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[MadiMamacita]

I want to hear about your user name!

[Flower of Bliss]

I totally forgot it was my week. 

My user name comes from this image: with the text "A flower of bliss, beyond all blessings blest."  A small copy of the print from a card my mother was given when pregnant with her third child hung in our house growing up.  It now hangs in mine.  I've considered getting a larger and nicer copy.  My mother's name is Bliss (a family name dating back to a maiden name passed to a son well before such a thing was common).  My DD1 is named Azalea Bliss. 

[mamalovex3]

That's really sweet.  I really like your DD's name as well! 

Do you have names picked out for the new baby?

What do you do in your "free" time?

[Flower of Bliss]

Originally Posted by mamalovex3 

That's really sweet.  I really like your DD's name as well! 

Do you have names picked out for the new baby?

What do you do in your "free" time?

DD3 will be Vella Rose.  DD1 already writes her name on all sorts of things and includes her in family (or just sister) pictures.  DD2 talks to her, gives her hugs and kisses, and insists that Vella wants her to hold her, so she pretends to take her out of my uterus, holds her, and puts her back

Free time....  I sure don't feel like I have free time.  DH has a 60-90 minute commute, I'm home schooling DD1, and we have no local family, so I'm pretty much on duty 24/7.  DH does try very hard to walk in and take over to give me a break pretty often.  He's a pretty awesome and highly involved father.  In fact, he's in the girls' room putting them to bed now. 

I love taking pictures (mostly of my kids).  I used to be an avid reader, but lately I just read to the kids and read MDC and FB.  I've recently gotten back into keeping up with current events, and I think I'm better aware of news now than I ever was.  I sneak out and do errands solo most weekends, which feels a bit like a vacation, but Target and the grocery store aren't really hobbies....  We're pretty involved in our UU church community, and I'm very socially oriented, but most of that is with the kids too.  Fortunately, I rather like having them around

[ilovejeff]

Do you have brothers or sisters? Where do you fall in the birth order?

How did you meet your DH?

What did you do before you had children?

[Flower of Bliss]

Originally Posted by ilovejeff 

Do you have brothers or sisters? Where do you fall in the birth order?
How did you meet your DH?
What did you do before you had children?

I have a blended family.  My parents had 3 kids: me, and 2 little brothers (2.5 years younger and 7 years younger than me).  Then they split when I was 9.  My mom remarried when I was 12.  My step father has 3 kids a son and two daughters.  We're in cute little boy/girl pairs 6-12 months apart.  They were with us several nights a week, and through holidays and summers, etc.  My father remarried quickly, to a woman who had 2 kids close in age to my middle brother, and they had a daughter pretty quickly.  He was in and out of our lives, and has since I hit adulthood dropped completely out of my life.  

DH and I met in middle school.  We started "going out" on the last day of 8th grade (the last day of middle school) at an after school party.  He said "So, do you want to?" and I assume he meant go out replied "Sure, why not."  We were headed to different high schools, and I didn't expect it to last through the summer.  We dated through out high school, which definitely had it's ups and downs, but we never split.  At the end of our junior year we had a big talk about college plans and whether we were planning around each other or not, which ended with us deciding we planned to get married.  We went to the local college (LSU), and married the summer after our first year there.  I was still 18!  We had been together for 5 years.  We recently celebrated 13 years together, and I'm more in love with him now than I ever was then.  I am absolutely amazed at the man the boy I fell for has grown into.

I taught high school math for 3 years before I had DD1.  I tutored math (independently, not through a company or school) about 20 hours a week throughout high school and college before that.  I have a degree in math, and did some graduate work in math. 

[MIrandaM]

I'm really enjoying your answers! The flowers of bliss print is so sweet, and the caption even sweeter, and that it's a family name too - loving it.  You and your DH sound very happy, nice to hear you speak so positively about your family <3 <3 <3 

Do you cook?  What are some of your go-to meals? 

What are some of your family traditions? 

[nilatti]

Originally Posted by Flower of Bliss 

DH and I met in middle school.  We started "going out" on the last day of 8th grade (the last day of middle school) at an after school party.  He said "So, do you want to?" and I assume he meant go out replied "Sure, why not."  We were headed to different high schools, and I didn't expect it to last through the summer.  We dated through out high school, which definitely had it's ups and downs, but we never split.  At the end of our junior year we had a big talk about college plans and whether we were planning around each other or not, which ended with us deciding we planned to get married.  We went to the local college (LSU), and married the summer after our first year there.  I was still 18!  We had been together for 5 years.  We recently celebrated 13 years together, and I'm more in love with him now than I ever was then.  I am absolutely amazed at the man the boy I fell for has grown into.

Oh, wow! My DH and I started dating when I was 13, too. I always get excited when I meet someone else who did that, because it's really rare. It is completely amazing to see someone grow and change over that kind of time.

[crystal_buffaloe]

Am I remembering correctly that you're a petite mama? Is your DH way taller than you are?

Do you follow any particular homeschool philosophy?

What kind of current events do you read up on? Politics?

[Flower of Bliss]

Originally Posted by MIrandaM 
Do you cook?  What are some of your go-to meals? 

