Wordless Wednesday

I got sucked in!

So I guess you can tell I haven't been around much huh. I have been sucked into the world of Facebook! My blogging time has been spent over there. I have also been sucked into doing our church website. I am having so much fun over there that sometimes I don't even make it over to Facebook. So after my infatuation dims a little I am sure I will come back over to my first love - Blogging!!! In the meantime bear with me! Love you guys!!! I haven't even read any of you in my reader lately I think I have 300+ sitting in there to be read! I really do love you guys though. I will come back soon!

Works for Me Wednesday

Anna is 3.5 and a very head strong little girl. Lately, we have been dealing with I want to do this and I want it my way. I am sure there are tons of books out there that tell you how to deal with this. I have chosen not to read any of those books! My daughter is different she is not a cookie cutter kid (neither is yours!) all kids are different. What works to motivate Anna may not work for your child. I just thought I would share some things that work for me to get Anna to do either what I want or to change what she wants to suit me a little more.

1) I give Anna choices! I try to give her choices throughout the day! I will even let her go outside of those choices - sometimes! ie: Do you want to wear the pink shirt or the yellow one? If she says "I want to wear the blue one" if it is suitable for the days weather I say ok! Little ones like to have control just like we do. Or you can either go to the park or we can paint. You decide and that is what we will do. We will NOT do both! When she finishes the one she chose and wants to do the other I remind her she made her choice and we have to live with our choices! The more we can help them feel in control the more they don't mind letting us have a "turn" on the important things.

2) I keep things on her level but always try to boost her level. Meaning I won't talk to her like she is 16 but I don't baby her either. I use big words but I explain what they mean. Little ones want to learn, they are naturally curious. Sometimes you can divert their attention by giving a mini vocabulary lesson ;)

3) I break things down for her. If I want her to clean the living room and she just doesn't want to it is usually because it is overwhelming. (By clean the living room I mean her toys!) I will ask her to pick up her books. After she is done I ask her to pick up her blocks. After that I ask her to pick up her kitchen. When they are this little sometimes they still don't know where to start. I think about me and how overwhelmed I can get. I don't like to clean when it is in such a state I don't know where to start. I wish someone could break it down for me sometimes lol.

4) I make sure she understands there are consequences. If you don't let me brush your hair we will NOT be leaving. If you do not put on your shoes you will not be able to run outside with me, but I will be right back!

5) Say what you mean and mean what you say! If you say you aren't going to leave if you don't brush you hair. Don't give in after 15 minutes and put a cap on. If you stand your ground the next time that particular battle comes up it will be easier.

6) Be consistent! We don't like when the rules are changed on us so don't change the rules on your little one. I let my daughter jump off the couch. I know most of you probably think that is crazy. It started by me holding her hand and her jumping to get off and it snow balled. After I let her do it once I couldn't tell her she couldn't because that wouldn't make since to her. It wouldn't be fair. Now if it gets to the point where she is going to get hurt I will stop it. I will explain to her why the rules changed and come up with an alternative!

For more great tips go HERE!

Works for me Wednesday

I love me some mashed potatoes! I have been making them for years. I feel like I make pretty good potatoes but over the years I have found different ways to tweak it to make it even better. Watching Rachel Ray one day I saw that she saved some starch water from her pasta and added it back into whatever she was preparing. I thought hmmm, I wonder if you could do that with potatoes? So here is what I do with my mashed potatoes:

• Peal and dice potatoes (however many you think you need)
• Cover with water and add salt
• Bring to boil (cook until potatoes are very soft and crumbly)
• Pour out some of the water and then pour a little into the bowl you will be mashing them in. Drain the rest off.
• Add the potatoes to the bowl and then add butter. How much depends on how many potatoes you use. I typically do about 3 - 4 pounds of potatoes so I use 3/4 a stick of butter.
• Occasionally, I will add a scoop of sour cream.
• Add pepper and if it needs more salt.
• Mash it all together and voila! (I use one of those hand held mashers or you can use your blender.)

I have tried several different ways of making them and this is the best (to me). It really doesn't take that long to do either. The longest part is the pealing. If you use low fat options for butter and sour cream if you add it it really isn't a terrible dish fat wise either.

If you have a great idea go HERE to share it or you can find other wonderful tips there as well!

Wordless Wednesday - Slumber Party Fun!

 

I am still around!

I am having a sleep over for Anna. Her little friend Allie is spending the night tonight and they are energized! Anyway, I don't have time to blog just thought I would entertain you with my self portrait.

Childhood Memories - Grandma's house

I went to my Grandma's house earlier in the week and let me tell you that brought back memories.

• We would ride through the pastures a lot. Sometimes on tailgates and sometimes on a trailer behind the truck. One time I was on the trailer sitting indian style. We hit a HUGE bump! I bounced up in the air at least a foot and landed back down indian style. I wanted to do it again!
  




