Don't want to forget . . . and ANNOUNCEMENT

Some of you may have noticed that I disappeared awhile ago. For those familiar with our day to day life we've had some challenges and things going on with our children that I wasn't sure I wanted to the world to see (not for my sake, but for my kids anonymity when they are older). I've struggled with the ethics about writing some things publicly that they might want to be private when they are teens +. Unfortunately, when I write on my blog, I write about my daily life and these issues ARE my all consuming daily life right now. So I've been writing on a different blog for awhile and have gone back and forth about whether to go public or not. I finally have decided to go public (YAY) but keep our names private so that should be up and running in a few weeks (I'm moving my posts that I want to share over to my new blog - and taking out names, etc. and keeping out the extremely private posts). I almost decided to go private and not public but I hate private blogs and passwords because I never remember to read them (sorry to those of you who are private - I completely understand why). I will still have pics of my kids just no outright identifying info. With special needs kids (who all have VERY different diagnoses) I feel I have a lot to offer the public in terms of my experience with doctors, the school board, etc. and just being a mom. Plus I love blogging and have missed the interaction with everyone. So - look for that coming in the next few weeks unless another catastrophe hits that takes all my time :)

ANYWAY . . . I was just washing out a pitcher to make some Brazilian limeade for an after soccer/baseball treat for the kids and I remembered what Ella said to me the other day and it made me smile. I need to post it before I forget - because I will. We were running around like crazy to go somewhere (I can't remember) and I had just changed a diaper and was doing something with Ella - it was just normal day to day stuff. She looked around and looked up at me and said "How do you know how to be a mom? How do you do all this?" She had such appreciation and admiration in her eyes. It's making me cry remembering it because the house was trashed (as always), I hadn't cooked a meal in a week, and I've been feeling like the world's worst homemaker because I have been so busy lately. But she didn't notice all of that, what she noticed was my love and attention that I give to them (we had just finished making bouncy balls and had a mini science/reading lessson). It is rare that my children notice or appreciate just the day to day work that goes into running a household - which is completely normal, but that small moment with her sure was nice.

I have changed my philosophy on parenting and living in the last 6 months (actually since I coached Odyssey of the Mind). I used to focus on having the perfect house, etc and constantly found myself saying "after I clean this, or after I do that." Everything was LATER. Everything was always waiting for perfection. Now we are focusing on TODAY and not on tomorrow because life will never be perfect. Except I have found something out along the way, this life is perfect.

WFMW - Hairstyles for girls (and mom!)

One of the things I absolutely love is fixing Ella's hair. Unfortunately, I was born with absolutely no talent when it comes to hair. I remember many painful hours spent in front of the mirror as a teenager trying to fix my hair only to hate the end result. Luckily for me, there are a ton of blogs that have come to my little girl's rescue. They show step by step how to give your daughter (or yourself) the cutest hairstyles around. I fix Ella's hair every morning before preschool and church. We are stopped at least once a day getting compliments on how cute her hair is. These blogs make it so easy that if I can do it, anyone can.

The first blog I found was "She does Hair." She no longer posts on this blog but I think it is a great place to learn the basics of hair styling. I still look through her archives a lot when I want a simple do. Here's the link:

She Does Hair

My go-to blogs for hair styles are these next two. Both bloggers have multiple girls and show everything from easy to complicated hair styles. They have quick video clips for some of the hairstyles so you can actually see how to do it. This helped me a lot when learning to curl with a flat iron and how to dutch braid. "Adopt a Do" has a lot of super quick hairstyles for the morning and even a section for dads.

Adopt a 'Do - Cute Girls Hairstyles

Babes in Hairland

I LOVE these next three hair blogs also and look at them frequently - I just don't find myself using them as much as the others.

It's a Girl Thing

The Story of a Princess and Her Hair

Girly Do's by Jen

Ella knows her hair HAS to be fixed before she leaves the house for school. Depending on her mood (and the time) sometimes we do super simple (like a french braid) or a hair headband. I like to let her pick her hairstyle the night before, that way she is a lot more cooperative in the morning. Here are some of the examples of hairstyles we have learned to do.

I searched through my photos to try and find some pics of Ella's hair done and it turns out most of my pictures don't really show off the hair, so I will have to try and take some that show the whole style. But here are a few where you can kind of see what I have done. I really really wish that I had taken more pictures of the different hair styles because I am missing most of my favorites.

