2nd Grade-- I did it with no tears.... Well, Almost..

Today was the first time that I left Emma for the first day of school without crying.. I did get a little weepy when I came home and compared this year's pictures to Kindergarten and First Grade.. But all and all, we were all ready for school to start this year.  After dropping Emma off, I looked back at Chloe and said, "Well girl, it's just you and me now" and Chloe cheered for joy.  Seriously, not kidding... We had a wonderfully fun and exceptionally exhausting summer.. We are in dreadful need of a routine.  And each girl will now get the individual attention that they've been competing for all summer.  It works out since we carpool, that I am able to put Chloe down for a nap about an hour before Emma is scheduled to be home, have some alone time for me, and then some alone time with Emma when she gets home..

Chloe will also go to preschool two days a week this year.  And just in time since I've started  assisting my photographer friend, Mary Beth, with photo shoots.   I will not link to Mary Beth here because it would identify my location to the paparazzi (hey, don't mess with my fantasies.. Since the world doesn't think my life is as interesting as I do, I  make up my own stalkers).  But, I'll just say she's a great friend and a blast to work with.   If you're local and you want some great photos, e-mail me and I'll give you links to our site... But, you better hurry!  At the rate the calls are coming in, we'll be booked for the rest of the year before August is over.    It will also give me a little time to work on The Mom-tage, a collaborative mom blog that my dear friend Holly and I started last year.  I'm excited to get a chance to spend some more time on both of these projects and I'm especially thankful for the blessing of friendship that both of these girls have brought in my life this summer.  For the first time in my life, I have actually succeeded at fulfilling a New Years Resolution (if you're that curious, that post would be in um, January in my archives).    

Speaking of The Mom-tage.. I'm so excited about the book chat we're doing at the end of September with  SHARI BRAENDEL, author of GOOD GIRLS don't have to DRESS BAD.  You can see all of the details over at The Mom-tage .  Click on the Mom-tage Moms tab to get on our e-mail list and to add your blog to our list.  We look forward to chatting with you there!  

And speaking of photos... Please do not take these photos of Emma below to represent my photography skills..  Not only does Emma's school starting at an ungodly hour make me feel like beating the alarm clock with a baseball bat, it also doesn't make for great "first day of school pictures" since it's barely daylight when we leave..

But feel free to weep along with me about how fast she's growing..

Well I must run now.. Though Chloe will not be happy with me for prematurely waking her from her nap, I'm off to get my second grader.  I just can't bring myself to let anyone else pick her up on the first day.  I always like to see her fresh reaction to her first day of school... Oh, and I made her favorite cream cheese danishes as a surprise to send in her lunch and I've been wondering all day how she reacted.. How cheesy is that?  (No pun intended).

See previous school year posts here: 

 First Grade 

 Kindergarten 

 4K 

 3K 

Blessings,

Dana

Fabulous Friday Follow Blog Hop

Okay, I'm sort of new to this blog hopping thing but Laura from Lily's Laundry Boutique and Sarah at 2GiggleBoxes have chosen me to be their guest blog hop host for today so I'm going to try to figure it out.  Yay for me!  Thanks Girls!

If I can pull this off, this should connect you with other blogging mommas and help you find some new "fabulous" blogs to follow and get you some new "fabulous" followers.  And if you can't get to it on my page, skip on over to one of their pages to do it because they clearly know what they're doing way more than I do!

To join FFF we are keeping it simple.

Here's what you do...

1. Follow the LLBB ,  2GiggleBoxes and Thoughts on Life and Dirty Diapers.
(We will follow you too!)

2. Click on the Linky Tool below and add your blog.

3. Check out the other blogs on "Fabulous Friday Follow" and follow them too.

We will pick another person from this weeks Linky List who has a
"FABULOUS" blog to host with us next week.

Linky will close on Wednesday PM and blog will be notified if they win via email!

Happy Following!!

"Brilliant" Parenting Tip Number 203.. When Planning A Backyard Camp Out....

 Adam and I have a theory about parenting... We don't have to be cool and fun parents all the time.. We just have to have some cool and fun moments and make them super memorable and when our kids are adults, it will be those things that stick out and then, we will be remembered as cool and fun parents instead of the big dorks that we really are...

