I guess we were due for a trip to urgent care (icky pictures, be forewarned!)

One of the boys was "being a ninja" while holding a broom, and Hannah got whacked.  

Once I got a look at the source of the gushing, I knew it would need stitches.  

Yup, too deep for glue.

So I grabbed her blanket and Brianna and I took her to urgent care.  

She perked up quite a bit when Brianna found a vending machine and got her some Skittles.  

But eventually, the nurse came in to clean her owie.  

Oooh, that stings a little.  

She was SO brave!

 I was so proud of her!  

Irrigating the wound annoyed her a little, but she was a trooper about it.  

 

Nice and clean.  No hope of gluing that shut.  

I told her about the needle, but I might have left out the part where they were going to stab her over and over and over with it.  

She was amazing.  

She looked into my eyes and breathed with me and didn't cry or flinch a bit!  

She wasn't crazy about the "sterile field" towel.

Bri caught this.  Cracks me up!

Before long, the PA had 5 stitches in, and we were almost done.  

She was SO so brave and strong.  At one point, I had to tell her to hold still--not that she was crying or thrashing, she was *giggling*!  The PA was really impressed with her, too.  

Now we're home and she's resting comfortably.  Her clothes are soaking in the washer.  (Yes, I'm that shallow mom who thought, "Don't bleed on your Christmas dress!")  We're supposed to go back to get the stitches out in 5 days.  Never a dull moment.  

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Katie and Luke's first Christmas crafts

We recently went to a friend's house and made ornaments.  Katie is giving me the "What the heck?" look as I trace her hand for Handprint Reindeer.  She had a LOT of fun playing with the battery operated tea lights.  

And the finished ornament.  :)  I love this.  And when Katie saw the picture, she said, "Hand!"  They don't like like your handprint or mine, but they're obviously quite familiar to her.  

Lukey had therapy yesterday, and his teacher did an art project with him.  She pre-cut a snowflake frame and put it on contact paper.  

Then she used his hand to fluff some of the sparkles and tissue paper bits out onto the sticky side of the contact paper, then closed it up with more contact paper.

Punch a hole, add a ribbon, voila!  Lukey's first craft.  

Linking up with:  Little Natural Cottage

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Diaper Dabbler

Have you ever come across a concept and thought, "Now that is brilliant!  Why didn't I think of that?"  I pretty much said just that when I saw a review possibility for Diaper Dabbler.  Even though I didn't qualify for the review, numbers wise, I sent the biz a message saying, "Great idea!" and we got to chatting back and forth.  

In the end, I was offered the chance to review, and since this is a service that I can totally see a market for, I was happy to do it.  

So what is Diaper Dabbler?  It's a sample pack of a variety of diaper brands.  Instead of buying a whole case of Brand X and then finding out they make Junior break out in a rash, you get a nice package containing 3 diapers in several different brands, plus a handy little card to keep on the changing table, where you can write down the brand name, and how well you liked it or didn't.  (You know, not that new parents are forgetful or anything...!)  

I've had a lot of babies over the years, and I've dealt with sensitive skin, rashes, super soakers, and just plain leaky dipes.  It's very frustrated to have 3/4 of a case of diapers sitting by the changing table that you can't use.  Bulk buying is not a good deal when the product doesn't work for you.  

I can easily see how this would be a great baby shower gift.  Let the parents determine which diapers work best for their new baby, and then they can buy that brand in bulk.  

Diaper Dabbler offers regular brand names like Huggies and Pampers, and store generics, such as Target, Costco, and CVS, and they also offer the eco-friendly brands, such as Honest Company, Seventh Generation, and Earth's Best!  Prices start at just $18 for a nice assortment of options.  

