September 24, 2013
Fall Crafts Round Up
Yup. Its that time of year again. As soon as it gets colder and we're in the house a whole lot more, I get the crafty bug. There are so many things I want to do this fall! Can't wait to start posting all our projects! I checked back in our blog for what we did last year, and here are the projects and recipes I found. Enjoy!
Don't you just love the fall!
Parenting realizations
Just a few weeks ago, I reached a parenting low, and came to a few realizations. Don't know why these things take me so long to figure out, so I'm sharing in case anyone else goes through this stuff.
You see, we've had visitors coming and living with us on and off all year long with little breaks in between. Reason being, we live in Germany and want our family to visit because we miss them, and we very often times need them to help watch our kids.
I work full time, so does Frank. Cooper has Kindergarten, but it closes up in the summer for a whole month and our friend who watches Lily was unable to watch her the entire summer.
So, first came Frank's parents to travel and help. Then Eric for three months, then my mom for a month. Every time we have people come, some things happen.
Well, one, I clean the house like crazy and try to make it look like we are clean/organized normal people. We're not. So this is an ordeal to try to make it look like we are!
Two, our routine with the kids changes. Not just a little, but a whole lot. Cooper gets quite used to not going to school, and this means more time with Lily and this means more fighting and jealousy ensues. I stop working out, I go to bed later, I stop crafting, and we're on a different glide path.
Three. My attention is divided and I spend much more time talking to my company. Time that I normally would spend with my husband or my kids. They notice. They crave my attention more and cling to me and whine to me much more than normal. Well, the kids, not Frank on that part. And the dog even! Maya won't get out of my face the first 20 minutes I come home every day.
Four. I stress out. The worst part. I worry about the kids misbehaving and what the visitors are thinking. I worry they think I should be parenting differently and I make up thoughts in my head about how terrible they think my kids are because of me. I then start feeling mad and lose my patience with everyone and everything and try being stricter in an effort to try to appear like someone I am not.
My behavior and feelings lead to chaos. I made Cooper feel like he was such a bad kid just a few weeks ago. All the time outs/constant corrections and being grumpy with him. He just was acting worse and worse. He was feeling less and less connected with me, and me with him. Every day was worse than the last.
Now envision a light bulb glowing by my head. Yup, I was enlightened through retrospective analysis and some helpful articles I found. I'm done with the time outs and negativity/grumpy parenting. I'm changing myself. I'm learning to stay calmer, show my love more, and to accept his feelings and acknowledge his frustrations instead of shunning them or getting mad at him for having his mean thoughts and comments. I'm listening. I'm hugging. I'm praising. We're having a lot of time ins together. And you know what? It is working. For me and for Cooper.
This morning, he woke up crying about having to go to school. "I hate school, I don't want to go to school. I want to go to work with you." I responded with hugs and love and holding him telling him I love him and understand and know that he is upset. It worked. He cheers up and pushes me out the door (part of our routine) and told me to have a great day.
And just yesterday, Frank said he told him "I had a great day" as soon as he picked him up from school. I can barely get him out of the school when I come to pick him up. He loves school. He just loves being with us more. And I get that. I love being with him more than anything and just have to let him know that more often.
When I'm with him, I'm trying to really be with him. We're talking much more, being silly, and close again. He is helping me with Lily, trying to cheer her up now when she is sad instead of gloating as he was just weeks ago. We are laughing again and trusting each other again. I'm feeling better about myself as a parent and most importantly, my kids are happy again and I am happy again. Life is good.
You see, we've had visitors coming and living with us on and off all year long with little breaks in between. Reason being, we live in Germany and want our family to visit because we miss them, and we very often times need them to help watch our kids.
I work full time, so does Frank. Cooper has Kindergarten, but it closes up in the summer for a whole month and our friend who watches Lily was unable to watch her the entire summer.
So, first came Frank's parents to travel and help. Then Eric for three months, then my mom for a month. Every time we have people come, some things happen.
Well, one, I clean the house like crazy and try to make it look like we are clean/organized normal people. We're not. So this is an ordeal to try to make it look like we are!
