Kids Dance Party

We have an XBox Kinect.  Not too long ago, Lilly and I rented this game called Kids Dance Party 2.  It was so fun, for both of us, that we deicided to purchase the game.  Lilly's friends were over, and they were so stinking cute playing the game that I just had to take a short video.  Enjoy!

Daddy Fun

Photos of Lilly and her Daddy. 

Daddy helping Lilly look through the microscope at the Children's Museum of Houston.

Helping her adjust the bicycle handle bars at the museum.

Inflating a tire

Climbing through the "tree" at the museum - she wouldn't go on it until Daddy said he'd go with her.

More tree climbing.

Watching Daddy work on his car.

Can you tell she loves him very much and loves any attention she can get from him?

Underwear Tantrum

My daughter has been daytime potty trained for quite a while now, but nighttime is a whole other story.  I have attempted to tackle this battle quite a few times - realizing that her body just wasn't physically ready to get up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom. 

Well, recently, we've decided to tackle the "battle" again.  I saw an advertisement for those bed pads that you can put down so you don't have to change the whole bed sheet every time there is an accident.  This was exciting for me because that was mostly the reason I hadn't tried putting her in panties to sleep yet - changing the sheets in the middle of the night after each accident did not sound fun to me.  I went to one store to find the pads and could not find them anywhere.  Come to find out they do not carry them, so they sent me to the health section for elderly people where they had bed pads.  I bought them, and then later found the kid version at a grocery store.  I decided to try out both and compare. My opinion, I have decided that the kid version with the sticky part on the back that keeps it in place is much, much better. 

First night - We lay the bed pad down, she gets dressed for bed, she puts her underwear on instead of pull-ups.  I take her to the bed 3 times throughout the night.  She is dry each time, but the third time I take her she complains that she doesn't want to get up to go potty anymore. In the morning, she is a tad wet but my husband and I make a big deal of how great she did. 

Second night - She decides she doesn't want to wear the panties to bed, she doesn't want to "grow up", she doesn't want to get up in the middle of the night to go potty because she is too sleepy.  She just wants to go back to wearing her pull-ups.  It is an all out fight to get her to put them on.  In my head, I debate whether it is worth all this...I tell her that we at least need to stick it out for a week and see how she does.  Finally, we get her to put them on and she does fantastic.  She goes potty each time I take her through the night and is dry all the way through until morning. 

We're on night 3 as I type this and I am praying that she'll continue to do well and that her body will eventually get used to waking up and going potty on her own.

Beautiful Voice

I attend a Women's Bible study at a nearby church.  While I'm in my study, Lilly goes to her class where she learns about God's Word and learns new songs and has all kinds of fun.  At the end of each semester, the ladies have a luncheon and the children come up to perform.  The first year, I didn't know they were going to perform so I was not prepared to document the event.  I was upset about this because it was the first time Lilly had every performed in front of a group.  The second time she performed, I was prepared but she was in a poor mood when she came up to sing and spent most of the time pouting or watching the children behind her sing.  The third time they were going to perform, we were not in town for the luncheon so we missed that altogether.

This past time, I told her ahead of time that if I was going to record her singing, I wanted her to sing and to look at me and be happy.  She definitely did all the things I asked for, I know I am biased, but I think she did a great job!

The Caterpillar

Lilly was playing in our front yard bushes when she finds a huge, green caterpillar.  She shows it to me and we take a picture of it.  Then, she wants to know if she can pick it up.  At first I say, "No way!"  Then, I say, "Okay but do not put it on me or you will be in big trouble."  Next, I start to think it could be poisonous or something, so I tell her to use a stick and not her hands.  Well, she captures the thing and shows it to me - very proud of herself.  The caterpillar goes into "puppy's dish" - which is basically a flower pot outside our front door used to store the leaves, sticks, rocks, etc that she gathers but I will not let her bring them in the house.  She goes to get her stuffed dog and pretends that he is eating the contents of the pot, including the caterpillar.  She blocks off part of the pot with something and thinks that the caterpillar will stay in there.  Unfortunately, when we checked on him the next day, he was gone. 

Zoo

We have a zoo pass, so we go there quite often especially on beautiful days or when we have visitors in town.  Last week, it was so gorgeous outside so spur-of-the-moment I decided to go to the zoo.  I think everybody had the same idea as I did and I failed to remember that it was the weekend.  We had to drive around for about 45 minutes just to find a parking spot.  We didn't see many animals that day, but because we have seen them many times before it didn't bother us.  This time, we enjoyed the semi-quiet scenery around the fountains. 

Yes, she is wanting me to take a picture of her silly face.

