JDaniel4's Mom

Pinterest- Leaping into Groundhog's Day

2012-02-02T02:00:00.000-08:00

Happy Groundhog's Day! Whether the ground sees his shadow or not, I think spring has arrived in South Carolina. The temperatures have been in the 50's or 60's all week.
I thought it would be fun to celebrate Groundhog's Day with JDaniel anyway. I made a leaping groundhogs game due to the fact that it is a leap year too and searched Pinterest for Groundhog's Day crafts and snacks.
The leaping groundhogs game is the only thing I really made myself. You will find links to the others ideas I found under each picture.

Leaping Groundhogs Game
Supplies:
Sections of a white milk jug
Brown felt
Green felt
Wiggly eyes
Black construction paper
A margarine tub

Directions:
1. Cut three inch long sections out of a white plastic milk jug for as many groundhogs as you will need
2. Fold each strips into thirds.
3. Cut out a groundhog shaped head out of brown felt
4. Glue the head onto the front third of the strip with his nose facing away for the bend.

5. Cut a black circle out of construction paper.
6. Glue two wiggly eyes and a black nose onto the groundhog head.
7. Cut a green rectangular piece of felt that will fit around your margarine tub and is a little taller than the tub.
8. Snip off some of the green felt that reaches above the tub to make it look like grass.

How to play:
1.Bend the groundhog into thirds.
2. Place your thumb on the groundhog's nose.
3. Watch him fly into the margarine tub or back into his hole.

Here are some wonderful ideas I found on Pinterest:

This is a really cute craft from Playschool Playbook. Here is its link on Pinterest.

Kitchen Fun with My 3 Sons came up with this really cute snack. Here is its link on Pinterest.

Two Bears Farm made this really cute Groundhog's Day lunch. Here is its link on Pinterest.

Gourmet Mom on- the Go made this wonderful drink! Here is its link on Pinterest.
Click on the word Pinterest if you would like to follow me. I will follow you back. This post is linked several places including Mama Kat's Writing Workshop and Link and Learn.

Knowing There is Scar Tissue on My Heart

2012-02-01T00:00:00.000-08:00

Recently we have been talking about letting God heal old scars in our lives in the mom’s group I’m in at church. We have discussed how most people don ‘t even notice that you have any scars or that many have gone below the surface of your skin.

This discussion reminded me of the scar JDaniel has on his forehead.

Last Halloween JDaniel tripped and fell into a coffee table at a friends house during a playgroup Halloween party. We had to rush to the hospital so he could get internal and external stitches. (I wrote about it on a guest post I wrote for Mom of a Monster and Twins.)

When we got home, he looked like Frankenstein for a few days. The external stitches stood out on his head.

Over time the external stitches dissolved and wore away. There was still a scar there and we don’t know if it will ever really go away.

Internally we can’t see the stitches or the scarring . We can feel the scar tissue that formed above them. It is like a ridge right below the surface.

We are supposed to massage it and try to break down the scar tissue two times a day for fifteen minutes each time. JDaniel hates it when I massage it . He does a better of tolerating it when my husband does it.

I am so glad he lets someone massage the scar tissue. We really don’t want him to keep it. Although it may be that no one never notices the scar tissue, we will know that it is there and that we at least tried to make it go away.

Mental, spiritual, and emotional scar tissue behaves in the much the same way that JDaniel’s physical scar tissue has. It forms calluses that can create very real scaring on our heart and minds.

I carried into adulthood calluses caused by the scars of my parents divorce and several other things from childhood.

I am going to be honest with you I am just like JDaniel is when I am trying to massage his scar tissue. I tried to avoid it, limit the time I allow for it to be broken down, and fussed at God for making me finally deal with.

Being challenged to hand over something old that you have been come used to is hard but, I am so glad that much of the scar tissue has been broken down and the areas under those old calluses has been allowed to heal.

Do you have calluses you need to have massaged by God? Are you ready to hand them over to him?

This post is linked to Mrs. Matlock's Alphabe Thursday.

Pause Life for a Moment- Green Grandma

2012-01-31T00:00:00.000-08:00

I am so blessed to have Green Grandma here today to share this amazing post. I hope that you will pause a moment after reading it to visit her wonderful blog and read about her new book Vinegar Fridays.

She truly is wonderful writer and storyteller.

The Misuse of Imagination

“I’m going back to Iraq,” my brand-new son-in-law said.

I stopped breathing. Tom and our daughter, Bethany, informed us they had something they needed to tell us and as we sat around the dining room table with hopes of a grandbaby on the way or something else equally wonderful, a cloak of worry descended upon me.

“My unit’s been deployed,” the Marine sergeant continued, “and I volunteered to go with them.”

I couldn’t speak. Fear gripped me with its threat of impending doom. After all, I was widowed at just 32. Was history going to repeat itself? Would my daughter hug her husband goodbye, never to see him again?

I was scared.

For the next month, I struggled to sleep. I worried constantly. I played out scenes in my head – the knock on my daughter’s door, the primal scream, I knew too well, emerging from the depths of her soul. My rushing to get there to offer her comfort that was impossible to give. My own collapse onto the floor as I heard the news. Would he be killed, or would he come home severely maimed, altering their lives forever?

I had this worrying thing down to an art.

One day, as I ripped the previous day’s saying from my inspirational page-a-day calendar, I read these words:

Worry is the misuse of imagination. – Anonymous

I paused and read it again. Something started to happen in me … I could feel it. I started to weep.

At that moment, my life changed. Dramatically. Hopefully, forever.

As a writer, I never take for granted the gift of imagination with which God blessed me. After all, what fiction writer can be without it? It is a necessary tool of our trade; one in which, I believe, we are born with. God planted the desire to write in me from the time I was a small child. Imagination. What a blessed gift! A gift I turned into a curse.

