Toys That Make Noise

 
I enjoy toy shopping.  No, seriously, toy stores and toy aisles are loads of fun!  I love pushing buttons to see the wheels spin on a car or to hear music play.  There's something delightfully stimulating about playing in the toy aisle. 

That said, toys can be evil.  Those adorable little toys that roll and sing and play music can turn into mechanical nightmares.  They make noise and noise and more noise.  Parents of toddlers or preschoolers or elementary age children do not need to add noise to their homes.  Our homes are plenty loud without the beeping truck, the singing ball, the ticking drum, etc. (and yes, we have all of these!).  Today, I discovered the most evil of noisy toys.  It was cute and enticing and almost tempting to the untrained mommy eye.  Had I not known what I know about noisy toys, I might have wanted to purchase it.

This little noise maker was a beautiful little baby doll.  She was small; she had an adorably cute face; and she came with her own accessories.  The box for the doll, however, indicated that if you press her tummy in a cute way that she would make noise.  So I pressed her tummy.  And that baby cried! This was not a cute little Minnie Mouse that talks or singing Olaf.  Nope, this doll cried a real babyish cry.  It was that mournful, I'm kind of hungry and I'm really upset cry.  It gave me shivers up my spine when I heard the poor little thing. 

Naturally, Princess G thought that the crying baby was amazing.  She kept giggling and begging me to push the button again.  If you didn't know any better, you would have wanted to buy it as a little gift for her.  But all I could think about was this: I've spent the better part of the last 6 years dealing with crying babies and toddlers.  What would possess me to buy something else that cried for no reason?!

Ugh.  As you're out toy shopping this Christmas, beware of cuteness when it comes to toys.  They might elicit the excitement and adoration of a 2 year old, but they can add to a mommy's insanity.  And yes, should you purchase a loud and obnoxious toy for my child like a crying baby doll, Dear Husband and I promise to return the favor.

School Pictures

During one of my freak-out homeschool mommy moments, I started wondering how many "normal" activities my kids would miss by not going to school.  For some reason, Picture Day kept coming to mind (seriously?).  Since I'm not much of a picture person, it's ironic that I was worried about my kiddos not getting to have their pictures made at school.  It's not like I was planning on hanging up pics of my children against boring blue or fake bookshelf backdrops. 

Anyway, because my children aren't going to miss out on anything, our personal photographer took Kindergarten and Pre-K photos for us.  After she sent me these photos, I realized that it was I who had missed out on something great.  For years, I had been photographed at school without having my mom to fix my hair or tell me how to smile.  No one ever took the time to photograph me "in my element" (a la the train tracks above).  Instead, I had been shuffled through for the annual mugshot that will forever mark me in the pages of whatever institution I was attending.  Very rarely did these shots flatter me or evoke some special memory. Even my photos in cap and gown still make me gag.  Those photos don't say anything about me!

So lest my children think that they are missing out on something special at school called Picture Day, I can assure them that they are not.  They might not be in a 100 page book filled with other children's mugshots, but their pictures will be taken by someone who can give them undivided attention.  Mommy will work with the photographer to touch up or re-do the photos.  And someday, they'll be proud to show their own children pictures of them when they were in school.

Don't Take Parenthood for Granted

I sat through my first continuing legal education class today.  Okay, technically it wasn't my first CLE, but it was my first "live" class to attend.  My frugal self likes to take the freebie classes I find online.  Today, however, I ventured out into the adult world.

I chose this particular class because it was sponsored by the Texas Homeschool Coalition.  Half of the day was relevant to me as a mother and lawyer, but the other half was a fascinating presentation by some lawyers who actually practice family law in courtroom on a regular basis.  Totally not my area of expertise.  That said, these folks do amazing work representing parents!

Today, I was reminded of what a privilege it is to be a parent.  It's easy to take my "parent" status for granted.  Yet, there are people out there working hard to regain or maintain that privilege that they may have lost--sometimes through no real fault of their own.

As a school nurse, parents aggravated me a lot.  They would send their kids to school with dirty clothes, no socks, no coat, lice in their hair, no lunch, with high fevers, etc.  Then, when I would call home to explain that their child needed medical attention or clothing, the parents would get mad at me!  I can't tell you how many times I had to explain that I do not give lice to children or actively seek out fevers.  They happen.  And good parents deal with it.  Mainly, because they're good parents who love their kids. 

Now that I have children of my own, I know what a pain in the backside it can be to have to cancel my plans to cart the kiddos around town to the urgent care or pharmacy when someone starts sneezing the wrong way or screaming because they bumped their nose.  It's absolutely horrific to sit in a doctor's office for 5+ hours having all 3 children tested for a disease and treated for whatever ailment they've managed to acquire.  I get it.  I've done it.  I will likely do it again.  Why?  Because I'm a mom!

It's easy to forget that the grossness that comes along with being a mom is a privilege.  When you're up to your elbows cleaning up a body fluid from a spot on the floor where it doesn't belong,  it can slip your mind that you are lucky to be getting to do this job.  But not everyone gets to clean up stinky messes or sticky fingerprints.  Only those of us who have the privilege of being parents get these opportunities. 

Some of us suffered through pregnancy to birth our little ones; some adopted and gave love that another parent couldn't give; and some have found other methods to parent and love a child.  Don't take this privilege for granted.  It's not absolute.  And time is fleeting. 

Now go hug a kid.

Goodbye Sweet November!

Photo provided by my 4 year old. 

Hmmm...  Apparently I missed a month.  Somehow November came and went and I recorded NOTHING!  So here's my November update a few days late:

• Baby G, now Princess G, turned 2 years old!  We are officially out of the baby phase at our house.  We even moved the crib downstairs and gave Princess G's room a re-do with a sparkly big girl bed and matching dresser.  If I ever get her curtains hung, hopefully I can post some pics.  It's very pink and everything Mommy dreamed about when she found out she was having a little girl. There's nothing shabby chic, vintage, or cutesy about it.  This girl lives in a world of pink frills and bling!
• We hosted 2 Thanksgiving dinners at our house.  The first dinner was with our small group family from our church.  One of the guys fried up 2 turkeys and showed us how Thanksgiving in the South is supposed to taste.  So, for our 2nd Thanksgiving dinner with our actual families, we decided that a creole bird was the way to go.  There's nothing like creole butter and seasoning to add some flavor to a usually bland holiday meal!
• We attended Homeschool Week at the Sea Life Park twice.  From now on, we are definitely capitalizing on homeschool week wherever we can find it.  No field trips or crazy crowds and discounted tickets!  This was a field trip that we will repeat.
•  We decorated for Christmas a little earlier than usual.  In the past, I've been big on golds and whites and fancy decor.  But this year, I decided that my very Texas house needed some Texas-like decor.  So imagine red burlap bows, cowboy boot stockings, beads, tin stars, reclaimed wood picture frames, and red sweater-like couch pillows.  Just thinking about it makes me want a cup of hot chocolate.  
• We're getting new neighbors.  A moving van showed up across the street at the beginning of the month and our previous neighbors drove off without any warning.  The next day, a For Sale sign showed up and the inspector and fix-it guys showed up this week to get the house ready for a new family!
• We had our first freeze. 
• We went to our last SMU home football game.  It was as painful as expected.  But hopefully next season will be a little more exciting with the newly hired Coach Morris!
• Some cool things happened at work with some cases I've been working on, but the details are kind of confidential (you'll have to use your imagination).
• We started 2nd grade math! When Boy Wonder finished his last lesson in the 1st grade book, I ventured over to our local Mardel store in search of more math.  They were able to order our next set of books right in time for our little guy to get started.  (Rod and Staff won't sell their books on a website since they are Mennonite, but you can order via catalog or phone or at Mardel).  Our little guy was so excited about his new books that he finished 12 lessons in 1 week!  Now if I can only get him to stop telling people that he's in 2nd grade (he's in kindergarten) we'll be in good shape. 

