Activity Time

Ever since Hazel hit toddlerhood, I've tried to have a short activity planned for her everyday that would help her learn her colors, shapes, numbers, etc. I've collected some ideas off of the internet, from friends, and from last minute desperation. I decided to post a few ideas on the blog (on the right)to share with any of you who have toddlers. These activities work for toddlers ages 1-2 because they don't require too much coordination or a long attention span.

PLEASE send me your successes as well! I'd love to hear more ideas.

Janelle

We've survived one week...82 days to go.

Charlotte's Blessing

On March 8th we blessed our daughter, Charlotte Phipps. Luckily for us, David's younger brother Collin was married the day before, so all of the family was in town for the blessing. It was perfect. Congrats to Collin and Tiffany and their two kids, Danika and Carson (I don't have pics of the wedding yet; we'll post those soon). Here's some pictures of the blessing of our sweet baby girl.
This was my first attempt at sewing a little dress and shoes. It was difficult but I was happy with the outcome so now I have the guts to try more with clothes.



We couldn't get either one of them to smile, so we thought we might as well just embrace reality.

Charlotte with Kevin and Vicki

See what I have to look forward to when I'm forty-seven? (Hopefully)

My cute little brother Bradley.

Hazel LOVES her Papa Jay

Hazel with Phipps grandparents and great-grandparents.

Unfortunately, I don't have pics with David's brothers, Chris and Tyson and their families (oops). Thank you all for coming and supporting our family.

The Phipps

She's back...

What were the judges thinking?? If it wasn't for the fact that Anoop is back, I would be tempted to stop watching the show. I'm pretty sure they brought Tatiana back just for pure entertainment. Thoughts?

Having a bad day? Cut your toddler's hair!

The other day Charlotte was really fussy and needy, Hazel was being more emotional than usual and threw the biggest tantrum I had ever seen, and I was just beginning one of my biggest sewing projects I've ever attempted. So I decided to do my part and ADD to the stress by cutting my little girl's hair for the first time. What was I thinking?

This is what I wanted:

And after running back and forth between the bedroom (where Charlotte was screaming) and the bathroom (where Hazel was sitting in the tub with a sucker "holding still"), we ended up with this:

It's a little bit shorter than I wanted, but it looks pretty dang cute as long as you don't look too closely... Luckily I have family that can fix it this weekend and a little girl that can make any haircut look adorable. I'm not sure I'll ever attempt that again.

Here are some more pics of my girlies that my friend Camille Garrison, a very talented photographer, touched up for me. (Click on her name and check her out).

I took this while Charlotte was asleep in her sling. She intertwines her fingers like this all the time. She's a thinker.

There's an old oak tree next to the barn at my grandparents farm that my dad and I use to hug every time we visited. It may sound ridiculous, but have you ever hugged a great big tree? It's a powerful thing. Do it.

Hazel loves rocks. In fact, she has a little collection in a bag at home and one time I found a few in Charlotte's crib. (She's also learning to share.)

It feels like fall!

"Mom, quit taking pictures of me!"

Love you all.

Charlotte's Blessing

announcing the blessing of
charlotte patricia phipps

march 8th 12:30 pm
eccles park ward
friends and family welcome
(call for directions)

we're so lucky to have two beautiful little girls!

At Last! A virtual tour of our home

Finally, I have pictures of my entire house. I am calling this a virtual tour because I am probably posting more pictures than most of you care to see, but nonetheless, here they are. We haven't done any work on the main floor yet, just the upstairs.

I posted these first few pics a while ago. This is the front room--what you see when you come in the front door.

Dining Room

Kitchen

(This one turned out dark)

Half bath off of the kitchen

Back in the front room are the stairs. If you look closely, you can see that they need some work. They used to have a carpet runner going up the center; I'm planning on painting the tops black or dark brown.

The hallway will be painted a shade or two darker than it is now.

3 Bed 1 bath upstairs
Master bedroom. This room was covered in layers of wallpaper so we had it dry-walled, painted and the baseboards redone.
I love these windows; I'd like to build a window seat under them one day if we can make it work.

Other half of master. There's so much space here that we hope to add a master bath where the walk-in closet is now (door at the end).

Office/Guest room. This room we painted ourselves; it used to be an ugly yellow. Once we get shelves and a bigger bookcase, we're going to display all of David's treasures from Africa in this room (at least until baby #3 comes along). It's the brightest and warmest room in the house.

I wish we had the before picture; Imagine hot pink tile and mirrored walls. All that we kept was the floor and the sink. It feels so good to know that any grime in this bathroom is OUR grime! No one else!

The girls' room. This room used to be a muddy brown color that was sponge-painted on--ugh. It is a perfect size for two little kiddos, although Charlotte is still in our room for now.

Love this wall; I found a picture and David made it happen. What a stud. This crib was my project right up until Charlotte was born. It used to be an unattractive oak color; I still have to add knobs on the drawers. Love it now.

So that's it! Come and visit us anytime! We're all finally healthy and well although I'm still not taking Charlotte out and about until after her blessing on March 8th.

the Phipps