Before my first husband was killed in a flash fire, I worried about him all the time. If he was ten minutes late, I was pacing. Fifteen minutes, I was crying. Twenty minutes, I was calling the local hospitals. What a rotten way to live … for both of us. I was just so worried that he was going to die. And he did. Worrying did not prevent his death; it simply made his life with me a bit on edge. That is something I will regret forever.

Quite honestly, however, I didn’t know I had a choice.

“I’m just a worrier,” I would say, excusing this flaw in my character as an inborn trait I had no control over. “It’s just the way I am.”

The fact is I did have control over this character flaw. We all do. We can choose not to worry. For me, it was as simple as realizing I was misusing the gift God gave me. I admit it -- I have a rather vivid imagination … and I was wasting it on worrying.

That morning, over five years ago, I came up with this strategy:

When I start to feel anxious, I ask myself this question – Am I projecting into the future and imaging things that might happen, or is this a legitimate concern that requires some action on my part?

If there is no real basis for my worry, I dismiss it. If, on the other hand, I’m concerned about catching a cold or whether or not I paid a bill, I proactively take steps to alleviate the concern. I take extra vitamins or wash my hands more often or I check my online bank statement to see if the payment went through. Do you see the difference? Concern often requires action.

There was nothing I could do to keep my son-in-law safe. No amount of sleepless nights would prevent my daughter from early widowhood. So I rode out Tom’s deployment in prayer for him, leaving his safety in the hands of his Heavenly Father and leaving my worry in His hands, too. After all, He’s God, and He was more than happy to take it off me.

And you know what? Tom made it home safely and is now co-parenting an active little boy who, no doubt, will challenge this ‘no worry’ approach to life his grandma has. But for now, I’m worrying less and enjoying life more … letting my imagination lead me into the wonderful world of fiction.

Hana Haatainen Caye, agency principal for

SPEECHLESS, is an award-winning writer, editor and voice-over talent serving the creative needs of clients worldwide. She leads Writers at Work, a Pittsburgh-based monthly writing workshop and leads workshops at writers’ conferences. Her first book, Vinegar Fridays, based on a popular feature of her blog, Green Grandma, was released in November 2011.

Super Bowl XLV: Patriots vs. Giants Muffin Tin Meal

2012-01-29T16:00:00.000-08:00

JDaniel really isn't into football but, I thought it would be fun to have muffin tin lunch with a Super Bowl theme anyway.

Let me start by saying that I don't usually serve JDaniel bread with a fruit chew on it. It was really hard to come up with a way to create the symbol for the Patriots. I must have thought through five different ways to do it but, they seemed even more complicated than the way I ended up with.

Creating the Patriots logo was one of the hardest things I have done to create a muffin tin element. I had to trace the symbol onto cardboard and then trace it onto the fruit chew. The red elements were easy to trace onto a red fruit chew. Placing the cheese under the logo for the face and star were the easiest of all.

I am so thankful that the Giants are in the Super Bowl. Why? They have an easy symbol recreate. It was so easy to trace their logo onto American cheese.

The rest of the meal is made of ham rolled into a cylinder help in place with toothpicks and football shaped Oreos.

I really thought about trying to try and make the bread into a football shape but, I was afraid it wouldn't be big enough to hold the symbols if it was cut down.

While this isn't the healthiest of meals, I think it contained enough healthy elements in it.

What would you serve in a Super Bowl lunch?

This post is linked to Muffin Tin Monday?

Acts of Kindness- Montessori Style

2012-01-28T03:00:00.000-08:00

Toddler Approved is hosting a wonderful project called the 100 Acts of Kindness Project. I love the idea of JDaniel and I doing things for others between Jan. 15th and Valentine's Day.Each week she puts up a challenge for you to complete as some of your 100 Acts of Kindness.

This week's challenge was to perform five acts of kindness for members of our family using a Montessori technique. The challenge was issued by Living Montessori Now!

Here is what we did:

Act One

JDaniel helped me volunteer at Angel's Attic consignment sale at my mom's church. We were asked to help move all the bikes and vehicles outside. When that was done we were asked to help people that were looking over them to know how to take the stickers off them and where to go to purchase them.

He followed his interest of car care. How? JDaniel used a pretend gas pump to fill all the Cozy Coupes up with gas and test out the seats in all the wagons and cars.

Act Two

JDaniel practiced transferring coins with chopsticks into a baby bottle that I was given at church. The money in the baby bottle with go to help a local women's center.

Act Three

Our third task was laundry. JDaniel helped me fold laundry into almost neat piles. We will need to keep practicing this skill.

Acts Four and Five

JDaniel helped me pour more soap in our soap dispensers. He loved using a funnel.

We tried just dumping it in but, it went in to slowly for JDaniel.

He decided to help the soap along by pushing it in.

Finally he squeezed the remaining soap into the bottle.

For more information on the 100 Acts of Kindess Project please visit this post on Toddler Approved.

Read.Explore.Learn.-If You'll Be My Valentine

2012-01-27T00:00:00.000-08:00

Welcome to Read.Explore.Learn.! This meme was designed to be a place for you to share the learning opportunities, crafts, field trips, and other activities you have done this week that tie-in to children’s books. I look forward to seeing ways you have learned with and explored books.

Steps:

Link your activity below.

Please place the Read.Explore.Learn. badge on your post or create a link back to this meme.

Please try to visit at least three of the other people that have placed links below and leave a comment. I will visit each of you and leave a kind comment.

If you are not linking up an activity and are just visiting, please try to stop by a few of the links below.

My Book Tie-Ins of the Week:

JDaniel is very much into rhyming words. He loved the rhyming poems in If You'll Be My Valentine by Cynthia Rylant. I love how the little boy in the book created cards for all his friends ( stuffed animals and pets), siblings and grandmother.

