Tuesday, April 10, 2017
Places/Activities: We've been keeping pretty busy this last week (which is why I haven't had time to sit down and write anything lately). We took field trips to the Hampton House up in Towson, Hilton area tire park at Patapsco State Park, first visit to Opies for ice cream this season, Maryland Zoo, Oxen Hill Farm, Fort Washington, and Centennial Park. Not too bad as far as outings go in any given week. Back in 2009, my then boss was talking about visiting National Parks and getting stamps in a passport during her summer vacations. I was curious and had to know more. Ever since, I've been more curious about all that our National Parks have to offer and am an advocate for them. Which just goes to show - simple conversations have just as much importance as does attending a class in school or college. Because of that ONE conversation, I went out and bought myself a passport book the next time I was at Fort McHenry. It encouraged me to see new places and learn new things. Before going somewhere, I check the National Park Service website and see what National Parks might be near my destination that I could go and visit. Because of that one conversation, I've been more curious about history (a subject that I always had difficulty with in school), more conscientious about the environment, and definitely take the time to share with my kids the things that I learn. Because of the passport book, we've taken the extra 2.5 hour boat ride from Key West to snorkel at Dry Tortugas National Park, we've also taken a rocky boat ride into Biscayne Bay to snorkel and explore the shipwrecks - not to mention that oodles of places in Maryland that we have explored and never even knew existed. While getting out and adventuring on our own is fun (and challenging sometimes), I'm extremely grateful for good friends who meet up with us, hang out with us, and enjoy our company (even though sometimes our company isn't enjoyable when one or more of the children are unhappy). It's some kind of fabulous feeling when your friend just picks up your wild child and begins talking to her and explaining everything she sees to keep her entertained. Or when your friend reaches down and takes your son's little hand so he doesn't stumble over a gravel path. The days do seem long sometimes, but it's the people in them that make the worst of days seem like the best. Feeling thankful.
Reading:Let's see... I've read a few things since I last posted. You can check my progress here: http://1yearasasahm.blogspot.com/p/100-book-goal.html Currently I've been listening to The Grain Brain in the car, which has been fascinating and very enlightening. It also makes a TON of sense. I've made a couple of simple changes to my diet and in a week lost 3lbs. Crazy, right? Needless to say, I'm quite curious about the pdf recipes included on the final disc (not quite there yet).
Recipes:Nothing new to share. Although I did make some baby breakfast cookies for the twins and instead of cinnamon I used Penzey's cake spice. I couldn't believe how awesome they turned out!
Random Thoughts: So, I'm over halfway through the discs of The Grain Brain. Yes, normally I prefer reading my books in print form, but I put a reserve on the book on CD by mistake. Anyway, Dr. Perlmutter talks a lot about the evolution of food and our bodies, and how we have the power to change our bodies at a cellular level through the food we eat. It's kinda crazy, but makes a lot of sense. I started thinking back to an episode of The Twilight Zone (from the 90's, not the black and white episodes) where some kids tuned into a certain frequency on the radio and it caused strange things to happen to them. Their skin turned a crazy color and got all shiny. It was bizarre. As it turns out, the frequency caused them to adapt to the powerful UV rays of the sun, which allowed them to be outside and exposed without causing damage. Kinda cool, right? Anyway, it got me thinking about how we have evolved to what and who we are today. Babies are being born much larger than before, and 200 years ago it was rare to have a person over 6ft tall (if my history serves me correctly) and now it's pretty common. As far as evolution is concerned, we will likely need to evolve further in order to survive as a species. I know I seem way out there on this but I think a lot and my thoughts wander all over the place. Anyway, it makes me wonder about spectrum disorders. We never really heard about autism and spectrum disorders 50 years ago. Sure, they were around, but not in the frequency with which we hear about them now. You hear about so many brilliant people that are somewhere on the spectrum. We know that many people with autism can "tap" a different part of the brain than the rest of us... What if this is part of our evolution? I mean, in a way it kind of makes sense, doesn't it?
