Scrappin' Mom

Pass It On

2011-09-01T23:28:00.001-04:00

As in most families, the second kid in our house is bound to get some hand-me-downs. Track pants, soccer cleats, books, toys, t-shirts - the usual. Of course, since we have a girl and a boy, some things don't make sense to pass on, like princess nightgowns, pony tail holders and pink pants.

For a moment this afternoon, the kids were in a sharing mood. I was enjoying the sound of them playing together nicely, so I took a few minutes to get something done.

A short while later, the Dandelion came in to see me. Holding up what was in his hands, he said, "Look, [the Tumbleweed] gave me her underwear that doesn't fit anymore. They are for 4 year olds!" [noting the size 4 on one of them]

Chuckling, I told him that they were "girl" underwear and pointing out that they are different from his Cars "boy" underwear.

"Yeah, but I don't mind. She said I could have them." he said, and ran to his room with them. He had to put away these special things that his sister had actually given him. I could tell that it was the fact that she gave him something of hers that was so important to him.

So far, he has not actually put on a pair of princess underwear. He's probably saving them to wear to school - LOL :)

First Day of School - Take #2

2011-08-30T16:02:00.002-04:00

The Tumbleweed finally got to head back to school after the original first day was canceled due to Irene-related damage. It was a little strange to have the first day of school called off!

The Tumbleweed had gotten to tour her new classroom the Friday before. She was excited to see the names of the other kids in her class, and she has several friends in her class. I was glad to get some pictures of her at school because I don't get to do that very often :)

Once First Day #2 came, she was pretty eager to go to school. We were ready about 20 minutes early to do pictures before the bus came. As usual, she was a cooperative model. The bus came and picked her up going the other direction, foiling my 'get-on-the-bus-turn-and-wave' picture. Then she was off to Second Grade!

It was a long wait until the bus brought her back. I think it was a little easier than last year, but it was so hard to wait! She gave a thorough description of her teacher, describing her as, "She looks like Auntie but she has curly hair in a pony tail. She was wearing a red dress with white polka dots." And finally, "She looks like she is 21, but she isn't." LOL. And that was most of what we got out of her about how the day went.

She didn't have homework, yet but when she got home she found her desk had been cleared and re-arranged by the "homework fairy". She wasn't too thrilled about this, but seemed to accept it. I am interested to see what second grade homework looks like!

Preschool 2

2011-08-26T21:19:00.001-04:00

The Dandelion has been waiting rather impatiently for his first day of "Preschool 2". We spent a lot of time at the gymnastics center, where his preschool is located, over the summer and we would often run into to the Dandelion's classmates who were in summer daycare or camps there. Some days we would even see his teachers passing through the lobby and they would tell him how they were getting the classroom ready for him. He was quite excited to go to the upstairs classroom (for the older preschoolers) and even more excited to eat his lunch at school.

Fortunately for him, his school starts earlier than most schools, including the Tumbleweed. He got dressed and ready to go very quickly for orientation day and even mostly cooperated for pictures.

Once at school he jumped right in playing with his buddies from last year. He was rather disappointed when I told him I was staying with him the whole time. He wanted to go back as soon as we left --- which was complicated by the fact that we did go back for the Tumbleweed's gymnastics practice just a few hours later.

Finally two days later, he got to go back for the whole day. He was surprisingly easy going about being dropped off, especially considering that he cried and/or whined when being dropped off most of last year. And even though his best buddy did not come that day, he was eager to stay at school and eat lunch there. At the end of the day he reported that his favorite parts of school were "lunch and recess" and that he had a new "best friend" (a little girl in his class). Sounds like school is a success so far.

Make Your Own Fun

2011-08-16T08:48:00.004-04:00

Last night we read a story to the kids about how it is their responsibility to "make their own fun", meaning it isn't anyone else's job to find them something to do if they are bored. It had been a rainy day with a larger number of squabbles and "boredom" episodes, so this seemed fitting.

The Tumbleweed had heard the lesson before (from "7 Habits of Happy Kids"), but this was the first time the Dandelion had heard it. And of course he has already tried it out. This morning he was up before 7:00, which meant he was supposed to go back to sleep and not wake me up. Actually, both kids came and asked for breakfast at 6:25, but were sent back to their rooms.

Two hours later, I discovered what the Dandelion had done to keep himself busy.

He emptied every book off his bookshelves, every stuffed animal out of the bins, and took out a bunch of toys from the toy box.

This comes on the heels of his comment last night while putting away his laundry, "some things are re-ranged, in case that makes you confused". I guess he has decided it is time for a room clean out, because seeing it all lying on the floor makes it look like an awful lot (especially when it has to be cleaned up at once).

Back to Blogging

2011-08-15T23:21:00.003-04:00

It is almost time to head back to school and we have been crazy busy since I last posted (beginning of June!?!?). The end of the school year was hectic as all of our activities all came to a close within about a week and we jumped right into summer, with about a million things we wanted to do. So as the kids get ready to go back to school, I am getting ready to get back to blogging and record our memories of the past couple months before I forget.

My blog topic to do list:

1- SuperKids Triathlon
2- Spring Soccer Season
3- Insanity Day
4- Last Day of 1st Grade
5- Preschool 1 Graduation
6- "Insanity Day"
7- Gymnastics Shows
8- Dandelion Turns 4
9- Dance Recital
10- Inky Fingers
11- 4th of July Weekend
12- Patriot Place
13- Girl Scout Camp
14- Picking Fruit
15- Summer Gymnastics
16- Davis Farmland
17- Soccer Camp
18- New Hampshire Vacation
19- Flat Juliette Visits
20- Haunted City Junior Triatlon
21- Lost Tooth #2

There are probably a few more things but there are at least 21 things I want to remember to remember...

Deadline: September 15th - one month from today, a little over 2 weeks after the kids start school and my childhood friend Kim's birthday (funny how some dates just stick in your head, isn't it?).

Scouting

2011-06-06T09:26:00.003-04:00

The Tumbleweed has loved her first year of Girl Scouts. It was no surprise to me that she was excited to earn patches, and that has not changed though the year. With or without patches, she has really enjoyed the things she has gotten to do and learn.

Sundown Safari @ Southwick's Zoo: This was a a neat program where we got to walk around the zoo with one of the owners, who personally introduced us to the animals and interjected great little stories and interesting information. Among other things, the Tumbleweed got to pet a baby kangaroo and visit the inside of the new giraffe habitat to pet the young giraffe (a place where zoo visitors will not be permitted to go). She asked several great questions and has even been caught using the information she learned at other times since the program, which I love to see!