I love how the card is shown on one page of the book and the memory that inspired it is on the opposite page.

What did we do?

Craft- Valentine's Day Cards

We recieved tons of political mailing right before the South Carolina primary. I decided they would be great for creating Valentine's Day cards for JDaniel's sleepy time friends and robots.

I put out the mailings, markers, stickers, and crayons to make the cards.

Here are the cards:

Pretend Play- Valentine's Day Post Office

While JDaniel was a preschool, I converted his McDonald's counter into a post office. I placed post office signs on most of the McDonald's related ones and put some stamps (stickers) into the register.

One of our reusable bags was labeled a mail bag. JDaniel was able to use the bag to deliver his cards to his toys.

This post is linked to Lets BEE Friends, Play Academy and Link and Learn.

Just Looking at Pinterest Can Lead to Coveting

2012-01-25T10:28:00.000-08:00

Do you love Pinterest? I have really come to love it. It is my go to place to search for crafts, recipes, and store wonderful visual links to my favorite ideas.

How else have I used it?

I have set up boards to display the muffin tin lunches I have made along with the crafts we have done.

I have posted visual links to ideas I have found on friends blogs that I want others to see.

I have made it my go to place to store links instead of having them in folders.

My Problem

I do have problem with Pinterest. A problem that I think some of you might have too.

When I look through all the pictures posted in Pinterest, I start to covet.

What is Coveting?

Coveting

1. to desire wrongfully, inordinately, or without due regard for the rights of others: to covet another's property.

2. to wish for, especially eagerly: He won the prize they all coveted.

Why has it caused me to covet?

Perfect Homes

The houses on Pinterest have lovely furniture that has not become scarred by toys lawnmowers. The couch haven’t been torn when it has been used to build forts.

The children’s idea rooms are immaculate. All the toys are picked up and the beds are made.

Clothes

The pristine outfits haven’t been scrubbed with Shout and don’t have worn out knees from crawling on the floor while playing trains.

Those same outfits don’t look like they have been hanging in a closet for four years or more. Many of mine best articles of clothing are from the days when I worked outside the home four years ago.

Food

The dessert and casseroles are delectably perfect. They don’t appear to have been prepared by mom with a three year old standing on a stepstool trying to help.

The cookies are elegantly decorated with frosting used to create complicated and amazing designs.

　

Pinterest is a little like what the Sears Wish Books was like for me when I was little. It can make me wish for things that I don’t really need but, look wonderful.

Avoiding Coveting

I have to be careful to enjoy the things displayed on Pinterest for what they are. They are amazing ideas that I can enjoy and don’t have to have.

If it spurs on a new idea for using things I already have in new and different ways, it is a great thing. If I let it make me feel unhappy with all the wonderful things that I have been given it is a bad thing. I am the guard of my heart.

I have to make the choice to enjoy Pinterest but, not covet the items it displays.

This post is linked to Mrs. Matlock's Alphabe Thurday and Things I Can't Say's Pour Your Heart Out.

Best Meals Happen at Home- Publix $25 Gift Card Giveaway

2012-01-25T00:21:00.000-08:00

I have mentioned to you before how much I love shopping at Publix. JDaniel loves the free cookies in the bakery. I love the really helpful staff and the fact that they have wonderful sales.

Another wonderful thing about Publix is the the wonderful cooking station they have set up to show you how to prepared wonderful meals at home. JDaniel loves it when they give out samples on the meals.

Publix just started a Best Meals at home event that you can read more about below. I hope that if you have a Publix near you that you will stop in and check out the event.

Take advantage of great savings on some of your favorite participating brands during the “Best Meals Happen at Home” event at Publix from January 26th through February 1st .
As of Jan 26th look for in-store for coupons that will be valid through February 15th .
Visit BestMealsatHome.com to sign up and receive emails with weekly recipes and coupon offers that will help you save up to $200 this year .

How can you win a $25 gift card?
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclosure: The Publix gift card, information, and giveaway have been provided by General Mills through MyBlogSpark.”

Pause life for a Moment- Footprints in the Sand

2012-01-24T01:27:00.000-08:00

It is such a shame that Barbara of Footprints in the Sand and I didn't live in South Carolina at the same time. It would have been such fun to hang out with her. Barbara was here for years before I got here and then moved to France.

Barbara is the mom to two of the cutest boys in France. I loved getting to know her son Nathan through her wonderful post. Now I am getting to know her new baby Noah!

I know you are going to love getting to know Barbara through her post below.

When JDaniel4's Mom asked me to do a guest post for Pause for Life, I immediately thought “YES”!

Then I sat down at my computer and I couldn’t remember the last time I had actually paused.

It seems that when I’m not taking care of my four week old I am trying to keep the two year old from destroying the house. Even though I was spending every waking second with my kids, I wasn’t taking any real time for them.

So that night I asked my husband to be on baby duty. I left him a bottle and told him I would take over the toddler bedtime routine.

Promptly at 8 I led my toddler to his room and tucked him in. We turned on his lamp and watched the stars dance on the ceiling. We sang “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” at least five times and then my son patted the side of his bed and asked me to lie down.

How could I turn down such a gracious request?

I lay down next to him and wrapped him in my arms. I realized I hadn’t held him like that in months.

When the lamp finally turned off, he grabbed my hand and placed it in his. Minutes later I heard his peaceful snoring and he was finally asleep.

In this moment I breathed in his smell and thanked God for making me a mother.

When I finally emerged from his room, an hour later, I was so grateful I had taken the time to be with him. It definitely was not the normal bedtime routine, but it was so worth it.

The next night he asked me to tuck him in again. I tried to draw the line after the third round of “Twinkle Twinkle”, but I couldn’t resist those chubby cheeks.

