Mommy's Project 52:52 Active

We are a mom and dad with a 5 and a 2 year old.  Being active is what it is all about.  Dad has a very time consuming job and often works 7 days a week.  I am at home with the two kids for another month before I have to send my oldest off to Kindergarten.  For now, our days have been filled with playing in the sandbox, at the park, in the kiddie pool, and on the floor in the living room.  We color, paint, pretend, experiment, read, and cook our way through our days at home.  We also go to gymnastics classes, Jazzercise, and swimming lessons. It is a busy active life with two kids and we love it!

I will leave this year with some pictures of our active family life.  I plan to send this book to be printed so I will have a year of memories from this year of blogging.

Exploring with Daddy!

Tinkertoys with Grandpa.

Blowing bubbles with Grandma.

Painting.

Working with Daddy!

Helping in the kitchen.

Jumping and throwing!

Getting a big boy bike!

Park time!

Riding an elephant when the circus came to Muenster!

Checking the corn crop!

Helping mom pack hay on the wagon.

Geocaching at the state park.

Mom & Me Gymnastics class 

My son in his spider web he made in the back of Daddy's truck.

My daughter showing her dance moves while her friend sings.

Wow.  I made it to week 52.  I might have been late or very late but eventually I think I hit all 52 topic words. Yeah for a year of blogging.  Thank you Robin for starting this project or us.

Mommy's Project 52:51 Responsible

It is true; I am a responsible person. I remember not liking the label when I was younger. Being told I was reliable and responsible sounded so boring and uninteresting. I can't help it, I love to plan things out.

A recent example was having a long time friend visit with her two children for a week.  I was so excited.  She was one of my good college friends and I was eager to reconnect with her after 12 years. She was now also another mom with two small children.

I immediately went into planning mode.  I researched the locations we could visit, inquired about their interests, printed maps, made list of groceries and supplies, and really enjoyed planning for the visit.  I wanted her to not have to worry but enjoy her vacation while I took care of the details.  I wanted to be sufficiently planned so that we could spend a lot of time chatting and the least amount of time worrying about dinner and clean-up.  While it may sound like a chore to some, I really enjoyed planning out our week.

Below are some pictures from our week of fun.  We played in the sandbox and splashed in the kiddie pool.  We visited Fossil Rim Natural Area, Dinosaur Valley State Park, and Lego Land.  The kids got to know one another and we got to reconnect with each other.  It was as if no time had passed.  Good friends are such a treasure!

Fossil Rim Natural Area, Glen Rose, TX

New Friends!

Dinosaur Valley State Park, Glen Rose, TX

Lego Land Discovery Center - Grapevine, TX

  

College friends!

Mommy's Project 52:50 Forgetful

I have always thought it was a good thing to multi-task.   And I always thought I was pretty good at it....until I had kids.  For some reason, adding the job of children to my list made multi-tasking not as effective and sometimes dangerous.

I no longer have a teapot.  I make hot water with the coffee maker after burning two teapots up by leaving them on all night until all the water boiled away.  This was during the infancy of my oldest child.  The coffee pot automatically turns off after two hours.

Setting timers is a must.  Before when I cooked, I would always look at the clock and somehow always managed to make it back in time to check on my cooking.  After blackened cookies and numerous other things, I always set a timer that keeps beeping.

Lists, lists, and more lists.  I not only have to make a list of all the stops we need to make, I also have to make a list of the things that need to be accomplished at that location.  I have gone to the grocery store for milk and come away with everything but the real item that we had to have from the store in the first place.  I also have trouble making it to the store with the coupons, much less ones that are not expired or get to the check-out with the wrong size or kind of product listed on the coupon.  I have almost given up on coupons.  How many of us have those grocery bag that you can re-use but never can get them from the house back to the car and then from the car back into the grocery store?

While many call this "mommy brain", I think it is the result of distraction and multi-tasking.  I have too many balls in the air at one time and something has to be dropped.  I still have to balance and manage many tasks at once but I am now willing to accept help in any form I can in order to be less forgetful.

