Friends

This is Lena and her friend, Jenna (dressed as a bee), at our church Fall Festival sunday afternoon. Look at the height difference. Jenna is two weeks younger than Lena.

First-time "Treater"

This is the first time for Lena to do Trick-or-Treating. She of course looke adorable in her crayon costume. We only went to two houses, which were 2 couples from church we are friends with that live within a mile from us. When they opened the door, Lena would only say "Treat!" It was quite cute. Sam and Sarah loaded Lena up with tons of candy. And while we were at Joe and Kim's, Lena played with their cat, Lucy, and fed her a treat. Lena seemed to enjoy the evening, but was ready for bed when we got home.

Preschool Costume Fun

Yesterday was the costume parade/trick-or-treating and carnival at preschool. Of course being a teacher, I had to dress up, so....I dressed up as my favorite children's character, Cat in the Hat. Also, it was the only costume I had on hand (leftover from Sing Song). Lena's costume was a pink crayon, and she got lots of oohs and ahhs, and "O how cute!" The next question was of course, "Did you make her costume?" I was very proud to say that I did make her costume. I really enjoyed making her unique costume.

The Pumpkin Patch

I took Lena to the Pumpkin Patch last friday, and she had a lot of fun running around and playing with the pumpkins. She was so distracted with seeing everything, that it was hard to get good pictures, but I got a few. We didn't take one home, but Lena gave the ladies in charge hugs for letting her play.

Another Contest!

Okay ladies, it's another contest! It's pink, and you all know that pink is my favorite color, so of course I had to share the news of the contest. Also, this one helps support something that hits many woman, breast cancer. October is breast cancer awareness month, so 5 Minutes for Mom
is giving away one Casio Pink EX-Z75 digital camera to one lucky winner.

Come on! It pink, and it's for a good cause!

GREAT CONTEST!!!!!!

Hey everyone! Go on over to 5 Minutes for Mom and check out their latest giveaway. It is awesome! They are giving away Western Digital Passport External Hard Drive ---3 of them!
This is a really cool external hard drive that lets you back up all your pictures, some documents, music, video, etc. It holds a lot. Plus, it comes in cute colors! This allows you to take with you all your important things that you don't want to lose. I don't know about the rest of you, but I would just cry if my computer shut down and I couldn't get to all my pictures. GO NOW to 5 Minutes for Mom and sign up to win your very own Passport.

Who does she look like?

Win a Dyson Pink All Floors Vacuum!

Hey girls! 5 Minutes For Mom is GIVING AWAY one Dyson Pink All Floors vacuum! This is part of Dyson's goal for helping to find a cure for breast cancer. The vacuum is only found at Target, and they are selling fast! SO.......if pink is your favorite color (It's mine!), then head on over to 5 Minutes For Mom and register to win a pink vacuum. And even if pink is not your favorite color, head on over there anyways. A free vacuum is still nice!

Be careful what you say.....

So....James and I have noticed now that we have to be careful about what we say, and the tone we use when we say things. Now that Lena is nearly 21 months (on Sept. 8th) she is paying more attention to what is being said. James and I are always saying to each other, "Honey, honey", and the other one answers "What!?". Well, the other day we were driving in the car, and from the backseat we heard Lena say, "Honey, honey. What!?". She says it all the time now. It really makes you stop and think about what you say when your toddler comes back and repeats you. It just makes me glad that we are not people who say ugly things. Thank you God for giving us toddlers to keep us in check.

She sings

Today was the day that I went up to the preschool to get my room ready for school to start next week. I had some paper stars on the table. Lena picked one up, said "Star". She looked at it and then sang, "Twinkle twinkle little stars", with the correct tune. I guess that would be her first 4 word sentence and also the first song to sing that could be recognizable. It was sooooooooo cute!

Cuteness

You gotta check out the video clip at Adventures in Babywearing. Just click on the link below. It is SOOOOOOOOOO cute!
http://www.adventuresinbabywearing.com/2007/08/surely-youve-never-heard-it-said-so.html

Sweet Girl

I just love this picture of Lena. It was taken right after Church a few weeks ago, and she just posed so perfectly. Isn't she just the cutest little girl you've ever seen?! Of course, I might be a little biased. I love taking pictures of the cute things that she does.

She gets it!

