Monday, February 28, 2011
Yes to mess!
I've been reading this really great blog lately. The writer is a photographer/mom-of-four living in Oklahoma. She talks about how messes drive her crazy but she posts photos of her boys playing in giant dirt piles, splashing in the rain, and playing in mud puddles. I can relate with the messes-driving-her-crazy part, but reading it I feel convicted about not doing things because they're too messy. Part of being a kid is that it's fun making messes and getting into things, right? I'm not saying I should abandon my inclination towards tidiness altogether, but if it's harmless fun, my children have a great time, and it's something that can be cleaned up, then maybe I should let them do it. So in that spirit, last week I decided to let Finn try doing watercolors while Maggie worked on her own painting. If you know Maggie at all you know she loves art projects, but so often I've said no to art projects because I know Finn will want to get into everything and, you guessed it, make a mess. I'm starting to see that really it's laziness on my part. Anyway, Maggie had a great time, Finn had a great time (and I actually love his painting), and yes, a mess was made. But I think it was definitely worth it to let Finn's synapses fire with a new experience and I even think it's good for me to have to stretch myself a little. And later that day I even let him "help" wash dishes, another activity I previously have said no to.
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Entrepreneurial Maggie
One thing I love about Maggie is her entrepreneurial spirit. About once a week she comes to me with some idea for something she wants to sell, either at a playground, in a stand (like a lemonade stand), or in our house.
Last week she started making her own marbles out of empty bobbins from my sewing machine covered in paper and held together with a rubber band. She made signs for her marble shop and hung them on the door, then arranged some marbles on a pretty red plate for the shoppers. She hung the sign on the front door and told me, "Today is our regular opening, just to see how it goes. Tomorrow is our grand opening." Where does she get this stuff?!
I was in a grumpy mood so I told her that probably people weren't going to come to her shop (I know. Looking back it wasn't too nice. However, I was trying to keep her from being disappointed when they didn't come.)
A few minutes later her Poppy e-mailed me to see if he could pop in for a visit. I clued him in to her marble shop and told him to play along. I also didn't tell her he was coming over. About an hour later there was a knock on the door. He called through the door, "Hello! I'm here for the marble shop!"
She ran back into her room and I had a momentary panic of thinking, "She's embarrassed for some reason! She's hiding!"
Lo and behold, thirty seconds later she emerged, carrying her plate of marbles for sale and with a huge grin on her face.
Poppy came in and a transaction was made and that girl was sooo happy someone came to her shop!
Here she is with her Marble Store sign. It's blurry but her face is so sweet here.
Here are a few other things she's wanted to sell:
pink lemonade (normal, right?)
outgrown shoes (who doesn't want to buy old shoes?!)
art (okay, most people don't come to our house thinking it's an art gallery, but at least this is something that is bought and sold)
Trader Joe's flyers (I tried to tell her that people could get these for free at Trader Joe's but she didn't mind!)
How fun will it be to watch and see what this little girl becomes?!
Last week she started making her own marbles out of empty bobbins from my sewing machine covered in paper and held together with a rubber band. She made signs for her marble shop and hung them on the door, then arranged some marbles on a pretty red plate for the shoppers. She hung the sign on the front door and told me, "Today is our regular opening, just to see how it goes. Tomorrow is our grand opening." Where does she get this stuff?!
I was in a grumpy mood so I told her that probably people weren't going to come to her shop (I know. Looking back it wasn't too nice. However, I was trying to keep her from being disappointed when they didn't come.)
A few minutes later her Poppy e-mailed me to see if he could pop in for a visit. I clued him in to her marble shop and told him to play along. I also didn't tell her he was coming over. About an hour later there was a knock on the door. He called through the door, "Hello! I'm here for the marble shop!"
She ran back into her room and I had a momentary panic of thinking, "She's embarrassed for some reason! She's hiding!"
Lo and behold, thirty seconds later she emerged, carrying her plate of marbles for sale and with a huge grin on her face.
Poppy came in and a transaction was made and that girl was sooo happy someone came to her shop!
Here she is with her Marble Store sign. It's blurry but her face is so sweet here.
Here are a few other things she's wanted to sell:pink lemonade (normal, right?)
outgrown shoes (who doesn't want to buy old shoes?!)
art (okay, most people don't come to our house thinking it's an art gallery, but at least this is something that is bought and sold)
Trader Joe's flyers (I tried to tell her that people could get these for free at Trader Joe's but she didn't mind!)
How fun will it be to watch and see what this little girl becomes?!
