My Big Helper!

After cleaning the sliding glass door leading out to the patio room/ play room for the umpteenth time this week I found Maddy doing this with a wet rag...
All I could say to Maddy was "Thank You"! She was just trying to help her mommy.

Trying to keep a sliding glass door finger print free in a house with kids is like trying to teach your 2 year old to stop picking her nose. It will never happen!!

Teaching Attention Getters

This last Thursday I went to a Stake Primary Training Meeting. At the meeting they demonstrated some attention getters that I thought were worthy to pass on. So to all you primary teachers or grade school teachers here are some fun little ways to get the kids attention without having to use the word "Quiet".

Call and Response
T: When I say waterfall, you say...
C: Shhhh!

T: Macaroni and Cheese
C: Everybody Freeze

T: www dot
C: zip it dot com

T: Ready to Rock
C: Ready to Roll

T: One, Two
C: Eyes on you
T: Three, four
C: Talk no more

T: Hey
C: Ho

T: Zip Zip
C: We are zipped

T: Peanut, Peanut Butter
C: and Jelly

T: Zippidy do da
C: Zippidy A

Teachers Only

The teacher says SALAMI! ("Stop and look at me immediately")

The teacher says "Popsicle" and the kids freeze where ever they are and look to you. After giving them the direction, say "Melt" and they continue working.

Quiet coyote (touch the tips of your middle and ring finger to your thumb as if to make the head of a coyote. Have the children make the sign back)

Games

Simon says
Flash
If you can hear me...

Clap out a rhythm for them to repeat... such as... clap, clap, clap, clap, clap....

***One thing the demonstrator said was to make sure we continuously change these up so the kids don't get bored of them. If you have more ideas please share!!!

Maddy is Cute!

Some of the things Maddy says are so cute. This morning while dropping Jay off at work she out of the blue said, "Have a good day daddy!" and "Have fun at work, daddy!". These might seem like normal phrases, but in her little 2 year old voice and having never said them before it was so cute! Kaelyn is now sitting up by herself for long periods of time (these pics are a few days old) and picking things up with her thumb and pointer finger. She is also constantly clapping. She is such a happy baby.

Calling all little mommies!

Calling all little mommies between the ages of 2 and 5 who have visited the Dougherty Residence in the last month! Is this your baby? We mommies at the Dougherty home have been taking really good care of this precious baby (as you can tell from the photos).


Mommy Maddy can be found swinging the baby in the swing, feeding her, and playing with her over ALL of her other babies. Mommy Kaelyn has even showed interest in her by showering her with many slobbery kisses and brightening up at the sight of her.


However we feel it our duty to return this baby to her rightful mommy who is probably missing her dearly. We have enjoyed her presence in our house, but the other baby dolls have been feeling neglected by how fond both mommies have grown to her. If this is your baby (bald head with brown eyes and she came with no clothes) please let us know so we can return her to her rightful mommy.

Getting Ready for Bed

When Kaelyn was one month old I did something that I strongly advise against - I took my one year old and newborn and got professional pictures done. I don't remember the last time I was as stressed out as I was that day. I was so stressed my clothes were soaking wet with sweat at the end of our scheduled shooting time. Here is a picture from this crazy day. Maddy would NOT let Kaelyn touch her!! We finally coaxed her into it by letting her hold this old, stuffed nasty rabbit. So here are these cute little girls in these cute little outfits with a silly old red-eyed rabbit sitting on Maddy's lap. Priceless!

Well tonight before bed we were hanging out and I decided to get the camera and take some pictures. Maddy wanted to hold Kaelyn the whole time. This time it was Kaelyn's turn to throw a fuss. Maddy would not let go of Kaelyn and Kaelyn was not one bit pleased to be in Maddy's lap. Here are some pictures of us just fooling around before bedtime.

I have to say that the biggest reason I am posting these is for Grandpa Dougherty so he has some fun pictures of the girls to start out his day tomorrow at work. We love you Papa Dougherty!

My 6 mo. old is almost as big as her 2 yr. old sister!

I love my little girls!

New Shoes!

So I love Target! For all of you out there who are looking for great clothes at affordable prices... just go to Target. I like Wal-mart, but never feel like the clothes are designed and made as well as the brands at Target.

Here are a new pair of shoes I got a few days ago. They are way comfortable and a nice fit . My husband calls them my Tim Burton shoes because he thinks they look like something out of Edward Scissor Hands the movie, but I like them.

A friend of mine put it perfectly on Sunday "We girls don't dress to impress our husbands, but other women." Cute clothes = Cute Gal! My two sisters have much more fashion sense than I, but I am trying!

I Was So Mad

This is Maddy's (my 2 yr. old's) favorite book. Today especially she wanted me to read it over and over and over again. The picture actually reminds me of her face last night as she was standing in the hallway while I was trying to put her sister to sleep. She was purposefully dropping her toys on our wood floor and crunching up her purse in her hands to make a crinkling sound after I asked her to go play with daddy and be quiet while I put Kaelyn to sleep. Lovely! She usually is a pleasant and polite little girl, but she does have her moments where she tests us to see how much we let her get away with. Smart little cookie!

Things That Make Me Happy!

I was trying to think of what to post on and decided to blog about what makes me happy.

Here are a few things I do everyday that make me happy. I would love to hear what things in your daily lives make you happy (I always learn so much from everyone). Please leave a post and share (don't be shy). Here is my list.

1. Early Morning Walk
2. Scripture Study with my Hubby
3. Smiling faces on my cute girly girls when I wake them up in the morning
4. Water (sounds cheesy, but I love huge glasses of freezing cold water. I always have at least two before lunch. Yum that sounds so good right now!!).
5. Watching my girls lovingly interact with each other (don't worry they aren't always loving).
6. Reading all of your blogs! It really is so fun to read about your opinions and life experiences.
7. Getting in a nap!! Hooray!
8. Eating healthy foods (makes me feel like I am doing something good)
9. Teaching voice students! On good or bad days teaching ALWAYS lifts my spirits!
10. Hanging out with my best friend, "Hubby", at night after the girls have gone to bed.

Friend is the first $1,000,000 Winner on Deal or No Deal!!

Isn't she so cute? This is a childhood friend of mine, Jessica Simmons Robinson who last night won $1,000,000 on Deal or No Deal. She is an LDS Stay at Home Mom who became the first person after 246 episodes to win $1,000,000. To read more about this rockin' pregnant mommy of one soon to be two check out this article. Go Jessica!!