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?

Photo courtesy of Thomªs

Cleaning the house never ends. I am constantly doing laundry, vacuuming, picking up toys, doing dishes, and the list goes on. The battle to keep the house in a reasonable condition happens every day, and with young children – 2 1/2 & 5 – the work load can seem insurmountable. I am trying hard to train my wee tykes to help me out with keeping the house clean. I hope to teach them responsibility and respect for our things. I also think that housekeeping is a life skill that they need.

Sheila at To Love, Honor, and Vacuum has lots of great tips to help you get the family – even the little ones – involved in cleaning up the house. I like one of her ideas a lot. She suggests organizing the toys to help kids clean up, and this is something I know works. In our family room I have the toys organized according to category in baskets. In the past I had them labeled so other folks could figure out the system, too.

Mommy Vignettes has a Hub Page,  How to Clean your House with Young Children. She also lists some practical, age appropriate ideas for enlisting your small children in chores. I particularly like the idea of having your kids help with sweeping and mopping the kitchen floor. I have my kids help me with this. They get to use the dust pan and small broom while I use the regular sized broom. Then I fill a large bowl with hot, soapy water. I add a bit of white vinegar to the water, too. (Sometimes I give the kids baking soda and a bowl of water instead.) The kids use sponges to scrub the floor by hand. I assist them and follow with kitchen towels to dry. Then the kids get a bath and Mom gets a shower! It is messy, but really worth it. (This kind of work is really great for kids with SPD, too.)

My last bit of advice for cleaning with small children is to prioritize. What matters the most to you on any given day? Do you need the toys to be cleaned up before everyone goes to bed? Does the kitchen have to be cleaned at the end of the day? Decide on an attainable goal for the day and focus on that. There will be many things that do not get finished. Be patient, though.

We read the story of Jesus being crucified a few times per A2’s request recently. I wrote about that experience in my blog post, Mom is Learning About Faith. She seemed intrigued by the story. A few days later C5, A2, & I were drawing pictures. A2 decided to draw a picture of Jesus being beaten.

While she was drawing, A2 explained that Jesus was “banged up” because He loves us, and He died for our sins.

I am amazed at her understanding. Before she started drawing, she told me that she wanted to draw the picture of Jesus. Often times when young children draw pictures, their ideas of what they are creating changes as they progress with it. But A2 did not veer away from her original idea the whole time that she was drawing. She was focused on showing me what she knows about Jesus.

If she’s doing this at 2, I can’t wait to see what she does when she’s older. God has an amazing plan for this little girl!

We have been home this week since the kids have been sick with fevers and a cough. Thankfully they have been in good spirits overall. It has been an opportunity to for me to watch them play. You’d be amazed by what you can hear when the kids don’t know you are listening.

The girls are fascinated by babies these days. Their play revolves mostly around baby behavior and mother-child interaction. They prefer to role play instead of using dollies for this game, though. One of the girls will play mommy and the other will be the baby. The baby will make some kind of mischief while crawling around the house, and the mommy will have to scold or redirect the baby. I have heard a lot of the language that I use when they play this game. It is funny to hear yourself in your children’s conversations!

The girls also really like the concept of nursing and soothing a baby. They have questioned me extensively about how it all works. I am honest and explain as much about the process as possible since I think it is really important to answer the kids’ questions at an age appropriate level.  They are so interested in this that they even nurse their dollies. Since I am not nursing a baby these days, it is intriguing to see them play around with this idea. I wonder why they are so fascinated by nursing.

I am curious to see what concepts the girls will try to tackle next!

Photo courtesy of Indiewench

I happy to report that my pooch is doing well. She was miserable with the Elizabethan collar and banged it on everything in an attempt to get it off. We gave in and took it off. So far so good with the wound healing.

The vet called with the report on the biopsy. This tumor was a grade 2, but he was confident that he removed the whole tumor and got good margins. I desperately hope that my dog doesn’t have to deal with anymore of this. It is sad.

The kids have been great with the dog. They have lots of questions about her “boo boo”, but they are being kind and gentle with her. Thankfully the whole experience hasn’t distressed them at all as similar dog injuries have in the past.

Our dog is part of our family. The kids love to play her and talk to her as if she is a human. With that in mind, I have been thinking about and dreading talking with my kids about our pet’s illnesses, injuries, and eventual death when those situations arise. We believe in being truthful and answering our kids’ questions in age appropriate ways, but I know that it will be difficult for me to discuss the honest questions that the kids will ask. Sometimes it is really hard to be the grown up!

My dog had surgery today.

