National Day of Prayer
Tomorrow (May 1st) is the annual National Day of Prayer. Groups are joining in prayer all over the country (Click here to find a prayer gathering near you), but if you can’t make it out, you can have the same impact praying right where you are.
It doesn’t take a religious theologian to see that our country is in trouble in many different respects. Let’s join together tomorrow and ask God to bless and protect our country.
Review of Portishead’s new album, Third
Well, this is more like random thoughts than a cohesive review, because that’s how my brain works. If you don’t like it my next two blog posts are free.
I’m posting video links, but if any of them don’t work, go to youtube and do a search for Portishead and the name of any of these song titles below. That is, until the music licensing people get wind of it and swat the videos like flies. More will pop up in their wake, though, I’m sure.
Starts out with a man speaking Portugese, (according to LyricWiki) then transcends into a dreamy song similar to some of their old stuff (strings in background, vocal style). Is is just me, or are the drums distracting? I’m not wild about this one.
Easily my favorite off the album. Sounds like it would fit right in on the Pulp Fiction soundtrack. Jay said it reminded him of something from a Bond movie.
The vocals and guitar juxtaposed with the tribal, driving bongo beat makes me think twilight zone vs. sexy hula dance. I like it, though.
Starts out pretty and simple, but they lost me after the keyboard came in.
I could do without the helicopter noise.
That one annoying keyboard note is a bit like chinese water torture, but I have to admit, this song is growing on me. It’s just BEGGING to be remixed into something you could dance to.
Holy cow. A ukulele. I just don’t know what to say about it. Unexpected.
Industrial beat gets kind of boring by the end of the song. I know this one’ll probably be a single (judging by the fact that there’s a video, I guess it already is), but if this is the first song of Portishead’s that I heard, I don’t think I’d like them. Feels uninspired.
Is this Jefferson Airplane (that vibe starts about 2:28 in)? Wow.
Between the cowbell and the wonky off-time drumbeat, this is just not my style. Jay (my husband, an accomplished drummer/percussionist) says it’s in an unusual time and it doesn’t flow well. I agree. This feels like the musical equivalent of watching a fish flop around on dry land.
Another one that is growing on me. Hello again, Grace Slick!
Where we’re at with Gabriel’s Sensory Issues
We’ve had a good month or so with Gabriel. Things seem to be getting better discipline-wise, although he still has a bad day every now and then.
(a quick aside – if you’re just joining us, you can see the whole saga here.)
Anyway, OT is going super-well. His therapist recently told me that she’s going to graduate him from the program in the next 3 to 6 months. It’s absolutely amazing how much he’s progressed with OT in the last 5 months. He couldn’t cut a straight line (or a crooked line, for that matter), and now he can cut circles. He’s consistently holding his crayons and pencils much better. His gross motor skills seem to be improving, as well.
His speech therapy is going swimmingly as well. He is mostly understandable now by anyone. He still has many things that he mispronounces, but he’s getting better all the time.
The thing that we’re working on with his speech therapist right now is concepts – sequencing, answering ‘W’ (who, what, where, when, why) questions, finding what’s wrong with a picture, etc. Jay and I are working diligently every day with him to increase his understanding in these areas. He’s getting better, but there’s still room for improvement.
Mailing your first letter
So, I’ve been looking for opportunities to teach my kids everywhere I can. Today I decided to teach Gabriel about writing and receiving mail, and the USPS. First I showed him this video about how the USPS works. Then, we collected envelope, stamp, paper and pen and I told him we were going to write and mail a letter to Grandmother and Granddaddy. He was excited. (“This is gon’ be awesome!” he said at one point.) I asked him leading questions about his day and asked him what he wanted me to write to them. With some prodding, he talked and I wrote. Tomorrow we’re going to take the letter to the post office. I hope by the time my parents send a letter in reply he hasn’t forgotten about the whole thing (we live several states apart).
I’ve been looking around for other resources to expound on and/or reinforce the mail theme and this is what I’ve found:
Online
- Publication (PDF) from the USPS about their history, including a section about how a letter travels.
- The National Postal Museum has some great resources for educators, including games and coloring pages. This site also has a good but long video on the history of moving the mail. There’s a wealth of information on this site, so dig around a little.
Books
- A Day With a Mail Carrier
- Where Does the Mail Go?
- The Post Office Book: Mail and How It Moves
- Dear Mr. Blueberry
- Dear Annie
- The Jolly Postman
- Bunny Mail: A Max & Ruby Lift-the-Flap Book
- How it Happens at the Post Office
VHS/DVD
Portishead’s new album
My gosh, I’ve been so out of the loop. I am just finding out that one of my favorite bands of all time, Portishead, is not only back together, but is coming out with a new album (due out tomorrow).
