top 5

Top 5 food staples.

A. if i could ONLY buy five food items and my family had to survive on those 5 alone...
1. eggs
2. peanut butter
3. chicken
4. bread
5. cereal

B. if i was only thinking about the top 5 items that i currently always need to have in the house...
1. peanut butter
2. bread
3. milk
4. turkey pepperoni
5. cheese

C. if i had a top five that were ONLY for ME, but not for survival (see list A.)...
1. cinnamon stick tea bags
2. pepsi
3. Crispix
4. noodles
5. pizza

D. if i only think about what the kids always want in the house...
1. peanut butter
2. milk
3. yogurt
4. crackers
5. chicken nuggets


I read this on another blog and thought it was interesting to think about and then look at after it's answered.

Lent

So I have been struggling with what to give up for Lent. Last year I gave up frivolous spending and started recycling. We are to this day still recycling.
But I think I have finally decided. I am giving up TV from 11-5 during the week. There is nothing worth watching and the tv it just on for background noise anyways. So I have decided to turn off the tv and instead I will feed everyone lunch, get everyone down for rest time and then I will spend my time reading, blogging, writing a journal (which will probably be in blog format) and praying.

Now the only set back to no TV from 11-5 is The Olympics. What in the world is a girl to do?? I guess I will miss them. There are only a few events that I have left that I want to see.

Hopefully this will put me in the practice of spending some time without the tv on. Spending some time in the quiet stillness of the house.

Someone said why don't you give up TV all together is 11-5 really a sacrifice. I guess no it's not a huge sacrifice but I find the more important aspect is what I am going to do with that time outside of my mommy duties. Spending time reading, writing a journal and praying is a lot better than curled up on the couch watching a Soap Opera, Extra or something like that.

So this year for me Lent is more about getting in the practice of doing something rewarding instead of wasting those hours to something worthless.

Youth Ministry Advance Team: Haiti

I have a friend in Haiti right now with a group of Youth Workers.
They have a facebook page that is being updated daily while they are there.
Check it out: Youth Ministry Advance Team: Haiti
Each member is blogging about their daily experience and it is just amazing to read. It makes my heart hurt and yet have hope and joy for these people. It seems that to spite their current devastation they are in the streets and at prayer meetings singing and dancing before the Lord.
It is very humbling to read their experience. I encourage you to become a fan and read some of the blogs.
If you read my blog and do not have facebook let me know and I can send you links to their blogs if you are interested.

Valentine's Day sleepover

So last night I had a sleepover with some of the gals from church.
Ellie roped them into playing dress up first.

Ellie gave them both alternative names, Jane and Sparkle. Luckily Taylor, Sparkle, brought her own dress up dress. Bailey, Jane, did not fair as well. She is wearing a dress that I wore in Kindergarten. I love these girls because they don't just go along with Ellie and Silas. They love them!
As dress up was going on I made pizza.


Yep, I made heart shaped Pizzas and I think they turned out pretty good. They were quite tasty as well.
We played several games and ended the night watching Mamma Mia. Well we watched most of it.
I can't think of a better way to spend Valentine's Day when Eli's away.

Happy Valentine's Day

When daddy's away...

we get the tent out and sleep out in the living room. This is also how we plan on watching the opening ceremony for the Olympics.

I wear no pants-the toddler version

Silas caught a Super Bowl commercial that has stuck with him. This is the toddler version of that commercial.

Potty trained?? I'm keeping my fingers crossed

Silas woke up last Thursday and said "Mom, I wanna go use mine potty." so off we went. He has been using it every since and only had 2 accidents. I think that's pretty good. Hopefully this is the end of diapers.

We do have one issue though, What in the world do I do with him when we are out in public and he has to go. He isn't tall enough to stand and pee in the potty and well sitting isn't an option.
Any mommies out there have advice?
I can't take his little potty everywhere we go.

He loves us all!

The following is from a blog written by Pete Wilson.
"There are some 11 million abandoned kids roaming the streets of India. I’ve been aware of that statistic for a while but nothing prepares you for meeting it face to face.

This is Puja Ghosh who is just five years old.



She lives with a family here in the Khalpar slum who found her in a pile of trash. Her mom literally tossed her out like you would a loaf of moldy bread.

I know many of you have unhealed wounds from your parents. These are deep wounds because your parents are the two people on earth who by God’s design are entrusted to pour unconditional love into your heart. So when that doesn’t happen for one reason or another it bruises our very souls. It can be the deepest of all hurts.

It’s one thing to grow up in extreme poverty.

It’s one thing to grow up in a 3×5 tent.

It’s one thing to grow up wondering where your next meal is coming from.

But it’s a whole other thing to grow up with the realization your mom and dad threw you in the trash. To know you were so undervalued that you were discarded as worthless and left for dead.

Lack of love is the deepest and most painful form of poverty that exists."


My thoughts:

Lord help me remember to treat everyone in a loving way.

I know sometimes I let the flesh get the best of me and it is so easy to get angry or upset about something. But I truly want to show others that they are important, they have a purpose and they are loved. Whether they are sitting beside me in church, the greeter at WalMart, or a man sitting on the street asking for change. We are all God's people. He made us all in his image and He loves us all no matter what our situation is. We are human and we make stupid mistakes or people make stupid mistakes that effect our lives. God still loves us and we should love one another.

