no flash

Yes, "no flash" pretty much describes me. But what I mean is that this picture involved no flash. ;)


This is my entry for You Capture over at I Should Be Folding Laundry. Good, cheap fun, these blog carnivals....

dreamy monday

Goodness is here, you shall not be lonely,
All through the night;
'Tis nothing else which guards you only,
All through the night.
- anonymous

my baby, future math geek

This is silly, I'm sure, to all you non-math-geeks. You may even count yourself lucky that you don't "get it."

This morning my 2 year old, when offered smoothie for breakfast, countered with:

"I want not-smoothie. I want sweet potatoes."

high fructose corn syrup, it's not just plain unhealthy, it's poisonous!

That's meant to be slightly cheeky, but it's really probably true. You probably heard last month about the 2 studies that found traces of mercury in 1/2 to 1/3 of many processed foods that have HFCS. Here is an interesting discussion on how the FDA is (not) responding, and the tendency of big business to spin things to their favor.

Sally needs

I've done this in the past for fun, but never have I gotten such splendid answers. That first one, no lie, was the first result on google. ;)

Type in your name and the word "needs" in a search engine (e.g. "Katya needs") and type (or cut and paste) the first 10 things that come up.

1. Sally needs a suitor who is capable of tending to her dreams and is willing to be second priority so that the people can come first
2. Sally misses Brad, and wishes he could come back to her
3. Sally needs your help!! As soon as the WCSPCA gets a new dog then Sally will be put down!!!
4. Sally, a special needs student
5. Sally needs to decide how quickly she wants to get her hands on the money
6. Sally needs ..to get a life, obviously! Or I wouldn't have been sucked into this game.
7. Sally needs to measure out exactly 6 cups of water, but she can find only 2 containers.
8. Sally needs to adjust to her new speed.
9. Sally needs your help. Every month she works hard and earns a decent living, but she. always struggles at the end of the month to pay her bills
10. Sally needs sleep now and exercise tomorrow

That was the funnest thing I've done in a while!

Gnomes

Gnomes by Wil Huygen

My review

My favorite line so far (aside from the fun illustrations):

"although the female gnome has a substantial bosom, decreased gravity (at her height) allows her to go through life unencumbered by a brassiere."

View all my reviews.

Early Childhood Fun

I love the Write Start for her playful, sensory, no-pressure approach to immersing a child in literacy.

Play is a child's work, and it's how they learn from, communicate with, and relate to the world.

Lately, Firecracker and I have been “playing” lots of games. This is how it goes:

Firecracker: “shall we…. play cookies?”

Me: “sure” gets cookies down.

F: opens, dumps out, lets me touch a few of the cards, maybe a spoon, then sings “CLEAN UP, CLEAN UP!”

And we put it away.

F: “shall we…. play…. Scidoo?” (Scooby Doo)

Me: “sure” gets Scooby down.

F: opens, dumps out, lets me touch a few cards, identifies Scooby and Shaggy, then sings “Clean Up, Clean Up!”

And we put it away.

F: "shall we.... color?"

Me: "sure" gets out paper and crayons, draws a face with a belly button, in the color she chooses

F: "clean up, clean up!"

And we put it away.

F: “shall we… play… Castle?”

You can imagine things from there. Thing is, we do this a LOT. At least a dozen times a day. She’s insatiable.

On the one hand, I love that we’re getting one game down at a time, and cleaning it up before we get the next one. I love that we can just sit together and be. I love that I’ve finally got the maturity to understand that all children need a part of their day where they completely call the shots. It’s fun to reflect back the words she says, and in that simple act, watch her learn and process her world and get excited about new words. It's even more fascinating to hear her "get" bits of grammar, simply by listening to me speak to her.

But sometimes I want to get up to use the bathroom without her screaming "Come HERE!" :)

You're so weird

In the "you're so strange" category, I just discovered that my worms have mites.

And I've decided to try kefir juice with some of my grains.

:) Wish me luck!

healthy habits

A group of gals I met through wiiFit Friday are checking in weekly to help each other lose weight. They each have a concrete amount of weight they want to lose, and specific plans for achieving. I don't happen to fit that mold because I don't want to make weight loss or a number of pounds my primary goal. Why? Good question.

Last summer, a friend did a health challenge where we gave ourselves points each week if we followed the weekly assignment. Things like drink x amount of water, exercise 1 hour more than normal, take your favorite dessert and make it healthier, only eat 3 desserts (that week), read your scriptures every day with wellness in mind, try a new activity (aka exercise), repeat your challenge of choice.... You get the idea. It was a fabulous experience because of the specific focus of each week. And she procured actual prizes at the end of the 10 weeks. :)

It was nice to take a week where I did everything like normal (i.e. without having to think too hard), but focus on one change. I really noticed how much better I felt when drinking more water for that week.

I think I (like many people) think about the things I need to do in order to be healthier or more organized or whatever, and try to make too many changes. I also think that I choose what changes I need to make based on others' ideas, and not my own personal "what works best for me."

So focusing on one change a week and just experiencing it was quite valuable. As in educational. I haven't lost any weight since then! lol

Changing back to the original subject: a group of gals I know are checking in with each other every Friday and all of them have specific weight goals and methods to achieve them. I wanted to participate, except without the specific goals. I want to continue the study of last summer.

For February, I have decided to journal my activity and eating - what am I really doing and how does it make me feel? From that, I can choose a goal for March. Does that sound like cheating? Too vague? I'll let you know what I think. Later. ;)

dreamy monday

The day is done, may kind night spread
Her gentle wings o'er heart and head.
Rest for my body, peace of mind,
In sleep's calm haven I will find.
Bright dreams will come to welcome me
Into the land of memory.
Then shall to-morrow's love bring light
After the dark of this good night.
- anonymous