Big Girl Panties and a Blizzard!!

Where do I start?  We have been having a lot going on.  Nothing really different than the norm but still a lot. 

Tot school has been hit or miss as I struggle to make time.  I saw on another blog that someone had let their toddler practice cutting their own food.  I decided to let Clara try and she really did a great job and enjoyed it very much.  I gave her a butter knife first.  I then gave her our Pampered Chef cutter.  As you can see in the pics she was very supervised while doing this.   Another activity we did was place colored pom poms out and try to sort them by color into the tray.  Clara struggled with this but loved just placing the pom poms in the tray.  She is starting to catch the words of the colors but I don’t think she has realized that they are the colors of the objects.  It amazes me how quickly she is catching on to so, so very much.  I have not done a Tot Food in a while so I decided to throw one in.  The plate pictured contained raisins, tomatoes, garbanzo beans, and avocados. 

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I meant to post sooner but Clara got the cutest pair of shoes.  She has gotten many compliments on them and she loves them too.  They are pretty glitzy and only a young one could pull these off.  They also light up when you stomp them.  Here are some pics of her showing them off.

OK….look close at this next pic and I mean look real close.  Do you see anything different??  Come on I know you can figure it out???  Clara is wearing big girl panties!!

 

My baby girl is wearing panties now during the day and using the potty with a large amount of accuracy.  She has had one poo poo accident.  The poo poo will come later.  She screams with delight when she tee tees in the potty.  She cannot wait to empty her tee tee into the big potty and look out to anyone who tries to flush it for her.  =)  Her reward is that she gets to wash her hands and get sickers.  As of today though, she has just been pleased with the fact that she tee teed in the potty.  She still maintains the scream of delight!  As of Monday night she came in when I was on the phone with Clay as he was on his way home from work.  It had been a long day and those of you with toddlers know what I mean.  Then top that off with struggling during the day to get our schooling done.  Clara has been getting into EVERYTHING lately!  She wants to do everything we do.  She is smart as a whip!  Well, anyway back to the story.  Clara walked in while I was on the phone and said, “I tee teed in the potty!”  At first I thought, “great…she got into the big potty AGAIN!”  Well, she was not wet and she was not naked….so, what could she possibly have meant.  Well, she meant that she went into the bathroom, pulled down her pants, took off her diaper, tee teed in her potty and then pulled her pants up.  She then proceeded into the kitchen to tell me about it.  My big girl did this all by HERSELF!!!  Here I had tried and tried and finally just let it go while leaving the potty in the bathroom.  Well, she knew when she was ready.  Since this happened Monday she has been wearing big girl panties.  Today she even took a 3 hour nap and her diaper was dry.  She peed a LOT in the potty after that and her squeal of excitement was even more so that time.  =)  

On another note….we have snow!!!  We have a LOT of snow ……for Texas anyway!  =) 

Christian sat her on top of his giant snowball and she got a kick out of that.

 

See Clara with her hands over her eyes.  She was cracking us up.  She wanted socks on her hands like the boys did.  She would run around the front yard and cover her face so the snow wouldn’t get in her eyes.  She just makes us smile!

 

Look how much more snow we had gotten this evening.  As I type it is still just snowing away.  I LOVE it!  Although it is messy and cold, snow is the most beautiful site there is.  Snow can make anything look pretty.  We have gone on two walks today to enjoy the snow.  One we took after lunch and then another one tonight.  I am hoping that I have more snow pics to show you guys tomorrow.  I think this is the most snow I have seen in Texas since the early ‘80s.  My dad built me an igloo.  It took every last bit of snow in our front yard but he made me an igloo!  =)

"Food" for Thought

I wanted to share something that came over me last night. Most of you know that I stopped eating meat/dairy around July which is approx 6-7 months ago. When I first stopped I felt led by God that meat/diary was something that I should not eat and was not overall good for your body. Thus, I automatically wanted to protect my family from the things I was learning too. Clara was easy as she is just 2. She eats most anything. For snacks she asks for potatoes/sweet potatoes, avocados, and will bring me cans of beans from the pantry. Cullen followed along well and I could not believe how easily he jumped on board. I figured he would be the toughest to convert. I also have to brag on my other two guys. Clay has really followed suit and has kept his ears open and learned a lot. He has not had meat in over a month!! He still eats minimal amounts of dairy in the form of cheese and ice cream. Christian, on the other hand, has done well coping with the big changes in our life but they have not been very easy for him at all!! If we are having family functions or go out to eat he still really, really wants his meat.

