This morning I am literally sitting here in tears fighting the urge to go grab Kyrie from school. Some jackwad decided to call in shooting threats to our small town school system. If you are that moron, and you happen to stumble upon my humble blog...my child has done nothing to you, and how dare you take advantage of this horrible situation just for a sick high. God bless you and forgive you, and cover you in love....because heaven knows that is something that I am incapable of doing.... your village has called, they want you back.
So, before I found out that there was a gun threat this morning... I began to think of Kyrie, and all of the things that I have on my heart to tell her. I have never thought for one minute that I would never get to see her grow up. I never thought that I would never get to see my child walk at graduation, or go to college, or get married. I never thought that there was any chance in my prefect little world that something could come in and disrupt those perfect thoughts. I'm sure many of us never thought that we would miss those things. We thought wrong folks....way wrong.
So, first of all I would call each and every parent out there to pray for their child. Pray for them while they are at school, before you drop them off, after you pick them up... This world is spinning quickly out of control. You can't change people... now, we can tighten gun laws... blah blah blah... but that will do nothing. People will resort to another vice... if we keep on this road, we need to ban knives, baseball bats, pipes, tire wrenches, and anything and everything that could be used as a deadly weapon... your car.. really. We are fighting a loosing battle.
While thinking about all of those things, I also though about how damn scared Kyrie would be if she found herself without her mommy in a dark closet, or bathroom.. wherever. So, I decided to do the hardest thing in the entire world. I wrote her a letter, in case of an emergency for her teacher to read to her. This is in the event that something happens and I can't get to her quickly.. something like a lock down, or natural disaster. I want her to have something, words.. hand written by me.. so hear as some kind of comfort. I want her to know that I love her, that I will come for her, and mostly that I love her. I know that in some situations, when push comes to shove.. there may not be time to grab it....but if by some chance there is, I want her to be able to have it.
I wont lie, it was by far the hardest letter I have ever written. I bawled bitterly the entire way through it. I told her about the first time I saw her, and how I know that she is going to do great things... and how precious she is to me. I'll skip some of the sappy stuff, but one of the passages in her letter says this:
Kyrie, I know that you are scared, but I want you to close your eyes and picture mommy and daddy wrapping our arms around you so tight.. giving you the best bear hug ever. Do you remember the song that I use to sing to you when you were scared? Where ever you go, No matter how far.. I'll always always come back for you. Kyrie, I want you to know I will come for you soon. I want you to listen to your teachers, help your classmates, and most of all I want you to remember that God hears our fears. He is bigger than all things, every and anything. He is our protector. I love you with all my heart, and I will be with you soon.
Love Mommy and Daddy
You better believe that I was bawling. My heart ached, my stomach flipped.. God, it just hurt. I had to stop and talk out what was on my heart with the Healer. I cant stand the thought of my baby being scared like that. It kills the happiness in my heart. It makes my heart feel like it dropped in the floor, and it takes my breath away. I can't explain the fear, that even just imagining that situation in a hypothetical situation brings me. It's sickeningly thick, and incredibly real.
My plan is to give the letter to her teacher, in an envelope. I'm also planning on putting a picture of us together for her to have as well. I know some will find this idea eccentric.. but I want her to have something to comfort her. Think what you want, I dont care!
Now, I'm calling all parents.. pray! You are helpless, you cannot pull every disturbed person off the streets, because the reality is...more and more are born each day. In this situation, if you cannot find faith... then there is no hope. Pray for your children, I cant tell you how important this is... pray for their protection. It's your job. If you refuse to have faith, then you forfeit your child to have hope for a better future. Chew on that thought for a little while, because if you don't have faith that something will change for the better, then there is no hope that the future will be better. Those are two concepts that go hand and hand my friend.
Wake up! Do you not see that there is a war going on? We are living in a literal hell. We have to fight for our children. When are we all going to wise up and say we have had enough? When will it be important enough? You need to make it important now. If you dont protect your child and fight for them, no one else will.
Children are blessings. Adore them, love them fiercely, hold tightly to them. Let them know how special they are to you. Never let a day go by that you dont tell your child, no matter what their age, that you love them. Remember, every second counts.
PRAY PRAY PRAY PRAY!!
I challenge every parent to pray for their children, especially school children for one hour. Pray for their protection, pray for protection over their school, classroom, classmates, teachers... Be their shield. This is your way of protecting them when you can't physically be there. Pray for the families of those who lost loved ones this week, pray that there is an end to this madness. Be the armor your kids need, and call out to Jesus.
Ok, I know.. I have hit my max on ranting! I just have really had this on my heart this week, and if I can encourage one person to join me in prayer.. even for one hour... that's one more person throwing shield up. I hope that soon enough, there will be enough shields thrown up to reflect the flames being shot at us back on to the one shooting them at us. I have faith.
Prayers, blessings and love to your weekend,
xoxox- Audrie
Friday, December 21, 2012
Tuesday, December 18, 2012
10 things I've learned in the last month =)
Hello friends!
Sorry it has been so long since my last post... I've been a busy mama! Caden James graced decided to join us October 27th, so I have been working to get everyone adjusted and to get the home moving smoothly again. It's a squeeze but we have a routine that pretty much works now. =) Bryan started a new job a few weeks ago, so getting use to his new hours and stuff has been crazy. However, in spite of the craziness... life has this feeling of completeness. I love watching my family grow. Those 4 kids are the most awesome things I have ever created. I'm so very blessed!
So, Christmas is literally just around the corner! =) I'm not even close to having everything ready for the, "big day"..are you? LOL !! I have made a dozen sugr cookies that were eaten before they were frosted, and about a dozen cornflake wreaths... that red hots were never even purchased to finish! HA HA! Horrible, I know, right? OHWARD!!
This blog is a few lifesaving tips that I have learned in the last month for bigger families. It's very hard now for families to spend quality time together. There is house work, homework, work work... it's a wonder how any American families actually manage to stay together. We put so much emphasis on what we own, as opposed to what we have... too much. Things will come and go, but our children will always be by our sides..or better yet, they are choosing our nursing home. =)
My 10 lifesavers
1.) Do a load of laundry every day. Yes, I know..this one stinks, but if you have 6 people to do laundry for... one day, even two days a week is suicide. About two hours into folding and getting it all put away, it becomes boring. When that happens, we tend to take a break with intentions of going back to finish it. But, how many times have you walked away to find your favorite T.V. show on and remeber after 4 hours that it is now time to pick up your kids, make dinner, and get everyone ready for bed...and the laundry is still in the dryer, on the couch, in a basket... wherever.
If you gather everything up at the end of the day, wash it, throw it in the dryer before you go to bed... and put it away first thing in the morning... your more likely to keep up with it. I use the delay wash setting on my washer and dryer. By the time I wake up the clothes are ready to go into the dryer, and when I get home from dropping Kyrie off, they are ready to be put away.. Easy peasy.
2.) Cook a few extra meals on the weekend. If there is something ready to go in the fridge, you are less likely to run for take out. Thus, saving money..and your waiste line. Remeber that left overs can be recycled into new things. Be creative.. left over spaghetti sauce? Why not bake a few bread sticks... toss a salad, and serve your kids Itlian dunkers? Shread left over pork roast, throw it in the crock pot with your favorite BBQ sauce, and make pulled pork sandwhiches. I like to have three "spares" in the freezer or fridge.. that way on the days that I find myself in a pinch, I can take one out, heat it up..and my family still gets a decent meal. I also plan a two week menu, and when I go shopping, I shop for stuff based off this menu.
3.) Do a 30 minute "White tornado" each day. This being 30 minutes a day where you just go and pick things up and put them where they belong. You would be suprised how quickly your living room becomes clean again when you throw the toys back in the toy box, and put everyone's shoes away. Designate an area for shoes, coats, backpacks, and toys. When you find your living room looks like an elf exploded in your living room... call a white tornado, have everyone pick up their stuff, put it away..and voila. =)
4.) Make a calendar. If you have kids in school or sports. A dry erase calendar board works well for this. Let everyone choose their own color marker.. write their specific activity in their color. OR print one, still using a different color ink for each person. Put this calendar somewhere it will be seen daily. I cannot tell you how many times I have to check our calendar during the week. It is my lifesaver.
5.) Make shower baskets. Get one basket per child.. put their towel, toothbrush, toothpaste, hair brush, hair ties, lotion, chapstick..etc in one basket. Designate it's home (Our kids put their in their closet), and at bath time.. they can grab their clothes, throw them in their basket, and head to the bathroom. When they are done, everything goes back into the basket, the basket goes back to it's home..and your bathroom is clutter free. I love these, because if I am in a time crunch, and it's time for Kyrie to shower... she already knows where everything is. She can get started while I am feeding Caden, or whatever.
6.) Keep an extra bag packed in your vehicle. Pack it with spare clothes for the kids, a spare shirt for you, extra diapers and a small pack of wipes, a small first aide kit, an extra baby blanket, nursing shaw, premade formula bottles (they make newborn nursers, and some that are either 4 or 8 oz.. ready to eat formula, in a plastic bottle), extra paci, mylicon, baby tylenol and advil, grown up advil =), and a fifty (for when you leave home and half way into your run into town your fuel light turns on!). These are all things that are likely to be neglected in a time crunch, and finding yourself without them can really stink sometimes.
7.) Schedule a mom nap...everyday, or at least any day you can. Mom's are master multitaskers. We will work and run until we are totally wiped out. So, make sure you are taking a few minutes to rest yourself. Who says it's against the rules to put the kids down and kick your feet up for an hour? This hour is especially important if you have a newborn or young infant in the house. Throw your recliner back, snuggle with the baby and catch a few while you can. One our will do you wonders in the long run.
8.) Skip the china, and buy the damn paper plates! No, you don't have to have a perfectly set table every night. You can buy paper plates really cheap! I realize that it makes more waste, and yadda yadda yadda...but give me a break! I've been up all night with the baby, got everyone dressed and out the door, cleaned house, did the laundry, cooked and cleaned up 2 meals, plus we still have homework, dinner before and after, bedtime... no one is going to complain when their tummies are full and there are no dishes in the sink to do after.
9.) Before the kids go to bed... have them lay out their clothes, shoes, coats, and backpacks for the next day. This way when your alarm clock doesn't go off and your running 2o minutes behind.. you won't have to spend 10 minutes searching for a lost shoe! Make sure you put your shoes, keys, phone, and purse all in one spot too...gotta lead by example.
10.) Call a one hour time out before bed. Turn off the T.V., take up a media collection and take them to another room, so that they are not interrupiting and talk. Ask the kids about their day, help with homework, say a prayer... talk about things that happened through the day. Many times we don't take enough time to talk to out kids and spouses about their day. Sometimes, just giving someone a few minutes to "unload" can do them a world of good. Especially kids..make sure you ask them about their day. The high points, the low points, and if there is anything that they need to tell you, or talk to you about. Let them know that they have your undivided attention, and take it seriously. If you give them a chance to communicate openly with you, usually.. they will. Make sure you know your kid... they are your business, what they do, see, speak, think.. eveything. So, make time to show them that you are interested in their life.
And there you have it, 10 things that have made my life as a mom to a family of 6 leaps and bounds easier in the last month! =)
Be sure to look for my Christmas post later this week for the recipies and crafts that I have been doing the last week! This is by far my most favorite time of the year, and I am super excited to show you what I have been up to!
Blessings and love as your week continues!
xoxo- Audrie
Sorry it has been so long since my last post... I've been a busy mama! Caden James graced decided to join us October 27th, so I have been working to get everyone adjusted and to get the home moving smoothly again. It's a squeeze but we have a routine that pretty much works now. =) Bryan started a new job a few weeks ago, so getting use to his new hours and stuff has been crazy. However, in spite of the craziness... life has this feeling of completeness. I love watching my family grow. Those 4 kids are the most awesome things I have ever created. I'm so very blessed!
So, Christmas is literally just around the corner! =) I'm not even close to having everything ready for the, "big day"..are you? LOL !! I have made a dozen sugr cookies that were eaten before they were frosted, and about a dozen cornflake wreaths... that red hots were never even purchased to finish! HA HA! Horrible, I know, right? OHWARD!!
