses! I know not everyone has an Instant Pot, but I decided to share a few Instant Pot recipes I've loved at the bottom of this post.<br />
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<b>Real Mom confession:</b><br />
You guys, I was making so many excuses about why I couldn't get dinner on the table (<i>the baby wouldn't nap</i>, <i>I didn't have the ingredients I needed</i>, <i>I was too tired</i>, <i>I didn't know what to make</i>, etc.) and then I would feel so guilty. We were wasting so much money and even though we were eating healthier options when we would eat out, it still isn't what was best for my growing boys. I know there are nights where I still won't cook for my family, but I am actually giving this whole cooking every night thing a whirl and I am making it happen slowly but surely. If I can do it, you can do it! Trust me!<br />
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<i>Please let me know if you try any of these recipes or if you have any I should add to my ever growing list!!! </i><br />
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<u>EASY MEALS:</u> (with few ingredients)<br />
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+<a href="https://www.kraftrecipes.com/recipe/113340/spinach-lasagna-rolls">Spinach Lasagna Roll-ups</a> {I always double this recipe. So good!}<br />
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+<a href="http://nestfuloflove.blogspot.com/2013/03/my-go-to-meal-for-new-mommies.html">Taco Pie</a>: {A family favorite and the first recipe my husband and I ever cooked together as a married couple. 10 years later we are still making it!}<br />
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+<a href="https://www.budgetbytes.com/oven-fajitas/">Oven Chicken Fajitas</a><br />
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+<a href="https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/rotini-with-salsa-di-limone-recipe-1947788">Rotini with Salsa di Limone</a><br />
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+<a href="https://www.realsimple.com/food-recipes/browse-all-recipes/stuffed-peppers-recipe">Southwestern Stuffed Peppers</a><br />
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+<a href="https://theskinnyishdish.com/loaded-chicken-bubble-up-bake/">Bubble Up Chicken Bake</a><br />
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+<a href="https://www.cookingclassy.com/honey-lime-sweet-potato-black-bean-and-corn-tacos/">Sweet Potato and Black Bean Tacos</a><br />
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<u>ONE PAN MEALS: </u>(because who has time to cook annnnd clean all the pots & pans)<br />
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+<a href="https://www.jocooks.com/recipes/ranch-pork-chops-potatoes-sheet-pan-dinner/">Ranch Porkchops and Potatoes</a><br />
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+<a href="https://www.chelseasmessyapron.com/one-pan-healthy-italian-sausage-veggies/">Italian Sausage and Veggies</a><br />
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+<a href="https://www.chelseasmessyapron.com/sausage-pesto/">Sausage Pesto & Veggies with Gnocchi</a> {Our absolute favorite!}<br />
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<u>CROCK POT: </u>(or use the slow cooker setting on your Instant Pot)<br />
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+<a href="https://www.lecremedelacrumb.com/slow-cooker-cream-cheese-chicken-taquitos">Chicken Taquitos</a><br />
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+<a href="https://www.themagicalslowcooker.com/seasoned-chicken-potatoes-and-green-beans/">Chicken, Potatoes +Green beans</a><br />
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+<a href="https://fitslowcookerqueen.com/slow-cooker-steak-fajitas/">Steak Fajitas</a><br />
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+<a href="https://www.wellplated.com/healthy-slow-cooker-buffalo-chicken/">Buffalo Chicken Sweet Potatoes</a> {Don't knock it until you try it. YUM!}<br />
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<u>INSTANT POT:</u> (I am obsessed with my Instant Pot)<br />
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+<a href="https://www.thereciperebel.com/instant-pot-taco-meat-frozen-ground-beef/">Instant Pot Taco Meat</a> {You could make this ANYTIME during the day or even the night before and refrigerate it until you are ready to eat it then just reheat and serve taco bar style!}<br />
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+<a href="https://www.familyfreshmeals.com/2017/02/best-instant-pot-beef-stew.html">Instant Pot Beef Stew</a><br />
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+I<a href="https://www.skinnytaste.com/instant-pot-pressure-cooker-easy-salsa/">nstant Pot Salsa Shredded Chicken</a> {2 ingredients! Salsa and chicken! Use as the meat to your tacos. So yummy and couldn't be any easier!}<br />
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+<a href="https://www.365daysofcrockpot.com/instant-pot-garlic-parmesan-chicken/">Instant Pot Garlic Parmesan Chicken</a> {I did not cook the noodles in the IP, but cooked them separately and added the cooked noodles to the dish after it was cooked}<br />
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+<a href="https://temeculablogs.com/instant-pot-chili-mac-recipe/?utm_source=MadMimi">Instant Pot Chili Mac</a> {Kid Approved}<br />
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+<a href="https://temeculablogs.com/instant-pot-cheeseburger-macaroni/">Instant Pot Cheeseburger Macaroni</a>: {Kid Approved}<br />
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+<a href="https://www.adventuresofanurse.com/instant-pot-buffalo-chicken-pasta/">Instant Pot Buffalo Chicken Pasta</a><br />
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+<a href="https://www.365daysofcrockpot.com/instant-pot-bacon-barbecue-meatloaf-with-mashed-potatoes/?fbclid=IwAR05FWfYiZiCyz8Zbmv3w8rspIqqX-00l0Mdt2RhDaqMSHr-mvrRyeP1wkw">Instant Pot BBQ Meatloaf + Potatoes</a>: {My husband's favorite Instant Pot meal I've made. Yum!}Allisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00217225673648347364noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5585284299680301605.post-39525503105825950222019-01-31T15:14:00.004-05:002019-01-31T15:14:55.196-05:00From my baby to big brother<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
*I meant to post this pre-baby, but forgot and still wanted to hit publish. New baby post coming soon.</div>
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I am currently 38 weeks pregnant so Alder's days of being the baby of the family are numbered. I really can't believe he is about to be a BIG brother. But instead of being sad, I'm feeling confident that this will be a good thing for him. I think he will do great in his new role mainly because Alder has always acted older than he really is. I know it's because he has Aiden to watch and learn from, but Alder has always done things more quickly and independently. He is not even two yet, but can talk in complete sentences and you can't tell him that he can't do something because he will prove you wrong. He is one tough cookie, so besides having to share me, I think he will embrace his new role.<br />
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I remember taking <a href="https://nestfuloflove.blogspot.com/2017/01/my-first-baby-youll-always-be.html">a series of pictures like this with Aiden</a> and my heart was just breaking thinking about him not being my baby any more, but this feels different. Maybe it is because I know giving my boys another sibling is just adding to their future fun and that it means they are gaining a forever friend or maybe it is because I'm a calmer more chill mom now, but either way, it feels nice not to be worried about this transition for him. I know we will have hard moments, hard days and even hard weeks, but I am confident there will be more smiles than tears...at least after a few weeks.<br />
