Saturday, March 26, 2016
Rainbow Candy
The last Friday of Spring Break, which also happens to be the Friday before Easter, I saw a video on my facebook for Rainbow Candy. It looked easy enough, mess free enough, and fun enough that I thought we would go for it. This decision sent me to craft store for supplies that I have honestly never purchased before.
This project required candy melts, I chose the vanilla since we would be coloring them, and the candy coloring. I purchased the sprinkles at the grocery store. The cookie sheet came from the Dollar Tree, I have plenty of these.
What you do is melt the wafers and then split the mix into different containers so that you can add the colors. Then you dip the colors out onto a cookies sheet. After you get them blended how you want, add sprinkles then freeze for one hour.
My kids were really excited. They watched the video at least a hundred times before we made it to the craft store. Once we got home with the supplies, they wanted to jump right in and the excruciating wait to finish eating lunch was almost too much for them.
Once the colors were mixed, I let them do the entire craft pretty much by themselves. I assisted where needed, but I wanted this to be their own.
They loved this! The purple and blue were very dominate colors, the next time we do this craft I am going to find some different colors.
This is the start of the one I did.
Right before we put it in the freezer.
When they came out of the freezer, they just slid right off of the cookie sheet.
This project required candy melts, I chose the vanilla since we would be coloring them, and the candy coloring. I purchased the sprinkles at the grocery store. The cookie sheet came from the Dollar Tree, I have plenty of these.
What you do is melt the wafers and then split the mix into different containers so that you can add the colors. Then you dip the colors out onto a cookies sheet. After you get them blended how you want, add sprinkles then freeze for one hour.
My kids were really excited. They watched the video at least a hundred times before we made it to the craft store. Once we got home with the supplies, they wanted to jump right in and the excruciating wait to finish eating lunch was almost too much for them.
Once the colors were mixed, I let them do the entire craft pretty much by themselves. I assisted where needed, but I wanted this to be their own.
They loved this! The purple and blue were very dominate colors, the next time we do this craft I am going to find some different colors.
This is the start of the one I did.
When they came out of the freezer, they just slid right off of the cookie sheet.
This is definitely something that we will do again.
The Sugar Cookie Experience
Making sugar cookies was not planned more than a day in advance for me. This is a rarity as it normally takes me a week or more to warm up to the idea. I had all three of my kids and we had not done them with my oldest yet. Not to mention that the grocery store had really cute Easter Cookie Cutters on sale.
The day we picked was Tuesday, so I went to my first RIPPED class, which was especially challenging and then came home to mix the dough.
For whatever reason, I didn't get it moist enough, or mixed enough before placing it in the refrigerator to chill while we went to the park.
Many hours later after inviting two neighborhood kids, cooking supper, (my son did most of it) and another even more challenging RIPPED class, it was time to make these cookies. My muscles were aching, I was just a few beats shy of dead on my feet. But my desire to be the ever cool mom, to be more interactive with my kids, and to get them involved in activities, pushed me forward.
I got every thing ready for the arrival of the kids and my own kids were dancing around the table. The icing was also made from scratch, just like the cookies.
At the end of the night my kitchen was covered in flour and cookie dough. Icing was everywhere. And the kids were very happy.
And then at the end of the activity you realize that your three year old daughter stabbed a bunny cookie!
Even though I was beyond tired, and really wanted to wait until the next day, I am thankful for this time I had with all of the kids. It was great to see their creative minds at work and to see them sharing and bonding.
God is Great!
March 25, 2016
Friday, March 25, 2016
Making Playdough
I saw a cute video on my facebook about making playdough easily. It jived with how I was feeling and what I have going on, so I said "Why not?"
In my house right now I have all three of my kids. All three big personalities.
So I had an idea in my mind of how this should go and what I would need. At the grocery store I bought the one thing I thought I would need.
I had all of the other supplies at home, so this should work.
The project began easily enough and I knew we would have this in the bag, that is until we ran out of salt after just three colors!