Mommy's Project 52:49 Sad

I asked my son today what made him sad.  He said, "The saddest thing I can think of is losing my sister.  I worry about that sometimes. When we grow up, I want us to live in apartments right next to each other."

My daughter is too young to answer the question but I know that she misses her daddy a lot when he is at work.  We recently took a three week trip to visit cousins and my husband had to stay home to work.  When he picked us up to take us home, she would not let him leave her sight.  She was so worried that he would disappear again, she would get upset if he tried to leave her sight for even a minute.  It took almost a week to convince her that Daddy would come home again at night.

For me, there are many things that make me sad but what strikes me today is when my kids are hurting and I can't fix it.  I remember the day my son figured out that a mommy kiss didn't take the hurt away anymore.  While we all need to learn to handle and deal with disappointment and sadness, it is hard to watch them go through it.

While none of us like to be sad, I think sadness has a role to play in our lives.  It helps us deal with events, to strive to do better and to make changes in our lives.  I really can't imagine life without this emotion.  It is all a part of what it is to be human.

Mommy's Project 52:48 Loud

LOUD - seems to be the only volume setting on my kids somedays.  I am forever saying, "Use your inside voice" or "In here, you need to use a whisper voice" but the default is usually LOUD.  This is especially true for my son although my daughter is not far behind.  I won't subject you a video of our loud volume.

My daughter also has a preference for LOUD clothing.  She likes bright colors and patterns.  She also likes to add glasses, hats, and other accessories.  She loves to pick her own shoes.   I will add a few pictures below of some of her clothing choices.  I love the confidence she demonstrates, I hope she keeps it as she grows.  It will be a fun ride watching these two grow up!

2 Year old birthday Party - January 2012

Out in the sun - May 2012 

May 2012 - Took the wig from Grandma's doll

Mommy's Project 52:47 Respectful

Respect is one of the most important traits that we try to instill in our children.  Children need to be respectful, be given respect and watch it modeled by the adults around them.  

Here are some common behaviors that I learned as a child:

*Hold the door for someone.

*Offer your seat on the bus to an older person.

*When you have guests, offer them something to drink.

*Say please and thank you.

*Ask before using someone's else stuff.

*Use good manners when eating.

*If you don't have something good to say, don't say anything at all.

*Respect for people in authority (elders, police, teachers, public office).

*Don't gossip.

*It is not okay to call someone before 8 AM or after 9 PM.

There are some new areas of concern due to advances in technology.   We can now communicate with people who are not present and we have to keep in mind the people who are in our near vicinity.  We also have to consider all the choices we have when communicating and choose a method that fits the occasion.  

Some examples:

*texting during church, dinner table, and while with other people.

*blu-tooth in ear and talking on it with no awareness to who is around them.

*texting and driving

*email invitation vs. paper invitations

*thank you note - handwritten or by email

*phone call vs. text vs. email - appropriate choice to communicate bad news etc.

*social media - who are friends?

*social media - choice of pictures, tweets, and things to share with all the world.

*meetings - is it okay to text and search the web while listening to the boss or speaker?

*talking on the phone while ordering food at the drive-through.

Some of these issues have not been around long enough for there to be a general agreement on what is and is not appropriate.   It doesn't appear that many of us limit and control our own use of technology so it is hard for us to model consistent behavior to our children.  How many of us are so interested in the texts on our phone that we will stop reading a book to our kids to check the ding on our phone, email, or facebook notification.  How many of us text while driving?  Are we texting under the table at meetings and in church?  My kids are still small but I am thinking about how much importance I place on Facebook, email, and text messages.  I know their little eyes are watching.

I  am also concerned about the lack of respectful language on children's cartoons and programming.  I do not allow my children watch certain shows because of the way the characters treat each other on screen. And I won't even go into the language used in political discussions as we approach this coming election year. 


Using good manners and having my children be respectful to others is very important.   To have more civil and respectful children, we need to make sure that our own conversations and television viewing are modeling respect.  

