Stand With Haiti

Friday, January 29, 2010

Gingerbread house

A few days ago, Christina and I decided to put together the gingerbread house that my parents got Christina for Christmas.  Of course, most of the "putting together" was done by me, but Christina enjoyed decorating the house with candy (when she wasn't EATING it!).  The house didn't turn out quite like the picture on the box - I don't know how anyone could squeeze out the icing that neatly!  We made a bit of a mess, but we had fun, and I think it turned out quite nicely.
 
  
  
  
P.S.  The gingerbread house only lasted about a day, since the day after we made it, Christina decided to take all of the candy off and eat it!  So, the house itself is still intact, but it's a bit bare!


Fun at the ice rink

Christina and I went with Sean to watch him play hockey last Sunday evening.  Granted, I never get to actually WATCH all that much, since I'm usually following Christina around.  Since I have a new camera that takes video, Sean wanted me to record as much of the game as I could.  I told him ahead of time that I probably wouldn't be able to get much, but I'd do my best.  So, what I ended up with was a video that shows a combination of the hockey game and Christina playing around.

Watch Sean playing hockey/Christina at the rink in People & Blogs  |  View More Free Videos Online at Veoh.com

As it turned out, the game was not a good one for Sean (his team lost 1 to 6), but Christina enjoys watching her video!

After recording all I could (until the memory card was full), Christina decided she wanted to wander around the rink and play.  She followed the lead of another little girl and taught herself how to climb up and sit on the railing.
 
When we went to the bathroom, she thought it would be fun to sit in the little baby seat attached to the wall.
I remember when I had to put her in the little baby seat in the bathroom at Babies R Us, when Chrisitna actually WAS a baby.  I remember that as soon as I put her in there, she started screaming, and she didn't stop until I finished going to the bathroom and picked her up again - how things have changed!

Monday, January 25, 2010

Build-A-Kitty!

Christina's Grandpa Larry and Grandma Lindy (my in-laws) took her to the Build-A-Bear store at the Alderwood Mall to celebrate Christina's 3rd birthday, and I came along to take pictures!

I was quite surprised when Christina picked out the Hello Kitty toy (she knows nothing about the Hello Kitty brand - I don't think she's ever seen anything Hello Kitty before), and despite all other suggestions, the Hello Kitty was the one she wanted!

 
 
Then we went over to the the stuffing station, where Christina got to watch the gal fill up her kitty with stuffing, and she got to pick out a heart to put in her kitty.


 
Next, it was time to give the kitty a "bath."  The bath station blew air when you turned it on, and Christina thought that was a bit too loud, so she settled for brushing kitty's fur.

Now it was time to pick out an outfit for kitty.  Christina picked out a Disney Princess shirt right away, and Grandpa Larry helped her pick out a denim skirt to go with it.  At first, Christina wanted her kitty to wear ice skates ("just like Daddy"), but then she decided against it.  She also went back and forth on whether her kitty should have a purse, and she eventually decided against it.  But Grandpa Larry did convince her to get a matching Hello Kitty chair and Hello Kitty slippers.

 
 
 
 
Then Christina sat down at the computer, and I helped her fill out all of the information for her kitty's "birth certificate."  Christina couldn't decide what to name her new kitty, and Grandpa Larry came up with the name Snowflake, which Christina really liked. 
 
The great thing about Build-A-Bear is that if you ever lose your toy and someone returns it to a Build-A-Bear store, they can open up the toy's stitching in the back and get out the barcode, which, when scanned, will tell them your information, so they can get your toy back to you!  So, for future reference, if you ever find a Build-A-Bear toy somewhere, just return it to the nearest Build-A-Bear store, and they'll get it back to the owner!

Once the birth certificate was printed out, we got checked out, and Christina decided to stop by the fountain on the way back through the mall.  All in all, we had a great time, and Christina just loves Snowflake!

 
 

Monday, January 18, 2010

My new camera!

My friend Kristina gave me an awesome gift for my birthday. She gave me an old camera of hers that can be used to record video, along with a new memory card for it. Up to this point, I have no video footage of Christina, but I'm hoping to change that! So here's a video of Christina playing over at Sigrid's house. It's about 10 minutes long because I was checking to see how much video the memory card would hold.

Enjoy!

Friday, January 15, 2010

The Most Important Decision You Will Ever Make: A Complete and Thorough Understanding of What it Means to be Born Again The Most Important Decision You Will Ever Make: A Complete and Thorough Understanding of What it Means to be Born Again by Joyce Meyer


My rating: 5 of 5 stars
This book CHANGED MY LIFE when I read it five years ago.  It could change your life too.Highly recommended.

View all my reviews >>

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

One Wintry Night One Wintry Night by Ruth Bell Graham


My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I read this book to my 2 1/2 year old daughter, and while the story didn't capture much of her interest - it's a bit long for her - it certainly captured mine. This is a great account of familiar Bible stories from creation until the time of Jesus. The stories are told in much more detail than in the Bible, which really draws you in and helps you to understand what the people were going through. On top of that, the illustrations are AMAZING, and my daughter and I both enjoyed finding the different animals in the Garden of Eden and in the underwater scene from the Noah's Ark story. I originally checked out this book from the local library, but now I'm planning on buying it so we can read it for many years to come.

A wonderful Christmas (or anytime) story!

View all my reviews >>
A New Graft on the Family Tree (Grace Livingston Hill Library) A New Graft on the Family Tree by Grace Livingston Hill Library


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This was a great story about a young lady, Louise, who gets married and she and her husband move in with HIS parents. (I know, scary!) Louise soon learns that she and her husband are the only Christians in the household, and she sets out to change that. Louise is a wonderful example of how we can live our lives in constant prayer.

This book was a great comfort and inspiration to me, as someone who has been praying fervently for members of my family and friends to become Christians. It shows what true Christianity is about - living our day-to-day lives for the Lord instead of ourselves. It also shows the many ways that God is at work in the lives of those He loves (which means everyone, not just those who are saved). We get to witness the great lengths that God goes to to lead people into relationship with Him.

I highly recommend this book.

View all my reviews >>