Family Musings

I've shared before that we love to play at Explorations V in downtown Lakeland. It really is an amazing childrens museum. But until recently, they had one exhibit that I just couldn't quite get in to. The basement houses " O is for Oranges ," an orange grove exhibit that explains how to "pick, pack, sort, count and investigate the life of an orange in this hands-on, fun-filled orange odyssey!" One day about a month ago it clicked for Charlotte and we've both been enjoying it ever since. I finally remember to take my camera and here is a photo essay about how we process gold in Florida! First, you've got to pick the oranges... make sure they are ripe and that they end up in the bag! Then, once you drop it down the chute, the processing begins. This device starts the transferring process to get the oranges to the sorter. Make sure you tun the knob with intensity, it lets the oranges know you mean business! Once the oranges are sorted, they g...

We had fun playing with chalk one afternoon this week.

Since we are working on the letter F this week, I snapped this photo with my cell phone as Charlotte "flew" with her friend Asher at Explorations V, our local Children's Museum.

I've wanted to write this blog posts for months, maybe even a year. And I almost did last October . Well, I wrote a pre-cursor to this post, but it backfired. Once I put the information out into the universe, a cruel twist was thrust into my story, leaving me hanging for another four months. But now, my dream has been realized. And I've been living it for almost two weeks. So I think now, it is finally time to share my new reality with you. Are you sitting down? (Duh you're reading this on a computer so of course you are!) Okay. Here is it. My big news. Charlotte. Is. Sleeping. Through. The. Night. Woo hoo!!! Are you cheering with me? I bet if you have ever raised a kid, you probably are. I wish I could spell out a specific magic formula for how this happened. Lord knows I gave the No-Cry Sleep Solution its due time (six months!). But really, it came down to Charlotte was finally ready to have sleep be more important to her than nursing. Contrary to the opinion of some peop...

We started the week off with E foods - english muffins, eggplant, and eggs . When it came to eating the english muffin though, Charlotte seemed more enthusiastic about the homemade strrawberry jam on top than the muffin itself. Though she did eat a few small bites. As for the eggplant, we discovered that on a field trip to the grocery store (like we did with the apples on the first week). I let her hold and feel them and we talked about the deep purple color of the eggplant. Then we walked over to the cooler and looked at eggs in the crate. I tried to explain the differences between tiny eggs and big eggplants. I think that part of the conversation might have been above her head though. We also got to play with the letter E all by itself. While organizing my craft dresser, I found a ton of white die cut letters. You can expect to see projects like this one a lot over the rest of the alphabet. Here, I just brushed on some white glue and let her place the letters on the page however sh...

Charlotte and I had a fun Mommy-Daughter date this morning at a local park. The Junior League of Lakeland sponsored a reading event and invited us to come and do crafts focused on different countries so that Charlotte could earn a free book. She made a crown fit for a princess in the England tent. After I peeled the back off, I let her put the stickers on wherever she wanted (except for her initials and the circles, I did those). We also got to hang out with Plato the Publixaurus. I was surprised that she liked him and reached out since when we were at Disney, she freaked out when she saw the stuffed characters.   There was also a nice clown making balloon animals and of course Charlotte had to get a dog. She loved it to death until it came undone and then it became an orange snake.   We also watched a concert by local musician Jack Hartmann . Charlotte had fun movin' and groovin' to his tunes. I could have shared several minutes of her dancing, but below is less than 30 se...

  My lovely husband took me to Ikea last Monday to buy this $80 Malm dresser which happened to be on sale for $40. He knew I needed something to contain my growing stash of art supplies and sacrificed his day off to browse Ikea and eat swedish meatballs. Let me take you inside to see all of the treasures within. Top Drawer (From top left: Stamps and ink pads, stickers, miscellaneous crafting supplies like wood cutouts and cool yarn, plastic animal toys, pom-poms, crayons and ribbon, and writing implements and paint brushes)   Middle Drawer (From Top Left: Tissue Paper, die cuts, tempera and finger paint, Playdoh found on Valentine's Day Clearance, bells and charms, empty for know, funky scissors) Bottom Drawer (From Left: 2 bags of flower buds found at Walmart for $1 each, pipe cleaners, stack of construction paper; Underneath the flowers is my sticker binder left over from my scrapbooking days and underneath the paper is a binder with plastic templates) I feel so good about...

Happy Belated Valentine's Day.

