I Love Daddy

“I love Daddy”

“I love Daddy”

“Yes,  I do”

“Yes, I do”

“I just want to tell you”

“I just want to tell you”

“I love you!”

“I love you!”

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Yet Another Snowfall…

Well, the snow has stopped falling and has left yet another 3 or 4 inches to our yard.  I’m really starting to think that Winter will never end, but I’m going to go by the Calendar and know that it really will end soon!

Brian was home yesterday thanks to our good ol’ Presidents!  It’s always great to have him here all day and into the evening. We get to  enjoy having dinner together and doing bedtimes together.  He ended up sneaking out during nap time and make a huge igloo and tunnel for the kids to play in.  They LOVED it!  I’ll post some pics on it later…but here’s a sneak peek!

I’m down two daycare kids today and it’s kinda quiet.  I let my sweet hubby sleep in since he’s been so kind to let me sleep in whenever possible.  Andrew seems to get up at 7am no matter what day it is!  I guess it could be worse!

Ella has her big 4 year old check up today!  She’s so excited and feels so big!  I’m so glad she’s gotten over a lot of her shyness in the past year.  I really attribute that to going to Preschool.  We just love it there as much as she does!  The amount of growth she’s had since September is AMAZING!

Time to clean up breakfast and get ready for the doctor.  Be back later with an awesome giveaway from GREEN company EcoStore USA!

Have a great day!

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It’s Valentine’s Day!

It’s Valentine’s Day!
I love that it fell on a long weekend this year!  My husband was off on Friday and will be on Monday as well.  We went out on Friday night to a great Italian Restaurant and to a local Pub afterward.   We stayed out too late and laughed really hard.  It was great to be out and re-connect – just the two of us.

Too often during a normal day, we get interrupted while having a conversation by little ones who need a drink, have to potty, or just want to be hugged.  It’s nice that we were able to just be US for a little while.

So, in honor of my love to my Valentine, I’m going to share a few pictures from our Wedding – almost 6 years ago now.  It was the start of our married life together and the start of a beautiful family. Enjoy!

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FEATURE FRIDAY – Helping Your Child Become Heathly & Fit

What causes children to be overweight?

Just like adults, children are overweight when they eat more calories than they burn through physical activity (in play and exercise). The CDC recommends that children get 60 minutes of activity each day to maintain good health. This is easy to explain, but hard to change because there are so many factors involved. Foods like fruits and vegetables may be more expensive or unavailable in certain communities. Safe spaces for children to play outside the home may be hard to find due to traffic or crime. Some communities have few affordable healthy lifestyle programs for families and children.

What can we do about it?

Teaching children about healthy eating and physical activity is necessary and we need to do it right away. We also need to make changes in schools and daycare settings, places where children spend a lot of time and where there is a great opportunity to promote a healthy diet and offer plenty of activity. By planting the seed of positive lifestyle behaviors at an early age, children will benefit with a lifetime of health and wellness. If children develop sound movement skills early, they improve their self-esteem and are more likely to practice healthful activities as adults.

This is where KID-FIT can help!

KID-FIT is a licensed curriculum that teaches children ages two through five the basics of healthy lifestyle habits. Through an age-appropriate physical fitness class, KID-FIT teaches sports skills, gymnastics, dance, rhythm and creative movement while enhancing muscular strength, endurance, heart health and flexibility. KID-FIT was founded by Michele Silence in Duarte, CA beginning in 1994. With little available in the form of preschool fitness programs and inadequacies in those that did exist, Michele decided to use her expertise to help children start developing healthy lifestyles from the start. This same year, KID-FIT classes began in the preschool where Michele’s child was enrolled. By 1998 KID-FIT was serving over a thousand children in Southern California, and the first instructor training program was designed and implemented. KID-FIT is now taught throughout the United States, as well as eleven different countries.

Children use fun equipment like scarves, bean bags, hoops and balls while learning about different parts of their bodies. At the end of one year, children will have learned a clear set of goals for each body system in addition to the importance of daily exercise and eating healthy.

More importantly, KID-FIT kids associate exercise with fun. This is an exciting first step to helping children enjoy long and healthy lives while decreasing their risk for obesity, diabetes, heart disease and stroke.

Why is KID-FIT different?

The educational component sets KID-FIT apart from other movement classes. Although other programs may mention that nutrition or teaching about the body is included, they have no set educational goals to meet yearly. KID-FIT has clear educational goals for each session throughout the entire year. Children are taught, through fun games and repetition, all about their bodies, organ systems, how to take care of them and why. Nutrition is a part of every class as are materials that reach into children’s homes such as newsletters, handouts, coloring sheets, recipes, class projects and more. In addition, parents receive detailed information at the start of each new session.

No other program produces these new, fresh materials each 6 weeks that involve parents and reflect what is currently going on in the world. Education is core to the KID-FIT program.

Lannette Wolford is a fitness professional, physical educator and mother. She considers herself a warrior in the battle of obesity. Lannette received her physical education degree from DePaul University and is nationally certified by the American Council on Exercise for Personal Training, the Aerobics and Fitness Association of America for Group Exercise, and the American Heart Association in First Aid and and Adult/Child/Infant CPR/AED. She also holds several specialty certifications in the fitness and nutrition arena.

