Hope and Prayer

I just dropped my kids off at school. I hugged and kissed them and I was okay. Until I started to drive away. I cried.

After reading about the shootings that happened in the elementary school in Connecticut on Friday I cried. I think that any parent who read about that incident cried and were horrified and sickened at the horrendous acts that occurred.

But I thought I was going to be okay today. In fact, I didn't even think about it until my children left my sight and I was no longer in control. And thats when I cried.

I hope that I have taught them well enough. I hope I have portrayed and instilled in them a faith in Jesus Christ. I hope that it has been driven home that should they ever be afraid or sad, they can pray and receive comfort. I hope I have raised them so that should a tragedy or disaster occur, they will be able, through Christ, to be a beacon of light, a proclaimer of hope, and a giver of peace to others around them.

I have an opinion on gun control. But this tragedy did not make me turn to that, or want to push an agenda. It showed me just how important teaching my children true principals are. It made me see how urgently I should help them to learn all they can of Christ and his gospel. Because when it comes right down to it, guns or no guns, things are going to happen. People are going to get hurt or die through natural disasters, human error, and human stupidity or wickedness.

How important is it to teach my kids to be more. To be above that. To know there is a God, and through his son all man kind can be saved. That they can know how to receive comfort when comfort is required, and that they can walk uprightly before him. That is my hope and prayer. That I have and can continue to teach them of Christ.

So will I pull my kids from school and homeschool? No. I have thought of homeschooling before and may consider it in the future. But if I homeschool it will not be out of fear. Fear has no grounds when faced with the light of Christ.

I'm that weird granola lady...

Like you all didn't know that already. There are very few times when people figure out that I've had all three of my kids at home that I don't get a "Really?!" (said like, "Are you freaking crazy!") So I guess it's no new news. But unfortunately I'm just getting more crazy. ;)

In early September I decided to make my own laundry soap. Emma's always had adverse reactions to most laundry soaps, and smells, and dyes. Her skin seems to be doing better now, but I wanted to try a homemade kind and see how I liked it. I used this recipe  and I have to admit, I LOVE it!! I made about a 1/3 of a batch the beginning of September and I have still have enough to make it until January. So a full batch should last you a whole year, and it cost around $40 to make (depending on the scent things you get), and it doesn't have all the harsh chemicals. Its awesome! I love the smell, the way it cleans, and how it leaves my clothes.

Next in my weird granola lady stuff....

See this

 This is my forehead and the lumps and bumps that have been on it for the past year (sorry about the bad picture. They're there, I promise). They are mostly around my hair line and they will not go away. They are not pimples or boils, I really have no idea what they are. And all I can figure is they must be a reaction from chemicals in my shampoo. So the other day I came across this site. That's right, I'm going to no shampoo. It sounds crazy (it may very well be crazy), but I'm hoping by getting rid of chemicals and using natural things that these stinking bumps will go away. Also it's suppose to make your hair super awesome (after about 3 weeks), and that would be nice too, since my hair naturally dried is psycho.
Here it is today-

(hello white face)

Not too bad right? That's because its not dried naturally, its was dried in two french braids. I really need to get a picture of it air dried right out of the shower. It's horrible. So there you go. Tony told me that he's okay with me going on this "no shampoo" adventure, as long as he gets to have the veto, and as soon as I start to stink or something he's calling it. :) I was good with that. I don't want to stink.

Last granola thing--
Fox is suffering from some type of yeast infection. Wahoo? So for the past 2 weeks we have become a no sugar no white flour family. Let me tell you it is NO FUN! We enjoy making delicious foods and stuff, and no sugar or white flour kills a lot of what you want to eat. However we have found some pretty cool recipes like hot chocolate made with agave, whole wheat pizza dough (I used all wheat and honey instead of sugar), and we switched out wheat flour for white flour in a lot of our other recipes. It's been working out pretty well, but still hard when I want those cookies or cakes (of course I still eat some of those when the kids go to bed, wahahaha!)

My favorite part though, was today Fox was in the bath and making me pretend food to eat. When I would ask him for cookies, candies, cakes or ice cream he would deny me those foods because "dey will make your bottom hurt"and "dey have sugar in them." I have trained him well...we've got to get him over this junk ;)

Sassy

I had three incidences with the kids today which showed their incredibly sassy side, but still made me giggle.

#1-
I made toast for breakfast, but evidently it wasn't enough. So while I was running around getting things ready, I gave Emma permission to make more. I had taken the bread out of the freezer just a few minutes before so it was still very frozen, and I'm pretty sure the temperature or time gage was very low. Being a good and helpful girl she took two pieces of bread and toasted them in the toaster. When they popped up I noticed that they didn't seem very browned but she buttered them and then happily gave one to Fox and started eating the other.

 Fox looked at his barely warmed toasted and replied, "But Emma! You have-a cooked it first!!"

But then, in true Fox fashion, happily ate the toast.../bread.

#2-
Emma is really into dancing and singing right now. Tonight she came in a said, "I love to sing, Mom!" (After listening to her make up nonsense/slightly-annoying words and strange noises/singing for the past two days I was a little afraid of what was coming.)
I then had a short conversation with her about singing, and she sang me a song (in the same fashion that Buddy the elf sings on "Elf" to his dad when they first meet) that went something like this:

I love my Mom!
My Mom is great!
My Dad is great too!
And I love my Dad!
My Mom and Dad are the greatest Mom and Dad that we have in our family!!

Which was so sweet but made me giggle a little. But I laughed even more when Liam snottily yelled from the other room, "Mom and Dad are the only Mom and Dad we have in our family!" Laughed and then scolded the boy for pointing out something that could have made his sister feel bad. It didn't. She just giggled to herself and then when about her business.

#3-
Right before bed Tony turned on some music for Emma to bust-a-move to. She showed us her dancing skills, including a new dance style she made up called "karate dancing." It may be the new rage. Hi-Ya!

As all kids do, she kept saying, "Mom! Mom! Watch me!" and then would dance some more. Being late (okay only 7:45ish, but I was tired!!), I laid my head on Tony's shoulder and watched him messing with his phone while it was blasting out the music Emma was dancing to. My eyes had been off Emma for .2 seconds when she said, "MooOooM! Watch me! I'm the one dancing not the music!!"

Sassy kids!! But so silly.

In another unrelated--well slightly related...but mostly unrelated--story, Fox is growing up and it's killing me. But before he loses his toddler sayings I figured I had better write them down. Or at least the one I remember. Fox use to (rarely any more :(   ) use the phrase "yes-a-do" constantly.

If you were telling him, "You can't have an apple because we don't have any." He's reply would be "yes-a-do!"

"Fox, I don't want a stuffed animal on my head."
"Yes-a-do!"

"I don't think we can go to the park today."
"Yes-a-do!"

It was my favorite. But it's slowly being replaced with actual words. Ridiculous. He needs to stop growing up. :)