Week #1

We survived and even enjoyed our first week in…just two more to go until the big day. Being a teacher, I've had a great time making lesson plans and coming up with fun crafts and activities for J and G. Jake's pre-school teachers had sent home his lessons he'll miss, and last week they were learning about letter "O." So we learned about it at home, too!

We learned about the ocean and watched lots of youtube videos on oceanlife which Jake loved. Jake painted his version of the ocean complete with orange and yellow fish, sand, and a purple octopus.

We made an octopus out of a paper bag and streamers and had octopus hotdogs for lunch. That was quite easy and the kids LOVED them! You just cut a hot dog in half lengthwise about 3/4 of the way up. You then cut those parts again and again and you have 8 legs! Boil them and they'll curl up and look like an octopus.

We made orange print paintings…

We talked about obeying and learned about Jonah. We made fish puppets and little Jonah's out of pipe cleaner and the kids would swallow Jonah up and then spit him back out. Jake spent most of the week reminding Grace that she was supposed to obey, too. :)

Going fishing to find Jonah's big fish

It was freezing cold all week (literally) so it was a great first week to be stuck inside. Ty got to be home with us on Friday during the BIG Houston ice storm of 2011 (insert sarcasm here.) We were disappointed we didn't see the snow they had promised. Jake spent all day Friday asking where it was.

The disappointment of the week was that the kids and I missed Ty's Dad's big 70th birthday party. They had a big party for him in Marshall at Eric and Jill's lake house. We asked the doctors, but they thought going to a big family party two weeks prior to surgery wouldn't be a good idea. I know Pops had a wonderful birthday, and we'll celebrate later with him. Ty made an awesome video for his dad and had a wonderful time with his family all weekend.

The weekend ended great as my mom got to come in Sunday night and spend Monday with us. She was in town for a work conference and just came a day early to see us. Definitely a perk.

Something to pray about: the main thing right now is to pray for Jake to be healthy before surgery. We're working hard to keep him healthy by keeping him at home, but Ty and I will be in and out and we want to pray we don't bring anything home. Jake had a cold last week, but it seems to be better. Pray that it doesn't turn in to any kind of infection.

We're now starting week #2 and learning about "P." Here's to a great week of pandas, penguins, puzzles, and more!

And a sweet picture of Grace...

Grace dressed as Super Girl watching Mickey Mouse. The kids have worn different costumes all week. They refuse to wear real clothes. Hopefully, after all this is over, they will wear "normal" clothes again :)