Just posted this to our YouTube channel.
Check it out and follow for more videos coming soon!
Click for Jude eating crunchy toast...
Monday, April 16, 2012
Saturday, April 7, 2012
Happy Easter One and All!
Today we had a neighborhood Easter egg hunt! All three kids went and had a lot of fun! They were so cute running around picking up eggs! My little guy, who is only three, was so happy about each egg he found! He kept saying "I'm going to get the little eggs!"
My middle guy would say "I'm going to get the Golden Egg!" Turns out he got the golden "chick" egg! He was really excited about that!
Our oldest, Angel Girl, had a great time "hiding" the eggs with her Daddy. There were 437 eggs and about 35 kids! It was a MUCH bigger hunt than last year's!
We all hope you have a blessed Easter tomorrow and enjoy being with family and friends!
Lots of love,
Claire
Today we had a neighborhood Easter egg hunt! All three kids went and had a lot of fun! They were so cute running around picking up eggs! My little guy, who is only three, was so happy about each egg he found! He kept saying "I'm going to get the little eggs!"
My middle guy would say "I'm going to get the Golden Egg!" Turns out he got the golden "chick" egg! He was really excited about that!
Our oldest, Angel Girl, had a great time "hiding" the eggs with her Daddy. There were 437 eggs and about 35 kids! It was a MUCH bigger hunt than last year's!
We all hope you have a blessed Easter tomorrow and enjoy being with family and friends!
Lots of love,
Claire
Saturday, January 28, 2012
Never Fear.
I just wanted to address something that's been on my mind the last couple of days. I will keep this blog for the updates on the cuteness of the kids and our family activities, etc., but I want you to know, there is www.suchaclevergirl.blogspot.com for my etsy business and blogs that regard my etsy shop will get posted there.
I still haven't figured out what to do about facebook, although, I'm not too worried about it...for now, it'll be a little bit of both. Although I have started a page for the etsy shop on facebook, I'm not doing much with it until I'm ready.
I am so thankful for my first two etsy sales! That's super excited! The kids love watching Mom create pieces when we're all done with schoolwork! They are even getting in on the fun! Here's Tractor boy making some earrings for his "girlfriends"!
He is such a cutie! I just love him to bits!
I still haven't figured out what to do about facebook, although, I'm not too worried about it...for now, it'll be a little bit of both. Although I have started a page for the etsy shop on facebook, I'm not doing much with it until I'm ready.
I am so thankful for my first two etsy sales! That's super excited! The kids love watching Mom create pieces when we're all done with schoolwork! They are even getting in on the fun! Here's Tractor boy making some earrings for his "girlfriends"!
He is such a cutie! I just love him to bits!
Thursday, January 26, 2012
Oh Potty! Oh Boy!
The past couple of days have been gung-ho toilet training with Danger Boy! He's going to be a big boy wearing big boy underpants really soon! I know that with each of my children, potty training came at different times and ages and seasons of their lives. With Angel Girl, it was around preschool age, we didn't push it because Tractor Boy had special needs when he was born and we didn't want her to feel pressure or for her to regress. With Tractor Boy, it was after his g-tube had been removed and he gained more body awareness. Now, with Danger Boy, we are just barely three years old and he announces, "Mommy, I would like to go to the potty!" and he really likes m&m's as a reward (one for #1 and two for #2). Today he has gone potty more than a dozen times and it is so adorable to see him run excitedly to the potty and feel the accomplishment that goes along with our cheering him on. (which by the way, is another gift of homeschooling, having his siblings here with him to encourage him is a very big deal!)
All of this recent activity has led me to reflect a little.
Potty training goes both ways.
The child is trained to use the potty, wipe, flush, wash hands, pull up pants, etc. The parent is trained by the child as to when the child needs to go, what sort of rewards are good incentives, what sort of pottying cues to look for, etc.
I thank God for the humbling experience of potty training.
Thank You God for the little messes to clean up, because they mean that I have a little one to clean up after.
Thank You God for the toilet, that we don't have to use a chamber pot or an outhouse.
Thank You God for toilet paper, that we don't have to use something else!
Thank You God for soap, that we can be clean!
Thank You God for bathrooms, that we don't have to do our business out in the open!
Thank You God for the gift of eliminating our own waste, we'd die if we couldn't.
We have so much to be thankful for and there are so many things that we take for granted. When was the last time you thought about what you take for granted? How about taking some time to Thank God today for the little things...you might start with the toilet. ;-) lol!
All of this recent activity has led me to reflect a little.
Potty training goes both ways.
The child is trained to use the potty, wipe, flush, wash hands, pull up pants, etc. The parent is trained by the child as to when the child needs to go, what sort of rewards are good incentives, what sort of pottying cues to look for, etc.
I thank God for the humbling experience of potty training.
Thank You God for the little messes to clean up, because they mean that I have a little one to clean up after.
Thank You God for the toilet, that we don't have to use a chamber pot or an outhouse.
Thank You God for toilet paper, that we don't have to use something else!
Thank You God for soap, that we can be clean!
Thank You God for bathrooms, that we don't have to do our business out in the open!
Thank You God for the gift of eliminating our own waste, we'd die if we couldn't.
We have so much to be thankful for and there are so many things that we take for granted. When was the last time you thought about what you take for granted? How about taking some time to Thank God today for the little things...you might start with the toilet. ;-) lol!
Monday, January 16, 2012
My first Etsy Listing
Oh, boy, I'm so nervous! I'm venturing into new territory with this whole etsy thing. You know, it's the online place for everything handmade. Well, I have been enjoying making earrings and things in my "spare" time. (come on, I have to have some ME time!) Anyway, I'm pretty sure that I'll have to start a separate blog for the etsy stuff (I'll let you know what it is), but for the time being, you can check me out by searching for suchaclevergirl 's shop on etsy.com.
I'm nervous and tickled at the same time. I've been waiting to do this and take the leap, but I suppose that time has been what held me back, just finding the right time.
Here's my first listing:
My First Etsy Listing!
what do you think? (you may have to cut and paste that into your browser...I don't know if it'll go through, still not sure if I did it right...)
Well, I hope to post more things to my etsy shop soon, so stay tuned!
I'm nervous and tickled at the same time. I've been waiting to do this and take the leap, but I suppose that time has been what held me back, just finding the right time.
Here's my first listing:
My First Etsy Listing!
what do you think? (you may have to cut and paste that into your browser...I don't know if it'll go through, still not sure if I did it right...)
Well, I hope to post more things to my etsy shop soon, so stay tuned!
2012 and halfway through January!
What is happening?! This month is already halfway over and I'm still adjusting to writing 2012 and typing it too for that matter.
I've been reflecting on how I wanted to be better at blogging and how I am just going to have to be easier on myself and let things happen when they do. I have to admit to myself that I'm not going to be a consistent blogger. I have to admit that to you too. I don't have much to say sometimes. Then sometimes I think of things that I want to share and I am in a place where I can't write anything down and I know that my mind will be blank or preoccupied when I'm back at my computer. I know I can't be the only one that feels this way.
So how was your 2011? Mine was full of revelations and hard lessons learned. I am praying that I was sanded down by the hard lessons and that 2012 will be easier on me and my little family. I pray for good health, for improved health, and for peace. I ask God to bless us with answers to prayers and give us the strength we need to persevere through our commitments.
I especially wish for light. Brightness. Not from the sun, so much as from The Son. I trust that He will deliver. I look forward to how He will surprise me with the answers to our prayers.
I hope for the same for you.
Love you.
I've been reflecting on how I wanted to be better at blogging and how I am just going to have to be easier on myself and let things happen when they do. I have to admit to myself that I'm not going to be a consistent blogger. I have to admit that to you too. I don't have much to say sometimes. Then sometimes I think of things that I want to share and I am in a place where I can't write anything down and I know that my mind will be blank or preoccupied when I'm back at my computer. I know I can't be the only one that feels this way.
So how was your 2011? Mine was full of revelations and hard lessons learned. I am praying that I was sanded down by the hard lessons and that 2012 will be easier on me and my little family. I pray for good health, for improved health, and for peace. I ask God to bless us with answers to prayers and give us the strength we need to persevere through our commitments.
I especially wish for light. Brightness. Not from the sun, so much as from The Son. I trust that He will deliver. I look forward to how He will surprise me with the answers to our prayers.
I hope for the same for you.
Love you.
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
Bloom Where You're Planted
A very close friend of mine brought to my attention a very intimate reflection she'd had based on my last blog posting. This gave me pause and inspired me to thank all of you for reading this humble little spot on the interweb. You and I know full well that there are gobs and gobs of other ways that you could be spending your time, but that you take a moment to read these words and walk through the forest of my mind with me...well that touches my heart in more ways than you know. Here is a little thank-you gift to all of you.
Dear ones, lately I have been challenged to live in the moment, seize the day, and to "Bloom where I am Planted". I used to resent all of these sayings because I couldn't comprehend them.
How exactly can I live in the moment when there is so much still to be done?!
How was I supposed to be an effective person if I was living so much in the moment? How would anything get done?
How would dinner get on the table?
Do I really have to fly by the seat of my pants all the time?
What about that planner in me that likes to know what's coming next?
What about the obsessive yet dear spouse of mine that REALLY wants to know what is coming next and yet seems to be on a completely different plane with the whole "live in the moment" concept?...what about that?
What does 'bloom where you're planted' really MEAN?!
No one had an answer for me for any of these questions and if anyone took the time to talk to me about them, the only thing that I took away from the conversation was..."it'll happen for you eventually" or "don't worry about it right now, you have so much going on." While that is well and good, that STILL frustrated me even more since waiting for something to eventually happen still didn't help me to live in the moment because I judged I was looking forward to something and not living in the moment.
How exactly do you live in the moment when memories are constantly flurrying around you? Songs, books, words, smells, objects, things, people, cars, roads, SO very many things can conjure any kind of positive or negative memory that can take a person OUT of the moment at any moment and lead them off into nostalgia-land. Then at the same time, thoughts of the future or how things might be different, certain hopes, dreams, goals, aspirations, et cetera, can also take you out of the moment at any moment and your mind could wander. Then there's the every day duties that you MUST get done in order to stay hygenic...dishes, laundry, and personal feeding and washing, as well as any other family that might need help getting those things achieved. Some days can be full just doing those things...yet, how do we "bloom" in doing so?
All of these things frustrated me and thereby helped me to despise the little phrase "Bloom Where You're Planted" or "Carpe Diem"...how dare they suggest that to me when they couldn't fully explain it?! Sure, it seemed like a fine sentiment..."Yes! Carpe Diem, my boy!" (imagine that said in a 1940's high-pitched movie accent)...I even have a rubber wood-mounted stamp that makes the most beautiful "Bloom Where You're Planted" cards that I've given as gifts. But as many times as I've used that stamp, I resented it's message.
My resentment is/was a bi-product of my weaknesses...my own stupidity and lack of wisdom. The readings from a couple of weeks ago (find the readings at www.usccb.org for Nov 4, 2011) were extremely enlightening especially the second reading about Wisdom.
It got me thinking that the more we ask for wisdom, the more that wisdom will be given us. But definitely not in our time and definitely not when we expect it. All things in God's time and all things as He wishes. For those of you that choose not to believe in God, He is still in control, He's just given you the choice to choose Him or not. It's still your choice. That choice in itself involves wisdom...and risk. But I don't want to get too far off track by saying that by choosing not to love God, you are taking advantage of the free will that He has lovingly given you because He loves you. He loves you and He sees everything you do and He still loves you and forgives everything you do, even those things that do not bring Him glory. Just because you're choosing not to go to church or believe in Him, it doesn't make you better than anyone else and it doesn't make those that go to church any better than you. I just want to make that clear.
If church were meant for perfect people, it'd be an empty building.
Church is the BODY of Christ, Christ is the Head of the Church, Christ died for us, we are sinners, we are still sinners sitting in those pews. He comes down from Heaven to give Himself to us in The Holy Eucharist and give us His Grace to make it through in this crazy world.
It is through His Grace that we are given wisdom and through this wisdom that I have gained perspective on "Bloom Where You're Planted"...I'll enlighten you as best as I'm able.
To bloom where one is planted means that you simply need to work at being content where you are in life. Knowing that your choices have led you to this place can help. Knowing that you're only in control of YOU, your behaviors, your decisions, your body (most of the time), can also help you to bloom, to open up your petals, and be happy in the place where you are.
It helped me to remember what I learned many years ago in FAMILIA (Family Life In America - a Biblical and Encyclical study group for young mothers) that when we see our daily duties as offerings to God, that we are able to find peace and joy in those moments instead of seeing them as drudgery. Remembering this helps me to make the DECISION to be joyful, to offer up my frustrations, and to see the good in the things that I sometimes find mundane.
When things pop up that throw me off course, I really have to take a deep breath and pray. I have to do this a lot. I have to do this with my family and with things in life. But with each effort, I hope that it might become easier to do. Each time I take a deep breath and pray when times get hard or frustrating, I try to make the more charitable choice. I hope that you will too and that you can find the strength, as I am trying to, to bloom where you are planted.
God Loves YOU!
XOXO
Dear ones, lately I have been challenged to live in the moment, seize the day, and to "Bloom where I am Planted". I used to resent all of these sayings because I couldn't comprehend them.
How exactly can I live in the moment when there is so much still to be done?!
How was I supposed to be an effective person if I was living so much in the moment? How would anything get done?
How would dinner get on the table?
Do I really have to fly by the seat of my pants all the time?
What about that planner in me that likes to know what's coming next?
What about the obsessive yet dear spouse of mine that REALLY wants to know what is coming next and yet seems to be on a completely different plane with the whole "live in the moment" concept?...what about that?
What does 'bloom where you're planted' really MEAN?!
No one had an answer for me for any of these questions and if anyone took the time to talk to me about them, the only thing that I took away from the conversation was..."it'll happen for you eventually" or "don't worry about it right now, you have so much going on." While that is well and good, that STILL frustrated me even more since waiting for something to eventually happen still didn't help me to live in the moment because I judged I was looking forward to something and not living in the moment.
How exactly do you live in the moment when memories are constantly flurrying around you? Songs, books, words, smells, objects, things, people, cars, roads, SO very many things can conjure any kind of positive or negative memory that can take a person OUT of the moment at any moment and lead them off into nostalgia-land. Then at the same time, thoughts of the future or how things might be different, certain hopes, dreams, goals, aspirations, et cetera, can also take you out of the moment at any moment and your mind could wander. Then there's the every day duties that you MUST get done in order to stay hygenic...dishes, laundry, and personal feeding and washing, as well as any other family that might need help getting those things achieved. Some days can be full just doing those things...yet, how do we "bloom" in doing so?
All of these things frustrated me and thereby helped me to despise the little phrase "Bloom Where You're Planted" or "Carpe Diem"...how dare they suggest that to me when they couldn't fully explain it?! Sure, it seemed like a fine sentiment..."Yes! Carpe Diem, my boy!" (imagine that said in a 1940's high-pitched movie accent)...I even have a rubber wood-mounted stamp that makes the most beautiful "Bloom Where You're Planted" cards that I've given as gifts. But as many times as I've used that stamp, I resented it's message.
My resentment is/was a bi-product of my weaknesses...my own stupidity and lack of wisdom. The readings from a couple of weeks ago (find the readings at www.usccb.org for Nov 4, 2011) were extremely enlightening especially the second reading about Wisdom.
It got me thinking that the more we ask for wisdom, the more that wisdom will be given us. But definitely not in our time and definitely not when we expect it. All things in God's time and all things as He wishes. For those of you that choose not to believe in God, He is still in control, He's just given you the choice to choose Him or not. It's still your choice. That choice in itself involves wisdom...and risk. But I don't want to get too far off track by saying that by choosing not to love God, you are taking advantage of the free will that He has lovingly given you because He loves you. He loves you and He sees everything you do and He still loves you and forgives everything you do, even those things that do not bring Him glory. Just because you're choosing not to go to church or believe in Him, it doesn't make you better than anyone else and it doesn't make those that go to church any better than you. I just want to make that clear.
If church were meant for perfect people, it'd be an empty building.
Church is the BODY of Christ, Christ is the Head of the Church, Christ died for us, we are sinners, we are still sinners sitting in those pews. He comes down from Heaven to give Himself to us in The Holy Eucharist and give us His Grace to make it through in this crazy world.
It is through His Grace that we are given wisdom and through this wisdom that I have gained perspective on "Bloom Where You're Planted"...I'll enlighten you as best as I'm able.
To bloom where one is planted means that you simply need to work at being content where you are in life. Knowing that your choices have led you to this place can help. Knowing that you're only in control of YOU, your behaviors, your decisions, your body (most of the time), can also help you to bloom, to open up your petals, and be happy in the place where you are.
It helped me to remember what I learned many years ago in FAMILIA (Family Life In America - a Biblical and Encyclical study group for young mothers) that when we see our daily duties as offerings to God, that we are able to find peace and joy in those moments instead of seeing them as drudgery. Remembering this helps me to make the DECISION to be joyful, to offer up my frustrations, and to see the good in the things that I sometimes find mundane.
When things pop up that throw me off course, I really have to take a deep breath and pray. I have to do this a lot. I have to do this with my family and with things in life. But with each effort, I hope that it might become easier to do. Each time I take a deep breath and pray when times get hard or frustrating, I try to make the more charitable choice. I hope that you will too and that you can find the strength, as I am trying to, to bloom where you are planted.
God Loves YOU!
XOXO
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