It's breastfeeding month again!

August is National Breastfeeding Month

...and an update on my breastfeeding journey has been posted on the Sweet Pea Births blog, like the last two years.

You can view it here.

Father's Day!

I love Mother's Day and Father's Day.  I know they exist to make money and that they shouldn't be different from any other day, but they mean a lot to us anyway.  Being a parent is the best thing that's ever happened to us.

I dream of years of hand-made goodies from my kids.  So far, we haven't had much cooperation.  My mom has better luck, so most of our goodies come from time spent with Grandma.  Nevertheless, I do manage to get the kids to As You Wish Pottery for our yearly handprint/footprint frame.  (This is probably the last year I'll be able to do this unless they come out with a bigger frame...I'll have to switch to a larger matted frame!)

My mom helped the kids make "Daddy's Helper" toolboxes for my husband.  Each child dictated his/her contributions, and Mom wrote them on the tools.  All Mikey wanted to say was play catch and play cars, so Mom helped him a bit.  Ellie understood the concept a little better.

Mom had a good time with gifts this year.  She got all the men Whoppers for being "a Whopper of a dad."  Most of the men got chocolate candies for this play on words.  Not my dad...

Happy Father's Day!

Quick Gardening with Children

My kids love gardening, but their attention spans aren't too long, especially in this triple-digit heat.  I aim to get us outside every day to do something in the yard, like pull weeds or water the edibles.  Someday that will be our reality.

Around Mother's Day, Home Depot's kids workshop project was a small planter, in which a Home Depot employee planted a bell pepper plant.

The plants were too big for the planters to begin with, and, within a couple of weeks, the roots were pushing the plants up out of the dirt.  We finally had no choice but to replant.  Ellie got bored with the dirt scooping, but Mikey would have completely buried the plant had I given him the opportunity.  That night, he told his daddy he "played with dirt!"

I let both kids place the plants in the new pots, teaching them to grab the plants by the stems close to the roots.  They both did great.  Not a leaf was lost.

Finally, we couldn't find the watering can.  It really is a great mystery.  My best guess is it somehow flew out of the yard during a windstorm, but we haven't really had that good of a storm yet.  It'll probably resurface eventually.  In the meantime, I grabbed the tugboat (or crab boat, as Ellie says) pouring toy out of the bathtub.  Sadly, it was too shallow to effectively transport water in little, shaky hands.  I ended up taking the hose to the two plants.  Ellie was long gone by this time, and Mikey was too busy trying to keep adding dirt to his to notice he didn't get to use the water.

Mikey helped me place the plants back in their spot on the patio, and, impressively, did not spill any dirt in the process.

When we got back inside, I thought it was a good time to finally bust into the $1 plants I bought at Walgreens after Easter  They are eggs with faces that have seeds that grow into hair.  (No, they're not Chia Pets.)  The top cracks off when the shell is adequately wet, revealing the seeds inside.  I decided the best way to apply the water was using a custard dish and tablespoon.  Besides minimizing the mess and improving fine motor skills, watering took longer this way, making the task more fun.

One of these days, my kids will really be able to help in the garden.  Until then, we'll keep seeking out these quick gardening projects to keep them interested and learning!

'365' one-a-day-challenge

Featured Photo of the Week

In case you missed my first post, here it is:

Irresistible Ideas For Play Based Learning has issued a challenge: '365' one-a-day-challenge.  I took them up on it, starting today!  You can find my photo album on Kandid Katie's Facebook page.  There are a lot of fun albums linked on Irresistible's page, so check them out!

Happy Mother's Day!

Many people believe Mother's Day is unnecessary for any number of reasons: it was created to sell stuff; mother's are/should be celebrated every day, so setting aside a special day is silly; it just doesn't matter to them.  There are many more, but those are the ones I've heard the most.  I don't agree with that sentiment.  I joke that I like any day that celebrates me.  I could justify my desire to celebrate by saying I don't insist on anything but love handmade trinkets that mark the day.

The truth is Mother's Day is one of the more special days of the year for me.  For me, Mother's Day exists to celebrate the most life-changing and life-enhancing part of my life: motherhood.  Motherhood is the greatest blessing God has given me, after salvation, of course.  I cannot put into words what being a mother feels like, what childbirth feels like, how the heart grows bigger with each passing day.

