Liv's dinner

Just a quick note to document Liv's dinner selection this evening - grapefruit and seaweed. M is having scrambled eggs and cantaloupe. Leftover night sure does inspire interesting meals!

Where did 2012 go?

So, a year ago I was all excited about house to home projects and about blogging. Not sure where that year went. J and I attended a seminar this past weekend called Your Best Year Yet, and, once again, I had to admit that I am challenged when it comes to consistency. I have a few strategies to address that, so we'll see how it goes.

I was looking at our Doc's newsletter (Dr. Sharon Hausman-Cohen, Balcones Woods Family Medicine, http://www.bwfamilymedicine.com) and was reminded of a favorite book - The Five Love Languages. Here's a bit from the newsletter about how to show love to someone based on his/her love language:

Words of affirmation:
-Look for your partner's strengths and tell him or her how much you appreciate those strengths. Set a goal to give your partner a different compliment each day for one month
-Write a love letter, love paragraph, or love sentence and give it quietly or with fanfare

Acts of service:
-Do some major acts of service like washing the car, cooking a meal, painting a bedroom, or washing the deck and then post a sign that reads, "To [other's name] with love"
-Make a list of the requests that the other person has made of you over the past few weeks. Select one of these each week and do it as an expression of love.

Gifts:
-Keep a "Gift Idea Notebook." Every time you hear the other person say, "I really like that," write it down in the notebook.
-Try a parade of gifts throughout the day, or giving the other person a small gift every day for a random week. Gifts don't have to be purchased, they can include things found in nature or made by hand.

Physical touch:
-Giving hugs and massages; holding hands whenever possible

Quality time:
-Ask the other person for a list of five activities that he or she would enjoy doing with you. Make plans to do one of them each month for the next five months.

Sheesh. I'm exhausted after 2 weeks with the girls at home, and we're already to get back to our school routine. So, this is it for today.

Until next week,
asl

2012: The year we make our house our own

Morgen's first teacher, Ms. Viktoria, told me that it takes 3 years to recover emotionally and physically from the birth of a child.  I don't remember the source, but I believe it to be true for me.  My energy level is finally allowing me to take on projects around the house!  As a comparison, I'm pretty sure that after the first week of winter break last year, I was in the fetal position on the sofa.  ;)

So, what are these projects?  Well, I cleared out the laundry room - my staging area, as Jeff refers to it with a smirk - of all items to be donated, put into the garage, returned or loaned to people, or just plain thrown away or recycled.  The excitement of being able to walk through fed the momentum, and the hall closet received the same treatment.  Hooray!

After the high of purging stuff from our home, and because I was desperate to take the girls somewhere...anywhere to survive until dinner last Thursday (a nap-free day), we went to the hardware store and bought paint and supplies for Liv's room.  I got through almost all of the painting on Friday; sadly, I nearly ran out of paint with second coats to go on two walls, so I'll finish that tomorrow.  I'll post a pic or two then - so far, I'm super pleased, as are the girls.  Jeff thinks it's a touch bright, but when the furniture is back in place, and the pictures are hung, I think it's going to be perfect!!

Another bonus came out of the painting being a touch delayed.  The girls are sleeping in M's room for a couple of nights until the paint smell completely goes away, and tonight went very well!  They talked for a little while, but were asleep by 8pm.  Our last experiment was far less successful.  M really wants to sleep in her bunk bed, and she's been pull-up free since October at night.  We made a deal with them, that if they could prove that they could sleep in the same room this week, we'd move the bunk beds into the-room-formerly-known-as-Liv's and make the room-formerly-known-as-Morgen's into a play and craft room.  Talk about motivation!  They are super excited.

That will create another project - carpet removal in the play room.  Tee hee.  Don't tell Jeff that part yet.  ;)  I want to add flor, since they still do a ton of stuff on the floor.  http://www.flor.com/feelin-groovy-lime.html

The other fun project that will be finished this week is the framed chalk art bits that will surround the kitchen, and, ideally, entertain the children so that they stay out of the kitchen while I am in it.  :)


Again, pictures will be posted as each project is completed - likely this week.


