Thursday, June 23, 2011
Grandpa
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
A.S.A.P.
At the very beginning of the month, I felt this need to start getting the girls more involved with our dinners. I came up with the idea to have the girls start helping with meal planning. I sat down with the 4 older girls individually and had them pick a day of the week they wanted to do and the theme for their day. ( I am working on a menu planning list to share) I feel like helping teach them the basics about cooking and all that goes along with the process is one of those essential life skills to have.
This is what they came up with.
Sera-Monday- Italian
Emma-Tuesday-Mexican
Lucy-Wednesday-Breakfast food
Kady-Thursday-Grilling
It has been so much fun for me to help them learn how to properly plan and execute their ideas. One of my favorite things about this have been the opportunities to talk with them individually as we help prepare the meal.
Last week as Emma was doing prep work for her chicken tacos, we started discussing what has worked for me as a Mother. I was telling her how, for me, one of the most important characteristics to have, in being a Mother, is that of knowing how to make and keep what I do as simple as possible and still keep the quality of my work.
She responded by saying, "A.S.A.P!"
"Huh?"
"Instead of As Soon As Possible, it is, As Simple As Possible! That is what you should call it Mom!"
"That is genius Emma, I love it!"
So now my methods are going to be dubbed ASAP. ( I want to expand more on this method in later posts)
This experience left me understanding how very intently our children listen to the fine details of our conversations with them. They necessarily may not here the in between stuff but they hear what is most important.
Life seems to be moving at a light speed pace. I am realizing more and more how true it is that when your children are younger it really is easier. Yes it is physically demanding. But it far outweighs the anxiety I am starting to feel as the children are getting older and I think of all of the changes that take place as one gets older. And the different experiences they will have to go through to be able to learn and grow to become who they need to be.
Even though I try to make life as simple as possible there are days that seem to make me question my abilities as a Mother. Yesterday was one of those days. And from talking with some of my friends I was not the only one who seemed to have a very off day.
In fact after I got all the kids to bed last night, instead of cleaning stuff up, like I normally do, I sat and just relaxed. I refused to clean up their messes they had made. I thought, "It will still be here tomorrow, I need a break!"
This was hard for me to do, because I so enjoy waking up to a fresh clean home. But a break was necessary!
This morning it looked like a tornado had run through our home. I gave the girls a list of what needed to get done before we went swiming with some friends and literally locked myself in my bedroom to finally work on this post. They had a hour to get it all cleaned up, and I tell you what, I had one of those moments.
I came downstairs when it was near the time we needed to go and I was so impressed by what I saw. It looked as if I had cleaned the place. But I didn't! I started throwing compliments left and right.
This experience was much needed to boost the moral of the home. Because any of you Mothers out there know that children indeed get annoyed with each other and will make every effort to torture one another which in turn drives any mother into twitching episodes. As was the case yesterday for me. My husband thought it was funny to the point of laughing so hard he turned shades of purple. Thank goodness for his balance.
So today I am thankful for the bad days that help me appreciate, that much more, the very good days of motherhood.
I copied and pasted this last part from my husbands blog and added a few details in yellow:
This is what they came up with.
Sera-Monday- Italian
Emma-Tuesday-Mexican
Lucy-Wednesday-Breakfast food
Kady-Thursday-Grilling
It has been so much fun for me to help them learn how to properly plan and execute their ideas. One of my favorite things about this have been the opportunities to talk with them individually as we help prepare the meal.
Last week as Emma was doing prep work for her chicken tacos, we started discussing what has worked for me as a Mother. I was telling her how, for me, one of the most important characteristics to have, in being a Mother, is that of knowing how to make and keep what I do as simple as possible and still keep the quality of my work.
She responded by saying, "A.S.A.P!"
"Huh?"
"Instead of As Soon As Possible, it is, As Simple As Possible! That is what you should call it Mom!"
"That is genius Emma, I love it!"
So now my methods are going to be dubbed ASAP. ( I want to expand more on this method in later posts)
This experience left me understanding how very intently our children listen to the fine details of our conversations with them. They necessarily may not here the in between stuff but they hear what is most important.
Life seems to be moving at a light speed pace. I am realizing more and more how true it is that when your children are younger it really is easier. Yes it is physically demanding. But it far outweighs the anxiety I am starting to feel as the children are getting older and I think of all of the changes that take place as one gets older. And the different experiences they will have to go through to be able to learn and grow to become who they need to be.
Even though I try to make life as simple as possible there are days that seem to make me question my abilities as a Mother. Yesterday was one of those days. And from talking with some of my friends I was not the only one who seemed to have a very off day.