This blog is a few lifesaving tips that I have learned in the last month for bigger families. It's very hard now for families to spend quality time together. There is house work, homework, work work... it's a wonder how any American families actually manage to stay together. We put so much emphasis on what we own, as opposed to what we have... too much. Things will come and go, but our children will always be by our sides..or better yet, they are choosing our nursing home. =)
My 10 lifesavers
1.) Do a load of laundry every day. Yes, I know..this one stinks, but if you have 6 people to do laundry for... one day, even two days a week is suicide. About two hours into folding and getting it all put away, it becomes boring. When that happens, we tend to take a break with intentions of going back to finish it. But, how many times have you walked away to find your favorite T.V. show on and remeber after 4 hours that it is now time to pick up your kids, make dinner, and get everyone ready for bed...and the laundry is still in the dryer, on the couch, in a basket... wherever.
If you gather everything up at the end of the day, wash it, throw it in the dryer before you go to bed... and put it away first thing in the morning... your more likely to keep up with it. I use the delay wash setting on my washer and dryer. By the time I wake up the clothes are ready to go into the dryer, and when I get home from dropping Kyrie off, they are ready to be put away.. Easy peasy.
2.) Cook a few extra meals on the weekend. If there is something ready to go in the fridge, you are less likely to run for take out. Thus, saving money..and your waiste line. Remeber that left overs can be recycled into new things. Be creative.. left over spaghetti sauce? Why not bake a few bread sticks... toss a salad, and serve your kids Itlian dunkers? Shread left over pork roast, throw it in the crock pot with your favorite BBQ sauce, and make pulled pork sandwhiches. I like to have three "spares" in the freezer or fridge.. that way on the days that I find myself in a pinch, I can take one out, heat it up..and my family still gets a decent meal. I also plan a two week menu, and when I go shopping, I shop for stuff based off this menu.
3.) Do a 30 minute "White tornado" each day. This being 30 minutes a day where you just go and pick things up and put them where they belong. You would be suprised how quickly your living room becomes clean again when you throw the toys back in the toy box, and put everyone's shoes away. Designate an area for shoes, coats, backpacks, and toys. When you find your living room looks like an elf exploded in your living room... call a white tornado, have everyone pick up their stuff, put it away..and voila. =)
4.) Make a calendar. If you have kids in school or sports. A dry erase calendar board works well for this. Let everyone choose their own color marker.. write their specific activity in their color. OR print one, still using a different color ink for each person. Put this calendar somewhere it will be seen daily. I cannot tell you how many times I have to check our calendar during the week. It is my lifesaver.
5.) Make shower baskets. Get one basket per child.. put their towel, toothbrush, toothpaste, hair brush, hair ties, lotion, chapstick..etc in one basket. Designate it's home (Our kids put their in their closet), and at bath time.. they can grab their clothes, throw them in their basket, and head to the bathroom. When they are done, everything goes back into the basket, the basket goes back to it's home..and your bathroom is clutter free. I love these, because if I am in a time crunch, and it's time for Kyrie to shower... she already knows where everything is. She can get started while I am feeding Caden, or whatever.
6.) Keep an extra bag packed in your vehicle. Pack it with spare clothes for the kids, a spare shirt for you, extra diapers and a small pack of wipes, a small first aide kit, an extra baby blanket, nursing shaw, premade formula bottles (they make newborn nursers, and some that are either 4 or 8 oz.. ready to eat formula, in a plastic bottle), extra paci, mylicon, baby tylenol and advil, grown up advil =), and a fifty (for when you leave home and half way into your run into town your fuel light turns on!). These are all things that are likely to be neglected in a time crunch, and finding yourself without them can really stink sometimes.
7.) Schedule a mom nap...everyday, or at least any day you can. Mom's are master multitaskers. We will work and run until we are totally wiped out. So, make sure you are taking a few minutes to rest yourself. Who says it's against the rules to put the kids down and kick your feet up for an hour? This hour is especially important if you have a newborn or young infant in the house. Throw your recliner back, snuggle with the baby and catch a few while you can. One our will do you wonders in the long run.
8.) Skip the china, and buy the damn paper plates! No, you don't have to have a perfectly set table every night. You can buy paper plates really cheap! I realize that it makes more waste, and yadda yadda yadda...but give me a break! I've been up all night with the baby, got everyone dressed and out the door, cleaned house, did the laundry, cooked and cleaned up 2 meals, plus we still have homework, dinner before and after, bedtime... no one is going to complain when their tummies are full and there are no dishes in the sink to do after.
9.) Before the kids go to bed... have them lay out their clothes, shoes, coats, and backpacks for the next day. This way when your alarm clock doesn't go off and your running 2o minutes behind.. you won't have to spend 10 minutes searching for a lost shoe! Make sure you put your shoes, keys, phone, and purse all in one spot too...gotta lead by example.
10.) Call a one hour time out before bed. Turn off the T.V., take up a media collection and take them to another room, so that they are not interrupiting and talk. Ask the kids about their day, help with homework, say a prayer... talk about things that happened through the day. Many times we don't take enough time to talk to out kids and spouses about their day. Sometimes, just giving someone a few minutes to "unload" can do them a world of good. Especially kids..make sure you ask them about their day. The high points, the low points, and if there is anything that they need to tell you, or talk to you about. Let them know that they have your undivided attention, and take it seriously. If you give them a chance to communicate openly with you, usually.. they will. Make sure you know your kid... they are your business, what they do, see, speak, think.. eveything. So, make time to show them that you are interested in their life.
And there you have it, 10 things that have made my life as a mom to a family of 6 leaps and bounds easier in the last month! =)
Be sure to look for my Christmas post later this week for the recipies and crafts that I have been doing the last week! This is by far my most favorite time of the year, and I am super excited to show you what I have been up to!
Blessings and love as your week continues!
xoxo- Audrie
Sunday, September 30, 2012
Rayroux updates!
Hello friends,
I know that my last post said... "I'm back"..and then, you never heard anything from me again, which I feel terrible about. The summer was brutal. July hit and I learned the literaly meanining of all hell broke loose. My sister Megan was hospitalized for what we thought was pneumonia a few days after the fourth of July, and within a few hours of being admitted to the hospital, she was in the intensive care unit, intubated, and fighting for her life. Fluid had built up in her lungs and backed into her heart. This is otherwise known as congestive heart failure with pulmonary edema, which is not common for an otherwise healthy 20 year old. Megan was intubated for 18 hours, and 55 minutes... and for the first 12 hours, her life literally hung in the balance. I really believe that she is still her because of the quick thinking and actions of two amazing physicians in the ICU, the nurses and other staff that worked around the clock to make sure that she was making progress, and the hours of prayers that went out for her.
Right now, if you were one of the many that prayed for Megan and my family while she was in the hospital... from the bottom of my heart, I thank you. There were moments that prayer was the only thing that we had to lean on. I believe that your prayers are what made it possible for my husband and I to communicate with the physicians, keep a clear head, and make the best decisions for her. I just cannot thank you enough, and just know that we offer praises and blessings for each of you.
We are still working to figure out exactly what caused her health to take such a dramatic turn, but I know that God is in control of her situation. He has already make so many big changes in her life, and I'm just excited to see where he leads her to next. Mostly, I'm just thankful to have my little sister.
Still waiting to get into see a cardiologist for Kyrie... which has made me more than antsy. She started school in August, and after a bit of a rough start.. she is progressing well. I know that in God's time we will have an answer for everything that we have been going through with her. I know that his plan for her is just starting to take off... and that wherever he is going to lead her, she is going to thrive. She is just a precious little girl, and I am so thankful that God trusted me to be her mother.
On a more sad note... I lost my pops to cancer about a month ago. He went into the hospital about two weeks after Megan got out.. and battled a pletuhra of oppertunistic infections and other issues. After weeks and weeks of antibiotics, medications, and hospitals... he found his wings and flew home. He and I had a very different type of relationship. I'm 110% sure he is where all of my scarcasim came from. He and I always gave eachother a hard time, but I knew that when I really needed to talk to someone... he was always there to listen, and give advice as best as he could. He always let me know that he was proud of what I had been doing, and proud of the things that I accomplished. For as heartbroken as I am that he is gone... I am so thankful for the time that he was here.
Speaking of school... I did enroll in the fall semester. I worked through the first 5 weeks, and it became very apparent that for this particular stretch of life... that was not where I was needed. I have been running into one problem after another and as a result, my family was suffering. After very long discussions with my husband, I decided not to continue on this semester...or to take any other actions related to nursing school. Bryan has had many oppertunities come his way, since then...and I know that this was God's way of telling me that I didn't need to worry about it right now. So, I'm home..working with Kyrie and the duo..and preparing for the new baby...who will be arriving sometime in the next few weeks.
Baby number four is a boy! And as I said earlier in just a few more weeks we will be welcoming Caden James into the Rayroux clan. =) Everyone is super excited, and super busy... but life would be boring if it were anything but that. I'm really enjoying being home right now. I am preparing my youner two for school, and I actually have time to work with Kyrie on her homework and such. This has also made it possible for Bryan to try out a few new things. He just returned from a wound care class, that would not have been possible for him to go to if I were still trying to go to school, because the Sunday that he left.. I was to be in clinicals...and we had no one to watch our children. However, he got to go to the class, and now we are waiting to see whether he passed the certification exam. He also started a board certified geriontology class last night, he has 6 months to complete. If that weren't enough, he was also given another oppertunity..that I'm not sure I'm going to talk about right now... as he is still deciding on whether or not that particular thing is something that he is really ready to do... but I promise you..as soon as I get the OK... I will let you in on that one.
I do have to say that I am so very extremely proud of him, and how hard he has worked in the last few years. I couldn't have asked for a better companion and friend that him. I am so very luck to have that man in my life, and if he should read this... Thank you honey, you are my hero... and to this day, you continue to save me. I love you with all my heart, and I am so proud of the chaos that we have created together.
Now that I am home, and things have seemed to settle down for a while. I am going to work out a schedule for the stuff that I post. I've gotten a ton of ideas for things to do with the kiddos, and now with the holidays quickly approaching... I have a bunch of DIY decorating ideas, recipies, and activities that I cant wait to share. =) The holiday season is by far my favorite time of the year! So, with that, I am off to make my munchkins lunch. If you think of something that you would like me to do... just shoot me an email, or comment the blog. =) I'd be happy to look into it and see what I can come up with!
Blessings and love as your week continues!
I know that my last post said... "I'm back"..and then, you never heard anything from me again, which I feel terrible about. The summer was brutal. July hit and I learned the literaly meanining of all hell broke loose. My sister Megan was hospitalized for what we thought was pneumonia a few days after the fourth of July, and within a few hours of being admitted to the hospital, she was in the intensive care unit, intubated, and fighting for her life. Fluid had built up in her lungs and backed into her heart. This is otherwise known as congestive heart failure with pulmonary edema, which is not common for an otherwise healthy 20 year old. Megan was intubated for 18 hours, and 55 minutes... and for the first 12 hours, her life literally hung in the balance. I really believe that she is still her because of the quick thinking and actions of two amazing physicians in the ICU, the nurses and other staff that worked around the clock to make sure that she was making progress, and the hours of prayers that went out for her.
Right now, if you were one of the many that prayed for Megan and my family while she was in the hospital... from the bottom of my heart, I thank you. There were moments that prayer was the only thing that we had to lean on. I believe that your prayers are what made it possible for my husband and I to communicate with the physicians, keep a clear head, and make the best decisions for her. I just cannot thank you enough, and just know that we offer praises and blessings for each of you.
We are still working to figure out exactly what caused her health to take such a dramatic turn, but I know that God is in control of her situation. He has already make so many big changes in her life, and I'm just excited to see where he leads her to next. Mostly, I'm just thankful to have my little sister.
Still waiting to get into see a cardiologist for Kyrie... which has made me more than antsy. She started school in August, and after a bit of a rough start.. she is progressing well. I know that in God's time we will have an answer for everything that we have been going through with her. I know that his plan for her is just starting to take off... and that wherever he is going to lead her, she is going to thrive. She is just a precious little girl, and I am so thankful that God trusted me to be her mother.
