Cool Educational Links!

For all you moms looking for some fun educational sites you've got to check out the links below! Some new friends shared these great links and I thought I'd pass them along.

The link to the handwriting worksheet even allows you to customize your own handwriting worksheets! You can type in your child's name - phrase - or short sentence and the program automatically creates a full sized practice worksheet! Isabella's been enjoying this one as she practices writing her name.

In addition, there are also some creative ideas for fun crafts you can incorporate into learning lessons, customizable chore charts and many more helful tools for parents!

Be sure to check out the following links:
http://www.handwritingworksheets.com/print-k/choose.htm

http://www.kidzone.ws/tracers/farm/index.asp

http://www.kidzone.ws/preK_wrksht/dynamic.htm

Katy ISD’s list of “readiness” for Kindergarten:

http://www.katyisd.org/curriculum/kindergarten/readiness.htm


AWESOME websites with lots of theme related activities!!

http://www.kidzone.ws/ - really explore this website!!!!!

http://www.kidzone.ws/phonics/index.htm

http://www.kidzone.ws/kindergarten/learning-letters/books.htm

http://www.kidzone.ws/prek_wrksht/learning-letters/index.htm

http://www.kidzone.ws/prek_wrksht/math-readiness/index.htm - don’t forget about Math

http://www.dltk-teach.com/rhymes/index.htm

http://www.everythingpreschool.com/lessonplans/

http://www.preschoolexpress.com/


AWESOME websites using certain author’s books or TV shows:

http://www.eric-carle.com/catexchange.html

http://www.atozteacherstuff.com/Themes/Dr__Seuss/

http://www.wordworld.com/ - has a book you can print and coloring pages

http://www.teach.virginia.edu/go/wil/home.html#101%20Best%20Books


If you know of any additional learning sites or have some helpful tips, please share!

Cash Giggling

So, here's a little treat my husband and I got before we went to bed. Cash was wide awake and ready to have a little fun!!

(Be sure to turn off music before playing video. You can do this by scrolling to the bottom and selecting the pause button in the upper left hand corner of the music player. Then turn up the volume on your computer to hear baby Cash!)

American Idol Finale: David vs. David

Yes, we follow AI! Though this season hasn't been quite as exciting as previous seasons, we're still hooked and follow just about every week.

So, tonight's the big night! Hubby and I are actually making a date out of it. I know who Tim's going for, but so far I'm still undecided.

What about you? Who are you rooting for?

Calling All Peanut Butter Lovers!!

If you love Peanut Butter then you have to try this!!!

That’s right…White Chocolate Peanut Butter!!! This stuff is awesome! My hubby brought it home the other day and between me and the girls the jar was empty by the end of the week! Though it's made with white chocolate it's all natural and really not too unhealthy as long as you eat in moderation.

If you love Peanut Butter drop by your local Target and pick up a jar!

The OMG Moments

Life with 3 small kiddos is definitely an adjustment. In my previous post I said I'd share some OMG moments that have happened in the past 6weeks since Cash came home.

OMG #1--The Little Mommy -our 3 yr old scared us half to death when she snuck into mommy and daddy's room and unbuckled her 1 week old brother from his swing! Cash was swaddled up snug as a bug, swinging in his swing. He had been sleeping peacefully for at least 2hrs. Papi was outside with the girls while mommy decided to get some things taken care of around the house. All was fine or so we thought.

While I was cleaning the girls room, out of the corner of my eye I see little Isa dodging by. By this time I had grown weary of seeing her come in and out of the house for snacks, drinks, potty breaks, and etc… I was on my way outside to talk with her when Tim busted through the house urgently wanting to know what was going on?? I was totally caught off guard and had no idea what he was talking about. He then told me that Isa walked up to him outside carrying little Cash. She was cradling him very motherlike while shushing and loving all over him. Cash was sound asleep through it all. OMG!!! I shudder at the thought of what could have happened. Thank you Jesus for watching over our precious little one.

OMG #2 --Elianna the Pouncer--And if that wasn't enough, our other lil gal is insistent on crawling into Cash's crib with him! Not to mention, she loves to hand him toys and dolls through the crib railing. Yikes!

OMG #3--HELP!!—Typically, every Friday afternoon we hang out with our neighbors on our driveway while we watch the kids play. They love to ride their bikes, blow bubbles, and chalk on the driveway with their friends! This has become a special time to connect and build relationships with our neighbors on our street as well.

