How did March get here so quickly?!

How indeed did March get here so quickly?! 


I have been a single parent this week, so life was a little more hectic.  By last night, I was tired. Tired down to my bones.


This was what I was going through last week.  Since then, things have gotten better with my braces, sort of.  I had to go back to Paris and get adjusted and we have a plan in place to hold my teeth for a longer period of time so that they don't move when we release pressure.


Last Thursday night, the kiddos wanted to go to Chuck E Cheese for a spirit night for C girl's school.

Saturday, we took the kiddos to a Dr. Seuss event at Target and then we had tickets to If You Give a Mouse a Cookie at the Arts Center of the Ozarks. This was so fun.  The actors and stage were great and the kids and us adults really enjoyed the show!

I got to see this little man on Monday!

Both the kiddos had spring pictures recently and they turned out great! I can't wait to share them.

Other happenings this week- we cancelled our Directv.  Yes, no TV anymore. We were getting some Refer a friend discounts, but now our bill is back up to normal and we just do not watch enough TV to warrant paying for it.  I saw a new GYN doctor who I'm hoping can help get me to feeling better all around. C girl has been doing great in ballet and both kids are doing awesome in AWANA and learning so much!  We are heading out of town tomorrow. They hubs and I are very excited to be going to see the Zac Brown Band in concert tomorrow night! Sunday is my mom's birthday, so we will be picking up the kiddos and having lunch with her and getting to see baby Parker again!!!

I have to share this with you-- Oh my gosh, the heavens have opened and glory has rained down!!! Thank you Tim for sending me a link to this!!!
THIS is a FREE service that takes your exported blog file and turns it into a PDF Blog Book!!!
I just did this and it was QUICK and EASY!!!!!!
I have been spending HOURS trying to back my blog up!!!! I'm now completely finished with that project. AND this service lets you choose dates so you can start from the last time you made one and created another one without having duplicates!


I also wanted to share two websites that I think will make a good replacement for Picnik- 
PicMonkey (it's not finished being created, but I heard it's going to be GREAT) and iPiccy.

My Faith and My Struggles {I am a Work in Progress}

Right now, I'm going through a period of growth and learning in my faith. Every week, I have lessons from Sunday school, church and Bible study rolling around in my mind. I want to discuss all of them and naturally, they are not all about the same thing.

In Sunday school, we have just began a study on Hebrews.  It's been really great so far.  And I'm actually learning a lot.  It is a book that also has references to the book of Leviticus.  Leviticus is a book that I have read in the past, but really know little about.  It has piqued my interest to learn more about Moses and the laws in the book of Leviticus.  I've also had wow moments learning about how things in the Bible really are real and they really happened.  As well as realizing that not many things in our world have persevered through the ages and times.  Empires, governments, and countries have all fallen, but Israel was created on Mt. Sinai by Moses and still continues on in this present day.

In worship service, our pastor has been doing a series on heaven.  Well, obviously, that has created a lot of thought for me.  Of course, I wonder about death and what will happen after I die, but he has also challenged us with what we are doing for God while we are alive.  Yesterday, they showed a memorial video of Whitney Houston.  He used the video to illustrate the point that our life will have a beginning and an end.  It's the moments in between those two points that people will remember us by.  How will people remember my life? Your life?

In Bible study we are discussing The Resolution by Priscilla Shirer.  It has been such a good book for me in this time of my life.  I want to write more about it in depth.  The chapter we read for this week is called Loving my Children.  
She writes, "when our primary goal as mothers is teaching our children God's truth, the whole focus of our parenting changes."
   The resolution for this section is, I will demonstrate to my children how to love God with all their hearts, minds, and strength, and will train them to respect authority and live responsibly.  
What a challenge.  And it puts great responsibility on me as a mother.  I have such an important task for shaping my children.  This is something I have been in prayer about, because I definitely do not always feel adequate for the job.  I just do not want to fail my two precious children.  

Something I struggle with on a regular basis is my health.  I don't discuss it much because I don't like to complain and it is a chronic issue that will go on and on.  
Sometimes, I will have a new issue thrown into the mix and I will start to Google things.  Have you ever done that?  I always end up convincing myself that I have cancer of some sort!  I've been trying so hard to just let it go and have faith that my health will continue the way it is or maybe even get better!

Another struggle I have been experiencing is being a "distracted mom" at times.  I have been a little too, shall we even say, "addicted" to social media at times.  I'm working on not allowing myself to check things at certain times of the day.  I'm working on becoming more focused on taking care of my home, exercising, praying, and spending time with my husband and kiddos.  It's not that I wasn't already doing these things, it's that I was sort of distracted at times while doing them.  I don't want to be distracted, I want to be present.

the things being learned in kindergarten

Sight words are learned.
She is counting by 5's and 10's.
She is adding and subtracting. 
She is reading!!!
She is loving art and music. She knows so many songs!
She was excited beyond words for daddy to be a Watch Dog Dad!

She has lots of friends and a BFF.

She loves her teacher!

Milestones

From the time our babies are born, we are constantly evaluating their progress and looking forward to each new developmental milestone. 


The first smile. The first wave. The first steps. First words.


It is amazing and yet bittersweet knowing that moment is so fleeting. 