Well, as the vegan voyage has progressed it has changed from just a healthful decision to a moral one as well for myself and Cullen. I have learned of how animals are treated before they end up on our table. I am not okay with supporting that. Last night we were talking over veggie fajitas at a Mexican restaurant. Christian was saying that Jesus ate meat. I agreed with him. I do not believe it is necessarily wrong to eat meat but I do think how the animal was treated before it lands on your plate is of great importance. I, personally, do not think Jesus would sit down at the table with me and dive into a 12-oz steak knowing it had been injected with hormones, antibiotics, stood in inches of its' own filth, and treated inhumanely, etc. I do not think Jesus would be okay with the way we have come to treat the animals He put on this Earth for our benefit. I think we need to open our eyes and be aware of all that is going on around us. If you are interested in educating yourself about your meat supply and where it comes from watch the documentary Food Inc. You can also view, for free on YouTube, the documentary Earthlings (very graphic and heartbreaking) The link is to part 3. I think there are 10 parts.

We by no means eat healthfully all the time. We eat too many chips and have ice cream too often. I overeat still to this day and need to work on it. By being vegan you are by no means cutting out all the foods that can be bad for you. A vegan can be someone who exsists on sodas and bags of chips alone. I do try to make my food choices count but I am human and fail miserably some days. It just weighs heavy on me that we need to watch who/what we are harming in the search to put meat on our tables.

I would love to hear your comments, thoughts, etc. on the topic. Please share!

New Family Pics

For Christmas Candy and Matt bought us all a session with Michele Jones of Picture This!   She travels to you to take pics!  She is great!!  I am so happy we had the opportunity to get all our pics taken together.  These pics were taken Dec. 26th in mom and dad’s back yard.  I thought they turned out fantastic!

Thanks Candy and Matt for such a fantastic idea!  The memories are priceless!  Words alone cannot express to you enough how much my family means to me.  What a great Christmas present! 

Our 5 Food Staples

Okay...so I was tagged to share with you all the 5 food staples we must have on hand at this house all the time. You can go to Faydra's blog here to see what she put and what others have put in the comments.

1. Potatoes/Sweet potatoes on hand. We put them in the microwave for a quick dinner. We use sweet potatoes for snacks, sliced in stir frys, etc. Nothing like throwing together a quick potato soup when you don't want to cook.

2. Almond butter. We use almond butter in all things. We use raw butter. Almonds have more calcium than peanuts. I put almond butter into a lot of things for added calcium and protein. I put it into smoothies, quinoa (super grain) breakfast cereal, sandwiches, etc.

3. Rice milk or soy milk. We use it in smoothies, cereal, pancakes, soups, you name it!

4. Nuts. Raw almonds, cashews, pecans, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, etc. I used nuts/seeds in many of my recipes. We also like to snack on them. You can make a nut pate (salad like tuna or chicken but skip the meat) in the Vita-Mix with raw sunflower seeds and almonds with a bit of lemon juice, garlic, onion, celery, etc. You can top salads or eat on a sandwich or with crackers. It is really good and great for you! Clara and I like it. The boys are not too keen on it.

5. All types of Noodles. We use rice noodles for the most part. Curly noodles for lunches with pasta sauce and nutritional yeast flakes for added Vit. B12. Rice spaghetti noodles for you guessed it spaghetti. We also use Thai rice noodles with our stir fries and peanut butter noodles.

It was very difficult to narrow it to just 5. If you asked on another day I would probably say something different.

As far as favorites but aren't necessarily a necessity we like Kidz Clif Bars. They have too much sugar though. It is difficult to find an easy to take with us snack bar that is dairy-free. We also keep jarred roasted red peppers on hand. We throw these in salads and Clara eats them like candy! The boys don't like 'em though so they are not essential as far as all of us liking them. Another one I left out and we eat almost daily is avocado and/or guacamole. This is the quick something I can give Clara and she will down a whole avocado! =) We love them! We eat them plain, in salads, on burritos (that we have a LOT), etc.

Well...let's hear it. What are your 5 staples??? Please re-post back to Faydra in her comments and post them here too.