What are some of your family traditions? 

I cook in that my family eats primarily home made meals, but not in an I love to cook and feel like I'm good at it sort of way.  I just got a Vitamix, which I'm loving.  I'm looking forward to doing all sorts of fun things with it, but for now we're just doing smoothies every morning.  My go to smoothie is: frozen fruit and veggies (strawberries, peaches, blackberries, bananas, spinach, kale), almond milk, and Greek yogurt (I'm doing nonfat, which I have mixed feelings on).  I sometimes add avocado (but it's pricey and we eat it every day anyway and then I'd have to cut it up), and flax seeds (but I go back and forth on wanting the nutty flavor).

We have a handful of dinner go-tos.  Tacos (which we do every Tuesday.  Last week we did it on Monday and both kids were all upset lol)- refried black beans with spinach, grated cheese, salsa, avocado, tomato on whole wheat tortillas.  Spaghetti - I dice and sautee mixed veggies (onion, carrots, peppers, garlic, squashes, broccoli, mushroom, spinach, etc.. whatever is in season or we're in the mood for etc), lately we do sauteed chicken too, and then pour over store bought (organic in a jar) tomato sauce, serve over whole wheat angel hair, and top with grated feta.  Stir fry - chicken, shrimp, or tofu with random mixed veggies served over rice, quinoa, or whole wheat egg noodles. 

Lately for lunch we do sandwiches on whole wheat tortillas with deli turkey, swiss, avocado, tomato, Spike all purpose seasoning, and hummus daily.  We do fruit (peaches are this weeks go to) and baby carrots with hummus on the side.

My favorite family tradition is our annual ring.  Here's the stock image.  Ours sits at the center of our table on a lazy susan.  Each wedge represents a month, and each spot on the outer ring represents a day of the current month.  Each night we pull the "day bead" on the outer ring for that day and place it in the bowl in the center.  We rotate around the table who gets to pull the bead.  Last night I pulled a green bead for Wednesday July 11.  Tonight DD2 pulled a yellow bead for Thursday July 12.  When we pull the bead we talk about our day.  Then we often talk about plans for upcoming days.  We put out markers next to beads for special events for the month.  We have another set of beads on the inner ring, and pull one "week bead" on each Monday (well, up to 4 a month).  Here's a picture of ours on Halloween night:   It's fun watching the days go by, and the year pass.  DD1 knows the little characters we have for each month as well as the color bead for each day of the week.  DD2 knows many of them as well.  We also turn out all of the house lights and eat dinner by candle light every night, which I find very soothing.  Most nights we do pajamas and brush teeth right after dinner and then head out for family walk time.  DH gets home at about 7-8pm and we do dinner time as a family, so it's always after dark by the time we hit walk time.  We look at stars, talk about constellations, listen to crickets, talk about the day, or whatever comes up, and do a walk around our circle street (about 1/3 mile). 

Originally Posted by crystal_buffaloe 

Am I remembering correctly that you're a petite mama? Is your DH way taller than you are?
Do you follow any particular homeschool philosophy?
What kind of current events do you read up on? Politics?

Yes, I'm 4ft 10in, so quite petite.  DH is 5ft 10in, so much taller than me, but not especially tall. 

DD1 did a year of Waldorf kinder, and there are some things I love about the Waldorf philosophy.  I think of play as very important.  We try to stick with natural materials for toys.  My kids are essentially screen free.  We don't have a TV out, never watch movies, and they don't have electronic or screen oriented toys at all.  They do like to watch photo slide shows on my laptop, and I will look up images or videos on my iPhone based on a topic that comes up.  We also try to keep rather media free (no character toys or clothing). 

However, my actual "educational" philosophy is much more eclectic and mainstream.  DD1 is using Explode the Code workbooks for phonics, Right Start Math, and Moving Beyond the Page.  I even do sight word flash cards *gasp*  We only do secular curricula.  My general goals for her are to keep her more or less on or above level compared to our local public schools with reading, writing, and math; to do fun science and humanities/social studies untis with her that engage us both, to leave her with LOTS of free play time with her sister, and to get her out and about among other people, out in nature, etc.  We go to the library every Tuesday year round.  Our librarians know us all by name, and very much keep up with the kids.  We do kindermusik.  Last year both girls did dance.  This year it'll be gymnastics.  They've been doing swimming since spring.  We also do at least one play group/park day a week. 

I'm following the up coming elections and politics plenty lately.  I also read up on more general big news stories.  I've never been one to follow celebrities, so I get sort of irritated with the stories of who's getting married, divorced, having a baby, and what who wore to what big event.  I also have absolutely NO clue what movies are coming out.  It's probably been 7+ years since I was in a movie theater.  I wish I did a better job following local news and politics, but I they tend to really stress me out.  I'm a strong liberal, living in a very conservative area.

[hyde]

Originally Posted by Flower of Bliss 

My favorite family tradition is our annual ring.  ...

We also turn out all of the house lights and eat dinner by candle light every night, which I find very soothing.  Most nights we do pajamas and brush teeth right after dinner and then head out for family walk time. ...

This is all very, very cool stuff. Just had to reply because it all struck me as so special. Very cool.