Ramblings – Page 6 – Butterbees and Bumbleflies

#BreakYouMake

I recently heard about Chobani’s #BreakYouMake promotion- asking folks to tell the world about a friend of mine who needs a break… And could use some Chobani Flips in their life.

My first thought was wow what an awesome idea! My second thought was… I’m not fond of Greek yogurt. But the idea of the Flip intrigued me, because I do enjoy parfaits. So I decided to try the Flips before making any commitments. And, well…

I’m hooked!!! I seriously LOVE these things! I love the crunch of the add-ins and the fresh, fun flavors that are perfect for breakfast, snack, or even dessert.

I didn’t have to think more than about two seconds to know who of my friends would not only most love the Flips, but also to think about who most needs a break right now.

You know those days that Mama said would happen? Try linking those all together into a really tough year. A year where seemingly nothing goes your way. From moving and the door on the freezer gets broken (and the company subsequntly sending the wrong replacement part two or three different times to the tune of -$200 a pop), to Internet service randomly shut off for no reason, to numerous personal things I would never betray on the www, my dear sweet friend who is an amazing mom, an awesome nurse, and probably the strongest woman I know has been through quite a year. If anyone deserves to jet away to a tropical island on her two minute break while on her nursing rounds, it’s Johannah.

Not only is she working long twelve hour shifts three or four days a week, she’s supporting her two teenagers in their sports and all the while working out herself in an attempt to become a healthier mom. What a better snack for someone striving to eat healthy than Chobani Flip? I love that they are high in protein and fabulous in flavor and come in some really great varieties to please any tastebud. I know if she was to win some free Chobani Flip yogurt she would FLIP… And be super excited about the healthy break SHE could make while at work or on the go!

So here’s to my Super Mom-Nurse-Friend… Hoping Chobani Flips… For you! Love ya! blog signature

Want to nomiate one of your friends? Find out more about the #BreakYouMake project here on the Chobani website! And find out more about the Chobani Flip yogurt here!

Involving Your Student in the Planning Process

So I was getting a little stressed out. I never planned to be homeschooling. In any form. When I found out that we had to “qualify” for pre-k here in Texas, and that we wouldn’t qualify, I thought, ok well, I can teach pre-k. It’s not like I don’t have the experience. Or we could just put our kids in a private pre-k. But that was before. Before either of our kids was born.

The journey we’ve taken the last three years with Becca has been incredible. We never expected all the challenges that come with being her parents. But we wouldn’t change a thing. Even the homeschooling first, second, and third grade curriculum at age three in the middle of the summer because she doesn’t ever want to shut down or take a break from learning. I wouldn’t change it, but it is definitely enough to stress ya out. Believe me, ya’ll. I was about to lose it.

And then I saw a post from one of my favorite bloggers, Colleen (from Raising Lifelong Learners), about this class called Bloom. It’s made for homeschooling moms and actually says in the title that it’ll help me find my SANITY. And boy. I kept seeing her post that Alicia from Vibrant Homeschooling was doing this Bloom registration for her class, and I kept seeing the word SANITY. But I kept telling myself I’m not homeschooling. Not really. I mean I call it unschooling, but seriously, I’m NOT a homeschooler. I was fighting it tooth and nail. Not the homeschooling itself, but the title. The “stigma.” The looks. The comments from, well, everyone who isn’t a homeschooler.

But then I gave in. And realized that whatever label I put on it, I am teaching school at home. And I realized I was flailing around out there in an ocean, looking for a life raft. So I decided to grab the next one that floated by, and I joined the Bloom class. After only completing two classes (of eight) so far, I’m already breathing sighs of relief. Sanity is possible!!! Talking with the other ladies in the group, watching the videos, getting encouragement, all of it has really started making an impact on how I focus on teaching.

And, I realized that I know some things about Becca. She does NOT thrive on specific curriculum guidance. She needs to have the flexibility to follow any little rabbit trail she comes across. A daily lesson plan might be much more comforting to me as a former public school teacher, but for her, it would never work. Because she sees a random cardboard box, and that makes her want to research how cardboard boxes are made. And we might spend all day on that. Or we might see the moon in the daytime and spend the rest of the week learning more (and more, and more, and more) about the moon! I seriously know more than any mom of a 3 year old should ever know about the moon, ya’ll. It’s kinda scary. But, I guess if my daughter is “someday gonna put a Texas flag up there on it,” I should know all this stuff. (Her words,not mine!) I also know that she is very opinionated. Once she feels like she knows everything she wants to know about a topic, she is done with it. And I best not bring it back up. Not because she’ll misbehave or throw a fit, but because it’ll be pointless – her mind will be somewhere else and I’ll be wasting my breath.