Find out how I made Charlotte's dress-up box (the one I mentioned yesterday ), by visiting my post, Repurposed Garage Sale Finds, over at Living a Wartime Lifestyle .

I am hoping we are back on track to playing our alphabet games on a weekly basis. Here is what we did this week to learn about the letter D. We started D week with a brand new toy, a dress up box. It was full of fun things that I picked up at the local consignment shop or garage sales. Charlotte especially liked the princess tutu and the pink purse. I guess I am raising a pretty girly girl, even though I am not one myself. (I'm just a little girly.) Above you can see her in the blue tutu and me wrapped up in a ladybug scarf. We also did something decidely less girly this week. We went digging in a sandbox. It took a while for Charlotte to warm up to the idea of putting her sand in the toes. We've never taken her to the beach so this was a first for her. She didn't really like it and ended up digging in the sand from outside the sandbox for most of the play time. By the time we are done playing with this sandbox, I think it will be empty! I think, hands down, Charlot...

I love yogurt. So does Charlotte. It is a quick and easy food for both of us and ensures we are both getting the dairy we need (especially since she only likes 1 kind of milk, ahem). Blueberry's are Charlotte's favorite fruit too, so when I was offered a chance to try the Blueberry Acai Yo-Plus yogurt for free, I certainly didn't turn it down. I'm too frugal to turn free food down! And boy am I glad I took them up on their offer. It was yummy and not too sweet. Plus, it has probiotics in it to help with digestive help. And well, I'm pregnant, so that is a good thing!   (If you need me to explain that last statement, then you are probably a man or never been pregnant!) Then, the deal was sweetened even more and I was offered a chance to give away not one, but 3 gift bags that includes a coupon for a free 4-pack of Yo-Plus yogurt, Yoplait cooler tote bag, water bottle and a nutrition journal – great for keeping track of your health goals and eating habits. (I g...

Sometimes Momma needs to call in for a sick day... when that happens, it is good to know that no substitute is needed. Daddy can take over and make sure little Charlotte has a good day. Thanks Bruce! I love you!

As I mentioned recently, my friend Jane is trying to raise awareness about the situation in Zimbabwe through her Operation Love Zimbabwe week of stories and giveaways I wanted to share with you the awesome giveaways she is having (even though it lowers my chances of winning those awesome capalunas!) as well as highlight some of the stories she is sharing. First, I'll list the giveaways. If you see something that interests you, head over to her blog, MoziEsme and check it out. Hand-Tied Fleece Blanket Face Stone Carvings (US) The African Alphabet CD Capulanas (my favorite giveaway) Plumeria Candles (US) Drums Scarf/Wrap (Europe) Earrings (with 300 year old trade beads) 3 African Books (I'm sponsoring this one!) Malawian Carved Wood Bowl Authentic Batiks (close 2nd on my favorite list!) Here are the articles that Jane has shared to help us all understand the story of those who live in the squalor of Zimbabwe. Background Post - What started OLZ The World Food...

I had my first appointment with a midwife today at the birthing center I have decided to use. It was so exciting to hear the heart beat of our new baby. It was too bad that I felt so yucky today. I think I might be getting a cold, but I've already taken 2 naps this afternoon. I really need to head back to bed now... just wanted to document my excitement at hearing the heartbeat. It was nice and fast, just like a hummingbird. Image courtesy J/F Photos via Flikr

One of my blog friends, Grammy Janet , honored me with the Lemonade Award recently and now it is my turn to share it with other blog friends. The Lemonade Award is given by a previous winner to people who have shown a great attitude or gratitude this week. It’s a great way to show these people that you appreciate them. I would like to pass this award along to the following people: Mozi Esme Rachel's Signing Time Blog The Webels Living Grenier   Biblical Womanhood 4 Hall Girls The Pipers Cayman's Here And I want to nominate Tonggu Momma, but(t) I know better! :) All you have to do is: 1. Put the logo on your blog or post. 2. Nominate as many blogs as you want, which show great Attitude and/or Gratitude! Be sure to link to your nominees within your post. 3. Let them know that they have received this award by commenting on their blog. 4. Share the love and link  to the person from whom you received your award. (I'd like to link to the person who cre...