I do variations of this style a lot (I wish I had better and more pictures)! These two hair-do's end in messy buns but I also finish it off using two ponytails, one ponytail, one bun, or leaving it down. I also will braid or twist the crosses. I have also thread ribbon through the crosses which is super cute. You can also do this hairstyle upside down with the buns ending up on top. You can find the instructions for this hairstyle on almost every blog I link to. It really is a lot easier than it looks.




This next hairstyle was a mistake but I was too tired to go back and fix it. Suprisingly, I had a lot more people stop me that day than usual.


I only wash Ella's hair every other day so a lot of her hairstyles are transformed for the next day. This next one, I just took the back down and put her hair into a ponytail.


In this next picture, her hair had two french braids the day before. In the morning it was really wavy and cute but it rained this day so the waves were gone by the time I took the picture.

I found this next hairstyle on "Babes in Hairland." It is one of my favorites to do because it is easy to adapt into a number of different hairstyles at the end. I don't often have enough time to do the "X" on the side so we will finish it with a braided bun and cute bow. I'm going to show the front, top, and back of this hair-do.

In this first pic, we had been at the farm all day and the side kind of got messed up (but still cute).





One more new blog I have found is Redpunzel. She has a section for Mom-Do's that are really cute and easy. I have had fun trying them on my own hair - sorry no pics of me.

Another post that might be of interest to you is how to make the cute hair bows you see everywhere. They are super easy! Here is the link:

Easy Hair Bow Instructions

For more great tips and ideas head to We are That Family where she hosts "Works For Me Wednesday" every week.

My previous WFMW posts:

Sweet Spinach Bread
Library Bags
Letterboxing
Curling Ribbon
Safe Plastics
5 Ingredients or Less
Laundry Tip
DIY Lip Gloss
Tips for Clothes Shopping with girls
How to teach a child to swallow pills
Removing old stickers, adhesive, etc.
Easy Hair Bow Instructions
Managing school papers
Fall Traditions
Coupon Binder
Toys Worth Buying - Board Games

Thanks for visiting!

Neighborhood Dig Out

Oh my. I think this weekend cemented our plans to retire in California. These pictures are from Sunday. We started shoveling on Friday (by we I mean Lance :). Most of the neighborhood was out in shifts all weekend trying to stay on top of the snow.

I love our neighborhood. There was a real sense of cameraderie this weekend as everyone helped each other out and looked out for those who were not able to shovel their own walks. This is a picture of our street Sunday morning. Lance was down out the end digging out my mom's car so she could get to work Monday morning. It took him 3 hours. He dug out our car yesterday with the help of our next door neighbor. Crazy, crazy snow.




This was the view right outside our door Sunday morning. The tree at the top of the post is the tree in front of our house. I love how pretty it is in the different seasons.


Ella had a blast "helping" her dad clear the snow. She built a snow sculpture, climbed "snow mountains" and ate a lot of snow :)





I'm not sure why but I'm getting a kick out of making the kids pictures more retro looking. Ella brought in a whole bowl full of snow and sat at the table and ate it with a spoon. I think it is her favorite treat right now.

We are now in the middle of another snowstorm. They are predicting between 10 and 20 more inches. I doubt the kids go to school for the rest of the week. The federal government has been closed for 3 days now. It's closed tomorrow but Lance has to work from home since it is his telecommuting day. Hopefully, I will post more pictures tomorrow after this current snowstorm. We only need 9 more inches to be the snowiest winter on record. Absolutely crazy.

Snow, snow, and MORE snow!

What a crazy winter we are having this year. It seems that every storm that comes this way brings snow with it. This weekend we were hit with what has been dubbed "Snowmageddon." It ranks #4 in recorded history for DC and this storm also brings us to the 3rd snowiest winter in DC history. So what does that translate to for us? Snow days, sledding, laundry, naps, hot chocolate, wet floors, warm baths, lots of movies, hide and go seek, snow ball fights, shoveling, pajama days, and lots and lots of family time.

Libby had a doctor's appointment yesterday morning. When we left it had just started to barely snow. By the time we got home, kids were already sledding and my two older ones were dying to go out.





