Unlabeled Mama

What's on the Menu?

2012-01-26T17:20:00.001-05:00

I forgot to post this week's menu!

Sunday: My Birthday Dinner at my Grandma's house - she made her wonderful mancotti with homemade crepes and butterscotch meringue pie was the main dessert! (Along with chocolate cake, bread pudding, strawberry shortcake with homemade whipped cream and pumpkin pie!)

Monday: Nachos and Guacamole

Tuesday: My actual Birthday - Daddy took us out to eat!

Wednesday: Daddy worked late so it was a leftovers night

Thursday: Meatloaf, Mashed Potatoes and Steamed Veggies

Friday: Pasta Alfredo, Salad and Homemade Bread

Saturday: Homemade Pesto Pizza and Salad

Goodbye 20's ... HELLOOO 30's!

2012-01-25T19:37:00.001-05:00

Yesterday was my 30th birthday.

What a day of mixed emotions.

#1 "Hurray! Another year on earth!"

#2 "Ahhh! I'm old!"

#3 "Age is just a number - I'm just getting better!"

#4 "Ahhh! I'm old!"

#5 "My 30's will be an awesome decade!"

#6 "Where did my 20's go?"

Okay you get the idea ... here's for growing and getting better!

An Encouragement

2012-01-19T16:51:00.001-05:00

I had my homeschool mom meeting last week and we had a wonderful discussion. It was such an encouragement and exactly what I needed that night after a very hard day of parenting. We started with a very interesting discussion about the birthday traditions we have developed for our children. How do we make our children feel special on their day and let them know we appreciate the day they came into our lives? That conversation evolved into being yourself and being content with your "season". Homeschooling mothers (and any mother for that case) have many demands on their time and even as we are devoting ourselves to our children we must be careful to not lose ourselves. It's so easy to be so busy with lesson plans, housework, laundry, toddlers and babies that there is no time to think or grow yourself. We forget that we need to explore and encourage ourselves - our souls for lack of a better word. It's nearly impossible to make sure you have plenty of time for you. Most days I barely have time to remember my name. You just have to be yourself in all the little things you do every day. Don't believe you have to be your vision of a "perfect mom" or be intimidated by the other moms around you. To be the "perfect mom" you don't have to bake fresh bread daily, create all your children's clothing, throw huge birthday parties and always be smiling - unless that is you! You do have to love and know your children. We discussed how we believe our children will remember us. Some days you may be afraid that your children will grow up and say their childhood was full of mama at the end of her rope, but motherhood is a journey. We don't have to spend quality time with every child every day or have fun projects for every day of the week. It is an overall thing. Try to be joyful and intentional in the things you do. We can't be everything to every child. Our leader remembered a prayer she had on her mirror for many years asking God to fill in her inadequacies for her children. We all have failings but there is so much that we can give our children. Whether it is a love of reading, love and snuggles or a love of the outdoors it all depends on you. We are so blessed. Even on the hard days.

No Spend Week Menu

2012-01-18T10:40:00.001-05:00

We're having a no-spend, clean out the pantry week. I picked up some produce and milk and that was it, but I think I came up with a nice menu ...

Sunday: Clean-Out-the-Fridge Chicken Soup and Homemade bread

Monday: Dinner at the In-Laws

Tuesday: Sausage & Eggs and Pancakes (Whole-Wheat)

Wednesday: Fish Patties, Mashed Potatoes and Veggies

Thursday: Sesame Chicken, Rice and Veggies

Friday: Chicken Nuggets, Mac & Cheese and Salad

Saturday: Pasta Alfredo and Garlic Knots

I think I will draw this out to next week too - I already have ideas!

Looking forward ...

2012-01-16T15:32:00.001-05:00

Claire is part of a small homeschool co-op that I love! Last week was the Mom Planning Meeting and I have to say I now have one reason I don't want to move right away. We have such a great semester planned. I love the fact that Claire can meet and learn with other children every week, but it's very casual and her quirks are appreciated and tolerated. We are starting with a 4 week section on Simple Machines and then we will have a Valetine's party and make Valentine's to pass out at our local nursing home (we did the same thing with Christmas cards last month and the everyone loved it). Then we have a 4 week section on Government and the Presidents that I really look forward to (I was a History/Poli Sci major). Then we have planned a Career Day. We hope to have our husbands, etc come in and discuss their professions with the children. Then a section on Tall Tales, a Field Day and start practicing an End of Year Program for the parents and grandparents. We plan on finishing out with a trip to the National Park! We also are planning a Gym day (at the County Rec Center) once a month and we want to do a family skate night. I think it sounds like a great plan.

I wish we knew exactly when we were moving. But we have a lot to do until then!

What's For Dinner This Week?

2012-01-09T18:14:00.000-05:00

Trying several new recipes this week ... hope my picky eater aka Claire will at least try them!

Sunday: Fried Tilapia, Mashed Potatoes and Steamed Veggies

Monday: Homemade Garlic Cheese Pizza and Salad

Tuesday: Chicken Lo Mein

Wednesday: Tacos

Thursday: Crock pot Italian Chicken Pasta

Friday: Roasted Whole Chicken, Mashed Potatoes and Steamed Veggies

Saturday: Whole Wheat Buttermilk Pancakes and Bacon

Why did you even ask me?

2012-01-06T20:59:00.002-05:00

Claire comes up to me with two shirts.

"Mama, which one should I wear?"

"The star one."

She stares at me and repeats, "Mama, which one should I wear?"

Again I say, "The star one!"

She stares at me again and once again say, "Mama, which one should I wear?"

I have a moment of dawning comprehension. "Umm, the butterfly one?"

She smiles brightly and bounces off, "Thanks Mom!"

Umm, what was my part of this decision?

What's for Dinner this Week?

2012-01-03T16:41:00.000-05:00

Well, I'm on the ball this week and made a menu:

Sunday: Ravioli (marinara sauce for me and Alfredo for Daddy - he's allergic to tomatoes) for the grownups and Spaghetti for the kids and Italian bread

Monday: Dinner at the In-laws

Tuesday: Chicken Schnitzel, Macaroni and Cheese and Steamed Veggies

Wednesday: Sour Cream Enchilada Casserole

Thursday: Whole Wheat Buttermilk Pancakes and Bacon

Friday: Chicken Alfredo Pasta and Garlic Bread

Saturday: Beef Stroganoff, Egg Noodles and Steamed Veggies

A New Year

2012-01-02T12:40:00.000-05:00

Wow, 2012. I feel futuristic.

I am starting 2012 out with a promise to myself to step up our school schedule. As of now my goal as been 3 days of schoolwork with Claire per week - it is only Kindergarten! But this semester I want to do 4 days a week to begin preparing her for 5 days a week next year in 1st Grade. At least there will be no complaints from Claire. She adores doing schoolwork!

Going from this

To this

I have hope that this will be a year of new beginnings for our family. We plan and pray to move our little family this year. The opportunities are disappearing in our little mountain town. It's a small town and everyone here is really struggling. Daddy and I have never loved this town and only live here because we just never left after moving out on our own. We do have family here and we will miss them, but we need more for our children. We have narrowed down the plan to move to the Charleston, SC area. Daddy and I both lived near the ocean as children and we miss it so much. Last year was the first time we were able to take our children to the beach and we want that more. We want our children to experience museums and concerts regularly. Here it is an hour to the nearest museum and Claire always ends up carsick from the curvy, mountain roads. It is a beautiful place to live, but we need more. I will enjoy getting to vacation here!

I will miss friends and family, but I look forward to new beginnings. I look forward to Claire and Chandler playing on the beach, shopping at Target regularly (right now the nearest one is an hour away), exploring museums and historical districts, flat country and salt air. Claire will be starting 1st grade in the fall and we are discussing adding to our family once we are settled. It's exciting and intimidating and wonderful and scary all at once.

As of now we are just trickling money into our moving fund and purging things out of our house. So much planning and organizing to do!

My Future Grandchildren are in Trouble

2011-12-30T22:34:00.001-05:00

Today Claire turned to me and said, "Mama, when I get old my kids are going to have rules!"

"Oh, really? Like what?"

Then she gave me a list:

1. No jumping on the bed or couch

2. When you play with a toy, put it away

3. Chew with your mouth closed

4. No touching the computer

5. Being good when Mommy is in the shower

6. No going down stairs

7. No sneaking into Mama's room

8. No running away when you're outside

9. Be nice to the cats

Oh, it went on and on ... now, I know she was tattling on herself with half of those, but if she keeps up adding to those rules my future grandchildren are in trouble!

The Most Wonderful and Busy Time of the Year

2011-12-22T09:32:00.001-05:00

It's so hectic right now! It is a mostly homemade Christmas here this year and I have been going crazy trying to finish everything. Since family reads this blog I can't talk about anything I'm making. :-/ But everything is coming out really well! Well, except for one thing and I ended up having to just chuck them and think of something else to do. It's a process I guess!

But through everything I did find time to put up a tree, make coffee filter snowflakes with the kids and wrap 90% of the presents. I have 3 more presents that need finishing touches and can be wrapped and I am hoping to make Christmas cookies with the kids tomorrow. We will get it all done! Merry Christmas everyone!

Silly boy

2011-12-11T10:29:00.001-05:00

It's 10am on a Sunday and Daddy is hiding in the kitchen eating a cookie. Chandler runs in and says "Daddy can I eat your something?". He doesn't even even know what it is, but his Daddy has it so he wants it! ;)

Figuring Yourself Out

2011-12-02T22:10:00.001-05:00

I'm going to let you in on a little secret.

Daddy never went to college and I never graduated.

I spent 3 years in college without anywhere near the correct credits for a degree, that's what happens when you change your major 3 times.

I would like our kids to go to college, but ONLY if they know for sure what they want to do!

I spent one year working towards my Human Services/Counseling degree before realizing I would be burned out in a year. Then I started on my History degree with Teacher Licensesure to teach High School History. Surprise, surprise, I quickly realized that me and school bureaucracy would not mix well. I spent one more year just taking classes before I decided to take a break to figure myself out first. Then I met Daddy and after a whirlwind romance, got married and started working at a bank, which I loved! I know now that if I do end up going back to school I would get my degree in Accounting or Business Administration. Once my kids graduate I plan on going back to work in a bank or accounts payable office. At 16 when I started college I never would have dreamed that that would be the right job for me. It sounded so boring, but at 16 I didn't really know myself yet. My quirk of alphabetizing everything and enjoying doing my taxes didn't equal into a job and something I would want to do with my life.

My point is that I don't really agree with kids finishing high school and heading off for college without a firm grasp of the real world and themselves. It's too easy to incrue 40k in student loans and then realize that you dislike what you are doing and you just want to stay home with your kids. Or that you now have 100k in debt and you HATE being a lawyer! I know many people argue that any degree is better then no degree, but what if you get a blanket degree in English and then later realize you want to be an Occupational Therapist? You have more school now ... It's such a big decision and it's a hard one to put on the shoulders of every 17/18 year old who is still dazzled by the world around them. I wish there was a better way.