In an effort to prepare for school starting a week from today and to regain the good attitudes that have been lost along with regular sleep this summer,  we will be starting back on our normal sleep/wake schedules tonight.  Since the weather forecast showed absolutely no chance of rain, we decided that a back yard camp out in our fabulous $5 yard-sale tent would be the perfect way to squeeze in a little more family time before we hand our child back over to  the education system..

Please excuse the picture quality.  I have not yet mastered the art of flash photography.

Have I mentioned that Adam and I are the most "non-camping-type" people I'm aware of?  Still, we do want our children to have "normal" childhood experiences and somewhere (obviously in the midst of a sleep-deprived induced hysteria) we decided that normal childhood experiences involve sleeping in a tent on the ground in the South Carolina summer heat, (even though we have a nice air-conditioned house with very comfy beds that I have gone through great lengths to make sure are equipped with optimum sheets with the perfect combination of materials and thread count).

Thankfully, our amazing yard-sale find also has an amazing design and was simple to set up...and, (though I totally picked on him, calling him a sissy-city-boy), I was relieved when Adam caved and ran a box fan from an extension cord to the tent..   We told stories and read the girl's favorite books by flashlight.  Since Adam swears that the story of "The Princess and the Pea" is based on me, I felt very proud of myself as I drifted off into a sweet slumber under the stars..

And then... I woke with a jolt to a familiar sound (though it was much less muffled than normal).

You know those times in life that you have when you have time to recognize that something is about to happen...but you don't have time to stop it from happening?  Well, those are the kind of feelings you get when you are asleep in the back yard of your suburban home in a tent...and you hear the sprinkler system turn on at 5:30 a.m. (a feeling of impending doom one might say).

So I yelled, (waking up all of our neighbors I'm sure),  "ADAM!!! THE SPRINKLER SYSTEM!!!"  And  scrambled to zip the windows only to find the zipper was stuck.   So...I did all that I could do: I grabbed my camera and wrapped it up in my blanket and then surrendered to my unavoidable fate by laying back and laughing while our tent was converted into a screened-in wading pool.  Adam ran through the obstacle course of water grenades firing off around our backyard, and into the house to turn off the sprinkler system.  Emma woke exclaiming, "DAD!  YOU SAID THERE WAS ABSOLUTELY NO CHANCE OF RAIN!!!"  And within minutes in true Chloe fashion, Chloe was awake and dancing in the "rain".   And that's when we knew that we had succeeded at creating a lifetime memory for our children:  a memory of their parents being complete and total dorks instead of cool, no doubt...But, it was fun and funny... and that will just have to do.

And as a bonus, I have another chapter for one of the books I keep saying that I'm going to write...but know I actually never will write due to the fact that I will forever be cleaning up the messes that we make gaining the material for these books.  Nevertheless, the events of last night inspired a chapter for my legendary book, Brilliant Parenting 101:  Lessons I learned so you don't have to, Chapter 203: When planning a Backyard Camp Out, check the weather forecast AND the sprinkler system.

Blessings,

Dana

Emma Seven Years Old..

We're back from Hilton Head and despite everyone's insistence that HH is the cat's meow, and Myrtle Beach is the "party beach", I have to admit I prefer Myrtle Beach.     I think it all has to do with knowing the right areas to stay in.  But, staying at the very North end of Myrtle Beach was much less crowded than where we were in Hilton Head and there's way more to do at Myrtle Beach. More about that later..

Still, we had a great time because we were visiting some dear friends that were vacationing there.  I've got a ton of pictures to put up.. But, before I do that, I wanted to get Emma's seven year old pictures that I finally got while we were there.  Despite the fact that she looks way older than a 7 year old should look in my eyes,  Emma has only lost her bottom two teeth.. Even though it is driving her nuts that her tooth losing isn't maturing as fast as most of her friends, I was thrilled that her seven year old pictures didn't show her snaggled toothed..

20 Questions plus a Million!

Disclosure: This post is more for documentation purposes and will be more  of a grandparent read since the grandparents share in our excitement over the moderately funny things that our kids say, agreeing with us that they are really funny..   While I know deep down in my heart that I'm missing an opportunity to write a super funny post, I'm not sure my exhausted brain can recall the facts much less write them down all snazzy for you.

