Small Sucesses - "It's Ok, Brag a Little" Edition

Ok - so Danielle gives us permission to brag a little. I don't have much to brag about - but I will share it on my new other space. I'm trying to find people who do something similar, so I'll use this to maybe find some!!

Go HERE to see what may have gotten done this week - HA! And THANKS!

Wordless Wednesday - "Cooling off 95 Degrees"

New Blog

Hey there! Been working on stuff today and included links I've found useful on my other blog.

Please join me there (any tips?? PLEASE share). THANKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

<--------      (You can also just click the tab on the left side bar).

Much love!

My Baby and Me

Preparing to Home School

Well, I'm trying to get all planned out. It's a big process for me. I've decided to create a place where I can focus on homeschooling thoughts, plans, and processing. I'll still write here, and post when I update that page and want to share - but I've created a space where I can focus on this topic in depth as my time allows (who knows about that! I'm not blogging as much as I used to these days).

Please look to the left side of your screen and this blog. There is a link to my home school site 'A Rosey Outlook' Adventure: Homeschooling. Feel free to add this little space to your readers. I'll to post there, and here, as I can.

Thanks for your support, thoughts, and ideas. Keep praying for us!!!

Much love.

Small Successes and Thankful Thursday - "Getting Sick? " Edition

Good morning!!

I feel we've been so busy. Then, yesterday evening I went from feeling great to feeling sick with an oncoming cold. Boo as we head into the weekend - but I can find some successes and blessings I'm sure!!!

1. Gift slept 7 hours in a row the last 2 nights. He doesn't fall asleep till 12am or 2am, but then seems to sleep and sleep. Odd that extra rest gives me a cold...hmmmm LOL!

2. I only have one more load of clothes left to clean and fold before the weekend!

3. I'm getting books still ordered for homeschool, and checking my resources and such. It's so hard to get anything done!!! I wanna be planned soon! Kris...I need to get to your house :)

Bonus 4. I made calls about keeping my teaching certificate renewed next year. It felt great to be on top of it, and I loved the news I got. It'll be easier to keep it current than I assumed since I'm not teaching high school currently. I don't want to lose what I worked so hard for, and enjoyed doing, for many years.

Question for anyone reading - what materials do you find most helpful for a homeschool classroom? All methods or schooling ideas welcome!

How's your week?

Thankful Thursday
This week I'm INCREDIBLY grateful for...

1. good health (even with colds).
2. buy 1 get 1 free sales!
3. my parents.
4. my sister.
5. my family.
6. my girls!
7. my son!
8. my husband!
9. great faith!

Much love!

Preparing for the Tooth Fairy

Step by step....





Thumbs up!! Time for bed!!

Father/Daughter Camping Trip

Lovely and Daddy went camping this weekend Father/Daughter style. I've been encouraging my hubby to try it as I think the more practiced we get at camping it will become a very rewarding way to spend time as a family. I think both of them LOVED it. Their camping site was right by a creek:





Hubby went with his close friend who is also Gift's Godfather (and a camper himself) and both guys brought their eldest daughters. I think both girls enjoyed some special Father/Daughter time. I also think the weekend wore the girls out....

(haha...look at Lovely's lost upper tooth...it is so cute in in this pic. Sleeping kid car pics are also pretty adorable. How do they sleep like that????).

Hubby said he really liked camping - so hopefully this is the start for our family. Now...to actually get our own camping supplies...haha!

2nd tooth lost!!!

Tooth lost while shopping to prepare for a camping trip. TOO cute!!!

Beautiful Day. Beautiful Family.

Today was a great Friday. I love days like today - time outside together. Days like today remind me not to take our family for granted. I'm richly blessed!!

We rode trains, dusted for "fossils", and waded in streams. A perfect day!



Little Gift chilled the whole time in the shade of the stroller...


Lots of smiles - wet and dry....







Sweetness on the train...



music in the streets (red percussion wands in a street show)....

"digging for fossils" in the kiddie craft zone...

a color wall to color in too!


more fossil searching!



The girls in the car after our fun, hot, sandy, and wet day...they are so sweet.



and, LOVELY took the below pic of little Valiant....WOW!!!! I love it!!


