by Sarah | Mar 30, 2014 | All About Family, All About Home, All About Kennedy, All About Me, All About Molly, All of Us, Blogging Life, Redefining Perfect, Sponsored
*Today’s post was sponsored by Fruitshoot. All opinions and lunch ideas are my own.
I have this special treat I love to do for my girls.
I don’t do it as often as I should, but then it’s not a treat, is it?
I like to make bento-style lunches for them.
I create sushi rolls out of sandwhiches, or just the meat and cheese. I add in vegetables and fruits, and the best part? They are so excited by the fun take on the food, that they happily eat all the healthy food I can pack into the meal…and even better? They eat more than they would if I just offered them a sandwich.
Today we’re heading out on an adventure for our first day of spring break. For my new job (more on that later), we’re heading out to a farm to check out the baby animals. The girls are so excited, but I’m going to surprise them with their favorite kind of lunches.
I’ve got all their favorites in there. Tomatoes, cheese, carrots, bologna, craisins, strawberry’s, yogurt covered raisins, and hard boiled eggs. I rolled the bologna and cheese into sushi-like rolls, and then made the [amazon_link id=”B00CDPNA70″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]kitten and panda faces[/amazon_link] out of them, too. I went with a “round” theme with the carrots to match the rest of the fruits, and mixed all the fruits, dried and fresh, together for them.
All of that is topped off with their (and my) newest favorite drink. Apple Fruitshooter’s!! They love the tasty drink, and that they can open them themselves (that whole independent streak they’ve got going) – and I love that handy little note at the top of the label “No Sugar Added”.
It’s a fun and easy way for us to all get what we want…and it’s a great way to get a drink into their lunches.
So how do you like to fun-up your kids lunches?
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Like Fruitshoot on Facebook
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*Today’s post was sponsored by Fruitshoot. All opinions and lunch ideas are my own.
by Sarah | Mar 26, 2014 | All About Kennedy, All About Me, Blogging Life, Pour Your Heart Out, Redefining Perfect, Top Ten Tuesday
I’ve never been a confident person (except on the stage).
I’ve never had that “it” factor that makes people popular, and I’ve never understood it.
I remember all too well the pain of being left out. The last called. The one no one liked. The one called “nerd”. The one told, by the one she thought was her best friend “I don’t like you,” after a bone-deep betrayal.
The pain that cuts deep in the eyes of youth. The pain that lingers long into adulthood and taints memories for years to come.
I remember so clearly the torture of late elementary and middle school. I was terrified to send my boy to middle school because of my experiences (but he survived unscathed).
*~*
Out of all my kids, I never thought I’d have to worry about Kennedy.
Despite her quirks and tendency toward tempers, she’s a bright and shiny, happy girl. One I thought was brimming with confidence and cheer.
I never thought she would look at me with tear-filled eyes and whimper those heart-wrenching words…
“Nobody likes me. They won’t play with me. They said they wouldn’t be my friend anymore.”
A shot to the heart that brought up so much pain for myself.
Worse, because it’s my baby.
And I want to fix it.
But is it fixable? How?
After a few weeks of contemplation, discussion, and talking, I attempted to email the teacher. I explained the situation, what had been told to us, with the full acknowledgment that I knew sometimes K’s temper could be a stepping stone. I asked the teacher for HER insights and observations…if she’d noticed anything. The only response? The guidance counselor calling to suggest Kennedy be placed in “Friendship Group” again…a group she’s been in every year that’s designed to help kids w/ issues making friends for various reasons.
No insights.
No help.
K seems happier now. She’s said that her friends agreed to be her friends again.
But I watch.
And I wait.
Praying that she comes out the other end on the good side of the emotional wall.
Knowing that I’ll be there whatever happens. Either with deep understanding of her pain, or joy that she has a freedom and happiness I never felt.
*~*
Written for Things I can’t Say’s Pour Your Heart Out
by Sarah | Mar 21, 2014 | All About Kennedy, All About Me, All About Molly, Blogging Life, Pinterest Challenge, Redefining Perfect
Time for another round of Pinterest Challenge!
This time I decided to take on a craft – and one my girls could participate in.
So we went with BALLOON BRACELETS!!
I actually just found this Pin a few weeks back. The original link is not currently working, so I can’t share it, but the premise was simple.
Elastic.
Twisty balloons cut into pieces.
I did add a detail. In order to make the stringing of the balloons onto the elastic run smoother, I put a safety pin on the end of the elastic. It made it about 100 times easier.
So I did a test run, in secret, away from the girls. I kept my color scheme simple, white, blue and green and slid them onto the elastic. I found myself sometimes struggling to get the balloon on, but overall it was pretty easy. When it was done, I tied the ends together, pulled one of the balloons over the tie and slipped that sucker on.