Mommy's Project 52:46 Beautiful

Every mom thinks their children are the most beautiful children in the world.  I didn't understand this until I became a mom and now I understand.  They are so beautiful to me!!  I am so happy to have them in my life.  I love my little inventor and my little princess.

Mommy's Project 52:45 Thankful

Being thankful is something that I work on all the time.  I keep a journal and write five things about the day I am thankful for from the day.  It works except that I stop doing it after a week or so.  I am prone to my own negative thoughts.  I am a worrier and most of the things I worry about don't happen.  But it seems to be part of my personality.  It is something which I try to minimize so when I feel myself slipping into negative thoughts I try to get myself back on track being mindful of all the good things in my life.  If I don't notice my attitude slipping, my husband does and reminds me that I need to make an attitude adjustment.  Some people seem to always look on the sunny side and while I don't, I try to fake it until I make it happen.  Positive thankful people are healthier and happier.  I am trying my best to be the most thankful person I can be.

My Thankful List for Today:

1. A husband who loves me even when I am not so thankful.
2. Coming home from running errands and seeing the lawn all moved and trimmed.
3. Breakfast picnic with my kids at the state park this morning.
4. Walking into the cool air-conditioned house after playing at the park.
5. A speedy interent connection.

Mommy's Project 52:44 Sweet

Son: Sweet is the huge bag of candy he scored at the Dairy Days parade in Iowa on vacation.

Daughter: Sweet is a big floppy hat, sunglasses, pretty shoes, purse, and play phone.  She is by the door saying, "I ready to go go go."

Me: Sweet is a big cup of coffee with some yummy flavoring with my favorite chocolate dessert without kids so I can savor each and every bite.

Husband: Sweet is sitting alone in a fishing boat all day with no distractions, no bugs and the perfect temperature.

When I look at the big picture, we have a pretty sweet life.  I need to find a sweet thing about each and every day because writing this post made my day sweeter. :)

Mommy's Project 52:43 Speaking

When I think of speaking, I am amazed at how easily typically developing children learn to speak.  When I worked in special education it was such a battle for those students who had trouble developing speech.  Every new preposition and every new sentence was a cause for celebration.  By watching my own children, I was amazed at how easily it was for them to pick up a new word or a new turn of speech.  It is so amazing how most of our brains are wired to learn speech so easily.  I am constantly amazed at how children can use what they hear to make their own unique combination of words and phrases. They don't just imitate what we say but can take it and make it their own.  I am so thankful that speaking is not a struggle for them.  It is something that should not be taken for granted and is so wonderful to witness first hand.  I think when I go back to teaching when my youngest goes to Kindergarten, I will be a better teacher for the lessons I have learned from my own children.


Car conversation with my 5 year old yesterday:


Son: I won't have to worry about money when I grow up because I am going to be an inventor.
Me: The key is getting someone to buy your invention.
Son: Ozzy (from Survivor) will buy my pills invention.
Me: What do your pills do? 
Son: They make your blood not smell so you don't have to worry about sharks.


Conversation with my 2 year old before nap time today:


Daugherter: I have boo-boo.
Me: Show me where.
Daughter: I probably need band-aid.
Me: I think it will be okay (rubbing the spot that was perfectly fine but a way to delay nap time).
Daughter: I hungry.
Me: We just finished lunch.  Bed or rock?
Daughter: I need go pee-pee in the potty?
Me: We already did that.  Bed or rock?
Daughter: rock.. I need blankie.. I cold.
Me: Okay, you are all tucked in.  We will rock for five minutes and then I will put you in your bed.
Daughter:  okay, Mommy. (snuggles against me)


Note: I had every intention of posting blogs from my mom's house the past three weeks but her internet connection while not dial-up felt like it to me.  So I am way behind on the Mommy's Project posts.  More posts to follow until I catch back up. 

Mommy's Project 52:42 Sharing

This week I tried to take pictures of my kids sharing.

The conversation goes like this.