Monday, February 21, 2011
Lovey boy
Yep. He's pretty much the sweetest boy I know.
Me: Finn, go give Carolina a kiss.
(40 kisses later)
Me: Okay, Finn, you can quit kissing her now.
Me: Finn, go give Carolina a kiss.
(40 kisses later)Me: Okay, Finn, you can quit kissing her now.
Saturday, February 19, 2011
House shoes
Maggie's amazing grandma and grandpa in TX are the best about sending packages. About a month ago they sent some little black house shoes for Maggie because they looked like ballet slippers. They were cute. They had a little bow made from black satin ribbon on the front. About a week after she got them Maggie disobeyed and was sent to time out. When she came out of time out she was even madder than when she went in so I asked why she was so upset and she said, "Because I was mad and so I ripped off the bow from my shoes and now I'm just SO. MAD. AT. MYSELF!!!!"
Poor thing! Been there, done that (maybe not exactly but, you know...)
So I found some cute ribbon in my sewing kit, made bows, threaded a needle for her, and let her sew the bows on.
And, voila, here they are! Even cuter, in my opinion, plus she's extremely proud of them and herself. They remind me of Minnie Mouse for some reason...
What do you think?
Poor thing! Been there, done that (maybe not exactly but, you know...)
So I found some cute ribbon in my sewing kit, made bows, threaded a needle for her, and let her sew the bows on.
And, voila, here they are! Even cuter, in my opinion, plus she's extremely proud of them and herself. They remind me of Minnie Mouse for some reason...
What do you think?
Thursday, February 17, 2011
New Family Video - Sunshine in February
I would love to put a video on here with no disclaimers about the way I look. But I can't. So here they are:
1. Sixteen chins
2. I need lipstick.
Enjoy!
1. Sixteen chins
2. I need lipstick.
Enjoy!
Sunshine in February from Howardyoudoing on Vimeo.
Guess who's blogging?!
My dear husband! Check him out here. It's mostly video and film production talk, but it's extra super awesome because Grant writes it.
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
How to Survive a Stomach Bug & Hospitalization
A few weeks ago I wrote about Finn being hospitalized for a stomach bug. Guess what happened the very next week? Yep. Another stomach bug. Seriously?! How does one poor kid get two stomach bugs one week apart? At least this time we were able to keep him out of the hospital, but don't worry...Maggie caught it a few days later and Grant and I are currently dealing with what we think is a less severe grown-up version. Thanks so much, stomach bug.
Here's Finn, passed out on Grant during the second stomach bug. He was so sweet sleeping there and when I walked in both of them may have been snoring.
I was thinking about some of the things we do when one of the children has a stomach bug or we're on our way to the hospital and I thought some of it might be helpful or at least interesting, so I'm going to write about it.
Dealing with a stomach bug:
If Maggie comes down with one and we're trying to keep her from passing it on to Finn we put a sheet over my bed (to protect us from getting her germs) and plop her in there with a big mixing bowl, a few of her pillows and washable lovies, and my laptop. I pull up Netflix Instant Watch and basically let her hang out there all day watching movies and napping as she needs to. If we had a TV in our room I'd just put movies on there but we don't (nor do I want one, but that's a different post). A couple of times through the day I go through with a Clorox-ed rag and wipe down door knobs, refrigerator doors, tops/backs of chairs, etc. It's hard to keep Finn out of my room because he wants to be wherever she is, but I try my best. We wash our hands until they are raw (obviously we don't always do a good enough job, as you can see we are all recovering from the bug - but I have been successful several times at isolating the bug in just one person).
If Finn gets it first we just wash our hands a million times and pray. Seriously. It's way too hard to keep him in one room, plus, of the four stomach bugs he's had in his life, he's been in the hospital for two of them.
Now, you know the BRAT diet they recommend for stomach bugs? If you don't it's just bland foods - Bananas, Rice, Applesauce, and Toast (white bread). Well, I don't know about you but I never buy or use white bread. The other things I'm likely to have on hand. So what I do is buy a loaf of white bread and keep it in the freezer with the date on it in Sharpie and it can keep for six months in there. We don't typically use it all in one stomach bug and that way I will have it on hand and can just thaw it in case of a stomach bug. I also always have PediaLyte (oral rehydration solution) on hand. They now make it in little packets of powder you can just add to a water bottle or sippy cup. Handy!
I realize some of this is pretty basic but I know for sure there are a couple of people who read this blog who just have one little baby and maybe some of this will come in handy for them.
Now on to the hospitalization:
This likely will not be useful information for anyone, but I thought I'd give you a glimpse into life as Finn's parents.
