"Happy," and a few inspired thoughts

So, I'm a little late posting this one. I realize this is old news now, but I had to write about it anyway. Unless you live under a rock, you've seen the video for, or at least heard "Happy" by Pharrell Williams.

Like a lot of others, my daughter and I love this song. We love to turn it up, dance and sing to it, and just really have fun with it. This song has inspired people around the globe to create their own "Happy" videos. In fact, on "Oprah" recently, Pharrell cried tears of joy as he watched people around the globe enjoying his song.

He then thanks everyone who believed in him. Oprah comments on how something as simple as a song and a music video could be used for something so much bigger.

That comment made me think. I don't personally know Oprah, but I don't think she intended for her comment to be taken where I'm about to take it.

Her comment made me think about how God can take something small and use it for something big. As the song says, "Little is much when God is in it." What about the little slave girl being used to cure Naaman from his leprosy? What about Rahab hanging a cord in her window, resulting in her family being saved? What about Moses, a seemingly insignificant man with a speech impediment?  A little boy gave Jesus his lunch and Jesus used it to feed 5,000 people. A widow gave all the coins she had. Neither the boy or the widow understood the magnitude of what they were doing at the time. Bet they didn't know we'd still be talking about their sacrifice 2,000 plus years later, either. Most importantly, God took a tiny baby lying in a stable and used him so that all of humanity could be saved.

Little is much when God is in it. Nothing is little to God.

That small deed you did to help someone else is not small to God. That tithe check you wrote, even though your salary is small? God sees it and will use it for his good.

He can take a little and make it a lot. Most of us don't have viral videos on YouTube and very few of us will be on Oprah anytime soon, but we are still important in God's eyes. And no matter how small or insignificant we think we are, we are far from insignificant to God.

Thanks for letting me share what's on my mind today. Comments are welcome, but only respectful comments will be posted.

Gardening...and a little beginner's luck!

Last summer, we moved out of town and to a house just outside of town with a little bit of land. Although we'd both helped with a garden before, neither of us had ever planted our own. We decided to start small and learn a little, and then plant a bigger garden next year. I love tomatoes, so we planted beefsteak tomatoes, cherry tomatoes and grape tomatoes. We also planted six squash plants and four cucumber plants. We've been getting delicious results and have really enjoyed our garden. It's fun to work in it and Emorie loves learning about it.

Yes, this was all from one night. This is the most we've ever picked in one night. It's probably due to the fact that it rained two nights in a row and we didn't go to the garden for two days. 

Next year, we'll add corn, green beans, potatoes and sweet potatoes to the mix. Maybe even cantaloupe.

Build-A-Bear

My favorite kiddo had a dentist appointment this week. She has been going twice yearly since she was 2, and has never liked the dentist. She usually cries and it isn't a very pleasant experience.

We can tell she is starting to grow up, as she handled her three-year-old check up with ease this year. She did the same at the dentist. Usually, the dentist has me lie in the chair and hold Emorie in my lap. This time, she wasn't having it. She hopped up in that chair like a pro and let the dental hygienist and dentist do whatever they needed to do. She never cried or gave them the least bit of trouble. It was great.


Emorie's dentist has a train table in the waiting room- she loves it.

After we left the dentist, Emorie and I went to Chick-fil-a for a little lunch date.

Since she was such a big girl at the dentist, a little reward was in order.

My favorite girl created a new best friend at Build-a-Bear. Here she is posing with "Lexie."

We had a great Mommy and Emorie day, even if it did start out with a dentist appointment.

Emorie's first beach trip

My precious girl and I went to the beach with my parents last week. It was her first ever trip and she loved it. She mostly loved the hotel's kiddie pool and the lazy river, but she loved making sandcastles on the beach as well.

Just checkin' out the view.


Lovin' the kiddie pool and "Silly Submarine"

In the Lazy River with Pop-pop

On the final day we were there, we hit up the outlets to do some shopping. Emorie didn't want to shop, but found something better to do.

