Oatmeal Playdough

Have you ever had your toddler pour water all over playdough that your preschooler was playing with? Causing an uproar of screams and crying because his turtle shell playdough with a turtle in it is destroyed!

So, the ingenious mother that you are, decided it would be fun to make some homemade playdough.

Come to find out you need cream of tart in almost every recipe or a gallon cup of salt! Who has that just hanging out in the cupboards?

Well, how about Oatmeal Playdough! It is safe, if your toddler decides to eat it, and it is super easy! We had a blast making it and Hutter was able to help! Which is his favorite pass time these days!

So, since I am so ingenious and kind, I thought I would share!

Oatmeal Playdough

Materials
1 part flour
1 part water
2 parts oatmeal
Bowl


Directions
Combine all ingredients in a bowl; mix well and knead until smooth.
This playdough is not intended to be eaten, but it will not hurt a child who decides to taste it.
Store covered in refrigerator.
Your child can make this playdough without help; however, it doesn't last as long as cooked playdough

It really came out great! I was hestitent at first when we were kneading it, but it is soft and fun to mold and play with!

Floating...Sunnymama Style

Can I first just say type a huge...

THANK YOU! Oh, yeah, I said it! And you better take it and eat it up NOW because all you wonderful bloggy friends aren't getting it again anytime soon!

I appreciate all the wonderful comments and emails I received from my big pity party the other day! You lifted my spirits and I am feeling so much better!

We have been crazy busy with our garage sale the last two days. We sold a lot but still have a lot to sell. Does that makes sense? Well, just believe me!

We made a little dent in that hugeadoption cost but every little bit helps. Plus, I had a blast spending time all day outside. Did you know you could get sunburned FRIED while in the shade? Well, you should have told me because RED is not my color! Seriously, I was sitting nicely under the garage and somehow I got burnt! I learned my lesson quickly and I applied sun block quickly, 40 SPF is my friend! Should be my best friend, because the sun is definitely my enemy!

Speaking of sunblock. Now you have to watch want kind of sunblock you apply because of all the chemicals. I am so tired of figuring out what is going to kill me or not! Today, I was researching milk alternatives because I have self diagnosed Hutter with a dairy allergy. Come on, I am a doctor nurse! Well, Soy is supposedly bad for you now. Sheesh! So, almond milk is the way to go these days! Rice milk is mostly carbs, hint the main ingredient RICE. Did you know? Glad I could help out! So, I am going to buy me some Almond milk! Sounds kind of good. I thought I might as well pick up Rice and Coconut milk too. Rice milk sparingly and coconut, mmm!

Tonight, I am at work, it is 2:30 in the morning, if you were wondering. There are two things in life that I really hate. And I don't normally "hate" One is dining room chairs not pushed under the table and the second is floating.

No, not like floating on a boat on a beautiful sunny day with non chemical sunblock on!

Not, jumping on a trampoline and feeling like your floating on air!

Let me explain in nursing terms, since I am at work and everything...

The definition of floating in nursing terms, Sunnymama style...

Having to walk take the elevator yourself down one level, walk into the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, forced an assignment, and stay there for the next 12 hours, floating.

This is like walking into a whole new job, new place, with some background knowledge, but with all new surroundings, required to care for complex critical children. Intubated, Different types of IV Lines with multiple medication drips. And you are suppose to know where everything is because you were orientated there a year ago! Yeah, okay, I can do this!

It is now 6:30am and I am just now getting back to this post. Sorry, I was running around trying to keep my poor babies pain free. Both back from heart surgery. And guess what, both babies given pacemakers for complete heart block. Does that sound familiar to anyone in particular that we all know and love these days in the bloggy world! If you have no idea who I could ever be talking about, let me give you a hint

MckMama's Orange wearin' Stellan!

Yep, pacemakers, which one day Stellan may need, but prayer he does not! Which is kind of weird because we have not had heart block babies here in a long time and then we end up with two at the same time. And I just happened to take care of them. Maybe, God is preparing me, so I can give MckMama some advice in the future, if needs be!

P.S. A baby died in a very critical situation in here tonight unexpectedly. Please be in prayer for these parents and family for this very sad situation.
We know our Lord has a purpose. We may not know why, but all I can do is wrap my arms in prayer for this family.

Have a Merry Memorial Weekend. I am going to go sleep for a while and then I am free to hang with my wonderful family for the weekend. I am going to give all my loved ones a extra large special hug because life is so precious and so easily taken. I am reminded of that weekly at my wonderful job and I pray all of you just take time and remember it too. Especially with this weekend approaching!

I am down, darn it!

Can I just be honest???

I am feeling down, I am feeling Satan attacking and I am trying my hardest to keep my head up, not get discouraged. I am trying to give it to God, knowing He is in control, but I am down.