30 Days of Thanks

2011-11-30T09:09:00.000-05:00

This month I did the 30 Days of Thanks on Facebook by posting something new I was thankful for each day. It's a nice reminder of all the little things we should be grateful for everyday. You have to pace yourself though - it gets a little hard after a week or two!

#1 I am grateful for our cozy little house on a cold morning!

#2 I am grateful for my family. We are always there to help each other out and we actually like each other! :)

#3 I am grateful for my handsome, hardworking husband. He's such a good daddy and my best friend!

#4 Today I am grateful for a paycheck and the money to get necessities.

#5 I am grateful for my daughter. Claire is sweet, kind, smart and very silly. She's a beautiful girl and we love having her in our lives, even if she is rather bossy! :)

#6 I am thankful for my son. Chandler is my snuggle-bug. He's so loving and smart and silly even when he is trying to establish his 2 year old independence! ;)

#7 Today I am grateful for my mother. She has been a wonderful mom and role model, I love spending time with her and I always know I can rely on her. My kids adore seeing her and I love that she has become such a wonderful grandma (or nah-ra as Chandler says)! I love you Mom!

#8 I am thankful for my sturdy van. It might be a total mom-mobile, but I can fit anything in it and it's dependable!

#9 Today I am grateful for the chance to spend an afternoon with my husband! Never thought I would be grateful that material didn't come in!

#10 Today I am thankful for everyone who was willing to make the ultimate sacrifice for our country. Thank you for helping preserve our freedoms. I am grateful for all our veterans but especially my grandfather, uncle and my mom!

#11 Just got back from a wonderful wedding. The thing I'm thankful for today? Love. I wish you every happiness David and GG!

#12 Today I am thankful for caffeine! Nicholas went back to the wedding after dinner to hang out with his friends last night and I ended up staying up too late watching a chick flick. ;)

#13 Today I am thankful for sleep and a husband who occasionally lets me sleep in. He got up with Chandler at 7am this morning and I didn't roll out of bed until 10:30! I feel wonderful.

#14 I am grateful for the opportunity to stay home and homeschool my kids. Every time Claire "gets" it the look of excitement on her face makes up for any sacrifices we have made.

#15 I am thankful for a full pantry. Even when times are tough and we only have a few dollars in the bank I never have to worry about feeding my children. We always have plenty!

#16 Daddy is home from work today due to the rain so today I am thankful for laughter, giggles and snuggles. I adore look on my children's faces when they realize that Daddy is home in the morning.

#17 I am thankful that my daughter gets the opportunity to be in a wonderful homeschool co-op. It's full of information and crafts and is casual so no one minds when the kids interrupt or wander off to ask their moms something. They have been learning about the solar system and Claire talks about it all the time!

#18 Today I am thankful for my grandmother. She is amazing. When my mom came home after her divorce she came home with 2 year old me and Grandma and I were a team while Mom worked. I have may wonderful memories of dancing under flower petals, eating sandwiches made into pinwheels, and getting to have tea parties with her fine china. Now I am blessed to watch her be an awesome great-grandmother to my children. Claire adores her Grandma Claire and loves getting to do crafts at her house. I am very lucky to have my grandma! :)

#19 Today I am thankful for books. They have taken me more places then I ever could have dreamed of alone and always gave me a place to escape when things were hard and I needed a time out. They may be an addiction, but at least it's one that opens my boundaries. ;)

#20 Sick today - I am grateful for hot tea and honey, pineapple juice and a wonderful husband who takes care of me.

#21 Today I am grateful for the rain that feeds the earth and provides us with a dark, rainy day to spend in the house.

#22 I'm grateful for my sister. She may be 9 1/2 years younger then me, but we still have an awesome time together. She helps keep me young and keeps me informed of the things those "whippersnappers" are doing! ;) Seriously, I love how happy and fun and loving she is and I think she is growing into an awesome person. And my kids adore their Aunt Annie!

#23 I am grateful for a strong immune system. I rarely get sick and when I do it usually knocks me down for a day or two and then it's gone. I'm lucky to come from good, healthy peasant stock.

#23 part 2 I have two things to be thankful for today. My wonderful, best Anna. We've known each other since 7th grade and no matter what or where life takes us even if it's been years since we last talked we can always pick right back up like no time ever passed (except for a little catchup!). Our girls are 4 months apart in age and get along really well. I went over to her house today and we made had fun making soap while the girls played and her oldest boy (7 tomorrow!) played with Chandler. So fun!

#24 Today I am grateful for being born in this wonderful country. I am so blessed to live somewhere where even though we are "lower income" we have a warm, snug house, nice clothes, shoes, TWO vehicles, plenty of food and even a television and computer! We are very rich. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

#25 I am thankful that I am not a Black Friday kind of girl. I dropped Claire off at my grandma's house this morning. They are going to make a Christmas village out of milk cartons and then Chandler and I wandered around Kmart and we did pick up one Christmas gift for Claire and Christmas pajamas for the kids. Then we came home and he's taking a nap. So glad to have a quiet day!

#26 It might be silly, but I'm thankful for my pets. I have had 10 cats (Mira, Copernicus, Athena, Little Bit, Ares, Amelia, Pearl, Bonnie, Han and Malcolm) and 1 dog (a miniature dachshund named Lessa) come into my life since I moved out of the house at 17. Some had to be re-homed for various reasons (Mira, Ares, Bonnie and Lessa), some passed away (Copernicus, Little Bit, Amelia and Han) and some are still here, but they all give and gave me love and companionship and now my children get to experience that as well. I'm happy to have our furry friends in our lives.

#27 Today I am grateful for my washer and dryer. We do a lot of laundry in this house and having machines that help me are the only way I keep up. Now if someone would just invent a folding machine ....

#28 Today I am thankful for the Internet. As a SAHM I don't know how I would get to talk to everyone otherwise! I have made some awesome friends on here, some I haven't even met in person yet, but we're all close and here for each other. It's an amazing thing.

#29 I am thankful for electricity. It really is an amazing thing ...

#30 I am grateful to see what good friends my kids are. They fight, but they love each other. When they are without each other they are both upset and ask for each other and give big hugs when they are back together.

My kids show me joy

2011-11-28T14:57:00.001-05:00

I have a cold. I'm miserable. My head is stuffed and my throat hurts.

Yesterday was our town Christmas parade. Daddy took the kids by himself because I looked pathetic and didn't feel up for it. After they left I started thinking about them watching the parade and me not being there. I almost started to cry (and I'm going to blame that on being sick). So I called my Mom and asked her to take me down to the parade. I just couldn't miss seeing my kids enjoy everything and I'm glad I did. Seeing them jumping up and down and clapping at every tiny, small town float going by was a delight. Seeing Chandler dancing and wiggling his butt to every Christmas carol and Claire shriek every time a person on a float tossed her candy made it completely worth it. The joy they got out of a blow up rhinoceros, a dog wearing antlers and a girl on roller skates makes you stop. Christmas is all about being a child. It's about the wonder of the little things. The presents are just the candles on the cake. It's the lights and the hot chocolate and the snow and being with your loving family that is the cake and the icing. Experience it.

And now I'm going back to my hot tea with honey and tissues and hopefully I will feel better tomorrow.

Quiting? Or is it moving on?

2011-11-18T13:51:00.001-05:00

Claire has told me she doesn't want to go to ballet anymore. She's gone to 11 lessons so far - I counted. She says it makes her tired and then she sits down on the floor and then she gets yelled at. She showed me how she does the steps (she apparently tries to put a little of her own style in) and then she is told it's wrong. She told me she just wants to dance at home.

Now the debate. If I let her quit am I setting her up to quit anything if/when it gets hard? Or have I let her try something new and she decided it wasn't for her? Can a 5 year old decide this? Or is she young enough that we can try again later? Would I stifle something if I force her to continue? Or should I give her the freedom to decide her own direction? What if she quits and then asks to go to ballet next month? Why is parenting so hard?

Sigh.

I told him ...

2011-11-09T16:18:00.003-05:00

My husband is so proud of himself right now. His coworker just had his first child a few months ago. He was sharing with him the difficulties they are having and Daddy gave him advice. His coworker's wife talked to their doctor and the doctor told them to do exactly what Daddy suggested! I keep telling him he's a good daddy! :)

This was Halloween, Halloween, Halloween ...

2011-11-06T20:27:00.003-05:00

Just had to show off my Sleeping Beauty and 3-eyed Monster! They had lots of fun and thought Mom approved candy was awesome! We doled out two pieces each that night and one each everyday until they stopped asking. :)

A Little Belated - but it's the Fair!

2011-10-22T17:09:00.002-04:00

Well, this is a little late, but at least it's here! Last month was the County Fair! As I said last year our County Fair is one of the last purely agricultural fairs. No ride, but just animals and quilts and pies. :) It's lots of fun!

Warning for a minor picture overload ...

Big pile of Sheep's wool to feel

Baby Donkey! Have you ever seen anything so cute?

The kids love the goats

Pretty Quilts

Basket making

Children's entries

BIG sunflower!

Claire and Chandler got to enjoy an ice cream

Pumping water like his great-grandmother!

Claire had to give it a try too

Whittling spoons

My boy is growing up!

2011-10-16T14:00:00.008-04:00

Last night my boy put away another of his baby things and it was a big one. Chandler's crib is no more. Such a big boy! We got him a twin bed and Daddy built a beautiful bed rail for him. On the trip to Charleston he slept in a bed in the hotel room and fell out 3 times each night. We knew he wasn't ready to be in a normal bed without help. We set up the bed and bed rail and then hurried off to dinner at my in-laws. When we got home it was late and it was almost time to get in bed. We were prepared of a long night of "return the baby to the bed" but he surprised us! Daddy read them a book in bed, we tucked him in and he went right to sleep. He woke up on time during the night crying, but Daddy checked on him and he just needed a little comfort before going right back to sleep.

He cracked me up this morning. He woke up and as he does every morning he sat there and called for me to get him. "Mama! Up, Mama! Eat! Mama!" I waited for it to dawn on him that he could get out of his bed on his own. Finally Claire got out of her bed and told him to get out of bed himself. The "Yay!!" I heard was absolutely hilarious! We are such creatures of habit. Or maybe he just inherited Mama's inability to think first thing in the morning. Poor kid!

The beautiful bed rail Daddy built

First bed time story in the new bed

Chandler all tucked in and ready for bed. Happy boy!

Score!

