Preschool Craftiness

Another idea I had for Leyla was to buy a box and label it "CRAFTS" and then stuff it with all kinds of paper, markers, glue, glitter, and fun craft stuff. I looked up a TON of activity ideas on Pinterest and pre-school teacher websites and was inspired. I have made her a few activities and we have done several. I was extremely happy with the result because she really pays attention, enjoys them, is learning, and is distracted for a good while from the TV!

Here are a few of the activities I have made her that are my favorites.

 This is her felt faces book. I wanted to make felt faces and found this book design on Pinterest. It was too cute. I had to sew it all by hand because I don't have a sewing machine, but it really wasn't that difficult and turned out super cute. There is a pocket pouch for all the different pieces - I simply cut out a bunch of pieces that could be used for eyes, ears, mouths, noses, hair, hats, etc. There are four faces: one green, one orange, one white, and one brown. The green and orange are obviously for making silly monster faces :)

This is another one I spent a lot of time on. I made several different colored shapes and used them to form images like the one shown. I took pictures of each one and then cut and pasted them onto index cards, laminated them, and put them on a key ring. The shapes are laminated and have little magnet strips on them. The idea was to buy her a magnetic clipboard or dry erase board so that the pieces would be easily contained (like for use on the plane...). For now she just uses them on a cookie sheet. There are several images: caterpillar, butterfly, train, boat, sun, flower, house, clown, fish, castle, etc.

 I just made this one a few days ago and Leyla loves it. She was so excited she wouldn't stay in her seat! She kept jumping up and down every time she matched the letters right, saying "It fits! It fits!" All I did was draw on one half of an index card, a letter, and on the other half, images that began with that letter. Then I cut them in two pieces randomly to make "puzzle" pieces. She recognizes the A and B, but she names all the pictures, and fits them together easily just looking at the shapes - she is really good at puzzles.

I love this one! I took old bottle caps - we drink way too much coke and save all the bottles under the sink, so I had several to use (Marcos takes them to the mountains or recyces them). All you do is cut out images in foamy and glue them to the bottle cap. I had to make a stamp pad because I couldn't find one with multiple colors, but the stamps work really well! Pretty amazing, that simple to do. I made shapes and letters ABC and numbers 123.

These are two Christmas crafts we did today, on the fridge. Reindeer with her foot and hands, and a Christmas tree with her cut out hands.

The past month or so...

It has been about a month I think since I updated, so this is going to be a long one!
I tried to update a few weeks ago but had exceeded my upload limit, so, I have been trying to fix it and was only just now able to.

#1: First, Leyla had her 3rd birthday and got exactly what she wanted: a Tasha Backyardigans piñata and cake. She had so much fun! I tried to put her down to nap before it got too late, so she would be in a good mood for the party, but she wouldn't sleep! I put her to bed and she played in her bed. Then when she came out she had changed entirely out of her clothes and had chosen the dress to wear for her party.

I made her a Tasha cake that I thought turned out really well! I was very happy, and I only came up with  the idea on a whim, when I couldn't decide what kind of cake to do. The main problem was she wanted a pink cake, but the  character Tasha is not pink! So I made a pink on the inside cake with pink accents in the icing. She was happy.

#2: Now, in baby news, I am now 29 weeks and in 3rd trimester! Hard to believe, but I am getting  more and more anxious and ready for this baby to be here. I can't wait to get to the US and relax somewhat, shop for the baby, and enjoy being with family and friends. These pictures are from about 27 weeks.

 This is his sweet little face! If you turn your head to the left, you can see it. Where it says "carita," right  underneath are his eyes, then his chin is on the right. I think the cord is running right in front of his nose, because there are a couple odd-looking stripes there.

 Pretty straight bones!

#3: Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays! I don't know why some pictures won't rotate, even if I've saved them, but anyway, here is Leyla helping to decorate the Christmas tree after Thanksgiving lunch! I made a turkey and dressing, and we went to Joann and Dwight's to share a meal with some other friends. It was all very yummy.

  She put all the ornaments in the same spot, on the same branch.

 We went to Tegus for my birthday and to take advantage of Black Friday sales. Here is Leyla posing with the big teddy bear at the huge Christmas tree in the new mall. She loved it.

 We bought her a little table and chairs that she LOVES; she sits there to color, paint, create, eat, and watch TV. It has been great for her, and just what I had in mind.

 I also bought her this new bedding set and a curtain (should have bought another panel...). It looks a little grown-up so it won't need replacing, plus it ties in all the colors I have planned for the room perfectly. Not sure still if we will be able to paint the walls, but, the baby's things will be blue and green, and the furniture will be white with accents. The bookshelf is the only piece we have so far, with the blue inside panel. Next up is a changing table and a cube shelf-bench for the other wall for toys and a reading corner. I plan on painting it white and the inside of half the cubes blue, pink, and green. Can't wait to get it all done!!

