Baby Blanket Bonanza!

There's a part of me that thinks I could really get into sewing (although I realize it's probably the wishful, delusional part!).  Maybe when I have fewer urgent things in my life?  Anyway, a couple of months ago I learned that sewing with your mom and sister is definitely a blast....especially when you're making adorable baby bedding for your first baby boy!

This was SUCH a process.  Amy found this pattern on pinterest, and I immediately fell in love with it.   Amy decided to be a studly sister and met me in Des Moines to help pick out the fabric...and 6 fabric stores later, we had what we needed!  I actually had a moment of panic as I looked at all the crazy fabrics right next to each other - "Will this look ridiculous?!"  I shouldn't have worried, 'cause it turned out AWESOME!

Start with a pattern...

And add some fun fabrics...

Start piecing together!

Starting to see what it will look like....

Pretty mama sewing the strips...

Pretty sister making a fitted sheet!

"Elasticizing" the fitted sheet...

And bring on the backing!

I can't tell if she's happy or exhausted?!

Fitted sheet looks good to me!

Chris trying out the new camera lense...

The finished product!

While there are still a few finishing touches that need to be put on the nursery, this was definitely the first step to getting it all decorated and feeling baby-ready!  And I personally like ours way better than the original.  :)  Thanks mom and Amy, you guys are the best!

Foster Care

I realize that I never really shared or processed about our foster care experience...oh boy!

There were so many contributing factors that made that time pretty stressful.  First, I was in the "extreme exhaustion" phase of early pregnancy.  You know, the stage where no one knows yet and you have to pretend like everything's great, but really you could sleep all day every day and still be too tired to carry on a coherent conversation?!  Yep, that one.  I was also in the beginning stages of my short and sweet nausea weeks, which just made for a less tolerant Nicole in general.

Second, I had just found out that I had a large ovarian cyst as a result of my pregnancy.  At that point it was pretty painful and they were talking about the possibility of doing a surgery, which did NOT put my overloaded new-mama mind at ease!  It's all turned out to be a big nothing, but at the time it was a definite addition to this stress mess.

Then, add in the fact that it was the beginning of the school year and both Chris and I were working full-time.  It shouldn't have been a surprise to me (seeing as I KNEW we were both going to be working full-time!), but it was definitely not easy adding 3 girls to our lives and starting off a school year well.

Throw in 3 emotionally charged girls who had just been ripped away from everything they knew, and you wind up with a crazy situation for a while.  It was much more difficult than I expected!

Don't get me wrong - we both LOVED the girls.  Oh my word, they were so sweet...totally stole our hearts.  However, there were 3 of them, and we had never been parents before!  We were suddenly having 3 hungry, picky bellies to feed 3x a day...suddenly changing diapers and sheets from bed wettings...suddenly learning what 2T and 3T sizes mean...it was a dive in the deep end my friends!

I distinctly remember one Saturday where Chris had gone to an Iowa football game with his dad and I had been alone with the girls all day.  He walked in the door, and I walked into the bedroom...and didn't come out the rest of the night because I couldn't stop crying.  The next morning at church I promptly broke down to two of my good friends...poor girls didn't know what was coming!

And then...just like that...after stealing our hearts and our sleep and our sanity...they were gone.

We decided not to take any potentially long-term cases until after the pregnancy/debt payoff, so have just been doing respite care on weekends since then.  But wow...it really threw me!  I really struggled with lies from Satan about being weak and inadequate (which is also, the absolute Truth!  Without the power of the Holy Spirit, I AM weak and inadequate!  But, I didn't rest in His power the way I know he has purposed us to).  It also showed me (yet again!) how idealistic I can be.  We will be much more ready for "the crazy" next time it comes, and are praying that God will make it very clear to us when that should be. :)

3rd Grade Concert - "It's a Small, Small World"

April 17th, 2012
We had a BLAST with the 3rd Grade Concert!  The theme was "It's a Small, Small World", and we took the audience on a trip around the world with a bunch of cultural songs.  The songs included...

"Tideo" - America

"Sarasponda" - Holland

"Ach Ja!" - Germany

"Stodola Pumpa" - Czechoslovakia

"Cuckoo" - Austria

"A Ram Sam Sam" - Morocco

"Pandoga" - Ghana

"Kookaburra" - Australia

"Zum Gali Gali Gali" - Israel

"Hazrat Bibi Mariam" - Arab

"Tikki Tikki Tembo" - China 

(this last one was a mini musical with xylophone ensemble...I was so impressed with them!)

I especially loved this concert because Story City is an extremely (and beautifully!) sheltered community.  I felt like these songs helped us get out of our little Iowan town a little bit, and we were able to learn and talk about different places, people groups, and music styles from around the world.  

WAY TO GO 3rd GRADERS!!

Looking pretty happy!

Kids dressed up for "Cuckoo" special parts

Dancing the African dance - they were AWESOME at this!

Soloist dancing "Hazrat Bibi Mariam"

Pretty together, eh?!

The "guest performers" from the 4th grade - these were black belt recorder players!

Ajay with his luggage. :)

2nd Grade Concert - "The Land of the Free"

April 12th, 2012
Oh my word - this was SUCH an ambitious program!  Roland-Story has had a tradition of putting on a patriotic show in 2nd grade.  Matthew, Amy and I all got to do it, and it was one of our favorite memories!  Over the last 10 or so years, though, the show didn't happen for a variety of reasons...so this year we thought we should bring it back!  WHOA.