It  has been fun and totally exhausting to have the girls together ALL DAY, ALL SUMMER... If  it wasn't exhausting enough, with Chloe being the energizer bunny on crack, the questions  are enough to drive anyone insane.  And every day, I start the day determined to answer the questions and usually break down around question number 343.

We were on our way home from the store a while ago and I watched the clock for five minutes and I kid you not, I stopped counting at 50 questions. The car conversations are the best since we all are confined to one spot and I can't get away from them.

Today's Car Conversation:


Emma inspired by her daddy's influence tries to ask questions of an intellectual nature:

Emma: (as we're passing a cemetery) "Mom, what is an synonym for cemetery"?
Me:   Well, Emma I guess that would be a graveyard.
Emma: Well, what is an antonym for a cemetery?
Me:  I don't know Emma, that's not exactly a good question.
Emma: Mrs. insert well meaning teacher's  name here says that the only bad question is the one that is not asked.
Me: Well obviously, Mrs. insert well meaning teacher's  name here does not have a 3 year old and a 7 old.

Chloe, also taking a cue from her daddy, asks random questions.

Chloe: Mom, where is Nonna?
Me: Nonna is in Alabama
Chloe: Where is Pawpaw?
Me: Pawpaw is in Alabama..
Chloe: Where is Nana?  (and we go through the whole list until:)
Me:  ALABAMA!!! EVERYONE IS IN ALABAMA!!!  EVERYONE YOU'VE EVER MET IS IN ALABAMA!!!!
Chloe: (with more attitude than a three year old should have) Well, where's daddy?

Emma: Why do you think those people are in the cemetery?  

Me: I don't know Emma, various reasons I assume.

Emma: But why do you THINK they are there?

Me:  BECAUSE THEIR CHILDREN PUT THEM THERE. 

Chloe: Mom, are you my mom?

Me: No Chloe, I'm not your mom but every time I call your mom to tell her to come get you, she hangs up on me.

Chloe: Oh, well what is that store behind your sunglasses?

Me: What?

Chloe: WHAT IS THAT STORE BEHIND YOUR SUNGLASSES?

Me: (with a tone of realization) That's a reflection, Chloe.

Emma: Mom, what is an antonym for reflection?  

Me: I think we should listen to the radio..

And another recent car conversation

(On the way home from small groups)

Emma:  I'm bored.

Me: Well we're almost home and you know what cures boredom?  

Emma: What?

Me:  Sleep

Emma: Sleep is boring too.

Me: Not if you have a good imagination.

Emma: I don't have a good imagination anymore.  You have a better imagination when you're young.  

(Adam and I laugh histerically)

Me: I'm putting that on facebook.

Emma: DON'T PUT IT ON FACEBOOK!!

Chloe: (fake belly laugh) I'm putting that on facebook.

Emma: YOU DON'T EVEN HAVE A FACEBOOK PAGE.

Chloe:  WELL I DO NOW!

And the conversation at breakfast this morning

(as the Today Show is posting all the Smuckers people older than 100 having birthdays".

Emma: (astonished that people can live to be that old).  Did you see all those people that were over 100!?

Chloe: Yeah, and they were UGH-I-LEE.  

Me: (after turning head to laugh) Chloe, it's not nice to call people ugly.

Chloe: But they really were ugly.

Me: Well it's still not nice.  Besides, you're going to be an old person one day too..

Chloe: (laughing and pointing at Emma and Adam)  and so will Emma and so will daddy!  

We need something stronger than coffee at breakfast these days.. 

Blessings,

Happy Birthday Wynn

Today's my niece's second birthday!

Here's her Birthday Party Invite that I made to match the birthday outfit Jan made her.  I think we made a pretty good team on this one. Except it looks better when you can see where the edges of the card are.   Anyway, Happy Birthday Sweet Girl!  We love you!

I Made My Kids Eat Their Sunscreen

I've been surprised to have actually had people e-mailing me asking me about me mentioning our use of sunscreen or lack thereof and I certainly don't want to disappoint anyone that might be following my adventures.. So, I must respond to the masses.  Or, the all two of you that were interested..

You did read the title right... Sort of.. I made my children eat their sunscreen...

Please read full post before reporting me to well, whatever agency one reports naughty parents to these days.