Wow!  So much happened last month and this little blog post is all I have to show for it.  Such is life when you're having fun.

Tears Happen

I really didn't think it could happen to me.  I've read that it happens to other moms.  I've heard rumors that it happens frequently when you homeschool. I really didn't think that I would actually break down and cry--especially in a public place.  But I did.

I think some days and weeks just make you cry.  It's easy to get overwhelmed.  You try to follow curriculum and realize that your child is on a different week's lesson (or year) for each subject.  It gets confusing. Then you realize that the assigned reading book is really boring.  Then you skip reading for a couple of days.  And then you start brainstorming who else is going to spend hours of their day listening to your kindergartner grader read these boring "classic" books. Seriously, I was thinking about taking my son to the retirement home by our house so that the older people could listen to him read! 

Then on Sunday during the sermon it occurred to me that I must be a horrible mom, a terrible teacher, and a lazy person.  The last few weeks I've felt that I live in a combat zone.  I might as well be throwing a mortar shell when I ask my son to complete his phonics pages.  The day that I had the audacity to request that my pupil take an afternoon nap, he literally started launching projectiles down the stairs.  I'm not kidding when I say that school has been nothing short of war.  So when the pastor starting preaching on Sunday about how a godly woman is a peaceful woman, I started to cry.  Is it possible to homeschool in peace?

After my sobbing episode on Sunday, someone offered to substitute for me on Monday.  This gave me time to reflect on my predicament and my lesson plans.  A wise person pointed out that my lesson plans have been pretty demanding for a kindergartner.  Since I'm not regularly around other kindergartners, it's easy to lose sight of how easy and breezy kindergarten can be!  Most kindergartners are not studying the Assyrian empire, fractions, and binomial nomenclature.  Yet, the fact that my son understands these concepts and can quote all of his weekly memory verses is a pretty good sign that I'm not failing as a teacher.  I just need to learn how to relax and enjoy the process and maybe not be quite so ambitious.

I obviously haven't gotten this whole homeschooling thing entirely figured out.  Truth is, with three kids who have three very different personalities, I may never figure out the magic formula for perfectly balancing my mommy and teacher roles.  In fact, there may be more tears in the future.   And it's okay. I just keep telling myself that sometimes God allows us to cry for tears to clear our eyes so that we can see the good things ahead (author unknown).

Teaching Music

Learning music is like learning a foreign language.  It stretches you.  It takes time.  You may never use it professionally later in life.  But it's worth the effort to not be illiterate in an international language that crosses cultures, continents, and classes.  It's worth opening your heart and mind to an art form that requires high levels of brain function and emotion at the same time.  Martin Luther (the theologian) once said, "Next to the Word of God, the noble art of music is the greatest treasure in the world."  So why not share that treasure with our children?

The concept of teaching basic music is not new.  In fact, way back when I was in elementary school, basic music instruction was a part of the curriculum.  Every week, my class would head to the music hall where we would have a class in basic music theory.  Then, by the time we were in 3rd or 4th grade, we knew enough music to be able to play the recorder (this is an instrument).  It may have seemed like a waste of time to some, but having this hour of music each week made school more interesting and taught me musical concepts that I still use today.  If you don't get music instruction at school, where else are you going to get it?

Needless to say, our kindergarten curriculum involves learning music.  We decided to start music instruction with piano lessons.  Boy Wonder is a little young for piano lessons (when I taught piano lessons, I preferred having my students start in 1st or 2nd grade), but since he has a good grasp on math, I figured we might as well forge ahead into the world of music.  As expected, after only a few weeks, we're at the point where we can combine music with our math or spelling curriculum and create a hybrid lesson.

The best part about hybrid lessons is that it's not difficult to come up with these kind of problems if you know any musical theory.  If you don't know musical theory or are too busy to create your own worksheets like me, there are some great resources on the internet.  For example, I found this wonderful website, http://funandlearnmusic.com/ that has free downloadable music math pages which are way cuter than any I would create on my own.  This website has quite a few worksheets that address both basic and more advanced theory concepts in a fun way. 

Hybrid lessons work for just about every subject in school.  Music Math is kind of awesome. It forces the student to learn and memorize music concepts while allowing them to practice their math skills.
Similarly, Music Spelling with the A-G alphabet reinforces basic spelling with note recognition.  For kiddos who struggle to identify the lines and spaces on the grand staff, Music Spelling can help. Aside from musical theory, there are tons of opportunities to use music in our Bible, Social Studies, History and Science lessons as well.  In fact, I will never forget my pronouns or helping verbs because my middle school English teacher used music to help us memorize all kinds of concepts!  Who knew that music could be so educational?!

Music might be the best tool that I've got in my homeschool mommy shed.  It's a language that I know well and understand. It's a subject that lends itself to any situation or setting.  It's an avenue to praise our Heavenly Father.  And hopefully my children will come to discover that music is a friend for life.

The Spelling Test

It finally happened.  I went from being the cool mom to suddenly being the Wicked Witch of the West.  All because of a spelling test.  Apparently, only mean mommies expect perfection in spelling.

Since Boy Wonder isn't going off to a classroom where he is graded and ranked among his peers, it's been a little challenging to explain the concept of grades.  Other than the fact that he likes getting ice cream when he produces perfect math homework, he doesn't seem to understand the importance of not getting anything wrong.  Hence, it's been a challenge to get him to memorize his spelling words. 

I discovered that Boy Wonder enjoys "guessing" on his spelling tests, but it completely defeats the purpose of spelling if he's not going to learn the words.  As a problem-solving, game-loving person myself, I can understand why he enjoys the "guessing tests", but they are completely wasting our time.  They worked when we were spelling easy words with short vowel sounds, but they don't work anymore. I know he can memorize, because he memorizes his Bible verses every week in 1 or 2 days!  He just has no desire to memorize a list of words.

So I got creative.  I tried to incentivize him by telling him that we can stop the spelling tests as soon as he spells all of the words correctly (like when my teachers said that those who aced the Wednesday tests didn't have to take the Friday test), but he wasn't buying this tactic.  Thus, last week there were tears, heated mother-son conversations, and frustration on both sides.