I love how Spencer watches out for Ella when they are outside together. He always makes sure that she is included (even though he doesn't always want her to tag along).


Isn't the view from my deck beautiful?




The two pictures above were taken yesterday morning. The picture below is of our deck this morning when I woke up. It continued to snow for most of the day. Spencer left his sled outside yesterday afternoon. We know it is out there somewhere, we just don't know where.


Church has been cancelled tomorrow. I doubt we have school Monday and more snow is expected on Tuesday. The kids only had two days of school last week (they had Monday off and Weds. and Fri. were snow days). We have lots of food, games, movies, and general supplies . . . I'm just not sure how we are going to survive each other :)

Sisters

God has blessed me again and again, always my sister, always my friend

I snapped this picture of my two girls yesterday afternoon. Ella gets such a kick out of holding her sister - Libby tolerates it for the most part. Although I have some great pics of them smiling for the camera, I love this one of them just hanging out.

Ella knew before the rest of us that I was pregnant and she was going to have a sister. We thought my chronic illness had just flared again and I was back going to the doctor for many tests and new meds (including an x-ray, CT scan, and MRI - YIKES)!!! Pregnancy was not supposed to be a possibility so we didn't even suspect that outcome. One afternoon I was in the bathroom very, very ill. Ella came in and told me I had a baby in my tummy and that her sister was coming. I immediately dismissed the thought and corrected her. I told her we might adopt again in a few years but that I was not pregnant. I had no idea why she was bringing up babies because it wasn't a subject she ever really talked about. I remember feeling so bad that she would have to wait so long for another sibling. A couple days later, I realized my period was late - very late. I took a test . . . and then another . . . and then another. All positive. It seems our girl was right - her sister was coming.

Ella takes her role as big sister very seriously and loves to help with diapers, pacifiers, and folding burp cloths. She thinks she likes to help feed the baby but usually only lasts for about 30 seconds (can't say I blame her). I love these two sweet little girls and can't wait to see what the future has in store for both of them.

April Fools Fun

The kids have already been victims recipients of some fun pranks this morning. I've been slammed with work this week but managed to do a few easy things.

Spencer - For my oldest, I snuck in his room last night and painted his toenails red. Lucky for me, he didn't notice until I was awake. We took it off immediately but I thought it was hilarious.

Ella - I found this idea on Family Fun. I put food coloring at the bottom of her cereal bowl and then poured the dry cereal on top of it. She watched as I poured milk on and was amazed when the milk turned blue. Both kids checked the milk carton to see if there was blue milk in there and were surprised when it was white. I would have done the same to Spencer but he eats WAY before I'm awake in the morning.

If I get enough work done today, I plan on making an April Fool's meal. There are so many cute ideas out there. I'm leaning towards these grilled cheese sandwiches (really pound cake and frosting) with meatloaf cupcakes for desert :)



HAPPY APRIL FOOLS DAY!

Heart Shadowbox

I am in love with this cute little shadowbox. How easy would this be to make??? I think you could easily change things up with stars, butterflies, etc. I'm going to keep the hearts and make my version with my Cricut later this week. Ella's room has been undergoing a bit of a makeover these past few weeks. I'm excited to show everyone the changes (hopefully soon!).

Blood orange magic

Last week blood oranges were on sale so I bought a lot. I don't think either kid has ever seen a blood orange before. I decided to capitalize on the moment and tell the kids that I was going to do a magic trick and change the color of the orange. With great fanfare I cast a pretend spell on the orange, waved my arms around, and ceremoniously peeled the orange. Spencer didn't buy the charade for a moment but when Ella saw the deep purple color she looked at me with a new respect in her eyes. I love this age, when everything is so new to them. I tried to explain to her that it was all pretend but I'm not sure she quite believes me. We just ate the last blood orange a few minutes ago and she was again impressed by my "magic" - even thought I didn't perform any this time. It will be interesting next week when we have regular oranges again to see how she reacts. I just might lose my biggest fan :)

Ella in motion

Since going to the Nutcracker at Christmas Ella has been obsessed with ballet. It has been so much fun to watch her in her classes. She is such a determined little girl. They do several exercises across the length of the room to build up muscles -she takes it very seriously and works hard to do each exercise correctly so "she can become a ballerina."

