2011 Harvest Party

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Menu Plan January 2-6

If you're wondering why all of a sudden I'm blogging again it's because I can. About the time I stopped blogging in August I started back to work as a school counselor.  I hadn't even thought about returning to work yet, but it felt like a God driven thing so I went with it. I'll share that story another time. It's a neat one.

I started back to work and had to take a class, and somewhere in the midst of all of that needed to take care of my family too,  so something had to give. I'm hopeful that I will be able to get back to this.  I have lots to catch up on, and I will.  Thought I'd start with our menu plan for the week.  My husband and I want to get back to healthier eating.  I pulled out my Comfort Food Diet Cookbook that I referred to many times before. Here's what we will be eating this week.

Monday-Slow-Cooked Sirloin
               Mashed Potatoes
               Green Beans

Tuesday- Black Bean & Rice Enchiladas

Wednesday- Spaghetti Pie
                     Garden Salad

Thursday- Easy Arroz Con Pollo

Friday-  Chicken Marsala (one of our favorites)
              Steamed Vegetables
              Orzo Pin It

Christmas 2011

Here's what I will remember about this Christmas:

The many times that Swoosh jumped off the presents

Celebrating the birth of Jesus. We had waffles with sprinkles and candles.

Before we sang Red Shoes ran on got baby Jesus out of the nativity set and placed him on the table. 

The look on Happy Feets face when she opened up her present.

The look on Red Shoes' face when it was time for his dad to

open up the present he had selected for him.

The crazy, fearless boy that Swoosh has become...oh boy!

 I see stitches in his future.

The ornament that Happy Feet made for me at preschool.

The ornament that Red Shoes made for me in kindergarten using his hand print.

How much our family is growing...

How well all the cousins played together. The adults were actually able to play a game.



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Spring, A Lot Late

I was looking around on my computer this morning and found a video that I started this spring that I never posted, or at least I don't think I did.  There's such a contrast between it and  THIS one.

That's why I love the seasons...there's beauty in each one. I'm starting to see and smell signs of fall around here, which is good, because I'm pretty much over summer.
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Eaten by the Alligator

We just returned from vacation.  We had a wonderful time except for one big incident.  Happy Feet loved the elevator that was in our hotel...she called it the alligator. My husband and I were talking to some people that we met at the pool when it happened.  Happy Feet hopped on the "alligator" and she was gone.  I could hear her crying as she went down.  My husband and I just looked at each other in disbelief.  He ran down the stairwell yelling for her like a crazy dad. I stayed put with Red Shoes and Swoosh.  I called the front desk for help and they sent about 12 people.  She was gone for what we think was around ten minutes.  It was awful...I was really worried that she would get outside and get run over or that she would drown.  She was finally found by guy who worked for the resort and she was pretty pale and looked very scared.  He found her outside she was coming up the parking garage ramp.  When I saw her I just grabbed her and started sobbing.  She was very quiet the rest of the night...if you know Happy Feet you know that's unusual.  We talked about what happened, about staying with mom and dad, what to do when you get lost, etc.  It really made me think about some things.  When I questioned her again about what she should do if she got lost she said, "but I won't (get lost).  Oh boy.  This girl...so independent and so strong willed. I love her so deeply, but my oh my. She makes us up our game time and time again. Pin It

A Lesson on Sensitivity

It's been just a few years ago that I was a new mom who felt the burning and curious stares of adults and children alike. I occasionally heard comments uttered like, "what's wrong with him"?  I remember the first time clearly. I was at a shopping mall with my mom and sister. We stopped by a children's play area when it happened.  This little girl kept staring at Red Shoes, and she said to her friend, "he's scary"!  My heart was broken.  I couldn't even believe her cruelty.  And what was even worse? I had no idea how to handle it.

I've wanted to shield Red Shoes from the harshness of the world as much as I could, so there's been many times that I've done nothing. He didn't understand what was happening, and I felt confronting it would just bring more attention to the situation.  As he's gotten older, I've dealt with it by giving some pretty mean looks and/or saying, "be nice" very, very sternly to kids.  So far it has worked.  As for the adults that look at us with curiosity...most of the time I just give them my biggest, brightest smile and try to show them how happy I am...because I am.

So why am I writing about this? A few weeks ago Red Shoes had a routine eye exam.  I took Happy Feet and Swoosh along too. We had a little bit of a wait and for the very first time Happy Feet really noticed the other children that were at the clinic waiting to be seen. There were kids with patches on their eyes and one little girl who was in a wheelchair. Happy Feet had a lot of questions about it, and at times she wasn't very quiet about asking them.  This was the first time I was on this side...and it wasn't easy either.

There were two little red headed boys who also noticed the girl in the wheelchair.  They kept asking the girls dad why she couldn't hold her head up. It was pretty evident that the father just didn't feel up to answering their questions that morning.  Sometimes as the parent of a special needs child you just want to go someplace and not be noticed...you just want to be. The boys weren't being mean, they just didn't understand, and boy did their mom look like she wanted to crawl out of her skin. 

Later that day I talked to the kids a little more about that morning.  I explained that children come in all shapes and sizes. Some can do things that others cannot, some walk, some ride, some talk, some sign...they are all different and that's okay...actually that's beautiful. I explained that our God above created all of them and He loves them all. I also explained that they can always come to me with their questions, but they need to be respectful about it. 

Being a parent is hard.  It's important for us to teach our kids (special needs or not) where their value lies. They need to know that they were wonderfully made in the image of God, and that their soul is more precious than all worldly things.  If they can grasp that, they will be able to endure anything.  I firmly believe that. 

I would love to hear about how you've handled stuff like this.  What are your thoughts? Please share... Pin It

We're Country Strong

We had the best weekend. It was full of family, food and fun. We went back home to Nebraska to celebrate my nephews birthday. While we were there we went on a trail ride that my mom had organized for my sisters birthday. It was just mom and the three of us girls.  We had such a nice morning. Here's a little movie of our ride, and some pictures too. Thanks for a wonderful weekend family. =)

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