On a more sad note... I lost my pops to cancer about a month ago. He went into the hospital about two weeks after Megan got out.. and battled a pletuhra of oppertunistic infections and other issues. After weeks and weeks of antibiotics, medications, and hospitals... he found his wings and flew home. He and I had a very different type of relationship. I'm 110% sure he is where all of my scarcasim came from. He and I always gave eachother a hard time, but I knew that when I really needed to talk to someone... he was always there to listen, and give advice as best as he could. He always let me know that he was proud of what I had been doing, and proud of the things that I accomplished. For as heartbroken as I am that he is gone... I am so thankful for the time that he was here.
Speaking of school... I did enroll in the fall semester. I worked through the first 5 weeks, and it became very apparent that for this particular stretch of life... that was not where I was needed. I have been running into one problem after another and as a result, my family was suffering. After very long discussions with my husband, I decided not to continue on this semester...or to take any other actions related to nursing school. Bryan has had many oppertunities come his way, since then...and I know that this was God's way of telling me that I didn't need to worry about it right now. So, I'm home..working with Kyrie and the duo..and preparing for the new baby...who will be arriving sometime in the next few weeks.
Baby number four is a boy! And as I said earlier in just a few more weeks we will be welcoming Caden James into the Rayroux clan. =) Everyone is super excited, and super busy... but life would be boring if it were anything but that. I'm really enjoying being home right now. I am preparing my youner two for school, and I actually have time to work with Kyrie on her homework and such. This has also made it possible for Bryan to try out a few new things. He just returned from a wound care class, that would not have been possible for him to go to if I were still trying to go to school, because the Sunday that he left.. I was to be in clinicals...and we had no one to watch our children. However, he got to go to the class, and now we are waiting to see whether he passed the certification exam. He also started a board certified geriontology class last night, he has 6 months to complete. If that weren't enough, he was also given another oppertunity..that I'm not sure I'm going to talk about right now... as he is still deciding on whether or not that particular thing is something that he is really ready to do... but I promise you..as soon as I get the OK... I will let you in on that one.
I do have to say that I am so very extremely proud of him, and how hard he has worked in the last few years. I couldn't have asked for a better companion and friend that him. I am so very luck to have that man in my life, and if he should read this... Thank you honey, you are my hero... and to this day, you continue to save me. I love you with all my heart, and I am so proud of the chaos that we have created together.
Now that I am home, and things have seemed to settle down for a while. I am going to work out a schedule for the stuff that I post. I've gotten a ton of ideas for things to do with the kiddos, and now with the holidays quickly approaching... I have a bunch of DIY decorating ideas, recipies, and activities that I cant wait to share. =) The holiday season is by far my favorite time of the year! So, with that, I am off to make my munchkins lunch. If you think of something that you would like me to do... just shoot me an email, or comment the blog. =) I'd be happy to look into it and see what I can come up with!
Blessings and love as your week continues!
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
Summer fun (Paint fight)
Happy Wednesday Everyone!
As promised, here are the pictures from the paint fight. I ran into a few glitches with the paint fight idea, but with a few tweaks... we had a blast. First glitch- I could not, for the life of me find any large bottles of Crayola washable paint. I looked all over town, and turned up nothing. I looked online, to see about ordering some....but I didnt want to wait the three days for it to get here considering I had been promising my kiddos a paint fight for like 3 days. I bit the bullet, and made my own paint. Flour, boiling water, food coloring gels, and a dash or two of cream of tatar... after experimenting with it a bit to get the texture to the right consistency... I had paint.
I also skipped the water balloons and the canvas. It became an issue of whether or not I wanted to spend the hot afternoon picking up fragments of the water balloon, or not. I chose not, so I filled our little pool and sat it close to the paint buckets. I also decided that the canvas I would use to make Christmas presents later. I have an idea that I will share...but after Christmas =). I wasn't sure whether or not the food coloring in the paint would stain the house, so I did tape a drop cloth to protect the side of our home. I'm not sure my husband would have appreciated the new rainbow splatter paint job on the front of our house...then again, ya never know! ;)
So On to the fight!
I bought a package of rollers and paint brushes at the dollar tree and put them in a bucket next to the paint, so that the kids could choose which one they used. There was a brush and a roller for each kiddo. =)
As promised, here are the pictures from the paint fight. I ran into a few glitches with the paint fight idea, but with a few tweaks... we had a blast. First glitch- I could not, for the life of me find any large bottles of Crayola washable paint. I looked all over town, and turned up nothing. I looked online, to see about ordering some....but I didnt want to wait the three days for it to get here considering I had been promising my kiddos a paint fight for like 3 days. I bit the bullet, and made my own paint. Flour, boiling water, food coloring gels, and a dash or two of cream of tatar... after experimenting with it a bit to get the texture to the right consistency... I had paint.
I also skipped the water balloons and the canvas. It became an issue of whether or not I wanted to spend the hot afternoon picking up fragments of the water balloon, or not. I chose not, so I filled our little pool and sat it close to the paint buckets. I also decided that the canvas I would use to make Christmas presents later. I have an idea that I will share...but after Christmas =). I wasn't sure whether or not the food coloring in the paint would stain the house, so I did tape a drop cloth to protect the side of our home. I'm not sure my husband would have appreciated the new rainbow splatter paint job on the front of our house...then again, ya never know! ;)
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| Kyrie painting the sidewalk |
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| The war begins =) |
 TylerIt took some encouragment for them to actually start a war, mostly because Im sure they have heard a thousand times..."Don't do that to your sister!" Once they got into it, no one was safe. |
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| Refilling |
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| Kyrie covered with paint =) Eventually we had to go in, it was very hot and we were tired. Yes, Even Mom got in on the fight. I also was the one taking photos, so when I joined in... the camera went in the house. We topped the afternoon off with sno cones, a bath, and a trip to grandma's house. I can honestly say the only thing that I wish had been different, was the paint. I really really wish I had the tempura paint..because once the small clumps of flour set in the girl's hair.. it was dang near impossible to get out. So, if you are going to do this... word to the wise. Either buy the tempura paint, or find a flour free recipe. Aside from that... we had a great afternoon... and we didn't spend a ton of cash. Once it was time to clean up, I dumped the "paint" into the gravel in my yard, hosed it down, and threw the brushes and the plastic in the trash. Easy clean up made it really nice. Anyway, get out and play! =) Blessings and love as your week continues! xoxoxo-audrie |
Saturday, June 23, 2012
I'M BACK!! =)
Hello Friends,
I know it has been a while since my last post, but I am back now and working on some really cool things that I'm excited to share with you. I would have had one of those posted today, but I could not find large bottles of washable paint anywhere close to my house...and I refused to drive all the way across town in 105 degree weather..HA!
Update: Kyrie is still waiting to be seen by a cardiologist. The last appointment that we had was cancled, and we are having a hard time finding a date that my husband is off, and they have an open appointment. Also, I called Friday to book an appointment and the physician that originally refered Miss Kyrie has moved his pratice to a town 30 minutes away.. so I'm going to need a new referal from the new office.. or from one of the physicians in the new office... so, I get to start working on that stuff next week.
More big news around here... We are expecting baby # 4 in Early November. We were shocked, but thankfully that has passed =) and everyone is adapting very nicely.
I reapplied to nursing school (horray) under much diress... with Kyrie and a new baby on the way, I wasn't sure that it was a good idea....or that I could handle it for that matter. However with the support and encouragement of my family and awesome friends..I mustered up the will, I talked to my instructors, and worked out the way.. So, hopefully sometime at the beginning of next month I will know whether or not I'm back in school.
So, an idea for the kiddos... This is the one that I havent posted pics of yet..because I havent done it yet..but Im going to tomorrow. =)
My poor kids have been stuck in the house for most of the summer. Mama is too hot and hormonal to sit outside, and the first trimester of this pregnancy tried to kill me. I spent most of it on the couch with my little bag of ginger.. praying for waves of green to pass. It was by far the worst first trimester I've ever had.
Anyway, so Thursday I hit the 20 week mark, and now I'm feeling pretty good. It would be great if it would rain here in small town USA, but no such luck. So, since summer hit, and for the remander of the season... consider the temperature to be somewhere between the surface of the sun, and the 7th sector of hell. DRY, miserable heat. Anyway, enough of that rant. My poor kids are bored out of their domes. I've exhausted all of the board games, and dance party CD's, coloring books at this point.. and they are getting restless. Which means..a distaster is in the quake. And you all know my standing... if you dont entertain them...they will entertain themselves, without supervision. So, the next question was.. what mess can I let my kids make that is fun..can be done OUTSIDE, and requires little clean up. One trip to the dollar tree, and Walmart and the paint fight idea was born.
My shopping list for the "Great Paint Fight"
foot and hand sized plastic containers one for each color your using, I found some at the dollar tree that were perfect!
A bag of water balloons...however many you feel like filling =)
Large bottles of WASHABLE paint, these I had to go to Walmart for, and they were the most expensive item at something like 4 bucks a bottle.. I only got primary colors
A set of cheap paint brushes, I found a few big paint brushes and a set of sponge rollers also at the dollar tree.
A garden hose... to hose them off before you bring them inside!
One drop cloth... I lucked out today, because dollar tree had a canvas drop cloth..but either way..it's optional
So, I'm not sure any explanation is needed here... fill the tubs with paint.. let them paint the canvas...themselves, the cement...probably even the dog... then hose them off..and bring them in. It's not rocket science.. I'm not sure how I'm going to use the balloons yet..but I'll figure it out, and post pics! =)
So, this post it going to be a bit short.. thanks for being so patient with me as our family has undergone so many changes. It's been hard not being able to blog my ideas.. it seemed like once I had an awesome idea, if I didnt do it right away..then I forgot it. Or, I just never had time to do it. Mostly the latter, but I have forgotten a few things. Expect me to be back to work though! I'm really excited about the new chapter that my family and I are about to head out on..and I really just cant wait to see where this all goes. Thanks ever so much for your thoughts, prayers, and support through this time. It has really meant so much to us. I swear during the times that I was anxious about taking her for tests, and exams I could just feel her being lifted up. It was really humbling.
I just ask for your continued prayer, for Kyrie...as we continue on this journey with her, as we adjust to mama being a full time student again, and as we prepare for the newest addition to our family. Thank you so much for being patient and for being prayerful. It means so much. =)
Blessings and Love as your week continues!
XOXO-Audrie
I know it has been a while since my last post, but I am back now and working on some really cool things that I'm excited to share with you. I would have had one of those posted today, but I could not find large bottles of washable paint anywhere close to my house...and I refused to drive all the way across town in 105 degree weather..HA!
Update: Kyrie is still waiting to be seen by a cardiologist. The last appointment that we had was cancled, and we are having a hard time finding a date that my husband is off, and they have an open appointment. Also, I called Friday to book an appointment and the physician that originally refered Miss Kyrie has moved his pratice to a town 30 minutes away.. so I'm going to need a new referal from the new office.. or from one of the physicians in the new office... so, I get to start working on that stuff next week.
More big news around here... We are expecting baby # 4 in Early November. We were shocked, but thankfully that has passed =) and everyone is adapting very nicely.
I reapplied to nursing school (horray) under much diress... with Kyrie and a new baby on the way, I wasn't sure that it was a good idea....or that I could handle it for that matter. However with the support and encouragement of my family and awesome friends..I mustered up the will, I talked to my instructors, and worked out the way.. So, hopefully sometime at the beginning of next month I will know whether or not I'm back in school.
So, an idea for the kiddos... This is the one that I havent posted pics of yet..because I havent done it yet..but Im going to tomorrow. =)
My poor kids have been stuck in the house for most of the summer. Mama is too hot and hormonal to sit outside, and the first trimester of this pregnancy tried to kill me. I spent most of it on the couch with my little bag of ginger.. praying for waves of green to pass. It was by far the worst first trimester I've ever had.
Anyway, so Thursday I hit the 20 week mark, and now I'm feeling pretty good. It would be great if it would rain here in small town USA, but no such luck. So, since summer hit, and for the remander of the season... consider the temperature to be somewhere between the surface of the sun, and the 7th sector of hell. DRY, miserable heat. Anyway, enough of that rant. My poor kids are bored out of their domes. I've exhausted all of the board games, and dance party CD's, coloring books at this point.. and they are getting restless. Which means..a distaster is in the quake. And you all know my standing... if you dont entertain them...they will entertain themselves, without supervision. So, the next question was.. what mess can I let my kids make that is fun..can be done OUTSIDE, and requires little clean up. One trip to the dollar tree, and Walmart and the paint fight idea was born.
