Healthy Living: Exercise with Your Children

Has cabin fever set in at your house yet? We are in the full swing of it over here and 4 kids with cabin fever = 1 mentally exhausted mommy.  It's always nice to find a few new tricks for my mommy arsenal so I thought I would share a few of mine with you, please (PLEASE PLEASE) feel free to share yours with me too.

Currently at least 30 states in the US alone are in the grips of a heat wave and winter will be here before we know it (plus it's currently winter in other areas of the world). Because of this I was inspired to share a few things I have learned along the way to help the kids release some of that pent up energy.   Bonus, mommy burns a few calories too.  It's a win-win.

We do not do every single one of these every single day, kids (or at least my kids) get sick of the same things day in and day out.  We do each of them at least 2 times a week though and at least 1 per day.

I wish I had some awesome pics for this but its hard to take pics while you are in the moment.  I need the lady from Parenting, Illustrated With Crappy Pictures to come guest draw some great pics for me! (I LOVE that blog!).

Vacuum Tag, aka Peep Attack
This activity was born out of our dogs strange obsession with attacking the vacuum.  No idea why, but she sees the vacuum as a real threat.  Perhaps it's because, as a baby, Teddy was terrified of it.  It did start when he was a baby.  Oddly, as he got older he became fascinated with vacuums, even inventing his own word for them that has been passed down to each of our kids and is still used to this day.  That word is "Peep".  No idea where it came from, he came up with it shortly after he turned 1 and still calls it that on occasion.  Therefore, in our house this game is known as 'Peep Attack".

How to play-
Each kid gets some sort of soft (foam pool noodles are great) sword to use.  Turn the peep (vacuum) on and go at it.  Chase the kids around the room, let them "beat up" the peep.  Watch little ones around and the cord so they don't trip on it.

This activity is a threefer, meaning you get 3 things accomplished all at the same time.  You get your floors clean, you get some exercise in for yourself (I am always breathless after a good round of Peep Attack) and you help your kids expel some energy all at once.
If you are the OCD Type A personality who loves those pretty freshly vacuumed lines in your carpet this may not be the activity for you.  You go in all sorts of crazy directions while the attack is on so the lines left behind are definitely not uniform or remotely straight.  I like those straight lines too, but in our household we have so much foot traffic they never last more than 10 minutes anyways so it doesn't really matter.

Marching Band
My kids love music and we have a lot of toy instruments in our home.  Teddy came up with this activity 1 day, influenced by the show "Fresh Beat Band" (gag me!!).  He asked me if I would help him form a marching band so we did.

How to play-
Give each child their own instrument, don't forget 1 for yourself.  If you have no toy instruments it's ok, grab some pots, pans, lids, spoons, etc from the kitchen and bang away.
Once everyone has their instrument, which in our house sometimes involves tears and compromises, line up and begin to play,
I am normally the leader although Teddy and Kimmy enjoy taking turns as the leader as well.  We march all around our house banging and playing away.  Sometimes we sing, sometimes we do silly different walks like going really slow, really fast, stepping really high, tip toeing, skipping, let your imagination do the "walking" for you.  Sometimes different rooms have different themes, the living room may be the loud room so we play loudly as we go through there and the bedroom is the quiet room so we have to try and play softly while in there.
After only 10-15 minutes of this we are all tired and breathless from laughing so hard and running all over the house.  It has got to burn some calories!

Dance It Out
Sometimes we all just have too much energy and not enough focus to do anything really organized.  At times like these I just turn on some fun, energetic music and start dancing like a crazy lady.  The kids don't even have to be asked, they just automatically join in.  This is also a great activity to distract if someone is having a meltdown (mom or kid).

How to play-
Find some fun music, turn it up and DANCE DANCE DANCE.
We usually do a minimum of 4 songs. 4x5 (average length of a song)= 20 minutes of some good cardio for you and your kids.
Not only do we dance but I also encourage the kids to do actual exercise moves including squats, lunges, side twists, jumping jacks, etc.  The kids love to mimic me.  Even Sariah dances around like a maniac and has been since she was 6 months old and could really sit up and get into it.
Pandora is my favorite place to find the music for this, I have some great kid appropriate stations on there.

