Inspiration From Secretariat

We watched Secretariat last night.  It guess it stirred the kids’ imagination.  Red Shoes came out with his helmet and wanted it on.  Before I knew he and his sister had transformed themselves into jockies. Hmm, maybe a future vocation?

Time for the Kentucky Derby! These kids crack me up.

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Photography 101 **The Rule of Thirds**

I'm enjoying my photography class.  I'm going to write about it each week in hopes that it will help it all sink in.  The first week we learned about the Rule of Thirds.  According to Wikipedia, "The Rule of Thirds is a compositional rule of thumb in visual arts such as painting, photography and design.  The rule states that an image should be imagined as divided into nine equal parts by two equally-spaced horizontal lines and two equally-spaced vertical lines, and that important compositional elements should be placed along these lines or their intersections."

In the examples (from Google Images) below you can see the nine equal parts and the two equally spaced horizontal lines.  Notice how in the pictures below, the bloom of the flowers is along the intersecting lines.  Both of the flowers are on the right side of the frame.  My instructor says that this (the right side) is the strongest side.

Now, take a stab at this one below...Do you see how it vividly applies to the Rule of Thirds?

I submitted two pictures for class this week.  My instructor liked this picture and thought it was a good example of the Rule of Thirds. 

He didn't like this one at all. 

He said that the tree totally disrupts the picture.  If you didn't see the tree it would be better. Do you see it? I do now.  So much to learn.

If there's ever been something that you've wanted to learn more about do it. I want to encourage you to take that step. Sign up for a community education class or go to your local university...It's exciting to learn something new and it's good to stretch yourself. Do it, I dare you!

Would you like to see a few others that I took?  Some apply to the rule, others not so much. 

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Mom's Have Bad Days Too...

Yesterday was terrible.  It started around 4 am when Happy Feet decided to get up. After making her way through my make up (especially the mascara) she woke up Red Shoes.  The naughty was on.  We had to leave early to go to one of Red Shoes' doctors appointments.   I don't know what I was thinking, but I took all three kids with me. I don't do that very often, but sometimes it's just necessary.

Before I had even made it 4 miles I got honked at (not the friendly kind),  and my kids had demanded about 50 different things of me.  I'm not talking about necessary things. These were all frivolous in nature.

When we got to the doctors appointment I got all three kids out of their car seats and we made our way into the hospital.  When we tried to check in the security guard informed me that the clinic that we needed to be at had moved. ARE YOU KIDDING ME! By that time, my normally well mannered and obedient Red Shoes flipped out. He wanted to go to the cafeteria instead of his appointment.  I tried explaining that we couldn't, we HAD to go and NOW. He went even further into meltdown mode.  I finally wrangled the kids into their car seats again.  What happened after that was not pretty.  I had Red Shoes crying and Happy Feet yelling at me because she needed more apple juice.  Guess who went into meltdown mode next?  Yes, that would be me. I'm not proud about how I handled the situation, I screamed... a lot, and really loud.  My throat hurt until about noon.  I don't like screamer moms, but I had lost my mind.

Anyway, we finally got to the right building and I parked.  Red Shoes was still crying and did not want to go inside.  He was laying on the van floor by then.  I tried to talk to him about it. I think he was scared about this appointment. It was the sleep study doctor. I think that he thought he was going to have to spend the night again.  I get that, believe me I do. I thought about just going home.  We were all wiped out and it wasn't even 8:30 a.m. 

I finally got everyone moving and realized that I was going to have to carry my stroller up about 10 steps...while supervising Red Shoes & Happy Feet.  Seriously.

We checked in and Swoosh decided it was his turn.  EXACTLY WHAT I WAS AFRAID OF! I think every employee in the clinic came to see what wacko mom/family was at there.  Red Shoes didn't want to cooperate with the nurse, Happy Feet was sticking her finger in the electrical outlet, and my baby was screaming his head off.  It took everything, I repeat everything, I had within me to not run out crying. 

The nurses, receptionists and doctor were all nice and tried to be helpful, but I know we were the subject of many conversations yesterday...and rightfully so I'm afraid.

I tried to listen to everything the doctor was telling me but I just couldn't wait to get the heck out of there. 

I hate days like yesterday.  We made it home safely and Red Shoes was excited to get to school and go to his Valentine's party.  After lunch I put Happy Feet down for her nap.  I thought all was right with the world for the first time that day when I heard a horrible crash.  I ran into her room and found her laying under her bookcase. She was very scared and she had a cut on her cheek.   It looks just terrible today. Here's a picture.

