Bowling Ball

Breanne has been begging to go "bowling ball" since this summer.  So on a stormy night Chad would be stuck inside anyway, we relented.  Since I think my two stinkers are the cutest in the world, I filled our camera with them (naturally...).

My Superhero

Heidi does the funniest things sometimes.  This day she brought me my bathing suit wrap and asked me to tie it around her neck.  Then demanded my "hat" (from the winter wear drawer).  And Voila!  Here is my little superhero! 
      
One of the suggested activities for children with extra sensory needs (though these are good for any child, really) is utilizing a landing pad.  So the featured activity for Heidi's special outfit (of course) was a landing pad (which she promptly demanded I help her build). 

 

*The landing pad (like most recommended activities) has specific benefits including (not a comprehensive list): joint compression, core strengthening, and balance building. 

Giving Thanks

 I really wish I had some cute Thanksgiving pictures.  I just really don't.  We had a wonderful day with family and good food (can you ask for more, really??).  Even my little brother and his wife came.  It was so thoroughly enjoyable.  But here is one of my girly girl who asks everyday if we can paint her nails.  So cute.  This is post-paint (believe it or not).  Until mom gets a little more practice with nail polish, we will encourage the very light shades!

 

Another good thing about Thanksgiving week is all the vacation time dad can spend finishing our house!  This is the last picture of our window he took out and covered up.  Hopefully the siding gets finished in the next few weeks :)  (The picture I have been waiting for!)

Family Moments

I love the snow.  It tends to bring with it shiny family moments.  Like the holidays.  Snow is something I didn't always love, but I am a recent-ish convert to it :)  I am so glad we have it right in our front yard!

Transplant

For some time now I have struggled with the decision of continuing the blog or not.  This is not me committing to anything, but I have decided the blog should have a place in my life.  As it is mostly for family (but a public blog nonetheless) that I continue with it, I suppose it would be helpful to explain that I am a transplant.  From California to Utah.  Transplanted from the sunny beach side of endless warmth and citrus to this mountainous terrain where we have a plethora of the four seasons and natural diversions at our front door (literally).  That is to say, while I love it here, I regularly feel like an ignoramus.  So, it is with much shame and embarrassment that I admit that just recently I am learning how to live in a snowy climate.  Perhaps I should say, "How to be a mother in a snowy climate." 

This year has been nothing if not stressful.  One of the joys has been finding out that our oldest daughter has special sensory needs.  After depleting my resources of creativity and patience (be assured, the well is now dry), we started her in the recommended (not to mention costly) therapy she has needed.  Admitting that we, as parents, didn't have all the answers was extremely difficult, but so far we have benefited greatly from the information we have gleaned.  As this winter we have the challenge of finding and providing my daughter with the sensory experiences she craves, I thought I would lightly document our excursions.  My only hope is to share with my family what we are doing these days- as they hail from Virginia to California, Tennessee to Seattle.  We are vastly separated but I hope this will be something they can enjoy experiencing with us.  I would also like to keep them updated on the progress of our home.  Hopefully our camera will make it through this winter intact (as well as my sanity...).

Perseverance

Just what I call this photo. What do you think?

Time-Out

We had a sick week last week. It lasted 10 days, but really it lasted a lot longer than that.

Don't you love it when your plans go out the window?

Afterwards, the hardest part is trying to decide where to start picking up the loose ends.

House update photo coming this week! Can't wait to post it!

Mom-fessions, pt II

This must be mom-fessions week:

I love listening to my children eat. Everything seems peaceful as their little munches fill the snacktime air. I love it!

Mom-fession

Here is my mom-fession for the week:

I frequently don't know what day of the week it is. I think this has something to do with having toddlers (?). The actual date is usually completely out of the question. I am satisfied if I generally know which part of the month we are in.

STR-etch

I love having daughters. Someday they will go on the run with me.

For now, they must settle for the post-run stretches.

My Post-Nap, Chase Away the Sleepy-Grump Blues Snack

Scenario: When I first became a stay-at-home mom I was clueless. My own mother worked so we could have food in our bellies and coverings over our backsides. And as I am generally a self-absorbed person, I entered in this very important career rather blindly. Unfortuneatly, these attributes still apply.
That said, I do not condone any of what I do on a regular basis, I just wanted to share an aspect of our routine and needed you to understand that I recognize I have a long way to go before I can actually dish out mommy advice.


