Crafty Tot Thursday

Toddler Bowling was our project for today!!!! The boys had so much fun and such an easy project.

Supplies:

• spoons
• sand or water
• bottles – we used some that were in our recycling bin
• ball heavy enough to knock them over

The boys filled the bottles with just a couple of inches of sand. This was a great exercise for working on hand eye coordination. 

We then set up the bottles far enough apart so that they would fall over but close enough to be knocked down by another bottle. The boys had so much fun and this was great at helping them with their aim. Noah ended up playing with this for over an hour – he was too cute.

  

With older kids you could use food coloring and water to make the game more interesting. Maybe different colors in different rows and each color could be worth different points. They would work on math skills while adding up all the points and having fun at the same time. Elijah kept score for Noah so he was able to work on writing his numbers and addition while having fun with sidewalk chalk!!

Migraine Talk...

As a migraine sufferer now for 15 years, I am constantly looking for new treatments, ideas, triggers, you name it. New information is always good. From the news, Doctors, but most of all from other migraine sufferers. It is almost like a informal support group and it is nice to talk to someone that has gone through and is going through what you have experienced. I always learn something new to try.
For years I have been on and off inderal (when I wasn't pregnant or breast feeding) which is a blood pressure medicine that controls the contracting of blood vessels which is the root cause of migraines. But when I am not on the medication for whatever reason, I have migraines almost every single day. Therefore, I have to take Imitrex (migraine meds) every single day which is not something I want to do. Especially since each pill is $20 when you don't have insurance. Thankfully we have great insurance this year.

1) About a month ago my body was back to the usual migraine every single day and I finally just gave up with Doctor visits and consults and moved on to my #1 dr. which is Dr. Google on my computer =) It felt like it was some sort of imbalance, I was always tired, it would start as the day went on, I just didn't feel 'right'.  I have done a lot of research throughout the years but I was now looking for something completely natural and holistic again. My last attempt and findings didn't work. This time I found that many migraine sufferers have a Magnesium deficiency - about 50% of them!!! So Magnesium supplements (which are not harmful) and a B Complex vitamin with folic acid have helped many. Off to the store I went....Kroger had a buy one get one free sale so I loaded up and started my vitamin intake. Within hours I was feeling better!!!!!! It has now been 2 1/2 weeks and I have had 1 migraine which I think is phenominal. I hope it keeps working because if this is my answer, I am absolutely floored and will be so extremely thankful. I can't stand the prescription drugs, but the headaches make my life stand still and I can't stand still with 2 young boys.

2) I was at a Dr. visit yesterday and one of the nurses has suffered from migraines for 30 years (poor thing!). She has been to an allergist and gave me a tip. Fruits and Veggies with thin skin have a large amount of natural formaldehyde (or methanol that converts) in them. But since they are thin skinned, the formaldehyde is able to seep into the fruit and veggie part and that is actually a trigger of migraines. Carrots, apples, grapes, tomatoes, pears, onions, etc... She said that one way to make it safer is to boil your veggies. She also has a strong odor sensitivity which most of us sufferers do. She always carries peppermint oil in her scrubs pocket. When she is around a patient with perfume or out in public around a lot of 'smell good' which is what Paul calls it, she rubs a bit of peppermint oil around her nostrils and it blocks the smell coming from her surroundings. So easy...

Hopes this helps some of you migraine suffers. I would like to start doing posts on this every once in a while to help those of you who suffer and would LOVE pointers from you, too.

Craft Tot Tuesday

Will be Thursday this week =) 
Why has the business not subsided?? See you Thursday!!

Ahhhh….now breathe!!!

Yay!! Our crazy few weeks are finally over and the Freeman family can breathe again!!!  If you try to call this weekend and can’t get us, too bad…we will probably be IN BED all weekend!!
Last Saturday – Elijah’s best friend, Samuel, came over to have a little birthday celebration with us, and THEN came back over to play on Sunday. Two 5 year old boys = two tired parents!!

Monday  Elijah graduated to YELLOW in karate!!! Woohooo!!
Tuesday  I finally had my interview with CBS news in Atlanta. It’s OVER!!! It was only radio and pre-recorded, so it has not aired and it can be edited. COME TO FIND OUT as soon as I was finished with the interview, the lady asked me to come onto their LIVE Morning Show – Better Mornings Atlanta on CBS. Of course I said ‘yes’ but now I am a nervous wreck all over again.
Last Night – (Wednesday) a Caglewood camper of ours, Jennifer, spent the night with us. She had an absolute blast and to top it all off, it was her birthday. So we had a special birthday dinner and cupcakes for her. The boys adored her and she was an amazing babysitter. I was able to finish 4 loads of laundry because she just played, was bossy, played, was bossy – Jennifer is VERY bossy, and the boys just did what she said, played, obeyed, and then they played some more. Too funny!! I loved it!! And she loved them.
Birthday Dinner and Cupcakes with Super Jennifer:

Super Duper Playing:

Today 2010 Golf Tournament was perfect!! Gorgeous weather, lovely golfers, things went kind of smoothly, and the boys had an absolute blast. Elijah got to hang out with his “Beauty Fairies” as he called them (pictured below) and he got to work with his Grandaddy at what he called the “Peanut Gallery” which was the 8th hole where they made and sold boiled peanuts.

Boys Playing Golf:

The '”Beauty Fairies”:

AND LOOK WHO CAME TO HELP!!!!!!!!!….
      
Blaire, my Best Friend from childhood whom I have not seen since 2008!!! She has been in Korea teaching English and she is finally back for a bit. She was Noah’s “Best Friend” he absolutely adored her, so much so he invited her to go potty with he and I in the same stall. He wanted to share…awwww, how sweet =) She nicely declined.
We played so much and just sat under a beautiful Oak tree catching up most of the day. I love this girl =)

Wiggle…Wiggle

 

Almost…

 

IT”S GONE!!!!

 

Eli lost his first tooth!! =)

Crafty Tot Tuesday

This is actually the post I wanted to post last Tuesday, but I ran out of time, so this Tuesday it is =)

Handprint Flowers!!! Things you will need:

• thin sticks for stems
• craft paper
• sissors
• hot glue gun
• glitter or anything else to make them pretty

First, trace the little hands and cut out as many flowers as you would like. Leave enough room near the wrist so that it wraps around the stick. Next put hot glue around the wrist area and wrap it carefully around the end of the stick. If you would like for the pedals to curl a bit at the fingers, just run scissors over them like you do to make ribbon curl. We then brushed Elmer's glue and glitter over the flowers to give them a little shine.

           

And voila! Cute flowers.

 

We actually took our flowers to our Caglewood Camper Mackenzie who was in such a horrible accident this past Christmas. This was the first time I have seen her since the accident so we took her dinner, the boys made her these flowers, and we had such a great time really catching up. She answered the door WALKING! I am so proud of her! Long road still ahead, but she is doing great.

Our Treasure

Since Elijah is trying to grow his hair out like a pirate, yes that’s right, a pirate….I thought ‘our treasure’ would be a great title to this post. We have a great stream on the back side of our property that has an amazing rock slide, we definitely don’t visit it enough. Now that it is getting warmer, hopefully we will get to visit our little treasure more often and maybe even put on our swimsuits and slide down the amazing rock slide. Who wants to join us??!!

Another great Saturday with our wonderful neighbor, Tommy…

Looking down from the hill:

The amazing slide…who is up for it??….

    

Looking up stream….