I love my family.

I'm really blessed.

(*smile* and a *sigh*)

**Oh - I went basck and looked - here is this same stream in 2009. WOW! Someone has GROWN!!!!
hehe!

A sweet givaway!

I love jewelry, especially simple pieces. What could be better to have a sweet and simple piece that is also meaningful? I stumbled about a neat giveaway for a rosary bracelet. I'm a sucker for rosaries - I have a one decade one for the car made by my friend H, a rosary ring, and few other versions of the standard rosary - but I've never had a bracelet. The pictures of this bracelet are so lovely! So, I'm spreading the love (and trying to win) about this crafty mom.

Check it out!!!

Have a great day!!!

Small Successes and Thankful Thursday: "One Foot in Front of the Other" Edition

Well, it's been a week. Not the best week, but certainly not a bad week. I've been sleepy, but we've gotten out - gotten some routine. I think next week I could use a few more slower paced mornings instead of being out of the house by 10am for the library, or something else. We'll see.

What else have I done?

1. I have gone through my clothes in both the closet and my personal dresser drawers and parted ways with clothes I KNOW I don't need. As I lose some post baby curves (no rush) I can figure out what else I can part with. It felt great to do this. My drawers are no longer stuffed! I do have some old T-shirts I'd love to turn into a quilt. I KNOW I'll never get around to this, but does anyone out there know of an etsy artist or company that will take my shirts and make a quilt FOR me? :)

2. I caught up on folding a ton of laundry that needed to get done from the 4th! WOW! If I can do a load today, I'll be ahead of the game vs letting load after load pile up....

3. I have started the book ordering process for homeschooling. I'll be taking a classical approach to learning (something Lovely and I both seem to learn from style wise) along with embracing other methods (Montessori, Waldorf based learning from Serendipity - especially for little Val as I work with her too - even at her age, Faber for music, and some Suzuki in music as well). I just can't wait to give this a go. I like trying different methods because we're not all cut one way. My girls are into books, but they love imaginative play, fairy tales, and music. I also am seeing Lovely is quite the artist. So, I have a multi-faceted child(ren) and need to do different learning. Just listing all that exhausts me....what am I getting into? LOL!! But, it's also been fun looking up places I want to take Lovely to for field trips and pricing passes, etc. I'm praying this is for us and we both enjoy it. So, that is a start and very small success I'm adding to this coming week.

*** side note ***Does anyone do 1-2-3 Magic out there in their homes for discipline? A friend loaned my husband the DVD (I've heard of the book; just never made the time to read it). I have it now in the background, and I like it. A few moms in our Mommy Group use it, and I like seeing them do it - we've never used it as so far my eldest listens usually on the 1st warning, but she (and I) are getting more verbal with each other and I find myself doing more explanations/arguing since the baby came in my tired state (I'm not thinking as much). I need to be accountable and follow through! Since I know homeschooling is going to have Lovely and I together all. the. time I want to come up with a less verbal approach. She and I may butt heads over learning as it is, so I want to keep the peace and be short and direct as much as I can. The video is great, and it is also geared for teachers...so...I wondered if anyone else uses it.

How goes your week?

Thankful Thursday
This week I'm thankful for...

1. prayer.
2. small steps.
3. hot water.
4. friends.
5. GOOD health.
6. girl talk.
7. naps.
8. strength.

Many blessings!!!

Wordless Wednesday - "ABCDE...P otatoes" Edition

A Look Back to Yesteryear...

So, I stumbled across something I wrote when Lovely was almost Valiant's age currently (2). I wanted to repost it here. It was a capture of a perfect afternoon as a mother for me - when I was still teaching high school and going to night classes as well. It was truly a magical moment.

This past week, when we had some pleasant, spring like weather, Lovely and I were outside after I got off work. We were going to take a walk, when I noticed she stopped and was staring up in the air. She cocked her head as if wondering, "What is that?" I took a quick glance and could not see what she was looking at. The sky was clear blue, with no clouds, or birds, or planes.

She smiled, and started to talk in her little language - but she was not talking to me. I stooped to her level and looked in the direction she was looking and talking - and then I saw it.

