Happy Mother’s Day, everyone! I hope you all have a wonderful day with your families and get to spend time honoring all of the great mothers in your life!
Make sure that your family treats you like royalty! Our princess moments are fewer and far between as we get older, embrace what’s left!
Hugs to each of you!
It’s raining, it’s pouring…what is a desperate mom to do? My popcorn tub came to my rescue this week and I have pulled it into our guest bathroom so the kids could have a blast in it, with easy clean-up for me.
I had bought a bag of popcorn at our wholesale club and knew that there was no way we would be able to eat the entire bag in a timely fashion. This popcorn tub was my son’s favorite gift for Christmas two years ago and it is still going strong.
We filled the tub with all of the children’s toys from their sand box and they have a blast for hours playing in this. When they are done, I just get out a broom and dustpan and make quick work of it. I have found that my sweepers spit the popcorn back out so it is easier to just take a broom to the floors, rather than doing the sweeping and spitting bit that I was doing before.
Emily didn’t get the concept of keeping the popcorn in the tub, but she soon got the hang of it after I showed her how she could fill her pails in the plastic container rather than trying to scoop and pour on the floor.
What goes better with popcorn than pajamas? Keep the kids in their “morning clothes” (as my son calls them!) and let them enjoy a quiet day of playing in popcorn.
Popcorn & Pajamas- two of my favorite “P” words especially when mommy is POOPED! Don’t you love how ridiculously theme-y I am?
My son is a genius and I have photographic proof now. He asked me to come downstairs, one morning before school, to show me something he had made. This is what I came downstairs to- can you believe it? I still have no idea how he stacked these nesting blocks in their complete reverse order.This is just the kind of kid I am raising- he is an out-of-the-box kind of kid. He is a creative thinker and a human sponge. I say he is a genius, very tongue-in-cheek, but he is one smart little cookie and is really looking forward to kindergarten.
We were in a tough dilemma about where we were going to send him to school. We wanted to support the efforts of the public school system, but we were not in a great district to do that. When magnet schools became available in our area, and after hearing so many great things about them, this seemed like the most viable option for us. We could not afford to put two children into private schools, but the magnet schools were part of the public schools with a great curriculum, uniforms, and an incredibly gifted staff. We applied and waited. And waited. And waited. We went to meetings and we prayed and prayed that our child would get to be a part of this program. Guess what? He’s in!
We went to the kindergarten round-up and I was so impressed with everything at the school. I felt like I was on the verge of tears the entire time for a couple of different reasons. The first, was that we were sitting there and would get to be a part of this wonderful community and staff. The second, was the talk of them going off to school and what an important time in their lives this is. The image of my son. My little boy. My child. My sweet and precious little man going on a bus and leaving me for the day was almost too much. Part of me welcomes him going away to school and part of me just wants to hold on a few more years to our special time together. He is my best buddy and I love having him around!
He was so excited about his new school and wants to begin counting down the days until he can start going there. In the meantime, we need to schedule a physical, get his kindergarten shot, a dental exam, a vision exam and sign him up for his first library card as part of our homework before school starts. We also will continue working on our letters, mathematics, and beginning reading skills with Ethan…. and mark off the days for him until he goes off to kindergarten. Kindergarten, here we come!
Sorry for a post full of randomness, but I wanted to update everyone on stuff that is going on this week!!
WSBT-
Yesterday I went to the WSBT studio to discuss how to put together a rainy day survival kit for your kids. This goes along with my little tutorial on making a rainy day suitcase for your family. My husband said this is the best one I have ever done? I think it came off that way because I was feeling a little more sassy…or maybe because I had to be there by 6:20 in the morning and wasn’t fully awake. I hope you guys enjoy it. I am pretty proud of our little suitcase so it was fun to get to show it off.
Nephew Update–
My nephew is doing so well that they are moving him out of ICU this morning. The skin looks great and it even has color to it- a great indication that the blood supply is doing what it is supposed to. My sister is a nurse so she can explain it a little more technically than I can, but it all sounds so positive. Thank you all for your sweet prayers and messages!
Lands’ End Contest-
I am really trying hard to share everything I can with all of our readers and today we have a Mother’s Day contest posted with Lands’ End. We will be offering one winner a $100 gift card to Lands’ End to make her own custom-fit swimsuit! I am so excited that we can offer this and I hope you will head over there to check out all of the contest details.
Bloom Swap-
I got to participate in another swap hosted by Monica & Carrie… two of my most favorite blogging friends in the world! Above is all of the loveliness that my swap partner, Angela from Life with one busy boy, sent to me. Her box was so beautiful and full of spring for me. My favorite item was a pair of pink gardening gloves- perfect for this girly-girl in the garden. I loved my box so much that I missed the photo opportunity and just dug right in. I had to sheepishly email Angela and ask if I could borrow her pictures. What a nice swap partner she was to share them with me!