So I had to make a quick run to the store to pick up a lot more salt because just to have enough salt to complete the third color, I used all of the salt in my kitchen.
Mixing the dough up left my daughter in a pickle because she doesn't like dirty hands. My oldest loved making the mess, and once my middle son got past the texture, he also enjoyed the task.
Now the way this goes is as follows:
Super Easy Playdough
1/4 cup of warm water
each color is 1/2 package of Kool-aide
2 TSP of cooking oil
1/4 cup of salt
1/2 cup of flour
To begin you mix the half package of kool-aide into a bowl. I gave each kid a bowl this way they could each have their own and make it their way. In true perfect parent fashion, I let them each mix the ingredients from start to finish with my minimal assistance.
After you get the Kool-aide mixed in the water you will add the cooking oil, salt then flour. That is when you get your hands dirty! you knead the mixture until it becomes smoother and then let the kids have at it.
 |
| the first batch |
 |
| This was my creation |
 |
| creativity at play |
 |
| My teenager's input |
 |
| Such a sweet boy |
 |
| Let the mess begin |
March 21, 2016
Wednesday, March 23, 2016
The Potty Training Experience
After working with two boys and one girl on mastering the art of using a big person party, I feel almost like a veteran. I have laughed and cried and raged and chanted "Poo poo pee pee go in the potty" I have cleaned poop and pee from the carpet from my kids. I have thrown away many pairs of undies. I have carried three extra outfits with me only to end up with no extra outfits at the end of the day.
Potty chair #1 was a throne, a cute little chair that made a royal sound when poop or pee landed in it. Unfortunately its sounds were far more fascinating to my oldest than actually sitting on it. Potty chair #1 met its demise in a bathtub.
Potty chair #2 was the Cars theme. My middle child picked it out at the store. As we are shopping I begin to explain to him how this is where he will being going potty, he pushed it out of the buggy. In the end he only used the part that attached to the big toilet.
Potty chair #3 is a little princess throne. So far it has only been useful outside on our balcony.
We have now moved the insert part to our big potty in hopes that our daughter will use the potty more regular.
This is the story of my three very different children resulting in three very different experiences.
My oldest son was three years and three months old by the time he was finally potty trained. I did not have the pleasure of seeing this to the end. I tried all of the potty training tricks for boys. He was a very resistant young man. When he turned two I bought the little throne potty chair. I was so proud of it and I just knew it was going to work like a charm. It did not. My son loved it, he played with it all the time, unless it meant that he actually had to sit on it. I sat him on it every thirty minutes or so, but nothing was happening. Then he threw the part that made noise into the bathtub. My son loves water, and he always wanted his favorite toys in the bathtub, this is how that fun potty chair met its fun end. So now he had a cute potty chair that did not make noise. I tried the no underwear trick and he did not care, he would just carry on as poop or pee came out and went everywhere. I tried throwing cheerios into the toilet and that sent him into hysterics because they were to eat not go in the toilet. I tried the big boy underwear and the results were not good. Finally an Aunt offered to take him on a little trip over a weekend. I agreed as I was a single mom at the time and I often worked on Saturdays. She picked him up on Friday. A sweet little boy who still wore diapers. She brought him back on Monday night fully potty trained. I tell my son that if it wasn't for her he would probably not be potty trained at all.
My middle son was a little easier in some ways and harder in others. This time I had the help of my husband and we had a goal. He needed to be potty trained before our daughter was born, this would keep us from having two kids in diapers at the same time. Our son picked up the peeing part much easier than my oldest. He had a lot of accidents, but for the most part he got it quickly. He was potty trained just after turning three. It took much longer for him to fully get going poop in the potty. I think a lot of this was his fear of different bathrooms. Even now I will pick him up from school only to find out that he needs to pee in the worst way because he didn't go all day long. He was nearly four by the time he was pooping the majority of the time in the potty. Occasionally he would have poop accidents at school, and this mostly happened when my husband wasn't at home. We carried that toilet attachment with us for what seemed like ages. Now he does very well, not accidents at night.
