C is for Caterpillar

I could just as easily say C is for neverending crafts. Anna continues to love to do crafts and when I'm not keeping up she comes up with crafts of her own. Yesterday I received a piece of paper that had notebook paper balled up and glued to it. Today during her quiet time I walked in to ask her a question and she told me her little people were pretending to make crafts. I'm guessing tonight she is even dreaming of crafts :).

We made these caterpillars out of cardboard and pompom balls and the girls especially enjoyed using the glue.





We are reviewing one of our memory verses to go with it, 2 Corinthians 5:17 - Therefore, if anyone is in Christ he is a new creation.

Our bible story for this week is about Abraham and Sarah and we are doing these cute little coloring pages from Raising Rockstars

Ocean Isle Beach

What do you get when you put 10 adults and 8 kids under the age of 3 in a house for 4 nights? A little bit of craziness, but a whole lot of fun. We had the privilege of spending Labor Day weekend with some good friends at Ocean Isle Beach. We were a little worried about the arrival of Hurricane Earl to the NC coast, but the weather was actually perfect.

We rented a house two blocks from the ocean on one of the canals at Ocean Isle Beach. It was a great location that allowed us to walk almost everywhere.



We had a little dock that made a great place for morning coffee and launching the kayaks





The kids also enjoyed splashing around in the pool.



The Museum of Coastal Carolina was practically in our backyard so we also spent a morning there. The museum itself was very small and a little pricey but it was a perfect indoor spot for the kids with lots of hands-on activities. Friday night there was also live music in the parking lot of the museum which we enjoyed up until the swingset accident.



And of course there was the beach. For some reason I never had my camera during our day trips to the beach but here is one when Anna and Erik were out collecting shells at sunset.



Despite the accident, it was a wonderful trip and lots of memories were made.

Accidents Happen

We spent the holiday weekend at Ocean Isle Beach (which I will share more about in a later post) with some fabulous friends. While on the trip we had our first family trip to the urgent care. On Friday night Anna was swinging on the swingset of the place we were staying and flipped out, landing forehead first onto a piece of wood holding in the sand for the play area. A policeman directed us toward the urgent care in the neighboring town and thankfully we made it there 10 minutes before they closed.

I am not so good with injuries, in fact, I get a little woozy myself but Anna was so brave. Her forehead was cracked down to the skull and so she got a little scared when they tried to numb the area but through the stitches she closed her eyes and didn't make a sound. The nurse made her a balloon out of a rubber glove which made her smile and all the nurses commented that she was one of their best patients.

As Anna hopped down from the table after the stitches were done she said "I've had a great day!". Her comment was totally God reassuring Erik and I; it was what our hearts needed to hear. The whole way home we told Anna how proud we were of her and she smiled so big. She even requested to go back and see that doctor again. I am constantly amazed at the heart of my sweet Anna.

Storybook Cottage

I am really excited about our first Craig's List purchase, this Storybook Cottage from Step2. I had been eyeing this playhouse for awhile but the price tag on it new was discouraging. What I really like about this house is that it is taller than most of the other houses at 56.25 inches tall. Inside there is a little table (after posting this I realized we put the side of the house with the table on backwards, so now the table is on the inside :)) and a little play kitchen. There is also a little "doggie door" that Cassie uses from time to time. I am hoping this will be a big hit this fall so that we can spend some more time outdoors.

B is for Boat

As soon as we finished our 'A' craft last week Anna was asking me to move on to 'B', so here we are. This week's bible story is about Noah and so we built a boat/ark out of the letter 'B' (you have to imagine it laying on it's humps).









Our memory verse has been to review Joshua 1:8 - Be strong and brave for God is with you.

And we also colored a fun Noah's Ark picture from here and found some fun Ark activities at Christian Preschool Printables.

Chore Chart

A few nights ago Anna and I were reading God's Wisdom for Little Girls and there was a page on being diligent. The little girl in the picture had a chore chart and Anna noticed it and asked what it was. I remembered the chore chart I had been working on for her was in the next room so I ran and got it and introduced Anna to her chore chart. We finished reading, said our prayers and went to bed.

The next morning I woke up to "Mommy, come see I made my bed". We went downstairs and Anna immediately went to feed our dog. We came back upstairs and Anna asked if she could brush her teeth; she was working her way through the chart quite diligently.

Here's Anna with her chore chart (she had added a few of her bible memory cards in as well). The chart itself is something I found in the $1 bin at Target and the cards I simply made with clipart, printed out and laminated.



The items on Anna's chart include basic things such as make her bed, clean up her room, brush her teeth, say her memory verses - - so not necessarily "chores" for now but I think this chart will be good for our daily routine.

Riding Horses

Over the weekend Anna went to a birthday party at J&H Stables and rode a HUGE horse. I have to admit I was nervous as Anna was put on top of the horse and was told to hold on as they led the horse down the path but Anna had a wonderful time.

Here's Anna brushing Ernie before his saddle was put on:



And Anna riding Ernie:



Anna is ready to go back and ride again!