Muffin Tin Monday- Happy Chinese New Year!

2012-01-23T00:00:00.000-08:00

Today is Chinese New Year! It is the year of the dragon! I thought it would be fun to create a dragon lunch for JDaniel.

We had such fun dyeing beige tortilla neon green and cutting them out with cookie cutters for this meal.

The dragon has a ham inner mouth and carrot tongue.The dragon's eyes are black olives with corn pupils. I am not sure most dragons have crests on their heads, but this one has an American cheese crest.

Yes, that makes this ham and cheese sandwich with a few vegetables. JDaniel loves ham and cheese right now. This was a fun way to serve him some of his favorite foods.

Since New Year's is usually celebrated with fireworks, I gave JDaniel red grape, red strawberry, and red grape tomato fireworks to have with his dragon.

I am planning on serving Chinese carryout tonight for dinner. How will you be celebrating Chinese New Year.

This post is linked to Muffin Tin Monday.

100 Acts of Kindess With Toddler Approved

2012-01-21T00:00:00.000-08:00

Toddler Approved is hosting a wonderful project called the 100 Acts of Kindness Project. I love the idea of JDaniel and I doing things for others between Jan. 15th and Valentine's Day.Each week she puts up a challenge for you to complete as some of your 100 Acts of Kindness.

I decided to try to do the challenges she purposed along with working on acts of kindness I would like JDaniel to master like not having a tantrum when I say it is "Quiet Time" in the afternoon and cleaning his room without fussing. Yes, I am straying from the project, but boy has JDaniel toned down his fussing.

Recording Acts of Kindness

The first thing we were asked to do was come up with a way to record your acts of kindness. I decided we would do three things to keep track of our kindess.

Create a record sheet to write down what we did. I decided that we needed to show kindness to family, our community, and our world.
Mark off a number box on a hundreds grid each time we did an act of kindness.
Savor the act of kindess by eating a jelly bean from a bottle labeled with the people group we helped.

This Week's Challenge

Make 5 "Thank You" cards and give them to people you've never thought to thank before.

What did we do?

JDaniel and I made thank you cards for his Sunday school teachers. We haven't thanked them for all the work they do each Sunday with him.

We used watered down red paint, a ball and a salad spinner to create this pretty cards.

On Monday Toddler Approved will be posting the next challenge for the week. I will be posting how we met that challenge next Saturday. I hope you will join me in the challenge!

Read.Explore.Learn.- An Orange in January

2012-01-20T00:00:00.000-08:00

Link your activity below.

Please place the Read.Explore.Learn. badge on your post or create a link back to this meme.

Please try to visit at least three of the other people that have placed links below and leave a comment. I will visit each of you and leave a kind comment.

If you are not linking up an activity and are just visiting, please try to stop by a few of the links below.

My Book Tie-Ins of the Week:

This wonderful book An Orange in January follows the travels of an orange as it makes its way to a boy's home. I love the warm pictures in this book and the opportunity to share how food gets to our table.

We really loved getting to read about how one of JDaniel's favorite foods gets to our house. We also loved the boy's brainstorming at the end of the book as to what you could use an orange to do ie: juggle with one.

What did we do?

Mapping

We took out our atlas and looked for Peru. Peru is the homeplace of the oranges we purchased from the grocery store

Craft- Making Orange Circle into Something

I put out paper with orange circles glued on them and had JDaniel transform the circles into something else.

Orange circles randomly glued onto blue paper

JDaniel was telling me about what he was coloring while he colored.

This picture is of a bouncy ball with green spikes on it. Beside the ball is a robot with his legs tucked up under him so you can't see them.

This picture is of a worm and two bugs coming out of a hole that is beside some grass. It is a sunny day!

This is my idea of what a giraffe looks like.

This post is linked to Lets BEE Friends and Link and Learn.

I am Unemployed?

2012-01-18T00:12:00.000-08:00

When I turned in my resignation letter shortly before JDaniel was born (I was a teacher and we had to turn in our resignation letter in the winter if we aren't going to be there the next fall in the county I worked in.), I knew I was leaving one career to start another.

My new career was stay at home mom. I totally viewed it as a career change because, it was.

I traded in teaching others children to get to be home to guide and teach my son.

It has been a demanding job at times. Raising a strong willed boy and helping he learn really has been the most challenging career I have ever had.

My life has been filled with building forts, spotting him on the playground as he climbs, introducing him to ways to find answers to his multitude of questions, potty training and more.

I have been a nurse caring for his terrible reactions to pollen.

I have been an advocate for healthy eating by introducing him to a variety of healthy foods.

I have been a limit setter. Teaching how to treat others and care for yourself.

I have been a life skill instructor. Teaching my son how to clean up after himself, get dressed, and take care of our house.

The list could go on and on but, I don’t think you need to read all about what I do as a mom. You do the same things and maybe even more.

What got me all fired up about this?

Two weeks ago I took JDaniel in for a check on how the gash on his head is healing with his plastic surgeon. When I checked in I was given a list of data to check to see if it was still accurate.

I skimmed down the list. Everything looked right.

Then I really read each item. Right under my name there was an area for employer and just to the right of the colon after the word employer was the word unemployed.

I wanted to cross out the word and put stay at home mom beside it but, I didn’t.

I did ask the receptionist if she thought stay at home moms were unemployed. She totally agreed that they weren’t but, she did say that the hospital system the doctor’s office belongs to doesn’t have code for that.

Well, I think they should! I really think that stay at home mom should be a recognized profession.

When my husband got home, I told him all about the form.

I asked him if I was unemployed.

He is a really smart guy. His answer was “No way!”

