community helpers...

last week libbi studied "community helpers" at school… and it seems fitting since we've had LOTS of involvement with helpers in our community over the past seven days :)

we started off our week with a trip to the doctor to see the lovely nurses and pediatrician. seems that sweet libbi so lovingly shared her strep throat with laney. awesome. 
laney was a rockstar patient and thankfully we caught it early so laney didn't have too rough a time with it (unlike libbi's miserable WEEK with it - ugh!) 

two days later we met up with yet another helper in our community as laney went in for her 6 month recheck on her tubes. it seems as though laney falls into the "less than 8%" category of the lucky ones whose tubes don't fall out. again, awesome. liza's face pretty much sums up my reaction….

so she has to have them removed next month since they're not budging on their own. it's crazy to think that laney was liza's age when she had them put in - time flies, doesn't it?! 
here she is at the ENT at 2, 2.5, and 3 years old. our laylay is a-growin' up!

 

community helper experience #3 of the week - teachers! since laney was feeling better on thursday and had been on her antibiotic for 48 hrs, she felt up to going to "meet the teacher" at her preschool. she was a little apprehensive about going to school without libs, but she put on her brave face ;) 

thursday evening, libbi had her first soccer practice! we were thankful for community helper experience #4 of the week - volunteer coaches. libbi was thrilled to find out a friend from school is on her team and we're looking forward to a great season!

community helper experience #5 - friday morning libbi had a community helper parade at school. each child could choose to dress up as someone who helps out in the community - occupations like doctor, dentist, teacher, coach, mailman, etc. libbi's first choice was a superhero since "they help everyone!" but she settled on a teacher as plan B. ha! she looked so stinkin' cute in her little blazer (that she kept calling a "blizzard") and her (pretend) glasses. 

*side note - she told me she just wanted to wear the glasses for a picture but she didn't want to wear them at school or for the parade because she'd be too embarrassed. apparently she changed her mind, because she DID wear them for the parade and has pretty much kept them on ever since. i've had to force her to take them off for bed at night - haha!

friday afternoon we made another visit to the oh, so helpful doctor in our community - community helper experience #7 - this time for liza girl. seems she dodged the strep bullet and instead found herself a double ear infection. if you're keeping count, this was our THIRD visit to a doctor's office in four days. i am contemplating buying stock in amoxicillin. or at least suggesting a punch card system to our pediatrician. ;) 

saturday morning we all put on our red and black to prepare for the big game. before we ran out that morning, libbi and jeffrey were playing around and libbi slipped and fell. she hit her head on the back of the ottoman. we knew it was a hard hit, but it didn't seem to be too bad. i gave her some ice, dried her tears, and checked for a knot or any sign of an injury. i didn't see anything and she seemed to be feeling fine, so we left for the day. 

later that night, after she took a bath, i found the place where she hit her head that morning. it was still open and bleeding a bit, so we decided that she should probably have it seen about. jeffrey took libbi for community helper experience #8 of the week - the friendly neighborhood ER doctors and nurses. 
thankfully, it wasn't anything too serious - nothing a little novocain and superglue couldn't fix. 
and i'm super thankful that jeffrey was up for watching the second half from the ER waiting room and that the dawgs won! 

our week spent learning about community helpers was definitely an interesting one, and i have to say i'm thankful it didn't involve any police officers or fire fighters - ha! -  but i'm sure hoping we're done with our community helper "lessons" for a while! 

five on friday (on a saturday)...

i missed my "five on friday" so let's just pretend this is posting on friday, mmkay? 
a random list of thoughts from the past week: 

1. it's no secret that i love reality tv. and i'm happy to say that this season's shows do not disappoint. my current favorites are: real housewives of orange county, real housewives of new jersey, teen mom (*hangs head in shame*), jersey belle, and even a little bit of don't be tardy. jeffrey wants nothing to do with these quality programs - i know, shocking, right? - so i have to watch them all by my lonesome. and y'all… i have so many thoughts. so many. and no one to discuss them with. the struggle is real. the struggle is real. 

2. another current favorite? jimmy fallon. i'm probably late to the game on this one, but oh my gosh if he isn't the cutest thing. he is hilarious. i literally laugh out loud when watching his show. poor jeffrey - all he wants is to sleep and i'm either laughing out loud, watching grown women scream at each other, or listening to jenelle and nathan figure out life. it's a wonder he doesn't hide the remote. or just get rid of the tv altogether. (don't get any ideas, jeffrey!) 

3. i'm happy to say that libbi made it through her first FULL week of kindergarten - woohoo!! after being out sick almost all of last week, she came back strong and had a great week. i'd say the amount of tears and meltdowns we've had this evening are a direct correlation to a successful (busy!) week of kindergarten! 

