Brilee's hair gets so curly when she's hot & sweaty! Neither of our other kids ever had this, so I think its so cute! Wonder where she gets the curl from?
Saturday, July 30, 2011
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Homemade Bubbles
I had the Science through Arts book out making lesson plans for the upcoming year, so I just thumbed through it to find something summertime appropriate and found this neat one:
I found some craft wire to make the wands, and the kids chose the shapes pictured on the page already (I think at this age they want what they see instead of thinking of different shapes!)
`
We filled up an Easter bucket with water, Dawn dish detergent & 2 T sugar (to thicken the liquid) then went outside to test out the homemade bubbles!
Lilly kept blowing too close to the wand....or licking it :)
Another huge bubble by Sean--he started waving it in the air to let the wind do the work!
Brilee decided she wanted to join in on the fun!
Oops! Lost a shoe--carrying it around instead!
My climber having fun with the slide... (Thanks, Marty!)
Going down...
And climbing back up the wrong way...I guess they start this from a young age!
Monday, July 25, 2011
13 Months! & The Girls' Room
It seems Brilee just turned 1 year old and now just yesterday she is 13 months! I know this is so generic, but she really is growing up SO fast! This is what I found her doing today when I walked around the corner...I really do have a climbing daredevil on my hands!
In other news, we were working this weekend on "condensing" areas in our house trying to find more room in the homeschool room. In the midst of all the discussion, we decided to go ahead and move Lilly's bed into Brilee's room. She has been sharing Sean's room since before Brilee was born, and now that Brilee is older, we thought--why not go ahead and make it the girls' room? I had been planning on moving them together around when Brilee would be 18 months, but why wait when she might adjust to it better now? The idea is for when we plan to have #4 (and the last--maybe start trying again in 6-8 months--or when I lose these last 10 lbs!?!- crazy, I know!) that we could set up the crib in Sean's room since he probably won't be taking naps by that point during the day. Anyway, all that will be in time--no need to plan for that stuff now when I need to focus on what's going on in the here and now!
Anyway, on to pictures of the girls' room!
I've had this duvet cover since Sean was a baby--this is basically what the nursery looked like when Sean was a baby in our old house. When we moved here, we didn't put the bed back into the nursery, but it went into Sean's room and I got a different quilt to match his bed & Lilly's. I am so happy to have it all complete again! I absolutely fell in love with this star set from Pottery Barn kids 5 years ago and I still love it as much today! I think it's perfect for both girls and boys, and since I am completely not a girly-girl I don't think they have to have pink everywhere! They can add in what they like as they get older :)
Their closet--Jon needs to add an additional clothes bar on the upper left. They have too many clothes!
Brilee's side. when she gets old enough, we'll probably put bunk beds in here. I really think having them share a room will make them learn how to share better with others in life in general! I pray everyday that our children will learn to work out conflict properly and accept responsibility for their actions. I'm sure that will not be an easy journey, though! Onward towards continued parenting responsibilities! Praying we will handle them well!
Oh, I can see so much of Sean in her when he was that age...
Anyway, on to pictures of the girls' room!
Lilly's side of the room
Sean's Sayings
I've been trying to remember quite a few things that Sean has been saying lately that are pretty hilarious. If I don't write them down, I am going to forget. So, I'm going to try to post a "Sean's Sayings" weekly (if I don't forget that!) I'm sure Lilly will get into her own comedic mode too, but right now she pretty much repeats what Sean says like a parrot!
Sean:
"Blue grass is similar to green grass. Nana went a long way away to find some blue grass, but we just have green grass here...in the green grass state."
"Mommy, I love you all the way to the cloth store and back!" (He likes to adapt the words from Guess How Much I Love You quite a bit) He's also fond of, "I love you all the way up to Jesus in heaven and back."
"Mommy, when I chew, my ears go up and down! See? (holding onto his ears) This is the way God made me!"
Last week, a lady came to our door trying to sell books. After I closed the door, Sean asked, "Was that a peddler?"
"Mommy, the dinner you made last night tasted so, so SO, SOOOO un-good!" (I thought he was about to give me a compliment the way his voice tone was...turns out he just wanted a different shape of pasta than shells...we had a conversation about being thankful after this one!)
"Mommy, your legs feel familiar (while touching my leg with his foot under the table). They are familiar like daddy's! (hmmm....hint, hint?)
