tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14233788040434091292024-03-13T22:16:44.129-07:00Craft With MeThis started out as a crafty blog, but as you can see, has been taken over entirely by digiscrap!!!Robynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14486573900239764265noreply@blogger.comBlogger679125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1423378804043409129.post-74811957027467775672023-12-16T02:00:00.000-08:002023-12-16T02:00:23.169-08:00I'm God's Favorite<span style="font-family: arial;">Just over a year ago, I started working full time. After spending 19 years as a mom first, photographer, editor, babysitter, artist, crafter, serial entreprenuer, etc second- it was quite the change. Here I was in a room full of grownups- a handful of whom were older than me, but most younger and I realized something. I kind of have a favorite complex. My nieces will tell you that I've always had it, but this was the first time that I realized it myself. I just really like to be the favorite. I tell people all the time that I'm my parents favorite child (just ignore my siblings when they say, "nuh uh, I'm the favorite"- to which I reply, "I'm the baby, gotta love me."). During training, there were two of us and I continually found myself pushing to be the trainee that was most beloved. Ironic, because at the same time, I found myself loving those I was working and training with.</span><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><span> As I progressed at work, moving seat locations and learning more duties, it would be the same; in every row, every specific manager, and every cluster. I just really wanted to be the favorite for each spot. I wanted people to be happy that I was there. I wanted people to notice if I was gone. I wanted to make each spot better for having come, having called, or having have crossed my path. Also in turn, the opposite would happen. I again, grew to love each person I sat next to, behind, across from, in a row with, and who I learned from. Turns out I was better for having been at each spot. My confidence also grew. I knew that I had a power to shape the feelings and attitudes around me. I wanted to be in a place that made me smile more? Well, then I guess I better make those around me smile more. I wanted to see reminders of gratitude on the wall- I guess I better get sketching and get some sparkly push pins.</span><br /></span></div><div><span><span style="font-family: arial;"><span> This came to a head in the last few months when the biggest work change happened and I actually moved buildings/job titles/coworkers. I was for sure the one there with the least education now working with people who before I had known (and maybe shaken my fist at) behind a computer screen. But I put myself out there and I let them know that I was the favorite. I told them that I was the favorite because I had decided that I was the favorite and it didn't really matter if they thought I was the favorite, I was just going to go move along and hunker down with the assumption that I most certainly was. And ugh, can you believe it? Turns out I'm learning to love these guys, too. I've been out of the office for a couple of weeks with health issues and gosh darn it, I can't wait to go back and see 'em all.</span><br /></span></span></div><div><span><span><span><span style="font-family: arial;"> What does this rather long declaration have to do with my rather bold assumption that I'm God's favorite? Well, I started the Book of Mormon again today- always bittersweet and I'll be starting it again in a few weeks with the New Year, but it's ok. But today, I started laughing a little bit because Nephi, who at 16ish years old, starts this incredible book of scripture out with....</span></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><span><span><span><span> </span>"Hey, I'm Nephi. I have awesome parents who taught me well and BTW, I'm 'highly favored of the Lord in all my days.'" He then, of course, continues to talk about the things he's seen, a story his dad told, and then finishes up the first chapter with something akin to, "so now I'm gonna show you all the reason's I'm the Chosen by God." Of course, those were not his exact words. He actually said, " </span></span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 18px;">But behold, I, Nephi, will show unto you that the tender </span><a class="study-note-ref" data-scroll-id="note20c" href="https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/bofm/1-ne/1?lang=eng#note20c" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><sup class="marker" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 0.75em; font-stretch: normal; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: 0; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">c</sup>mercies</a><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 18px;"> of the Lord are over all those whom he hath chosen, because of their faith, to make them mighty even unto the power of </span><a class="study-note-ref" data-scroll-id="note20d" href="https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/bofm/1-ne/1?lang=eng#note20d" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><sup class="marker" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 0.75em; font-stretch: normal; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: 0; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">d</sup>deliverance</a><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 18px;">."</span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 18px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"> I want you to notice a couple of things. The first is that God never said He loved Nephi more than His other children. Nephi decided it. "over all those whom he hath chosen, because of their faith." </span><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 18px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span> Sometimes Nephi gets a bad rap. He's so confident. He talks about having power over his brothers and cites some times where their dad was pretty rough on the older two. But here's the thing. Laman and Lemuel- they were also of goodly parents. They, too, had been taught in the language of their Father. They, too, had seen miracles and been saved from destruction and sent to the promised land. God loved them just as much as He loved Nephi. So why didn't they feel like the favorite? Faith. They didn't choose to see those miracles as such. They didn't recognize the tender mercies of the Lord. Chances are, they didn't love the people with the desk next to them the same way someone who has decided they are the favorite did. They instead became the victims of their own attitudes, unbelief, and refusal to recognize the light that's there. Why does it matter that they weren't vying for top spot? </span></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 18px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span><span> I have another story that might seem like it doesn't fit, but it does. A few years ago, I was studying my patriarchal blessing. That was a challenge because I don't have all super positive feelings about mine, but it was time. I was discussing some of the words with a friend and how very generic it felt. My friend said, "Sometimes I think they aren't worded beautifully because God wants to tell you himself how He feels about you. You should ask Him. I think you are one of his favorites." She might not have used the word favorite, but it is the feeling of the word that resonated. After much trepidation, I did finally ask Him. I asked, "Is what this friends said true? Am I one of your favorites? Do you really thing that I am something special?"</span><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 18px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span><span><span> I fully expected that all over warm feeling that leaves you without a doubt. But I received a question in return. He asked me, "Does it matter?" It felt like a gut punch. Was he saying I didn't even matter?! But no, no. Remember that being offended is a choice. After much thought the second part of the question came. "Does it change how much I will bless you? Does it change how many of my commandments you'd keep? Does it change your faith in my Son?" and then there was peace. While still not a warm, fuzzy answer, it was much food for thought. It's taken me until today to realize that choosing to be God's favorite is so much more choosing to serve Him and love Him and be his right hand man than feeling a pat on the head saying, "Yup. You're a favorite."</span></span></span></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 18px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span><span><span><span> Favorites are the favorite because they choose to love the people they are with and the situations they are in. They know that you might have to do a little extra sprinkling of glitter to help someone feel loved for them to notice if you're in the hospital for a week. And while it can on the surface seem petty and selfish, that morphs so fast into a true and genuine love. Like Nephi, I want to tell everyone of all the tender mercies God has granted me. I have so much evidence of His love for me! Entire galaxies, oceans, forests, gardens, memories, temples, populations..... are PROOF that God loves me just so much!! But here's the kicker....you can be His favorite, too.</span><br /></span></span></span></span></span></div>Robynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14486573900239764265noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1423378804043409129.post-88429639120443004662023-09-09T08:26:00.003-07:002023-09-09T08:26:45.964-07:00For Posterity<p> This has been on my mind for days. I hesitated posting becuase it's a bit.... personal. Please note that this is NOT a pity party, boohoo post, but more of a "Let's get it all out in writing to see if I'm actually crazy or not" and "hey wouldn't this be cool to know in 50 years" kind of post.</p><p><br /></p><p>Today I'm talking about the monies.</p><p>Background: Husband and I got married in 2002. We were poor college students living in a little college town. We only stayed for one school year and then moved in with my parents in California to have Xander (and to use the summer to figure out what we were doing for the rest of our lives). Roger worked hard labor all summer long for $8/hr. </p><p>As summer ended, we knew that the next step for us was to move back to Utah, get an apartment, and Roger decided to go to ITT Tech. We found an apartment in a pretty ghetto part of West Valley, but it was close to the school. Roger also worked as a flower deliveryman (to date one of his favorite jobs) making minimum wage- which at the time was $6.55. I was at home with Xander and also babysat a few kids to help ends meet. I don't think it occurred to me how poor we were until my visiting teacher came over one day while I was pregnant with Juliana and asked if we had food. I was like, "Yeah! We have food! I have a half of loaf of bread, some potatoes, and sour cream, we're good!" and then she insisted we get a food order.</p><p>We only lived in that apartment for a year. I can't remember why Roger switched from flower delivery to the deli at Harmon's. There he made $8 an hour, but didn't love it quite so much. In that year we were in the apartment, my parents bought a house in Utah. My family helped renovate it and get it ready for my parents to move in, which they did in 2005. After being there for a few months, they were called on a mission to Florida. Timing was good because they'd be leaving about the time our lease was up. We moved into the house and then my dad had a little procedure that pushed back the mission a little bit. I was grateful they were there when we had Juliana. </p><p>Sometime in that year, Roger switched jobs again to Albertson's- this time cleaning the backs of trucks for $10 an hour. He was absolutely miserable there. He finished ITT and graduated. Around the time he graduated, he got a call from Ensign Engineering. He started there at $11 an hour and we have been there ever since (minus a 3 month attempt working at a firm out here).</p><p>Through the years, I did what I could help financially. We bought a house in 2007 in Tooele with a USDA Rural Housing Loan- our house payment was $500 a month or something similar. The catch with that is that we filled out paperwork each year and they would adjust the payment amount based on our income. years we had babies, the payment went down. years we got raises, the payment went up, but we were always in the same boat. Roger always made enough for the house payment and our regular bills, but anything else was up to me. I babysat, sold jewelry, edited photos, did display set ups, and then eventually photography. </p><p>In 2008, when things were bad for everyone and gas was $4/gallon in Utah and we had one car and Roger was commuting to Salt Lake every day- we saw miracles. The Tooele office opened. Roger could walk or bike to work. I ad steady extra gigs. It was hard. There was not any extra. But we were ok.</p><p>I stopped babysitting about the time I had Abraham in 2014. At that point, we were in the exact same financial boat as we always had been because although Roger's income had doubled, so had our house payment and the amount of kids had more than doubled. We did have 2 cars at that point, which was really nice since I had kids in school and all my side gigs. I started doing photography as full time as I could, while still editing photos and other stuff. </p><p>Here's an ADHD thing- any hobby that I wanted to try, I had to monetize. I still am that way. I'm getting better, but if I wanted to try painting, I had to make a business about it. If I wanted to try crochet, I had to try to sell some of my wares. It's how I could justify to myself that it was worth the time, effort, and especially any money. I even did MLM for a minute, selling Lia Sophia jewelry. I don't know if any of my little things like that ever actually helped financially- until the hymn paintings. </p><p>Anyway. Somewhere around 2018ish, we were tired of being in the exact same financial boat as we had been with the house and we finally refinanced. It felt so good to have that little bit of freedom, knowing that any income growth would finally be income growth.</p><p>During Covid, we were very blessed that Roger could work still. </p><p>In 2020, the housing market in Utah was INSANE. We decided to sell. We had a 1900 square foot house, fenced in yard (with no surviving grass). It needed all kinds of repairs. The AC was about to go out, the cupboards had no doors, the floors needed help.... It had just been very, very lived in. And we couldn't afford to fix it up. Plus, we had so outgrown it. There were 4 actual rooms and we had converted the basement into our master bedroom. It was just very crowded. We sold the house for $255,000. It had only been on the market for 4 days.</p><p>We lived in a 3rd floor apartment in Tooele for 6 months. We originally had dreams to build, but that was going nowhere. Then, we started having thoughts of Elsewhere. We considered Texas, Kentucky, and Indiana. Roger got a job offer in Texas and we felt very bad about it. We dropped TX from the list quickly. Roger was never really sold on the Indiana idea, but we were both intrigued by Kentucky. We had friends who lived in Richmond KY and they loved it. All the pictures were so green and land was not crazy expensive. We had been feeling strongly about having a garden. It's a little silly since none of us garden, but I felt like we needed to anyway. </p><p>We found a piece of land in Alexandria KY that was perfect. 2 acres. $30,000. Ready to build. Roger flew out and looked at it, felt good about it, and so we bought it. I flew out a couple of months later to see it, fell in love, and then we made plans.</p><p>Originally, we were going to move during summer. Our lease would be up about then, kids would be out of school, we'd have time to do all the goodbye things. The Spirit said otherwise. I would wake up in the mornings almost in a panic "GET OUT OF HERE" were some of the thoughts. "GO NOW"- but not scary thoughts. And they didn't start out that way. They started as "What if?" "What if we went before our lease was up?" "What would it take to go sooner?" and "Why are we still here?" (for real, 3rd floor with 6 kids was a bad, bad idea). I told Roger I'd been feeling this way, and he admitted he had as well. It was surprisingly easy to get out of our lease early. We found a rental that looked good on paper. Everything aligned. So we packed up our entire lives into a 16' Penske Truck and drove 1700 miles. </p><p>The rental wasn't quite ready when we got here, so we stayed in a hotel the first couple of nights (another reason Robyn should not be the one making reservations for anything- I swear up and down the hotel said "pet friendly" and then when we got there..... it was a no pets hotel. We had a tender mercy and were able to keep Winnie with us for 2 nights). We had someone in our new ward willing to watch the Kitties until we were in the rental. After the first 2 nights, we found a hotel in Lexington that was pet friendly and a good price, so we reserved 5 days there. It was cheap because it was nasty, old, and the day we left, the Terminex guy was there, so there you go.</p><p>We settled into the rental- which was fabulous, by the way. Things were good and we started working on plans for building the house. Then we met with the builder. It was going to be more than 3x our budget and work couldn't start for over a year. To say that I was upset was an understatement. A lot of prep work, spiritual and otherwise, had gone into these plans. And there was no way in the universe we'd ever be able to afford to make it happen.</p><p>Then we found this house. After a couple of miracles, we got it for $333,000. This place is big!! It fits ALL of us. It still technically only has 4 bedrooms, but they are big enough to fit all of us. Plus there is space all throughout the house for people to be. We are so happy here. It's also 2 acres, though they are downhill and mostly wooded. We were able to sell the property for the $30,000 we bought it for, but the timing didn't match up quite right and we ended up using the 401k to put the down payment on this house.</p><p>Here's the thing. Moving is expensive. However expensive we thought it was going to be, it was double. Plus some. So when we got the money for the property, we did not put it back in the 401k. Instead, we payed off the debts that moving had incurred and also furnished our house. Not extravagantly, but the basics, anyway.</p><p>Husband, trying to be responsible and get us out of debt as quickly as possible, set it up to repay the 401k in 5 years. Roughly half of his paycheck goes towards 401k. So I got a full time job to help keep us caught up on the house payment. We had a couple of water damage incidents in the house, however, that needed the insurance to help. You know, the insurance that is supposed to cover what you can't afford, even though it has a $1000 deductible? Yeah, that's the one. So we used it. Might as well, since we were paying for it anyway. Well...... between those 2 times we used the insurance and the taxes in this beautiful area, our house payment jumped 33%. </p><p>I don't know if you've shopped for groceries lately, but it's not what it used to be. Here is the snippet of what groceries are right now- September 9, 2023</p><p>Loaf of bread: $1.32</p><p>Gallon of whole milk: $2.33</p><p>1 lb of ground beef: $4.96</p><p>1 red pepper: $1.48</p><p>12 pack of store brand toilet paper: $11.98</p><p>Ok, you get the idea. I have 6 kids at home right now (Xander is off in the Navy, but we have an amazing exchange student from Brazil). We don't qualify for free or reduced lunch, so if I have the kids eat breakfast at lunch at school, it would cost me $25 a day (Paisley eats free). We make home lunches. Shopping for lunch stuff looks like this:</p><p>Capri Suns (30 per week) - $8.50</p><p>Chips (12 units a week)- $6</p><p>Pretzels (1 big bag a week)- $2</p><p>Clementines (24 per week)- $6</p><p>Sandwiches (bread, meat, cheese, lettuce, tomato) (twice per week)- [2 loaves of bread $2.64, 2 kinds of meat $9, presliced cheese $5, 1 head lettuce $1.50, 3 tomatoes appx $3] $21ish</p><p>Pierogies or pizza rolls or chimichangas (once per week) $5 average</p><p>Leftovers (once a week)- $0</p><p>Apples (once a week) $4.50</p><p>Chicken Salad Sandwiches/Lasagna/Mac and cheese, etc (once per week) Appx $10-$15 in supplies</p><p>Nuggies (once a week) $9</p><p>So I guess I'm saving $10 a day by making lunches. YAY. </p><p>But here's the thing. We still owe over $900 in student fees from last year/this year combined. So that's cool. Plus $500 for Marching band last year. And Paisley just got accepted into a choir group that costs $100.</p><p>I'm just saying, life is SO expensive that even though husband and I both make really good money- we only see half of his paycheck and inflation is eating the rest. I know we're not alone in this boat. I hope this post helped someone. Here's your hope, though. As long as we have paid our tithing- we have NEVER been without a home. NEVER been without food. We have seen SO many miracles that I couldn't ever get them all recorded. We are happy. We are alright. And if money is the big challenge in our lives and we're always in this boat- THAT IS OK!!! I have so much gratitude for all of our blessings- and we have SO many blessings. There's not enough blog space in the world to count them.</p><p>Also, inflation sucks. LOL.</p>Robynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14486573900239764265noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1423378804043409129.post-77122507849389595952023-05-27T09:39:00.000-07:002023-05-27T09:39:10.244-07:00Date Night Gift<p> I thought about monetizing this one- putting the stuff up on etsy with my printables. And maybe I will eventually, but we'll see.