Memorial Day Parade: Despite getting rained on, the Tumbleweed was absolutely thrilled to put on her uniform and march through town in the Memorial Day parade. She proudly helped carry the banner with the girls from her troop and smiled the whole way.

Daisies by the Sea @ Duxbury Beach: On a weekend while we were down visiting relatives on the south shore, we had the opportunity to go to an event put on by a neighboring Girl Scout council. At the beach, the girls were shown some examples of what to look for after low tide and given buckets to go hunting for crabs, clams, periwinkles and hermit crabs. We found some great living things, which we left on the beach, and some pretty shells & rocks to take home. The Tumbleweed soaked up so much information from the program leader and eagerly conveyed it back to the rest of the family when we got home.

The year is wrapping up and she will be bridging to Brownie Girl Scouts soon --- and guess who is going to be her troop leader?

Goodbye Training Wheels!

2011-05-20T21:09:00.001-04:00

Last weekend, while I sat waiting for the Tumbleweed's dance class to finish, I received a phone call. On the other end was the Dandelion with something exciting to tell me, "Mommy, I rode my bike with no training wheels!"

Sure enough, Mike had taken him over to the park so he could ride his bike on the paved track. After a few laps, he decided the Dandelion was ready and took off his training wheels and petals. Apparently he was a quick study because only a short time later he got his petals back and was riding around the track.

And after a week of rain, I finally got to see him in action...

He was one proud little boy!

Meanwhile, the Tumbleweed was also riding laps around the track learning to use the hand breaks and change gears on her new bike.

They both look so grown up compared to last year.

Movie Merchandising in the Grocery Store

2011-05-18T10:12:00.004-04:00

If you have met my son, by now you know that he likes the movie Cars and anything to do with it. And if you have seen us recently, whether you know us or not, you also know that the new Cars 2 movie happens to be opening on his 4th birthday, June 24th. In 38 days, to be exact.

And since Cars 2 is the latest Disney-Pixar movie, we are now under attack. Disney has got to be #1 in getting their name/characters on "stuff" and Cars 2 is no exception. In fact, I think it is worse than Toy Story 3 last year at this time. Here are the latest grocery items they have taken over...

Fruit snacks are almost always available. Cheez-Its and Mac & Cheese I had expected after they were themed with Toy Story last spring. Go-Gurt and pretzels (in a nut-free brand) were a nice surprise. But Cars 2 Cereal and 9 different flavors of Juicy Juice, each with different characters on the box?!?! I even saw an ad for chicken nuggets shaped like Cars!

What will they think of next? Well, I hope it will be "Mater's Tomaters" (grape tomatoes), "McQueen's Lightning Bolts" (carrots cut like lightning bolts), or "Fillmore's Organic Fruit & Veggie Fuel" (any number of different ways you could go with that). It seems like a shame to put all of the money into "junk food" when they could actually help us parents out by putting kids favorite characters on the foods/packaging that we are begging them to eat! Come on Disney, give us a hand!

Kids Tri Too

2011-05-07T20:21:00.001-04:00

The Tumbleweed kicked off the triathlon season with a splash. She had been working hard in her swimming lessons to do the two lengths without assistance (bubbles/noodles). Early on we figured out that her best stroke was probably backstroke. This is pretty ironic because swimming on her back used to be a huge battle.

At the race she did exactly what she had planned - backstroke, no noodle! From there she was off to transition, where unlike last year she did not need any help. She mounted her bike and off she went!

She finished strong with the Dandelion running much of the way along side her (he so badly wanted to be in the race!)

Long Jumper

2011-05-02T13:34:00.002-04:00

The Dandelion is taking an All Sports class at the YMCA this spring. They started off the first week with a track & field theme. Week 1 was running and hurdles, and this week, Week 2, is jumping and throwing. Of course the running week was a big hit with the Dandelion, but I could not have predicted how much he took to the long jump!

When the teacher explained how the kids were to run up and jump onto the mats, the 3 & 4 year olds sat along the wall and waited for a turn. The first couple of pairs of kids took their turns, but didn't really jump and just ran across the mats. With no one before him actually jumping, I think the teacher was a bit concerned that her long jump idea was going to be a flop. But have no fear, the Dandelion got up for his turn and, when she said go, he did exactly what they were supposed to do. He ran about 8-10 steps, took off from one foot before the mat, flew about 3.5 or 4 feet (to the 3rd color panel) and landed feet first before flopping forwards, just like they do in the Olympics. You would think he'd actually seen it or done it before!

Since I didn't have my camera ready during the original attempts, we took a few pictures after class.

in the air

feet down

forward momentum

Gonna Find A Rainbow

2011-05-02T11:03:00.002-04:00

I have decided we need a theme song for Monday mornings at our house. I have selected The Brady Bunch singing "Gonna Find a Rainbow", because each and every Monday morning the Tumbleweed has to find clothes to wear that have every color of the rainbow on them. Thankfully we have numerous different ones to choose from.

Why, you ask? Because Monday is Art Day.

Not enough of a reason?

No, they aren't required to wear multi-colored outfits for inspiration or to disguise spills. The Tumbleweed wants to wear every color because the teacher calls colors to decide the order the kids get to pick their seats and she wants to be first.

It's competitive seating, and she wants to win each and every week so bring on the colors!

Carving Treasures

2011-04-11T20:52:00.001-04:00

It is finally spring & the kids are excited about going letterboxing again. We took our first trip of the season afterschool on a nice afternoon, and the kids have been asking about it since. Unfortunately, our schedule and the weather haven't lined up properly, so we have begun doing some indoor letterboxing preparation.

In a couple weeks we will be introducing the Tumbleweed's Daisy Girl Scout troop to letterboxing so we decided to prepare a new stamp to hide for our trip. I have only carved a couple of stamps myself, but since the Tumbleweed was so eager to try I let her help me carve the "Daisy Learning Petals" stamp. She did a great job :)

We have picked up stamp pads in each of the colors of the Daisy Girl Scout learning petals for the girls to use on our hike. They look great with the stamp :) I will be heading out to hide the new letterbox before the event in a temporary location, then afterward we will move it to a permanent location. I am participating in a letterboxing challenge to plant 100 Girl Scout themed letterboxes in Connecticut before the 100th Anniversary of Girl Scouts next year, so the box will eventually find a home in northeastern Connecticut.