Saturday, July 23, 2011
Little Daredevil
I am SO thankful for this morning that Brilee didn't tumble down our stairs after crawling all the way to the top of our VERY steep steps all by herself after I forgot to put the gate up at the bottom of the stairway this morning. This is the 2nd time she has done this and I praise God she didn't turn around and lose her balance some where along the way. These are the times when God shows us that we can never fully protect our children because even though we have the best intentions, we still have human error/faults that leave us still inadequate to protect our most beloved little children 100%. We need to trust God 100%--that He will protect them through what we are lacking on our own.
Of course I rushed to the top of the steps as soon as I couldn't hear Brilee right under my feet anymore this morning. One minute she's trying to crawl into the dishwasher as I'm loading it and the next minute when I couldn't hear her--I knew the one place she would be! This girl tries and tries to figure out a way up these steps even WITH the gate up!
Of course I rushed to the top of the steps as soon as I couldn't hear Brilee right under my feet anymore this morning. One minute she's trying to crawl into the dishwasher as I'm loading it and the next minute when I couldn't hear her--I knew the one place she would be! This girl tries and tries to figure out a way up these steps even WITH the gate up!
Just to show you how steep they are...
Praise God for His protection! I need to put a big red sign at the bottom to remind me to put that gate up as soon as we come downstairs. I normally do this, but in those moments of forgetfulness....aye, aye, aye...
Friday, July 22, 2011
Homemade Garden Noise Makers/Bird Deterrents
We've been having a BIG problem with birds eating our tomatoes before we can pick them! I can't even get them while they're still not ripe yet (orange-ish/yellowish) without small holes in them too! So, after some suggestions of how to keep the birds out of the garden, we decided to try them out!
First, someone suggested pie tins--I didn't have any round ones, but I recently bought a big package of rectangle ones for taking meals to people...so we used those instead. Jon cut them in half and we hung them in the garden last night.
They seemed to be doing a good job so far today as I haven't had to chase any birds away yet! As the kids woke up from their nap and I was trying to figure out what to do with them the rest of this afternoon (since we can't go out in this horrid heat!) I decided to have them make even more noise makers out of cans from the recycle bin. They love to paint anything (probably since it's messy :) so I grabbed our art supplies and let them go away at the cans. I punched a hole in the bottom of the can and threaded string down through the hole and tied the tab on the end of it inside so that it would make a nice little noise when the wind blows them.
First, someone suggested pie tins--I didn't have any round ones, but I recently bought a big package of rectangle ones for taking meals to people...so we used those instead. Jon cut them in half and we hung them in the garden last night.
They seemed to be doing a good job so far today as I haven't had to chase any birds away yet! As the kids woke up from their nap and I was trying to figure out what to do with them the rest of this afternoon (since we can't go out in this horrid heat!) I decided to have them make even more noise makers out of cans from the recycle bin. They love to paint anything (probably since it's messy :) so I grabbed our art supplies and let them go away at the cans. I punched a hole in the bottom of the can and threaded string down through the hole and tied the tab on the end of it inside so that it would make a nice little noise when the wind blows them.
The kids painting their cans
Noise maker supplies
Finished product
Notice the pie tin tied on the other side...
Our redneck garden! I can't imagine what the neighbors are thinking...
Thursday, July 21, 2011
Up and Down
I went to the doctor today to follow up on how I'm doing on the new medication I started taking 4 weeks ago. They drew the bloodwork on Monday and I met with him this afternoon to go over the results.
He said the results were typical of why it is important to check more than TSH levels only. My TSH was .719 which was in the very good range (normal is 0.35-4.5). This is why so many doctors assume they are managing hypothyroidism (including Hashimotos) well with Synthroid only--because they look at this test only.
Well, this Dr. understands the importance of doing more detailed tests, so he also re-checked my Free T3 and Free T4 and those were NOT normal. My free T4 was .57 and the normal range is .80-1.8. My free T3 was 2.5 and the normal range is 2.3-4.2. He said even though that last one slid right in there, that you want to be as close to the top of these ranges as possible. So, he doubled my dosage of Armour from 15mg to 30mg.