Saw this recently and really like it.  Not sure if it's accurate, or if it's Bob Marley, but I like the sentiment a lot:


“You may not be her first, her last, or her only. She loved before she may love again. But if she loves you now, what else matters? She's not perfect - you aren't either, and the two of you may never be perfect together but if she can make you laugh, cause you to think twice, and admit to being human and making mistakes, hold onto her and give her the most you can. She may not be thinking about you every second of the day, but she will give you a part of her that she knows you can break - her heart. So don't hurt her, don't change her, don't analyze and don't expect more than she can give. Smile when she makes you happy, let her know when she makes you mad, and miss her when she's not there.” 
― Bob Marley

Until the projects are completed,
asl

Pics from the Sun City Parade on July 1st

Morgen sporting yellow with her (not shown) fireworks skirt.

Liv in her "sunshine" dress for the third day that week.  ;)

We had a wonderful day on the 1st celebrating the 4th.  We started with a parade of dressed up doggies and decorated golf carts (this folks don't mess around!).  The middle was full of food, resting, and a quick break for Jeff and me.  (Many thanks, Rich and Cathy!!)  Then, in true family gathering fashion, there was more food!

A great start to a looooong weekend.  ;)

Yowza - Liv Loves to Talk!

So, I'll post what I can when I can from now on.  I used to wait for "time" to post.  Now I'll just capture moments, as it appears that until Liv is in school, there will be no more "time."  ;)

The girls remain entertaining to no end.  Though, it's getting far easier to manage them alone for meals, baths, cooking projects, art projects, etc.  Some of that is them becoming more adept, better listeners, and better able to communicate.  A lot of it is me becoming more adept at handling toddlers who spill, drop, paint, color, and cut erratically.

Liv's words and her interest in talking to people other than close family members are growing daily.  When she sees Morgen's teacher, Ms. Mansi, Liv wants to tell Mansi something ("I get haircut.  I have owie.  Arrrr, Maties!").  Ms. Mansi is very enthusiastic and kind.

Liv picks up anything Morgen says.  From Morgen's songs and chants ("Engine, Engine number 9..." and "Oh, Susanna" are favorites) to phrases Morgen uses in both pleasant and less than pleasant ways ("Mommy, that's not 'nough!").

Liv also seems to be learning about consequences through her lovies.  As we read stories and sang songs for rest/nap time today, Liv's puppy hit her ducky and had to go to timeout.  Then there were hugs and kisses all around.

Morgen's language skills and drawing skills are increasing almost daily.  I also think she grows almost weekly!  She speaks a ton of Spanish and makes up songs often.  She has started drawing figures and rainbows, and I can hardly wait to see what's next.  Morgen continues to adore puzzles and pretend play, and often pulls Liv into the story, not that she could keep Liv away!  The play quite well together with play dough, crayons or pencils, and blocks, though, there are often disputes about parity.

That's about it for now - I'm on the board for the parent association next year, so I've got to get a move on doing some research.

asl

Toddlers on the loose!

Liv has spent the last couple of weeks becoming a full-on toddler.  She went to the gym this morning with Daddy, and our friend texted to let me know that she was having a ball in the childcare center.  She was wearing princess heals and didn't want to stop when my friend said "Hi." to her.  Just kept on prancing.  Woo hoo!!

She has used the little potty successfully once or more for most days this week!  I offer but don't push, and since she wants to be like big sister, we spend a decent amount of time in the bathroom.

The girls are sharing a room, and both are in twin beds.  I love having a playroom for them, as our living room may return to the land of adults (when we replace the furniture at some point, that is).  Right now, M goes to sleep in our bed, we take her to the potty around 9pm, and then she gets into her bed.  I hope to get them to go to sleep in their room together before summer, but it's not so bad right now.  M knows that she sleeps in her own bed, and doesn't try to come to ours later in the night - she can take up an entire queen bed with the way she moves and kicks, so she prefers to sleep alone anyway.

What else?  It snowed yesterday!  The girls were hysterical.  The would go outside on the patio (underdressed) and run to the snow, touch it, and run in to do a silly dance.  All this at 7am.  Woo hoo!  It was a long morning but fun.  Sadly, I was too lazy to take pics of my kids in inappropriate attire (PJs!) in sub-30 degree temps.  I don't need that to be documented.  Heh.

Must be off - I'm alone and online.  That's ridiculous!  I'm off to enjoy this beautiful day!

asl

Take The 5 Love Languages profile with this widget

This is an interesting quiz.  Not sure it worked for me - many of the statements were a bit extreme and didn't feel applicable.  What do you think?