Girls on the Run Virtual 5K Results!!!

Before the whole world shut down due to COVID-19, my daughter was gearing up for her first 5K with the Girls on the Run program here in St. Louis. She was excited about practice and of course hanging out with her friends after school.

Well, of course corona shut all of that down and we were expecting to hear from Girls on the Run about a refund or a rescheduling of the race. To our surprise they instead kept sending the activities and even switched up the race to be a virtual 5K. Essentially saying you can run this race anywhere and to just submit your results when finished.

That is exactly what we did!!! See our results below!!!

St. Louis Dad’s Race Results!
Abby’s Race Results!

So, not only did Abby run in the race, so did I!!! I kept a good pace with my daughter and encouraged her to do her best. We even popped on Facebook Live a few times to show the world the best of our running abilities. Abby and I even helped raise funds to help more kids sign up for future Girls on the Run registrations!!!

It was fun and exciting to watch my daughter finish strong and complete the race, even if it was held virtually. She committed and followed through and I cannot ask for more.

Congratulations Abby on a job well done! Our next race will be even better!!!

A Seven Year Dad

IMG_0361Well it is official. I have been a dad for seven years now. My beautiful baby girl is only getting older and there is not much I can do about it. It doesn’t really make me sad, because I know that she’s going to grow up regardless of me wanting her to or not, it’s just going to happen. But what it does do is makes me happy that my little girl is growing up to be a respectful and intelligent person. These past seven years are all pretty much new to me. Aside from taking care of our nieces and nephews when they were little my wife and I are still just figuring things out all on our own.

So here we are, seven years later and still having a lot of fun. This 7th birthday party sleep over was no different. Snacks, silly string, playing, outdoor movies, and a sleep over all were on the agenda for our little girl. We got her what she had been asking for over a year now, a bunk bed, but it was the JoJo Siwa hair bow from her cousin that brought the house down with excitement. I mean I could have bought hundreds of bows for what I bought the bunk bed for, but maybe she wouldn’t have gotten as excited. Either way it is a treat watching your kids go crazy while opening up gifts from family and friends.

Being a dad to this little girl has been an emotional roller coaster. So far I’ve watched her grow into a spectacular young lady and I could not be more proud as a dad. My little doodles is growing up too fast and there just isn’t anything I can do about it except love her even more.IMG_5378

My Little Picasso

everyartistSo if Alex is my little stuntman then Abby is my little artist. Each and everyday Abby is wanting to make something. More often than not she settles for drawing. She makes cards, little books, and other drawings for everyone in the family. Each drawing gets better than the last and when she doesn’t know how to make something she will ask and get help from wherever she can. Most of the time it is mom or dad, but sometimes she has been known to even ask YouTube for ideas. One night I heard her asking YouTube how to draw a house, and then a few minutes later she brings out a drawing of a house complete with windows, chimney, and front door!

abby art 2My little artist has been producing artwork for several years now. We started documenting some of the pieces before we pitch them. We feel bad tossing her work but there is just so much it’s impossible to keep it all. So we just save the best stuff and photograph the rest. We currently have a few hundred photos of Abby’s artwork. It is pretty cool to look back on her progress and see just how far she has come with her creativity.

abby artAs time marches on I really want to encourage Abby’s artist abilities more and more. I want to put new materials in her hands that she can explore and just create whatever she wants to create. It doesn’t matter if it’s a story or a sculpture I just want her to use that imagination of hers and just create.

Another piece of creativity that we have been experimenting with over the last year or so is Abby’s YouTube show called Abby Doodles TV. The last few months have not been the best for us in terms of making videos but we are working on a new season with a new format that we hope will really be exciting. We have just a few more episodes for season one so be on the lookout for those coming down the pipe.

IMG_3236I encourage all parents to get creative with their children. You do not need to have the best paints, markers, crayons, etc… You can use dirt, oil, or whatever! Get creative! Turn an egg carton into a bus, or a box into a house. The possibilities are endless, just let your child take the reigns of the project and help facilitate their needs. Cut a square if that’s what they need, let them direct you! Most importantly, do not tell them they are doing something wrong in regards to creating art, there is no wrong or right way to create. When you bring in negativity and rules then you start to tear down the creative process and it becomes more instructional based. If you want your child to follow instructions you need to start off with instructions, not bring them in after you are already knee deep in glue.

IMG_3237  IMG_0190  IMG_0164 (Medium)

Ask your child what it is they are making and how they are making it. Have them describe the steps used to get from point A to point B. Just don’t forget to have fun with your projects. Don’t stress over the mess, it can be cleaned later, and don’t forget to take pictures!

Do you have an awesome art project your child has created? Share below or send us a message on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram!

Still Sleeping with the Light On

FullSizeRenderWhat do you do when your daughter wants to sleep with the light on every night? It is a small lamp that she likes to have on but I know that it’s not good for her to sleep with this light on. When we try to turn off the light she will break down and get very upset to the point that she starts coughing which leads to her throwing up. Her behavior is kind of ridiculous on the matter but I am not exactly sure how to handle this dilemma.

We have tried a smaller, actual night light. This wasn’t acceptable for her at all. It was still too dark and she of course got upset. We are at our wits end with this light situation. We have gone in there after she has fallen asleep and have turned off the light. Sometimes this has worked well for us, other times she will wake up in the middle of the night crying because it’s dark… But it’s not dark, there’s a night light.

Alex on the other hand, we have kept his room as dark as possible since he started sleeping on his own. We figure if we can learn from our mistakes of letting Abby have a light on we will be better prepared for when Alex is a little older.

I am not going to give up this battle. I just need to reevaluate my strategy. Do you have any suggestions? Comment below or message me on Twitter or Facebook!