Fingerpainting Fail

Fingerpainting ... it's a scary word. Add the words " ... with a toddler" and it becomes even scarier.

I had vowed to steer clear of fingerpaint for as long as possible ... my kids wouldn't know what paint was until they went to school! However, I have been feeling guilty that I barely have any finger/hand/footprints of Maddy from her first year of life. So for Christmas, I went Pinterest-crazy looking for a cute print for her to give her grandparents and aunts. Shockingly, I didn't have to search for too long, as there are 1,000,000 different Christmas related paint crafts you can make with your kids. We ended up with "fingerprint Christmas lights," which actually wasn't too bad for my first time with her and paint.


So for Valentine's Day, I thought it would be nice to make her Valentine's to give to her grandparents and aunts. I searched Pinterest again, found cute thumbprint heart bookmarks, and got to work ...

Unfortunately, they didn't come out as planned (Dave thought they were butterflies). So it was back to the drawing board. I found this post over at Bower Power and decided to try something similar. With Dave's help ("Okay, you press her hand, I'll move the paper .. watch it's on your hand! No Maddy fingers straight - straight out! Okay wait, more paint... "), they came out much better than the bookmarks.

Hope everyone had a great Valentine's Day!

xo Shannon

Souper Bowl

I might be a little late with this post, but better late than never! ;)

Every year on Super Bowl Sunday, the Youth at our Church participate in the Souper Bowl of Caring. It's an organization to help raise money and food for those in need. It's always done on Super Bowl Sunday, and whomever is participating can decide which organization/cause they want to donate to. Our Youth always choose our Food Pantry (which serves over 150 families in our community). On Souper Bowl Sunday, our Youth collects money and food for our food pantry in soup pots, and they usually collect A LOT of food for the pantry. It's a great way for them to help give to their community after the holiday season, when so many families are struggling.


On another Super Bowl note ...

I think the term "role model" is used too often, especially in sports and the music industry. If you look at the "popular" musicians and athletes that kids look up to, it's difficult to find one that isn't out partying, doing racey photo shoots, or throwing curse words around too often. It's hard for kids to find a "good" role model in the entertainment world. Until maybe this guy ...

We aren't Seahawks fans (my husband is a die-hard Philadelphia fan), and I had never even heard of him until recently. Coleman keeps a low profile, but he also helps advocate for deaf children and their parents. THE DAY before the Super Bowl , he was at Yankee Stadium handing out free hearing aids to kids and he also helped raise enough money to buy a young fan a special football helmet that would accommodate his cochlear implants. It is so helpful and encouraging for others (especially kids) who have special needs to see an athlete doing well in the spotlight and acheiving his dreams.

Hope you're all enjoying your Sunday!

xo Shannon

Cold hands, warm hearts

It has been COLD here the past few weeks!! I try to stay "in the moment" as much as possible, but boy am I looking forward to the spring weather! We made an attempt to go on a quick family walk after work one day this past week. After taking about 15 minutes to get ready (getting the three of us bundled up, plus the dogs) I think we lasted about five minutes in the chilly 18 degree weather!

(Looking thrilled! She actually did enjoy it much more than I did!)

One thing to look forward to in the near future ... Valentine's Day! Celebrating holidays with a little one is so much more enjoyable (and hectic! ) . We don't usually do big gifts on Valentine's Day, but here are a few things for Madelynn that will help make the day festive (mostly courtesy of grandma and aunts!).

( "Be Mine" felt bag and heart plate from Target, Snowman cup from Munchkin,

Minnie Itty Bitty Valentine Edition)

We also try to make sure we continue giving back during this festive time of love! After the buzz of the holiday season, it's so easy to get back into our everyday routines, and to forget those who are in need. We don't have much, but we often try to give back to our community whenever we can- in material items, food items, and our precious time. Every few months we go through and donate clothes, we take blankets and newspapers to the local shelter (where we adopted our two dogs from), and we coordinate and participate in the youth service activities at our church. Just this past weekend, our church was collecting items for new mommies in need. Needing items for your baby when you cannot afford them must be a scary thought. We happen to still be using a lot of the things on the "need" list, but after going through Maddy's stuff, found a few things that we had an abundance of, and were able to donate.

 

 

 

Hope you all can give back during the remainder of this cold, snowy winter season!

 

xo Shannon