Makin' Pretzels

We had a great morning, which went something like this:

-Bible Reading and worship/singing time

-Free play time/mommy makes breakfast

-Prayer and breakfast

-Marching to the music: Tap lids, spoons, puzzle pieces and march/dance to music

-Clip clothespins onto shoe box, drop clothes pins into containers

-Talk about memory game card photos

-Make pretzels together

-Lunch time snack

-Nap time

I would have to say that making homemade pretzels with Matilyn was one of the highlights of the morning. She loved getting her hands into the dough and shaping the pretzels. Matilyn had the great idea to add raisins to the pretzel dough. I then decided to add cinnamon and sugar. The end product was divine! YUM!

After nap time we played ball outside. This early spring weather is wonderful! When dad came home he took the little ones on the bike trailer for a nice ride around the neighborhood. They had a blast!

Watercolors And Fun At Play

We had lots of fun today. It was Matthew's first attempt at painting with watercolors. He didn't quite grasp that the paint should remain on the paper. LOL! I just let them have free play and cleaned up the mess later. It was so great to watch!

At lunch time the two of them decided to have some laughs together. I love how they are playing together now. :)

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Little Helper

So again I ask myself, why buy toy copies when the original is so much fun and helps mommy in the process? LOL!

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Child-sized spaces = Happy child faces

I have been doing some reading and praying about being the best mom that I can possibly be. It amazes me some of the mothers that the Lord has brought into my life who have offered invaluable advice. One helped to restore my sanity by helping me find a solution to Matilyn's resistance to going to bed at night without severe protest. Then comes the answer to my prayers, the positive reward chart. Thanks Claudia! You are such a Godsend!

Most recently I discovered a website and blog by a Christian homeschooling mother of 12. She is also an adoptive parent and a prior Montessori teacher. I have learned so much about homeschooling and working with toddlers and preschoolers from reading her blog posts, and can't wait to get a copy of her book, "Mommy, Teach Me". Her name is Barbara Curtis. While I may not agree with her on all issues, I really enjoy reading her wonderful insight into being a Christian mom and teaching children.

http://www.mommyteachme.net/

http://www.mommylife.net/

http://www.barbaracurtis.com/

Anyway, as a result of reading her blog I decided to get down onto the children's level (literally) to view the rooms in our home from their perspective. WOW! Everything looked so huge. This caused me to re-think some of the layout of spaces within the house. Yesterday and today were spent creating child friendly book nooks and creative play areas within the play room, Matilyn's room, and Matthew's room. We had so much fun today enjoying the new spaces! I am posting some photos, taken before the new art was hung (on their level, of course). I'm so excited about how this turned out. The amazing thing is that we didn't spend a penny, but worked to find creative ways to use what we already have. Yippee!! So, here are some photos of our new spaces.....

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I LOVE Ketchup!

Well, this is a first. I have never seen a child to this before. It cracked us up, and we just had to grab the video camera.

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"Now it's praying that we find your child"

It's amazing to think that we are at this stage in the adoption! Today we received an email from Deana stating,

"Just to let you know we received your information in the mail today. Now it's praying that we find your child."

It just seemed incredible to see it in print! We are so thankful that the Lord delivered our dossier paperwork to the Pans safely. We are so excited!