My 7 year old daughter was less than pleased with the birds that keep eating her strawberries.   We put a few windmills in the garden thinking  the movement would scare them away… no such luck.  Frustrated that the birds are eating all her fruit she marched into the house, grabbed her manikin head and plopped it down to guard her strawberries.   Creepy yes… just a little.  But  crazy as it seems the birds stayed away.

My 7 year old loves to read science books (lol she did NOT get that from me) she begs me to do science experiments almost everyday. In an effort to support her love of learning  I give her access to the supplies she needs (unless it to blow something up…lol).  It is amazing how excited she is about these simple experiments.

For example how much salt does it take to get an egg to float in water. Salt makes the water denser, so things that are  less dense than the salt water will float.  Start with a glass of water, and egg and table salt.  Add one tablespoon of salt in at a time and see how much it takes to make the egg float.

Since she is almost done with her current experiment book I was looking for another one to keep her busy once school is out this summer. I thought I would share them with you as well… or see if you have any to recommend.

Science in Seconds for Kids: Over 100 Experiments You Can Do in Ten Minutes or Less $10.17

The Everything Kids’ Easy Science Experiments Book: Explore the world of science through quick and fun experiments! (Everything Kids Series) $8.95

101 Great Science Experiments $8.99

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 What is a  Mommy Moment, click here

Do you ever have those days were you feel like your kids are on a secret  mission to see how quick they can make you lose it.  This past week I had a group of ladies coming to my house.   I was feeling a bit frantic about getting my house in order before they showed up.   It seemed that I would finish cleaning one mess, only to turn around and find my kids had made 2-3 more for me to clean up.

It was lunch time and my kids were getting crabby because they were hungry and I was crabby because I had so many thing  on my “to-do list”.  My4  year old asked if she could have Frosted Flakes  for lunch and I told her sure.  Yip….  I totally  fed my kids a sugar coated cereal and slapped the label of lunch on it (lol).  She was super excited and I was just happy for a quick meal solution.   I poured her a bowl of cereal then started loading the dishwasher.   She was eating with her Sip-N-Spoon and was happily blowing some bubbles in her milk.

I turned around to see milk bubbling over the side of her bowl, and her giggling at the giant milk bubble she just created.  She had never made them that big before.  She was BEAMING with excitement, but trying hard to not smile too big so she could keep blowing.  But at that moment all I could see was MORE work for me to clean up. Just then she said, ” Mommy  did you know vat (that) Frausted Fakes (Frosted Flakes) makes the bestest milk bubbles ever.  This is the best lunch ever”.  It was just enough to make me stop, and see the moment for what is really was and giggle with her.  She was not blowing milk bubbles to create extra work for me.  She was simply being a kid, and enjoying life.

One of the quotes I have hanging in my house helps me remember this, it says …. Life is to be Enjoyed, Not just Endured ~ Gordon B. Hinkley.

 I asked Matt to get our 2 year old ready so he could go outside and play.

This is NOT exactly what I was looking for…….  I guess this is a good reason my children have a Mother .

Well this is our 11th Mother’s Day together and after four kiddos it has gotten better after each one! I love you so much. I hope you have a good and relaxing day (and maybe stay off of A Thrifty Mom website for a day and take a break. You deserve it.

After our first – Matthew I thought we were in for one crazy ride. And we were, not relationship wise, although many times in a hardship of a very sick child, many do not make it. We did and never had any marriage issues.

After Mckeely was born it was so much fun. A cute little girl I could hold that reminded me of you! She was and is so special to both of us. And we realized what having a normal child was like with out having to be flown away to distant hospitals.

Then came Maleeya – and she roared into our life. She made her self known with her screaming and crying – when she wasnt eating. Cutest little thing and she would just look at us, until she realized she was hungry and demanded our attention. And she is still just as loud now as she was then.

Now with Maveric – a strong handsome little guy. He has brought so much laughter to us with his cute smile, and happy personality. Know that he is two he is showing us that he is the man of the house, as he climbs to the tallest shelf in the room, and yells ARRRGGHHHH – MMMMMAAAAAA!