Two, our routine with the kids changes. Not just a little, but a whole lot. Cooper gets quite used to not going to school, and this means more time with Lily and this means more fighting and jealousy ensues. I stop working out, I go to bed later, I stop crafting, and we're on a different glide path.
Three. My attention is divided and I spend much more time talking to my company. Time that I normally would spend with my husband or my kids. They notice. They crave my attention more and cling to me and whine to me much more than normal. Well, the kids, not Frank on that part. And the dog even! Maya won't get out of my face the first 20 minutes I come home every day.
Four. I stress out. The worst part. I worry about the kids misbehaving and what the visitors are thinking. I worry they think I should be parenting differently and I make up thoughts in my head about how terrible they think my kids are because of me. I then start feeling mad and lose my patience with everyone and everything and try being stricter in an effort to try to appear like someone I am not.
My behavior and feelings lead to chaos. I made Cooper feel like he was such a bad kid just a few weeks ago. All the time outs/constant corrections and being grumpy with him. He just was acting worse and worse. He was feeling less and less connected with me, and me with him. Every day was worse than the last.
Now envision a light bulb glowing by my head. Yup, I was enlightened through retrospective analysis and some helpful articles I found. I'm done with the time outs and negativity/grumpy parenting. I'm changing myself. I'm learning to stay calmer, show my love more, and to accept his feelings and acknowledge his frustrations instead of shunning them or getting mad at him for having his mean thoughts and comments. I'm listening. I'm hugging. I'm praising. We're having a lot of time ins together. And you know what? It is working. For me and for Cooper.
This morning, he woke up crying about having to go to school. "I hate school, I don't want to go to school. I want to go to work with you." I responded with hugs and love and holding him telling him I love him and understand and know that he is upset. It worked. He cheers up and pushes me out the door (part of our routine) and told me to have a great day.
And just yesterday, Frank said he told him "I had a great day" as soon as he picked him up from school. I can barely get him out of the school when I come to pick him up. He loves school. He just loves being with us more. And I get that. I love being with him more than anything and just have to let him know that more often.
When I'm with him, I'm trying to really be with him. We're talking much more, being silly, and close again. He is helping me with Lily, trying to cheer her up now when she is sad instead of gloating as he was just weeks ago. We are laughing again and trusting each other again. I'm feeling better about myself as a parent and most importantly, my kids are happy again and I am happy again. Life is good.
September 20, 2013
Friday I'm in Love
Sunshine, come out come out wherever you are! Going on 9 days of cold and rain now in Bavaria. Cabin fever in September. But, we just booked a trip south, so I feel better already. Getting really spoiled living over here with Ryan Air and a gazillion amazing places to see so close for so cheap. Yes, I will boast. Our tickets are less than 80 euros round trip! Unreal. Now if we can just find the perfect place to stay. We literally analyze hundreds of places before we commit because it makes such an impact on the vacation. Last year we did Sicily. This year, Tuscany. Finally going to see Florence and the Cinque Terre, do some rock climbing and beach playing, and cook up some amazing fresh Mediterranean foods. So, if you've been there, please divulge in your favorite restaurants, sights, and places to stay! I'm giddy just thinking about it.
And, as tradition, here are some great finds from this week:
Unbelievably funny. This girl has funny down pat. The pictures of that bear head! Really brings me back to my high school days when my sister Tiffany had a yellow care bear huge head she would do the exact same things with! She picked me up from the airport once with it on and I had to sit on my foot I laughed so hard. Where is that head Tiff?! I need it.
I just love this Chipolte video that is a parody on our food industry. Fantastic. Watch it now for real.
What happened to crafting with me? Well, I have a ton of ideas planned for this fall. Been busy with guests and working out more and taking an online photography class that is wonderful. But I have plans to sew, paint and make some gifts for sure this fall. Hoping to improve my photos by taking this class and putting in some effort to actually learning how to use our DSLR.
Hope you all have a great weekend!
And, as tradition, here are some great finds from this week:
Unbelievably funny. This girl has funny down pat. The pictures of that bear head! Really brings me back to my high school days when my sister Tiffany had a yellow care bear huge head she would do the exact same things with! She picked me up from the airport once with it on and I had to sit on my foot I laughed so hard. Where is that head Tiff?! I need it.