I skipped the box in favor of my favorite reusable bag from Target. I filled hers with lots of flowery goodness and fun spring accessories for her garden. A fresh pair of garden gloves, flowery cards and pads of paper to put by her phone, and some bulbs to plant in her garden!
Thank you to my swap partner and the swap sisters for making this possible!
I just got off the phone with my mom and Austin is in ICU. His surgery lasted over eight hours yesterday so he was under for a lot longer than they had expected. They are waiting to see if the blood will start flowing and if the blood vessels will attach and begin working before we can be sure that the surgery was a success. He has been sick from being under for that length of time and we are just thankful that he got through it. Please continue to pray that this surgery will be a success for him and for his family.
Thank you all for being so sweet and praying for him. I know that their family really appreciates it and needs your support!
Two old margarine tubs filled with water and one package of paint brushes from the dollar store.
Mommy’s yoga mat becomes a soft cushion for the kids to rest their bottoms on while playing on the pavement. Don’t forget the sidewalk chalk so they can make even more cool pavement creations!
Ethan paints a rainbow with water and Emily just loves to paint around herself.
Emily’s painting usually ends up looking like this.
Ethan layers chalk and water to make beautiful hearts for mommy.
Then we make our own little hopscotch game, but that is too boring for a boy.
Ethan calls this, “EXTREME hopscotch.” He even says the word EXTREME in an EXTREME way. The rules are, you jump on number one and then hop 40,000 steps to get to number two and then you have to hop 40,000 more steps to get to the third number. These went all the way down our driveway to the very end. He wanted me to jump it, but that sounded too extreme for mommy, but perfect for an energetic little boy.Water and chalk provide hours of enjoyment on sunny days. This is how a frugal family spends their day together and I wouldn’t have it any other way!
Today is a hard day for our family and I am just asking you to lift my six year-old nephew up in your prayers this week. Austin is undergoing a very intense surgery today, where they will be grafting new skin for his leg to replace the nevus that is currently there. He will be in surgery for six hours today and then will be in ICU for seven to ten days. It is hard, as an aunt, to know what he is going through right now and I sit here feeling helpless waiting for any snippets from my sister about how it is going.
We sent Austin off with a little treat- a double batch of blueberry muffins for everyone to snack on while they were waiting. I am becoming a pro at “hospital hospitality” as, I believe, we are on our eighth surgery for Austin and I try to make a little something for them each time they go. It isn’t much, but these are the only things I feel like I can do right now.
Ethan is so worried about his best friend and cousin, so we decided to send pictures that Austin could open each day that he is at the hospital. My sister said she had to hide them because Austin was so excited to see what Ethan had made for him. Ethan said he made things that he thought Austin would think were “super cool” to cheer him up. We numbered them for each day he would be away from us and promised a sleepover at our house when he got better.
Please pray for a swift recovery and bless the surgeons with the skills that are needed to complete the task.
Here are some things I need to admit before I begin discussing self-care:
1. I do not keep my appointments when it comes to my own health care- doctor visits, the hairdresser, annual visits, dentist visits, chiropractor care, or vision exams. This has usually been because I don’t want to take both my children to these visits or because I feel like these appointments can wait. It is rare though that I ever reschedule anything for my children. For myself, it is a regular occurrence.
2. I do not regularly engage in things that are just for me other than social commitments. I struggle with making time to do hobbies I enjoy, doing any regular reading, or indulging in time for quiet reflection for myself.
3. I am pretty good about buying clothes for myself, but I struggle with feeling worthy enough to spend money on myself. This is because I feel that oftentimes the money is better allocated to my children, our house, my spouse, or food. It has gotten to the point that items for myself that have needed replacing seem like “spending urges” rather than the simple fact that sometimes I actually have a need to replace it.
4. At times I feel that engaging in self-care and doing things for myself is selfish and indulgent.
Now do you want to take advice from someone like me? As I have plowed my way through the chapters in our book for discussion (“How Did I Get So Busy,” By Valorie Burton), I had to pause for a moment as I approached the chapters on self-care. In some ways, I feel like I do really well. I do things often with my mom’s group and I try to make time with my closest friends and sister, but these times are often filled with busyness and chasing after kids. While sometimes, during these visits, I get a break, I am not doing things to care for myself during these times. I realize that this is something I really and truly need to work on.
Valorie offers these tips for shifting to a self-care lifestyle:
1. Make a decision to change your life. This is the first time in any life-changing process and she encourages you to want to make that change.