He ultimately knows if we will have all the finances for this adoption and how this will all play out. That is what I am holding onto right now. I know God is present and I have faith that my feeling of discouragement will subside, but today and for some time now this is how I have felt.

We have had many family members and friends and strangers donate for this garage sale and I am forever grateful for that. I appreciate all that they have given. Knowing that they generously gave to help us.

Here is the kicker!!

There is no one available to help with the actual garage sale. Things keep coming up with my parents and some other family members that are not allowing them to help out. We need atleast three people there to help. One to manage the money. One for the bake sale part and another to watch Hutter and help customers.

Studly is going to have to take tomorrow morning off to help. We are trying to not take Studly's PTO because we want him to be able to take time off when the baby gets here and for all the travelling time. But yet again he is having to chip away at his PTO.

Ultimately, I am feeling down because I do not have close friends around here. Studly and I have been praying that God would find us some wonderful couple friends, a small lifegroup, something to help us connect with other Christian couples.

We have lifegroups at church but none that will work for us, due to schedule, lack of childcare, etc. We were hoping to find some couples through the adoption, hasn't happened.

We are lacking that true friendship that we can call on them at anytime and they will be there. I do not have those friends that will just say. When, Where, and How can I be there.

This sounds like a big pity party but it is so hard to hear of people who have friends that they can just call on and they will be there. Someone to "Do life with," Do be openly honest with and share our life with. To go to dinner with or have over to our home for an evening of fellowship.

Yeah, I have friends, friends at work, friends at church, friends at MOPS, but not die hard true friends that I am really close with. None with husbands that we can connect with as a couple.

So, we are lacking the help with the garage sale. Study and I will be doing it tomorrow and we have one family member available on Friday.

I want to have true close friends that I can call and say Where can I be, what can I do to help. I want to be that for someone else.

I am down and darn it Lord I want some true friends. I want that other couple that we do life with. That I can tell them anything and trust my secrets with. That would be there in a heart beat to help me!

So, I guess I will just sit hear, watching American Idol on my DVR and have me a pity party by myself (well the kiddos are here to) I am tired ,I worked last night and I have so much to do tomorrow for the sale. But oh well, I want to sit here and listen to Kris Allen and hope that he wins!

Brotherly Love, Baseball Fun

Together....

they play



they squirral

they hug



one gets away



the other one pouts



baseball as one



Oh what fun




What joy to have such brotherly love

Not Me! Monday

This week I am going to make it short and sweet, just like my new haircut I got on Saturday! Not! Oh man, don't you want to see what it looks like...Nope not me, either!

I did not forget to put baby wipes in Hutter's, oh so adorable, mini bookbag that he loves to carry around. Good boy! One less thing for me to cart everywhere! You can totally steal the idea, I know it's great! God will forgive you for stealing this one! Not really!



Which means we did not have to use moist napkins to clean his tush while at the McDonald's playland. Has anyone ever not used a moist napkins to clean BM off a tush? Well, lets just say it does work great! Sheesh! By the way, Hutter is completely toilet trained, remember! So, this definitely did not happen this week!


We did not go on a three mile bike ride as a family this weekend! Super Blast, Not! I will let you know, if I can even get out of bed tomorrow.

Studly and I did not have a complete burst of chuckle when I turned on 30 Day Shred with Jillian Michaels and Hutter immediately dropped to the floor, put his hands behind his head and did a crunch!

Me: "Drop and give me 50, Now!"
Hutter: "Yes, Mommy"

I am not dying of major menstrual crampage at this very moment. Hot pad and ibuprofen, STAT!

Head on over to MckMama, the Culprit, to join along in the blog carnival of brutally honest indulgence. Have a great week!

Conlan Today!

You are 6 and a quarter today!

you love doing cartwheels

you can read anything

you made a goal to read your entire Bible this year, I am so proud!

you are getting GREENS at school and excited to tell me everyday

your laugh is contagious



you can't ever stay mad, you try hard, but tickling gets you everytime

your into gormidis, backugons, and army men

you can't wait until 4:20 everyday, so you can go play with friends

you have a handsome face that glows

you ask about the adoption all the time, asking if she is coming today

you always ask if that food is healthy and if your getting stronger

you love your bike, finally!

you are so sweet to Hutter, always teaching him new words

you are my prayer warrior and always asking if Jesus would do that

you prefer to sleep on the floor than in your bed

you love to cuddle up on the couch with me, but last night I embarrassed you from kissing all over your face. Oh it is starting already!

you have the cutest freckles and try to count them!

you are my firstborn that makes me try harder everyday to be the best mother I can

You are....

Cute

Crazy

Contagious

Candid

Competitive



I love you Con!