We have been working with Lena trying to teach her how to count, what her colors are, her shapes, identifying things, the alphabet, etc. Would you expect anything different from a preschool teacher? She knows most of the shapes, can name nearly every major body part, knows a few letters, and is still working on her colors and counting. For a while, she would just say "2" for everything, then it went to 5, 6, 8, and lately 1, but she would never put any numbers together to count. Tonight, she climbed on top of some plastic drawers in her closet and squatted down like she was going to jump. She then said, "1, 2, 3!" She didn't jump, but she counted to 3! I was so excited for her! Everything we've been trying to teach her, she gets it finally. I knew she would at some point, but its just exciting when it happens. I never get tired of seeing the look of excitement when a child learns or discovers something new. Of course, the teacher in me had to take it further and start teaching her that the number 4 comes next.

Can you tell I'm ready for school to start? Teacher work days start the last week of August.

Bye bye summer!

"Pray?"

That seems to be one of Lena's favorite words now. That and "Amen!". I think we pray maybe 3 or 4 times at meals. She just loves to pray. Sometimes, in the middle of the day, she comes to me and grabs my hands and says, "Pray", and bows her head. So we sit there and pray. I lose count at the end of the day of how many times we prayed during the day. It doesn't get annoying, but instead she is inspiration to me--to pray more. Here I am, the parent, trying to make sure that I lead a good example and leave a legacy for my child, and she is the one showing me the example. I guess I did something right. It warms my heart every time she wants to pray. At dinner, (Sat. night), she said, "I pray", so she gibbered a couple of words for a prayer, and then Daddy prayed. It was sweet.

Great Contest

Check this out! 5 Minutes for Mom has teamed up with Best Buy for a contest where some lucky person gets to win a 37" Flat-Panel LCD HDTV!!!!! Check in with 5 Minutes for Mom and see what it is all about.

I hope I win this. James has a birthday in few weeks, and I KNOW he would LOVE this.

Cute Lena Moment

Yesterday in Church, we were singing "Blessed be your name", and when the song ended and everyone was sitting down, Lena decided to belt out, "Maymen!", which is her version of amen. The people around us just smiled. Amen is one of her favorite words lately.

When we sit down to eat at the table, we always hold hands and pray. It sure does make you feel good that you are doing something right when your toddler holds out her hands and says "Pray" before you can say it to her. And she loves to say "Maymen" at the end with enthusiasm.

I love being a mom!

Does it count?

Tonight, James was making brownies, and after he put them in the oven, he took the bowl over to the table so that he could eat the leftover brownie mix. He gave Lena a taste of the brownie mix. She said, "Mmmm, good. Amen!" She said the words somewhat close together, with only a couple of seconds in between, so does that count as a three word sentance? Anyways, it was a cute moment.

Another Contest

Hey everyone! Adventuresinbabywearing is having a contest where someone gets to win a $50 shopping spree at kangaroodle. Also, Mama Speaks is a cool place to visit. Go check them out.

Snack Time

Lena decided for herself that it was snack time. So she climbed up into her booster chair, grabbed the box of cheese nips, and poured them all onto the table. I told her she needed to tell Mama that she wanted a snack instead of helping herself, and then made sure to take advantage of the photo op. My silly girl.

No more crib

As I posted before, Lena got out of her crib last sat. after nap. Well, since then, she hasn't been sleeping as well, and it has been harder to put her to bed. So....Thurs. morning, I pulled her mattress out of the crib and put it on the floor for her to sleep on. That afternoon I put her on the mattress on the floor for her nap and told her to stay there on her bed and go to sleep. I told her that if she got off of her bed, that I would spank her. I walked out and closed the door, and then came back about 5 min. later. I found her off of her bed reading a book. So I spanked her, put her back on the mattress, and told her to go to sleep and that if she got off her bed that I would spank her. She cried about it. I went back in 10 min. later and she was asleep. We are now going on 3 days and nights of putting her to sleep on the mattress on the floor without any problems and no more spankings after that first one. She is sleeping longer, and waking up happier. We are working on getting a bed so that she doesn't have to sleep on a mattress on the floor. So far, this transition has been really good. She was ready for it. Thankfully, she doesn't know how to open doors yet. Although, that will come in time. Hopefully not for several months. Our little Sweet Pea is growing up.