The last couple of days I have been ravenous in my pursuit to rid us of clutter and get down to only the things we will need to take with us. My biggest project: receipts and old bills. We (by we I mean I) have boxes and boxes (and piles and file folders) full of receipts and bills that date back to before Heath and I got our first apt...yep, that means 10 years of paper build up! Ugh...can you believe we have been moving that stuff around with us?! In all my pack ratted-ness I have kept every single bill and receipt, so seriously, boxes! To go along with my anal-retentive crazy compulsiveness, I also have an obsessive need to go through every single one (paper and receipt, not just box) before I toss it out or shred it. I would also like to add that I feel the need to shred every bill or receipt or notice from any company that has an address on it accompanying some sort of account number. These things are 10 years old! Who cares?! Well, I do. Ugh!! While I have paper bags full of bills, receipts, and shredded paper (anyone need any hamster bedding?) I still have lots more to go. At least I have noticed that as I continue I am being more careless with the receipts and just glancing through them...maybe I will really let loose after another box or two and just start grabbing handfuls to toss out without even looking! What a wild Friday night that would be...oh, wait...it's Sunday =)
In the beginning, I was having a fit of nostalgia going through all the early bank statements and receipts. It was a walk down memory lane...oh, I remember that restaurant or when we took that trip, when I went to the pet store to buy the things for our first dog and just random shopping trips. I have (had) a pretty decent memory, so even little things like grocery store receipts and movie stubs can bring back pretty vivid memories of the exact event. These fall into the category of "really hard to throw out because they are like written pictures". It was hard to get rid of the "memories" from our college days, but I can't keep carrying around stuff like that forever. I did notice when going through more recent receipts I do not have this case of nostalgia...it seems to have happened around the time I became a mommy ;) The receipts did not conjure up the same amount of memories. There are some, trip receipts or receipts from Ikea when Tricia and I would spend the day there as if we were in a museum or a zoo! But grocery store receipts, mall receipts, they do nothing for me. So it's easy to toss them out. Thank goodness I take a hundred times more pictures now than I did back then. I can look back on the visuals to jog my memory. I hope that later I don't feel like I threw out too many memories...old receipts really are like a chronological scrapbook of your life, everyday and otherwise. You can see the things that you did day to day, which are the hardest to scrapbook because these are the things you have to make yourself realize the importance of so you can record them. What a brain training exercise it is!
We also have a large pile of no longer needed items growing in the garage in preparation for a yard sale. Seeing as how this stuff is taking up my side of the garage (where my car is usually parked), I can totally see me getting frustrated with having all that junk there and deciding to freecycle it just so I can park my car in the garage again! Free strollers anyone?
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Monday, March 16, 2009
See...
See what happens when you procrastinate! I've had all this stuff I wanted to write swimming around in my head since Thursday and now it's Monday, so of course I can't remember most of it! So unfortunately =( it might just be choppy!
Random things:
When we were on our nature hike last weekend, Drew was walking and said to me, "Mommy, don't bother me, I'm conservating." (concentrating) I found this hilarious since we were on a nature walk =D
Some new parenting philosophies from an "aha" moment I had last week: Adults are really no different than kids. We get frustrated and lash out just like kids do. We may not hit (or do we, be honest with yourselves, parents...) or do the same things they do, but think how often we yell just out of frustration. I started time out with the thought it would be a place for the kids to "cool down", but they don't ever really get worked up enough to need to cool down, so I started using it as a discipline tool =( This bugs me because I don't really think it works. I add the firm reminders with time out when I put them there, I think those reminders are shaping their behavior...the time outs probably just add to their frustration! To change ourselves, as adults, we need constant reminders to act the way we are supposed to and refrain from negative behavior. I am trying to use more a more positive gentle attitude towards the kids...I hate being mean! I know that all the yelling and meanness they have has come from me =/ How awful is that?! Now I just have to spend the time and effort undoing any damage I have done.
(There was another one, but I can NOT remember it!)
Heath has started playing volleyball again. The hospital leagues started playing last week. It is good for him to be playing some sort of sport again! We haven't played volleyball since we were back in college. The kids and I went to his first game to cheer him and the rest of the team on. It was fun, but I wish I was playing too! They had their 3rd game today, so far they have won all of them! Yay!
We finally took a trip to the Virginia Air and Space museum on Saturday! It is free for all military during the month of March, so we took advantage of it! The kids were pretty excited...there are 2 floors, one for airplane/aviation stuff and the 2nd for NASA/space stuff. The first thing Hailey (and Heath) wanted to do was ride in the fighter jet simulator. We stood in line forever watching people get closed up in a box and start spinning around in all different directions. When Hailey and Heath were in there, I could hear her talking to daddy loudly. She asked me when they came out if I heard her telling daddy not to spin them around too much. It was pretty funny. Next we hopped on the rollercoaster simulator. Who ever thought it would be a good idea to lock people in a box, turn off the air, and then start throwing them around is an idiot! I would have been fine if they left the air on, but I might as well have been riding in the back of a van going down some unpaved road, ugh!
The museum was nice, Hailey and Drew were anxious to skip the planes and go upstairs for the space stuff. We walked through a room with large models of planets into a spaceship that took us to Mars. We stepped onto the red planet and started controlling some of their navigators and looking through previously taken pictures. We made a crater on the surface and landed the space shuttle on the return home. I was, of course, doing my usual teaching thing. I tried hard to have them learn something about everything we looked at, but it is hard to turn 2 little ones loose in a museum and expect them to stand there and listen to you when they could be running around pressing buttons! Oh well... A favorite that we got to "perform" twice was a rocket launch sequence that ended with a launch. We even had an audience the 2nd time we did it. Some individual faves of the museum...Hailey liked the rollercoaster ride (she can't wait for Busch Gardens to open up!) Drew liked the life size airplane that you could climb through. They had so much fun looking through the windows and pulling off the seat cushions to use as flotation devices. They even played flight attendants for a while, bringing me more drinks than my bladder could possibly hold on one flight! My favorite was the rocket launch, it was very unique, and Heath said he just liked being there with the kids =)
When we were finished going through the museum we took the kids to the Imax theater there to see Under the Sea in 3d!! I was all for the short educational length video and certainly watching it in 3d to make it more real. I had never seen a 3d movie before, especially in a theater! I will have to say, that was one of the coolest things I have ever EVER seen! I am sure all the people around us in the theater hated me! I kept talking to the kids and pointing things out and then I kept exclaiming to Heath how awesome the movie was! I could not believe how real it was. They had a part where they were going down a river next to some vegetation...I really felt like I was going down the river and I could just reach out and touch it. It was truly amazing. Drew didn't keep his glasses on at all, but liked to swing them around...yippee in a dark theater. I convinced him to put them back on towards the end when they were showing sea lions. He was thrilled, they were so close...one even came right up and "kissed" us. They saw quite a few of the things we learn songs about...weedy sea dragon, lion fish, etc. My favorite part of the movie was being on top of the water, I loved feeling like I was there. I felt like I was snorkeling under the water too, who needs to be in the water to snorkel, ha! (It's nice for those of us who hyperventilate when we snorkel to be able to do it =) I also liked the sea snakes, they were just floating around in the middle of the water. The seals and sharks were cool too. Heath liked the sea snakes and this wave of fish that was feeding off the ocean floor. Drew liked the lion fish and Hailey liked the garden snakes. They all just rise up out of holes in the ground (there are a ton of them all together) and then "dance" with the flow of the water...too cool! They both loved getting kisses from the seals! They are still talking about it!
We decided to branch out that night and head to an Indian restaurant in Norfolk (Rajput). Heath had heard a lot of good things about it, but I am such a food snob...I would rate it as mediocre. Hailey ordered chicken tikka (which was good, I should have ordered the kid plate =) and Drew ordered lamb shuka (that might not be quite right). Heath and I ordered sampler platters...he really liked his. Like I said, mine was mediocre (well, not mine, all of it...I tried a little of everything). I am not one for bland flavor. It's ok, it was an experience. Both Heath and I ordered some chai since it was so cold and rainy out...I was fine for a while, but I am NOT a caffeine drinker even a little bit. I am pretty entertaining after having a cup of caffeine, it didn't hit me until later and then I started getting really talkative and silly, making up stupid jokes and stuff. I thought it was hilarious. I wanted to get on here and write while I was in a funny talkative mood, but it didn't happen =/ Maybe next time ;)
All we did on Sunday was go to Target (in the rain...for maybe the 3rd or 4th day in a row). We were finally getting around to buying the double sit and stand stroller we have been eying forever! We figured we would want it for Disney World, but now I am having 2nd thoughts about taking our new $170 stroller to DW, what if it gets stolen?! Now I am thinking maybe we should get some cheap umbrella type strollers that I wouldn't care if they disappeared. Eek!