Then Daddy stepped in.  Daddy explained to Boy Wonder that spelling is important.  He explained that just about every good job requires employees to be able to spell.  And there are expectations that employees will spell correctly.  He also explained that misspelling words in the documents that he drafts for clients could, and probably would, get him fired.  Daddy very cleverly demonstrated to Boy Wonder that we must all spell with perfection if we want to be successful in life. 

Voila! The next morning, Boy Wonder aced the test.  No problems. Not only did he ace the test, but he was able to spell similar words that followed the same phonetic rules.  And when retested later, he still spelled all the words correctly.

Grades don't have the same magical, motivating factor for homeschoolers that they do for many in the classroom setting.  Motivating a homeschooler to learn is different from engaging an entire classroom or creating a competitive atmosphere.  Thankfully, Mr. Wonderful is an amazing motivational speaker.  Plus, he's a daddy (and everyone who could care less about making mom happy always wants to please daddy, right?).  I can never underestimate the power of having Daddy involved in the homeschool process.  It's a secret weapon that most school teachers don't have.  It's the secret weapon that I discovered, all because of a lousy spelling test! 

The Vintage Book Baby Shower

I attended a true Southern baby shower last weekend hosted by some of my friends from Alabama.  The theme was "vintage books."  And it was adorable!  The hostesses had stacks of vintage books and toys on display, and they served soda in glass bottles, ice cream, and vintage snacks.  Plus, most of the guests showed up in their party dresses to fit the occasion.  I wore a sleeveless black lace dress and brought my best accessory--Princess G in a long sundress with a big bow in her hair. 

In hind sight, I should have taken pictures to share with you all.  But, since the shower wasn't for me, I felt like it was a slight invasion of privacy to take pictures of another person's party for my blog.  I can't take credit for any of the creativity at this party, so instead of showing and bragging, I will share in words. 

The vintage book baby shower was inspired by the expectant parent's love of books.  In order to help them build a book collection for their baby, the hostesses asked the attendees to forgo buying a card and to instead bring a book with a letter to the family written inside.  Since cards these days cost about $5 each, buying a book instead of card wasn't really that big of a deal.  The biggest challenge with this request was to make sure we all didn't duplicate books.  So, in my case, I found a book that included trains, cats, dogs, and a story of friendship--everything that a little boy could want in a book!  It wasn't a classic must-have for a baby book collection, but it was the kind of book that I know will be appreciated by a little boy.

Instead of playing countless dumb party games, the hostesses asked the party goers to create a book for the new baby.  They passed out different sheets of paper that described events in a baby's life and asked the party goers to fill in blanks (mad lib style) on our sheet and then to illustrate our page. The end results were pretty hilarious.  There were stories that included everything from baby's first bath to baby's first trip to the zoo.  Even the baby's daddy and uncle wrote and illustrated a story about baby's first Alabama football game!

It's not very often that I attend a party where I think it was fabulous enough to write about. But this party was super creative and actually practical.  Not only did the parents not have 25 cards to trash or stick in a box in a closet somewhere, but they now have the beginnings of a wonderful library for their little boy.

I'm not sure everyone will take kindly to the idea of giving books in lieu of cards.  In fact, I'm sure the idea won't appeal to the old folks who must follow social decorum by purchasing cards.  And I doubt my techie friends, who shudder at the idea of holding an actual book, would adapt well to this concept either.  But if you want to stop buying me cards, I'll take a good book any day!

At Last: A Movie for Moms

Saturday night, after a long afternoon of football, I curled up in bed and ordered in a movie.  This was a big deal for me.  With all that I have going on in my life right now, I rarely have the time, or the desire to waste the time, that it takes to watch a movie.  A decade ago, my "hobby" was to check out new releases at the theater with my then boyfriend-now husband.  (We could probably win any movie trivia from the early 2000's!)  But when Boy Wonder came along in 2008, our world completely changed. Instead of having hours to devote to major Hollywood productions, we started watching seasons of old TV shows, because frankly, giving up an hour here or there is significantly easier to justify than the hours it takes to be a movie connoisseur.  Anyway, Saturday's movie night was kind of a one-off for me.

Because I had seen a preview during a football game that fascinated me, I ordered in Mom's Night Out.  This movie was absolutely hilarious, clean, a little over-the-top, and frighteningly relatable!  From the scribbling on the wall, to the screaming daughter in the car at church who messed up mom's mascara, to the best friend who looks amazingly similar to my friend at church, to the "my homeschooler is smarter than your honor student" bumper sticker, I feel like Allyson and I are soul mates.  (Okay, in all fairness, I don't have this bumper sticker, but I probably should.  Except that Mr. Wonderful thinks that bumper stickers are trashy, so I can't.  But, still...)

Any mother of young children who is trying to have it "all together" can totally relate to this movie.  Some might think that the scenes in the movie seem a little far-fetched, but you don't need a screenwriter to come up with any of these plots.  Our children frequently live them out for us!  Just last week, my friend's 2 year old climbed to the top of the McDonald's playground and refused to come down for an hour and a half  just to spite her.  (And although I know I shouldn't laugh about it, the fact that this adorable little boy would do such a thing to his beautiful mother, who just had baby #2, cracks me up!) 

If you've been having a lot of those mommy "moments" lately, you definitely need to take an hour and a half to watch this movie.  Or, if you've been extremely judgmental toward mothers whose children were having an all-out brawl at Hobby Lobby on Friday (yes, those were mine!), then watch the movie.  Give moms a break. And remember, you too were once a bratty two year old! 

The Truth About Leveled Readers

 

Boy Wonder is starting to read books.  I'm not sure how to explain it, but somehow he went from sounding out words in his phonics textbooks to reading sentences in real story books in a matter of weeks.  Hallelujah!  I just don't know if I could take another half hour of reading about AL and Tim from the Phonics readers.  The adventures of Little Bear and his conversations with Mother Bear are so much more enjoyable for everyone!

The Little Bear Level 1, I Can Read book is actually part of our reading curriculum.  Memoria Press uses a Charlotte Masonish approach to reading by using living books in place of reading textbooks for the curriculum.  Unlike Charlotte Mason, however, Memoria Press includes workbooks with questions and vocabulary review to aid in reading comprehension.  As a first time homeschooling mom, this is one workbook that I appreciate.  (A good CM homeschool mom wouldn't mess with workbooks but would ask the questions orally.)

Little Bear has turned out to be a wonderful experience both for my reader and for me.  My son actually understands what he's reading and is able to laugh throughout the stories.  Plus, he has managed the "new" non-phonetic words pretty well because he can put them in the context of what he is reading.  So reading is actually becoming a fun activity.  So much so, that I decided to invest in some more Level 1 readers that I hope we can appreciate reading together. 

When I went to Amazon, however, I noticed that other parents had written some very negative reviews next to some I Can Read books.  These reviews seemed to be a little nonsensical since they were about books like Curious George and The Berestein Bears.  These are wonderful early reader books!  Unfortunately, parents seem to think that Level 1 readers are going to be books where all the words follow easy phonetic rules.  These parents are wrong.