Here are some pictures from the last couple of weeks:







And one from after class:

Need a Liahona?

Apologies in advance to my non-LDS readers, this post really won't make a lot of sense to you. Jump to the bottom of the post for a really brief explanation.

For New Beginnings last week, we needed a lot of Liahona's for our skit. We were trying to figure out how to make some that would look nice and still be cost effective. We thought of spray painting styrofoam balls, using christmas ornaments and attaching dowels, trying gold leaf on a round ball, etc. Nothing seemed just right. Our Young Women's president was in JoAnn's picking up supplies to try and make some when she found these decorative balls for 70% off (originally $6.99). It ended up being cheaper to buy these instead of making something ourselves.

I went to JoAnn's today and picked up one to have at home. For $2.00 it makes a great Liahona to have for lessons, family home evening, etc. If you want to go pick one up, they are in the world market section (I think that's what it is called). The whole section is clearanced.

The picture is not the best. If you can't tell, there are engravings around the top and bottom of it. Spencer points out that it is not technically accurate but I think it is fine for a visual. We were quite pleased with how they looked on stage.

Young Women's is the organization we have in our church for 12-18 year old girls. I am in the Young Women's presidency. We have 30+ girls in our group. Every year in January we have a program for the girls and their parents. The Liahona is an object that is talked about in the Book of Mormon.

DC minus 2.5 million

Here we are waiting for the inauguration to start.



Can you believe the awesome seats we got?

Nothing can beat sitting on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial overlooking the mall.









Notice anything missing? How about 2+ million people? Okay so we weren't actually there today, these pictures are from our last visit to the Lincoln memorial just over a month ago when my sister was visiting.

Living in northern VA means that we often get to visit the monuments whenever we have company. But no matter how many times I've been to the Lincoln memorial, it never fails to inspire me. I don't think it is possible to be there without feeling such a strong sense of reverence and awe for such a remarkable man and an enormous sense of hope and pride for our country.



Spencer read every word of this . . .



and this . . .



. . . much to Ella's chagrin.


I couldn't get over how beautiful the sky was that cold day. It is amazing how many things have happened on those very steps.

We visited other monuments but I'll save those pictures for another time maybe.




One last look at the Washington monument before heading home:

One Big Helping of Mommy Guilt

Just as I was getting over bronchitis a couple of weeks ago - Ella came down with a cold. Her symptoms seemed different from mine and she was still running around nonstop so I didn't think much of it. One night as I was getting her ready for bed, Ella looked up at me and said "Mama I so sick, why you not take me to my doctor." She looked so pathetically cute. You have to understand that Ella is our resident drama queen. She will sit and search her body for little spots that need immediate band-aid attention. She LOVES to announce what is ailing her. So I told her she just had a cold and would be better in a few days. A couple more days go by and Ella was still running a low fever and had developed a cough so I debated whether or not to take her in. My kids somehow usually make a miraculous recovery on the way to doctors appointments and I'm always told they have a virus and to let it run its course. Ella still seemed fine (she was playing as usual) but something in the back of my mind kept nagging me to make an appointment. So I called and got her an appointment fully expecting to be told the usual "it's a virus, etc."

We got to the office and went back to do her vitals. The crazy thing is her oxygen sats were low. We had to stay their for hours while they did three different breathing treatments. This isn't a new thing for us. Ella has needed breathing treatments/inhalers before (back when she was under 2). But in the past, I would hear the wheezing, labored breathing, or the tightness in her chest. This time - everything sounded completely clear to me. It kind of freaked me out that her sats were low without me noticing a change. I felt so bad that I hadn't taken her in sooner - especially after she kept asking me to call the doctor.

We were sent home with a nebulizer which Ella loved. The doctor told her it was just like breathing clouds. True to her dramatic self, Ella loved recanting the whole story to anyone who would listen. When it was time for her next treatment at home she announced to Lance and Spencer that they must come watch. She then very ceremoniously put the mask on and would dab at her eyes every couple of minutes with a tissue. She is such a ham.

After six days of using the nebulizer and a couple more doctor visits, we were finally able to return it. Hallelujah - no more steroids.

We spent this past week with lots of cuddling on the couch. We are all finally healthy again and BOTH kids will be in school tomorrow. Now I just need to get my house cleaned . . .

My Favorite Nativity 2008