2011-10-13T19:02:00.004-04:00

Well, Horizons Math is a big hit! We started it today after working as far as we could before Claire started getting frustrated in the Kindergarten/First Grade workbook we picked up in Walmart. We pulled Horizons out today and she adored it. We actually did 3 lessons (3 pages back and front) because she didn't want to stop. A very good sign! It was colorful and just a enough easy and new things. We discussed Right and Left today. Something that I imagine will take her a little while master, but I'm embarrassed to say that I didn't even think of introducing it to her yet!

That's right son!!

2011-10-12T15:38:00.002-04:00

As I'm snuggling Chandler he looks up and smiles at me: "Mama, best girl whole world!"

Translation: "Mama is the best girl in the whole world!"

What a little schmoozer! And I love it!

Dinner 10-8-11

2011-10-08T17:21:00.001-04:00

On the Menu: Sesame Chicken, Rice and Asian vegetables

Soundtrack: Avril Lavigne - I guess I'm feeling a little faux punk ;)

Such a Daddy's Girl!

2011-10-08T09:11:00.003-04:00

Claire and Daddy are snuggling ....

Claire: Daddy, you're the best!

Daddy: That's right!

Claire: You're the best worker and the best player! And the BEST snuggler!

It is true .... :)

Nine Years? Already??

2011-10-05T13:40:00.005-04:00

<--- Awww, look how young we were! Nine years ago today, Daddy and I got married. It's been nine years of domestic bliss. Some wonderful years, some very difficult years (I'm looking at you 2009!) but every one of them were worth it. He is my best friend, we still laugh and giggle together and he still tries to molest me in the hallway. He's the best daddy I know. He adores our children and they adore him. Claire says she's going to marry him. (When I say that she can't because I married him she says that we can share him. It's hard to tell your 5 year old that you aren't the sharing type!) I thank God everyday for giving me such a great, caring, hard-working guy.

Nine years ago I was beginning to hate the word "wedding" and I turned to my fiance and said, "I don't care about all this! I just want to marry you! We already have the condo on Hilton Head for the honeymoon, why don't we just ditch this wedding, head down there a day early and get married on the beach where we wanted anyway??" And so we did. It was perfect. We told everyone that they were welcome to come if they wanted. We ended up with 16 guests. My mother and siblings (3), my paternal grandparents (2), Daddy's father, mother, stepfather and siblings (6) and a good friend of mine and Daddy's two best friends with their girlfriends (5). We got married at 5pm on a beautiful, hot sunny day and we all headed to a local steakhouse afterwards. It was exactly what I wanted, casual and small, and the best part of the day that was I ended up married to the best man I know!

Not bad

2011-10-04T16:23:00.003-04:00

I don't know why, but Sunday evening I was just dreading this week. I felt like I was stuck in a weird rut and nothing about the new week got me excited. I have no clue why I was in such a funk. Yesterday ended up being a shiver in our blankets and lounge around the house day. We woke up to 29 degree weather!! Brrrr! What happened to Fall? Did we just go straight to Winter? So we watched movies and did schoolwork and the kids played in their rooms. I was lazy and played around on the computer and read and tried to lazy out my funk. It warmed up to the late 60's in the afternoon and the kids played outside in their playground while I sat in a camp chair in the sun and read. That's always good for whatever ails you! :)

Today we took a quick trip to Walmart and had lunch before the kids laid down for a nap. Chandler slept well and I made some more laundry detergent and did a bunch of laundry already. Claire and I did minimal schoolwork (Bible, Math and Handwriting) before we all went outside to play. It's not been bad at all and I don't know what I was dreading so much. Daddy is working late tonight, so I'm glad we've had a good day. Nothing worse then cranky children and no relief at 5 o'clock! Hope every else's day is going well!

Dinner 10-3-11

2011-10-03T19:04:00.002-04:00

On the menu: Linguine Alfredo with garlic bread

Soundtrack: The Beatles

Poor little Han

2011-10-01T17:09:00.003-04:00

I thought I had posted this before. Last Saturday morning I woke up to find our sick kitten in bed with us. He had passed away in the night. We buried him the next day under our apple tree. It was very upsetting to Claire. Chandler is a little young and I don't think he understood. But Claire and I had to have "the death talk". Not a fun one. She's been bringing up questions and thoughts all week. Poor little thing. Death is a very hard concept to grasp and deal with, I just hope I did it right.

We will miss you Han ...

What am I? Chopped liver?

2011-09-27T10:15:00.004-04:00

Picture this: I'm snuggling with Chandler. Nuzzling his sweet, soft hair. I sigh contentedly, "I love you Chandler."

And his reply? "Yeah, Daddy loves me."

Umm, what?! Can we say Daddy's boy??

What a crazy week!

2011-09-23T13:58:00.002-04:00

We were without internet for 3 days. Horrors!

One of the kittens got very sick. We were seriously worried about him. He didn't eat for at least 2 days. We got him to the vet and they diagnosed him with a serious upper respiratory infection and inner ear infection. He got a major dose of antibiotic and fluids due to dehydration this morning. We're hoping he will start perking up soon.

Oh, and we had homeschool co-op, ballet and several family dinners. Busy week! Here's hoping for a relaxing weekend ...

Dinner 9-17-11

2011-09-17T17:32:00.001-04:00

On the menu: Tacos

Soundtrack for cooking (I just have to have music while cooking): Spamalot soundtrack

I must be crazy

2011-09-15T15:25:00.005-04:00

So, on Tuesday we had dinner at my mother-in-laws house. They had a new kitten and the kids had a wonderful time playing with it. My mother-in-law told us it was from a litter of kittens that was now at the Animal Control Center and that the next day was their last chance to be adopted or they would be put down. :( Daddy is such a softy when it comes to animals even if he tries not to be. He grabbed me and told me to check it out and bring home no more then two if it was true.

WHAT?! Weren't we just saying we had too many cats and we were glad when we got back down to two?? But we couldn't just let little baby kittens die.

So, yesterday morning we went down there to see what was going on. Turns out there were 5 kittens/young cats that would be put down that afternoon if no one adopted them. We got there at 11:30 so it really was a last minute stay of execution. I wish I could have taken them all home, but two really was our max. After snuggling with several of them and debating for a few minutes (my mom came to help make a decision) we ended up with the youngest two, 10 week old brothers. They are practically twins as you can see:

The only difference is the one in the back has a stubby, crooked tail. Not really sure how that happens ... The one in the front has been christened "Mal" after Captain Malcolm Reynolds and stubby tailed one is "Han" after Han Solo. Yes, we are nerds! ;) Mal climbed in bed with Daddy and I this morning and snuggled and purred. He's a real sweetie and very affectionate. Han is quieter, but he loves to snuggle. They've been stuffing their faces and seem very happy. I'm so glad we were able to give them a chance!

Our Ballerina

2011-09-02T07:56:00.002-04:00

Second Hiccup

2011-09-01T14:19:00.003-04:00

My daughter says she doesn't like Math. :(

We got RightStart Mathematics Level A for her. I thought something very manipulative heavy would be good for my active, intense daughter. RightStart wants the child to try and visualize things and do numbers in your head. They start off very slowly, but she gets so frustrated when I ask her to "imagine" it. I was stumped.

Then I was discussing both problems with my mother (a former homeschool mom) and I had a mini ephinay. Problem #1 (going too quickly through handwriting) answers problem #2! Claire loves worksheets! RightStart has no worksheets ... hmm. So as an experiment I picked up a $3 Math Workbook from Walmart on Tuesday. It's a Math Readiness book geared for Kindergarten and 1st grade. She loves it.

Now my problem - I spent a good amount of money on her math curriculum and I can't return it now. So I guess I'm going to have to do a modified version of RightStart with worksheets mixed in. It's going to be more work for me because I can't follow the easy, set out in front of you lesson plan that RightStart gives, but I want my daughter to enjoy math and I will do everything in my power to help her. Now I just need to figure out next year ... has anyone used Horizons Math? Did you like it? Any suggestions?

First Hiccups

2011-08-29T19:13:00.004-04:00

Well, it's not even September and we've run into our first homeschool hiccups. You know it's going to happen, even if you pray it doesn't.

First one is actually a pretty good thing. Claire LOVES her handwriting practice. She's doing so well with Handwriting Without Tears. I should have realized this might be a problem when got her the Pre-K book in April and she finished it in July. We started the Kindergarten book on July 29th, one month later we are at page 47 of 93. Yes, half the book in one month! I figured I had three options:

#1 - Go ahead and get the 1st grade handwriting book.

#2 - Just give her extra practice sheets of my own invention ... for the rest of the year ...

#3 - Get a Kindergarten book from a different publisher to give her the same level work.

There were cons to all of my options, for #1 I was afraid that if I just went ahead and got the 1st grade book she would be ready for the 2nd grade book by January and the 3rd grade book (and cursive!) by next April! While I don't want to hold her back I don't think she will be ready for that ...

For #2 I was afraid that it would bore her and I don't want to loose her motivation and excitement at practicing her letters. Also, I would have to create several practice sheets for her everyday.

The only con I thought of for #3 was that the letters would be formed slightly differently. I'm not sure if that would confuse her or not. After considering it for a few days and asking advice from some awesome fellow homeschool moms I decided that option 3 was my best bet. So I ordered the Kindergarten workbook from my runner up when I was deciding curriculum Zaner-Bloser. I hope she likes it and I figure when we finish it I will just go to the Handwriting Without Tears First Grade book or we can continue with Zaner-Bloser if she loves it.

Well, I have children who require my attention, so I will talk about our other hiccup in a later post!

Haha

2011-08-25T21:18:00.004-04:00

Life is crazy! Soon I will sit down and write out a few good posts, but I just had to share this tonight.

Lately Claire has been regaling us with her version of jokes. None of them are very funny, but we humor her. An example is this one:

Claire: Knock, knock!

Me: Who's there?

Claire: Claire

Me: Claire who?

Claire: Claire the silly girl!!

And then she dies laughing. Haha. ;-/

So tonight Daddy decided to teach her a real joke. It went something like this:

Daddy: Why did the chicken cross the road?

Claire: I don't know.

Daddy: To get to the other side!

Claire, acting very excited: And then the truck deaded him?!

Umm, no dear.

What can I say? She's our child ...

We have a PLAN!

2011-08-03T15:04:00.012-04:00

Why do I feel like an evil Mwhahaha needs to go with that?

We have all of Claire's Kindergarten materials together! This is the plan for the year:

Language Arts

We have "The Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching", Handwriting Without Tears - Kindergarten and Explode the Code 1. We've been working with OPG since around April and Claire really enjoys it. We also got the Pre-Kindergarten level of Handwriting Without Tears at the same time and she's already finished it! She loves her handwriting books! After 2 days of working with the Kindy level one we were already at page 15! We haven't started Explode the Code yet, I'm waiting until we get a little further with OPG. We started using a slate and chalk for Claire to practice her letters on, but we found it was difficult for her to write, so I picked up a small whiteboard and it's working great.