Realizing these things about her was a huge breakthrough for me. I knew these things, but somehow sitting down and thinking about them not as flaws but as character traits that impact the way she learns has made a huge impact on the way I approach teaching her. So I decided to sit down and make some lists of things that she might want to learn about this coming school year. (If you follow my Facebook page, you’ve seen a preview of this a few days ago – here’s the backstory behind the photo I shared.) I made a list of items from various subjects that I felt she might be interested in… but I wasn’t sure. So I decided I’d just ask her, and then we could sort of go through the lists little by little and cover those topics.

I’m always so fascinated to see how her brain works. When I went to talk to her about the theme topics, we were in her bedroom, and I sat on the floor. She was all over the room all the time. As she got more excited about the topics she wanted to learn about, she moved faster and faster. She was eventually spinning in circles next to me. (Enter her Proprioceptive need for input…aka Sensory Processing Disorder or SPD) She read the lists aloud over my shoulder and would say “yes, I want to learn ___” or “no, I know enough already about ____.” When we were talking about science topics, she kept going. “I want to learn about ____ and I want to learn about ____ and about _____ and then what about _____?” We ended up with an amazing set of lists of theme topics she wants to learn about, art projects she wants to create, and some physical stuff she wants to try, too.

It was a super productive meeting time, and she and I both left the room really excited about what all we’re going to learn about together in the coming school year. Then she hit me with a curveball. She basically asked me if we could start “tomorrow.” We talked about it, and agreed that this summer we will definitely do some things on her lists, but we’ll wait and pick up on the more “schoolish” things (math, according to her is “kind of schoolish”) this fall. I’m totally fine with that. Until such time as she’s actually behind in a skill for her age, I will totally let her determine what she wants to learn, and when she wants to learn (which of course is everything / every minute of every day).

I honestly don’t know how long this homeschooling thing will be right for us. I hope and pray that we can get her IQ tested next year and then advocate for the school district we are in to advance her to the appropriate grade level for her skills once she hits age 5 and should start kindergarten. But that may not happen. And it may be that we need to continue some form or combination of home, private or charter education to ensure that all of her needs are met.

We have to take each day at a time, and I have to be ok with the flexibility of all of it. This isn’t something that I can really plan ahead. I have to learn to roll with the punches. (Which is probably the hardest thing I’ve ever done thus far…) But here’s the SANITY portion of this!!!!: By letting her select and tell me things she is interested in learning, my curriculum won’t fail. And I won’t spend tons of money on themes she isn’t interested in!!! I know I’m guaranteed to have a happy, intent student who is eager to learn about the selected topic.

I would highly encourage other moms (homeschooling or not) to talk to your kids about what they want to learn. Don’t just assume they are interested. Ask them open-ended questions. Start the discussion by simply saying – what do you want to learn? And then sit back and be ready to listen. REALLY listen. And then be prepared to follow through!

Share some feedback – I’d love to hear from you! How do you involve your kids in their learning process? Do they get to help select their curriculum if you are homeschooling? Do they get to select topics of extracurricular study/activity if they are in another school setting and learning additionally at home? What works for you? I’m always eager to learn from others and get new ideas!! This was a first for us, and happened to be very successful, so I wanted to share.

Once Upon a Time…

Long, long ago, a girl met a boy and they fell in love. They married, and had beautiful children and lived happily ever after. But that wasn’t the end. You see, all because two people fell in love… Two more could fall in love, and two more, and on and on… Until finally one day a boy named Duane met a girl named Carol, and they fell in love. And that, folks, is where this story gets interesting. Because they got married, and one day they had a baby girl. Suddenly Duane was a Daddy. But not just any ole Daddy.

He was MY Daddy.

I have so many happy memories with my Daddy. Washing cars, planting flowers, riding tandem on a two-seater bicycle, and watching lots of football games. I remember vacations we took and evenings to visit him at work and take picnic dinners. I remember “princess rides” to bed at night and pancake breakfasts made special for me. But most of all, I remember that he was there. Every band concert. Every school program. Every everything. He supported me EVERY. SINGLE. STEP. He was there.