Leveled readers are wonderful tools for parents or teachers who are actively trying to help a child master reading.  These books are not so useful for teaching basic phonics sounds to preschoolers.  Just consider the titles of Little Bear or Curious George.  In the titles of these books alone, you have rules about silent vowels, long vowels, "ou" sounds, soft g sounds, etc. You can bet that these books include a lot of these rules, in addition to a set of sight words that are often identified for the reader on the front or back page of the book.

Parents need to understand that just because their 2 year old can identify the word c-a-t, doesn't mean that they are ready to read about Amelia Bedelia. Don't blame the leveled readers!  Level 1 is for beginning readers, not early preschoolers.  Even the I Can Read people say that Level 1 "books have short sentences, familiar words, and simple concepts for children eager to read on their own."  If you want simpler books, try out the Introduction to Reading Books from the I Can Read folks.  These are more appropriate for the preschool crowd.

Teaching somebody to read the English language is not the simplest task in the world.  It can be done through a systematic and patient approach.  And when it all starts to click and fall into place, your reader can enjoy simple Level 1 books.  If you try too early, everyone gets discouraged.  But if you're patient, these can be loads of fun!  Leveled readers are great teaching tools if they are used appropriately.

Take a Moment

Happy Friday! I hope you get to take a moment to enjoy the beauty around you today.  I hope you have a chance to Be Still before your Maker. 

Today, I'm thanking God for my sweet Baby G who has grown into a beautify Princess G.  She's certainly a Southern belle, but she's got a streak of her mommy in her as well!  There's nothing like a go-getter who wears lace and tulle and cowgirl boots. 

The Pitfalls of the Already Written Curriculum Lesson Plans

Since this is my first rodeo when it comes to homeschooling, I have experienced some unexpected occurrences when dealing with pre-done lesson plans.  It's really nice to have a guide to use all year to indicate to me where my child should be.  But realistically, on week 2 of our kindergarten school year, we're at week 13 for math, week 4+ for phonics, and we're not even using the plans for science, English, and history.  So I'm basically just using the lesson plans to boost my confidence and to guide me through the madness of phonics. 

Pre-designed lesson plans seem like the perfect solution for a parent who wants to teach a child at home.  That said, once you dive into the lessons, you start to see that these lessons were designed for the classroom setting. Thus, there are review activities, review worksheets, and review games scattered throughout the school year.  And there are weeks and weeks devoted to review at the beginning of the school year. These just aren't practical in the one-on-one setting. 

For example, Boy Wonder flew through kindergarten math last year during preschool.  Without missing a beat, he was able to pick up 1st grade math and handle 2 lessons a day when we started kindergarten last week.  According to his curriculum, we should be reviewing kindergarten math for 7 weeks.  But at the rate he's going, we'll be almost done with the book by the 7 week mark.  If I actually followed the curriculum manual, he would be bored to tears or we just wouldn't mess with much math for 7 weeks.  What a waste that would be!

The constant review that is built into the curriculum is absolutely necessary in the classroom setting--especially since kindergarten is not a mandatory requirement for first grade in some states, including Texas.  It just makes sense that a class with 20 children is going to need to review lessons before the entire class is ready to move on to new and harder concepts.  This situation, however, does not necessarily apply in the homeschool setting.

I've always heard stories about homeschoolers who were "ahead" in school.  I used to think that it was because parents who homeschool are more inclined to push their kids.  But the truth of the matter is that if you start a school year without wasting 2-3 months reviewing the previous school year, it's pretty easy to get ahead.  Or, if you do school year-round where you cut your workload in half but don't take 3 months off every summer, you still don't need the intensive review. 

There are definitely some perks to letting someone else plan out your school year by having pre-written lesson plans.  Yet there are also some pitfalls to not proactively planning your own year.  Now I'm beginning to understand why experienced homeschool parents create and plan out their own curriculum.   Those parents are able to give their child a custom education that can't be found in a classroom-focused curriculum manual.

Week 1 Down. 13 Years to Go.

 

We're one week into "real" kindergarten.  So far so good.  I say "real" kindergarten, because when we started our homeschooling trial run in January I used kindergarten curriculum.  Over the course of the last 9 months, Boy Wonder has flown through kindergarten and is now working through 1st and 2nd grade curriculum.  That said, for all other intents and purposes, he is in kindergarten.  He may be ahead, but we're planning on having him graduate at the age of 18.  We just hope that when he graduates, he will have been exposed to far more educational subjects than is required by the State of Texas.  If, at that point, he has also acquired some college credits, then yay for him.  That's not our purpose for homeschooling.

I'm having a hard time communicating to people that we homeschool because this is something that we want to do and feel called by God to do.  Plus, we're finding that it works for us.  I'm not a militant parent.  I don't believe that there is one way to raise a child that is going to work for every child and every family.  And I've met enough school-age parents to know that homeschooling is not a good option for the general population.  But I do believe that if we want to homeschool our child, then it's nobody else's business. 

It's ironic to me that the State of Texas has allowed us to create our own private school where we can educate our children as we see fit but that other parents think that we need some sort of supervision or help.  I can't tell you how many times other (probably well-meaning) lay people try to convince me that I should join a co-op, a university model school, a private school homeschool program, or a 1/2 day something-or-other.   It's driving me nuts! 

For the record, my professional educator friends and my relatives have been nothing but supportive of our decision to teach our children at home.  I can't tell you how much it means to me that my children's grandparents, my educator friends, and my church group friends have supported our decision to home educate.  Without the encouragement from these people, I probably would have been in tears this week.  And it's only week 1! 

Choosing to educate our child at home was one of the most difficult decisions that we've had to make as parents.  I'm well aware that this decision is not without controversy.  I'm well aware that I will be stigmatized and that my children will get to wear the "homeschooler" badge during their school years. I'm well aware that there will be tears and topics that we will struggle through.  I'm well aware that I don't have a PhD in every school subject.  I'm well aware that I will be teaching subjects that I never even studied in school.  But I know this: God has called us to homeschool, and we're going to obey.

So, for all of you homeschool parents out there, remember to honor God with your calling.  And to all of you who know homeschool families or families who are thinking about it, please be encouraging and don't harass them with your concerns.  Trust me, they share your concerns.  But when God calls them to do something, your opinion really doesn't matter.

We're Going on a Bug, Bird, Squirrel, Turtle, Hunt...

What does a really cool mommy do for the 2nd day of school?  She takes the kiddos on a field trip! 

So the timing may not have been ideal, but the field trip fit perfectly with my introduction to Zoology: Flying Creatures of the 5th Day.  The Fort Worth Botanic Gardens hosted a family discovery class for homeschool children yesterday.  The topic yesterday was to explore the creatures that live in the garden, which meant that we got to go on an animal safari.  This turned out to be super cool since most of the visible animals were winged creatures that we will be studying this school year!  And since next month's class is about monarchs, monarch migration, and monarch tagging, it should coordinate well with our studies as well. 

