Life with Dylan

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  • Do you buy a gift for your child’s teacher?

    Yes, it’s that time of year again. The holidays are upon us and that means buying gifts for the people that are special in our lives.

    Teachers are probably the most important people in our children’s lives – besides parents that is.

    But what do you buy a teacher? How much do you spend?

    Do you make the gifts?

    Do you buy for the aides and the office staff too?

    I recently compiled a list of gift ideas for teachers as part of the OC Moms Gift Guide. Some you can make at home and others are under $15. Take a look and leave a comment on the article.

    Do you have a favorite gift that you give teachers at Christmas?

  • Say It! Saturday – Home Again

    It’s that time again. My new reason to love Saturdays.

    My son and I took a little vacation over the Thanksgiving holiday to visit family in Northern California. This vacation was much needed on a variety of levels, but this is not the place to go into details.

    Today is all about saying something that just needs to be said. So, although I had a wonderful time and was able to see my son take joy in things he has never done before like standing on the muddy edge of a lake fishing in 50 degree weather, shooting his first BB gun, and watching deer walk out of the woods only to stand 10 feet in front of him and eat the corn that was thrown out for them … I need to say something that only one person has said better.

    The originator of this Say It! Saturday, Dorothy Gale, knows exactly what needs to be said …

    There’s no place like home.

    It doesn’t matter how much fun you have or what your destination was. There is nothing like your own bed, your own bathroom, your own couch, your own coffee … all the little things that make your house your home.
    Join me and Roxanne – Say what you need to get off your chest with Say It! Saturday. Link up on her blog and see what others are saying this Saturday. 

  • It’s OK to Say Stop

    What does it take for a person to say enough is enough? How many sleepless nights and anxiety attacks does it take before one realizes that we are, in fact, only human?
    Personally, I don’t have that answer because it is different for everyone. However, the warning signs are there and we must recognize them. For those people like me, with type A personalities – you know who you are – the ones who must have everything in order, be in control, and don’t have the word NO in their vocabulary – it takes drastic measures. I thrive on stress and sleepless nights. To just sit and relax … why this thought is absurd!
    I have 10 balls in the air and I am quite good at juggling them. Take one of those balls away and I go into a panic. Well, that is until recently. When I got down to only 7 balls in the air, I realized that I was even better at keeping them up. I could throw them higher – and maybe even do a little trick.
    I found the anxiety attacks were less frequent. The sleepless nights – not so much. My son actually enjoyed talking to me and I enjoyed spending time with him. I had time to just sit and watch a movie or read a magazine. This gave me a wonderful idea.
    What if I tried to only juggle 5 balls at once?
    Half the amount I was accustomed to, but if I could juggle 7 balls and have time for a trick, imagine what I could with only 5? 
    Slowly, I began to let some things go
    … and you know what?
    I was even better than before!
    My life is better. I am happier. I sleep at night. Anxiety attacks are pretty much a thing of the past. I have time to “Stop and smell the roses” (yes, it’s a cliché, but you know it’s true)
    Bottom line is I learned to say Stop and you can too.
    Stop trying to do everything. Stop trying to outdo your friends and co-workers. Nobody likes a name-dropper or a person who says I do it all. Find what you love and hone in on those talents.
    For example, if you like to bake and want to start a baking business, then bake. Just don’t bake pies, cakes, cookies, cupcakes, tarts, and anything you think others will like. Find the one you like most and perfect it. Bake the perfect cookies and the world will flock to buy them.
    Why do everything just to be average when you can do one or two things and be AMAZING!

    If you are reading this and think I am talking about you, you may be right. However, I had nobody in mind when I wrote this except myself. It took me almost 2 years to realize it was OK to say Stop … and if reading this makes you think about yourself then maybe it’s time you said Stop too. 

  • Five on Friday – Thanksgiving

    This week I have decided to combine my Five on Friday with Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is a time to reflect on what we are thankful for and for some reason, possible the same reason most people are more loving and joyous in December, we don’t think about these things throughout the year. Why is that?

    Did someone write it in stone that we are only allowed to be thankful during the month of November? Is it written that we can only be loving and joyous during the month of December?

    Well, I guess that is for another day and another post.

    In no particular order, here are 5 things I am thankful for …

    Family – Can’t live with them and can’t live without them. That seems to be the summation of most families and my family is no different. Family gives support and picks us up when we are down. Family gives us a reason to celebrate and a reason to rush home to the comforts and confines of our own home. Family has stories to tell that have passed down from generation to generation. Family is home.

    Work – I don’t know how many people can honestly say that they 100% love their job, but I do know that most of us (including myself) are simply thankful to have a job. I happen to be lucky, as least I think so, because I have a job that I love. I get to write. This job is not my full-time job, but just having the opportunity to work with a wonderful team of writers at OC Moms is a blessing.

    Nature – Now this may seem strange, but I truly am thankful for the beautiful world we live in. I can drive less than 10 minutes and sit for hours watching the waves crash against the shore. Contemplating life and the mysteries of the vast oceans. I can travel to places where there is not a single sound of traffic. Where nothing can be heard but the birds chirping, the squirrels collecting acorns, and the deer eating corn that has been thrown out for them. Nature is the best way to connect with what is important in my life.