He didn’t just say that to make me happy or appease me. He has spent a full day trying to balance playing, house care, potty training, food providing, and everything else that happens during the day. He know that it is a full time job.

This post is linked to Alphabe Thursday and Things I Can't Say!'s Pour Your Heart Out.

Pause Life for a Moment- Amy's Assorted Adventures in Africa

2012-01-17T00:55:00.000-08:00

I met Amy Morrow of Amy's Assorted Adventures in Africa duringa SIT #commenthour on Twitter. She was one of the featured blogs that week. The next week while both attending the #commenthour Amy sent me a tweet stating that we was glad to see me there again.

It was like having a new friend reach out and welcome to gathering except this new friend was all the way in Africa. What a wonderful feeling!

I went on a short term missons trip to in North Africa many years ago and loved getting to meet many wonderful people. Amy is in a different part of Africa and she is blessed to get to meet and work with many wonderful babies and families everyday!

She is an amazing lady. I hope that after you read her post you pause for a moment and vist her blog.

In a world filled with electronic devices, it can be easy to fall into the trap of too much. Even those of us living in the middle of the African bush are not immune. I’ll catch myself watching TV while surfing the web or cross-stitching, AND checking email and Facebook on my phone. It’s all too much!

I’m often asked how I can manage to get so much done. I home school my teenagers, run a charity, direct the care of 22 children at our orphanage and look after whichever newborn or ill (sometimes hospice care) infants that come to our door, while carrying out life in the bush. That is a lot of hats.

Part of what allows me to do this amount of work is my ability to multitask. However, this skill that comes in handy during work hours can be a handicap during down times. Rather than giving my full concentration to one task I’m spread over a few things at once. My kids have complained that I don’t always give them my full attention when they speak to me. I try, but my mind will often jump all over the place from topic to topic. I’m listening, but I’m not really hearing. Can any of you relate to this?

A few times a week we have what is called load shedding where we lose electricity for a few hours in the evening. This allows Zambia to share the load of electric demands among all the residents of this small sub-Saharan, African country.

We have an inverter which charges batteries whenever there is electricity and when the batteries run out (or are destroyed by lightning [http://admafrica.blogspot.com/2011/11/africa-wins-this-round.html]), we also have a generator so we can power our lights at night.

Now, to add to our challenges, for the next six weeks we will be losing power three days a week so that fiber optics can be laid along the high tension lines running from the capital to a city in the north of Zambia. This small country (it’s the size of Texas) has so few electric lines that even work that won’t benefit us still affects us. This makes us crazy!

However, these next few weeks can be seen as a chance to Pause Life for a Moment. The other day, the power had been off all day. We turned on the generator for a couple hours in the morning so the teenagers could use their computers and the internet to do school work, and I got some office work done. In the afternoon though, everything was off. No fans were turning, no computers humming, no TV playing, no rock & roll play lists blaring. It was quiet.—Well, as quiet as a house can be with 22 preschoolers running around anyway.

This particular afternoon, it was peaceful. The sun was hidden behind clouds and it had been raining off and on all day which created an almost lazy feel to the day.

We had run out of gas for our stove and were forced to cook on a brazier (a little metal bucket type contraption you fill with charcoal and set your pot on top of) that evening. We planned a spicy, one-pot lentil and rice dish that we love. I prepped all the ingredients and carried them out to the porch on a tray so I would have them nearby as I needed them.

My big kids and I gathered on our front porch and either read or chatted while watching the coals turn red, then white until it was time to put the pot on top and begin the meal. There was no hurry—no way to hurry anything along even if we wanted to—and we knew dinner would probably be late, but that was OK. We were sitting together and enjoying a moment of peace. Every once in a while, a child would run up to discuss something with us before heading back to play and the care of their nanny. We weren’t working and could fully enjoy their funny conversations or handmade offerings of grass bracelets or bits of paper glued together. My teenagers chattered away about nothing and everything, and for once they had my full attention. It was a wonderful evening.

Pausing life for a moment may not always be our first choice, but those moments are worth taking advantage of when they happen along.

Muffin Tin Monday- More Oatmeal Toppings and Recipes

2012-01-16T00:22:00.000-08:00

Last week I featured 10 oatmeal topping and recipes. Many of you left your favorite additions to oatmeal in your comments. When I started thinking about what to do for today's muffin tin meal, I decided to feature your ideas as well as a few of my own.

KLZ of Taming Insanity commented that her son loves a patriotic combination of fruits.

Oatmeal + strawberries+ bananas +blueberries.

Sugar Flowers of Sugary Flowers likes dried and fresh fruit with cinnamon in her oatmeal.

Oatmeal+ Bananas + Blueberries+ Dried Mango

Ms. P Drama didn't mention dried fruit with cinnamon. She did mention brown sugar.

Oatmeal + Brown Sugar + Cinnamon

Tots and Me like the cinnamon and fruit in hers but, she prefers raisins.

Oatmeal + Cinnamon + Raisins

Urban Momma likes to have raisins, chopped apples, a splash of milk, brown sugar, and cinnamon.

I thought Ovalentine and milk mixed into the oatmale would taste yummy!

Oatmeal +Ovaltine + Milk

Lisa of Two Bears Farm said that she likes chia seeds, flax seeds, peanut butter, and a few dark chocolate chips in mine. I wasn't sure about the chia and flax sees. We decide to try part of her list of ingredients.

Oatmeal + Peanut Butter + Shaved Dark Chocolate

Liz of a Nut in a Nutshell mentioned that she tend to stick with syrup and brown sugar.

Oatmeal + Brown Sugar + Syrup

Sue's News, Views 'n Muse likes nuts and brown sugar. She really likes walnuts.

