Still Alive

This blog has been really neglected lately. We are having a very busy school year with lots of adjustments and I just haven't had time to keep up two blogs. So, this one fell by the wayside and I continued to update Organized and Simplified, as it is a secondary source of income. Our lives are busy and full, and we continue to be blessed daily. In recent months, the biggest blessings we have received are the the fact that my dad's cancer markers are dropping, and Emorie's little brother or sister, who is set to arrive sometime around November 23, which is my dad's birthday.

Thanks for your continued prayers. God is good.

A little something fun to start off your week!

Maybe they should change the quote "dance like no one is watching" to dance like you are three. Enjoy!





On another note, I have finally gotten around to writing and posting my fall house tour. You should really go check that out.

November 8- weekend

Friday was a good day- it was the perfect end to a rotten week. We spent some time with my parents and my great-uncle and great-aunt, who are in town. We love visiting with family, especially when we don't get to see them often.

Saturday was a beautiful day. Miss Emorie wanted to go outside and play, so we bundled up and headed outdoors. We have been seriously neglecting our flower beds, so we took the time to clean them out while we were playing. We got two and a half beds cleaned out, and have one and a half to go. We will finish those on Tuesday. I also plan on cleaning out our container gardens and replacing them with some fall color.

Miss Emorie went to her grandmother's Saturday evening, so the hubs and I could have a date. We went to P.F. Chang's. We had a reservation, but due to problems in the kitchen, it took an hour for us to get our food. The manager ended up comping our meal. We had a delicious dinner that ended up only costing us $3. On the way back home, we picked up sweet girl and headed home.

On Sunday, I was running a fever and not feeling very well. I am almost feeling better now, and almost positive this is the result of some nasty virus. I am hoping the husband and sweet girl are spared the fever!

Happy Halloween!

Emorie had a blast yesterday. After choosing four different Halloween costumes, she finally settled on Elsa from the movie "Frozen." I guess you can say we are a little obsessed with "Frozen" around here. I tried to talk her into being Anna since her dress is prettier, but Emorie wasn't having any of it. We saw several other Elsas when we went to the fire department, and several of my friends posted pictures of their own Elsas on my Facebook feed.

She wouldn't stop singing "Let It Go" long enough to get her picture taken. LOL. 

Waiting at the fire department. She was all for meeting Sparky and taking a picture of him until we got there. Then she was scared and wanted nothing to do with him. 

A little girl and her daddy. Love them so much. 

We didn't go trick-or-treating. We went to the fire department, the police department, and then to her grandparents' houses. She had a great time, ate more candy than she has probably had all year, and then refused to take off her costume when we got home. 

Just a few pictures this week.

We didn't really have an eventful week this week. Michael went to Myrtle Beach for the week for a fire conference, and Emorie and I held down the fort here at home. It was a busy week for both of us and we have been worn out.

My big girl is learning how to write her name. I only helped her with the lowercase E. 

A beautiful fall day involves playing outside :)

And look how big my girl is getting;

A family fun day with a little creativity thrown in

Forgive me, but I've been behind on my posts as we have had a difficult time lately. Life is slowly returning to normal, and I'm doing all I can to keep it normal.

This weekend, my husband was not on call. We asked Emorie what she wanted to do. She wanted to go to the Greensboro Children's Museum. When we arrived, we found out they were having a fall festival. The museum was serving cider in the Edible School yard, having puppet shows in the library across the street, presentations at the historical museum, and Art Quest was having fall crafts.

Our daughter is 3 and we weren't sure how much she'd like the historical society, so we played at the museum, went to the puppet show, and then went over to Art Quest.

Art Quest was so cool. I never knew it existed before. At Art Quest, which was free, by the way, kids create different art projects and learn while they are creating. Emorie made a rag doll out of paper, fabric and yarn, and then she made art prints using leaves, fruit, flowers and paint. It was a lot of fun for her and we enjoyed it, too. 

It was a fun weekend and I am glad we let Emorie choose the activity! 

Shopping guide: Growin' up in God's Word

My family is Christian. I grew up in church and so did my husband. So, you can imagine it's important to us that our daughter be raised in church as well.  Unfortunately, our church attendance as of late has not been as good as it should be. We are working to get back on track.

I have been faithfully reading devotions, reading my Bible and been more actively praying daily since June. I am not bragging about this, just stating it here to keep me accountable. A lot of things have happened in my life this year, and most of those things were a huge wake-up call for me. A lot of bad things happened this year, but some good things happened, too.

I'll talk more about the good and bad later, but I want to use this time to blog about some books we purchased for our daughter. My little girl is 3. Some of the books and materials we have purchased for her are a bit mature for her at the moment, but will be perfect in a few short years.

She has a toddler Bible. It is a board book, and she loves the pictures and Bible stories within it. She carries this Bible to church with her.  It's actually recommended for ages 2-4 and I purchased it for about $10 from Wal-Mart. It's perfect for her now, but when she turns four next summer, I'd like to get her one that's a little more mature. I haven't done much shopping around yet, so I'm not sure what we might get.