It is my daughter who has been by far the most challenging to potty train. Around 18 months old she decided that she no longer wanted to wear a diaper. It was a constant battle to keep her in a diaper or even panties. I felt like she might have the concept but her body wasn't quite there. So for a very long time, we would go from panties to pull ups and back again. We moved from an apartment to a townhouse during this time. I also had a surgery that put my normal mobility at an all time low. So through the holidays and a little beyond we really didn't push the issue. But then it is Spring and Summer before she turns three and we begin to get antsy. There were so many good moments and so many times that I was basically following her with a mop in hand. It was so frustrating and even more so when my husband failed to understand the long days and endless laundry. She could go places and not accidents, she could go all day downstairs and not have accidents. Then there was the poop. It was everywhere! We moved yet again and pull ups were the go to. It was months before I felt like she was really ready. Too many accidents in between and with the stress of the husband away, it was too much. Maybe my husband was right when he said that I was the lazy one. But one day she just woke up and it clicked. We are now mostly in panties even when we go places. Overnights she wears a pull up and when we go on long trips sometimes it is a pull up.
My advice to new parents is that you should wait on your child to show the signs they are ready. I had one potty trained at three years and three months, one just shy of three and one at three years and four months. Don't rush it the minute they turn two.
March 23, 2016
Potty chair #1 was a throne, a cute little chair that made a royal sound when poop or pee landed in it. Unfortunately its sounds were far more fascinating to my oldest than actually sitting on it. Potty chair #1 met its demise in a bathtub.
Potty chair #2 was the Cars theme. My middle child picked it out at the store. As we are shopping I begin to explain to him how this is where he will being going potty, he pushed it out of the buggy. In the end he only used the part that attached to the big toilet.
Potty chair #3 is a little princess throne. So far it has only been useful outside on our balcony.
We have now moved the insert part to our big potty in hopes that our daughter will use the potty more regular.
This is the story of my three very different children resulting in three very different experiences.
My oldest son was three years and three months old by the time he was finally potty trained. I did not have the pleasure of seeing this to the end. I tried all of the potty training tricks for boys. He was a very resistant young man. When he turned two I bought the little throne potty chair. I was so proud of it and I just knew it was going to work like a charm. It did not. My son loved it, he played with it all the time, unless it meant that he actually had to sit on it. I sat him on it every thirty minutes or so, but nothing was happening. Then he threw the part that made noise into the bathtub. My son loves water, and he always wanted his favorite toys in the bathtub, this is how that fun potty chair met its fun end. So now he had a cute potty chair that did not make noise. I tried the no underwear trick and he did not care, he would just carry on as poop or pee came out and went everywhere. I tried throwing cheerios into the toilet and that sent him into hysterics because they were to eat not go in the toilet. I tried the big boy underwear and the results were not good. Finally an Aunt offered to take him on a little trip over a weekend. I agreed as I was a single mom at the time and I often worked on Saturdays. She picked him up on Friday. A sweet little boy who still wore diapers. She brought him back on Monday night fully potty trained. I tell my son that if it wasn't for her he would probably not be potty trained at all.
My middle son was a little easier in some ways and harder in others. This time I had the help of my husband and we had a goal. He needed to be potty trained before our daughter was born, this would keep us from having two kids in diapers at the same time. Our son picked up the peeing part much easier than my oldest. He had a lot of accidents, but for the most part he got it quickly. He was potty trained just after turning three. It took much longer for him to fully get going poop in the potty. I think a lot of this was his fear of different bathrooms. Even now I will pick him up from school only to find out that he needs to pee in the worst way because he didn't go all day long. He was nearly four by the time he was pooping the majority of the time in the potty. Occasionally he would have poop accidents at school, and this mostly happened when my husband wasn't at home. We carried that toilet attachment with us for what seemed like ages. Now he does very well, not accidents at night.