Video Update

I haven't uploaded videos in awhile, so today I decided to get it done.
#1 - Leyla singing and dancing out front. I have no idea what she's saying, but it's hilarious.

#2 - Christmas morning, Leyla watching "Toddler Tunes" and singing along to her favorite, "Wheels on the Bus." She normally dances a bit more, but she was distracted with her new toys. She also likes to sing along to the ABC song, and at the end, they kind of pose, so she tries to pose as well - but her pose is a little overexaggerated and super cute :)

#3 - Marcos and dad in the mountains trying to vaccinate the bulls. I took a video because it's funny to watch!

Adios 2011

We had a great Christmas! At first Leyla didn't want to open her presents because she was enjoying playing with her grocery kart. Then she opened one and realized they contained more fun things so she opened them all up pretty quickly!

 

 

 

 

 For New Year's, we went over to Angel's and Carmen's and had dinner, played cards, and threw/watched the fireworks. It was fun but I was so tired! I can't stay up that late anymore!

Then we got news of a death in the family that very night, so New Year's Day we packed up and drove to the funeral in La Ceiba. So after all that and all the traveling, I'm trying to adjust back to normal life and let it sink in that it's actually January 2012!

Here are some things I want to accomplish this year (this is a rough list):
1. Reduce my consumption of coke...I say reduce because I can't quit, ha. We'll see.
2. Exercise more regularly
3. Stick to my budget!!
4. Spend more time in daily devotion.
5. Spend more time outside and less time on the computer or watching TV.

This year is going to bring a lot of changes in our lives. I'm starting a new job soon, hopefully, and with any luck and God's blessing we want to add another little one to our family! So I am going to dedicate this year to being the best wife, mother, and Christian that I can be and have an amazing year :)

Gingerbread Houses

We had a lot of fun Tuesday making Gingerbread Houses! Angel and Carmen came over with Isaac as well as Amanda and Roger. I made the houses earlier that day and everyone else brought candy. It was a lot of fun because they don't decorate gingerbread houses in Honduras, so it was something different for them! I was going to make gingerbread but with my dad coming in, I didn't have enough time. So, I bought the closest thing I could find to graham crackers and used that. At first I got icing everywhere and almost gave up (my icing bag had a hole), but I was able to make a better bag out of plastic baggies and it worked perfectly.

 I made oreo balls, peppermint bark, and red velvet cake. I was going to make Christmas tree cupcakes, but since I made cream cheese icing, it wasn't stiff enough. So I made 12 cupcakes and used the rest of the batter to make a cake. The cake turned out better; the cupcakes looked sad cause the icing just ran off...

 

 

 

 

 

The kids' house didn't last long!

Sparkle Glitter Candles

 I got the idea on Pinterest, to reuse old baby food jars. Of course I have a ton, so I thought I'd try it! I made it my own by adding ribbon around the top. I also tried a couple designs on two of them! Candy cane stripes and Christmas trees :)

 

 

Now I just need some candles....
Total cost for glitter, ribbon, and glue: 25 Lps. ($1.50) Yay!

Christmas!!!

Here are my finished Christmas projects and our tree! It's hard to get good pictures of the trees because of the lights and the flash of the camera, but I did my best.
 The first one: green garland and gold, red, and green balls with multicolored lights.

The second one is taller and made of silver garland, pink, silver, blue, turquoise, and purple balls with white twinkly lights. I like the lights because they have several settings with cool effects! I really wanted to do some interesting colors too, since I couldn't on the actual Christmas tree (already had a color scheme). I love the colors and the textures of the different balls - some are shiny, some frosty, and some sparkly!

 And here's our tree....we bought the Angel on sale last year in the US the day after Christmas, so this its the first time on the tree!

 

I LOVE my skirt. I almost didn't buy it because I didn't want to spend anymore money but it was just SO cute! The Santa and the teddy bear are 3D and really soft. Actually here's a picture when we put the tree together: Leyla thought she would just take a nap on it!

Leyla's Finished Christmas Plates

They turned out great! I made 3 for me and 1 for each grandparent. I made Santa Claus's for everyone because it looked like it would be the cutest; then I made a Santa Claus, a Christmas Tree, and a Reindeer for me to keep. When I finished the little Reindeer print, it was SO cute now my mom wants it! Oh well, too late now - I had already made all of them. So everyone gets a Santa and I get to keep the reindeer :)

 So cute!! I love it!

 Her little handprint several times makes the tree - hard to see individual prints but it looks cute!

She smeared her hand on these but it's cute!

Christmas Crafts

We put our Christmas tree up yesterday! I bought a few new ornaments in Tegus and a tree skirt that's really cute. I will take a picture to post later.

Now I'm trying to think of more decorations I can put up. I don't really have decorations except for the tree! I'm thinking of making a tree out of some cheap ornaments and wire...

and I really want to make these with Leyla:

 I think it would be really cute to paint these on plates to display. Hopefully I can find the right kinds of paints! Then I can give each of the grandparents one as a Christmas gift!

Here are some other cute ideas: