Birthdays with friends

NyGirl just celebrated her 7th birthday.  Can't believe how fast she is growing up.
Thanks to friends, a park, and Chuck E Cheese's, she had a blast!

Learning to be patient

My girls are growing up!
My oldest just finished up her 1st grade year at homeschool co-op and is excited about entering 2nd grade.
My baby is running around happily disturbing her big sister and making lots of fun, laughable moments for the entire family.
We're currently working on potty training...fun stuff, I tell ya.

Each day there are moments I have to keep reminding myself (amongst the hectic summer schedules of soccer camps, birthday parties, and the like) how I must continue to practice patience.

I am reminded of a rose bud that hasn't yet come into full bloom, but is just waiting on the proper nourishment...and part of that nourishment is a patient caretaker.

Patience truly is a virtue that has to be practiced. It's not just some thing you learn to do overnight. With my kids, I am learning that now is not always best. Sometimes, it takes a little time...and I can afford to wait a little to make sure that what I'm asking them to do gets done in happy mode, as opposed to right now no matter what.

For example, I've learned that it can take a 6 year old 30 minutes to get dressed when it should only take 5...
But when I observed my daughter's process, I realized that she wasn't being slow out of spite. She actually was taking the extra time because she was motivated. She wanted to figure out the best outfit and piece it together just right. She wanted to make sure her socks were pulled up around her ankles just the right way so as not to bother her, and to make certain that her button down shirt was buttoned correctly. Everything had to match. There had to be pink in every piece of garment. And as frustrating as it was for me to wait for the process to unfold, when she finally unveiled her outfit, it dawned on me that I should just go right ahead and schedule in those extra 30 minutes every time I know she should get dressed to go out. Obviously barking orders to "hurry up" doesn't appear to work...so I may as well get with the program, right?

"Let patience have its perfect work".

Patience. I need more of it.

Princess Teas and Carpe Diem

Today my daughter and I had what we call "LLIT CLUB Girly Time". It's our way of having special one one time and our acronym for "little ladies in training".

We baked Princess Tea cookies. I did the mixing and Nyomi, of course did most of the real work: mixing, measuring, pouring, rolling.

We made some Princess Punch too (a sweet little mixture of maraschino cherry juice and flavored sparkling water), complete with colored sugar rimmed punch glasses.
I'm not big on sugar in our home. We hardly keep white sugar or white, refined flours in our cabinet...but for this little treat, I decided to go out of the way.

Here's my daughter, enjoying her cookies. Just a sweetie!

And I constantly remind myself of how quickly these children grow up.

I remind myself that spending time with a child sometimes means exerting that extra energy and putting your best foot forward even when you don't feel like it.

It means planning ahead by shopping for extra ingredients and planning to devote some real time to those time-consuming projects...all just to bring a smile on that face and see her face lit up with joy when she's spent some quality time with mom.

I've also had to learn that just because I'm a stay at home mommy, I don't necessarily "make" time for my kiddos the way I think I automatically do by being at home. Making time doesn't mean just being there. It means working on things together, playing together, laughing together, living together, "being" together. And you can't do any of those things if you're not having fun, and if you don't plan for the fun.

So I've determined that in my journey of natural mothering...I'm going to have lots of fun and enjoy being with my kids - even with a messy house! I won't let dirty dishes keep me from playing a family game...
Not anymore. It's so not worth it.

I've determined that as organized as I wish to be and as dust free as I want my house to be, I want to make memories with my kids even more.

So I've had to weigh my options and let some things go.

The day will come when my house can be immaculately clean. The day will also come when my children will be grown and out of my house.

Carpe diem.

A remarkably fun day with the girls!

Today was a load of fun!!!

For once in a really long time, I got to just simply lay back and ENJOY being with them.

We started our day off with breakfast, bible stories from the old and new testament, and a quick math page from our Alpha Omega curriculum. We quickly got dressed, loaded the car, and headed out to find out about enrollment in a Mom’s Morning Out program here in town. I immediately liked it..my baby girl seemed to want to get in there and start playing right away…so I knew we had a match. Plus…I loved how relaxed all the kids seemed and they got plenty of attention from the two teachers.

From there…we headed to a local book store to look at some homeschool curriculum and help books…and from there, to a surprise visit to an art ceramics studio called All Fired Up. My oldest daughter made a beautiful cross with pokadots and “Jesus” painted across the top. I can’t wait for them to fire it up and make it all shiny and ready for us to pick up next week. She had a BLAST!!!!!!!!!!

Then we looked around at some consignment boutique stores at baby clothes for my BabyZ. A little pricey, but to be expected…after all, it’s boutique.

Then a quick trip to Heritage House coffee shop for hot chocolate and cinnamon buns…plus some “girly” talk with my 6 year old. She was beaming from ear to ear when we left. I’ve missed that smile. Glad to see it back.

Next stop:Movie Gallery. We rented Kit Kettridge. She’s already seen this in the theaters, but just HAD to have it again. Ny is totally into American Girls and has read all of the Kit Kettridge series.

Last stop: home.

While BabyZ took her morning nap, I set NyGirl out to finish her handwriting practice and a worksheet on verbs. Then I headed to my laptop and finished up my article on dance for a local paper. Sent it in and called the editor. I’m just waiting for a reply and meanwhile…working on a game plan for mapping out my next writing move…fun, fun!

And now…

Well, now I need to quit blogging and go plop in front of the t.v. with my daughter to watch Kit Kettridge!

Yay, Orlando!

Our trip to Orlando was crazy and fun!

I can’t even believe we went to Disney World, after so many years of talking about it..but we finally did it.

So we arrived on Sunday, April 27th by plane…and Delta lost my luggage at the airport. Don’t know what happened and we’re going through the claims process even now…but I had packed away our whole life just about in that one suitcase (my stuff, and the kids’). All of our summer/spring stuff was in there - shorts, shirts, designer dresses, perfume, hats, shoes, bathing suits, underwear and socks — EVERYTHING… not to mention some other pretty important items like cameras, a Video Now Jr., my daughter’s special Strawberry Shortcake doll that she’s slept with every night since she was 2, and my most favorite study bible of all time.

All gone, just like that.

What’s up, Delta?

But moving on…

We had a great time that week regardless of the setback. We ended up at Walmart for a good bit of that Sunday after arriving to get more clothes, camera, shoes, and basic necessities that were in the bag which was lost.

Well we slept on it…it was going to be okay. We stayed at the Shades of Green resort , which was relaxing…so I got better quickly.

Monday morning we got up, boarded our rental SUV and set toward Sea World after eating at Olive Garden. We spent the whole day there and got to see Shamu!

And here we are with little BabyZ fast asleep…



A little water fun…

Sea World was a ton of walking. Walk, walk, walk. With no shuttles or lifts to transport you around the huge campgrounds you’re really glad to have strollers for the kids and wish you had one for yourself.

Ahh...for some French cuisine. Ok, fast food.

Can't remember which ride we were on, but we were WAY up in the sky.

A theatrical performance- and again, I can't remember which!

Enjoying the view of Shamu

Ny meets a new friend at SeaWorld.

Breastfeeding 101- you will be feeding 24/7. So invest in a cover. 

Day 2 we set out for Magic Kingdom at Disney World. This is where NyGirl had her most fun. she enjoyed dressing up like Aurora and getting a princess makeover at the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique.

She also got to take pictures with Belle at storytime by the castle.

There were so many attractions there. She loves the Merry go Round, visiting Minnie’s house and hanging out in Pooh’s playground.

We also hung around a bit at Epcott Center where she rode on a spaceship thingie with my husband. BabyZ and I just strolled around in the sun and I grabbed cheese filled pretzel. Fattening but good.

AFter her makeover we attended the big show (I can’t remember what it’s called) but it’s the main attraction of Magic Kingdom.

The next day (Day 3), we missed breakfast for sleeping in too late, but drove out toward Tampa to Busch Gardens.


Now THAT was my favorite place. There, we got to see attractions like Jungala, wild animals, the African “safari”, a cool show with African dancers…and we even rode the cable cars high above so we could see the view below. It was breathtaking!

There were face paintings, drummers, and lots of cultural sites to behold. Not to mention the variety of artistic shops set up to sell native African garb.

A friendly customer offered to take our family photo eating at an African restaurant.

She pets a goat!

Finally catches up with it to brush his hair

NyGirl rode on the bumper cars there with her daddy, but she didn’t like that her car was actually being “bumped”
Not to worry, her daddy made sure little Princess stayed clear of all mean little drivers.

We cut our time at Busch Gardens in half so that we could make it out to Adventure Island before it closed (and boy did they close early at about 5 or 6). I didn’t much there since it’s a water park and I don’t swim. Fabien went on just about every water ride while I stayed with the girls in a cozy beach like area near the sand and shallow water to splash our feet in. I took some vidoe footage of this and lots of pics. I’ll be sure to add pics when I can.

That night we took a detour by the airport to see if we might find our luggage (still no success), got sidetracked on the side of the highway while we waited on our GPS system to boot up so we wouldn’t get lost, then found our way to Cici’s Pizza for a late (and I mean really late) dinner.

That was our last full day in Orlando. The next morning we awoke to a beautiful breakfast at our resort’s restaurant in the downstairs lobby.



Meanwhile my husband was secretly rushing me around so he could get me to some surprise that I had no clue about. Before I know it we’re roaming around the golf course of the resort, circle the swimming pool, and end up right in front of a massage table! So that was my surprise — my 1st professional massage. Thanks, Hubby! (and thanks Angela from upstate New York!)

we then rush upstairs to get our stuff out of the room and check out before 11 a.m.

Next was lunch, a quick stop at Disney Downtown for the last time (and while there we caught a movie - College Road- and ate a jumbo popcorn) and ate at Haggen Dazs from which I fell sick the next day by the way.

Then to Walmart to return some items, to the gas station to fill her up, to the airport, boarding the plane and off in the late evening sky back toward Birmingham, Alabama. Through all of this, BabyZ was AMAZING! She wasn’t fussy at all on the plane rides and pretty much enjoyed being strolled around during the whole trip. NyGirl, as usual, was eager to ride the plane for the first time and she just totally dove into all the new sights, sounds, and experiences.

We drove home from Birmingham that night and the kids fell asleep, exhausted from such a long trip. We arrived home an hour later (around midnight) and tucked NyGirl in her princess bed with Disney ears on and fully clothed (except the shoes). She was knocked out for the night. BabyZ went to her crib and it wasn’t until an hour later that Hubby and I finally got settled in for sleep.

What a trip!!! Oh, but it was so much fun!

Exhausting, but fun.

Singing, Organizing, and uh...toilets.

So it’s been an interesting week so far…and you’ll know why if you keep reading.

First of all, if you’ve been reading any of my earlier posts you’ll know that I’ve changed over to the Well Trained Mind classical method education for my daughter. This week’s homeschool structure has changed, and so has our schedule…and that meant getting ORGANIZED!

Here’s a little corner in our home near our washer/dryer that we weren’t using efficiently:


Quite a mess in fact.

There’s a little toddler art table, an end table, homeschool crates, binders, toys and organizing drawers that are in fact disorganized.

So… I brought in her computer desk, and did a little rearranging so now it looks like this:



Quite a difference, eh?

I’m quite proud of myself I must admit. Now we can think, breathe, and have school in a more organized environment.

Okay…now for the funnies…

What does a 5 year old do when she tries to flush a few wads (or maybe rolls) of toilet paper down the toilet?

Why, the only sensible thing to do, of course! Put up a sign!



Did you catch that? “OUT OF ORDER”?

yep.

That’s NyGirl for ya…my creative and orderly Little Lady.

Speaking of NyGirl…we spent a great deal of time last Thursday making out Valentine’s Cards for her little friends at our homeschool co-op. You remember back in grade school how important it was for our little boy and girl friends to get our Valentine’s in their goody bags?



This was an exciting time for her! We’re just really blessed that homeschooling doesn’t mean she still can’t have some of the social outlets we had as kids…and we’re SO blessed to be part of our local co-op, which is unbelievably awesome, (and I’m bragging!) but probably one of the best nationwide.

And one more pic for the day…

We always tell NyGirl she’s our little star…so here she is singing to her heart’s content (with her Daddy accompanying her on the piano next to her).

Wish I had a video of this!


That’s all for now.

Getting into my routine

Okay, well today was much better!

The past few days (weeks) have been hectic as I’ve been struggling to get back into sync with a new baby.

Friday while my 5 year old daughter was at homeschool co-op , I was able to really tune in to BabyZ’s needs and follow her patterns more closely. I think I’ve gotten a hang of what she needs and when. Her late afternoon/evening schedule is a bit strange (what newborn’s isn’t?) She sleeps through the night okay and has a regular pattern early morning…but at night she gets off schedule and cries a lot.

She seems to get cranky while I nurse A LOT and I’ve been trying to narrow it down to reasons like …could she be allergic to something I’m eating? So I’ve cut out dairy products. Or… could it be that she’s not latching on correctly? I know that in the beginning she didn’t latch on well, but things have gotten better since Week 1…so maybe that’s not it. Or maybe my letdown is too fast? Too slow? Gosh…there’s too much to figure out. So I’ve just left it alone and figured it’s probably just a growth spurt.

Anyways, that night when my daughter came home we took some more pictures. We figured they’d make great Christmas cards.