Today was art day (as are all Mondays). Hailey is incredibly (unusually) excited for St. Patrick's Day, so was happy to be painting Leprechaun hats, shamrocks, and rainbows today. Drew gets bored with painting pretty fast, he never wants to fill in all the white spots. He did a great job on his rainbow though! Hailey's afternoon drawing class was about repetition. They drew on a card that was folded into 4 sections...they drew the same thing 4 times on each side in different colors (Hailey did ice cream cones on one side and golden retrievers on the other.) I will have to post a picture, they turned out really great!
In the car on the way to class today, Hailey said, "Mommy, I have an idea. If we had a plastic trash bag we could go to the beach and clean up all the trash and help the animals. Isn't that a great idea?!" I thought it was a fabulous idea! Such a cute little girl =) When we were at the air and space museum, they had a wall that you could post answers to their questions. I asked Hailey, "What is something you can do to help the environment?" She said, "recycle". I was surprised to get an answer, much less a real one! My little tree hugger =)
Drew has been having a lot of trouble sleeping this last week...as in going to sleep, not sleeping during the night. Kids really know how to break your heart...when I go in to check on him while he is crying, I calm him down and tell him to go back to sleep. Then he scrunches his sweet little face up and tries not to cry, but can't help it as he squeaks out, "but what if I'm all alone and somebody won't be with me anymore!" It is SO sad, it makes me want to cry! I'm a tough mom, I can handle it, but man! He knows how to pull at my heart strings. I just want to scoop him up and snuggle with him in the rocking chair so he feels safe and secure and knows that I am there. But of course, I can't do that...think of the pattern that will start even if I do it only once! He always asks me, "Mommy, can you sleep with me for a minute?" (meaning, lay on the floor next to my crib until I fall asleep and then I won't notice you leave). I always tell him no, but now he answers with his alone phrase and it kills me! I hate the feeling alone phase, it lasts forever and you feel like crap for not indulging them. Sigh...
Another "parenting" tidbit I was working out today: Live each day as if it is your last...or slightly less morbid, live each day to its fullest. I try to remind myself a lot of what I liked most about my childhood. What are my fondest memories, the things that stick out very vividly in my mind. Then I try to think about what I want them to look back and remember when they are older so I can plan for those things. I want them to remember lots of fun, playing, laughing, loving, hugging, cuddling, and gentle understanding. I, of course, want them to look back and see me as the perfect mom (who wouldn't want that?!) who did nothing but love them and their dad and make their childhood an overflowing cup of beautiful memories. I need to take each day and look at it like that. Make each day full of fun...then I won't have regrets about all the "bad" days we have. I hate that 1 good day to replace x number of bad days. I still feel horrible about the days that aren't as loving as others, the days where we are only trying to get things done. It isn't about the finished product, but the journey. How you get there is what counts, and I need to remember that. Hailey and I had a great time, it was always harmonious when she was little. Drew definitely changed the dynamic, having two kids gave me an attitude adjustment for the worse. Now I need to spend a lot of time and effort getting back on that track!
Thanks for listening to my ramblings...
Random things:
When we were on our nature hike last weekend, Drew was walking and said to me, "Mommy, don't bother me, I'm conservating." (concentrating) I found this hilarious since we were on a nature walk =D
Some new parenting philosophies from an "aha" moment I had last week: Adults are really no different than kids. We get frustrated and lash out just like kids do. We may not hit (or do we, be honest with yourselves, parents...) or do the same things they do, but think how often we yell just out of frustration. I started time out with the thought it would be a place for the kids to "cool down", but they don't ever really get worked up enough to need to cool down, so I started using it as a discipline tool =( This bugs me because I don't really think it works. I add the firm reminders with time out when I put them there, I think those reminders are shaping their behavior...the time outs probably just add to their frustration! To change ourselves, as adults, we need constant reminders to act the way we are supposed to and refrain from negative behavior. I am trying to use more a more positive gentle attitude towards the kids...I hate being mean! I know that all the yelling and meanness they have has come from me =/ How awful is that?! Now I just have to spend the time and effort undoing any damage I have done.
(There was another one, but I can NOT remember it!)
Heath has started playing volleyball again. The hospital leagues started playing last week. It is good for him to be playing some sort of sport again! We haven't played volleyball since we were back in college. The kids and I went to his first game to cheer him and the rest of the team on. It was fun, but I wish I was playing too! They had their 3rd game today, so far they have won all of them! Yay!
We finally took a trip to the Virginia Air and Space museum on Saturday! It is free for all military during the month of March, so we took advantage of it! The kids were pretty excited...there are 2 floors, one for airplane/aviation stuff and the 2nd for NASA/space stuff. The first thing Hailey (and Heath) wanted to do was ride in the fighter jet simulator. We stood in line forever watching people get closed up in a box and start spinning around in all different directions. When Hailey and Heath were in there, I could hear her talking to daddy loudly. She asked me when they came out if I heard her telling daddy not to spin them around too much. It was pretty funny. Next we hopped on the rollercoaster simulator. Who ever thought it would be a good idea to lock people in a box, turn off the air, and then start throwing them around is an idiot! I would have been fine if they left the air on, but I might as well have been riding in the back of a van going down some unpaved road, ugh!
The museum was nice, Hailey and Drew were anxious to skip the planes and go upstairs for the space stuff. We walked through a room with large models of planets into a spaceship that took us to Mars. We stepped onto the red planet and started controlling some of their navigators and looking through previously taken pictures. We made a crater on the surface and landed the space shuttle on the return home. I was, of course, doing my usual teaching thing. I tried hard to have them learn something about everything we looked at, but it is hard to turn 2 little ones loose in a museum and expect them to stand there and listen to you when they could be running around pressing buttons! Oh well... A favorite that we got to "perform" twice was a rocket launch sequence that ended with a launch. We even had an audience the 2nd time we did it. Some individual faves of the museum...Hailey liked the rollercoaster ride (she can't wait for Busch Gardens to open up!) Drew liked the life size airplane that you could climb through. They had so much fun looking through the windows and pulling off the seat cushions to use as flotation devices. They even played flight attendants for a while, bringing me more drinks than my bladder could possibly hold on one flight! My favorite was the rocket launch, it was very unique, and Heath said he just liked being there with the kids =)
When we were finished going through the museum we took the kids to the Imax theater there to see Under the Sea in 3d!! I was all for the short educational length video and certainly watching it in 3d to make it more real. I had never seen a 3d movie before, especially in a theater! I will have to say, that was one of the coolest things I have ever EVER seen! I am sure all the people around us in the theater hated me! I kept talking to the kids and pointing things out and then I kept exclaiming to Heath how awesome the movie was! I could not believe how real it was. They had a part where they were going down a river next to some vegetation...I really felt like I was going down the river and I could just reach out and touch it. It was truly amazing. Drew didn't keep his glasses on at all, but liked to swing them around...yippee in a dark theater. I convinced him to put them back on towards the end when they were showing sea lions. He was thrilled, they were so close...one even came right up and "kissed" us. They saw quite a few of the things we learn songs about...weedy sea dragon, lion fish, etc. My favorite part of the movie was being on top of the water, I loved feeling like I was there. I felt like I was snorkeling under the water too, who needs to be in the water to snorkel, ha! (It's nice for those of us who hyperventilate when we snorkel to be able to do it =) I also liked the sea snakes, they were just floating around in the middle of the water. The seals and sharks were cool too. Heath liked the sea snakes and this wave of fish that was feeding off the ocean floor. Drew liked the lion fish and Hailey liked the garden snakes. They all just rise up out of holes in the ground (there are a ton of them all together) and then "dance" with the flow of the water...too cool! They both loved getting kisses from the seals! They are still talking about it!
We decided to branch out that night and head to an Indian restaurant in Norfolk (Rajput). Heath had heard a lot of good things about it, but I am such a food snob...I would rate it as mediocre. Hailey ordered chicken tikka (which was good, I should have ordered the kid plate =) and Drew ordered lamb shuka (that might not be quite right). Heath and I ordered sampler platters...he really liked his. Like I said, mine was mediocre (well, not mine, all of it...I tried a little of everything). I am not one for bland flavor. It's ok, it was an experience. Both Heath and I ordered some chai since it was so cold and rainy out...I was fine for a while, but I am NOT a caffeine drinker even a little bit. I am pretty entertaining after having a cup of caffeine, it didn't hit me until later and then I started getting really talkative and silly, making up stupid jokes and stuff. I thought it was hilarious. I wanted to get on here and write while I was in a funny talkative mood, but it didn't happen =/ Maybe next time ;)
All we did on Sunday was go to Target (in the rain...for maybe the 3rd or 4th day in a row). We were finally getting around to buying the double sit and stand stroller we have been eying forever! We figured we would want it for Disney World, but now I am having 2nd thoughts about taking our new $170 stroller to DW, what if it gets stolen?! Now I am thinking maybe we should get some cheap umbrella type strollers that I wouldn't care if they disappeared. Eek!