It is my daughter who has been by far the most challenging to potty train. Around 18 months old she decided that she no longer wanted to wear a diaper. It was a constant battle to keep her in a diaper or even panties. I felt like she might have the concept but her body wasn't quite there. So for a very long time, we would go from panties to pull ups and back again. We moved from an apartment to a townhouse during this time. I also had a surgery that put my normal mobility at an all time low. So through the holidays and a little beyond we really didn't push the issue. But then it is Spring and Summer before she turns three and we begin to get antsy. There were so many good moments and so many times that I was basically following her with a mop in hand. It was so frustrating and even more so when my husband failed to understand the long days and endless laundry. She could go places and not accidents, she could go all day downstairs and not have accidents. Then there was the poop. It was everywhere! We moved yet again and pull ups were the go to. It was months before I felt like she was really ready. Too many accidents in between and with the stress of the husband away, it was too much. Maybe my husband was right when he said that I was the lazy one. But one day she just woke up and it clicked. We are now mostly in panties even when we go places. Overnights she wears a pull up and when we go on long trips sometimes it is a pull up.
My advice to new parents is that you should wait on your child to show the signs they are ready. I had one potty trained at three years and three months, one just shy of three and one at three years and four months. Don't rush it the minute they turn two.
March 23, 2016
Sunny Moments
The weather here in Middle Tennessee is really spectacular right now. Beautiful windy days with nice temperatures and plenty of rain. Leaving the ground a soggy mess of mud. Yet the flowers push through and bloom every day. The trees are swaying and you can here the song of Spring in their branches. I see the ducks and geese at the lake swimming and sunning. There are squirrels darting about here and there.
On my street we have the crazy cat man. Want a free wild cat? Well come on over. He has plenty and lots of colors to choose from. But do keep in mind that they may be stray and wandering all over the place, that they are fluffy and well fed. Most of them are bigger than my Chihuahua. I try to ignore them as they run in the road and sit on my porch and I am sure sleep under my deck.
I feel the awakening in my blood. The desire to stand outside in the cool rain. To roll the windows down in the car and blast a Country Music Station. (The classics) I feel the humidity which is still something of a shock to me even after nearly six months of being back. I think of the desert often, but it reminds me of hot. Just hot. And the grime from the dust and the exhaust and the noise of an overflowing city surrounded my desert. Really I miss the food. The cheap taco joints. I thought it was cheese dip that would quench my desire, but it is really authentic Mexican food.
Or maybe it is a memory of the one I love. Happy times spent in that dry arid place where we bloomed. Where we learned to grow and be who we should be away from all that was familiar to each of us.
I am adjusting to the absence. I am settling deep into our routine. Becoming rigid in my desire to keep it the same for the sake of the kids and I. Pushing myself to work out more. Smile more. Practice kindness more. I bake bread and the extra is given to a friend or muffins to the night shift police officers. I ask for nothing in return. I seek only my satisfaction and peace with God. I try as hard as I can to make myself go to church. I made it once in the last month, and that day I also made it to Sunday school.
It is peace that I seek and I am sure it is here with me.
Even after I yet again left my wallet behind. Only this time it was in a park. In Nashville on a bright sunny day. Lucky for me the stranger who came upon it messaged me on facebook letting me know it was found and at the neighboring library. All my contents were in tact except for $10. My Dad told me to be grateful. I have tried. I am. I thanked God. And I was frustrated at myself and at them. They went through my wallet, they removed what they felt was their due. Was it? Honestly, I may be a scrooge, but I thought maybe they should have taken the $3 and left me the $10. Did they do this because they saw my Military ID my El Paso Zoo membership card, two credit cards and three ATM debit cards? Did they feel that I was in a much better place than them? Maybe I am, but does that make either of us right? Yes, I prayed and prayed and still my heart is mildly troubled by it all.