She was smiling and talking to the moon. My daughter discovered the moon.

It was one of the days where the moon was visible in daylight. As I turned to gaze back at her to enjoy her discovery, I could tell she was wondering why it wasn't moving. I said "That's the moon honey, it watches over us day and night." I wasn't sure if she understood that, but I was savoring this moment; seeing the wonder of the moon again as if for the first time myself, and grateful to be in my daughter's presence. My mind and heart taking a picture of the moment to savor forever.

She looked at me as I told her it was the moon, and then looked at it again, smiled, raised her hand, waved and said "Hiiiiiiyyyyeeee."

Her delight and innocence touched me. I bet even the moon smiled at being greeted. I'm sure it is used to being taken for granted these days.

We then preceded on our walk with the moon to our backs, and she would occasionally turn around to look back up and giggle, playing peek-a-boo with her new friend, loving how it was always there, waiting just for her no matter where we went. I secretly hope she'll always see the moon this way, because she sure has taught me to.

There are times when all is right with the world, and I feel so honored to live them through the eyes of a child.

I'm so blessed...I need to view life as a child more often. We adults get far too worried, concerned, or serious these days.

Refreshing.

Nothing like some cool fountain water to cool off some....








This mama's soul needed some refreshment and fun for the kids out of the house some. But now I think it is time for a....

NAP!!!!!!

Nightie night!!! :)

So. Tired.

I haven't REALLY blogged/journaled in a few weeks. I'm relatively ok with it as I am a mom to three now, with one being an almost 2 month old, and another being 2, along with the 6 1/2 year old I feel very compelled to be fully present for. It is very tiring at this point. I'm super happy, feeling relaxed about it, and blessed, but underneath it all, I'm tired. It pops up in funny ways.

My mother also had her first (of two) knee replacement surgery this past week. So, my sister and I have traded nights with her at the hospital and then at home. When I stayed in the hospital I pumped and left Gift and the girls with Hubby, and returned home to him by 6am so he could go to work. I feel for my mother, because if I barely slept because of the constant care they came into her room with, then the poor woman in pain certainly didn't sleep. At her house on my night to sleep over it was a bit comical - she and Gift (I could bring him this time) slept better than I did. She SNORED and I watched the hours tick by - then would feed Gift, put him back in his bed, then mom would wake for the bathroom....it was so funny! I came home and crashed. So. Tired (but again, think of my mother - but she's doing so well - walking with a walker, doing her rehab like a champ...she's awesome!).

Saturday also found Hubby and I back in the "gig" circuit since Gift was born. We played background music at a swanky party. I barely fit into my dress (I'm trying to embrace my post baby curves), and I forgot what it was like to pump or nurse around an event like this lol. Lovely's Godparents babysat for us at their house, and it went well for them - ASIDE from the fact that in my sleepy, tired state I packed needed items AND dinner for the girls and FORGOT breastmilk/bottles for Gift. How can I forget the one child who is entirely dependent on me for nourishment? LOL. They saved the day though - they told us to go on and make our gig, and one of them went back to our house with our keys to retrieve a bottle and pumped milk. How awesome is that? Gift was JUST FINE in the meantime. The girls had a blast playing with their godsister and Grammy (the mother of Lovely's Godmother J) and Grammy and J had a blast cuddling with Gift. We got home to our house by 8pm with our kids and I was SO. tired. I pumped another bottle for Hubby, told him he was in charge of all 3 kids, and went to bed. I vaguely remembering hearing bedtimes for the girls, and Hubby giving me Gift for a post consumed bottle feeding a few hours later and then the on and off nursing all night with the co-sleeper. Today came, and found us at my parents again helping out and visiting.