</p><p>The idea of this one is that you have a pre-planned date for every month of the year. You can do this with your spouse if you'd like, but I encourage it for the kids. Each kid should have a set of these. How you want to divvy it up is up to you.</p><p>If you are a single parent, then you would have a date with each kid each month.</p><p>If you are in a two parent home, you can take turns (maybe parent 1 takes the odd months and parent 2 takes the even, or if you have lots of kids maybe Mom has the boys on odd months and the girls on even months and Dad does the opposite). Maybe a couple times a year both parents can attend (birthday month, maybe?).</p><p>I recommend having a set date each month for that kid. Usually the day of their birthday, but that doesn't always work out. Maybe instead, flexible dates like, "first Friday of the month" for kid A, "second Saturday of the month" for kid B, etc.</p><p>What you will need:</p><p>Planning sheet (you'll notice it has 14 spots- two are backup) Right click, save as if you want to use mine.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7Sa2pMKpM2v7fQDnsJdRg_Z5agX0MhpzTvQUMfOeJWS6DEDndvMOnNB2bA_p-E28VAT0luCfg5qOxO_i5s74G6c6g_tRs7XoaETof7gUeKNbmG11tt9sO6kM86G1I4QEVgozGGsfXFKkheUumTPKaxep71uxWE99nO_mOW1QRPM7Q2i6lu-PE6fR6/s3300/DateNightPlanner.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3300" data-original-width="2550" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7Sa2pMKpM2v7fQDnsJdRg_Z5agX0MhpzTvQUMfOeJWS6DEDndvMOnNB2bA_p-E28VAT0luCfg5qOxO_i5s74G6c6g_tRs7XoaETof7gUeKNbmG11tt9sO6kM86G1I4QEVgozGGsfXFKkheUumTPKaxep71uxWE99nO_mOW1QRPM7Q2i6lu-PE6fR6/s320/DateNightPlanner.jpg" width="247" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p>Writing utensils</p><p>Manilla Folders (12 per kid)</p><p>Printouts or your own artwork</p><p>Date Outlines (the pretty much look like this)</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirENe6orG_NatCqc8fDDAm9IvL59o5ire16Sd_mRBpoE2sx4JybXqXT3pPSONgBBNaPA3tfgEZ4q0UPeGyj3YDvj6oXyFQZmESdVRQJyJ0ZCSGv4Ztxl5Bj8lISEnS42cCFUOdvIZ_345EAsIk3yt6iCoPkZNhsD9ZGRRq9PiBQ7UhiAYJNxmyCrM6/s484/DateNightOutline.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="484" data-original-width="476" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirENe6orG_NatCqc8fDDAm9IvL59o5ire16Sd_mRBpoE2sx4JybXqXT3pPSONgBBNaPA3tfgEZ4q0UPeGyj3YDvj6oXyFQZmESdVRQJyJ0ZCSGv4Ztxl5Bj8lISEnS42cCFUOdvIZ_345EAsIk3yt6iCoPkZNhsD9ZGRRq9PiBQ7UhiAYJNxmyCrM6/s320/DateNightOutline.jpg" width="315" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><br /><p></p><p>"The Rest"</p><p><br /></p><p>The first date is the planning date. Before you begin this, have your rules set. When we did this the first time, we said that only 2 dates could cost more than $10. Two had to be completely free. One date had to be outside. One date had to serve someone else. One had to be a getting to know you date.... I don't remember the rest- it was YEARS ago!</p><p>Prepare the manilla envelopes so that the kid's name and the month is on each one. You can use printables or do your own artwork or have your kiddo help with this part.</p><p>Have a list of ideas before you begin. You'll want to make sure they are age appropriate for each child. Your 14 year old probably isn't going to want to make macaroni noodle necklaces with you. Remember in the preparing of these that you're supposed to be enjoying the date, too. So if you absolutely detest the feel of grass on your skin, don't suggest rolling down the hills at the park. Here's a starter list of ideas for you, but do NOT feel confined to these, nor should you feel like you have to put all (or any!) of these on your list:</p><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Preschool:</b><br />Playdoh Mats<br />Food Jewelry<br />Animal Charades<br />Sidewalk Chalk</div><div style="text-align: left;">Going to the Park<br />McDonald's Playplace<br />ABC Scavenger Hunt<br />Zoo<br />About Me Pages<br />Photo Memories (esp if they are digital)/Making a chatbook<br />Splash Pad<br />Baking/Cooking<br />Handprint Art (and fingerprint art)<br />Science Experiments<br />Games (Candyland, Jenga, Etc)<br />Building (Duplos, regular blocks, etc)<br />Making a Fort<br />Themed Movie Night (please don't be boring and just watch a movie)<br />Library (there are games you can play here, or go on one of their activity nights, or plan on doing the activities they have out for kids)<br />Whole House Cars (masking tape roads all over the house)<br />Cabelas/REI<br />Getting dessert only at a restaurant</div><div style="text-align: left;">Sensory Activities</div><div style="text-align: left;">Blowing Bubbles</div><div style="text-align: left;">Bug Hunt</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">School Aged Kids:</div><div style="text-align: left;">Getting dessert only at a restaurant</div><div style="text-align: left;">Water Balloon Fight</div><div style="text-align: left;">Building a Snowman</div><div style="text-align: left;">Baking/Cooking</div><div style="text-align: left;">Games</div><div style="text-align: left;">About Me</div><div style="text-align: left;">Walk down Memory Lane</div><div style="text-align: left;">Hike</div><div style="text-align: left;">Swimming</div><div style="text-align: left;">Squirt Gun Art</div><div style="text-align: left;">Park</div><div style="text-align: left;">Cardboard Boxes (totally open ended)</div><div style="text-align: left;">Science Experiments</div><div style="text-align: left;">Themed Movie Night (same rules as every other age)</div><div style="text-align: left;">Library</div><div style="text-align: left;">Would You Rather</div><div style="text-align: left;">20 Questions</div><div style="text-align: left;">Yoga</div><div style="text-align: left;">Dance Party</div><div style="text-align: left;">Make instruments</div><div style="text-align: left;">I Spy</div><div style="text-align: left;">Fly Kites</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Preteens:</div><div style="text-align: left;">Writing Games</div><div style="text-align: left;">Visit a Garden Center</div><div style="text-align: left;">Loving animals at the shelter (do NOT come home with a new pet without the other parents permission)</div><div style="text-align: left;">Make a YouTube or TikTok video</div><div style="text-align: left;">Workout Buddies</div><div style="text-align: left;">Wedding Plans (I'm not pushing kids to get married young, but you would be amazed at how much you can learn about your kid when you let them show you what they find beautiful, exciting, etc). This one just needs Pinterest, pretty much.</div><div style="text-align: left;">Make Slime </div><div style="text-align: left;">Make jewelry</div><div style="text-align: left;">Dance Party</div><div style="text-align: left;">Arcade</div><div style="text-align: left;">Bake/Cook</div><div style="text-align: left;">Themed movie night</div><div style="text-align: left;">Scavenger hunt </div><div style="text-align: left;">Games</div><div style="text-align: left;">Jump Rope/Hopscotch</div><div style="text-align: left;">Sidewalk Chalk Art</div><div style="text-align: left;">Learn a hand clap </div><div style="text-align: left;">Mad Libs </div><div style="text-align: left;">Make a fairy garden</div><div style="text-align: left;">Make Smores</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Teens:</div><div style="text-align: left;">Arcade</div><div style="text-align: left;">Hike</div><div style="text-align: left;">Plant a garden</div><div style="text-align: left;">Bake/Cook</div><div style="text-align: left;">Themed movie night</div><div style="text-align: left;">Decades Date (80s- roller skating, wearing neon, etc. 90s- roller BLADING, going to the mall, etec)</div><div style="text-align: left;">photo shoot</div><div style="text-align: left;">scavenger hunt</div><div style="text-align: left;">YouTube game (finish the lyrics, try not to laugh, trivia)</div><div style="text-align: left;">Make a Playlist (yes, it will take hours)</div><div style="text-align: left;">Games</div><div style="text-align: left;">Video Games</div><div style="text-align: left;">Create a recipe book</div><div style="text-align: left;">Polymer clay</div><div style="text-align: left;">Visit a museum</div><div style="text-align: left;">Go to a concert (free ones in the park)</div><div style="text-align: left;">Find an online tour of your city or one near you</div><div style="text-align: left;">Have a budget and shop for each other</div><div style="text-align: left;">Serve food to the homeless</div><div style="text-align: left;">Learn a TikTok dance</div><div style="text-align: left;">Family History</div><div style="text-align: left;">Let your kid teach you about something they are passionate about</div><div style="text-align: left;">Hang out at a campsite (roast stuff, tell stories, play card games)</div><div style="text-align: left;">Work Out Competition</div><div style="text-align: left;">Plan their dream room</div><div style="text-align: left;">"Life Plan"</div><div style="text-align: left;">Legos</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Please come up with your own as well (I'd LOVE if you shared them here!!).</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Once you've got your lists, your envelopes, your planning sheet and your kid, it's time to start.</div><div style="text-align: left;">Review the rules and let them pick which thing should go on which month. You may need to remind them that sidewalk chalk will be easier in June than January, etc. Or if there's a concert you are taking them to, make sure that is in the correct month. Once you've got your grand plan with the kid done, there is more for you to do. Depending on the kid's age and attention span, you can have them keep helping or you can do this part on your own. They can help you decorate the envelopes now, too, if you'd like.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">You need to decide now what. supplies you'll need for each of the activities planned. Decide if you want to purchase all supplies ahead of time, have gift cards for them, or cash to purchase the items. If they are items you already have, get them now so they don't get lost (exceptions being like, legos or something that you use many times).</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The rest is part of the gift.</div><div style="text-align: left;">-Fill out the specific date night outline for each date. </div><div style="text-align: left;">-Gather your materials. If they don't fit in the envelope and you've decided not to do gift cards/cash, then put that month's supplies in a box and mark it appropriately. Make a note in your outline where you put the box, because you wont remember when it's time, I promise. Don't put gathering the items off. This is why we failed before. We inevitable couldn't afford the things we wanted to do. Buy the tickets, get the gift cards, withdraw the cash- whatever. The point is to take all the prep work out of what your'e doing. </div><div style="text-align: left;">-Schedule the dates in your calendar. Get the time off work if needed. If there are conflicting things, adjust the dates. Have a contingency plan with your kid for if something comes up that conflicts with the date (maybe backup dates?)</div><div style="text-align: left;">-Make the invitations. Once you have all 12 invitations, mark in your calendar a week before each date and write in the calendar where you put the invitation. Be sure to give the correct invitation out for that upcoming date.</div><div style="text-align: left;">-Put all the envelopes together and wrap them however you'd like. Have some kind of trinket or something that they'll get to keep also, because you will be in charge of the envelopes. Put them someplace safe. And tell your kid where that is. And your spouse. And your best friend in a searchable Facebook Messenger chat. And write it in your calendar.</div><div style="text-align: left;">-Have fun!! Try to take photos during your dates so you can maybe make them a chatbook or something at the end to commemorate the good year you've had.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">As an example, let's say that your 8 year old really wanted to go for a hike for their May date. In the manilla folder, you would have:</div><div style="text-align: left;">- a plan of where the hike would be </div><div style="text-align: left;">- a game you'd play on your hike (or on your way to the hike if you'll be in the car for a bit)</div><div style="text-align: left;">- a note telling you where the box is that would have</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span> -</span> bug spray</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span> - </span>water bottles</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span> -</span> a snack or gift card to purchase the snack (depending on how far away this date is)</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span> -</span> a backpack in it. </div><div style="text-align: left;">You'd have the date set aside on your calendar and be watching the weather (in case you need to adjust the dates). </div><div style="text-align: left;">Let's say the date is scheduled for May 8th and the weather for that day looks good. You'd give your invitation to your kiddo around May 1st and glance over your needs, in case the bug spray and backpack got used elsewhere, giving you time to gather.</div><div style="text-align: left;">Then when May 8th rolls around- boom! You grab your gear, your kid, and go! </div><div style="text-align: left;">Remember to take pics for keeping the memories!</div>Robynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14486573900239764265noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1423378804043409129.post-64069521711461020372023-05-27T07:50:00.000-07:002023-05-27T07:50:08.525-07:00Themed Boxes 101<p> I should have done this in blog post form YEARS ago, because I don't even know how many times I've tried to type the idea up in a response to someone on FB or whatever.</p><p>This is ADHD gift genius right here. This is my baby idea.</p><p>Usually, this is a Christmas thing, but you could use it for ANYTHING- Graduation, birthdays, anniversaries, whatever. We're going to go with Christmas for multiple children in this post because that's my experience. The beauty of this is that you can do it on (almost) ANY budget!!! It's more fun if you have at least $10 per person and some crafty hands or friends with crafty hands.</p><p>The years we do theme boxes, we have our themes picked by July. We do this for a couple of reasons. #1 is that the kids can help choose their theme and then they've forgotten what it is by mid September. Reason #2 is you can take advantage of sales (yard or store or online), trades, etc. </p><p>We've done the theme boxes twice now. The first year, the themes were D&D, Musicals, Pokemon, Barbie, Paw Patrol, and Rainbow. The second year, the themes were US Navy, Costume, Dragons, Amazonian Animals (mostly sloths and llamas), Minecraft, and Dinosaurs.</p><p>So what do I put in the boxes? First I make your budget. Or don't, it's totally up to you. If your budget is small, your plan will look something like this:</p><p>Small Budget Boxes:<br />1. Something to eat</p><p>2. Something handmade</p><p>3. Something to do</p><p>4. Something to display</p><p>and then you'd head to the dollar store. I will also post a list of practically free things you can do with different themes at the end of this post. (SQUIRREL)</p><p>Not that I ever had GIANT budgets, but let's be honest, I have zero idea how much I (or Santa) spent. When we lived in Utah, I was a stay at home mom and had DI at my fingertips and LOTS of opportunities to trade. So my kids got some really cool stuff that took lots of time by lots of people. When we moved to Kentucky, we had the sale of property and the guilt of making the kids give up so much to move here, so I may have gone a little overboard.</p><p>When I have a decent budget, the rules look more like this:</p><p>1. Something to eat</p><p>2. Something handmade (not necessarily by me)</p><p>3. Something to wear</p><p>4. Something to read</p><p>5. A cup</p><p>There are two ways to present these. The first year I did it, they each got ONE box that was just filled with their stuff. They did NOT have equal amounts of things and that was ok. I think. Nobody has brought it up in therapy to my knowledge. The second time, though, one kid requested that everything be wrapped because it's more fun that way. And so everything was wrapped and they then needed equal amounts of things. That amount ended up being 28. It took several hours to open things on Christmas. But some of the wrapping was fun, Wrapped things in wrapped things- it was great. </p><p>Instead of breaking down every single thing that was in 12 different boxes, I'll give you the highlights.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8df8stC_Mz8Cqp2RS3DIGoGYDAliMSwhdC5fbsGBADCM87rz2wfGBPAzdPLCwbLoL5JDAOxpJWUmJFIabTVcryghCCx-9T6rurhrkvFubw6qOyS4RkjBS49dtdaUHy7qMVB4LUrpR-VoIWLTEP8Xzmr1riZ2YxKx1U0cbaHcbrmfvO7S1FFA9DJn7/s4048/IMG_20191225_083551.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4048" data-original-width="3036" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8df8stC_Mz8Cqp2RS3DIGoGYDAliMSwhdC5fbsGBADCM87rz2wfGBPAzdPLCwbLoL5JDAOxpJWUmJFIabTVcryghCCx-9T6rurhrkvFubw6qOyS4RkjBS49dtdaUHy7qMVB4LUrpR-VoIWLTEP8Xzmr1riZ2YxKx1U0cbaHcbrmfvO7S1FFA9DJn7/s320/IMG_20191225_083551.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Paw Patrol: Dollar Store Activities, a blanket (gifted from a friend whose kids had outgrown it), a stuffie from DI, books, and more dollar tree toys.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKa-yw-2Ks1HC_Vf9GvH--oONN7xNOiXw5WzpWm4BBdCZIyqnWZeppzaEK3fGeD_yVnc_PAOnKh9zlYJK_Ax6Oym4mvzMncfTauLZtTcJ75rgOYQXz9VvlejQ5aIC93UiXL5klLM555GNFdQSciP9DemOvARIXUn7PQk3CoU5AxZkx2-5W89CwCBtd/s4048/IMG_20191225_085256.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4048" data-original-width="3036" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKa-yw-2Ks1HC_Vf9GvH--oONN7xNOiXw5WzpWm4BBdCZIyqnWZeppzaEK3fGeD_yVnc_PAOnKh9zlYJK_Ax6Oym4mvzMncfTauLZtTcJ75rgOYQXz9VvlejQ5aIC93UiXL5klLM555GNFdQSciP9DemOvARIXUn7PQk3CoU5AxZkx2-5W89CwCBtd/s320/IMG_20191225_085256.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Pokemon: A hat I had someone make, Pillows and blanket by grandma, cake pops by a friend, a tshirt made by a friend, some stuff from Wish, Pokeballs from DI that I filled with dollar tree toys, and a Pokemon Cursive book that I'm pretty sure he has never even opened. What I did NOT get him that I desperately wanted to but didn't have the money when I saw it and then couldn't find it after was this hand drawn Pokemon book that I saw at FanX. It would have been epic.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_wkNQ1HnRt_Auu_WNrnN1quJcYxeoGLG62xVdg7t3me4HRMbdMnGd12dvGUr69aF2-Dcc7RDQ9JX4Jd80_7-vS5Ifloa2pBHFEHvDPsALbTGk5n6NGfcaHId49N8WsDfTCwNpbBpjLulj6vrkuMnselPKWxW8xYoK9uJAKS7XobrcFM7sxIx9N4ms/s4048/IMG_20191225_090535.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4048" data-original-width="3036" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_wkNQ1HnRt_Auu_WNrnN1quJcYxeoGLG62xVdg7t3me4HRMbdMnGd12dvGUr69aF2-Dcc7RDQ9JX4Jd80_7-vS5Ifloa2pBHFEHvDPsALbTGk5n6NGfcaHId49N8WsDfTCwNpbBpjLulj6vrkuMnselPKWxW8xYoK9uJAKS7XobrcFM7sxIx9N4ms/s320/IMG_20191225_090535.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Musical Theater: T-Shirt and Cup I traded for. Game I made myself that took hours but I still think is genius (if I do say so myself), music (she doesn't sing anymore), a gift card to see a couple of plays at Empress in West Valley- naturally right when it shut down. DVDs, Cookies that I painted to look like playbills. Art that I painted for her.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghykqMaokmiTEA8LjL79CyUkplaW9pnLEoWrUgngYWfgYUAWlCthyqdIpzWuLYYXvQyIC5-W5OnslGmdzdWVP6jLE1OvMphgWjDNznIQc1GlU2uN_5HTAW-7vy_DM8wrosAJ9i8J_JmhPTuyTIDI4VHUadZPWQho5g4qpZfUPbh46-ENLd88-BNFeh/s4048/IMG_20191225_091058.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4048" data-original-width="3036" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghykqMaokmiTEA8LjL79CyUkplaW9pnLEoWrUgngYWfgYUAWlCthyqdIpzWuLYYXvQyIC5-W5OnslGmdzdWVP6jLE1OvMphgWjDNznIQc1GlU2uN_5HTAW-7vy_DM8wrosAJ9i8J_JmhPTuyTIDI4VHUadZPWQho5g4qpZfUPbh46-ENLd88-BNFeh/s320/IMG_20191225_091058.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">D&D/Stranger things: The poster!!! There is a company that has special needs kids make art and then they are sold in malls for whatever you want to pay. I think I paid $20 for that poster and one of the Savior with a kid. Such a cool thing. Dice bag I traded for, 3D printed cookie cutter, DI Special movies, a game, Cup and T-shirt I traded for, and a Funko. Oh, I did attempt to make some little felt stuffies of the Stranger Things guys, but they were way harder than I thought, so I think he only got one. The most special of those gifts, though, was a book I got at FanX- the author drew him a personal D&D character when he signed it (Xander was with me when I bought it).</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCvaq_6SF8U6VZrBuAfz8hvT5Qp5K3lyKDRTGL450c0bmK308oQoilMLP6j6UP1ZSS1xlcjlCEPZ8JWJq3LbYdcP3yYYz0OJBGbrFlAFLfEy7vNUfoROF6nHGJwXvXdik2sE7IYQO-EdYpMmO3eSmWn8fCA4LMAJAEey9cj6hcvZ13fNJpY__6az6o/s4048/IMG_20191225_092539.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4048" data-original-width="3036" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCvaq_6SF8U6VZrBuAfz8hvT5Qp5K3lyKDRTGL450c0bmK308oQoilMLP6j6UP1ZSS1xlcjlCEPZ8JWJq3LbYdcP3yYYz0OJBGbrFlAFLfEy7vNUfoROF6nHGJwXvXdik2sE7IYQO-EdYpMmO3eSmWn8fCA4LMAJAEey9cj6hcvZ13fNJpY__6az6o/s320/IMG_20191225_092539.