Son: "Mom, what are you doing?"
Me:  I'm trying to take pictures of you and your sister sharing.
Son:   "Why?"
Me:  "It is the topic for my blog post this week."
Son:  "Why don't you just write sometimes we like to share and sometimes we don't."

In the early months of this year, they seemed to share quite effortlessly. As my daughter has developed speech, things have changed.  She uses her words to tell us all the things that brother has taken from her. Simple car rides have turned into backseat squabbles over who looks at what book and on and on.  It would seem at 5 1/2 and 2 1/2 sharing is not so popular. Sometimes they like to share and sometimes they don't.  Right now, we are more NOT sharing.

I have been thinking about this since my son does construct complicated play area with trains and his toy figures.  He will have spent an hour setting it all up and it can be all undone by sister in 10 seconds or less.  I know that frustrates him.  On the other hand, I have also seen him watch sister pick a toy up and for no other reason than her new interest decides he must have it to add to his play immediately.  Even harder for him is toys that were originally his when he was younger are really now appropriate for her to play with but he still wants to claim them as his own.  It has not really been a problem until the last few months so I am working on the family guidelines for what has to be shared and what is yours alone. What are your guidelines for sharing toys?

One of my favorite pictures of the two of them - November 2011

Sharing limited snacks - January 2012

Coloring on the same picture - February 2012

Brother ran off with the toys.

Waiting to try again at sharing the pool toys - May 2012

Frequent expression in the car these days - April 2012
(yes, I know her top buckle has gotten low, constant struggle)

Yes, I found one! Sharing colors together - May 2012

Mommy's Project 52:41 Entertaining

Mommy's Project 52:40 Natural

Natural means existing in or caused by nature; not made or caused by humankind. Natural also means a person regarded as having an innate gift or talent for a particular task or activity. These definitions are from the dictionary.


It is the first definition of natural applied to food products that confuses me.   What does the word "natural" or "naturally"  mean exactly on the package of a food product?


According to the FDA, they do not have a definition of the term natural.  However, they have not objected to the use of the word natural if the food does not contain added color, artificial flavor, or synthetic substances. 


I went to the pantry and pulled out the first handful of items that I found labeled with the word natural.

  
The use of the word natural made the most sense on the pineapple chunks.  I get the difference between "in its own natural juice" as opposed to the others on the shelf labeled heavy or lite syrup.


I thought the Juicy Juice would also be a good use of the label natural.  I try to buy juice boxes that are actually juice.  However,  I am confused by the statement that it is 100% juice and then in much smaller lettering below, it says "from concentrate with other natural flavors & added ingredients."  If it is 100% juice, then how can there be anything added? 

The rest of the stuff is definitely processed snacks in one form or another and would not fit the dictionary definition of not being caused by humankind or existing in nature. The goldfish, the Dora fruit snacks, the Fiber One bars  and the Graduates Yogurt melts all use the word natural or naturally in the label.  


The truth of what is in these snacks is in the tiny print of the ingredient list.  I have to admit that I do not spend a lot of time reading the list.  My excuses are that the print is so small it is hard for me to read and I am busy with two kids while shopping therefore I am making quick decisions based on what I can easily read on the label. 


Except for the pineapple, I don't think the natural label actually resulted in a healthier purchase.  I guess if I want natural, I should go check out the local farmer's market.  What do you look for on a label when shopping?

Mommy's Project 52:39 Flexible

Being flexible can be having a body that is flexible or it can refer to a person's ability to deal with changes in schedule with calm.  I don't like my schedule messed with and I like to know in advance what is going to happen.  I think I can deal if something happens but I am not too happy about it.  Kids have helped me develop that side of my flexibility.

There are many benefits to having a flexible body.  As an older parent of two young children, I have noticed that my older body doesn't move through slides and tunnels as easily as my 20 something mommy friends.  Since I don't only want to be around to see my kids grow and marry, I want to be able to enjoy and participate fully as they/we grow older.

