Thursday, April 17, 2014

Happy birthday, Braelyn!


Braelyn is three!  She got up at 4:30 to celebrate. We opened presents in the morning, played, and then after nap headed for a staycation at a resort here in Vegas. There we swam and did a little shopping at the outlet mall. The only thing to mar the few days was that Braelyn wasn't feeling very well. Today after we checked out from the hotel we went with our Little Lambs group to Shark Reef for a guided tour. That was pretty fun. Then we came home and set up the new pool which is actually pretty large. 

We bought a larger pool because Braelyn is pretty big even for the larger wading pools so this one is 6 ft across and 18 inches deep, though we currently only have it filled about half way.

Addison has one tooth through the guns and two more are working out. She doesn't have much interest in crawling but loves standing and pulling herself up. Even though she can't crawl she does manage to scoot herself along somehow, usually when my back is turned and I say, "How did you get there?"  She is much more adventurous than her older sister. She loved the pool at the hotel and doesn't even mind the cold water.  She is having some major separation anxiety where she wants to be held all the time, but I'm guessing some of that has to do with teeth.

She can sit up well enough that they can take baths together

Braelyn being silly
I am working on learning how to take care of curly hair. I did not know that there was quite a bit to it if you want nice looking natural curls. We bought her special curly hair shampoo (sulfate free) and special conditioner (silicone free) because those things can dry out the hair and make it tangly and frizzy. We also bought some special gel and curl refresher that helps on days we don't wash. There is even a special way to wash out the conditioner to get her curls really pretty and you shouldn't use a regular towel to dry the hair. Amazing...

Addison is tired but doesn't want to go to sleep

Wednesday, April 2, 2014

Lenten tree take 2



Here's the rest of the ornaments.

Chain links representing the enslavement of the Israelites.

Clay wall representing Nehemiah

Lion in a cage representing Daniel in the Lions Den.

Scroll and what's not really a lock. Representing the time between testaments.

Angel representing the annunciation 

Baby Jesus representing the birth of Jesus. How do I know this is baby Jesus? Because I made this when I was a child :)

Star representing the wise men.

Dove, representing Jesus' baptism

Snake on cactus (this was the best I could do) representing Jesus's temptation

Wedding bands (or yellow pipe cleaners) representing Jesus's first miracle (water into wine)

Basket with fish (Braelyn's favorite) representing the feeding of the 5000.
Yes, I know they wouldn't have eaten Nemo.

Lamp, representing the sermon on the mount.

Bird, representing the don't worry passage of Jesus's teaching on the sermon on the mount

Bucket, representing the woman at the well

A man (a wrestling figure) wrapped in cloth, representing Lazarus) I had to leave the head out to show it was indeed a person. This one is the most amusing to me. I couldn't find small people figurines for the life of me.

Palm sort of (closed up as it dried) in honor of Palm Sunday
Corked jar representing Jesus being anointed with oil

Bag with coins to represent judas's betrayal 

Bread and cup representing the last supper (communion)

Cross representing the crucifixion

Dice (supposed to be jax) representing casting lots