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Barbie: This one was special. My Daddy built her this dollhouse. It is still one of her prized possessions. She had several 3D printed things here, a book collection, doll furniture made by friends across Facebook, and supplies to decorate the house the way that she wanted (including a gift card to Michael's for paint, etc) and supplies to make her own doll stuff with the help of <a href="http://myfroggystuff.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">My Froggy Stuff</a> Also- some of the fanciest doll dresses Wish had to offer</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOoRkBiY5Sq4Nn1a9DwHnJ6UcDwpiuU-Ycy_XJWdM3tBG8m1mLS6hWteFzqNppPH8pL1Bw9vGp1CLBb7mvT5EoX7mzu1eHn9XsXXoiHlKeYjQCFpmxY5MWWrIXUT5XCzHk7nHiIuIIB6H9Eydtf0J5brmgTwdfUF1crRnr7It2Cig1FY0MOlqJ_7E_/s4048/IMG_20191225_120936.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4048" data-original-width="3036" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOoRkBiY5Sq4Nn1a9DwHnJ6UcDwpiuU-Ycy_XJWdM3tBG8m1mLS6hWteFzqNppPH8pL1Bw9vGp1CLBb7mvT5EoX7mzu1eHn9XsXXoiHlKeYjQCFpmxY5MWWrIXUT5XCzHk7nHiIuIIB6H9Eydtf0J5brmgTwdfUF1crRnr7It2Cig1FY0MOlqJ_7E_/s320/IMG_20191225_120936.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">This was my favorite. I LOVE the idea of Montessori projects, but have never had the ability to reel it in and get stuff like this made. So I enlisted the help of some friends. Gosh, I loved this one. She had a peg doll matching game, sorting trays, rainbow fairies, and all kinds of little learning activities.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><p>Before I show you the next ones, beware that it's a little bit gluttonous. And honestly, it was too much. While it made me so happy to DO, when i saw everything put together, I was a little sick to my stomach about it. Nobody needs this much stuff. But again, they had left so much behind, I wanted them to just... I don't know. Have the things.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsCTIAJ5ZVDs3dJVq2WLND-NUG5j4mvz7-a_8RW4QNoA6xfe-M9dg-kH_01o44K9RypB1sTzx4uFffP54PuGcqtTxMHAE-UjOZET371lFB7PeRKPO3GwBCS6UhQb78UJo3SeT_OYu_5tEqlbLCFZDgsphZtGDZF61eufPM0T-LwO-EfNBdOYc3mOwx/s4000/IMG_20211226_004541526.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4000" data-original-width="3000" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsCTIAJ5ZVDs3dJVq2WLND-NUG5j4mvz7-a_8RW4QNoA6xfe-M9dg-kH_01o44K9RypB1sTzx4uFffP54PuGcqtTxMHAE-UjOZET371lFB7PeRKPO3GwBCS6UhQb78UJo3SeT_OYu_5tEqlbLCFZDgsphZtGDZF61eufPM0T-LwO-EfNBdOYc3mOwx/s320/IMG_20211226_004541526.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">I did Bengals for the husband. We went to a Bengals game at the beginning of the season, their only Thursday game that year, to see how we felt about being in this new area with a new team. We hadn't watched much football in the previous years because we weren't attached to any team and had no way to watch the games anyway. Needless to say, I don't think that date will ever be topped and we are Bengals Fans for life. Roger's was mostly food. The merch I got mostly at this store called Home Buys- it's like a Walmart surplus, lol. There are some playing cards in there, too. But mostly food that I bought a pack of black reusable lunch containers and slapped some stickers on the top.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWzL896oXop6Mugm9GIOVUq1TKQqNd90tmun1O0OI2Q8brNCB_kadoHBC_T0srwgD21rj-YyihXp8O0_9zhL2CohYk8Byins9RpNskirY53XlnOUHJ1gROGx8SZeHnZITUbPj-GDqy96Yfkd0U8xGM3VXvu6yCwoQSaGVIdhRmoWvCud5GZGI7nD91/s4000/IMG_20211225_131407994.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3000" data-original-width="4000" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWzL896oXop6Mugm9GIOVUq1TKQqNd90tmun1O0OI2Q8brNCB_kadoHBC_T0srwgD21rj-YyihXp8O0_9zhL2CohYk8Byins9RpNskirY53XlnOUHJ1gROGx8SZeHnZITUbPj-GDqy96Yfkd0U8xGM3VXvu6yCwoQSaGVIdhRmoWvCud5GZGI7nD91/s320/IMG_20211225_131407994.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Yes, Abraham IS cryin in that pic. and yes, it DID break my heart because I think I physically worked the longest and hardest on his. But to be completely fair, this kiddo was so overwhelmed. I made him the minecraft boxes, hand did that stiff plastic canvas bag. I traded for the crochet creeper, found a clearance t-shirt or two, and the best- a joke book. This kid LOVES to tell jokes. And I found a minecraft one. :D</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX5OwBt12fCfZM_Yv-Oca8kpNScdNaXwUJVdb20Sk_phUjSQEDrzOOYvVUeJ6TieSIH0q9LhK2Ye9vLMIcLoM9ZvMgRVMJ3tYnpTQNDZIZIEv7jwBj8fV6oF7rduV78tMggws5UU8t8MGoNZjv6qqJMWQjCbzvMsBGShDZSz3rlSbokJ_IjCc3SM8o/s4000/IMG_20211225_132451719.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4000" data-original-width="3000" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX5OwBt12fCfZM_Yv-Oca8kpNScdNaXwUJVdb20Sk_phUjSQEDrzOOYvVUeJ6TieSIH0q9LhK2Ye9vLMIcLoM9ZvMgRVMJ3tYnpTQNDZIZIEv7jwBj8fV6oF7rduV78tMggws5UU8t8MGoNZjv6qqJMWQjCbzvMsBGShDZSz3rlSbokJ_IjCc3SM8o/s320/IMG_20211225_132451719.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">I had my nephew, Austin living with us for this Christmas and let's be honest, my siblings pretty much bought his stuff. It was so fun to put the list together and he may have been my favorite to watch open them. His theme was cars. We introduced him to the Fast and the Furious just before Christmas. He got a car detailing kit, car accessories, projects to do (model car, etc). I did crochet him a scarf. I think his favorite (mine, too) was a set of pens that all looked like tools in a stack of tires.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXPJWC-rNHl3uE4FyPBHP5zZVhZxsbd8dVTxDVY7nLUd3fAM3Truo0cPPYSamzCOvC6rrMQjGvCw6jyWqi1hXpkTL12PGydhDLIl2vhYdeL17QdjpIjis2IX4HoTF4qPdFX86wBFnmVXs9JbDITdfK_SlRftPICyJmzHENnnk2qhp8uBBkkRjxu2Pu/s4000/IMG_20211225_130714056.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4000" data-original-width="3000" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXPJWC-rNHl3uE4FyPBHP5zZVhZxsbd8dVTxDVY7nLUd3fAM3Truo0cPPYSamzCOvC6rrMQjGvCw6jyWqi1hXpkTL12PGydhDLIl2vhYdeL17QdjpIjis2IX4HoTF4qPdFX86wBFnmVXs9JbDITdfK_SlRftPICyJmzHENnnk2qhp8uBBkkRjxu2Pu/s320/IMG_20211225_130714056.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">US Navy- I'll be honest, my heart is aching writing this because I miss my kid SO BADLY right now, but I'm so proud of his decision to do this hard thing. His box was a lot of fun. You can see the blanket. I had a friend make him some shirts. His "something to eat" was my favorite- I found out which countries have Navy Ports and headed to Jungle Jim's- there's something from each of those countries in that box. The books were donated by my brother. He does have a tumbler in there, too. And, one of the cheapies that's also a fav- a yellow submarine tea steeper thingy.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQ12GMIqkWBWjKoXzuYTcj4--nsTkiJLU2EfXL4iGKo5XiXWHwxs610lmWlB6QSglmx2-FkcSzkQQpiCwNNlljw_xx-DS3NfKvBaQsuN0hN5Ip0HZpkA0gq1zuG1-oKLohKrhHeMXlnpoaKDeCbJYhMQ3uccEUvvCr_ULxqoIxDGVTIyiSPWj_3_LU/s4000/IMG_20211225_130404861.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3000" data-original-width="4000" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQ12GMIqkWBWjKoXzuYTcj4--nsTkiJLU2EfXL4iGKo5XiXWHwxs610lmWlB6QSglmx2-FkcSzkQQpiCwNNlljw_xx-DS3NfKvBaQsuN0hN5Ip0HZpkA0gq1zuG1-oKLohKrhHeMXlnpoaKDeCbJYhMQ3uccEUvvCr_ULxqoIxDGVTIyiSPWj_3_LU/s320/IMG_20211225_130404861.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Lorelai's theme was dinosaurs! I traded for the crocheted dino. He favorite was something that was surprisingly affordable- it was a <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Dinosaur-Electric-7-Year-Old-Educational-Learning/dp/B09829F1MZ/ref=sr_1_2_sspa?crid=3E23QRUOT9YI7&keywords=build+a+dinosaur&qid=1685196810&sprefix=build%2520a%2520dinosaur%2Caps%2C84&sr=8-2-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUExSkUzQjVZUDFYM0FYJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwNzkyNjQxMksySTJKWDAwNDVUMiZlbmNyeXB0ZWRBZElkPUEwNDI2ODcyMlhPT0Y4OTlENU9LWiZ3aWRnZXROYW1lPXNwX2F0ZiZhY3Rpb249Y2xpY2tSZWRpcmVjdCZkb05vdExvZ0NsaWNrPXRydWU=" target="_blank">set of dinos that you "build" with</a> "power tools". Lots of shirts- either on clearance or from Once Upon a Child. Some stuffies, school supplies....I can't even remember.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihBn9fAYwAd5ry6MK4UGdq_KonbYbN6YH5LiGQH9k6UIDhKdW6n007r4qEXlBF3K84ROYeGVBpH99SkLt-wbUDI74tkTXehl2dOWLyWMfxRYSIwZfd5vOk8rsGcQ7bHycYp8crXQlOGp8pzAjZ3_LJmKINbaazkZQTwBEYbYUcgDQOXzuLAwkMTNtw/s4000/IMG_20211225_130524410.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3000" data-original-width="4000" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihBn9fAYwAd5ry6MK4UGdq_KonbYbN6YH5LiGQH9k6UIDhKdW6n007r4qEXlBF3K84ROYeGVBpH99SkLt-wbUDI74tkTXehl2dOWLyWMfxRYSIwZfd5vOk8rsGcQ7bHycYp8crXQlOGp8pzAjZ3_LJmKINbaazkZQTwBEYbYUcgDQOXzuLAwkMTNtw/s320/IMG_20211225_130524410.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Jules was the easiest and hardest box. After Halloween was awesome for costume bits and pieces. Lots of makeup (that she gave to her sister because she doesn't like anymore). But my very very very favorite- which I can't remember how we tied into the theme, but my fried Ruby at <a href="https://mamaslittleshopofherbals.com/" target="_blank">Mama's Little Shop of Herbals</a> let me send her some custom artwork made by my friend's daughter so that they all fit with the Lunar Chronicles. Seriously, they are incredible.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrs6mf5fSFtgiZVuA9nlxxYlPdmSa8pSBnjPSo3Z3az0j_9RAM6INp06V01KXib8Lu--UL7wNf6mYtw56KLHhMdcHL3RhwsE3aIqFZ0JNTCcab0zX7kUXZz1OWlLQzE3dW1hYu_hDY2AZYsCXolLh6mWTRntqJ8fUc6lSlIHHXq-QO6Xlb4SoApMTY/s4000/IMG_20211225_130321341.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4000" data-original-width="3000" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrs6mf5fSFtgiZVuA9nlxxYlPdmSa8pSBnjPSo3Z3az0j_9RAM6INp06V01KXib8Lu--UL7wNf6mYtw56KLHhMdcHL3RhwsE3aIqFZ0JNTCcab0zX7kUXZz1OWlLQzE3dW1hYu_hDY2AZYsCXolLh6mWTRntqJ8fUc6lSlIHHXq-QO6Xlb4SoApMTY/s320/IMG_20211225_130321341.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Paisley's theme was Amazonian Animals. We were kind of all over the place on this one. Used clothes, new stationary, handmade jewelry, notebooks, some kits to make cookies and brownies, and so many little trinkets. Three stuffies, which are still her favorite.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMpz5csOvC6LzoPVpfqZV0pncWIdgMqzz7noQ7Q57tz1_bl3DNG9VHlP5cQhHDYyq_qGtHLR3VkvZ_63Lp1eRDwW4Fd70JJxJuNI1TKO2lvGN3aNBbuYqW7QsXO2QTi_xB74H43yw2HMLnudPJCaz2lfsGBtVmHUGv6loSPe0UXe8Xf2CHqam9jGNn/s4000/IMG_20211225_130058323.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4000" data-original-width="3000" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMpz5csOvC6LzoPVpfqZV0pncWIdgMqzz7noQ7Q57tz1_bl3DNG9VHlP5cQhHDYyq_qGtHLR3VkvZ_63Lp1eRDwW4Fd70JJxJuNI1TKO2lvGN3aNBbuYqW7QsXO2QTi_xB74H43yw2HMLnudPJCaz2lfsGBtVmHUGv6loSPe0UXe8Xf2CHqam9jGNn/s320/IMG_20211225_130058323.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Dragons!!! I had his shirt and tumbler made for him, found some amazing art at FanX, made a box for his dragon egg, dragon gummies, a stress/stretch dragon thing, and I just don't remember all the things!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Anyway, I hope these help! OH! And here are somethings you can do for literally any theme.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">1. "Paint" cookies- the recipe for the paint is food coloring and milk. You put a stiff white icing on any cookie and boom- you have a canvas</div>2. Notebooks. There are several different ways to bind- if you want to find someone with a binder, cool, but you can also stitch them closed. All you need is either printed pages in the theme (for real, google some coloring pages), or a patterned piece of paper in the theme (craft stores have paper per piece), printer paper, and boom.<div><br /></div><div>3. Food. Pick a color scheme. Somethings already have them- for example if you're doing iron man, you're going to use yellow and red. Get a food container in one of those colors and put treats in, handmade or otherwise. If you want to splurge and put a sticker of the the theme on top, there ya go (water bottle stickers are the best because. they can handle being washed). Bonus points if the treat inside is another color in the theme!</div><div><br /></div><div>4. Artwork. If you are not an artist, you know someone who is. I guarantee it. Please don't steal art by printing out images from etsy. But if you post on FB that you'd like some artwork in a certain theme and you're willing to trade or have an extremely limited budget- you'll probably find it.</div><div><br /></div><div>5. Perler Beads- if you can't find a pattern on their website, head to pinterest and look up embroidery patterns for the thing.</div><div><br /></div><div>6. Books- bet your library has a booksale fairly often. You can find books for less than $1 or again, ask on FB. </div><div><br /></div><div>7. Stories or Story Prompts- you don't have to be a writer to spark your kids' imagination. Peruse the internet and you'll get some really cool quotes or ideas. Type up a list of those quotes</div><div><br /></div><div>8. Coloring books- if you can't find them at the dollar store, you can print them. If you have a little budget, there are some beautiful ones on Amazon for literally any theme. LITERALLY ANY- you can buy a farting animals coloring book.</div><div><br /></div><div>9. Movie and Book Lists- all it takes is a little time and internet research. You can even talk to your librarian about what they've got available (don't give the library books/movies AS the gift, though, in case it is not understood that they need to be returned)</div><div><br /></div><div>10. Online experiences- you might have to be creative for this one. It might be making a Pinterest board with your kid. It might be a free online class. It might be an interactive website.</div><div><br /></div><div>11. Jokes- again, you & Google can make it happen.</div><div><br /></div><div>12. Recipes- Pinterest is your bestie for this one. </div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>Robynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14486573900239764265noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1423378804043409129.post-5511074139580870092023-05-27T06:23:00.000-07:002023-05-27T06:23:11.091-07:00A little something for you planners-<p> It's finally hot outside!!! At the Fish house, that means time to plan Christmas!!! I know, we were just there! But normally by now I have a pretty good plan and this year, things are a little different.</p><p>So I had started doing the themed boxes every other year. It was nice because they can be done on any budget. But when we did it in 2021, we went way too overboard. And guess what? The kids' interests haven't changed much (I'll do a different post on theme boxes if I haven't already, for those who would like to use that idea).</p><p>This morning I woke up and was browsing Pinterest a bit and came up with these ideas for Christmas 2023. I'll talk to the kids today and see what they are thinking. I'm pretty sure I know which ideas they'll love most, but we'll see if they prove me wrong yet again.</p><p>A. A trip during Christmas, probably to Utah</p><p><span> 1. This will mean probably no gifts, unless Santa brings them one</span><br /></p><p><span><span> 2. I do have to figure out the work schedule thing.</span><br /></span></p><p><span><span>B. Serve a Family</span></span></p><p><span><span><span> 1. We'd either pick a family with at least half as many kids or choose some angel tree cards</span><br /></span></span></p><p><span><span><span><span> 2. Again, this would mean instead of their gifts- which I would LOVE to see them pick, but I don't know if the littles are at that maturity level yet.</span><br /></span></span></span></p><p><span><span><span><span>C. Christmas Bucket List- Imma be honest with you- we don't do traditionally fun stuff hardly ever. I'm so tired and broke during Dec because I'm trying to make their gifts or wrap their gifts or whatever that all the stuff we've wanted to do- rarely happens. So instead of Christmas morning gifts in the traditional sense, all of Dec would be a gift</span></span></span></span></p><p><span><span><span><span><span> 1. We could do 12 Days of Christmas for someone</span><br /></span></span></span></span></p><p><span><span><span><span><span><span> 2. Bake/make candy/ deliver</span><br /></span></span></span></span></span></p><p><span><span><span><span><span><span><span> 3. Gingerbread Houses</span><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span> 4. The lights at Coney Island</span><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span> 5. Making snowflakes</span><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span> 6. Popcorn and Cranberry Garland</span><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span> 7. Whatever else I pretend doesn't exist during Dec because I"m too tired</span><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span>D. An Experience</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span> 1. A future trip to Utah. Or to see some historical stuff, but it would be Utah.</span><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span> 2. Zoo membership</span><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span> 3. Mini Trip Plans</span><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span>E. Give to Our House- I am pretty sure they won't pick this one. But I love this idea!</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span> 1. Paint for the bedrooms & the Bengals Den</span><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span> 2. A better carpet cleaner</span><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span> 3. Outside furniture/toys</span><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span> 4. Stairs slide</span><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span> 5. Organizers</span><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span> 6. Small Furniture (desks, bookshelves, etc)</span><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span> 7. Artwork</span><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span>F. Date Nights. I'll do a post about these, too. We've done the planning part of this, but the follow through was a little bit sad because we ran out of the funds. So this time, we'd do the planning NOW and present the dates WITH THE FUNDS/SUPPLIES for Christmas</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span>G. Family Business Startup- My kids are always trying to earn money for this or that. This would be an actual plan on how to do that.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span> 1. A little Dave Ramsey business book for the whole family/charts/planning pages</span><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span> 2. Ideas by Age</span><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span> 3. Startup supplies/Funds</span><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span> 4. Vending opportunities</span><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p>I'm 99% sure they are going to pick a trip to Utah. I highly doubt we can swing it AT Christmas because of the way my work goes, but maybe they'll be ok with the plans to go for Spring Break. We wanted to do spring break 2023, but couldn't swing it.</p>Robynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14486573900239764265noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1423378804043409129.post-70973888926711317892023-02-21T05:13:00.003-08:002023-02-23T05:18:16.432-08:00Quiet Church Activities<p> Alright, friends, it's time to air my laundry. It's not dirty laundry, don't worry. HAHA. Ok, so Abraham is 8, has ADHD, and struggles. He can't take meds (the gag reflex is strong on this one) and I haven't had the chance/guts/mental ability to get him tested for autism. He does ok at school, but he also has pretty much a whole team there helping him out.</p><p>He struggles at home when watching TV (he destroys anything around him, esp remotes).</p><p>He struggles in the car.</p><p>He struggles in class at church.</p><p>BUT!!! I have amazing people in my life who love him and love me and together we've come up with some support and solutions. Many are a work in progress. I feel like we need a decent variety of options because with this kiddo, nothing is going to work more than 3 weeks in a row. We've got to be careful with sensory toys because they can easily become distractions. I will still be using some, but a little more carefully.</p><p>Here are the things we've come up with so far.</p><p>1. A fidget seat. </p><p>2. A stretchy band across the bottom of his chair for his feet</p><p>3. A fidget blanket- this one will be like a smaller version of a weighted blanket with hooks to add keychains. Then we can switch out the fidget toys we attach to the keychains and they won't be thrown.</p><p>4. Calm Strips</p><p>5. I'm making my own. I don't know what to call it, but I plan on taking altoid tins and keychains and doing designs with my leftover diamond dots since they feel so cool.