My shopping list for the "Great Paint Fight"
foot and hand sized plastic containers one for each color your using, I found some at the dollar tree that were perfect!
A bag of water balloons...however many you feel like filling =)
Large bottles of WASHABLE paint, these I had to go to Walmart for, and they were the most expensive item at something like 4 bucks a bottle.. I only got primary colors
A set of cheap paint brushes, I found a few big paint brushes and a set of sponge rollers also at the dollar tree.
A garden hose... to hose them off before you bring them inside!
One drop cloth... I lucked out today, because dollar tree had a canvas drop cloth..but either way..it's optional
So, I'm not sure any explanation is needed here... fill the tubs with paint.. let them paint the canvas...themselves, the cement...probably even the dog... then hose them off..and bring them in. It's not rocket science.. I'm not sure how I'm going to use the balloons yet..but I'll figure it out, and post pics! =)
So, this post it going to be a bit short.. thanks for being so patient with me as our family has undergone so many changes. It's been hard not being able to blog my ideas.. it seemed like once I had an awesome idea, if I didnt do it right away..then I forgot it. Or, I just never had time to do it. Mostly the latter, but I have forgotten a few things. Expect me to be back to work though! I'm really excited about the new chapter that my family and I are about to head out on..and I really just cant wait to see where this all goes. Thanks ever so much for your thoughts, prayers, and support through this time. It has really meant so much to us. I swear during the times that I was anxious about taking her for tests, and exams I could just feel her being lifted up. It was really humbling.
I just ask for your continued prayer, for Kyrie...as we continue on this journey with her, as we adjust to mama being a full time student again, and as we prepare for the newest addition to our family. Thank you so much for being patient and for being prayerful. It means so much. =)
Blessings and Love as your week continues!
XOXO-Audrie
Monday, April 30, 2012
No matter how we fight it, tides of change find us.
As you know from my last post, my family and I have been undergoing some huge changes. So large, that we have just needed time to digest everything. I dont want to make it sound like everything that has happened has been bad... because that would be grossly untrue. We have just definately learned how to be apprecative of all of the blessings that we have been given, and how just how precious our sweet angels really are to us.
The latest update on the Rayroux family is this; Miss Kyrie is going to be seen by a pediatric cardiologist for a murmmur that is a possible VSD (Ventral Septal defect, a hole in the dividing wall of the heart). The murmur is VERY loud. For all my medical friends out there.. It's like a grade 4, on S1, valve clicks are present, and it nearly sounds like a Pleural friction rub. She's had spells of cyanosis and syncope ( not getting enough oxygen, and fainting as a result) after strenous activity, and she just now passing 30 lbs, but eats constantly. She's always pale, tires easily... and I am petrified. If the issue is bad, her cardiologist will take her to surgery immediantly to close the hole. I know that I should be thankful that the condition can be corrected, but knowing that there is a possibility that someone will have to operate on my 5 year old's heart completely undoes me. So, I've spent most of the last two weeks bawling my eyes out, and praying for her little heart to be healed.
I never thought that for one second that I would try to barganing with God for miracles, but almost every night I've pleaded with God to heal and protect my baby girl. I'm so vigilant with them. I don't even take my children to the park alone, because with three small children I don' feel that two protective eyes, in a world full of onlookers is enough. Neurotic, maybe..yes...but I want them safe. I always pray over them, I just thought that I would be able to protect them more. I promised them that I would never let anything bad happen to them.. so here I am now, wondering how the heck I can protect her from this. No matter how hard I cry, or how hard I work to keep her safe from the dangers of this world.. I am helpless to save her from a heart condition. I can't forsee how this is going to play out. I can't plan for how this is going to affect her. I'm her mother, I'm supposed to be able to fix everything. It kills me that I can't fix her broken little heart. I don't even know how to explain this to her. I can't breathe, I can't sleep, I can't eat... all I do is pray for guidance. Just looking for some sign as to what direction I am supposed to be going in, because I am totally and completely lost.
I know that even though I want to heal her, and I want to fix everything.... I know that there is a plan. Even though I can't see it, I don't understand it... I know that God is going to use her to teach someone something. I know that..and I know that every time I praise God.. praising Him through the hurt, and the confusion and the fear, we win a small battle. Even if I can't see that small battle right now, I know that in the end He will find the final victory. I don't know what direction that I am supposed to go, or how I am going to get there, but I know that the whole picture will soon emerge from the darkness. It's just so hard, and conflicting. My everything hurts. She is so precious to me, she brings so much to my life. Her sacrcastic sassy way beyond her years intelligence is what I need to get me through most days. Her little smile, and laugh.. when she crawls into my bed in the morning and wraps her little arms around me.... I need it, I need them...I need her. As selfish as that sounds, sometimes I think I need her more than she's ever needed me. I just love that little soul.. so much.
Ugh, okay enough... My face is red and swollen, that heaviness is back in my chest making it hard to breathe... and I cant see out of my glasses any longer.
If I don't do any cool posts in the next few weeks, please bear with me. We head to see the cardiologis on the 16th, and depending on how things go from there.. the only things that I may post will be updates on Ky's condition. I promise, I will get back to the scheduled list of awesome things... but I have to be with my baby. I know you can all understand what it's like to have a sick child.. but still.... I just feel like I needed to explain my absence. I really love my blog, and being able to help others. I'm not going to write this off! No matter how we fight it sometimes...the tides of change find us. Whether we are surfing glissining waves, or hanging back on the beach.. it always finds us.
In closing, please please please...if you find yourself with a few moments, please say a prayer for Kyrie, send good thoughts, well wishes, whatever, and for our family. We would be much appreciative of anything.
I'll post again as soon as I am not a huge ball of mushy, sappy mess. Blessings and love to you as your week continues.
xoxoxo!
Audrie
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| One of my most favorite pictures of Kyrie as a baby! |
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| My water baby at the lake. |
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| Kyrie Nicole |
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| "I think I need her more that she's ever needed me." <3 |
Ugh, okay enough... My face is red and swollen, that heaviness is back in my chest making it hard to breathe... and I cant see out of my glasses any longer.
If I don't do any cool posts in the next few weeks, please bear with me. We head to see the cardiologis on the 16th, and depending on how things go from there.. the only things that I may post will be updates on Ky's condition. I promise, I will get back to the scheduled list of awesome things... but I have to be with my baby. I know you can all understand what it's like to have a sick child.. but still.... I just feel like I needed to explain my absence. I really love my blog, and being able to help others. I'm not going to write this off! No matter how we fight it sometimes...the tides of change find us. Whether we are surfing glissining waves, or hanging back on the beach.. it always finds us.
In closing, please please please...if you find yourself with a few moments, please say a prayer for Kyrie, send good thoughts, well wishes, whatever, and for our family. We would be much appreciative of anything.
I'll post again as soon as I am not a huge ball of mushy, sappy mess. Blessings and love to you as your week continues.
xoxoxo!
Audrie
Friday, April 13, 2012
Parenting is a life long road trip, without a map.
Hello Everyone! I hope you have had an awesome week! The last two weeks have totally flown by me! Easter weekend we had family visiting, this week I have been getting all of my readmission forms and stuff together so that I can go back to nursing school and finish my degree in the fall...not to mention that we are frantically planning our baby boy's 3rd birthday! =) I have been working on some special things for that, and I will be taking pictures and posting instructions with everything that I make!
This week's post is for the mama who spends half day trying to plan snacks and trying to figure out how to sneak extra veggies into their kids diet. I'm almost sure that I have the pickiest child in the world. Okay, we're talking she will search through a taco that I have intentionally ordered without lettuce to make sure that their isn't a sliver hidden in there. And let me tell ya, If there is one in there and it ends up in her mouth... she'll bring it to my attention. You would not believe the small amounts of a distasteful food that my child can find. To the point, that one night I jokingly asked, "Kyrie.. what's the deal? Is it going to choke you?!" Her response..."It might, ya never know."
How do you remedy that? Well, you get creative. Let's start with the snacks.. let me tell you what I do. I keep a Tupperware container regularly stocked, and I have a snack drawer that's replenished twice a week. The first thing that you have to do, is decide on what you think is suitable for your children to have as a snack! When we started this, we pulled out just about all of the junk food and soda in the house. We have one small box of cookies that have individual packages, and are only for special occasions. Other than that... They are stuck with what my husband and I have decided is okay for them to eat.
Now, I'm all for teaching portion control and independence. Which is why I buy everything in bulk and divide it up into toddler/child sized portions. I also don't think that my 5 year old needs me to go to the fridge and get her a juice box and a cheese stick, when she is perfectly capable of opening the door and getting it herself. That is why I chose a container, and a drawer to put things in. I chose a drawer that is kid height, and away from anything dangerous, and a Tupperware container to keep in the fridge as the "safe box". Meaning anything in the safe box, they don't have to ask to take. I was afraid that they would blow through everything in one or two days..but there's something cool about being able to go get a snack without having to ask mom first. Our box usually lasts about a week, but sometimes I like to add little changes in there midweek, to break up the monotony.
In my safe box, I usually keep sliced apples, gogurts, string cheese, grapes, carrots.. stuff like that. Sometimes for my change, I'll cut up the cheese sticks, throw them in with a bag and add some mini turkey pepperoni.. just something to change it up a it. I also keep small 8 ounce water bottles, and juice boxes right next to them. Every once in a while, I can find small individual jugs of chocolate milk... and we really like those!
For our drawer, I keep gold fish and wheat ritz crackers, packaged in snack sized bags (hence the snack, not sand which bags!) granola bars, small tubs of peanut butter.. snack sized bags of cheerios, the stuff that doesn't have to go in the fridge. Let's face it... You just can't have apple slices without peanut butter on them, I'm pretty sure it's written somewhere.
Set rules, and explain it to them. If they break the rules...take it away. I only had to take our box away once, before they were begging me to bring it back. It hasn't happened since then. This system makes it possible to control what they snack on, but still gives them some sense of control because they have a few choices. If you give them options, they will choose from what they are given. This way there is no fighting at snack time, because you have already won the battle!
Meals, what do you feed a picky eater for dinner? What can I make that everyone will eat, that wont cause me to pull out all of my hair?!?! I've been there. First of all, there are tons and tons of recipes online for picky eaters. First things first, you have to take the "bad" out of food. If you serve your child something that you don't like...odds are, they aren't going to eat it. Especially if you follow the refusal to eat it with "Ugh, I hate asparagus!" If you don't like to eat something, but your going to try to poke it down your kids...it's best to keep that secret yourself. The message you are sending them..."Holy cow, this is gross!" Silence really is golden sometimes.
Also, when you introduce a new food...be encouraging. Encourage them for trying it, and if they decide that they don't like whatever it is this time...Don't force it. We have a two bite rule in our house. You have to take two bites of something, and actually taste it. If you don't like it, then you have to tell me exactly why you don't like it. Sometimes, just figuring out why they don't like it can make a difference. "Well, Jenny had them in her lunchbox, and she said that they were yucky, and so I don't like it either?" Which is usually followed up with, "Did you do two bites? If you didn't even try it, then how do you know you don't like it?"
Also, if you refuse to serve them the foods that they didn't like the first time, then you are setting them up. Studies show that after being served a food 6 or 7 times and being made try it, most children will at least eat it. It may not be their favorite, but they will eat it. Kids develop at a totally different rate. Give them time and be patient, but don't give up. Always be encouraging and offer praise for something new. Rome wasn't built in a day, and I highly doubt you haven't found something that as a kid you wouldn't touch...but you do now.
Substitution and creativity can create a world of options. Think about what foods look similar.. for example, if your kid eats mashed potatoes. Steamed cauliflower mashed up, can be mixed in the potatoes, or substituted all together. I have skipped the potatoes, and loaded the cauliflower up with garlic and threw in a little cheese.. they never knew the difference. Neither did my husband for that matter! Spaghetti sauce is one of my favorite places to be creative. Most of the time I use ground turkey, just because I don't like greasy foods. One of my most favorite ways to make spaghetti is with a tomato, basil, and spaghetti squash sauce. Quarter the squash, clean it, bake it in the oven at 350 until it's soft. Throw one of those quarters (or two) in the blender with your sauce..mix until smooth.. and then finish it like you always do. I've also been known to make my own mac n cheese with squash. Same baking concept, just when I add in my cheese, I also add in the squash. Butternut works well with mac n cheese, it makes it a bit orange, but that's about the only difference!