And with each of these cuties you have been the main person to teach them, love them, and wipe their tears. You have taught them right from wrong, Yes ma, no sir. And how to thank others. You are their mother, and have been the best wife and mother to my children as I could of ever hoped for. Thank You so much for being who you are. I love you, Matt

My 4 year old did not know I was taking her picture because she was SO focused on holding still… so “Mr. Bee” would not see her and fly away.  I love her little brave face !

 What is a  Mommy Moment, click here

A got my 2 year old son a new jacket (yes the arms are still a little long).  He looks so stinking cute in it.  My 4 year old daughter came around the corner, saw him in his new jacket.  She smiled and then declared, ” Mommy my baby brother looks like a big boy,  It makes me want to squeeze his face and say U’s So Cute”.  Yes I have to agree…  a little “face squeeze” is always good for a Mommy’s soul

My daughter (age 6) lost 2 teeth within a 24 hour period.  So the tooth fairy came to her twice.  She loves the tooth fairy and giggles when she thinks of a tiny little fairy coming to visit her as she sleeps.  She writes notes to her, and the tooth fairy in return leaves her some pixy dust and a note, with a dollar for her tooth.

Her last note made me smile… and to think she wanted to share her money with her fairy (Little bell)…. so sweet!

Dear Little Bell,

I am sick and have pink eye.  

Do you have Teeth?

Do you have a tooth fairy?

How do you carry teeth?

Do you have other kids too?

How old are You?

Please take as much money as you want

 What is a  Mommy Moment, click here

Have you ever had one of those days were nothing seems to go as planned, and you feel like your kids are on a secret mission to see  what it is going to take to push you over the edge.  I was gathering up a few last minute things for an appointment when my 2 year old appears… 5 minutes before he was clean and ready to go.  Now he was a chocolate covered piece of work. I will spare you the details… but I think this photo speaks for itself.

Just wanted to let all you moms know you are not alone…. and we all have those days.

2 days later I now think this photo is kind of cute… and the moment it made me want to cry

What happens when Mom is busy getting the older kids on the school bus, and my 2 year old is hungry.   Feeling very much like a “big boy” he helped himself to a VERY large bowl of cereal and made sure every last piece was in place.  He was rather proud of himself…

 What is a  Mommy Moment, click here

I was blessed to grown up on a family farm, and have both sets of my grandparents live within 2 miles of my childhood home.  My Grandpa Ashby passed away when I as just 10 years old, and he was rather sick so I do not have many memories of him.  But I do remember that he LOVED his garden, and his flowers.  I remember as a little girl walking down across the 40 acre field to my grandparents home.  In the front yard I found my Grandpa sitting on the grass under the blossoms of his apple tree, planting  and tending his flowers.  I was a little startled because normally he was inside in bed.  But I had never seen him more alive and happy as I did when he was outside doing the work he loved.

Grandpa’s Shed I use to play in when I was little

My cousin now lives in my Grandparents home, I drive by often but have stopped  in probably 10 years.  This week I went to a baby shower held there.  I drove up and right away was greeted by the same flower blossoms that I remember as a little girl.  Grandpa has been gone for over 22 years now but his flower blossoms took me back in time, and it was almost as if he was there smiling at me just as he did when I was little.  But this time I was holding the hands of my little girls, as I walked… and told them about their Great Grandpa.  I am pretty sure he was smiling down on us, and happy to see us enjoy the beautiful tress he planted 40 years ago!

We love and miss you Grandpa!

Well we have been waiting for the April Showers to let up and the ground to dry just enough so we could plant.  Friday was a beautiful day. So we headed out to our local mom and pop nursery - Sweetbrier Nursery on 10th ave in Caldwell. Their plants are always so healthy ( and no I am not paid in anyway for my opinion – we just really like them). They are only open for a few short months in the spring.

Well we had so much fun picking and choosing what we thought would make a fun garden! Little Maveric comedered the cart:

He wouldn’t let go for any reason!

Maleeya loved smelling the flowers!