2. Clarify what is no longer acceptable. Shifting from a life of self-care might mean shifting away from a life of busyness. Make a list of what is unacceptable to you in your current lifestyle and what must go in order for you to make the shift to this new life.
3. Clarify what makes you feel well cared for. What really makes you feel cared for? Is it being pampered, cared for, and nourished emotionally, spiritually, and physically. Write down what comes to mind.
4. Make self-care easy. The author suggests making self-care easy and scheduling it into your day just as you would anything else. Set up appointments on the same day of each week or each month so that you can incorporate it easily into your schedule. You could also make it easier by making items that help nourish you easier to access. For example, a foot soak is my favorite thing to do so grouping all of these items together in an accessible spot and scheduling it every Friday (which I used to do each Friday and then lapsed on because I was “too busy”) would make it a scheduled and easy task for me to indulge in.
5. Practice until it becomes a way of life. Refuse to compromise on your self-care and practice, practice, practice doing it. It is okay if you don’t do it perfectly, but make an effort to make self-care a priority in your life.
6. Notice how much easier it is to do what needs to be done when you live a self-care lifestyle. Incorporating self-care will help give you the energy and the foundation to better handle challenges that come your way. Self-care prevents those feelings of being burnt-out because you will now have a cushion to soften the blow.
The challenge with this lesson and chapter is to make a decision to adopt a self-care lifestyle. From this lifestyle, you will automatically eliminate a lifestyle of busyness.
My personal commitment:
1. I am going to schedule my chiropractor appointments regularly again and I am going to schedule and KEEP my dentist & eye exam appointments.
2. I am going to try to do (at least) one nice thing for myself each week- spending time reading, knitting, exercising, or something to pamper myself. It will not necessarily be things that I am spending money on, but it will be a special treat that I don’t often engage in.
3. I will work harder on buying things for myself when I need them. If I hear of a person (like a someone-who-shall-remain-nameless type of person) who needs new underwear and she thinks it is a “silly expenditure,” I will encourage her to go and spend some money on herself because that is the most ridiculous thing I ever heard. And, yes, it has been that bad and that ridiculous for that person and shame on her.
4. I will not use my personal finances as an excuse to not take care of myself, unless that is really and truly true. We do have money for the things I need to care for myself and I will use those resources if they are needed. This doesn’t mean going to a spa resort for a weekend, but it might mean getting my hair trimmed or having my teeth cleaned.
These might seem like minor commitments, but I want you to know that this is a huge commitment for me. I want to be strong in body and mind, but I can’t be if I don’t take care of myself. This might require me to work less on the site so that I can make time to make this a priority, but I also feel that if I had this time that I might have more energy and even more creativity to draw from.
Sound Off: It is safe to admit it, do you struggle with caring for yourself? What is one commitment you could make towards your self-care? What is one thing that you really miss doing for yourself since you became a mom?
(P.S.- It is not selfish, it is self-care and you deserve it!)
We had a great day together, celebrating Earth Day yesterday. To celebrate we spent the entire day outside and I made sure we had lots of stuff to do while we were out there. I gathered all of our supplies together and grabbed two water bottles for the kids to keep them hydrated while we were outside. Apparently, Ethan had been discussing Earth Day with his teachers because he looked at me and said, “That bottle is not a 7, right? 7’s are BAD and I can’t drink from them.” For a moment, I felt a little bit of panic as I looked on the bottom to reveal our numbers. It appeared we had an acceptable number, but nothing like a kid to keep you on your toes. We took our chalk outside and Ethan drew this beautiful picture of the earth. Emily helped by scribbling her own little pictures with him.
I picked up this little journal from the dollar store and told Ethan that he could fill the pages with whatever things he saw in nature. He put together some really beautiful pictures of all the things he saw. Then I wrote the alphabet for him and he filled in the book with pictures of things that started with those letters. This kept him busy for about an hour and he loved showing his book to his daddy.
While Ethan documented in his journal, I took some pictures of some of the beautiful things in our yard.
Then I plopped myself in a chair and started my new book from one of my favorite bloggers, Soule Mama. If you are looking for ways to be more creative with your kids, I would highly recommend this book.
We had a wonderful day and didn’t turn the television on once! The evening was spent building forts, drawing pictures, playing in the bath, and special stories. It was a quiet and lovely Earth Day!
Two shallow containers of water with just a drop of dish soap.
Mommy’s ah-ha moment! Two shower loofahs, instead of sponges, so my children don’t completely soak themselves.
Two cars that have been sitting idle in the garage all winter.
Two little children assess the task at hand.
Working hard.
Hardly working.