The frustrating part is that with Hashimotos, these numbers can fluctuate SO much based upon when my body is triggered to attack my thyroid. I really need to work on figuring out what foods trigger an autoimmune attack (other than the typical iodide and soy that I've learned about thus far from researching). We'll see how this all continues to progress. At least I'm working with Doctor that is understanding of this issue and that it just takes trial and error to work with it. Another possibility is compounding medications, which he said works well for many patients. But it is a more expensive option, so I want to try to work with the dosing this way first!
He said the results were typical of why it is important to check more than TSH levels only. My TSH was .719 which was in the very good range (normal is 0.35-4.5). This is why so many doctors assume they are managing hypothyroidism (including Hashimotos) well with Synthroid only--because they look at this test only.
Well, this Dr. understands the importance of doing more detailed tests, so he also re-checked my Free T3 and Free T4 and those were NOT normal. My free T4 was .57 and the normal range is .80-1.8. My free T3 was 2.5 and the normal range is 2.3-4.2. He said even though that last one slid right in there, that you want to be as close to the top of these ranges as possible. So, he doubled my dosage of Armour from 15mg to 30mg.
The frustrating part is that with Hashimotos, these numbers can fluctuate SO much based upon when my body is triggered to attack my thyroid. I really need to work on figuring out what foods trigger an autoimmune attack (other than the typical iodide and soy that I've learned about thus far from researching). We'll see how this all continues to progress. At least I'm working with Doctor that is understanding of this issue and that it just takes trial and error to work with it. Another possibility is compounding medications, which he said works well for many patients. But it is a more expensive option, so I want to try to work with the dosing this way first!
Friday, July 15, 2011
Oh, Beautiful Day!
It has felt like a PERFECT fall-like day today--but it's the middle of July! The kids and I have thoroughly enjoyed playing outside today. We weeded and watered the garden this morning while the kids played with some "new to them" toys we inherited from some friends down the road who are moving (and we hate to see them leave the neighborhood!)
Sean had to hold Brilee with his foot to keep her from coming towards me trying to get the camera!
Sean said while they were playing, "It's a good thing Jesus didn't bring out the sun today!" I love how he thinks and remembers that God is in control of everything!
Our sunflower was looking pretty droopy and the leaves were falling off around it, so I looked up when to harvest the sunflowers. I found a website that spoke all about how/when to harvest them. It gave two options--1) leave the flower on the plant to dry, but you have to fight against birds getting to the seeds first or 2) cut the flower when the petals turn brown and fall off and dry it yourself. I decided to go the 2nd route1. It said to cut the flower off and keep it inside a paper bag to dry in a warm, dry place. The kids enjoyed playing with the little flower ends that were still sticking to the seeds. I'm thinking it might have still been a tad early to cut it off, but it was really leaning over the fence into the neighbors's yard and I just wanted to get it over with. Here's the kids enjoying inspecting the sunflower (inside Sean's wheelbarrow)
They were having so much fun I hated to leave to do our usual Friday grocery shopping after Brilee woke up from her morning nap. We rushed through that trip and came home to have a picnic lunch. Sean got upset when it started sprinkling rain while I was making the PB&Js. At first I thought he had hurt himself outside because he came in screaming with tears down his face! When I figured out he wasn't hurt but that he was worried we wouldn't have our picnic lunch I thought, "How sweet that my little guy looks SO forward to just a simple thing like lunch outside." I hope he's always this easy to please!
I promised him the sprinkles would end soon and we could still eat outside and that dried up his tears quickly. They enjoyed their outside lunch then played some more. So glad they're enjoying good naps now so we can play some more outside this afternoon! I am soaking in this weather while it lasts for the weekend because it's supposed to be back into the high 90s next week :/
enjoying her new ride!
Sean said while they were playing, "It's a good thing Jesus didn't bring out the sun today!" I love how he thinks and remembers that God is in control of everything!