Today was art day (as are all Mondays). Hailey is incredibly (unusually) excited for St. Patrick's Day, so was happy to be painting Leprechaun hats, shamrocks, and rainbows today. Drew gets bored with painting pretty fast, he never wants to fill in all the white spots. He did a great job on his rainbow though! Hailey's afternoon drawing class was about repetition. They drew on a card that was folded into 4 sections...they drew the same thing 4 times on each side in different colors (Hailey did ice cream cones on one side and golden retrievers on the other.) I will have to post a picture, they turned out really great!
In the car on the way to class today, Hailey said, "Mommy, I have an idea. If we had a plastic trash bag we could go to the beach and clean up all the trash and help the animals. Isn't that a great idea?!" I thought it was a fabulous idea! Such a cute little girl =) When we were at the air and space museum, they had a wall that you could post answers to their questions. I asked Hailey, "What is something you can do to help the environment?" She said, "recycle". I was surprised to get an answer, much less a real one! My little tree hugger =)
Drew has been having a lot of trouble sleeping this last week...as in going to sleep, not sleeping during the night. Kids really know how to break your heart...when I go in to check on him while he is crying, I calm him down and tell him to go back to sleep. Then he scrunches his sweet little face up and tries not to cry, but can't help it as he squeaks out, "but what if I'm all alone and somebody won't be with me anymore!" It is SO sad, it makes me want to cry! I'm a tough mom, I can handle it, but man! He knows how to pull at my heart strings. I just want to scoop him up and snuggle with him in the rocking chair so he feels safe and secure and knows that I am there. But of course, I can't do that...think of the pattern that will start even if I do it only once! He always asks me, "Mommy, can you sleep with me for a minute?" (meaning, lay on the floor next to my crib until I fall asleep and then I won't notice you leave). I always tell him no, but now he answers with his alone phrase and it kills me! I hate the feeling alone phase, it lasts forever and you feel like crap for not indulging them. Sigh...
Another "parenting" tidbit I was working out today: Live each day as if it is your last...or slightly less morbid, live each day to its fullest. I try to remind myself a lot of what I liked most about my childhood. What are my fondest memories, the things that stick out very vividly in my mind. Then I try to think about what I want them to look back and remember when they are older so I can plan for those things. I want them to remember lots of fun, playing, laughing, loving, hugging, cuddling, and gentle understanding. I, of course, want them to look back and see me as the perfect mom (who wouldn't want that?!) who did nothing but love them and their dad and make their childhood an overflowing cup of beautiful memories. I need to take each day and look at it like that. Make each day full of fun...then I won't have regrets about all the "bad" days we have. I hate that 1 good day to replace x number of bad days. I still feel horrible about the days that aren't as loving as others, the days where we are only trying to get things done. It isn't about the finished product, but the journey. How you get there is what counts, and I need to remember that. Hailey and I had a great time, it was always harmonious when she was little. Drew definitely changed the dynamic, having two kids gave me an attitude adjustment for the worse. Now I need to spend a lot of time and effort getting back on that track!
Thanks for listening to my ramblings...
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
American Idol
Ok, so I don't watch American Idol, but if you do..I thought I would suggest that you read my girlfriend, Lydia's, AI recaps. They are hilarious. I actually watched 2 of the contestants tonight, so I had a bit of an idea what she was talking about, but seriously...I read them because they are so funny. There is lots of laughing out loud (and snorting =) while I browse her newest recap.
American Idol Recaps
American Idol Recaps
Love Languages
My girlfriend, Amy, has been reading this book about love languages. The idea is that every one craves a certain kind of attention and if the get it, their "love tank: is being filled. There are five "languages": gift giving, touch, acts of service, words of affirmation, and quality time. Quite often people feel empty because they aren't getting the right kind of affection. People usually speak their own language instead of realizing what the other person wants. I guess you are lucky if you both happen to like the same things! Heath and I were trying to figure out what ours were, but it was hard. I couldn't come up with one over the other that made me feel more loved, so I started thinking about how I make other people feel loved. The housework and cooking and "doing" things for people usually make me feel like I am loving them, so I guess mine would be acts of service. Heath thinks his is too, but I still don't feel a strong pull towards one or the other. "When your spouse's emotional love tank is full and he feels secure in your love, the whole world looks right and your spouse will move out to reach his highest potential in life. But when the love tank is empty and he feels used but not loved, the whole world looks dark and he will likely never reach his potential for good in the world." He also says that if a person has a hard time identifying their main love languages, they've either been on empty for so long and are out of touch with their needs, or they have been so filled up by their spouse, that all 5 languages tend to speak to them equally. So, I guess in my case, I am pretty filled up =)
Amy and I were also thinking that this would apply to anybody, not just your spouse. You could use this method to make anyone happy...including your children! We have been working on figuring out the kids' languages. Either I am not very good at this or they suffer from the same problem I do, because I couldn't come up with a distinct one! So for now, I am going to work on filling their "love tank" in all areas (I don't think it will be much work though, instinctively, I am pretty sure I already try to fill all these areas of their life!) and hopefully that will help them grow to be healthy, happy people.
Amy and I were also thinking that this would apply to anybody, not just your spouse. You could use this method to make anyone happy...including your children! We have been working on figuring out the kids' languages. Either I am not very good at this or they suffer from the same problem I do, because I couldn't come up with a distinct one! So for now, I am going to work on filling their "love tank" in all areas (I don't think it will be much work though, instinctively, I am pretty sure I already try to fill all these areas of their life!) and hopefully that will help them grow to be healthy, happy people.
Mother's Love
I have been thinking for a while now how my blogs are really just an account of the happenings in our family...which is great, but since I never have time to scrapbook, I originally wanted to add all the scrapbook journal type things here too. In the couple years that I have done this, the real "feeling" type blogs are lacking. I want to remember how much I love my little ones and "how" I love them as they are growing. So, as I sit here with my precious little boy next to me trying to feed me pizza he has made for me and asking me to fix a necklace he has just broken so he can wear it...and now he is getting out the Hi Ho Cherry-O game to dump all over my bedroom floor =) I am going to attempt to get some coherent, loving thoughts down about my sweet children.
I often have to stop in the middle of the day to remind myself to do more than just go through the motions. As we are running from class to class, doing errands, teaching school, or other household chores I seem to forget to just have fun with the kids. I try as much as I can to stop and look at what they are doing...to admire their reactions to the world around them and to be thankful they are in my life. I have to try hard to remember that we are homeschooling so we can have fun and be together, but as any other "task" in life, you start to see it as routine and just something else you need to complete. That is probably the hardest thing about homeschooling, to remember to enjoy what you are doing, to do it for fun, not to rush through it so you can move onto something else. I have to make signs as reminders and post them around high-traffic areas in the house. =)
I get a lot of little reminders from the kids throughout the day too. It is usually when Hailey comes up to me and shows me a drawing of her riding her bike or doing something else she loves and it is adorable how excited she is about her drawing! She loves to explain all the different things she has drawn in the picture and I LOVE to see how her mind perceives things! One of my favorite things is to watch Drew while he is drawing with Hailey. He tries so hard to do the things that she does. He will draw some circles on a paper and then his eyes light up and he exclaims, "An 'O'!" I give him a huge smile and tell him what a great job! The look of accomplishment on his face is priceless!
I love my kids so much...just love them to pieces! I never knew you could love anyone as much as I love my family, and I thank God for giving me the capacity to love that much.
I often have to stop in the middle of the day to remind myself to do more than just go through the motions. As we are running from class to class, doing errands, teaching school, or other household chores I seem to forget to just have fun with the kids. I try as much as I can to stop and look at what they are doing...to admire their reactions to the world around them and to be thankful they are in my life. I have to try hard to remember that we are homeschooling so we can have fun and be together, but as any other "task" in life, you start to see it as routine and just something else you need to complete. That is probably the hardest thing about homeschooling, to remember to enjoy what you are doing, to do it for fun, not to rush through it so you can move onto something else. I have to make signs as reminders and post them around high-traffic areas in the house. =)
I get a lot of little reminders from the kids throughout the day too. It is usually when Hailey comes up to me and shows me a drawing of her riding her bike or doing something else she loves and it is adorable how excited she is about her drawing! She loves to explain all the different things she has drawn in the picture and I LOVE to see how her mind perceives things! One of my favorite things is to watch Drew while he is drawing with Hailey. He tries so hard to do the things that she does. He will draw some circles on a paper and then his eyes light up and he exclaims, "An 'O'!" I give him a huge smile and tell him what a great job! The look of accomplishment on his face is priceless!
I love my kids so much...just love them to pieces! I never knew you could love anyone as much as I love my family, and I thank God for giving me the capacity to love that much.
Monday, March 9, 2009
Great Weather
I have had so much to write about (at least I feel like I do) over the last few days and I just never seemed to be able to get to it. Part of it is because of Daylight Savings Time, which I hate! I won't say that I hate it in October when I gain an hour! Who doesn't need more time? But I do not like losing an hour later, it stinks...
