I might have a problem

Hello, My name is Katinya, and I am a cup addict.  Yes, I said cup addict.  My hubby has been telling me this, and I kept denying this truth.  I just bought another set of water bottles for Princess Liyah and The Twizzles.  And, as I was walking out the door, I said "I might have a problem."  This time was different because Princess Liyah said "Look Mom, these are in our colors."  She fed my lovely sensation, and I had to buy them.

When The Twizzles were born, we "color coded" them.  Future Angelo Lilly III is Blue, and Frederick Douglas Lilly III is Green.  You heard me correct.  Most snack cups, plates, clothes, toys, you name it.  I labeled my blessings.  Of course, The Princess would love all things PINK considering that was a color that I never wanted for her.  Her baby colors were Green and Yellow.  That didn't last long.  Everyone liked her in Pink, so they bought her Pink.  Now, she would wear Pink every day of her life if she could.

Here is my latest obsessive find for my blessings.  They are water bottles and snack cups in one.  They have a strap on them just becuase.  But the best part are the colors - BLUE, GREEN, AND PINK!  I don't think that anyone or anything can help my addiction, but I have always heard that if you tell someone, that will help you get over it.  NOT!!!



If you have a problem like me, stop by The Dollar Tree for these cute little cups.  And, pick up some $1 color t-shirts while you are there.  Not just any kind of t-shirts, but Hanes, Fruit of the Loom, and Gildan t-shirts.

Take Your Daughters and Sons to Work Day

I put on the cape this morning and took three of my blessings to work with me for Take Your Daughters and Sons to Work Day.  It was so much fun, and here is our day.

We had just gotten to work very very early.

I just upgraded to an Android, so I had to take a snapshot of them in front of TI Android.

They haven't seen this movie yet, but I had to take the shot anyway.

Child labor laws do not come into play on this day, so we had them "creating" motherboards :-)

All 3 took a break in my office before lunch.

Off to lunch with our new toys.

We had to stop by one more table before lunch.  My Budding Scientists!

  

Lunch in the cafeteria.

Thanks so much to Texas Instruments for the wonderful opportunity today to have a wonderful day with my blessings at work.

We left for home after lunch, and the best snapshot that I missed was seeing the snoring blessings in the car on our way home.  I wish I could have had a nap like them.

School, how I love thee!

School is just wonderful!  Last week, we had our first homework assignment for The Twizzles.  It was so much fun to work with the boys designing "F" vests for their "Letter Parade" at school.  We had to find items that start with the letter F.

Frederick is "reading" to Future one morning before school.  It was just so cute, I had to share.

Here is Future coloring his letter F.

I thought that Kindergarten homework was fun, but Early Childhood School homework is SO MUCH BETTER ;-)

Frederick is coloring his letter F.

Here they are taking each others colors every time that I turn my head to finish my part of this homework assignment.

I loved the part of searching for graphics online to print for them and stick on the F vests.

Here is Future being so serious with his homework assignment, while sticking the pictures on his F vest.

Aaliyah didn't want them to have all of the fun, so she helped me cut the graphics for them to stick.  I am so glad that their names both start with the letter "F" :-)

Capturing rare moments...

Saturday mornings usually start with someone crying.  I just knew that would not be the case today with the time change. No luck, Twizzle #1 (Future) has completely adjusted to the time change, Lucky Him! So, I decided to join him in his tiny Cars bed to see if he would go back to sleep. Big mistake because Future took that as 'Rare Cuddle Time with Mommy'. I couldn't blame him. Just me and him is rare.  So, he started making too much noise (typical), and Twizzle #2 started to squirm in his bed. Now, it means 'Rare Moments with The Twizzles'. So, we grab some clothes and head downstairs for breakfast with just us 3. I always forget to capture these moments, but I know there is going to come a day when we are all up before daylight headed out to soccer, football, baseball fields and dance competitions with Big Sis. So, here is a snapshot of our Typical Blue Green breakfast. My twins are pretty much color coded. Twizzle #1 gets blues everything, and Twizzle #2 get green everything. I will have to share about that simple organizational tool another day :-)

Happy Valentine's Day

I received these pictures from school on Valentine's Day. Outside of my new wedding ring, these pictures were the best.  It is just uncanny how much they look alike.  One day, I will get them tested to see if they are identical.

Happy Valentine's Day!

 

Sign Before They Can Speak

Thanks to contributing authors Emily and Kathleen for the following article.


A key to surviving in a troubled economic system in which opportunities to achieve a decent standard of living will be limited, is versatility. Of course another being, the ability to communicate articulately in a variety of ways with the widest possible audience. This includes bilingual ability as well as the ability to communicate in non-verbal ways for the benefit of the disabled – primarily the deaf.


At the same time, a growing shortage of qualified interpreters fluent in American Sign Language has led to more career opportunities – and if current trends continue, it's likely that skilled ASL interpreters will have little problem securing lucrative employment in a society where such a commodity is destined to be in short supply.


Signing Before They Can Speak


A great deal of research has clearly demonstrated that the early years – ages 2 to five – are the best time to educate children in different modes of communication and language. This goes beyond the spoken word (though it is an optimal time for children to learn a second language); many young children have an aptitude for signing as well. This can be taught at home or some child care programs have begun to teach it in their curriculums.


This really isn't as odd as you may think. As you may already know, many indigenous peoples around the world, including American Indian nations, have used sign language for centuries to facilitate communication with other tribes with whom they do not share a language. Some paleontologists and anthropologists theorize that Neanderthals – who apparently lacked the vocal mechanism to produce many spoken words – depended a great deal upon hand gestures to communicate.


In fact, recent research suggests that sign language is innate. An article published in the Boulder Daily Camera in 2003 presented strong evidence that babies as young as six months old communicate with their hands:


"...by 6 to 7 months, babies can remember a sign. At eight months, children can begin to imitate gestures and sign single words. By 24 months, children can sign compound words and full sentences. They say sign language reduces frustration in young children by giving them a means to express themselves before they know how to talk." (Glarion, 2003)


A study funded by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development is also cited, demonstrating that young children who are taught sign language at an early age actually develop better verbal skills as they get older. The ability to sign has also helped parents in communicating with autistic children; one parent reports that "using sign language allowed her to communicate with her [autistic] son and minimized his frustration...[he now] has an advanced vocabulary and excels in math, spelling and music" (Glarion, 2003).


The Best Time To Start


Incorporating sign into pre-verbal youngsters early childhood education as a way to communicate can also strengthen the parent-child bond – in addition to giving children a solid foundation for learning a skill that will serve them well in the future. The evidence suggests that the best time to start learning ASL is before a child can even walk – and the implications for facilitating the parent-child relationship are amazing.


Co-written by Emily Patterson and Kathleen Thomas


Emily and Kathleen are Communications Coordinators for the Austin child care facility, a member of the AdvancED® accredited family of Primrose Schools (located in 16 states throughout the U.S.) and part of the network of child care preschools delivering progressive, early childhood, Balanced Learning® curriculum.

The Twizzles turned 3 and go to School :-)

It was a great day on November 18, 2010.  The Twizzles woke up, and had their first day of school.

The school is so beautiful.  Of course, they walked in they had been going to school there for months.  I wanted to be there so bad, but SuperDad took so many pictures for me to relive the whole thing.

After their long first day of school (3 hours), we had cupcakes for them waiting at home.  Some people think The Twizzles have beautiful BIG eyes.  Seeing those eyes looking at the cupcakes were the cutest thing.