Your baby gets older and the milestones are different. 


The first lost tooth. The first day of kindergarten. The first time riding in a booster seat. 


Theses moments are still just as amazing and bittersweet. 


You realize one day that your baby is actually no longer a baby at all. Instead she has turned into a smart, beautiful, snaggle-toothed little girl.

And the things that she is learning are happening so quickly. 


You are full of awe at what she can do.


One day she is learning to write her name and then just like that, she is reading. 


I've thought about this day for so long.


There are hardly any words to describe how it feels to watch your child learn to read. 
It is just amazing. 


So, im going to revel in this moment for now, because like other milestones, I know it is fleeting.

Stepping back in time

On Thursday afternoon, I took the kiddos to check out the Rogers Historical Museum.

It is a quaint little city museum that includes a changing exhibit (which happened to be storybook artwork this time), an exhibit about the history of Rogers, a section called Granny's attic and a place for the kids to learn about architecture and building.

We had a great time.  The kids were very intrigued by all of the "antique" stuff.

Wow! An old timey phone!

 Checking out the old fashioned stove

 Just typing on the typewriter!

 C girl making sandwiches for everyone!

I "built" the frame of a house!

 

B boy ready to tackle the job!

Words

My baby girl is learning to read and write.  It really blows me away.  She wrote this word from memory.  She knew it was the word zoo and remembered it from our Spring Break trip to the Kansas City Zoo.

Embracing Change

I never really thought much about my future self when I was younger.

I had plans and went to college and knew there was a future but I never thought about who I would be.

I guess I was too caught up in what was going on then. I had no idea how much I would change and that I would CONSTANTLY be changing.

 I guess I will be changing the rest of my life.

Circumstances and life happen and it changes a person.

To me this has been very shocking though. It wasn't something that I expected or planned for. I'm learning and dealing with it though.

It's good now that I have a grasp on this and know it will happen.

Don't get me wrong, I'm happy with who I am. That is actually not the problem.

The problem has always been that I haven't been good with stress and change. But I'm taking things as they come. I hope that I don't continue to let things take me over.

When you are through changing, you are through. ~Bruce Barton


Change is inevitable - except from a vending machine. ~Robert C. Gallagher


Growth is the only evidence of life. ~John Henry Newman, Apologia pro vita sua, 1864


The man who never alters his opinion is like standing water, and breeds reptiles of the mind. ~William Blake


Those who expect moments of change to be comfortable and free of conflict have not learned their history. ~Joan Wallach Scott


Continuity gives us roots; change gives us branches, letting us stretch and grow and reach new heights. ~Pauline R. Kezer

Child Labor

Because, isn't that what having children is all about?!!

29 Things to do while I'm 29

1. Take the kids to a nice restaurant for breakfast.
2. Eat healthier.
3. Tone up.
4. Do 50 push ups (I can do 23 right now).
5. Do a Bible study.
6. Take the kids to pick berries.
7. Make freezer jam with the berries.
8. Take the kids to a baseball game.
9. Do a Mother/Daughter and a Mother/Son day.
10.  Pay off the credit card!
11. Do more crafts with the kids.
12. Cook with the kids more.
13. Keep the kiddos birthday stress free.
14. Learn to speak more gently.
15. Ride paddleboats with the kids again.
16. Have a magical time at the beach.
17. Take the kids to see Granny Dixon.
18. Write in my journal more frequently.
19. Spend more time "tech-free."
20. Take some great pictures on the beach.
21. Write our names in the sand.
22. Drink more water.
23. Follow where God leads me.
24. Play more games with the kids.
25. Although I can't control this---get my braces off!!!
26. Go horseback riding.
27. Get a couple of massages.
28. Get photographs organized completely.
29. Stay a night at the Lodge.

Techie Mommy: Top 10 Learning Websites for Preschoolers

As I said I was going to do, here are the top 10 websites that I have found for preschoolers.  I have done a lot of research over the past year and I believe that these stack up the best for helping your preschooler learn a wide range of things and for the quality of games they have on their sites.

10.  http://www.first-school.ws/

9.  http://www.education.com/

8.  http://www.meddybemps.com/

7.  http://www.handipoints.com/

6.  http://www.familyfun.go.com/

5.  http://www.nickjr.com/

4.  http://www.kneebouncers.com/

3.  http://www.kids-pages.com/

2.  http://www.starfall.com/

1.  http://www.pbskids.org/

And a bonus I love....www.kidsblogs.nationalgeographic.com/littlekids

Preschool Time

C Girlie is now going to be 4 1/2 on the 16th and B Boy will be 3 1/2 on the 13th. I have unofficially been teaching them things all of their lives. But now, I am officially starting to "pre-school" C Girl. B Boy will be participating also, but since he is a year younger, he won't be able to do all the projects.
I have a preschool workbook with worksheets for them to do. We will also be learning to count higher, write letters, learn words in Spanish, along with colors and days of the week in Spanish, learn Bible memory verses, etc. We will also be spending time learning to use the computer!
Today we started with a worksheet of the number one. The goal was to recognize the number and practice writing it on the lines. C Girl did a very good job. Later, she also drew a picture of a person. She is getting very creative and branching out lately!