I remember him telling me that I didn’t have to find a ton of good guys to marry- I only needed one. And that somewhere out there was the right man that God had for me. A man who would love me and take care of me and be a good Daddy to our children. I remember lots of times when I knew he was right, and lots of times when I questioned his wisdom in that matter. Would I really ever find a man as wonderful as my own Daddy? Surely not.

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But you see, before that boy, Duane, fell in love with that girl, Carol, another boy and girl had met and fallen in love. Ray and Sherry had met, fallen in love, and married. And Ray had become a Daddy ten years before I came along. But he wasn’t just any Daddy.

He was Cody’s Daddy.

I’ve heard fond memories of working on old cars, mowing lawns, fishing, and camping. I’ve heard stories about Boy Scout adventures and canoe trips. I’ve heard so many wonderful things about that Daddy. And I know they are true because I see the example he set lived out.

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Because one day I fell in love with Ray’s boy, Cody. We got married, and after a while of trying and trying to have a baby, we had our beautiful little girl. We lost two very young angels to miscarriages, and then we had our handsome little boy. And Cody isn’t just any boy any more.

He’s my babies’ Daddy. He’s my husband. He’s my rock. He’s my world.

He is absolutely an amazing Daddy. And I’m going to make sure that our kids ALWAYS know what a wonderful man they are blessed with as their father.

He’s there at work, working hard to support us. He’s home as soon as possible for games of hide and seek, trains, marble run building, and lots and lots of book reading. He’s here for little mini dance performances and for new words. He’s here to play “vrroom vrroom” cars, and help with baths. He puts forth huge effort to keep our kids happy and functional and well cared for.

He doesn’t hesitate to let me get breaks away from the house, and encourages my extroverted side despite being an introvert himself. He never complains about being with his kids. He loves our babies with everything in him, and absolutely cares about every aspect of their lives.

I love each of these three Daddy’s so much, and each in different ways. I am SO BLESSED to have such a wonderful Daddy, Father-in-Law, and Husband. And my kids are SO BLESSED to have such an amazing PawPaw, Pappy, and Daddy!! Love to all three of you!!

Happy Father’s Day 2015!

Happy Birthday, Baby Girl!

Well, sweet girl, the day is here. You are once again celebrating a birthday. Three years ago today, I held you in my arms and you made me a Mommy. I was so overwhelmed by you that the nurse had to take you back when I blacked out momentarily. The last three years have been such an amazing journey, that I can only imagine what lies ahead.

I never dreamed that I would have a three year old who would read the title aloud of each item she received at her party. You have begun to read literally everything in sight just in the past couple of weeks, and the power of your brain simply blows me away. You love to add and subtract. You’re interested in learning about money and telling time and comparing fractions. You’re interested in the Solar System, and tell me frequently that you are going to live on Mars some day. You’re gonna plant a Texas flag on the moon. You say you’re gonna be a great scientist. And who knows? Maybe you will be! You’ve got a brain in your head that is unlike any I’ve ever encountered and I’m so extremely proud of you.

I love that you are who you are, and while it might not always be easy to be you, you do it with such flair and such confidence that I can’t help but smile. You love to dance and twirl in dresses and tutus, and you love to lay on the floor on your tummy and play with matchbox cars and build train tracks. You’re fascinated by marble runs and Duplos and Legos and anything you can build. You love puzzles and have a voracious need to work as many puzzles as possible.

You love to spend time on your Kindle – working puzzles, reading, and playing math games. You love to watch TV, and your favorite show at this moment is definitely Peep and the Big Wide World – which you act out in real life frequently. Your favorite food is peanut butter, and your favorite meal is bean burritos. Your favorite restaurant is Chick-fil-a (“Chicken-fil-a”). Your best friends are Evan and Verity (and their siblings) and Tirzah and Abby and Kate. You love many of the teenagers from our youth group and want to be just like them. Your favorite colors are purple, green, orange, pink, turquoise, and red. (YES, you list each of them as your favorite.)

You love rainbows. You do not love thunderstorms. You are fascinated by bugs that crawl, but aren’t fond of bugs that fly. (I’m totally with you on this one!) You LOVE to play in the water outside – in your little pool, and in your water table – and you love love love with everything in you your kitty cat, Toodles. You love to swing in your swing that Daddy built for you, and you love to go walk on our nature trail. You enjoy gardening with me in the flower bed, and are very caring for the birds – always wanting to fill up the bird feeders we made from milk cartons. If you could live outside, you would.