We started out the weekend on Friday with beautiful weather. We headed to the beach for our second science class. (The library we were doing it at is across the street from the beach). The "scientist" had a line marked with the "to scale" distances for the planets and then balls that showed the sizes. (We did something similar to this when we did the planets at the beginning of the year.) The kids had fun "learning" about the planets. Yes, I put that in quotes for a reason...this class was supposed to be an hour long, but ours ended after a half hour. She would start to talk about something with the kids, one of the planets, gravity, the Earth's rotation, etc. and the kids would finish her sentences for her. They already knew all about that stuff! How great is that...I love homeschooling. I also love the groups that we have here, it is wonderful being around other people who take as much interest in their children's education as I do. It is wonderful to see their kids and how much knowledge they have on subjects that most kindergartners don't have. Hailey got to use her gravity knowledge in class. =) When they were discussing the model of the sun with the earth and moon that rotate around it, they were also talking about why the moon shines if the sun is the only thing giving off light. Hailey raised her hand (which, in itself, is amazing to me!) and said, "It's because the sun reflects light off of the moon." Of course, I was a beaming mother! The fact that my five year old knew the sun reflected off the moon is just too much. Ok, I am bragging a little, but mostly...when we read this years from now, I want to remember how proud I was of her for knowing little things like that!
The line of planets...
The kids checking out the "planets" (Hailey is there...behind the kid in the plaid)
We decided against camping since I wasn't feeling that great and just picked one day to go hiking. We spent all day Saturday cleaning - I cleaned out the upstairs and Heath had the kids out front with him and was working on the vehicles. It was glorious being able to clean without kids running around! I will have to say though, for the hours I spent cleaning, I am rather disappointed in the amount I got done. I thought, surely, I would be able to clean the whole house in this amount of time. Not even close! Oh well. The kids were very excited to go hiking on Sunday...we took them out to First Landing State Park, which is at the beach...I love being able to hike at the beach =) (I am realizing more and more just how much I don't want to leave this area =( We are spoiled here, SO many family activities and festivals, I LOVE it!) The two trails we decided to do were actually through the marshy area of the forest...we thought there would be a lot of interesting things to "study" and we could take advantage of it being only March...so there are no bugs or mosquitoes out yet! We had a fabulous 4 and 1/2 mile nature hike. We strolled along at the kids' pace (yes, we made them walk the whole way =). We pointed out all kinds of things (mostly, the importance of paying attention so you don't miss things). We saw the rare chicken turtle sunning on a log in the marsh (actually 4 of them). They only live in this area of Seashore Park. We spied a lot of salamanders running through the leaves (they were hard to spot!), which, of course, means we took the opportunity to teach the kids about amphibians. (This was daddy's favorite part of the hike). Drew's favorite part was finding spiders...also hard to see. The ground was covered in leaves and pine needles, so you really had to just stop and look to find things. Hailey loved all the spanish moss hanging from the trees and I loved how so much of the marshy water looked like rainbows later in the afternoon (another teaching opportunity too! =) Everyone loved the intermittent bridges through areas that normally we would be wading through. It reminded me very much of the swamps in movies...just waiting for an alligator to jump out at you any second! I love the peacefulness of hiking, so we stopped to listen quietly a lot. The kids soon grew to love this as they were hearing birds and woodpeckers off in the distance. Heath and Hailey stopped a lot to count rings on fallen trees and Drew just couldn't pick up enough pine cones. I only had to carry Drew the last mile, they really were troopers.
Having a picnic lunch
Helping daddy wash the car
Washing the car
Ready to go hiking at First Landing
Looking at the turtles sunning
The turtles...
Discovering some mushrooms growing on a log.
All the beautiful spanish moss...
Looking at nests in the trees
Finding things in the forest.
It seems that everyone had brought their dog to the park that day...and except for the couple little ones we saw, they were all labs or golden retrievers! These are the 2 dogs we are debating against. I want the GR. Go figure, the hairiest one! I told Heath that I wanted to "test drive" our friend's dog to see if I could stand the hair. He doesn't think that is a great idea. (What does he know! =) I don't know, I am going to try and stop worrying about it for a while...it is not something that is going to happen soon. The kids loved to stop and ask the owners all about the dogs. They are so cute! Both of them would walk over to someone (or ask as they were passing by) and say "I like your dog." Then they would ask what kind it is, boy or girl, and what the name was. I think it is so cute how they "chat" with people. They are getting better at it! I am so happy that Drew has a great example to follow after, he would definitely not be like that on his own!
We got home, surprisingly, feeling like we had been ahead of the game. We still had a couple hours before the kids were off to bed, so I went up to our room and read a little. It was what I call one of my "perfect scenarios". These usually have to do with the weather and everything clicking into just the right place. It's kind of like a combination lock and when all the notches are lined up, it unlocks this peaceful sereneness in me. We had the windows open, so I had the fresh air blowing through the room, plus the fan for a breeze (plus the noise of the fan-this reminds me of Twister in that scene right before the tornado hits Wakita and aunt Meg is watching the news...yes! I know I am weird!). The neighborhood was also pretty quiet (which is rare)...it was just perfect! I relished the 10-20 minutes of (almost) total quiet I had to just sit there and read =) (Yes, I do have quite a few of these "scenarios" that I can just tell when everything clicks just right...so what? =p ) The one thing I did like about DST is that it was still light out at 7 o'clock. I told Heath that we should start a ritual when DST ends by bbqing that night. It would mark the start of the time when I can actually see what I am cooking on the grill at dinnertime so I don't burn it (like I did the night before =)
Today was art class day. We must have exhausted the children yesterday, because they slept for almost 14 hours last night! You would think this means they were little angels today...HA! Hailey was great, but Drew was taken over by demons early this morning. (I don't like using that word, but all day I just kept thinking "exorcist"). He gets cranky in the afternoon, but it is rare that he is bad in the morning. He was grumpy with me even in art class when we were painting. The kids were making a scene with a bear walking through the woods. He had just woken up from hibernation and was looking for food and water =) I took the kids home with the promise of a playground after lunch hanging in the air (on our last perfect day =( You think this would keep them in check!) Drew started right away, he was doing a lot of screaming. I finally just told him he needed a nap and took him upstairs. Oh, the hyperventilating. After a long struggle (and me sleeping on the floor) he took a nap, and woke up his normal self. What the heck?! We took Hailey to her drawing class. Today they were making a "Running Man". It was a stick figure that they traced the contours with marker until they covered the whole page. It was pretty cool. Drew and I hung out in the hallway playing a little alphabet game I made up. I brought ABC flashcards with us and put about half of them on the floor. I also brought a bunch of his cars with us and then I would tell him to drive one of the cars and park it on the letter "_". It kept him occupied the whole 45 minutes! I was impressed! When I put the letters out, I would show him the letter and tell him the name, I would sometimes trace it with my finger to explain it's "features". I noticed that whether I traced the letter or not, he liked to trace it with his finger. For some reason, I was amazed by this. Hailey never did that. I am so curious to see how differently Drew will learn from Hailey. I notice so many different things between then two of them! I am pretty sure that Hailey learns well with all the methods of teaching (auditory, visual, and kinesthetic), but I don't know about Drew yet. I would guess he will probably be more kinesthetic. I'm not sure, but I am anxious to find out. Children's minds are amazing to me...I love watching how they work!
Drew's "Brown Bear"...he still had a lot of snow on him=)
Hailey's brown bear was walking through a dense forest
Hailey's running man
After class I took the kids to the "tire swing playground". Oh, they were so happy! We played until about 7 o'clock before heading home for dinner and bed. I am glad that I didn't have to disappoint them completely today. They had a great time running around and playing. Ahh, the joys in life =)
We also spent a lot of time talking about Jesus today. I was teaching them "This little light of mine" earlier today, and I even introduced the second verse (won't let satan blow it out...) I have been debating for a while now whether (or how much) I should explain about "the bad guy". So I finally did it...it went "well". (haha) They seem to understand at least...then Drew started acting like that when we got home...any guesses? =) Later, I forget exactly how we got on the subject, we were talking about why we celebrated Easter. Well, this brings up interesting questions in the mind of a little person...he died and then came back to life?! Yeah, well...that went pretty well too! I sat down and was reading them the Bible stories of this and they were fascinated. Hailey just wanted to keep hearing more. I think this is the first time I have sat down to read passages from the actual Bible to them (and not just edited story versions) - how sad is that! I could feel God with me all day...I even dealt with Drew earlier in a very calm, loving manner...and there is only one being that could help me do that! Thank you, Lord, for giving me the strength to be patient and loving with my children!