My heart hurts for those that get looked over on a daily basis and that people treat like they are nothing.
They are someone with a story that deserves love!

Sleep

I was having a conversation with a friend the other day, while waiting for school to let out, about sleep. Sleep is a funny thing. We were talking about our kids sleep patterns and the way you view sleep depends on your age.

So many parents complain about their High School or college aged kid sleeping till 1 in the afternoon or taking a 4 hr. nap.

So many parents complain because their little ones don't sleep all night and then don't take a nap.

It's funny when our kids are baby's, toddlers or even elementary aged we want them to sleep.
We want our kids to sleep all night, take a nap and even sleep in on weekends and snow days!
But as they grow we tend to start complaining because they sleep till 1 in the afternoon. It's so funny to see the difference.

I remember being in high school and college and being able to sleep in, oh what a feeling. It was awesome. There was nothing like going back to your dorm room after class and being able to take a nap in the afternoon. It was the best!

Over the years my sleep patterns have changed mainly to fit my kids. A typical sleep pattern for my kids goes like this, Ellie gets up at 6:30 to get ready for school. Silas is up about 5 minutes after she gets up if not before. Lilly is usually up around the same time. Silas usually doesn't take a nap unless he falls asleep as we are going to get Ellie at school. So he may get a 20 minute nap. Lilly usually take a cat nap in the morning and early evening and a pretty good nap in the afternoon. We try to have the kids in bed by 7:30. If Silas has taken a nap more than 20 minutes, which is rare, he gets to stay up till 8:30. Lilly is usually ready for bed at 10:30. She established that all on her own. No matter where we are at 10:30 she is ready to sleep. Typically during the night Lilly wakes up twice to eat. But I think that all has to do with the reflux. Silas on the other hand wakes up several times a night starting at roughly 1:30. If we let him in our bed he will sleep all night long with out waking but then we don't sleep. That being said I average about 6 hrs of sleep a night. My body is learning to adjust to that. Once I get up and moving I do pretty good till about noon and then I crash and get my second wind about 6ish.

When Ellie was a baby/toddler she LOVED to sleep. I miss those days and honestly can't wait till my kids sleep in till at least 8 or 9 AM.

I hope that as my kids grow I can remember these days and not gripe at them for sleeping till noon or 1. If they sleep that long I will have learned that evidently they need it.

So all you college kids out on your own; take a nap, sleep in, enjoy it now!

Mommies don't get to upset with your kids for sleeping in there was once a day you wished they would sleep in.

New mommies, when the baby sleeps you sleep.

Mommies there is nothing wrong with taking a nap if you need it and are able to. Don't beat yourselves up over it. Sometimes I feel guilty for napping but if I am so sleepy that I can't keep my eyes open my body is trying to tell me something. SLEEP! Sometimes I look at the day and think I have to much to do or I haven't done enough to warrant a nap. But when your sleep is interrupted all night and you are chasing after 3-4 kids all day you can get exhausted. Taking a nap when needed will make you a better mommy. After all don't we all get a little grouchy when we get exhausted.

My take on sleep....

LillaB is 5 months old

My baby is 5 months old today. It's amazing how quickly the time goes by. I am so glad we can take each day slowly and I can enjoy her every moments.

Crayons and Pockets

Laundry days in this house are Mondays and Thursdays. This past Monday I was on my last load of laundry when I opened the dryer and there it was melted crayon! As I pulled the clothing out of the dryer I came to the realization of the severity of the situation. It wasn't just a clump of crayon on one or two articles of clothing. No not at all, it was all over everything! Eli lucked out! There was only one pair of shorts in that load that was his. Now for me I wasn't so lucky. I had 2 pairs of pj's, 5 shirts, and three pairs of pants. The rest of the load was a few of the kids things that couldn't fit in the first load of their clothing. Silas had 2 pair of pants from Old Navy, a dress shirt, a pair of new pj's, and 4 long sleeve t's. Ellie had a shirt and a pair of pj's, a pair of jeans and a long sleeve shirt. Lilly had her Pottery Barn sleep sac, onsies, and a pair of pj's in there. UGH, to think about it is sickening. I think the things that bother me most are Silas' pants and Lilly's sleep sac.
I quickly got online and googled to find a resolution to my problem. Well three soaks later in a solution I found online, that a lady swore her life on, only a slight change. I have 2 more things to try but at this point I am thinking it would just have been cheaper to toss the clothing and head out to Once Upon a Child or the Salvation Army and replace. Although Lilly's sleep sac cannot be replaced. Man, a $50 sleep sac! Now if you follow my blog at all you know there was no way in the world I paid $50 for the sleep sac. Nope I found it on sale for 9.99 and then an additional 10% off. But it still makes me sick.
Over the past couple days of trying to get the crayon out I have gone from panicked sick at my stomach feeling to anger. I am so angry with my self for letting this happen. What a stupid mistake, I should know better! I should have checked the pockets.
Speaking of pockets, really why do toddlers need pockets in there clothing?? Hasn't someone learned by now that it just causes problems for mommy's when there are pockets in the toddlers clothing. Oh well, my lesson has been learned.

Lesson for the week:
CHECK ALL POCKETS when doing laundry.

It's Wednesday and I am still dealing with Laundry and I haven't gotten any other chores done this week. I am so aggravated with myself and so far behind on the weekly chores.