• Another time I was with my cousins. My little cousin Joey bounced off the tailgate and landed face first in the dirt. It didn't take him but a second to jump up and run to catch up to the truck.
• We would walk through the same pasture trying to find arrow heads. My cousin that lived there would find them all the time. I never did! It was fun to look though. I always pretended we were walking the Trail of Tears or something.
• We use to help my great uncle pick watermelons and different things. That was a lot of work but it was still fun. Just doing it together with cousins made it fun.
• I remember laying out in the sun at my Grandma's house as I got older. I would take a ton of books and spent most of my time out there reading.
• Oh and we did bond fires. Not so much in the summer but still. We would roast marshmallows and just hang out by the fire.
• We would go swimming at a pond on my uncles land. That was fun then but now I wonder how I could do it - gross lol. I remember when I was probably 13 I had a swimsuit that had a string around the top. I was standing in the water waiting on everyone to get in and a fish grabbed my string and tried to swim away. I think that was one of the last times I got in there lol.
• We would go into one of the bedrooms to play at night sometimes and my older cousin Cassie would tell us ghost stories about our Great Grandmother's house across the street. It was empty and run down so the stories seemed to fit it. She would say if you stay up until midnight you would hear chains going from room to room. Or sometimes you would see a light going from room to room. It really creeped me out lol.
• Games! We played tons of games at Grandma's house. We played outside on a warm night a game that I have no idea what it is called but it was like a hide and seek game. We would say "Ain't no burglars out tonight, Grandma killed them all last night." Then we would walk around and see if we could find anyone. My brother was the best at this game. He would get in crazy places and then he would jump out and scare the pee right out of you!
• We played another game inside when the adults were playing cards it was some kind of murder game. Can't remember what we called it lol. Basically you would use certain cards out of the deck and if you got one card like the ace you were the detective. If you got the joker you were the killer and you had to tap someone when the lights went out and they would be dead. The detective had to figure out by asking questions who did it.
• We would also play with the adults. Canasta, Hand and Foot Canasta, Liverpool Rummy and I don't remember what else but we were always playing cards. I would also play a lot of Yahtzee with Grandma.
• There was always something to do at Grandma's house. We climbed on the hay and ran around throwing berries at each other. It didn't matter what we did because we were together with cousins and family and outside in the fresh air and sunshine. Other than playing those games I really can't remember being inside. Well, of course to sleep because I require a lot of sleep lol.

I did a post earlier in the week of some of my Grandma's memories. Go HERE to check that out or go HERE to see more memories.

Born in 1918

Annie Lottie Battle Lee was born January 3, 1918 in Schley County, GA. She is now 91 years old. Her mind and body are failing her and her childhood is never far from her mind.

She was born in a jail house. The daughter of a sheriff / gentleman farmer and a school teacher. For the winter months they lived in the jail house and the summertime they would live in the country on the farm. She had a handful of siblings and numerous friends both in the city and the country. Her idea of fun back in the day was a country dance at her parents home. They would remove all the furniture from one of the rooms and have chairs for a few guys to play guitars and violins or whatever and the rest would dance, laugh and talk. She also enjoyed going fishing with one of her brothers. Her mom wouldn't let her go to the creek where neighbors might see them (if it was on a Sunday). She insisted instead they walk through the woods to a creek no one would see them at. She seemed to think they might be against it because you weren't supposed to work on a Sunday but in Grandma's eyes that was all fun!

Her mom also curled her hair daily. She kept telling Anna how lucky she is that I only comb it and pull it up or braid it. She was tortured daily for the sake of big curls. I bet they were pretty though!

She remembers guys that would bring planes to open fields and would sale rides. If you have ever seen Divine Secrets of Ya Ya Sisterhood that is what it all sounded like.

She talked about out living almost all of her siblings and most of the other families in the area. I can't imagine how lonely that must feel. She said she wonders what purpose God still has for her, that He would keep her here for so long. I know He is keeping her here for me and all of the other grandchildren and great grands. I don't get to see her often enough but I love knowing she is there. I found myself more often than not over the past few days wanting to really open up to her. I know that her life has been full. She has done some things right and some things wrong, it makes it easier to want to talk to her.

I feel so blessed to have had my grandma around for so long. I wanted to document some of what she remembers for Anna to have.

Anna enjoyed our visit with Grandma this time. She was only frustrated when Grandma couldn't get in the floor to play games with her. I think it delighted Grandma that Anna wanted to play games so much. Grandma LOVES playing games. Any kind of game really. We played Dominoes and Anna did very well with it. That tickled Grandma. I am sure she is thinking ha she gets it from me! Anna is a little freaked out by Grandma's wheelchair. She kept worrying that Grandma was going to run over her. I don't know where this fear came from. Today before we left she helped move the wheel chair while Grandma was in it which seemed to relax her a little. Anna loved her recliner chair that lifts. Anna thought having a remote for a chair was the coolest thing ever! Grandma even let her lift her and move her all about for 10 or 15 minutes!

Wordless Wednesday!