A few years ago, my librarian uncle gave Emorie a Books-A-Million gift card for Christmas. My kiddo is not short on books, for which I am grateful! We went together so she could choose something. We got some age-appropriate story books, and we also picked up this one-year children's Bible story book. It's a little too mature for her, but I've found if you explain the story to her, she understands it. Also, if we read a story she is already familiar with, she understands it just fine. 

Right now, you can buy this for less than $10 on Amazon. 

We have a book sale that comes to our school about every other month. They usually have some really nice things for low prices. I've often bought Christmas gifts from them. This past February, I found a copy of The Love Dare One-Year Devotional for Couples, which I quickly bought for me and the hubs to peruse. I was pleasantly surprised to discover the children's one-year devotional book, Jesus Calling.  I realize this is a bit too mature for my girl now, but in a few years, it will be perfect. Currently, you can get the book for $10.30 on Amazon. I think I paid $12 for it. I am so excited about reading this with her someday soon. 

Do any of you have some recommendations for Bible story books and kids' Bibles? I'd love to hear about them. 

Fall is coming!

Some of you will disagree with my post title and say fall is already here. Well, this girl lives in hot, humid North Carolina, where the temps are still pushing 85. I may not be able to sit outdoors and comfortably wear sweaters and sip my pumpkin spice lattes just yet, but I am anxiously awaiting the days. Fall has always been my favorite holiday, which surprises some people because I'm a teacher.

Summer passed a lot faster than it usually does. I had a good summer chock full of house projects and organizing. My kiddo and I spent a lot of time together and we had a great time. I truly treasure my summers at home with my little girl. We just wrapped up our first week of school. I am excited about teaching this great group of eighth graders this year. We will have a busy school year, but I think we will have a good year.

Speaking of school, my daughter is anxious to start school. She is three, so this is still about 2 years away. I did take a picture of her on MY first day of school. We also got her a backpack and some school supplies that her nursery school class can use. I plan on taking another picture on the last day of school for comparison. Isn't she cute?

September will be a busy month for our family. We have fall revival, a baby shower, a wedding shower, and three birthdays to celebrate this month. I am very excited and look forward to celebrating each of these occasions. 

Also, we are awaiting some news on my sweet Daddy. We feel like the news will be good, but if you all could please continue praying for him, we'd really appreciate it. Until next time, hope you and yours have a magnificent weekend. 

Blessings, 

The Boone Family 

A trip to the grandparents' house

Last week, my husband actually had a few days off from work. I say "actually," because he doesn't often have them. Since it had been several months since we'd gone to my grandparents' house in WV, we decided this would be the perfect chance to get away. We loaded up the van and headed north.

We were only able to stay two nights, but we spent a lot of time with our family, enjoyed the cooler temperatures, went shopping and enjoyed my grandmother's cooking. We also took Emorie to ride on the Ridge Runner, a train that I rode as a little girl.



Emorie liked the train until the whistle blew, or until we went through the tunnel.

We then let our kiddo play on the playground until it started to rain. We had a great visit, and I wish we could do it more often.

Build-A-Bear

My favorite kiddo had a dentist appointment this week. She has been going twice yearly since she was 2, and has never liked the dentist. She usually cries and it isn't a very pleasant experience.

We can tell she is starting to grow up, as she handled her three-year-old check up with ease this year. She did the same at the dentist. Usually, the dentist has me lie in the chair and hold Emorie in my lap. This time, she wasn't having it. She hopped up in that chair like a pro and let the dental hygienist and dentist do whatever they needed to do. She never cried or gave them the least bit of trouble. It was great.


Emorie's dentist has a train table in the waiting room- she loves it.

After we left the dentist, Emorie and I went to Chick-fil-a for a little lunch date.

Since she was such a big girl at the dentist, a little reward was in order.

My favorite girl created a new best friend at Build-a-Bear. Here she is posing with "Lexie."

We had a great Mommy and Emorie day, even if it did start out with a dentist appointment.

Emorie's first beach trip

My precious girl and I went to the beach with my parents last week. It was her first ever trip and she loved it. She mostly loved the hotel's kiddie pool and the lazy river, but she loved making sandcastles on the beach as well.

Just checkin' out the view.


Lovin' the kiddie pool and "Silly Submarine"

In the Lazy River with Pop-pop

On the final day we were there, we hit up the outlets to do some shopping. Emorie didn't want to shop, but found something better to do.

We had a great time, even if Daddy had to work and couldn't come.

Mama School

Some of you have commented or asked about mine and Emorie's "Mama School." If you don't know what I'm talking about, she and I have been working together on some early math and literacy skills on the days she doesn't go to daycare. We've also thrown a little arts and crafts, sensory play and pre-school appropriate science for good measure. I tried to start working with her in writing letters, but she isn't quite ready. We're working on some pre-handwriting activities I found on Pinterest instead.

