Yo-Ho, Yo-Ho, A Pirate's Life For Me!....at Krispy Kreme....

Not too long ago I found out Krispy Kreme was having national Talk Like A Pirate Day where if you went in to a participating location and said any pirate phrase such as "Arrrrr!" or "Ahoy Matey!" you would be awarded a free glazed donut! Yum! But THEN, come to find out that if you dared to dress in full pirate attire and walk into Krispy Kreme you would get a full dozen glazed donuts. Now, I'm not a huge Krispy Kreme fan, but Matt is quite fond of them. However, having said that, I AM quite fond of free stuff - and if I have to suck up my pride for some free donuts then so be it! Pirate-Suit up! (Sorry - a "How I Met Your Mother" reference)

I figured it would be a fun experience for Aaron too so I decided to take him with me - my mini-pirate. It's funny....although neither of us owned a single piece of "pirate attire" I managed to scrounge up these little numbers:

 

 Being that it was Aaron's first time at Krispy Kreme, he was so amazed by the donuts on the conveyor belt....although, strangely he kept saying we were at McDonald's (or in Aaron's words: Hic'Donald's)....I swear he gets out more than that:

"Yay! I love Mc'Donald's!" oh...wait....

When we got to the register the cashier said "Looks like we've got a couple of pirates here! So that'll be 2 then?" and took off to the back. Thinking she meant 2 glazed donuts I was perfectly happy since seeing Aaron was having such a good time. However to my amazement she came back with 2 dozen free donuts!

Enjoying some Krispy Kreme!

 And then last, but not least - I finally got him to say....:

"Arrrrrrrrrrr!"

What an awesome day! We'll have to do this again sometime! 

The Scavenger Hunt

Aaron is finally learning what it means to be bored. At age 3? Really? Shouldn't he be getting dirty out playing with sticks and rocks or something? .....EXACTLY!  That gave me an idea....

I decided to do compile a nature "Scavenger Hunt" for Aaron. It consisted of a list I created out of some old poster board and markers:

 I explained to Aaron that we were going to go outside and find everything on this list - 

• something yellow
• dirt
• 2 different kinds of flowers
• something green
• 3 small grey rocks
• leaves
• a stick
• 1 white rock
• bark
• and 1 bug

(we later added on "something red")

I then took an old first aid kit container and put in "scavenger hunting supplies" which included:

• tweezers
• a magnifying glass (with an attached compass)
• a measuring tape (from my sewing kit) to measure how small or big each item he found was
• a "dust brush" (ok...so it was an old makeup brush) to remove debris and dirt from his items
• a marker to check items off his list
• a container to put items in and examine them
• and lastly, a glue stick to attach his findings to his poster board.

I quickly found out how informative this scavenger hunt was for him - for example, when it came time to find the "Bark" on the list, I said, "Okay Aaron, it's time to find some bark...lets go!" Aaron stopped and looked around puzzled for a second and then said, "But I don't see any doggies Mommy.....?"  I couldn't help but laugh. I told him, "Yes, doggies bark too, but bark also means little pieces of wood." Not thinking again, I sent him off to find bark again. Within a minute Aaron screams, "I found some bark!!!" and I stroll over and find him pointing at the wood paneling on the side of the house. (More laughing from me). I tell him, "Great job!" (due to my lack of explanation) and then take him into grandma's garden to show him what the "bark" is we are looking for. It all worked out and he learned something new.

Here is Sunny just hanging out enjoying the weather with us:

Our Sunny Bunny

Oh my goodness...who gave her that rock to play with? Oh yeah, that was me...Don't worry, she couldn't pick it up. She just liked to feel it.

Aaron had so much fun looking for everything - I really didn't think he was going to enjoy it that much, but he kept looking for stuff even after we were done.

We also used an egg carton to collect all of his neat items in:

And you can't see it, but there was a Rolly Polly bug in the blue container (which we eventually set free, but Aaron had fun watching it in the meantime. I think the bug was his favorite part.)

Everything glued to the list.....except.....

As you can see, he found all of his items on his list, and if you'll notice there is only a drawing of a bug for that box - At first he wasn't happy about the inconsistency of the drawing being there instead of a real bug so I had to spend about 3 minutes explaining to Aaron that we do not glue living things to paper (or anything for that matter). Eventually he got over it and was just happy he found everything.

Best picture we had of him...and there is Sunny in the back still having a blast

After everything dried we hung up his poster on the wall and just about everyday Aaron looks at it and reminds me he wants to do "Aaron's chart" again soon.

Family Camping 2012

(Sorry - I think 3 month long gaps in between posts is becoming a theme in our blog. If it wasn't for Matt reminding me to update this thing I think the gap time frame would be a lot larger.)


Since our last post, we have done quite a few things as a family - one large event being our camping family reunion.

