where's Micah

Micah wanted to watch a movie during rest time on our bed

with the comforter pulled up to his neck. Can you spot him?

He's such a goof!

daddy's guitar

Connor has been really into playing Micah's guitar recently and wanted to get Daddy's guitar out. There's no way I'm letting him play Zach's Taylor so I got his grandfather's old 12 string out of the closet. He spent a good hour playing by himself and then with me so that he could 'hold' it the right way. Fun stuff!

silhouettes

I finally did a project I've been wanting to try for a loooonnnnngggg time. Not counting the time it took to develop the pictures it took about 15 minutes and turned out super cute!




For a more detailed tutorial to accomplish this super easy silhouette go here

art day

Micah's preschool had Art Day yesterday. Each class comes down and gets to go to 4 different art centers. I helped with the sun catcher center for all the other classes but when it was Micah's turn I got to go with him to do all the other projects too.

His projects were...

straw (blow) art

hand painting

(this is actually Ben in the picture because

I was helping Micah do his and couldn't take a picture)

sun catchers

fruit stamps

coloring when finished

We had the best time!

on wheels

This afternoon it was another B.E.A.U.T.I.F.U.L day! I had been promising Micah for weeks to let him ride his bike at the new park near our house, so today was the day. We went out to Denny Dobb's and spend an hour with the boys riding their wheels around the walking track. Micah on his bike and Connor on Micah's scooter. (Connor can't peddle his bike yet). Micah was the sweetest big brother and did a great job riding ahead and then turning around to make sure Connor wasn't left behind. Connor followed Micah wherever he went and kept looking at me and saying "I ride scooter" and "I wear a helmet" It seriously might have been the cutest thing I've ever seen him do!!

Seriously the cutest thing!

We are planning to have Connor's 2nd birthday party at Denny Dobb's (thanks Sarah and Jessica for the idea that I'm stealing!)

tunnel basketball

Friday before last seemed like a long day. Zach had the day off and we had big plans to take the boys to Stone Mountain to have a fun outdoor family day. Of course we woke up to rainy, windy 50 degree weather instead of the beautiful sunny high 60s we had gotten used to. I spent the morning, shopping a consignment sale, going to lunch with Zach and Connor, rescuing a dog on the way home while Zach took Micah for ice cream, taking the dog to the humane society so they could track down the mama, then coming home to two short napped/no napped boys. Zach had a meeting at 4 and I needed something to entertain to stir crazy gentleman for a couple hours. I could feel my own cabin fevered, no sunshine, house is a mess brain about to explode which I didn't want to do so I prayed PLEASE keep me calm and help us to have fun. God showed up. I know it might seem strange that He gave me a game to play with the boys but He totally did. He gave me the peace to think which is a pretty big deal. We got our tunnels out (thank you Stina for the millionth time for one of the best Christmas presents ever) and turn them into the best basketball court ever!! We started rolling the balls through the tunnels to each other and quickly went to who could shoot through the circles. Micah and Connor LOVED it! Micah was great at making his shots and even got it in the tallest center circle a few times. I have a great video of his first shot in the tall one!

Phillipians 4:6 says Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, present your requests to God.

Playtime with your kids totally falls in the everything category and thank you that He listens to even those requests!

dress up is up

After Micah received so much awesome dress up stuff for his birthday we were having problems storing it all. Originally it was in a toy box we bought right after he was born. It fit...technically, but anytime you wanted anything all of it had to be thrown out onto the floor because let's face it kids don't look for something carefully!

My original plan was to buy one of these from IKEA. Leslie's playroom is full of them and they have large/deep buckets that I thought would store everything pretty well. However, I couldn't figure out when I would get the chance to go up there so we were just dealing with the problem. Then I got the idea of having a small armoire to put it all in so that the clothes could hang up and the accessories could be in a drawer or something. I didn't even begin to look for a piece of furniture before I got the idea of just buying a shower curtain rod and being done with it.

Off to target we went for a $7 rod, two $4 baskets and a pack of hangers. For less than $20 the space went from this...

to this! Pretty cool. Well Micah thought so atleast :)

All his costumes are hanging up with plenty of room for more.

Accesories and hats are divided into these two baskets. Ideally yes it'd be great if they were in a closet or armoire that could be closed off to hide it all but in this house that is not an option so we'll settle for showing off our stuff instead :)

cheez-its

A few weeks ago I saw something on facebook about free cheez-its. Free is awesome and cheez-its are awesome so I checked it out. They (and by they I mean nabisco) was giving out free samples of three different new flavors. We got ours in the mail today and had a May family taste test.


The three flavors are Asiago, Romano and Colby. Micah, Zach and I tried them all at different times so that we wouldn't influence each other's decision and then made our choices. The results were....