It's About Time

2011-04-10T00:22:00.010-04:00

Some projects tend to get pushed aside. What seemed like a pressing thing at one point in time gradually gets put off and practically forgotten. That is what happened to my kitchen chairs.

Notice how they chair fabric doesn't match the curtains or floor? Well I noticed that too. In the summer of 2006 when we moved into our house.

I picked out the blue and yellow chair fabric in 2000. I didn't have a kitchen yet, but in my dream world it would match my future kitchen. And it did match our townhouse kitchen from 2001-2004. And it worked fine in our apartment from 2004-2006. But when we purchased our house I knew it was time to go, so I bought some fabric. And that is as far as I got...

Some days I didn't mind the old fabric. Those were the days when the kids were spilling chocolate milk on them. Some days I would look at them and think, "I really need to get to that project!"

Well, almost 5 years after I bought the fabric I have finally recovered the chairs. Tada!

Chair Close-up

The finished kitchen!

Thanks to my sister for the blog post of her refinished kitchen table that reminded me that my kitchen need a little facelift too. Thanks to the Eagle for taking the kids on a little overnight so I could get out the staple gun. And thank you to my organizer, who told me I should get rid of the fabric if I was never going to use it, which reminded me I should move the project up on my to do list!

Breakfast Elves

2011-04-09T08:40:00.000-04:00

Yesterday morning, much to my surprise, I walked into the kitchen to find this:

the Dandelion making his own breakfast, and his sister's!

How cool is that? Do you know what is cooler? He did it again this morning with no help. And while he did that, the Tumbleweed made my breakfast (cereal & milk). The Tumbleweed is working on an activity for Girl Scouts where she does nice things for other people and leave a little paper behind that says "A Girl Scout was here". External motivation or not, I could really get used to this!

First Race of 2011

2011-04-07T22:26:00.000-04:00

The Tumbleweed kicked off the 2011 race season this week, participating in a 1 mine fun run at her school. The race was a fundraiser for a group running in the Boston Marathon in a couple weeks and it was the perfect way to start the year, except for the fact that it was at the same time as the Tumbleweed's gymnastics practice.

Initially, I said no. She already had a commitment and there would be other races to run. Which was the truth. Having already read the notice that came home from school about the race, she was really upset and asked why we couldn't skip gymnastics just this once. Parenting dilemma - is this the time to discuss "commitment" or is this a time to say "okay, if it means that much to you we'll change our plan"?

Since she has been at every gymnastics practice all year except one (strep throat in October), I decided to compromise. She could run the race, but we couldn't stay for the whole event, we would leave when she finished and head straight to gymnastics for the second half of practice. A stressful plan for me, but she was thrilled.

She was even more thrilled with how she finished the race. She won 3rd place in the 6-7 age group! Having just celebrated her birthday, she was probably one of the youngest in that group too. She got a 3rd place award sticker, which she refused to stick to her shirt so she could save it "forever".

We made to gymnastics a little later than I would have liked, but better late than never.

Gallery Wall

2011-04-05T12:11:00.001-04:00

My mom and my sister got me thinking about wall photo galleries with their recent blog posts. If you have been to my house, you've probably seen my wall gallery in the family room.

A combination of matted professional photos from the kids' first birthdays and Photoshop collages of them as babies, it is our own little time capsule.

*See this blog post on The Inspired Room Gallery Wall link party.

Family Workout Time

2011-04-03T09:14:00.004-04:00

aka Mommy Gets to Sleep In Time

Yesterday the Eagle decided to try taking the kids down to his workout space in the basement while he got a training ride in. He put the TV on Nick Jr and set them up with some chairs and breakfast. Before long, the kids were asking to exercise too. And "Family Workout Time" was started.

This morning, despite the fact that they had already woken me up, they asked the Eagle if they could do it again. So off they went to put on sneakers and I got to see what they did yesterday...

The Tumbleweed showed me her chin-up practice with the TRX bungees:

The Dandelion walked on the treadmill while he watched TV, under the control panel!

Then the Tumbleweed got on the treadmill and cranked up the speed to a run

Amazingly, they don't seem tired after an hour of "treadmilling" (the Dandelion's term).

Progress Report

2011-04-01T09:45:00.001-04:00

The kids have each gotten good reports from their teachers recently. The Tumbleweed was selected to receive the "Excellent Effort" award for her class based on the improvement she has made on her handwriting recently.

The Dandelion and I went to a special award's ceremony where we got to see her receive her certificate from the school principal.

Since the beginning of the school year, one thing that the Tumbleweed has been working on is her handwriting. It was something that her teachers did not focus on enough last year, leaving her a little behind the others in her class this year. While she was able to effectively communicate her message, she didn't always use capitals and lowercases correctly and hadn't learned to leave spaces between words. She also has a tendency to rush through her work.

But after some concentrated effort, she has been producing school work like this:

The Dandelion has also made progress by leaps & bounds at school over the past month. Recently, I wrote about how he doesn't like to write anything. Well, apparently my reverse psychology (which he did not even know about) worked.

The last two Thursdays I have picked him up from school and the teacher has said that he had a "fantastic day!" I could tell she meant it because she went out of her way to tell me about his day and all the things he had tried. Usually, I try to catch one of the teachers and ask "how is he doing?" from time to time, and I get a simple answer. But not over the past two weeks. She told me that he had participated in all of the stations, had made every craft, and even tried writing his name.

Here is one paper he came home with, the first one where I have seen him write more than the "C" in his name:

We are so proud of both of them!

Old Enough

2011-03-27T20:07:00.001-04:00

Our local YMCA has a nice rock wall in plain view of just about everyone in the building. You can see it from both floors and we have been passing it for nearly 5 years on our way to various Early Childhood classes & swim lessons. For the past 2, maybe 3, the Tumbleweed has been asking to climb it. She has been able to try climbing at Attitash in the summers, but the rules at the Y say you have to be 6 years old to climb.

So just as 16 year-olds get their permits on their 16th birthday, 18 year-olds buy lottery tickets and 21 year-olds go out for a drink, the Tumbleweed wanted to climb the rock wall as soon as she turned 6. Due to our schedule and the available class times, she finally got to take the required safety course (and climb the wall) just about two weeks after her birthday. She loved it!

Since she is a very focused kid, she is constantly asking to go to the Y to climb. Well that and to make crochet projects.

The Bat Signal

2011-03-26T22:33:00.001-04:00

The Dandelion is branching out! Don't get me wrong, he is still *very* into Cars but he is starting show interest in some other things. Sometimes that includes the Toy Story gang and, most recently, Batman. Apparently he was really in a Batman mode when he got his first ever design done in his hair at the barber shop. I couldn't believe he didn't get a Cars design!