The entire ordeal messed up my afternoon schedule slightly. It brought my Dad and I to a place of non-agreement. I cancelled every single card in my wallet requesting new ones. My wallet sat in that park in the heart of Nashville at an in between trendy and slummy part of town for an hour. My Dad swears that no one in their right mind would sit at that park and steal my identity, but I don't feel that is true. Everyone I asked said they would do the exact same thing that I did.
Onward I move. It's done. I'm blessed. It hasn't changed my outlook on anything.
God is great, he watches over us in all things.
On my street we have the crazy cat man. Want a free wild cat? Well come on over. He has plenty and lots of colors to choose from. But do keep in mind that they may be stray and wandering all over the place, that they are fluffy and well fed. Most of them are bigger than my Chihuahua. I try to ignore them as they run in the road and sit on my porch and I am sure sleep under my deck.
I feel the awakening in my blood. The desire to stand outside in the cool rain. To roll the windows down in the car and blast a Country Music Station. (The classics) I feel the humidity which is still something of a shock to me even after nearly six months of being back. I think of the desert often, but it reminds me of hot. Just hot. And the grime from the dust and the exhaust and the noise of an overflowing city surrounded my desert. Really I miss the food. The cheap taco joints. I thought it was cheese dip that would quench my desire, but it is really authentic Mexican food.
Or maybe it is a memory of the one I love. Happy times spent in that dry arid place where we bloomed. Where we learned to grow and be who we should be away from all that was familiar to each of us.
I am adjusting to the absence. I am settling deep into our routine. Becoming rigid in my desire to keep it the same for the sake of the kids and I. Pushing myself to work out more. Smile more. Practice kindness more. I bake bread and the extra is given to a friend or muffins to the night shift police officers. I ask for nothing in return. I seek only my satisfaction and peace with God. I try as hard as I can to make myself go to church. I made it once in the last month, and that day I also made it to Sunday school.
It is peace that I seek and I am sure it is here with me.
Even after I yet again left my wallet behind. Only this time it was in a park. In Nashville on a bright sunny day. Lucky for me the stranger who came upon it messaged me on facebook letting me know it was found and at the neighboring library. All my contents were in tact except for $10. My Dad told me to be grateful. I have tried. I am. I thanked God. And I was frustrated at myself and at them. They went through my wallet, they removed what they felt was their due. Was it? Honestly, I may be a scrooge, but I thought maybe they should have taken the $3 and left me the $10. Did they do this because they saw my Military ID my El Paso Zoo membership card, two credit cards and three ATM debit cards? Did they feel that I was in a much better place than them? Maybe I am, but does that make either of us right? Yes, I prayed and prayed and still my heart is mildly troubled by it all.
The entire ordeal messed up my afternoon schedule slightly. It brought my Dad and I to a place of non-agreement. I cancelled every single card in my wallet requesting new ones. My wallet sat in that park in the heart of Nashville at an in between trendy and slummy part of town for an hour. My Dad swears that no one in their right mind would sit at that park and steal my identity, but I don't feel that is true. Everyone I asked said they would do the exact same thing that I did.
Onward I move. It's done. I'm blessed. It hasn't changed my outlook on anything.
God is great, he watches over us in all things.
Monday, March 21, 2016
Jumbled up
There have been many moments of late where my emotions are up and then crashing hard into the ground. Where the anger swarms over me and cannot be pushed aside or the anguish of past hurts and lost loves nearly drowns me in the swamp of mistakes.
I feel pain, I feel overwhelming love and hurt.
Lost in the darkness of my soul that is attempting to cling to the light. Yes, Jesus saves! Yes, I am saved, but depression has it's dirty claws wrapped tightly and struggling to be free makes them dig deeper.
I cry out into the darkness, I writhe in the hurt on the floor of my bedroom. While no one can see the battle on the inside, they see the façade.