There were many contributing factors to this being an ambitious undertaking.  First, they had usually done the show with only half of the grade, which makes management much easier.  Second, it used to be put on by only the classroom teachers - but this year I organized it and the teachers supported the practice by working on the songs and speaking parts in their home rooms.  Third, EVERY student had a speaking part!  I was so glad this worked out, but it definitely made logistics more difficult.  And fourth, this grade is generally crazy.  :)  Enough said!

The last practice in the music room was REALLY rough.  The run-through in the high school auditorium took twice as long as it should have.  And the performance was AWESOME!!  They totally pulled it together and were absolute angels during the performance.  I was so impressed, and kind of on cloud nine after the show!

Here's the show...

"Christopher Columbus Song"

"Canoe Song"

"Yankee Doodle Dandy"

"The Star Spangled Banner"

"I've Been Workin' On the Railroad"

"Get on Board"

"I Have a Dream" Speech

"Statue of Liberty" Poem

"My Country 'Tis of Thee"

"Stars and Stripes Forever"

"You're a Grand Old Flag"

"What Did Delaware?"

"Alabama Gal"

"Hukilau"

"This Land is Your Land"

"America the Beautiful"

"Pledge of Allegiance"

"God Bless America"

SO MANY SONGS!!!

Playing xylophones on "Christopher Columbus Song"

Some narrators...

Aren't they cute in their red white and blue?!

A pilgrim!

Betsy Ross right there in the middle...

The 2nd grade pledging allegiance.  :)

WAY TO GO 2nd GRADERS!!

Kdg Concert - "Let's Learn, Let's Play!"

April 10th, 2012
Kindergarten concerts are always a hoot because...well...they're kindergarteners!  Since we did informances for the first "special music event", this was this group's first time on the big stage...and they were SO EXCITED!!!

There's been a lot of frustration among the kindergarten teachers about the new academic requirements getting put on kindergarten students, particularly in reading and math.  Their frustration is that the kids hardly have any time to play anymore, which actually cuts out a huge learning tool, since kids learn a lot through play.  SO, we titled the kindergarten program "Let's Learn, Let's Play", and talked about things that kindergarteners LOVE to do, that also promote learning.  Their concert included...

We Love Fingerplays - "Two Little Blackbirds", "Five Little Ducks"

We Love to Draw - "Mary Had a Little Lamb", Baa Baa Black Sheep",

"Little Boy Blue", "Itsy Bitsy Spider"

We Love to Dress-Up - "I Can't Pay the Rent", "5 Little Monkeys", "5 Little Soldiers"

We Love to Play with Toys - "Cobbler, Cobbler", "Here Comes Mrs. Macaroni"

We Love to Tell Stories - "Little Bunny Foo Foo"

We Love to Play Outside - "What Do You Do When We All Go Out?"

We Love to Play Games - "Old Black Fly", Here Comes a Bunny Rabbit", 

"Bluebird, Bluebird"

We Love to Make-Believe - "Aiken Drum"

We Love to Dance - "Bow Wow Wow"

We Love to Move - "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes"

Looking very pregnant!

So little and adorable!

The whole crew...

Cobblers tapping their shoes in the front.

They began and ended the concert with this little poem.

We love to play, we love to play.

Any time of any day.

But playing isn't all we do,

While we play we learn stuff too!

WAY TO GO KINDERGARTENERS!!!

1st Grade Concert - "Down on the Farm"

April 10th, 2012
This was a really fun concert.  :)  I do my best to put together concerts that are related to what the kids are learning and are somehow relevant to their life experiences, and for this year's 1st grade concert we did "Down on the Farm."  I found a bunch of animal songs and organized them around what Old MacDonald found on his farm.  Each kid had a "special job", and either got to play instruments, dance, or play a game.  We had a good time!

On his farm, Old MacDonald had a...

Frog - "On a Log, Mr. Frog"

Mouse - "The Little Mice"

Bunny - "Here Comes a Bunny Rabbit"

Horse - "Here Comes Mrs. Macaroni"

Bird - "Bluebird, Bluebird"

Dog - "BINGO"

 Sheep - "Marry Had a Little Lamb"

Hen - "Chook, Chook"

Goat - "Bill Grogan's Goat"

Pig - "Our Old Sow"

Fly - "Old Black Fly"

Barn Dance! - "Circle Right"

WAY TO GO 1st GRADERS!!

Beautiful Baby Shower

 WOW, how can one person be so blessed?!  My sisters/friends threw me the most AMAZING baby shower ever thrown this last weekend - and it was especially fun, because it was on my birthday (March 31st)!  Amy was the main organizer, Rachel and Lianne were close behind, and then Natalie, Dani, Samantha, and Jen all contributed food/decorations.  It was a beautiful time of getting together with new and old friends, and I felt unbelievably blessed by each person there.  WOW!

Dani made a sweet sign to welcome everyone.  :)

The welcome table...

Super cool glasses

My glass!

WHOA presents!

Lianne put together a "Mommy Care Package" that had all her favorite things in it - pretty sweet!

The lovely ladies getting ready

Ridiculously awesome food display #1...

#2...

and #3!

Eat up ladies!

All new Ames friends except Jet (one of my ex-students!)

After everyone signed in on the sign-in tree - for you faithful followers, do you notice that Amy took the characters from Will's baby blanket and put them on this picture?  SO impressive!

All old friends except for Patty (music buddy!)

Sweet sister Rachel :)

Frantically trying to get signatures for one of the games

Everyone had to draw on a onesie...pretty impressive!

Looks good on him, don't you think?

The "crew"