On any given day I am very pleased with myself if my kids get 3 good meals. Snacks are my time to trick them into eating whatever I feel the need for. SO-

Introducing our post-naptime, chase-away-the-sleepy-grump blues snack:

abt 1 1/2C vanilla ice cream
abt 2 heaping T peanut butter
abt 3/4 banana (medium sized)

Blend it good (in a blender). Divvy it up. Make sure to enjoy some for yourself (in case you are as generally self-absorbed as myself). Or share it with a neighbor kid (but I drank mine) ;)

Just Because

I meant to add these to my previous post- she does this ALL the time! I have decided her mission in our family is to lift the weary hearts. Mostly mine.

This morning when the heads in our house were still heavy from the previous night's rest, we heard this, click-click-clack on our tile. She came strutting in our room wearing my only pair of high-heels and an ear-to-ear grin. I am not sure where she gets it but I am thinking she will be the owner of a great many pair of high-heels. In the meantime, I will be extra vigilant regaurding the whereabouts of my own.

Can't Make This Up

This one is hilarious. What would you do if you came out of your room and found this walking down the hall?

It makes me laugh REALLY hard. Every time.

She gets into my drawers. Whatever she finds goes over her head. This morning its was a slip. Then she found my summer hat and her father's slippers.

This is a hard age, but she also does the funniest things sometimes! You just can't make this stuff up!

Moments

As Heidi is sitting on a chair- crying and upset about getting caught- Bree takes this most opportune moment to exclaim: "Mommy, I'm being good."

This is one of those moments when you wonder if you need to chide the good one, too. (I didn't, but I wondered.)

(My response was in a light tone: "Breanne, you have your moments too.")

Playdates and Potty training

They kinda go together.

I dunno.

At least the potty stayed close most the time!!

Real Scare

Today my two- and three-year-old had a zombie-esque strut as they walked toward me.

I was preparing lunches in the kitchen. One was wearing my shoes, and the other was trying to see around her- so they both strutted somewhat in unison. I have never seen a zombie movie, but at the time I couldn't imagine a scarrier scene than my two hungry toddlers moving in on me in just such a way.

"Don't Carpe Diem"

Finally. A mom who can write what the rest of us feel!!! (Well, me at least.)

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/glennon-melton/dont-carpe-diem_b_1206346.html

A Playdate with Thomas . . .

. . . and Bertram, and Charlie. . . (I don't know all the names of the trains to be honest. But Thomas was there.)

Breanne had her first choo-choo playdate today.

They were so cute with their trains! They kept trying to figure out which train was going too fast and trying to keep them in the right order. It was so very cute.

Even Heidi had a little train :)

Hopefully just the first of many :)

Dull Moments

I love this developing skill of language. Breanne and Heidi both play with words these days and it is the funniest thing since stand-up comedy.

Heidi frequently tells me she has a "boagie", as she sticks her finger up her nose. It is so funny. But that might be one of those things only a mom could love.

Breanne's word-of-the-month seems to be "poop." In fact, that is what she named that big brown spot at the bottom of the picture. And then she named another one that, and another.

Never a dull moment!

Ringing in the New Year

Many like to think on new year's resolutions around this time of year. I usually think about it, rarely write it down, even more rarely actually carry it out. I am probably the typical new year's resolutioner :)

Recognizing my great track record makes me even more nervous about this post. I have a news year's resolution for my blog.

My new blog theme isn't really different from what I already do- I will just be more blatant about it. I think there are many mommy blogs- I want this blog to focus on the joys of mommy-hood. As a full time mom I get the question (more often than I like), : "So, what is it you DO all day?" I actually tried to post a response to that question once: Step-by-step, what I do all day as a full-time mom. The post was too large for blogger. I am serious. And after working so hard on it and taking so much time to get the photos up with short, accurate discriptions, I was so disheartened when it spat out an "error" sign at me that I gave up (besides, my mommy-day had been running away from me and I really needed to catch up with it!).

The trend these days seems to be steering away from raising children- instead couples are choosing to raise pets. It saddens me. I often tease about some of the things my girls do in all their silliness and, sometimes, the challenges they pose to my own developing mothering skills. I find that I forget to mention how much happiness and love they bring into my life.

In deed there is nothing in my life, nor has there ever been, nor do I plan there ever being, so very precious to me as my family. My blog will continue the same, but more explicitly focus on the little things I enjoy about what my full-time occupation has been. You will notice no great change, perhaps an extra sentence or two.

Thank you to my friends and family who occasionally check, or regularly follow my blog. I think you will find the change refreshing.