More lake fun

Here are some more :)

Lake House

Who can pass up a free weekend away with great friends?!?  Not us!  We packed up and went to Trinidad, TX to a lake house with some friends and had a blast!  It was so warm the first day we got there we thought it would be fun for Grace and Ella to stick their feet in the water.  That quickly turned into laying in the water and Grace putting mud in her hair.  It was really funny.  That resulted in immediate baths.

The rest on the weekend was cool temperatures that really made it feel like fall.  It was fabulous to bundle up for golf cart rides, walking and running around in the fallen leaves, make chilli for dinner, have s'mores by the bonfire, and of course hot chocolate!  Grace was not too sure about marshmallows, but did at least take a bite. 

AND....I SAW AN ARMADILLO!!!  I have been waiting to see a live one for the past 5 years and can say that I finally saw one.  Granted I totally thought it was a hedgehog (it was dark and apparently just saw his head), but after I went in Luke and Paul said they saw it come out from under the deck and it was in fact an armadillo.  How cool is that!?!? 

 Here are some pics of our fabulous weekend away :)

Fall

Texas lacks fall-ness big time! The leaves turn yellow and brown then fall off quickly, the temperatures are all over the place, the pumpkins rot way too fast, and we won't even go into the crazy Halloween market here in Dallas. I think that Halloween stores that hang posters in their windows for the public to see should have a certain rating. I mean who wants to see zombies with their eyes falling out, or Chucky the doll all bloody and gross? Seriously, keep that stuff inside the store.

Anyway, growing up in New Hampshire we have been super spoiled by the beautiful fall season! Waking up to cool crisp air, going outside to be greeted with glorious, vibrant reds, oranges,yellows, purples on the trees like God took a paint brush and painted each on by hand while you were sleeping. The weather is perfect, you can actually appreciate yummy fall foods. I miss New England falls. So what is a girl to do? I walk through the supermarket and Home Depot where they are still using their air conditioners and walk through their fall decorations and pretend it is like home. Not quite the same, but almost. I also burn apple pie candles at home to remind me of fall. I am sad that I used up my last apple cinnamon candle! I wish Yankee candles weren't so darn expensive. We also went to the Dallas Arboretum with our church mom group where they are all decked out in pumpkins! It is really fun! Grace could not get enough of the BIG pumpkins that she could sit on. So cute!

Failed!

Ok, so remember the laundry detergent making skills I shared?  Well that is still going fabulous and I love it.  In fact it was going so well I figured there must be more things I can make myself and save more money.  I discovered that dish washer detergent has almost the same ingredients and looked just as easy, so I gave it a shot.  The first load of dishes came out ok...kinda cloudy, but the websites said if this was the case then add more vinegar.  Guys...I added LOTS more vinegar and my glasses and silverware looked horrible!  So after two weeks of playing around with different ingredients I am giving up.  I have failed at making dishwashing detergent.  I am kinda bummed and feel like less of a women, but hey there are still loads of other things to make and get going with, so there you go....laundry detergent great, dishwashing detergent not so great :)

 

Finger Paint

I have been looking into fun things to do with the girls that will stimulate their senses and things I can do with them to integrate numbers and letters.  What better way to do this then finger paint?  I know there are tons of things that can be used instead of paint for toddlers, but my little one still puts things in her mouth as a way of learning and experiencing and I don't want her to think that she can play with food or that finger paint goes in our mouth.  So with that said I wanted to make something made with edible ingredients.  I found the perfect recipe!

Momtastic is a great resource for moms looking to get creative with their day to day doings.  Her finger paint recipe is great and edible.  I tried it, and it tastes salty and not really appealing so hopefully Grace will not think she can just eat it, and actually paint with it.  We will see! 

Mama

It is no shocker that Grace's first word was "dada".  She is such a daddy's girl and I love that.  It makes my heart swell to watch them play and interact together.  Shortly after she started saying "dada" she did say "mamamama", but I wasn't convinced it was in reference to me.  She has been saying "dada" ever since she learned to say it, but "mama" quickly went away.  I didn't think much of it since I was always with her and daddy wasn't, so obviously she would learn to call out his name to get his attention or wonder where he was.

It wasn't until the last week that Grace started needing me and my attention and just not sure how to call out to me.  Luke and I have been working on calling me "mama", but again I am always around so why call out when you can just walk up to me.  She is becoming so much more independent and wanting to play on her own.   I love watching her explore and learn and now call out "mama" when she needs something.  The last couple days she will just look at me and say "mama hi"!  I LOVE IT! 

Yesterday at church we kept her with us to worship with the church during the first set of songs.  Luke was holding her and she glanced over at me, smiled, said "hi mama", and leaned over to hug me.  Then she sat back up in Luke's arms and continued to worship!  Melted my heart.  There is nothing as sweet as that! 

So now Grace knows that I am "mama" not just that crazy lady that entertains her :)  I love being a mommy!