Portishead, for the uninitiated, is a trip-hop band from Bristol, UK. Think electronic with sexy vocals. Mandatory cool-kid listening (in my not-so-humble opinion). The last album they released was over 10 years ago.
Will the band live up to its iconic image in their third album (incidentally, titled “Third”)? I’m sure ready to find out.
Read the rest of this entry »
Day at the Zoo
We took the kids to the zoo today, and we had a really good time. What a thought … could my kids actually be getting to the age where going places with them is enjoyable? Read the rest of this entry »
Storms
We got some nasty storms here in central Texas today, complete with tornado sightings right to our north. I can’t remember the last time I saw clouds that were quite so black; the pictures really don’t do them justice. Read the rest of this entry »
Personality tests
I’ve been a fan of psychology ever since I took it in high school. I especially liked one class I took in college, Personality Theory, where I learned about the theories of Jung, Freud, Skinner, Watson, Bandura, Maslow and others. I was fascinated, and I remember reading my textbook from cover to cover.
Since then, I’ve been infatuated with personality tests. Most of the personality tests you find for free online are cheesy and not very scientific, but there are a few pretty good ones. Like this one and this one. (In case you want to compare notes, on the first one, I’m an ESFJ, and on the Ennegram, I’m a 6.)
Fitting right in
I think our dog Daisy thinks she’s a person. She’s been snitching the kids’ cookies (we’re trying to stop that), whining when I’m on the phone, and following me into the kitchen every time I go. It’s like I have THREE kids. One of them just happens to be really short and really hairy. 
New pix of the kids
That last photo, where she looks like she’s up to no good? Yeah, that’s pretty much all the time. She amazes me how she can go from the cutest, sweetest little girl to little miss manipulative in no time flat. She gets particular pleasure from upsetting Gabriel, who is very innocent and believes everything she says. *Sigh*
And Gabriel, bless his heart, has inherited my stick-straight, won’t-hold-a-part hair. Sorry about that, Gabriel. Read the rest of this entry »
Flowers
I have been jonesing for something to bring a little spring into my house, but it just hasn’t been in the budget. Specifically, I wanted to buy a nice silk flower arrangement, but at prices $30 and up for something half-decent looking, it just wasn’t happening.
So I said to myself yesterday, heck, I’m just going to do it myself. Armed with some b’day money, I went to Michael’s and found a sale on their spring silk flowers. I also found a flowerpot on clearance. I spent next to nothing, and I feel like it turned out okay. Certainly worth the savings.
I did work in a floral shop many years ago (1993), but I mostly did things like fill balloons with helium, make gift baskets and the like. I guess I did some simple floral arrangements, but they mostly consisted of a few roses and some sprigs of baby’s breath. Not exactly too complicated.
If I ever had the time/money, I’d like to take a floral arrangement class. I think that would be fun and maybe I could do it on the side to make a little extra $$. Read the rest of this entry »
Earth day birthday
Today is earth day. Today is also my 30th birthday. (And I have about 10 gray hairs to prove it!)
I have always thought it was interesting that I was born on this day, and have felt like I should probably be more in touch with my “green” side. I am not into earth-worship, but I do believe that God expects us to be good stewards of what He entrusts us with, including the earth. What really draws me to the concept of ‘reduce, reuse, recycle’ is the sheer thriftiness of it, though.
Maybe we should, as a society, try to make a new-year’s-type resolution each earth day to commit to do one thing that would be good for the earth. Like switching all our light-bulbs to flourescent or LEDs.
Interested in reducing your carbon footprint? Buying local is one of the biggest ways to make an impact. If everyone bought local as much as they possibly could, think of how many fewer trucks would be on the road, and how much less gas they would be burning up. I like the concept of buying local because it promotes a healthy local economy and supports keeping jobs in the United States!
You don’t have to do much more than a google search to find plenty of conservation ideas. How about you, readers? Are you doing anything “green”?
I was wondering when the ACLU was going to show up
CNN reports that the Texas branch of the ACLU is raising a concern over the treatment of the women and children in the recent raid on a FLDS compound in west Texas.
What I find interesting here is that the ACLU is coming to the defense of a self-proclaimed Christian group (many Christians I’ve talked to over the years don’t believe that this branch of fundamental mormons are truly Christians; I am not God so I’m reserving judgment.). Hell must be freezing over.
This whole situation has me a little concerned, though. Now bear with me and don’t fly off the handle here; I am NOT approving of the things that have allegedly happened within this group, such as forcing underage girls into “spiritual marriages,” child abuse, and polygamy.
But, due process seems to be getting completely run over in this case. The judge seems to be taking one piece of information and assuming the whole community is abusing children (maybe they are, maybe they aren’t, but the alleged perpetrators should have their day in court). The trial is being conducted en masse and it seems that the parents are being given the presumption of guilt rather than innocence.
