thursday's ten or so: the fall 2012 sickly edition

the funny thing about working with children is that you pick up more bugs than you would normally. and even though i've worked with children in some capacity since about 2000 (at daycare while i was in college)...somehow the children at my new preschool are giving me a whole new "welcome basket" worth of stuff. 

in the last 4 weeks, here's what's happened (this also should explain why i haven't blogged much recently, ha)

1. i got the stomach bug that had ripped through the school. no surprise since i had cuddled sick babies 3 days before.
2. anthony got the stomach bug, only his lasted approximately 3 times as long as mine did. sorry, babe.
3. my back was in the process of going out. while pushing a child's wheelchair one beautiful friday afternoon, it gave up. turning around to stop a child from ingesting paint while pushing wheelchair...not a good plan
4. anthony got a sinus infection*
5. my back continued to be awful, and my hip joined in on the fun. approximate age: 148
6. i started getting a sinus infection*
7. my back finally started getting better with chiropractic visits and lots of ice packs...yay. (and as of tonight it's ALMOST back to normal)
8. i ran a low-grade fever off and on for several days
9. today i went to the doctor with a suspicion. sure enough, i have pinkeye. oh joy.

there's no telling what's next. but you know what? i still love my job :-) bless those sweet little germ carriers.

*obviously we can't blame the preschool for the sinus infections...but there have definitely been some plagues on this house! 


on another note: today my friend natasha and i got tickets to the P!NK concert that's happening in nashville in march. she pointed out later the irony that the day i get pinkeye we got pink tickets. ha. 

prayers needed

our friends Cameron and Liz have two precious little girls.
and the youngest, Abygail, ran into the street on saturday evening and was hit by a car
she's 3 years old

and i've been obsessively watching the parent's updates, but haven't wanted to make a post about it because i didn't want to link to their facebook pages.

however, they have now created a blog
which will continually post the updates.

can you please, please take a moment
to pray for this family
this amazing little girl?

she continues to amaze the doctors
her parents give all glory to God
all thanks to the thousands of people praying

our God is HEALER, awesome in power...
these words are constant in my soul when i think of this family

please join us, if you will

here's the blog: http://prayingforabygail.wordpress.com/

thank you all

what i'm loving wednesday .2

i'm loving that the people i nanny and babysit for often watch the same shows that i do...yay for cleaning out my dvr without even being at my house!
i'm loving snuggles with sweet children, and the fact that so many people trust me with their most prized possessions.  so.blessed.
i'm loving the WEATHER these days. (ok, except for all the crazy tornado things.)
i'm loving a couple of new (to-me) wedding websites that friends have recommended to me: greenweddingshoes.com and offbeatbride.com
i'm loving chances to get active by pushing a stoller, jumping around with a kinect, doing wiifit, or just hiking up a small mountain.
i'm loving cozy blankets and couches.
i'm loving naps in the hammock on a sunny spring afternoon.  just because i've only done it once so far doesn't mean i won't be doing it a whole lot more!
i'm loving that my fiancé made plans for us to go dancing this friday.  not necessarily his favorite thing to do, but he wants to dance with me and that makes me smile.  a lot. (of course, i'm loving him a lot too!)

Fitness Friday: revolution

last year i discovered jamie oliver on a whole new level
 

i'm not sure how many of you watched his show but it was amazing.  and now food revolution has grown to be even more. his commitment to promoting healthier choices in cafeterias across the united states is astounding, and i fully support his efforts.  after all, it won't be too long before i will have children eating in a school cafeteria...i consider my attention to this issue NOW as an investment in their future.

(plus, as an educator, it'd be nice to have the option to walk into the school cafeteria from time to time and get a well-balanced lunch when i didn't have the time or energy to pack one.  i'm speaking in the nearer future for that one...God willing)

today's fitness friday is a little different -- i'm letting someone else do the talking.  a fairly famous someone else, and someone who most certainly doesn't even know this blog exists.  yep, i copied and pasted straight from his website...you can find the direct link to what i grabbed right here.

his philosophy so embodies how i feel about food, and i'll remind myself of that the next time i feel a bit guilty for eating a meal of comfort food :0)

Food philosophy

My philosophy to food and healthy eating has always been about enjoying everything in a balanced, and sane way. Food is one of life's greatest joys yet we've reached this really sad point where we're turning food into the enemy, and something to be afraid of. I believe that when you use good ingredients to make pasta dishes, salads, stews, burgers, grilled vegetables, fruit salads, and even outrageous cakes, they all have a place in our diets. We just need to rediscover our common sense: if you want to curl up and eat macaroni and cheese every once in a while – that's alright! Just have a sensible portion next to a fresh salad, and don't eat a big old helping of chocolate cake afterwards.

