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.