At first, I felt guilty about disrupting our "regular" schedule to go on a field trip.  But then it occurred to me that the beauty of homeschooling is being able to do this.  I've read posts, articles and books by other homeschool parents who recommend never missing out on a real-world opportunity to learn.   They say that if your child can experience something for themselves rather than have to learn it from a book or video, you should go for the experience every time.  This actually makes sense.  Don't most of us remember more from our experiences than our textbooks? 

So anyway, at the moment I'm the cool mom who took the kids on an animal safari yesterday where they got to use binoculars to see animals, bugs, water creatures, and flowers.  It was probably the hottest day of the month for the activity.  I totally forgot to take pictures with my phone.  And I should have brought water for the boys to drink on the hike.  But at the moment, they think I'm cool. We'll see how long that lasts.

Back to School, Back to School, Hope They Think That Mom is Cool!

Kindergarten is officially here (and preschool too)!  Can't believe it's my first baby's first day of REAL school with mom and that my younger boy is ready for preschool.  So glad I get the privilege of sharing in these school experiences. 

The Hostess Who Didn't Think She Could

 
It's funny how God likes to use our weaknesses in spite of our fears and insecurities.  A year ago, I was terrified of having people in my home on a regular basis.  When we decided to start our house hunt last year, both Mr. Wonderful and I felt that we were supposed to buy a home that would accommodate church groups.  But I'm not sure either of us envisioned what that would mean for us. Mainly, because in the 7 years we had lived in our previous house, we could probably count on 2 hands how many times non-family members had visited our home. This sounds weird, but we've only had dinner at non-family member's houses 3 or 4 times in the last 10 years.  People in our part of Texas don't open up their homes very often!

So, naturally, I have this hospitality fear.  Part of my fear is because I have zero confidence in my ability to cook.  I know that I can cook, because my husband and children prefer my food to some restaurant food.  Yet, I don't cook fancy foods.  And I have a limited repertoire of foods that I cook well.  So, my solution has always been to NOT cook for other people and to get carry-out restaurant food when I bring meals to other families.

In spite of my fears and in spite of our reclusive lifestyle, God has brought about a significant change in our lives over the past 12 months.  It all started last fall when some families talked about wanting to start a small group.  Since we had just moved into our house, which we knew would be a good meeting space for a small group, we offered up our place.  Over the course of the year, our group has  grown and grown.  We've had some weeks where we've had 19-30 people in our home!

This past spring, people started requesting that we serve dinner every Sunday.  Somehow, coordinating and cooking dinner for the group each week has become my task!  (As if I don't have anything better to do after spending 2-3 hours cleaning my house every Sunday afternoon!) I tried to convince the folks to switch from dinner to snacks at the end of the summer, but it turns out that people like my food and want me to feed them.  I don't say this to brag.  I say this in complete amusement.  I've been cooking hot dogs, quesadillas, sloppy joe, chili, and other comfort favorites, yet the people continue to eat!  And our group continues to grow.

What's even more interesting about the fact that we've become weekly group hosts, is that we regularly have seminary students from Southwestern Baptist Seminary attend our community group.  This is weird, because we bought our house from a student at the seminary who was moving to accept a pastoral position at a church a few hours away.  It's like God built this house for ministry and to serve seminary students!  Having this thought in the back of my mind definitely motivates me as I plan my menu on Sundays. 

After hosting families in our home on a weekly basis for the past year, I can honestly say that my hospitality fears have dwindled. A year ago, I prayed for a house where we could be "useful" for God's work and God has opened up an entirely new door of ministry for us!  I'm now keeping my house clean on a weekly basis, cooking, coordinating meals for families, helping plan play dates and helping start a neighborhood craft night as an outreach tool.  Only God could take this undomestic princess and make that happen.

The Baby Has Arrived

That's right.  My husband gifted me with a new baby this week--a baby grand piano! 

When we moved into our house last summer, our curved staircase was just crying out to have a baby grand at the bottom of it.  Last week, I accidentally stumbled upon this restored/rebuilt 1930's piano and knew that I could provide it the perfect spot so that it could re-live it's glory days.  Thankfully, Mr. Wonderful thought so too.  For my birthday 10 years ago, he bought me an electric piano that would fit in our apartment when we got married.  And a decade later, he has given me a real (and beautiful) piano for my birthday!  He's kind of amazing.

As it turns out, the entire family has been having loads of fun playing and practicing on her.  I think I might have some musical prodigies in my house! 

 At last, a baby that doesn't wake me up in the middle of the night!

Red Boots

Woohoo! It's finally football season.  This means that we can break out all of our red and blue gear and get dressed up every Saturday for an outing at the hilltop.  And when I say get dressed up, we're not talking team gear t-shirts.  In accordance with southern tradition, we "dress up" in our school colors.  Per SMU tradition, for our first home football game of the year, we wear white and lots of people break out their cowboy boots.

This year, Baby G has her own pair of red cowgirl boots, a huge matching red bow for her hair, and a cute white sundress.  She's totally ready for football!  Of course, it's kind of sad to buy red boots and a white dress for one football game.  So, this past Sunday morning, I let her debut her football "look" for Sunday School.

She was really excited when I told her she could wear her boots to church.  For some reason, we struggled to get them to pop into place (all good cowboy boots pop when you put them on). When she attempted to stand up, she started crying about her foot.  She kept saying, "shoe, shoe, shoe." So, I figured we should take them off just in case something was wrong.

I was certainly not prepared for what came out of the boot.  Not only did her little foot and sock come out, but it came out covered in yucky banana! The banana had to have been in there for at least a few days.  Typically I might have sniffed something like this out.  Unfortunately, I've had a crazy summer cold that has wiped out my ability to talk, hear, and smell for the last week.  So, there was no warning for me with this yucky, goopy, brownish, banana mess.

Thankfully, banana cleans very easily.  Once we wiped out the boot and changed into a clean sock, she was good to go.  Not only did she wear her boots proudly, but she showed them off to everyone!

If you happen to be in the market for red girl boots, check these out at http://www.target.com. 

He Wrote His Name

For the last 9 months (can you believe it's already September?!), I've been focusing on my oldest child's education.  Mainly because he officially starts kindergarten next week.  It may seem that we're starting homeschooling "late" since all of the other kindergartners around here started classes last Monday, but in reality, we've been doing kindergarten since January.  So technically, Boy Wonder starts first grade in a week!  It kind of blows my mind.

That said, I've been really focused on educating Boy Wonder during these last 9 months.  This doesn't mean that I've totally ignored my middle child, but I certainly haven't been pushing Tornado Man to do any schoolwork.  I mean, he just turned 4!

I guess that's why I was so surprised when I picked Tornado Man up from his Sunday School class last week.  When his teacher (who also happens to be Grandma) sent him out the classroom door, she also handed me a stack of papers/craft projects that he had done during his 3 hours at church.  To my shock, his name was very clearly written in crayon on his pages.  Not only that, but it was written in a child's very neat handwriting!  That afternoon, Grandma called to confirm that Tornado Man had indeed written and spelled his name on his own! Talk about having my mind really blown!  I didn't even know that he knew what the letters in his name were.  Plus, his name has a traditional, rather than phonetic spelling--meaning that he didn't just guess his name.  And to make matters worse--or more shocking--I have not worked with Tornado Man on his name or his letters!

