doctors, weekends, birthdays, and dads...

a nice little hodgepodge title for a hodgepodge post. :) 

just a quick bit of "catch-up" for my memory's sake. because Lord knows if i don't write it down, i'll never remember it! unless it's a meal...somehow i can always seem to remember to eat. i don't ever have to remind myself about that! ha! ;) 

i took the girls with me to the doctor again last week and they did such a great job. i was SO proud! i always feel like it's either one extreme or the other - either they're on their very best behavior and all the doctor's and nurses are telling me to have 5 more babies. OR they're wild and people don't know whether to pity me or fear for their own lives. thankfully, this past appointment was filled with compliments - not sympathy - ha! 

the girls both wanted to bring their own babies to the appointment. makes sense i guess since we were going to the "baby doctor." kind of gives a new meaning to BYOB. :)

i basically set them up in the exam room with stickers, markers, snacks - anything and everything to keep them occupied and quiet. they did stay occupied, but not always quiet. laney kept calling the dr. "Teacher" and trying to snoop on her charts. and libbi totally called me out and asked why i was wearing the same thing i had worn the day before. (in my defense, i had only worn that dress for an HOUR the day before and it was still perfectly clean... in my eyes, anyway). but if you know libbi, then you know that she typically changes clothes at least three times a day, so she was appalled that i would be "repeating" an outfit so soon. 

saturday we had a great time celebrating cousin blakeley at her birthday party. my girls had been looking forward to it for weeks! and they were not disappointed. cake. toys. cousins. grandparents.... all of their favorite things in one place. i'm pretty sure my girls aren't going to know what to do once the month of june is over. we've celebrated buddy's and blakeley's birthdays thus far. then this week we still have mine and libbi's. they're going to start expecting birthday cake at every family function (which isn't necessarily a bad idea...)

**and yes, laney does have a black eye. it's actually a lot better now. she fell and hit herself in the face with a train a few weeks ago. it's FINALLY starting to heal/fade....

sunday was a great day to celebrate jeffrey. the girls had fun drawing him pictures, filling out the "Dad questionnaire" and just lovin' on daddy! after a great church service (where they served the dad's chocolate covered bacon - not kidding) we came home and relaxed and watched the US Open. well, kind of. that was our intention, but our girls didn't really get the memo. they don't particularly enjoy "relaxing" and honestly don't care all that much about the US Open. we tried our best though to let jeffrey enjoy it as much as possible. poor jeffrey always had dreams of being surrounded by women, but it kind of takes on a whole new meaning when you're the only male in a house of three (soon to be FOUR!) women. i have to say that he handles it quite nicely, though. 

this week is another busy week - the girls are both going to camp (school camp as libbi calls it), we're celebrating my birthday on thursday, libbi's birthday party is friday, and her actual birthday is saturday. we're not even gonna talk about how my BABY will be FOUR!!!! ;-(

hope you're prepared for lots of birthday posts this week.... june is a popular month to be born! ;-)

five on friday... activities for littles

happy friday, friends! hope y'all have had a great week!

i've received so much positive feedback from last week's five on friday - thank you to all that emailed and/or commented. i know my girls love doing these activities, and it's nice to know you're able to enjoy some of them with your children, too!

last week's theme was "flags and fathers" (in honor of flag day and father's day). 
click HERE for that post and the free printables.

this week we'll move on to beach time fun!

just a reminder, the majority of these activities are educational, yet fun. they are inexpensive (if not completely free!), not too messy, and will keep your children's minds and bodies working this summer. unlike the summer calendars, i didn't put specific dates or days of the week on these activities. it's assumed that they will be M-F, but they do not have to be! you can skip around, add to, eliminate, or double up on any of the activities and the "flow" of the theme will not be interrupted. 

let's get started....

one.
make an octopus with numbered tentacles. you will need - 1/2 paper plate for each child, or semi circle of construction paper. 8 "tentacles" (strips of paper) for each child. dot stickers or bingo dot markers. (you could also do thumb/finger prints OR use white reinforcement stickers).  

DIRECTIONS: decorate the semi circle to make an octopus face/body. glue or tape the 8 tentacles to the straight edge of the octopus body. above each tentacle write (or have your child write) the numbers 1-8. next, apply a dot sticker onto the tentacle to coordinate with the labeled numeral. for example, the tentacle that has the numeral "1" above it, will have 1 dot sticker, the tentacle w/the numeral "2" above it will have 2 dot stickers, etc, etc. 

libbi LOVED this activity. and the perfectionist in her had the best time making sure all of her stickers were aligned :)

two.

cheerio starfish... use the star fish printable template (see below) or trace/draw/print your own. have your child glue cheerios to the starfish body. this is an excellent fine motor skill as well as a great way to practice one to one correspondence (one dot of glue for each cheerio). older children can cover the entire starfish. younger children can cover each dot of glue that you place on the star for them. you can also use the white reinforcement stickers again if you'd prefer instead of glue. 

three.