Mathematics

We have RightStart Mathematics, Level A. We haven't gotten very far on it, but I liked that it was manipulative heavy.

Bible

Umm, yeah. That's pretty much it.

Science

Since it's just Kindergarten we will be doing experiments. Once we get into the school year swing of things it will probably be one a week. We got "Stepping into Science" from Timberdoodle to start us off. I also have two Science project books give me ideas. "Bubbles, Rainbows and Worms" is science experiments for preschool, but I figure her brother can enjoy it as well that way.

Social Studies

We have "Beginning Geography" to start us off and I will add in from the many books we have lining our house for History, etc.

Extras

I guess I would call this Critical Thinking? I got the set of "Developing the Early Learner" from Timberdoodle. Claire LOVES this. It's very simple for her in the beginning, but it's nice to have things that are easy every once and a while. :)

Of course all of this is supplemented by many, many books! Claire and I are reading "The All-of -a-Kind Family" by Sydney Taylor right now. I also have the "Chronicles of Narnia" and "The Little House on the Prairie" books that I hope to read this year. Some days I think it all sounds ambitious and some days I don't think it will be enough! But the first year of homeschooling is all about learning for the child and the parent!

Our "school" area

2011-08-01T14:43:00.007-04:00

We are slowly getting a good routine with Claire's schoolwork. We live in a small house and we do our schoolwork at the kitchen table. But having a small house with minmal closets makes it difficult to organize everything. So this is what we have:

This is an older picture from when I was just figuring it out, but yes, that is my kitchen appliance/schoolbooks/craft supplies/board game shelf. (Excuse the messiness, it's real life!) ;)

Here it is the other day. I got the bags through Thirty-One, Claire's bag has the things she needs for school. Chandler's has his "school stuff" (a set of letter flashcards, Lauri toys and a Mario notebook with crayons). The rubbermaid box is the wooden pieces for letters from Handwriting Without Tears, the white box is the manipulatives for Claire's RightStart Math and her science stuff is next to it. It's not a perfect system, but it's all I have room for and it works for now. Our kitchen is a bit crowded, but there really is nowhere else to put it! Someday I will have an area that can comfortably store everything, but I have the feeling we'll always do out school work at the kitchen table!

The end of an era ...

2011-07-25T10:30:00.005-04:00

When my husband was a young teenager he started growing his hair. He has had waist length hair for about 15 years - longer then we've been together. He has gorgeous hair. Women stop him all the time and drool over it. It's thick and straight with beautiful blonde streaks. I mean, look at that hair!

Last night we cut it all off! He's been talking about possibly doing it for a few months, but we wanted to be sure before I cut it off. I mean, he's had that hair for a long time! I cut my hair and the kids hair, so I knew I would do his as well. I asked him if he wanted to go to a hairdresser at least for the first time, but he said he trusted me. ;) Here it is all braided for Locks of Love and ready to cut!

The ponytail is gone! I think he's kind of rocking a sexy Johnny Depp look here. I wouldn't have minded him keeping it like this! He said later that he might grow it to this length later. :)

Yep. That's 21 inches of BRAID!

And the big reveal ....

my gorgeous husband ...

I did marry a handsome man!! I think I did a pretty good job. He really likes it! And of course, that's what matters!

Good Deals

2011-07-23T18:13:00.004-04:00

I'm very pleased with myself. Daddy, the kids and I went to Asheville today just to get out of town. We didn't have much money to spend, but there is nothing available in our little town and sometimes you just need to get out. Claire is shooting up like a little weed, so I kept my eye out for some new clothes for her in the Back to School sales that are going on. I ended up getting her an entire outfit for $22!

The shoes were from Payless for $9. The pink shirt was $4 at Old Navy and the hoodie and pants were $4.24 each at The Children's Place. She's very excited. What girl doesn't love new clothes? ;)

My son rocks!

2011-07-21T13:06:00.006-04:00

One year ago (July 15, 2010 to be exact), Chandler was evaluated because of delays and lack of weight gain. He was diagnosed with a speech delay (he was 17 months old and speaking at a 10 month old level), and sensory issues which made it difficult for him to eat. He wouldn't pick up food and would freak out if anything got on his hands. He was under the 3rd percentile on the growth charts, only 19 lbs at 17 months old! We started off with occupational therapy once a month, a psychologist every other week, the nutritionist once a month and a speech therapist every week. That's a lot of appointments!

By November Chandler had improved well enough the the OT felt comfortable discharging him, with the psychologist and nutritionist still monitoring him while I still did some at home therapies. In May 2011 the psychologist said he would always have his little quirks (not a surprise, he is my child!), but she was done with his therapy. By now the nutritionist was only coming once every other month. Chandler was slowly scooting up in weight and was starting to consistently reaching her goals for him each visit. His weight-for-length wasn't really increasing, but that's because he was shooting up in height at the same time! But we adored his nutritionist and loved for her to come. He was continuing with speech therapy once a week and we were really seeing improvement there too.

On July 12, 2011 Chandler's speech therapist cam and did a new evaluation since we had seen so much improvement. A normal score is anywhere from 85-115. When we started he was scoring 75. He scored 106 and 111 on the two different sections! What an improvement! He is DONE with Speech Therapy!

On July 14, 2011 his nutritionist came and his coordinator joined her for our yearly review. He was 50% for height and nearly 10% for weight! We signed the paperwork for him to be discharged from the program and he is finished with all therapies! I am so proud of him! Almost exactly one year and he went from serious delays and 4 therapists coming to work with him, to being completely finished and excelling! No one can tell me that Early Intervention doesn't work! I am so thankful for everyone who worked with us and I am so proud of my son!

Hurray!

2011-07-20T16:43:00.002-04:00

I have my computer back! I still have to organize it, but I'm so happy to have a real computer back! There will be one change you will see here. I'm going to go ahead and use my kids names instead of pseudonyms. I realized there's not too much of a point. Their pictures are out there and it's pretty hard to track someone down with just the child's first name!

I've been doing a lot of thinking lately. Life is complicated. Claire (formerly known as The Girl) got pink eye last week and Chandler (formerly known as Little Man) has had random fevers the last two days. Claire and I have been doing more schoolwork, we started our Math curriculum! So far we really like RightStart Mathematics. We are doing a slow entry into regular sit down schooling, we have started doing Phonics, Writing, Bible, Thinking and Math regularly. I still haven't added Geography or Science and we are only doing school 2-3 day a week for the summer. Our local school starts back on August 4th - isn't that incredibly early? I think my goal will be regularly doing a little of everything by September. I will do a rundown of our coming school year soon!

My daughter for you

2011-07-20T16:39:00.006-04:00

Me: "Claire, we have to clean your room today!"
Claire: "Why?"
Me: "Look at it! Where is your floor?"
Claire: "Under those dolls."

Well, that's true ...

:( I'll be back soon ...

2011-07-18T18:06:00.003-04:00

I dropped the laptop and we had to perform last rites. :( We traded my mom for a desktop tower she wasn't using. Thanks Mom! But now my uncle (Thank you!) is trying to recover the things that were on the laptop and put it on the new desktop for us. My mom loaned us her old, cranky laptop in the interim and I am so grateful to be able to get online, but it is not the easiest! I will be back ... I had just taken pictures for a new post when it happened too. Hopefully we will get the computer back in the next week! See you soon!

Hello Bright New World!!

2011-06-21T13:33:00.005-04:00

As of now I am a completely Stay at Home, Homeschooling Mom!! Excuse me ... *~*~* HAPPY DANCE *~*~* This weekend was my last day at work!

When The Girl was about 1 year old I quit my full-time job as a loan officer assistant (which is pretty much a loan processor) which I really enjoyed to stay home with her. But we needed more income so I took a part-time job as a waitress in the evenings. After a year I was asked to be a closing manager. I've been there over 3 and half years and this part-time job has slowly become more and more. Also in this last month Daddy got a new job that requires him to go all over the area for jobs. Sometimes he's here in town, but sometimes he has to drive an hour or more away! That makes it very difficult for him to be home by the time I need to be at work which brings us to the other problem ... we've lost some of our babysitters! My mom and sister works, my mother-in-law is busy and my grandfather just had knee replacement surgery so my grandmother is very busy helping him. All in all after several very long discussions Daddy and I agreed it would be best for our family for me to quit work for now. We will have to be frugal - my income paid for any extras - but we will make it work. Happily I left on good terms and I was told by several managers that I would be welcome back at any time, so that is nice to have in backup! But now I am looking around the house that has been neglected due to us both working and I have a very long list of cleaning and organization to complete! Allons-y!

Scottish pride

2011-06-19T08:24:00.004-04:00

Yesterday was the "Taste of Scotland" festival in town. We live in a little town in Western North Carolina and these mountains host a proud Scottish Heritage. My husband and I both have some Scot background (him more then me, our last name has a Scottish background, my great grandmother was Scotch-Irish) and we never miss a year! Unfortunately I forgot my camera, but I did snatch a few with my cell phone. We arrived just in time for the parade of the clans with the all the bagpipes going! I may be weird, but I love bagpipes! :) We also got to see the Knobby Knees contest of all the men in kilts and lots of wonderful Celtic dancers and singers! There different venders and some clans have tents up as well. This year the man at Clan Young stopped us and told us that he had some child size kilts that were bought for a wedding and we were welcome to try them on and take pictures. You don't have to ask me twice to get the chance to see my son wearing a kilt! He wasn't sure about the kilt, but he loved the sporran and he cried when we took his "belt" off. Does he not look absolutely adorable? And no, he did not go "traditional"! ;)
The Girl got her face painted and was so excited. It's hard to see in this picture - but she got a butterfly on her eyes. But I got to see how grown-up she is now. Daddy, my mom and a friend of mine were talking and I was standing next to her while she was in line and she pushed me away and said, "No, mommy, don't stand with me. Go with Daddy and Grandma." So, I started to walk the five feet to where they were standing and she stopped me and said, "Wait Mommy! Give me the dollars!" Sure kid. Handle the transaction by yourself. How old are you again? And people say homeschooled children are shy and reclusive ... they've definitely never met my child!

Please excuse the mess!

2011-06-17T16:05:00.001-04:00

Changing the email address attached to this blog was MUCH more complicated then I expected it to be and now all the pictures are missing all of the sudden! I am not happy! Please excuse me while I try to get this all fixed!

Homeschool Update

2011-06-14T14:39:00.007-04:00

I just wanted to do a quick update on Kindergarten! We have decided to do year-round schooling because I really don't see any reason to take a summer vacation. The Girl begs to "do school" most days and if she's eager to learn I don't want to tell her no! Today she asked me, "Mama? After nap can we do my education?" Is she not wonderful? Plus I think if we school year-round I will have a lot more lee-way and relaxed schedule because we know we will get our 180 days in without even trying!

