This is the Day

I'm off to an early morning meeting so I don't have much time.

But I wanted to give you something inspiring and lovely to begin or end your day with, depending on what time you're reading this.

Several years ago, when the Bird was about a year old, I went to a Beth Moore event in San Antonio.  For those of you unfamiliar with the wonderful Beth, click here to get to know her.

Beth's worship leader, Travis Cottrell, sang a wonderful song that touched my heart, my soul, and my mind that I have never forgotten.

I thought I would share it with you today.

Because God loves you.

Enjoy the day He has made.  Rejoice and be glad in it.

Travis Cottrell "This is the Day"

Oh Yes, They Call Her "The Streak"

Lily is now in her fifth week of occupational therapy and is finally starting to get more comfortable at the new clinic.

In fact, she may be getting a bit too comfortable.

Typically, when we pull into the parking lot of the clinic, the Bird starts fussing and making it quite clear that she does not want to be there.  Really, this isn't unusual for any kind of kid simply because it's something new and unfamiliar to their regular routine.  I knew it wouldn't take Lily long to settle in and realize that OT isn't so bad.

So when I pulled into the parking lot yesterday morning, I was really excited to see that not only did she not fuss, she got out of the car very willingly and just happily walked inside, holding my hand.

The therapist led Lily back to the gym area and I breathed a huge sigh of relief, thinking we had finally turned the corner.  I felt fairly confident that it would be a good session.

You'd think I would learn.

Those feelings of confidence usually come back to bite me in the... ahem.... fanny.

Lori brings the Bird out to me after the hour is up.  With my voice full of hope, I ask, "Sooooo.... how was it?"

Lori smiles sweetly and says, "Welllll...."

This is not a good sign.

I just dropped my head into my hands.  I say, "She came in the door so nicely.  I just knew today's session was going to be good."

It turns out that Lily is acting like a typical kid and is testing Lori.  I can just hear the little voice inside her head saying:

"Well hello, Lori.  You're new around these parts, right?  So what are you going to do if I run away from the art table?  Or if I eat the crayon?  Or if I jump off the swing as soon as you turn your back?  And if you ask me to do something I don't want to do, I'm going to throw a tantrum.  Ooooo - doesn't that scare you?? You don't want to make me cry now, do you???"

Lily just wants to make sure that Lori has boundaries and that she isn't afraid to enforce them, even if Lily throws a tantrum.  If she just sticks to her guns, Lily will give up and cooperate.  Or at least, for a little while.  She'll continually test off and on just to keep Lori on her toes.

So this is pretty much how the Bird does everyone.  Not much new information there.

But then Lori managed to surprise me.

It turns out that Lily is engaging in a new behavior that she evidently saved up just for OT - and this is where the too comfortable part I mentioned above might be coming into play.

Let's see... how can I put this?

It appears that the Bird decided a fun distraction from participating in therapy activities would be to quickly yank down her shorts and Pull-up and take off running at top speed around the gym.

Nice.

My child is a streaker.

And this did not happen just one time yesterday but three times.

Of course, seeing the reaction of the therapist is what makes this activity the most appealing but tell me - how are you not supposed to react to a naked child running around a gym??

I'm telling you -trying to stay one step ahead of this child requires some serious brain power and creative thinking.

My solution?

I'm off to the outlet mall today to purchase some overalls for the Bird.

Wonder if I can write these off as a therapy expense....

Going Bananas

I'm going to confess something to you this morning, OK?

I love bread.

Like, I really love bread.

It's definitely more of a weakness for me than candy or ice cream.  I think it might be an even bigger weakness for me than chocolate.

But I'm not really talking about your average bread.  I'm talking about homemade bread.  Warm, straight from the oven.

And I'm also referring to homemade bread's cousins - rolls, biscuits, cinnamon rolls, quick breads and donuts.

And of course, homemade bread's extended family members - cakes, cookies, and brownies.

Maybe I should just say my weakness is for baked goods.  That might be more accurate.  And dangerous for the waistline.

Anyway, today let's focus in on the quick bread branch of the Bread Family Tree.

I have an awesome recipe for plain old banana bread.  It's really good.  It's easy.  And it turns out perfect every time.

Yet I'm always on the hunt for other banana bread recipes.  I mean, most things can be improved, right? But it always seems like we're disappointed and most other banana breads just aren't as good as the original.

I still can't seem to help myself from searching, though.

It's frustrating for my family members.

They are perfectly content to go through life, eating our same banana bread recipe, never wondering while they're eating it if there just might be an even better banana bread out there.

Those of you who follow me on Facebook know that this family controversy was recently shared by my oldest, Ryley.

The Facebook conversation went a little something like this:

So you can see that Ryley was being a banana bread snob and wasn't really excited about me making chocolate banana bread.  

But she changed her tune after sampling some.

Then the scene at my house started to get a little ugly, as you can see from yesterday's Facebook conversation: 

I can't remember the last time I made plain old banana bread and a fight ensued over the last piece. 

So while I will continue to make plain old banana bread, the chocolate banana bread has rightfully earned a spot in the permanent recipe rotation.

For those of you wanting a recipe that might actually bring your children to blows, here it is:

Chocolate Banana Bread

Break out the boxing gloves and enjoy!