Yoga
I really wanted to try yoga with my kids but thought I had to pay money for a fancy DVD to really get them into it.  It was watching them mimic me during our dance sessions that inspired me to just look up some child friendly yoga poses.  Then I just started doing them on the floor.  At first they didn't know what I was doing but they quickly joined in.  Unanimously the favorite pose is Downward Dog, even Sariah can do this one (and has been able too since she turned 1).

Sariah kind of doing Downward Dog this morning.  It was hard to take a pic
 because every time I moved out of the pose to try and snap 1 she came out of the
pose too, this was the best that I got.

How to play-
Go online and find at least 4 kid friendly yoga poses.  Put on some calming music (if you want, totally optional) and simply start doing the poses yourself.  Your kids will naturally be curious about what you are doing and will want to try and join in.
Some of our favorite poses include (and our names for them may not be the technical names since we do it on our own w/o any books/DVDs):
Tree Pose: start out standing with your feet slightly apart.  Reach your arms up high in the air, palms touching.  Tell your kids to pretend they are trees growing big and tall.  Traditional Tree Pose also says to draw 1 leg up so that the sole of your foot is resting in the inner thigh of the opposite leg.  You can try this with your kids if they are able to stand on 1 foot fairly well.
Downward Dog Pose:  Start from the standing position, reach your arms down and plant your hands firmly on the floor, point your tush towards the ceiling, you should make a triangle.

Karma doing a perfect Downward Dog Pose

Cat Pose: great pose to follow up downward dog.  Have your gets get on all fours on the floor and gently arch their back up like a "scared cat"  while dropping their heads down to look at their "tails".  Hold for a few seconds and have them gently lower their back and raise their head.  Repeat a few times
Cobra Pose: another great pose to transition our of downward dog or cat pose for that matter.  Lay face down on the ground with your arms laying flat beside you.  Gently arch your back and stretch your head and neck upwards so that from your bellybutton up your body is off the floor.  You can easily go back and forth between this pose and downward dog.  I usually tell the kids "we are a snake, hisssssssss" then transition and say "now we are a dog, woof woof" and go back and forth like that.
Happy Baby Pose: Lay with you back flat on the floor, draw your knees into your chest, point your feet upward and let your hips fall open.  Grab the soles of your feet and hold.

If you make it fun your kids will do it.  If you are listening to music aim for 3-4 songs, otherwise strive for 15-20 minutes.

This website has some AWESOME routines and child friendly poses on it:
livestrong.com
and I just learned from this website that we have another pose that we do called "Cow Pose" its the opposite of the Cat Pose.  When we let our back go back down and look up it's called Cow Pose.  Gonna have to start mooing while we do this, the kids will love it.

There is even an iPhone App for that!  99 cents and comes with 24 animal related yoga poses for kids.  I may buy it myself.

I have recently tried to end our yoga sessions with sitting in the floor, legs crossed and arms at our side while breathing in and out slowly.  The site above suggests letting your kids "Roar like a lion" in this pose and even call it the Lion Pose so I think I will try that next time as they usually don't want to sit still too long.


Tumbling
Sometimes our yoga sessions turn into tumbling sessions as the kids love for me to somersault them out of downward dog pose.  Then Teddy asks me to help him do back bends/flips on my arm as well.

How to play-
Just show your kids how to do simple tumbling moves such as somersaulting or doing back bends/back flips braced against your arm.  Aim for 15-20 minutes of this.  You may not burn many calories with this particular activity but your kids will and you will help give them confidence to try these moves on their own.

Yo Gabba Gabba Dancey Dance
Sort of like the Dance It Out activity above only we do it to an episode of Yo Gabba Gabba instead of just music.

How to play-
Put on an episode of Yo Gabba Gabba and tell your kids not to stop moving/dancing until its over.  If someone stops moving or sits down they are out.  The last person left standing "wins".
Yo Gabba Gabba is full of silly little songs so its easy to dance a lot.  In between the songs when there is just talking I encourage the kids to march, high step, jumps, skip, do jumping jacks, etc.

Hot Lava
A fun little game originally invented in our home by Teddy but I am sure you will all remember playing some form of it as a kid yourself.

How to play-
Randomly place pillows, blankets, stools, throw rugs, etc on the floor and declare that the floor itself is hot lava.  The object is to jump from item to item without falling into the lava.  If you fall you are "out" and have to go sit on the couch until the next round.  Last person standing "wins".  You can even have a "caller", someone (usually mom) who sits on the side and calls out directions to person telling them where and how to go.  We have a caller when mommy is feeling lazy.