Places/Activities: We've been keeping pretty busy this last week (which is why I haven't had time to sit down and write anything lately). We took field trips to the Hampton House up in Towson, Hilton area tire park at Patapsco State Park, first visit to Opies for ice cream this season, Maryland Zoo, Oxen Hill Farm, Fort Washington, and Centennial Park. Not too bad as far as outings go in any given week. Back in 2009, my then boss was talking about visiting National Parks and getting stamps in a passport during her summer vacations. I was curious and had to know more. Ever since, I've been more curious about all that our National Parks have to offer and am an advocate for them. Which just goes to show - simple conversations have just as much importance as does attending a class in school or college. Because of that ONE conversation, I went out and bought myself a passport book the next time I was at Fort McHenry. It encouraged me to see new places and learn new things. Before going somewhere, I check the National Park Service website and see what National Parks might be near my destination that I could go and visit. Because of that one conversation, I've been more curious about history (a subject that I always had difficulty with in school), more conscientious about the environment, and definitely take the time to share with my kids the things that I learn. Because of the passport book, we've taken the extra 2.5 hour boat ride from Key West to snorkel at Dry Tortugas National Park, we've also taken a rocky boat ride into Biscayne Bay to snorkel and explore the shipwrecks - not to mention that oodles of places in Maryland that we have explored and never even knew existed. While getting out and adventuring on our own is fun (and challenging sometimes), I'm extremely grateful for good friends who meet up with us, hang out with us, and enjoy our company (even though sometimes our company isn't enjoyable when one or more of the children are unhappy). It's some kind of fabulous feeling when your friend just picks up your wild child and begins talking to her and explaining everything she sees to keep her entertained. Or when your friend reaches down and takes your son's little hand so he doesn't stumble over a gravel path. The days do seem long sometimes, but it's the people in them that make the worst of days seem like the best. Feeling thankful.
Reading:Let's see... I've read a few things since I last posted. You can check my progress here: http://1yearasasahm.blogspot.com/p/100-book-goal.html Currently I've been listening to The Grain Brain in the car, which has been fascinating and very enlightening. It also makes a TON of sense. I've made a couple of simple changes to my diet and in a week lost 3lbs. Crazy, right? Needless to say, I'm quite curious about the pdf recipes included on the final disc (not quite there yet).
Recipes:Nothing new to share. Although I did make some baby breakfast cookies for the twins and instead of cinnamon I used Penzey's cake spice. I couldn't believe how awesome they turned out! Random Thoughts: So, I'm over halfway through the discs of The Grain Brain. Yes, normally I prefer reading my books in print form, but I put a reserve on the book on CD by mistake. Anyway, Dr. Perlmutter talks a lot about the evolution of food and our bodies, and how we have the power to change our bodies at a cellular level through the food we eat. It's kinda crazy, but makes a lot of sense. I started thinking back to an episode of The Twilight Zone (from the 90's, not the black and white episodes) where some kids tuned into a certain frequency on the radio and it caused strange things to happen to them. Their skin turned a crazy color and got all shiny. It was bizarre. As it turns out, the frequency caused them to adapt to the powerful UV rays of the sun, which allowed them to be outside and exposed without causing damage. Kinda cool, right? Anyway, it got me thinking about how we have evolved to what and who we are today. Babies are being born much larger than before, and 200 years ago it was rare to have a person over 6ft tall (if my history serves me correctly) and now it's pretty common. As far as evolution is concerned, we will likely need to evolve further in order to survive as a species. I know I seem way out there on this but I think a lot and my thoughts wander all over the place. Anyway, it makes me wonder about spectrum disorders. We never really heard about autism and spectrum disorders 50 years ago. Sure, they were around, but not in the frequency with which we hear about them now. You hear about so many brilliant people that are somewhere on the spectrum. We know that many people with autism can "tap" a different part of the brain than the rest of us... What if this is part of our evolution? I mean, in a way it kind of makes sense, doesn't it?
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