In fact after I got all the kids to bed last night, instead of cleaning stuff up, like I normally do, I sat and just relaxed. I refused to clean up their messes they had made. I thought, "It will still be here tomorrow, I need a break!"
This was hard for me to do, because I so enjoy waking up to a fresh clean home. But a break was necessary!
This morning it looked like a tornado had run through our home. I gave the girls a list of what needed to get done before we went swiming with some friends and literally locked myself in my bedroom to finally work on this post. They had a hour to get it all cleaned up, and I tell you what, I had one of those moments.
I came downstairs when it was near the time we needed to go and I was so impressed by what I saw. It looked as if I had cleaned the place. But I didn't! I started throwing compliments left and right.
This experience was much needed to boost the moral of the home. Because any of you Mothers out there know that children indeed get annoyed with each other and will make every effort to torture one another which in turn drives any mother into twitching episodes. As was the case yesterday for me. My husband thought it was funny to the point of laughing so hard he turned shades of purple. Thank goodness for his balance.
So today I am thankful for the bad days that help me appreciate, that much more, the very good days of motherhood.
I copied and pasted this last part from my husbands blog and added a few details in yellow:
The unthinkable happened recently...we got a family picture. A real one. By a real photographer. A really talented photographer. here is her link www.momentsbykathleen.com
She also has a realistic perspective on motherhood blog here
She also has a realistic perspective on motherhood blog here
If you don't have time to see all 126 photos, here are some of my favorites:
Okay this one I have to tell you. Kathy, our photographer, asked Kady what her favorite food was. Kady then starts to lick her lips and says "Cotton candy!" and makes a "mmmm" sound. So cute!
Kathy brought a water bottle and Eliza got a hold of it. She loved squirting people with it.
I wonder if he is thinking about if baseball will be apart of his future or if he is thinking of how he can get the baseball into his mouth.
Seriously!!!!! I can not get enough of this little boy! He melts my heart every single day!
Thank you Kathy!
Thursday, June 9, 2011
Encouragment!
Here's a little video clip I get to share
Have a fabulous Thursday! And remember to keep on going, especially when it gets hard.
Thursday, June 2, 2011
Love
The other day I needed to get out of the home with the kids. They have been out of school for a week now and I allowed us a few days to just do nothing. My personal timer went off and I knew it was time to get out. So we ventured out to the big spacious warehouse store to pick up some essentials. While we were perusing the isles we came upon a sample that was being offered. Yummy mashed potatoes. I thought for sure the girls would love it. They all diod except for Lucy. She had one bite and curled up her nose and said "I do not like these. They taste nothing like yours and I love yours!"
Today is Eliza's 2nd birthday !
I can't believe she is only 2. No really. She seems so much older to me and it seems so long ago that I had her. We had a great day today.
I was awoken this morning to the sound of Lucy singing happy birthday to Eliza. Eliza interjected her version of the song along with Lucy. It melted my heart. After we were done with getting ready for the day we left for a bike ride to the girls school and played on the play ground.
Kady had fallen three times off of her bike. All I have to say is that I am very grateful for whoever invented the helmet. Because without a helmet, Kady would most likely be brain damaged. She even did a graceful tuck and roll over her handlebars onto the pavement. I knew it was coming. We were heading down a very small hill and she was doing great until the very end where her bike wheels got very wobbly, she raised her feet slightly and then brought her feet down just the wrong way to where they caught on the pavement such that it sent her flying. I thought for sure she was going to have teeth missing or have some sort of broken bone. Miraculously she did not. I was so thankful and immediately said a prayer of gratitude, knowing that the outcome could have been tragic if she had fallen a different way. But like my father-in-law says, kids are pretty pliable.
After the park we came back home where the older girls made birthday signs while I got lunch together. After this, my memory is a bit fuzzy. I just remember a lot of Eliza doing her high pitch scream, which translates into "Get out of my space. NOW!" She mostly directs this to a certain sibling, who, for one reason or another get's in her space a lot. I used the squirt bottle a lot today. In fact I said something to the effect of "Look, I know it is your birthday, but you are still expected to use your words politely, please stop screaming!"
We had family over for a BBQ and cupcakes. It was a great time. I over ate. Why do I do that? I mean, it is completely unnecessary. I need to do better at this when it comes to BBQ's. There is just something about the combinations of hamburgers, hotdogs, potato salad, and baked beans. I need to exert some will power. Blasted BBQ's
Tonight at bed time we looked at pictures of Eliza from the day she was born. This particular one caught my eye. For a couple of reasons. This was taken moments after she came out. It reminded me of this moment. Literally my first thought was "Huh she looks a bit like Yoda. I wonder if her ear will perk up so that she won't look like Yoda."
