Tristan Trains As A Therapy Dog

I love to read, and there was a time when my girls showed signs of the same thing.  Recently, though, I can't get them to read anything unless they have to for school.  I am hoping that if I get them some really good books for Christmas, I can ignite that spark in them once again.

Brandi has recently showed a love for dogs, which is weird since up until recently, she has been terrified of them.  I thought that if I could find some inspirational books about dogs I could get her to read them.  I found this book, Tristan Trains as a Therapy Dog: A Tristan and Trudee Story, and I think it is something she will love.  It is the story of Tristan, a fluffy white bichon frise dog, who learn how to become a therapy dog.  Brandi will be able to read along as Tristan learns how to be a good therapy dog, and cheer as he takes his test. It's weird that I found this now, because my therapist is actually training her puppy to be a therapy dog, and Brandi has shown such a interest in that little puppy.

The book is geared towards kids a little younger than her, but I think she will enjoy it nonetheless.

Brandi's Teacher's Christmas Gift

Did you follow that?  Since Brandi is my only kid who still wants to give her teacher a gift, I decided to make it special.  As some of you know, Brandi is in an all girl's class, and the room is done in pink and black prints.  This is what I came up with:

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I know the picture isn't the best...my camera broke, and my mom left her's here over the weekend, so I tried using hers, and, well, it's not like mine at all.  That said, I think Brandi's teacher will like this.

A Piece Of Cake & A Banana Split

Brandi painted these.  Don't they look delicious? lol!  She is getting pretty good at staying in the right spots with the paint.  I think she is going to be crafty like me.  I didn't have the heart to tell her that her "chocolate" looks a lot like a pile of poop on top of that banana split. 

How To Eat Vocabulary Worms

As most of you know, Brandi is in a gift/talented program at school.  They are reading the book How To Eat Fried Worms, and the kids were given several choices of projects to do related to the book.  Each kid has to do three projects over the course of the next few weeks.  Tomorrow, the first project is due.  Brandi chose to make a game based on the vocabulary words.  I did not help her in any way, except to find the definitions online for the words.  She came up with the concept, and the board, and the design.

She has three different colored spaces.  If you land on a pink space, you pick a pink card, and then you have to use whatever word is on that card in a sentence.  If you land on a red space, you pick a red card and you have to give the definition of the word on the card.  If you land on a green space, you can pick either a red or a pink card.  If you can not give the definition or use the word in a sentence, you have to go back to where you were on the board.  If you land on a yellow space, you have to do what it says. (they say "go back to start" and "lose a turn")  I am so proud of her, and I hope the teacher appreciates all the work she put into this.

A Heart Made Of Leaves

Brandi was raking leaves at my moms house last weekend.  She made this pile just for me.  I outlined the heart so you wouldn't miss it.  Of course, it didn't last long.  eventually, she was jumping into the pile.  I posted video here if you want to see.

Brandi's Indian Project

Brandi had to do a habitat project on any Indian tribe she wanted for a school project.  Her only criteria was that they lived in tepees, because she wanted to build some.  Of course, when it came down to it, I did more of the building and she did more of the gluing. but we got it done and I think it looks great. I know she'll get a good grade on it.

Oh and that little circle of dark stuff in the left corner is a campfire, not buffalo poop.  It didn't come out too well in the picture, so I wanted to clear that up. lol!

Brandi's Art

Last Tuesday, Junior and I went to therapy.  We are starting to go to a new building, and Brandi is excited because the new waiting room is bigger and better.  There are lots of new things for her to do.  She especially loved the white board.  Of course, the picture she drew was all about me!

Mother Goose Blanket

I have been cleaning like crazy the past couple of days.  With the kids in school, I have been getting a lot done.  While doing laundry, I found this blanket.  I cross stitched it for Brandi while I was pregnant with her.  Brandi now uses it for her baby dolls, but i am going to steal it back and put it up for when she has babies.  Even though it has her name on it, I think she will love using it for her own kids.

Healthy Snacks For Brandi

We are starting our second week of school, and the kids are adjusting well.  I know it will take a couple of weeks to get back into our routine completely, so I have tried to have a lot of patience.  Having things ready the night before helps the mornings run smoothly, so I try and have book bags packed, lunches made, and clothes laid out before the kids go to bed.  There is nothing more frustrating than finding out ten minutes before the bus comes that one of the kids doesn't have any clean socks.

My youngest is in third grade now, and I was hoping that I wouldn't have to worry about sending a snack with her for during the day.  The first couple of days, the teacher said no snacks, but eventually she changed her mind.  I don't like sending snacks like chips and cookies though.  I prefer Brandi take fruit or a granola bar.  The only downside to this is that healthy snacks can get expensive.  I have though about buying healthy snacks online, but I am not sure what she will eat.  I found a coupon for Glennys , where I can get 15% off all natural 100 calorie brownies.  I am not sure I would send them with Brandi to school, but I am pretty sure I would like them. 