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I love you my sweet Alder J. and I am praying for your heart as you get ready to welcome a new baby to our family. I know you will make your Mama proud and teach your little brother all kinds of new things like how to "hi-ya" and how to beat up the bad guys. Things like where to find the clean cups and spoons and all the good places to hide mommy and daddy's things...the trashcan is a fun place right? I know you will teach him things like where to find all the choo choos and cars, how to fight bad guys and the names of all the Incredibles characters, how to play Hungry, Hungry Hippos, the best foods to eat (fig bars and yogurts), how to ride a plasma car through the house, how to give hugs and say sorry when you make someone sad and how to love big. I can't wait to see you in your new role. You will be amazing!Allisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00217225673648347364noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5585284299680301605.post-69367126525998344152019-01-19T15:04:00.001-05:002019-01-19T15:06:07.188-05:00Dear August: A letter to my last baby<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Dear August,<br />
I can't believe my pregnancy with you is nearing an end. I have one week left of feeling you kick and hiccup and squirm from the inside. Next week at this time, I will be holding you in my arms, will feel the weight of your little body on my chest and will be breathing in your newborn smell. It makes me tear up just typing those words. My pregnancy with you has gone so quickly and has been so different than my pregnancy with either of your brothers. I felt you kick way sooner and I feel you move way more than I did with them. You are definitely making yourself known as part of this family already.<br />
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You have been a sweet and unexpected gift since we first found about you. You have already brought me so much joy and I know that God has big plans for you. In fact, your name means revered and exalted. I truly believe you are being born and raised up at this exact time for a reason.<br />
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While this may be my first post about you in this space, know that you are so very loved and we are eagerly anticipating you joining our family. Your brothers are so much fun and you have the best daddy in the world. I can't wait to see how perfectly you fit into our family.<br />
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Here are some pictures of my pregnancy with you:<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8UZbad64AMz0Y0zGYeU1FvghBsDDUzwEEYcSRIezCHJhy5l5zo5UXaBJl7rOF2qUHamnWgtya33OAwCzDvjFl3ejNBYVh2pyq2DHLa8XeTlYRwObyJ_b0Tm88dU5dB5PM38AmBDsNfag/s1600/IMG_5163.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="800" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8UZbad64AMz0Y0zGYeU1FvghBsDDUzwEEYcSRIezCHJhy5l5zo5UXaBJl7rOF2qUHamnWgtya33OAwCzDvjFl3ejNBYVh2pyq2DHLa8XeTlYRwObyJ_b0Tm88dU5dB5PM38AmBDsNfag/s640/IMG_5163.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">How we announced that you were joining our family.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5QAeUwRO1vVLZ98g1rxvwaA8meg1QIf_3Nw8ZW40G6EueBkiBa4wXXn4SvoARiyFokWpBbJR9decP5sw2ML47Al-r3G28HzWKsfnBtAQwUKciLk5cSqPjkoqdBxxYaCl2v8zXKSYyKAc/s1600/IMG_5165.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="800" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5QAeUwRO1vVLZ98g1rxvwaA8meg1QIf_3Nw8ZW40G6EueBkiBa4wXXn4SvoARiyFokWpBbJR9decP5sw2ML47Al-r3G28HzWKsfnBtAQwUKciLk5cSqPjkoqdBxxYaCl2v8zXKSYyKAc/s640/IMG_5165.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">First ultrasound where we got to see you for the first time.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf7UDJfv3_-AqZrKFexoRh70fEFo6aUwoxsqkj1ewAPimX_Osh5grHjAtgGbta265HqJALNtL8ugrWTnyJKk50bSmffBgBuEA9crT62FoiwtUcmkYNWAJt2eufpq2X8pp59jrOSIFFCvE/s1600/IMG_6003.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="800" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf7UDJfv3_-AqZrKFexoRh70fEFo6aUwoxsqkj1ewAPimX_Osh5grHjAtgGbta265HqJALNtL8ugrWTnyJKk50bSmffBgBuEA9crT62FoiwtUcmkYNWAJt2eufpq2X8pp59jrOSIFFCvE/s640/IMG_6003.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our gender reveal party. We were so excited that you were a BOY!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzRb-oXjNzpZQSdU9N9ZJUOO6Pqj1YeUoGtVRmxW9JvACIFSdbsE8YYp_pRo3OM-MtCm5fWn-7NLGVyq9xhYYIU7kxrgbmb956CAas0iuS0HF5ikPDzfsy07P6fCXJrW1h9y1cA2ioY2E/s1600/IMG_6025.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="800" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzRb-oXjNzpZQSdU9N9ZJUOO6Pqj1YeUoGtVRmxW9JvACIFSdbsE8YYp_pRo3OM-MtCm5fWn-7NLGVyq9xhYYIU7kxrgbmb956CAas0iuS0HF5ikPDzfsy07P6fCXJrW1h9y1cA2ioY2E/s640/IMG_6025.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">18 week appointment and learning you were a BOY.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0LUb1IlbHMr3k5DqYRQE1bl2T_23NmF7jmjI97M60X5XHdMtLdic2cwCyGnnTZXskYVo_qZLG-tB1xarPUDlrC3T5WQlDb6PruTrokRkhbk2L-34r7FOI4eaEngjr8FIJfMdrSWH4chw/s1600/IMG_4598.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="800" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0LUb1IlbHMr3k5DqYRQE1bl2T_23NmF7jmjI97M60X5XHdMtLdic2cwCyGnnTZXskYVo_qZLG-tB1xarPUDlrC3T5WQlDb6PruTrokRkhbk2L-34r7FOI4eaEngjr8FIJfMdrSWH4chw/s640/IMG_4598.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A random date night with your Dad to IKEA to look for baby stuff!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Most of the pictures I took with you were in the bathroom mirror.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQmiC8a9Kxqn5aaHNDX3Ar8-TMiffIywfq9vFV3aSaJwALG4QzglBRrJp62g9dw5rO3S805A3xgiX8fE_EvEtnroB7zdvpaNMVgZG3qNSZm9fHRowQ-Zw8St5cjTAWTyRnyMP8RgPg01Y/s1600/IMG_7651.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="800" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQmiC8a9Kxqn5aaHNDX3Ar8-TMiffIywfq9vFV3aSaJwALG4QzglBRrJp62g9dw5rO3S805A3xgiX8fE_EvEtnroB7zdvpaNMVgZG3qNSZm9fHRowQ-Zw8St5cjTAWTyRnyMP8RgPg01Y/s640/IMG_7651.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Picking a name for you took us longer than usual, but we love your name and it's meaning. August Terrence.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5YHz1q9WBu5UgClxkWo-p-tPxP9gY2iR02qvp2jwvkEk0B2WM1qzHGlEh4bRDU-9PlELTbOV2bG3SS4aHTV8VNBJNOLiSW2UlqoPauusMS4LhKJ8CuH366FAY-CE8mFX6xJx_FL_HGZ0/s1600/IMG_7742.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="800" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5YHz1q9WBu5UgClxkWo-p-tPxP9gY2iR02qvp2jwvkEk0B2WM1qzHGlEh4bRDU-9PlELTbOV2bG3SS4aHTV8VNBJNOLiSW2UlqoPauusMS4LhKJ8CuH366FAY-CE8mFX6xJx_FL_HGZ0/s640/IMG_7742.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Aiden predicted you would have orange hair and blue eyes. He loved feeling you kick.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Being pregnant with you at Christmas time was very special for me. </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqIqG3q2OYJMcM4_bymfOoJvTBUGJU9S2drhpGaBZLVOynKzhfhWvVWvkZ6uBhty5t1z9FGMGPxczBLGhfiLcOMWgQmGle5vAE57QgzSfh9owxVV9qkNceTyZ6QocDxlwIvnwgUyNQ2mc/s1600/IMG_2039.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="800" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqIqG3q2OYJMcM4_bymfOoJvTBUGJU9S2drhpGaBZLVOynKzhfhWvVWvkZ6uBhty5t1z9FGMGPxczBLGhfiLcOMWgQmGle5vAE57QgzSfh9owxVV9qkNceTyZ6QocDxlwIvnwgUyNQ2mc/s640/IMG_2039.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">January came quickly. Baby month!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">With your arrival, Alder becomes a big brother too. I can't wait to see your relationship with your brothers form and grow.</td></tr>
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Allisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00217225673648347364noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5585284299680301605.post-84597474100617328012019-01-14T22:23:00.003-05:002019-01-14T22:23:43.132-05:002018 {A Year in Review}<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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2018 was a very FULL year. A year full of surprises, full of baby announcements and births, full of new roles at work, full of making plans for a new baby! This will be a hard year to top, but I know having August join our family in 2019 is already going to make for an exciting year ahead. Here's a look at our 2018 in review so I don't forget some of the amazing blessings this year held for our family.<br />