I am not talking about the stuff that comes in a bottle.. I'm talking about eating a diet that is chalked full of nutrients that protect your skin... I am also not advocating unlimited sun exposure.. However, I have come to believe that we have been misinformed about sun exposure and for those of you that expressed interest in my experiments with this, I thought I'd share... 

In 2008, when my oldest daughter broke her leg, jumping in a bounce round at a birthday party, I started evaluating her calcium intake, questioning whether she was getting enough to keep her bones strong... After counting grams, some blood test and some conversations with the pediatrician and a nutritionist, we determined that it wasn't calcium that she was deficient in but Vitamin D.

A very well informed article by Donald W. Miller, Jr., MD about Vitamin D deficiency and the importance of Vitamin D in our health can be found here. But, here are some important points that stood out to me..

* Vitamin D plays a vital role in the bodies ability to process calcium

* Lack of Vitamin D can trigger infections (influenza and tuberculosis), autoimmune diseases (multiple sclerosis, Type 1 diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, and inflammatory bowel disease), cardiovascular disease, and cancer.

* Many epidemiological, cohort, and case control studies prove, at least on a more likely than not basis, that vitamin D supplements and adequate exposure to sunlight play an important role in cancer prevention (Am J Public Health 2006;96:252–261).

* The amount of Vitamin D absorbed from the sun varies by person. A darker skinned person needs more sun exposure to receive the adequate amount of vitamin D.

I feel the need to say once more, that the information included in the above cited articles support the idea of moderate sun exposure. Not unlimited sun exposure. Please do not go to the beach, get fried and then sue me. Almost everything that I've read says that when you've reached the point that your skin starts to turn pink, your body has absorbed as much Vitamin D as it can at one time.

During my Vitamin D research, I started reading articles with information about eating foods high in antioxidants that protect your skin from the damaging effects that can be caused from excessive skin exposure..

Here, you will find some great information about eating to reverse the signs of aging

and here, you will find a great information about eating to develop an internal sunscreen.

And so of course, I put the theory to the test. Pre-Chloe, my brown eyed, olive skinned husband, my brown eyed, olive skinned, daughter and myself (green eyed, light hair, honey complexion) headed to the beach.. Before our trip, I had stuffed my daughter and myself full of antioxidant rich foods while my husband seemed to be laughing under his breath.. When we got to the beach, I coated myself and my daughter with a sunscreen of SPF 8 and my husband used SPF 30.. Based on our skin tones, though I can develop a tan, I should burn more easily then my husband (and I had in the past).. My daughter and I went home with a nice golden tan, my husband, fried...

After hearing all the bad press on the damaging chemicals in sunscreen, I decided to test my theory further.. This year, before our beach trip, my husband remarkably, was much more willing to join me in my quest for nutritional sun protection. And we headed off to the beach prepared with months of eating Salmon, flax seed, leafy green vegetables and the brightest fruits I could find.. We limited our beach time to mornings and afternoons, returning to our hotel room for a nice nap during the peak sun hours of the day. I finally applied sunscreen the last two hours of our third and last day because I thought I saw a hint of pink on someone's shoulders. And we returned home with nice golden tans with very little use of sunscreen... Every one of us..

I would never recommend someone ditching sunscreen all together and my children are dark complected and need much less than a fair skinned child would. Like with most things, I try to find a balance. And, it can never hurt to eat more fruits and vegetables. Right?

For those of you that asked what chemicals to avoid in sunscreen... That's something I'm still learning about. If anyone reading has more information on that, I'd love hear it! If you are interested in learning more about chemicals in sunscreen, I think this article at "Healthy Tidbits for Kids" is a good place to start. I try to stick with California Baby because it is an organic brand. It's worked well for us because my children don't require much. But, it's expensive. But, if you've ever suffered a sunburn, you know that's never fun. So, at times when I don't have the organic sunscreen on hand, I try to see what poses the biggest threat, the sun or the sunscreen and make the best judgment I can.. A lot of times, that means using whatever sunscreen is available but more often, simply limiting our time in the sun.

And so you have, Operation Eat our Sunscreen..

For my family that means:

*A diet that stuffs us full of antioxidants

 (I mean change your poop the color of whatever fruit you're eating kind of stuff)

* Avoiding peak sun hours

* limited, organic, sunscreen use

How about you? What are your thoughts on sun protection?

Blessings,

I'm apart of the Green Mom Blog Hop!  Who Would have known?