I mean, they're chocolate, right?

Brandi's 2010 Ornament

I don't know what was up with my camera last night, but these pictures came out horrible.  But, you get the idea.  Brandi's is pink, her favorite color.  I am going to hang it with a pink ribbon, too. 

Check Her Out!

Brandi has no fear when it comes to my mom's pool.  She has been wearing her pink swimmies, and jumping into the deep end.  She has been bugging me about swimming without the swimmies, so yesterday I had her try and swim in the deep end on her own.  She did awesome!  She shocked me a little when she started treading water in eight feet of water!  Since she was swimming so well, I told her she could jump in without her swimmies if she wanted to, and she did.  Now, she doesn't want to wear the swimmies at all, but I am not there yet.  I still want her to have them on for a little while longer, if for nothing else than my own peace of mind.

A Playdoh Masterpiece

Here is more of Brandi's creativeness.  She made this "angel cake" for a baby's 1st birthday.  I used to love playing with Playdoh.  I also used to like eating it.  Come on now, you all need to admit to this.  Remember how it tasted salty?  Today's playdoh doesn't.  Trust me.  :)

Fish

It's the end of the school year, which means Brandi is bringing home every single thing she made in class this year.  Among the endless pictures was this cute little fish.  It was part of a river project a group of four students did.  Each kid had to make a fish, and this was Brandi's contribution.

Colorful, isn't it?

My Little Cook

We were walking in the grocery store the other day, and Brandi said she wanted banana pudding. I told her I would get the ingredients, but she would have to make it, since I don't eat pudding.

As soon as we got home, she started slicing the bananas.

Then she layered them with the vanilla wafers while I cooked the pudding. (she's not quite old enough for that step yet)

Here's the finished product! She had to put extra cookies and bananas on top.

It was gone in about fifteen minutes...three little mouths and one big one enjoyed every last bit!

The Phone

As most of you know, I have two daughters. Kasi is going to be 13 in a couple of months, and Brandi Rose is 8.

One of them spends every waking moment on the phone. Her friends call here, or she calls them. All the time. It's insane!

The funny thing is...it's Brandi! Kasi hates using the phone...she's like me...but Brandi loves it! She will literally spend hours talking to her little friends.

I am not looking forward to her teen aged years...if she's this bad now...

Coloring Contest

Brandi's school had a coloring contest, and here she is proudly showing off her entry.

I would think that in second grade they had better things to do, but whatever.

I am just happy that she is loving school right now.

Brandi's Pony Bank

Brandi got this cute little back for her birthday. It came with a few paint colors, but since we were planning the move back then, I had her put it up. While unpacking a couple of weeks ago, she found it, and was really excited to be able to paint it. I think it looks great. She has two other little figurines that need to be painted, too, but she is saving those for a rainy day.

Maybe when that rainy day comes I can paint with her. It's been a while since I have done anything creative...

Art Show

Brandi had a performance at school last night, and before it started the parents were invited to the school's "art show". Brandi was so excited to show us the picture she painted! She told us she was the only one to paint bushes with her flowers. I think she did a terrific job! Her performance was pretty cute, too!

Sliding

My girls.

So beautiful.

Yes, I may be biases, but it is what it is.

It's my right as a parent to think my girls are the most beautiful girls in the world.

And I do.

I Found The Coolest Yoyo

Ryan and Brandi both have birthdays right before Christmas. Most years, if they get money for their birthdays, we have them put it up until after Christmas, that way they can wait to see what Santa brings before buying anything for themselves.

Christmas has come and gone, and they are both itching to spend their money. Ryan is going to buy a laptop, and Brandi wants a yoyo. Last year there was some guy who came to their school to do magic, and one of the things she liked best were his yoyo tricks. She said that she wanted to learn how to do some tricks herself, but all she had to practice with was an old yoyo from a gum ball machine. As you can imagine, the thing was a piece of garbage, so I promised her I would find her a real yoyo to play with.

Up until last week, I totally forgot. She reminded me of my promise, which led me to an online search, because I just don't know what store around here carries good yoyos. I ended up finding this pretty cool looking red one, and she said she really likes it. It is an intermediate yoyo, so she should be able to learn some pretty neat tricks with it. I will also save some money, because the site I found it on, yoyoshop.co.uk, offers free shipping to everyone.

The only thing holding me back from buying it now is the move. Once I know our new address, I will be placing my order. I can not wait to see if Brandi can figure out how to do all the tricks she wants to.