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<b>January</b><br />
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We kicked off 2018 with a big snow and took both boys sledding, which they LOVED. It was Alder's first literal taste of snow and he loved it! Aiden's love of cooking truly took off and he started putting his chef outfit that we got him for Christmas to good use. Alder turned one at the end of the month and we celebrated with a <a href="https://nestfuloflove.blogspot.com/2018/02/alders-lumberjack-first-birthday.html">lumberjack themed party</a>.<br />
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<b>February</b><br />
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Alder and Aiden started really playing together so the teacher in me decided to start creating all themed activities I could think of and my love for creating sensory bins for the boys began. We also had lots of playdates with friends and Drew and I got not one, but two date nights in. Our new favorite date activity: pedicures. That's right friends, my very manly husband loves to go get a pedicure with me and he's not ashamed to admit it. HGTV, massage chairs and a foot scrub? Yes, please.<br />
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<b>March</b><br />
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March was a big month. We took Aiden to see Disney on Ice with my brother in box seats he hooked us up with from his work and seeing Aiden's face light up was a big highlight. We also found out my sister was pregnant with her first baby and then I helped host a baby shower for my sister in law who was expecting her first baby on my birthday!<br />
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<b>April</b><br />
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Sadly we spent our Easter in the ER with Aiden. He had a weird virus with a high fever and hives. He was a trooper, but we missed out on our usual Easter fun on my Aunt and Uncle's farm. This month included more sickness than I would've imagined, which eventually led me to start using essential oils. I started using them and haven't looked back. I'm now on a continued journey to rid my house of chemicals and it has been truly empowering. When Aiden was well we took my Mom to see Beauty and the Beast at the Aronoff Theater and Aiden also got his first dentist visit in.<br />
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<b>May</b><br />
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May was a big month for us too. Our favorite local playground got a big facelift so we went to the grand opening and spent many hours there throughout the summer months. We also got pool passes to our city pool for the first time and took the boys there many times. They both went down the water slides for the first time with their Daddy and loved it. At the end of the month, I started feeling a little off and so I took a pregnancy test, which turned out to be positive, surprise! So Drew and I wrapped our head around the news and were excited to begin planning how we would share it with our families. Finding out I was pregnant again helped push me in the direction to end my breastfeeding journey with Alder after almost 15 months. It was harder on me than him of course, but this is always a milestone for me as a Mama.<br />
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<b>June</b><br />
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We celebrated my 33rd birthday in June and I got a very sweet gift, a new nephew! We shared with our families that I was pregnant, which is always fun to do. I had both boys wearing big brother shirts so Alder's new title gave away our news. We tried to surprise my sister in law and brother in law in Nashville with our news via FaceTime and they in turn, surprised us with theirs, they were pregnant and due in January as well! We took the boys strawberry picking for the first time and they both ate more strawberries than they picked, oops. And of course we chose the hottest day of the summer to do this, but still had fun. I also busted out my big girl camera and snapped some newborn pictures for my sister in law.<br />
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<b>July</b><br />
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We headed to Douglas Lake in Michigan for a trip with immediate and extended family. We had a lovely time. We rented a boat to fish off of and the boys loved it even though only one fish was caught. We made a lot of good memories, but then all came home sick. Later in the month, Drew and I celebrated 9 years of marriage and Drew got a new job offer as Assistant Principal. We had a lot to celebrate in July!<br />
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<b>August</b><br />
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I planned and threw a <a href="https://nestfuloflove.blogspot.com/2018/12/more-kid-friendly-advent-activities.html">"Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" themed baby shower</a> for my sister. We had to take a few bump pictures together of course. We also made our pregnancy official on social media. We took the boys on the Thomas the train ride, which they loved of course and then found out and shared with our families that we were having another BOY!!!<br />
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<b>September</b><br />
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The fall brought the start of school for Drew, his first school year as an Assistant principal and our baby started preschool. Everyday he asks if he is going to church or school. He is clearly an extrovert! I attended another baby shower for my sister with my aunts and cousins and we did our traditional onesie making party, which is always so fun to do! I also took my dear friend Bekah to see Lauren Daigle in concert and it was amazing.<br />
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<b>October</b><br />
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October was full of lots of fall festivals and the anticipation of Halloween. We made a countdown chain because Aiden and Alder were both so excited about the upcoming holiday. After deciding on our family costumes (Peter Pan themed), Aiden decided he wanted to be a spooky bat, so his very kind and creative Dad made him his own bat wings out of a black umbrella. We had a fun Halloween and Alder was very into it this year just like his brother. He said Trick or treat to everyone and held out his little fingers for candy like a pro. Aiden turned 4 on Halloween and we celebrated with a Dinosaur themed birthday party.</div>
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<b>November</b><br />
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We had some beautiful fall days in November to play in leaf piles with friends and collect buckeyes. Alder got his very first hair cut and did surprisingly well even though he was also recovering from Hand, foot and mouth disease. We got family pictures taken and spent some time together cooking (and tasting) in the kitchen. At the end of the month we headed to Nashville to celebrate a joint Thanksgiving and Christmas with Drew's family. We visited the zoo, Alder saw his first movie in the theater (The Grinch) and all the cousins got Grinch Build-A-Bears together.<br />
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<b>December</b><br />
