World Map Fun with Landmarks and Animals

I bought this world map cloth panel about 6 months ago with the intention of using it in a quilt (I bought it from Walmart for less than 5 dollars). After a few months, I realized that was never going to happen, and I forgot about it for a while. After I bought the landmarks toob, I realized the landmark buildings would be the perfect size for this map. The problem was that I couldn't find the map! I finally found it (about a week before we left for Elliott's surgery), and I cut around the edges with pinking shears (SO much easier than hemming the edges) and introduced the work to the girls! Both girls LOVE this work! We spread the map out and then we talked about each landmark and it's location before finding the appropriate location on the map. E(2) especially liked it when I gave her animals to use with this map! The only problem is that the map wrinkles easily if they crawl over it or sit on it. The nicest thing about it is that the map folds up very nicely to fit on our Montessori shelf. The girls received penguin and arctic toobs for Easter (bought from Pottery Barn kids...on sale and with free shipping!), and I am looking forward to getting home so we can incorporate these animals into our map work!

Brain Surgery

I know it's a little cheesy but the words to We're Going on a Bear Hunt have been going through my head repeatedly since we learned that Elliott had a brain tumor..."We can't go over it. We can't go under it. We've got to go through it." We are almost through it, and I am so grateful. It is so hard to believe that just 2 months ago, we had no idea about the turn that our lives were about to take. This has been an extremely difficult time, but it has also been joyful. We appreciate each other and our time together in a way that we couldn't have before all of this. We've talked a lot about "finding the good" in all of this. So far, there has been a lot of good...while we have always appreciated the simple, special moments with our family, we now appreciate every moment even more. We know that tomorrow is not promised, and we want to enjoy the time that we have. Little things that used to irritate us, no longer do. We have been amazed by the kindness and support that our friends and family have offered and the kind words that strangers have shared with us via this blog. The girls and I are looking forward to having Elliott back to normal soon and having extra time with him since he will be at home with us for the next 5 weeks. I have a few posts saved that I'll post soon, and I'll eventually get back into the habit of regularly writing posts for this blog.

"Happy Birthday to me..."

"Elliott's brain tumor is 100% cancer free."

It's Over!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We just got the word that Elliott's surgery went well and they are closing him up. The doctor said the surgery was very boring, and that's always what you want a neurosurgeon to say! He thinks the tumor was benign (we'll know for sure in 3 days). He got it all, but it may grow back. Thank you for all of your thought and prayers.

And so it begins...

Finally...Surgery began at 4:31 pm. They will update us every 2 hours.

12 Hours Down....

So many more to go. Thanks for the comments and emails. We've been at the hospital for 12 hours so far and are hoping to get at least a little bit of sleep tonight. We've had a good time talking, laughing, and just enjoying being with each other and our family. We realized at around 6 pm that we never even turned on the tv...I guess we are good company to each other :) Elliott's surgery is scheduled for 2:15, and they will come to get him at around 12:30. Tomorrow will be a long day...please continue to keep Elliott and our family in your thoughts and prayers.

We Are Thankful...

for family walks down quiet country roads. for seeing a turkey strut! for seeing 3 large alligators (we were in the car). for walks by the lake. for a balancing daddy. for egg hunt lunches. for our sports star. for boat driving lessons on a hot March afternoon. and so much more. Elliott's surgery to remove his brain tumor is scheduled for Monday morning. Please keep him and our family in your thoughts and prayers.

Beleduc Body Puzzle

E(2) LOVES this body puzzle (that O was given when she was about E's age...2 years old). We take the pieces out and put the girls together in a line. Then E can put the puzzle together completely independently. She has learned a lot and always has lots of fun when completing this puzzle.

Easter Egg Hunt Lunch

I was excited to see this simple and fun Easter egg lunch hunt on Pinterest, and I knew my girls would love it! First, I filled 18 eggs with healthy lunch goodies...walnuts, dried cherries and cranberries, baby carrots, freeze dried strawberries, pretzels, orange segments, cheese crackers, and pb & j roll-ups. Then, I hid the eggs in the den and kitchen while the girls closed their eyes (they peeked!). There's an egg...hidden in the flower arranging sensory bin! The girls had a great time finding the eggs! There's one! They put them in the containers as they found them, and we counted to make sure we had them all. I helped them find the last one...I had no idea where it was, but we eventually found it :) We took all of the eggs out to our table on our screened porch and divided them between the girls. They enjoyed opening them to find their yummy lunch! O(5) said she wants an Easter egg hunt lunch EVERY day until Easter!

Goop Fun!

The girls and I LOVE to make and play with goop! (Seriously, I enjoy this as much as they do!) We usually mix equal parts cornstarch and water, but this time we mixed about 5 cups of cornstarch and about 3 and a half cups of water, and it was much better. Sometimes we leave the goop just as it is, and sometimes we turn it into a color mixing experiment. This time we put yellow food coloring on one side and blue on the other side, and slowly mixed them together. This is definitely an activity that is best done by the lake (or in a bathtub or near a water hose...). We all got pretty messy. After playing with the goop by itself for a while, the girls decided to start mixing it with sand. They filled up buckets and got to work. We've spent our last 2 Fridays playing with goop on our beach, so this may be a new Friday afternoon tradition! Although, we also have plans to play with a vat of shaving cream by the beach and make volcanoes on the beach. We really love our teeny, tiny beach during the Spring and Summer!