4. we taught the girls to play "would you rather…?" i'm not sure if it's kid friendly in real life, but in our house it is. it's pretty hilarious actually. besides the fact that both libbi and laney think it's "would you radder" the questions they come up make us laugh. laney's go to questions are: 
"would you radder eat a pinecone or eat a…. (fill in the blank with poopoo, button, tree, etc.)?
and "would you radder get a new dress or get new shoes?" and typically no matter what the options are, laney will always choose something else. if you offer her A or B, she'll choose C every time. it's a fun way to pass the time while riding in the car and believe me, it's very entertaining for all of the participants. 

5. this is probably a little inappropriate, but it was hilarious. laney was absolutely beside herself when she saw these mannequins at the mall. i didn't even notice them as we were walking by, and she said "uh….momma….." as she pointed and her eyes about bugged out of her head. she then collapsed into a fit of giggles and begged me to take her picture so she could "show libs." who am i to deny her? haha! 
enjoy :) 

happy weekend, friends!

what i'm loving….

this post is long overdue…. loooooong overdue. but better late than never, right? and since it's been one month (and one day!) since liza's first birthday (but who's counting?) i figured it's high time i share one of my absolute favorite parts of her birthday party….

the outfit! 

y'all. i've bought a lot of baby clothes over the past five years. (just kidding, jeffrey. not that many….).

for me to say this outfit is one of my favorites, well - that's a big deal. 

when i saw the sarah jane fabric, "on parade" i knew that i wanted to use it for liza's birthday outfit. i immediately emailed amanda from goat & lulu and sent her a screenshot of the fabric. we emailed back and forth a few times but essentially i just told her i wanted to use that fabric and i wanted a two piece outfit. other than that - she could run with it. and oh my word, she did! 

have you ever seen anything so cute?! isn't this precious!!! and, here's the kicker - its reversible! even better! :)

liza girl's ONEderful parade party just wouldn't have been the same without this darling outfit! 

amanda has SO many adorable items listed in her shop for the fall. i'm not sure whether to buy them for my girls or request a custom order and have them made in my size. or both! 

these are a few of my current favorite goat & lulu items:

The Apple a Day Dress

precious! and perfect for back to school and a fun transition piece into fall. 

 Sweet Swing Top
this is just too much! seriously! 

Pretty Peasant Scallop Top
this is one that i want in my size! love the scalloped edge. and i love that goat & lulu has a huge array of fabrics to choose from. you can customize the top in the prints and colors of your choice! 

and you know with football right around the corner we have to have our spirit wear ready! goat & lulu has you covered there, too! you can look cute before, during, and after the game. :) 

and with the wide variety of fabrics in the shop, you can pick and choose just the right colors to support your favorite team! 

Collegiate Ruffle Dress

Collegiate Initial Football Shirt

these are just a few of my personal favorites, but make sure to head over to goat & lulu and check out goat & lulu's Facebook page for SO much more!  you'll find everything from personalized pillows to aprons, momma outfits to baby gifts - even plenty of options for all the boy mommas, too!

happy shopping - and make sure to use the code back2school for 15% off your purchase!! 

thank you, amanda for playing such a special part in my baby's first birthday!! 

that's what she said...

happy monday! we're hoping for a full (healthy!) week of kindergarten at the tippins house this week. thank you all so much for your sweet comments and emails about the start of kindergarten and the blessing bag tags. it's so encouraging to know that there are so many of us out there just praying our babies through the day. :)

i feel like it's been a while since i've written about some of the funny things the girls have said. i try to keep a running list on my phone as they happen so i can so i can remember them. here's a few of my favorites:

libbi told me the other day that she's been praying for another baby. she very seriously told me that she'd like to have a brother and she wants his name to be "rufus." as much as i love baby names, i'm pretty sure that rufus has never been on my radar….

libbi and laney have been very into playing with their barbies and princess dolls. they make up all kinds of imaginative scenarios (which are SO hilarious, by the way). laney always uses the name chrisdida "chris-did-a." that's her go-to name. if she's pretending to be a queen, she's chrisdida. if she has a doll, her name is chrisdida. she'll ask me to watch after her baby chrisdida while she goes to the store, etc. etc. i never knew where she came up with the name until one day libbi said, "you know, it's the same name as your friend that got married. ms. christina?" and then it all made sense. chrisdida = christina. :)

when i picked laney up from church last week she said, "momma, you know what? when i was in worship, i was doing so much worship that my hair was all wiggly. i was dancing and my hair and my dress were wiggly everywhere."
haha! that was one of my favorites. pretty sure that's what it's all about - worshipping so freely that we just get all wiggly and don't care who sees it. ;)

our potty training experience with laney may have been rather uneventful (thank you, Lord!) but it hasn't been without it's notable moments. we stopped in the bathroom before church started a few weeks ago. since we were in the "big" bathroom, she and i went in together. she took her turn, then i took mine. not long after she loudly said, "DO YOU WANT ME TO WIPE YOU?" and if it weren't for her crazy loud voice repeating that question over and over i'm sure i would have heard laughing from the other bathroom goers.

