August learning activities

We have been having a blast learning in August!!!! We focused on a couple of letters ("L" and "J"), practiced color sorting and 1 to 1 correspondence, and reminisced about the ocean. Here is a recap!!!

We also did "L is for lion" and of course talked about how it is Lylah's letter. For "J" we did "J is for jellyfish", "J is for Jesus" and "J is for jump". We also made lemonade and jell-o!!

We made lots of alphabet soup!! (just beans, noodles, foam letters, and various play kitchen toys)

We did more than these ocean actives, but I didn't do a good job taking pictures apparently. The sensory bin was a big hit even though I didn't really like the way it turned out.

We did 1 to 1 with shells and a deviled egg tray. We also sorted the shells by big and little (sort of hard for Lylah), counted them and sorted pom poms by color.

Finally we learned about creation and the fall. I loved this Godly Play set idea that I got from pinterest!!! So did Lylah. We also colored a creation wheel from church, did part of a days of creation craft also found on pinterest (too hard for lylah), and memorized Genesis 1:1 in sign!!

As you can tell, I'm loving my new job still :). Up next a couple of Eric Carle book studies!!!

Seriously Big Fun Raffle

We are having a seriously big, fun raffle in conjunction with our picnic fundraiser coming up September 11th!! Don't worry because even though the winners will be drawn at the picnic you don't have to be present to win (although we hope you can make it because it's going to be just as fun as our raffle). First I'll let you know what we're giving away then we'll talk details.

A Standard Medium TEMPUR-PEDIC pillow donated by our friends at Crouch Family Chiropractic.

A super awesome original wooden canvas piece by Ashley Miller.

A complete TimeWise Miracle Set donated by independent beauty consultant Marianna Lucas.

An Onyx Medallion Travel Collection Set valued at $71. Donated by Thirty-one independent consultant Monica Porter.

Two separate gift packages from Lindsay Mayo and the folks at Total Fitness, Solar Connection, and Total FX.

Prize 1: 30 day membership to Total Fitness Connection, 1 Free Spray Tan Session at Solar Connection, and $35 off any service at Total FX.

Prize 2: 30 Day Tanning Membership to Solar Connection, 2 Free Spray Tanning Sessions from Solar Connection, and $35 off any service from Total FX.

A super sweet Toy Story rag quilt (toddler size) donated by Launi Hermens. LaunisRagQuilts.wordpress.com

We have three different handmade jewelry sets to give away. These were donated by the very talented Melissa Jolly. Each will also have earrings :)

A Taste of Barren County package. Spend the day enjoying Barren County businesses Kenny's Farmhouse Cheese,The Berry Patch and Landscaping, and The Country Oven Bakery. These businesses are located minutes from each other and are very dear to our heart. $20 gift certificate to The Berry Patch, $25 to Kenny's Farmhouse Cheese, and $30 to Country Oven Bakery.

We also have $50 certificate to Kenny's Farmhouse Cheese. Seriously, if you haven't tasted their cheese yet, you must!!

We also have two paint kits, one from Porter Paints and one from Classic Paints!!

Also two dozen cake pops (YUM!) from the very talented Jennifer Hart!

Finally we have a handmade new mommy nursing gift set with two burp cloths and a nursing cover. Donated by Martha Jolly and Emily Jochim.

So that is like 16 total prizes!!! Are you as excited as I am?! You should be!!! So details:

1. Tickets are only $2 each or six tickets for $10. The tickets you buy will go with your name on them into one big pot and we will draw names for each prize.

2. We will need payment (cash or checks) by September 11 to be eligible. Just message me on here or facebook or give me a call or email (lara.mattingly81@gmail.com)with how many tickets you want and I'll get you our address!

3. If you live out of town and you win, I will ship your prize to you. If you live in town and are not at the picnic I'll meet up with you, that way I can hug your neck!!

4. There are a few prizes that are meant for locals (Total Fitness packages, Kenny's Cheese packages, and cake pops). If your name is drawn and you live out of town it will be put back in the pot unless you let me know ahead of time that you will be making a trip to this area to enjoy your prize.