Recently my girls have become very fascinated with picking berries. This particular day they had gone over to pick berries at my neighbor’s house just two houses down. All the kids love this neighbor! He’s somewhat of a kid magnet! You can bet when he’s outside the kids are over there talking with him, helping him do yard work, getting their bikes oiled, and etc…

So, we saw my neighbor come out and talk with the girls as we waived at him from our driveway. All was fine or so we thought. Suddenly we saw the rear lights from his car come on from inside his garage and his car started backing out of the driveway!! Little Elianna and Isabella stood there, just barely clear of the driveway, picking berries and totally oblivious to what was going on behind them.

My heart sank! Tim and I both jumped up as fast as we could screaming and shouting at my neighbor, but he couldn't hear us. As we raced to get to our girls, Tim hit a pot hole in the ground and fell down in front of me hurting his knees pretty badly. As I hurdled over him to my girls, all I kept thinking was Oh my God, Oh my God, Oh my God!!! I saw my girls look up at me as the car backed out of the driveway just inches away from where Elianna stood. “OMG, please don't turn around and run away from me...please don't think this is a game.” Literally, if she would have stepped back one step she would have been run over. Just one week away from her two year birthday, I shudder at that thought.

Needless to say, Tim and I were pretty shaken up. I went inside and fell to my knees. All I could do was weep. Weep and thank the Lord for protecting my girls. For being our extra hands, extra feet, extra eyes and shielding our girls from harm when we weren’t able to do so.

All of these incidences have happened within a few weeks from one another and all within a short period of bringing our baby boy home. I know that I am called to walk by faith and not live in fear, but the fact that we’ve had such nearly serious accidents so close to one another really causes all sorts of fear and unhealthy thoughts to rise up in me. Thoughts like--can I really trust God with my children? Where is the balance of not being too overprotective vs. being too relaxed?? How do I truly surrender my children to the Lord? These are the questions I have been asking myself lately.

As I submit myself before the Lord, I am sensing a deeper calling of surrendering, to trust in Him. When I think about how to do that i.e. what does it look like to surrender? how does it feel? and etc… the most vivid picture of surrendering that I know of is the recent experience I had giving birth to our baby boy. And when I think about that, it truly does terrify me! Yet, without surrendering how can I truly experience the joy of my children if I am constantly living in a state of fear? Making decisions based on “what ifs?” I don’t want to live in that kind of prison.

Similarly, in order to experience the joy of holding your child for the first time, you must let go, to surrender your mind, heart and body completely over. It’s a scary place to be. Why? Because you’re completely helpless. You’re no longer in control. No one can help you, no one can labor for you, no one can take the pain from you. You are truly in a state of dependence -- dependence upon the Lord. Trusting that He will give you the strength you need. Surrendering is an act of the will and often times a precursor to the joy that follows.

So, as I think about how to surrender my children over, what I do know with all my heart is that the Lord CAN be trusted and that His hands are the safest place for my children to be. His watching over my children in each of these incidences is proof of that! Besides, His Word tells me their days are numbered, so there’s nothing that I can do to add to that even when I take all the necessary precautions. So really, what do I gain by worrying? By fighting to be in control? Nothing. Nothing but stomach aches and sleepless nights.

Though I am terrified, I am thankful that motherhood is challenging my faith and drawing me into deeper waters with our Savior. As I journey with Him through this season I feel joyful, terrified, reluctant, shielded, in awe, in love, and so unbelievably blessed!

Strengthen Your Vocabulary and Help End World Hunger!

Have you heard of this? Play the vocabulary game and for every word you get right 20 grains of rice is donated to help end world hunger! Check it out! I must say it can be pretty addicting, but hey it’s for a great cause!

Prayer Jar

Check out the PrayerJar my husband made me for Mother’s Day! Isn’t it beautiful!

He found this ornate looking jar at Garden Ridge and then inserted a panel and decorated it himself! The scripture reads, “The effective fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.” James 5:16

If you're not familiar, a prayer jar can be a helpful way to incorporate prayer into your busy schedule. It is an intentional way to cover your family and friends in prayer as well as any other prayer concerns you might have. This might include praying for your church leaders, nation, sharing your faith, etc….