Oatmeal+ Brown Sugar + Walnuts

I thought Craisins and orange juice would taste great in oatmeal. I wouldn't mix milk with the oatmeal. It would just have water in the oatmeal while cooking. Oatmeal+ Orange Juice + Craisins
Busy Working Mama likes salt and butter in her oatmeal.
Oatmeal + Salt + Butter.
I hope you don't mind that I am still talking about oatmeal topping and recipes this week. Next week I will be back to my regular lunch ideas!

This post is linked to Muffin Tin Monday and TopTen Tuesday.

Memories Captured- Painting on the Table Cover

2012-01-15T01:44:00.000-08:00

Alison of Mama Wants This and Galit of These Little Waves are hosting a wonderful link up called Memories Captured. The challenge is to find a picture of your children and/or family had place words on it describing that moment.

Two weeks ago I told you about how JDaniel and I were painting a bear for Read.Explore.Learn. I wanted the bear brown and JDaniel wanted him green, black and blue. Since it was his bear to paint, he painted it the colors he asked for. It really came out well!

After painting the bear, JDaniel asked if he could use the remaining black paint to finger paint on the newspaper that we had used to cover the table.
"I haven't finger painted in forever," JDaniel said.
"Sure, you can!" I replied.
He had the best time painting with his fingers. I decided to capture the moment and I am so glad I did. The picture I took turned out to be perfect for this challenge.

Brave Irene Book and CD Giveaway

2012-01-14T00:06:00.000-08:00

Why is Irene of Brave Irene brave? Irene is given a task and she completes it despite bad weather and other challenges. William Steig’s wonderful words and pictures tell the tale of little girl who is given the job of delivering a dress to a duchess to wear to a ball.
Simple snow is falling when Irene starts her journey but, as she makes her way to the home the duchess the wind and snow pick up.
Irene is determined to get the dress to its owner. The winds warns her to turn around and the box the dress is whipped open but, Irene continues.
I love the way Irene focuses on the task at hand and sees her job through. What a wonderful lesson for kids and for parents.
I was recently sent a copy of the book and an audio CD of the story to preview. Guess who is reading the story to you? Meryl Streep! Her amazing voice narrates this wonderful tale and carries Irene through the bad weather and rough times on her journey. What a treat!
Books and CD’s are such a great resource for children.

Would you like to win this book and CD set?

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Read.Explore.Learn.-The Three Billy Goats Fluff

2012-01-13T01:43:00.000-08:00

Link your activity below.

Please place the Read.Explore.Learn. badge on your post or create a link back to this meme.

Please try to visit at least three of the other people that have placed links below and leave a comment. I will visit each of you and leave a kind comment.

If you are not linking up an activity and are just visiting, please try to stop by a few of the links below.

My Book Tie-Ins of the Week:

Imagine you are a troll looking for a quiet bridge in the country to live under. When you move in your realize that you have noisy neighbors that trip-trap over your home everyday. The Three Billy Goats Fluff by Rachael Mortimer is about such a troll.

The three goats travel back and forth a lush field filled with grass that helps that grow fluffy fleece their mom can use to knit wonderful creations for her home business.

The troll tries placing a sign on the bridge with a threat that all trip trappers will be eaten. The goat are too scared to across when it looks like the troll will follow through on his promise.

What is Mama Goat to do? She decides to knit booties for her boys to soften their hoof noises on the bridge. She also knits a blanket and earmuffs for the troll.

Her boys deliver the gift along with an apology note to the troll

Does it work out?

She is such a smart mama! Everything she knits does just what she hoped it would and everyone ends up happy!

What did we do?

Sewing a Goat Outline

I printed a outline of a goat off the computer and traced it on a piece of cardboard from a cereal box. After punching holes on the outline of the goat JDaniel and I started sewing.

JDaniel was very nervous about the needle. I started the stitches by holding the needle with him. We continued to do it together until the end.

Hole Punching Playdough

I pulled out the outline of the goat, the hole punch and some playdough. I took of the plastic dot holder so the playdough dot would fall right on the table.

JDaniel loves to use the hole punch to make tiny dots. My job was to flattened out balls of playdough and helped place the playdough in the punch.

The goat looks more like he has a yellow spot disease than is fluffy but, we did have fun making the spots.

Inventory of Loud Noises

The troll in the book really wanted quiet in this life instead of noise. We walked around the house and made a list of things that made loud noises. JDaniel and I came up with the vacuum, radio, television, washing machine, the dishwasher, the pot lids, a toy drum, and his toy garbage truck.

This post is linked to Lets BEE Friends and Link and Learn

Helping to Build with Couch Cushions

2012-01-11T03:45:00.000-08:00

I heard a loud screech an ran downstairs to see what was the matter.

As I came down the stairs I saw a couch cushion creation!

JDaniel was so upset! I couldn't figure out a first what was the problem and he couldn't spit out the words.

After getting him to calm down a little, he explained that the cushion in the front kept falling over. When the cushion fell over the calculator and the spoon would fall to the ground.

This didn't seem devastating enough to me to lead to a scream but, it was for him. JDaniel was totally frustrated.

"Let's think this through," I said sitting on the floor beside him. "Maybe we can have some of the books stick out a little bit behind the cushion and they can support the pillow," I suggested.

"We can try," JDaniel commented. When we did try it worked fairly well.

With the crisis averted JDaniel was able to get back to work on his creation. I decided to stay near creation central to offer more help if it was needed.

Once one keyboard was up, we added a second and JDaniel to add a few other items.

JDaniel told me as we worked on this project that he need a chair to sit on in the front and an a work area in the back for his friend to work in later in the day. Due to all the items in the back his friend would need to stand I was informed.

We spent a lot of time building this cushion creation but, JDaniel didn't try sitting in it until after he had gotten dressed for the day.

