Fixing my daughter's Warmie

My daughter was gifted this little puppy Warmie a couple years ago and it is her f-a-v-o-r-i-t-e... she sleeps with it nightly and rolls it around in her stroller and takes it everywhere. Which is why, despite my 'no toys in the bathroom' rule, he was in there and fell into the (full) potty chair. EW. 

Anyone with a Warmie knows the #1 rule is you can't wash it. BUT, as I said, it fell in the potty chair. So into the washer he went, along with another Warmie, a bear one we bought for her at Oswald's Bear Ranch that was also in on this bathroom party.

As soon as I pulled it from the washer and it was like 10 pounds I realized why they say don't wash it. Because those Warmies are filled with flaxseed for weight and lavender seeds for smell so when you put the toy in the microwave it provides a nice warm, scented "warmie". My daughter had never even used it as a Warmie, so I didn't care about that, but I had to fix him!

So, I slit him open in the back and sure enough he was filled with now heavy, wet, slimy, expanded seeds.

Looked so weird. Most of them squeezed out easily, but the seeds tucked into his paws and just stuck on the inside took a long time to rinse out. I wanted to get them all out because I was googling how to fix it and I read someones' Warmie sprouted something after they had washed it! 😲

Next up was the bear.

If someone had told me that having kids meant spending 2 hours on a Friday night disemboweling stuffed animals of their innards I would've said 'hmmm... we'll see about that', BUT the things you do for love.

Little empty animals.

I had fluff and I bought a bag of the stuff they put in those weighted blankets to give them both some heaviness.

Another fun hour stuffing them up, and spilling impossibly tiny plastic beads all over my table and floor, and sewing them up again. 

But, she was SO happy to see them again outside her door when she woke up. It made it all worth it. 💓

on my heart

 I've been thinking about homeschooling our oldest ever since his first week of starting kindergarten. Something just didn't "feel" right. But I was intimidated. I purposefully did not go into teaching, started to, got overwhelmed thinking about being responsible for creating 'lesson plans' and changed majors.

Sometime during the fall shortly after he started school I heard about a hybrid program that was 2 days school (but like a charter type, not public curriculum) and then 3 days homeschooling where you finish up the check-off list of the week's schooling. I've talked at length to the administrator, interviewed 2 moms who go there, toured the school, prayed, and step by step we have come to the decision to apply. It feels really good, the coming to a decision after months of prayer, thought, and research. So I hope soon we will know the outcome. In the meantime, I have really been loving the school more and more where he is. It's never really been a problem with the school, except for it being expensive, it's always been about wanting more time with him and to foster an environment of trust, care, love, and learning. 

One of the moms that I talked to told me about a homeschooling mom she follows on Instagram and I have started following her too. I've already got so many good tips and things I just agree on. Toy recommendations, book recommendations, started the online piano academy her son went to. And the other day she posted these:

This is me. This is exactly where I'm at. Overwhelmed, but overwhelmed by wanting to do my very best by these three little hearts. Struggling with doing it, but wanting to spend more and more time with them; the good, the bad, the ugly (and very often, the poopy at this particular stage). 

I'm praying for the Lord to guide us. Either he gets into this new school and we begin a new chapter in our lives this fall taking a little different of a road- or he doesn't, and he continues at a great school, I'm trying to trust in Him and His plan. 

And me. Reminding myself that I'm in charge of my attitude, and my response. And it's so good to remember this LEANING IN, in all areas, as a daily offering to Him.