The other day my brilliant girl wrote out "BED" and sounded it out! So proud of her! We're making very good progress at reading.

Memories ...

2011-06-11T00:44:00.006-04:00

I have had a storage unit since I first moved out of the house when I was 17 years old. This week Daddy and I emptied it out! There was so much stuff I forgot that I owned. I sorted and donated 15 boxes of books to the local Friends of the Library bookstore. I only kept six boxes! Daddy has promised to build me another bookshelf if I find somewhere to put it! ;) I also found 3 boxes of my old toys. What a trip down memory lane. I even had the corsage that my Mom gave me at my first ballet recital when I was 5 years old! Some things you just can't throw away. The Girl found the box of my old Sylvanian Familes and had a ball playing with them. There is not much better then watching your child enjoy something that you enjoyed as a child! So much fun!

Officially a grown-up!

2011-06-09T08:38:00.006-04:00

I am the proud owner of a mini-van! My sister has already made the soccer mom jokes, but I don't care! I can fit everything and the kids have plenty of room and there is room for anyone else who may come along. :) It has rear air conditioning and a DVD player that we have to figure out how it works. The kids think the automatic door is the coolest thing! I'm very excited, but I have to admit I do feel like I'm "officially" a grown-up mom now!

5 years old?? Already?!

2011-06-08T21:56:00.010-04:00

The Girl turned 5 on Monday - yes, my daughter's birthday is 6/6/06! At least it's easy to remember! I'm still in shock that I've been a mother for 5 years. She's so tall and beautiful and smart and silly and a pain in the neck! ;) Seriously, she makes my world wonderful even if she frustrates me and teaches me much more then I ever expected! It's it amazing how we expect to teach our children so many things and they end up teaching us more about ourselves and the world then we ever thought possible.

We had her birthday party on Saturday. She kept changing her mind on what theme she wanted. Originally she wanted a ballerina party, then a Barbie party, but we finally settled on a Sleeping Beauty Party. It's very hard to find just Sleeping Beauty stuff so we agreed on a pink party with a little Sleeping Beauty things.

Her beautiful Sleeping Beauty cake made by Creative Confections by Amanda - didn't she do a fantastic job? And the cake was delicious too!

Our porch all pinked and purpled out!

And last, but certainly not least - our gorgeous Birthday Princess! :)

Nice!

2011-05-25T14:17:00.003-04:00

I hit a couple of thrift/resale stores today because The Girl is shooting up and outgrew 90% of last years summer clothes. She's so tall and skinny and it can really make it difficult to find her clothes that fit right. She has a very long torso and long legs. But I managed to score a pair of Land's End sneakers (she fit a size 12!), a really pretty "birthday" dress (Maggie & Zoe), 1 skirt, 4 shirts and a pair of pajamas for $31! Not shabby ...

And there's nothing better then watching your little girl spread out all her new clothes and admire them! She's so excited!

Poor Amelia ...

2011-05-23T10:41:00.006-04:00

This morning my husband walked out to go to work and found my cat laying in the lawn. She was gone. :'( We always make sure our cats are inside for the night, but last night I couldn't locate her. Right before we went to bed I thought I heard a cat cry on our front porch, but when I looked I couldn't see anyone. We had Amelia for over 6 years!

I was working at a bank when someone brought in a basket of kittens to see if anyone would be interested. I picked up the sleek little gray one and she just nuzzled into my neck and I knew I had to get her! That person was smart - three kittens were adopted by me and my co-workers! When I brought her home she immediately started exploring the house without fear so we named her "Amelia" after Amelia Earhart. She was quickly adopted by our older cat and they've always been close. I hope Athena will be okay without her. When we started having children she was great with the kids and never minded them loving on her. When they got too rough she just walked away. She would spend almost every evening on my lap or curled up next to me on the couch. She was "my" cat and would always greet me in the morning. I'll miss my sweet Amelia!

We left our hearts in Charleston ...

2011-05-21T13:54:00.011-04:00

Last weekend we had a wonderful opportunity to go to Charleston, SC for a couple of days. My brother-in-law lives there and he was so excited to see the kids. He promised three days of worn out kids! And he was right!

We planned on leaving at 6am and we were on the road at 6:09am! Even with giving the kids frequent run around breaks we got to Charleston at 12:30. We immediately met up with brother-in-law and headed to his house which just happened to be 2 blocks from a beautiful beach access. My children have never seen the beach and it was wonderful! The Girl just dove on in and didn't even let me get my pants off before we were in the water! She had a wonderful time jumping waves with her uncle and Daddy. Little Man is my more cautious child and he was a little nervous when we saw the waves. He kept saying, "Hurt! Hurt!". So I just sat with him at the edge of the waves and we played in the sand and waved "Hi Water!" and "Bye Water!" as the waves came up to us. Eventually the waves came closer and closer and he had no problem when we were sitting in the water. By Sunday (our last day there) he was jumping (little) waves and yelling "Fun! Fun!". That's my tough guy! He may be a little nervous and cautious about new things, but once he watches for a little while and as long as we are patient he will jump on in! :)

Saturday we walked around downtown and saw a neat little farmer's market in the park. The kids got to ride a pony - which they LOVED! Could The Girl have had a bigger grin on her face? Then we walked next to the water down to see Battery Park. At that point we were all hot so we decided to go to the beach by the fort on Sullivan's Island, but a storm was starting to blow in so we took a few pictures at the fort and headed for dinner. It rained while we were eating and was a beautiful, cool evening by the time we got out.

Sunday we got to go back to the beach. It was low tide and we found some wonderful creatures. The kids loved seeing the hermit crabs, starfish, conch, and few dead jellyfish. The Girl decided to start a shell collection and we found her some really neat ones! After a few hours we headed to the pool to rinse the salt off and play a little more before having to head back to the mountains. It was hard leaving. The Girl said , "I want to live in Charleston, Mommy. Our town is yucky!" ;) We ended up tearing ourselves away at 3 in the afternoon, so we didn't get home until 9 at night. And it was SO cold! We left a gorgeous, sunny, 80 degree day in Charleston and came back to a cloudy, rainy, chilly 50 degree evening! Brrr!! Take me back!!

Beach pictures:

Making letters

2011-05-16T17:26:00.006-04:00

I meant to post this last week - but the week got away from me! We've been continuing with The Girl's Kindergarten work early. Eh, when it comes to homeschool why does it really matter when you start your school? We will probably mostly year round schooling anyway. For handwriting and letters we are doing Handwriting Without Tea rs. HWT is a multi-sensory program and they use wooden pieces to make capital letters as well as great, fun workbooks. To save money I used my handy-dandy husband and asked him to make them. I think he did a great job!

She made an "O" Even Little Man joined the fun!

Showing off her letter "R"

Random thoughts

2011-05-05T14:10:00.002-04:00

#1 I really wish my daughter would wait until my eyes were open before she wants to know the game plan for the day. Hasn't she figured out that saying "What are we doing today?" as a way to wake me up gets me in a bad mood?

#2 Our cats are driving me crazy. We have four (I know! Too many!) and they eat like crazy and I can't get the litter box smell to go away. :(

#3 I miss having friends. Life is so crazy and I feel like I never get to just sit and chitchat with another grownup.

#4 We're planning on selling my car and becoming a one car family for a little while. Scary!

#5 I am SO excited that we are going to visit Daddy's brother in Charleston, SC next weekend. It will be the first time the kids will get to see the ocean!

#6 I am drowning in curriculum catalogues and homeschooling books!

You know I really could go on forever .... but that it life right now!

Birthday cupcakes!

2011-04-17T13:22:00.008-04:00

This weekend is Daddy's birthday! I decided to make him a treat and since he loves raspberries I found this website with some awesome cupcake recipes on it! I made Cupcake #25 - Sour Cream Raspberry Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting ...

Getting ready ...

Putting the Raspberries in ...

In the oven!

Not as pretty as the one on the website - but yummy!

Planting ...

2011-04-15T14:44:00.008-04:00

Like I mentioned the other day we have major Spring Fever in this house! So we decided to plant watermelon and green beans! The Girl did not seem to understand that they wouldn't be available right away. She wanted to have watermelon for dessert. She also said that she would wake up and there would be a big beanstalk out side her window that she could climb up! Not sure what she was planning to do about the giant though.

My mom lives next door so she helped. Well, actually it was her green beans and we did it in her section of the yard, so maybe we should say that WE helped! We sent up a teepee with bamboo so the beans can grow up them - hopefully it will work!

Planting seeds ...

Little Man helping Grandma ...

Surveying their creation!

Messy Fun

2011-04-13T14:57:00.009-04:00

Daddy has a job that is kind of far away this week so we miss him terribly. He's been leaving the house at 5:30am and getting home at 10pm. :( He pretty much has to go straight to bed so he can do it again. The kids have been upset that they really haven't seen him for 2 days so last night I pulled out two pans and shaving cream and they went at it!

The original plan was to try writing our letters in it, but I got the cheapest shaving cream that Walmart had which ended up being Barbarsol and it actually was TOO good a quality. It was very thick and stuck to their hands. So, for future reference you want to get the cheap dollar tree type. It was lots of fun to squish through our fingers and it culminated into a winner takes all shaving cream fight. ;) I ended up having to throw both of them in the shower to get it out of their hair and off their backs! Lots of fun!

Well, I guess that's a start ...

2011-04-11T15:27:00.009-04:00

As most of you know I am homeschooling our children. Well, until now I just called it "being a mom". But it's time to get serious! Anyway, with our tax refund I started getting The Girl's homeschool curriculum and she was so excited when she saw it that she wanted to "do school" right away. I couldn't exactly say, "No. You can't. You have to wait 4 more months." So today we sat down after I spent last week hurriedly reading the teacher's guides and making a lesson plan. I decided to start slowly and this was my plan for today:

Bible: "God Creates Light and Land" from "Every Day with God"

Phonics: "The Vowel A" from "The Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading"

Writing: Teach her the names of the fingers and teach her how to correctly hold a pencil. Demonstrate how to write her name and see if she can copy it. Page 6 from "Handwriting Without Tears"

Read Aloud: Read her the first chapter from "Matilda" by Roald Dahl

Well, we did some of that! The Bible and the Phonics went well and we ended up writing the letter A on the slates. See her good job?

But after going over the names of our fingers (she loved the song "Where is Thumpkin?") she refused to try to write her name. She just wanted to keep doing the letter A. We did do the page in "Handwriting without Tears" - actually two! And she wanted to keep going ... but I wanted to sit down and read to her and her brother who was getting a little antsy. She didn't want me to read "Matilda" at all and we ended up reading "The Pied Piper of Hamlin" from a book of fairy tales I have. Well, I guess we'll work on it. But it wasn't a bad start!