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December brought with it lots of holiday fun. We took the boys on the Polar express train ride, made our own homemade hot chocolate, visited the Festival of Lights at the zoo, had a fun pizza night and went to Christmas in downtown Mason with the Brittinghams, had breakfast with Santa and did lots of <a href="https://nestfuloflove.blogspot.com/2018/12/more-kid-friendly-advent-activities.html">advent activities</a> to celebrate the season. I went on an underground tour of Cincinnati with my coworkers and had a fun girl's night in. Drew and I's traditional Christmas date looked a little different this year, but we still got one in and we ended the year by purchasing a new car to fit our growing family!<br />
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2018 was a great year for our family and we are excited for what this new year will bring.Allisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00217225673648347364noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5585284299680301605.post-12093103259656189102018-12-15T22:02:00.000-05:002018-12-15T22:02:17.899-05:00Keeping Jesus at the Center of Christmas with Your Little Ones {And a GIVEAWAY}<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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As my boys get older, I am working hard to help them see Jesus at the center of our home especially at Christmas time. This can be stressful because I want to do it "right" and there are so many opinions out there on how to do it and what tools to use. I recently posted a list of all the fun <a href="https://nestfuloflove.blogspot.com/2018/12/more-kid-friendly-advent-activities.html">Advent activities</a> we are doing this year (and <a href="https://nestfuloflove.blogspot.com/2016/12/ideas-for-toddler-friendly-advent.html">some more</a> that we have done in the past) and while all of these things are fun and can point to Jesus, I want to specifically teach my children God's word. So today with just 10 days until Christmas, I thought I would share a few tools that have helped me feel more confident as I navigate beginning to teach my little boys about God and His word.<br />
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<b>Memory Verse Cards</b> (The ones I use are from <a href="https://crewandco.com/collections/scripture-cards/products/edition1scripturecards">Crew + Co.</a>)<br />
With my four year old, we do a new verse each month. This month our verse is Matthew 5:14, "You are the light of the world." I love hearing him learn God's word and I also use it to help guide me as I navigate another fun thing, discipline. I am amazed at how it has helped me discipline my children in a positive and meaningful way that simply makes sense!<br />
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<b>Podcasts</b> (<a href="https://www.risenmotherhood.com/show-archive/ep-102-evangelism-in-the-little-years">Risen Motherhood</a>)<br />
I have found the Evangelism podcasts especially encouraging as I work on modeling this with my children.<br />
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<b>Children's Bibles</b> (<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Beginners-Bible-Timeless-Childrens-Stories/dp/031075013X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1544928003&sr=8-1&keywords=The+Beginners+Bible">The Beginner's Bible</a>)<br />
I can't emphasize enough the importance of a good and reliable Children's Bible. The Beginner's Bible not only has simple and relatable images, but the content is true and easy to read aloud to my kids. Outside of being a Mom, I am also in ministry so I use this Bible with my own children as well as other people's children and I feel confident doing so. This Bible has proven to be reliable and I love the amount of stories found within it! I have found other children's bibles that I love, but they are often missing Bible stories that I think children need to know about even in the little years.<br />
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With Christmas quickly approaching we are reading one pre-chosen story from the Beginner's Bible each day and I have a set of wooden ornaments that go with some of the stories leading up to Jesus' birth. We read a story and hang an ornament up to remind us of that story. My boys have loved it and it has been a great way to start our mornings together.<br />
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The Beginner's Bible is one of the most sold and most well loved Bibles of all time and my boys have loved reading from ours as you can see in the picture above. <b>I would love to give away a new Beginner's Bible to one of you! Simply comment below and you will be entered to win one for yourself!</b> <i>I will also be posting the Giveaway on my instagram account tomorrow, @allie_renner, so you can enter there as well! </i><br />
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How do you make sure to keep Jesus front and center with your kids not only this time of year, but all year round? I would love to know!Allisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00217225673648347364noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5585284299680301605.post-62800347214802915602018-12-03T15:25:00.003-05:002018-12-03T15:25:47.425-05:00More Kid Friendly Advent Activities<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8gW05dE8QIbMrMrDjf_YfzDPi76XT01RvtzwlEaZt7xTi_w1warPgYIIVdlLrnfngi8BSb8KxnOvZ1iwBGTysMhTMK92TW9lL6rSjbEG5_kdkkiUn9ZQXPj6rq5CeXcdSgR87HOROt1c/s1600/image1+%25284%2529.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8gW05dE8QIbMrMrDjf_YfzDPi76XT01RvtzwlEaZt7xTi_w1warPgYIIVdlLrnfngi8BSb8KxnOvZ1iwBGTysMhTMK92TW9lL6rSjbEG5_kdkkiUn9ZQXPj6rq5CeXcdSgR87HOROt1c/s640/image1+%25284%2529.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div>
There is something so magical this time of year and I don't want it to be a one day thing with my kids. I also don't want to look back and wish we had done more. Enter Advent, a way to prepare your hearts and minds for Christmas. And since I have had so much fun planning and doing Advent activities with my kids over the last few years, I thought I would go ahead and share a few more simple ideas that we have enjoyed or plan to enjoy this year along with a few tips to help it go smoothly. See my original post with more ideas <a href="https://nestfuloflove.blogspot.com/2016/12/ideas-for-toddler-friendly-advent.html">here</a>.<br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "arial"; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>Set up our Jesse tree</i></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "arial"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "arial"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We will add the first ornament and read the first corresponding story from the Bible. (This is something we will do each day until Christmas day. If you want to know more about the Jesse Tree, email me, but basically each day you hang an ornament on the tree that represents a story from the Bible you have read that leads up to the birth of Jesus.)</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "arial"; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>Christmas tree slam</i></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "arial"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I already have green cups and fake snowballs so instead of a <a href="https://www.growingajeweledrose.com/2013/12/snowman-slam-game-for-kids.html">Snowman slam</a>, we are going to stack cups like a Christmas tree and then try to knock them down.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>Make a skating rink for Charlie Brown (or your child's favorite figurines) </i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Pictured above</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "arial"; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i><a href="https://modernparentsmessykids.com/making-snowmen-inside/#more-5988">Make homemade snow</a></i></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "arial"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We are trying a different snow recipe this year. This one has shaving cream so is not safe to eat obviously, but I wanted to try a different consistency for the kids this year.