Knowing how to cook means you'll be able to turn all sorts of fresh ingredients into meals when they're in season, at their best, and cheapest! Cooking this way will always be cheaper than buying processed food, not to mention better for you. And because you'll be cooking a variety of lovely things, you'll naturally start to find a sensible balance. Some days you'll feel like making something light, and fresh, other days you'll want something warming and hearty. If you've got to snack between meals, try to go for something healthy rather than loading up on chocolate or potato crisps. Basically, as long as we all recognize that treats should be treats, not a daily occurrence, we'll be in a good place. So when I talk about having a 'healthy' approach to food, and eating better I'm talking about achieving that sense of balance: lots of the good stuff, loads of variety, and the odd indulgence every now and then. 

 
(and jamie ;)

...when...

when i have a little girl

i shall build her a dollhouse

not a plastic pink barbie shack

but a real, wooden, quality house

with stairs

because it never made sense to me

how dollhouses could have so many floors with no way to get up and down them.

and when i have a little boy

i'll build him a train track

with interconnecting railroads

and streets going through it all

so that he can play to his heart's content

with trains and cars

(and so can i)

and i'll go fishing with them

(and make their daddy bait the hook)

and my little girl will climb trees

and my little boy will learn to nurture baby dolls

and we'll camp in the living room

and have picnics in the playroom

there will be dancing and singing

swimming and sports

taking them to ball games

and concerts

and church

that's what i'll do with my children...

what about you?

Out of the Mouths

I have been babysitting quite a bit over the last few days.
And it's been welcome, fun, and challenging (depending on the day/time and family!)
Monday and Tuesday I spent the day with a sweet 2 year old little boy, E.

E has the most adorable head of curly brown hair and the biggest blue eyes ever. He's quite the charmer, and he is SO hard to resist when he's asking for something. I'm pretty good at saying "no" and meaning it, but he seriously is *almost* adorable enough for me to give in to.

But he's being well-parented, and is not overly spoiled, knows good manners, and listens to instructions. Pretty impressive, actually.

We were on the way up the stairs on Tuesday for his nap and he wanted to take a toy with him. We reached the base of the stairs and he handed me the toy so that he would have hands free to climb. As I took it he said "Thank you!"

I replied "You're welcome." and as I ruffled his hair added "and you're adorable!"

He didn't even glance back at me as he answered that with a simple "Yes."

I relayed that story to my friend Laura who laughed with me and pointed out "He doesn't even realize that's a compliment yet. To him, it's a fact. You're 2. And you're adorable. Fact. And it's ok to agree with it."

And as we ended our conversation and I hung up the phone I began to wonder.

When do we lose that?

E doesn't yet know that you can't accept a compliment.
He accepts it as fact because no one has told him he can't.
At what point are we told (outright or subtly) that we can't do that anymore?

At some point we are.
And a compliment ceases to be a fact, and instead becomes an exercise in how we can refute it.

For some, it's replaced with false humility.
For others...me included...it's replaced with all the reasons why that's just not true.

How many times have people complimented my fashion sense and I dodged them by saying some disparaging remark about how the item fits, or myself?
How many people have I devalued by dismissing their genuine compliment?
How often do I brush off a remark about my personality with "it's what I do" or "it was nothing"? It was clearly something enough for that person to mention it...so why do I brush it aside?

A lot of this stems from my personal issues and the fact that I may always have the ever-present voice inside me telling me that I'm just not good enough.

But when I choose to accept that voice for the lie it is, and start listening to the Truth, I need to become more like E.

When someone compliments me, I need to take it as fact.
No ulterior motives
No drama involved
No lies to get on my good side
They said it. It was nice. It must be a fact.

It's not going to be easy. But the biggest negative voice I have to contend with is my own. Everyone else seems to gel with me just fine :0)

What about you?