As it turns out, while I've been slaving away teaching phonics to my oldest child, Tornado Man has been learning Phonics as well.  But he has been learning by watching LeapFrog videos, like The Letter Factory (thanks for recommending this Angela).  And he's been practicing his letters by using the tracing game on his Leap Pad.  What I was just using as something to fill the time while his brother did schoolwork was actually teaching him something.  Apparently, educational videos and toys do work.

Of course, the caveat to my last statement should be that educational videos and toys work on the right child.  Tornado Man is an independent learner.  He likes to be hands-on and to "discover" new concepts on his own rather than being taught by someone else.  As a result, we've bought him lots of educational toys and videos.  And now we're learning that they are working.  He has already demonstrated to me that he knows his letters, their sounds, and how to write most of them.  It's kind of amazing that he has mastered concepts that take most kindergartners months to learn, and he's done it ON HIS OWN. 

I can already tell that homeschooling Tornado Man is going to be a whole new adventure!

Every Mom Has Her Kryptonite

At the beginning of the summer, Mr. Wonderful convinced me to step down from running a committee at church that was seriously eating up my time.  Then, he contacted our music minister and informed him that I needed to take a few weeks off from playing with the band.  In his opinion, between work and church committee and music ministry and small group hosting and homeschooling and stay-at-home mothering of 3 kids full-time and attempting to be a good housewife, I had over-committed. 

I was, admittedly, offended by the fact that Mr. Wonderful thought I needed a break.  By forcing me to stop doing things that I had committed to do I felt that there was an implication that I was failing and he thought I wasn't supermom.  Now, however, I realize that I was truly over-committed and I wasn't even close to being supermom!  I was getting wound up tight and was getting very annoyed with church people and messy children and husbands who work late. I was kind of losing it.

Instead of taking the summer off to relax--as many thought I was doing--I used this summer to finally catch up on life:  I got caught up on some of my work projects by reading through thousands of pages of medical records.  I cleaned up the boys' room and attempted to solve some of their organizational problems.  I sorted through our clothing and purchased appropriate sized pajamas and church clothes for everyone.  I cleaned my own closet and threw out lots of shoes.  I purchased new rugs for our main living rooms.  I planned and hosted small group dinners and a baby shower and organized meals for a family.  I coordinated our small group's service project.  I helped Boy Wonder finish a Phonics workbook.  I sent the boys to sports camp.  I read to my children.  I walked lots and lots of miles at the mall and on my elliptical.  I managed to keep some potted plants on my front porch alive.  I read a book (it was dumb, but it was a book).  I played many, many games of Connect 4 with my son.  I prayed.  I spent time listening to and trying to encourage other people.  And I rested. 

Having the time to actually complete projects that I both wanted and needed to accomplish was invigorating for me.  How refreshing to actually get to see the fruits of my labor!  For 6 months I kept taking on more and more (I have a problem saying "no") and it seemed like nothing was ever getting accomplished.  And then in all of 4 weeks, everything just started falling into place.  I'm finally enjoying my duties again.  I'm ready to start homeschooling this fall.  I'm enjoying spending time helping out at church.  I'm focusing better on work.  I'm motivated to read my Bible.  And I'm happy.

Super man has his kyrptonite.  And super mom has her over-commitment.  We all have our weaknesses.  How blessed I am that I have a Mr. Wonderful who is willing to recognize my shortcomings and intervene when I need him--even when I don't appreciate his interventions.  I truly needed a little break this summer.  His "intervention" was timely a gift.  I still have quite a lot of things that I want to do in the next couple of months, but I can officially say, "Mommy's Back!"

Wonderfully Abnormal Love for Golf

Golf does not come naturally to most people.  If you spend about 5 minutes with me on the course, it will be painfully obvious that I stink at golf.  I might fake it with my cute golf skirt and pink rolling bag, but the score card pretty much speaks for itself.  I'm terrible.  Mr. Wonderful is considerably better than I am when it comes to understanding and playing golf.  That said, you can get a pretty decent idea of what kind of hitter he was in baseball when you watch his golf swing (the ball is hit hard and everything veers to the left).  To sum it up, neither of us are quality golfers.  Yet somehow, we have a child who has a natural ability to swing golf clubs and hit balls.

Our oldest child has had this affinity for hitting golf balls since he was a year old and could swing his plastic Fisher Price clubs. At the time we thought it was so cute that we bought him his first set of real golf clubs for his second birthday.  We were those crazy parents who would take their toddler to the driving range.  Again, it was so cute to watch him swing and hit the balls. I don't think we realized the significance of the fact that our toddler was making contact and actually hitting balls like a real golfer.  When he turned 4, we noticed that he rarely ever missed making contact with the ball off the tee--in spite of his dancing and crazy footwork.  That was about the time that he started chipping balls off of our back porch into a neighbors' pools and landscaping.  So for his 6th birthday, we decided to send him to golf camp.

At camp, we were informed that he was wonderfully abnormal on the golf course.  I say abnormal, because a "normal" child on the golf course is one who has been sent to camp by his golf-playing parents to learn a game that does not come naturally to them.  Our child, on the other hand, loved every minute of being on the golf course and apparently has an unteachable "feel for the game."  It was absolutely hilarious to watch him swing his club like a ninja sword at one moment and then turn around a minute later and drive a one-handed shot over a creek.  And it's very weird to have a 5 year old explain how he is going to use his 9 iron to "tap-chip" his ball out of the rough and onto the green when all the other children are using their putters and then to see his plan work!

Considering that I'm having to read PGA golf books for parents to even understand the game myself, it's kind of crazy to think that I might have to caddy on the DFW Metro Jr. Golf Tour next summer (all children under 8 need to have a caddy) in order to keep up with my wonderfully abnormal son.  Something tells me that this is not going to be my first time to step outside of my comfort box for my kiddos.  I'm sure someone else will want to do something that blows my mind too: hockey, dance, art, etc.  But golf: could not have predicted that one.

Planning Out the School Year

 

We finally finished kindergarten math!  At first, I was really proud that my little guy whizzed through 85 lessons in approximately 4 months--because he wanted to.  And then I realized that when we start kindergarten FOR REAL this fall, he's going to need something to do.  My intention behind starting homeschooling in the spring was solely as an experiment to see if it would work.  I didn't necessarily mean to knock out a year of school in 1 semester. 

Now I have the dilemma: Do I rinse and repeat? Or do I forge ahead into the unknown realm of first grade with my kindergartner?  As I flipped through my lesson plans for the rest of kindergarten, I realized that all we really have to do to get caught up for first grade is to finish Phonics.  A few months ago, I would have told you that pushing ahead in Phonics was an absolute no-go.  We were shedding way too many tears in that department.  Then all of a sudden it started clicking!  After fighting through the short "a" sounds, he started to get the concept of how reading is supposed to work.  Suddenly, he was able to roll through the other short vowels.  So realistically, finishing the kindergarten Phonics lessons before school starts (we're following the more traditional after Labor Day schedule) is not out of the question. 