Although I was a little worried at first to go camping (being that Aaron had never been camping, and well, baby Sunny hadn't done much of anything at that point...) but it all worked out a lot better than I expected. It was nice to be away from computers, TV, cell phones, and microwaves and let Aaron be a kid, get dirty, and explore on his own.

The first evening we got there the weather was gorgeous! We were very excited to see where our home would be for the next 2 days.

Our cabin was the one on the left.

Aaron looking, but Sunny isn't....

Sunny looking, but Aaron isn't.....

Before everyone else got there, we decided it was time to start some dinner:

Tri-Tip and homemade macaroni salad on the side - YUM!

Camping? So far, so good! =)

Our little family

Here is Uncle Jeff pushing the cousins on the porch swing. I think Uncle Jeff and Aunt Yolanda were the stars of the show - they brought fun toys for all the kids to play like bubbles and squirt guns. The kids (especially Aaron) followed them around everywhere. It's months later and Aaron still asks where Uncle Jeff is. =)

And what's camping without smores?

Getting the fire ready

Aaron's cousin Bailey roasting some marshmallows

Aaron being a goof. =)

 And just a few photos from our last evening there:

 

Family picture

All the kids. (Left to right - Aaron, Sunny, Brooklyn, Zaya, Nick, and Bailey)

All in all, aside from the bugs, and the 10+ mosquito bites I got the last night we were there (oddly enough, the kids didn't get bit once, but that's great!), it was a very fun trip...maybe we should make this an annual thing.....maybe....  :-)

Brandy's New Painting!

Hello friends and family!

Well, I have completed another painting, and without further ado, here it is:

 

 

"Sitting Bull" by Brandy Davis

 It's all hand-painted acrylic on a brown turkey tail. The feather itself measures 12.5" x 3.25" and the actual painted area measures 5" x 3". If you would like, you can read some interesting "behind the scenes" commentary about this painting at my art blog www.thefeatherartist.com.

Matt and I attempted a time-lapse video for this project, which he is currently editing. (Being that this painting took 30+ hours - he has LOTS of editing to do. Even with only 8 hours of footage the video is already 5 minutes long...not exactly sure what we are going to do with 30. haha) So hopefully we'll have that up on YouTube soon.

I haven't mounted or framed it yet, but I'm currently working on it and will have pictures posted of the final piece soon.

Well, that's it for now. I'll keep you all updated!  :-)

All About Sunny

Sunny is officially 4 months old!!!  Sadly we have lost count of all the weird nicknames we have for her. Here a few to get you started: Sun Sun, Sun Beam, Sunny Bunny, Georgina (why or how? I have no idea....), and Sonseed (if you haven't looked up their hit song "Jesus is a Friend of Mine" on YouTube - I HIGHLY suggest you do it - it doesn't get any more 70's than that! ZAP!)

Anyway, regardless of her odd nicknames she is a very happy baby - especially after a good night's rest. She'll wake up and immediately give you the most big, cheesiest smile. She has been smiling for about 2 months now and just recently started giggling at things we say, although most of the time she just looks like a laughing baby on "mute" - she'll look like she's laughing but no sound actually manages to make it out. Towards the evenings though (usually before bed - perfect timing as usual), she'll start to do her baby babble. She and Matt have had some very interesting "conversations"...mostly about political issues...  ;-)

Sunny can officially hold her head up on her own and loves sitting up, especially in her Bumbo seat. She is also starting to like baby music and lights. As she is developing her hand-eye coordination she is really starting to explore the different textures of objects - grass seems to catch her attention the most at the moment. And I have to be very thankful that she is very easy to put to sleep. Just give her a bottle or rock her for a couple minutes, and and she is out like a light...now whether or not she stays asleep - well, that is a whole different story....

And let me tell you - this girl can EAT! And she will definitely make it known when she is hungry...it's like she can sense when food is near...Needless to say she is definitely turning into a little chunko. We're going to attempt to start her on solid foods this week and we'll see how she does.

Other than that - She is getting bigger by the day, and her sweet personality is really starting to shine through. We love her very much and feel very blessed to have her as part of our family.

All About Aaron

As per request, we are including pics of the kiddos (separate post though), as well as what they have been up to these past couple of months.

We'll start with Aaron:

So for those that do not know, he is now 3 1/2 years old and growing so fast that his shoes are having trouble keeping up. He still loves numbers, counting, reading, and spelling - It amazes me how fast this kid learns. As far as food, this kid still loves bacon - just like his daddy. Strawberries are still his favorite fruit and he LOVES Sour Patch Kids candy and Hershey's Kisses. And although we already mentioned it in the previous post, I must shout from the rooftops that, "HE IS POTTY TRAINED!" woo hoo!