</p><p><span> </span><span> </span><span> Here is one of the ones I made yesterday: </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #262626; font-family: -apple-system, "system-ui", "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">https://www.instagram.com/reel/Co_d6YSJdQk/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link</span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #262626; font-family: -apple-system, "system-ui", "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> And I made these, more for around the house than church because I'm pretty sure he's going to pick off the diamond drills, which is 100% ok and half of what it was made for. If it saves my remotes from being picked, I'm down with it. </span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgY6tjFognlTb3D1q6V_yDk6dwVoZCLOYCEBuXB50mw1tmt1Le3mbakK11XdvVgFo-UbHZQ3NaeUcCwHZFIwSGPzzsQmr9HdSalRkZRZA5Br_pa47rEQVvkQjbCKyoctnay9cTMoj4LVO9xpny96ALQwwVBs_9RC5q8qwgqefWvXFeK9katPaRPXdG8" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgY6tjFognlTb3D1q6V_yDk6dwVoZCLOYCEBuXB50mw1tmt1Le3mbakK11XdvVgFo-UbHZQ3NaeUcCwHZFIwSGPzzsQmr9HdSalRkZRZA5Br_pa47rEQVvkQjbCKyoctnay9cTMoj4LVO9xpny96ALQwwVBs_9RC5q8qwgqefWvXFeK9katPaRPXdG8" width="180" /></a></div><br /><br /><p></p><p>6. Worksheets. I'm making generic ones. Ones to him listening and also creative. Like this. You can use it, too, if you need. This one is specifically for New Testament. I will be making more later, but right now, it's all I got. (the graphics are from ones I've purchased, the jar from Pretty Grafik, the calculator and notebook are from Little Fox, and the tiger is from someone on etsy that didn't include their name in the file or folder, sorry)</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg767uMc3AcFz5qIugZiksVS7OXAT92__0-XLmTE4mW0IGmkV17RgJrfaOJzuAC4OjvMvzSj_-gDfZxxZZ-7yasTsLIvQe9Czet1tqb85VTQ0CT5MG7Ns8Gur2hZvlP1_wocOIAroXlkIJfDMvLzwKgl3erwGzILoaHR9kdZW31MHYcjrlzWQoGVIeU/s792/New%20Testament%20Focus%20Page1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="792" data-original-width="612" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg767uMc3AcFz5qIugZiksVS7OXAT92__0-XLmTE4mW0IGmkV17RgJrfaOJzuAC4OjvMvzSj_-gDfZxxZZ-7yasTsLIvQe9Czet1tqb85VTQ0CT5MG7Ns8Gur2hZvlP1_wocOIAroXlkIJfDMvLzwKgl3erwGzILoaHR9kdZW31MHYcjrlzWQoGVIeU/s320/New%20Testament%20Focus%20Page1.jpg" width="247" /></a></div><br /><p></p>Robynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14486573900239764265noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1423378804043409129.post-91756597012298733812022-12-11T17:13:00.004-08:002022-12-11T18:06:36.364-08:00January Family Box<p> I'm getting ridiculously excited about this one and figured I'd share what I've got with you in case you have any desire to do it also! As I explained in the big grand post, January is supposed to be about cleaning, organizing, and menu planning. The way things have gone down, I've narrowed it down to mostly menu planning with just a couple other things thrown in there about the others (I purchased an ADHD cleaning book, so.... :) )<br />Ok, so for the menu planning part, I have a giant binder- like the 3" kind and pockets for each month. I'm just going to fill it with regular binder paper because I'll need to be able to tear pages out for when I go shopping. I designed some basic menu pages (you can buy other people's versions on etsy! Like this: https://www.etsy.com/listing/1304186673/modern-minimalist-weekly-meal-plan?ga_order=most_relevant&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_search_query=menu+planner+printable&ref=sc_gallery-1-2&pro=1&sts=1&plkey=352b7d75235501eec1d77688a8bc429abe9a230e%3A1304186673 </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>Anyway, we want this to be fun and family friendly, so I made up a few games. Some I mentioned in the other blog post, some that we've just added tonight. But in case you want them, too...<p></p><p><br /></p><p>Game 1. Dart Board. There are 3 Dart Boards per round. One is PROTEIN. One is VEGETABLES. One is STARCHES/BASES. I was a little creative in the last one, including things like waffles, chow mein noodles, and crackers (along with regular stuff like rice, tortillas, etc). We'll throw a dart at each one and it's then the responsibility of whoever's turn it is to make a meal out of it. It's going to be great fun. We may get some strange creations, but who knows, maybe we'll discover the next favorite.</p><p><br /></p><p>Game 2. Favorite Characters. I'll post this one here so you can use it if you want. Have each person pick their favorite character from their favorite book. Then use this chart to decide the menu item.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvfoTzKFoJzWQqszwMgLg_uKVqw-uzr8Yk7VOUntyDeCmhubKtEFhJU-3gy7vyLuc6aMc9HEgiNiUJgMbbH6Ww0KGjXw7ozQKTiTgJIEIat8kBFQD0_4ntyH0FnbrZfEVTEM4PilOUAdsVEJriGEXmVPS2rz_VA_GnY4IkdClIgscjBVnekK--8-di/s3300/FavoriteCharactorGenerator.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3300" data-original-width="2550" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvfoTzKFoJzWQqszwMgLg_uKVqw-uzr8Yk7VOUntyDeCmhubKtEFhJU-3gy7vyLuc6aMc9HEgiNiUJgMbbH6Ww0KGjXw7ozQKTiTgJIEIat8kBFQD0_4ntyH0FnbrZfEVTEM4PilOUAdsVEJriGEXmVPS2rz_VA_GnY4IkdClIgscjBVnekK--8-di/s320/FavoriteCharactorGenerator.jpg" width="247" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Game 3. Pinterest Dice Game. You'll need a screen with Pinterest on it and a set of D&D Dice, like my children are obsessed with.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Player 1 Rolls a 6 sided dice.</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Player 1 then counts to whatever number was landed on.</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">While Player 1 counts, Player 2 scrolls through pinterest. When Player 1 stops counting, Player 2 must stop scrolling and leave the screen as is.</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Player 2 then rolls the 10 sided dice. Whichever number is landed on, that row is chosen (unless #10 is rolled, at which point Player 1 gets to pick the row).</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Player 1 then rolls the 4 sided dice. Whichever number is landed on, count down from the top of the screen to that many numbers. The number chosen is the menu item. If the number rolled is higher than the amount of options in the row, Player 2 gets to choose the item in the row.</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Click the link- if it's good, that's the menu item. If the link is no good, start over from the place where the screen was last left.</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Game 4. Phone a Friend</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">I'm still working on this one as far as visuals, but I've grabbed an incomplete deck of cards from my box and on each one will attach the name and phone number of a friend we know that also cooks dinner. You pick that card, you get to call (or text) the person and ask for the recipe of what they are eating that night. We may have a bonus friend where each person with texting capabilities sends out a mass text and whichever person answers with a recipe first wins that time slot (and recipes that come trickling in later will be used elsewhere on the menu)</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Game 5. Restaurant Menu</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">This will just be a menu. Of the our favorite dishes at our favorite restaurants. The at-home version, you know?</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Game 6. Appliance Roulette</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Ok, I'm not actually calling it that because I don't have a roulette wheel, lol. I'll just make a spinner with our different appliances (let's be honest, I'm just dying to use the fancy cookwear husband won at his Christmas party). Spin it and find a meal using that thing. At our house, this will include toaster oven, instant pot, steamer basket, Ninja blender, waffle iron, stove, oven, and microwave.</p></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Game 7. Family Cookbook: Guess Who</div><div><br /></div><div>This one will feature family recipes. Still working on the details of how it will go. Perhaps like a Guess Who board. It'll be fun and I'm sure it'll come the rest of the way to me in the middle of the night.</div><div><br /></div><div>Game 8: The Usual Suspects</div><div><br /></div><div>Think Clue or something similar. The things we eat all the time, but with suggestions to mix things up a bit. Like instead of just Mac and Cheese, you could choose the option to add ground beef, taco seasoning, and some salsa for Taco Mac. Or instead of just Hot Dogs, maybe this time is Pigs in a Blanket. Boom, baby.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>I hope some of you enjoy!!<br /><p><br /></p>Robynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14486573900239764265noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1423378804043409129.post-64557467464231726412022-10-30T09:46:00.008-07:002022-10-30T09:46:54.429-07:00Family Boxes for Christmas<p> The original plan this year was to get everyone subscription boxes, but DANG! That adds up fast. So I had a better idea- Family Boxes. Not that I'm subscribing to, but that we will each open on the 1st of the month. The idea is that you'll have everything you need that month to do the thing. LOL. I've decided to post about these ideas for you and your family if you're interested in doing something like this, too. On Christmas, they'd get a little sample of what each box's theme was, but not the full surprise.</p><p>We started with a list of a TON of theme ideas, then budget required that I simplify. In this post, I'll try to give ideas of as cheap as cheap can get to what I wish were going in the boxes, k? It's up to you to make them your own. I'll also include the discarded subjects at the end in case you need to further customize for your family.</p><p>To give you an idea, I have 6 kids, 5 of them living at home (one is off doing amazing things by serving in the Navy). The kids at home range from 17 years old down to 4, so I tried to have stuff we could all appreciate. Here we go:</p><p><br /></p><p><span style="color: #800180; font-size: large;">January: Goals/Organizing/Cleaning</span></p><p>This box will include questionnaires to se what the kids goals are for the year. I'm hoping to have a little bucket for each kid to gather their stuff around the house in. If money permitted, I'd have what I call "cleaning toys"- like these (I get nothing if you buy these, I'm not cool enough to be linked with that):</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href=" https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B07T8FDKD3/?coliid=I1WTXKM178XWUZ&colid=DOHUPYAW9XPD&psc=1&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img alt="" data-original-height="381" data-original-width="386" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg2mRV0DdLmWQdMDq5pDp6k-mMbCAPm7Llflu0PcSo8R-SXoEl6BKQuu04TELcoH6kfhX-WZ9S0z1TFBkvuK-_1NWuHGtpdDUEzB9-Yc43bnaDcC0lH0_sOypkjqTbVjgdd3PbclVzny4Xaf3C7WSv66ICaJXw2GnPjIe5dHgq3bEd1eDm_v5f5-L57" width="243" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> or <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://smile.amazon.com/Electric-Bifoheek-Detergent-Dispenser-Replaceable/dp/B0B74YBXQ6/ref=sr_1_29?crid=3RME2D0EPJCSL&keywords=fun+cleaning&qid=1667144472&qu=eyJxc2MiOiIyLjk3IiwicXNhIjoiMi4yMCIsInFzcCI6IjEuOTIifQ%3D%3D&sprefix=fun%2520cleaning%2Caps%2C69&sr=8-29" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img alt="" data-original-height="381" data-original-width="386" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhsWIvcqCHA1Ubv5HU200qzE9QQram6VpWYwiDAeAQ8nNKug7GjzuJohXUtD7mQGQqHw07E-7SyONpgyY3OTB4USeuM1c5eyIKXxrhNevfawsx2NbCEHnmnv9VI89HzW86dSn5fJbnWlMBqHnwndNXBA23YjQTFUH59jisW1uFKQS-yFUP1ugGztJcM" width="243" /></a></div><br /></div><br />What I will include, however, is a Menu Making Game. I know, it sounds lame. But here's the thing. Menu's are legit the hardest thing for my family. We've tried emeals. We've tried buying everything and sorting them for the week. We've tried all kinds of things. But most of my family members have ADHD, so nothing seems to stick for more than a week. Will this? Who knows. But the idea is that we're going to create a whole year's worth of menu. We'll leave room for the days when plans change and we'll work with our busy schedules. Games will include things like, "Pin the protein on the donkey" where each kid gets a tail with a different protein on it and whoever gets it closest to the right spot gets to pick a dish with their protein. We'll have a dart game where one dart board is all proteins. One is country of origin. One is vegetable. One is starch. Person A gets to throw one dart at each board. Whichever label is in that circle must be combined with the others to create a dish Like this:<p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiJB0dCARrsTc2KfqgSMBVS_KuEWTZtkjXAfFSzDa1rRQ0KmkMpC4B9XL7DW0bZ2F5LY5rpnKQHfOp2YFo_7gPedSfV8irp0EmEYalblESYV8RYTlsfc7trloafOK387p63aASCov61WJl8-mehxXSRmrsoLBNcEBeDCUR2F-Q0mjCWjadlRxa-1GSt" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="433" data-original-width="445" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiJB0dCARrsTc2KfqgSMBVS_KuEWTZtkjXAfFSzDa1rRQ0KmkMpC4B9XL7DW0bZ2F5LY5rpnKQHfOp2YFo_7gPedSfV8irp0EmEYalblESYV8RYTlsfc7trloafOK387p63aASCov61WJl8-mehxXSRmrsoLBNcEBeDCUR2F-Q0mjCWjadlRxa-1GSt" width="247" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Another game is "Favorite Character Generator" and I'll even add that game here if I remember. Pretty much, it's a spoof on those shower game and facebook data mining games where you take the first letter of your first name and the second letter of your last name and the last 4 digits of your social security number and create your unicorn name. Except mine will not be a breach of security. And I can't use our actual names because all of our last names are the same. So I'm going to do a list of 26 veggies and fruits. A list of 26 starches (it's finally your turn quinoa) and then 26 something else. The kids will pick their favorite character from any genre of anything and we'll do something with one of the letters in their first name, their last name, and where they are from.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">We'll also play a "phone a friend" type game where they have to rely on OTHER people's recipes. And a heritage version where we make something an ancestor would make.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">I have a Pinterest game in the works with scrolling through pinterest and rolling D&D dice, but I legit haven't thought more about it than that.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">What I do know is that in this box will be a 3 ring binder, printed out monthly and weekly menus, binder paper (so we can write lists and not feel guilty tearing them out), and page protectors to put our recipes in. I'm weirdly excited about this. Hopefully my kids don't make too big of a stink about it.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Truth be told that if money were no issue, I'd just hire a chef. And a housekeeper. And I'd organize my whole house with a professional organizer. Notice I didn't say reorganize because...... that would infer that it had once been organized.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Clearly I don't know how to use blogger enough to make everything go back to the left side lining up. Oh well.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #800180; font-size: large;">February: Love and Service</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Last year, most of the kids and I had an opportunity to volunteer at <a href="https://thechildrenarewaiting.org/" target="_blank">A Child's Hope Internationa</a>l. We all loved it, so we're going to do it again. I wish we could do stuff like this more often as we are very blessed to have what we need.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">I'm also planning on including stuff to make old fashioned valentine's and a calendar of ideas of services siblings can do for each other. Maybe I'll have a bribe in there for if they do a certain number. I'm still working on that one. I just really want my kids to show love to each other and the world as best as they can.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #800180; font-size: large;">March: Escape Room</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">I have zero details on this. Whether I'll be able to afford to buy one or I'll be putting Vaughn (my 14 year old) in charge and letting him do it or whether I'll find one for us to go to..... all unknown.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #800180; font-size: large;">April: Rainy Day Indoor Fun</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">You know all those books out there where they have things like, "1001 screen free activities" and you buy the book and then don't turn the TV off long enough to read any of the book? Yeah, that's the idea here- skip the book part, turn off the tube, and have activities thought out for you already. Fun activities. This box will include masking tape (LOTS of it) and empty toilet paper tubes and PVC Pipe parts and marbles and cars..... Two big projects I'm thinking are a marble run. We have lots of wall space! The older kids can help as much as the little ones. We can tape a bunch of stuff to the walls and see where the marbles go.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Also, the mega track. Using the masking tape again, the older kids can help the younger ones have tracks all over the main level of the house. They can have a ramp on some of the stairs and together they can use the various Lego, Duplo, and whatever the other weird block things we've got to build cities and towns throughout the level. I hope they let me play, too.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">I'd also like to include a fort building kit. I've made a few of these before, but I'll send you <a href="https://www.thebudgetdiet.com/festive-and-frugal-gift-idea-diy-fort-kit" target="_blank">OVER HERE TO LEARN HOW.</a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">This box might end up being the biggest, depending on how our budget ends up.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #800180; font-size: large;">May: Time to Go Outside</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">This is kind of part 2 of the "screen free activities" book you never read, but with a definite change of setting. We are blessed enough to live on property with a forest out back, so Pinterest has given me some pretty cool ideas of activities we can do there. This box will have those activities spelled out for the kids a bit. I'm also hoping to include things like bubbles, sidewalk chalk, and that kind of stuff. If budget allows, then possibly a car cleaning/detailing kit. That would be cool.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #800180; font-size: large;">June: Camping</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Remember how I told you most of us have ADHD? Well, one thing that we ADHDers struggle with is time management. So even though our family HAS a bunch of camping equipment. And even though we SAY we want to go camping, if nobody sets a date or a reason..... it just doesn't happen. So we are SETTING that date and reason. Specific to our family, we are going to go to <a href="https://parks.ky.gov/slade/parks/resort/natural-bridge-state-resort-park">Natural Bridges State Park</a> and camp with some friends who live a couple of hours from there. The box will include some fun stuff, though- recipes for what we're going to eat, stuff for Smores, camping games to play (I'll probably end up making my own version of this:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://smile.amazon.com/Find-Seek-Scavenger-Outdoor-Indoor/dp/B084RFQZMR/ref=sr_1_8?crid=FFO1ELNJS736&keywords=photo+scavenger+hunt+game&qid=1667146179&qu=eyJxc2MiOiIxLjk2IiwicXNhIjoiMC4wMCIsInFzcCI6IjAuMDAifQ%3D%3D&sprefix=photo+scavenger+hunt+ga%2Caps%2C118&sr=8-8" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img alt="" data-original-height="433" data-original-width="435" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjJLwtgco9yWhE4ZNMQOeXOup6W8ov0OtQyRmqrCk5u0LjfLdZETGh5Ob5JJZWfvS6aZiJGL3nNZlmobfClGWY98QfEl9kgbSXL0szXkxxbq9OxFeZtF9jlIiEBuMXytFVhl0W2DNK9K8TfBw87Sy3hppPoY9QrqExQpIm_jgH8wknnktXJyVHvX5b9" width="241" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #800180; font-size: large;">July: Trip or Patriotic</span></div><br />That might sound confusing, but this July will be our 20 year anniversary. Again, if budget were no option, we'd fly with the kids to Salt Lake, leave them with my parents, then Roger and I would fly to Groton, CT to see our Navy kid and explore Boston and do all the history geek stuff I dream of (I even started another History Geek podcast, but then had to get a job, so there went that). But considering Navy Kid just paid over $1,000 for one plane ticket at Christmas.... I'm going to just kind of assume that won't be happening. I'm going to dream a little for a second and tell you what I WOULD put in this box if that were to happen.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">If this were a trip box, then we'd make sure everyone had luggage, stuff to do on the plane (or in the car), and questions to ask Gma and Gpa. There'd be travel sized all the things and a version of their ticket that it wouldn't matter if they lost.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">BUT..... It'll probably be a patriotic box with stuff to do for the 4th of July and maybe some Hamilton stuff.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #800180; font-size: large;">August: Back to School</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Ideally, this box will have their school supply lists already to go, new lunchboxes, and a gift card for clothes and shoes.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">In reality, I'll print out those cute "first day of school" photo props and have some washable, reusable, personalized sandwich and snack sized bags, plus plans to have a fun Back to School Party (just family, I don't have the time or energy to invite people right now). Plus, invitations for Back to School Father's blessings.