beach ball numbers....blow up a beach ball and use a sharpie to write a different numeral on each colored section (you could also write number words for older children to read). roll/throw it to your child. have him identify the number that he "catches." you then give him a skill to perform that many times (jump, hop, spin, clap, count, etc). for more advanced practice, you can create combinations that equal the numeral caught (for example - he catches a "5".... jump 3 times and touch your nose 2 times....3 and 2 make 5).

four.

handprint ocean animals.... (please forgive my paint drawings. i'm sure your actual hand/foot prints will look much better. but you get the idea). :)

five.

sand cups.... you will need: crushed graham crackers, OR 'nilla wafers OR crushed "golden" oreos (the yellow ones).  vanilla pudding tinted blue w/food coloring. OR blue colored yogurt. OR cool whip tinted blue. goldfish crackers, whale crackers, fish gummies, etc... pour crushed cookies in  clear cup (sand), scoop the blue pudding/yogurt/coolwhip (water)  on top. place fish on top of that. enjoy :)

and here is the link to the printables...

BEACH TIME and STARFISH PRINTABLE

as always, feel free to email me with any questions or comments...i'll be happy to help!

mrsamytippins {at} gmail {dot} com

TGIF! :)

baby #3....

baby girl #3 finally has a name :) 

after much consideration and deliberation, we finally came to a consensus. libbi was a bit disappointed that we didn't go with "andrew, michael, isabella, kenya, or lilac" but she has since recovered and is just as excited as we are that baby girl #3 has a name. 

we love the name liza and how well it flows well with libbi and laney. we hadn't planned on it, but i guess we're sticking with the "L" theme :) 

liza means "God's promise" and we know that the Lord has promised big things through this tiny baby's life. my middle name is/was elizabeth (before dropping it for my maiden name) so it's a fun connection to share. 

june is after jeffrey's beloved nana. although i never had the chance to meet her, i have heard many wonderful stories of her and know how much she meant to jeffrey and his family. she was a very special lady that blessed the lives of all that knew her. we are proud that our little girl will carry her name. 

the name june means, "from june" which might not seem all that interesting at first. but, when i look at the meanings of  liza and june together it means "God's promise/From June." To me, it's just another reminder of how God fulfills his promises throughout the years. When we look at our little liza, we'll know that she is a promise fulfilled - from as far back as three generations ago and more!  the lives that we have now are in part a testimony of the lives of our parents, grandparents, and great grandparents. liza june's life is a promise fulfilled and we will forever be thankful for the generations of faithfulness that led us to her. 

we can't wait to welcome baby liza in just a few weeks! 

"For the Lord is good. His unfailing love continues forever, and his faithfulness continues to each generation." 

Psalm 100:5

sometimes...

1. sometimes... when i'm wearing my monogrammed necklace, i have this fear that i am like karen from mean girls. i get really worried that it's on backwards and everyone knows it but me. obviously, a very real problem.

2. sometimes... when we're riding in the car i feel like i'm in one of those movies where they make fun of the cheesy family having sing-a-longs. we are SO that family. we listen to classic preschool songs and praise and worship music. my girls belt out everything from B-I-N-G-O to If You're Happy and You Know It to I have Decided to Follow Jesus...complete with motions.  but can someone please tell me why the children in the movies never yell, "NO, MOMMA!!!! DON'T SING!" if the mother tries to join in on their singing???

3. sometimes... i feel like i'm in the scene from "dumb and dumber" where they are demonstrating "the most annoying sound in the world."

only i want to tell them that they've got it wrong. i'm pretty sure this is the most annoying sound in the world. especially while driving.

(FYI...there is no picture, just sound. also - you can hear "proof" of our singing from point number two above, and yes, libbi does request to "hang" on something at the end. even though we're driving. i think she was referring to a light post we had passed).

4. sometimes... when i get the mail, i have a small glimmer of hope that there will be an anonymous check of some sort just waiting in our mailbox. i have no idea where it will come from or why, but i never give up hope that one day - one day -  it just might be there. and when it arrives, i will be overjoyed, but not quite shocked since i've kind of been waiting on it anyway.  we have received (unexpected) chick-fil-a gift cards in the mail from jeffrey's granny a time or two. and i have to be honest, that was pretty close to the thrill of a receiving an anonymous check. ;-)

5.  sometimes... when i'm feeling extra pregnant and not so "glowing" i give myself a little pep talk. and this pep talk may or may not include the phrase, "if kim kardashian can do it..." and somehow that makes me feel a little better. i mean, if kimmie k can strut her stuff (in her non maternity wardrobe i might add) at 8 months pregnant, then surely i can make it through the day sporting my target pj pants, right? sure, she may have paparazzi following her every move, but i bet she doesn't have two toddlers following her into the bathroom every time she goes. and she does have her weight gain documented in every magazine, but i'd be willing to bet she doesn't have anyone lounging all over her day in and day out or asking, "is this the baby? is THIS the baby? oh, what about this...is THIS the baby? did she just toot on me? i think it felt it..."

so i'll say it again, if kim kardashian can make it through pregnancy, then so can i.

6.  sometimes... i write a blog post that makes absolutely no sense. but there it is any way. :)

happy tuesday, friends! 

if you haven't already, make sure to check out the JUNE sponsors post for lots of fun new shops and products!