Here’s how it works:
Cut out 20 or so slips of paper and write the name of an individual, family member or specific concern on each paper. Or If you want to get creative, you can use different colored or patterned paper and assign each group a specific color i.e.

friends=red
family=purple
church=blue
sharing your faith=green

Everyday, draw a slip from the jar and spend time praying for that person/family/or concern. As each slip is drawn, paper clip all "used" slips and place them next to or back into the jar. When the bowl is emptied, shuffle the pieces and start over!

Invite your kids to join in too! This can be a great tool for modeling the importance of prayer to your children as well!

One way that I plan on incorporating this with the kids is to display our Pray Jar on our breakfast table. Every evening before dinner we’ll take turn’s drawing a slip from the jar and praying for that person or concern before our evening meal. The kids can add in their specific requests to the jar too and it’s always fun seeing what name will be drawn!

I plan on using a second jar to help with scripture memory with the kids too! In fact, I think the girls would have fun decorating their own jar. This just might turn out to be a fun art and craft project!

Cheers!

What a great way to start the week! Not only did I get to sleep in today (thanks to my wonderful hubby) but I took the kiddos for a fun play date with some special friends (Terri, Matthew and Andrew) down the street. The girls had a blast and baby Cash ended up spleeping through the entire visit! He was an angel!

And mommy lucked out when all 3 kiddos ended up napping at the same time today--what a treat! You mommy's know this is no small task! I might have been tempted to join my crew and sleep as well, but since I had slept in this morning I decided to tackle my Monday chores. Though I didn't complete all, I was able to tackle quite a bit! Here's to a great day!

My First Outing with ALL three kiddos

This past Sunday was my first day back at church. Actually, this was my first attempt at being out and juggling ALL the kiddos by myself! It is amazing to see how much work and how long it takes to accomplish such a simple task as getting to church. Here's a rough outline of my morning...

6:45--I hear the girls stirring in their room. I wake up and see little Cash waking up too. (how do they do it? It's like they all have the same internal clock wired to pounce on mommy all at the same time!)
7:00--I get up and make the girls chocolate milk, turn on the t.v. for them in their room, change Cash and get the girls breakfast ready.
7:15--girls eat breakfast/Nurse Cash
8:00--clean up kitchen
8:15--Girls have room time (watch a worship video and or play in their room) while I put cash down to sleep.
8:45--Get myself ready for church
9:30--Go get girls and get them ready for church
10:00--Get Bags Together, Change Cash
10:15--Feed Cash
10:45--Load kids up in van

I have to say, considering all the time and energy, we had a very peaceful morning and the kiddos were great! No major melt downs or arguing among the girls, and little Cash slept almost the entire morning, which freed me up to get myself and the girls ready. Thank you Jesus. I couldn't have asked for a better morning; especially as I look back and remember how difficult life was at this same time two years ago. Little Elianna was not as easy this early on. With the bad bought of reflux she had it was a challenge to do much without constantly having to hold her. In fact, I remember two failed attempts getting to church before we finally made it on our 3rd try. Not to mention, the transition from 1 to 2 kiddos in general seems to be a little more difficult. It takes practice learning how to juggle, but once you do things seem to get a little easier! :)

So almost 4hrs later, we were ready and off to church! And as I reflect on my morning and all that I accomplished just to get to church, I can't help but feel a great sense of relief and joy! Whew and Whohooo!!! I made it to church on the first try (and early I might add) with all 3 kiddos in tow! And for an extra bonus, after church mommy had some time out shopping with Grandma and baby Cash, while Papi and the girls took their afternoon nap. The perfect way to end a great day! :)

More Birth Pics!

Our Little Guy, Cash Harrison Barosh!

I know I left everyone hanging! Sorry! I'm finally getting a chance to post a few pictures of our little guy! As many of you have already heard we settled on Daddy's pick and named him Cash Harrison Barosh! He weighed 7pds 13 oz and is such a peaceful easy going baby! He loves to swing, thoroughly enjoys taking baths and is absolutely adored by his big sisters! Here are a few pictures!

Tim, my wonderful hubby and great coach!

Our awesome midwife

Big sisters say hello for the first time

Life these days has been pretty busy, tiring and definitely adventurous, so I wil try to post updates and pictures as time permits. Speaking of, I have a few stories to share about the adventurous mishaps and OMG moments that have happend over the last couple of weeks as we adjust to having three small kiddos!