When I brought my sweet dog in for her yearly check up, I asked the vet to check a lump that we found on her belly. He took a sample from the lump and called me later with some bad news. That lump was a mast cell tumor. It was a bit of a shock to me when he said that.

Cancer.

Apparently removing a mast cell requires removing wide margins of tissue, and thankfully the lump was on her belly because there is plenty of extra tissue to remove. After the surgery, the vet said that he felt strongly that the surgery went well. He sent a sample in to find out more information on the cell – whether it is a grade 1, 2, or 3. A grade 1 has the best prognosis. We’ll find out in a couple of days. Now we wait for her to heal.

When we found the lump, we didn’t think that it was a big deal. We didn’t even rush the dog to the vet. I encourage you to get your pet to a vet right away if you find a lump anywhere on your pet’s body. If you are interested in more information about mast cell tumors, please visit Kate Connick’s Courteous Canines, LLC.

Photo courtesy of Tom Purves

I have my check-up tomorrow afternoon. This poses a few problems for me.

1. I desperately DO NOT want to step on that scale. I know that I need to lose weight. I know that I need to exercise. I just can’t seem to do everything that I need to do in any given day. The last thing I want is a reminder about those things.
2. I HATE going to the doctor. It is just embarrassing to sit on an examining table in a Johnny while answering personal questions from a person who I almost NEVER see. I don’t even share those things with my closest friends.
3. I am scrambling for child care as per usual. We really have to do something about our lack of back-up babysitting. Again, I just don’t have the time to do it.
4. My day will be rushed and crazy because I have to somehow get the kids off to two different locations and one of those places is yet to be determined. Then there is traffic and parking. It is a hassle for me.
5. Did I mention how much I dislike going to the doctor?

I know I need to go for a check-up, though. I haven’t had a physical for a few years now even though I have seen a whole host of other doctors for various reasons pretty consistently now for two years. It is necessary.

I am praying that I am basically healthy aside from being out of shape. I always panic before a doctor appointment because I am afraid of hearing that there is something terribly wrong with me.

Photo courtesy of Brittany G

This is how I get my child with SPD out of the house on a really sunny day.

~My daughter wears either Hannah Anderson underpants because they are so soft or underwear form BJ’s because they fit her better than anything else I have found.

~Sundresses are the best attire for my daughter. They slip on quickly, and they are loose fitting.

~I make sure that everyone uses the potty before we go because my daughter often has tantrums, bites, or runs around out of control if she has to go. I even offer chocolate if there is resistance.

~We have a wide variety of shoes to choose from for my daughter. It depends on what she feels comfortable in on any given day. She has several pairs of sneakers that all have Velcro closures. Two pairs of the sneakers are a size too big and one is the right size. She also has two pairs of dress shoes. One pair has no buckle and it is a size too small. The other pair has a buckle and is the correct size.

~I use two kinds of sunblock. The aerosol spray is the quickest to cover all over and is our favorite for the body. The sunblock stick is great for the face because it doesn’t drip into eyes and the kids can apply it without my help. The last choice is the regular lotion kind. My daughter only tolerates the lotion, so I keep a bottle of it around if we’re in a pinch.

~The kind of hat that I have the most luck with keeping on my daughter is the fisherman type hat. They are loose fitting and have a good size brim.

~Sunglasses are often too dark. I buy the kind that have pink lenses instead. They still provide UV protection, but they don’t make the world completely dark.

~I pack snacks of various textures. Pretzels give a good crunch. Bananas are mushy. Raisins are chewy. I also bring water in a cup with either a straw or a valve. Sometimes I even bring chewing gum.

Maybe these tips will help you enjoy the warmer weather with your child with SPD.

Welcome to Fitness Friday! I’m starting this new series in order to keep myself on track with my fitness goals and hopefully encourage you along the way.

This week I went swimming with the kids twice this week. I definitely feel the results of the swimming! My shoulders and back are pretty sore right now, which means I am gaining new muscle. I am hopeful to get to the pool three times next week! It is a great way to exercise.

We also went for two short walks around our neighborhood. I miss the days when the kids would ride in the carriage because I could walk at a fast pace and I didn’t have to keep everyone on course. However, it has been great to stroll around with a couple of our friends. The kids keep each other company and the moms get a chance to chat. So far our walks have been spontaneous. Perhaps we will schedule them some time in the future.

I have been unsuccessful with getting to bed earlier most nights. I don’t understand why I’m not getting to bed since I am so tired at the end of the day. I suppose the I want to feel like I am a grown up. I have to get to bed earlier this coming week!

My new goal is to stop snacking at night. If anyone has a good suggestion for how to avoid late night munching, I would love to hear it. I need all the help I can get!

Photo courtesy of Tom@HK