David and Goliath

David and Goliath is a story that Lilly really knows.  Randomly throughout the days, she will bring it up and ask questions about the story like,
"Why was Goliath so mean?"
"How come Goliath didn't believe in God"
"Why did Goliath carry a sword?"

The other day, I came into her room and she was playing with the string on her blinds - tying it into knots.  Eventually, she showed it to me and asked, "Can you get this knot out of Goliath's hair? Probably not because I have tied it so much that not even Goliath's  mom could get this knot out?"  I had to laugh.

While Lilly had a friend over, she started playing with her jump rope, pretending she was going off to fight Goliath like David.  Here is the video of her thoughts:

I love the fact that she remembers she can beat Goliath because God is on her side. 

Can You Spot the Lilly?

We were at a friend's house, getting ready to leave. 

Lilly decides to lie on the freshly mowed grass in between the houses. 

Can you spot her?

The Whistle

Lilly attends Awana at a nearby church.  For the first few months, she loved it - loved playing with her friends, making the neat crafts, learning God's word, singing new songs, and eating yummy snacks.  Then, all of a sudden, one week she started saying, "I don't want to go to cubbies anymore."  At the time, I just shrugged it off, not thinking much of it.  When it came time to go to cubbies that next week, she freaked out like I have never seen before.  She was screaming and pushing me away, saying, "I don't want to go, Mom!"  Well, of course, my "mom alert" went off and I thought something is wrong here.  So, I started to question her, "Why don't you want to go?"  "Did something happen?"  The only thing she would tell me was that she did not like the guy on the playground blowing the whistle.  In my mind, I'm thinking this is silly, she doesn't want to go because of the whistle?  But, because of her reaction, I went and talked with the director - we came up with a plan that she would skip the playground that week and just stay in the snack rotation twice.  The plan appeased Lilly so that is what we did.

The next week, I was curious about what went on in the playground area, so I went to observe while Lilly's group was in there.  I didn't see anything alarming and the man with the whistle wasn't there, so no problem.  The week after that, I went to observe again, the man with the whistle happened to be there, so I talked to him asking him if he could either not blow the whistle when her group was in there or warn her before he blew it, so she could cover her ears.  He agreed - no problem.  After a few weeks of observing, I decided that things seemed to be going okay so I told Lilly I would not be in the playground but that I would continue to remind the "playground guy" about blowing the whistle when she was in there - no problem. 

Lilly didn't seem to love cubbies after that, but she went and she didn't complain.  Then, just last week she faked a stomach ache during awana to get out of going to the playground - the teacher in the class had to call me to come talk with her because she wasn't sure if her stomach ache was for real or not.

There are only a few weeks left in Awana and I don't want her to miss out on the things she enjoys just because of the playground, so I talked with the director again and we decide she will skip the playground for the rest of Awana.  Lilly likes that plan.

I still am a little concerned about the whole situation, wondering is it really just the whistle or is there something she isn't telling me.  I just don't know, but it is one of those situations where I wish there were a manual for being a parent because I could really use some wisdom in this area.

Do You Love Me?

Lately, my precious daughter has been asking me a certain question 5 to 6 times a day - "Do you love me?"  She asks me when she is being disciplined, when I'm playing with her, while we are eating dinner, and just randomly throughout the day. 

I don't think she doubts that I love her, but rather that I would love her always.  So, I have been reassuring her that there is nothing she could say or do that would cause me to stop loving her - EVER! 

She has been asking me if her daddy loves her too, I have to reassure her that indeed he does. and he will never stop loving her either - EVER!

Another question that comes up almost as frequently as "Do you love me?" is "Can God see me now?"  Another hard conept to grasp - that God, who she cannot see, can see her everywhere she goes.  But, indeed I tell her - yes He can see you always, everywhere, and forever!  He knows how many hairs are on your head and He even knew you before you were in my belly! He is amazing!

Pinterest Day

Last week, there was a day where it seemed like everything I did was an idea I had gotten off of pinterest.

First, I did the paint bags and taped them to the table.  These were great, in fact, they are still on our table one week later because it is so fun to just walk by and do a little design. 

Then, I was telling Lilly and her friend about teeth so we made the snack where you use apples for the lips and marshmallows for the teeth, sticking the teeth on with peanut butter.

We also practiced "flossing" by using a duplo block for our "teeth."  We put play doh in between the "teeth" as the "germs" and used a string as "floss" to get the germs out.  The kids loved that!

Since Easter was coming, we made Resurrection cookies.  They didn't turn out to great because we didn't beat them long enough, but Lilly and her friend loved taking turns with the mixer and helping to wash the dishes.