For more information about KID-FIT, please contact our local Chicago area representative Lannette Wolford at Lannette@kidfitchicago.com or visit the website www.kidfitchicago.com.

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Real Boys Wear Purple

Real boys wear purple.

Yes, I put girl’s purple snowman pajamas on my little boy, Andrew, last night.

Remember my New Year’s plan to do less in the New Year? Well, I had not done laundry in over a week – we had better things to do like building forts to play in, eating play food and going to the mall to the indoor play area during the weekend.   No time for things like laundry!

So, when I went to get out some clean clothes for bedtime last night, the  only jammies left in Andrew’s drawer were fleece ones.  He never seems to sleep well when he has those on,  and since I really needed a good night’s sleep since Ella kept me up the night before with bad dreams, an asleep leg, being too hot, being too cold and so on, I just stuck some of his sister’s older jammies on him and called it a night.

He and I slept just fine and he had no idea he had on girl’s jammies until his dad told him in the morning!  (I still don’t think he knew though!)

I had to let him redeem himself by wearing an red football sweatshirt and sweatpants.  Classic “boy wear” PLUS he got a haircut today, so he really  looks all boy now. HaHa!

Andrew will be back to wearing his own jammies tonight.  I did the mountain of laundry last night into today.  Thank goodness…I wouldn’t want him (or his dad!) to get a complex!

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FEATURE FRIDAY – WANT A POLISHED PRE-SCHOOLER? It starts with you!

Lately I have been wondering what’s happened to the days when people always held doors for others and saying thank you in any form was routine, not something for special occasions.

Teaching our two-year-old son Eric manners has been important to me and my husband Ric since Eric learned to talk and say “I want thaaaaat!” It doesn’t take long for a toddler to soak up social graces like saying “please“ and “excuse me,“ and Eric is pretty good at remembering them unless there’s a major crisis, like someone grabbing away one of his 100 dinosaurs while he’s playing with it.

Recently Eric and I were walking into one of our favorite places, our local library. Eric was making his way toward the return slot, when two adults walking toward us nearly trampled him because they were talking and not watching where they were going. Eric said, “excuse me” (loudly) as they were walking toward him, and they didn’t even look at him. Once they realized he was underfoot, they just looked away and kept walking. I was amazed by the fact that a two-year old child could have better manners than two adults. I know he’s only two, but that doesn’t mean he shouldn’t be treated with respect.

My kids, both grown and not yet grown, will tell you I am a stickler for sending “thank you” notes, something I inherited from my mother. And I think when one is invited to a party or gathering, she should R.S.V.P. Of course, I know a toddler is not capable of these acts of etiquette, but isn’t it our job as mothers and fathers to lay the groundwork by teaching them the simplest manners now, and building on them?

Any mom will tell you pre-schoolers are like parrots. They mimic most everything we do, good and, unfortunately, bad. So make sure please, thank you, and excuse me are a big part of your own vocabulary.

I find the age appropriate emails I receive from www.babycenter.com to be helpful at times, and I am sharing some of the site’s tips for bringing up polite children. Yes, our kids will need a little reminding, but won’t it make you proud when you hear them say “thank you” on their own or, as they get older, open a door for another person?

From WWW.BABYCENTER.COM‘s Preschool Bulletin:

Your child is definitely old enough to learn — and practice — some of the social graces. Some tips on how to help:

· Start with “please” and “thank you.” If she hasn’t picked up these words naturally, make sure she hears you using them: “Will you please come here?” Don’t be afraid to prompt: “Can you say thank you?” Repetition will make these words a habit.

· Be kind yourself. Modeling consideration of others will show her the ropes. Let her hear you say, “How are you?” and “Excuse me.”

· Connect actions to consequences. Help your child see that a gift of flowers can cheer someone up, or that hitting or making mean comments makes the other person sad.

· Cut your child some slack when she’s ill. Or tired.

- Sheila

Sheila Gray Robinson has it all as a TV morning news anchor and mother of four.  Sheila is a native of Sidney, Ohio and graduated Magna Cum Laude from Ohio University in three years.  She enjoys serving on the board of the Make A Wish Foundation.  Sheila can be seen on TV in Cincinnati or trying to be Supermom in Northern Kentucky.  She and her husband Ric have four children, Kasey, Kari, Katie and Eric.

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A Surprise Visit

Living far away from your family is hard and can be really lonely at times.  I know that a lot of you have moved from home, leaving behind those you love for whatever reason and understand what I mean.

Most of my family lives in West Virginia, Ohio and Kentucky, while I am in Illinois.  Not exactly close to everyone, but not too far either.  Having two young children, it makes it hard to just jump in the car and head out on a 6 – 9 hour drive on a whim one weekend.

So, this past weekend..my sister, Kari, who lives close to me, headed to Kentucky to surprise our younger sister, Katie for her 16th Birthday party blowout!  We left the men and children at home and took off on a 6 hour road trip. I haven’t been there in over 2 years, so this was huge for me!