There are a ton of different options.. baked sweet potato french fries, instead of regular fries. You can do this! Start reading labels on boxes. Certain pastas are made with veggies instead of wheat, kick out your vanilla ice cream and make a frozen yogurt banana split, or sundae. I've been known to steam carrots, throw them in the food processor, and sneak them into meatloaf. If you can think it, you can try it. Don't be afraid to experiment. The worst that happens, is you know not to make that combination next time. Just be brave, and step out of your comfort zone. Remember, that first impressions are everything. Be sure that the impression that you are making is positive, because picky eaters are born when we project our prejudices.
Patience is the key, and I believe that I read once in the bible that patience comes through great trials and endeavors. Parenting is a life long road trip without a map. It is what you make of it. Please take time out of your week to stop, and look at the awesome gift God has blessed you with. Marvel in the splendor, and generosity of our awesome King. And most importantly, remember to thank Him for the little hand prints on your coffee table and television. =) Remember, Rome wasn't built in a day..and no kid is perfect. Things take time!
Blessings and Love as your weekend begins!
xoxoxox!
Audrie
This week's post is for the mama who spends half day trying to plan snacks and trying to figure out how to sneak extra veggies into their kids diet. I'm almost sure that I have the pickiest child in the world. Okay, we're talking she will search through a taco that I have intentionally ordered without lettuce to make sure that their isn't a sliver hidden in there. And let me tell ya, If there is one in there and it ends up in her mouth... she'll bring it to my attention. You would not believe the small amounts of a distasteful food that my child can find. To the point, that one night I jokingly asked, "Kyrie.. what's the deal? Is it going to choke you?!" Her response..."It might, ya never know."
How do you remedy that? Well, you get creative. Let's start with the snacks.. let me tell you what I do. I keep a Tupperware container regularly stocked, and I have a snack drawer that's replenished twice a week. The first thing that you have to do, is decide on what you think is suitable for your children to have as a snack! When we started this, we pulled out just about all of the junk food and soda in the house. We have one small box of cookies that have individual packages, and are only for special occasions. Other than that... They are stuck with what my husband and I have decided is okay for them to eat.
Now, I'm all for teaching portion control and independence. Which is why I buy everything in bulk and divide it up into toddler/child sized portions. I also don't think that my 5 year old needs me to go to the fridge and get her a juice box and a cheese stick, when she is perfectly capable of opening the door and getting it herself. That is why I chose a container, and a drawer to put things in. I chose a drawer that is kid height, and away from anything dangerous, and a Tupperware container to keep in the fridge as the "safe box". Meaning anything in the safe box, they don't have to ask to take. I was afraid that they would blow through everything in one or two days..but there's something cool about being able to go get a snack without having to ask mom first. Our box usually lasts about a week, but sometimes I like to add little changes in there midweek, to break up the monotony.
In my safe box, I usually keep sliced apples, gogurts, string cheese, grapes, carrots.. stuff like that. Sometimes for my change, I'll cut up the cheese sticks, throw them in with a bag and add some mini turkey pepperoni.. just something to change it up a it. I also keep small 8 ounce water bottles, and juice boxes right next to them. Every once in a while, I can find small individual jugs of chocolate milk... and we really like those!
For our drawer, I keep gold fish and wheat ritz crackers, packaged in snack sized bags (hence the snack, not sand which bags!) granola bars, small tubs of peanut butter.. snack sized bags of cheerios, the stuff that doesn't have to go in the fridge. Let's face it... You just can't have apple slices without peanut butter on them, I'm pretty sure it's written somewhere.
Set rules, and explain it to them. If they break the rules...take it away. I only had to take our box away once, before they were begging me to bring it back. It hasn't happened since then. This system makes it possible to control what they snack on, but still gives them some sense of control because they have a few choices. If you give them options, they will choose from what they are given. This way there is no fighting at snack time, because you have already won the battle!
Meals, what do you feed a picky eater for dinner? What can I make that everyone will eat, that wont cause me to pull out all of my hair?!?! I've been there. First of all, there are tons and tons of recipes online for picky eaters. First things first, you have to take the "bad" out of food. If you serve your child something that you don't like...odds are, they aren't going to eat it. Especially if you follow the refusal to eat it with "Ugh, I hate asparagus!" If you don't like to eat something, but your going to try to poke it down your kids...it's best to keep that secret yourself. The message you are sending them..."Holy cow, this is gross!" Silence really is golden sometimes.
Also, when you introduce a new food...be encouraging. Encourage them for trying it, and if they decide that they don't like whatever it is this time...Don't force it. We have a two bite rule in our house. You have to take two bites of something, and actually taste it. If you don't like it, then you have to tell me exactly why you don't like it. Sometimes, just figuring out why they don't like it can make a difference. "Well, Jenny had them in her lunchbox, and she said that they were yucky, and so I don't like it either?" Which is usually followed up with, "Did you do two bites? If you didn't even try it, then how do you know you don't like it?"
Also, if you refuse to serve them the foods that they didn't like the first time, then you are setting them up. Studies show that after being served a food 6 or 7 times and being made try it, most children will at least eat it. It may not be their favorite, but they will eat it. Kids develop at a totally different rate. Give them time and be patient, but don't give up. Always be encouraging and offer praise for something new. Rome wasn't built in a day, and I highly doubt you haven't found something that as a kid you wouldn't touch...but you do now.
Substitution and creativity can create a world of options. Think about what foods look similar.. for example, if your kid eats mashed potatoes. Steamed cauliflower mashed up, can be mixed in the potatoes, or substituted all together. I have skipped the potatoes, and loaded the cauliflower up with garlic and threw in a little cheese.. they never knew the difference. Neither did my husband for that matter! Spaghetti sauce is one of my favorite places to be creative. Most of the time I use ground turkey, just because I don't like greasy foods. One of my most favorite ways to make spaghetti is with a tomato, basil, and spaghetti squash sauce. Quarter the squash, clean it, bake it in the oven at 350 until it's soft. Throw one of those quarters (or two) in the blender with your sauce..mix until smooth.. and then finish it like you always do. I've also been known to make my own mac n cheese with squash. Same baking concept, just when I add in my cheese, I also add in the squash. Butternut works well with mac n cheese, it makes it a bit orange, but that's about the only difference!
There are a ton of different options.. baked sweet potato french fries, instead of regular fries. You can do this! Start reading labels on boxes. Certain pastas are made with veggies instead of wheat, kick out your vanilla ice cream and make a frozen yogurt banana split, or sundae. I've been known to steam carrots, throw them in the food processor, and sneak them into meatloaf. If you can think it, you can try it. Don't be afraid to experiment. The worst that happens, is you know not to make that combination next time. Just be brave, and step out of your comfort zone. Remember, that first impressions are everything. Be sure that the impression that you are making is positive, because picky eaters are born when we project our prejudices.
Patience is the key, and I believe that I read once in the bible that patience comes through great trials and endeavors. Parenting is a life long road trip without a map. It is what you make of it. Please take time out of your week to stop, and look at the awesome gift God has blessed you with. Marvel in the splendor, and generosity of our awesome King. And most importantly, remember to thank Him for the little hand prints on your coffee table and television. =) Remember, Rome wasn't built in a day..and no kid is perfect. Things take time!
Blessings and Love as your weekend begins!
xoxoxox!
Audrie
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
The most important and powerful influence in your child's life is ....you.
It's been a while since my last post! Sorry it took so long, I took a few weeks off to spend some much needed time doing a few small home things.. Not repairs, but things like painting, gardening, organizing.. basically a honeydo list. =) We also got our oldest daughter in Tball, so I have been busy with that as well.
I'm working on a bunch of projects with the kids.. most of which I have left the camera behind for. With Easter and our sweet nephews coming this weekend, I have come up with lots of fun stuff to do with the little guys. I'm also stocking up on ribbon, and other stuff to start the tutorial for my bows and funky ribbon shoes. Be sure to look for those coming soon!....
Lesson of the week!
My latest streak of genius came with my children last week. For some reason they were all in bad moods, and were constantly saying fairly harsh things to each other. After thinking about it for a while, I came up with a lesson for them. I must say, that even with my little guy... I could see the wheels turning as we did this.
I've added a few things to my craft drawers. I added foam stickers, some medals that I found at the dollar store, silly string, and a few other things that I have already forgotten about! =D After looking through all of my stuff trying to figure out what in the world I was going to do to help my children.. a can of silly string fell off my counter top and hit my foot. Voila! A creative way to teach was born.
We bought a small Disney princess dry erase table for the kids to do their crafts at,and enjoy a snack. I sat all 3 of our children around this table, and we began. I began with questioning them about the things that they had said to one another. I started with my eldest, and wrote them all on the sheet of paper, leaving a few spaces between sentences. After I had questioned each children and recorded their phrases of the day, I asked them to cut out each of their sentences.
From there, I got each of them a solo cup and a can of silly string. I wrote their names on each of the cups, and then questioned them as to who they said their phrases to. For example: Kyrie said " Your stupid." to Nataleigh, so that strip of paper went into the cup that was labeled, "Nataleigh". After placing a strip of paper in the cup...I explained the purpose of the silly string. The silly string represents the other person's feelings. Nataleigh was then allowed to spray the silly string in the cup and cover the strip of paper. We went back and fourth like that for nearly 30 minutes. And as soon as each strip was done.. we left them there to dry. Because no one had bothered to even say that they were sorry, so the awful things that they had said to each other were now buried.
About 2 hours later after the string had gotten hard, I brought them to the table again and asked them to get the strips of paper out of the silly string. Which at this point, was impossible. The paper had absorbed the moisture from the silly string and was falling apart,and the silly string was breaking apart in pieces. The lesson was.. " You can't take back nasty and hurtful things that you say to people. When you are careless with your words, they become a part of that person's feelings forever."
After giving hugs to each other, and a little prayer.. all was well in the neighborhood again. And sure, they're kids.. they forget about stuff like that. They aren't going to remember every single thing we teach them all of the time, so that's why it is our job to keep teaching them! Ignoring this kind of behavior, teaches them that being mean is alright. Being a bully is okay. With as many children being bullied and the tragic ends that some of these kids are seeing, it is your job to teach your kids how to act.
I really believe that some, not all, but some issues that children are facing now could be resolved with a stronger home base. Providing them with morals and rules, setting boundaries are just some of the things that we can do to prevent them from making the same mistakes we made. I know that some parent's will not agree with me, and that's fine. I would like you to remember that you child, doesn't want you to be their friend. Your old, out of touch, and really not as cool as you think you are. I am not nears as cool as I think I am.. but the thing is... Your not supposed to be their friend. You are their parent. You are who they learn from, and if they don't learn from you, then they will learn from someone else. Who do you want your children to learn from? What do you want your children to learn from? The kid that has no rules and no boundaries, no consequences for his/her actions...or From having their cell phone, game boy, car keys, etc. taken away from you after breaking curfew.. or in the case of a little guy..taking away a favorite toy, and sitting in time out for saying mean things to someone else?
You are the most important and most powerful influence in your child's life. Make sure the impact that you are leaving counts. Even if that means rocking their world after they have done something that makes you want to pull your hair out. If you don't fill in the holes that life tends to create with love, support, guidance, and discipline... they fill find someone else to help them fill those holes. Love, treasure, and hold on to them, but remember that along the road, we have to guide them.
Blessings and Love,
Audrie xoxoxo
I'm working on a bunch of projects with the kids.. most of which I have left the camera behind for. With Easter and our sweet nephews coming this weekend, I have come up with lots of fun stuff to do with the little guys. I'm also stocking up on ribbon, and other stuff to start the tutorial for my bows and funky ribbon shoes. Be sure to look for those coming soon!....
Lesson of the week!
My latest streak of genius came with my children last week. For some reason they were all in bad moods, and were constantly saying fairly harsh things to each other. After thinking about it for a while, I came up with a lesson for them. I must say, that even with my little guy... I could see the wheels turning as we did this.