We started out the weekend on Friday with beautiful weather. We headed to the beach for our second science class. (The library we were doing it at is across the street from the beach). The "scientist" had a line marked with the "to scale" distances for the planets and then balls that showed the sizes. (We did something similar to this when we did the planets at the beginning of the year.) The kids had fun "learning" about the planets. Yes, I put that in quotes for a reason...this class was supposed to be an hour long, but ours ended after a half hour. She would start to talk about something with the kids, one of the planets, gravity, the Earth's rotation, etc. and the kids would finish her sentences for her. They already knew all about that stuff! How great is that...I love homeschooling. I also love the groups that we have here, it is wonderful being around other people who take as much interest in their children's education as I do. It is wonderful to see their kids and how much knowledge they have on subjects that most kindergartners don't have. Hailey got to use her gravity knowledge in class. =) When they were discussing the model of the sun with the earth and moon that rotate around it, they were also talking about why the moon shines if the sun is the only thing giving off light. Hailey raised her hand (which, in itself, is amazing to me!) and said, "It's because the sun reflects light off of the moon." Of course, I was a beaming mother! The fact that my five year old knew the sun reflected off the moon is just too much. Ok, I am bragging a little, but mostly...when we read this years from now, I want to remember how proud I was of her for knowing little things like that!
The line of planets...
The kids checking out the "planets" (Hailey is there...behind the kid in the plaid)
We decided against camping since I wasn't feeling that great and just picked one day to go hiking. We spent all day Saturday cleaning - I cleaned out the upstairs and Heath had the kids out front with him and was working on the vehicles. It was glorious being able to clean without kids running around! I will have to say though, for the hours I spent cleaning, I am rather disappointed in the amount I got done. I thought, surely, I would be able to clean the whole house in this amount of time. Not even close! Oh well. The kids were very excited to go hiking on Sunday...we took them out to First Landing State Park, which is at the beach...I love being able to hike at the beach =) (I am realizing more and more just how much I don't want to leave this area =( We are spoiled here, SO many family activities and festivals, I LOVE it!) The two trails we decided to do were actually through the marshy area of the forest...we thought there would be a lot of interesting things to "study" and we could take advantage of it being only March...so there are no bugs or mosquitoes out yet! We had a fabulous 4 and 1/2 mile nature hike. We strolled along at the kids' pace (yes, we made them walk the whole way =). We pointed out all kinds of things (mostly, the importance of paying attention so you don't miss things). We saw the rare chicken turtle sunning on a log in the marsh (actually 4 of them). They only live in this area of Seashore Park. We spied a lot of salamanders running through the leaves (they were hard to spot!), which, of course, means we took the opportunity to teach the kids about amphibians. (This was daddy's favorite part of the hike). Drew's favorite part was finding spiders...also hard to see. The ground was covered in leaves and pine needles, so you really had to just stop and look to find things. Hailey loved all the spanish moss hanging from the trees and I loved how so much of the marshy water looked like rainbows later in the afternoon (another teaching opportunity too! =) Everyone loved the intermittent bridges through areas that normally we would be wading through. It reminded me very much of the swamps in movies...just waiting for an alligator to jump out at you any second! I love the peacefulness of hiking, so we stopped to listen quietly a lot. The kids soon grew to love this as they were hearing birds and woodpeckers off in the distance. Heath and Hailey stopped a lot to count rings on fallen trees and Drew just couldn't pick up enough pine cones. I only had to carry Drew the last mile, they really were troopers.
Having a picnic lunch
Helping daddy wash the car
Washing the car
Ready to go hiking at First Landing
Looking at the turtles sunning
The turtles...
Discovering some mushrooms growing on a log.
All the beautiful spanish moss...
Looking at nests in the trees
Finding things in the forest.
Taking a break.
I was there, I swear!
I was there, I swear!
It seems that everyone had brought their dog to the park that day...and except for the couple little ones we saw, they were all labs or golden retrievers! These are the 2 dogs we are debating against. I want the GR. Go figure, the hairiest one! I told Heath that I wanted to "test drive" our friend's dog to see if I could stand the hair. He doesn't think that is a great idea. (What does he know! =) I don't know, I am going to try and stop worrying about it for a while...it is not something that is going to happen soon. The kids loved to stop and ask the owners all about the dogs. They are so cute! Both of them would walk over to someone (or ask as they were passing by) and say "I like your dog." Then they would ask what kind it is, boy or girl, and what the name was. I think it is so cute how they "chat" with people. They are getting better at it! I am so happy that Drew has a great example to follow after, he would definitely not be like that on his own!
We got home, surprisingly, feeling like we had been ahead of the game. We still had a couple hours before the kids were off to bed, so I went up to our room and read a little. It was what I call one of my "perfect scenarios". These usually have to do with the weather and everything clicking into just the right place. It's kind of like a combination lock and when all the notches are lined up, it unlocks this peaceful sereneness in me. We had the windows open, so I had the fresh air blowing through the room, plus the fan for a breeze (plus the noise of the fan-this reminds me of Twister in that scene right before the tornado hits Wakita and aunt Meg is watching the news...yes! I know I am weird!). The neighborhood was also pretty quiet (which is rare)...it was just perfect! I relished the 10-20 minutes of (almost) total quiet I had to just sit there and read =) (Yes, I do have quite a few of these "scenarios" that I can just tell when everything clicks just right...so what? =p ) The one thing I did like about DST is that it was still light out at 7 o'clock. I told Heath that we should start a ritual when DST ends by bbqing that night. It would mark the start of the time when I can actually see what I am cooking on the grill at dinnertime so I don't burn it (like I did the night before =)
Today was art class day. We must have exhausted the children yesterday, because they slept for almost 14 hours last night! You would think this means they were little angels today...HA! Hailey was great, but Drew was taken over by demons early this morning. (I don't like using that word, but all day I just kept thinking "exorcist"). He gets cranky in the afternoon, but it is rare that he is bad in the morning. He was grumpy with me even in art class when we were painting. The kids were making a scene with a bear walking through the woods. He had just woken up from hibernation and was looking for food and water =) I took the kids home with the promise of a playground after lunch hanging in the air (on our last perfect day =( You think this would keep them in check!) Drew started right away, he was doing a lot of screaming. I finally just told him he needed a nap and took him upstairs. Oh, the hyperventilating. After a long struggle (and me sleeping on the floor) he took a nap, and woke up his normal self. What the heck?! We took Hailey to her drawing class. Today they were making a "Running Man". It was a stick figure that they traced the contours with marker until they covered the whole page. It was pretty cool. Drew and I hung out in the hallway playing a little alphabet game I made up. I brought ABC flashcards with us and put about half of them on the floor. I also brought a bunch of his cars with us and then I would tell him to drive one of the cars and park it on the letter "_". It kept him occupied the whole 45 minutes! I was impressed! When I put the letters out, I would show him the letter and tell him the name, I would sometimes trace it with my finger to explain it's "features". I noticed that whether I traced the letter or not, he liked to trace it with his finger. For some reason, I was amazed by this. Hailey never did that. I am so curious to see how differently Drew will learn from Hailey. I notice so many different things between then two of them! I am pretty sure that Hailey learns well with all the methods of teaching (auditory, visual, and kinesthetic), but I don't know about Drew yet. I would guess he will probably be more kinesthetic. I'm not sure, but I am anxious to find out. Children's minds are amazing to me...I love watching how they work!
Drew's "Brown Bear"...he still had a lot of snow on him=)
Hailey's brown bear was walking through a dense forest
Hailey's running man
After class I took the kids to the "tire swing playground". Oh, they were so happy! We played until about 7 o'clock before heading home for dinner and bed. I am glad that I didn't have to disappoint them completely today. They had a great time running around and playing. Ahh, the joys in life =)
We also spent a lot of time talking about Jesus today. I was teaching them "This little light of mine" earlier today, and I even introduced the second verse (won't let satan blow it out...) I have been debating for a while now whether (or how much) I should explain about "the bad guy". So I finally did it...it went "well". (haha) They seem to understand at least...then Drew started acting like that when we got home...any guesses? =) Later, I forget exactly how we got on the subject, we were talking about why we celebrated Easter. Well, this brings up interesting questions in the mind of a little person...he died and then came back to life?! Yeah, well...that went pretty well too! I sat down and was reading them the Bible stories of this and they were fascinated. Hailey just wanted to keep hearing more. I think this is the first time I have sat down to read passages from the actual Bible to them (and not just edited story versions) - how sad is that! I could feel God with me all day...I even dealt with Drew earlier in a very calm, loving manner...and there is only one being that could help me do that! Thank you, Lord, for giving me the strength to be patient and loving with my children!
I did forget to mention that after our hike on Sunday we stopped by the ice cream place on the way home. It was the kids' "reward" for hiking so far (as if the hiking wasn't enough reward =) We were standing in line behind this family...it took me a while to notice...that had 7 kids and one on the way! They seemed to be very nice parents and all their kids were well behaved and I just beamed. I love to see that. I purposely chose a bench right next to them so I could kind of be around them and watch (I know, kind of weird). I have to say though, being around such a lovely family really made my heart ache. I would LOVE to have a family like that. 7 or 8 kids, all well behaved =) Always pregnant, expanding our family. It makes me sad to know that I'll never have that (Heath is totally happy with our two, it is amazing I convinced him to go for #3, now if we could just get it underway...) I would love nothing more than to just be a mother forever [sigh].