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #800180; font-size: large;">September: Retro Family History</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">This is the one I'm pretty excited about. I really want my kids to be excited about Family History. I already love it (though maybe not the way that's helpful to anyone) but especially so since realizing we're descendants of Israel Putnam. And Abner Stocking was one of my relatives- and it's because of him we know as much as we do about Benedict Arnold and the Quebec campaign. Anyway, I want my kids to get excited, so I've been gathering games we can play, questionnaires for their own personal history, plus questions to ask living relatives.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">But the best part- is that we want to have a Retro Party. Did you know that to be considered "vintage" a thing has to be 20 years old. I left vintage a while ago. SO- Roger and I thought it would be way fun to have a dinner/party (again, prolly just our family, but who knows how we're feeling at that point) featuring the 90s and early 2000s. Ideally, this box would include Tomagachi pets, skip-its, micro machines, TMNT, original Ninetento and Sega games...... all the good stuff from when we were kids. We fully plan on including Bonne Belle Lip Smackers, Bubble Jug, Gushers, and Clearly Canadian. It's gonna be rad.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #800180; font-size: large;">October: Fairs and Festivals</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Honestly, this is the one I'm most nervous about. We don't really go out and do the things. We should. We want to. It's just hard when you know the kids are going to ask for this and that and especially Oct-Dec, there seems to never be any extra. Like, ever. So, in an ideal world, where money were no issue, there would be a few gift cards in here for like $100 that we could use going to like, the Wool Festival. We could use that for treats and horse rides and all the other fun stuff fairs have to offer. In reality, it'll probably be a list of free events in our area next October and we'll find a way to get some apples or pumpkins at some of them. And who knows, maybe me having a full time job will actually have next year look different than it always has before. I just kind of have a hard time hoping that when it seems that no matter what we do, nothing really makes a difference in the finance department. Sorry. I don't mean to whine. But let's be honest, like 2 people will read this far, so, sorry you 2.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #800180; font-size: large;">November: Movie and Game Nights</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">It's time to freshen the game box, see what new version of Monopoly Deal is out that year, and stock up on candy that doesn't have red40. We'll pull out the popcorn recipes and spend some time cozying up together. If you were wanting to go big, this would be a good way to get your family a big ol popcorn machine- or this, which I have and LOVE, btw. I don't think it's that specific brand, but whatevs. It's awesome.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://smile.amazon.com/Original-Silicone-Microwave-Collapsible-Dishwasher/dp/B07JFL46WH/ref=sxin_15_pa_sp_search_thematic_sspa?content-id=amzn1.sym.b5b80b36-fed9-4412-8be2-fe5bba09d25a%3Aamzn1.sym.b5b80b36-fed9-4412-8be2-fe5bba09d25a&crid=1KM887NIANV4S&cv_ct_cx=microwave%2Bpopcorn%2Bpopper&keywords=microwave%2Bpopcorn%2Bpopper&pd_rd_i=B07JFL46WH&pd_rd_r=284dcf0a-9bf4-4246-879f-fdf479f87631&pd_rd_w=AnHnl&pd_rd_wg=XMTr3&pf_rd_p=b5b80b36-fed9-4412-8be2-fe5bba09d25a&pf_rd_r=Z7XEJ60HCGZYTZSGVBTA&qid=1667147273&qu=eyJxc2MiOiI1LjE2IiwicXNhIjoiNS4xMyIsInFzcCI6IjUuMDkifQ%3D%3D&sprefix=microwave%2Bpopc%2Caps%2C97&sr=1-2-a73d1c8c-2fd2-4f19-aa41-2df022bcb241-spons&smid=A3L3LJRG7NGGSN&th=1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img alt="" data-original-height="492" data-original-width="441" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhDfi24QadaA0KPlNWBbuG6H76cKI1hVhWU_vPBk9AHPIkRhYlNcqrncxkDIRF14d1JmowH71MEg3inB64Uj8-_tAwPI7buEY42ugREUcmyyFGQt7SGU_GDgVYTjNdf55AwPaJnGTYDJVd-3NJvRRa4bD90-zU9LeDcJJUY_dmfhtdd_iVrvwrHKqTJ" width="215" /></a></div><br />If your'e into cozy socks or individual blankets, 5 Below has fun blankets!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #800180; font-size: large;">December: Advent Calendar</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Maybe this one's selfish. LOL. But I have had my eye on this specific advent calendar for like 3 years now. I'm hoping this year, just after Christmas, to be able to get it for next year. Otherwise, we'll do an envelope advent or something we can make for free.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://newtraditioncrafts.com/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img alt="" data-original-height="428" data-original-width="441" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjAMCscY-oBx3Ybvi3eM3Yct1G1XCUAF8MzV-lN1dSQEYTfTziZdL6FVDbs4rxXYEFgE-i0jyVsExIQ1HkFwfXhPqp8AnZLlhv1J4R4ADAlqIN-BrjdOBhVPSIvdU35OlfJh5dakvv-327uY0VT7UWmx-_0i6s34dI0Tgpqsni2EuZrC3FEj5EAZhVH" width="247" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">(They actually have several versions I love, but dreaming)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>I told you I'd include other themes here that you could go with if it was more your family's speed:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Baking Day</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">County/State Fair</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Gardening</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Put on A Play</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">12 Days of Christmas for another family</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Clean Car</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Neighborhood Block Party</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Art Night</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p></p>Robynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14486573900239764265noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1423378804043409129.post-9796863181976674282018-06-27T17:28:00.002-07:002018-06-27T23:22:34.583-07:00Introducing Lorelai<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Alright. I don't know how ready I am to write this, but it needs to be done. I don't know why, but this birth story seems more vulnerable and humbling than all the others. Probably because I went in a cocky know-it-all and then nothing went the way I thought it was going to. Ready for this ride? Here we go.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwV4vav0KqSnIBzwYQpQQpCN8cbjN2ai1QaJFtzbEuRIRb5vTIucLStC0FYWtchT1teDQsNWauNioxfFTBUQ4OXj1th5b6m7rqdkXmnARBJEi_XTY0TUKNv6sl1oOWB9QXZOdXTQQklc4/s1600/ForBlog1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1192" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwV4vav0KqSnIBzwYQpQQpCN8cbjN2ai1QaJFtzbEuRIRb5vTIucLStC0FYWtchT1teDQsNWauNioxfFTBUQ4OXj1th5b6m7rqdkXmnARBJEi_XTY0TUKNv6sl1oOWB9QXZOdXTQQklc4/s320/ForBlog1.jpg" width="238" /></a><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
The day started out with excitement of course. The boys were with my parents, so in the house we had me, Roger, the girls, my doula Kristy (<a href="http://khdoula.com/index.html">http://khdoula.com/index.html</a>) , the doula she was training (Bailey), 4 midwives (<a href="http://www.tooelemidwifery.com/">www.tooelemidwifery.com</a>), and a few of my friends (Susie, Ruby, and Kellie). The plan was this- Everyone arrives at 8:00AM. We break my water at 8:30 AM. I have contractions in the birthing pool until about 10:00. Then it's time to get out and push a baby out. Done by 10:30. Cleaned up and everyone gone home by noon. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Heavenly Father, though, had very different plans for the day. I'd gotten several blessings throughout the previous weeks. They had promised me the birth I wanted. They had promised me that she would be born healthy. They promised me that I would have the strength to deliver this baby safely at home. All those things happened. I just didn't know that the birth I wanted was not the one I had planned...</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh67GG017r8cAnTC4tpwL7FVXyep8boARuFWi5wU0yPBiGoAnSpPbjW6-nyHh4zJLUM8seGcnrhrNDS2ZsaDQbOox3Nb3Qe29ncuen2fyWF2Rtif-46wDoUZAD0A9qCGMJziUqMqHhtrys/s1600/ForBlog2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1139" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh67GG017r8cAnTC4tpwL7FVXyep8boARuFWi5wU0yPBiGoAnSpPbjW6-nyHh4zJLUM8seGcnrhrNDS2ZsaDQbOox3Nb3Qe29ncuen2fyWF2Rtif-46wDoUZAD0A9qCGMJziUqMqHhtrys/s320/ForBlog2.jpg" width="227" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
(this is how I feel about red raspberry leaf tea. Super gross, but I was trying to behave and drank as much as I could choke down)</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Everyone did come at 8:00, as expected. It took about half an hour to set up the birthing pool, get my stats, see where baby was and establish introductions or what not. Then we figured it was time to get this party started. We went upstairs to have the midwives break my water, but when they checked to see where Lorelai was, she had moved way up in my uterus. Why does this matter? Because if baby isn't where she needs to be and my water breaks, the umbilical cord is likely to start coming out with the fluid, followed by baby's head, which could prolapse the cord. If the cord is prolapsed, baby gets no oxygen. SO- we didn't want my water to break before Lorelai was properly in place. The midwives jostled her into place and then tied my waist super tight to hold her in place. We did this pretty much all morning. I was having contractions the whole time, but not always crazy strong ones. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Around 10:30, the midwives needed to leave for a few minutes. They presented me with Castor oil (in apricot juice so it wouldn't be so yucky) and told me it was completely up to me if I used it and explained that the adverse side effects are exactly why it works to induce labor. They left and I asked for a priesthood blessing. Roger had given me several, so I felt a little guilty asking for another, but this one was a blessing of healing, so it needed 2 people instead of one and also used anointing oil. Jared, Susie's husband, came and helped with that. At first, I was just as frustrated as before since the blessing used words like, "in time" which are very vague to me. The blessing did say I'd have the strength to deliver her, though, so that was comforting. Kristy told us later that during the blessing is when she could feel Roger's parents there the strongest. I decided at that point that the grossness of drinking castor oil would be worth it if it meant that Lorelai would come same day. So I drank it...</div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwV4vav0KqSnIBzwYQpQQpCN8cbjN2ai1QaJFtzbEuRIRb5vTIucLStC0FYWtchT1teDQsNWauNioxfFTBUQ4OXj1th5b6m7rqdkXmnARBJEi_XTY0TUKNv6sl1oOWB9QXZOdXTQQklc4/s1600/ForBlog1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><br />
<div style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioFrpn3A8YJezN7uw0c54piHRIyEurKCeFaxcWKSIoUr0rgByFk3QBdzIbN5TX8y1k4x4hzRc1AI642GJciCRFxwY4xWTbVL1aCZINY-KZxItpa9j17WfJzGglEPcyFYZYVY-KeBioJVA/s1600/ForBlog4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioFrpn3A8YJezN7uw0c54piHRIyEurKCeFaxcWKSIoUr0rgByFk3QBdzIbN5TX8y1k4x4hzRc1AI642GJciCRFxwY4xWTbVL1aCZINY-KZxItpa9j17WfJzGglEPcyFYZYVY-KeBioJVA/s1600/ForBlog4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="688" data-original-width="1600" height="137" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioFrpn3A8YJezN7uw0c54piHRIyEurKCeFaxcWKSIoUr0rgByFk3QBdzIbN5TX8y1k4x4hzRc1AI642GJciCRFxwY4xWTbVL1aCZINY-KZxItpa9j17WfJzGglEPcyFYZYVY-KeBioJVA/s320/ForBlog4.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
And then had a good cry. I was SO frustrated. Emotionally and physically. Here we had reached the time of day when I thought I would be about DONE giving birth and the end still seemed forever away. I was starting to feel like I was holding my friends and everyone hostage. They hadn't signed up to be here all day! Luckily, everyone was So supportive. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim1Wn9ei8dMKvTZQAIEdlfsb0JrXH0Mn81VeGRMeyZOnWGk3XwAXUiiQg3BJgDP_dkd2WRgGwYvDZjz2RyzzqBphxdeU8XH0QkoTKMA_-1BLAQKzE6mJTj-KlNM2HHemmNBSY3CvU1WOw/s1600/ForBlog3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidXVYo0qYqvkhIVrGLjpSS4XBzjyvvfFOk8yDwNjoHttwH8vhsLnu0FniQULoovvkhQwp-HGEyvKmEGFOEYHluPK-2KBGhDCL-k-u2LzP3toMKwFJADi5NoXEEV2txNOvxBWA1oO6cLZ4/s1600/ForBlog5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="886" data-original-width="1600" height="177" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidXVYo0qYqvkhIVrGLjpSS4XBzjyvvfFOk8yDwNjoHttwH8vhsLnu0FniQULoovvkhQwp-HGEyvKmEGFOEYHluPK-2KBGhDCL-k-u2LzP3toMKwFJADi5NoXEEV2txNOvxBWA1oO6cLZ4/s320/ForBlog5.jpg" width="320" /></a> </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
I tried really hard to be up and moving as much as I could, but I ended up spending most of the day on the birthing ball. Juliana was an amazing doula and helped rub my back and my arms. At one point in the day, she was playing with my hair and I'm surprised how much that relaxed me. Paisley did her part as well making sure I was fanned down when I got hot.</div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim1Wn9ei8dMKvTZQAIEdlfsb0JrXH0Mn81VeGRMeyZOnWGk3XwAXUiiQg3BJgDP_dkd2WRgGwYvDZjz2RyzzqBphxdeU8XH0QkoTKMA_-1BLAQKzE6mJTj-KlNM2HHemmNBSY3CvU1WOw/s1600/ForBlog3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1067" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim1Wn9ei8dMKvTZQAIEdlfsb0JrXH0Mn81VeGRMeyZOnWGk3XwAXUiiQg3BJgDP_dkd2WRgGwYvDZjz2RyzzqBphxdeU8XH0QkoTKMA_-1BLAQKzE6mJTj-KlNM2HHemmNBSY3CvU1WOw/s320/ForBlog3.jpg" width="213" /></a><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Around 1:15, after I had been checked again and my water had again not been broken for the same reason, contractions were at least strong enough that no amount of relaxing was going to make them stop. I decided to get in the birthing tub- that lasted like, 10 minutes total. The water was pretty toasty and it was strange to be in the middle of the room with so many people and my butt hanging out. I also tried to eat a little bit, but the heat made me totally nauseated. When I got out, I sat on the birthing ball again, but totally felt faint. Roger was holding me and I let him know that I felt like I was going to pass out. They got me to the couch and gave me oxygen and checked my blood pressure and oxygen. I had to sit there for a while.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2Gt3-ZnXemc7fhIFuigd7Xe0Gdc62-yBenVhdMSe_KPgekx0fTS5n-8cZT6bYMpvvxFxxFe_1rPPNc8tRby3BGCxrxAtHgR_IxnOEBh2rcHpoi8YwU0eQIcM60VXTDVWXstCDJ22uNqI/s1600/ForBlog6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1280" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2Gt3-ZnXemc7fhIFuigd7Xe0Gdc62-yBenVhdMSe_KPgekx0fTS5n-8cZT6bYMpvvxFxxFe_1rPPNc8tRby3BGCxrxAtHgR_IxnOEBh2rcHpoi8YwU0eQIcM60VXTDVWXstCDJ22uNqI/s320/ForBlog6.jpg" width="256" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
After that, Roger and I went upstairs to just be alone for a minute (get your mind out of the gutter- that was NOT happening today!). It was kind of at that point that I realized how stressed out I was about having a full audience. I tried to take a nap, but that also wasn't happening. I went outside and visited with the midwives for a while. My contractions started picking up, so we decided one more time to see about my water breaking. (We made good use of the tub, later, though when Paisley put on her swimsuit and had the time of her life for almost an hour!).</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfTSS2zM7t0dqMrTjLbE0v2OxQy3jdvocD9cFFWxN8OJR7HkN5tfhlUIxfhVV2C4TaED3izovjN2Y7Q8cAGtFB5eiRONMtsxH-oyuDGfK65wqj4AKU1E4EhYAsPZoJ_Ju1fYweM42QWtM/s1600/ForBlog7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1555" data-original-width="1600" height="311" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfTSS2zM7t0dqMrTjLbE0v2OxQy3jdvocD9cFFWxN8OJR7HkN5tfhlUIxfhVV2C4TaED3izovjN2Y7Q8cAGtFB5eiRONMtsxH-oyuDGfK65wqj4AKU1E4EhYAsPZoJ_Ju1fYweM42QWtM/s320/ForBlog7.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br />
Same story. I felt SO defeated!! Heck, at this point, all they could feel was Lorelai's hand, not even her head. At that point, we also realized that every time I was leaning forward or spending time on my hands and knees that she was popping out of my pelvis, so whatever progress we'd made to that point was completely gone. My new instructions were to lie on my back or side. I was "ordered" to take a nap (I say ordered because it was more of a very strong suggestion and given with complete love.) Everyone agreed to go to dinner at that point, which, turns out, was exactly what I needed. I took a little nap and then things started happening.<br />
<br />
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw3VJ0eRE54Rx3Ks0gPBfm8bsfXKTSWp6YpSdo7SlSd6Tp3KNzvNtBwm0xtZnSReRRKlqeBsYhUWoB5N2otFRZUxXLge8E0MPVMLeYxvN-4IJ3hZsUAWD6TYX8Eq36ReN2nFBQkXS1zLA/s1600/ForBlog8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="945" data-original-width="1600" height="189" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw3VJ0eRE54Rx3Ks0gPBfm8bsfXKTSWp6YpSdo7SlSd6Tp3KNzvNtBwm0xtZnSReRRKlqeBsYhUWoB5N2otFRZUxXLge8E0MPVMLeYxvN-4IJ3hZsUAWD6TYX8Eq36ReN2nFBQkXS1zLA/s320/ForBlog8.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br class="Apple-interchange-newline" />
When I woke up (around 6:15), the only people at my house were my girls and my doulas and Roger. I sent Roger to go get me a salad because I realized how hungry I was. He left and I came and sat in the recliner for a while. My amazing doulas massaged my feet. I couldn't eat any of my salad because my contractions were SO close together. They were hard and lasting 1-2 min each. Kristy recommended that I let the midwives know. They happened to text me while I was typing my text to them. I let them know that they should probably start making their way to my house. Just after pushing send, my water broke!! (7:05)</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQzfSCSUd7cSlrYBamN1Myrr_LDt1YE_K0Lq6y7L_Xx8EmKuZmAKjn9el1LaK3__D6DUPS03f-YORlX1r3cHTgFsGPmYvH5zjweroQUqwjOQ0ASdbg_ZandRbdH-CdWaHOTM9TcqsE2_I/s1600/ForBlog9.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1329" data-original-width="1600" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQzfSCSUd7cSlrYBamN1Myrr_LDt1YE_K0Lq6y7L_Xx8EmKuZmAKjn9el1LaK3__D6DUPS03f-YORlX1r3cHTgFsGPmYvH5zjweroQUqwjOQ0ASdbg_ZandRbdH-CdWaHOTM9TcqsE2_I/s320/ForBlog9.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
I know this photo is not flattering, but it's about as real as it gets. My water had NEVER broken on it's own before and this was so exciting! The midwives had me get on my hands and knees immediately so they could make sure the cord hadn't tried to come first. They also checked Lorelai's heart to make sure there was no duress. Luckily, all was well and like a light switch, we were back to birth being a joyful experience. Everyone happened to come at just the right time, though Ruby missed the birth by a few minutes.<br />
<br />
Now, remember that I had a plan. I was either going to squat having this baby, have her in the birthing tub, or have her on my hands and knees. Squatting was out as I was exhausted physically. We'd put the tub away. No way was I going to hands and knees while still feeling the side effects of castor oil. So I was kind of at a loss. Someone suggested the birthing stool and I was down for that.<br />
<br />
I'll spare you the more embarrassing parts between choosing the birthing stool and the actual birth, but let's just say that it's a good thing the people around me had a good sense of humor.<br />
<br />
At this point (around 7:20), it hits me what has to happen next. Am I really up for this part? Can I actually do this AGAIN?! Well, I remembered the part of the blessing where it said I could, and so I did. I screamed super hard and pushed her out as fast as I could because no way was I going to prolong this in any way! At 7:28, I delivered our last baby into her daddy's arms. Several comments of, "Wow! She's not nearly as big as we thought she'd be" were flying around the room.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEia2xSrYS2IVJoLTLCIuECeKB6eF3hIupOMNoWKWYOr84cl4vjMb4qyZsmxRT-_3x8yS5soVTD2y_VcpHu1GmbyHGGS-r8O-VhPKTbZrsh8jfvqs6rPtbANF0OwvBqosp8mFBqyDgbTRu8/s1600/ForBlog10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1280" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEia2xSrYS2IVJoLTLCIuECeKB6eF3hIupOMNoWKWYOr84cl4vjMb4qyZsmxRT-_3x8yS5soVTD2y_VcpHu1GmbyHGGS-r8O-VhPKTbZrsh8jfvqs6rPtbANF0OwvBqosp8mFBqyDgbTRu8/s320/ForBlog10.jpg" width="256" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br />
After each of my other births, I knew that there was still another child. I finished delivering babies with triumphant feelings of being powerful and strong. This time was different. This time, the thought that came first was, "I am NEVER doing this again!!" I was exhausted. I was vulnerable. But I was done. She was finally here. The pregnancy pains would finally go away. And my family was finally complete.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5OCDpp4QsL06XEE_Kxk4BDN_VTgtj63rXxs3rcx_iz37MqwDs5mQ5MuNZ6h_Ei3rTQ1RM_MQ8OAs4RDYZ677bPqaYQFYftCm9ivAKTKhJMaOlEVQPlcmLwmjAAaBl3DOhWBLEyPAs_Ro/s1600/ForBlog11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1280" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5OCDpp4QsL06XEE_Kxk4BDN_VTgtj63rXxs3rcx_iz37MqwDs5mQ5MuNZ6h_Ei3rTQ1RM_MQ8OAs4RDYZ677bPqaYQFYftCm9ivAKTKhJMaOlEVQPlcmLwmjAAaBl3DOhWBLEyPAs_Ro/s320/ForBlog11.jpg" width="256" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