The times we've had to go to the hospital it hasn't been a life-or-death emergency where minutes count (except for when he was five days old), but it has been a get-there-as-soon-as-possible scenario. So we're rushing around trying to get everything packed and inevitably we forget something. After this last hospitalization I told myself (and Grant), "Look. We're probably going to have to deal with 2 or more hospitalizations a year. We might as well be prepared for them." In the immortal words of Zeke Braverman Grant said, "I see you and I hear you" and agreed with me. So we have a little bag with some things in it and a check list for things we can't just pack away in a bag indefinitely.
Here's what the bag contains:
Here's what's on the list of things to grab before we go to the hospital:
So there you have it. Now that I've posted this I sure hope we won't be needing these things or this information for a looooong time! Stay healthy!
Here's Finn, passed out on Grant during the second stomach bug. He was so sweet sleeping there and when I walked in both of them may have been snoring.
I was thinking about some of the things we do when one of the children has a stomach bug or we're on our way to the hospital and I thought some of it might be helpful or at least interesting, so I'm going to write about it.Dealing with a stomach bug:
If Maggie comes down with one and we're trying to keep her from passing it on to Finn we put a sheet over my bed (to protect us from getting her germs) and plop her in there with a big mixing bowl, a few of her pillows and washable lovies, and my laptop. I pull up Netflix Instant Watch and basically let her hang out there all day watching movies and napping as she needs to. If we had a TV in our room I'd just put movies on there but we don't (nor do I want one, but that's a different post). A couple of times through the day I go through with a Clorox-ed rag and wipe down door knobs, refrigerator doors, tops/backs of chairs, etc. It's hard to keep Finn out of my room because he wants to be wherever she is, but I try my best. We wash our hands until they are raw (obviously we don't always do a good enough job, as you can see we are all recovering from the bug - but I have been successful several times at isolating the bug in just one person).
If Finn gets it first we just wash our hands a million times and pray. Seriously. It's way too hard to keep him in one room, plus, of the four stomach bugs he's had in his life, he's been in the hospital for two of them.
Now, you know the BRAT diet they recommend for stomach bugs? If you don't it's just bland foods - Bananas, Rice, Applesauce, and Toast (white bread). Well, I don't know about you but I never buy or use white bread. The other things I'm likely to have on hand. So what I do is buy a loaf of white bread and keep it in the freezer with the date on it in Sharpie and it can keep for six months in there. We don't typically use it all in one stomach bug and that way I will have it on hand and can just thaw it in case of a stomach bug. I also always have PediaLyte (oral rehydration solution) on hand. They now make it in little packets of powder you can just add to a water bottle or sippy cup. Handy!
I realize some of this is pretty basic but I know for sure there are a couple of people who read this blog who just have one little baby and maybe some of this will come in handy for them.
Now on to the hospitalization:
This likely will not be useful information for anyone, but I thought I'd give you a glimpse into life as Finn's parents.
The times we've had to go to the hospital it hasn't been a life-or-death emergency where minutes count (except for when he was five days old), but it has been a get-there-as-soon-as-possible scenario. So we're rushing around trying to get everything packed and inevitably we forget something. After this last hospitalization I told myself (and Grant), "Look. We're probably going to have to deal with 2 or more hospitalizations a year. We might as well be prepared for them." In the immortal words of Zeke Braverman Grant said, "I see you and I hear you" and agreed with me. So we have a little bag with some things in it and a check list for things we can't just pack away in a bag indefinitely.
Here's what the bag contains:
- granola bars (There's NO food available in the ER so to get food either I have to take something which means dragging the girls into the germ-y ER, or Grant has to leave Finn alone in the hospital room, which is not something we're comfortable with.)
- spare pajamas for Finn
- a few books and toys for Finn
- a plastic grocery bag -for containing any messes made en route, like paper towels used to clean up you-know-what
Here's what's on the list of things to grab before we go to the hospital:
- phone charger
- change of clothes for whichever parent is going
- a towel to put across the front of Finn in the car seat, in case of vomiting, and to use to clean up afterwards
- a book or magazine for the adult
- Finn's special medical formula and medicines
So there you have it. Now that I've posted this I sure hope we won't be needing these things or this information for a looooong time! Stay healthy!
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Happiness is...(last one)
watching your oldest entertain your youngest...and they're both having a great time!
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Happiness is...
having a child who is completely entertained by hanging out in a car for half an hour.
Tuesday, February 08, 2011
Sunday, February 06, 2011
Friday, February 04, 2011
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