Can you believe my baby girl is now a year and a half old? Well, by the time I remembered to write and post this, she is actually 18 months and 3 days old... sorry I'm a little late. I don't think she will notice though. I just wanted to take a minute and marvel over all the new skills she has recently acquired. She really does seem to learn something new every day. Since I last updated her sign language skills, she has learned several new signs, and is particularly good at using her manners signs. Our lovely daughter even uses the signs for please and thank you appropriately and completely unprompted. Just ask the nice couple who took care of her during Sunday School last week. I can't even really count any more how many signs she has now, but I can show you a video of her showing some of them off. (Probably only really interesting to anyone super crazy about our daughter or really into toddler sign language.) Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com She has ...

It is always sad to lose a grandparent, even one who wasn't particularly cuddly or didn't like baking cookies with you. That is why, when my grandmother died of ovarian cancer, it affected me. She wasn't all hugs and roses, but I still missed her. I was in 9th grade when she died and I wrote a research paper about the different kinds and stages of ovarian cancer and ways for it to be cured. I was glad to hear that there is still important research going on today in the battle against ovarian cancer. Electrolux Appliances has even started a new campaign to raise $500,000 for ovarian cancer research. The Electrolux campaign is called "Wear Your Heart on Your Sleeve," )something I generally do anyway). And you know their favorite spokesperson, Kelly Ripa had to get in on the fund raising. She designed cool shir t to raise money. So, what does all of this mean for you? Well, if you don't want to spend $29.95 on the shirt, how about sending someone a virt...

So, it has been about 3 weeks since my last alphabet post, but I have a good excuse. You would think in the three weeks we've been working on the letter C, I'd have more to share, but well, see my good excuse. Our C week(s) started with a visit to the Circus. I'm going to pretend that I applied some really cool pixelate feature to this first picture, because it is the only one I have that shows Charlotte during the show, cheering for something the high-flying acts. At the end of the show, they showered the audience with white Confetti. Charlotte wanted to catch as much as possible, but didn't get to keep it for too long. I think my favorite animal act were the elephants. They were the most organized and we got to see more of them than any other animal. We also played with Colored beads. This is one way that Charlotte is very girly. She loves to wear her beads. I bought a small bag of them for about $.50 at a garage sale last fall but waited until our C week to giv...

My husband recently sent me a link about Angelina Jolie wearing a designer dress backwards. I thought that was really unusual, until I saw the dress! Had she worn it properly, there would have been little left to the imagination about how well the Creator endowed her. However, she recognized that was more skin than she wanted to show, and turned the dress around. The dress still isn't modest because of how much of her back is shown, but it is much more modest than the runway model.

5 days. That is how long it has been since my last post. I have a gazillion post ideas saved as a draft or written down on my to do list, I just can't find time to write them out, or add the pictures they need to do them justice. So, my faithful readers, please forgive me. I will be out of the 1st trimester in just another couple of weeks and my life should be a bit more normal than it was. These 8:30 pm bed times sure do kill my social life! Good night!

I am of course, weepy at all things having to do with babies these days. But I did get a small laugh and offered up a prayer to God when I saw this video... I thanked him that I don't have to give birth to anything with hooves and that I can use a towel to clean up the after birth! Take a few minutes and watch this rare video of a Masai Giraffe being born. Okay, I tried to embed it here, but it wouldn't work, so go visit the Masai Giraffe birth on the original site. It is worth it.

After a few months on Facebook, I realized I was never going back to MySpace. It was too cluttered and noisy for my tastes. So, I cancelled my MySpace account. Yep... I am no longer friends with former students or high school classmates. Do I feel bad? Nope... I hadn't logged into MySpace in months. Facebook is clear and easy to read. Everyone's page is laid out the same and I always know where to find photos, contact information, and friend request links. That was not the case for MySpace. So, since I am now a Facebook only kind of girl, would you do me a couple of favors? First, would you confirm my blog by clicking the link to the left (if you are in a reader, why not come over and check out my sidebar for the link)? Second, if you feel up to it and like me enough, why not send me a friend request on Facebook? You'll have to search for me by name because I have no idea how to link to my profile for your adding pleasure!

The winner of the toddler book and t-shirt was Lisa, commentor #9. I've e-mailed her and am waiting to hear back with her mailing address. Congratulations Lisa!

My friend Jane is having 2 weeks of posts and giveaways to spread awareness about the living conditions in Zimbabwe. Here is how she explained it: Two weeks of African-themed giveaways to attract readers to our site. And mixed in with the giveaway posts are informative posts that give you a glimpse of the real tragedies in Zimbabwe, as well as ideas on how you can make a difference in the lives of Zimbabweans. If you don't already read Mozi Esme , then at least head over for the next two weeks to learn more and be inspired.