Catching Up

For anyone who has gotten the flu this year, you know it's a bad one.  It knocked us out for a week, and we're just now getting back to normal.  Between that and work being extremely busy, I just haven't had much of a chance to keep up with the blog.  So this is going to be one big post of updates.  I also am going to switch to a weekly devotional, which I'm hoping to catch up with tomorrow.  I am finally up to Revelation in my Bible in a "year" readings!  So I'm really excited about that.

It's weird because I have been praying over this past year that God would let me know when the time is right to leave my current job, and I always had this feeling that I needed to read through the whole Bible first.  Well, now that I am about to finish reading through the Bible, my job is on the chopping block with sequestration.  Maybe God is giving me that nudge...  But please be in prayer for everyone who is facing furloughs, lay-offs, etc.  This is going to impact so many families.  I know that people like to villainize federal employees, but the truth is, most of us are just like everybody else, working hard just to put food on the table.

But all that aside, here are all of the updates....

Art Projects

Kaitlyn and I often go to Michaels Arts and Crafts store on days when I'm home.  It's Kaitlyn's favorite store!  When we turn into the shopping center, she always says, "Here we come Michaels!"  So this past week, we landed some awesome bargains.  Little wood picture frames with tiny markers that the kids could decorate with for a dollar each.  Colton colored his doghouse, and we added a cute picture of Barstow as a baby.  Then we found two packs of cute little animals and cars with a brush and set of paints.  Those may have cost more than a dollar, but less than two!  The kids had a blast painting, of course.  Kaitlyn really concentrated on getting the nooks and crannies of the cat.

My Spoils



Rarely do I splurge on myself, but I have been eying the Ashland collection at Michaels for a while now and it finally went 40% off!  I could have bought the whole collection if it weren't for the money issue and the fact that I just don't have room for it all.  But I did get a mosaic "Hope" stand, a vase, and some fake flowers.  It's brought a smile to my face this past week :)!

Potty Progress



Well, my attempt to bribe the kids by promising them that if they were potty trained by the time we reached the end of the current box of diapers they could pick something out at Toys 'R Us has officially failed.  We were off to a good start, but interest in the whole project languished mid-week.  The potty sticker chart is filling up nicely, though!  They haven't stuck to their own sides of the chart, but Colton is getting some stickers on there.  Yay for progress!!

Fun Time

     

Kaitlyn built the great wall of blocks in our living room last night...it was adorable!  Colton counted the blocks up to 20!  And then there's Kaitlyn reading a 3D Monsters Inc. book with her dada...love those moments!

Colton's 100th Day of School



So Colton's class celebrated the 100th day of school, and for a home project, each kid had to collect 100 of something.  For Colton's project, he put 100 puppy Valentine stickers on a piece of construction paper, writing a number by each one with hand over hand help.  It was a long process, but he enjoyed the numbers and the stickers...so well worth it!

Scholastic Book Club

   

I have become a Scholastic Book Club addict.  Every month, Colton's teacher sends home those little brochures of amazingly inexpensive books, and I just have to order some.  Colton brought this month's order home from school today!  I think I may actually get even more excited than the kids.  Fifteen books and a bear adding game for less than $30...you have to admit that's an awesome deal!  I'm loving the bears...the kids are already showing an interest in adding because of them.

So that's it for now.  Colton and Brandon are supposed to do a gum drops and toothpicks construction project after dinner, so that should be some fun pictures.  Guess I should get to starting dinner now :).