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Random
Do you know what movie I love...Twister. Every time there is a storm with wind, rain, thunder, whatever...I want to watch that movie. When it's on tv, even during normal weather, I have a hard time pulling myself away from it. When I was in high school, my best girlfriend and I used to sit and make "favorite quotes" lists from movies that we loved! I can remember dying laughing as we watched Rain Man and scribbled quotes on our papers! We made another list, too, but I can't remember what it was...hmmm. I am sure I have some around here somewhere. Anyway, we would type them up on the computer and decorate them all cute before printing them out and adding them to the group. It was so much fun! (The only thing I have wanted to do that with since is Friends. I want to have 4 separate lists for Friends...and no, I will not tell you what they are for fear of being perceived as THE biggest nerd in the history of nerds! =) So without further adieu, here are some of my favorite quotes from Twister:
"Cow...'Nother cow...No, I think that's the same one. I gotta go, Julia, we got cows!" (That one is much better when you hear the girls accent with it =)
(Nope, I don't think I'll waste time adding people's names =)
"God, Meg. You got a lot of beef. Where'd ya get all this beef? Did you see my cows out front? No. Ahhhhh!"
"Yeah, trust me. Rabbit is good, rabbit is wise."
(BTW, this is the ONLY movie I have ever liked that guy Philip Seymour Hoffman, and even then he was the weird one. It just fit with the group of stormchasers =)
"You're going to the hospital. Ok, I'll go, but I'm gonna drive myself. Honey, your car is in a tree around the corner. "
"You've never seen it miss this house, and miss that house, and come after you!"
(Come on, who did not want to be a storm chaser after seeing this movie?! I mean, seriously!)
"In a severe lightning storm, you wanna grab your ankles and stick your butt in the air."
Ok, well...I guess I succeeded in showing my nerdy side anyway!
We spent the afternoon shopping at the commissary...man those bills add up quick! I am still thankful that we have the comm. to shop at. Even if some things are cheaper on sale other places, overall I wind up spending a lot less. Just to be sure though, I have a list that I update after every trip just to see how prices are fluctuating. Also, if I see a sale somewhere, I will know if it's a good deal or not because I have my list! I highly recommend it...
Tomorrow is our 2nd science class...the kids will be learning about NASA and Space. I am very interested in seeing what all they will be teaching them! The kids are excited! We can't spend too much time inside though because tomorrow is the start of a 4 day stretch of fabulous weather! I think the highs are something like (starting with Friday) 68, 77, 82, 70. Heath and I are trying to decide whether we will be going camping at one of the state parks at the beach or if we will just head there for some hiking. I guess we'll see! We can't waste this gorgeous weather!
Hailey has been asking so many thoughtful questions lately, usually while we are in the car. I finally remembered to start carrying a notebook around with me so I could write them down. (mostly so we could look up the answers later, but it will serve as a wonderful reminder later!) It isn't a habit yet, but I am trying. Drew has been following suit too. I notice him asking a lot more questions in "proper" form. (At least these I still know the answers too =) Some of my faves from Hailey the last couple days are, "Are we upside down on the Earth right now?" Referring to the position of Earth in space. This was a hard one because it depends on which way you think is up! (She says she thinks the sun is up, so at that moment, we were right side up =) "Do all planets have gravity?" If you were wondering...yes, they do =) "Do cars need electricity?" (I forget exactly if she said need or use, so we discussed both =) Such a smart little cookie. I love to watch their little brains working!
"Cow...'Nother cow...No, I think that's the same one. I gotta go, Julia, we got cows!" (That one is much better when you hear the girls accent with it =)
(Nope, I don't think I'll waste time adding people's names =)
"God, Meg. You got a lot of beef. Where'd ya get all this beef? Did you see my cows out front? No. Ahhhhh!"
"Yeah, trust me. Rabbit is good, rabbit is wise."
(BTW, this is the ONLY movie I have ever liked that guy Philip Seymour Hoffman, and even then he was the weird one. It just fit with the group of stormchasers =)
"You're going to the hospital. Ok, I'll go, but I'm gonna drive myself. Honey, your car is in a tree around the corner. "
"You've never seen it miss this house, and miss that house, and come after you!"
(Come on, who did not want to be a storm chaser after seeing this movie?! I mean, seriously!)
"In a severe lightning storm, you wanna grab your ankles and stick your butt in the air."
Ok, well...I guess I succeeded in showing my nerdy side anyway!
We spent the afternoon shopping at the commissary...man those bills add up quick! I am still thankful that we have the comm. to shop at. Even if some things are cheaper on sale other places, overall I wind up spending a lot less. Just to be sure though, I have a list that I update after every trip just to see how prices are fluctuating. Also, if I see a sale somewhere, I will know if it's a good deal or not because I have my list! I highly recommend it...
Tomorrow is our 2nd science class...the kids will be learning about NASA and Space. I am very interested in seeing what all they will be teaching them! The kids are excited! We can't spend too much time inside though because tomorrow is the start of a 4 day stretch of fabulous weather! I think the highs are something like (starting with Friday) 68, 77, 82, 70. Heath and I are trying to decide whether we will be going camping at one of the state parks at the beach or if we will just head there for some hiking. I guess we'll see! We can't waste this gorgeous weather!
Hailey has been asking so many thoughtful questions lately, usually while we are in the car. I finally remembered to start carrying a notebook around with me so I could write them down. (mostly so we could look up the answers later, but it will serve as a wonderful reminder later!) It isn't a habit yet, but I am trying. Drew has been following suit too. I notice him asking a lot more questions in "proper" form. (At least these I still know the answers too =) Some of my faves from Hailey the last couple days are, "Are we upside down on the Earth right now?" Referring to the position of Earth in space. This was a hard one because it depends on which way you think is up! (She says she thinks the sun is up, so at that moment, we were right side up =) "Do all planets have gravity?" If you were wondering...yes, they do =) "Do cars need electricity?" (I forget exactly if she said need or use, so we discussed both =) Such a smart little cookie. I love to watch their little brains working!
Well, back to doing more homeschool "research". That's pretty much all I do with my free time, look up homeschooling websites and gather information for lessons and such. Real teachers can't possibly use all their time on this stuff! I am going to have to limit it soon!
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Lots of Pictures...I know, I've been slacking!
Things have been busy the last couple weeks and I have only been making it worse by procrastinating on my blog posts =) (That means I have to make myself sit down and spend hours updating...) I guess I will just do kind of a chronological thing with pictures to get caught up. Thanks to pictures, Facebook, and my calendar I can give a pretty good account of the last couple of weeks =) Let's see...the day after Valentine's Day, Hailey was complaining about tooth pain, I checked her teeth and the two bottom middle teeth are loose!!! I can't even believe it! I freaked out and called Heath while looking on the internet to see if this was normal. I just can't believe she is that old already. She hasn't really said much about it lately, but the first couple of days she was telling EVERYone! She was very excited about it. I was so sad, she just kept saying, "It's ok mommy, it just means I am growing up!" She would flash a huge smile and my heart just melted. She is always excited about the future (we have always shown her that the future is exciting. With our constant moves we have to!)
In art class on President's Day, Miss Meredith had the kids making George Washington's cherry tree and an Abe Lincoln hat. Hailey and Drew have a lot of fun in Drew's class because they get to do art together, side by side. The 30 minutes goes by so fast, I wish it lasted longer!!
Drew painting in his tree trunk...he did a fantastic job of staying in the lines!
Hailey painting her tree trunk.
Using a sponge to make leaves by "bunny hopping"
Hailey's cherry making thumb
Drew using his thumb to put cherries on his tree
Drew using oil pastels to decorate his Lincoln hat with shapes
Hailey making shapes on her Lincoln hat
The kids with their finished products (wearing their hats and trees behind/above them)
Trying to throw a "snowball"
Hailey's drawing/painting class later that evening was painting straight lines on a canvas. It helps them to learn to go slow and take their time. It is a cool thing to hang on the wall!
Hailey's finished canvas!
The 19th of February was a busy day...It was one day after my brother, Matt's, 19th birthday. This was also the day that he joined "the club" with my brother and sister. This would be the CCA-car crashers anonymous. Now, he didn't beat Karen...I think her record was totalling her first car on day 3. He had his car since Saturday...so that's what...5 days. It wasn't totally his fault, he was going down my parents curvy mountain road and it was icy, so his little Eclipse played bumper cars with the guard rail. Thank God he was absolutely fine and his car was only minorly damaged. The 19th is also the day that my newest little nephew Caleb Anthony was born!!! Mommy Tricia did fabulous, but daddy Jason was busy doing a conference in Hawaii and missed the birth of his first son =( He got to come home the next day to meet his little man, though. Caleb is the cutest little baby ever, I wish I could be there to squish him! 
Hailey spreading clotted cream on her scone (mmm, we LOVE scones, you can never have too many!)
Our little table set up.
(Terrible picture of me...no, we didn't dress up) The 3 of us at tea.
Hailey trying her (delicious) butternut squash soup.