Also, he has recently started singing and dancing (to the beat of his own drum, apparently...his form of "dancing" is....interesting....It mostly consists of looking at all of his 10 fingers open and shut until he decides to jump into a dramatic pose with his legs bent and his arms outstretched - then he pauses in his pose for a moment, and does it all over again.) And imagine if you will, a chipmunk voice walking around the room singing the lyrics, "Now isn't it funny how numbers help me count! Help me count! Help me count! Now STOP! Ohhhhhh!" (and repeat). We'll have to catch that on video soon.....

He has also taken up bowling...who knew bowling alleys had teeny tiny bowling shoes?? (He needed the smallest they had).   Here he is during his very first trip to a bowling alley, and once he figured out the loud crashes (pins falling) we NOT fireworks - he loved every minute of it.

Ready to go....

6lb ball ready for launch....

going.....

Gone.......So how'd he do, you ask?.....

Well, have you ever been out-bowled by a toddler? I have! lol. Maybe I should try the bumpers next time!

 Yeah, as you can see, Aaron's final score was at the top, followed by mine, and then Matt's. He did awesome for his first time and we are definitely going back for their family night!

Also, every Monday he has been going to "School" (it's just reading/singing/ and craft time at the library, but that was the closest thing I could liken it to so that he would understand where we were going every Monday morning)  I started taking him there to bring him out of his "shy shell" and it seems to be working. He absolutely loves it and is excited every time we go.

Teacher Denise reading everyone a story

Craft Time

Today's theme was on owls...I swear that is not a vampire bat. But even if it was, I would love it just the same! =)

We absolutely love this little guy, and it is so bittersweet watching him grow up. It seems like just yesterday he was just a helpless little lump of a baby (and I mean that in the best way)...and now he is a little boy - already itching to explore the world on his own. We cherish the moments we have with him at this age.

So Aaron, when you get old enough to read this: Although you have your moments where you can be an insane handful - We are still so proud of you and we love you very much. We wouldn't trade you for the world!  =)

Aaron's Chore Chart

This is a new thing we recently implemented into our daily routine as we were slowly finding that Aaron started "acting out" a bit a couple months after Sunny was born. Maybe a tiny bit of jealousy had kicked it, but nonetheless we found that tantrums and whining were becoming a regular thing, and that the "time-out corner" was becoming a popular spot. So a few days before an F.H.E. (Family Home Evening) of ours, Matt and I decided that Aaron was receiving too much attention when he was doing the "wrong" things. So to remedy that, I created this age-appropriate chore chart for him to acknowledge when he does the "right things." So during an F.H.E. we presented the chart to Aaron and explained how the chart works.

Being that he LOVES colors, he was totally excited about the color-coded sticks/pockets. We put the chart on the wall at his level, and we explained that every time he does one of the things listed on the pockets which includes (things that are relevant to him): Putting his toys away, sharing (with his sister, or anyone else), getting dressed (or letting mommy/daddy dress him without hassle), being patient (which essentially means no whining or tantrums), being polite, and going to the potty - he can take the colored stick and put it in the "Rainbow Pocket." Once he gets 5 of any color sticks, he gets a small treat.

Something that we don't use often, but is still there - next to the "Rainbow Pocket" there is a "Best Bee-havior" pocket where, if mommy and daddy catch him doing something especially good, or he has been a good boy all day, he can get a "Best Bee-havior" stick. If he get's three of those, he gets to put his "Star" up and he gets a "Big Prize" - which can be extra TV time, or just a small toy from the Dollar Tree, but he doesn't know that. ;-) .

And so he doesn't get "rewarded" for every time he does something good, we only let him "get a stick" some of the time. (His excitement for the chore chart was apparent when he kept removing toys from his toy box, then putting them back and asking for a stick - only to be found 5 minutes later removing toys from his toy box and putting them back, and again, asking for a stick. lol)  Luckily our "stick limit" doesn't seem to deter him from wanting to do good things.

Overall, it has been a month since we have had the chore chart, and it was what really helped in Aaron's potty-training process (He noticed that he would consistently get every color stick except the purple one, and when he figured out it was for going "Potty" in the potty chair, that one purple popsicle stick served as one form of his motivation. Recently a majority of the sticks he has been getting are purple). Also, it has really made an improvement on his behavior - ours too. We have become more patient with Aaron and have learned to be more proud of the small things he does. And to sum it up for Aaron, he still doesn't do everything we ask him when we ask him too (he is a toddler, after all), and he still has occasional trips to the "time-out corner" - he isn't a perfect little angel by any means, but on the same note, we are not perfect parents either (if there is such a thing), but you can clearly tell that he feels more appreciated which is so important with our new addition to the family (Sunny) who currently demands so much of our attention. So I'd say that so far it has been a success! :-)