Other than making it a wee bit too tight for myself, I liked it.
(And to answer one of my reader questions – NO. The balloon did not tug on my arm hair.)
So a couple of days later, the girls got off the bus, did their homework and it was their time to try.
I gave them a short, five minute instruction and they were off!
They both picked it up really quick, although Molly was a bit faster to string on the balloons than her sister. Must be all that fine motor therapy she’s had over the years.
In the end, each girl had 3 bracelets and big smiles.
So of course, I have to say that this was definitely a Pinterest YAY!!!
by Sarah | Mar 17, 2014 | All About Kennedy, All of Us, Redefining Perfect
*You sang it, you know you did. The Addam’s Family theme song just danced through your skull. 😀
“When children die, they rot. Their skin falls off, and the worms eat them.”
“And the monsters creep under the house.”
“The ghosteses eat people.”
“And then the dead people came out of the ground, and they had skin falling off. And his eye was missing. And…”
“Children are zombies, too.”
Such are the examples of random snippets of conversation Kennedy has held with her sister, with us, and just with her own imagination.
She’s fascinated with Monster High “because it’s creepy”.
She watches horror movies with Erik.
I don’t know who this child is.
For while she might be a “mini-me” in appearance—she is all Daddy’s in her morbid fascination with death, horror, and the like.
I call her my morbid Kennedy.
But maybe I should just all her “Wednesday”.
Do you have a creep-tastic kid like mine? Please share, I’d hate to think I was alone in this.
by Sarah | Mar 10, 2014 | All About Denver, All About Erik, All About Kennedy, All About Me, All About Molly, Redefining Perfect, Special Needs
Every day I wake up, and my first thought is of my kids.
My first emotion is fear.
Will today be the day Kennedy gets sick? Maybe sick enough for the hospital?
Will today be the day Molly has a breakdown? Will I need to go to school because she isn’t manageable?
Will today be the day Denver ends up in the hospital…again?
Every parent has fears and worries, and mine aren’t “worse” – they’re just different.
But they’re real.
There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t suffer through the torments of worry. Whether through a passing thought, or an entire run through of possible calamity. Whether for one child, or another, or even all. Whether triggered by a cough, or a teacher email, or just my overall sense of awareness.
It’s always there, lurking, leering, waiting to pounce.
Every day I wake up afraid.
Every day I shove the fear aside and face the day.
I don’t have a choice, and I don’t want one. So long as I can push the fear aside I will. It’s a defense mechanism. Preparing me for the worst, so the every day can feel better for me. So I can see the bright side when things look horrifically dark. So when the worst does happen, I am prepared. I am ready for the hospital check in. I am ready for the teacher meeting. I am ready for the specialist appointment.
I’ll embrace the daily fear, as long as I can continue to see the daily joy.
*~*
Written for Things I can’t Say’s Pour Your Heart Out
by Sarah | Jan 22, 2014 | All About Kennedy, Cystic Fibrosis, Special Needs
One of those “perfect” dreams I had when I was pregnant, especially when I heard it was a girl, was doing their hair.
I couldn’t wait to braid and ponytail and twist and bun. I’m not kidding when I called it a dream – because I did actually dream of doing these things.
Several years ago I tried. As you can see in the picture, while I managed to make some complex hair styles, Kennedy had thin, thin, thin, hair with a few bald patches in the mix. In this picture, K is 4 years old.
Another problem she had is how insanely brittle her hair is. I have pictures of the back of her head where it looks like a hellish rats nest – freshly brushed. It is so brittle and harsh, it’s hard to believe.
Today my little beauty is nearly 8.
And her hair is, if possible, worse. After a brief period where her hair seemed to thicken, it’s once again thin, exceptionally brittle, and she has resumed the issues of bald patches. Currently, her hair is kind of really long – or at least part of it is. There’s been so much breakage, that it gets sort of thin at the end, and dead.
I’d love to attribute this to genetics, but neither Erik nor I ever had an issue like this. My hair gets brittle now because I’m such a ginormous fan of colorizing…but mostly mine’s very thick and healthy, and so is Erik’s.
So…we think it’s the CF.
We’re going to step up her vitamin regimen a little, and this weekend we’re taking her for a cute bob-style cut…but what else can we do?
I’d still love to be able to achieve the dream of doing her hair while she’s still young enough to want me to.
Or at least let her have the chance when she gets older.
Any tips, tricks, or natural remedies for thin/brittle hair?
(For reference, we have used the BioSilk product on her…yes, I know it’s not natural, but it’s AMAZING when we have time to do it…I use it on myself, too. Love that stuff, but it only helps with the dead ends and softening. I wouldn’t mind some equally amazing natural remedy!!)
I have this special treat I love to do for my girls.