So there you have it!! Thanks so much to all of our super awesome sponsors!! And just in case you were wondering we are number 8 on the list now!!!!! Yay!!! So please share this on your facebook wall or on your own blog!! Can't wait for Lydia to meet each of you!!!

Our birthday countdown

Last year we got Lylah a birthday book for the five days leading up to her birthday. Fun, but not quite the tradition I was looking for. So this year we did a birthday countdown. It was much closer to the tradition I wish to put in place to celebrate the gift God has given us through our children (specifically Lylah this time). Anyway it was really simple actually. I made tags with my Cricut and attached them to white paper bags. You could just write numbers on too, but I like an excuse to use my Cricut :).

Each bag had a special family activity or a little treasure (all of which were purchased at Mighty $). I should add that the little treasures will all come in handy for various learning/art activities we will be getting into in the coming months. Anyway, here is what was in our bags:

7: family movie night-in bag; popcorn, Nemo movie (already had), and a special Nemo cup (found at an outlet mall on vacation)
6: toy crane (perfect for our transportation unit we just finished)
5: water park with friends-in bag; swim diaper (already had)
4: little stampers
3: smores and lightning bugs-in bag; a glass jar
2: little animal figures (I'll be using these in up coming sensory bins and Godly play kits)
1: flower leis to wear for her party
0: birthday blowers

We opened each bag at breakfast time so that it would sort of be a routine. Lylah only asked a few other times to open a bag when it wasn't time. Once she was sassy about it. Over all I feel like it went really well especially considering how young Lylah is. I hope to do more activities in the future, but the little treasures help for nights when we have other things planned.

As for this year, Lylah loved it! I'm sitting here trying to decide which activity she liked the most, bit I really can't decide! She was super sweet watching the movie!! She watched he WHOLE thing! She laughed on funny parts and was concerned on concerning parts. She is getting so big!! She also loved the water park and had fun with some friends who met us there too!! The smores and lighting bugs ended up being snow cones at our house with our small group. Who wouldn't love that?! The funny thing was on the days that the bag item was not exactly exciting (swim diaper, glass jar) she still got so excited!! I decided at one point that if you put anything in a bag to open up it must become way cool!! Anyway, we will most definitely be doing this again next year and for all future birthdays in our house!!

Big Day #2

So Lylah's birthday party was on the Saturday before her birthday. We decided to have her party at my mom and dad's house again this year because let's get real August birthday's are almost a must for pool parties!! Anyway, that morning, it was NASTY weather! Lots of yucky rain and clouds. I was bummed. We just kept looking at the radar trying to decide if we were going to have to party in the garage or what. Yay was that didn't have to happen!! The party was supposed to start at 11:00 and literally the rain stopped at about 10:30, just enough time to decorate and get ready!!

My parents went to Hawaii in November so we decided a luau theme would be fun. I kept it simple this year and just did a few little things with the theme, but I think it still turned out really cute!!


My sister and my friend Kristy made the tissue paper flowers. My mom got the table runner and I found some grass skirts at Mighty $ that we hung up next to the banner. My mom also bought some leis which were fun of course!!

I was totally banking on Lylah to really get into her party this year. Well, I was sort of wrong, sort of right. She was actually a little shy and grumpy most of the time, but she DID get into present opening and scarfed down her cake! She was so funny when she opened the presents that were wrapped; she had to get every little piece of tape and wrapping off and really didn't pay attention at all to what the box revealed! What can I say? She's a little obsessive :) She was so excited when Papaw brought out his way awesome yummy ice cream cake! By the time we sang I was holding her back to not just grab a handful! Once the piece hit her plate that is what she did-ate it by the handful!! Who can blame her!





It was a great party to celebrate a great blessing!! Thanks of course to everyone who helped make it special!!

Big Day #3

Don't worry, you didn't miss the post about big day #2, I just have to do that post from the computer since all of the party pics are on my camera, and since I'm having a slumber party with our lil lady who keeps wigging out when we put her in her crib, you get number #3 first.

So, Sunday was Lylah's actual birthday! I can't believe she is two. I can't believe how much she has grown and changed this year, and I can't believe how much more sappy I was this year at birthday time. Yes, I'm admitting it. I got sappy. Not in front of anyone, just in some of my own quiet thinking moments. I think it's because I realized how many lasts we've went through this year. Last time nursing, eating baby food, in a baby car seat, wanting help on steps or with much of anything for that matter, the list goes on. With that being said, our lil lady doesn't seem like a baby very much to me. Don't get me wrong, I know she is still a baby, but I can carry on pleasurable conversations with this little girl who last year at this time knew under 100 words/signs. So anyway, you can see why I would be sappy right??

We had a very busy day on Lylah's actual birthday, but by the time we were all home together we managed to have a sweet relaxing evening. For dinner we had banana pancakes with candles for Lylah. After that we went to the "big playground" which is actually the school playground here in The Grove. Lylah also enjoyed a wonderful cake pop which we ordered to help support my sister's Adoption process. My goal of having a relaxing evening was met. We ended the evening playing with the party blowers in Lylah's "0 days till your birthday" bag.

Nope, our baby isn't really a baby anymore. But then she always will be our baby anyway!

For those of you who are curious about some of Lylah's recent development then read on. This is mostly to help me remember :)

Fine Motor
Holding pencils, crayons, markers with pincher grasp

Picking up small objects and placing on glued area

Signing more difficult signs (ex. "I love you", scissors, yellow)

Pulling pants up and down if wearing a disposable diaper (the fluffy bun is harder to get over :)

Putting on her own crocs or sandal type shoes

Gross Motor
Galloping
Running
Jumping (almost getting feet of floor)
Climbing (esp. noticed at playgrounds!)

Learning
Reciting ABCs
Counting to 10
Identifying lots of letter names and some numbers
Singing songs like Jesus Loves Me, Baby Bumblebee, ect.
Identifying any and all construction vehicles
Telling when objects match
Using her imagination A LOT

Mood/temperament
Joking and understanding other people joking
Faking crying as an attempt to get what she wants
Tattling (even on herself)
Bossing
Understanding when she is not obeying
Showing lots more affection (which we love)
Helping with chores (pouring laundry detergent and dog food, putting bowls in sink, throwing things away)

Sorry if this post is rambling. If you know me then you know I will not remember these things of they aren't in writing.

Ps. Look for birthday party post this weekend :)

Big Day #1

We have a series of big days this weekend. Today was a big day because we took a big trip to the post office to mail a big pile of papers called our adoption DOSSIER!!!! We are very excited to be able share with you that we are now #9 on the waiting list!!!!!! Wooowhooo!! Please join us in praying that we would wait well and that would see some movement on that list in the coming weeks!!!

And don't forget about our big adoption picnic on September 11th from 4:00-6:00 at Covington Woods Park shelter #2! See ya there!

Adoption picnic fundraiser

It seems like it's been a while since I posted about out adoption progress. Well, the big news is we will be mailing off our dossier paperwork on Friday and once our agency gets word of that we will officially be on the waiting list!!! We of course are getting super anxious to see Lydia's face!! It also has been a while since we've had an organized fundraiser, but with the referral fee being the next payment due ($8300) we thought we would ask our precious friends and family to join us again in helping bring Lydia home. This time we are having an adoption picnic! How fun!! On Sunday, September 11th we hope you will bring your family out to Covington Woods Park Shelter #2 in Bowling Green anytime from 4:00-6:00. We will have a hot dog dinner for $5 per person (max. $20 per family). There will also be games for $1. Come out and try your hand/feet at cake walk, tin can bowling, bean bag toss, or baseball throw! You could even get a ballon animal or get your face painted!!! I should add that all games will have prizes!!! There will also be crafts!! Decorate a block for Lylah and Lydia to play with or make a card to put in Lydia's baby book!!! (cost for the crafts will be $5). As you can see this is going to be a great family event!!! Consider getting several families together and coming out to enjoy a night of fun, food, and fellowship while helping bring our sweetie home!!

Live a little too far away, but still want to help??? Keep your eyes peeled for our AWESOME raffle!! Winners will be named that day as well!!!