Way Behind

Just a quick note to let all of you know that I am WAY BEHIND with my blogging life right now!!! I have an exploding inbox, a Google Reader loaded with your blogs to be read, a large list of draft posts to be worked on (for several of my blogs), and the 1000 Subscribers Celebration looming right around the corner. I have a LOT going on in ministry life right now and my husband needs my support and help, so all else goes on the back burner!

I just didn't want anyone to think I had run away! I will be back full force in blog-land soon!!!

Tot School ~ On Vacation!

~Krash is currently 38.5 months old~

Krash is having the BEST week!!! Filled with many firsts for him and loads of family fun!!! Here's a recap of his Life-School filled week on vacation...

We celebrated Daddy's birthday last Sunday and Daddy kindly let K take a bite---right out of his cake...It was well worth getting this shot...Nana and Pop Pop took K and Pac Man to the fire station!!! Something they had been wanting to do...The boys spent most of their nights away from me, with Daddy at Nana and Pop Pop's house (my husband's parents). I stayed with my parents and Ladybug. While at N & P's house, K got to sleep in a tent!!!
They spent 2 nights sleeping on their boat and got to have FUN at the lake! Driving Pop's boat...
Stopping to play a game of putt-putt...
Swimming in the lake...
Feeding the ducks...
Examining the worms...
Fishing with Daddy...
Nana and Pop have a little dog Duke...I'm sure he just loves it when K comes to visit ;)...
He even got to go to Great Wolf Lodge for a night!!!!
He had his first dentist experience (Nana is our hygienist so it's pretty easy for us!)...He displayed his strength for us with Nanee's (my mom) BIG ball...He and Nanee played volleyball with it. Only a grandparent would allow that in the house.My parents have a pool, and he got to spend lots of time here swimming too. We are really proud of his bravery. This is the first time he wanted to *swim* by himself to Daddy...I just LOVE these faces!!!!!He was a big jumper this time too...My cousin and her kids (and my aunt) stopped in for a night (they were traveling down to the beach and made a pit stop). My kids got to see her kids for the first time in 6 years, it was wonderful!!!!! K got to meet them all for the first time obviously, and he just LOVED *the guys*--the oldest 2 boys. They were so funny together!
This sums up how Krash is feeling right now, and he still has a whole nother week!!!! The boys are staying down here and we leave with Ladybug on Tuesday morning! The boys won't return until the following Monday!!!

• Are you wondering where to start with Tot School? Read here!
• Read more about Tot Trays here
• Visit Totally Tots!!!
• Want to see more Tot School posts? Click HERE
• Visit our Tot School Webpage HERE
• Visit our Tot School Tools store HERE
• Tools for Tots HERE
  

If you have a tot (approximately ages 1-3) at home, join in the fun and share what you're doing with your tot! Here's how to get started if you're new...

If you've never read this: Go HERE 1st for more details- please do!!! Then if you have any ideas you'd like to share, link up your exact post to MckLinky (if you have questions about how to do that, let me know in a comment or email-links to homepages will automatically be deleted).

When you add your name(blog name) to MckLinky will you put your tot's age (in months) after it, like this: 1+1+1=1 (36 mos)? I think this will help new readers a lot as they look for ideas for their specific aged tot!

Redemption House Update

I heard from so many of you offering both finances and prayers for the Redemption House, we can't possibly thank you enough!!! I wanted to give you the latest update, I know so many of you will rejoice with us!!!

We have raised $25,000 so far!!!!!

My husband spoke at our home church down south and they took a special offering that raised $22,000 alone!!! We have also raised $3000 additionally and know there is some on the way. We are so close, with less than $15,000 left to have the house paid in full by August 3rd!!!

Thank you so much to those of you who have partnered with us in prayer and/or financially. If you want more information about the Redemption House, please read my first post and feel free to email me if you want info on how to donate!!!

Tot School ~ Life School

~Krash is currently 38 months old~

There was no official Tot School for us, however K had a wonderful week filled with Life School!! He got to go to his first VBS at our church, We had a mission team made up of some of our best friends from down south and their kids!!! They led an awesome 4 day VBS and Krash loved it!!!
He also got to ride on a "train" which is really the El/Subway, but he calls it a train and LOVES it!!!
We traveled down south on Friday and he got to go swimming at my parent's house right away...He has loved spending time with both sets of grandparents and his cousins and aunt and uncle!!! Here he is with my mom, "Nanee"...
We will be here for another week and then the boys might get to stay an additional week by themselves!!! They are in heaven!!!!

• Are you wondering where to start with Tot School? Read here!
• Read more about Tot Trays here
• Visit Totally Tots!!!
• Want to see more Tot School posts? Click HERE
• Visit our Tot School Webpage HERE
• Visit our Tot School Tools store HERE
• Tools for Tots HERE
  

If you have a tot (approximately ages 1-3) at home, join in the fun and share what you're doing with your tot! Here's how to get started if you're new...