Thursday's Ten

Lessons Learned this Week

1. When the 2 year old is quiet...FIND OUT WHY.
2. Sometimes miscommunication is simply not your fault. And while I'm really good at beating myself up for things that aren't my fault most of the time...I'm letting it GO.
3. Kids say the darndest things, and there's a lot to be learned from 2 year old wisdom. More about that later this week.
4. Naps are beautiful.
5. Right when I start to worry about money (for the millionth time in the last 12 months)...God provides me with babysitting jobs that all fit nicely into my already scheduled week...without taking time from dates with the man or time carved out for myself. He's reminding me that He really is in charge here...
6. Lilies are beautiful, especially when they're in an arrangement bought for you by a wonderful man.
7. People at church like the boyfriend and me as a unit :)
8. I may never, ever, develop a normal sleep pattern.
9. My hair is growing a LOT (almost long enough for Locks of Love!)
10. No, really. When the 2 year old is quiet, find out why!

I babysat for my friend Jennifer's 2 youngest yesterday. The 2 year old got quiet...in another room. Short version of the story is that she likes fla-vor-ice just as much as I do, and was determined to gnaw her way through it. This resulted in a wardrobe change, as the purple from the popsicle didn't quite match the purple on her shirt.
(she did greet me with a smile when I walked in on the carnage. and was industriously cleaning the floor with a towel. something tells me this was not her first experience.)

Not Me Monday (3.0)

It was not a beautiful day yesterday, and I did not absolutely love the 75 degree and balmy day. However, overnight the temperature did not drop drastically and it is not 39 degrees and holding at this moment. I am not bummed about this, and as a result have have not sat around with the laptop all morning, do not have my nap blanket (Christmas from A) over my legs, and did not make a pot of coffee at approximately 1:30 pm just to warm up. I do not refuse to turn the heat on in freakin' April!

Oh yeah, I suppose I should tell you what I'm not doing. It's not me monday, and I'm not joining the blog world in confessing what I have and have not done over the past few hours...days...

(this may or may not be the button to click to participate)

{pause for seriousness...this was created by McMama whose baby boy Stellan is still in the hospital, although things are looking better by day. Visit her blog for more current info!}
Ok, so this weekend was not a lot of fun. I did not get to play with a 4 year old boy (who did not make me laugh constantly) and his 10 month old sister (who is not normally a mommy-clingy child, and I was not shocked that she transitioned pretty well to spending a good 30 hours with me).

A typical conversation this weekend did not sound like this:

(at bedtime)
S: Daddy doesn't make me wear pants to bed if I don't want to. Do I have to wear pants to bed?
L: no, Seth, you don't have to wear pants to bed. But please put on your pajama shirt now.

(after Morgan wakes up from her nap)
S: I think we should bring Morgan outside so she can watch us play soccer
(no matter that Lora is unaware of this plan, plus soccer skills? not so good)
L: Ok, but first I need to feed Morgan her lunch, ok?
S: I'm not hungry for lunch right now.
L: Seth, you had lunch an hour ago while Morgan was sleeping.
S: Oh...well, I'm not hungry for dinner yet either.

(upon hearing a mower outside)
L: someone is mowing your yard!
S: yeah, that's Jamie. When mommy hears Jamie outside she goes and writes a note real quick and runs out to give it to him
L: (figuring out that the "note" is a check) Well, I think she already wrote him a note this week. And I am not sure what the note says, so I'm not going to do that, ok?
S: ok.

I also did not discover that they had WiiFit, and did not take advantage of this as soon as the kids were in bed both nights. I do not want one of my own even more now. I do not miss their WiiFit now that I'm back in my own house.

Weekend Stuff :0)

I'm checking in quickly today--I have a babysitting job that began at 5 pm yesterday and will go until 10 pm tonight. SWEET kids--4 year old Seth and his 10 month old sister, Morgan. I am truly enjoying myself--not to mention staying quite busy, so I'm not in the blogosphere too much today. I'll get around to your blogs though, I promise!

'da wordle:

go to Last Shreds of Sanity to participate!

'da 6 words:

Sunny day, children play, my bliss.



It really is quite blissful today--beautiful outside, and beautiful children to spend time with. And speaking of which, Seth has requested that I bring Morgan outside so that she can watch "us" play soccer. Should be interesting! Signing off for now...