Step up and be Strong

I think this will be the next vinyl lettering I put in my house.
I have been very frustrated with some of the circumstances in my life, as of late. I don't want to be the one to put more effort into life. I don't want to be the one to take care of these things. I want to go on doing what I'm doing and have someone else "step up". Well, I know this is not what should be. I have been working on an attitude adjustment (There is an old Country song about that, but I can't remember it right now.) for a little while, but have not gotten anywhere. I think, after going to General Woman's Conference this evening, I'm on my way to that adjustment. I think that having this saying up in my house where I can see it all the time, will help me to continue moving forward and prevent the slipping from being too big.
Happy Days to you all.

My new best friend

This guy eats Squash bugs!!!! I'm sure most of you have never had a run in with squash bugs and don't understand what the big deal is all about. Truth be told, I haven't either (thanks to this guy). I have a friend that is loosing the battle against the nasty bugs. I thought I was going to have to wage a war against them but alas, I have a praying mantis that is taking care of the problem for me. So, if any of you are in the same boat as my friend, find one of these guys, put him under your squash plants and hopefully you can win the battle too.

Sushi and Rain

I was searching for good school lunches the other day when I came across this Candy Sushi recipe by Rachel Ray
Thought I'd try it. DS 1 and 2 helped me. It was really easy and fun. Here are our results.









It also rained today. This doesn't happen very often here. This is the boys having fun in the rain.


Hope it was a good day for you.

Edutainment

Edutainment- educational and entertaining shows. I have a list of shows that I call edutainment. I don't feel guilty when my children are watching edutainment. This is opposed to the guilt I feel when my children watch most anything on TV for too long. I was talking with a friend about this list and she suggested that I put them here for others to discover. So, I'm going to make an Edutainment section to the right of my page with links to some of my, and my children's favorites. Andy's Airplanes is one that I haven't seen yet but it looks good and I will be trying it out as a b-day gift for my 6 yo at the end of the summer. Happy kid raising.

Things have been happening around here.

I Read The Host by

Good Reads

I enjoy reading. I have been reading books that I have picked up here and there and have enjoyed most of them. Today I borrowed some Anita Stansfield books from a neighbor and am remembering why I love her books. I haven't read all of them yet but plan to. The one I'm reading now (In Search Of Heaven) is GREAT and I think I want to own it.
I like to know what happens before and after the stories I read or the movies I see. I love trilogies and sagas for this reason. Anita Stansfield writes a lot of sagas. I also love that her books are clean and I don't have to skim through the smut to find a good story.
Anyone what to recommend any other author?

Emmy Awards

Rachel Coleman from Signing Time! has been nominated for the "Outstanding Performer in a Children's Series," as part of the 35th Annual Daytime Entertainment Emmy® Awards!!! You can watch it at 35th Annual Daytime Creative Arts & Entertainment Emmy Awards website tomorrow, June 13th. The live webcast begins at 6:00 p.m. ET. Click on the on the test video to make sure you can watch it online.
As some of you know, I love Signing Time!!! and I'm not going to be able to watch it so, if one of you does please call me when is happens. :) Thanks.

Sweet Rolls

Look what I'm doing today. One of my first attempts. The pic. is of them rising but, if I don't post now, not sure when I will. :)

Yoga

I want to let everyone know, that today, for the first time, I was able to hold the plank position every time we were asked to, in class. Normally, I go into modified plank. It feels good to hit the little milestones.

My 4 1/2 Year-old Can Read

I decided to play with the bath tub letters with my DS2 today. I handed him a "C", "A", and "T" and said, "Why don't you put those up on the wall". He looked at the letters and said "cat". I thought well, every kid knows "cat", lets try something else. I started putting letters on the wall, he sounded them out, and then I asked what that was. Sometimes he would give me a definition, i.e. "Cut, like on your knee and it bleeds." Sometimes he would sign the word, i.e. "Hat" and then sign "HAT" We went through every C-V-C word I could think of and then on to silent E words. Sometimes I would have to remind him, "What does that "E" do?", or "What does a "T" say". Most of the time he just sounded things out. I'm in shock. My dad has been joking with me about all of the smart preschoolers that we have in the family, he says "It's in the Genes". I think it is from watching shows like Signing Time and Leap Frog.

Haircuts

I finally gave my boys much needed haircuts. I have always disliked long hair on boys and wondered what their parents were thinking in allowing them to have their hair long. Now, after seeing my oldest with a shag I must say I have a little more understanding for the parents and feel a little leniency toward "long hair". I do still like short hair on boys a LOT better. Also, I think I am improving my haircutting skills. I believe these were the fastest, best haircuts I have given. I think they are cute.

Interesting Question

We took the kids out to Black Rock on Sunday, thought we would check it out. While we were there, my 6 yo asked my DH, "Do you think my kids will see weird places like this?".
My question to you is, "Do 6yo boys normally think about their children?". Once in a while he makes reference to his children. I think he is a smart boy to understand the time line of life the way he seems to. I'm sure some people would agree with me and others would say I'm making a big deal out of nothing. What do you think?

Well, the weather is finally warming up. You know how the saying goes "be careful what you wish for...", it will be in the 70's, 80's, and 90's this weekend.
I have had a stressful few days. I'm not sure why exactly. I have a lot going on but it seems to me I shouldn't be overly stressed about it, like I am. Especially with all the yoga and palaties I've been doing. Oh well, I'm sure I will relax by Tuesday.

May Day

Happy May Day to all, and to all a good night. :)
P.S. Is it warming up yet???

Feelin' Good, well......better

I have had a back muscle that has been causing me problems for the past few weeks. I was even having a hard time driving (that seemed to REALLY hurt it). I have been to the chiropractor. I've tried heat, Ibuprofen, stretching, and rubbing and nothing seemed to be working on it. I was skipping pilates and yoga because I was hurting. Well last week I decided that I was going to go to yoga and just do what I could. It worked!!! My muscle is really close to normal. I was even able to do most of the exercises at pilates last night. yippee :) I'm really looking forward to yoga tonight.

A Productive Day

Today I helped coach soccer, helped with a church children's party, cleaned out some of the storage room, did the Saturday shopping, figured out which plants I'm going to put in my front flower bed, and babysat the neighbor's kids. It has been a productive day. Sometimes I need to remind myself of this because there is plenty that didn't get done. I'm hoping I can have many more like it. :)

All is well

I am sitting here thinking about how life is going, or my be going in the future. I have decided that there is plenty to be done and life is flying all around me, but all is well. I have to remember to bring myself back to this place more often through out my days. Hope all is well for you:)

Jinxed

Thursday night I was chatting with some friends. One of the friends told us about her boy, one of witch has managed to kill one of his front teeth and another one who has managed to loose (by knocking out and other means) four of his top front teeth. So, I wished her boredom and normalcy and went on my way. Well, this morning, at S2's soccer game (that DH and I were coaching) my D fell and chipped a tooth. You know mouth bleeds, they are not little. So I am adding another page to my parenting book. Coaching soccer in a bloody shirt with a bloody kid. :)

Just Read The Sign Post

boy, am I glad I sign with my children. It helps in ways I never thought it would, when I made the decision to sign with my kids. Check out the articles under the Autism-things I like bar.

relaxed

Today was a good day. I feel caught up on family issues, I pushed through a shopping experience (I really do not like to shop for clothing for myself!) and made some headway, without crying:), had a nice dinner with my family, and took DD for a little walk to end the evening.

hi

hi all, I'm trying this out. We'll see were it goes :)