We planted, then planted some more…

• 80 feet of corn (in 2 rows total) (3 kinds of Sweet corn – Honey & Cream, Peaches & Cream, Bantam Hybrid)
• 2 mounds of Butternut Squash
• 2 mounds of Spaghetti Squash
• 2 mounds of Zucchini
• 2 mounds of yellow Squash
• 6 cucumbers
• 1 Celebrity Tomato
• 1 Beefy Boy Tomato
• 1 La Roma II Tomato
• 1 Sweet 100 cherry Tomato
• 1 Lemon Boy Tomato
• 4 Big Boy Tomato
• 4 La Roma Tomato
• 8 Broccoli
• 15 feet row Spinach
• 7 feet row lettuce
• 7 feet row Swiss Chard (white rib)
• 7 feet Finger Carrots
• 7 feet Rainbow Carrots
• 7 feet row Garden Bean
• 7 feet row Sugar Snap Pea
• 3 okra
• 2 artichoke
• 15 Strawberry
• 6 feet pole bean
• 2 pumpkin
• 2 watermellon
• 2 cantelope

Yep – That’s a ton… at least from someone who used to have to raised beds 4ft by 8ft…. Now that we have a larger yard we have room to try out our skills in a large garden! It should be a fun journey to see what happens in our garden this year!

You can read our full Garden Journey 2012, here.

]]> http://athriftymom.com/we-planted-our-garden/feed/ 4 http://athriftymom.com/wordless-wednesday-dont-take-my-stroller/ http://athriftymom.com/wordless-wednesday-dont-take-my-stroller/#comments Wed, 18 Apr 2012 21:00:11 +0000 A Thrifty Mom http://athriftymom.com/?p=105595

My 2 year old loves to play outside, pushing his car or his sisters baby stroller is one of his favorite things to do.  The other day it started to rain so I told him it was time to come inside. As you can tell by the look on his face he was not about to go inside… on the account of a few rain drops.

So do you have any idea what this cute little man likes to take for a ride?

You guessed it… his tools!!

Then he says “peaz tools”…. aka Mom, I want to keep playing with my tools can I please stay outside.

Who can say no to that cute little face… so we playing in the rain for a few more minutes!

We share many aspects of our life with our readers.  But this is just a small window into our very busy lives.  I often ask myself what I should and should not share in such a public manor.  Last year I mentioned to you a few times that I have not been feeling well.  Trying not to complain but the truth is,  the last year I have been sick more than I have been well.  My body has just been so “off” I would get over one thing only to come down with another.

But on top of being sick, I was dealing with a constant head ache, freezing all the time, shaky, dizzy, exhausted,  and forgetful.  I  am pretty good at putting on a “happy face” for the outside world, but was wearing down.  My doctor and I decided to look a little deeper and try and figure out what was going on.  Tests results came back and showed that my thyroid was not working as it should and my pituitary gland levels were off as well.  My doctor was concerned that I may have a tumor on my pituitary gland, which meant I needed an MRI. Being told you may have a brain tumor is not something one looks forward to hearing.  Having major head surgery is something I have done before, but would prefer to avoid again.

As if just this news alone was not stressful enough this month my son was in the ER after I found him in bed face down having a seizure.  I was on yet another round on antibiotics for a bad chest cold, I had a PH study done on my stomach, in which I got to wear a fancy tube hanging out of my nose for 48 hours.   Then to top it all off my hubby Matt ended up in the ER with blood presser 178/129 that he was unable to lower even after an aggressive round of meds.  At this point I am starting to wonder what else could go wrong. As I was laying in the MRI scan I realized  I had done this 20+ years ago as a small child … once again trying to figure out what was wrong.  I realized that it was the strength of  that little girl still inside of me that I find myself coming back to.  Knowing that  my Father In Heaven is aware of my trials, He hears my prayers and will give me the strength to keep moving forward.  And what I am doing now as a Mother of my own 4 little ones is SO IMPORTANT!  I need to teach them to know who they are, find strength, establish good habits, teach them to be strong,  be compassionate… because some day they too will be searching for answers on how to make it thru the challenges in life.  It will be their faith, and life lessons that will get them thru it.

I am happy to report that I do NOT have a brain tumor, but after more tests we found 7 spots on my Thyroid.  I have since had 2 ultra sounds and now planning to do a nuclear scan.  Being that thyroid cancer runs in my family these spots are not something to take lightly  ( my mom had cancer as well as her sister and several of her kids).

I still have many question that are unanswered maybe that is why I have waited so long to share this with you all… But I do know trials in life make one stronger and make you look at what is most important in ones life.