I've added a few things to my craft drawers. I added foam stickers, some medals that I found at the dollar store, silly string, and a few other things that I have already forgotten about! =D After looking through all of my stuff trying to figure out what in the world I was going to do to help my children.. a can of silly string fell off my counter top and hit my foot. Voila! A creative way to teach was born.
We bought a small Disney princess dry erase table for the kids to do their crafts at,and enjoy a snack. I sat all 3 of our children around this table, and we began. I began with questioning them about the things that they had said to one another. I started with my eldest, and wrote them all on the sheet of paper, leaving a few spaces between sentences. After I had questioned each children and recorded their phrases of the day, I asked them to cut out each of their sentences.
From there, I got each of them a solo cup and a can of silly string. I wrote their names on each of the cups, and then questioned them as to who they said their phrases to. For example: Kyrie said " Your stupid." to Nataleigh, so that strip of paper went into the cup that was labeled, "Nataleigh". After placing a strip of paper in the cup...I explained the purpose of the silly string. The silly string represents the other person's feelings. Nataleigh was then allowed to spray the silly string in the cup and cover the strip of paper. We went back and fourth like that for nearly 30 minutes. And as soon as each strip was done.. we left them there to dry. Because no one had bothered to even say that they were sorry, so the awful things that they had said to each other were now buried.
About 2 hours later after the string had gotten hard, I brought them to the table again and asked them to get the strips of paper out of the silly string. Which at this point, was impossible. The paper had absorbed the moisture from the silly string and was falling apart,and the silly string was breaking apart in pieces. The lesson was.. " You can't take back nasty and hurtful things that you say to people. When you are careless with your words, they become a part of that person's feelings forever."
After giving hugs to each other, and a little prayer.. all was well in the neighborhood again. And sure, they're kids.. they forget about stuff like that. They aren't going to remember every single thing we teach them all of the time, so that's why it is our job to keep teaching them! Ignoring this kind of behavior, teaches them that being mean is alright. Being a bully is okay. With as many children being bullied and the tragic ends that some of these kids are seeing, it is your job to teach your kids how to act.
I really believe that some, not all, but some issues that children are facing now could be resolved with a stronger home base. Providing them with morals and rules, setting boundaries are just some of the things that we can do to prevent them from making the same mistakes we made. I know that some parent's will not agree with me, and that's fine. I would like you to remember that you child, doesn't want you to be their friend. Your old, out of touch, and really not as cool as you think you are. I am not nears as cool as I think I am.. but the thing is... Your not supposed to be their friend. You are their parent. You are who they learn from, and if they don't learn from you, then they will learn from someone else. Who do you want your children to learn from? What do you want your children to learn from? The kid that has no rules and no boundaries, no consequences for his/her actions...or From having their cell phone, game boy, car keys, etc. taken away from you after breaking curfew.. or in the case of a little guy..taking away a favorite toy, and sitting in time out for saying mean things to someone else?
You are the most important and most powerful influence in your child's life. Make sure the impact that you are leaving counts. Even if that means rocking their world after they have done something that makes you want to pull your hair out. If you don't fill in the holes that life tends to create with love, support, guidance, and discipline... they fill find someone else to help them fill those holes. Love, treasure, and hold on to them, but remember that along the road, we have to guide them.
Blessings and Love,
Audrie xoxoxo
Sunday, March 4, 2012
Every second counts
The last few weeks I have been blessed with the opportunity to stay at home with my children. I have been just blessed by their presence in my life. I simply cannot imagine my life without my children. I love them in ways that words cannot describe. I am taken back by the events that have happened in out sleepy little town this weekend, and as a mother I've spent the entire day praising God for my sweet babies. I've also been praying blessings and peace for a mother that lost her 4 son yesterday evening. The only thought that I could think was... That could have been my son. I could be that mother. Things can happen in the blink of an eye, and then an entire course of fate has changed.
Now, I know that the press says that the likelihood of the child being alive, is slim at best. However, in my mother's heart.. I just can't give up that hope. I know that all things are possible through Christ, and I believe that He is real. I believe that miracles happen, and I believe that Christ is in control of even the worst of situations. So, if come tomorrow, I'm a fool... then so be it. I'd rather hold on and send that family some hope until the very end... then to send them sorrow. I just can't imagine what this woman is going through, but.. if by some chance she or one of her family members happen to stumble on my little blog.. then know that my family and I send you hope, peace, and unconditional prayers and love. Faith can move mountains, and if you give God the reigns.. then He will take control.
Through the course of the day, we had an unusual Sunday morning. We decided to take the kids to breakfast, and then to the park to play for a while. In the meanwhile, taking a few minutes to pray for the family of this child. Today is warm... almost hot, and the wind was mild in comparison. (In NM we have three kinds of weather: Very hot, Very hot and dry, and Very hot, dry, and windy. With the latter being the usual) It was a nice day, and there were a lot of people out. We spent a while taking pictures at one playground, then moved on to the next. The last hour that we were there we were across the river at a swing set and slide that no one was playing on. Nataleigh spent nearly the entire time on the swing.. being pushed by her daddy, " Push me higher Daddy!" Tyler laid in the swing and kicked up dirt, never more than two steps away from his daddy. Kyrie jumped off the swing and ran to the slide. The wind blew through her beautiful dark brown hair, and her big blue eyes just glimmered. And for a second, she just looked like a little angel. It was that feeling that everything in the world was perfect, and nothing could ever happen. It lasted only a second and was bitterly shattered as I caught a man out of the corner out of my eye. He just kept staring at her, and then he would look at me. As if to see if I was going to race him to her. My heart raced, and I went from being peaceful straight into survival mode.
I flew to my child. Talking loudly to my husband, telling him that it was time to leave. I looked straight into the eyes of the man that was looking at my daughter and mentally dared him to try it. I am without a doubt that if he had, in one second I would have had him ripped from limb to limb. He would not have been walking when I was through with him. I regularly come fully equipped with instinct, dead on aim, and a pair of steel toes. I'm fluent with all. Within seconds, I had Kyrie in my arms. I met my husband at the swing set, and I only had to say, "It's time to go, now!" once before he had everyone loaded in the truck. It was only when we were all safely in our truck that he asked what "set me off". We immediately left the area, and I subsequently sent out a text message to every parent I knew.
There is something lives inside of every mother that eternally bonds them to their child. It's beyond intuition, it's a 6th sense. It is more intense than flight or fight. It's love, instinct, agility, and adrenaline all mixed into one, and completely understated. When something disrupts that bond, it upsets the universe. It is becoming harder and harder to survive in this world. I mean that in the literal sense, and in the figurative sense. People are becoming more and more desensitized and violent, and more and more families are falling victim to lust and promises of empty pleasure. Its time for everyone to stop and take a good look at what's going on, and treasure what they hold dear. It's time to start praying, to start caring. Just because it isn't you today, doesn't mean that it couldn't be tomorrow. When will it matter? What does it take to send you into survival mode? How many times have you ignored that voice inside you that tells you that something is not right? How lucky do you really think you are?
It is time to start arming yourself and your family with knowledge and prayer. Teach your children about strangers and safety, teach your children to listen to that internal mechanism of wisdom. Give them the tools that they need, so that in the face of adversity they are knowledgeable. Teach them to pray, give them something to believe in and help them to find faith. Educate yourself, do the research. Research methods and means to protect yourself and your family... and one of the most important things that we can do as parents for our our children, is pray. Pray protection, peace, guidance, pray for their future. If you think it in your heart, then speak it to the Lord. Don't wait until the last minute to take a minute and check yourself. This world changes constantly. In this life, happiness can change to despair in the blink of an eye. Make every single moment important, because every second counts.
.
xoxoxo,
Audrie
Now, I know that the press says that the likelihood of the child being alive, is slim at best. However, in my mother's heart.. I just can't give up that hope. I know that all things are possible through Christ, and I believe that He is real. I believe that miracles happen, and I believe that Christ is in control of even the worst of situations. So, if come tomorrow, I'm a fool... then so be it. I'd rather hold on and send that family some hope until the very end... then to send them sorrow. I just can't imagine what this woman is going through, but.. if by some chance she or one of her family members happen to stumble on my little blog.. then know that my family and I send you hope, peace, and unconditional prayers and love. Faith can move mountains, and if you give God the reigns.. then He will take control.
Through the course of the day, we had an unusual Sunday morning. We decided to take the kids to breakfast, and then to the park to play for a while. In the meanwhile, taking a few minutes to pray for the family of this child. Today is warm... almost hot, and the wind was mild in comparison. (In NM we have three kinds of weather: Very hot, Very hot and dry, and Very hot, dry, and windy. With the latter being the usual) It was a nice day, and there were a lot of people out. We spent a while taking pictures at one playground, then moved on to the next. The last hour that we were there we were across the river at a swing set and slide that no one was playing on. Nataleigh spent nearly the entire time on the swing.. being pushed by her daddy, " Push me higher Daddy!" Tyler laid in the swing and kicked up dirt, never more than two steps away from his daddy. Kyrie jumped off the swing and ran to the slide. The wind blew through her beautiful dark brown hair, and her big blue eyes just glimmered. And for a second, she just looked like a little angel. It was that feeling that everything in the world was perfect, and nothing could ever happen. It lasted only a second and was bitterly shattered as I caught a man out of the corner out of my eye. He just kept staring at her, and then he would look at me. As if to see if I was going to race him to her. My heart raced, and I went from being peaceful straight into survival mode.
I flew to my child. Talking loudly to my husband, telling him that it was time to leave. I looked straight into the eyes of the man that was looking at my daughter and mentally dared him to try it. I am without a doubt that if he had, in one second I would have had him ripped from limb to limb. He would not have been walking when I was through with him. I regularly come fully equipped with instinct, dead on aim, and a pair of steel toes. I'm fluent with all. Within seconds, I had Kyrie in my arms. I met my husband at the swing set, and I only had to say, "It's time to go, now!" once before he had everyone loaded in the truck. It was only when we were all safely in our truck that he asked what "set me off". We immediately left the area, and I subsequently sent out a text message to every parent I knew.
There is something lives inside of every mother that eternally bonds them to their child. It's beyond intuition, it's a 6th sense. It is more intense than flight or fight. It's love, instinct, agility, and adrenaline all mixed into one, and completely understated. When something disrupts that bond, it upsets the universe. It is becoming harder and harder to survive in this world. I mean that in the literal sense, and in the figurative sense. People are becoming more and more desensitized and violent, and more and more families are falling victim to lust and promises of empty pleasure. Its time for everyone to stop and take a good look at what's going on, and treasure what they hold dear. It's time to start praying, to start caring. Just because it isn't you today, doesn't mean that it couldn't be tomorrow. When will it matter? What does it take to send you into survival mode? How many times have you ignored that voice inside you that tells you that something is not right? How lucky do you really think you are?
It is time to start arming yourself and your family with knowledge and prayer. Teach your children about strangers and safety, teach your children to listen to that internal mechanism of wisdom. Give them the tools that they need, so that in the face of adversity they are knowledgeable. Teach them to pray, give them something to believe in and help them to find faith. Educate yourself, do the research. Research methods and means to protect yourself and your family... and one of the most important things that we can do as parents for our our children, is pray. Pray protection, peace, guidance, pray for their future. If you think it in your heart, then speak it to the Lord. Don't wait until the last minute to take a minute and check yourself. This world changes constantly. In this life, happiness can change to despair in the blink of an eye. Make every single moment important, because every second counts.
.
xoxoxo,
Audrie
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Supervised Chaos
This week's post is for the mommy that find's herself pulling her hair out because her 2 year old has dumped an entire bag of flour in the floor, and proceeded to roll around in it. =) I've been there, and I would like to share some thoughts and tips that I have learned along the way.
The most imporant rule I have learned as a parent, is this: Never ever think badly about your children. So, what do I mean by this? Most parent's dont think that their children are horrbile monsters that were created for mass destruction and world domination...(at least I hope so) But, EVERYONE has days that they have thought, "OMG! My children are driving me crazy!" I am the same way, but it's time to retrain that though. When you find yourself begin to think that, stop. Replace that thought with, child must be bored. What can we do to solve this? Break the negative cycle now, or your going to be miserable for a long time.
