Goodbye Winter

As Winter waves farewell with one last (hopefully) snow storm, we are stuck inside once again. Usually, we would do winter-themed crafts and embrace the falling snow. But not any more. We have had enough snow and Winter-y crafts this year. And it's March!
So we said our goodbyes to Winter by greeting Spring with some fun crafts.

First, we made some fun fork-printed tulip flowers. For Annabelle's tulip garden, I drew the flower stems, so she knew where to print the flowers. For Hazel's, I let her stamp freely, and added the stems later.

Annabelle had to take a quick break from doing her project to talk on the phone though. Grandmom called.

Our next project was popcorn cherry blossoms. I traced each of their hands onto a piece of brown paper and cut it out to use as the tree. Annabelle did a great job gluing the popcorn onto her tree. Hazel, on the other hand, was upset that I wouldn't let her eat the popcorn that had glue on it. I couldn't resist that little pout, so I just let her have a little snack.

And just like that, all was well in Hazel's world.

For our third project, Annabelle did a number matching activity, gluing leaves to carrots.  The carrots were numbered 1-5 and glued randomly to a piece of paper. Annabelle was then instructed to identify the numbers, and glue the correct number of leaves to each one.

While she did that, Hazel played with a container of magnetic  letters and a cookie sheet. I love using these Pamper's wipe containers, as they also allowed her to practice fine-motor skills, sliding each letter into the small hole at the top.

We hope you all enjoyed one last snow day this year. Spring will be here soon, and so will more fun activities. We cannot wait to get outside and enjoy the park, sidewalk chalk, bubbles, and more.

One

And just like that, she's one.
So here's a little bit about our joyful little girl.

And of course, Hazel is little & loving it!