I think when we experience days like this, it helps us to appreciate all of the other good days we normally have.  The days when we aren't at the mercy of traffic or office re-locations and when the kids are well rested and ready for the day. This was just a bad little blip. I can say that now, because it's a new day.  Thank God for that! Pin It

Menu Plan Monday **February 14-20**

Happy Valentine's Day from my little characters...

I saw this idea on a lot of blogs...most recently over at 320 Sycamore. She can tell you how to do this.  Really easy!  You still have a little bit of time.  I just finished the kids'  up.

I have a seven day menu plan for you this week.  I'll be honest.  I only made one thing (the zesty chicken casserole) off of the menu I posted last week.  It wasn't very good either.  Don't worry, our diet is still in tact, but I'm on a serious quest to eat well and enjoy what I eat while on this diet.  I came across an awesome cookbook from who else but Taste of Home. I think they should hire me...I know I'm one of their biggest fans.  Anyway, the name of the cookbook is Taste of Home Comfort Food Diet Cookbook.  So far I've made the Black Bean & Rice Enchiladas (271 calories) and the Hamburger Noodle Casserole (290 calories). We enjoyed both of them.  Every recipe on the menu this week comes from the cookbook. I've included all of the links for you, and you should be able to access all of the nutritional info at the bottom of the recipe if you're interested.  I have a few pictures to share with you...one for the enchiladas but I've got to warn you.  I remembered that I should take a picture of it a little late.  I was so hungry that it was half gone by the time I thought of it. Not pretty, just being truthful!

Monday- Black Bean and Rice Enchiladas

Tuesday-
Chicken Marsala

Wednesday-
Glazed Pork Medallions

Thursday-
Texas Ranch Style Stew

Friday-
Hamburger Noodle Casserole

Saturday-
Spaghetti Pie

Sunday-
Sunday Chicken Supper

Last week after the zesty chicken casserole experience I remembered that there was someone on orgjunkie.coms "Menu Planning Monday" who started posting figure friendly meal plans.  I found Cynthia at What's for Dinner and made her Pork Chops with Blue Cheese Sauce. Wow! It was incredibly good.  You really should try that one out.  Here's a picture.

 Okay, one last thing..look who started eating baby food this weekend...sure seems like everything is about food around here lately.

More menu plans can be found at:

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Menu Plan Monday **February 7-February11**

In honor of my friend Liz, I'm declaring this week Weight Watchers week. After trying Paula Deen's Chicken Pot Pie I have no other choice...The time has come.

Liz and I talked via Facebook over the weekend and we are both trying to make better food choices.  I've kind of coasted through winter...I've been running on my treadmill, but it is time before spring arrives to shed some pounds.  All of the recipes listed below come from the book, Weight Watchers New Complete Cookbook. I haven't tried a one of them, so I'm hoping they are good. I have tried other recipes in the cookbook and they have been good. 

I'm not using the Points method (but I included that info in the recipe if you are), rather I'm keeping track of my calories at Livestrong.  It's a wonderful resource for healthy living/eating.  You just enter how much weight you want to lose (up to 2 pounds a week) and it will calculate the calories you can have on a daily basis.  When you exercise you can enter that too.  It's worked well for me in the past.  Anyone care to join us?

Monday- Beef Stew
Tuesday- Weight Watchers Zesty Chicken Noodle Casserole
Wednesday- Monterey Jack Turkey Burgers
Thursday- Honey Mustard Pork Chops
Friday- Pasta Primavera with Provolone

Visit www.orgjunkie.com for more menu planning ideas whether you're doing Weight Watchers or not.

Have a great week!
Casey Pin It

Swoosh at 5 Months

You are growing right up Swoosh.  You love to see what your hands and fingers can do. The other day you picked a flower right out of a bouquet that I had sitting on the table.  I thought it was a fluke, but then you purposefully did it again the other night during supper.  You are going to be such a sweet husband some day.  I took the picture below with my cell phone when you did it the first time.

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You really do enjoy having a brother and sister...more than this photo indicates.

You are captivated by what your brother and sister are up to.

You're starting to get some really cute "rolls".  Rolls are only cute at this age aren't they?

You are drooling like crazy these days...no sign of any teeth yet. You're babbling a lot too..sometimes it sounds like you say "hi".

We love you so much Swoosh. You are such a bright eyed, smiley little guy.
We couldn't imagine our family without you.

You are mesmerized by these little feet...so am I.

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This picture totally cracks me up.  Your sister, Happy Feet, thinks you are the best baby EVER.
She adores you, and you think she is hilarious.