That evening, for dinner, I made pepperoni rolls - so unhealthy but very yummy - and the zuchinni parmesan. 

I love having all these ideas that I can use and Lilly seemed to like them too!

Park with Friends

It has definately been spring weather around here, so the other weekend, Lilly and I decide to go to the park.  We let a bunch of friends know we are going to have lunch at the park and enjoy the beautiful weather, in case they want to join us.  Well, a few of them did decide to join us and it was a great time.

Resurrection Story

This year, before Easter, I decided to get Lilly some Resurrection eggs. She really enjoyed opening the eggs and reading through the story and the verses each day.  I had her tell the story on video to share with others.  I am intrigued by the details that stand out to her.  It is so warming to my heart though, to know that she knows and understands why we celebrate Easter.

Uncle BenBen

My husband's brother, Vinnie, used to live with us.  He now lives in the Houston area, so we get to see him every so often.  Lilly and Vinnie (BenBen as she calls him) have a special bond.  She absolutely loves any time she can spend with him. 

Last week, we went to pick him up from work and we went to CiCi's pizza for dinner.  My daughter's favorite food is pizza so this place was great.  While we were in the restaurant, she notices that there is a "game room" and asks, "How do you get to that room?"  I told her you have to have a party to be able to go in there because I really didn't want to take her in there.  Uncle BenBen decides Lilly and him can have a "party" and he takes her in there to win some prizes. 

One of the prizes was some "teeth."  She came to show me her teeth - all excited about wearing them.  Then, she sees Vinnie wearing his teeth and she got scared, she wouldn't even look at him.  Actually, it was kind of funny so I tried to get a picture of the two of them and this is what I got: 

Tradition

I mentioned in a previous post that for the past 3 years we have gone to Brenham, TX to see the blue bonnets and then over to the Blue Bell ice cream factory for some yummy ice cream.  I thought I would post a few pictures from each year. 

1 year old

1 year old w/ Nana

2 years old

2 years old

3 years old

3 years old

3 years old

4 years old

God's creation is amazing and it is wonderful to have things like blue bonnets that help us to celebrate and delight in Him!

Babies

Lilly:  I don't want to ever have a baby in my belly.
Me:  Good, I don't want you to have a baby for a long, long time.
Lilly : No, I mean I don't want to every have a baby in my belly, not even when I'm an adult.
Me:  Well, why don't we talk about it when you are older.
Lilly: Mommy, I'm just going to be one of those people that never wants a baby.



Lilly:  Mommy why did you have to have a baby in your belly?
Me:  Because God gave me a baby, aren't you glad God gave me a baby - you were that baby in my belly?
Lilly:  I bet you don't want to have to have that surgery again (referring to the c-section)
Me:  I would do it again if God gave me another baby.  Would you hold my hand?
Lilly:  No, but I would give you one of my stuffed animals to hold so you won't get so frustrated during the surgery.  Which one of my stuffed animals do you like?
Me: Oh, your white bear.
Lilly: Okay, I'll let you take it if you have to have surgery to get another baby out of your belly.
Me:  Thank you, Lilly!

Blue Bonnets and Blue Bell

We live in Texas where the state flower is the blue bonnet.  It is only seen for about a month during the year.  Ever since Lilly was one year old, we have made the drive out to Brenham, TX to see them.  Last year we went too late and weren't able to see the blue bonnets, but we still had a wonderful time.  Along with going to see the beautiful flowers, we have also included a trip to the Blue Bell factory as part of the tradition.  For the past three years, we have enjoyed a tour of the facility and a yummy scoop of ice cream.  It is a wonderful tradition that I hope we will continue as long as we are living in this part of the country.

We were very careful not to sit on, pick, or smoosh any blue bonnets in the making of these pictures.

Mid-air picture as they were jumping off the window sill.

Milking the cow statue :)

Stained Hands

I don't know about you, but when I see something is for kids to use, I automatically assume it will be washable.  It should be, in my opinion! 

I knew I was going to have several other kids at my house one day, so I was trying to plan some fun activities for the kids.  One of the activities involved putting ink on their hands, so I went to the store and bought some ink pads that said "for kid use."  The kids start to use them and they create wonderful works of art with their inked up hands.  Then, I go to wash their hands and the stuff is not coming off!  I go look at the ink pads and in fine print it says "permanent ink."  I was thinking, "Their parents are going to kill me!" 

The parents didn't kill me and eventually the ink came off (after many, many washings).  Just, I am still puzzled by the fact that a company would make an ink pad for children to use and it would permanent ink.