Thanks for the Invite Gals!

Book Chat and Six Great Giveaways Tonight at The Mom-tage!

Join us Tonight at The Mom-tage!

Book Chat with

Sarah Cunningham, author of Picking Dandelions 

 TONIGHT!  (9:00 EASTERN/8:00 CENTRAL). 

.  

Beth Murphy, Zondervan Representative, will be choosing at random throughout the chat, the SIX winners for the following GREAT books: 

2 sets of The Goat of Many Colors and Get Me to the Ark on Time, by Cyler Black

1 copy of Take Four, by Karen Kingsbury

1 copy of Bittersweet, by Shauna Niequist

1 copy of Good Girls Don’t Have to Dress Bad, by Shari Braendel   

1 copy of The Busy Mom’s Bible

Even if you didn't have a chance to read Picking Dandelions, we would still love to have you join us. And yes, even if you didn't have a chance to read the book, you are still eligible for a door prize! 

Illusion- Disillusionment-- Faith?.. What your Preacher's Wife may not have told you..

I remember the first time the church fell off the pedestal for me.... I was 21 and newly married.. And as if being 21 and newly married wasn't difficult enough, I had married a youth minister and had suddenly become responsible for twenty to thirty kids. I was starry eyed and determined to be the most perfect "help-mate" for my husband as I loved a group of teenage girls into avoiding the same mistakes that I made as a teenager..

My husband, growing up inside the proverbial glass box as a preacher's kid, was much more realistic than I. But I had spent my life peering in the glass box from the outside. My preacher and his wife somehow had found following God, completely, at least tolerable. Life inside the glass box didn't at all seem enjoyable. Who has ever enjoyed swimming in blue jeans? And the list of words that couldn't be said was entirely too long. Did you know that saying "gosh" is actually a precursor to saying "God" and taking the Lord's name in vain and is no doubt a slippery slope to having the mouth of a sailor? But still, at the time, as stale and un-admirable as their lives were, their devotion to the life that they thought they should live was at least respectable. So, the times when I would run into the preacher and his wife out in town, I would eagerly pull at my skimpy, three-inches-above-my-knee-shorts in attempt to gain every inch of church-girl-modesty possible (out of respect for them of course). Who would have ever imagined then that I would one day be the proud owner of my own glass box?

I had tried everything I could think of to break things off with my then, fiancée.. Mainly because I couldn't imagine a life in pantyhose even though I would be wearing skirts that reached my ankles. But as love often does, it had it's way and I found myself becoming a minister's wife, determined to bring the church into the 20th century with a nice pair of capri pants and a stylish and nicely pressed, capped sleeve shirt. It wasn't long before I realized that pantyhose were the least of my problems.

Only two weeks married and in my new role, we were invited to the preacher's house for dinner. I was well versed in the expectations of a preacher's wife in throwing dinner parties, though using the word party in conjunction with preacher's wife, in this case, is irony in it's purest form. Regardless, the invitation was no surprise at all.

I was flabbergasted to find that our meeting wasn't a full evening of singing Kum-ba-ya, head bowed, no clapping of course. There was of course, plenty of time sat aside for reverent formalities. And I knew I had dishonored my husband when everyone quieted and stared at me as I stole a croûton from my salad before we said the prayer. But, only momentarily before moving as quickly as possible to the prayer as if to preserve my soul as much as possible after my great sin. And, I proceeded to learn a truth my heart was not yet ready to learn. Though eating before a prayer was a cause for confession on Sunday morning, nonchalantly discussing "church politics" with the assumption that God dis-liked the same people in the church that we did, was clearly acceptable.

I remember my husband's surprise as I cried the whole way home that night. One, because my pride was hurt because I was clearly, unaware of minister's wife etiquette.  But,  more so, because the secret behind the illusion that I had believed had been revealed. I was newly walking in reality within my own glass box, with full knowledge that there was nowhere on earth to go to catch a glimpse of Heaven, or so I believed that night. I remember, even more clearly, my surprise at my husband's surprise and the realization from his reaction that what I had just experienced was far within the norm of the happenings of the church. I clearly had bitten off way more than I could chew.