Then he followed up the hair cut with his "bat face" while at a birthday party.

My little boy is growing up!

Her First Crochet Project

2011-03-26T21:44:00.000-04:00

On one of the many snow days this winter, the Tumbleweed taught herself to finger knit from an American Girl magazine. She spent days knitting every last bit of yarn we had in the house into long chains. Belts, bracelets, jump ropes, there was yarn everywhere.

For her birthday, the Tumbleweed got a crochet instruction book for kids. It is a bit of a delicate balance between what she is capable of at six and what she thinks she is capable of. She wants to make the projects in the book, but she doesn't want to make any mistakes. She got the hang of creating a chain quickly and wanted to tackle the next project. The book is designed to progressively teach kids, but the Tumbleweed still needed a bit of help understanding the instructions and finding the stitches she was supposed to stitch into.

Together we made this ---

I think I am going to have to study more before we move on, because we have exhausted my crochet knowledge ;)

Time Flies

2011-03-15T17:55:00.001-04:00

When you're having fun.

It seems like it was a long time ago that the Tumbleweed got a Lite Brite for her birthday. Really it was only two years, but boy have times changed. At the time it was one of her "quiet time activities" - things she could only do while her brother was napping. The Dandelion was not yet two and still puts all kinds of little things in his mouth.

Fast forward to today... the Lite Brite is something they both can do. And they can do it together (mostly) successfully. Well fed, well rested and in a good mood helps!

Thunny Fings

2011-03-14T14:04:00.003-04:00

When the Tumbleweed was not quite four she would drop the "s" off the beginning of words when she spoke. And as I predicted, she outgrew it. It was cute :)

The Dandelion also has a few odd tendencies when he talks. He switches some of his consonants around. Not randomly though, he has very specific sounds that he switches.

F <-> Th: Free (=Three), Thruit, Thlamily

V <-> B : Banilla, Bacation, Vafing Suit, Pribacy, Cuvvy (=cubby @school), Neighvors

The switches don't make the words sound too unrecognizable, so he is not hard to understand most of the time. I love it when a cute word comes out :)

A few other cute word mix-ups he uses:

"Commander Oranges" = Mandarin oranges
"Toilet" = Toilet paper (he calls a toilet, "potty")
"Usually" = really
"Pacific" = specific
"Mercurtory" = Mercury
"The Hug" = The Hub TV Channel
"Twenty Ten, Twenty eleven..." = 30, 31... (he counts "twenty nine, twenty ten....")

But despite his mixed up words, he seems to be mastering his letters and sounds at school. He recognizes all of the letters upper and lowercase and knows most of the sounds. He will correctly identify that "B says 'buh'" so I guess he will be surprised that vanilla is spelled with a 'v'. And while he can identify his letters, he has no interest in writing them, especially at school. The teachers tell me that he never wants to go to the stations that involve writing, tracing, or coloring. At this point they don't think it is a problem, just a desire to do the more active stations. Only time will tell I guess.

Cookies, Cookies and More Cookies!

2011-03-11T12:21:00.002-05:00

Customer: "What kinds do you have?"

The Tumbleweed, listing them in the order of the rainbow colored boxes: "Thank You Berry Munch, Tagalongs, Do-Si-Dos, Lemon Chalet Cremes. They're my favorite. Dulce de Leche, Thin Mints, Trefoils. They're my brother's favorite. And Samoas." (Note - Dulce de Leche was a tough one to learn and if you asked her in January, she said "delech deleach")

To say that the Tumbleweed was obsessed with selling Girl Scout cookies is putting it mildly. I don't think I have ever seen her put so much energy into something for such an extended period of time. From the day they passed out the order cards at the beginning of January until we turned in the money this week, she has been talking about cookies. "I have to take my order sheet to school today. I haven't gotten to ask the [art, music, computer] teacher if s/he wants any cookies." or "Ooh, there is nothing on the schedule after school today. Can we do a cookie booth?" She made phone calls to relatives, stepped carefully over icy sidewalks in the neighborhood, took her order card to school no less than 8 times, asked all of her coaches/instructors and worked at 4 different cookie booths.

And when all was said and done, she sold 332 boxes of cookies. Thank you to all of our family, friends & acquaintances who supported her!

Island Fun

2011-03-06T21:58:00.000-05:00

Another year has gone by and the Tumbleweed was excited to celebrate her 6th birthday. After very little convincing, we settled on an Island Luau party (not the previously mentioned Barbie Thumbelina party). And while the theme was pretty easy to arrive at, and to come up with things to do, making a guest list was a little more complicated. Each year her parties have gotten bigger, and at times I find myself wondering if I should put my foot down and limit the number to the number of guests we had last year. But I don't, and the number of kids rises by a few more. But the kids are also a little older and the numbers have been pretty manageable.

We had a great time, but my time estimates during the party were a little off. I guess as they get older it doesn't take as long to do stuff. We had done a craft, 2 games, pinata, had cake and opened all of the presents and there were still 45 minutes left! Yikes. I had been so worried that we would still be opening presents when the parents came to pick-up that we had finished too early. But it all worked out and I don't think the kids noticed ;)

Perhaps I should start planning the Dandelion's birthday...

Another Year, Another Cake

2011-03-06T00:58:00.000-05:00

By now most people who know me know that I like to make the kids' birthday cakes. The Tumbleweed's 6th birthday was no exception, however unlike previous years, I did not have a specific idea in my head. Usually I look through the cake books at the grocery store or see a cake creation on the internet that inspires me. This year it was less than a week until the party and I did not have inspiration.

I tried searching the internet, but I really didn't find many luau/beach/island cakes but the couple I did find provided enough inspiration for this:

Along the way I came across the Cake Wrecks Blog. It is a hilarious collection of messed up cakes, and on Sundays they have a post with really well done cakes. A word of warning though, they occasionally have some posts that are a little distasteful.

We've Got Mail!

2011-02-28T11:40:00.000-05:00

It has been over a month, but we are finally getting mail delivery again. Just as I had started getting used to going to the post office every week to pick up a big big pile of mail, enough snow has melted and the mail truck actually stopped at our mailbox again. Finally.

Kid Logic

2011-02-24T09:04:00.002-05:00

The kids each got a chance to play "the claw" game at the bowling alley when we were there this week. Neither of them won anything and I didn't hand out more money to keep trying.