It just makes me wonder if evangelical Christians, who are becoming increasingly unpopular in this country, are going to be treated with the same level of scorn at some point. What if they outlaw spanking and decide to remove kids from homes whose parents believe in spanking? What if they outlaw anything negative being said against gays (where do you think the concept of “hate speech” has us headed?) – and lock up any preachers who preach against homosexuality? I know I’m comparing apples and oranges here. If these people in west TX have really done what they’ve allegedly done, then they deserve to lose their children.
But do you understand what I’m getting at? I’d love to hear some comments on this one.
Behold the wonders of Etsy
I am enamored with etsy.com, a site where people can sell the goods they make.
You can find just about any kind of hand-made thing you want there, from pendant necklances to original artwork to embroidered pillows to cute stuffed animals. I especially love some of their little girl items, like this dress and this bow.
I wish I had the time and talents to make things like that!
[FYI, this is NOT a sponsored post. Now that I'm selling advertising, I feel like I need to say that!]
She dressed herself this morning
Yep. Right down to the shoes on the correct feet, and the perfectly-turned-down socks. Who is this kid? Read the rest of this entry »
In the bag
I have been on the quest for the perfect tote (purse). (I have been temporarily sidelined by budgetary constraints, but I will be buying one of these in the not-too-distant future.)
I am extremely picky when it comes to picking out things like purses. I always start out with a general idea in mind about the size and shape I want. Then, I start looking, saying to myself, “I’ll know it when I see it!”
What’s frustrating is my cheapskate side. I always want to pay about $10 for something like a purse, but I don’t want an ugly one. Unfortunately, all the cute purses I’ve found are also really expensive (to me, anyway). It’s made me wonder how hard it would be to make one myself!
Anyway, here are my top purse picks, from etsy.com [by the way, this is NOT a sponsored post ... just my opinion!]:
Read the rest of this entry »
Recent email forward
So, there I was . . . just relaxing in front of the T.V. when the kids yelled, “Hey Dad, come see the kittens.” Read the rest of this entry »
Update on the family
I haven’t updated on the fam lately. I’m going to go back a little ways in case you’re just tuning in.
Let’s see. Jay’s been busy working out in his new garden. He’s planted a variety of tomatoes, cucumbers, various peppers, and some herbs. He had to build a fence to go around the garden yesterday, because our dog likes to dig.
Oh yeah, our dog – that’s another recent development. We adopted a dachshund mix from the pound and named her Daisy. She’s really sweet and laid-back. And she puts up with Mikaela’s kisses and hugs.
The kids are now 3 (Mikaela) and 4 1/2 (Gabriel). They have a real love-hate relationship. They fight all the time, but they get worried if the other one is hurt or upset.
Gabriel is doing really well in OT and speech therapy. Especially in OT … he’s advanced amazingly in both fine and gross motor skills. He’s still definitely behind on his speech, but it’s improving steadily. Gabriel made me laugh last week, sighing heavily and telling Mikaela “you’re driving me nuts!” Hmm, I think he must have heard me say that before.
He has made a few friends at church, which I’m thrilled about. His therapist has always seemed concerned about his social skills, but they seem to be getting better all the time.
Mikaela is a chatty cathy. I know, I was the same way. (Okay, okay, I am the same way.) I feel sorry, in retrospect, for my parents. She also inherited my klutziness, much to my chagrin. Mealtimes and any crafts we do are always a huge mess. Mikaela loves to sing and “read” (making up stories by looking at the book’s pictures). Her latest thing is figuring out who goes together. For instance – if she ever sees my friend Sarah she says “where Paul?” (Sarah’s husband).
Our family is getting more involved in our church, which we love. For the first time in a long time, we’re in a church we just love. The preaching is so applicable to our lives, and the people are so sincere and friendly. Couldn’t ask for much more!
Southern Cooking (uh, I mean ‘Suth-ern Cuu-kin’)
Sometimes I just miss Southern cooking. Texas’ version of southern cooking is different than what I grew up with in Birmingham, AL.
I pulled out my recipe box recently, looking longingly at my southern-style recipes. I’m on a diet and can’t eat most of them. But that doesn’t mean I can’t share them with you! You’re welcome. Read the rest of this entry »
Is this thing on?
I think my problems are resolved! Woohoo! I’ve missed you, internet.
Still working on it
This changeover to the new blog has been like pulling teeth. Through the nose.
I am still working with Dreamhost customer service and I hope to have things working really soon! I’ll post again here when things are all up and running. Sorry!!!!
- Melanie
I’ve moved!!
I switched my blog to another host, so from now on visit me at:
See you there!
On letting babies “cry it out”
I just read a Time magazine article on babies and sleep. The story quotes many studies and basically says that parents need to let their kids learn how to comfort themselves and get to sleep on their own. In other words, parents need to let kids fall asleep on their own – even if that means crying themselves to sleep.