That's all I have got in my personal bag of tricks.  I hope we have inspired you to try a few new fun activities with your kids.  They are all great activities to help mama and kids stay in shape and have fun together on rainy/hot/snowy/cold days.  They are also great ways to build happy memories with your kids and instill confidence in them.


I feel like, in my attempts to better my mothering self and to be 100% brutally honest with myself and all of you I tend to concentrate only on the negative areas of my parenting.  It was nice to write a blog about how much fun we can have in our home and to show it is not all screaming/yelling/tantrum throwing around here.

Love,
this dancey dancin' mama,
Christy

Having a Smoothie on The Sparkle Mama

Do you know who The Sparkle Mama is?  Do you follow her?  If not you don't know what you are missing!!

The Sparkle Mama is a wonderful blogging mama who, if you have to put labels on it, would best fit the parenting labels of Instinctive, Natural, Green, and Attachment.

By far, my favorite thing about The Sparkle Mama has GOT to be her altruistic nature.  She is the epitome of Random Acts of Kindness!  She actually has a budget she sets aside each month to fund these random acts of kindness.  For 2 months in a row she single handedly funded Spreading The Fluffy Love either paying the shipping costs to get donated diapers to mama's in need or outright buying them diapers herself.  I want to be just like her when I grow up!

I love The Sparkle Mama, I think she is awesome.  I thought she was awesome long before she ever started helping with Spreading The Fluffy Love and we became friends.  Never, in my wildest dreams, did I EVER expect to be on the receiving end to one of her random acts kindness.

Saturday, I was just that!  I don't know how she did it or why she did it but she sent me a blender with a cute little note attached to it that said "You gotta be able to make green smoothies!"

If you follow The Sparkle Mama, you know she has been into making green drinks and trying to find one that her daughter would accept.  I left a comment that a blender was definitely on my list of kitchen must haves to buy.  The next thing I know, I'm getting a blender in the mail!

Katie, YOU ROCK!  I  ♥ you so much!  I really do admire the person that you are and I hope that one day we will have the financial means to do exactly what you do!!

For the rest of you, Katie (aka The Sparkle Mama) does SO MUCH for SO MANY I really feel inadequate that I have no real way to give back to her, other than to write this blog.  If anyone would be willing, I would love to try and organize a "Let's give back to The Sparkle Mama" event.  I hear she likes Piggy Paint Nail Polish, fun sparkly lip glosses and any yummy smelling natural body product.  If you want to help out, please let me know.

We made smoothies today and toasted to The Sparkle Mama!

Teddy requested a Banana/Orange/Pineapple smoothie.  I made it with some Simply Orange Juice, a fresh banana and frozen pineapple.  I slipped some frozen spinach in too when he wasn't looking, shhhhhhhhh!

Kimmy, Karma and Sariah enjoyed a Mango/Orange/Strawberry/Peach smoothie made with Simply Orange Juice, and a frozen medley of mango, peaches and strawberries.  I also slipped some frozen spinach in when they were not looking.

Mama had a Cucumber/Strawberry/Orange/Blueberry smoothie made with frozen strawberries, fresh cucumbers from a neighbors garden, fresh blueberries and Simply Orange Juice, I also added a bit of frozen spinach to it.

They were so yummy!  Teddy is already thinking up flavors for us to try next.  He wants to try watermelon and strawberry he says.

Love,
this smoothie makin' mama,
Christy

Mostly Wordless Wendesday: Art

This weeks Natural Parents Network WW topic is ART!  Oh man do we have that covered in this house with our resident little artist Teddy!

Teddy- age 4



Teddy- age 4



Teddy- age 4



Little artist at work- Teddy, age 4




Painting- Teddy, age 4



Kimmy- age 2

family coloring time

Christmas card 2010

Teddy, age 4

Such an artist, he even expresses himself through his
clothes, he dresses himself daily and comes up
with some "interesting" combo's- Teddy, age 4

more art expression through wardrobe- Teddy, age 4

Love,
this art lovin' mama,
Christy

Dear Kimmy, today you are 3

Dear Kimmy,

This letter was supposed to start off with the words "Today you are 3...." except that yesterday you turned 3, not today.  BAD MOMMY!!  All I can say is we were having so much fun yesterday that mommy did not want to take time away to sit down and write this (that's believable right?  you know mommy loves you!).