My silly daughter

2011-04-10T14:39:00.008-04:00

So the other day my mom watched The Girl while Little Man had his speech therapy. We all have a huge case of spring fever so my mom helped her paint a pot and they put some pansies in it for The Girl to put in her room.

She was so excited. That night we heard talking in her room when she was supposed to to asleep. Daddy went in there to find her with the flowers in bed with her. She was hugging them saying, "You're so pretty. I love you!" Over and over. Silly child!

You will be missed ...

2011-03-30T18:40:00.006-04:00

I had a blog planned for today - but I just can't do it now. I found out a couple hours ago that my grandmother passed away.

My father is not the best father and I have not had much contact with him, but my grandmother (his mother) has always made me feel a part of that family. She is - was a wonderful sweet woman. She was so much fun and I remember being so silly with her. I remember her visiting my mom and I when I was really young - like5 or 6 - we went to a outdoor concert with my mom and my other grandmother and afterwards went to Friendly's. I remember her looking at the menu and saying, "Just something little, I'm on a diet." Then the waitress came and she pointed to this huge Sundae another lady was eating and said "I want that one!" We laughed and laughed and I remember it being one of the first times that I "got" grown-up joke and was in on it.

She was one of the happiest women you could ever meet and I wish I could have spent more time with her. We've always lived several states away from each other, but letters and packages would come every few months. Her handwriting was always SO hard to read and my mom and I would sit and decipher it and it became a bit of a joke, but one I loved to do. As I got older she and I became worse at calling each other, but every time we would laugh about how bad we both were and how much we loved each other. The last time we saw each other was November 2006 when The Girl was 5 months old. She loved getting to meet her first great-grandchild.

Ma, me and The Girl - we had just gotten there

Pappy, Ma and The Girl

I hate that she never got to meet Little Man, but I'm so glad I didn't put off sending her a stack of pictures after Christmas. I'm so glad I was able to call her a few weeks ago. She was in pain and really couldn't talk, but I was able to tell her how much I loved and appreciated her. If Little Man had been a girl Daddy and I had planned on naming her after Ma and I was able to tell her that we still plan on it. I've been crying most of the afternoon - but I've been trying to hold back as much as I can so I don't upset the kids. I keep remembering the fun we had - after we moved down to North Carolina they came down to visit and we took them to Dollywood. Ma was SO excited. She kept saying, "Oh my gosh! I can't believe I'm in Dollywood! Oh my gosh!!" It was hilarious.

I will always miss her ...

We cut her hair!

2011-03-17T11:05:00.006-04:00

I've been debating cutting The Girl's hair. Her hair is very long and she's been fighting brushing it and always wants it down so it gets in everything. Daddy was all for it and she loved the idea, even though I was afraid she didn't actually know what I meant, but last night we did it!

Before from the back and front:

"It's going to look like this!"

I'm about to cut!

After (and still a little wet)!!

And from the Back:

She LOVES it! She keeps looking in the mirror and giggling. It's a little shorter then I meant to make it so I'm so glad she likes it!

Makes you grateful ...

2011-03-15T22:47:00.003-04:00

I was just reading the blog of a friend of mine and it had me in tears. She is an Air Force, homeschooling mom whose husband just left for a 6 month deployment. (It's here) She talks about how difficult it is to see him leave knowing that there is a chance that he could never come back and I just wanted to go hug my husband (who had just put crumb cake in the oven and was washing the dishes so double good reason to go love on him!) Her middle child is the same age as The Girl and I can't imagine how she would react if Daddy had to go away for 6 months. Just a reminder to go hug your husbands!

My handsome 2 year old!

2011-03-11T15:58:00.004-05:00

Seriously, have you ever seen a more handsome boy?

"How old are you?" "Dwo!"

Birthday Meltdown ....

Lounging in his new chair .... what a guy!

Bittersweet Day

2011-02-26T22:48:00.009-05:00

Today my Little Man turns 2 years old. His birthdays have been difficult so far for us. We have the joy of celebrating the most wonderful little boy I have ever met - but remembering the day of his birth is hard. That day holds some of the worst days memories for Unlabeled Daddy and myself. Our wonderful son was born at 3:33 in the afternoon gray and unresponsive. If you are familiar with the APGAR scale (a perfect baby, i.e. crying, pink etc is 10) he was born a 1. His heart was beating and that was it. They intubated him and worked on him for over an hour while I was across the room trying to figure out if my baby was okay or even alive. My poor husband was told to touch him and talk to him and he says the first time he laid his hands on him our Little Man just wasn't there. He felt him start breathing as he begged and coaxed him to life. I remember hearing Daddy crying as he told him how much we loved him over and over. Once he started breathing he wouldn't stay breathing without help so they called for a helicopter to airlift him to the nearest NICU (an hour drive away). Watching my newborn son being put in an incubator and wheeled away from me was one of the hardest things I've gone through. They discharged me right away so Daddy and I could follow him and Little Man and I spent 6 days in the NICU (well, I slept in the tiny sleep room they provided me) but I got to hold him nearly all day for his first week and I appreciated every moment of it. Now he's a perfect, defiant, mischievous, loving, cuddly, active little boy and we are so blessed! I hope as he gets older his birthdays won't always be overshadowed by his birth - but I will tell you this - we hug him very tight and appreciate every moment we have with him.

My silly Birthday Boy with his new Buzz Lightyear from Mama and Daddy!

Make it go away!

2011-02-24T10:30:00.004-05:00

It has now been over a week of sick people in this house. Last Tuesday I canceled Little Man's speech therapy because he wasn't feeling well, then I had to cancel the next Tuesday's as well. It is now the following Thursday and he, The Girl, Daddy and I are all still dealing with stuffed and draining sinus' and trying not to hack up a lung. I am so tired of coughing, but there is nothing worse then hearing your little boy laying in his crib coughing and coughing through the night. I am so ready for this illness to move on!

Memories of a young foodie

2011-02-04T16:50:00.008-05:00

I come from a family of foodies. All family gatherings revolve around food whether it's a holiday, birthday or just a quick stop at my grandmother's house. "Can I get you a sandwich? Something to drink?" "No Grandma, I'm fine." "No, really, I can fry you an egg!" You laugh, but I've had this actual conversation! From Grandma we get yummy, comfort food - she makes the most amazing mancotti with homemade crepes! My mom went to to culinary school and owns her own cafe/bakery/coffee shop. My mom can be adventurous with her meals, she serves a lot of vegan and ethnic food. She makes wonderful soups, homemade bao, delicious sushi and sweet potato quesadillas! Yum, now I'm really hungry!

Today a friend of mine posted about grocery shopping and exploring new food with her sons in her blog (<-- check it out!). It made me think of all the wonderful times I had with my mom and grandma visiting Dekalb Farmer's Market in Atlanta. You could get ANYTHING there! We would look through the grocery section and then move on to the produce there was things none of us had ever heard of and anytime we found something new my mom would always buy one or two for us to try. Purple Peruvian Potatoes are quite good! Then we would meander through the bread and bakery section. I would always get some fresh bagels and sometimes they had knishes. We would stop in the Seafood section and stare at the big tanks of live fish available. Mom usually picked up squid and tuna - huge favorites among my siblings and I! The many types of cheeses and meats fascinated me and grossed me out when I found out what Rocky Mountain oysters were! We usually ended in the freezer section were my lactose intolerant brother would get to pick out a soy ice cream of his choice. We would spend hours there browsing. It was always our main stop and we would pack the coolers full in the van before heading the almost 3 hours back to our little town. Then we would eat like kings for a week or two as we went through all the goodies we got. I can't wait until my children are old enough to be able to take the trip!

Hiking!

2011-01-30T20:38:00.006-05:00

It was so beautiful today Daddy and I decided to take the kids for a hike. We've wanted to go hiking, but were waiting for Little Man to walk a little better so we didn't have to worry about toting him the whole time. The Appalachian Trail runs right past our town, so we drove a bit up the mountain to find there still was snow and ice up there! It's very strange to be walking in snow in 60 degree weather! It made it a little difficult because The Girl is a bit clumsy and was not very sure footed. The trail we originally wanted to go on (to the 2nd largest poplar tree in the U.S. - 8' in diameter!) was way too snowy, so we headed up the AT a little bit. We didn't go too far because Little Man has short legs! It took us about a hour to go a mile - but the kids had a ball. We can't wait until it starts warming up so we can go regularly.

Daddy and Little Man heading up the trail

The Girl and the cool old tree

The Girl carefully heading down from the rock that we had our little picnic on. Fun times with our little family!

Life just keeps throwing it at us ...

2011-01-29T13:56:00.003-05:00

So, like I mentioned in my last post, my husband's work is slow this time of year and he's been temporarily laid off. They still have a little work, but he's pretty much only working a day or two a week. I got the rent together but quick checked our bank balance before mailing the check and got a surprise. Apparently someone got a hold of his credit card number and there was a $200 purchase out of our bank account. Grrrr! We had to dispute it with our bank and we're waiting to hear, but I had to call our landlady and send her a partial rent payment - ouch. This is the worst time for something like this to happen!

Yes, I'm still alive!

2011-01-25T20:07:00.004-05:00

It's been a while, it's been kind of crazy here. We had lots of snow, which meant Unlabeled Daddy was out of work and we were all housebound. Then he was temporarily laid off for a week. Ugh. In the middle of all this Little Man got sick. This was is first real illness and he's not a "nice" sick person. Oy. Very whiny, clingy and demanding and then we had to deal with the post-sickness brattyness. You know "Why can't you treat me like this all the time?". Daddy went back to work yesterday and I'm still trying to get everyone back into the routine. Wish me luck!

Just had to share some pictures of snowy fun!

Well, that's creative ...

2010-11-27T13:27:00.005-05:00

November has been super crazy and I know December is probably going to be worse, but I had to share my daughter's silliness.

I've been trying to teach The Girl charity and giving, but it's hard when you don't have any extra. We have sorted through her toys and gave the ones she didn't want to "other children" aka Goodwill and now that the Salvation Army buckets are out I told her that it was so other children could have nice warm coats and Christmas presents and I gave her some coins to put in the bucket. We went to Walmart today and as we pulled in parking spot she saw the lady ringing the bell and asked if she could put some money in the bucket. Since I wanted to see if my lesson was sticking I asked her, "What is that money for? What do they do with the money we give them?"

The Girl screwed up her face, thought for a moment and said, "It's for robot eyes!"

Umm, okay? I think we have more to talk about ...

Internet ABC's

2010-11-05T14:04:00.002-04:00

I found this on one of the blogs I follow (Becoming THAT family) and thought it sounded neat. Just type the letter in your browser tab to try it!

A - Mozilla Firefox

B - Babycenter (not surprising!)

C - Sparkpeople.com (hmm, there's not a lot of rhyme or reason in this)

D - Netflix.com (and my point is made ...)

E - Half.com

F - Facebook (duh!)