I am speaking as a parent who’s had experience both ways on this issue. We were very businesslike about Gabriel’s bedtime, and kept to a schedule very well. After he was past early infancy (I think around 5 months of age or so), we’d put him to bed and let him cry himself to sleep. After less than a week, he was falling asleep on his own without crying, and he’s been absolutely perfect ever since then – at least about going to bed by himself.
Mikaela, on the other hand – we were really bad about having a schedule with her. And I tended to give in to holding her, putting her in the swing, rocking, or feeding her to sleep just to preserve my sanity (Gabriel was only 16 months old when she was born, and having 2 that close together was really hard on me at first).
And now, every single night with her is a struggle. And she’s 3 years old! Jay and I are kicking ourselves in the butt.
First-time parents, please take it from me – or actually, my mom: she once told me when Gabriel was very young that when it came to putting him to bed, “don’t start anything you don’t want to continue indefinitely.” In other words, if a child grows accustomed to being rocked to sleep, well, they’re going to expect it every night without fail. And when they wake in the night, instead of falling back to sleep on their own, they will need to be rocked to sleep again. Or bottle-fed, or whatever it is that they’ve now grown attached to and “need” to fall asleep.
Not that I have anything against rocking your babies … but you might want to do it while they’re awake!
Sorry no bloggy
I am sick with a sure sign of spring: my first sinus infection of the year. This one is really kicking my butt. I felt absolutely wretched and went to the doctor, thinking it was the flu, but it’s just a sinus infection. Bleh.
I am going on a “vacation” of sorts this weekend – on a women’s retreat with my church. I am really hoping I’m better by then. It will be the first time I’ve been away from Mikaela for more than just a few hours. Actually, I haven’t had an overnight break from my kids since Gabriel was 11 months old and Jay and I went to a marriage conference and left Gabriel with my sister for one night.
I’m going to be away two nights, though … this will be hard, I’m sure. I hope Jay has fun holding down the fort! 
Noooooooooo!
That’s it, I’m moving out of the country.
Sensory update
Gabriel’s sensory-related/behavioral issues go on, and they’re frustratingly inconsistent and unpredictable. One day, Gabriel is the sweetest, most cooperative and thoughtful child you could imagine. The next day something will set him off and makes everyone around him miserable.
He is progressing very well in OT, though – both his fine and gross motor skills have improved amazingly over the last 6 months. He’s still behind age level on some things, though – like standing stiff when he throws a ball, instead of putting his whole body into it; he still tends to hold a crayon in his fist unless corrected, and he colors by moving his entire arm (elbow down, I mean) back and forth, instead of moving his fingers and wrist; he still can’t spit very well (so we’re still using toddler toothpaste); he still can’t do a situp without using his arms for assistance … there’s more but that’s all I can remember off the top of my head. He does seem to be mostly over his food texture issues, although he’s still pretty picky.
He is highly distractable and gets off-task frequently; I have to constantly guide him when we’re doing schoolwork. For instance, today, I had the kids coloring every object on a certain page blue. Every noise or motion Mikaela made, he stopped what he was doing and looked at her. And instead of going right back to what he was doing, he would just sit there like he forgot what he was working on. I had to keep reminding him, “finish coloring,” to which he’d reply, “Oh!”
This has me wondering if he’s always going to be a student who struggles (way too early to tell for sure) … and it just makes me want to homeschool all the more, so he can have good, frequent one-on-one interaction. I know I’m getting ahead of myself, but I just want to be prepared for whatever.
He also still seems overwhelmed around a lot of other kids. Today I took the kids to the large, 3-story play area at ToysRUs. There were about 12 other kids in the play structure, and they were all running around wildly. Every time one of them ran past him, he flinched and flattened himself against the nearest wall. Later, he was slowly trying to climb over a rope bridge, and kids kept running past him. Every time a kid would pass, he would stop moving. One kid after another ran past, and he finally said, “Oh! I’m never gonna get out!”
He still has trouble with instructions sometimes, usually when I’m asking him to go find something or bring me something. He also has a really hard time imitating body poses or facial expressions, which I know is related to his sensory issues (I forget what that’s called … something to do with motor planning and/or decreased body awareness.)
Every now and then, out of the blue, he will say, “I wuv you, mama.” I swear, that makes all of this nonsense just melt away.
Yum!
I found a protein snack bar that I really like … and it gives me my chocolate fix.
It’s the South Beach Snack Bar Delights – Chocolate Raspberry. It’s pretty darn small at .98 oz, but I took tiny bites and savored every minute of it!
The breakdown:
100 calories
3g fat
0 mg cholesterol
125 mg sodium
16g carbohydrate
5g dietary fiber
5g protein
Anyone found any other good protein bars/snacks??? Please share.
