I just couldn’t resist sharing these pics from our recent trip to the beach.
For more Wordless Wednesday’s, visit 5 Minutes for Mom.
{ 8 comments }
June 2008
When my oldest daughter was born my son wanted to get her this musical turtle he saw at Target for her crib. Every time we went to Target he would push the buttons to make it play music and he would ask if he could get it for his sister. We didn’t think it was necessary.
He was still insistent about it when our third child was born so we decided to let him get it for his sister for Christmas.
He was right, we were wrong. She loved it instantly. She’d play with it when she woke up or as she was falling asleep.
I always played a cd of lullaby music for my other two kids as they fell asleep. This can sometimes be a pain when we are away from home, especially camping, and we don’t have access to a cd player. With the baby we lay her down in her crib, push play on Mr Turtle, and it plays a little song for approx 15-20 seconds. If she wants more music she hits it once or twice more. It is portable, so we have brought it with us camping or on other over night trips. It’s easy for her to use so if she wakes up in the morning and can’t fall back asleep she can push the button herself. (Doesn’t need Mom to get out of bed and come hit play on the cd player). This fact alone makes it worth the $20 we spent on the toy. I often hear the music playing in her room before it’s time for her to wake up. (Now that the crib is lowered and Mr Turtle rests on on the bottom, she sometimes rolls into it while sleeping and once we heard it playing continuously because her head was against it. Didn’t seem to bother her a bit though).
Mr Turtle has provided a simple way for my baby to listen to music as she falls asleep, self sooth when she wakes up in the middle of the night, and easily provide the continuity of her normal routine when we are away from home. It works for me!! If your looking for more helpful tips, visit Shannon at Rocks in My Dryer.
{ 5 comments }
Kids like buttons. At least ours do. Our son was the first addict. We could keep him happy quiet for long periods of time by giving him the TV remote (with the TV off) and letting him just pound away. Him being the first, we were always careful when he got the phone. Wouldn’t want him to call someone unintentionally and have someone listening to uncensored Life at the Circus. He never really called anyone though, because life with one isn’t quite a circus, he just hit buttons. Naturally, when it came to baby number two we got a little more lax with the phone. Our daughter was a less enamored by the buttons, but she knew that the shiny one in the center made it light up and bzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. We’d just periodically hit the off button. By child number three, we are quite a bit more lax. We’d just give her the phone and go back to our business. It’s not like she’s really going to call someone anyway, right?
Thursday morning we received a call from the police. Seems little miss figured out how to dial 9-1-1. (I wonder how long we were “on the air” and what circus noise they heard during that time) Ooops! Mommy’s going to be a little more careful now.
{ 12 comments }
Isn’t this a great picture?
It’s just a down to earth action shot of us all eating dinner. It’s me and my one, two, three, four?, five?…. wait a minute, that’s too many. Your right, I only have three kids but we gained two new members to our circus cast this weekend as we watched the children of our very good friends while they went away for their anniversary. I got to experience life with 5 under 4 for a day and overnight! It was a ton of fun. There was one moment when I had everyone melting down at once, but I have moments like that with 3 and it was only a moment. It’s really true what they say, once you get used to having 3, adding more isn’t that much different. You (and your kids) are already accustomed to the fact that you can’t meet everyone’s needs immediately. Also, having friends for the kids to play with actually makes things easier in many ways rather than harder. I will say I had way more poopy diapers than I am used to. In addition to having two extra kids to change, my baby decided to go 3 times what she normally does in one day. I wonder what I fed her? Also, I didn’t attempt any errands or trips out of the house with the little ones. I wasn’t quite ready for the stares I knew I’d get at the store. (yea… that’s why I didn’t go to the store with 5 small children… not because I was outnumbered 5 to one, or because I couldn’t fit them all in the cart or because I knew it would take 30 min just to get them into the car…not at all) Instead I saved my milk run for after Scott got home from work.
It’s was a delight to have our friends here and we were sad to see them go.
