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JDaniel4s Mom

growing & learning with him

Deirdre Smith writes/owns JDaniel4’s Mom. After twenty years as a elementary school and technology resource teacher in Northern Virginia, she became a stay at home mom in upstate South Carolina. Her blog features ways she and her 5 year old are exploring learning, crafting, creating healthy meals and living life to its fullest. Deirdre can also be found on twitter as @jdaniel4smom and on her blog's FB page. You can also check her out on Google+.

Growing Plants and Parenting Takes Patience and Persistence

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We picked up these terracotta eggs with soil and seeds at an after Easter markdown sale. They have been sitting in this casserole dish for weeks. We have patiently watered them and given them sunlight. Finally little sprouts are starting to come up. JDaniel has been careful not to knock them over and to touch them carefully. With persistence in the care we give them they should grow into beautiful flowers.

Raising JDaniel right now is going almost parallel with the growing process of flowers. He is given enlightenment on areas of his life that need to change via timeouts and reading books about characters that display behaviors we want him to exhibit. We try to provide him with nourishment and steep him with praise in the areas of his behavior where little sprouts of goodness have started to grow. This is a slow process. My little one constantly wants to know if we will be persistent in our expectations and how patient we will be with him as he learns and grows.

Right now it is a challenge to tend to this little one. We are trying to help him develop deep roots and leaves that will reach for the Son. He is only two and we have a long way to go, but we hope that someday his life displays beautiful flowers.

 

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Mom’s Night Out Became Parents Lunch In

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Thursday night was Mom’s Night Out! I was sent a $25 gift card from Pizza Hut to enjoy pizza and get together with some of my mom friends. It was a great idea in theory until JDaniel had an allergy flare-up and two of my friends’ children ran fevers. I decided to postpone the event until Saturday.

So, I invited some of my friends, their children, and one of their husbands over for pizza today. JDaniel had to be sequestered in the house due to allergies and my husband went to an air show for the day. This was a great opportunity to have people over to play and share a fun lunch. The Pizza Hut pizzas along with a garden salad were the perfect thing for the children and their parents.

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Disclaimer: I was sent a $25 Pizza Hunt Gift card to use for this event.

 

A Mother’s Prayer

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A Mother's Prayer
I didn’t become a mom until I was in my forties. It is something I wasn’t going to be for a number for reasons. When my husband and  I found out we were expecting JDaniel, my whole world changed. Being his mom lead me to write the mother’s prayer below.

A Mother’s Prayer

Lord,

Today help me to be the mother you want me to be.

Please watch over all the things I say and do as I go through my day.

Help me to guard the words a say.

There is a little one who will hear them.

He will think that they are fitting because I say them.

He will repeat them because I have voiced them to him.

He will listen to the tone of my voice as I say them.

Help me to show him what it looks like to be a follower of you.

Those little eyes take in everything I do. He will try to imitate my actions.

I will need patience with him and others even when I feel rushed.

I will need persistence to not give up when challenges arise.

I will need to show him how to ask for help when it is needed.

Help me to take the time to listen to what he is telling me and showing me today. This little one has so much to share.

He will share with me when he needs me.

Help me to put things aside when he says, “Come play with me” or calls for “Help!”

He will ask me questions and seek understanding from me when I am near. Place me where I need to be to hear him.

He will show me what he is learning. Help me to see them through his eyes.

Once the day gets started I will need gentle reminders of these requests.

Please Lord gently whisper them in my ear.

 

If you find yourself agreeing with these thoughts and concerns, I hope you will say this mother’s prayer too. I have written a number of posts on motherhood. If you like this mother’s prayer, I hope you will read them too.

Opening My Heart to Motherhood

Calluses on My Heart

 

This post is linked to Time Traveler Tuesday.

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Plethora of Painting and Mother Day Books

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JDaniel and I went to Creating Artists for Tomorrow ( an art center for children) with the Mom Later Than Sooner Group we belong to. He had the best time painting with and on all kinds of mediums. Yes, he even painted on a tree.
I was hoping to send some of his work to my mom and mother-in-law for Mother’s Day. We read several books about creating Mother’s Day presents. Right now the pictures are on the fridge where JDaniel hung them to admire. I may have to sneak two down while he sleeps and slip them into envelopes.

Here are some pictures of our painting adventure. I have also placed a list of the books we read below.

Here is some of his work:

He painted this by rolling golf balls through paint.

Two of these were made by dropping water on the paper and spraying the paper with colored water. The dots on the upper right were made using paint stamps and salt.

Here are the books we read:
The links below are affiliate links.

This great book called My Mom by Anthony Browne is about how a mom can do anything. This mom can sing, make anything grow, and make her child happy when she is sad. The floral design in the mom’s shirt appears in every illustration.

In Mother May I? by Lynn Plourde the little girl tries to help mom for Mother’s Day and ends up making a mess. All her mom really wants is a hug.