Oh my little Kimmybottoms, what can I say.  You are getting so big.  I cannot believe you are already 3!  THREE!!  Where is the time going?  I desperately try to grab a hold and hang on to each precious moment but it's like trying to grab handfuls of water.  No matter how tightly I grip the water it still all runs right through my fingers.

It seems like only yesterday I held you in my arms for the very first time.  Now I watch you as your grow each day, becoming your own little person.  Every milestone takes you 1 step farther from me but that's ok, I celebrate them all with you just the same.

You are my firecracker baby, literally.  You came into this world 4 days "late" just so you could have July 4th as your very own personal party.  Ironically you are like your mama and fireworks terrify you for now, hopefully you will grow out of it though.  I try desperately not to pass on my own irrational fears of fireworks to you or your siblings.

Firecracker is a good description word for you, you are passionate in all that you do.  When you do something you throw yourself into it entirely.  Yet you are also shy and reserved, you have to asses the situation first before you decide if it is worth your time or not.  You are content to sit back and watch others play for awhile until you make up your mind on if you want to join in or not.  Once you deem it worthy though, you go at it 110%  Please never loose this passion!

We have a special song, you and I.  I sang it to you before you were born, as a baby and to this day.  Sure, I occasionally sing it to your siblings too but I stumbled upon the song as you were growing in my belly so when I think of the words I always think of you first.  It is our special song, (shhhhh, just don't tell the others, it's ok they each have their own special song too). 

I think the lyrics to the song can express how I feel much better than anything my limited writing skills could (mommy likes to pretend she is a wanna be "writer", indulge me a bit).

I hope you never lose your sense of wonder
You get your fill to eat
But always keep that hunger
May you never take one single breath for granted
God forbid love ever leave you empty handed
I hope you still feel small
When you stand by the ocean
Whenever one door closes, I hope one more opens
Promise me you'll give faith a fighting chance

And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance
I hope you dance
I hope you dance

I hope you never fear those mountains in the distance
Never settle for the path of least resistance
Living might mean taking chances
But they're worth taking
Lovin' might be a mistake
But it's worth making
Don't let some hell bent heart
Leave you bitter
When you come close to selling out
Reconsider
Give the heavens above
More than just a passing glance

And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance
I hope you dance
(Time is a real and constant motion always)
I hope you dance
(Rolling us along)
I hope you dance
(Tell me who)
I hope you dance
(Wants to look back on their youth and wonder)
(Where those years have gone)

I hope you still feel small
When you stand by the ocean
Whenever one door closes, I hope one more opens
Promise me you'll give faith a fighting chance

And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance
Dance
I hope you dance
I hope you dance
(Time is a real and constant motion always)
I hope you dance
(Rolling us along)
I hope you dance
(Tell me who)
(Wants to look back on their youth and wonder)
I hope you dance
(Where those years have gone)

(Tell me who)
I hope you dance
(Wants to look back on their youth and wonder)
(Where those years have gone)

Currently you love Kia-Lan, Dora, Sid The Science Kid and Word World (or Letters as you call it).  I am telling you this only because 1 day (far too soon for mommy) you will be "too cool" to watch these shows and I want you to remember that once upon a time they were the coolest thing in the world to you.

I hope you dance baby girl.  In all you do in this life, keep on dancing.  I will always be here to give you a soft place to fall.  And fall you will, it's a part of life.  Don't ever be afraid to fall, just pick yourself up and keep on dancing.

Love,

your mama now and always.

P.S. This is daddy's special song for all of you girls, shhhhhh he would kill me if he knew I shared that with so many ♥

Now time for pictures.......

hello world I am here

First words out of the doctors mouth as you came out:
"Look at all that hair!"
That has pretty much been the theme ever since.

first Halloween

you were such a cute fairy that you made the paper!

1st Valentine's Day

1st Easter

1st Birthday

Daddy's little girl always

2nd Halloween

2nd Christmas- age 18 months

2nd Birthday

Summer 2010-age 2

3rd Halloween-still age 2

3rd Birthday

You are so tiny the only way to really tell you are getting older in these pictures is by the length of your hair ♥

Tender Moment Tuesday- Too Many to List.