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "arial"; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>Read a new to us Christmas book </i></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "arial"; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>Make Christmas cards</i></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "arial"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In the past, we have used marshmallows to paint snowmen. </span><span style="font-family: "arial"; white-space: pre-wrap;">This year we are going to use marshmallow to make Santa’s beard. I will add pictures as we do it!</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "arial"; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i><a href="https://stayathomeeducator.com/jingle-bell-drop-color-sorting-fine-motor-activity/">Jingle Bell drop</a></i></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "arial"; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>Make a Christmas snack and watch a Christmas movie</i></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "arial"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://www.sixsistersstuff.com/recipe/white-chocolate-chex-party-mix/">Christmas Chex mix</a></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "arial"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://fun-a-day.com/reindeer-christmas-snacks-kids/">Reindeer snack</a></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "arial"; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>Have a pizza picnic by your Christmas tree</i></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "arial"; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>Breakfast with Santa (or make a Christmas themed breakfast)</i></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "arial"; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>Christmas sensory bin</i></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "arial"; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We are doing <a href="https://lalymom.com/christmas-sensory-bin-jingle-bells-music-magnets-sensory-bin/">this one</a> because we have the magnetic wants, but just look on Pinterest for other basic ideas!</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "arial"; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>Make <a href="https://www.theprairiehomestead.com/2015/01/snow-ice-cream-recipe.html#comments">snow cream</a> (on a day you have a fresh snow)</i></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "arial"; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>Load up the car and go see Christmas lights</i></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "arial"; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i><a href="https://www.thesitsgirls.com/diy/diy-snow-paint/">Paint the snow</a> </i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial";"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>Give a giftcard to the Garbage man (or to someone who works hard and might not get noticed-Postal worker, Bus driver, etc.)</i></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial";"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>Decorate a Gingerbread house or have a contest!</i></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "arial"; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>Polar Express Train ride! (Or simply watch the movie and drink hot chocolate!)</i></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "arial"; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>Take coffee or a treat to a friend</i></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "arial"; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>Make Sugar cookies for your neighbors (this might be a 2 day activity including the delivery of the cookies!)</i></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "arial"; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>Go sledding or go on a winter walk</i></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "arial"; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>Have your kids choose some new or "like new" toys to donate</i></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "arial"; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>Christmas craft</i></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "arial"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We are going to try <a href="https://www.craftymorning.com/dish-brush-christmas-wreath-craft-kids/">Dish Brush Christmas Wreaths</a></span></div>
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<i><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "arial"; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Read the Christmas story as a family and sing </span><span style="font-family: "arial"; white-space: pre-wrap;">happy birthday to Jesus</span></i></div>
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<b>Tips:</b><br />
Plan your activities in advance. Shop for your craft items, buy your food items, check your stock of paints, etc. That way you don't have to waste time during your day going out and buying items, you can just get right to your planned activity. (This is the kindergarten, type A person that I am telling you this. You do you, but this helps me because the last thing I want to do is go out to buy a few supplies each day with my two kids in tow.)<br />
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Keep your activities SIMPLE and STRESS FREE. You want this to be a fun way to enjoy the holiday season with your kids, not something that is going to be stressful for anyone.<br />
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You don't need to plan an activity for each day. Keep it flexible. The holiday season is already so full of fun activities that are already planned for you (Lights at the zoo, holiday parties, visiting Santa, etc.) The last thing you want to do is make yourself too busy or feel bad if you don't do a certain activity one day.<br />
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HAVE FUN!Allisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00217225673648347364noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5585284299680301605.post-91045143188022244152018-08-13T13:27:00.002-04:002018-08-13T20:28:25.007-04:00Twinkle Twinkle Little Star Baby Shower<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXVrD02Z8KHqKCNpr_Mn7LOqcrpJqq_C4MQOzOU1eyNOpp1O36mP6fgvIYpJdFfU4Ha4YX_wDLa5rLnc64g4FuqRbQcSO9YIpV4i63Pj3GvEAq2aTDI2mC4xLICSW-dAFhGrCtyb7z9Hc/s1600/IMG_5353.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="533" data-original-width="800" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXVrD02Z8KHqKCNpr_Mn7LOqcrpJqq_C4MQOzOU1eyNOpp1O36mP6fgvIYpJdFfU4Ha4YX_wDLa5rLnc64g4FuqRbQcSO9YIpV4i63Pj3GvEAq2aTDI2mC4xLICSW-dAFhGrCtyb7z9Hc/s640/IMG_5353.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
My little sister is due with her first baby in October so this past weekend my cousin and I threw her very first baby shower. My sister is very classic so I knew early on I wanted the theme to be the same, classic and sweet. I landed on the theme Twinkle Twinkle Little Star for a few reasons, but it also reminded me of the many years the two of us shared a room growing up. We had cloud bed spreads, which we thought were the most amazing thing ever and we had those glow in the dark stars on our ceiling which we just loved as well. <br />
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To plan a party, you obviously need a theme, then comes the invitations. I LOVED these <a href="https://www.basicinvite.com/baby/twinkle-twinkle-little-star-baby-shower-invitations.html">Twinkle Twinkle Little star baby shower invitations</a> from Basic Invite. Basic Invite has a wide variety of invitations (and more) to choose from. I was so excited they had invitations to fit the theme of the baby shower. In fact, they had a whole page of <a href="https://www.basicinvite.com/baby/twinkle-twinkle-little-star-baby-shower-invitations.html">Twinkle Twinkle Little star baby shower invitations</a>, making my job easy.<br />
