Ramblings... A Post of Many Topics...

Topic One - First Experience Teaching Little Kids...
Last night I took the leap of faith and started teaching the kids on Wednesday nights at our church. We had just been letting them play, but since I was having to go back their with AJU5 (she isn't big enough to play on her own with other kids yet), the pastor and I thought we might as well do some lessons. We are using the Veggie Tales Connections material, which is pretty good. It is meant for larger groups than ours, but it hasn't been hard to adapt to our church. Last night I had a 6.5 year old, a 5 yr old, a 3.5 yr old, a 19 month old that didn't really participate at all, AJU5, and a 12 year old helper. It went pretty good when AJU5 was happy. But, there were the cranky times that were hard...

Topic Two - Not Getting Baby to Bed When She is Tired...
The last two nights have been hard. Tuesday nights we have class at church until a little after 9. I try to get AJU5 to sleep on the floor with her blankets and pillow, but she isn't too keen on this. This week she slept for about 30 minutes and then was a total cranky-pants until we got home and her into bed. She then decided to only sleep for 3 hours at a time...
Last night we got home from church around 7:30 - which is when she is normally getting into bed. AJU1 was installing baseboards in her room (he didn't get home from work early enough to go to church). So, she didn't get to go to bed until a little after 8. She then woke up every two hours (10, 12, and 2). At 2:30, she was screaming again. This time AJU1 went and laid down on the floor with her. Eventually she fell asleep and he was able to put her into her bed. She did sleep from then until about 7 though luckily! We don't have any late nights planned until Sunday (get home around 7/7:30), so hopefully that will help her sleep better!

Topic Three - Houdini!
AJU5 managed to work her way out of the belt on her high chair last night. Our friends have an extra booster seat (the very portable kind that we actually use at church), so they are going to give it to us. Hopefully this will keep her in her seat when I am trying to cook dinner while she has a snack! I did not enjoy turning to see how she was doing and seeing her standing up!

Topic Four - AJU5's Room!
Her room is almost done - well, in terms of remodeling at least. As I mentioned earlier, AJU1 got the baseboards installed last night. I still need to go around and fill the holes and touch up a little paint on the wall. AJU1 also has to install a valence board over her closet doors to cover up the metal track. The board needs one more coat of poly (to be applied tonight), cut to length, and installed. We should be able to get it in by Friday morning at the latest (he has this Friday off).

Topic Five - Cold Weather
It was supposedly in the upper 40's when we left for the library story time today. So, I put AJU5 in a light weight jacket, hat, mittens, and put a blanket over her for the walk, Once we got to the corner, I realized it was warm enough for her not to have her mittens (she didn't like them anyways - she couldn't pick up anything!). On the way home, I just put her jacket on her. It is so hard to know what to put her in these days... I want to keep her warm but I don't want her to sweat as well. My body is weird with temperatures, so it isn't always a good gauge. Now I can't wait for the day when she can tell me she is cold or hot!

Topic Six - Warning: Some People May Find This Gross!
AJU5 loves raisins. The only problem is she doesn't seem to really digest them. They come out looking like raisins! Have you had this experience? I don't think it is a big issue, but it sure does look funny!