Our sunflower was looking pretty droopy and the leaves were falling off around it, so I looked up when to harvest the sunflowers. I found a website that spoke all about how/when to harvest them. It gave two options--1) leave the flower on the plant to dry, but you have to fight against birds getting to the seeds first or 2) cut the flower when the petals turn brown and fall off and dry it yourself. I decided to go the 2nd route1. It said to cut the flower off and keep it inside a paper bag to dry in a warm, dry place. The kids enjoyed playing with the little flower ends that were still sticking to the seeds. I'm thinking it might have still been a tad early to cut it off, but it was really leaning over the fence into the neighbors's yard and I just wanted to get it over with. Here's the kids enjoying inspecting the sunflower (inside Sean's wheelbarrow)
They were having so much fun I hated to leave to do our usual Friday grocery shopping after Brilee woke up from her morning nap. We rushed through that trip and came home to have a picnic lunch. Sean got upset when it started sprinkling rain while I was making the PB&Js. At first I thought he had hurt himself outside because he came in screaming with tears down his face! When I figured out he wasn't hurt but that he was worried we wouldn't have our picnic lunch I thought, "How sweet that my little guy looks SO forward to just a simple thing like lunch outside." I hope he's always this easy to please!
I promised him the sprinkles would end soon and we could still eat outside and that dried up his tears quickly. They enjoyed their outside lunch then played some more. So glad they're enjoying good naps now so we can play some more outside this afternoon! I am soaking in this weather while it lasts for the weekend because it's supposed to be back into the high 90s next week :/
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Eat Your Peas
I usually don't write about things other than my family and kids on my blog, so you may wonder where this post is leading...I promise this isn't just a political tyrade, but it DOES lead to something funny that Sean said, which is why I'm writing about it!
I usually NEVER turn on the tv for myself during the day. So, when earlier this week I had an inclination in my mind to "turn on the tv to see if there is any news on" (in the middle of the day when there would ordinarily be junk programming on!) I thought it strange. I turned it on anyway and was shocked when in only 10 seconds a "special report" breaking news announcement popped onto the screen. I thought to myself, "Wow, God really DID prompt me to turn on the tv!" I thought perhaps something very important was happening or that there was a major announcement. It turns out that it was merely a news conference with the leader of our country, and normally I would turn off the tv because that is the only way I can control my anger against this man--to simply avoid listening to him. However, something made me listen to what he was saying.
And in the typical fashion, I started getting more frustrated as I listened to him...especially when he started making statements about Republican leaders that seemed to turn them into children like, "It's time to take off the band-aid. Time to eat your peas." Those are statements I would say to my CHILDREN--certainly not to grown-up men. It irritated me that he was acting so condencending saying things like, "Profession politicans"...should "know better."
He lost me completely when he said, "I haven't suggested raising taxes this year, or next year...what I have suggested is starting in 2013....(blah blah blah) we increase REVENUE." Does he really think the American public is stupid enough to not know that TAXES are what increase REVENUE?" Ok, my blood is boiling again. And here is the point of my post:
Sean was irritated that I was watching the news, so when it got to this point I told him, "It's ok, Sean. Mommy's turning off the news now. This man isn't saying anything except a bunch of lies." To which Sean asked, "Is he going to get his mouth washed out with soap, mommy?" :) I wish, buddy...I wish!
I usually NEVER turn on the tv for myself during the day. So, when earlier this week I had an inclination in my mind to "turn on the tv to see if there is any news on" (in the middle of the day when there would ordinarily be junk programming on!) I thought it strange. I turned it on anyway and was shocked when in only 10 seconds a "special report" breaking news announcement popped onto the screen. I thought to myself, "Wow, God really DID prompt me to turn on the tv!" I thought perhaps something very important was happening or that there was a major announcement. It turns out that it was merely a news conference with the leader of our country, and normally I would turn off the tv because that is the only way I can control my anger against this man--to simply avoid listening to him. However, something made me listen to what he was saying.
And in the typical fashion, I started getting more frustrated as I listened to him...especially when he started making statements about Republican leaders that seemed to turn them into children like, "It's time to take off the band-aid. Time to eat your peas." Those are statements I would say to my CHILDREN--certainly not to grown-up men. It irritated me that he was acting so condencending saying things like, "Profession politicans"...should "know better."
He lost me completely when he said, "I haven't suggested raising taxes this year, or next year...what I have suggested is starting in 2013....(blah blah blah) we increase REVENUE." Does he really think the American public is stupid enough to not know that TAXES are what increase REVENUE?" Ok, my blood is boiling again. And here is the point of my post:
Sean was irritated that I was watching the news, so when it got to this point I told him, "It's ok, Sean. Mommy's turning off the news now. This man isn't saying anything except a bunch of lies." To which Sean asked, "Is he going to get his mouth washed out with soap, mommy?" :) I wish, buddy...I wish!
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
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