8 Reasons To Garden

When I go grocery shopping, I rarely buy produce. I might buy a bunch or two of bananas each week, but I pass by the shining bell peppers, and glowing carrots. I skip right to the cereals, pastas, and canned goodness.  But my family eats plenty of fresh produce everyday. In fact, I recently made a carrot-top pesto along with fresh green beans in a homemade tomato sauce for dinner. It was divine.
No, I don't like paying for fruits and vegetables that have been doused in poisonous chemicals, irradiated, and covered in a shiny wax, just so it looks good and doesn't go bad in the week-long trek to the store. No thank you.
This Summer, our family joined two other families on a new and exciting adventure of gardening. It's a lot of work, and is a major time commitment. But it is worth it. Here are a few reasons we choose to garden, and will continue to do so in future years.
1. It's better than going to the grocery store.
I dread going to the grocery store with the kids in tow each week. We walk in, and immediately I forget what I came for. My coupons are a mess, and already Annabelle is asking for a snack, a drink, and a potty break all while Hazel is attempting to Houdini her way out of the Mei Tai wrap. I reach for my list, just to realize I left it in the car. Do I hike all the way back through the parking lot, wasting precious minutes of patience from the girls, or do I just wing it? I'm not going back out. I wrote the list. I studied the list. I know what's on the list. Wait. Were Cheerios on sale here, or at the other store?
After navigating the aisles for what feels like an eternity, I realize I forgot to get the chicken breasts for tonight's dinner. Backtrack. Past the ice cream. Past the donuts. Past the candy aisle. Again.
Finally, we are done shopping. And then there are the lines. Twenty checkout stations, and only two are open. Seriously? Annabelle squirms in the cart, eye level with the chocolate bars and $1 impulse items, as the shopper in front of us empties her purse in search for that 15 cent coupon that expired last month anyway.
2. Save money
Our grocery bill this Summer has been well below budget most weeks. Unfortunately toilet bowl cleaner and fruit snacks don't grow in a garden. We have still purchased some produce from the store: bananas, avocados, bagged salad. But that has been minimal. With that being said, we have been frequenting the grocery store less. It's easier to stock up on non-perishables on a semi-weekly basis.
3. Kids are interested in eating something they helped grow
Allowing children to help in the kitchen has been a tactic against picky eating for years. When a child helps with dinner, she is likely to be proud of her work, and eat whatever she made. This rings true for the garden as well. We have had a few dinners this Summer that were almost entirely from the garden. One in particular, was Italian seasoned zucchini cakes with homemade tomato sauce. One little reminder to Annabelle that our dinner came from the garden, and she dug right in.
4. You control the use of pesticides
I have a problem with eating "USDA certified organic". Yes, organic does have its advantages of lacking harmful pesticides. But, that label comes at a hefty cost. Companies pay big bucks to have their facilities inspected by government workers to ensure pesticides were not used.
It's much easier (and cheaper) to maintain pest control yourself. I would be amiss to say that we have not used any pesticides at all in the garden. We had to use a very mild pesticide on one type of plant to avoid losing the entire crop to bugs. The way I see it, is that pesticides do not need to be an all-or-nothing deal. We chose not to spray the entire garden and surrounding area with toxins, but we also chose to save our crop when necessary.
Are we USDA certified organic? No.
But we are doing our best.
5. Educate children
One evening, as we were harvesting tomatoes as a family, I had to chuckle to myself. Annabelle was picking tomatoes in red, orange, and purple.Yes. Purple. We also have purple basil. What's going to happen when Annabelle is in school, and is given a coloring page of a tomato, and reaches for a purple crayon? Children are taught that tomatoes are red, and leaves are green. While that is not false, it's also not entirely true. Annabelle and Hazel will hopefully have a better understanding about how plants grow, and that tomatoes, peppers, and onions come in all shapes, sizes, colors and flavors.
6. A true appreciation and thanksgiving at the table
One Saturday afternoon, after a long morning of gardening, we loaded up the van with our harvest. We worked hard for that food. The lettuce, and tomatoes were still warm from the morning sun. And as we gathered to pray before eating, our words carried so much more weight: "Thank You, Lord for this bounty. Thank You for allowing this to grow from seed. Thank you for protecting our crop from excessive heat, drought, or animals"
Whao.
That was a big moment for me. We planted the seed. But He allowed it to grow. And protected it. Paul reminds us in 1 Corinthians 3:7 "So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow."
7. Family bonding
Gardening is not a one man job. It takes a lot of teamwork and man-hours (woman-hours? child-hours?). Evenings when we get to go to the garden are magical. Annabelle prances through the field, begging Tad to cut her some pretty flowers; Hazel crawls on a blanket laid across the grass; Tad finds the perfect eggplants, cucumbers, and lettuces for the week's meals; all while I take it all in. We talk, laugh, and enjoy the uninterrupted company of one another. There is no television beckoning at us, no computers vying for our attention. Just us and the garden.
8. Pay it forward
God has been so good to us. This has been one of the mildest Summers I remember in my life. Evenings have been cool, no higher than 70F, accompanied by weekly rainshowers. This has allowed our garden to thrive, and multiply fruitfully. We can't keep up with it all. Eating all of it has been nearly impossible for the three families.
We are commanded throughout the Bible to give our first-fruits to the Lord. We have been encouraged by these passages to bless a local ministry with boxes upon boxes of produce. I do not say this to pat ourselves on the back, but to give glory back to God. Because He made our garden plentiful, that He may provide for us, as well as others.

Apple Sauce

The wonderful part of starting our own family, is starting our own family traditions. With Autumn being my favorite time of year, my favorite new tradition takes place during these crisp, cozy months.
It all begins when Tad comes home with a beautiful arrangement of flowers a decadent box of chocolates a bushel of apples.

Yes, I said apples.

But not just any apples.
Empire apples.
Mahogany red, crunchy, sweet, aromatic Empire apples.
I eagerly rinse each piece of fruit, and lay them all out on a towel to dry. A few apples always seem to go missing before being quartered and sliced.

It takes me three pots to keep the apples simmering until soft. In the end, I have just two pots of the soft, pink perfume.

Tad then sets up the strainer, as I call Annabelle into the kitchen to help. Her golden locks bounce behind her, as she sings and skips into the kitchen.
It's apple sauce time.
Apple soup goes in the plastic white funnel to be turned and pressed through the mesh holes, and down the aluminum slide.
Apple sauce.
Bright pink, and still warm from the stove-top, the sauce is now scooped into individual bowls for each of us to enjoy the sweet goodness that is homemade apple sauce.

We have plenty to freeze for later, but it never lasts very long before being consumed.