I'm going to be blunt, and please don't take offense. I have found mself in this very situation. If your children are making huge messes, then you probably aren't doing enough to keep them entertained. If you wont find something creative, and appropriate for them to do...then they will create something themselves. I cannot tell you how many that I have recently spent painting over crayon and markers, and taking nail polish off my hardwood floors. I was at my wits end, a few months ago. I was trying to go to school, run my home, and study.. it was a disasterous combination. It took a summer break, and two months before I devised a strategy to keep them engaged.
There are a few basic things that every parent of young children should keep stock of.
Cheap shaving cream
Bars of Ivory soap
Multicolored feathers
Pipe Cleaners
Fuzzy pompom balls in various sizes and colors
Glue
Google eyes
Popcorn
Straws
Finger paints
Glitter
Food coloring
Construction paper
Scissors
Bubble solution
Wax paper
Cheap plastic table cloths
and, of course....Crayons
How you combine them, it totally up to you, but I swear to you, if you make things for your children to do...then you will have less drama. Kids are super easy to enterain. You can put shaving cream on a plastic table cover, let them smear it all over the table cloth, make picture and shapes... whatever. Then, while they are stripping their clothes on the way to the bath, you fold up the table cloth and throw it in the trash. Mess dissappeared, and you aren't stuck scrubbing something off the walls. Ivory soap you can microwave...(yes it can be microwaved, and no.. it doesnt explode) once the soap cloud is cool let them help break the cloud up, dump some boiling water in the bowl...with a few drops of food coloring.. stir..and you have colored bath tub soap paint. Just a few that I have done.
The Soap cloud
Shaving cream!
The biggest part about parenting is remembering that they are kids. Not little adults. You are the parent, you are the adult. You have to take control of the situation. Do a self inventory, and see where you spend most of your time. Ask yourself three questions: What do I spend most of my time doing when the children are awake? What do they say to me when I am doing these things? What are the signs that trouble is in the wake? ( Do they get super quiet? Does he/she dissappear?) If you don't meet their tactile needs, they will do it on their own.....and you will have little to no control over what they do. I would rather waste a plastic table cloth, and spend an hour giving my kids a bath (and be called the best mom in the world), than to scrub crayon off my walls and floor.
It doesn't take much, but a little creativity can dissolve a huge headache. This is also a time that you can make special, teach them, make memories. Being a "good" parent is what you make of it. You can make happiness out of messes. If you control the enviornment, they can paint the shower walls with soap pain..and only you will know that as soon as they are out of the bath....the shower head will wash it down the drain. Let them be creative, but give them an outlet to do so. This time is gone in the blink of an eye. Before we know it, they will be gone and building families of their own. What do you want them to remember?
For me, I want them to remember happiness, the times their mommy let them make giant messes, and the shaving cream... oh, the shaving cream!
Blessings and love as your week continues!
xoxoxo,
Audrie
The most imporant rule I have learned as a parent, is this: Never ever think badly about your children. So, what do I mean by this? Most parent's dont think that their children are horrbile monsters that were created for mass destruction and world domination...(at least I hope so) But, EVERYONE has days that they have thought, "OMG! My children are driving me crazy!" I am the same way, but it's time to retrain that though. When you find yourself begin to think that, stop. Replace that thought with, child must be bored. What can we do to solve this? Break the negative cycle now, or your going to be miserable for a long time.
There are a few basic things that every parent of young children should keep stock of.
Cheap shaving cream
Bars of Ivory soap
Multicolored feathers
Pipe Cleaners
Fuzzy pompom balls in various sizes and colors
Glue
Google eyes
Popcorn
Straws
Finger paints
Glitter
Food coloring
Construction paper
Scissors
Bubble solution
Wax paper
Cheap plastic table cloths
and, of course....Crayons
How you combine them, it totally up to you, but I swear to you, if you make things for your children to do...then you will have less drama. Kids are super easy to enterain. You can put shaving cream on a plastic table cover, let them smear it all over the table cloth, make picture and shapes... whatever. Then, while they are stripping their clothes on the way to the bath, you fold up the table cloth and throw it in the trash. Mess dissappeared, and you aren't stuck scrubbing something off the walls. Ivory soap you can microwave...(yes it can be microwaved, and no.. it doesnt explode) once the soap cloud is cool let them help break the cloud up, dump some boiling water in the bowl...with a few drops of food coloring.. stir..and you have colored bath tub soap paint. Just a few that I have done.
The Soap cloud
Shaving cream! The biggest part about parenting is remembering that they are kids. Not little adults. You are the parent, you are the adult. You have to take control of the situation. Do a self inventory, and see where you spend most of your time. Ask yourself three questions: What do I spend most of my time doing when the children are awake? What do they say to me when I am doing these things? What are the signs that trouble is in the wake? ( Do they get super quiet? Does he/she dissappear?) If you don't meet their tactile needs, they will do it on their own.....and you will have little to no control over what they do. I would rather waste a plastic table cloth, and spend an hour giving my kids a bath (and be called the best mom in the world), than to scrub crayon off my walls and floor.
It doesn't take much, but a little creativity can dissolve a huge headache. This is also a time that you can make special, teach them, make memories. Being a "good" parent is what you make of it. You can make happiness out of messes. If you control the enviornment, they can paint the shower walls with soap pain..and only you will know that as soon as they are out of the bath....the shower head will wash it down the drain. Let them be creative, but give them an outlet to do so. This time is gone in the blink of an eye. Before we know it, they will be gone and building families of their own. What do you want them to remember?
For me, I want them to remember happiness, the times their mommy let them make giant messes, and the shaving cream... oh, the shaving cream!
Blessings and love as your week continues!
xoxoxo,
Audrie
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
If you reach out in faith, you will find yourself pulled onto the other side of grace
Some of my most favorite life lessons, have come from very unusual sources. While watching The Lion King with my children a few days ago, I was reminded of one that is important... Don't run from your past. Learn from it and move on. Most days, for most people that is easier said than done.
Let's face it, everyone has at least one skeleton in their closet. Everyone has a few secrets that they keep because they are afraid of what the world will think of them, and who they will disappoint. It is becoming harder and harder for people to surrender their secrets. Yes, there is an encrypted message in here, and at some point.. I might tell you about it...might. Defiantly not today, but maybe soon.
We are so mean to each other. We are created to love and prosper, but we do nothing but hate and destroy. The bible says that sin is sin, no matter how big it is. None of the sins that I have committed are any worse than the ones that you, or anyone else have committed. We are all all stained by sin, and will always bear the wound that these battles with sin have created. When we accept Christ, he heals the wounds. So, we have this awesome chance to be healed, and restored. To walk upright and hold our head up, because we are a forgiven people.
Even if you don't believe in Christ, the point is still this... If you steal a million dollars or just 100, your still a thief. What difference does it really make in the end? It doesn't, but because we are so quick to judge.. we will rationalize and reason defenses to the death. If making someone else look more guilty gets me off the hook, then so be it. Selfishness, greed, conceitedness, vanity.. we feed into that stuff, we breathe it.
Now, looking at it from that point of view.. tell me why we make it so hard for each other? I know that if I spilled and confessed my every sin, people very close would refuse to talk to me. Disown me even. I feared the people that I loved the most. I shouldn't have, and neither should you. The Lion King quote most relevant to this topic came from the scene that the baboon smacked Simba upside the head.
Simba- "Owe, what was that for?"
Rafiki- "What does it matter, it's in the past."
Does it matter? No. It only matters to us because we are all guilty. We are pointing the finger at someone else, hoping that no one sees through us. If I can make your sin and your messes look uglier than mine, than no one will pay attention to mine. Maybe, I wont have to face my past. Maybe, I wont have to deal with mine. Maybe... your wrong.
I have a challenge for each and every person that reads this. I challenge you to embrace the people around you with love, and with understanding. I want you to talk to someone, then let someone talk to you. Pray for people your upset with, let go of the baggage. I challenge you to reach out to someone you see struggling with the same secret as you. I challenge you to surrender that secret, to let go and help someone in need. The only request I have, is that you message me.. tell me what happened. I really believe that if you reach out in faith, you will find yourself pulled onto the other side of grace.
So, what are you waiting for? In the mean time, I'll be praying for each and every person that comes across this. Be bold, and redefine yourself.
XOXOX!
Audrie
P.S. If you just need to share something, please know that my sin is just as black. I offer prayer, love, and support.
Let's face it, everyone has at least one skeleton in their closet. Everyone has a few secrets that they keep because they are afraid of what the world will think of them, and who they will disappoint. It is becoming harder and harder for people to surrender their secrets. Yes, there is an encrypted message in here, and at some point.. I might tell you about it...might. Defiantly not today, but maybe soon.
We are so mean to each other. We are created to love and prosper, but we do nothing but hate and destroy. The bible says that sin is sin, no matter how big it is. None of the sins that I have committed are any worse than the ones that you, or anyone else have committed. We are all all stained by sin, and will always bear the wound that these battles with sin have created. When we accept Christ, he heals the wounds. So, we have this awesome chance to be healed, and restored. To walk upright and hold our head up, because we are a forgiven people.
Even if you don't believe in Christ, the point is still this... If you steal a million dollars or just 100, your still a thief. What difference does it really make in the end? It doesn't, but because we are so quick to judge.. we will rationalize and reason defenses to the death. If making someone else look more guilty gets me off the hook, then so be it. Selfishness, greed, conceitedness, vanity.. we feed into that stuff, we breathe it.
Now, looking at it from that point of view.. tell me why we make it so hard for each other? I know that if I spilled and confessed my every sin, people very close would refuse to talk to me. Disown me even. I feared the people that I loved the most. I shouldn't have, and neither should you. The Lion King quote most relevant to this topic came from the scene that the baboon smacked Simba upside the head.
Simba- "Owe, what was that for?"
Rafiki- "What does it matter, it's in the past."
Does it matter? No. It only matters to us because we are all guilty. We are pointing the finger at someone else, hoping that no one sees through us. If I can make your sin and your messes look uglier than mine, than no one will pay attention to mine. Maybe, I wont have to face my past. Maybe, I wont have to deal with mine. Maybe... your wrong.
I have a challenge for each and every person that reads this. I challenge you to embrace the people around you with love, and with understanding. I want you to talk to someone, then let someone talk to you. Pray for people your upset with, let go of the baggage. I challenge you to reach out to someone you see struggling with the same secret as you. I challenge you to surrender that secret, to let go and help someone in need. The only request I have, is that you message me.. tell me what happened. I really believe that if you reach out in faith, you will find yourself pulled onto the other side of grace.
So, what are you waiting for? In the mean time, I'll be praying for each and every person that comes across this. Be bold, and redefine yourself.
XOXOX!
Audrie
P.S. If you just need to share something, please know that my sin is just as black. I offer prayer, love, and support.
Saturday, February 11, 2012
So yesterday was Kyrie's 5th birthday party. I have to say that even thought I was completely dissapointed with the way the day went down..didnt get into the church until 5 (which was the time that I told everyone to be there) and a few important people couldn't make it...but She had a blast. We did a rainbow theme, and I made everything... well, almost. She requested a rainbow LAYERED (not just a cake with rainbow icing, 6 flipping layers, each one a different color) cake, rainbow playdough, some decorated marshmellows.. stuff like that. Since this is the first birthday party that I have not worked or had school to interfear with planning... I decided...I'll do everything that I can by hand...make it more special.
So, two days later, I joined pintrest, and started looking at different things trying to get ideas for what the heck I was going to do. I even googled "rainbow party"..which turned up some very inappropriate results, so we stuck with the stuff on pintrest instead.
Day one started Monday.. I went to the grocery store.. with my list..which by the way, if you have a busy family life, or if your like me, and cant remember what you need at the store 10 seconds after you back out of the driveway..and can't remember to take the list inside the store with you... join Cozi.com. It's an awesome website that lets you build a family calendar, and my favorite thing...it lets you build a grocery list online...then you have the option of sending the list to your phone in a text message!Awesome!! I know, right? Why didn't I think of that? Moving on... It took me nearly 2 hours to get the shopping done. I went after naptime, so by the time I got home...I had just enough time to make some mess free finger painting bags (I'll explain later) and put on a movie for the kids so that I could make dinner. So, kinda a wasted day.