So I had several moments this past week that I wanted to freeze in time and remember forever.  Moments that made my heart sing and turn to mush all at the same time.  I had a hard time picking which was my favorite and in the end I decided there was no rule set that I couldn't share more moments if the occurred.  So these are my Tender Moments for the last week.

Feel Better Daddy:

Ted and I were sick this week (ironically none of the kids seemed to really get sick though, just a few runny noses). Ted was so sick in fact that he stayed home from work (something he NEVER does!).  While he was in bed resting Teddy came to me with paper and crayons and asked me to help him make daddy a "get better card" as he called it.  He wanted me to help him write "Feel Better Daddy" on it.  So I took 1 piece of paper and wrote "Feel Batter Daddy"and he used that to copy the letters onto his own "card"

This was the finished product:

he forgot the e in his name (something he does a lot lately)
so he tried to add it in after he was finished haha.

And Kimmy took the piece of paper I wrote on to make her own card for daddy:

Dancey Dance Time

Kimmy had her first Tiny Tots Dance class this past week.  This made the list only because it means she is growing up and I want to make time slow down.  She will be 3 next week!

Reading to go:

Sariah was convinced she was part of the class too:

Chillaxin' and Soaking up Vit D

This morning, after we dropped Teddy of for his very last day of summer school, the girls and I decided to take advantage of the cool and sunny morning and play on our new (to us) trampoline.  First I sat and then I laid down on it as they "jumped" around me (Kimmy is the only one who really jumps haha)

This was my view:

More of my view:

Then Tubs decided since I was laying down I must be offering her some boob time:

So she took full advantage of some boobie snack time right there on the trampoline:

 ♥ It's mornings like these that I really count my Blessings  ♥

What were your tender moments this week?  I would love to hear them!


Love,
this mushy hearted mama,

Christy

I am her REAL Mama!

Originally I planned on taking a day off from blogging, my house could really use it that's for sure.  Then this morning I toyed with the idea of maybe writing a "X Number of Reason's to Avoid HFCS like the poison that It is" post to go  in my Healthy Living, Healthy Eating series (and I promise to write that soon).

That got put on hold after reading something that was posted on the wall of the Instinctual Mamas Facebook page.  It was something I first read yesterday and it really upset and offended me.  I made the mistake of looking at it again today and just could not hold back.  I left a brief comment on the wall addressing it but there was so much more I wanted to say.  I share IM with 3 other mamas though and didn't want to risk bringing drama to the page.  I decided to post here instead that way if drama followed it was only directed at me and not to all the other mamas on IM.

So, I am sure you are wondering, what did I let get me all hot and bothered?  What has my panties in a twist?  It was an article posted about adoptions.  As most of you know, Karma is adopted (and if you didn't know, now you do).  I have been meaning to write out her adoption story and contemplated for a brief second using this blog post as a means to do that.  I decided not to because her adoption story is a beautiful story filled with love and I did not want to taint it with negativity.  I promise I will write it all out soon, for the purpose of this post I will just share a few important details.

What's so wrong with an article about adoption?  It was the manor and tone in which the article was written that upset me so much.  You can read the full post here.  Go ahead, click on the link, read it.  I will wait for you to come back................










are you still reading it??












is it making you angry yet??







Karma's Adoption Day, one of the happiest days ever!
Sariah was cooking in my belly so even she was "there".




Perhaps I was offended by this because I am a mother who has adopted.  The title should have tipped me off to the fact that this was something I should ignore and not read..... Adoption Advertising- Destroying Real Families.  Hmmm, there's that pesky word.... REAL.  What makes a REAL family, is it all about DNA or is it L-O-V-E?  If you read the article then you know that obviously some people feel  it's all about DNA and nothing else.

Does the fact that Karma's birth mother (oh yeah, I went there, I call her the birth mother!) is also Ted's sister make her adoption not "as bad" of a crime as in we did not "make an orphan" out of her because she at least shares DNA with Ted and our other 3 children?

What does that make me though, she shares no DNA with me.  Am I just some outsider, some "sadistic woman" who "stole" a baby to fulfill my own needs?

