Six Years Ago This Weekend....

My son's birthday is Sunday. I had NO IDEA how much he would change my life - do we ever really have an idea of how our child will change us? I had my little princess and when I found out I was pregnant with a boy I was - truthfully - terrified! At 28 weeks I went into preterm labor - which was controlled with medication. So, bedrest for mom. I was beginning to learn PATIENCE from him already! He was born on Decebmer 12, 2004 (5 weeks early, but amazingly very healthy and 6 lbs!). He was little, didn't even open his eyes for the first couple of weeks.

The first year of GMan's life was HARD - I had a terrible time with postpartum depression, then we moved - if you've ever moved with a three year old and newborn, you know it's kind of tough. I must say, however, that this little guy was beginning to develop such a sweet, silly spirit! This video was taken when he was about nine months old -- I love watching it -- it makes me remember what a sweet baby he was, and how much I love him now!

From the minute GMan was born, my daughter took such good care of him, as she continues to do.... here she is (I think G was about three months old) "writing a story" for her little brother. I am so grateful to have captured moments like this on camera!

I love to watch my children's progression from their birth until their current birthdays! Here's a look at GMan:

Second Birthday With Mom:

Third Birthday With Mom:

Fourth Birthday With Dad (and lots of Spiderman RED icing!)

Fifth Birthday With Mom and Dad (photo taken by Miss B)

GMan Now -- Our Baseball Player!

My sweet, sweet boy -
I had no idea what my life was missing until God gave me you.
Your love for life and everything it has to offer is infectious.
I love how you just look at me and smile
Or come to give me a kiss and a hug for no reason.
I am so blessed to be able to spend each and every day with you -
Sometimes I wish you would just stay little,
But as you grow and accomplish so much I can see that
God has GREAT things in store for you.

I love you!

Exploding Cranberries for Play Dough - and Some Fun Creations!

We had lots of fun today! Thank you to Homeschool Mo for giving me the idea to make Cranberry Play Dough! I recently discovered her blog and I know you will like it, too!

First, take a bag of cranberries and boil them (in about 4 cups of water)....

Wait until you start seeing and hearing them pop open.... we just had discussed yesterday in math what the boiling point of water was... so this was a good connection. The kids LOVED watching the cranberries explode!

Strain the berries so you have 2 cups of cranberry water you can use in the play dough recipe:

Let the water cool for a little while (probably long enough to complete your math and grammar lessons for the day!).

Then, over medium heat, combine 2 cups of flour, 1 cup of salt, 2 tablespoons vegetable oil, and the cranberry water. Stir CONSTANTLY (about 5 minutes) until the mixture pulls away from the sides and turns into play dough.

We added gold glitter to make it a little more festive:

We pulled out the Christmas cookie cutters and lots of beads:

I was so proud of the children's creations - they sat at the kitchen table for nearly two hours. (The darker play dough you see if left over Apple Pie Play Dough from the Fall!) We listened to lots of Classical Christmas music, so we got in our music lesson for the day as well.

Here's a close-up:

The kids want these to set out and dry and then give them to Santa as a gift when we pay him a visit on Saturday. They also want to use them as decorations around the house.

It was a GOOD morning... I love it when that happens!