since starting kindergarten libbi has met many new teachers and friends. she came home one day excited because one of her teachers had the same name as her aunt (my sister). the girls call my sister (missie) "miss miss." libbi kept saying, "there's TWO miss miss's! i can't believe it!" i would ask frequently if she was sure that the teacher's name was "miss miss" and she assured me it was. i finally decided to look at the school website for clarification. and lo and behold, it's miss SMITH. which in her defense DOES sound an awful lot like miss miss. ;)

when we were at the mall the other day, laney spotted a nice older man with white hair and a white beard…. and i'm sure you can guess where this is going. she gasped and said, "SANTA!" thankfully, he was a friendly older man and he smiled and waved. surely that wasn't his first time being "recognized"

finally, and i'm almost embarrassed to even mention this. almost. ha!
laney tippins is one of a kind. and that girl loves her some potty words. tee tee, poo poo, and on and on. if laney gets into trouble, it's often for saying those potty words. y'all she even adds in "sauce" at the end of them. i have NO idea where that came from. she will say "tee tee sauce!" and laugh hysterically.   and it doesn't help that every time she says it, libbi almost passes out from laughing so hard. so of course she says it again and again and again. the other day we were walking to the park and we had to walk through the tunnel. laney decides to test out her echo and the sound in the tunnel by screaming "POO POO DIARRHEA!" at the top of her lungs. i'm sure the elderly couple walking alongside us really appreciated her enthusiasm. and i'm sure anyone within a five mile radius did as well.

these girls sure do keep me laughing….and it won't be long before liza joins in on the fun :)

blessings...

if i'm being honest, sending libbi off to kindergarten was hard (it still is!), but mostly for selfish reasons. i missed her, i worried about her, i liked having her home with me, i wanted to know what she was doing all day, i, i, i,….. see a pattern there? it was so easy to become wrapped up in how i was feeling, that i could overlook the fact that SHE needed encouragement, too! a few months before kindergarten started, we began praying for her teacher and for her school year. we'd pray for courage, wisdom, and friendships. we prayed for libbi to be a shining light of jesus's love. and we prayed for her worries and her fears as she'd often say, "i'm nervous 'bout kindergarten…"

she is her momma's daughter and has a bit of an anxious heart. i know that when my worries threaten to take over, one of the things that calms my anxious heart is to quote scripture. the truth will set you free, right? so i claim the truths that i know and refuse to let those insecure doubts rule. i think it's so important to not only pray for my children, but to pray with them, and to teach them how to pray for themselves and for others. praying for others is an awesome privilege, but i think so often we neglect to take our own requests before the Lord. i want my girls to know that they can take anything to Him in prayer - their worries, fears, insecurities, questions, praises, worship, and on and on. 

the week before libbi started kindergarten, we attended a "blessings lunch" with some of her fellow soon-to-be-kindergarteners and their mommas. a group of three friends started the tradition of a blessings lunch years ago when their first babies were going off to kindergarten as a way to pray over their children and remind them of God's truths as they headed off to start their school year. 

we were thrilled to be a part of this year's lunch and the opportunity to pray blessings over the coming school year. each child that attended received a charm bracelet. the girls' bracelets had four charms: a heart, a cross, a butterfly, and their first initial. the boys' were more of a manly cuff ;) 
that had a cross, a fish, and a camo bead/button. 

each charm had a special meaning and a coordinating verse. the children can wear their bracelets and have tangible reminders of God's love and protection over them. each child also received a bag tag for their book bags with the verses and reminders on it. i love that libbi can wear her bracelet to school with each charm reminding her she is loved, protected, and chosen. and she can attach the bag tag to her book bag as a reminder to herself and to others. when she's nervous or when those anxious thoughts threaten to overwhelm her, she has a visible reminder of Truth that she can claim. i'm pretty sure that i could use a charm bracelet myself some days. :) 

i have listed the personalized and assembled blessing bag tags in my etsy shop - you can find them HERE.
you can have them customized with your choice of colors, names, fonts, even verses! 

If you'd like a generic copy of the printable you can download it for free….

(BOY version) CLICK HERE

(GIRL version) CLICK HERE

it measures approx 2.5 x 3.5 inches. 
you could print it and laminate it and create your own tag or bookmark. 

thank you to rea, zoe, and stacia for sharing your ideas and your blessings! 

if you have any questions feel free to email me: 

mrsamytippins@gmail.com

be blessed, friends! 

