I Can Teach My Child

I love "teachery" blogs ;-) I love the blog confessions of a home schooler and I love this blog I came across just a few days ago. The author is a former first grade teacher turned stay-at-home mom. She is very creative and has a masters in early childhood education. The blog has some great ideas and age-appropriate activities for little ones Presley's age. Sometimes I find that the things that keep Presley busy are not all of the toys surrounding her, but all of the other "stuff" that is just laying around the house....like pipe cleaners! Thanks to Sara, pipe cleaners have become a life savor and keep Presley busy for hours on end...especially on a 2 hour plane ride! If I had the motivation and time I would love to have a blog like this! It is impossible for me to be a mom without integrating my love for teaching into everything I do daily...kind of annoying! I get bored sitting around at home and with the holidays fast approaching, all of our normal weekly activities are coming to a close. This website keeps my mind fresh and gives me great ideas to keep me busy...and Presley! Ha! :-)

The other kiddy blogs I love are...
We Teach
Muffin Tin Mondays
Another Lunch Blog
Cooking with My Kids

A Sweet Thanksgiving!

This Thanksgiving was extra sweet and special because it was also Joey's birthday...I'll keep it to myself how old he is. ;-/ We spent the afternoon over at Joey's uncle's house. The food was delicious and Presley loved every bit of it...well, except the pea salad. ;-) She did very well and actually let people hold her...even with me in the room!! This was a first for her. I think she is beginning to remember familiar faces because when we asked her where her Nanna was she pointed to her with her little finger. Presley had lots of sweets on Thanksgiving and she absolutely LOVED her daddy's birthday cookie cake. ;-) On Friday, she refused to eat anything I put in front of her! She kept pushing my hand away while saying, "cookay, cookay" at the same time. eek!!! I thought I ruined her for good. Ha! However, by dinner time she was back to normal :-) probably because we had her favorite...Mexican food! A girl after my own heart! Here are a few candid pictures from our day at Uncle Bills.

Presley loved this big piece of paper and carried it around everywhere

Nana Burda and Presley Girl

Presley and Great Grandma Barb
Helping daddy blow out his birthday candles
Presley and Popo. There's a story behind this picture....

After Nana and I told Presley "no more cookie cake" she ended up over on her Popo's lap contently eating her Puffs. After about 10 minutes or so Presley slowly pulled the cookie cake towards her. A few minutes later while Popo was showing her the birthday candles she was inching her little hand towards the cake. WHILE looking at her Popo and listening intently to his explanation of where candles come from (haha) she was slowly eating away at the cake. Nana and I could not believe our eyes...well, Nana couldn't. I have seen her do this to her dad before. Although, he caught on real quick. We sat watching the little manipulator eat away at the cake until Joey looked at me and said, "did you just see that chunk of cookie she just ate? You need to take that away from her." I explained to him what was going on...he was not amused. I gave Presley a look and she gave one right back to me as if she knew EXACTLY what she had done...hmmmm. Hard times ahead for this mama. *sigh*

Meet Jester

Hi, my name is Jester. I am an itty bitty, extra skinny 4 month old dachshund, but I am full of love! I used to live at the SPCA in Dallas with my brothers, Lewey and Dewey...bet you can't guess what name I had before my daddy changed it! Yesterday, my daddy came to the SPCA looking just for me. I could barely believe my eyes and ears. They put us in a room together and I immediately fell in love. I jumped right up into my daddy's lap and stayed there until he made the big decision and I heard the words..."I'll take him."

I love my new home and I love my new owners...especially the little girl that follows me around everywhere calling me "puppy, puppy." I overheard my mommy and daddy talking last night and they said that I have a great disposition. I don't know what that means but I am trying really hard to obey them and follow directions. I am already crate trained and I haven't had one accident in the house...yet. Apparently, I am also doing a good job of keeping my big brother, Goose, company. You see, Goose has been very sad ever since his BIG brother passed away. I heard that he was having some behavior issues and separation anxiety so my mommy and daddy thought I would really help my him out by keeping him company. I am so happy to be a part of this family and I just love my new home!!! ;-) Happy Birthday Joey!

Oh, did I mention that I am a total lap dog!