It took about half an hour before the placenta was delivered and Juliana had the opportunity to cut the umbilical cord.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuGP5Z2o3dtG2DEh1XzP6mao94303wF87kEQHFx7g_-tOD1XOh7Uupnrwl-HK2vO11b_DxU3WdX5rEO-SXOl4tWfDzrjcNQubdqVPpUJreZZg6u37i-ci3Xfgrgp7aMbyN3UpyhaZ4yD0/s1600/ForBlog12.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuGP5Z2o3dtG2DEh1XzP6mao94303wF87kEQHFx7g_-tOD1XOh7Uupnrwl-HK2vO11b_DxU3WdX5rEO-SXOl4tWfDzrjcNQubdqVPpUJreZZg6u37i-ci3Xfgrgp7aMbyN3UpyhaZ4yD0/s320/ForBlog12.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
About that point, it was time for me to get checked out. Daddy was excited for some skin to skin contact, so he and the girls got to bond with Lorelai for a bit.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJEI4XvEqy5cu5so2MJ2FZDUEXy0SrcpxZ81LT19cOCoIijrMBkhyphenhyphenCrpGDKMCDsXBT_90p67cvU-P6bjXrC4iyVgmUNujQSYhm0TM42mOTh3yFK8_AsEof8UF9DUPL_5-KorjTJCbIlU4/s1600/ForBlog13.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1299" data-original-width="1600" height="259" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJEI4XvEqy5cu5so2MJ2FZDUEXy0SrcpxZ81LT19cOCoIijrMBkhyphenhyphenCrpGDKMCDsXBT_90p67cvU-P6bjXrC4iyVgmUNujQSYhm0TM42mOTh3yFK8_AsEof8UF9DUPL_5-KorjTJCbIlU4/s320/ForBlog13.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
All things checked out fine with me and I was able to settle in bed and collect myself for a few minutes. The girls had the opportunity to learn about the placenta, what it is, how it works, etc. Apparently, mine was healthy, but finished. Castor oil or no, we probably would have had a baby that day anyway.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3M055-O0WoV8T_HIUiCJ1vnpLZBRRInq6umiePX5nHpDAlUe8WadlfLqdnCd8PLmlTVFp3SJtwy5lRQFR4r-bipOX_w2oDRmc7llCDUM5RLOwipue2R-LZweWANUXxtzxb3jgUt8hOiQ/s1600/ForBlog14.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1067" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3M055-O0WoV8T_HIUiCJ1vnpLZBRRInq6umiePX5nHpDAlUe8WadlfLqdnCd8PLmlTVFp3SJtwy5lRQFR4r-bipOX_w2oDRmc7llCDUM5RLOwipue2R-LZweWANUXxtzxb3jgUt8hOiQ/s320/ForBlog14.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Then came the fun part!! They brought her back upstairs and did all the necessary checks. We were all a bit surprised that she weighed 8 lbs 1.5 oz because she LOOKED so small!! She was 21" long, though, so I'm sure that helped. She was able to get her Vitamin K shot and everything looked good. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhF5DNbNcB0jBs4rzuFK7EVtvplpUp7lhQ9DNxKRGtrHKnOwzs5obGv69XpgSpVYgsGuQ3VT0AOnNkbgl66Up_Fdp8yTPAw0XtvpwZBVQYHItmCbA9ULSQNRJ7R10IAZb5H-xfYQB1aheM/s1600/ForBlog15.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="738" data-original-width="1600" height="147" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhF5DNbNcB0jBs4rzuFK7EVtvplpUp7lhQ9DNxKRGtrHKnOwzs5obGv69XpgSpVYgsGuQ3VT0AOnNkbgl66Up_Fdp8yTPAw0XtvpwZBVQYHItmCbA9ULSQNRJ7R10IAZb5H-xfYQB1aheM/s320/ForBlog15.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br />
These are my amazing midwives. I've never felt so empowered and strengthened by other women!! What an incredible experience! Everything was relaxed when it needed to be and in a moment when things could have been scary, they knew exactly what to do and how to handle the situation. I'm incredibly grateful!!!</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEktHbO0MxISXYezSGWYzjniFciUN8HaqxO88hr9UY12SYY-vTAUt4eI_LhmFLM5zYqzzHlvucg4PcH4H6dp1Jf0Pl4FOwibSOjInoIhRAhA2GSJ1NJgXaQagVg4NpyVsaTyULCKX35rM/s1600/ForBlog16.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEktHbO0MxISXYezSGWYzjniFciUN8HaqxO88hr9UY12SYY-vTAUt4eI_LhmFLM5zYqzzHlvucg4PcH4H6dp1Jf0Pl4FOwibSOjInoIhRAhA2GSJ1NJgXaQagVg4NpyVsaTyULCKX35rM/s320/ForBlog16.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
My parents brought the boys home and met Lorelai. Sweetest thing ever!! Our family is complete!!</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcCCAA3609EFUJvShQP4MBDXrXjGOhHsARmyFAg-SqIsLhmTZZdeZhJ5O2MFj4WY-BjZDBSfLv_YaQtz0xaDjEfHPOD03eTYTfPkGVMm21XS1QpdFrr1LYgsLEkG4AiOLv8YUReXaKoaI/s1600/ForBlog17.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="877" data-original-width="1600" height="175" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcCCAA3609EFUJvShQP4MBDXrXjGOhHsARmyFAg-SqIsLhmTZZdeZhJ5O2MFj4WY-BjZDBSfLv_YaQtz0xaDjEfHPOD03eTYTfPkGVMm21XS1QpdFrr1LYgsLEkG4AiOLv8YUReXaKoaI/s320/ForBlog17.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Thank you so much to my sweet friend Susie for taking photos and sharing Jeremy (Lorelai's future husband). Also much gratitude to Ruby who cleaned my house while I labored. Thanks to Kellie for being one of those people who helps keep me grounded and feel like I can handle whatever comes my way. Thank you to Kristy, my doula, who has now been there for FOUR of my babies and is honestly one of my favorite people on the planet. Thank you to Bailey, who jumped in and was right there for me- you're going to make an incredible doula!! I can't forget to thank my girls who would honestly make great doulas and midwives one day if they so choose.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeJOWudEPWMtgwS6CyrH3LO_kPr1_JVjgdwSv5DIrHUtXzBw2hNCzg47EpFCTaEmpvggzb05g_PoXpfJmEzDbN6X_Zd0of-1ULQ7vZC7d_ETw1oEhU4J8_LaGiWXZnNTAhOIfHmJR1Ts0/s1600/ForBlogLast.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1550" data-original-width="1600" height="310" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeJOWudEPWMtgwS6CyrH3LO_kPr1_JVjgdwSv5DIrHUtXzBw2hNCzg47EpFCTaEmpvggzb05g_PoXpfJmEzDbN6X_Zd0of-1ULQ7vZC7d_ETw1oEhU4J8_LaGiWXZnNTAhOIfHmJR1Ts0/s320/ForBlogLast.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
But most of all, I need to thank my husband. I wouldn't want to take this journey with anyone else. He takes care of me in so many ways. Watching him take care of his children and still make time for me is very humbling. I hope I can serve and nurture him as he does me. </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Oh! And it would be incredibly ungrateful of me if I didn't also express gratitude to my Heavenly Father. I'm so grateful for his patience with me as I came many times crying and sobbing that things were simply too hard or taking too long. I'm grateful for these incredible children that He has trusted me with. I'm also grateful that He sent His son so that my family and I can return to live with Him someday.</div>
Robynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14486573900239764265noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1423378804043409129.post-84934181295588267082018-05-31T14:07:00.001-07:002018-06-01T21:21:54.076-07:00In Defense of Me<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
<o:AllowPNG/>
</o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
</xml><![endif]-->
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:WordDocument>
<w:View>Normal</w:View>
<w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom>
<w:TrackMoves/>
<w:TrackFormatting/>
<w:PunctuationKerning/>
<w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/>
<w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>
<w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent>
<w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>
<w:DoNotPromoteQF/>
<w:LidThemeOther>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther>
<w:LidThemeAsian>JA</w:LidThemeAsian>
<w:LidThemeComplexScript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript>
<w:Compatibility>
<w:BreakWrappedTables/>
<w:SnapToGridInCell/>
<w:WrapTextWithPunct/>
<w:UseAsianBreakRules/>
<w:DontGrowAutofit/>
<w:SplitPgBreakAndParaMark/>
<w:EnableOpenTypeKerning/>
<w:DontFlipMirrorIndents/>
<w:OverrideTableStyleHps/>
<w:UseFELayout/>
</w:Compatibility>
<m:mathPr>
<m:mathFont m:val="Cambria Math"/>
<m:brkBin m:val="before"/>
<m:brkBinSub m:val="--"/>
<m:smallFrac m:val="off"/>
<m:dispDef/>
<m:lMargin m:val="0"/>
<m:rMargin m:val="0"/>
<m:defJc m:val="centerGroup"/>
<m:wrapIndent m:val="1440"/>
<m:intLim m:val="subSup"/>
<m:naryLim m:val="undOvr"/>
</m:mathPr></w:WordDocument>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" DefUnhideWhenUsed="true"
DefSemiHidden="true" DefQFormat="false" DefPriority="99"
LatentStyleCount="276">
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="0" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Normal"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="heading 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 9"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 9"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="35" QFormat="true" Name="caption"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="10" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" Name="Default Paragraph Font"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="11" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtitle"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="22" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Strong"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="20" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="59" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Table Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Placeholder Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="No Spacing"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Revision"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="34" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="List Paragraph"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="29" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="30" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="19" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtle Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="21" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="31" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtle Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="32" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="33" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Book Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="37" Name="Bibliography"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" QFormat="true" Name="TOC Heading"/>
</w:LatentStyles>
</xml><![endif]-->
<style>
<!--
/* Font Definitions */
@font-face
{font-family:"MS 明朝";
panose-1:0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0;
mso-font-charset:128;
mso-generic-font-family:roman;
mso-font-format:other;
mso-font-pitch:fixed;
mso-font-signature:1 134676480 16 0 131072 0;}
@font-face
{font-family:"MS 明朝";
panose-1:0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0;
mso-font-charset:128;
mso-generic-font-family:roman;
mso-font-format:other;
mso-font-pitch:fixed;
mso-font-signature:1 134676480 16 0 131072 0;}
@font-face
{font-family:Cambria;
panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4;
mso-font-charset:0;
mso-generic-font-family:auto;
mso-font-pitch:variable;
mso-font-signature:-536870145 1073743103 0 0 415 0;}
/* Style Definitions */
p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal
{mso-style-unhide:no;
mso-style-qformat:yes;
mso-style-parent:"";
margin:0in;
margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:Cambria;
mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-fareast-font-family:"MS 明朝";
mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;
mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria;
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;}
.MsoChpDefault
{mso-style-type:export-only;
mso-default-props:yes;
font-family:Cambria;
mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-fareast-font-family:"MS 明朝";
mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;
mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria;
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;}
@page WordSection1
{size:8.5in 11.0in;
margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in;
mso-header-margin:.5in;
mso-footer-margin:.5in;
mso-paper-source:0;}
div.WordSection1
{page:WordSection1;}
</style>
<br />
-->
<!--[if gte mso 10]>
<style>
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-priority:99;
mso-style-parent:"";
mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin:0in;
mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:Cambria;
mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria;
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;}
</style>
<![endif]-->
<!--StartFragment-->
<div class="MsoNormal">
Disclaimer: This is not meant to sound angry. These are simply ramblings of a tired, hormonal, incredibly pregnant mama.<br /><br />I understand that I am a bit scatterbrained. I have many
ideas and not much follow through. I get that people see me as a generally
happy person whose words don’t work right. I didn’t finish college, which many
people think is just stupid of me. I’m a dreamer, forgetful, and absolutely
terrible at time management.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But for once, could you just trust me? There is one area in
my life that I actually know a thing or two about; my body and how it gives
birth. I’m so incredibly tired of having to defend every decision we’ve made
with this baby simply because none of it is mainstream. I’m going to go over a
few specifics and explain to you why I’m choosing each of them.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
#1. Having a 6<sup>th</sup> child in the first place. Many
people think we’re being irresponsible or ask questions like, “You know how
that happens, right?” People raise questions about finances and fitting them
all in our house. But here’s the thing. We like our kids. We enjoy their
company. We are fascinated as they learn about life and how to treat people and
how to become good citizens. Yeah, it’s hard. Yeah, I yell. Yeah, I complain.
But I wouldn’t trade it for the world. We have CHOSEN to have each of these
kids and we are grateful they are part of our family. They help us become who
we are. And one other thing- we’re good parents.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
#2. Having the baby at home. I’ve had five children. That’s
an entire handful. During each of these births, there has been a very specific
pattern. While I’m not stupid enough not to realize that every kid is different
and this one could very well break every pattern piece that I’ve dealt with,
I’m confident that most of this birth will be much like the other five. I’ve
had good experiences and bad in giving birth. I’ve been treated like an idiot
by some doctors and nurses and been respected by others. Of the five births,
three of them were without pain medication. Three of them (I found out rather
quickly) there was no point for me to be in a hospital. My Dr only delivered
one of those three. Being without pain meds meant I knew what my body was doing
and I was in control of it. I know my body’s timeline, it’s signals, and it’s
strengths. I’m so grateful to have a body that functions the way that it should
and that I have instincts that help me along. For those of you who don’t trust
me anyway, I also have the most incredible support system including a husband
who has done enough research on childbirth to write a college thesis and a
doula who has attended over 1,000 births. I’m also not stupid enough to deny
that if something feels wrong or off or if I feel there is any danger to me or
the baby, I will not hesitate to go to a hospital.<o:p></o:p></div>
<!--EndFragment--><br />
<br />
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
<o:AllowPNG/>
</o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
</xml><![endif]-->
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:WordDocument>
<w:View>Normal</w:View>
<w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom>
<w:TrackMoves/>
<w:TrackFormatting/>
<w:PunctuationKerning/>
<w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/>
<w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>
<w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent>
<w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>
<w:DoNotPromoteQF/>
<w:LidThemeOther>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther>
<w:LidThemeAsian>JA</w:LidThemeAsian>
<w:LidThemeComplexScript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript>
<w:Compatibility>
<w:BreakWrappedTables/>
<w:SnapToGridInCell/>
<w:WrapTextWithPunct/>
<w:UseAsianBreakRules/>
<w:DontGrowAutofit/>
<w:SplitPgBreakAndParaMark/>
<w:EnableOpenTypeKerning/>
<w:DontFlipMirrorIndents/>
<w:OverrideTableStyleHps/>
<w:UseFELayout/>
</w:Compatibility>
<m:mathPr>
<m:mathFont m:val="Cambria Math"/>
<m:brkBin m:val="before"/>
<m:brkBinSub m:val="--"/>
<m:smallFrac m:val="off"/>
<m:dispDef/>
<m:lMargin m:val="0"/>
<m:rMargin m:val="0"/>
<m:defJc m:val="centerGroup"/>
<m:wrapIndent m:val="1440"/>
<m:intLim m:val="subSup"/>
<m:naryLim m:val="undOvr"/>
</m:mathPr></w:WordDocument>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" DefUnhideWhenUsed="true"
DefSemiHidden="true" DefQFormat="false" DefPriority="99"
LatentStyleCount="276">
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="0" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Normal"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="heading 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 9"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 9"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="35" QFormat="true" Name="caption"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="10" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" Name="Default Paragraph Font"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="11" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtitle"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="22" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Strong"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="20" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="59" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Table Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Placeholder Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="No Spacing"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Revision"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="34" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="List Paragraph"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="29" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="30" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="19" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtle Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="21" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="31" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtle Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="32" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="33" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Book Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="37" Name="Bibliography"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" QFormat="true" Name="TOC Heading"/>
</w:LatentStyles>
</xml><![endif]-->
<style>
<!--
/* Font Definitions */
@font-face
{font-family:"MS 明朝";
panose-1:0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0;
mso-font-charset:128;
mso-generic-font-family:roman;
mso-font-format:other;
mso-font-pitch:fixed;
mso-font-signature:1 134676480 16 0 131072 0;}
@font-face
{font-family:"Cambria Math";
panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4;
mso-font-charset:0;
mso-generic-font-family:auto;
mso-font-pitch:variable;
mso-font-signature:-536870145 1107305727 0 0 415 0;}
@font-face
{font-family:Cambria;
panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4;
mso-font-charset:0;
mso-generic-font-family:auto;
mso-font-pitch:variable;
mso-font-signature:-536870145 1073743103 0 0 415 0;}
/* Style Definitions */
p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal
{mso-style-unhide:no;
mso-style-qformat:yes;
mso-style-parent:"";
margin:0in;
margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:Cambria;
mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-fareast-font-family:"MS 明朝";
mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;
mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria;
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;}
.MsoChpDefault
{mso-style-type:export-only;
mso-default-props:yes;
font-family:Cambria;
mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-fareast-font-family:"MS 明朝";
mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;
mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria;
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;}
@page WordSection1
{size:8.5in 11.0in;
margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in;
mso-header-margin:.5in;
mso-footer-margin:.5in;
mso-paper-source:0;}
div.WordSection1
{page:WordSection1;}
</style>
<br />
-->
<!--[if gte mso 10]>
<style>
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-priority:99;
mso-style-parent:"";
mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin:0in;
mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:Cambria;
mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria;
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;}
</style>
<![endif]-->
<!--StartFragment-->
<div class="MsoNormal">
#3. Having the midwife break my water on a day that I
choose. Again, I’ve had five children and noticed patterns. One of those
patterns is that my water doesn’t break on it’s own. Sure, if I go to 42 weeks,
it very well might. But that brings me to the second point. I have decent sized
babies. I have been induced in different ways for the last four kids and I’ve
been grateful for that. Let me give you some perspective. My smallest baby was
7 lbs. She was 2 weeks early, induced with Pitocin because of kidney problems.