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I didn't want to go overboard with the star theme, but it was a fun and easy element to play with since as a Mom of two little ones I didn't have time to go crazy with the decorations. I made a star banner to hang on the fireplace, made some star "wands" to put in mason jars filled with Baby's breath, found a free printable and put it in a frame and let Sam's club do the cake. We also played a guess the Nursery Rhyme game and I found a <i>Wishes for Baby</i> on Etsy for each guest to fill out. I am going to make this into a book to give my sister.<br />
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The menu was not themed unless the theme was YUM. But I did use a star cookie cutter to make some of the fruit into stars because I just couldn't help myself.<br />
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It was so fun to be able to celebrate my sister and her new baby and to finally get some bump pictures together! Looking forward to seeing her again in less than a month for her next shower!<br />
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If you are looking for a place to order invitations, here are a few things I loved about Basic Invites:<br />
<i>-I loved the original invitation, but wanted to change the color palette to make the invitation more of a light blue verses a navy blue. Once you select a design it is easy to change the color of EACH element on the card. I loved this feature! </i><br />
<i>-They will also send you custom samples if you want to check out the paper quality or actual design. -Lastly, I loved the foil element. I think a little sparkle adds a lot of interest to an invitation...especially when stars are involved. :)</i><br />
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Basic Invites also offers other items including <a href="https://www.basicinvite.com/business-cards/professional-business-cards.html">professional business cards</a> and if you are already thinking about Christmas...<a href="https://www.basicinvite.com/events/holiday-cards/holiday-cards.html">holiday photo cards</a>! Right now they are offering 15% off with the code: <b>15FF51</b><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>*I did receive the invitations in exchange for my honest review, however all opinions are my own.</i></span></div>
Allisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00217225673648347364noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5585284299680301605.post-45991527385903382322018-08-03T10:24:00.001-04:002018-08-03T10:24:34.101-04:00Diaper Backpack Now Required<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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With my first baby, I had no idea what I was doing when it came to purchasing baby stuff. I relied on <a href="https://www.lucieslist.com/baby-registry-basics/">Lucie's List </a>and the few friends who actually had babies before me. I bought a very basic diaper bag mostly because I liked the Chevron print and it worked just fine for us back in the days when we only had one child to cart around.<br />
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Fast forward to today and I now have two kids who both need their own compartments in the diaper bag. That makes a Diaper Backpack a requirement for us! About 6 months ago, we discovered this, but couldn't find any diaper backpacks that were big enough for us. I am a type A Mama who packs everything but the kitchen sink when we go out so my husband ended up ordering an actual travel backpack used for camping by Osprey and it has been our go to bag. It has done the job, but I haven't ever loved it. Mainly because it's big and bulky and not very cute (I can be so vain. Haha) So when <a href="https://www.sohocollections.com/">Soho</a> contacted me about trying out their new <a href="https://www.sohocollections.com/product-page/kenneth-backpack-diaper-bag-5-pieces-set">Kenneth Diaper Backpack</a>, I gladly accepted.<br />
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You guys. Honestly when I got this in the mail, I thought to myself <i>there is absolutely no way all our gear is going to fit in here. </i>Well, I was wrong! When I started loading up the bag, I was pleasantly surprised by all the compartments inside. It was like Mary Poppins' carpet bag, things just kept fitting in it magically. It managed to hold everything that my former Osprey bag held and it is way more comfortable (and cute) to carry!<br />
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Want to know what I fit inside it? It has an outer pocket perfect for those things you need easy access to like hand sanitizer and boogie wipes, then it has an inner pocket with lots of compartments. I fit a wet bag, diapers/changing pad, a change of clothes for both boys, sunscreen, dinosaur figurines a small board book AND a bag full of snacks just in this pocket. Then there is a smaller compartment on top for your wallet and phone. Plus the back has an extra zipper pocket that I usually put some extra wipes in because I always need wipes. </div>
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<u>Other features I love about this bag:</u></div>
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<li>The cup holders on the side are big. We use Contigo water bottles for the boys and we have one bottle that doesn't fit in any of our other backpacks. Happy to report, it fits in this one!</li>
<li>It is so comfortable and lightweight!</li>
<li>The fabric is splashproof! Big Mom win! </li>
<li>This bag also comes with 5 more accessories...5! A changing pad, stroller straps (which I've never had before), a personal purse that I put my wallet and the kid's snacks in), a diaper bag dispenser (for those spur of the moment poopy diapers that you don't already have a bag for) and 30 refill bags.</li>
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<i>*I was sent this backpack to review, but all opinions are my own and I highly recommend this bag!</i></div>
Allisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00217225673648347364noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5585284299680301605.post-75454796442849786762018-07-12T20:50:00.002-04:002018-07-12T20:50:33.141-04:00Where do I even start?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I guess I should start with, <i>Hi. Remember me?</i> It has almost been almost three months since I opened up a blank blog post and simply started typing. I have no real reason that I haven't been blogging, other than life is full right now. I miss capturing moments on my blog, but I was starting to get overwhelmed by all the moments I wasn't documenting, which is silly so I just stopped worrying about it and stopped posting. But I'm back...at least for today because there is just something about letting words spill out on a blank page that feels therapeutic to me.<br />
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As I said, life has been full. I am still working part time and Drew is currently looking for a new job as an assistant principal. He is off for the summer so we have had lots of amazing family time and when he goes back to school in August I will have to retrain myself on how to Mom. Haha. However, I do feel pretty adjusted now to life with two kids now. There are just a few cold hard facts that I've learned to accept. Someone is always going to need me, bathroom trips alone are a rarity, eating when the kids are strapped in at the table is a must or it will not happen, screen time is <i>not</i> the devil, popsicles on the porch are always a good idea and good husbands/fathers are worth their weight in gold. So thankful for my husband. We will be celebrating 9 years of marriage next week!<br />