I would like to say that this was the only isolated incident in our time of ministry and that other than it, it has been all rainbows and butterflies. But this particular incident is actually mild compared to some that we've experienced. There were many times that I would have walked away totally, could I have gotten away with it.  This is not to say that in our time in ministry, we haven't met wonderful followers of Jesus. Or, that the people in that house that night weren't those followers. And, there have been wonderful glorious moments when we have gathered as a church to lovingly care for someone in need that I have, no doubt, felt as if I was catching a glimpse of Heaven. The truth is, the church is made up of humans.. Humans, even those who proclaim to follow Jesus, are fallable.  In our fallen state, we often mis-represent Jesus. So this disillusionment that I've experienced with the church often leads me to a crossroad; crossroad where I once again choose to either walk away because of a broken people, or to press along toward, as my husband says, "making God's dream for the world a reality" as He uses us and molds us and one day makes us whole. As I'm faced with the choice, again and again, I know that there is only one way that provides any hope at all. Today, I choose to leave my smudges of fingerprints on my glass box and ask that God helps me to see others with the grace that He sees me..

Blessings,

Dana

A Wonderful Beach Trip -- minus an arm and a leg...

In spite of the seafood buffet that now owns one of Adam's arms and one of my legs,

 we had a wonderful time on our first trip to the east coast.
(See previous post for Chloe's reaction to seeing the ocean the first time)

 I was not anticipating taking this picture or I would have had them remove their shoes. 

 But, usually, I have to take what I can get when I can get it.  

We met Adam's aunt and uncle and cousins at the beach... kind of a spontaneous plan.. 

Adam's cousin Ryan and his wife Nikita

They're so sweet together and expecting a baby in October.

So spontaneous that the place I wanted to stay was booked. But not so spontaneous that I didn't have time to prepare for the trip.. I cooked all of our food before we went.  I like to take our own food on trips for two reasons: One being nutrition.. I hate to go on a trip and come back and feel like we've eaten junk the whole time. And two, the more obvious reason: It's way cheaper.  I made room in the budget for one moderately price meal out (and by moderate I mean your average 12-16.95 sit down meal).  Everything for me is on a budget and I can pinch a penny until it screams.. This being the case, you might  guess how frustrating it was to me that when there was a two and a half hour wait for Margaritaville (Jimmy Buffett is our idol) and having two hungry children, we landed at a Seafood Buffet.. No prices were posted. But, I thought, how much can a buffet cost right? I have now made my one spontaneous purchase for the year (last years was a picture frame).  We were surprised to find that buffets can cost quite a bit.. 28.95 a person to be exact!!! Thank goodness Chloe's was free and I made Emma order off  a kids menu instead of getting the buffet because there is no way she eats 2.95 worth of food much less 28.95.. So she had an $8 hamburger.. Adam and I ended up stuffed way beyond our comfort, trying to eat our money's worth.  And we road home in a hot car because I was trying to make up the difference in the cost of gas.. Okay, I'm not that tight.. Actually, Adam donated plasma.. Okay, kidding there too but I'm sure I'll figure out a way to make up for it somehow.  Anyway, besides that one little hiccup (no pun intended) the trip was just perfect.

Adam showed off his body surfing skills..

 And for all of our college friends with your cute little comments on facebook... He's really good...I mean, I realize that typically, he's an optical illusion, only looking like an athlete.   But the body surfing is the one glaring exception to his lack of athletic coordination.

 He's not a bad teacher either and Emma has mastered the skill as well.

I spent most of my time sitting on the beach enjoying the most delightful "sand pies" served to me by the cutest little waitress I've ever seen..

And I sat back and imagined that I was "nibblin' on sponge cake, watching the sun bake".. 

And, I came home with the accomplishment of succeeding at "Operation Eat our Sunscreen".. I'll do a separate post with specific details on this soon so that I don't bore those of you that don't care.  But, we have spent the last few months stuffing ourselves with "superfoods" that provide internal sunscreen.. I did apply sunscreen the last two hours of the last day because I thought the girls cheeks were getting a little pink.  But, that was the only sunscreen we used the whole trip and we all are sporting nice golden tans without a patch of pink to be found.  

We will definitely be spending more time in the future on the east coast and we are excited to visit Hilton Head Island in a few weeks when we go down for a day or so to see our friends, George and Jay and their kids while they're vacationing there.  

And a few last highlights from the trip...

                           Blessings,