Micah and Zach- Romano

Sarah- Colby

Connor- food :)

clothes

Micah has become quite the fashion king/dictator lately. He's always wanted to be involved in the picking out of his clothes but not too long ago anything I picked was fine. Now, not so much. I love that he can get undressed and dressed by himself. I also love that he likes to be involved in the decision making. However, I DON'T love that he could care less about the temperature outside or the matching of his clothes. All he is concerned with is what color he is wearing.

For example...yesterday after school he wanted to put on play clothes which is fine with me. He wanted to wear green and red and brown. The first shirt was green but it had short sleeves and it was COLD yesterday. The second shirt didn't have green. The pants were brown but not a good brown. After a little drama/meltdown/convincing his outfit became this...

You have a red longsleeve shirt plus a green short sleeve shirt plus jeans plus his Peter Pan boots instead of his cowboy boots because they were a light brown and his cowboy boots were a silly brown.

I have to admit that I care a little bit when he picks out stuff that just completely clashes. I know I shouldn't, Zach tells me I shouldn't, but I do. Sometimes I think about all the cute/cool ensembles that are in his closet and drawers and just wish I could have him be my version of cute all the time. Then I think about the why and the why is because I want people to look at him and think good of me. Which lets face it, is just a bit prideful. Now I'm not going to let him wear uncomfortable things (i.e. his plastic fireman jacket that he can't sit down in) in the car or a thin outfit in 30 degree weather but I'm going to try to relax about the whole image thing and pick battles elsewhere. I'd much rather him be wearing plaid shorts and a polka dot shirt while sitting quietly at a restaurant then decked out in polo and running around like a heathen! Just sayin' :)

22 months

2 months until 2 years! Not a ton new going on in Connorland. But here are a few things plus a few pictures to keep you smiling :)

* can recognize red things and green things

* can count to 10 (ish) meaning he will kind of say the numbers in order. He'll do it for Zach but not for me. He learned by playing LOTS of hide and seek with big brother!

* has developed a large attachment to Zach. This does not mean he has gotten over his koala ness. It means he spreads the love between the two of us now :)

* loves to drive the car but is terrified of the car horn.

* likes to drink from a big boy cup when he has the chance

* is developing a stubborn/temper streak. I can feel those twos coming!

ironing

or the worst household chore ever. Well at least for me :) When it comes to ironing I don't do it often. Mainly because I dislike it A LOT! I iron like my mom. Everything gets piled up until you just can't stare at the pile in longer! She piles her stuff on a chair in her room. I pile it in a cute basket on the shelf in the laundry room. For me "can't stand looking at it anymore" happens when the pile touches the ceiling. Today was that day.

(and please do not tell me if I didn't wait until there was a ton then it would be better because it would not. You know who you are ;) but I love you anyway!)

Before ironing can take place I have to get all my ducks in a row. First thing all the clothes have to be organized into piles. I do not like going from shirt to skirt to kid shirt to pants to whatever else. I have to get in a groove for each article of clothing and I can't have a stray coming in and throwing off the groove ;) Next the equipment (obvious stuff).

Finally the most important part...the movie! I do not iron without something good on the TV!! The choice today...

I'm just a girl, standing in front of a boy, asking him to love her. What a line! Seriously though if I could also get a recording of Hugh Grant saying 'mayonnaise' I would be a happy lady.

One movie later I am D.O.N.E and receive my reward!

Now I don't have to worry about this mess for at least another month :)

welcome to march

March has arrived!!!

February is the shortest month of the year and when you shove 5+ events throughout it flies! This month we/I had YoungLife Winter camp at Sharptop, a trip to Enterprise, the annual YoungLife Banquet, Micah's Birthday, Micah's Birthday party, over a week worth of naptimes working on consignment stuff, a weekend of scrapbooking to raise money for Steph's mission trip to Uganda and a church work night. Plus normal life of raising kids and taking care of a home and all the other things that pop up because life is life.

At first glance it looks like it was pretty overwhelming. There might have been times where I was a bit tired or my brain either wouldn't stop from having so much to think about or wanted to shut down from having so much to think about but overall this month was fulfilling! Each of these events allowed me/us to be a part of something bigger. Whether it was a ministry, family, friends or missions we had small parts and large parts in doing something for others and hopefully allowing others to see God in our actions, words, deeds, attitude, etc.

However, I am also looking forward to the quiet that March so far seems to hold. I have no big events planned other than taking Micah to a birthday party, watching the boys so Zach can have a camping trip with the men from church and any other social events that occur with family and friends. Regardless of whether it stays calm and peaceful with fun events mixed in or the to do list starts piling up I pray our year continues to be fulfilling as we learn to give our lives and take what others give during the rest of the year.