What is this little artist up to this week….?

I see a bit of mischief in her eyes.

I asked her what she was painting, she replied “nothing”

In walks little brother…

She then replies, “Well maybe I painted him just a wittle (little) bit”

Last week my sister came to visit from North Dakota, so all 6 of us kids spent the week together with our families.  Grandmas house  was a little crazy with 23 grandkids running about. The kids played together for hours on end, sang songs, did skits, made a mess, acted silly and had we a wonderful spring break. I took this photo of my niece while sitting on her Mama’s lap at the park.  I just had to share… she is simply adorable.  My sister was on bed rest for much of her pregnancy, and she had a bit of a rough start, but she was well worth the wait!

Mom : go get your toys picked up so we can go

4 Year old: Ok… but I am so tired

Mom: Hurry…. listening to the toys hit the bin one by one, then silence.  Did you get them all picked up?

4 Year old: My toys picked me up

Mom: What????  As I walk into the room…. to find her “picked up”

What is a  Mommy Moment, click here

I have learned that life is full of moments good or bad, happy and sad…I call these my Mommy Moments.  We have been very blessed these last few years. Many of you who have been following my blog recently… may not know that my son Matthew was born missing half his heart, he has hypoplastic left heart syndrome. He also has a history of seizures, but we have been off medication for a year.  We have been able to live a pretty normal life, free from the constant trips to the hospital that once consumed our everyday life.

This weekend we went to Idaho Falls so I could have some medical tests done and also attend the Time Out For Women conference with  Matt’s Mom and sister.  Matt, the kids, and I were all sharing one room at Matt’s parents house, we tucked our little ones into bed as normal.  Said our prayers, sang songs, gave teddy bear kisses and drifted off to sleep.

At 3:55 am I awoke to a very faint “gurgling” sound… In an instant my gut told me something was very wrong.  I quickly flipped the light on… I found my sweet little Matthew face down in bed, in a pile of his own drool, and non-responsive in what I could only guess what was a seizure.  Praying desperately in my heart that it was not a stroke,  I shook him firmly with no success in waking him. I called for Matt and told him to get dressed and that we needed to get Matthew to the ER, as to not startle the other kids.

This is a role we have played many times throughout his 10 years, in the darkness throwing on our clothes, gathering up medications, cell phones, as calmly as two very concerned parents can be …  then make that drive in the darkness to the hospital.  The drive always seems so long, often silent and left alone with our thoughts and fervent prayers to our Father in Heaven. As we get to the ER  I watch the strong arms of my husband tenderly grasp our limp son, wrapped in his fuzzy blue blanket, and run in the darkness to the ER doors.

Luckily for us, this time shortly after getting him admitted  to the ER, he finally opened his eyes.  Still unable to talk or move his limbs, at least we knew he was starting to pull out of the seizure.  It is one of the few times in life that a mother will welcome the cry of her little one … because the silence of a non-responsive child is one of the worst sounds ever.

After about a hour he was able to regain his speech and our sweet little Matthew seemed to be back to normal.  Unaware as to what happened to him or why he was in the hospital…. and why Mom and Dad were showering him with hugs and kisses.  We as his parents are once again given a firm reminder of how precious he is and what a blessing every day is with him.

Some of you may wonder why I would take photos during an event like this, and I am sure I will receive some criticism. My camera just happened to be in my coat pocket and I felt sharing my story would help other families that have gone through similar things feel that they are not alone. Having a child with special needs can be very lonely and you often feel you are the only one facing these challenges. Real life is much different than the images you see played out on your television set.

So Hug your little ones… this week’s Mommy Moment made me remember just how blessed I am to be given this courageous young man to call my son.

My kids love to set traps each year to try and catch those sneaky  little leprechauns since tomorrow is St Patrick’s day.

This years their traps were constructed from Granny’s recycle pile and a roll of saran wrap.

The bait,  legos and peeps…. I wonder what they will catch?

Thanks to $2.87 worth of random green and gold candy from the WinCo bins looks like we are going to have come happy kids in the morning.

What is a  Mommy Moment, click here

 The simple joy in having a tea party with your teddy bear… makes being a little boy  pretty amazing!