MIA: Didja miss me?

Well, I’m going to pretend like you did!

This week has been really busy. 

First, we got poults Sat. morning.  To see how we unload 20,000 poults in under an hour, in a snowstorm, go here.

Then, the blizzard really hit.  Not a lot snow, but LOTS of wind and blowing!

 

So we were stuck inside all weekend.  And instead of blogging, I spent a lot of time scrapbooking some Christmas presents.

Then, work and chiropractor appt. on Monday.

Kindermusik and mental health afternoon (watched TV and napped) followed by dinner at the in-laws on Tuesday.

Wednesday, I worked at school and in the turkey barn Wednesday night

And finally, today, I took Adam to daycare and then helped with chores in the barn. 

Which brings us to this afternoon, and some more digital scrapbooking, cleaning, and rearranging Adam’s room.

One of these days (soon!) I need to get a belly picture to post on here.  At 25 weeks, I’m obviously pregnant (even to strangers!)

Brain Rules for Baby

How to Raise a Smart and Happy Child from Zero to Five

By John Medina

I’m a little crazy.  And recently, one of my colleagues lent me her extra copy of the preschool curriculum guide, which had DETAILED milestone charts up to age 5 or 6, including social, emotional, physical and academic topics.  “Feeding” my crazy, she called it. :)  It also had ideas to help develop the skills described.  After poring over it, I decided that Adam is right on schedule…ahead in some areas, slightly behind in a few others, but overall, doing really well.

Why am I crazy like this?  Well, my college education was all about teaching children.  I know lots about older kids, especially 9 – 11 year olds, since that’s who I’ve been working with the most.  I know where they should be, and for the most part, how to get them there.

But I know relatively little about babies, toddlers and preschoolers.  I know I want to provide my kiddos with opportunities for growth, independence, and problem solving, but I don’t feel like I know exactly how to go about doing it.

Education is my passion, and that extends to my own children, too.  I’m not nearly as worried about nutrition or motor skills as some parents, and I think it’s because of my “real” job and educational background.  So I am doing the same thing I do when I’m not sure what to do with my “real” students – researching!

I just started reading Brain Rules for Baby: How to Raise a Smart and Happy Child from Zero to Five.  My mother in law “fed my crazy” and got it for me.  I plan to share a few tips here and there as I read, so you can learn along with me.

Anyone read it?  Any other great parenting books I should know about?

TB’s Christmas Card Photoshoot

I don’t know about you, but I’ve tried before to get a beautiful picture of Adam in front of the tree.  It’s hard.  If I do it at night, I have to use a flash, and it ruins everything.  During the day, I don’t get that beautiful glow from the lights.  What’s a girl to do?

My best buddy Nick Kelsh recently addressed this issue.  (Okay, he’s not really my best buddy, but I wish he were.  He’s just “another better than average photographer out there” who critiques and gives advice to amateur photographers through his facebook page, books and dvds.)

Here is Nick’s Christmas Card video.  It’s 10 minutes long, but you’ll enjoy his sense of humor and great tips.  The last three minutes give tips on pictures in front of the tree.

I decided to give his tips a test run before trying them out with my little guy.  I wanted to get all my settings right before dealing with a mobile subject.  So, Teddy Bear and I had a photo shoot yesterday.

I should have taken a picture with the flash, to show you the difference.  But I didn’t.  Maybe I will do another photo shoot with TB tonight.

First, I set up the studio:

(The disaster relief efforts from the Christmas explosion are taking longer than expected.)

This is the key, friends.  Lots of white lights, draped over a hanger, with tin foil behind them.  I hung them on a sled that was propped in another corner, but Nick Kelsh used a pizza box lined with tin foil hanging from a clothes hangar on a chair.  Either way works.  And the lights give you that pretty, Christmas-tree-esque glow.

Anyway, here’s how TB’s Christmas Card photo turned out:

 

I didn’t color correct or even crop since it’s just TB.  I wish he would have looked at the camera for me, though.

Then, I decided to try it with the self timer, to see if it would be possible to get a family photo in front of the tree.  But I don’t have a tripod, so my camera was sitting on a bar stool in the living room.  And it had issues focusing the first time around.  Pretty good picture of me, huh?

 

Okay, this one’s a wee bit better.

 

 

I would have went ahead and had a photo shoot with Adam and hubby last night (even had their shirts ironed) but they were both a little crabby.  We’re snowed in tonight, so we will try again!