19 Months and Loving it!

First off, excuse the hair in the picture above ;-) we just woke up from a nap. Every morning Presley awakens me with the cutest sounds of laughter and babble. She is beginning to talk more and more. She points to everything, as seen in the picture above, and then waits for me to tell her what it is. Her 18th month brought on a whole new side of her. I think it is so crazy when children grow in all areas of life in the span of just one month. I always saw such a huge difference in my first graders after the Christmas break...and an even bigger one when they returned from summer break! I think ever since Presley turned 18 months she has displayed more "toddler" behavior than "pre-toddler" behavior. I Definitely had my hands full the 2 weeks following her stomach bug, but thankfully with a lot of structure, routine, and consistency we are back under control...well, 80% of the time anyway.
She now understands positive reinforcement, praise, and she loves stickers! I have been able to start a little chore chart with her that she would have NEVER understood a few months ago! She only has 3 chores...help mommy clean up, help mommy get the mail, and help mommy feed Goose. She LOVES to help feed Goose and already carries the scoop of dog food to his bowl. She is getting better at doing her puzzles, manipulating small objects, and she loves to stack things on top of each other....especially my spices. ;-/
She is also doing much better with her separation anxiety. She is starting to remember faces and places so I am not cringing when I drop her off at Bible Study or her Moppets class. She eagerly opens her arms up to Ms. Hannah when she sees her standing at the door of her classroom...no tears, I love it! AND I LOVE PICKING HER UP!!! She runs up to the door when she sees me and says "momma, momma, momma" and then when I pick her up into my arms she says "hiya" and then I get a big hug. :-)
She continues to love stuffed animals. She cant' go "bye-bye" without one in her hand. She loves to draw, put on jewelry, push her shopping cart and baby stroller around, being outside, sliding, and she loves to read! She loves looking at her books so much that it's usually the only thing she does when she has room time every day. She will sit quietly and contently for 30 minutes in her room looking through all of her books. She loves to listen to music while she is in her room... thankful to Ms. Karin for that because she sent Presley a ton of cds a few months ago! I continue to do blanket time a few times a week with her because I really see a difference in her behavior when we do.
Ever since Presley turned 18 months I see her picking up on little words daily! She tries to repeat the words we say all of the time. However, most of the words she knows are either a type of food or an animal. *sigh* Her newest word is applesauce...and applejuice. She used to love applesauce and now I can barely get her to even look at it! She will ask for it and as soon as I try to give it to her she pushes it away and says "no, no, no." Yes, we know the word "no" now....grrr. Anyhow, I think she turns her nose up at applesauce now because it's what she had right before she got the stomach bug....yuck! Last week while I was laying in bed I heard Presley practicing her words over the monitor. She kept saying "oh, applesosh" so I took video of it so that Joey could finally here her say the word "applesauce" ;-) You can't hear the video too well because I took it with my iphone and it doesn't record the sound very well.

I am so loving this age and very ready for another one ;-) We'll see what God has in store for us. :-) Waiting on Him and Trusting in Him to do what is best for our family.

Craziness with the Cousins

These pictures are priceless! They crack me up. Most of them are out of focus, but I still love them. Reid and Grant came over the other day to play with Presley. All I can say is...WOW! I am not sure who was worse, Presley or Reid. lol. They both just "egged" each other on in complete silly/craziness! When one screamed, the other would scream louder. When one laughed, the other would laugh harder. When one ran, the other ran faster. They banged on the piano, played with all the toys, threw all of the balls, and pushed around every little thing that had wheels and moved in the house. In the late afternoon, we went outside to get some "fresh air" and they were even crazier! haha. Grant, of course, was perfect ;-) I just love these kids!

Monkey see, Monkey do... ;-)
lookin at Goosey Goo...

Apparently, they find one another quite amusing...haha

Sweet Grant has such a calming effect on everyone :-)

Here comes...who know know who!
Get off my rockER!!!
The look on my daughter's face is the infamous "Axtell look" :-) Mostly seen on the face of my older sister, Elizabeth, when she was this age. hee-hee

ISpy abblesosh, birthdays, balloons, & a pair of glasses

I SPY "ABBLESOSH"

This is going to be one of those "playing catchup" post...about 4 posts all in one ;-) so be prepared for lots of pictures! AbbleSosh is our new word for the week. Yesterday, while we were grocery shopping Presley kept signing "more" and saying "paweese" to everything that looked remotely familiar....cheerios, yogurt, sheese, crackus, cookays, and applesauce. The entire time we were shopping she was trying to say applesauce. She knows the word abble (a.k.a. apple) but was unable to get the sauce part of it. While we were driving home she kept practicing by repeating herself over and over...and over and over and over again. Finally, she was able to get out Abblesosh. It was the cutest little word I've ever heard. :-) I love the way little kids sound when they are learning to talk. I could just stand in a room full of 2 and 3 year olds and listen to their pronunciation of words. Ha!