Messy Monday: Pumpkin Playdoh

Autumn has arrived. And I couldn't be happier.
Last Tuesday was the first full day of my favorite season. The air was perfectly crisp, as I dressed the girls in long sleeves, and put a hat on Hazel to venture out for our daily walk around the neighborhood. They looked precious, all bundled up and warm. Trees were beginning to become dotted with bursts of yellow and orange.
But one of the best parts of Autumn is pumpkin spice everything.
So when I found this recipe for pumpkin spice playdough, I just had to share my love with Annabelle.
After our walk, Hazel was ready for a nap. Perfect time for some Mommy and Annabelle bonding and learning.
While this recipe was simple, it still took a great deal of parental supervision and assistance, as you need to use a stove.

I measured out the ingredients, and placed them in individual containers, so she could enjoy dumping each item into the pot before mixing it together. (I added a little vanilla extract to the water, to give it a little yummier smell.)
I was surprised that she mixed it for as long as she did before needing my help.

I'll admit, by the time the mixture came together, my arm was feeling a little sore.
Start to finish, I'd say it took about 10 or 15 minutes.

We waited a few more minutes before the dough was cool enough to touch, and I added a few drops of orange food coloring, and kneaded it to distribute the color.
I love that the cinnamon and nutmeg left flecks of brown in the dough to give it a more natural look to it.
Annabelle liked that the dough was still warm when I gave it to her. She had a great time making a family of little pumpkins.

It was so perfectly soft, and so much nicer than store-bought play-doh, It even cleaned up more easily.
When we were done playing (about an hour later), I placed the ball into a Ziploc bag, squeezed all the air out, and zipped it shut. We pulled it out again a few days later, and it was still very soft and pliable.

This recipe is a great base recipe, and I plan on making peppermint playdoh in December with red dye.
Try different scents and colors.
You can also add glitter for an extra shimmer.

Why I Write

When I was in first grade, I misspelled my first word on a spelling test. Dinosaur. I had never misspelled a word on a test before, and rarely have I misspelled a word on a test since that moment.
When I was in third grade, I was given a free-writing assignment. I chose to write about a recent dream I had. I remember becoming so engrossed in the assignment, that the time allotted was not sufficient for me to finish my story.
In tenth grade, I loved vocabulary assignments. I loved learning new words, and writing elaborate, poetic sentences on the white board.
Writing has always been a passion of mine.
But as I got older - and busier - I stopped making time to write. I also felt like I had nothing to write about. I read other blogs and thought, "I'm not an expert at anything. Nobody will want to read my blog."
Because, let's face it, I actually want people to read what I write.
Any other blog I've read is written by experts. Expert photographers. Expert designers. Expert chefs. Expert home organizers. I'm not an expert in any of those areas.
I was facing major writer's block.
Then we were blessed with Hazel.
I realized that my area of expertise is my own home. My own children.
Raising a child with a developmental difference can be stressful at times. Hazel came with her own bag of parental concerns. Is she holding her head up steadily enough? Should she be as physically active as she is? Is her back okay? When was the last time I checked her soft spot? When is her next checkup? Can this concern wait until we see the doctor next? Is that a concern for her pediatrician? Geneticist? Orthopedist? And the list goes on.
In this whirlwind of confusion, I have been blessed by other Mom bloggers who have been where I am now. I have become part of a wonderful community of parents who are going through the same struggles (and joys!).
Social media has been a helpful tool for myself and my family through these past months.
Writing has become an outlet for myself, as well as an educational tool for others (I hope!).
I don't have all the answers. I don't know everything there is to know about raising a child with achondroplasia. But I am learning.
God blessed me with a special little girl for a special purpose. And I'm not about to sit back, and let my gift go to waste.
Through this blog, I hope to educate, bless, and connect.
I am not an expert photographer, designer, chef, or home organizer. (That last one makes me laugh!)
But I am an expert at being Mommy to Annabelle and Hazel.
And that is a good enough reason to write.
Thank you all for joining my journey, and I hope you always leave blessed.

Here's just a fun little picture of me with my girls on Cow Appreciation Day.