I just love this Chipolte video that is a parody on our food industry. Fantastic. Watch it now for real.
What happened to crafting with me? Well, I have a ton of ideas planned for this fall. Been busy with guests and working out more and taking an online photography class that is wonderful. But I have plans to sew, paint and make some gifts for sure this fall. Hoping to improve my photos by taking this class and putting in some effort to actually learning how to use our DSLR.
Hope you all have a great weekend!
September 18, 2013
Hansel and Gretel Game
Every once in a while, our family heads to this restaurant in Weiden called the Brau Wirt for dinner. Usually when we have guests. They typically have great Bavarian food, and of course, great beer, so its a good introduction to Bavaria. Well, at this particular restaurant, they have a few bins of toys for kids to grab from (nice, eh?). Each and every time, Cooper grabs a German book full of Grimm fairy tales with beautiful, but scary, pictures. Before I even have a chance to read the menu, he's searching for the story of Hansel and Gretel and implores me to read it over and over.
Reading Hansel and Gretel brings back a vivid memory from my childhood of a game my mom would play with us. We were living in Hawaii and I was around Cooper's age. There, my mom invented the "Hansel and Gretel game" for us. We'd beg to play the game because it was pretty darn special. We'd leave the room and she'd do the set up. She'd cover a table in blankets to build a life size gingerbread house and cover the blanket in cookies and treats (taped on). She'd drape a blanket over her head and crouch around and invite us to come to her lovely house in a creepy, witch voice. Terrifying for me actually. Our first time playing, I chose to be Hansel. She locked me in jail (I sat under a smaller table) and fed me candy and kept checking my finger to see if it was fatter while she made Gretel do chores.
I thought I picked the good role to play the first time. My sister Missy was Gretel and was sweeping away and gathering firewood in our little make believe world while I ate cookies. Until my mom, the witch, pretended like she was going to cook and eat me! I cried and didn't want to be Hansel anymore or ever again. We switched roles and I got to push mom in the oven and she shriveled and shrieked and gave us a good laugh.
So, just a week ago, while my mom was still here, we reenacted the game for Cooper and Lily. As you can guess, I haven't had a day go by where Cooper isn't begging to play the game again or begging to make a real gingerbread house. I don't have many sweets around the house, so with the few I found, I divided them out sparsely on the blanket. He was still thrilled. I'll definitely play it again after Halloween to use up some of the goodies he gets, and probably again around Christmas time, when we actually make a real gingerbread house.
How about you all? Do you play any games like this with your kids, or any favorite books you like to act out? We do "The Knight and the Dragon" still once in a while still but could use some more good ideas.
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I thought I picked the good role to play the first time. My sister Missy was Gretel and was sweeping away and gathering firewood in our little make believe world while I ate cookies. Until my mom, the witch, pretended like she was going to cook and eat me! I cried and didn't want to be Hansel anymore or ever again. We switched roles and I got to push mom in the oven and she shriveled and shrieked and gave us a good laugh.
So, just a week ago, while my mom was still here, we reenacted the game for Cooper and Lily. As you can guess, I haven't had a day go by where Cooper isn't begging to play the game again or begging to make a real gingerbread house. I don't have many sweets around the house, so with the few I found, I divided them out sparsely on the blanket. He was still thrilled. I'll definitely play it again after Halloween to use up some of the goodies he gets, and probably again around Christmas time, when we actually make a real gingerbread house.
How about you all? Do you play any games like this with your kids, or any favorite books you like to act out? We do "The Knight and the Dragon" still once in a while still but could use some more good ideas.
September 12, 2013
Eating Real Food Update
Back in May, you might remember if you check our blog out here and there, I posted a little about "real food" and our efforts to be healthier.. Over the last couple of months, I have cleaned out my cupboards of processed foods and the majority of the food we are buying is real (tends to only come from the outer perimeter of the grocery store and not down the aisles). However, we're not 100% there, nor do I know if we ever will be, but we have improved and I want to continue improving and reading as much as I can on the subject. I started researching more and more sites with good real food recipes and will have to share a few that I have found, as well as some great books.