I have a 70 year old friend who is able to bicycle and really play with her grandchildren.  At that age, my grandparents could only watch Wheel of Fortune with me.  So my goal is to stay as flexible and healthy as I can so I can really enjoy the upcoming years.

In a conversation with a stretching instructor at a former gym, he said it is not only the sedentary that can benefit from stretching but many athletic people skip the stretching as well.  They are so busy building muscle and extending their endurance that they don't take time to stay flexible which leads to injury and early retirement from the sports they love.

Stretching can improve performance and decrease risk of injury.  It also reduces muscle soreness, improves posture, reduces low back pain, increases flow of blood and nutrients to the tissues, improves muscle coordination, and enhances enjoyment of physical activities.

After crawling after my children for a couple hours at a local indoor play land both my husband and I were  sore from the twisting and turning in the tunnels and going through the mazes.  I have a DVD of my stretching class that I took when I was pregnant with my son.  It helped me so much and if I would do it a couple times a week I would see great benefits.

The problem is knowing that it is a benefit and actually making the time to do it are two different things.  So the question is can I take the knowledge and get it put into action?  That is my new goal.  Here is a picture of my son showing me his bridge from gymnastics class.  I thought it was a much better picture than me showing off my flexibility.

Mommy's Project 52:38 Emotional

This is the first blog post that I have posted late.  I have been dragging my feet not really wanting to talk about this topic.  Emotions are a struggle for me right now.

I know that when I have my emotions under control I am a happier and better wife and mother.  Knowing that doesn't seem to help in my struggle to accomplish this task.  I have always been emotional but felt I succeeded in keeping it under control until I had children.  My life where I got enough sleep, didn't put too much on my plate, and only had my own well-being to consider made all that much easier to keep those emotions under control.

Add a husband, two kids, three moves, and all the things that go along with life and all of a sudden I need to adapt and cope while supporting my husband and helping my two kids to grow.  I still think I hide the emotional side until something breaks the proverbial last straw and then the anger or tears just come out.  Let's just say that it is not an ideal situation for any of us.

In an effort to find a calm place, I did join an exercise place which helps greatly.  I pay once a month and I have unlimited visit and unlimited childcare so when I need to let off some steam I have a great outlet.  The other thing I really try to do is get enough sleep.  It can be hard because sometimes you would rather stay up late and watch a movie or surf the web when I really need to do is catch some sleep especially when the kids are getting up at night.  If I exercise, I sleep better, and when I sleep better, the whole day goes better.  So a combination of sleep and exercise is a powerful combination in keeping my emotions in control.

I am trying to be more mindful. When I say that I am making an effort to be thankful, content, and joyful in my daily life.  Things that help me are prayer, writing a gratitude journal, and trying to stop negative thinking in its tracks.

Joining a mom's group here, I am hoping to meet some other moms who I feel a connection with and develop new friendships.  I prefer deep lasting friendship and it takes time for me to find and connect with other moms.  Hoping that we will not have to move for many years, it is something that I will find with time.

Below is a picture of my daughter being grumpy.  I remember this day because it was one of those times where this whole episode could have gone much easier if I had my emotions under control.

Mommy's Project 52:37 Pretending

Pretending is what preschool age kids do really well. I never know what my children will be from one minute to the next. They play like puppies, builders, dinosaurs, parents, and pirates in one play session. It is sometimes hard for me to get myself into the pretend mode with them. I think we lose a lot of that as we grow up. I love to watch them act out the possible and impossible. Pretending is a great thing!

Mommy's Project 52:36 Colorful

Colorful means to have much or varied color. With Easter this weekend, the first thing that comes to mind is Easter eggs. I look forward every year to coloring Easter eggs. We did this last night. It was a huge success and so much fun for my kids. We put stickers on them and then dyed them. We dyed them and then added stickers. We used a "magic" crayon and drew on them and then dyed them. We painted them. I don't think I could have more fun for a $1.95 coloring kit plus the cost of 18 eggs. Here are some pictures of the process and our results.