We've always read to Emorie and have talked to her since she was in utero. I believe this is what led to her speech development- she has a large vocabulary and her pediatrician says she is above average in her speaking skills.

Ever the teacher and ever the worrywart, I was really stressing her not being ready for preschool. Turns out I needn't worry- Emorie is a fast learner and picks up on new concepts quickly. She also has a heck of a memory. I was never concerned about her literacy skills, but I did notice while she has memorized the numbers 1 through 20 in order, she really wasn't "counting." She would keep calling numbers after there were no more numbers to count. I struggled with math as a child and didn't want the same for her. I decided to work hard with her this summer not only in early math skills, but also in letter recognition and letter sounds. She is doing well.

Some skills we've practiced this summer are sorting, colors and shapes, comparisons (like big versus little and different shapes), patterns, letter sounds, letter recognition, matching upper case letters to lower case letters, and she has learned how to spell her name. We've also learned about water and weather, different sounds, hot and cold, butterflies and frogs, and textures.

I didn't spend tons of money on this, either. I have a pretty nice stash of arts and crafts supplies due to teaching Sunday School.

I also have a few things left over from teaching elementary school, such as the root viewer and the bug boxes. These colorful counters came from the dollar spot at Target when I was teaching second grade. My silly girl is using them to sort by color.

We use these wooden magnetic letters to spell words and talk about letters and letter sounds. I bought them from Dollar Tree when I was in grad school. 

 I've also been able to use several books, puzzles, related toys, and games from Emorie's playroom.

These things are fantastic! I bought them from Books Are Fun, this company that sells books at our school. 

This really neat travel Memory game contains different pages that you slide into the back. There are lots of different pages, and they've all been useful this summer. 

           I did go purchase a few workbooks from Dollar General for $1 each. I bought this one, one for colors and shapes, and one for the alphabet.

I also found countless ideas for teaching preschoolers and sensory play on Pinterest and parenting blogs. Some great sources are The Artful Parent, Modern Parents, Messy Kids, and Growing a Jeweled Rose. Have fun, and thanks for reading!

A milestone week

My kiddo turned three this month, which meant she was finally old enough to attend Vacation Bible School at our church. She went every night and had a blast. She loves to sing and she loves going to church, so I knew she'd love it. Each night, she went right to her teacher with no trouble.

As she is a little shy at times and she doesn't always like to be up in front of people, I was a little nervous about how she'd do in the commencement program. I got nervous when the kids were walking into the church, because I was worried she'd see me and all bets would be off. She simply just waved, said ,"Hi, Mommy!" and kept walking. Sure, she looked a little scared at times. Even though she didn't sing the entire time, but she did a fantastic job.

She was so proud of her certificate :)

Shopping guide: Disney's Frozen

My three year old daughter is obsessed with the Disney movie Frozen.  In addition to having a Frozen-themed party for her birthday, we also have several Frozen books and toys at our home. She even has Frozen themed underoos. Some of these items were given to her for her birthday. Since I know this movie is hugely popular and there are plenty of other little girls who love it just as much as mine, I thought I'd share.

My girl absolutely loves coloring and painting, so the coloring book and paint kits were both big hits for her. 

She also received the read along book for her birthday- this one is neat because it includes an audio CD so she can follow along. Elsa's Icy Magic  is actually two books in one. The other side is a book told from Anna's point of view, called Anna's Act of True Love.  It follows the storyline of the movie, but from Anna's point of view. All of these books are directly based on the film and all of them are available at Wal-Mart. 

We have a few Frozen themed toys as well. My kiddo loves Barbies, and has received several Barbies as prizes for using the potty. She specifically asked for these two Frozen princess dolls. 

Disney Frozen Sparkle Anna of Arendelle Doll- $12.99

Disney Frozen Sparkle Elsa Doll- $12.99

There are also Prince Haans and Kristoff  dolls available. 

We don't have any Frozen plush, but you can find plush Anna, Elsa, Kristoff, Haans, Olaf, and a very cute plush version of Sven. I almost want to buy Sven just for the cuteness. 

There are some very nice Frozen princess costumes on Amazon and I've seen some at Wal-Mart and Target, too. I don't remember how much the ones at Target were, but the Wal-Mart costumes were $15. They don't come in toddler sizes, but I think the size 4 would fit my three-year-old. 

Due to the musical nature of this movie, there are so many neat musical toys available. 

There are also a number of games and puzzles available. I'd buy her the Memory game, but she already has two Memory games. 

 

If you're wanting to spend a little more money on a big present (we buy one big present and some smaller presents for both birthdays and Christmas), here are some great options. We don't personally buy a lot of big toys because we don't want to clutter up the playroom. We also don't usually spend a lot on toys as she outgrows or loses interest in them. These playsets are really neat. 

 

If you're birthday shopping for a little Frozen fan, I hope I have given you some good ideas. Thanks for reading!