At times I think I don't want to leave this earth and go to Heaven because I will no longer experience being a mother.  But then I think - or the Holy Spirit reminds me - that Heaven is far greater than we can imagine, far greater than the experience of motherhood.  And then my head wants to explode trying to imagine that feeling.

I love being a mother, and this day is about celebrating that gift.

I can't possibly write this post without acknowledging the ache I feel for mothers that have lost or who never were.  Mothers who held their children and mothers who didn't because they were lost or were never made.  I wanted to acknowledge one friend who has lost and has tried for years to become a mother, but I didn't want to hurt her.  I feel like she needs to know she is a mother, even if she hasn't yet held a child in her arms.  I'm sad that she hasn't known this feeling, but I know God has greater plans for her.  It's hard to have faith in these situations, but that's exactly what faith is for, the faith that breeds hope.

Well, I don't want to end on a sad note, so let me share with you the wonderful gifts from my family.  Ellie painted a puzzle, Mikey colored a picture of an owl, and Mike cooked me breakfast and gave me a Willow Tree statue that I stared at during every prenatal appointment with Angela.

"Angel of Mine - So loved, so very loved"

"This piece is inspired by the memory of holding my children when they were really tiny … holding them so close that it involves all of your senses … the scent of the fuzzy head against your cheek, the skin-to-skin warmth, the realization that you can love another being so very, very much. I wanted to capture that sensory memory that every mother has from when she held her newborn infant — an innermost quiet joy. The sentiment has a lullaby feel to it. When I finished carving this piece, I liked that the composition and the form as a whole seemed to work from all viewpoints."
(from the Willow Tree website)

'365' one-a-day-challenge

Featured Photo of the Week

In case you missed my first post, here it is:

Irresistible Ideas For Play Based Learning has issued a challenge: '365' one-a-day-challenge.  I took them up on it, starting today!  You can find my photo album on Kandid Katie's Facebook page.  There are a lot of fun albums linked on Irresistible's page, so check them out!

'365' one-a-day-challenge

Featured Photo of the Week

This is the reason my brain missed a beat (or hundred) and this post is late

In case you missed my first post, here it is:

Irresistible Ideas For Play Based Learning has issued a challenge: '365' one-a-day-challenge.  I took them up on it, starting today!  You can find my photo album on Kandid Katie's Facebook page.  There are a lot of fun albums linked on Irresistible's page, so check them out!

Wordless Wednesday Meets Thankful Thursday - I Love You, Grandma

I've had a lot of dreams about my late grandmother recently.  They are very vivid, and the first thing I always do is grab her hand and hug and kiss her, because I'm always aware in the dream that she's no longer with us, and this is a rare opportunity.  I can feel her soft, cool skin in my hand and on my lips and her bony shoulders in my arms.  (She was average weight, but her shoulders were always strangely bony.)  She often looks back at me with a knowing look when I do this.  I'm never sad in the dreams, even though I recognize how much I've missed her and how I'll miss her again when I wake up.  (Of course, I'm bawling as I write this...)

I've been thinking about her more this Christmas than in Christmases past, and I don't know if that's feeding the dreams or if that's because of the dreams.  I just feel strangely connected to her right now.  Whatever the situation, I'm thankful to have these moments with her, in whatever form they come.

I love you, Grandma.

Wordless Wednesday

Backyard Birding

I recently signed up to "Celebrate Urban Birds" through The Cornell Lab of Ornithology in an effort to learn and teach my children more about our winged neighbors.  We enjoy backyard birding because the birds become so familiar.  We have yet to make our yard appealing to a variety of birds, but we are not wanting for variety if we venture out our front door.  We have, in fact, a resident Greater Roadrunner who occasionally runs alongside us on walks and often perches like a pigeon on less-than-dignified objects.  One day I found him on a storm drain.

Bounding through the Baylands

A couple of weeks ago, I was lucky enough to spend a couple days with my very best friend who I haven't seen in two and a half years.  Since she and I (and our husbands and children) are tremendous geeks, and proudly so, we knew a trip to the Baylands Nature Preserve in Palo Alto, California, would be perfect for our families.  Although we didn't get to see the Golden Eagles and Burrowing Owls we'd hoped we would, we still got a nice show.  I don't have much to say other than we'd be there every week if we lived there.  I will share some of my pictures.  The trip completely rekindled my love of birding that I'd abandoned in high school.  If you are in the area, be sure to stop by and give yourself a couple of hours, at least, to explore.