Last night, I watched this video on you-tube. Its a very inspiring TED talk by Doctor Terry Wahls on "Eating for your Mitochondria". You must check it out.
Simply whoa right? Changing her diet completely improved her health. Amazing. I definitely do not eat near enough greens. Not even close. And even worse, I have never tried Kale in my whole life. Not once that I know of at least. I am determined this week to buy some and try it out. Doesn't this inspire you to eat for your mitochondria? Although, personally, I could never cut out all my dairy and starches. I don't want to. I suppose if I had a debilitating disease like MS, yes I could and most definitely would. I love cheese and bread dearly.
As far as eating real food with kids, it really hasn't been too tough. Lily and Cooper are both getting better and better at trying new things and even eat their vegetables first at the table without prompting. At the grocery, I just try to give both something healthy to eat while we go up and down the aisles, and that usually helps prevent any pleads to buy processed or junk foods.
Also, growing a lot of vegetables and fruits really made the kids appreciate and enjoy them more. Both love to pick the tomatoes, peppers, green beans, grapes, and broccoli straight from the plants to eat. Here Lily is not too excited about biting into a Jalapeno earlier this week. Ha! I accidentally planted about 10 jalapeno plants instead of bell peppers. The seeds looked the same, at least so I thought...
We're already approaching very cold temps and need to turn on the heat, so we're going to attempt and bring a lot of our garden indoors for the winter, and plant some more as well up in the kids play room. It has a huge counter under a long row of windows that gets a lot of afternoon sunlight.
If any of you out there have some indoor gardening links/tips for me, I'd love them. I have a lot of researching to do I think to make it work!
Last night, I watched this video on you-tube. Its a very inspiring TED talk by Doctor Terry Wahls on "Eating for your Mitochondria". You must check it out.
Simply whoa right? Changing her diet completely improved her health. Amazing. I definitely do not eat near enough greens. Not even close. And even worse, I have never tried Kale in my whole life. Not once that I know of at least. I am determined this week to buy some and try it out. Doesn't this inspire you to eat for your mitochondria? Although, personally, I could never cut out all my dairy and starches. I don't want to. I suppose if I had a debilitating disease like MS, yes I could and most definitely would. I love cheese and bread dearly.
As far as eating real food with kids, it really hasn't been too tough. Lily and Cooper are both getting better and better at trying new things and even eat their vegetables first at the table without prompting. At the grocery, I just try to give both something healthy to eat while we go up and down the aisles, and that usually helps prevent any pleads to buy processed or junk foods.
Also, growing a lot of vegetables and fruits really made the kids appreciate and enjoy them more. Both love to pick the tomatoes, peppers, green beans, grapes, and broccoli straight from the plants to eat. Here Lily is not too excited about biting into a Jalapeno earlier this week. Ha! I accidentally planted about 10 jalapeno plants instead of bell peppers. The seeds looked the same, at least so I thought...
If any of you out there have some indoor gardening links/tips for me, I'd love them. I have a lot of researching to do I think to make it work!
September 6, 2013
Friday I'm in Love
Random tidbits:
1) This has been a short week, but a rough one for me. Umph. Just having a lot of troubles with parenting and wishing I knew how to fix them. I don't want to get too personal on here though or go into the details, but I found this really helpful resource yesterday that I am reading over and over. Trying to be more patient and loving and attentive and adding in some of these games to help as well. I'm stopping with time outs and doing time ins.
2) I'm so ready to clean up my house and get organized. I have boxes of clothes and a whole room literally cluttered with nothing but clothes that don't fit any of us anymore I need to get rid of. And toys. And kitchen junk that doesn't work or isn't used. What is wrong with me?! Why do I hold on to stuff so long? I liked this post about practicing simplicity and this one too. Glad to know others can empathize.
3) I love fun words and have always thought our language is so limited in certain emotional words. Mostly love. Definitely not enough words for the types of love. This post from Cup of Jo is awesome. 11 words from other countries that are not translatable in English. I think my favorite is the last one. Japanese have a word for the sunlight that filters through the trees! I want one too!