(Ok – you know who you are and I know what your thinking. Scott and I are not pregnant nor are we thinking about it. We are happy with the three we have – at least for now 
{ 5 comments }
You know I’ve complained before about having nothing to eat. I posted a picture of my fridge and said it was “the end of the world as we know it.” But the truth is, I know nothing about going hungry. When I look at my fridge and complain about making dinner, there are millions of mothers who would look at the contents and shout with joy. I can’t even begin to imagine the heartache of watching my baby go hungry. Watching my children suffer as they literally waste away, while I am helpless to do anything is something beyond my comprehension. If my kids go to bed hungry, it is because they decided the food I prepared for them wasn’t to their liking.
Millions of children in the world are going to bed hungry tonight. According to the Compassion International website, “The higher prices are forcing people who survive on just $1 a day to spend upwards of 80 percent of their budgets just on food.” I’m sure we’ve all noticed and felt the toll the rising food costs have taken on our family budget. But while many of us are having to give up some of our luxuries, readjust our vacation plans, or think about how we’re going to “make our trips count” so many in the world don’t get to enjoy these options. Instead they are making choices such as which meal to skip, or even worse, deciding who in their family will go hungry.
On June 25th, Compassion International is having a day of fasting and prayer for the victims of the Global Food Crisis. I confess I am too often self absorbed and I typically focus on my day and my family. Lately though, God has been placing the poor and impoverished on my heart. As I reach in the fridge to fill up a sippy cup with milk, I think about the moms who have nothing to reach for when her baby cries for food. It breaks my heart and humbles me. These poor moms did no more to deserve their situation than I did to deserve mine. Please join me and others in praying for these individuals on June 25th and remember when you sit down and say grace before your meal, to truly thank God for that food and not just mumble the words we’ve been saying since we were children.
Weekend Thoughts:
My posts typically relate funny anecdotes about the happenings of a stay at home wife and mom with three kids. While my days are seldom “normal” enough to leave me without a “post worthy” moment (i.e. read here), I intend to take some time on the weekend to highlight something from my week that’s a little more “thoughtful” and significant. If you had a post from this week, or choose to make a specific “Weekend Thought” post, please feel free to add a link to your post in the comments section. I’d love to hear what others are learning.
{ 4 comments }
My son really took an interest in golfing this weekend while watching my husband follow the U.S. Open. My husband rarely golfs but does have a set of clubs and after very persistent requests, my husband let my son use his clubs in the back yard. He taught him the different types of clubs (drivers, putters, irons) and when they are used. My son had a blast hitting the ball with the putter (which was almost as long as him) in the back yard and then running over to putt it into the pretend hole (between my husband’s legs).
At one point he really started just randomly swinging at the ball and not really being intentional about it so Scott slowed him down and said, “you really need to focus on the ball before you swing”. Here is a clip of what my son did as a result. I had a hard time not laughing while taking this video clip. Note the intensity my son displays.
That boy makes me laugh.
Besides playing very focused golf, my son is also quite the critic. While watching the U.S. Open on Father’s Day, I overheard the following conversation.
“Dad, is that Tiger Woods?”
“Yup”
Tiger then makes a huge drive to get the ball onto the green.
My son sees that the ball is near the hole, but it didn’t go into the hole.
“Dad, I thought you said Tiger Woods was good. He didn’t get it into the hole.”
Well son, he is good. You aren’t always able to hit it right into the hole. It was good that he drove the ball 300 yards to get it near the hole. Then, he’ll hit it in.
“Oh,” - my son wasn’t as impressed with this talent.
On Monday my son had the following conversation with me.
“Mom, is Tiger Woods real?”
“Yea, why?”
“Because I saw him on TV”
I realized then that most of watch he has seen on TV has been cartoons and we have been very careful to make sure he knows they are not real.
“Yes, Tiger Woods is real, you were watching pictures of him golfing in real life.”
“Oh, does Daddy golf with Tiger Woods.”
chuckle
“No, Daddy’s never golfed with Tiger.”
“Has he golfed at the same grass?”
another chuckle
“No, Daddy golfed at a different course.”
I love the innocence of youth.
{ 6 comments }