We had a great time, even if Daddy had to work and couldn't come.

Mama School

Some of you have commented or asked about mine and Emorie's "Mama School." If you don't know what I'm talking about, she and I have been working together on some early math and literacy skills on the days she doesn't go to daycare. We've also thrown a little arts and crafts, sensory play and pre-school appropriate science for good measure. I tried to start working with her in writing letters, but she isn't quite ready. We're working on some pre-handwriting activities I found on Pinterest instead.

We've always read to Emorie and have talked to her since she was in utero. I believe this is what led to her speech development- she has a large vocabulary and her pediatrician says she is above average in her speaking skills.

Ever the teacher and ever the worrywart, I was really stressing her not being ready for preschool. Turns out I needn't worry- Emorie is a fast learner and picks up on new concepts quickly. She also has a heck of a memory. I was never concerned about her literacy skills, but I did notice while she has memorized the numbers 1 through 20 in order, she really wasn't "counting." She would keep calling numbers after there were no more numbers to count. I struggled with math as a child and didn't want the same for her. I decided to work hard with her this summer not only in early math skills, but also in letter recognition and letter sounds. She is doing well.

Some skills we've practiced this summer are sorting, colors and shapes, comparisons (like big versus little and different shapes), patterns, letter sounds, letter recognition, matching upper case letters to lower case letters, and she has learned how to spell her name. We've also learned about water and weather, different sounds, hot and cold, butterflies and frogs, and textures.

I didn't spend tons of money on this, either. I have a pretty nice stash of arts and crafts supplies due to teaching Sunday School.

I also have a few things left over from teaching elementary school, such as the root viewer and the bug boxes. These colorful counters came from the dollar spot at Target when I was teaching second grade. My silly girl is using them to sort by color.

We use these wooden magnetic letters to spell words and talk about letters and letter sounds. I bought them from Dollar Tree when I was in grad school. 

 I've also been able to use several books, puzzles, related toys, and games from Emorie's playroom.

These things are fantastic! I bought them from Books Are Fun, this company that sells books at our school. 

This really neat travel Memory game contains different pages that you slide into the back. There are lots of different pages, and they've all been useful this summer. 

           I did go purchase a few workbooks from Dollar General for $1 each. I bought this one, one for colors and shapes, and one for the alphabet.

I also found countless ideas for teaching preschoolers and sensory play on Pinterest and parenting blogs. Some great sources are The Artful Parent, Modern Parents, Messy Kids, and Growing a Jeweled Rose. Have fun, and thanks for reading!

A week in review ...and a new blog series

This week has been great. Busy, but great. My kiddo went to the Children's Museum with her grandparents this week. She has been before, but was much younger and really didn't remember a lot about it. She really enjoyed the fire truck and the grocery store. She's a very hands on child, so the Children's Museum is right up her alley. She also got to spend an evening playing at her other grandparents' home. We are fortunate to live near both sets of grandparents, so she sees them often.

My husband works a lot and he actually had a four day weekend this weekend. He and I spent one of those evenings on a dinner and shopping date together while his parents watched Emorie for us. Yesterday, the three of us spent a day at the pool. Sadly, I didn't get any pictures of our little fish, but she was surely upset when we had to get out of the water.

I am compiling a summer blog series on my home blog, Organized and Simplified, called Common Sense Cleaning. It is a chance for me to explain my cleaning and deep cleaning (yes, there's a difference) routines and to offer some tips I've picked up along the way. I'm pretty excited about it.

Speaking of blogging, I have gotten so many positive comments following my last blog entry. So many people have reached out offering prayer, support, or just wanting to talk and vent about their own struggles. Sweet friends, know I am thankful for your friendship and am praying for each of you. I thank you for letting me be honest about my imperfections and for offering a little encouragement along the way. God bless all of you.

Until next week, take care and come back!