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Mom Sneaks Fruit, Honey, and Yogurt into Popsicles

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I found the recipe below on the Whole Foods Market website and decided to try and make it for JDaniel. He loves fruit and yogurt. This recipe calls for honey. I thought JDaniel’s allergies might benefit from my making something with local honey.

Fruit and Yogurt Popsicles

 

Ingredients
  • 1 cup plain yogurt
  • 1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries, strawberries or pitted cherries ( I used raspberries.
  • 1 to 2 tablespoons honey
  • 4 (5-ounce) paper cups Aluminum foil
  • 4 popsicle sticks or plastic spoons

 

Method
    1. Put yogurt, fruit (slightly thawed if using frozen) and honey into a blender and blend to desired consistency. I put the blender on the floor so JDaniel could reach it.

    1. Pour fruit mixture into paper cups, filling each about three-quarters full.

 

  1. Cover each cup with foil, then make a small slit in the middle of each foil cover. Insert popsicle sticks into foil, then freeze cups until solid, about 5 hours.

When ready to eat, peel off paper cups and eat.


 

Great Posts I Came Across This Week- May 1st

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Each week I travel around the internet visiting blogs. Here are a few posts that I loved, learned from, or gave me great ideas:

 

 

Child Related Posts:

 

Quirky Momma has post on a great learning tool called a Learning to Read with a Cootie Catcher. I am dying to make one.

 

Mama Jenn has post of Colored Rice. I see colored rice in sensory container posts all the time. She has the recipe to make colored rice in this post.

 

Life and Helping

 

Penelope’s Oasis has a great post on How To Plant Your Garden Of Life. I like her peas of mind and squash indifference.

 

Fifth Sister has an amazing poem filled with “O” words called Ordeal. It is awesome.

 

 

Great Recipes

 

Confessions of a Homeschooler has a wonderful recipe for Fruit Salsa and Cinnamon Tortilla Chips.

 

The Young’ns have a great recipe for Homemade Corn Dog Mini Muffins. It looks and sounds great.

 

 

Opportunities for Bloggers

 

Domestic Dork is participating in a walk for MS. She will make a blog signature for a $10 donation to her walk.

 

Our Mommyhood has a great list of memes for moms.

Could a Huge Kite Signal Naptime?

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JDaniel is a pretty good napper in the afternoon. He tends to be a very light sleeper though. Some afternoons the neighbors don’t seem to realize that it is nap time. They start mowing their lawns or trimming trees with chainsaws. The mailperson has to let me know that she has a package for me by banging on the door and ringing the doorbell. The special garbage truck that picks up branches and grass clipping has to slowly gather up things on both sides of the street outside our house. It is like the whole world has decided to make noise.

 

I have come up with a solution to the problem. Batman had a signal that he could shine up in the sky to signal trouble. Do you think it would work for me to fly a huge kite over my house during naptime to signal that I needed the outside world to be really really quiet?

 

 

Hooray! Mom Loop Community on BlogFrog Officially Launches Today!

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Mom Loop is officially celebrating the opening of its fantastic community on BlogFrog today! I am so excited to be a part of it with Rachel from Quirky Momma, Liz from A Belle, A Bean and A Chicago Dog, Nicole from Activity Mom, and Shannon from Milk and Cuddles. I love to visit each of these ladies blogs and look forward to hearing what they have to say on a variety of topics on Mom Loop.

If you haven’t been on BlogFrog to check out the communities on it, you are in for a treat. There are a wide variety of blogs that have strong and thriving communities where you can post questions, read answers from others on a wide variety of topics. Some topics are serious and others are just fun. When JDaniel first had allergy symptoms this spring, I spent time on several BlogFrog communities finding out from others how they had handled allergies at their house.

You may have been to each of the blogs I listed above. If you haven’t had a chance to yet, please visit the links I have place below to a great blog post on each site. While you are there look for giveaways and other treats they may have set out to celebrate the launch of Mom Loop.
Here are wonderful posts from the other Mom Loop Moms:

Activity Mom has a great post called Buttons, Buttons, Buttons.

A Belle, A Bean, and a Chicago Dog has a post called Mommy Maneuvers that will make you laugh, cry, and make you think about going to the bathroom.

Milk and Cuddles will show you in a cool video: How do you find a good foundation that matches your skin tone?

Quirky Momma will help you Make Your Own Moon Sand – Aka Moldable Mess! in her latest post.

I would love it if you would join us on the official opening on Mom Loop today.


The Living Life to the Fullest, Cottage Ladies Reusable Lunch/Snack Bags, and Eat, Nap, and Play Giveaways on this site have ways to gain extra entries by joining Mom Loop.

Mom Loop is planning to give away 10 free premium Blog Frog memberships to the people most active in the community during the month of May!

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