So I ordered first grade curriculum.  And I guess we're going to give it a go.  If I'm going to homeschool right, I'm going to have to go all-or-nothing.  No sense NOT pushing ahead if my guy can handle it.  If it turns out he can't, then there's no harm in slowing down as needed because we're already ahead, right?  I guess we're going to have to give it the old college try and just see how it goes.

For those of you who might be interested in what curriculum we're using this year for each subject, here is my plan:

1. Memoria Press: Bible, Phonics, Copybook & Bible Memorization, Math (they use Rod & Staff),  Cursive, Art/Music/Reading Enrichment
2. Apologia: Science, Exploring Creation with Zoology 1: Flying Creatures of the 5th Day
3. Story of the World, by Susan Wise Bauer: History Volume 1: From Earliest Nomads to the Last Roman Emperor (we're continuing this from where we left off this spring)
4. Christian Heroes Then and Now: Missionary studies
5. Fort Worth Museum of Science & History Museum School: science & history enrichment

The Co-op Question

I think it's funny that the first question most homeschooling parents ask when I tell them that I'm homeschooling is what co-op I'm using.  Then they're surprised when I tell them I'm not really into the co-op thing--at least not right now.  Co-ops are probably really useful for older children who desire a variety of activities or for children whose parents aren't comfortable teaching basic curriculum.  But let's be honest, my kindergartner doesn't need a lot of extra-curricular activities right now (we've already got tennis, golf, baseball, piano, and museum school), and I'm certainly capable of teaching elementary phonics, math, history, science, Spanish, Bible, and Latin.  It really doesn't take a genius to teach kindergarten or first grade curriculum, so I'm always amazed when people shirk at the idea of teaching their own child themselves.

Part of my reason for not wanting to hand off my kindergartner to an organized co-op or homeschool program where someone else directs the course work, curriculum, pace, and activities, is because handing off those duties totally defeats the purpose in homeschooling my kiddo.  The beauty of homeschooling is having the freedom to teach to YOUR OWN child. Sometimes that means that you take a big black sharpie and cross out the lesson that comes next in the textbook.  And sometimes that means that you call your potter friend at church and ask for a private lesson on pottery instead.  There is something very freeing in making learning fun. I know I sound a little hippie-dippy in my approach to school, but rest assured, the only hippie streak in me is that streak that loves Free People clothing.  I'm no flower child.

My other reason for passing on the opportunity to have an educational professional oversee my teaching of my child is that my son and I would both get really bored with this approach and probably really competitive.  Boy Wonder is a lot like his mommy.  And once he realizes that he and the other kids are going to be taking tests and learning the same things, he would delight in having his mommy teach him everything there would be to learn on the subject matter at hand.  And he and his mommy would get really ticked if he weren't the smartest kid in the class.  Talk about pressure on me!  I'm thinking that this isn't the healthiest approach for us right now.

Instead of focusing on someone else's idea for my son's education, I've realized that I'm actually cut out to be a do-it-yourself kind of homeschool mom.  I like the idea of providing my son with a classical curriculum, and I am also a huge believer in the Charlotte Mason approach to education: “Education is an Atmosphere, a Discipline, a Life.”  These styles go well together.  And they also don't lend well to the university-style of teaching which involves lots of homework.  Charlotte wanted education to be natural and in the proper context and atmosphere.  So, using Memorial Press' classical  curriculum in a Charlotte Mason way works well for me (and their curriculum uses lots of living books which would make her proud).

So no.  For now, we're going to pass on the co-op model program.  But who knows? Maybe we'll change our minds in the future and dive into a local group.  That's the beauty of educating your child at home.  You do what works and avoid what doesn't.

What Girls are Made Of

Baby G in the Flowers: Courtesy of K.I. Photography.

Sugar and Spice

Sugar and spice
and everything nice
that's what little girls are made of

Sunshine and rainbows
and ribbons for hair bows
that's what little girls are made of

Tea parties, laces
and baby doll faces
that's what little girls are made of

Author: Unknown

This past week, Mr. Wonderful and I were given grief by some family members about the fact that Baby G wears hair bows --bows that keep getting larger as she gets larger.  For the life of me, I can't imagine why this would bother anyone.

I think this poem that my grandma used to say to me sums up what I love about having a little girl.  Little girls are different from little boys.  They are, generally speaking, lovers of all things pretty.  They squeal and get jumpy when they see glitter and rainbows.  They giggle and clap when they spin in their fluffy dresses.  They ooh and ah when they see babies.  They like to have painted toes and walk in their mommy's shoes.  And there's nothing wrong with allowing little girls to be girls. Doing boy things with my sons is fun, but getting to experience the sugary and sparkly world of my daughter also brings me delight.

So yes, I suppose I perpetuate my daughter's girly ways by dressing her in fancy dresses and sparkly shoes.  I paint her toe nails and allow her to play with my necklaces and bracelets. I always coordinate her outfits with a matching hair accessory.   I have some how convinced her that sparkly is always better than plain.   And yet, she's not even 2 years old.

Baby G may or may not grow out of the fun, fluffy, girly stage.  She has plenty of opportunities to experience boy activities and sports with her two older brothers. To be honest, she throws a ball better than either of them did at her age.  So who knows, she may be our all-star yet.  But I'm not going to stop having fun raising my daughter as the princess she is just because other people don't appreciate glitter and rainbows and cupcakes. 

We're all entitled to dress our children as we see fit.  As a result, I'm doing my best to keep my opinions to myself about how other little girls are dressed and how their mommies raise them.  I have a different perspective on parenting a little girl than other mothers might have.  I've had my chances to do the boy mom thing for the last 6 years, and it is certainly loads of fun to live in a world of trains and balls and grass stains.  These days, however, I'm truly appreciating what little girls are made of.

Note: If you need recommendations on where to find some fabulous hair bows, please let me know.  These days, I'm somewhat of an expert.

Kid Day Turned Out All Right

On my previous blog post (from like a month ago) I wrote about the need to keep the kids entertained while on vacation--not necessarily for their own benefit, but for the benefit of EVERYONE.  After our first disastrous vacation day, we worked a little bit harder to make the trip more fun.  We must have done a pretty good job, because everyone looks pretty happy in our vacation photos!

And just a note: The pink Texas hat that Baby G tried to wear in almost every photo was her vacation gift from her daddy.  I think he intended on buying her a hat that looked a little more baseballish, but when she saw the sparkly zebra hat it was love at first sight.
 

 

Keeping the Kids Entertained

I'm generally not a believer that children need to be entertained all the time.  In fact, I think mommas who constantly entertain their children, or send them to preschool to be entertained, do their children a huge disservice.  Children need to learn how to play and how to imagine.  They need to explore things for themselves.  Thus, you'll notice the crayon markings on the walls of my house, the upturned chairs turned into forts, the "relocated" dirt piles (and holes) in my backyard, empty water bottles converted into toys in the playroom, and pictures of who-knows-what taped to random places in my bedroom courtesy of my kids.  In spite of my type-A nature, I give my children lots of freedom to be creative on their own at home.  This freedom, however, does NOT work on vacation.