FAKE
To my kids I give my all and then even more than that. I give them every moment of every day that I possibly can of myself and my heart. I try to withdraw, but they drag me back. Their needs and whims are met and taken care of and very well.
Not that I am bragging. I make sure they have what they want to eat, water bottles, blankets, and snacks. Diffusers with nice essential oils to lull them off to sleep. I hug them and love them and get them to the places they need to be.
Support of my husband is equal to support of my country. I listen to him, struggle with submission and not asking questions as is his dream. I try to lose weight eat better be better and in the end I am a mess.
I am not who I was.
This is much better, but somehow in the mix I lost my soul and the ability to live and breathe and be spontaneous and how to be fun and relax. I used to dance and sing and yes there may have been drinking, that is not the part I miss. Once I felt beautiful and wanted now I feel old and washed out and alone and unwanted.
I know those around me love me respect me need me admire me.
But I am lost at sea.
Memories are always on the surface and no one really listens to hear my words only how they can offer up a solution to something that is in my mind my heart and my soul.
I love my husband and need him desperately. But I often wonder if I am really the right wife for him, the right mother for my kids.
When you have one that you have wronged and can never correct nor erase the wrongs how can you expect to do right by the other two? When you live in doubt of whether or not your husband really does love and want your oldest son around. When the stress of towing the line and making him and everyone else happy becomes to much.
How easy it would be to quit kicking and instead let go and slip beneath the surface of the water and let the darkness wash over you as you sink to the bottom and the life under the sea barely makes room for your decent because even here it matters not whether you are truly happy or merely surviving. Meet their needs and you will be complete.
Where do I go from here? Continue down or fight my way back up to the top? When do I throw in the towel?
Fight is what I hear, but fight for what? For me or for them?
Lord help me bring me through this tumultuous time.
Psalm 23
I feel pain, I feel overwhelming love and hurt.
Lost in the darkness of my soul that is attempting to cling to the light. Yes, Jesus saves! Yes, I am saved, but depression has it's dirty claws wrapped tightly and struggling to be free makes them dig deeper.
I cry out into the darkness, I writhe in the hurt on the floor of my bedroom. While no one can see the battle on the inside, they see the façade.
FAKE
To my kids I give my all and then even more than that. I give them every moment of every day that I possibly can of myself and my heart. I try to withdraw, but they drag me back. Their needs and whims are met and taken care of and very well.
Not that I am bragging. I make sure they have what they want to eat, water bottles, blankets, and snacks. Diffusers with nice essential oils to lull them off to sleep. I hug them and love them and get them to the places they need to be.
Support of my husband is equal to support of my country. I listen to him, struggle with submission and not asking questions as is his dream. I try to lose weight eat better be better and in the end I am a mess.
I am not who I was.
This is much better, but somehow in the mix I lost my soul and the ability to live and breathe and be spontaneous and how to be fun and relax. I used to dance and sing and yes there may have been drinking, that is not the part I miss. Once I felt beautiful and wanted now I feel old and washed out and alone and unwanted.
I know those around me love me respect me need me admire me.
But I am lost at sea.
Memories are always on the surface and no one really listens to hear my words only how they can offer up a solution to something that is in my mind my heart and my soul.
I love my husband and need him desperately. But I often wonder if I am really the right wife for him, the right mother for my kids.
When you have one that you have wronged and can never correct nor erase the wrongs how can you expect to do right by the other two? When you live in doubt of whether or not your husband really does love and want your oldest son around. When the stress of towing the line and making him and everyone else happy becomes to much.
How easy it would be to quit kicking and instead let go and slip beneath the surface of the water and let the darkness wash over you as you sink to the bottom and the life under the sea barely makes room for your decent because even here it matters not whether you are truly happy or merely surviving. Meet their needs and you will be complete.
Where do I go from here? Continue down or fight my way back up to the top? When do I throw in the towel?
Fight is what I hear, but fight for what? For me or for them?
Lord help me bring me through this tumultuous time.
Psalm 23
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