Family Health Portrait

This isn’t a very fun post, but I think it’s an important one!

My grandma was hospitalized Wednesday night, and since then, I’ve learned more about her health history than I ever knew before.  This reminds me of an article I read recently about the importance of knowing your family’s health.

Why is it important to know?

“For two important reasons. The simplest is that many of the studies linking a gene variant to one or another disease are incorrect at worst and useless at best. The more interesting reason to rely on your family medical history is that genes do not act in a vacuum. Those realizations have now prompted the American Society of Human Genetics (ASHG) to declare family medical history “the gold standard” for assessing what diseases you are at risk for—a conclusion as surprising, given the source, as if Exxon declared solar-powered cars superior to the gasoline variety.”

(http://www.newsweek.com/2010/11/14/why-family-medical-history-trumps-dna-testing.html)

Basically, even with all of the advances in genetics, your family health history is still the best predictor of your risk for various health problems (I feel like a hypocrite here because my best friend is finishing her masters in genetic counseling right now, but even she and the ASHG admit that this is true.)

So yesterday, while sitting in the hospital, I got started.  I went to My Family Health Portrait and started filling in information.  There are still a LOT of holes, which I’m hoping to fill in over the holidays.  And once it is done, I’ll never have trouble with those doctors forms about family history again, and I’ll feel confident knowing that we are providing complete and accurate information for our doctors to use when dealing with any problems my husband, children or I might have.

Like I said, not a fun post, but important.  Go get started right now!  If not for you, then at least for your children!

(And btw, they’re still doing a kazillion tests to find out what is wrong with grandma.  She has no symptoms to speak of, just had some wacky test results at a regular check up so her gorgeous, young doctor is trying to figure out what’s up.)

Blank Slate

Before Christmas exploded,  I cleaned the dining room so I would have a blank slate to start my Christmas decorating.
The bay window is waiting patiently for the tree.
Yes, I cleaned the dining room, but I did not, however, clean the living room.
 
Or the kitchen…and I resisted the temptation to buy myself a new, black garbage can at Target the other day, and put it on my Christmas list, instead.

After some virtual shopping with my best friend 3 states away and my cell phone, I bought some new fabric for the china cabinet…hard to see here, but better pictures are coming, I promise.
 
Now, it’s time to crank up the Christmas tunes, make some fudge, and get to work!

The Old Barn

 

I love old barns.  In fact, I wanted to have my wedding reception in one (this one, to be precise.)  My husband and I frequently “wish” there was a barn on our property.

This is the barn at my Great Grandpa’s farm.  When he died at the age of 98 in 2008, my cousin Amy and her husband bought the place, so the farm is still in our family. 

Unfortunately, though, the barn no longer will be.

It looks beautiful, doesn’t it?  Great Grandpa kept his outbuildings painted nicely, even after they were no longer used for the farm. 

But the foundation is bad, and since it’s not being used for agriculture, it doesn’t qualify for any of the “save the barn” grants out there.

 

So it’s coming down.

But not before family had a chance to salvage what they wanted.

 

 

My dad took home a trailer full of barnwood.  We’re discussing what to do with it right now.  He is planning to build a display shelf for his entryway, to show off some of his toy tractors and I think it would be pretty cool if he’d build a barn playhouse for Adam out of it, too. 

But no matter what happens to it, the barn and the memories will live on.

Welcome, Lazy Moms!

 

Welcome, Lazy Moms!

Lazy Mom is having a meet and greet and I thought it would be a perfect place to meet some other lazy moms, like me.

 

In addition to being a part time teacher, part time farmer, part time 100-year-old-farmhouse-remodeler and full time (although, lazy) wife, I am also a lazy mom to a 2 1/2 year old boy and am pregnant with another little boy!

Some examples of my laziness…

 

I make cookies from packages.  It’s the experience that counts, right?

  

My house usually looks like this:

It took me 2 1/2 years to get this project done:

I use this unfinished bathroom because I’m too lazy to walk downstairs in the middle of the night:

 

I’ve tried to train my son and hubby to help with housework, but it’s just easier to do it myself (lazy!)

So there you have it.  I’m a mom.  And I’m lazy.  If you’re a lazy mom, go over to the meet and greet going on today and tomorrow, and meet some fellow LMs!!