Sleep Over....=)

Last night Christian, Cullen, and CLARA spent the night with Meemaw and Pawpaw. This was the first night Clay and I have had alone in over a year and a half. I am so excited for Clara and Meemaw and Pawpaw. It is like a little light switch went on and Clara was ready to stay with them. To be honest, I think she wanted to stay longer. They had a great time. She went to bed last night at 10:30 easily but wanted to be up with every one else. They played games. Clara took a nap with Pawpaw in his chair today. This girl LOVES her Pawpaw. My dad has a shaved head and she just LOVES rubbing Pawpaw's head! She even rubs her sleep cap at night and says "Pawpaw's head". She loves him to pieces. It is so wonderful to watch them together. The boys have always been Meemaw's boys so it is neat to see Pawpaw get a piece of the action too.

Since Clay and I had the evening together ALONE we went to dinner together. We then met Matt and Candy at the movies and watched two movies. We watched Edge of Darkness and Lovely Bones. I liked Edge of Darkness besides the bad language and violence. Lovely Bones was.......well lets just say it wasn't good but it wasn't bad. It is definitely a renter. I was expecting so much more. Disappointing really. Beyond that we had a great evening being togehter. It was a very nice evening! Now that Clara is comfortable leaving us and spending quality time with Meemaw and Pawpaw I hope to enjoy an evening out with my wonderful hubby more often!!! =)

I will ask for prayer for a very young lady of 19 who has had a little girl. She is living in a homeless shelter and is just not stepping up to the plate for her daughter. We found out today that the baby was admitted into the hospital with a fever and congestion. Please pray for her health and pray for her mother's maturity in Christ. She says she loves her daughter but love is so much more than words. Loves is an action. Loves is something you see and not just a word you hear. My heart aches for both of them. The mom has grown up in the foster care system and from what I have seen she just does not know what a "family" is. She relies on everyone around her to take care of her and her baby. She calls people she has known for a month or so family. I feel so sorry that she was cheated by not having an appropriate Christian family to grow up in and now is doing the same thing with her daughter. They are constantly in my thoughts and heart. I want them to know "family" so badly and prosper the way God wants for them. How do you teach someone that love is an action. God showed us His love by teaching us His ways and for sacrificing himself on the cross for our sins! He did not just hug us and "say" He loved us. He showed us on a daily basis .....second to second! Again, please pray for them!

Field Trip to Sci-Port

Yesterday we packed up to head out to Shreveport.  We met Wanda and the kids at Peking and had lunch before getting to Sci-Port.  We have never been to Sci-Port before so we were excited to have a fun day together of play and learning. 

This was going through the moon walk.  It was really neat inside. 

Here the kids are trying to get their balloons and other crafts to float in the air stream

Here they are learning how the flow of a river (Red river) changes the landscaping.

Here is a shot of the baby alligators.  Clara was soaking it in.

This was cool.  You pushed a button and it pushed you to the top.  Cullen loved it and then he added Clara and she could not get enough!

In this exhibit you cold ride a bike to see how many watts you could produce to power any given item. 

Clara even gave it a try.

     Clara, Chandler, and Brennan are learning about pulleys.       

Here is baby James laughing it up! 

Chandler and Christian trying to figure out circuits! 

After this water exhibit, Clara was drenched and so was Lammie.  She decided Lammie wanted to play in the water too!  It is amazing how quickly a 2 year old can get into the stroller and pull out her Lammie!  Lammie is safe and sound and is even dry now after the incident!  Must keep a better eye on Lammie…cannot lose him!

Here is Baby James taking it all in again!  He is so laid back!

This is the tornado exhibit.  Clara thought it was pretty neat!  She even climbed into the middle of it at one point !

I think Cullen was ready for his turn!

Here is the final shot when we were leaving.  Brennan, Evan, Cullen, Chandler holding Clara, Baby James, and Christian.  Little did we know that tornado weather was heading our way as we made it down to the Boardwalk to sneak in some quick shopping!

We went to the Boardwalk and barely made it before it started pouring!  We made it to The Children’s Place, Stride-Rite, and Shoe Rack.  The lady at the Shoe Rack told us they were going to close the store because they had been hearing the sirens and had spotted tornadoes.  I looked at her like she was crazy and said, “so you are going to throw us out into the storm??”  Needless to say, we stayed and did some more shoe shopping.  Cullen had gotten a pair for his birthday so Christian and Clara got a pair this time around.  I will have to get a pic of Clara’s shoes.  They are called Twinkle Toes and light up!  Too, too cute!!  Christian’s shoes are “handsome” shoes and he did good after he FINALLY picked some out!   We ended up making it home safe and sound.  We went past an area on I-20 that looked like we had missed the tornado by probably 20 minutes if that long.  I have never seen so many police cars and clean-up crew trucks.  The debris along the road was scary to say the least.  It looked as though someone had picked up the road signs and crumpled them like paper!  Trees and branches were all along the road.  I think they had cleaned that part of the highway and were working along the side roads when we made it past.  It was quite scary.  We did make it home though after a very long day of fun and learning.  I was EXHAUSTED!!  Clara was too as she crashed as soon as we got in the car to head home after a juice box and fruit chew. =)

