This is the first summer that we are sending C5 to camp. A friend of hers has offered a great deal to join her at the dance camp that she enrolled in. We had to do it when we found out that many of her buddies would be at that camp, too. I am excited that she will see her friends for a whole week and get a chance to try out all sorts of styles of dance without making a commitment to any one in particular.

She ended up LOVING her first day, but drop off was a disaster. She clung to me and cried, begging me to stay with her. I asked the director to just take her from me since I knew she would be fine if I left the room. Of course, she stopped crying as soon as I was out of ear shot, and she did great the whole time. Tomorrow will go better because Papa is dropping her off. I’ll keep you posted on how the week is going!

The focus of today’s Fitness Friday is finding more time in your schedule to exercise. In my case I have been forced into that scenario because the kids are not napping anymore. In the end I have gained more than I have lost from the new no-nap schedule.

I have an extra two hours in a day to get up and move now. We have spent nap time doing various things in order to keep the kids from falling asleep, especially after 3:00. On Monday we had “quiet time” and then went to Open Swim. We cleaned the entire house on Tuesday. On Wednesday we went shopping for a few gifts and spent over an hour walking around the store. Yesterday we moved furniture around, and today we cleaned up so I could vacuum up all of the mystery stuff we found from moving the furniture.

I’ve also had to incorporate more “Mommy directed” activity in the afternoon to help the kids stay awake until bedtime. We have gone for strolls around the neighborhood, and I even ventured out on a walk to the playground with them in the wagon (which is horrible to pull for a mile, but worth it for all of us). Another favorite activity is going to our neighbor’s house late in the day.

My next goal is to start doing yoga with the kids at least once a week. I know that we all will benefit from the stretching and muscle strengthening that comes with the practice of yoga. Maybe I will even improve my focus a bit!

Photo courtesy of Vimages

I remember when I was a child that my mother rearranged the furniture regularly. Did your mom do that? It was always a big project for us and pretty exciting when the work was done. I  liked the feeling I got after the job was finished.

Yes, folks, I have turned into my mother!

I rearrange the furniture in our home with each season and a few times in between. I try out new configurations in order to accommodate our family’s changing needs. The traffic pattern fluctuates during different seasons. As the children grow, I have to adapt the environment to meet their needs. Besides sometimes I am in this house for 36 hours straight! Why wouldn’t I move things around? I need to at least feel like I have gone someplace new!

It drives E nuts when I move the furniture! I guess his mom didn’t rearrange the house much when he was a kid. His big complaint is that I am tired and sore for a few days after pushing the couches, the piano, and such around. He doesn’t see the benefits at all.

I know that there are benefits from all that furniture shifting and switching. First, I know that the kids and I have a new perspective on life for a while when we finish. Throughout the process, we also find lost toys and clean up messes that we didn’t know existed. The house becomes more user-friendly, too. I like the sense of accomplishment that I get, and I think it is good exercise!

If by simply organizing my working and living space we end up staying in our current home longer and avoid an expensive renovation, I think that E should be thankful and encourage me to do anything I want with the decor!

Photo courtesy of youngthousands

My dad is my hero. Week after week he visits us and brings muffins to share. Then he spends the day helping with laundry, cleaning, and taking care of the kids. Plus he has a contagious laugh and a winning sense of humor! It is such a  joy to have him around. We have a standing date at this local hot dog place that the kids love to go to when he visits. He and the kids joke back and forth about where we are going for lunch. It is all part of the fun of it!

I have to start taking pictures of him with the kids. They are hilarious together, and my dad is a great sport about dressing up and pretending. Today he wore a crown at the tea party the kids set up. He helped the girls with their dress up clothes, too. It was precious to see them all playing together!

I also appreciate how my father tells stories. He talks about times he spent with my mom, times when I was a kid, and times when the girls were younger. My grandmother, his mother, told stories like that, too. I remember asking her to retell those stories over and over even though I knew them by heart. I just loved the experience of spending time with her and hearing about our family history. I’m happy that my children will have that same experience to look back on.

I treasure these days, and I am grateful that my kids will have memories of my dad visiting each week.

Photo courtesy of rocketjim54

The kids and I survived a weekend without Daddy! It really was a great weekend. They were both well behaved, and they even let their poor sick mother snooze on the couch while they played quietly. It was a great help for them to play so well together. I have been waiting for a time when they would play more independently, and it has come. They really are growing up.

One key to our success this weekend was my decision to eliminate their nap. They were sleeping for two hours, but giving me trouble at bedtime, sometimes staying up to 9:00. I kept them up one day to see what would happen. The girls were a bit cranky in the afternoon, but we saved TV time for that grouchy time. Then they didn’t fight me at bedtime. Now at bedtime they simply go to sleep. It has been the best decision I have made. But it is a sad moment in time. Now we have lost our nap – my precious time. And so it goes with growing up…

Photo courtesy of jefield

Today’s Fitness Friday is all about taking care of yourself  when you are sick. I have been pretty sick lately, but this week I somehow managed to get in some exercise. Maybe you’ll feel inspired, too.