Red-Tailed Hawk
Needs no words

Gorgeous White Pelicans preening and stretching

and fishing

Before we made the drive to Palo Alto, we spent a few days in the San Diego area.  Even though my obsession with birding had not yet been rekindled, my love of photographing nature was alive and kicking (wow, that's a lot of metaphors), and I got a couple of shots of birds I don't see every day, if ever.

These first two are a Brandt's Cormorant that was diving and resurfacing so much and so fast that I had a hard time getting a good closeup, but it did stop to rest on a buoy.

If you've never seen a pelican up close, you don't realize how big they really are.  The Brown Pelican has a wingspan of over six feet.  This one made the loudest splashes every time it landed!

At first glance, thanks to the light, this Rough-legged Hawk appeared to be a Golden Eagle.  Another birder, who drew my attention to it in the first place, thought so, too.  Even though I was slightly disappointed to find out it wasn't when I blew up the picture, I was still excited to find out I saw a bird I've never seen before.

P.S. I gave picture captions a good test today (I normally just type them manually under the picture), so let me know what you think of the format.

Hand- and Footprint Owls

I wanted to do something with the kids' prints for Grandparents' Day cards.  No doubt because our family has been obsessed with owls for the last year, an owl came to mind.  I had to make three: one for each set of grandparents and one for me!  Here's how these cute feathered friends came to be.  I apologize for forgetting to take pictures of each step.

First, I painted Ellie's feet with brown paint.  (I did one foot at a time, assembly-line fashion, to keep the mess at bay.)  I pressed her feet on the paper with her toes toward the bottom of the paper.  I had the toes, or tail feathers, overlap so the owl's head had enough width, and the blank spot left by the arch of her feet had paint all the way around.  You could fill in the blank spot with a brush if you want, but I like multicolored owls.  :o)

Next, I painted Mikey's hands with the same brown paint, though you could use a lighter brown for more color.  (Again, I did one hand at a time.)  I wanted his fingers together to make more wing-like wings, but he's 22 months old and doesn't like paint on his hands.  I pressed his hands down with the palms overlapping the owl's body.

The next part could be done by an older child, but neither my 3.5 year old nor my 22 month old would have done well with this.  I put white paint just on half the edge of a round sponge brush.

I pressed the sponge into the owl's body to create U-shaped feather accents from neck to feet.  Then I pressed it into each wing feather (finger) with the bottom of the U facing the tip of the finger.

Finally, I cut triangles and trapezoids out of card stock for the beaks and feet.  I glued on those and googly eyes.  I would have had Ellie do the gluing, but she was napping.  Oh, and I used gold glitter glue because I couldn't find my craft glue, but I don't think it looks bad.

  I finished off the cards with recent photos of the kids.

Musical Macaroni and Cheese

We had musical macaroni and cheese for lunch! What is musical macaroni and cheese, you ask? Let me tell you!

 

It's when you make fresh mac-n-cheese for the 3yo, who then decides she doesn't want it. Then you reheat some leftover mac-n-cheese that you were so looking forward to and the 3yo sees it, thinks it's the 1yo's and decides she wants some. You give the 3yo the mac-n-cheese you made for her, and she's so excited. You bring your mac-n-cheese to the table, and the 3yo asks for some. You say, "you have mac-n-cheese," but she says, "I just want to taste yours." You ask, "did you even try yours?" to which she very convincingly tells you she did. You give her a bite of your yummy leftover mac-n-cheese, and the 1yo decides he must have some, too. You give him a bite and he goes nuts. You decide to try giving him the 3yo's, since she doesn't want it. He's thrilled. You feed the 1yo, then the 3yo, then the 1yo, then the 3yo... So you put the 3yo's mac-n-cheese on the 1yo's plate and your yummy leftover mac-n-cheese on the 3yo's plate, just grateful everyone's eating. Then you try to eat what's left of your yummy leftover mac-n-cheese, but it's cold and you're just not hungry anymore.

Wordless Wednesday: Kite Flying Festival