4) Lately we've been only using our phones to take pictures. I wish my iPhone had DSLR capabilities! It is so nice to just be able to e-mail right after snapping a photo. I upload all of ours to shutterfly and our family is able to order pictures whenever they want. Just so convenient. The problem is Frank and I both find ourselves looking at our phones much to much. This funny video is so sad, but true.
5) Cooper started back at Kindergarten this week. Part of why (go back to 1) this has been a rough week. Anyhow, he had a massive fro going on, so I had a one on one outing with him last weekend to get it cut. He looks so darn precious.
6) Lily is adding so many words to her vocabulary every day it seems. Every time she sees foofoo lately (grandma), she makes monkey sounds and movements. Ha! And she wants to kiss and rub her face in anything soft and cuddly. She kisses every page in a book with a dog or a cat. She saw Maple's picture on the wall and was saying doggie over and over reaching for her and gave her a big fat kiss on the face. I think Maple is smiling in heaven.
September 3, 2013
Tuesday Transformation - Balloons
I haven't done one of these posts in a while! But, now that fall weather is coming, we've been inside a little more lately and I'm getting the crafting itch. I found some old balloons lying around from Cooper's birthday back in February and thought I'd check out some fun ideas online. Enjoy!
1. Paper Mache Hot Air Balloons! These would look so cute in a nursery!
2. Twine Ball Garland
3.Candle Making!
4. Making Stress balls. You can add flour or playdoh or a bunch of other things for sensory balls.
5. Balloon Bongo or Shakers
6. A Balloon Hovercraft.
1. Paper Mache Hot Air Balloons! These would look so cute in a nursery!
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| Source: Martha Stewart |
3.Candle Making!
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| Source: Augusthimmel |
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| Source: Minieco |
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| Source: Minieco |
A place I will not return.
We just enjoyed a nice long relaxing weekend at home. Instead of doing a big trip, we decided to pack in some small day trips and fun stuff all within an hour's drive. I think it was a good choice. A chance to still have fun with the kids during our last bit of summer, and a chance to relax at home and actually get some much needed cleaning done.
Mom and I wanted to venture to a Czech town called Telc that looks amazing, but didn't want to drive 4 hours to see the city, so we settled on visiting Cheb for a few hours on Labor day. There really isn't much to say about Cheb though unfortunately. It is a weird town. When you first venture in, there is this huge gaudy flea market with a large Vietnamese population selling ugly purses, gaudy clothes, and cigarettes. We drove right past that area to the downtown, passing gross Thai Massage buildings. Like I said, weird. The downtown is actually pretty nice. Gorgeous mid-evil buildings. But that is about all it has going for it. Hardly any trees, and really crappy stores with chinsy cheap crap. All but one... We found a really nice chocolate store selling Belgian chocolates in beautiful tins.
I suppose the fact that it was cold (in the 50s) without much sun and some drizzle didn't help, but I won't be returning to Cheb ever again, nor can I really recommend it much for a day trip even being so close to Graf. I'd say go ahead and venture further to Karlovy Vary or Prague.
Mom and I wanted to venture to a Czech town called Telc that looks amazing, but didn't want to drive 4 hours to see the city, so we settled on visiting Cheb for a few hours on Labor day. There really isn't much to say about Cheb though unfortunately. It is a weird town. When you first venture in, there is this huge gaudy flea market with a large Vietnamese population selling ugly purses, gaudy clothes, and cigarettes. We drove right past that area to the downtown, passing gross Thai Massage buildings. Like I said, weird. The downtown is actually pretty nice. Gorgeous mid-evil buildings. But that is about all it has going for it. Hardly any trees, and really crappy stores with chinsy cheap crap. All but one... We found a really nice chocolate store selling Belgian chocolates in beautiful tins.
I suppose the fact that it was cold (in the 50s) without much sun and some drizzle didn't help, but I won't be returning to Cheb ever again, nor can I really recommend it much for a day trip even being so close to Graf. I'd say go ahead and venture further to Karlovy Vary or Prague.
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