Another Giveaway! And a good one

Okay - I had decided to not enter any more giveaways. I had won, and that was enough.
But there wasn't a disclaimer about previous wins and I just could not give this up.
A blog I follow - that I have written about before is having another giveaway



And this time, this fabulous blog is giving away a Baby Bjorn Carrier!!!!!!!!


See why I had to try
And you should try, too - those things are pricey. So go here and good luck!

I heart magnetic tape

For the past several weeks, I have gotten gobs of inspiration concerning lesson plans for the little one from different blogs I read - the most notable being Oopsey Daisey, Moo Moo's & Tutus and Nurture Mama. Because of the holidays, however many of these incredible, awesome, (some which offer complete lesson downloads - the best ever!) inspiring sites have been taking a break. Completely understandable. So I was kind of on my own when it came to something for December.

So I had the merry fortune of discovering the first school website again. Last night my deep love for magnetic tape resurfaced again as I completed a number of projects. This one from first school, which I love - I am not sure what Benjamin thinks, but I think the older kids started playing with as I saw some of the magnets had been moved. You can't see it, but the title says "Dress the Snowman"
Now this next one was not just for Benjamin, nor did I find it on First School. I got the link for this advent calendar from the Sugardoodle website. I couldn't tell you exactly where now. In the past, I have bought individual chocolate advent calendars for the kids. I looked and looked this year to no avail. So I decided to make this advent calendar, which included scriptures (of course so much better than just chocolate) and not to completely deny my children, I decided I would have a small treat for them each night. I started to make fudge and they all asked me what it was for - I told them it was a surprise. As soon as they ascertained that they fudge was indeed for them and not someone else, they got excited. When we sat down with the calendar, the scriptures and I explained the situation - Peter was disappointed - when he was excited about the fudge not 15 minutes prior! ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH. But too bad, Peter - that is just the way the cookie crumbles sometimes.
We talked about being grateful after that.

And then finally, last night, I made another kind of advent - alas there is no magnetic tape involved but I totally stole this idea from Oopsey Daisy I even completely plagiarized her poem. Well, I am giving her credit, so that makes it okay, right?
But it is a little poem about Santa's bare beard, and Benjamin gets to glue a cotton ball each day to make a big fluffy beard. He totally doesn't get the count down thing, but that is okay.

I can't believe I was so crafty all in one night - Yes I know many others who can craft circles (many perfect concentric circles all in coordinating colors) around me, but this is big for me.
Yay for magnetic tape! And Card Stock! And my paper cutter - fun stuff when Benjamin is still awake

Christmas Party

It's that time again! Our branch Christmas party was tonight. And all of the kids actually sat on Santa's lap this year. Well, kind ofGabrielle went with a smile, of course
And Peter, my most heated contender last year also went with a smile - which he rarely does in front of a camera so this was a super double bonus
Tre went with a reason - that being Benjamin
All things were better for the Benjamin once the candy was secured

And even the new baby got its first picture with Santa. I LOVE Benjamin's look here. And Gabrielle did a perfect job of making sure she didn't catch my head. And no, that is not sarcastic - I would have photoshopped it out if she hadn't,

New Camera!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I missed Gabrielle's birthday, and I really didn't take any pictures of Peter's. I do have pics of Gabrielle's birthday, but they are all on the old camera, and I am having problems transferring them to a computer that is not ancient.

But thank you Black Friday! We got a new camera and its little memory card slides right in just like the previous camera - bought at last year's black friday that bit the dust in my purse.

Yesterday we went driving and ended up at Lake West Point. They had a little stop off the side of the road and the boys climbed down this steep ledge to get to the water

I love this picture of her - mostly because she is not scowling

Yeah, don't ask, you don't want to know. But he is really cute

I do have pictures of Benjamin out in the park, but this one was just so much better (minus the clutter on the couch and floor - sorry Gabrielle- I am not counting you as clutter, you just happen to be sitting blissfully amongst it). And, no, I did not take this picture - one of the boys did.
Yay for the new camera!!!!!!!!!!!!

I Won, I Won, I Won!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Last week - a blog I follow, A Little Tispy, had a WHOLE BUNCH of giveaways. One of them was two burp cloths and a custom made changing pad made by Rebecca from:

She makes burp cloths and changing pads and baby bags(really, really cool baby bags), clutches, hand bags and other accessories. She also "donates 10% of every purchase to low income entrepreneurs in developing countries - which is why we are called "Better Life Bags... making lives better one purse at a time!""
Isn't that cool?
And I won this particular giveaway! Yay!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
And talk about making lemonade out of lemons - her most recent post was about her car being broken into and how she collected the broken shards of glass and crafted with them

She has super cool patterns to choose from.

I cannot wait to get my new goodies! Thank you so much, Rebecca, from Better Life Bags. And a big thanks to Michelle from A Little Tipsy for the giveaway! Yay!

The Feeling of Service

Last week, there was a National Gifted Conference held here in Atlanta

As a member of our locally established gifted advocacy group, we raised money for our teachers to go.
When the time came for one of our gifted teachers to sign up, he wasn't sure if he would go because of a lack of funding for substitutes. So, as a registered substitute and licensed teacher, I volunteered my services.
I volunteered to teach for three days in a middle school.
And it wasn't bad - at all. But I was so tired. Being 5 months pregnant probably doesn't help much either. And I felt horrible - by the third day, I was questioning myself as to why I was doing this.
Let me reiterate - It was not bad - certainly not as bad as it could have been. The kids were good. I had videos for all three days. I was just
so
tired.
So
Tired.
But then last night, I realized why I did it. Our gifted teacher came to our locally established gifted advocacy group quarterly meeting last night and shared with us what he had learned.
He was so excited. He learned a lot and really, really enjoyed it. He said several times that it was one of the best conferences he has ever been to.
Then, it was so worth it.
Had I been asked if I would do this again, I would have probably said no. But through his gratitude and just the fact that he gained so much, yes, I do think I would volunteer again.
Probably not pregnant, though

Happiest Baby on the Block

One of the blogs I follow, A Little Tipsy,

featured a video today called "The Happiest Baby on the Block". Very interesting stuff. It apparently is based on the 5 S's: Swaddle, Side, Swing, Shh, Suck. I of course haven't tried any of these things yet, being almost 23 weeks. I have been exceedingly blessed to have never really experienced what I can remember as a baby cursed with colic, but I am sure this can't hurt.
So I went on my library catalog and found not only the video, but a book as well. And I continued to scroll down and lo and behold I found this:

Benjamin has been kind of whiny lately - nap or no nap. Maybe this will help as well. Maybe I will luck out and it might have some potty training advice. We will see! Can I just say how much I love the library?