You have a sweet and caring heart for your Baby Brother, and you usually get along really well with him. You are learning to be gentle even when you are frustrated with him, and he’s starting to actually be able to play with you some. You love to make him laugh, which makes my heart so happy.

You are a fabulous helper in our family – you love your recycling job, and you are quick to help clean up toys and books and make a “nice clean room” wherever you are. You set the table frequently, can make your own peanut butter and jelly sandwich, and you are great about clearing away trash after a meal.

You love to paint – anything and everything that can be painted. You are highly interested in art, and love to create art with lots of different mediums.

You are fascinated with animals and life cycles and the food chain and pretty much anything science you can get your hands on. You are learning to love history and geography, and greatly enjoy our story times each day when we read Magic Tree House books together.

You are simply amazing. You struggle with noises that are too loud, and don’t always like to be touched, but your love for Brother is helping you overcome many of those issues because he cries and squeals a lot, and often messes with your feet or your hair. He is helping you become a stronger person, and you are doing an awesome job at learning to control your feelings of discomfort – and overcome them with love.

We as parents are learning how to help you get the sensory input you need, and you simply adore pulling all the pillows and cushions off of the couch onto the floor and hopping around on them like a frog on a pond full of lily pads. You love to run and spin our round swirly chair, and you love to sit in the chair and be spun around really fast. You love to listen to classical music, and your sound machine is always turned on to the crickets/outdoor sounds when you are in your room.

You have let us know that your nose doesn’t work like ours, and we are working toward helping you understand what smells are like in the world around you, even if you yourself will never experience that sense. You are fascinated to hear what things have good and bad scents, and are trying to memorize that information so that you can be more understanding of the world around you. Your interest and care for your world and the people in it is just incredible. You are probably the most thoughtful, deep, intense person I know.

You are the most amazing, adorable, beautiful little girl I’ve ever seen. I love you more every single day. Lots of days I get frustrated with you, and you might feel like I don’t love you as much on those days, but I promise – I love you more every single day. I love that you have a strong mind and know how to articulate your desires. I love that you verbalize your thoughts – even if they are bold and brazen. I love your creativity, even if I get frustrated because it causes a mess. I’m human. Sometimes the intensity that you so boldly display drives me crazy. But I ALWAYS love you. And those moments before nap time and bedtime when you look me in the eye, and your eyes go all mushy and you say “one more kiss?”… in those moments, my heart melts. When you tell me you love me, it melts all over again.

You always have and always will be my little princess, my angel, my butterfly, my lil ducky, my Boo, my daughter, my Love. I love you with more intensity than you will ever have in your body, and I always will.

I love you sweet girl.

Love,

Mommy.

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To My Engineer…

Normally I post on Thursdays about STEAM. But this Thursday is something a bit special. This isn’t your typical engineering STEAM post… It’s a day that I dedicate to a very special engineer. THE engineer in my life. The one who inspires me daily to be a better mom to our kids, a better friend, a better person. So if you stopped by for some engineering encouragement, this might not be what you were looking for today, but it’s the whole reason I do what I do. I am who I am today because of this very special man.

We met online on January 1, 2008. We met in person January 5, 2008. We got engaged January 20, 2008.

And on June 11, 2008, I married Cody Hinnant. I walked down the boardwalk at Walt Disney World in my princess dress, and the king of the castle I had always called home gave me away to my Prince Charming.

Seven years have gone by since that day. In some ways, it seems it’s been my entire life. In other ways, it’s just been a whirlwind.

But in that seven years I have grown and changed, and daily I’m becoming more of who I want to be – because of that man. Cody is absolutely the man God made for me. He knew when I was born exactly who I would need to be my rock, my shoulder to cry on, the father of my children. And each and every day we are together, He is molding us more and more into the people that each other need.

We had beautiful years of marriage before kids. We traveled a lot, and we went on lots of adventures.

And we have beautiful years now – full of new adventures with our two amazing little ones. Sometimes they aren’t always the easiest mountains to conquer, but we’re in this together, and that’s what makes it all worth while.

So, dear sweet husband of mine, here’s to the last seven, the next seven, and the next… on until infinity. I’ll love you forever, and just like from day one, I can’t help falling in love with you – over and over again.

xoxoxoxo… forever. Happy Anniversary, Baby.