Drew and one of his looks...
Hailey snagging a sandwich
Our tea tower
Drew sipping his tea.
Hailey sipping her tea.
Drew sitting by the cozy fire.
After music class one day, since Drew did so fabulous and sat with his class the whole time, I decided to treat the kids. We stopped at this pet store that I have always seen on the way to class, the Animal Jungle. I thought we would stop for a half hour and check out the pets. This store turned out to be an indoor zoo!! It was so awesome that our trip turned into a field trip! Why I didn't go grab my camera, I'll never know. We walked in to see two huge koi ponds, one with a stingray in it. We walked up and down rows and rows of fish pointing out unique things and talking about anything I knew about them. They had a HUGE reptile room with tons of snakes, turtles, lizards, all kinds of stuff. They also have an awesome saltwater fish section. The fish were normal, but the sea anemones and other non-fish creatures were so cool! We saw some kind of orange thing in a clam shell, tons of anemones, and even chocolate chip starfish. The bird section was a lot of fun, they had a room full of macaws that were talking with the kids. Hailey was playing with a couple in the window and all the macaws kept saying, "hi, hi". The kids were thrilled! The "rodent" =) section was fun too. We looked at mice, hamsters, etc. One of the employees came over to chat with us and he pulled out a hamster that the kids could play with and hold. Hailey would have taken him home right there. Then he pulled out a hedgehog! These are actually pretty similar to porcupines. The kids were very careful to only pet him front to back...he was so cute. I love their little squished faces! Just when you think I would be done talking about this store...there is more! They have store pets in the different sections...the reptile section had a huge Monitor lizard that must have been 9 or 10 feet long. We saw some kind of cheetah/leopard cub looking cat, a hamster the size of a small cat, and a couple of large birds that were 13 and 27 years old. We will definitely be going back there! 
Sitting at tea.
Tea with our new friends!
It turns out that Julie (in the pink-the drs. wife) is using a curriculum for her girls that I had considered last year. I really loved it, but it was a lot of money. I haven't been that thrilled with the one we are using this year, so I have been spending a lot of time researching and pondering change. Julie has invited us over to watch a day in the life, which will greatly help my decision. I am so thankful for meeting her...and we hit it off so instantaneously. (Oh, her hubby is also a USUHS grad =)
For art class during Mardi Gras week, the kids made masks with paint, jewels, glitter and feathers. Here they are painting...
Meredith helping Drew sprinkle some glitter on his mask.
The kids are ready to party...yay Mardi Gras!
For daddy's birthday on the 23rd, we took him to the Melting Pot. The kids, not surprisingly, LOVED cooking and dipping their own food. Our waiter was wonderful (as they usually are there) and took the time to explain to the kids everything he was doing. The food was delicious and we had a great time just being together as a family.
Hailey dipping some bread into the cheese.
Drew cooling off his bread bite...
The kids could have just eaten bread all night.
Hailey and her extra shrimp.
Heath and the meat and dipping sauces...YUM!
Drew and mommy cooking.
And the highlight of our meal...the bananas foster flambe!
We split daddy's birthday into two nights...so this in between his bday dinner and party (it's just too hard and time consuming to rearrange pictures on this thing!)
Here the kids are testing their hearing...and of course, they knew what these were when asked!
Such a cutie!
Here they are testing their sense of touch on a card that has the braille alphabet.
Hailey is testing her sniffer...maybe with a lemon?
Drew is probably smelling some coffee =)
Now we get back to Heath's birthday. The kids and I decided to give him a rockstar themed birthday party, complete with guitar shaped cake, musical themed decorations, and a stage in which to perform!
Heath is admiring his guitar cake.
A close up...
Heath with some of his decorations!
Heath's guitar/musical themed presents.
Hailey explaining the rockstar "stage" to daddy.
Drew serenading daddy.
The first crazy rock performance (and by crazy, I mean Drew =)
Hailey as lead singer of the band...
The guitarist. (Can't you just see this as his senior picture when he's older, or something? Minus the red-eye, of course =)
More of miss Hailey, the singer.
See, I told you...CRAZY
Mommy joins the band...
Guitar is the instrument of choice...
Hailey giving daddy his present from her (she came up with it all on her own)
Daddy hugs!
Hey cool, a new song book!
Looking through all the new songs they will get to play.
A pediatric study book? That you can laugh at?!
Drew's present to daddy...a guitar stand (he also came up with this idea himself)
Happy Birthday to you!
Eating cake!
Silly cake face
With their snowmen on our snow day. (They are made puffy with shaving cream)
Playing in the snow a little.
Hailey in art class that evening...they are drawing pictures of what they see looking out a window.
Hailey working hard on her window picture.
In art class on President's Day, Miss Meredith had the kids making George Washington's cherry tree and an Abe Lincoln hat. Hailey and Drew have a lot of fun in Drew's class because they get to do art together, side by side. The 30 minutes goes by so fast, I wish it lasted longer!!
Drew painting in his tree trunk...he did a fantastic job of staying in the lines!
Hailey painting her tree trunk.
Using a sponge to make leaves by "bunny hopping"
Hailey's cherry making thumb
Drew using his thumb to put cherries on his tree
Drew using oil pastels to decorate his Lincoln hat with shapes
Hailey making shapes on her Lincoln hat
The kids with their finished products (wearing their hats and trees behind/above them)
It started snowing in the middle of the night and I was afraid it would melt before the kids got a chance to see it. I went in and woke Hailey up so she could look out the window and see the snow falling. The kids always get so excited to see snow...she was really happy she got to see it. And lucky us, it was still there in the morning! (and stayed through the afternoon!)
The kids playing in the snow after art class.
The kids playing in the snow after art class.
Trying to throw a "snowball"
Hailey's drawing/painting class later that evening was painting straight lines on a canvas. It helps them to learn to go slow and take their time. It is a cool thing to hang on the wall!
Hailey's finished canvas!
The 19th of February was a busy day...It was one day after my brother, Matt's, 19th birthday. This was also the day that he joined "the club" with my brother and sister. This would be the CCA-car crashers anonymous. Now, he didn't beat Karen...I think her record was totalling her first car on day 3. He had his car since Saturday...so that's what...5 days. It wasn't totally his fault, he was going down my parents curvy mountain road and it was icy, so his little Eclipse played bumper cars with the guard rail. Thank God he was absolutely fine and his car was only minorly damaged. The 19th is also the day that my newest little nephew Caleb Anthony was born!!! Mommy Tricia did fabulous, but daddy Jason was busy doing a conference in Hawaii and missed the birth of his first son =( He got to come home the next day to meet his little man, though. Caleb is the cutest little baby ever, I wish I could be there to squish him!
To celebrate these events (ok, not really...they just happened to coincide), the kids and I went and had a tea party. We went to this cute quiet little tea room called The English Rose Tea Garden. The owner is a really sweet lady and it is usually pretty empty. We had a full afternoon tea with scones, soup, sandwiches and all. The kids love having their own tea cups and spoons and I don't think anything tops sugar cubes. We had a great time and can't wait to go back!
Drew stirring his tea.
Drew stirring his tea.
Hailey spreading clotted cream on her scone (mmm, we LOVE scones, you can never have too many!)
Our little table set up.
(Terrible picture of me...no, we didn't dress up) The 3 of us at tea.
Hailey trying her (delicious) butternut squash soup.
Drew and one of his looks...
Hailey snagging a sandwich
Our tea tower
Drew sipping his tea.
Hailey sipping her tea.
Drew sitting by the cozy fire.
After music class one day, since Drew did so fabulous and sat with his class the whole time, I decided to treat the kids. We stopped at this pet store that I have always seen on the way to class, the Animal Jungle. I thought we would stop for a half hour and check out the pets. This store turned out to be an indoor zoo!! It was so awesome that our trip turned into a field trip! Why I didn't go grab my camera, I'll never know. We walked in to see two huge koi ponds, one with a stingray in it. We walked up and down rows and rows of fish pointing out unique things and talking about anything I knew about them. They had a HUGE reptile room with tons of snakes, turtles, lizards, all kinds of stuff. They also have an awesome saltwater fish section. The fish were normal, but the sea anemones and other non-fish creatures were so cool! We saw some kind of orange thing in a clam shell, tons of anemones, and even chocolate chip starfish. The bird section was a lot of fun, they had a room full of macaws that were talking with the kids. Hailey was playing with a couple in the window and all the macaws kept saying, "hi, hi". The kids were thrilled! The "rodent" =) section was fun too. We looked at mice, hamsters, etc. One of the employees came over to chat with us and he pulled out a hamster that the kids could play with and hold. Hailey would have taken him home right there. Then he pulled out a hedgehog! These are actually pretty similar to porcupines. The kids were very careful to only pet him front to back...he was so cute. I love their little squished faces! Just when you think I would be done talking about this store...there is more! They have store pets in the different sections...the reptile section had a huge Monitor lizard that must have been 9 or 10 feet long. We saw some kind of cheetah/leopard cub looking cat, a hamster the size of a small cat, and a couple of large birds that were 13 and 27 years old. We will definitely be going back there!