My largest baby was 3 days before the due date, induced only by breaking my
water and had a placenta healthy enough to stay pregnant another week or two.
This would have had me deliver a 10 or 11 lb baby. I feel confident that my
chances of complications would go up by waiting too long to give birth. Also,
people discount the mental part of the game. I’m trying to do so much right
with this pregnancy. Trying to be a good mom to the other children, trying to
not overload my husband with a million extra tasks that I simply can’t do, and
trying to learn boundaries and how to let go of all kinds of emotional crap
through therapy. Having a giant question mark over my head pertaining to when
this baby will make her debut is causing far more stress than it would on a
normally functioning, non ADHD person. Scenes playing over and over in my head
of “What if it happens this day” and “What if I wait until that day” have
literally taken over my nights. I’m not sleeping well. While, again, I’m not
stupid or naïve enough to think that she can’t come on any different day,
having a day on a calendar to look forward to takes so much of the stress off
of me. An end date. Not to mention that my body is so physically done. Dealing
with SPD (it pretty much feels like bone on bone when I walk), being
overweight, carrying this perfect baby, and having other unmentionable issues
have taken their toll. I just can’t risk being pregnant for 2 extra weeks. I
need to be done as soon as safely possible.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I’ve had five healthy children. I have an amazing support
system. I’ve had several priesthood blessings.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>While I do appreciate it when you try to be polite when I tell you that
I’m doing these untraditional things, it still hurts to see the disgust on your
face or to have you straight up question me. We’ve done SO MUCH research. We
have prayed and consulted and done more research. You might think that I’m just
a silly girl with silly ideas, but please. Trust me on this one.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I would like to add that just because this is the way I do
things, it does not by any means think it’s the way everyone should do them. I
know my labors are short. I know they are easy. If they were long, I would
welcome an epidural. If they were hard or scary or we’d had a history of
anything going wrong, you bet I’d be close to medical intervention. How you
choose to have your baby is part of who YOU are and your journey to become such
and I will support you however you choose. You are an amazing rockstar for
sticking to your guns.<o:p></o:p></div>
<!--EndFragment--><br />Robynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14486573900239764265noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1423378804043409129.post-9428469526092286482018-01-24T10:36:00.000-08:002018-01-24T22:29:56.067-08:00The Greatest ShowmanWant to read my novel on my relationship with the Greatest Showman? Oh good!!<br />
<br />
So this particular subject and blog post have been on my mind for DAYS. I'm not exaggerating. When it first came out, one of the first things I heard about it was from a friend that I love and respect. She voiced her concerns over the historical inaccuracies and mistreatment of those with disabilities. For good reason, too. She will be helping her ridiculously adorable son for most of his life fight for every opportunity- she even had to fight for his life when the whole world was against him (doctors included). She's the most incredible mom!! Anyway- being an empath, this kind of thing really had me thinking hard about this movie!!<br />
<br />
In the meantime, my newsfeed and instagram and family members were abuzz. EVERYONE seemed to like this movie. My mom couldn't stop talking about the incredible message and story. And if anyone knows my mom, they'll know that she would NEVER be an advocate for treating people poorly. I was SO confused!!<br />
<br />
Then I was invited to go see it. I'll admit, I went in wanting to be able to point out the blatant flaws and mistreatments and horrible things in this movie. But there weren't any. At least, not any that encouraged people to be rude or justified the way those with disabilities, physical abnormalities, or anything else. The movie acknowledged that PT Barnum exaggerated the truth (putting stilts on the already tall man, stuffing the fat man with more pillows, etc). He even at one point said that he couldn't trick anyone else into giving him money and that people pay for the pleasure of being hoodwinked.<br />
<br />
And the music!!! Oh, and the DANCING!!!! It was like watching White Christmas for the first time all over again!! I was entranced. I cried. I laughed. And I couldn't get enough. But did I love it? In principal, COULD I love it?<br />
<br />
So I sat on it. I came home and read more about Mr. Barnum's not stellar way of treating people and starting his business. And I listened to the soundtrack- over and over and over again. Those who know me well know that I do NOT like things on repeat. And yet I found myself listening to album 3 times in one day! I also couldn't stop talking about it. To anyone who would listen, I presented my moral dilemma. And then I talked to the person who instilled in me my moral compass- my mom. I said to her, "MOM! Did you know that he purchased these people from their families? Like, bought them from their homes for money?" and she had the most beautiful response. I don't remember the exact words, but it was full of compassion and love, much like my mother herself. She reminded me that at the time, many of these people were literally hidden, neglected, and their families were often ashamed of them. Whether or not their lives were improved by PT Barnum, we don't know for sure. Maybe they were. Maybe they weren't. But they at least had a chance at something different.<br />
<br />
So with that on my note, I started thinking about standards. How many historical pictures to we shame and feel anger at because we hold them to today's standards. Is it, in any way acceptable NOW to purchase people? No. Is it ok for any kind of slavery now? No. And yet.... Do we try to change our US history because former presidents owned slaves? Do we smear their name at every chance we can? No. Why? Because his accomplishments were greater than his misdeeds. And- did he really know better? Many people slam Christopher Columbus for the terrible things he did, but how much do we know about what were HIS choices and what were by command of the crown? Remember he had to ask many people to fund his trip. We don't know what he had to agree to to get said funding. But do we refuse to live on this continent because of his misdeeds? No. We're grateful to be here anyway. His accomplishments, in the scheme of NOW, outweigh his misdeeds. After writing this today, I found this video that I found fascinating: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oAU9-pU9Iv8<br />
<br />
What if in 50 years, scientists find that the best way to keep children completely happy and cancer free is to lace all of the kids food with weevils and weevil bits? Do I want to be called a terrible mom because now, without that knowledge, I'm doing everything in my power for my children NOT to eat weevils? No. We don't know exactly what the thoughts were in PT Barnum's time. The world was a strange place where all kinds of things were acceptable. It doesn't make it ok for now's time. But he's dead. That's between him and Heavenly Father at this point. His judgement has already passed.<br />
<br />
What good has come since his time? We're able to see people's differences for what they are and without fear. We can find out what causes disabilities and we understand now that they are people worthy of as much medical attention, care, and respect as everyone else. Do they always get that? No, because people are still people.<br />
<br />
Anyway- I digress. So back to whether or not I'm ok to like this movie, lol. I realized that one thing different here was that I went into the movie already knowing a bit about PT Barnum's shady past. How many movies have I watched "inspired by true events" that I LOVED and then found out that wasn't really what happened, but then still loved the movie? Remember the Titans- Gosh, still one of my favorites, even though not really the way it was. Also, did you know if a movie is "inspired by" true events, it's mostly fiction. If it's "based on" a true story, it sticks closer to the truth. So there is that.<br />
<br />
I'm almost done, I promise!! So I listened to the soundtrack- a LOT and my son said to me, "Wow, Mom. You must really love this!" and it kind of decided it for me. I love this movie/music/story for what it was, what it is. And I went again at the very next opportunity. I went in allowing myself to love it and guess what- I SO did!! THIS story (whether accurate or not) is about family. It's about accepting yourself for who you are. It's about appreciating what and who you have in your life. And the DANCING. I just can't get past the dancing.... AMAZING!!<br />
<br />
So there you go. Go see it.Robynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14486573900239764265noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1423378804043409129.post-42382492217036337382017-07-05T17:27:00.001-07:002017-07-05T17:27:19.959-07:00This doesn't belong here.This doesn't fit with anything crafty or any kind of reviews or digiscrapping. It has nothing to do with anything, but I needed an outlet. I needed to be able to tell my story and this was just available.<br />
<br />
Maybe I'm jus crazy, but in the event that I'm not, I need to write this down.<br />
<br />
When we were pregnant with Abraham, we both felt that there was another baby waiting for us. There's nothing you can do about that, so we just tucked that information away in our hearts.<br />
<br />
When the Captain was a few months old, a friend felt prompted to share with me some information on how to keep kidney stones away while pregnant (since I'd suffered from Calicum stones the last 2 pregnancies). We both felt like we should try for a baby in June. June came and we both felt like it meant NEXT June. So we waited and made a plan. We even stuck to the plan, which, to be honest, is not something I do well. The plan was to go off my ADHD meds in March or April, off of birth control at the end of April, and probably be pregnant by June.<br />
<br />
In the meantime, Roger and I went to the temple. We did sealings and the sealer asked how many kids we had. Immediately after I answered 5, I felt so ashamed. I felt like I had lied to him and that my other child was saying, "What about me?! Don't forget about me!!!"<br />
<br />
May came, and with it a couple of pregnancy symptoms. I, foolishly, got my hopes WAY up, where they came crashing down over the Memorial Day weekend when I realized that I was definitely NOT pregnant. I was bummed. And embarrassed. But it was what it was and there was nothing I could do about it.<br />
<br />
Enter June. June I had a LOT of pregnancy symptoms. I was gagging when I brushed my teeth, had no desire to eat sweets, completely exhausted, and a whole number of other symptoms (some of which I had to look up because I had never had them before). Out of the blue, Abraham would be playing on my belly and start saying, "Baby." The kids all felt like I was pregnant. Roger felt like I was pregnant. I did, too, but incredulous because of May. Most of my previous pregnancies were confirmed by my youngest children. So I put quite a bit of merit on that.<br />
<br />
Before all this- we almost always have 1 or 2 names picked out per gender before we even GET pregnant. Previously, our girl names were Persephone and Evangeline. Our boy name is Lorenzo. The kids would always say they were SURE our next one is a girl because we have boy, girl, boy, girl, boy and that's the order would be consistent. I always joked that Heavenly Father had a sense of humor and that he'd be more likely to send us twin boys than to keep a nice, pretty pattern.<br />
<br />
During all this June baby talk, we really did ALL feel like it was a girl. Persephone seemed ALL wrong. Evangeline wasn't sitting the best with me, either, but I wasn't going to worry about that right now. One day, the kids were all in the room when I was finishing an episode of Gilmore Girls and one of the kids asked, "What about Lorelai?" Now, truth be told, I've loved the name Lorelai since the first time I watched the first episode of Gilmore Girls, but I figured it was popular due to the show and didn't want people to call her Rory because I don't like that character, lol. But now, all the kids were on board and it sounded just as pretty as ever.<br />
<br />
As the days and weeks passed, I was so preoccupied with feeling pregnant. I took way too many pregnancy tests and didn't stress too much that they were all negative. After all, 1. It wasn't time for me to start and 2. Both of my girls had each taken FOREVER to show up positive.<br />
<br />
Then, Sunday happened. According to the online forms you fill out said that I was supposed to start Wednesday. I took one of those "5 day early" tests. It was negative. That's when I knew. I knew I wasn't pregnant. Even though false negatives are common that early. I had Roger give me a blessing. It was beautiful. In it, he said Heavenly Father was proud of my decisions. He reminded me that I'd get my answers soon, but my thoughts and feelings were from Him. Again, I just kind of knew at that point, but still hoped otherwise. I asked Abraham if there was a baby in my tummy. Instead of the kind, sweet, "Baby" response I'd grown used to, he said, "NO BABY. "<br />
<br />
I sent a text to a couple of friends expressing my frustration. One friend responded, "Love ya... And... Patience, Iago. Patience. Lorelai Patience Fish..." We knew that is her name. Lorelai Patience.<br />
<br />
Tuesday, Roger and I celebrated our anniversary. We went and saw Wonder Woman (fabulous movie, btw). I went to the restroom at the restaurant and sure enough, a day earlier than planned, I had 100% proof that I was not pregnant. When I told the kids, Vaughn didn't believe me at first. I cried on the way to my mom's house because I felt Lorelai wanted to come just as desperately as I wanted her to.<br />
<br />
When I told Abraham today, he seemed to be agitated and almost angry. "NO BABY!"<br />
<br />
I feel like I've lost her for a time, but not forever. I feel like she's still supposed to come to our family with a body. We just have to be patient. And so does she.Robynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14486573900239764265noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1423378804043409129.post-61642075781125231562017-03-20T10:53:00.000-07:002017-03-20T10:54:29.059-07:00Earbud Review by Xander<a href="https://www.tomoson.com/?code=TOP7517c2a3a2465e823626b9e2d3f00941" rel="nofollow" style="display: none;"></a><br />
Review by 12 Year Old Xander<br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #96774d; font-family: "arial" , "microsoft yahei" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 18px;">These Riwbox X7 Sport Headphones are great! We got these earbuds in exchange for our honest review. </span><br />
<br />
Here is a list of what I look for in earbuds and if it has it:
<br />
1 Pause button: yes (the phone button on back)
<br />
2 volume control: yes (don't turn it up all the way)
<br />
3 comfy for my ears: yes
<br />
4 noticeable*: yes
* I have 4 siblings that will talk over what I am listing to.
<a href="https://www.tomoson.com/?code=BOTTOM7517c2a3a2465e823626b9e2d3f00941" rel="nofollow" style="display: none;"></a><br />
<br />
<br />
Buy them <a href="http://www.riwbox.com/Corded/Earbuds/Riwbox-X7-Sport-Earbuds.html">HERE</a>: http://www.riwbox.com/Corded/Earbuds/Riwbox-X7-Sport-Earbuds.htmlRobynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14486573900239764265noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1423378804043409129.post-50387322271617822017-01-27T22:55:00.001-08:002017-01-27T22:55:29.048-08:00A Little Bit at a Time<a href="https://www.tomoson.com?code=TOPb1bbc6456797c24df3a888f81f4ff7f5" rel="nofollow" style="display: none;"></a>My family is doing a food challenge. Sometimes I love it. Sometimes I hate it. I really, really like my sugar. A lot. And I've learned that my body uses is a bit differently than most people do. I know that I need to make some permanent changes in my life so it can be ling and healthy, but sometimes the sheer amount of preparation it takes to eat better is so overwhelming. One thing that is making it easier is my new toy!! I shouldn't say toy because it's WAY too sharp to be a toy.<br />
<br />
Check out my new mandolin!<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYpGx9AqxYbf6nNGaYytLopwE7C1aTRlIGOX9IZ3W1Q9TX14mJ3fZCJluYsvj1QR2eD8PzpT3Fl2kM12qd5Jh4-7ELWU2ikwEtm5FYpije7QzekvNGAB0rp3nufPm3WfX6VNNJrt3HIYs/s1600/20170127_232508.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYpGx9AqxYbf6nNGaYytLopwE7C1aTRlIGOX9IZ3W1Q9TX14mJ3fZCJluYsvj1QR2eD8PzpT3Fl2kM12qd5Jh4-7ELWU2ikwEtm5FYpije7QzekvNGAB0rp3nufPm3WfX6VNNJrt3HIYs/s320/20170127_232508.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
I even made a video using this! I did not get this for free, but did get it at a discount.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe width="320" height="266" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/6ZbOZf3RJcs/0.jpg" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/6ZbOZf3RJcs?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>
<br />
You can buy one here: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B010YE08DA">http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B010YE08DA</a><a href="https://www.tomoson.com?code=BOTTOMb1bbc6456797c24df3a888f81f4ff7f5" rel="nofollow" style="display: none;"></a>Robynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14486573900239764265noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1423378804043409129.post-1682122159035189412017-01-13T11:34:00.001-08:002017-01-13T11:34:58.322-08:00Lightning Fast French<a href="https://www.tomoson.com?code=TOPae2829fde320f05167310b3fbbfd5ae6" rel="nofollow" style="display: none;"></a>I wanted my first post of the new year to be the amazing bedrooms the kids got for Christmas, but, it's not. Because they are not done. Because mommy forgot to incorporate the cost of hardware and time to hang everything up. I feel like my whole house is in shambles at the moment. Anywho- I am back to reviewing.<br />
<br />
Today's review is for this book called Lightning Fast French.I received this book for free in exchange for my honest review. Juliana made a video explaining how it's different than other programs she's used:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe width="320" height="266" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/D-1ZvkSPjR4/0.jpg" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/D-1ZvkSPjR4?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>
Here's a still shot of the cover:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1470138816/"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVbBNEVt66BZz-fAFrSQSh3QYny4RAScjEHkxrfUr5fc6t3MEvjg50dATFl_Eqiz86jUNhB68IoAtAB1h0cwSYukPKaWAW3jgDskqSy2yfmFkAPQRbKBpWZ2NJwJzLSK1Rm2WgD1v4S0o/s320/2017-01-13+12.31.28.jpg" width="180" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
You can click on the picture or <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1470138816/">HERE</a> to purchase it from Amazon. It's fun to see Juliana excited again. I was worried that our French days were done. I know they have a few other languages as well.</div>
<br /><a href="https://www.tomoson.com?code=BOTTOMae2829fde320f05167310b3fbbfd5ae6" rel="nofollow" style="display: none;"></a>Robynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14486573900239764265noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1423378804043409129.post-17722277475082738232016-11-20T19:01:00.000-08:002016-11-20T19:01:00.489-08:003D Pens Review<a href="http://www.tomoson.com/?code=TOPec8efffad82ec87137a4c3bf069ac0fa" rel="nofollow"><img style="display: none" src="http://www.tomoson.com/images/front/pixel.png" /></a>For Juliana's birthday, she got these 3D pens. I thought she would use them a TON since she does lots of craft projects, but after the first couple of days, she didn't seem excited about it. Not sure why. Maybe I'll have to sit down and play with her so I can get a better feel, too. Maybe it was because she only followed the instructions and didn't realize how much she could do on her own. I hope she'll give it another try, because this girl can do amazing things!! #ido3d<br />
<br />
Here's a link to her review video:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe width="320" height="266" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/kLupRk9zEyE/0.jpg" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/kLupRk9zEyE?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>
<br />
<br />
Purchase the 3D pens <a href="http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=101674636&cp=&parentPage=search">HERE</a> or <a href="https://www.amazon.com/IDO3D-Vertical-Five-Pen-Light/dp/B01C34QUX6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1476113302&sr=8-1&keywords=ido3d+vertical+five+pen+art+set+with+3d+vertical+light">HERE</a>.<a href="http://www.tomoson.com/?code=BOTTOMec8efffad82ec87137a4c3bf069ac0fa" rel="nofollow"><img style="display: none" src="http://www.tomoson.com/images/front/pixel.png" /></a>Robynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14486573900239764265noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1423378804043409129.post-23802980937292531402016-10-28T22:02:00.002-07:002016-10-28T22:03:36.763-07:00Christmas Plans pt 2<a href="http://www.tomoson.com/?code=TOPbf20460f3d0ee759ee030248c9c387b8" rel="nofollow"><img src="http://www.tomoson.com/images/front/pixel.png" style="display: none;" /></a>So now that themes have been established, work has started! Thrift stores have been visited! Art projects have begun!<br />
<br />