Although Mr. Wonderful and I love to enjoy vacations where we have absolutely nothing planned but to relax, this didn't work very well for our energetic gang.  If I had a vacation do-over, the first thing I would do is to plan an activity for the kiddos on Day 1.  In hind sight, we probably should have made more stops on the way to San Antonio, and one stop should have been a park.  Instead, our major stop was at an outlet mall where Mr. Wonderful and I thoroughly enjoyed bargain hunting.  Unfortunately, not all parties (especially Tornado Man) enjoyed this outing.

I knew that we were in for a long week when Mr. Wonderful walked out of a surfer store and appeared agitated with our four year old son.  Apparently, he walked through the store and licked as many stacks of t-shirts as he could find.  Yes, licked--with his tongue!  We're still not sure how many shirts got licked before Daddy saw what was happening.  But we're also pretty sure that we're not welcome in that store for a looooong time!  And that was before the "I'm thirsty" and "I have to go to the bathroom again" started.   Our 2 hours of shopping was ultimately successful, but by the time we left I really did have a massive headache.  And that was Day 1.

On Day 2, Daddy highly overestimated how fun a baseball game could be for little people.  Mr. Wonderful was so excited to get to go to a San Antonio Missions baseball game that day.   It was perfect and sunny, the Missions were playing the Frisco Rough Riders (the TX Rangers' AA team and one of our favorites), and we had seats right behind home plate.  How could this have been bad?

Well, let's just say that our game lasted all of 2 innings.  None of the kids were overly impressed with the game.  Baby G turned bright red and started to literally overheat, Boy 2 complained about every possible thing he could think of, and Boy Wonder started crying when we told him he had to sit next to a stranger.  It was a complete disaster--drama, drama, drama.  The only thing that Daddy really wanted to do on this trip was a huge bust.  And by the time we got back to the hotel, Daddy wasn't speaking to the kids.  He even left me at the hotel and went and got me Starbucks just to get some fresh air.  That's when I knew, we might be in for a really long week.  (Stay tuned to hear how the week got better.)

Planning our Family Vacation: Texas or Bust!

Last week we decided to take a vacation! Since we haven't left the friendly confines of our little Metroplex for 2 years, it was definitely time to go somewhere.  So, we spent a few days researching and discussing where to go. 

Originally, we were completely on board with another trip to Hawaii.  But the realization that we STILL couldn't climb Diamond Head because our little ones can't do the stairs, and we STILL couldn't do the underwater fish adventure because our little ones are too short, and we STILL have to pay the exorbitant fees for the little ones, made us realize that maybe we were better off taking a trip to a more three-kids-friendly place.  (Although, Waikiki really is kid friendly!)

Next, we decided that maybe we should go all-in on a kid adventure this year.  So we looked into Walt Disney World.  It soon became apparent that a family of 5 with little ones is at a complete disadvantage in the magical world of Disney.  For starters, we don't fit on rides very well.  And there's also the fact that we don't fit into hotel rooms very well.  And then there's the fact that taking a family of 5 to Disney World and doing it right (I'm not into a dinky trip at a stinky resort) costs about the same as a trip to Hawaii.  So we decided that maybe Disney World should wait until our kids can actually recognize Disney characters--seriously, our boys probably don't know anyone outside of Mickey or Minnie.

Then we decided that maybe we should take an "easier" trip with our little gang.  Maybe we should stay IN Texas and enjoy our beautiful state.  So, because it is always fun and reliable, we did our little pilgrimage to the San Antonio Riverwalk.  And we're very glad we did.  There are so many things to do when you venture into the Texas Hill Country: shopping at the outlets along I-35; the Alamo; IMAX at the Alamo; Sea World; Six Flags; Missions baseball; San Antonio missions tour; shopping in Fredericksburg; Schlitterbauhn; Natural Caverns tour;  Boat rides down the river; tubing down the Brazos; the Zoo; the train ride at the zoo; western town tours, etc. Of course, we only did a few of the activities on this list, but the kids had some fun experiences, mommy did some shopping, and daddy spent afternoons reading books.  We actually had a trip that resembled a real vacation.

That said, vacationing with the 3 Amigos was easier said than done.  By night #1 it occurred to us that taking the kids might have been a mistake.  By night #2, we were already planning our adults-only vacation away from the kids for our next trip.  By night #3, we were exhausted.  So on each of the rest of the nights, we had a mandatory pajama party in our hotel suite that started around 6:30 pm.  (Thank goodness for bedtime, right?)  And somehow, we survived and lived to tell the stories.  Stay tuned for more tales from the Hill Country.

Derailed Plans and Forever Stamps

 

No, I haven't been hospitalized, institutionalized, comatose, or imprisoned for the last month.  And no, I'm not expecting baby #4!  I've just been busy.  Thus, I haven't written in awhile.

I'm not really sure why I've been so busy, but little things just keep coming up.  Take for example, my litigation meeting on Monday.  Usually, we get everything sorted out in time so that I can skip our group lunch and leave around noon (I love leaving early so that I can catch a quick lunch date with Mr. Wonderful).  This week, however, the meeting went on and on and on and on.  By the time I left the meeting, I was well behind rush hour traffic and was too close to falling asleep to be able to go birthday shopping for my almost 4 year old's birthday.   My plans for this week were complete derailed (and yes, the pun is appropriate).

The long Monday resulted in a change of plans on Tuesday where homeschooling turned into a Mommy-Son date and shopping trip.  That trip was fun, but altogether unsuccessful since train decorations are extremely hard to find--even Thomas decorations were yucky or overpriced.  Seriously, who pays $20 plus the cost of helium for a Thomas balloon?!  So after some planning and plotting, Boy Wonder and I decided that we would create our own train tracks at home so that Mr. T could have a train day party for his 4th birthday.  Thus, our Wednesday agenda went from birthday partying to decorating and preparing for a party (all which I wanted to do on Monday!).

Boy Wonder was so excited about homemade paint-tape tracks that he offered to do the tracks himself this morning while I worked out.  This sounded like a great creative project for him, and honestly, less for me to do.  So I said got for it!

Later, when I walked into our large entry space to check out the tracks I noticed that Boy Wonder had done more than just put painter's tape on the floor.  He proudly pointed out the fact that he had found these cool flags to add to his tracks.  As he grinned, I stared in horror at the many dollars worth of stamps that he had stuck to my tile floor and walls.  Forever stamps with the American flag were all over the place!  Instead of appreciating his creativity, I'm pretty sure I shrieked and said a word that belongs on the "bad word list."  In hind site, I should have taken a picture of his masterpiece, but at the time all I could do was focus on salvaging as many flags as I could.

Thus has been my life lately.  I clean up messes daily.  I deal with crying daily.  I accidentally fall asleep before I finish my to-do list sometimes.  But in the midst of all the madness that is life with preschoolers, I still manage to find time to party with and enjoy them.  Sometimes I just forget to blog it.