Sharks, Hair, and a dancing DVD

Well, I have had to step it up a notch lately with Jacob in the hopes of avoiding some of the behaviors that he's been exhibiting. The lazy mom in me just got irritated with him, but then I grew up a bit and realized that he needs more during his day. He thrives off completing tasks, activities, lessons, etc. Meaning, just hanging out at home (on his non-preschool days) and "playing" is not enough for him. So, I've been spending a lot of time reading homeschool mom blogs, etc... and am going to do some more learning activities with Jacob. (up until about 3 months ago, Jake would spend all day doing crafts, playdough, puzzles, games, workbooks, etc. But, he's growing up, and I need to meet him where he's at now-- more challenging stuff-- to create more pleasant days at home!)

Here's our first project we did today: A Shark Lapbook (this probably isn't a "do it all in one sitting" activity, but that's Jacob-- he had to finish it and was a bit disappointed we couldn't make another one too) Tomorrow it's Jellyfish!
New Hair product!!!

I'm hooked. I bought the deep conditioner and leave-in conditioner (see post a few back) by Mixed Chicks. I'm not 100% sold on the deep conditioner (I really need something thick that I can coat on Grace's hair in the tub and then comb her hair out before rinsing). I probably just didn't let it sit long enough before starting to comb it out. All Grace wants to do in the tub is lay on her back-- makes it hard to let the conditioner really soak in!! But.... the most fabulous product is the Leave-In! Every one of Grace's ringlets are defined, soft, and frizz-free!!

The picture makes it look like her hair is still a bit frizzy, but it really isn't. Amazing stuff!!

Dance with Miss Kim

I read about this "Creative Movement" DVD on someone's blog-- can't remember where, now. Well, it's about the cutest thing ever and Grace LOVES it. I have been having a bit of "mom guilt" lately since I just haven't done all the little activities with Grace that I did with Jake (lucky first born!!). But, this DVD is just like one of the cute little Creative Movement classes. Grace wears her favorite little tu-tu and watches intently while trying to mimic all the "moves". It's pretty sweet. It's only about 20 minutes long and if Grace had her way, she'd watch it over and over again!

Friends!

I thought I'd post these sweet sisters' picture on my blog, since their momma doesn't have a blog!! (yet!) Anyway, we first met these precious twins (Aleah and Brielle) when we were picking up Grace. They had just come into Hannah's Hope and I remember thinking they were so tiny and precious. I even asked Almaz if Grace was THAT small.... she just laughed and said that those girls are "normal" size for Ethiopian babies and Grace was much smaller than them. :) Well, fast forward about 3 months and I find out that those babies are coming home to my area!! I got connected with their mommy and we've become fabulous friends! What a blessing Mikelle has been to me. We even did our readoption together-- she took care of all the "legal stuff" since we didn't hire a lawyer. And, now that I think of it, it was one year ago today that we readopted Grace. My how time flies. It's also a pretty big birthday for me sweet friend Mikelle. So, Happy Birthday Mikelle. Thank you for being such a wonderful friend and I look forward to more memories of raising our precious families together. What a blessing you are!

Our re-adoption day.

Hair Product

Has anyone used this product? I've read rave reviews about it, but I thought I'd try to get some first hand info on it before ordering. :)

Dancin' Girl

I guess I'm a little video crazy this weekend. I'm not sure if I should title the video "Dancin' Grace" or "Dizzy Fun", but what started out as some dancing quickly turned into experimenting with the feeling of spinning around and then trying to walk. :) (it's either that or her pigtails are getting too big and they made her a bit top-heavy!!)

**Jacob is the real ham of the family, but lately he wants wants zero pictures or video taken of him!! Bummer. But, he has promised me that now that he's 5 1/2 (as of last week), he's working on not being so shy. He's such a sweet little nugget!! I'll get some of him soon-- he's just too cute not to share with everyone. :) (I know, unbiased mom and all!)

Shake 'n Bake

My sweet little girl learned the fine art of "Shake 'n Bake". Thanks Daddy!!

In a Groove.....

I have to say that there's just really not much going on these days that's "blog worthy". :) (not that anything I put on the blog is truly blog worthy.... just a little bit of life in our neck of the woods). That being said, I'm feeling like we're in a pretty good groove currently. Jake just turned 5 1/2, and maybe that's the magic turn around time in the year of being 5. He's always been a pretty amazing little man to be around, but there's times that I can definitely do without the attitude and some of his behaviors. :) We're wrapping up another round of swimming lessons and he just started tae kwon do-- which he seems to LOVE. He's a pretty intense/competitive kid and keeping him active keeps him quite happy. :) He has told me that he doesn't want to swim on a swim team until he's old enough to be good enough to win ALL of his races, and after two classes of tae kwon do, all he talks about is the different colored belts and how he wants to get ALL the colors!!!! We're definitely trying to teach him that it's OK to not be perfect and the best at everything and making mistakes is OK too. :) And, did I mention that I register him for kindergarten next week?? My sweet, little baby is heading off to school!!!

Little Miss Grace is also in a great mode right now. Her language is blooming and there just aren't as many frustrations during the day. She still can sport quite the 'tude, but she snaps out of it pretty quickly. Her new found love is being outside. Grace is not the most agile little one (might need to head back to some physical therapy), but.... it makes my life pretty easy. She won't climb down stairs or get herself into sticky predicaments-- she's not a risk taker!!! So, for the past two days she has played out on the back deck for over 2 hours straight!! The yard is still a wintery, mucky mess, so I brought a few of the larger yard toys up on the deck and she's a happy little camper. The deck is right off the kitchen, so I just keep the back slider open a bit, and Grace just entertains herself forever!!!! It's heaven!! Tonight I had to coax her in because it was dinner time and it was dark outside-- she didn't want to come in. Too funny.

(Yes, she's still wearing her brother's hand me down snow boots. She LOVES them. She HAS to wear them whenever she goes outside!!)

One last thing. Has anyone read this book? I just ordered it. I've heard some great things about it and I'm pretty excited to read it. If you've read it, let me know what you think.