I SPY A BIRTHDAY, Balloons, and a Pair of Glasses

A few weekends ago we celebrated Sara's 30th birthday after the Brain Tumor Walk. We had a great time and I just love watching all of the kids play together! Presley is a little outnumbered, but she loves her cousins. Whenever we go to WinKids she is always drawn to the boys. She doesn't really get along with the girls and will usually push them away when they come near her. :-/ Here are a few pictures of the cousins playing together at Sara's birthday.

Cousin Reid has the best toys!!

This picture cracks me up because I have so many pictures of Reid in this lounging position. He always lays back and watches Presley. :-) Click here for proof...lol

These balloons were quite the hit!

Seriously? It doesn't get any cuter than this...that contagious laugh.
My dad used to give us rides on his leg all of the time when we were little. We even had names for all of the acrobatics that he did with us...the pancake & the windmill were always my favorite ;-)
Presley is determined to wear Grandpa's glasses ;-)

Grandpa showing Presley the right way to wear them, but she still didn't get it ;-/

Everybody playing Peek-a-Boo
Sweet Logan

Love Is...

I Walk for Mom...

The walk was great and I felt very blessed to be a part of such a great cause. This was the 5th year that Ft. Worth has hosted the brain tumor walk and the most participation they have had. In the 5 years of having the walk, they have raised just over one million dollars! ;-) It was great to be involved in the walk and to be surrounded by others who have been affected by brain tumors. It was also amazing to hear about all of the new treatments that are out there now...especially the ones that have just been introduced within the past year! It is amazing to see how much has changed since my mom passed away 13 years ago. I love that all of the money donated to the NBTS (national brain tumor society) supports and focuses completely on brain tumors by

• Empowering brain tumor patients, families, and caregivers with information.
• Funding results-driven research to accelerate the discovery of new therapies for adult and pediatric brain tumors.
  
• Raising awareness.

We were so excited to reach our goal of raising $1,000 and now we have a new goal of raising a total of $2,000! My dear friend, Melissa, will be coming to town on Wednesday, November 17th to do a Stella and Dot trunk show for me and my sisters. She has so graciously committed to donating the commission of her sales from my trunk show to the National Brain Tumor Society on behalf of our team, Walking His Path. We are so excited about this upcoming event and I will be posting more information soon...it will be a great way to get in some Christmas shopping while donating to a great cause at the same time! ;-)

I walked for my Grandma today...

I thank my God every time I remember you. Being confident if this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion -Philippians 1:3,6

The Grouchy Ladybug

Sara and the fam came over Sunday night to go trick or treating. Presley dressed up as a ladybug. I like to refer to her as the "grouchy ladybug" from the book by Eric Carle...
one of my most favorite children's author ;-) along with Cynthia Rylant! Anyhoo, if you would have heard the screaming that came out of this child's mouth when I put this thing on her you would have named her the SAME thing. Girl's got some lungs on her and we almost didn't make it out of the house in ANY costume.

It's great to have little kids because they were bored and done by house #4. lol. It was still fun! Presley started off great and even followed Reid up to the first house, but it was short lived. The man handing out the candy at the first house we went to was a "stickler" for following Halloween rules. I think he spent half the night showing Reid how to hold his bag and open it up the right way. Grrrr. He also waited for quite awhile to get a response from Presley...she refused to give him the one he wanted. lol. ;-) She cried the rest of the night and wouldn't let go of Joey until the very end.

the nice man that showed Reid how his bag worked! Just put the candy in the bag, dude! sheesh!
Blue and his bone...his "unused" bone ;0)
nothin like a little puppy love. ;-) Although, this little puppy is doin all of the lovin!
I just love this! I used to do the same thing! Right when I got home from a night of trick or treating I would go through all of my candy, lay it out, and count it! They start so young ;-)