The Tumbleweed came to me this morning with $6 in quarters and asked how many turns she would get. We talked it through and determined that since it costs 50¢/play she would get 12 plays. Her response, "Ooh yay! When can we go?"

To that I said, "Honey, even with 12 plays you still might not win anything at all and then you won't have any money left. Wouldn't you rather take your $6 to the store and buy something?"

Her answer, "But mom, I could win 6, or even 12, prizes. I can't get that if I just go to the store." And she bounced off to the other room.

Oh well, I tried. We will have to revisit the discussion the next time we go bowling...

Taking a Break

2011-02-21T15:41:00.000-05:00

The Dandelion had been taking a Parent & Tot gymnastics class since the beginning of the school year. Most weeks he looked forward to going, other weeks he fell asleep before we got there. Sometimes he wanted to do what the class is doing, but he almost always hated waiting his turn. I finally got to the point that it seemed like I was doing more chasing and discipline than he was doing gymnastics, so I pulled him from the class.

He still has a lesson every week during preschool, but now he waits in the lobby both of the days the Tumbleweed has her practices. It is still a challenge to keep him busy. I had really hoped that he would be sitting playing his Leapster or coloring by now, but that isn't his style. He keeps me on my toes wandering around the lobby, climbing on things, watching the bigger kids play DS and basically getting into mischief at every corner.

Pajama Days

2011-02-18T14:06:00.000-05:00

One of the most anticipated days at school during the year is "Pajama Day". The Dandelion's class celebrated in January, and started a trend of not wanting to get dressed for school. Well, I guess that has been an ongoing trend since he started school, but he has worn pajamas to school on multiple occasions since.

The Tumbleweed's school had Pajama Day on the last day before February vacation. It actually turned out to be a nice day and she was quite excited to wear her nightgown for outdoor recess.

The Tooth Fairy Visits

2011-02-09T13:49:00.002-05:00

The Tumbleweed lost her first tooth on Monday. It had been loose for a couple of weeks, and after numerous days of constantly wiggling it, it came out. She was so excited that she wanted to show everyone her tooth. Unfortunately, she lost it in the car on the way home from gymnastics and had no one to show but us. Apparently, this was not sufficient, so she wrote a note to the Tooth Fairy requesting a return visit last night so she could take it for show and tell.

It all worked out. The Tooth Fairy returned last night leaving 2 Gold $1 coins and a coveted "Japanese eraser". The Tumbleweed was elated.

As a side note, the Dandelion decided to start eating apples so his "teeth would fall out".

Snow Days 2011

2011-02-04T15:59:00.001-05:00

The kids have had a lot of snow days this year. The Tumbleweed has been off 6 times and had two 2 hour delays, all in the past month. The Dandelion has only had 2 days with no school, but that is because he only goes 2 days a week. At first the snow days were fun, as these pictures from January 12th show:

But after a while we had too much snow to play in and the kids were tired of my attempts at "fun stuff" and having their activities canceled. By the time snow day #6 rolled around instead of cheers there were tears about the missed Girl Scout meeting. Of course I also know that we will be making up these days in June, which means less time to enjoy the warm weather.

GNO

2011-01-29T18:48:00.000-05:00

The Tumbleweed is dancing at a new dance studio this year after I looked high & low for a class that would fit in our busy schedule. We finally found a class for her, and much to her excitement, it is a Jazz & Hip Hop class. She loves the energy of the class, and that there is very little standing still, but she still has a hard time containing her energy and paying attention at times.

The studio divides the year into two halves and has two recitals, which she also found exciting. For the January recital, they danced to "Girls Night Out" by Miley Cyrus. She loved her costume and was excited to go on stage. She seemed pretty comfortable up there too. She can't wait until the June recital!

You've Got Mail. Not.

2011-01-25T20:41:00.000-05:00

Yet another snowy morning in New England. The roads were untreated. The school bus was 20 minutes late. My driveway had be shoveled (again). Everyone who was out on the roads said "stay home!" So I waited (which mostly means "shoveled" in this sentence) an extra hour and a half before venturing out to take the Dandelion to preschool.

The roads were not great, but we got there without incident and I ran an errand in the brief time he was at school. I picked him and and returned home to find our mailbox empty. Again.

We had gotten a note in Friday's mail that we needed "to do a better job shoveling out our box". Wonderful. Despite my efforts after each storm, I was not doing a good enough job shoveling out the mailbox. Grrr. Apparently they have not tried shoveling the multiple feet of ice and snow.

I didn't have time to do anything on Saturday and wouldn't you know, we got no mail. So Sunday I shoveled. I hacked. I did anything I could to make a better path to the mailbox. I thought it looked pretty good. That is until we got no mail on Monday.

And of course, we got snow this morning. I took a shot at improving the mailbox area as I shoveled myself out, and thought I did a fairly decent job. Especially if a salt truck and some traffic could melt a little of the new stuff.

But no. When we got home, there weren't even tracks in the snow that fell after we left for school. They didn't even try! I was so ticked. I kept the Dandelion in the car and we headed for the post office. As I drove down our road I noted all of the "not well dug out mailboxes" that had tracks in the new snow to them. I am fuming.

After parking quite a distance away, dragging the Dandelion across the slushy and busy main road, I find out that they do not have my mail at the post office either. Our carrier "must have taken it to attempt delivery", except that she didn't even attempt it. "You can try to come back around 2:30 or 3:00." Are you kidding? With the Dandelion whining and yelling at my side, I kept back my anger best I could and told the guy that I would not be back later today and that our mailbox is cleared just as well as my neighbors and I do not see why the mail was delivered to them and not us.

Than I went home and took out my anger with a shovel. It didn't accomplish much. I want my mail!

Potty Training Wheels

2011-01-23T17:49:00.004-05:00

On January 1st we tossed all of the Pull-ups in our house and embarked on a new journey. It has been a long road with lots of bumps. We aren't quite at the final destination yet, but here are some of the places we've been:

Laundry Mountain - Days 1-2
The Dandelion wasn't so sure about the new adventure and didn't quite know how to begin. We went through a lot of clothes during the first few days.

O.K. Corral - Days 3-4
Finally he was at the point of knowing that he had to run to the bathroom when he had to go! Laundry mountain is shrinking in our rear view mirror.

Defiance Canyon - Days 5-7
The Dandelion didn't want to play my new game anymore and we circled back around watched laundry mountain grow again. I started to think we would never get across.

