My Girls

Faith & Me In Our Matching Hats
I'm going to have to get Grace a hat soon...
Love this One (Great picture by Jeremy)

My Million $ Idea?

So, we have had a problem at our house. My family loves tacos. Like we really love them. And my kiddos have been eating them since they were quite little. However, tacos are super messy. And no matter how we seemed to wrap them they came apart and dropped their yummy contents all over. All over my kids clothes, my floor, the table, their plate (wait no it never managed to fall on their plate). Or they would refuse to lay them down and try and eat them as quickly as possible so they could check out their other menu items. Which led to constant reminders to slow down. So I decided we needed a solution. And I think we have found one, "taco clips." I took a magnetic clip that I use for keeping chip bags closed or papers on our refrigerator and it now magically keeps my kids from taco craziness! I think I might just have the next million dollar mom invention on my hands here. So, if taco clips become the new craze just remember you saw them here first folks. And if you have little people at your house you should totally try it out. I usually fold the end up, then fold up the sides to make a pocket and put a clip on the end.

Pumpkin Play Group

God is amazing! Last winter I was literally begging God for a play group for my girls. We were so lonely. I remember hitting a point where I felt like I had tried everything. I had looked into MOPS but the closest group was 45 minutes away. I even tried starting my own. But, after cleaning, planning, baking, and encouraging I had only one mom show up the first time. I didn't try again...I just didn't feel like I had the energy to start from the ground up. I was convinced there just weren't any play groups in Hannibal...

And then God showed up in an amazing way.

We started attending Calvary Baptist Church in May and we discovered a wonderful play group. Over the summer we went on lots of fun trips! And when we got ready for the fall I was able to help plan this semester's activities. We generally take one trip a month, do one week of "free" play, and the other weeks have planned preschool type activities. This pumpkin themed day was my first week to plan preschool activities. I had SO much fun. (those of you who know me well know that kind of thing is right up my early childhood alley)

But, I think the most amazing thing is how every time I see my girls making new friends, or find myself making new friends, or see the delight of discovery as we go on outings, my heart is overflowing with praise for my God. Who heard my cry of distress and answered in a way I couldn't have imagined. Now this play group existed last winter. And I had asked around....so why didn't I find it sooner? While I'm not sure God "hid" this group from me He did know the perfect time for it to come into my life. Because it has lead me to a place of complete gratitude. To some finding a play group may seem like a small thing, but for me it has been huge.

Here are the pictures from our pumpkin/leaf themed day:

"Painting" pumpkins with washable makers. This was SO easy. Let the kids draw as much as they like then simply wipe off with a damp cloth.
Pumpkin Playdough was by far the biggest hit. You can find the recipe here. It would be a super fun activity for little ones on Thanksgiving day. It smells just like pumpkin pie.
Faith didn't do any of the other activities. She played with the play dough the entire time!
Making leaf artwork. (another mom planned the leaf activities)
Pumpkin matching/memory game. We also had a pumpkin with a velcro face they could change the pieces and a basket of open/close items (purses, boxes, etc.) they had to find the pumpkin in.

So if you live near Hannibal, MO and are looking for a play group come check it out. We meet on Thursday mornings at 10 a.m. at Calvary Baptist Church. This play group is open to anyone, all the moms do not attend CBC.