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Aiden is now close to being a 4 year old (how?!) and he is doing so many things independently now. He surprises me everyday with questions he asks or with things he wants to do on his own without my help any more. He is my sunshine in every way. He can sense when someone feels sad and is there to give a hug. He is always saying he loves me and making me laugh. He is the most extroverted kid I know. At the mention of another child, he yells out, "KIDS! I want to play with them." He is very in to catching bugs right now and asking everyone he meets, "what's your favorite bug?" He loves to sing and dance and will be dancing his way in to preschool this fall two days a week. I have no doubt he will want to live at school where the kids are. He is SUCH an amazing big brother and makes sure I know whenever Alder needs me.<br />
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Alder is 18 months and acts like he is 4. I'm not even kidding. He is so independent and is in to everything. He grabs our keys and "unlocks" the doors, has the tv remote mastered, knows how to plug an outlet cover into the outlet and take it out and is always climbing up on something. If he doesn't know how to do something himself he yells out, "HELP!" It is hilarious. He is very strong willed, but also a big Mama's boy who lights up my world when he smiles at me and yells, "Hi, Mama!" He is obsessed with trains and we are taking him to see and ride the "real" Thomas the train when he comes to town in August. Drew and I can not wait to see his reaction!<br />
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Our summer has been low key. Lots of ice cream from the ice cream truck, trips to the community pool, grilling out and cooking Smores in our backyard and just being together. We did go to the lake a few weeks ago with my parents and had an amazing time (that's where all these pictures are from). Maybe I'll post about it, maybe not. But sweet memories were made.<br />
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There's not really a point to this post except to ease my way back in I guess.<br />
So if you're reading this, bless you. And if no one reads this but future me in 10 years, I'm totally fine with that too.Allisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00217225673648347364noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5585284299680301605.post-1437460257341879492018-04-26T07:30:00.000-04:002018-04-26T07:30:45.829-04:00Aiden's Hundred Acre Wood Party<i>I wrote this post way back in November, but never actually posted it, but this theme would be perfect for a spring birthday party so I'm going ahead and sharing it because it was cute and because I want Aiden's third birthday party documented.</i><br />
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When Aiden first watched Winnie the Pooh he laughed so hard at Pooh bear and it made my heart happy because I have always been a huge fan of Pooh bear. So naturally when the time came to think about a party theme for Aiden's third birthday I couldn't resist doing a Hundred Acre Wood party. I had so much fun with all the little details like the pom pom party hats, adding little bees to the yellow lanterns (beehives) and making Pooh parfaits and Aiden loved it all.<br />
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I wanted the menu to be simple, but themed of course so here is what I ended up doing. <i style="font-weight: bold;">Hundred Acre Wood Menu:</i> Pooh Parfaits (made with yogurt, honey, strawberries, bananas and vanilla wafers), Veggies from Rabbit's Garden, Pig(lets) in a blanket, Pooh Bear Tea Sandwiches (chicken salad and ham salad),<br />
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"As soon as I saw you, I knew an adventure was going to happen." -AA Milne.</div>
Allisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00217225673648347364noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5585284299680301605.post-53776645498936010792018-04-23T19:57:00.004-04:002018-04-23T20:37:26.843-04:00A Simple Phrase I Never Want to Stop Hearing<br />
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I have a few precious minutes while the baby naps to shower and clean up the hot mess that is my kitchen and dining room, so I turn on an episode of Sid the Science Kid for my toddler and head for my bath robe. I haven't washed my hair in three days and I'm tired of wearing my hair in a top knot. My Momlife pants (that I've also been wearing on repeat) have dried playdough on them so I'm basically sprinting to my bathroom when I hear my toddler sweetly say, <i>"Mama, hold you?" </i>(his adorable way of asking me to hold him.) Every ounce of me wants to say "I'll hold you later, buddy Mama has some things to do," but later may never come. The older he gets, the more I want to hold on to the times when he really needs me, the times when he asks me to simply hold him. The day he doesn't ask me to hold him will come soon enough. I probably won't even realize he's stopped asking, it will simply happen.<br />
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The days of him being my little boy are so fleeting. Honestly, I get teary eyed even thinking about the day that I'm no longer "needed" by my boys for most everything. It is so exhausting, but so wonderful to be needed.<br />
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So when you see me in the same graphic tee and my hair is up in a top knot yet again, please don't judge me. Pre-kids, I used to think to myself, how can a Mom not have time to shower? But maybe there was time, but she simply chose to snuggle with her son instead.Allisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00217225673648347364noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5585284299680301605.post-75186125080769616982018-03-01T12:59:00.000-05:002018-03-01T12:59:00.639-05:00Dear Baby Boy {A letter written to you on the night before your first birthday}<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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My sweet boy,</div>
Tonight I put you in the same pajamas your brother wore the night before he turned one, we read all your favorite books and you laughed on cue at all of your favorite parts. I nursed you and then rocked you in my arms. Usually you fall asleep in my arms, but tonight you didn't. I looked down at you curled up on my chest and thought how big you looked in my arms and wondered where my little tiny newborn went. I was just starting to shed a few tears thinking about how quickly you were growing up and then out of nowhere, you started patting my shoulder. It's like you knew I needed that. So I prayed over you, put you in your bed with your puppy and pat your bottom a few times. Then I slipped out of your room.<br />
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I have felt very connected with you since the moment I first felt you kick. When you were laid on my chest, you knew just what to do. You found my finger and wrapped your tiny hand around it..then of course you wanted to eat, but first you wanted to simply hold my hand and get as close to me as possible.<br />
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You have such a sweet and thoughtful side of you. You are always "pat, pat, patting" things and laughing. And the way you put your head on my shoulder and snuggle with me makes me melt. The other day your brother had a sleepover with your Grandma and we got some time just the two of us. We took a bath together and then went for a walk around the neighborhood and it was so peaceful. You were so content just looking around and I just started thinking about how you have always simply gone with the flow of our lives, whether it's at our house with your brother running around (and not ever napping) or out to eat at a restaurant during your nap time. You simply go with the flow. You enjoy routines and know exactly what you want, but you are also laid back and content. Basically you are the perfect mix.<br />
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I love how much you continue to love your Mama and I hope you know how incredibly loved and treasured you are. You are strong and mighty and oh so determined. I pray often that God uses your strength and determination for His glory and that we find the best possible ways to help you learn to use your gifts.<br />