De Nile - Days 8-17
The Dandelion got the hang of No. 1, but he flat out refused to try No. 2. He was now able to go out of the house in his underwear for school and errands, but he didn't do so well when we got home. Rewards were earned, rewards were taken back. I thought we would never see the end!

Victory Lane - Days 18-20
Finally! The Dandelion finally figured out how to do No. 2 on the potty. Victory dances all around. Laundry mountain is almost a distant memory.

Route 66
We are cruising along pretty well at this point. He's fairly trustworthy as long as he is awake. We have had our fair share of accidents, but they are getting fewer and further between. Phew.

Unfortunately, both kids still have their learner's permits at night. We have had lots of dry nights, but not without a lot of steering. It is humorous to watch each of them in a deep sleep try to navigate from their bedroom to the bathroom. I think the road to dry nights might be a long, long one...

Level 2 Mid-year Report

2011-01-21T10:38:00.000-05:00

The Tumbleweed is on the Level 2 team at gymnastics this year. There are 10 girls on her team, which at times seems a little too large to me. She is making steady progress though and still says bars is her favorite event. They don't spend much time on beam & vault this year, but her floor skills are improving a lot now that they are spending more time on them (they didn't have a floor rotation very often as Level 1s).

Cookie Kick-off!

2011-01-09T19:07:00.001-05:00

The Tumbleweed is a Daisy Girl Scout this year and she is super excited about selling cookies. In fact she has been talking about it since the day we went to buy her uniform, when she assumed that going to the Girl Scout Store meant a store that sold cookies, not uniforms.

She hit the ground running with her cookie sales, asking teachers and coaches and calling family members. She can't wait to set up a table and sell cookies "to everyone who walks by"! She was also excited to attend the Cookie Kick-Off event at the Worcester Sharks hockey game. I am pretty sure she thought that she was going to get to sell cookies at the end of the game, but she did enjoy skating on the ice before the game.

The Dandelion also skated - on his new skates!

New Toys, New Storage

2011-01-07T12:08:00.005-05:00

Santa came and delivered new challenges, I mean, toys. I had been anticipating their arrival for over a month and hand been purging outgrown toys. Among the toys moved out were all of the Tumbleweed's dress up clothes. Removing them allowed for some major changes in the room once the Christmas toys arrived. Here is the new cube system to organize everything from Barbies to Legos to Silly Bands.

Even the American Girls have underbed storage now :)

In the Dandelion's room we made room for a new art desk. Additionally, with the elimination of diapers, we were able to remove the changing table and diaper pail. He now has additional drawer space for his underwear.

Now if we can just keep it clean!

Best Buds

2011-01-05T16:43:00.001-05:00

The Tumbleweed has always had a whole bunch of "friends". Whether from playgroups, sports or school, she has always had little playmates. The Dandelion, on the other hand, doesn't have very many activities of his own and usually tags along to the Tumbleweed's activities. I don't know whether it is because he is the second born or a boy or lack of opportunity or just his personality, but he doesn't seem to have the same connections with other kids as his sister.

Recently though, he does seem to be talking about "my best buddy" or "my good pal". He even helped one of his friends who was afraid to go down an inflatable slide. They went down over & over again together. My little guy is growing up!

Obsession

2011-01-02T19:19:00.001-05:00

Anyone who has met the Dandelion knows that he loves Lightning McQueen. I guess loves is an understatement. He is obsessed with everything about the movie Cars. Not just the movie and toys, but also clothes. Cars pajamas, slippers, socks, sweatshirts, pants, shoes, hats, jackets and, most importantly, t-shirts. After Christmas I counted his Cars shirts and found 23. Some a little small, some with room to grow. Some short sleeved and some long. His shirt drawer only contains Cars shirts (All others hang in the closet).

If there is one thing for sure, he's a boy who knows what he likes.

Why I Love Black Friday

2010-12-02T13:47:00.000-05:00

Black Friday is one of my favorite days of the year. The thrill of the victory, the agony of defeat. It is a bit of a gamble, but with proper preparation and planning there are many victories to be had. This year we had a few gifts to get, but our main focus was getting a vacuum cleaner.

So, with our #1 item in mind, we planned our morning around the Target 4am opening. And with an effective divide & conquer technique the Eagle got the vacuum cleaner while I got the handful of other items. Combining the awesome sale price with additional 10% and 5% discounts we made out like bandits! And we were out the door so quickly thanks to Target Kingston's wonderful line management. I wish I could say the same about the Walmart lines. Actually, I shouldn't complain too much about Walmart's line because if I hadn't stood there forever I wouldn't have found the $25 pink Leapster2 that someone left at the checkout (they were long gone from the toy aisles when I got there).

I love my new vacuum. Since I have so much extra time (OK not really, but I was curious), I vacuumed the family room with our old vacuum. Then I went back over the "already clean" floor with our new vacuum. What an amazing difference!

Catching Up

2010-12-01T09:08:00.003-05:00

I know, not a lot of posts lately. Don't worry, there is plenty going on! I will be working to catch up on my posts and get started on my holiday posts. Meanwhile, you can read old posts to see what we did for the past 3 Christmases, here are some of my favorites:

The Gated Christmas Tree

My 2008 Christmas Card Goals - and no, you haven't been removed from my list. I have not successfully sent out cards for 5 years. One of these days...

"I Spy the Ornaments" Game

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Thanksgiving Day - Freezing & Frying

2010-11-28T19:49:00.000-05:00

It was a chilly Thanksgiving morning but not chilly enough to keep the runners home. Conveniently, this year was the inaugural running of the Thanksgiving Day Pilgrim 5K which started within walking distance of my father-in-law's house. The Tumbleweed ran alongside the Eagle & her two grandfathers and finished just ahead of them in 36:39. And she was super excited to get a medal at the finish line!

Once the runners were back, everyone got to work preparing Thanksgiving dinner. The kitchen was bustling, but not because someone was cooking a turkey. This year we had two deep fried turkeys. They were very good!

No more ponytails

2010-11-21T21:23:00.001-05:00

These days I rarely get to the hair salon, so my hair had gotten pretty long. After taking a few preliminary measurements at home, I decided to get it cut short and donate the hair to Pantene Beautiful Lengths.

While the kids went with the Eagle for the afternoon, I headed to the salon for a haircut. Being a particularly slow Sunday, it was just me and the stylist in the salon. She divided the hair into two ponytails (since it had some layering) and cut off two ponytails 10-10.5" long.

My hair is now shorter than it has ever been. I am adjusting. And waiting for it to grow back.

Santa Time!