After our pet store "field trip", I wanted to head over to the homeschooling bookstore. I walked in and was in awe and just a little overwhelmed. They had a play area up front for the kids, which was fabulous! I spent two hours looking around at all the different curriculums. It really helped to be able to see things up close and be able to flip through it. What a great resource! I wish I could take that place with me!
On Friday (the 20th) we had a field trip lined up for Rowena's Tea Room and Bakery. Rowena's has been around a long time and is owned by this really sweet lady. They have a big catalog business as well as their fabulous tea room. Today we were going to be touring the bakery and kitchen prep area. We walked into their front room and sampled all the pound cakes and jams they had out for tasting. They are so YUMMY! When it was time for our tour, we had to put these hair caps on...it took a LOT of convincing to get Drew to wear his. We went through the kitchen and the nicest lady showed us how they mixed together the jams ( in HUGE mixers) and put them in jars. She read the kids one of the Rowena's story books (which we, of course, bought =) Next we went to the cake baking room. There was a huge revolving oven (which Hailey kept saying how much I needed one of those!) and 2 large mixers from an old navy ship. (Hailey also loved how large the mixers were!) The kids were fascinated with the giant freezers and the warehouse. It was a wonderful tour. By chance, we met Rowena on the way back out to the front room and she signed our caps.
On Friday (the 20th) we had a field trip lined up for Rowena's Tea Room and Bakery. Rowena's has been around a long time and is owned by this really sweet lady. They have a big catalog business as well as their fabulous tea room. Today we were going to be touring the bakery and kitchen prep area. We walked into their front room and sampled all the pound cakes and jams they had out for tasting. They are so YUMMY! When it was time for our tour, we had to put these hair caps on...it took a LOT of convincing to get Drew to wear his. We went through the kitchen and the nicest lady showed us how they mixed together the jams ( in HUGE mixers) and put them in jars. She read the kids one of the Rowena's story books (which we, of course, bought =) Next we went to the cake baking room. There was a huge revolving oven (which Hailey kept saying how much I needed one of those!) and 2 large mixers from an old navy ship. (Hailey also loved how large the mixers were!) The kids were fascinated with the giant freezers and the warehouse. It was a wonderful tour. By chance, we met Rowena on the way back out to the front room and she signed our caps.
While we were waiting to be seated for tea, I got to chatting with a couple of other moms there, who both happened to be military and one of them even had a husband who was a doctor at the navy hospital. To top it off, her kids' doctor is Dave (our friends Dave and Jess, with the little munchkins, Genna and Annabelle). It was too cool, so we decided to all sit together. We spent two hours talking about all things military and homeschooling, while the kids chatted and played. That is something that I love about homeschooling! Our kids have no problem playing with other kids of any age...they don't look for the other 5 year olds or 2 year olds to play with, any age goes! We got a lot of compliments on how well the kids behaved...they sat for 2 hours and had no problems. We had delicious food and a beautiful afternoon!
The kids and their caps =)
The kids and their caps =)
Sitting at tea.
Tea with our new friends!
It turns out that Julie (in the pink-the drs. wife) is using a curriculum for her girls that I had considered last year. I really loved it, but it was a lot of money. I haven't been that thrilled with the one we are using this year, so I have been spending a lot of time researching and pondering change. Julie has invited us over to watch a day in the life, which will greatly help my decision. I am so thankful for meeting her...and we hit it off so instantaneously. (Oh, her hubby is also a USUHS grad =)
Over the weekend we went out with daddy and saw the Pink Panther 2 (no where near as good as the first one!) and had lunch at Chili's. I am absolutely embarrassed to even think about how much we have eaten out in the last few weeks! I wouldn't even want to add it up!
Ok, that brings us up to the night of the Academy Awards....
Here's a little bit of info on next year (well, everybody else's next year). We are now the only people left (in our program here) that don't have a clue where we are going next year! All the navy people found out this week (our friends are going to Japan). Heath got an email yesterday saying that they are several weeks from knowing where people are being placed and only 4 of 300 pediatricians in the AF are deployed (this is his paraphrasing, so I am not exactly sure the relevance-you know boys =) I am hoping several really only means a few and we will know before April starts! I would also assume that the deployment part was more of a notice showing how few peds people get deployed...but I guess it could mean they are thinking of sending more. Who knows. I am not really worried about it anymore, though.
For art class during Mardi Gras week, the kids made masks with paint, jewels, glitter and feathers. Here they are painting...
Meredith helping Drew sprinkle some glitter on his mask.
The kids are ready to party...yay Mardi Gras!
For daddy's birthday on the 23rd, we took him to the Melting Pot. The kids, not surprisingly, LOVED cooking and dipping their own food. Our waiter was wonderful (as they usually are there) and took the time to explain to the kids everything he was doing. The food was delicious and we had a great time just being together as a family.
Hailey dipping some bread into the cheese.
Drew cooling off his bread bite...
The kids could have just eaten bread all night.
Hailey and her extra shrimp.
Heath and the meat and dipping sauces...YUM!
Drew and mommy cooking.
And the highlight of our meal...the bananas foster flambe!
We split daddy's birthday into two nights...so this in between his bday dinner and party (it's just too hard and time consuming to rearrange pictures on this thing!)
The first of two science classes we signed up for was on the 5 senses. It was hosted in a library meeting room (a library that was across the street from the beach, no less. We had great views! =) There was a scientist there leading the group and she went through different activities to demonstrate each of the senses.
Here the kids are testing their hearing...and of course, they knew what these were when asked!
Such a cutie!
Here they are testing their sense of touch on a card that has the braille alphabet.
Hailey is testing her sniffer...maybe with a lemon?
Drew is probably smelling some coffee =)
Now we get back to Heath's birthday. The kids and I decided to give him a rockstar themed birthday party, complete with guitar shaped cake, musical themed decorations, and a stage in which to perform!
Heath is admiring his guitar cake.
A close up...
Heath with some of his decorations!
Heath's guitar/musical themed presents.
Hailey explaining the rockstar "stage" to daddy.
Drew serenading daddy.
The first crazy rock performance (and by crazy, I mean Drew =)
Hailey as lead singer of the band...
The guitarist. (Can't you just see this as his senior picture when he's older, or something? Minus the red-eye, of course =)
More of miss Hailey, the singer.
See, I told you...CRAZY
Mommy joins the band...
Guitar is the instrument of choice...
Hailey giving daddy his present from her (she came up with it all on her own)
Daddy hugs!
Hey cool, a new song book!
Looking through all the new songs they will get to play.
A pediatric study book? That you can laugh at?!
Drew's present to daddy...a guitar stand (he also came up with this idea himself)
Happy Birthday to you!
Eating cake!
Silly cake face
This past weekend we went to Red Lobster for lunch and while we were sitting there, our server happened to come over and mention all the chaos going on in the bar area and that a woman wasn't breathing...Heath, popped up to go see if he could help. (I tell ya, always working!) The paramedics showed up and took her away while still breathing for her. Who knows what was wrong...shellfish allergy? (We were at a seafood place). -Just a random story =)
We all know how accurate the weathermen are ;) Especially around here! It is usually pretty safe to say that if they predict we will get no snow out of a storm (not even a flake), we will wind up with more snow than we've ever had here..and vice versa. We had such an occurrence on Monday...of course the day that I had to get up early to drive to the hospital for an appointment. We woke up to a beautiful "blanket" of white and set off for our appt. I was hoping the snow would deter people from going to work (and school was cancelled) making rush hour, well...not. I did have this luck, but at the same time NOBODY here can drive in snow or ice AT ALL! I spent a bit of time ice skating in the car, which is ok. That wasn't the scary part...it was the people in front of me who would slam on their brakes and start swerving as soon as they felt they were on ice. So, after scaring the crap out of me and sending my adrenaline level soaring, they would crawl along afterwards at 5mph because they were too scared. UGH! So, yes...I drove 15 miles at 5 mph...no quite the whole way, it took us an hour to get there (normally 20 min). Anyway, we made it safely...met with daddy, spent 5 minutes at the appt and then left. What a waste. All that danger for 5 min, to hear everything is fine. I think I could have heard that in a phone call. We got some breakfast before heading to art class to make puffy snowmen. Our no snow day, turned into an all day snow day. It was snowing from some time in the middle of the night till I went to bed the next night. That's right...ALL day! The kids were happy. Oh yes, when I woke Drew up early that morning, I said "Drew, guess what? It's snowing outside!" He woke right up and said, "Really! Can I go and see the snow?" Ok, well it doesn't have the same effect written down, but it was in that really cute, excited, sing song voice. =)
With their snowmen on our snow day. (They are made puffy with shaving cream)
Playing in the snow a little.
Hailey in art class that evening...they are drawing pictures of what they see looking out a window.
Hailey working hard on her window picture.
Well, that's about it for now.
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