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The Most Important Question Ever Asked

The other night I prayed with the kids before bedtime. It wasn't anything new, but my two year old, Happy Feet, had some questions for me. She said, "who is Jesus?" I explained the best I could. Then she wanted to know where he lived. Before I could answer her she said, "in my heart, right mom"? "Yes, that's right" I replied.  I tried to also explain that when she gets scared or sad...anything, she can talk to Jesus about it...that He is always with her.

I tucked her in, and left the room with so much to think about.  I'm glad that she's asking these questions.  Yet, I am so fearful that I won't provide the best answers. 

To me, this is the most important question I will ever be asked.  I want to be able to teach my kids who Jesus is and how much He loves them.  As parents we never know what lies ahead for our children.  What will cause them great pain and sorrow? What will bring them great joy?

More than anything I want to instill in all of my children that:

God loves and cares for them.

That He created them in His image.

That He has a plan and purpose for their lives. 

When I think of my precious Red Shoes, I am reminded of times when kids (and a few adults) have said very hurtful things that have wounded my heart. Words that so far don't seem to bother him much, but that day will come. Much too soon I'm afraid. How do I protect him from that? How do you protect any kid from that? The answer...Jesus. If I can instill in my son that God loves him, that God created him and that he has a beautiful purpose for his life, I know that my boy will be fine. If I can go even further with that and teach him to pray for the kid who is saying those mean things....wow! How powerful is that? I'm not saying there won't be tears shed or sad times, or if I'm being perfectly honest, that I will always want to pray for that kid who hurt my son.  But my hope is that I will nurture my kids' spiritual journey in the best way possible. 

Nothing could ever bring me greater comfort and joy than knowing that my children know and love Jesus. I went to the Focus on the Family website for some guidance and found that:

•  Anywhere from 50 to 70 percent of children from evangelical Christian families won't embrace the faith as their own when they leave for college.

John Trent, the author of this article asked several hundred parents at a big church three questions:

1."Do you think it's important to pass down your faith to your children?" As you might expect, more then 90 percent said, "Yes! It's very important!"


2."Do you think your child will have a strong faith when he or she gets out of college?" Again, 90 percent of those responding said, "You bet!"


3."Outside of going to church, what are you doing intentionally to introduce and build a growing faith in your child?" Fewer than 30 percent were doing anything purposefully to meet that goal during the 166 hours a week their children were at home.


John wrote: "Think about that. These wonderful, godly, well-intentioned parents strongly believed they should be involved in their children's faith development. They also were highly confident that their children would embrace the faith by the time they were on their own. But when it came to actually preparing their kids, they were just dressing them up and dropping them off at church — and setting themselves up for a failure to launch.

As parents we have a critical role in the development of our children's spiritual walk.  I'm going to be reading up on this in the next few weeks.  I've ordered FaithLaunch: A Simple Plan to Ignite Your Child's Love for Jesus by John Trent, PhD, and Jane Vogel from the library.  I'll try to come back and share some of the things I learn.

I would love to hear from you.  Do you have any resources that have helped you in this area of your parenting?  What are you doing to build a growing faith in your child? Please share. Pin It

Maple Oatmeal with Fruit

Here’s a recipe that will warm you up this cold morning.  Recently, I had to leave the house really early to get Red Shoes to a Doctors appointment and Happy Feet & Swoosh to their grandparents house.  I didn’t have time to make breakfast at home that morning. Are you kidding me? I had to have three kids age 5 and under dressed, packed for the day and in their car seats by 6:30 a.m.! 
I went through the McDonalds drive-through and noticed a sign advertising the fruit and maple oatmeal.  I’ve never been an oatmeal fan.  I’ve always wanted to like it, but the texture grossed me out.  I thought I would try again as I was looking for a healthier breakfast option.  It was really good! It made me realize that I can like oatmeal if it has some crunch to it.  It had dried cranberries, raisins and apples.  I highly recommend it. 
Here’s a recipe so you can make it at home.

• 3 cups milk 
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1-1/2 cups quick-cooking oats
• 1/3 cup dried cranberries
• 1/3 cup chopped apples
• 1/3 cup golden raisins
• 3 tablespoons maple syrup

In a large saucepan, bring milk and salt to a boil. Stir in oats; cook for 1-2 minutes or until thickened, stirring occasionally. Remove from the heat. Stir in the cranberries, raisins, apples, and  syrup.

Yield: 4 servings.

Stay warm and safe my friends. Pin It