2010-11-21T20:38:00.000-05:00

Yes, we have become the family that plans a trip to see Santa before Thanksgiving. Actually, it ha varied from year to year, but now that the Tumbleweed is in school all day I can't go on a not-so-busy weekday morning anymore. And since we are all impatient, I figured earlier in the season before all the crowds were out would be better.

After writing lists, the kids and I were off to the mall. Our first stop was Macy's, to put our letters to Santa into the big red mailbox. The Macy's Believe Campaign will donate $1 to Make-A-Wish for each letter. And, the kids loved the "Santa Mail" mailbox and even suggested waiting for the elf to come get the mail.

Once we mailed our letters, we went to get in line for Santa. It was 15 minutes before Santa was to arrive and we were about 6th or 7th in line. Despite a good position in line, we did happen to be behind several families with crying toddlers so it took longer than I thought it would. Once we were there, the kids were awesome and for once, I didn't have to "make" anyone sit with Santa. I love this little moment that I captured between the Dandelion and Santa during this dialog:

Santa: "What would you like for Christmas?"
Dandelion: "A Pillow Pet"
Santa: "I see. A Pillow Pet"
Dandelion: "Yeah, a brown dog Pillow Pet"

On their Santa lists this year:

Dandelion: a Brown Dog Pillow Pet, a race car, a race car hat
Tumbleweed: a unicorn Pillow Pet, a Zooble treehouse, a Skwinke *

*Update: A few days after our visit with Santa, the Tumbleweed decided that she wanted to ask for an American Girl doll and wrote a revised letter Santa. She "really hopes he gets in time for the elves to make one!"

Preschool Harvest Dinner

2010-11-16T11:19:00.000-05:00

The Dandelion's school held their first Harvest Dinner for the students and their families this week. While I am glad we went, it was a bit difficult. They had not really planned for the number of people who came, so it was beyond crowded. Thankfully we got their early (we had to wait around for nearly an hour after the Tumbleweed's gymnastics practice), because otherwise I don't think I would have even gone in!

They had lots of wonderful food, however the Dandelion was in a particularly picky mood and didn't want to eat anything except the desserts. And speaking of desserts, there were several desserts that did not follow the no peanut rules, and several that I couldn't tell. Once again, I pointed it out to the director who helped me by looking up some of the food ingredients online. We sat on the floor in a corner and tried to get the kids to eat, but it was a lost cause.

Finally the food was cleaned up and it was time for songs. The Dandelion didn't fully participate (it was 7:15 and nearly bedtime at this point) but he did sing a few of the songs.

Pee Wee Basketball

2010-11-13T13:42:00.000-05:00

When the letter about the town basketball sign-ups came home in her backpack, the Tumbleweed didn't even hesitate. "I can play, right?" she said. So after some discussion, we decided to give up the Saturday mornings that we got back at the end of soccer season and signed her up to play basketball.

After her first practice, she didn't want to leave! She came right home and got out her basketball and went to work on her dribbling. For nearly three hours! Needless to say, she was much better by lunchtime :)

Bus Book

2010-11-08T08:52:00.006-05:00

I have just finished reading "The Read-Aloud Handbook" by Jim Trelease. It is an awesome book full of book recommendations to read to kids of all ages but, more importantly, it is a guide to teaching your children a love of reading.

As I have been reading, we have tried some of the advice and have had good success. The first thing I tried was reading stories at dinner. The kids loved hearing stories during while they ate! It had an interesting effect too --- the Dandelion ate his food without arguing. Wow. The reading did make it a little more difficult for me to eat (I was reading) and the Tumbleweed was so into the books she had to be reminded to eat her food a couple times, but any time the Dandelion eats his dinner is worth noting. After four stories they were mostly done with their food, but ran off to find more books for me to read and sat back down at the table. Wow. So now I have put together a book basket for the kitchen (and one for the bathroom) and the kids are enjoying the choosing our "dinner books".

A little further into the book the author talks about the importance of Sustained Silent Reading (reading to yourself) and the importance of not substituting it for bedtime stories with kids who can read. This was something that has started to happen in our house. The Tumbleweed is now able to read and, to save some time, I had been letting her "read for a half hour" instead of me reading to her or with her. So now we have gone back to more adult-read stories for her at bedtime and found a new time for her to read to herself --- while she waits for the bus. She has a "Bus Book" that is sitting by the stairs that she can read while she waits and she has gotten ready rather quickly each morning so she will have time to read. Wow.

Up next: we are hosting a Book Club Playgroup with our school-age MOMS Club friends. The kids will each be recommending their favorite book and, hopefully, inspiring their friends to try some new books! If you'd like to recommend a book for kids of any age, leave it in the comment section and I will include it on our Must Read Book List. I highly recommend The Read-Aloud Handbook for parents & educators this Christmas!

Daisy Scouts

2010-11-03T20:37:00.000-04:00

The Tumbleweed was super excited her first Daisy Girl Scout meeting. We went to the local Girl Scout shop the day before to pick out her uniform. She looked at all of the patches in amazement. "I want to earn that one, and that one, and that one..." she said pointing to different designs. I explained to her that she would have plenty of opportunities to earn patches, but that we couldn't just buy them.

When the meeting finally rolled around, she was so excited to go! I am pretty sure she thought they were going to be selling cookies (because that is the only time we have encountered girl scouts before). Once she was there and saw all of the crafts, she made herself at home. She was also excited to see some familiar faces in the group.

Since the meeting she has been diligently working on memorizing the Girl Scout oath - the first step to earning her first patch ;)

Trick-or-Treat Math

2010-10-31T22:24:00.000-04:00

Halloween was interesting this year because it was on a weekend, but still on a school night. It was nice to have all day to rest-up (both kids napped!!!). My parents were in town and helped put together an early dinner, get layers and costumes on and take the important Halloween photos.

Mulan & Buzz Lightyear went trick-or-treating around our neighborhood with Professor McGonnagall and Sheriff Woody. It was quite chilly but they covered a good distance, including some houses of kids that the Tumbleweed knows from the bus.

The conclusion of trick or treating meant it was time for a little math lesson and the opening of my "Halloween Store". I had carefully chosen several items for each child to "buy" and priced them with post it notes while they were napping. The Dandelion retired first and helped me sort his candy by color and count pieces. Afterward he traded it in for some stickers, pencils and a coloring set. The Tumbleweed went back out after warming up a bit and returned with even more candy. When she returned we created a bar graph of types of candy and practiced handwriting by listing the types of candy and how many there were. Then her candy was assigned 10¢ (miniatures/gum) and 25¢ (fun size) values so could use them to buy items that I had 'priced' accordingly. She did better at calculating her totals than I expected and was thrilled to buy a new Rainbow Fairy book, Bella Sara cards and a smelly eraser.