    Health – I have been lucky and thank God every day that my family is happy and healthy. Sure we get the occasional cold like everyone else, but it goes away in a few days with rest and sometimes medicine. I have no serious health conditions that would make a simple cold a matter of life and death. I have no allergies that require me to carry an epi-pen, and I have the ability to get medicine when I need it. This is something that so many people take for granted and we need to be thankful that we have healthy families … and give aid to those that are not as fortunate.

    Dylan – Bob Dylan, Dylan Thomas, and Dylan McKay (yes, from 90210) … without these men, I would not have a son named Dylan. The best thing that God has ever given me – and although I have listed this last – the one thing in my life that I most thankful for. My son gives me joy and hope. He makes me laugh and he makes me cry. He is so much like me and in some ways, he is everything that I always wanted to be.

  • Wordless Wednesday – Fishing Blue Lake

    Nothing Like Catching Your First Fish with Grandpa

  • Help Local Schools by Recycling

    File Photo – The Orange County Register

    If you are anything like me, you want to help your child’s school – but writing a check for $100 just isn’t in the budget. Sure, you can buy a magazine subscription from the school fundraiser – but do you really need another magazine delivered to your home?

    After doing some research I found that many local schools, including my son’s school, have community recycling days. Cans, plastic bottles, newspapers … some even have plain old paper recycling (the junk mail and envelopes from bills)

    You can read my article from The Orange County Register on OC Moms website. There are some great ways you can help local schools raise money for science, art, school gardens, and so much more!

  • Change is Good

    You may have noticed that things look a little different around here. The blog Life with Dylan is going through some changes, but change can be a good thing.

    When I started this blog 4 years ago, the main purpose was to inform friends and family of what Dylan and I were doing. Many family members who live out-of-town appreciated this and still do.  However, things have changed over the years – I changed – my life with Dylan changed … and so must my blog.

    I will still write about the places we go and our visits to LEGOLAND, but I will also be adding more articles from OC Moms, more thought-provoking blog posts, and a few surprises along the way.

    Mondays will have a new feature on beauty and makeup.

    Wednesdays of course are Wordless Wednesday.

    Fridays will be a mixture of Fill In The Blank Friday and Five on Friday

    and my newest favorite … Say It! Saturday

    The focus of Life with Dylan will be changing from Dylan to me, Michelle. My thoughts, put into words, to tell a story. Sometimes the story will be heartfelt, other times it will be funny, and sometimes it may simply be about my life with Dylan!

    So stick around … I think you will like what comes next.

  • Say It! Saturday – Cooperation

    It’s that time again. Another reason to love Saturdays.

    Recently I have been wanting to say this so badly to a variety of people in my life. It’s something that we have all heard, we’ve all said it at one time or another, and we all hate it when someone says it to us.

    I never really understood it until I worked for a company that prided themselves on teamwork. The quarterly sales bonuses were not based on how much was sold alone, but on the entire process of the team. Did the order ship out on time? Was the invoice mailed on time? Was a customer service follow up call made? All of the aspects of teamwork and cooperation play a role in the final sale. If one person on the team didn’t do their part, then nobody made bonus.

    So this Saturday, I would like to say …

    There is no “I” in TEAM.

    It may be cliche and some people say it way to much, but it’s the truth people.

    Learn it.
    Live it.
    Say it. 

    Join me and Roxanne – Say what you need to get off your chest with Say It! Saturday. Link up on her blog and see what others are saying this Saturday. 

  • Wordless Wednesday – Thanksgiving Means …

    Yes we love the turkey and the pumpkin pie, but what does Thanksgiving really mean to you?

  • Do Your Kids Eat Vegetables?

    I don’t know about you, but I have the hardest time getting my son to eat vegetables. When he was younger he loved vegetables. Squash, sweet potatoes, yams, green beans, peas, carrots … you name it, if it came in a glass jar with a Gerber label – he devoured it. He loved vegetables so much that his skin actually turned orange! He was like Rudolph, only he had an orange nose.

    Don’t believe me … check out this picture.

    Did I overload the vegetables wen he was little? Could that be why he doesn’t like them now?

    Or maybe it’s a texture thing. I know I don’t like certain foods simply because of the texture.

    Well, I tried sneaking vegetables into his food, I even pureed them. No luck. Then I thought let’s just put them in the foods he already likes. I started simple by adding tomatoes into the pasta sauce. Ok, he is eating them. He loves all Italian food, so I thought I would try putting vegetables in the lasagna. Thinly sliced zucchini and spinach. Yeah, that didn’t go over to well. “What’s the green stuff?”

    Recently he started asking for soup and to my surprise he loves vegetable soup! So if he loves the soup in a can, surely he will love homemade soup even more. After a shopping trip together and learning about all the vegetables his class in growing in the school garden, we made our own vegetable soup.

    I tried to choose vegetables that I knew he liked – green beans and peas, added some little pasta stars for fun, and then tried to sneak in some other vegetables that I wasn’t to sure about. The red bell pepper was diced small enough that he really didn’t notice it. The yellow squash was questionable, he ate a few pieces. The zucchini, yeah, not so much. Even though I chopped up the squash and zucchini in small quarters, he didn’t care for the texture.

    This meal may not have been a total success, but it wasn’t a complete failure either.

    Don’t get me wrong, he does eat some vegetables, but I know he’s not getting all the nutrients his growing body needs from peas, green beans, corn on the cob, potatoes, and spinach tortellini.

    Do you have suggestions for ways to get children to eat more vegetables? What do you cook with vegetables that your children love?

    Leave a comment below and share your ideas. I’m always looking for new recipes to try.