If you've never read this: Go HERE 1st for more details- please do!!! Then if you have any ideas you'd like to share, link up your exact post to MckLinky (if you have questions about how to do that, let me know in a comment or email-links to homepages will automatically be deleted).

When you add your name(blog name) to MckLinky will you put your tot's age (in months) after it, like this: 1+1+1=1 (36 mos)? I think this will help new readers a lot as they look for ideas for their specific aged tot!

Blog Hop ~ 3 Things About Me

This week's Blog Hop theme is "3 Things you Didn't Know About Me." Since I have readers who know me pretty well they may know these things, but those of you who don't know me well, will probably learn something new!

1. I met my husband after a year of one of my best friends trying to introduce us (I refused, cuz I was independent and didn't want to meet a new guy). We were engaged 6 weeks later, and married 11 months from the day we met! It is the best quick decision I have ever made!!!
2. When I was 9 1/2 weeks pregnant with Pac Man, I had what seemed like a miscarriage, even the doctors thought I had a miscarriage. We did the ultrasound just to see what was left. Our mouths all dropped when we saw his beating heart!!! It was one of the best moments of my life, I will never forget it. In the end, they thought I may have miscarried an undeveloped twin.
3. When I first started to homeschool Pac Man, it was out of necessity (the schools are horrible where we serve as missionaries), and it was a struggle for me. I constantly thought how much easier my days would be if I could send him to school. I knew God had called us to homeschooling (for various reasons), but I was resisting it in my selfishness. Many now would find it hard to believe how much I resisted my calling to homeschool, as I have embraced it to the fullest now. Homeschooling is just another example of the fact that God's plan is always better than mine!!!
   

1000 Subscribers Celebration Details!

Oh my word, that little subscriber number climbed much faster than I thought it would! I thought I had at least a few weeks, but here we are at 1015 today! WOW!

Please go here to my new review/giveaway site to read more about this upcoming celebration!!!

Tot School

~Krash is currently 38 months old~

Learning Tots/Trays...
I gave K little sports ball erasers (5) and 5 small bowls, with number cards 1-5. This helps with counting 1:1 (touching and counting). He did well, but we are still working on this!

He enjoyed matching the small monkey head erasers, I gave him 2 of each color in the bucket. He tweezed them out and put the matching ones together in the little bowls. He loved this!!!

I loved this tray, he did not even want to touch it :(. It was matching the different tactile fabric squares. Sometimes my favorite things are his least favorite-that's the way Tot School is sometimes, oh well.
He had a blast with his Lacing Beads, making sure every single one of them was on the string...
He worked with his shapes learning wheel...
ABCs...
We added a few new items to our ABC learning stash, like these great stacking blocks from Brainy Baby...
I made a tray that includes the letters we have worked on this far (we're up to Ll now), from this set, and also added our new Brainy Baby ABC flashcards. I will keep adding new letters for us to work with and play with on this tray...
Here's my prep box, where I try to keep the new letters before we do our art project, so I have the new tools ready to add right away...
This week, we made simple Kk kites....
and "Larry Licking Lollipops" for the letter Ll...this one was a big hit with both of my boys, they each drew on paper and I cute the circles out for the lollipops.
Life School...
Fun in the sun on our back deck...


We have a mission team here serving this week from our home church down south. The team is made up of some of our very best friends (and their children), so we are hanging out with them a bunch. Krash is getting tons of life school through this opportunity-it's wonderful! Here he is at "devotion" time. You can see he's really into devoting ;).



Mommy's Favorite...
This is a shot I took of K enjoying his swimming lesson, he was so happy the entire time. What a joy it is to see your child enjoy something so thoroughly!!!!

• Are you wondering where to start with Tot School? Read here!
• Read more about Tot Trays here
• Visit Totally Tots!!!
• Want to see more Tot School posts? Click HERE
• Visit our Tot School Webpage HERE
• Visit our Tot School Tools store HERE
• Tools for Tots HERE

If you have a tot (approximately ages 1-3) at home, join in the fun and share what you're doing with your tot! Here's how to get started if you're new...

If you've never read this: Go HERE 1st for more details- please do!!! Then if you have any ideas you'd like to share, link up your exact post to MckLinky (if you have questions about how to do that, let me know in a comment or email-links to homepages will automatically be deleted).

When you add your name(blog name) to MckLinky will you put your tot's age (in months) after it, like this: 1+1+1=1 (36 mos)? I think this will help new readers a lot as they look for ideas for their specific aged tot!
So sorry for the linky trouble.. MckLinky had a problem with just 3 people's lists on Saturday night and I just happened to be one of them. I don't have time to mess with it any longer, and Brent from MckLinky has been wonderful, but I don't want him to bother with it any longer either! So here's a Mr. Linky for this week, and I am sorry to those of you who had already entered links. Please relink if you come back to visit!!!!
UGH-we are just doomed to no linky this week, I now have no idea where Mr Linky went. I am so sorry for all of this. Next week you can link up both weeks if you'd like to (or leave links in comments and visit from there), I am done messing with this week...so sorry!