We are not the "typical" adoptive family in that we can have our own biological children (obviously we have NO problems with this as we have "so many"! We are giving the Duggars a run for there money is what I often joke with others.).  We are the same as every other adoptive family out there in the fact that we heard the need of a tiny helpless baby girl and we stepped up.  We took her in and we love her just as much as the other 3 children.  If anything I tend to favor her and let her get away with more because I am paranoid that she will grow up with a "I am adopted my parents love me less than their biological kids" syndrome.  Articles like the one above do not help this paranoia.

Perhaps, in the eyes of the author of this article and those who share her view points I am not as bad as other "adoptive moms" because Karma's birth mother abused drugs during her pregnancy and therefore Karma was removed from her and put into foster care at birth.  Maybe those of us adoptive parents who adopt through foster care are not as bad as those who do private adoptions.  Do I agree with this, NO!  I think all adoptions are beautiful.  I am just speculating on what may be deemed as an "acceptable" form of adoption to people who share this viewpoint.  Perhaps there is no acceptable form of adoption to them, perhaps in their eyes its better for kids to languish away in state care so that the rights of their "real families" are protected.  Again pure speculation.

The contents of the aritcle itself is not what upset me so much as the tables containing the "Honest Language" and comparing it with "Biased Positive Adoption Language" or the "Language Promoting Artificial Families".  That last statement should give you a taste of these tables but in case you didn't read the whole article I will give you a few examples that they list.  Remember, these are the views of the author and not me, I am simply listing what they wrote.  I am listing the ones that upset me the most, they all upset me though:

Honest, Unbiased Language- mother, natural mother, actual mother
Language Promoting Artificial Families-"birthmother" (incubator) , "bmom", "BM", "unwed" or "unmarried" mother

Honest, Unbiased Language- person looking for a baby to adopt/buy
Language Promoting Artificial Families- loving couple, parents, adoptive parents, real parents

Honest, Unbiased Language- is adopted (is legally related to adopters as in "is married")
Language Promoting Artificial Families- was adopted, joined the family through adoption (pretending the relatedness is natural, not legal. The naturally-related family members are dehumanized as "birth objects".)

Honest, Unbiased Language- person who has adopted, adopter
Language Promoting Artificial Families- mother, father, parent or "real mother", "real father", "real parents"

Honest, Unbiased Language- adoptive situation, adoptive family
Language Promoting Artificial Families- family, "real family"

I think anyone who has adopted, as well as adult children who were adopted, would be offended by these terms.  Or at least I hope I am not alone in this.  Calling a family Artificial because there is adoption involved is down right abusive and a form of bullying in my opinion.  There is NOTHING artificial about my family!

Karma is my REAL child, I am her REAL Mama!  End of story! 

I am her MOTHER!  I breastfeed her back to health (she was sick, withdrawing, diagnosed "failure to thrive" on a prescription formal and potentially set to have a feeding pump if she did not start to improve-you can read my full breastfeeding journey with her on my guest post on NPN here).  I am the one who woke up with her and stayed up with her for hours at night when she was a tiny baby.  I am the one who continued to have to get up with her every 2 hours until she was well over 1 because her brain thought she still needed to eat like a tiny baby due to the effects of the drugs.  I am the one who comforts her when she is hurt, I am the one who takes care of her when she is sick.  I am the one who teaches her, sings to her, plays with her, explores the wonders and mysteries of the world with her.  I am the one who shares the love of Jesus and Heavenly Father with her. I am the one who looks into her beautiful brown eyes and wonders if I am doing enough, am I doing it right, who will she be when she grows up, will she understand.  I love her, she is MY BABY!  I am her MAMA!

DNA means nothing to me.  It is just a complex scientific means to identify us, it does not define a family.  Humans share more than 99% of identical DNA, its less than 1% that makes us individuals.  So if your argument is that DNA is what matters one could argue we are all related, we are all 1 big family.  Science does not make a family, LOVE makes a family!

I AM HER REAL MAMA!  Ted is her REAL Daddy (her birth father is unknown).  Teddy is her REAL brother.  Kimmy and Saraih are her REAL sisters!  Any other kids we may have in the future, whether by giving birth or through adoption (as we have not ruled out more adoption in the future) will be her REAL siblings too.  It's just as simple as that!

WE ARE HER FAMILY.  There is nothing artificial about us!


Love,
Karma's REAL mama,
Christy