Tuesday, I got out all of my stuff and began building the playdough and the mason jars that would contain it. At first I was going to make glitter dough, but I figured my son would just eat it. So, I looked for a alternative that would be ok should someone (Tyler man) decide put it to the culnary test. I chose koolaide playdough, because one..its basics are flour, sugar, koolaide, and water..I had everything that I needed to make it, in my pantry. Two.. it can be eaten should someone get curious, and it smells good. So...simple right? WRONG! Making that playdough was literally one of the single most mind boggling messes of my adult life. I'll tell you why..here is the instructions
1 cup flour
1/2 cup sugar
3 teaspoons Cream of tatar
2 table spoons olive or vegetable oil
1 cup of water
1 package of koolaide-any flavor
Mix together, cook over medium to low heat for 10 minutes or until thick, allow to cool.Knead for 2 minutes or until pliable. If tacky add 1/4 cup flour
Well.. It thickened in like 2 minutes. I learned that the lemonade, does not actually have any color...so I colored it with Wilton's Gel food coloring and got an awesome sunny yellow color. The add 1/4 cup of flour, should have read more like...when you take it off the stove to knead it...just dump the whole flipping bag of flour in there...and work it! I lost count of how much flour I ended up using, but by the time I was done..so was my bag of flour. It took me FOREVER!! However, I am now able to recite the instructions at the drop of a hat, by memory. I made 5 colors, red, orange, yellow, green, and blue. I had the stuff to make purple..but by the time I finished the first 5... I was ready to pull my hair out! It made a ton of playdough, I had more than enough for the 6 small mason jars that I was going to put it in, which was a good thing. Word to the wise.. if you choose to layer the colors in the jar one on top of the other, do two things. One, flour between each layer, and two allow the dough to dry out a bit before you shut the lid.. if you don't.. it will stick, and it will be a pain the the butt to get out the next day...TRUST me! The second round of playdough, I let them air out a bit (about 15-20 minutes , I threw a load of laundry in to wash and pulled one out of the dryer..did't fold) then rolled the colors into small balls that I pressed into flour on each side before I layered it in the glass. It wwas still a bit tacky after that, but you could actually get each layer out one at a time. I put the play dough in small mason jars, and made a handle out of some rainbow ribbon, and multicolored number buttons that I found in the sewing section at Wal-Mart. I cut the ribbon, glued the ends together, and then glued a number 5 button on top.. to attach the "handle", I unscrewed the lid of the jar laid a section of the ribbon across the rim, making sure the button was at the top, and screwed the lid on. Easy peasy!
Here is the end result, cute right?
So... I also made her a bow and a special birthday bow, using some of the same rainbow ribbon and a few scraps of ribbon I had in my craft drawer... I can't find a picture of the bow it's self, but I do have one of my sweet girl wearing it. I'm planning on making a ton of summer hair bow's for the girls soon, and I will post instructions for all of them, including the birthday bow and ribbon shoes then, but here is a shot of the birthday bow. I will tell you that if you can find the cheap keds or faded glory tennis shoes..buy a few pairs of them. Even if you can ony find the white ones.buy them. They can always be dyed another color to match an outfit, and they are super cheap! So your daughter can have a little pair of shoes to match most of her outfits without doing major damage to your wallet!
Not an upclose picture, but you can see it pretty well.
Here are the ribbon shoes.. she is still wearing them, and now Nataleigh wants a pair. They would be super cute for a cheerleading squad or dance team.. just a though!
Now on to the cake! The most time consuming task of the entire project. I found a site that explained how to make the cake from scratch...and I though about it until I looked at how long it took to do that.. 6 hours! I have 3 small children running around my house. There is no way I can devote 6 hours to baking one cake..so I cheated. Bought white cake mixes, 3 got 6 mixing bowls, and divided the cake batter nto each bow ( about 2 cups of cake batter per bowl is more than enough) Added about a teaspoon of Wilton's Gel frosting coloring...and mixed. I baked them according to the time on the box. I let each of the layers cool, then stacked them. Purple on bottom, blue, green, then yellow orange and red. I used regular vanilla Betty Crocker icing, to frost the cake, Kyrie wanted the frosting orange, so I put some dye in the frosting as well. I put it on a cake stand, surrounded the bottom with gulballs, and called it a cake. The cake turned out a bit lopsided, but by the time I was done.. I didnt care. I just wanted to load the thing up and get it the heck out of there! It looked kinda pitiful on the outside, but the inside was awesome. The colors were vibrant, and it put a big smile on my little girl's face...which was all that mattered.
So.. like I said, the outside...kinda sad, but the inside.. is pretty much awesomenss on a plate. She though it was the best thing since sliced bread, and everyone was pretty much in awe of the vivid colors I had managed to produce in this cake. I will probably never do this again, because I fear for my sanity.... but it was all worth it to see my little girl's face to light up like that.
So when the kids left the party, they left with three things. A small water bottle (the little ones, like 4 ounces?) with ribbon wrabbed around the middle, the homemade playdough, and a small bag of Werthers Original candies... the thought process was this.. Rain comes before every rainbow, but it's always followed with a pot of gold.. The only suggestion I will make...is for the water bottles. I could only find thin satin ribbon, which was too thin to cover the blue bottle wrapper. I suggest using grosgrain, if you are content on doing a white base ribbon. Some thing that is thicker and that the bottle wrapper wont show through. Then wrap your second ribbon around the middle and glue. For whatever reason, I can't get the darn picture to upload right now, so I will post it later.
Werthers happened to be the ONLY candy I could find in a gold wrapper. Oh the joys of living in a small town! I wanted gold coins, but didnt have time to order them in, and again..we have no where to find them here in small town USA. So, I improvised..still turned out cute. For table decorations I just covered the able with plastic table cloths, and threw what was left of the multicolored buttons on them. I put the forks and spoons on mason jars... served tea and lemonade....and Oh, yeah.. The kids table! I nearly forgot I covered one of the tables with poster boards... got a giant box of crayons (Its the one that comes with it's own plastic sharpner) divided them into three mason jars..and Tah Dah! A table that they can color on.
So, that is the ends and outs of the rainbow birthday party, please feel free to contact me with any questions you have...or comments!
xoxo!
Audrie
So, two days later, I joined pintrest, and started looking at different things trying to get ideas for what the heck I was going to do. I even googled "rainbow party"..which turned up some very inappropriate results, so we stuck with the stuff on pintrest instead.
Day one started Monday.. I went to the grocery store.. with my list..which by the way, if you have a busy family life, or if your like me, and cant remember what you need at the store 10 seconds after you back out of the driveway..and can't remember to take the list inside the store with you... join Cozi.com. It's an awesome website that lets you build a family calendar, and my favorite thing...it lets you build a grocery list online...then you have the option of sending the list to your phone in a text message!Awesome!! I know, right? Why didn't I think of that? Moving on... It took me nearly 2 hours to get the shopping done. I went after naptime, so by the time I got home...I had just enough time to make some mess free finger painting bags (I'll explain later) and put on a movie for the kids so that I could make dinner. So, kinda a wasted day.
Tuesday, I got out all of my stuff and began building the playdough and the mason jars that would contain it. At first I was going to make glitter dough, but I figured my son would just eat it. So, I looked for a alternative that would be ok should someone (Tyler man) decide put it to the culnary test. I chose koolaide playdough, because one..its basics are flour, sugar, koolaide, and water..I had everything that I needed to make it, in my pantry. Two.. it can be eaten should someone get curious, and it smells good. So...simple right? WRONG! Making that playdough was literally one of the single most mind boggling messes of my adult life. I'll tell you why..here is the instructions
1 cup flour
1/2 cup sugar
3 teaspoons Cream of tatar
2 table spoons olive or vegetable oil
1 cup of water
1 package of koolaide-any flavor
Mix together, cook over medium to low heat for 10 minutes or until thick, allow to cool.Knead for 2 minutes or until pliable. If tacky add 1/4 cup flour
Well.. It thickened in like 2 minutes. I learned that the lemonade, does not actually have any color...so I colored it with Wilton's Gel food coloring and got an awesome sunny yellow color. The add 1/4 cup of flour, should have read more like...when you take it off the stove to knead it...just dump the whole flipping bag of flour in there...and work it! I lost count of how much flour I ended up using, but by the time I was done..so was my bag of flour. It took me FOREVER!! However, I am now able to recite the instructions at the drop of a hat, by memory. I made 5 colors, red, orange, yellow, green, and blue. I had the stuff to make purple..but by the time I finished the first 5... I was ready to pull my hair out! It made a ton of playdough, I had more than enough for the 6 small mason jars that I was going to put it in, which was a good thing. Word to the wise.. if you choose to layer the colors in the jar one on top of the other, do two things. One, flour between each layer, and two allow the dough to dry out a bit before you shut the lid.. if you don't.. it will stick, and it will be a pain the the butt to get out the next day...TRUST me! The second round of playdough, I let them air out a bit (about 15-20 minutes , I threw a load of laundry in to wash and pulled one out of the dryer..did't fold) then rolled the colors into small balls that I pressed into flour on each side before I layered it in the glass. It wwas still a bit tacky after that, but you could actually get each layer out one at a time. I put the play dough in small mason jars, and made a handle out of some rainbow ribbon, and multicolored number buttons that I found in the sewing section at Wal-Mart. I cut the ribbon, glued the ends together, and then glued a number 5 button on top.. to attach the "handle", I unscrewed the lid of the jar laid a section of the ribbon across the rim, making sure the button was at the top, and screwed the lid on. Easy peasy!
Here is the end result, cute right?
Not an upclose picture, but you can see it pretty well.
Now on to the cake! The most time consuming task of the entire project. I found a site that explained how to make the cake from scratch...and I though about it until I looked at how long it took to do that.. 6 hours! I have 3 small children running around my house. There is no way I can devote 6 hours to baking one cake..so I cheated. Bought white cake mixes, 3 got 6 mixing bowls, and divided the cake batter nto each bow ( about 2 cups of cake batter per bowl is more than enough) Added about a teaspoon of Wilton's Gel frosting coloring...and mixed. I baked them according to the time on the box. I let each of the layers cool, then stacked them. Purple on bottom, blue, green, then yellow orange and red. I used regular vanilla Betty Crocker icing, to frost the cake, Kyrie wanted the frosting orange, so I put some dye in the frosting as well. I put it on a cake stand, surrounded the bottom with gulballs, and called it a cake. The cake turned out a bit lopsided, but by the time I was done.. I didnt care. I just wanted to load the thing up and get it the heck out of there! It looked kinda pitiful on the outside, but the inside was awesome. The colors were vibrant, and it put a big smile on my little girl's face...which was all that mattered.
So.. like I said, the outside...kinda sad, but the inside.. is pretty much awesomenss on a plate. She though it was the best thing since sliced bread, and everyone was pretty much in awe of the vivid colors I had managed to produce in this cake. I will probably never do this again, because I fear for my sanity.... but it was all worth it to see my little girl's face to light up like that.
So when the kids left the party, they left with three things. A small water bottle (the little ones, like 4 ounces?) with ribbon wrabbed around the middle, the homemade playdough, and a small bag of Werthers Original candies... the thought process was this.. Rain comes before every rainbow, but it's always followed with a pot of gold.. The only suggestion I will make...is for the water bottles. I could only find thin satin ribbon, which was too thin to cover the blue bottle wrapper. I suggest using grosgrain, if you are content on doing a white base ribbon. Some thing that is thicker and that the bottle wrapper wont show through. Then wrap your second ribbon around the middle and glue. For whatever reason, I can't get the darn picture to upload right now, so I will post it later.
Werthers happened to be the ONLY candy I could find in a gold wrapper. Oh the joys of living in a small town! I wanted gold coins, but didnt have time to order them in, and again..we have no where to find them here in small town USA. So, I improvised..still turned out cute. For table decorations I just covered the able with plastic table cloths, and threw what was left of the multicolored buttons on them. I put the forks and spoons on mason jars... served tea and lemonade....and Oh, yeah.. The kids table! I nearly forgot I covered one of the tables with poster boards... got a giant box of crayons (Its the one that comes with it's own plastic sharpner) divided them into three mason jars..and Tah Dah! A table that they can color on.
So, that is the ends and outs of the rainbow birthday party, please feel free to contact me with any questions you have...or comments!
xoxo!
Audrie
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