Cushion creations we discovered are not stable area to sit in. As soon as JDaniel sat down, the chair he was sitting on started to learn forward. The chair continued to lean forward causing his knees to touch the cushions. When the cushions started to lean forward too, the whole front are including JDaniel started falling.

I was able to catch JDaniel and right the chair. The cushions and everything else spilled onto the floor.

Frustration filled the area once more. It is so hard when something you build doesn't work.

I tried to talk to him about the need for a structure to have a firm foundation and recommended removing the front cushion so the chair could rest on the wood floor. I tried pointing out the building on soft area would cause any structure to fall.

JDaniel didn't want any part of changing the design plan. His idea was to put the chair back on the cushion and just not sit in it again ever.

We left the cushion creation up and walked through the great divide between the chairs until early afternoon when the heating and air conditioning man came to do the semiannual check up and needed get to the vent behind the cushion with the hook on it.

It is hard when JDaniel get creative ideas that don't seem to come together. The best thing I can do is try to help him work them out. Listening to what is has envisioned and trying help bringing them to reality is the all I can really do.

I really love it when opportunities like this come up that we can work on together. I do wish he wouldn't be frustrated by the challenges that come with creating.

This post is linked to Alphabe Thursday , Mama Kat's Writing Workshop, and some other places.

Pause Life for a Moment- Being Like Dad

2012-01-10T00:18:00.000-08:00

My son wants to be like his dad so much! He wants to do what he is doing and “help” with chores he does around the house. Mostly he just want to be around him.

Cold Coffee
Almost morning my husband fixes coffee. JDaniel has decided that he needs to have coffee in the morning too.
There is a problem. He doesn’t like coffee. JDaniel has taken a few sips of my husbands and decided that it is terrible. It is even worse when it is still warm.
My brilliant husband has invented a solution to JDaniel problem of wanting to have coffee like dad and wanting something he thinks tastes great. All you have to do is mix cold water, milk, and a little sugar and you have cold coffee! This yummy beverage doesn’t even need to be served in a coffee cup. It is just wonderful in a sippy cup or small plastic glass.

Sitting With a Book
At various times during the day when my husband is home he can be found sitting in this red leather chair reading the Bible or the newspaper.
If you are a little boy like Jdaniel, you have wanted to do the same thing.
You grab one of the wooden chairs from your wooden table and chair set and you drag it over to where your dad is sitting. The chair is then placed beside your father’s chair in just the right spot.
Then you have to scurry to the living room and grab a copy of Frog and Toad are Friends or another favorite pieces of literature and bring it back to the reading area.
Once you have something to read, you can finally sit by your dad and look just like he does. You can silently look at the pictures in the book and pretend to read it and be just like dad.

Doing Laundry
Every Sunday afternoon my husband does laundry. I do most of the laundry during the week but, he does his work pants and shirts on Sunday.
Almost every Sunday he has a small boy standing on a plastic white stepstool by his side in the laundry room.
They do the same steps with my husband giving him directions as to the next step every week.
I can hear these words coming out of the laundry room :
“Wrap the pants around the agitator carefully.”
“Don’t stuff the clothes in or they won’t get clean.”
“If you scrub a little Shout on stains with a toothbrush, you can get rid of the stains. Now scrub carefully but, put a little pressure on the brush.:
Trimming Trees
I trim the bushes in the yard but, apparently boys trim trees.
When my guys head out to trim trees, I am told that I can stay inside by JDaniel.
He really doesn’t trim the trees. He mostly gathers up the branches and twigs and takes them to the curb.Although there are times he breaks pieces off of low hanging branches or tries to scrap off bark.
How do I know about all these events in my guys lives? I tend to peek around corners or out windows and I listen in to their guy talk.

Pausing to see how my guys interact brings me such joy. Yes, I could consider the time they are off together as my downtime. (There are times that I do just let them go off.)
There are times when hearing them chat and seeing them together makes my day. I love getting to see and hear these memories in the making.

Muffin Tin Monday- Oatmeal Toppings and Recipes

2012-01-09T00:04:00.000-08:00

The weather here in South Carolina has been cold lately and it inspired me to have JDaniel start mornings with oatmeal. Oatmeal just plain really isn't something I thought he would be interested in so I decided to come up with a variety of oatmeal toppings and recipes he could use to create interesting oatmeal dishes.

He had a great time mixing in liquid toppings I presented in recycled applesauce containers and dry toppings that I presented in muffin cups.
Here are some of the recipes we tried:

Oatmeal + Apple Butter+ Raisins

Oatmeal + Natural Applesauce + Cashew and Almonds

( These should be chopped. I left them whole so he could see that they are the nuts he likes.)

Oatmeal + Bananas+ Chocolate Syrup

Oatmeal + Nuts+ Apples

Oatmeal + Peaches + Ginger

Oatmeal + Bananas+ Pineapple + Coconut

Oatmeal +Plain Yogurt + Grape Jelly

Oatmeal + Pumpkin + Pumpkin Pie Spice

Oatmeal + Raisins + Brown Sugar

Oatmeal + Raspberry Yogurt + Raisins

JDaniel is having a wonderful time trying new toppings to add to oatmeal. I think we will keep working on this project this next Monday.

What do you like in your oatmeal?

This post is linked to Muffin Tin Monday and Top Ten Tuesday.

Children's Books from Tiger Tales Giveaway

2012-01-07T01:46:00.000-08:00

Winter always makes me think of snuggling up with a good book beside a little boy that I love. I thought you might enjoy doing the same thing with your children.

I was sent a number of books by Tiger Tales Books to review. Some of the books came in a paperback and hardback version.

Rather than hold on to the duplicates I thought I would pass them on to your.

The books that I am giving away are Naught Toes, Home, A Little Bit of Love, and The Best Pet Ever. Each book is about learning to enjoy people in your life. They maybe your mom, your friends, your pretend pets, and even yourself. I think that is a wonderful theme for the new year.