G - Google

H - Hulu.com

I - A blog I follow

J - Baby Names advice column

K - http://www.freeprintablebehaviorcharts.com/

L - My family blog

M - My Yahoo

N - Weather.com

O - Confessions of a Homeschooler

P - Sparkpeople.com again

Q - Both my Netflix and Hulu queues came up

R - Airsoft Guns - Shorty USA (THAT would be my husband! :) )

S - Smoky Mountain Center for the Performing Arts

T - Becoming THAT family!

U - This blog! Unlabeled Mama

V - Netflix again ...

W - weather.com again

X - Youtube ???

Y - Yahoo Mail

Z - Amazon.com

Wonderful (and delayed) update!

2010-11-05T13:43:00.004-04:00

On Tuesday Little Man had his FINAL occupational therapy session! You heard me right! He has been improving in leaps and bounds. He is mastering a fork and spoon (a little early, but that's normal with sensory kids) and is eating so much more. But not only that, he's also able to deal with touching some things. I was so excited to see him holding and eating a banana! He still has some issues - he HATES getting his face wiped - but it's now in the "quirky" range instead of the "Oh my God he's not eating and is going to starve" range. :) Our wonderful occupational therapist felt comfortable discharging him and said to feel welcome to call if anything came up. I'm so proud of my Little Man!!!

Making soap!

2010-10-30T14:23:00.008-04:00

On Thursday my BFF, my mom and my kids met at my grandmother's house to make soap! My grandmother has made homemade soap for the family for years and it's starting to get a little tired of doing it so it's time for someone else i.e. me to take over the reins. We all met to make a bunch of batches and go over how to make it. Unfortunately, I forgot my camera. :( But, when I went back over the next day I brought it and got a few pics. First off, the recipe for everyone:

Grandma's Basic Lye Soap

1 Cup Lye Flakes (Sodium Hydroxide)
3 Cups COLD water
8 Cups Fats (lard, vegetable shortening, etc)

Mix Lye Flakes with cold water outdoors (due to fumes). Melt fats. Let both cool. (Lye to 90-95 and lard to close to the same, can be slightly more). Mix in large bowl (not metal. Glass is best, the lye can ruin a plastic bowl) and stir with a wooden or plastic spoon until thick enough that it "traces", the soap should lay on the top for a moment before sinking back in. When soap is consistency of pudding you can add any essential oils, colors, etc. Line soap molds with plastic wrap and pour into molds. Leave soap in molds 24 hours. Turn out onto towels and cut into blocks. Leave in an out of the way place for 2 weeks, turning occasionally. Then ready to use!

Some quick tips:
#1 Wear Gloves!!! Lye burns if it touches your skin, keep vinegar on hand if it does.

#2 Instead of using a spoon to mix it (which feels like forever) pick up a cheap hand held blender. Makes it MUCH quicker!

#3 You can get the lye at Lowe's or any hardware store but make sure it's Sodium Hydroxide. If you get Potassium Hydroxide the soap ends up too soft. My grandmother says she usually orders it online from a chemical company.

#4 Drawer organizers make great soap molds.
We had a lot of fun! Pictures of ingredients:

The Hand Blender we used. It really helped!

Ready to take out and cut.

Doesn't that look pretty?

Nice even pieces ...

The fruits of our labor! We made a lot!

The Girl and Little Man were so good playing at Grandma's house and not being in the middle of everything. And it was fun to have bonding time with my Mom and Grandma! It was so great that Anna (my BFF) was able to make it. We plan on trying to make a batch or two at her house together so we're both more comfortable at it. I really am turning into a hippie! ;)

Laundry Detergent Update

2010-10-26T10:39:00.004-04:00

It works GREAT! My clothes have been very clean and fresh and smell great. The biggest test was in this last load. The Girl had gotten taco meat on her pale purple dress and I forgot to put stain remover on it. It then sat in the laundry room for several days. I just threw it in the washing machine and used the homemade detergent and 90% of the stains came out! There is one still there, but it is very faint and I think I only see it because I know it was there and searched. I am very impressed and will definitely plan on continuing making it!

My next batch with be with a bar of homemade soap and I will see how it is. I may decide to continue using Fels Naptha since it's so great at stain removing.

Look how crunchy I'm getting! Or is it cheap?

2010-10-21T13:25:00.006-04:00

Well, I decided to try to make my own laundry detergent. For several reasons, it's better for the environment and it's cheaper! Not to mention it sounds cool! :)

A friend gave me the recipe and at first I was having a hard time finding all the ingredients. I looked on Amazon.com and everything would have come to $20. :( I was about to move on when I decided to check in our local Ace Hardware. I don't know about the Ace Hardware near you, but our Ace always seems to have all the weird, kooky things you can't find anywhere else. So I asked the lady at the counter and she pointed to the end of the aisle where all three ingredients were all standing right next to each other! It only came to $10.37! So here I go ...

Dry Laundry Detergent

1 Bar of soap (Fels Naptha is recommended and that's what I used for my first batch. I've been told Ivory works well too. Next time I plan on trying our family's homemade soap.)

1 Cup Borax

1 Cup Arm and Hammer Washing Soda (NOT baking soda) This was the hardest one to find.

I decided to go with the dry kind because it seemed simpler to make then the liquid, easier to store and I've always preferred powder detergent.

First I chopped the bar of soap into chunks and put it in the food processor. Luckily my mother was about to get rid of a food processor that was finicky, but that worked for me! Then I didn't have to get my regular food processor all soapy.

Then since I'm a little lazy and it seemed simpler I put the borax and the washing soda straight into the food processor.

Then I was done! I threw it in a quart size ziploc bag for now. It looks like a small amount, but it's concentrated so I am told you only need 1 tablespoon per load, 2 tablespoons if it's an extra dirty or big load. I should add that a friend told me she bought $12 worth of supplies the first time and it took her nearly a year to run out of one of the ingredients! $12 for a year's worth of detergent? Heck, yeah!

I'm excited and can't wait to see how it washes our clothes!

Well, crap. How did I let that happen?

2010-10-19T15:32:00.002-04:00

I went to the homeschool mom meeting last night and as we were discussing our "normal day schedule" two things dawned on me.

#1 I spend WAY too much time online.

#2 The Girl controls everything we do in this house.

How did I let this happen? I never thought I would have a dictator as a daughter. I didn't even realize it was happening. We leave the house everyday because The Girl "has" to, she decides what we eat for breakfast, lunch and snack, on days I don't have specific places to go she "tells" me where we should go and I usually say "okay'.

My first step will be Mama chooses all foods. It was very interesting when she said she was hungry and I went to get the snack of my choice (carrots) and she said "I don't want carrots." Okay. So I sat back down. The look on her face was priceless.

The second step will be cutting down on TV. We don't have cable or satellite so we just have a large collection of DVD's to watch. We all wake up slowly in the morning so we usually watch something when we first get up and Mama can get in the shower. But from now on after that one there will be no TV until after dinner. (Sick days don't count!) ;)

My third resolution is simple. If I don't have something I want to do we don't leave the house. And I'm trying to limit how many trips to the store, so we will probably have at least 2 or 3 days a week where we stay at home.

This is going to be very interesting. Someone is in for a rude awakening ...

P.S. Realization #1 will be a post for another day! ;)

Okay, let's try this ...

2010-10-18T09:57:00.007-04:00

I've been trying to work on positive reinforcement with The Girl. So I found some great behavior charts on this website and printed one that looked like it would work for her. I chose one that had pictures to make it easier for her to know what we're doing and then I added a spot for feeding the cats (her one chore, well, along with putting her plates in the sink after eating). She gets a sticker once she does each thing and at the end of the week if all the stickers are filled in she gets a treat (picking out something at the Dollar Tree).

I modified a couple things that were listed, "Dress Myself" means get ready in the morning nicely (get dressed, brush teeth, etc). "Go to Bed Nicely" equals naptime, she has to at least have a quiet time in her room reading (she actually falls asleep maybe once a week). "Pick up my Toys" pretty much means ... umm, pick up your toys. "Share My Things" is share and be nice to your brother. (Obviously this will be overall for the day). Like my little cat? I added one spot for her feeding the kitties.

I'm very optimistic. The Girl was very excited about it and kept going over to the fridge and going over the things she needed to do and she LOVED getting to pick out a sticker when she got something done. I had picked up a book full of 580 reward stickers at a clearance for $0.50 years ago and I finally pulled it out. Handy little thing! I'll let you know at the end of the week how it ends up!

Oh, and because I just had to post this adorable picture of her and Bonnie .... ;)

Grown up time!

2010-10-12T10:48:00.008-04:00

On Sunday my grandmother watched the kids and Daddy and I got to go out to eat with my sister and her boyfriend! It was so nice! We went to Red Lobster (it was sister's boyfriend's birthday and he got to pick) and everything was quite yummy. I almost forgot how fun it was to go out with another couple and act goofy and non-parent. AND I remembered to bring my camera!

Unlabeled Daddy and Unlabeled Mama

My sister and her better half acting goofy

Big, silly group shot

My husband and I find it very funny that of all the couple friends we've tried to become close with it's my little sister and her boyfriend who are nine years younger then us that we have the most fun with. Just a family thing? :)

Man, my kids look alike!

2010-10-07T14:58:00.006-04:00

So yesterday I was looking through the old pictures I have saved on my computer to post the one of The Girl and I was really struck at how much my children look alike! Wow!

Little Man (left) and The Girl (right) at close to the same age.

Early Bookworms

2010-10-06T21:19:00.006-04:00

My little bookworm in training!

A flashback to his sister at close to the same age ... That's right, my kids love their books! :)

I am so frustrated with my daughter

2010-10-04T14:55:00.002-04:00

The Girl was horrible in the store today. She was difficult at home before we left so I had a little talk with her before we went into Walmart.

"Stay with Mama."

"Listen and Do what Mama says."

Guess how that went? I just need some way to communicate with her. I feel like I go over the same things over and over and over and she just doesn't get it. I get so frustrated with her. And now when I tell her to do something she has started yelling at me or trying to hit me. Really??? Her first appointment with the therapist was last week. We just discussed her behavior. Next week we have another appointment and I hope she will give us a direction to go in!

At the Java Mama!

2010-10-03T15:08:00.006-04:00

My mom owns a coffee shop/cafe and we love to visit!

My Mom!

Croissants

"Flutter your eyelashes, go weak in the knees" brownies!

My big boy!

2010-10-03T15:07:00.002-04:00

Little Man is now sitting at the table! No more highchair! He look so tiny and so big at the same time.

Homeschool here we come!

2010-09-24T15:05:00.003-04:00

On Monday I went to my first homeschool meeting! Well, my first homeschool meeting as a parent. It felt so weird, but was a lot of fun to be able to sit with other moms interested in the same things and just talk!