What I also like about Diaper Dabbler is that they go up to size 3 currently.  (I hope that if interest is there, they'll offer 4 eventually.)  You know what this means?  This is a brilliant idea for adoptive families, as well.  Internationally adopted children are usually toddlers when they come home, not newborns.  Having an assortment of size 3 diapers would be nice to take for overseas travel, or to have waiting when you arrive home with your new child.  It would also be convenient for foster parents who take babies to keep a variety of brands on hand to see what works with a new placement in the early days when you don't want to be running out to the store for a different brand of diapers when your usual brand doesn't work.  And you can print the comparison chart for each child.  

Diaper Dabblers also sells training pants packs!  Talk about an inspired idea!  Potty training is a huge transition for a toddler, and it means starting all over again, brand wise, for parents.  Disposable trainers fit a little differently than diapers do.  Since Katie is out of size 3 diapers now (although she wore them when we first got home from China), I opted to try the training pants.  A standard pack contains a total of 30 trainers, from 5 different brands.  For review purposes, I received a total of 9 trainers from 3 different brands.  When it's time to potty train Katie, I'll be able to figure out what's a good fit for her, what she can get up and down by herself the easiest.  I also received the BumBoosa sample wipe they include with most orders.  I was curious about the idea of bamboo wipes, and I liked it.  

Diaper Dabbler is a great service for new parents.  Their customer service is friendly.  I would recommend them as the perfect baby shower present or welcome home gift for an adoptive family.  You can connect with Diaper Dabbler on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.  

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Super Easy Ornament Craft

I recently found myself roaming the aisles of Hobby Lobby alone.  It's such a rarity, I almost didn't know what to do with myself!  

I found these little wooden blanks and thought it would be fun to decorate them with the kids.  We've done similar crafts before, painting nude woodies.  We even made a really great apple wreath one year!  (You can *almost* see it over the computer in front of Sam?)

I put out the blanks, the glue bucket, some glitter, some random bits from the sewing room, ribbons, craft paint, and asked Bri to contribute some jewels.  Then I sat down and started our read-aloud, knowing it would be better for me to let them do their own thing than to hover and over-direct them.  

Brianna hits her tree with some glitter glue.

Hey, look, there's a better shot of the apple wreath over Sam's head!  Each of my students that year ('07-'08) painted their own apple and wrote their name on it, and I wrote our school name and the year on the bottom apple.  I "cheated" and glued all the apples to a paper plate that I cut the middle out of.  Easier than easy, and I love it as a keepsake of who we homeschooled that year.  

But back to the trees and the people.

Each child got to make two ornaments.  MY plan was for them to each make a tree and a gingerbread man.  

They weren't aware of my plan, so Bri made two trees, and Jack made 2 guys.

Today, we finally got around to putting ribbon hangars on the back so the kids could put them on the tree.  

Super easy, and a fun keepsake for the kids to look back on someday.  

Don't forget to write names and the year on the back!  

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Piczzle Photo Puzzles GIVEAWAY

Disclosure: I got this product as part of an advertorial.  

When I was looking at the Piczzle Photo Puzzles website, Eli asked, "Can you really make a puzzle out of any picture you want?"  I told him yes.  He said, "That's so cool!  Can I pick the picture?"  Of course, I said yes again.  Brianna has had a bunch of reviews lately, so I thought it was only fair to give him a turn.  

Eli selected a photo of himself in the cockpit of a C-17, taken at an air show.  

He was pretty excited when it arrived!  This is a nice puzzle.  The premium grade cardboard is precision press cut, so the pieces fit together perfectly.  

Picture puzzles make a great gift!  

Turning a photo into a puzzle is also a fun way to commemorate a special event in your child's life.  I'm imagining an Adoption Day puzzle, a Birthday puzzle, a Halloween puzzle, a First Day of School puzzle... the possibilities really are endless.    

Piczzle Photo Puzzles are available in cardboard or wooden varieties, with as few as 8 pieces, up to over 1,000 pieces!  They come in rectangles, or you can try something really unique, and get a circle or heart shaped puzzle!  Prices start at just $14.95.  

Are you ready to win your very own Piczzle Picture Puzzle?  

Enter now!  

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You can connect with Piczzle Photo Puzzles on Facebook or on YouTube.  

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

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