The pictures in each book are wonderful and whimsical. You will enjoy getting to flip through their pages and talk with what is happening on them with the little ones in your life.

This giveaway will begin on January 7th and end January 18th. It is open to residents of the United States over the age of 18.

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Read.Explore.Learn.- Don't Worry Douglas

2012-01-06T00:46:00.000-08:00

Link your activity below.

Please place the Read.Explore.Learn. badge on your post or create a link back to this meme.

Please try to visit at least three of the other people that have placed links below and leave a comment. I will visit each of you and leave a kind comment.

If you are not linking up an activity and are just visiting, please try to stop by a few of the links below.

My Book Tie-Ins of the Week:

Douglas is given a new knit hat by his dad and he is asked to be careful with it. Douglas barely makes it out of the house when his hat snags on a tree and is destroyed. His hat is unraveled and he doesn't want to tell his dad. David Melling's Douglas is a lot like a lot of children that are afraid to tell their parents when they have done things wrong.

Douglas tries to seek advice on how to fix his hat from his friends. Most of the would really just like the yarn for their homes but, they do try and tell him to talk to his dad.

In the end Douglas does talk to his dad and his dad does understand. He does remind Douglas to be careful with the replacement hat he gives him right off his own head.

Of course he reminded him of that with the first hat too.

I love the reminders in this book to listen and be willing to share when mistakes happen. JDaniel and I talked about both of these concepts after reading the book.

What did we do?

Craft a Bear and a Mom Lesson

This craft turned out to be more about me listening than JDaniel painting.

I cut out a bear out of a brown paper grocery bag and set out brown paint with a sponge to paint it.

JDaniel told me that he didn't want Douglas to be brown. He really wanted him to be blue, green, and black.

I really thought about forcing him to paint him brown so that I could have brown bear to for this post and decided that it really wasn't that important. What was important was to listen to what he wanted to do!

When he had finished painting, I said it was time to add eyes, a nose, and a mouth. JDaniel declared the project as done. I said that it would be fine with me.

When he left the room, I seriously thought about adding facial features to the bear. Then I thought about what I would be saying to him about listening. I think if I had added facial features I might have been telling him that it wasn't okay and that I had to sneak in a face to have it be right. That is not a lesson I want him to learn.

Sometimes crafts may need to be finished the way I see them. This craft wasn't one that had to be that way.

This post is linked to Lets BEE Friends and Link and Learn.

White Chicken Chili

2012-01-05T00:30:00.000-08:00

The weather here has finally turned cold. The chill in the air has searching the internet for warm comfort foods like the white chicken chili I am going to share with you today that I found on How to: Simplify.

I love that this is simple enough for a family dinner or can be dressed up with cheese and a crusty bread to serve to guests.

White Chicken Chili

Ingredients:

1 Tablespoon of olive oil

1 medium onion diced

2 cups of bakes chicken tenders

2 cans of Great Northern Beans, drained

1 can of corn or a small bag of frozen corn

1 can (4 ounces) of green chilies or as much as your family would tolerate

1/2 tsp of oregano

1 32 ounce box of chicken broth

1 dash of salt and pepper

1 teaspoon of lime juice

1/2 of a shredded Mexican cheese blend.

Directions:

1. Saute onion until clear.

2. Add onion, shredded chicken, Great Northen Beans, corn, green chilies, and oregano to a large pot.

3. Stir to combine and then add chicken broth.

4. Bring to a boil and then let simmer for 30 minutes.

5. Add salt, pepper, and lime juice.

6. Sprinkle cheese on top of the chili once it is in individual bowls for serving.

This post is linked to Mama Kat's Writer's Workshop and

Disclaimer: I did not feed this to my in-law but, I did take some to my mom's house.

Monster Jam Ticket Giveaway (Family 4 Pack of Tickets-Greenville,SC)

2012-01-04T23:44:00.000-08:00

I think JDaniel would love to see giant trucks and dirt!

The Advance Auto Parts Monster Jam Tour is stopping in Greenville, South Carolina on January 27 & 28 at the Bi-Lo Center in celebration of the 30th anniversary of.....................

GRAVE DIGGER!!

He doesn't know who the Grave Digger, Batman, and Monster Mutt are but, I think he would enjoy watching them at the Greenville, SC Bi-Lo center on

January 27th 7:30 PM

January 28th 2:00 PM & 7:30 PM

Kids tickets are just $6 each!

WIN IT: Home Grown Families has partnered up to give away a Family 4 pack of tickets for Opening night to see the Advance Auto Parts
Monster Jam at the Bi-Lo Center! PLUS+ you will win a Mattel Grave
Digger Playset to keep the Monster truck appreciation going!

ENTER BELOW USING RAFFLECOPTER

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thank you to the following blogs for your help in promoting this event: Mama to 4 Blessings, The Three Under, Acting Balanced, I'd Rather be Changing Diapers, JDaniel4's Mom, Coupon Savings in the South,and The Mommy Times.

Disclaimer:
By entering this contest, you certify that you are 18 years old or older and that you have read and agree with the rules, our giveaway policy and disclosure:

U.S only except where prohibited by law.
No purchase necessary. Giveaway starts at the moment of the posting of
this article and will run until January 21, 2012 at 11:59PM! The prize
is a pack of 4 tickets to see Monster Jam . All prizes will be awarded. A
list of winners will be available after 7 days by writing
MomToSprouts {at} yahoo {dot} com. All prizes are awarded and forwarded
to the winner by the sponsor; in this case, Harlu Media. Please see Official Rules for more details.

We are disclosing this in accordance
with the Federal Trade Commissions 16 CFR, Part 255 Guides Concerning
the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.