It's Howdy Smoothie Time!

Well, we had a rough week last week, mostly because my littlest one has officially fallen off the weight charts. Through a discussion with the PED we've decided that he has a dairy intolerance/allergy and have gone 100% dairy free and prob 90% gluten free for a while. We go back in a month with the hopes that he has gained.

Also I have added a smoothie to his daily diet. I make him one that has 1/2 avocado, a handful of strawberries (we picked ourselves!), 1/2 a banana, a bit of spinach and some almond milk. He seems to really like them.

There is another version I make for myself. I put fresh pineapple, blackberries (my fav but the others don't like the seeds it has in the smoothie), spinach and water. Here's a peek of what one looks like in my handy dandy magic bullet (great b'day gift from Curt).



While trying to relax about the weight issues I decided being outdoors would help. It's been really nice weather here lately and seeing as my usual lawn boy (read husband) is out with a broken leg the yard work has all fallen in my lap. So why not take the boys out to enjoy the weather while I get some light yard work done?



As you can see I made a nice little pile of oak leaves for the boys to play in. Here in Florida fall comes in the Spring mostly. We are pretty backward around here I guess.




Today was a bit cloudy, so I'm looking forward to getting our nice sunshine back. After all that is what the state was named for.

Clark's first haircut

We decided to give Clark a haircut for Valentine's day. I've been wanting to let his hair grow long but the thing is it just becomes a trap for food and sweat and it's in his eyes a lot. If you know me, you know I'm all about making life easier and the haircut became easier than the hair growing.

Here he is still so long haired and naive of what is to come.



Here he is in the chair with his long locks. We took him to a Sport's Clips because #1 I have a friend whose sister works there and she's done really well with Curtis' hair, and #2 I had a coupon (forever frugal).



He did pretty good during the cut. He got a little antsy at the end and I had to pick him up for her to do around his ears, but otherwise I'd say it was a success since there were no tears at all.



Curtis helped keep him occupied by making silly faces at him.



And finally he got his lollipop reward.





I'm feeling a little weird about my baby getting his hair cut. Yes, I know he is 15 months old, but he's still my baby. Once you get those wispy ends off he really looks different/older. It's also a little sad to think that the hair he grew in utero is now mostly gone. I have a little zippy of the first trim for his baby book though.

Wow

Well, I guess I was wrong. I just picked Curtis up from the valentine party and I'm so thrilled that he only got a few candies. He also got a playdough, some pencils, a maze book, and a blank notebook. I guess I take it all back. He is right now sitting on my bed with a freshly sharpened pencil doing a maze in the book.

Check out his valentine painting too. He wrote his name by himself so well!

Valentine's

I thought I'd share these valentine's that Curtis and I made together for his class the other day.



I was gifted a set of scrap booking scissor, but I don't scrapbook. I tried to give them away but nobody wanted them and now I'm glad. They came in handy for these hearts, cut out from construction paper.

Curtis picked out some glitter glue at Joanne's for them and had a good time decorating the hearts.



So I was pressured into adding candy. I get kind of irked by the amount of candy they give at schools these days. I remember as a kid that we exchanged little cartoon cards and that was it. You might end up with a box of conversation hearts by the end of the day, but I swear now-a-days we are pressured into handing out all kinds of junk food for every holiday on the calendar. It isn't the teachers pressuring me either, it's my own husband and the other parents. I would rather give just cards but I figured since everyone else is adding to the cards maybe I'd add a colored pencil or box of raisins. Apparently my dear husband thinks this is crazy and yes...I caved and added lolly pops. Luckily I spent no money since we had these pops left over from Halloween, but don't tell the kids at preschool this.

This kind of plays in with the idea of every kid getting a trophy in sports and parents buying gifts for the sibling of the birthday child so they don't feel left out. Trust me, I am a very caring and loving parent, but doesn't there come a time when a child needs to learn that there isn't always going to be a prize. I wonder how my boys will learn to keep trying if I reward and prize them for every little thing.

On top of that, why does it seem to always be junk food that is the reward? I try to come up with new ideas for these things (hence the colored pencil idea) but most times I feel stumped. My kids, like most others I believe, just want candy. But does that me they should have it so often? Shouldn't it be a special treat? I think if Curtis only got candy on holidays I'd probably be ok with it (maybe not the shear volume, but a few would be ok), but unfortunatley it seems there is always something he wants to be rewarded for with candy. I try very hard to hold off, I promise, but it is hard.

I wonder if other parents struggle like I do getting their brains around all of this?

Where've you been Tara?

...taking care of this little one. I left for an hour one day and Curt said he threw the biggest fit. So big that he fell asleep tantruming by the door. He has been very clingy to his Mama lately...



...making multiple baby shower gifts, like this afghan...



...and this poncho.



...harvesting these beautiful heirloom tomatoes from my container garden.



...and taking care of this big Klutz. That's right, Curt broke his leg playing soccer on Superbowl Sunday. That's probably the main reason for my lack of blogging. Poor guy (poor me) has a total of 6-8 weeks in an aircast and on crutches. Yes, mostly poor me...

It gets cold here too!

I've been neglecting my blog again. January was not a good month for us, so I'll use that as my excuse. It was illness upon illness, both physical and mental. I had a mental breakdown twice this month, which may have been normal for me in the past, but not lately. I've been free from depression and anxiety for a while now so this snuck up on me and has me a bit shaken. It is mostly the fear of having to deal with mental illness all over again that keeps my shoulders up around my ears, which I know is funny. How can the fear of anxiety be your main source of anxiety? Well, I wish I could explain it. I also wish I could blame it on our weather, but Florida stays pretty sunny even in the cold, and yes we did get some cold here recently. I mean REAL cold.

Here's the proof. Yes, that is Luke Skywalker ice skating on our bird bath. For a lot of you Northerner's this means nothing, but to get a frozen 'pond' in Central Florida is nuts! I hate the cold so I'm sure that added to my misery.



So what do I do when I'm stuck inside feeling sad and cold? I bake! It really is cathartic and helps me a lot. Here are two oatmeal honey wheat loaves I made. Ahhhhh, processed sugar free comfort food!



And for the boys, well a nice warm bath with bubbles to make Santa beards with is always a good way to kill time inside on a cold day.



I'm hoping this current cold patch will be our last this year, but I am trying to use the Law of Attraction in my favor by focusing on the good in it all. For example, the giant pot of chili I have cooking away right now will probably taste much better now that we have some cold weather. I'm hoping to enjoy it with my family and some friends this afternoon during the Superbowl (the Eagles should be there, but that's another sad story for another day). I'll let you know how it turns out (the chilli I mean, not the Superbowl).

T