Here are some school pics from today.  Clara colored the letter ‘B’ blue today with a marker and dot to dot painter.  Later in the day we used stickers that started with ‘B’  and placed them on our paper.  Can you tell Clara was proud of her work?? 

Homeschool Confessions!

I wanted to share a pic of Clara and her new “mad” face the boys have taught her.  I love it when they “teach” her such useful stuff.  Actually, you know, I do love it.  I love that they love to be together, play together, and teach each other!  She can also make a silly face and we are working on the sad face. 

Also a note that she is wearing her Princess and The Frog pajamas that Aunt Candy gave Clara for Christmas.  I had not tried them on her because they were a 3T.  I decided to wash them and give them a go.  Well, you guessed it.  They fit with a bit of room to spare but definitely not too big for sure.   This is Clara’s new smile when we tell her to say “cheese”. 

I will be honest and say that it can be very difficult to home-school.  I love my kids but there are some days I just find myself not being the mom that I want to be.  I am short with them and do not treat them with the patience they deserve.  I have really handed my last few days of schooling to God and have to realize that when I try to do it all myself I will ALWAYS fail miserably.  I know that when I give my days to God from the very second I wake up and then continue handing it to Him throughout the day it goes so smoothly; not easy, but smoother.  I love having the honor of teaching my children, but often I don’t act like it.  I need to remind myself to slow down, breathe, and realize this too will be gone too fast.  I want to cherish the moments I have with them reading on the couch, teaching how to finish a pre-algebra problem, putting words together to express yourself in writing, and so many other things we do in a given day.  To learn what God’s will is in their lives and to learn how to live it out as HE sees fit is my purpose as a mother.  What other more important thing could I do with my life besides raise my children in the way of the Lord and protect their hearts as they reach Christian maturity?

I have decided that I need to blog more about what we do with our schooling.  Today I decided to take some photos to share too.   I had realized that I needed to do more schooling with Clara.  She tends to run around here just doing as she pleases while I focus on the subjects we must fit in with the boys.  This is cheating Clara and also not a good way to be training her.  So, I must make time to “school” Clara while also keeping her occupied well while teaching the boys.  This is a shot of Clara in her kitchen.  She likes to cook us some strawberries, oranges, broccoli, etc.  She will bring them to us while we are doing school at the table.  We will act like we are eating it all up.  She loves it!  She will then go back and make more. 

Here is a little photo album of our day today.  Clara started the day with the letter ‘B’ and a worksheet on brown bear.  She painted with brown paint.  She really enjoyed it.  Later we pulled out a sheet on ‘b’utterflies.  She did dot painting on it.  Cullen helped her with a few puzzles too.  Cullen got his math and science done by himself.  Christian and I focused on strengthening our pre-algebra skills.  He took 4 tests today and tomorrow we plan on taking 2 more and working on strengthening our weaknesses.  Cullen worked on how to write a letter and what the parts of a letter are called.  We then curled up on the couch and started The BoxCar Kids book 1.  Christian and I have read it before but you can never read a good book just once.  I have really tried to make it a priority to read out loud to the kids and have them read to me.  This is something that has been weak in our household but something I feel is so very important.  (so then why do I cheat it??)  I am going to try and use my blog as my accountability partner by documenting what we are getting done.  I know it is Martin Luther King Jr. day.  I told the boys that MLK would not want us to cheat our education and that we were going to get some schooling done today.  =) 

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I hope you all don’t think I am awful for spilling my guts.  I just know that the reason I started my blog, besides keeping Tierra up on our day-to-day life, I also wanted to help others as other blogs help me.  I do know from 6+ years experience homeschooling that some moments are just much more hectic/chaotic than others.  I also know that there can be some glorious times spent growing together.  I will just continue asking God to lead and guide my every day.  I pray for His wisdom in educating my children.  I pray for guidance down the paths we need to travel.  Although I never get to “clock out” from my career I would have chosen no other!  I have the best co-workers and I need to remember that on a day-to-day basis.  =)