Here's what I've<span style="font-size: large;"> purchased</span> so far-<br />
<br />
Girls Room- Dolphin Pillow Pet, Candelabra (for the fork, knife, and spoon), metal whale decoration, tray to display seashells (and I traded some work for some GORGEOUS seashells)<br />
<br />
Boys Room- Apothecary Display case, "Magic" journal, some Hogwarts House coat of arms I found at ComicCon, and the beginnings of the owl cage.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Projects</span> that have been started and/or finished-<br />
<br />
Girls Room- Temple Mermaid Painting<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://scontent-dft4-2.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/14457522_10153953947882849_4661121439764264748_n.jpg?oh=583103d76a219cf8eec11f9daec720d9&oe=58999649" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://scontent-dft4-2.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/14457522_10153953947882849_4661121439764264748_n.jpg?oh=583103d76a219cf8eec11f9daec720d9&oe=58999649" width="320" /></a></div>
Mini Paintings<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://scontent-dft4-2.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/14445974_10153939158307849_3269225016716194941_n.jpg?oh=3f17b162528c65f6da30ca09a376ac16&oe=58930D25" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://scontent-dft4-2.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/14445974_10153939158307849_3269225016716194941_n.jpg?oh=3f17b162528c65f6da30ca09a376ac16&oe=58930D25" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
And, in progress, the giant mermaid. This started as the idea to do the stained glass mermaid from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, but those colors were BORING! So now..... here is where we stand</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://scontent-dft4-2.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/14680659_10154009121052849_2429513413505372518_n.jpg?oh=72f686bfe44e60c3243b9c6c820d6ce8&oe=589348FD" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://scontent-dft4-2.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/14680659_10154009121052849_2429513413505372518_n.jpg?oh=72f686bfe44e60c3243b9c6c820d6ce8&oe=589348FD" width="176" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
I'm currently using <a href="https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B019HR9HDC/ref=smi_se_mit_rcol_smi_2628204422?_encoding=UTF8&*Version*=1&*entries*=0&pldnCmp=rcol&pldnCrt=my-impact">these Art Chest round paintbrushes</a> that I'm reviewing. I got them at a discount in exchange for my honest review. They are absolutely fabulous!!! I love how close and detailed I can get the edges! It is still supposed to look "stained glass-y". #theartchestbrushes</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/91NZiWxzVbL._SL1500_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="223" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/91NZiWxzVbL._SL1500_.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
Boys room- Ok, I'll be honest, I have not entirely sure I've started anything for the boys room aside from Xander's afghan. I'm not using a pattern at all, so I really can't show you much. I have LOTS of ideas, but haven't started in them. Terrible, I know!<br />
<br />
<br />
Ok, so that's all for now!!<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.tomoson.com/?code=BOTTOMbf20460f3d0ee759ee030248c9c387b8" rel="nofollow"><img src="http://www.tomoson.com/images/front/pixel.png" style="display: none;" /></a>Robynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14486573900239764265noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1423378804043409129.post-80549797338716185602016-10-15T19:43:00.002-07:002016-10-15T19:47:05.917-07:00Logic Games!!<a href="http://www.tomoson.com/?code=TOP8aa5ec89aa2c1e4290aadf02959579b7" rel="nofollow"><img src="http://www.tomoson.com/images/front/pixel.png" style="display: none;" /></a>Can I just tell you how much I love the company "Think Fun?!" I've been trying to incorporate logic games and thinking games into my kids' school day for a while, but they can only play so many Sudoku games, you know?<br />
<br />
I have previously reviewed games from this company. Both Balance Beans and Clue Master were immediate favorites of my kids!<br />
<br />
I applied to review the game Shape Logic, but the company accidentally sent me Brick Master. They were SO professional about the mixup and even agreed to let me keep the extra game. Tonight I'll be reviewing Shape Logic. Brick Master will be in a video sometime in the future. (I did receive these for free in exchange for my honest review)<br />
<br />
First up- <span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Think-Fun-95971-Shape-Logic/dp/B01G3Q5IUG/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1474491040&sr=8-2&keywords=shape+logic">Shape Logic! You can purchase this on Amazon.</a></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/71wmmxZ%2Bi0L._SL1500_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/71wmmxZ%2Bi0L._SL1500_.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
In this game, you have to make the shape it tells you to by stacking and turning other shapes. I know that doesn't make a ton of sense, so here is a video of my kids explaining it.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/LqURezBjzI8/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/LqURezBjzI8?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div>
<br />
<br />
My dad, who loves logic puzzles said that at the very beginning, he wasn't too impressed because the puzzles were easy. He was pleasantly surprised, however, when they quickly got MUCH harder and made even HIM think!<br />
<br />
My kids don't love this one as much as they love Balance Beans, but it's a great way to get them to think and be quiet during the day.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.tomoson.com/?code=BOTTOM8aa5ec89aa2c1e4290aadf02959579b7" rel="nofollow"><img src="http://www.tomoson.com/images/front/pixel.png" style="display: none;" /></a>Robynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14486573900239764265noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1423378804043409129.post-48723079876886063662016-09-27T09:47:00.004-07:002016-09-27T09:48:28.825-07:00Gettin' My Storage On<a href="http://www.tomoson.com/?code=TOP14849274d4e11214d55500cf87c3355c" rel="nofollow"><img style="display: none" src="http://www.tomoson.com/images/front/pixel.png" /></a>I'm sick of having a house that is a big giant dump because I can't afford to buy stuff to make it look cute or organize it and the wall unit I've wanted built in for the last 10 years is barely closer at all. So I found this review...... (I got this for free in exchange for my honest review).<br />
<br />
These are for <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01J714MFG">Toys and Storage</a>, but that's not necessarily the coolest thing. The coolest thing is that outside, it looks like fancy jute. Inside, though, is plastic lined!!! WHY is this cool? Well, how many times has your kid spilled something in the toy box? Or a leaky sippy been thrown in and forgotten? Or crumbs and dust from laundry piled up at the bottom of a basket that yo could never get out?<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjobhgD2h8DC8x3_rmI-5KxrHOOp_uhVItzyZEjjdE3vZwf81FCwHVqXfG47-W8smaHzCW2Dxr3KCyeWHiAoMQ-0k3xvHPENfh-lNJvFVywDW-gMK8_TqCt36Re7trgALTX71jvAfQjU-4/s1600/2016-09-18+19.38.55.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjobhgD2h8DC8x3_rmI-5KxrHOOp_uhVItzyZEjjdE3vZwf81FCwHVqXfG47-W8smaHzCW2Dxr3KCyeWHiAoMQ-0k3xvHPENfh-lNJvFVywDW-gMK8_TqCt36Re7trgALTX71jvAfQjU-4/s320/2016-09-18+19.38.55.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01J714MFG">You should totally order your own #ziggybaby</a><br />
<br />
This was the official review I gave it.<br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">In finding storage for baby toys and the like generally has two problems. You can get super cute baskets that look nice and hold your things, but what happens when cute kiddo decides to pour his juice over his toys? Yick! They are generally hard to clean. So you could go the opposite direction and stuff everything in totes. But then you either look like an uber-organized neat freak or.... just very utilitarian. This is the perfect balance. These are lined with washable plastic on the inside, but look like they are fancy jute totes on the outside! They hold a whole mini library of baby books, or a baby, or the baby's toys.</span><a href="http://www.tomoson.com/?code=BOTTOM14849274d4e11214d55500cf87c3355c" rel="nofollow"><img style="display: none" src="http://www.tomoson.com/images/front/pixel.png" /></a>Robynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14486573900239764265noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1423378804043409129.post-14927066311659964942016-09-10T22:28:00.000-07:002016-09-10T22:28:58.406-07:00Adulting for the win!!!<a href="http://www.tomoson.com/?code=TOP7e61ade947c27146c28f9ae704c6158e" rel="nofollow"><img style="display: none" src="http://www.tomoson.com/images/front/pixel.png" /></a>This may sound stupid. But there are times in my life when I look around and go, "Hey, I guess I am really a grown up." I had one of those moments recently. Was it because I have 5 kids and my 12 year old goes off to Young Men's each week? No (well, not after the first few times). Is it because I have a mortgage payment and a car payment? No. Is it because there are home improvement projects that need my attention? No. Is it because I got REAL GROWN UP steak knives? Yes!!!! I had the opportunity to review these #slitzer knives for free in exchange for my honest review and they are SO COOL! They are like, twice the size of my cheap-o knives I got as a wedding gift and definitely sharper!! Aren't they pretty?<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/61tczBFgmVL._SL1000_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/61tczBFgmVL._SL1000_.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
And here is a video I made about them: <a href="https://youtu.be/3ZcCyo3olZQ">https://youtu.be/3ZcCyo3olZQ </a><a href="http://www.tomoson.com/?code=BOTTOM7e61ade947c27146c28f9ae704c6158e" rel="nofollow"><img style="display: none" src="http://www.tomoson.com/images/front/pixel.png" /></a>Robynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14486573900239764265noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1423378804043409129.post-71073722643674963152016-09-05T23:07:00.000-07:002016-09-07T21:03:05.225-07:00Christmas Plans- So it begins<a href="http://www.tomoson.com/?code=TOPa12aa078106fc3bc3094c24ccba39c1b" rel="nofollow"><img style="display: none" src="http://www.tomoson.com/images/front/pixel.png" /></a><a href="http://www.tomoson.com/?code=TOP4fa4811b4b71e502432606843872dc14" rel="nofollow"><img src="http://www.tomoson.com/images/front/pixel.png" style="display: none;" /></a>This year for Christmas, Santa is going to do something a little unusual. Instead of toys or Thanksgiving Point Passes, Santa will be redecorating the kids' rooms!! The boys will be moving to the large square room so they can have a triple bunk bed and the girls will be getting a daybed in the rectangle room.<br />
<br />
I've picked themes for the rooms-<br />
<br />
The boys will have a Harry Potter room. We were given 2 bedspreads that were lovely shades of brown. I need to decide if Vaughn should have a matching one or a coordinating one. I have an entire Pinboard dedicated to room decorating, but I'm totally excited about this review I am doing because it'll fit right into my plans. They are for Oak Leaf Copper lights. #oakleaf If it goes the way I want, I'll paint a Hogwarts mural on the wall and these lights will be the stars above. If the idea gets nixed, I'll be using these lights to make a cool lamp! I got the lights for free in exchange for my honest review, but I love them SO much. If I absolutely HAD to say something not perfect, it would be- why C batteries? But all in all, these are really lovely!! Get them here: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/B019DOYN9W">http://www.amazon.com/dp/B019DOYN9W</a><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQQ40oeongsmHmQ2EQUM9_fTGkYXBulX0tAHT-nokea1BqZK2awIBlMPiTfZv_Uin4PYOZYbPzCk2ijKckFDLrYsK5bsFtEDTEYRHU1wxE_eS6-Jso-BBxW2lsiiwe5a49fQUG-dvqb-s/s1600/2016-09-05+23.46.13.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQQ40oeongsmHmQ2EQUM9_fTGkYXBulX0tAHT-nokea1BqZK2awIBlMPiTfZv_Uin4PYOZYbPzCk2ijKckFDLrYsK5bsFtEDTEYRHU1wxE_eS6-Jso-BBxW2lsiiwe5a49fQUG-dvqb-s/s320/2016-09-05+23.46.13.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
The girls will have a MERMAID room!!! I'm trying to put in it everything a little girl DREAMS of having in a bedroom. One of those things is a fishnet with lights and starfish in it. I haven't decided WHERE I want it, but I got my lights, also to review. These ones are by #ANNT and they are solar powered. The lights are colored and they have an option for blinking, which I will NEVER use, but hey, to each his own! Buy them here: <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B016NRS8HK">https://www.amazon.com/dp/B016NRS8HK </a><a href="http://www.tomoson.com/?code=BOTTOM4fa4811b4b71e502432606843872dc14" rel="nofollow"><img src="http://www.tomoson.com/images/front/pixel.png" style="display: none;" /></a><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/616PGF-vkvL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="179" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/616PGF-vkvL.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/71NXh8uduAL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="179" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/71NXh8uduAL.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/81L5uLaH4lL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="179" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/81L5uLaH4lL.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<br /><a href="http://www.tomoson.com/?code=BOTTOMa12aa078106fc3bc3094c24ccba39c1b" rel="nofollow"><img style="display: none" src="http://www.tomoson.com/images/front/pixel.png" /></a>Robynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14486573900239764265noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1423378804043409129.post-18572230179604938192016-08-29T19:27:00.000-07:002016-08-29T19:29:06.568-07:00Stainless Steel <a href="http://www.tomoson.com/?code=TOP98f2a6ed1e5395894088c4d04a5321e4" rel="nofollow"><img style="display: none" src="http://www.tomoson.com/images/front/pixel.png" /></a>My kids go through cups like CRAZY!!! I don't like using glass because- hi, 5 kids. I feel like my house is being overrun by plastic. Interesting since there are suspicions and probably even some evidence to link plastic to behavioral issues.<br />
<br />
In any case, I decided these Stainless Steel tumblers by #Maxam would be a cool thing to review, so I did! They are small, so perfect for my kids. They sound like steel. There were some concerns on the reviews on Amazon, but I don't know if they actually bother me or not.<br />
<br />
In any case, here are the tumblers. I made a <a href="https://youtu.be/GDUZ0cixaoc">YouTube video</a> where you can see them closer and hear them.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEireWiwAqKr6PEgUKV5MdyyZmbz7gwAZHCxEneqRWx3UU7ZH3GfH6WNtb9P-SD-t6t8WXezeJpuIkSwUdzW1qEhWrIXDKeWEM3rw6ZFItcqiXS8rVE5GIdVbNZDIRMDS7bzpYfFkwiq1yY/s1600/2016-08-29+19.58.12.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEireWiwAqKr6PEgUKV5MdyyZmbz7gwAZHCxEneqRWx3UU7ZH3GfH6WNtb9P-SD-t6t8WXezeJpuIkSwUdzW1qEhWrIXDKeWEM3rw6ZFItcqiXS8rVE5GIdVbNZDIRMDS7bzpYfFkwiq1yY/s320/2016-08-29+19.58.12.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
Please remember that I did receive these for free in exchange for my honest review. I wish I'd had more TIME to give you a fuller, more in depth review, but there were some shipping issues, lol. <a href="http://www.tomoson.com/?code=BOTTOM98f2a6ed1e5395894088c4d04a5321e4" rel="nofollow"><img style="display: none" src="http://www.tomoson.com/images/front/pixel.png" /></a>Robynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14486573900239764265noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1423378804043409129.post-82337849240172682812016-08-04T16:49:00.001-07:002016-08-04T16:49:37.956-07:00Steampunk Camping<a href="http://www.tomoson.com/?code=TOP7fe50570490d287de208e78e0841f3d5" rel="nofollow"><img style="display: none" src="http://www.tomoson.com/images/front/pixel.png" /></a>Are you sick of me talking about our camping trip yet? Too bad!!! I told you that we are newbies to this whole thing- I'm so grateful for friends who have been helping us prepare. I'm also grateful for the product reviews I've been able to do that will help us on our trip. Of all the practical things we've gotten, this is totally the most fun!!!<br />
<br />
Check out this lantern!!! It's by a company called Mitaki-Japan. Look at it, it's STEAMPUNK!!!! #mitakijapan<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPyMBe2Pdcw5KOhmEEFK_55LVUMQWaYmNcuYNBtUqIVY_AJiklIF2HnEs_VeVAp3q5fa2jH-A37902ARmWVjTxzOAIwgZkgQBWkLsAA12RMpTL_6F02SAXj-VyZJhbLZRlF3ncUDxRqSM/s1600/2016-08-04+17.13.54.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPyMBe2Pdcw5KOhmEEFK_55LVUMQWaYmNcuYNBtUqIVY_AJiklIF2HnEs_VeVAp3q5fa2jH-A37902ARmWVjTxzOAIwgZkgQBWkLsAA12RMpTL_6F02SAXj-VyZJhbLZRlF3ncUDxRqSM/s320/2016-08-04+17.13.54.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
It's got 12 LED bulbs in it, copper plating, a dimmer knob, a hanging loop, and a carrying handle. The batteries I put in it were cast-offs that didn't have enough strength to handle my camera flash, but they have been working really well for this lantern. We didn't put this with the camping stuff because it's just too cool! I've used it several times when checking on kids in the middle of the night or getting medicine for sick kids. Once we finally have my downstairs finished and the shelving built, it'll fit in perfectly with my steampunk decor!!<br />
<br />
Want to purchase one yourself? <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Mitaki-Japan-ELANT12-Mitaki-japan-Classic-12-bulb/dp/B00LD6GEWI/ref=sr_1_1?m=A2D4DW0NZBLRX4&s=merchant-items&ie=UTF8&qid=1469210733&sr=1-1&keywords=B00LD6GEWI">Get it HERE!</a><a href="http://www.tomoson.com/?code=BOTTOM7fe50570490d287de208e78e0841f3d5" rel="nofollow"><img style="display: none" src="http://www.tomoson.com/images/front/pixel.png" /></a>Robynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14486573900239764265noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1423378804043409129.post-68075653687541633612016-08-03T21:58:00.004-07:002016-08-03T21:58:59.065-07:00When Reviews and Homeschool COLLIDE!<a href="http://www.tomoson.com/?code=TOP35d2bbef0ad975f823b60f1df4f16ddb" rel="nofollow"><img style="display: none" src="http://www.tomoson.com/images/front/pixel.png" /></a>You guys!! I just reviewed the COOLEST educational game!! My kids love it, even though it's math!! It's called Balance Beans. Here's a video of the kids playing it.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe width="320" height="266" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/j_jVmyyrE0M/0.jpg" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/j_jVmyyrE0M?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>
<br />
<br />
Want to see how we play and how I plan on using it my homeschool? <a href="http://fishgeekery.blogspot.com/2016/08/math-morning-basket-update.html">CHECK OUT MY HOMESCHOOL BLOG.</a><br />
<br />
I received this for free in exchange for my honest review, but I honestly think you should go buy this. You can get it by clicking <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Think-Fun-1140-Balance-Beans/dp/B01I56R576/ref=pd_rhf_gw_p_img_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=SNB83GZMPZP3TDF301VJ">HERE</a>. #ThinkFun<br />
<br />
Really, though, go read my homeschool blog. Go..... go.....<a href="http://www.tomoson.com/?code=BOTTOM35d2bbef0ad975f823b60f1df4f16ddb" rel="nofollow"><img style="display: none" src="http://www.tomoson.com/images/front/pixel.png" /></a>Robynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14486573900239764265noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1423378804043409129.post-6181445483762541152016-07-29T14:42:00.000-07:002016-07-29T14:47:19.779-07:00Better than Expected!!<a href="http://www.tomoson.com/?code=TOP7dd61504f5fcee2d3c4e80817ef92abc" rel="nofollow"><img style="display: none" src="http://www.tomoson.com/images/front/pixel.png" /></a>The reason I chose to review these makeup brushes was because I love makeup. I received them in the mail, got excited about them, and then had to Mom and Adult for days. I realized today that I still hadn't reviewed them, so I pulled them out again and realized..... I didn't know what half of these brushes are for. I've never really used makeup on my whole face or anything, so this was new to me. So, I called my friend, Hilary, who is an AMAZING makeup artists!! What was supposed to be a simple review turned into a full on tutorial.<br />
<br />
Here is our video for Beauty Lally and <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Beauty-Lally-professional-traveling-high-quality/dp/B01AENXY1Y/ref=sr_1_1_a_it?ie=UTF8&qid=1462423192&sr=8-1&keywords=Beauty+Lally+10+Pcs+makeup+brushes+set-soft%2C+silky+professional+brushes%2C+All+brushes+are+labeled.+Comes+with+el">the link to purchase it</a>. We were pretty darn impressed! Please remember that I got these for free in exchange for my honest review. I figure there is nothing more honest than watching a product being used!<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/UuCDjBER6ic/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/UuCDjBER6ic?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div>
<br />
<br /><a href="http://www.tomoson.com/?code=BOTTOM7dd61504f5fcee2d3c4e80817ef92abc" rel="nofollow"><img style="display: none" src="http://www.tomoson.com/images/front/pixel.png" /></a>Robynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14486573900239764265noreply@blogger.com0