~The kids and I have been taking neighborhood strolls. These excursions are nothing like the power walks I used to take when the kids were little and buckled into the stroller, but my energy level is pretty low with this awful cold. At least we are getting out and about.

~We had a spur of the moment soccer game in the backyard. The kids had a ball watching mommy run around trying to keep up with them! I think they had the advantage since they aren’t sick anymore.

~Of course, A2 and I had a swim lesson together. This week A2 swam to the deep end of the pool with out the barbell that we usually depend on to keep us afloat. That meant that Mommy had to work harder to keep up! We ended up swimming the length of the pool twice.

~This week we also were able to go on a hike at a local wildlife area. It was a lot of fun to explore nature and to get some exercise together as a family. It certainly wore the kids out!

I am hoping that I will be well enough to get back to the gym this week.

Photo courtesy of broma

On Sunday Dr. George Tiller, a doctor who provided late-term abortions, was murdered at his church. Abortion is such a controversial topic that I would normally not write about it, but I feel compelled to say a few words given the news of Dr. Tiller’s death.

I must confess that I have been grappling with this very topic myself for quite some time. I am an educated woman, and I enjoy the rights that have been fought for and won by other women before me. I choose to stay home with my children, a right that women did not have in the past. I know what abortion is, and I now how both sides of the fence view it. But this issue is more complicated than just the facts about what abortion is. It is an emotionally charged topic, and politics play into it all. It is not clear cut.

It is a great idea to research and understand a topic before you formulate an opinion. I have found a brief description of what an abortion entails at Daybreak Pregnancy Resource Center. If you are interested in reading about it, please go to their website, http://www.daybreakinc.org. (I’d rather not link to any website related to this topic.) By the way, Daybreak is a non-profit counseling and pregnancy center.

In the end, your opinion of abortion does not really matter. God tells us that murder is a sin. Period. He does not detail who is murdered and why; there are no exceptions.

You shall not murder. Deuteronomy 5:17

We are all sinners. We are not called to judge each other, though.

Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. “Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. Luke 6:36-38

We are called to love God and each other.

Jesus replied: ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ Matthew 22:37-39

I am saddened by this whole situation.

I will pray for others.

I will love others.

Will you?

It has come to my attention that Massachusetts Senator Karen Spilka is sponsoring an act to improve insurance coverage for children in Massachusetts.

Insurance will often cover rehabilitative services, therapy that helps a child to restore lost function. Currently there is a loophole in the law that allows insurance companies to deny coverage for medically necessary habilitative services. This type of service teaches a child to acquire a skill needed in order to function in age appropriate ways.  Occupational Therapists, Physical Therapists, and Speech Therapists provide these types of therapies. Closing this loophole means that health insurance companies will be required to pay for medically necessary OT, PT, and Speech Therapy. My daughter no longer receives services from our OT because our insurance company does not cover “habilitative” therapy.

If this bill is enacted, my daughter and many other children with SPD and other brain-based, genetic, and developmental disabilities will be able to receive these much needed services.

The hearing date for habilitation bill #70 is June 10, 2009. Would you consider taking action on this right now? Please call your state representative to voice your support for the habilitation bill #70. You can find out who your representative is here.

Photo courtesy of Eric Beato

My kids (A2 & C 5) and my nephew (P 4) were in the back seat of my dad’s SUV. We were leaving the beach one windy spring day, and we were talking about Jesus walking on water.

P – “The beach was fun, Auntie. I wanted to go in the water.”

Me – “It was too cold to go into the water today. We’ll go in the summer.”

C – “Jesus walked on water.”

P – “How did Jesus walk on water?”

C – “He just did.”

Me – “It was a miracle.”

P -”But how, Auntie?”

Me – “Jesus can do anything.”

P – “Jesus is alive. Can I see Him?”

C – “He used to be on earth, but now He’s alive in heaven.”

P – “Why is He in heaven?”

C – “He lives with God there. You can see Him when you go to heaven.”

A – “He’s in your heart, too.”

P – “Jesus is pretty cool!”

C – “Yes, He is! I love Jesus”

Photo courtesy of brett.wagner

Welcome to Fitness Friday! I’ve set goals for making healthy choices for myself, and I am committed to sharing my efforts with you every week. Hopefully you can keep me accountable, and I can encourage you along the way!

This week my kiddos were so sick, so getting to the gym was not a priority. What does a mom do when the gym is out of the question? Clean!

Regular housework can help you stay healthy since it reduces germs, burns calories, and relieves stress. Disinfecting the house will keep you healthy when the kids are sick. Go green and use vinegar to clean the house. You can can learn about the effectiveness of vinegar was a disinfectant at Care2. While cleaning the house isn’t going to replace a real workout at the gym, doing something physically active is definitely better than doing nothing at all. Just remember that you need to get your heart rate elevated while you are cleaning, so make sure you are working hard. You can find out more about burning calories while cleaning your home at Medicine.net and Everyday Health. Being organized also keeps you from being frenzied looking for things. You can read more about relieving stress by organizing your home at Ezine Articles.

Do you have any ideas for keeping yourself on track with your wellness when the kids get sick?