Then today we went to the homeschool playgroup at the park. There was 12 other children there besides my two, the youngest there was 3 months and the oldest was 8 or 9. The Girl had an absolute ball! Little Man loved watching all the kids run around. The Girl and the other children where playing something with prisoners and guards and she just didn't want to leave. Some of the other ladies brought picnic lunches and The Girl really wanted to stay. I will have to remember do that next time!

Speech therapy update

2010-09-23T11:51:00.003-04:00

Little Man's speech therapy is going great! He gets very excited when Miss Gloria gets here, it's time when everyone is focused on him and just plays. He's had a month of speech therapy so far and is saying "Mama", "Da-ee" (Daddy), "tee" (kitty) and "boo" (book) consistently at home after having zero words a month ago. During speech therapy he has said "mo" (more), "bag", "bubu" (bubbles), and has signed "more". We're very proud of him!

Awesome progress!

2010-09-21T14:59:00.002-04:00

Occupational therapy really helps! With Little Man's sensory issues we would NEVER have seen this a few months ago! I never thought I would be so happy to see my kid a mess! :D

Busy weekend!

2010-09-20T12:41:00.005-04:00

It was a super busy week and a fun, busy family weekend! I had 3 appointments for the kids and a lot of errands this week and we really didn't stop! We loved our fun family weekend. It started with a trip to the County Fair. This county has one of the last purely agriculture fairs, so no rides which most people think is weird, but we're used to!

At the Fair:
The Girl and the cow

Little Man loved the goats!

And so did The Girl! Unlabeled Daddy said it almost made him want to get a goat! At least then he wouldn't have to mow! ;)

Then on Sunday we got The Girl's new big girl bike out and went to the Greenway. It only took her a few minutes to figure it out. We were so proud of her! Here's my big, smart girl:

What a big girl!

Little Man running to keep up

Someone has bike envy ....
So proud and sad to see her peddle away from us. :( I guess this is growing up. It can be hard on Mama!

Difficult Day

2010-09-11T13:57:00.001-04:00

For some reason September 11th is hitting me harder this year. I was raised on Long Island about 40 miles east of the City and even though we moved when I was 9 I still feel like a New Yorker.

Nine years ago I was driving to work at the Cupboard Cafe in Dillard, GA and the radio announcer said that a plane had hit the Trade Center. Everyone assumed it was an accident, but they didn't know what was going on. I was walking into work when the second plane hit. We had several TV's in the dining room and they were on the news and turned up all day. One of the most difficult parts of my day was breaking the news to travelers who came in to eat and hadn't been listening to the radio. One man went white and ran outside to use his phone. Turned out his brother was in New York that day. Thankfully he was able to get a hold of his sister-in-law and find out he was alright.

I think that day changed how a lot of us thought about being Americans. We all banded together. Firefighters, police and volunteers jumped in their cars and drove to Manhattan to help and do everything they could. People too far away donated blood, arranged food drives, helped stranded travelers and did everything they could for each other. We came together. The entire nation functioned like a community, a family, thinking of each other. I wish we hadn't lost that. Why did we forget so quickly?

Uhoh ... Mama's thinking

2010-09-09T14:21:00.000-04:00

I'm in a contemplative mood today. Not really a good thing. I have so much that I want out of life that I feel we have to wait on because of a couple of bad financial decisions we had when we were a little younger. :( Nothing major - but just enough that we can't afford much until we finish with it.

We want to move and are slowly figuring out where we want to go. We had plans on moving before The Girl was born, but it got pushed aside when we found out we were pregnant. We have a town we are leaning towards now, but need to check it out first. We get frustrated not having anything around us. We live in the middle of nowhere with an hour drive to the nearest mall, museum, Target or good grocery store. I hate that whenever the kids need any clothes it's a day trip. I hate that we live somewhere that doesn't have anywhere in the entire town that sells maternity clothes! That's just pathetic.

On to my next thought ... I want a baby. I am close with my sister and I want The Girl to get to experience a sister or Little Man a brother. I don't want a huge difference in age either. I want them to enjoy playing with each other. But I know if we want to move we might have to put it off. That's where I go around and around in my head. Lowering our expenses so we can move without huge difficulties vs. having the baby we want and letting the chips fall.

::sigh:: Thinking is bad.

I love my kid!

2010-09-05T20:52:00.003-04:00

Best Girl quote of the week:

While hugging my husband and I, "Aww! These are my grownups!"

:) Love that kid!

Family day ...

2010-09-05T16:31:00.002-04:00

Yesterday was one of my first Saturdays off in a very long time. It was so wonderful! Unlabeled Daddy and I took the opportunity to take the kids to Asheville. We didn't do much, but it was nice to get out of town and be together. And to top off my good day I fit into my size 10 jeans! Whoohoo!!

The Girl was very good with only 2 little incidents all day. I was so proud of her! She loves clothes shopping and we only got a couple little things, but she picked out a dress, a little t-shirt and we found a cute pair of boots that she just adores that were originally $34.99 and we got them for $12.99! Showing off her new boots and dress:

Little Man was kind of fussy but that's what happens when his naptime gets messed up. All in all it was just a laid back family day. My favorite kind!

Pre-K here we come!

2010-09-02T16:47:00.003-04:00

I've been debating doing Pre-K with The Girl this year since she's been so wild. We've been having a lot of behavior issues and I thought I should focus on that. But I decided to get a little workbook just in cause and yesterday after her rest time I let her play with Play-doh for a little while and then we sat down and did 3 pages until she said she was done and got down. I was very pleased at how she paid attention. Then we used some flash cards to practice her counting. She had no problem doing up to ten. Thank you Sesame Street! ;) I think she did very well and we may not do some everyday, but I think we definitely with do a low key Pre-K program this year and an added bonus, she seemed to love the one on one time and was very relaxed!

Nice day!

2010-08-28T14:52:00.005-04:00

My husband is working this morning so the kids and I hung out around the house this morning and I finished reorganizing The Girl's room! Whoohoo me! Her room is always a disaster area - usually books completely covering the floor. So I took all the books off her shelf and have two bags full of ones to donate to the Friends of the Library, I filled a large rubbermaid tub with books that were too old for her or she doesn't read much, put the younger books in her brother's room and the rest was put in two clothes bins. She had A LOT of books! I put her larger toys on the bookshelf - the top shelf was reserved for Barbies and she liked arranging them. Dolls and stuffed animals are in a wicker basket at the end of her bed and I had one smaller bin for her little toys. Oh, and I filled a garbage bag for Goodwill!

Pictures ...
The usual state of her room:

Now:

One bin of book and her larger toys

My Girl!

A little reading spot!

After all that the kids and I went downtown to get "Water for Elephants" the new book my Mommy Book Club is doing and we had fun window shopping down Main Street. Then off to home for lunch and naps. It's been a nice day so far! I hope work is just as good tonight!

First Apartment

2010-08-27T14:50:00.005-04:00

My little sister is moving into her first apartment this weekend. Awww. I remember my first apartment. The tiniest thing you can imagine! I had one of those small wooden frame futons as a couch and if I unfolded it it filled the entire living room! It was a hallway kitchen leading back to the bedroom and I could barely fit both a full size bed and a desk in there. But I LOVED it! The first place that was all MINE. I could decorate it how I wanted and be there all alone. What a wonderful time ...

My peanut

2010-08-25T15:22:00.005-04:00

It was Little Man's 18 month well check today. Yes, already! He weighed in at 20 lbs 4 oz and 32 inches long. Such a little guy! His only words are "Hi" and "kitty" but we are already getting help from the speech therapist, nutritionist and occupational therapist so the pediatrician said he looked excellent.

I did get a chance to discuss The Girl's behavior issues with her too. She said she had no problem giving me a referral, but unfortunately she had just found out today that the therapist she usually refers to is moving out of the area, so we have to figure out who would be the best person for The Girl to see. If it's not one thing it's another!

Oh for the love of ...

2010-08-24T12:17:00.007-04:00

I just want to get back into bed and start this day over.

#1 being woken up by The Girl jumping on my bed equals a grumpy mama.

#2 the speech therapist is coming today for Little Man's first session and my house is a mess.

#3 When I tried to take a shower I came out to something on Little Man's face. Turns out The Girl went in my bedroom (where she is not supposed to be) climbed up my dresser (where she is not supposed to touch) and took my nail polish. She then got it on her dress, her brother, my bedroom carpet, Little Man's toys and spilled the rest of it on the kitchen floor. Can I please refer you back to #2?

I spent the next hour trying to clean it all up while The Girl spent that time in her room. Does anyone have tips to get nail polish out of carpet? The nail polish remover is not cutting it ...

My kids are sabotaging my weight loss!

2010-08-18T13:38:00.002-04:00

My kids are close to being underweight. My daughter is 4 years old and is 34 lbs and 42 inches tall. My son will be 18 months next week and is just barely 20 lbs, and this is after months of working with him and trying to get him to eat. So here I am trying to loose weight and I'm desperately trying to get calories into my kids! It makes it very difficult for me. This stuff is in the house and I can't always do low fat options for the family because my kids need it. I almost envy the women whose whole families are overweight. They can just focus on only having healthy, low fat options in the house! Instead I buy pizza and cheese and chicken nuggets because my kids will eat them and they are high calorie foods. The nutritionist even recommended loading up in butter and margarine, but I have a hard time going that far. Ugh. Just frustrated!

Nobody should force their style of parenting on someone else!

2010-08-03T17:55:00.004-04:00

In honor of World Breastfeeding Week Gisele Bündchen is in the news for saying “I think there should be a worldwide law . . . that mothers should breastfeed their babies for six months,” says Bündchen. “Some people here think they don’t have to breastfeed and I think, ‘Are you going to give chemical food to your child when they are so little?’”

First of all ... WTH??

Second, is she really proposing to tell billions of women what they can or can't do with their bodies?

Third, what about those millions of women who cannot breastfeed? Those who have had breast reductions, or mastectomies or have to go to work full-time to feed their family and are away from their babies for over 8 hours a day? Or women like me with my daughter? When The Girl was born I was set on exclusively breastfeeding. But something went wrong. I would sit and let her nurse for hours, but at 1 month old she was still BELOW her birth weight. The doctor gently suggested supplementing with formula and The Girl adored it! She gulped down her first bottle and screamed every time I would offer her my breast. None of that for her! To this day I don't know if my milk didn't come in correctly or if it was my impatient daughter's problem. But either way I wasn't going to continue when my daughter obviously hated it and she grew tall and skinny and brilliant with formula.

When my son came along I was going to give breastfeeding another chance, but I decided I wouldn't be crushed if it didn't work out. When he ended up in the NICU I was sure that it would be a losing battle but I would try. I ended up exclusively breastfeeding my son for 6 months and he weaned himself from his last 2 nursing times a day at 13 months.