Mother in Korean

I have received the most beautiful jewelry, second in line with my wedding ring, yesterday as a Mother's Day gift from a very close relative that was adopted here in the United States as a baby. She searched and searched for this beautiful pendant that says

"Mother" in Korea







Uhm-ma

I was awe struck by her generous thought and giving of something that does and will mean the world to me for years to come! We both shed a few tears as she told me how much it means to her for me to go after my heart and do what I feel is right. And she knows what it feels like to be adopted and be loved and how much it means to her that I am adopting also. It makes me feel that much closer to that baby girl that will someday melt my heart. I think of her often (even though I do not know her face) and how much I want to love on her and tell her how special she is.

What a beautiful gift that I will wear proudly and boldly!

Home Study Visits Complete

We are official done with our home study visits. Can I get a Whoop, Whoop! Now, it has to be approved by our agency and then sent to Korea for their approval. After all that is said and done, we will officially be on the wait list. We are hoping that with the Waiting Child Program (special needs) we will receive our referral quicker That is usually the case.

So, I thought since all our business is done for now and I am just patiently anxiously waiting, I would open up a question and answer post.

Any questions, whether about the adoption or personal every day life that you are dying to know you are free to ask. I will most likely answer unless you ask some crazy off the wall question (okay maybe I will answer those too).

Baby Abroad

The other day, I was daydreaming, like I find myself doing way to much these days. I was thinking about how funny it is to be expecting a baby in the next year and in my every day life no one knows. A stranger will never approach me and say "When are you expecting?" "Oh, your pregnant, when are you due?" "Is it a boy or a girl?" These are all questions that I enjoyed while being pregnant. I loved having strangers/people ask me questions about my pregnancy or the baby. However, strangers touch my belly is a little weird to me. I did not prefer that kind of attentions. But I did love the attention I got from being pregnant.

So, as I was daydreaming, I thought about how I am missing out on invited people, I did not know, into my world of expecting. And on this Mother's Day especially I thought about all those first time soon to be mothers through adoption will most likely (Unless God has other plans for them) never experience the visual part of expecting.

Along side, all those daydreaming thoughts, my mind has been racing on how to raise money for this adoption.

Which lead me to this crazy idea....

You know those ones that you think, that is a great idea. Then, you think no I am crazy, that is a ridiculous idea. And you continue that vicious cycle until you suddenly remember you have a blog that you can ask others their opinion. Good, Bad, Indifferent, you really want to know what they think.

Well, that is where I am at in this day dream!

So, are you sure you are ready to hear this crazy, ridiculous, very cute, creative idea that I thought of?

Okay...good...because here it is!


Have you every seen those T-shirts that pregnant women are wearing that say...

"Baby on Board"?

Like this one?




Well, what if I custom made a T-shirt that says

"Baby Abroad"?

Like this...



This is the first one I created tonight. If I get a positive feedback on this crazy, ridiculous, very cute, creative idea that I thought of, then I would love to come up with a few other designs, colors, and print. Then have you all vote on your favorite one. Then I would print and sell them on my blog to help raise money for my adoption. Plus, this would allow strangers/people to ask you about your shirt. I think this would help raise awareness of adoption also. Begin to open people's minds to the nonvisual "expecting" that many people are experience everyday in their life.

I also thought of the idea of "I heart adoption" which I am pretty sure has been done already. That is why I love the "Baby Abroad" logo!

So, what do you all think? Please give me your opinion. I want to know. Good, Bad, Indifferent!

Friday Fitness and Health

I've caved in, gave in to the peer pressure, and I tried the 30 Day Shred with Jillian Michaels this week. I really only did it to let you all know what I think because I just don't give into peer pressure anymore. Seriously, HS was like forever ago....I think?

So, here is my recap, my opinion, because I know you all are dying to know!

-This workout is great if you are short on time. I love the strength training intertwined with it because I believe that is very important in your healthy living style. If you are new to working out I believe this is the way to go. It will get you started, it's quick, and you can work your way up in the levels.

The down side, it is only 20 minutes. For you to really see results you have to watch what your eating as well. If you want to be more lenient on your eating then you HAVE to do more than 20 minutes. If you are an avid exerciser then this will not be enough for you. You have built up your endurance and need more push to really work your body.

I did really enjoy the videos and plan to continue them occasionally but add another video or a yoga session in with it. That is what I did this week.

My new favorite snack and/or dessert this week...

Strawberries, blueberries, raspberries and walnuts with a drizzle of chocolate. It is to die for! Also, I bought a variety pack of dried berries. I combined them with almonds, walnuts, and yogurt.

I have been on a celery peanut butter raisin kick also. The kids really enjoyed them also. Which I was surprised by. Normally they lick the peanut butter off and leave the celery. Why on earth would you do that!

Remember when I talked about this? I love my organic food. It is amazing. We are so happy with it that moved we up to a medium size box with both vegetables and fruit. It is only $38.00 and look at all you get!









As anyone else tried the 30 Day Shred? What did you think?

Show Us Where You Live-Living Room

Kelly's Korner started an edition of showing off your home, one room at a time. Last week was the Kitchen, which I did not partake in. But, I had to take pictures of our living room for our adoption paperwork, so I thought what the heck. I will post what I have. I found it fun to really get an idea of who people are in this so called "blogging world." I love to watch videos of people and seeing where everyone lives.

I have a few No, No's as you maneuver your eyes around these photos.

First, DO Not look under the TV on the mantel. That is where I keep all the workout videos, weights, and who knows what else. After working out I am just to tired to walk 10 feet to put the items away.

Second, please disregard the fact that I do not have a coffee table. I work out in this room and many large children (MLC) (MckMama style) run around and play in here. Someday, I hope to change that!

Third, I do not have pillows on the couch. I have MLC who throw things such as pillows. When we had them on there I was picking them up constantly and it drove me CRAZY! So, I made a solution to my problem very quickly!

Fourth, I do not have much decorations or pictures on the side tables. I have MLC who run around in this room and have a history of knocking things off.

This is a view from the dining room

This is the few from the front entry

This the the view from the kitchen

Fifth, I could regulate the MLC however my philosophy is to let them feel like home not a parlor or museum of art. I want my children running around and having fun, wrestling, dancing, playing freely. I have MLR (many large rules) in many aspects of our home but I can live without pillows and decor. As you can see our pictures are hook securely to our wall! Plus, our living room is completely open to the rest of the house, the kitchen, the front and back door.

Hope you enjoy.

Oh, and here is one picture of our kitchen that I happened to have as well, since I did not participate last week! Con insisted on taking a picture of my boots! He thought they were "So Cool"

Wordless Wednesday

Not Me! Monday

Wow, it has been forever since I have participated in this brutally honest post that our favorite MckMama create. The exciting part about it is I am partaking in this post because that means Stellan is home and doing much better!

Let's Not all Praise God for that!

So, here I begin, again, on this journey of personal infliction to just let everyone know how crazy life can be and we are all not perfect, or are we?!

First, we had our parenting class this weekend. We performed an exercise to demonstrate bringing another child into our home who has been living in a different home, culture, environment, and country. Showing how they may do things differently than us and how it would feel to come into a whole new world, practically. The idea was to draw a picture, without talking to your partner, of a family, house, and environment.

I was not the one who was secretly picked to draw nonsense, circles, and random things on the picture. My partner did not give me a weird, questionable, bizarre look like I had gone off the deep in! We did not then switch partners, as I continued to partake in completely destroying the other beautiful drawings. I did not completely stun one lady to the point she froze and did not draw anything or acknowledge me in anyway. Once the secret came out that I was not purposely doing it, the whole group did not bust into laughter and surprise! Sheesh I was not that bad! Come on!

Hutter was not placed on time-out without any coverage on the bottom half of his body. He did not urinate on the time out chair! He did not purposely urinate to demonstrate control over the situation. So since that definitely did not happen, then he definitely was not playing with his urine while on the time-out chair! Definitely Not Disgusting!

Con did not stand on the edge of the couch and launch himself off! He did not land face first onto the floor. This was not repeated multiply times! I did not ask him why he was not doing this. While in mid-air he did not explain that he was trying to knock his lose tooth out by landing face down after doing a suicide jump of the edge of the couch!

Since you are all wondering....this event did not successful eject his tooth out of his mouth! Good luck next time, buddy!

Oh, and the best is yet to come.

A little gigantic warning sign is flashing brightly before your eyes at this very moment. Do you see it! Please tell me you did see it???!!!


Okay, good, since now your blinded....

My body, or can I say my privates, did not without my acknowledgment, warning, or permission make a noise that only woman can make in the middle of my yoga class. I was not in complete shock! I am not questioning my ability to return either!

Nope not me!!!!!

Alright, now fess up! It has to be easy compared to that!!!!

Jump, hop, or yoga pose, BEWARE, on over to MckMama's blog to join along this week for the first time in like 6 weeks!

Changed to Sunnymama

I joined the twitter world a month ago and the only name I could have that was similiar was Sunnymama! Which I actually like better. So, to have my names correlate I am changing my blog name. I know, I'm difficult. Hope there is no confusion!

Join me on twitter also and I would love to follow you!

Oh and I asked MckMama a question on twitter and she answered it for me! Even during her fire pit date with her hubby! She is awesome!