I'll See You Tomorrow

The Bird's school is closed today for therapist training so you know what that means.

She's home with me today.

And you know what that means.

No time to sit and write a post.

We're heading out to walk the hike and bike trail at Town Lake.  However, Lily will not be the Princess of the Trail like she was Saturday morning:

This is what happens when grandparents come along for the walk.

This morning, Lily will ride the trail in the comfort of the jog stroller, eating snacks and people watching while I huff and puff for 4 miles, trying to keep moving at an acceptable pace for her.

On second thought, she just may be the Princess of the Trail.

Have a good Monday!

Random Thoughts

There are a few things I want to tell you today but none of them are really connected so instead of trying to weave together a cohesive post with one paragraph flowing nicely into another, I'm just going to list my thoughts.

The no-heat hair video I showed you last week.

Have any of you tried this?  I only tried it once and didn't have much luck.  But I think I know why:  I didn't brush my hair out after letting it air dry even though she said to.  I'm a rebel that way.  The result?  Ratty looking curls.  So I'm going to try it again and this time, I'll follow the directions.

Dentistry.

This is on my mind for obvious reasons.  Why isn't there a product for children that removes tartar, cleans teeth, and freshens breath while chewing?  And not gum, either.  Something that's perfectly fine to chew up and swallow.  Obviously, the goal is to have all children brushing and flossing. But for some of us, dental care is next to impossible.  So wouldn't a product like this be better than nothing?  I mean, they have something like that for dogs.  Aren't kids teeth that much more important?

Easy Lunchboxes Give-Away Update.

I briefly mentioned that since we now have 101 followers, a give-away would be a great way to celebrate.  I've talked several times with Kelly Lester of Easy Lunchboxes and she is an absolutely lovely person.  I feel like I've made a new friend!  Anyway, she's running very low on product due to back-to-school purchasing (a wonderful problem for a business owner!) so she is more than happy to do a give-away for us but it will probably be in early November.  So keep checking in for more details.

Pinterest.

Oh my.  This is a dangerously addictive time suck - don't say I didn't warn you.  I have fallen in absolute love with it.  Basically, you create personal online bulletin boards.  Say you come across a great recipe or a fun craft idea.  You just "pin it" onto your board.  Then you can go back and look at your board when you need a good supper idea or you're feeling crafty.  The possibilities are endless - fun quotes, beautiful hairstyles, ways to decorate your home, organize your closet, books to read.... I could go on and on.

Good Game Idea for the Kiddos - Balloon Ping Pong.



I think the how-to of this is pretty self-explanatory.  Great for all the kiddos, but especially those with special needs and slower reflexes.  Good for working on eye-hand coordination and turn taking.  You wouldn't even really need a table.

Parents Magazine Blog Awards.

Don't forget to vote.  Use that cute pink button to your right.  And pass it along, too.  Thanks a bunch!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Here's the Post You've All Been Waiting For...

So the dentist appointment went better than I thought it would.

Isn't that always the way it is?  The worry before the "event" is usually worse than the "event" itself.

You want to know the main reason that it went well?

Lily didn't officially get all her teeth cleaned.

In fact, I doubt that half of them got cleaned.  And considering she's only got 20 teeth, you would think we might have accomplished more.

But she wasn't having any of it.

So here's the scene before the dentist made her appearance:

We let Lily have the iPad once she got settled in the chair.  You can tell from her pose that not only is she quite the lady, she also has no clue what's about to go down.

Now she is wearing headphones and checking out the TV that is right over her head.  Pretty cool stuff.  Again, the dentist has not arrived so it's all just fun and games.

I'm going to go ahead and tell you right now that's all the pictures there are.  I had to put the phone down so I could become the official leg/foot holder.

The hygienist had a go first.  

She showed Lily all the cool tools that a dentist uses.  The only one that Lily seemed impressed with was the water gun thing.

Looking at the tools is one thing.  Having them in your mouth is a whole different story.

The hygienist managed to get two teeth cleaned before she decided that she would pass this job along to the person who makes the big bucks.  

The dentist.

The cute little dentist came in and decided the chair wasn't going to work and we needed to get in a better position to get more leverage and really get a look at those teeth.

She managed to get a bit more done - looking at all the teeth, determining there were no cavities and doing a quick fluoride treatment.

And then she called it done.  And by she, I mean the dentist.  And Lily.

So all in all, I guess you could say it was a success.  

I mean, I wouldn't consider it a success if I was the patient.  

But, then again, I don't need someone to hold my legs while I have my head in the dentist's lap and I'm biting down on every tool that's put in my mouth and not letting go.

So I measure the success like this - all fingers on every person present are accounted for, we do know that Lily has no cavities, we did get some fluoride on her teeth, neither Lily nor myself needed laughing gas and she never screamed bloody murder or cried while giving Ryan and I the stink eye.

That's a good visit in my opinion.

Now, the goal of the dentist is that the first visit is now out of the way.  Lily got a taste of what going to the dentist is like and next time, she'll do even better.

And to that, I say, "Fat chance."

I bet laughing gas will definitely be in order next time.  

In fact, I'm putting in a request for it right now.