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I am definitely your safe place and like one of your books says, <i>you are my wild</i>.<br />
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You always seem to get in to the things you shouldn't like cords and outlets and the cat food dish. You love living on the edge (literally) and are always wanting to be held up so you can stand on the window ledge and see outside. You study things and watch us intently like you are soaking everything in. You grab all the remotes and knock down all the things on every single shelf.<br />
You have the most infectious smile, the most fun laugh and we are all just so crazy about you. A year with you has gone by so fast, but I have loved every single second. I know God has big plans for you sweet boy and I can't wait to see them unfold.<br />
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I love you more than I can ever say in words. Happy birthday little love.<br />
Love, Your MamaAllisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00217225673648347364noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5585284299680301605.post-59367597648063118562018-02-14T07:00:00.000-05:002018-02-15T08:19:46.294-05:00Moon Dough Recipe + Space Sensory Box for Kids<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZ6-er__PbFxaGDnIBrmc2yQ2SgZDGW9-rwHPRhQ1KLvUK7a6W2DYAheYfIHKApTNqxMTe8tT1-mtvQp5kMy5HgYgzRcFRIvOInHQ7db23Lwiyte_pSn7kKYwDvU6w6X9M8CLBECRUfMs/s1600/IMG_7921.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="800" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZ6-er__PbFxaGDnIBrmc2yQ2SgZDGW9-rwHPRhQ1KLvUK7a6W2DYAheYfIHKApTNqxMTe8tT1-mtvQp5kMy5HgYgzRcFRIvOInHQ7db23Lwiyte_pSn7kKYwDvU6w6X9M8CLBECRUfMs/s640/IMG_7921.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
For Aiden's Valentine gift this year, we gave him an astronaut costume because he loves pretending to blast off in to space and is always turning things into rocket ships. So this sensory box was inspired by his Valentine's day gift...you know because I love him to the moon.<br />
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This sensory box was so much fun to put together and my toddler helped me with every step so he was very involved with the whole process. We started by making Moon dough.<br />
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This only requires two ingredients, 8 cups of flour and 1 cup of baby oil. Mix them in a bowl and then stir and mix with your hands until it starts clumping together like sand.<br />
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Once we had our moon dough made we added it to our plastic box. This one is from Target, but any plastic box with a lid will do (so you can save the moon dough to play again another day).<br />
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We added glow in the dark stars around the sides of our plastic box to make it more space-like and then added our space figurines. This activity kept Aiden busy for at least an hour and if you are looking for some fun books to read that have to do with the moon and space, our favorites are pictured below.<br />
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<u><b>Suggested items for Moon Sensory Box:</b></u><br />
Plastic box with lid<br />
Moon dough</div>
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<a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00009ENDT/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1">Glow in the dark stars</a><br />
<a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00B1O7QU6/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1">Space figurines</a><br />
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Also, I post a lot of random activities for littles on Instagram (#nestfulofactivities) and in my Insta stories if you want to follow me, click on over <a href="https://www.instagram.com/allie_renner/">here</a>.</div>
Allisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00217225673648347364noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5585284299680301605.post-71063974007112705842018-02-10T20:17:00.001-05:002018-02-10T20:22:26.718-05:00Alder's Lumberjack First Birthday<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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When I was trying to think of a party theme for Alder's first birthday, I wanted it to be something appropriate for the weather (COLD), something that made me think of him (he is strong and tough) and something that I wouldn't break the bank on. I have a lot of woodsy items and I love buffalo check, so the lumberjack theme was an easy choice. I also knew we could wear matching flannel so that was a big time plus as this Mama L-O-V-E-S matching. So here's a look at our day...<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkOCmhVQnPfcGDoH2tDSg6-xPx6NKHaIP-ksNH-nqTKm-D6dL1KVpIX_Wd-11KLgk08uQZPQiz-b0e1rpgzXTL6UB_ah8cU2sG9r9l9yyxzK1F4UDzLKDsJtiJC2p8X5i-nk86MaxM720/s1600/IMG_6536.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkOCmhVQnPfcGDoH2tDSg6-xPx6NKHaIP-ksNH-nqTKm-D6dL1KVpIX_Wd-11KLgk08uQZPQiz-b0e1rpgzXTL6UB_ah8cU2sG9r9l9yyxzK1F4UDzLKDsJtiJC2p8X5i-nk86MaxM720/s640/IMG_6536.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Alder's flannel shirt is from <a href="https://www.fayfaire.com/products/buffalo-plaid-baby-button-up-long-sleeve">Fayfaire</a></td></tr>
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For food, I kept it simple (or as simple as you can when cooking for 30 people) and had BBQ chicken (that I pre-made and then froze), macaroni and cheese, cole slaw, chips and fruit and veggie trays. I had to play up the flannel so I made a very punny sign to put on the food table. I just couldn't help myself.</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Free water bottle label printables found <a href="https://mothersniche.com/lumber-jack-free-party-printables/#_a5y_p=5878578">here</a></td></tr>
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I decided to make as much of the food as possible myself (or with the help of sweet family members) so the cupcakes were homemade (recipe on the Hershey's cocoa box) and so was the icing. We went with a marshmallow icing to make the cupcakes SMORE themed and added a piece of chocolate and a piece of Graham cracker so that people could use their graham cracker to scoop some of the extra icing up. And my husband did the torching job on the icing to make them look like toasted marshmallows. I love how they turned out and they tasted delicious too. I made Alder's smash cake myself using the same <a href="https://nestfuloflove.blogspot.com/2016/01/baby-approved-healthy-smash-cake.html">Healthy Smash cake recipe</a> I used for Aiden. </div>
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I didn't go crazy with decorations and tried to spend as little as possible, but still incorporate some fun elements. I bought a paper pack from Hobby Lobby of all flannel papers and used the paper to make Alder's monthly banner. I also added some of the flannel paper to the top of a few mason jars that I filled with rounds of wood and then I used a paper punch to punch out circles for another banner, which I used on the tables. Add a few tree stumps, pictures and pinecones and that about did it. I'll link a few of the other buffalo check items at the bottom if you are interested.<br />
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It was a busy day, filled with lots of loading and unloading the car, but seeing so many people who love us and love this boy and who have been a huge support during his first year of life made it all worth it.<br />
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It was a very sweet day, but to be honest I am looking forward to not planning another kid's birthday party any time soon. Haha. <i>Are you a big party planner or would you rather save the money and just do something simple?</i>Allisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00217225673648347364noreply@blogger.com4