More Gifts...301-350

301.  Fever snuggles

302.  Girl's night out

303.  Good healing oils

304.  Christmas lights dotting the night sky across the sprawling prairie.

305.  The perfect gift

306.  Winter walks

307.  Stew, warm and bubbling in the pot

308.  The noise of my babies being home

309.  The family-like connections within our church home

310.  Winter's sleeping colors in the grasses and trees

311.  Gooey Frito pie with onions and jalapenos

312.  The Boxcar Children

313.  All of us together

314.  The power of a good leader

315.  Spring peeking through 

316.  Smelling fresh laundry

317.  Breakfast with friends

318.  I love you mommy, hugs

319.  Kid-sized excitment

320.  Warm donuts

321.  Feeling good about a decision

322.  Fresh-smelling shampoo

323.  Good-fitting boots

324.  A car that starts

325.  Making plans

326.  Wearing the same size shoes as Jolie

327.  Finally finishing the laundry

328.  Snack time!

329.  Mail

330. Men's deodorant

331.  Sweet worship

332.  Getting the bill paid

333.  Being ok with having a different opinion that everyone else

334.  A clean floor

335.  Possibilites

 

336.  Great and beautiful, natural creations

337.  Digging hands deep into cool sand

338.  Car-ride conversations

339.  Road snacks

340.  Seeing their amazment

341.  Familiar laughter with my sister

342.  Relleno Burritos  

343.  Freshly polished toes

344.  Little arms reaching for a hug

345.  When the groceries are unloaded and put away

346.  Walking, praying and crying into the dusky sky

347.  Wearing his shirts, so cozy and comfy

348.  Seeing the bees again

349.  Green poking up through the brown cover of winter

350.  One more cool day.

More gifts after 2 months of blog silence. 251-300

Oh I am so ashamed.  Not only have a been ignoring my blog but I have not even been taking pictures!  Shame on me.  This is my family record, the place where I catalog our memories.

No promises but I am going to try much harder!

To start, here is the continuation of my Gifts that I started back in September. 

251.  Watching swallows viciously defend their bald babies

252.  little twitching toes

253.  planning a surprise

254.  Being carried by His Spirit

255.  Getting in bed early and then reading too late

256.  Beans and cornbread

257.  Turquoise

258.  Talking with him about the future.

259.  The soft light and clear sounds of dusk

260.  pineapple-ginger booch

261.  Orange blaze of the sunset creating a solid black silhouette of the trees

262.  Seeing that second line appear

263.  When Micah says "my Daddy"

264.  Finding a home video taken from a kids perspective

265.  IHOP-KC

266.  Trees

267.  Time

268.  Prayer

269.  The feel of the bass in my chest

270.  Undivided focus

271.  Holy Spirit moving

272.  THE WORD BEING SPOKEN

273.  Talented people suing their gifts to honor the ONE

274.  Kalamata olives 

275.  Fresh Pita

276.  Falafal

277.  Humid air

278.  Hearts stirring

279.  Almond butter

280.  Micah's sweet voice saying I love you.

281.  Getting a text from my big girl

282.  Beautiful worship

283.  Quenching a thirsty soul

284.  My husband selflessly allowing me a weekend of rest

285.  Fall leaves fluttering to the ground

286.  Our little town square bustling with shoppers.

287.  A Fall latte from Palace

288.  Cousins who love to be together

289.  A surprise gift from my mom!

290.  Matt's blueberry muffins

291.  When sports end and I get my kids back

292.  Paying the kids allowance, seeing the big smile and hearing the big plans

293.  The good time change

294.  Micah's growing language

295.  Getting my IPSY bag!

296.  Cleaning the dust clumps from ceiling fans that have run all summer

297.  Fizzy, beautiful fresh grape booch

298.  A pile of pumpkins

299.  Spreading crystallized, cotton honey over fresh bread

300.  When Halloween is finally over

Tiny tip for busy mommies.

I find one of the hardest things about staying at home is that I have so much to do but I also have a little one needing my attention.  

So I love finding something that provides her entertainment and gives me a few minutes to work uninterrupted.  

I saw this idea on Pinterest or Facebook or in a magazine.  It is not original to me.  I love that it is simple and not hard to set up.  It is something that I can pull out and have ready in just a few minutes.

All that you need is a jar of any size, some tape and some buttons.  I have a little collection of buttons that the kids love to play with.  You can buy packs with buttons of varying shapes and sizes for a few dollars.  I got a pack at Hobby Lobby.

The idea is to give them a slot in which to push their buttons into.  I know it sounds silly but Micah LOVED it!  

I took a mason jar and used duct tape layered in a way that left a tiny "coin slot."  You don't want to make it too big.  You want there to be a bit of resistance when they push the buttons through.  It seems to be satisfying to the toddler mind.

Here Micah is demonstrating.  

(She doesn't look like she is having fun but she is!)

 See here how she is having to push the button into the hole with her thumb.  That is the resistance.

Just a pile of buttons and a jar and you have created yourself a little block of time to get something accomplished!

 This entertained her for about 30 minutes.  She asked for more buttons after she got these put away.  

She is motivated by being a helper so I told her I need her to help me by putting the buttons away.  It was fun to watch her concentrate.

As a bonus this is a great fine motor skill for her to work on!  We even upped the skill level by adding bigger buttons and cutting a bigger hole so she had to decide which hole a specific button could fit into.

And some icing on this cake, I got 2 loads of laundry folded and put away! 

 This baby needed something to entertain her too.  A soup bone did the trick.  She left me alone for about 5 minutes.  Whew.  Border collie puppies have a lot of energy!

My husband, the artist.

Matt is all man.  He shoots guns, he works with wood, he fixes cars, he spits, he...I will spare you his other manly characteristics.  

Here and there I catch glimpses of a different side of Matt.  I see it in the way he will argue with me about paint colors or how to arrange the furniture.  I see it in the detail he puts into the furniture he rebuilds for our home.

He is an artist.  He sees a beauty in the things I rush past.  He love to dawdle and watch and appreciate.

I am so thankful for that balance in our world.  We would miss out on so much if it wasn't for our sweet Daddy.

Here are some of his snow-day pictures.

  

 

Catch-up time!!!

Few words, lots of pictures.  Let's do this!!!

We had a piano recital before Christmas.  Asher, my nephew Cody and my niece Emma all take piano from the same place.  That made it very nice for the recital.  We got to see them all!

We went to the local university to walk through the lights.  It is always a beautiful place but when the lights are hung, it is magical!

 

And we had a great, big wonderful snow!!!

 

This makes my heart happy.  This brother loves his baby sister.

There was Christmas  New Years and an anniversary somewhere in there.  But I failed to take pictures.  Bad mom.  At least I am caught up now.  I promise to do better!