I'm about to head to bed. I'm typing this while pumping again (Hubby does an evening bottle for me, and I feel cleansed for the long night - I'm always worried about mastitis, so I like making sure I'm tapped out before the long night and feedings I refill for), but I feel like I haven't captured life here in a while. I'm doing really well, so happy (even my mom said today - and it was a compliment from her wonderfully - that I seemed really happy as a mom of three, and so relaxed). I was yawning as she said it - ha! But, she's right. I am happy, and I love my brood of 3 kids. I try to stay upbeat, even when stressed (like forgetting milk for Gift last night, or dealing with a 2 year old tantrum while my 6 1/2 year old glares at me for saying no to the TV, and the baby is crying which triggers let down and a stained shirt as I head out the door to mom's all at the same time) and most of the time, I forget I'm tired. I hide it well because I am so proud and happy. It doesn't always bring me down - but this week, with the surgery, I have been more over-tired, and I break down into toddler moments much like my 2 year old. I save it for my husband though.

So..... I'm aiming to go to bed after pumping and getting some extra rest (the baby and I tend to go to bed at midnight or later). My over tiredness has shown it's head to me privately, and anyone who knows me in real life can probably tell in other ways - I'm insecure again, overly talkative about my worries or family issues, apologizing to friends, etc. and I'm famously over thinking again. I have some good posts in my head about my thoughts - but who knows if I'll find the time to write them down. My time is spent napping, or surviving waking up to lunch time, to nap time, to when Hubby gets home from work. Blocks of time. I'm living my life on "block scheduling" (the former teacher in me). If we're out (which is when I feel my best, because we're OUT and off our butts away from TV or movies, or the Wii on while I doze off. I'm not anti TV, but with it being so hot, I can't send my girls outside as much as I'd like to off set it) I'm happiest. But, getting out makes me tired later as a price, and I get more emotional and tired. It's a hard pattern! I'm like a computer that never gets turned off - always on, always ready - processing, searching, repeating. I need to REBOOT (don't thank me for this comparison, I stole it from Rachel B's blog lol!! See link below).

I will say when I got on to pump and read up on blogs this evening (I have not been on Google Reader lately...I've either been napping, doing stuff in the house or with the kids, or GASP! Reading BOOKS again....wow!) I saw another mom with a newborn and 2 year old (Rachel B.) wrote something that worded my feelings correctly...I DO need routine again, I do need to try to refocus, etc because I am getting down about the free schedule of summer, or sleeping, or too much TV or Wii to pass the time as I recover from nursing and sleep deprivation. Yes, I deserve to slow down and do what it takes to survive, but I'm totally getting over this feeling of "getting by". I wonder if I can do that this week some - "rebooting" myself. I know we'll be doing some home summer camp (Summer Adventures) and lots of library time this week, as well as I'm trying to lesson plan and order books for Lovely's homeschooling (which is currently a huge headache for me) and doing some math placement activities with Lovely to see if she is a year ahead in math like I suspect she is so I know what math level to order. I love the planning part, but not the ordering and book finding part. YUCK (Kris...can I pay you to do this for me? HA!). But...it is a change from "getting by". Let's just see if I can balance rest with a little more action, shall we?

I bet adding more meditation time, or quiet time, or praying time would help too, right? I'm sure!! That would help me down to my foundation and make the rest better, no?

Ok - so I have NO idea where this post went to, or if it was clear and made sense. I started with a theme - So. tired. I guess that is pretty clear under all that verbage, isn't it? I'd better wrap this AND pumping up, and go to bed an hour earlier than usual...SCORE.

Much love! You are NOT alone in your trench. I'm here too!

Small Successes and Thankful Thursday - "Picture of Success " Edition

So....we've had a good week - but a busy one. Visiting family, friends, and fun!!! I think I'll just do my successes pictorially!

1. We swam:






2. We celebrated the 4th of July at our house with a Backyard BBQ, Badminton, and Fireworks









3. We smiled...hehehe





It has been a GREAT week! You know I loved this greatly...I love all the above!

How was your week? Blessed? I'd write more, but I can tell the kids will need me soon....

Thankful Thursday
This week I am most thankful for...

1. my mom's 1st knee replacement surgery going well so far. She's still in the hospital, but doing better and better. Thanks for the prayers!

2. safe travels for all our family and friends this past week, and upcoming!!!

3. our family's current good health. I pray it stays this way, along with the safety and good health of our family and friends.

4. blessings.

5. faith.

6. family.

7. friends.

8. our home.

9. NAPS!!!


Ok, gotta run! Much love!!!!