Messy Monday: Slime With A Twist

Having a child with eczema makes sensory play a bit of a challenge. But when that child loves sensory play, you make it happen.
Having made slime (corn starch and water) a few times already, I wanted to give it a little twist this time. After a quick search for "eczema friendly sensory play", I found Interaction Imagination. Her method used lotion and corn starch, but suggested trying coconut oil.
Coconut oil? We love coconut oil!
Here is what you will need:

I melted small Dixie cups of coconut oil, and added a few drops of green food coloring. I wish I had thought ahead, and had Annabelle help with this step. Being water-based, the food coloring did not mix with the oil. Instead, it bubbled, as it sank to the bottom of the cup. A quick stir with a chopstick broke up the bubbles into several tiny specks of green, floating in the oil. What fun that would have been with multiple colors in a clear cup and a flashlight.

I then placed the cups in the refrigerator to quickly solidify the oil. I was hoping this would enhance the sensory experience. While we waited, an impromptu game of balloon baseball with a hair brush broke out in the living room.

Annabelle especially loved trying to catch the balloon, while I kept whacking it with the hairbrush, out of her reach. She did correct me at one point, however. Apparently, you are only supposed to hit the balloon with the bristles.

Hazel enjoyed the show, too. She got excited whenever the balloon floated close to her.

Before long, the coconut oil was solidified, and ready.

Just like the baking soda experiment, I started by giving Annabelle one component of the activity at a time. She played with the corn starch like it was snow, scooping, scraping, and sculpting to the best of her ability.

After about 10 minutes, I added the oil. If I were to do this activity again, I would have left the oil at room temperature, so that it would be a solid state, but not so hard. She struggled to get the oil out of the cup and melt it with her hands. This caused her to lose some interest in the block of oil, until I helped her by squeezing it between my fingers.

Once that was done, though, her mess was under way. The highlight of the activity, was when she discovered she could make farting noises by squeezing the mixture between her palms. She giggled as the goop oozed between her fingers, and the fart noises abounded.

She played for about an hour, covering her arms and face in corn starch and coconut oil. Clean-up took about 10 minutes (not including getting herself cleaned up, which wound up being a quick bath).

The Power Of A Smile

Summer is my busiest time of the year. Since Annabelle was a baby, I have babysat through the Summer months. Having children in the home who are in different age groups can be a challenge. This Summer has been no exception. This week has been no exception. This is the first year that I have three different age groups in my home: Hazel, being a very needy infant; Annabelle, being an independent pre-schooler; and this year, Gretchen (name has been changed for protection, since she is not my child). Gretchen is 6 years old, so that gives me my third age-group. School-aged.

So we have three very different sets of needs, schedules, and interests.

We have managed so far with walks, visits to parks, and reading books from the library.

This week, Gretchen has been at day camp!

Great. I will be loaded up, and out of the house by 9am every day, ready to run my errands. Then I can come home for swimming, lunch, and naps.

Hah!

Who was I kidding? It's been more like: running out to the van, racing against the clock, breakfast half-eaten and shoved in my bag, jamming more into my morning than I accomplish in an average week, late lunch, and fighting an over-tired pre-schooler down for her afternoon nap, praying she doesn't wake the sleeping infant in the next room.

Three days in, and three out of four of us simultaneously ran out of steam.

I struggled to get out of bed by 7:15, Annabelle struggled to follow simple directions, and Gretchen struggled to get excited for camp.

We talked in the van about how much fun she would have with all of her friends, but I wasn't getting anywhere with either of the two girls.

If I didn't figure something out fast, we were in for a long, grumpy day.

So I did what any Mom would do in this situation.

I cranked up the radio, and danced like a fool at a stoplight. I I think I embarrassed the girls, as they begged me to stop.

"I'm not stopping until you both give me a great big smile!"

Finally, they cracked. Big, bright smiles crossed their faces, as they started to giggle.

Then Annabelle said something insightful.

"Smiling makes me happy."

Wow.

So simple, and so true.

Smiling makes me happy.

If we would all wake up, and greet the sun with a smile, our mornings would go much more smoothly.

I held onto those words for the rest of our day, as we smiled through a near-empty gas tank, late lunch, and rough nap routine.

We all need to smile more.

Because smiling makes you happy.

Children can be out best philosophers, as they have the freshest, most innocent view of their world. They don't add caveats to their thoughts, or complicate them in feeble attempts to be poetic. They are just straight-forward and simple.

Smiling makes me happy.