The other reason is, why do I keep photos of people looking clearly at my business while they are smiling.
Eliza is such a fun person. She is full of grit and determination. She is very sturdily built. She loves to do things that involve thrill. She loves to leap onto the couch from the back. She will pile drive you without any warning. She LOVES her baby brother Daniel and slathers him with hugs and kisses. She is very good and saying thank you to me. It fills me with happiness when I hear her say "tank you momma!" after I have done something for her.
Her laugh is so contagious. It is full of life and yumminess! She loves water. She loves to slides. If she doesn't get her way she does this high pitched scream. I don't like this so much and am working fearlessly to help her to use her words so we can get through this phase quickly. She loves to stand at the table when she eats. She will give anyone a good stare down. She has learned not to smile at these times which makes the stare down that much funnier. Simply put. She is a joy!
I am so grateful to be her Mother!
Today is Eliza's 2nd birthday !
I can't believe she is only 2. No really. She seems so much older to me and it seems so long ago that I had her. We had a great day today.
I was awoken this morning to the sound of Lucy singing happy birthday to Eliza. Eliza interjected her version of the song along with Lucy. It melted my heart. After we were done with getting ready for the day we left for a bike ride to the girls school and played on the play ground.
Kady had fallen three times off of her bike. All I have to say is that I am very grateful for whoever invented the helmet. Because without a helmet, Kady would most likely be brain damaged. She even did a graceful tuck and roll over her handlebars onto the pavement. I knew it was coming. We were heading down a very small hill and she was doing great until the very end where her bike wheels got very wobbly, she raised her feet slightly and then brought her feet down just the wrong way to where they caught on the pavement such that it sent her flying. I thought for sure she was going to have teeth missing or have some sort of broken bone. Miraculously she did not. I was so thankful and immediately said a prayer of gratitude, knowing that the outcome could have been tragic if she had fallen a different way. But like my father-in-law says, kids are pretty pliable.
After the park we came back home where the older girls made birthday signs while I got lunch together. After this, my memory is a bit fuzzy. I just remember a lot of Eliza doing her high pitch scream, which translates into "Get out of my space. NOW!" She mostly directs this to a certain sibling, who, for one reason or another get's in her space a lot. I used the squirt bottle a lot today. In fact I said something to the effect of "Look, I know it is your birthday, but you are still expected to use your words politely, please stop screaming!"
We had family over for a BBQ and cupcakes. It was a great time. I over ate. Why do I do that? I mean, it is completely unnecessary. I need to do better at this when it comes to BBQ's. There is just something about the combinations of hamburgers, hotdogs, potato salad, and baked beans. I need to exert some will power. Blasted BBQ's
Tonight at bed time we looked at pictures of Eliza from the day she was born. This particular one caught my eye. For a couple of reasons. This was taken moments after she came out. It reminded me of this moment. Literally my first thought was "Huh she looks a bit like Yoda. I wonder if her ear will perk up so that she won't look like Yoda."
The other reason is, why do I keep photos of people looking clearly at my business while they are smiling.
Telling Eliza's birth story peeked interest for the older girls. I got to the point in her birth story of when my doctor broke my water. When I got up afterward to go to the restroom, I started pooping without any control. I told Jared "I am pooping! I am pooping and I can't make it stop!"
They started asking questions at this point. One asked, if I thought they would poop while they gave birth to their baby. Another asked how big their birth canal was and how a baby can fit through there. And then that spawned the question from another of how many holes we have. So then another said "So we have three holes? A pee hole, a birth canal hole and a poop hole? Wow that's a lot of holes!"
I must say it was a very interesting evening discussion. I did tell them that there is nothing in this world that compares to holding that baby in your arms after you have worked so hard to get them here. Pure joy!
This video was take a couple weeks ago. Jared got into blowing raspberries on our sliding door with the girls. He laughed so hard. This one is of Eliza.
Eliza is such a fun person. She is full of grit and determination. She is very sturdily built. She loves to do things that involve thrill. She loves to leap onto the couch from the back. She will pile drive you without any warning. She LOVES her baby brother Daniel and slathers him with hugs and kisses. She is very good and saying thank you to me. It fills me with happiness when I hear her say "tank you momma!" after I have done something for her.
Her laugh is so contagious. It is full of life and yumminess! She loves water. She loves to slides. If she doesn't get her way she does this high pitched scream. I don't like this so much and am working fearlessly to help her to use her words so we can get through this phase quickly. She loves to stand at the table when she eats. She will give anyone a good stare down. She has learned not to smile at these times which makes the stare down that much funnier. Simply put. She is a joy!
I am so grateful to be her Mother!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