Katie was REALLY excited to see us sitting at her kitchen table when she came up from working on finalizing her guest list for her party. (yes, there really was a guest list of 70 kids!!)  I’m pretty sure I saw tears in her eyes.

The party was really fun and we spent a lot of time feeling old.  I’m telling you…girls these days look much older than we did and are MUCH taller than I am.  My dad and step-mom hired a DJ from a local station that the girls swooned over.  He was such a cutie and was perfect for the party.  They played songs I never heard and danced for 3 hours straight!  It was a lot of fun for everyone!

The next night we had a nice dinner at a local Italian restaurant before heading to downtown Cincinnati to see Spring Awakening.  Would you believe that we got the times mixed up and showed up right before the 2nd act??!  HAHA!  It was OK though…I really enjoyed it and I’m sure we’ll get a chance to see the 1st half some other time.

I had a chance that night to sit with my sisters and talk about all that “sister” stuff that we don’t have the luxury of doing normally.  It was really nice and I was sorry that we don’t get to do it more often.

Two days after getting there, it was time to pack up and head home.

Leaving your family is always bitter sweet.  You know you’re heading home to your home, but leaving a familiar home as well.  I love where I live and love my home, but it’s also sad that family is not close.  Family has always been a huge importance in my life and I want my children to know that feeling and experience  it as well.  It seems that now, Ella is really starting to understanding who her grandparents, cousins and aunts and uncles are and wants to spend more time with them and asks about them all the time. It’s hard for her to understand that we don’t see some due to distance and others due to…well…that’s another post all together, but one that heavy on my heart and will be posted one day soon.

But, life is what it is and we do the best we can do and that’s all we can do.  As long as I know at the end of the day that I did everything I can to make my husband, kids and home a happy one…that’s all that matters!

I do hope that one day, when the time is right….to move closer to those I love so that my children experience a large, loving extended family.  They deserve it.  As do I.

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Plain Jane Mom

I wrote the following post a couple months ago and never published it. I should have, it is good stuff! I don’t feel these words as strongly today. I definitely feel more confident in my current wardrobe and life than I did when I wrote this, but I feel like this can help others – like maybe there are other people that feel this same way. So without further ado, I give you my introspective post of the week.

Sometimes I feel plain. Yesterday I was walking through the big city mall – me in my t-shirt and jeans, baby on my back as I pushed a happy yet slightly dirty two year old in a stroller – and I was catching glances from happy store clerks and young beautiful shoppers. I saw their highlights, manicures and brand new clothes. I glanced down at my half eaten nails, comfy shoes and straight hair in a very practical ponytail.

I feel plain because I am plain. I do my best to avoid sloppiness. I iron my clothes for church, brush my hair before putting it in said ponytail and try to match my clothes. If it is a special occasion (like church) I apply lipstick, eye shadow and mascara.

I miss my manicured nails, curled hair and new clothes. I miss them most when I am in the big city mall with fancy store clerks staring me down, as if saying to themselves “when I have kids I will never let myself let go like that!”

So I asked my husband if he is disappointed that I am plain and not fancy. I was hoping he would say “you are fancy. You will always be fancy in my eyes baby doll!” First, whenever a girl hopes for words from her husband’s mouth they never come out (just like a watched pot never boils – so don’t do it!). Second, who calls their wife baby doll? So of course he didn’t say that. He said – “I didn’t fall in love with a fancy girl. I fell in love with a cute bouncy blonde girl that worked at a radio station.” Tears welling up, heart melting I just smiled.

Plain is wonderful, but plain I am not. Like he said, I am bouncy! I have way too much fun playing in life to worry about being impractically fancy. I am in jeans and a t-shirt with worn in tennis shoes because anything else would be seriously uncomfortable wearing a baby. The hair is in a ponytail so I can see my toddler as I chase her around the house and push her on the tree swing. My nails are not manicured because I need my hands to be able to get dirty as I play with playdough, clean out a garbage disposal, wash poopy butts and do countless loads of laundry.

Then I asked my wonderful husband what he would do if I suddenly turned higher maintenance – curling my highlighted hair, wearing fashionable clothes and polishing my fingers. He said, “that would be weird cause that isn’t you. And it would be so annoying! You’d always be asking my opinion on how you look and I would never say the right thing.” I’ll just make it easier on him and look great everyday as plain, bouncy, happy, Annie.

- Annie

Annie is a SAHM to a toddler girl and baby boy on 20 acres in Kansas.  She loves cloth diapers, baby wearing, easy to make dinners and hates washing dishes.  You can read about all her joys and sorrows of living with her husband, 3 goats, large dog and cat at www.mamadweeb.com

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Wordless Wednesday – Feeling Blessed

I hardly ever get a photo with all of us in it since I’m usually the one taking the picture.  But, we got one this past week!

It makes me smile when I look at it and see what a beautiful family I have been blessed with.  I am very thankful!

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Hide and Seek

I’m pretty sure Daisy the dog wasn’t really planning on playing hide and seek with the kids. I could have helped her out, but I grabbed my camera instead so that we could all enjoy this moment even though she wasn’t!

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