"You are young, but don’t let anyone treat you as if you are not important. Be an example to show the believers how they should live. Show them by what you say, by the way you live, by your love, by your faith, and by your pure life"

1 timothy 4:12

so much for perfect attendance...

and just like that, libbi's perfect attendance streak comes to an end. she made it all of two days. 
as of tomorrow she'll have missed as many days of kindergarten as she's attended. i knew we'd pick up some school germs along the way, i just didn't think it would be this soon….

poor thing came down with a nasty bug or what could be strep. we'll find out for sure tomorrow when we go to the doctor. i thought it was a stomach bug based on the events of our morning, but as the day wore on she started complaining of a sore throat and running a temp. so… who knows? 

i knew she wasn't feeling well this morning, but she insisted she was fine. libbi would rather eat her own toe nails than admit she's not feeling well. if i try to take her temperature or even mention the word "thermometer" she acts like i have offended her in the worst way. we got about half way to school and i just had a feeling that we should turn around. if only i'd had "that feeling" about 10 minutes earlier our morning might have gone a bit differently…
thanks a lot mother's intuition - or not. 

i did a u-turn and two minutes later it became clear that i had made the right decision. laney started crying and i assured her libbi was fine - assuming that she was upset because libbi was sick. um, no. she was crying because she was sick, too. 

it would have been laughable if it wasn't so awful. i rolled the windows down (we needed all the fresh air we could get) and for some reason liza thought that was hysterical. she was cackling in the backseat as libbi and laney were getting sick and i'm ashamed to say i may have been screaming - ha! we were a sight. 

poor libbi is just puny and not feeling well. and laney…. well we *think* that she may just be a sympathetic puker. because aside from the events in the car, she's been fine the rest of the day (knock on wood). in fact, she was rather upset with me for not letting her have gummies, cheese crackers, chocolate milk, cookies, or any other thing she could dream up. although she did eat about two sleeves of ritz crackers…. ;) 

so for now, jeffrey is bunking with libbi, because he is the brave one and not nearly as neurotic about stomach bugs as i am. after libbi got sick this morning, she even asked, "is daddy coming home?" and i told her no. she then proceeded to ask, "but who is going to take care of us?!" when i told her that i would be taking care of them, she kind of chuckled and then said, "but we need daddy to come home…" and i know she was probably thinking, "yeah right, lady. i know how you roll" :)
before you think i've gotten off the hook, let me remind you that while jeffrey is bunking with libbi - i get to room with laney. also known as the world's worst sleeper. she'd prefer to sleep horizontally. and in the shape of the letter X. 

i do have to say that i am quite proud of myself though for cleaning the car, the carseats, and the children. all in the name of love :) and let me tell you, it is a true act of love to clean those carseats. if it were up to me, i would have just abandoned the car, carseats and all. but i don't think jeffrey would have been too thrilled with that. but you better believe i'm praying that i don't have to do that again for a loooooong long time. or really ever. and as much as i love having my girl home with me, i am praying that she'll feel better so she can get back to kindergarten.  

*day two….before her perfect attendance streak was broken. 

book review: jonah and the great big fish….

it's no secret that we love reading here at the tippins house. we love books of all kinds - fiction, nonfiction, board books, paperback books, even coloring books. :) besides the shelves of books we have in our home, my garage is also currently overflowing with tubs and tubs of children's books. i'm always on the lookout for children's books that are fun reads, but have a great message too. 

we recently read "jonah and the great big fish" written by rhonda gowler greene and illustrated by maragret spengler. the story of jonah is not only one of my girls' favorites, but also one of the very first bible stories they both learned. reading through jonah and the great big fish proved to be a fun reading experience for all of us. the girls loved the rhyme and flow of the story. i liked that the author used a broad vocabulary that was just enough to be a good teaching tool, but not too advanced to be over their heads. we were able to discuss words like, "anxious," "weary," and "stubborn" without losing the message in the story. 

the pictures were very kid friendly - i think laney (3 years old) enjoyed looking at the pictures just as much as she enjoyed hearing the story. libbi was also impressed with the illustrations and i think they added a nice touch to the story. i like that the illustrations are detailed enough so that even the youngest of "readers" can retell the story while playing "school" (without actually being able to read) ;) 

while i found "jonah and the great big fish" to be biblically sound in most aspects, i do wish the author would have expanded a bit upon the repentance of jonah as well as the rewards and blessings of obedience and not just the consequences of disobeying God. it did present a great forum for discussion with my girls and i'm thankful for the lessons and opportunities it provided. i would definitely recommend "jonah and the great big fish" for all children (and parents!) 

Disclosure: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookLook Bloggers book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255