Who Couldn't Use $1000 or a Caribbean Cruise???

I know I could! Well, I prefer getting the $1000. We can't take off on a cruise right now, because we are awaiting the finalization of the adoption of our little guy, which probably will happen in early 2009. So the $1000 would come in VERY handy! We could even use it to pay for the adoption fees!

You're probably asking, "where do I enter?".......well, I'm not giving away this prize. I definitely can't afford to do that kind of thing...YET! Metropolitan Mama, in conjunction with Protect-a-Bed, is giving away this fabulous prize! You can read more about it at Metropolitan Mama's blog. Protect-a-Bed mattress covers would come in very handy in our home. We use those Huggies nighttime diapers, but occasionally, the little one will SOAK his sheet, blankets, and mattress pad in his crib. We'd love to get on board with Protect-a-Bed, and get one of their mattress covers.

You MUST hurry, because this giveaway expires on September 1st! Sorry, but I JUST heard about it today, otherwise I would've let you know sooner.

Have fun!

Angie

I Love Digital Scrapbooking!!!

I have been scrapbooking since Sir C was about 3 years old. We started scrapbooking because he had had some strokes that took away his speech and hearing (hearing came back, but speech did not), and a lot of his comprehensive abilities. So we wanted a way for him to re-learn things. We started with pages of him, and also worked on pages of zoo animals so that he could learn his animals again.

I've come a LONG way from those scrapbook pages of old. I'll have to post pictures of them some time after we get a scanner.

Here are some pages of recent activities we've done as a family, or things we've had going on around here. I hope you enjoy them.

(For the credits on each layout, please click on each picture.)

Sir E Is Learning to Feed Himself

I can only allow him to feed himself when the food is thick, but Sir E is now learning to feed himself! If the food is thinner, it just gets flung everywhere, and I don't really have the patience for that! As it is, he is exploring what it is like to have both hands in the food, and holding the spoon in both hands! I guess for now, he is ambidextrous. Here are some pictures from this morning's breakfast time...yogurt, baby oatmeal, and fruit dessert mixed together.

An Introduction to Bob the Builder

We don't have any Bob the Builder DVD's for Sir E, so I figured when I saw that Seven Dogs and a Baby (a blog I subscribe to) was giving away a Bob DVD, it might be a good time to introduce him to Bob.

So, I'm blogging about this giveaway, so that I can have an extra entry to try and win this DVD for Sir E. Have you SEEN how much these DVD's are going for? Even on Amazon! I would LOVE to be able to win this, instead of buying it. I don't think I'd buy it at the going retail rate. I'd wait until I could find it in a consignment shop or something.

Golf Lessons for Sir C

The Archer has been learning to golf in the past year and a half or so, and soSir C has really been wanting to learn. So when we got Sir C involved in Special Olympics, we found that we were able to take him to their golf "clinic" for free! It was supposed to be for something like 7 weeks, but they ended up extending it by two more weeks. We're so excited because the instructors have said that Sir C has done REALLY well, and has the potential to be able to play a 9-hole course with The Archer, with more practice. Tonight is the last night, and I think they'll be handing out some certificates or something. Too bad The Archer has to miss it...he's out hunting.

Here are some pictures we took during last week's lessons. You can see that someone else has a big interest in golf too. See the "Big Bertha" driver??

Such an Accomplishment!!!

Last week, Sir E had an amazing week of accomplishments!!! This is a boy who only eats baby food, who won't touch Cheerios, crackers, that sort of thing. He'll sit forever with something on his tongue because he has texture issues. Well, last Sunday, we all went out and got Slurpees from the local 7-11. I had a Wild Cherry Slurpee, and while I was waiting for The Archer and Sir C to come out of the 2nd 7-11 (they didn't have The Archer's favorite flavor at the first one), I decided to try giving some Slurpee to Sir E. He liked it!!!! He had about 9 bites, and then he decided he was done, but not before Daddy (The Archer) and big brother (Sir C) saw him eating it! Too bad I didn't have the camera for that one!

Ok, now I know that this isn't going to be the best thing for any nutritionists to hear, so if you are one, close your ears or eyes, or whatever. Monday, after Sir C's golf lessons, we got Slurpees again, and then we went to McDonald's for dinner. His lessons are from 6-7, so it's too early to eat before the lessons, and then by the time we get home, I don't feel like cooking dinner. Sorry. So we got our McDonald's dinner, and went home. We set everything out, and I got Sir E's dinner (not McDonald's). We all sat down to eat together, and I thought I'd see how Sir E liked french fries....with ketchup. I squirted a little ketchup on his high chair tray, and gave him a french fry. I showed him how to dip it in the ketchup and eat it. So he dipped the fry in the ketchup and ate the ketchup off of the end of the fry! Again...and again....and again. He continued to do this until a softened bit of french fry came off in his mouth. He did not like that, so that was the end of that. We will be trying that again though!!! And I DID have the camera for that one!






Lastly, on Wednesday evening, I had decided to try something that someone mentioned to me. (Sorry, but I don't remember who gave this advice. I think it was my sister-in-law, or my mother-in-law.) I decided to try giving Sir E a graham cracker, because they had mentioned about how quickly graham crackers will dissolve once they meet up with saliva (well, they didn't exactly put it that way!). We had some chocolate graham crackers in the cupboard, and I thought he'd probably like that, so I gave him a small rectangle of graham cracker. He licked it for awhile, and eventually I was able to talk him into taking a bite. He took a bit of the softened graham cracker, and yes, kept it on his tongue for a bit. When he does this sort of thing, he tends to produce a LOT of drool, so that softened the graham cracker even more. He started to try his "chew, chew, chew" method, and eventually swallowed the graham cracker! He ended up eating the whole little rectangle of graham cracker, biting and licking, and all! WOO HOO!!! We're getting somewhere in all of this. No, I didn't think to grab the camera on this one. But we're finally getting somewhere.

You can enter to win a $50 Amazon.com gift card over at Robyn's Online World blog.

I don't know anyone who couldn't use a $50 gift certificate from Amazon.com! I know I could! I want to get some Sign Language DVDs for my 21 month old!

So head on over to Robyn's Online World, and enter to win the Amazon.com gift card. Be sure to read the rules.

Scrapblog is My New Addiction!

Awhile back, I happened to "Stumble Upon" a website called Scrapblog.com. It's a site where you can do "digital scrapbooking" for FREE! It is really very cool, because they have LOADS of backgrounds, stickers, fonts, and more, that you can choose from. You can upload your photos, and insert them in premade templates or build your own page from "scratch".

Here's an example of some Scrapblogs that I have created:

WARNING: You WILL get addicted!

Family Camping Trip 2008