52 Week Challenge

Week 20 of 52



So the snow has FINALLY melted and we were able to get into the front yard and take a picture with the SOLD sign in our front yard. :) Well, at least Olivia and I are in the picture. My two big kids are spending the rest of the week with grandma so I can get some packing done without their help. :) Big moving day in 8 days!!!!!

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Storage Solution

My mom gave me a bunch of packages that her new curtains came in. This one came in so handy when I was trying to find a something to hold one of Aidan's dinosaur puzzles. It is like a 3-D Triceratops foam skeleton and it just would not fit back into the box it came in. I tried to make it fit into a gallon zip-lock bag, but no luck. Then I remembered my stash of empty curtain packages. They are clear so he can see what is inside, have a zipper so Aidan will be able to easily open it, and even better, have a little pocket on the inside where the picture of the curtain used to be. I stuck in a fun fact card that I cut off the original box before I threw it in the recycle bin. Perfect little storage solution!

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My crazy life

Hello friends! I am sorry again that I have not been posting. Life has been a little crazy around here. We sold our house after 8 months on the market, and had to find a new one immediately as they close on our current house on the 26th. Luckily we found a home we love and after all the fun of inspections, appraisals, etc. it finally looks like everything is a go to move on the 26th.

On top of all the house moving/packing craziness, at Aidan's last eye check the doctor told us to start patching. I bought the adhesive patches at the store and he did okay with wearing it (he only needs to wear it an hour a day at this point). But then I took it off and my poor little man's face was red for at least an hour afterward. I immediately began a search for a better way to patch because I cannot do that to his poor face everyday. I ended up ordering from Framehuggers. I found a fabulous blog called Amblyopia Kids and they were recommended on there. Lots of great info I have been sifting through to help my boy on our new patching adventure. Do any of you have experience with patching? Is there another fleece/felt reusable patch you would recommend?


This is Aidan and his friend Khaki:

Khaki has a new pair of glasses! I don't know why I hadn't thought of it before, but as I was researching a different way to patch Aidan's eye, I saw a lot of programs that sold stuffed animals with glasses. And the stuffed animals would get a patch to match the child's. So smart!

But Aidan already has two special friends, Khaki and Shorty. Khaki happens to come from the Build A Bear Workshop. I knew they sold sunglasses for the bears, but was hoping that they also sold real glasses. They did! Aidan was able to choose between "Harry Potter" glasses and these brown ones that were shaped more like his. You can see he chose the brown rectangular ones so Khaki could look like him. After we got home he said he wants to go back and get the Harry Potter ones for Shorty so he can be as handsome as Khaki and himself. :)

During patch time today I had Aidan use some markers and color a patch for himself and one for Khaki. So he was pretty excited to put his patch on today. I read somewhere in my research that a parent put a little bit of lotion on the skin before applying the patch so it wouldn't adhere too thoroughly. We tried it and it still stuck just fine and did not hurt him a bit to take off (YAY!!!!). I was so scared to put a patch on him the last two days because I did not want to rip it off his poor little face at the end of the hour. But I know it needs to be done, so I am glad this little lotion trick worked until we can get the reusable fleece patch we ordered. :)

Today he only asked once to take the patch off. I just said it wasn't time yet and he left it alone for the rest of the hour. He was very happy that Khaki was wearing a patch and glasses just like him. So happy that I thought to check for glasses at Build A Bear. They were only $4 and I had a coupon - so worth it to help my little guy!

Anyway, that is probably way more info about my life than you care to hear about. I kept thinking I could keep up with my blogging even with all the moving, the patching, and other stuff, but I just haven't been. So I apologize. Hopefully things will get back to normal here in a few weeks, but until then, I will just accept that I will be posting sporadically at best. Thanks for listening to my ramblings... if you made it this far!

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Swat a Letter

I got this idea from my friend Emily. I think she told me to put the letters in order like on a keyboard, sorry Emily, I can't remember. She also gave me the mat, which is actually a Pull-ups potty dance mat from a Huggies House Party she hosted. So double thanks Emily!

While we were at Walmart I saw a two pack of flyswatters for a quarter. I got them thinking of using them for painting. But was excited when Emily suggested this activity. I just had the kids shout out the letters of the alphabet and I wrote them randomly around the backside of the mat.

Fly swatters ready? YES!

We took turns so there was no accidental sibling swatting. I would call out a letter and they would find it and swat it. I had Aidan sing the little song the Leap Frog Fridge Phonics says, "The S says sssss, the S says sssss, every letter makes a sound, the S says sssss." to make it more on his level. Ella also sang the song, but is still learning her letters, so just finding the letters was the focus for her.

You could do this for any number of skills. I think I am going to make a number one for Aidan. We could have made lowercase letters, put the letters as they would appear on the keyboard if your child is learning to type on the computer. Basically the fly swatter was just a fun tool the kids used to point out the skill we were working on. :)

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Friday Finds

It has been a busy busy week in my house. We finally sold our house, after 8 months on the market) had to find a buy a new house (as we have to be out of our current on March 27), set up all the inspections, fix things, find some movers, start packing, etc, etc etc. So I apologize in advance if my posting becomes a little sporadic in the next few weeks. Again, busy, busy, busy!

Here are a few fun things I saw this week:

Animal Sorting File Folder game from Homeschool Creations

Tons of fun kids crafts at AllCrafts.net. You better believe Aidan is going to be wanting to make some of these dinosaurs.

Designer Paper Towels

Have a great weekend!

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52 Week Challenge

Week 19 of 52



Don't my daughters just looked thrilled to be in this picture? :) We were all cuddling on the couch during our Sunday night pizza and a movie. I made daddy grab the camera and take a picture, but they would not give us any smiles. Oh well.

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