Mummy Dance

2010-10-30T22:02:00.000-04:00

The Tumbleweed is dancing at a new dance school this year after we struggled to find a studio with a class that fit in our schedule. Her new class is a Jazz & Hip Hop class and she loves it. It is a bit of a challenging time, mid afternoon on Saturday, so the Tumbleweed has had to make some tough choices about whether to go to a friend's birthday party or dance class.

They are already preparing for their January recital and are working hard to remember their steps. The teacher showed us a picture of the costume and it is super cute! They do a lot of serious work in this class, but they took a bit of a break this week to play some fun Halloween games.

Wrapped up like a Mummy

The Tumbleweed and her classmate make silly faces in the mirror during "Freeze Dance"

No Rainouts!

2010-10-30T11:13:00.000-04:00

The fall 2010 soccer season was memorable, not only because it was the Dandelion's first season playing on a team and that the Eagle coached two teams, but also because we did not have to reschedule any games. I have to say, weather cancellations are the things I hate the most about soccer. I hate watching the radar and trying to decide if we can get practice in, I hate trying to contact parents at the last minute to let them know the plan and I hate when the weather changes and makes our decision look like a stupid one. But aside from a few drizzly practices, we had a pretty good season weather-wise.

The kids also had fun with lots of their friends playing on their teams this season. The Dandelion seemed to enjoy himself most of the time and did a good job of taking the ball down field if he got it. He got better at all aspects of the game and was able to score goals in quite a few games. I think he will be disappointed when he finds out there is no soccer this Saturday.

This was the Tumbleweed's 5th season of soccer and she is quite comfortable on the field. She had lots of friends on her team this year and she looked forward to seeing them twice a week. I think her biggest gains this season were on defense and at goalie, but she still loves playing offense (and scoring goals) the best.

We shall see what the spring brings, but I know I am most looking forward to the fact that the temperature increases through out the spring season. I much prefer watching in warm weather!

Halloween at School

2010-10-29T21:52:00.001-04:00

This year we didn't really have much planned in the week leading up to Halloween. Okay, that isn't totally true. We had a ton of plans, just not ones that required costumes and celebrated Halloween. The kids dressed up only twice, once for their school and once on Halloween.

The Dandelion's class party was Thursday. I had been careful not to pull out the Buzz Lightyear costume too early so the white didn't get ruined, but waiting created a bit of a situation as the Dandelion decided he wanted to be a pirate like last year instead. Finally, after seeing all of the kids in costume at school and wanting to be in the parade, he pulled on his costume and walked around saying "to infinity... and gymnastics!"

Despite my careful list-making and the school passing out a list of "safe" (nut-free) party options to the parents, someone still brought bakery cupcakes (with a "processed on" warning) to the party and the teachers put them out. Fortunately, the Dandelion was much more interested in the Halloween Oreos that I had brought and didn't even ask for a cupcake.

The Tumbleweed participated in the elementary school Halloween parade on Friday afternoon. It was quite different sending her off to school with her costume and hoping that she would be able to put it on herself. We arrived at the school forty-five minutes early to find complete chaos and huge crowds. (For future reference, go much earlier if you want to park close enough to let your sleeping child stay in the car.) It was fun to see her parading with her class, as well has her friends with their classes, but it was a heck of an operation to see her for about a minute.

Swimming with Goggles

2010-10-21T10:51:00.000-04:00

Over the summer I realized that once school/soccer/gymnastics started in September, it was going to be difficult to get the Tumbleweed to a swimming lesson. I squeezed her into a lesson during August (Ray level), but I couldn't find a class for the Dandelion at the same time (Pike level). I promised him that we would do a lesson in the fall while she was at school.

With new goggles, he happily joined his class in September. He is such a different swimmer than the Tumbleweed was at the same age. She used to scream every time they did something she didn't like to do, which seemed to be just about everything at one point. He also doesn't like to swim on his back or jump off the starting blocks, but he doesn't scream about it. Miss Bethany gave him a good report at the end of the session and said he might even be ready to move up after one more session. He is already down to two bubbles and loves trying to jump off the side "really far".

Chores

2010-10-18T21:59:00.000-04:00

With school in full swing and everyone starting to settle into routines, we had started noticing that we were so busy some days that the house needed some more attention. Initially, I thought this just required a new schedule for myself to get the housework done but after trying a couple of weeks of that, it was clear that the kids were playing a significant role in making messes and hardly contributing to the cleaning up.

So after some discussion we decided to hold a family meeting to discuss what it takes to be a family and what our expectations were. The Eagle & I had decided that there were four daily jobs that each of us was to do, and we explained them to the kids.

1- Make bed
2- Clean room
3- Clear dishes from the table after meals
4- Pick up toys/projects when done or before bed

Then we talked about the additional jobs that the kids would have each week. We came up with a list of four jobs for each of them, and had them choose three for the week. These jobs were not necessarily daily jobs, but they could be if the kids are super messy or they could just we once a week if the kids do their best to keep the house clean.

I made a chore chart so we would all know which jobs they were responsible for.

So far, the kids have been okay about doing their jobs. They have been reminded about their daily chores a bit, but hopefully they will become habit soon. There is some concern on the Tumbleweed's part about cleaning up her things before she goes to bed because she "wants to finish them in the morning", so we are working on terms that allow things to be left out on occasion. I am leaning towards giving them each a couple of "leave it out" passes for the month and they have to use them wisely, but the Eagle & I will decide before this Saturday's family meeting (yes, for now we are going to attempt to do the meetings every week during lunch on Saturdays).

There have only been a few times that we have asked them to do their "chosen" chores so far, and overall it seems that they understand what is expected but aren't too thrilled that they are being interrupted from whatever they are doing. Once again, I think they will get used to it if we are consistent. Being consistent is my toughest household job.

Have you voted today?

2010-10-14T21:53:00.004-04:00

Okay, so when I first saw the contest I must admit, I did not imagine how much it would take on a life of it's own. And, even though I should have, how invested in winning the Tumbleweed would become.

I entered her in a contest where the winner gets to be illustrated into a future Fancy Nancy book. She helped brainstorm ideas of who would be a good friend for Nancy, and it was decided that she would be the one to introduce Fancy Nancy to sports. Sure she's fancy & dainty, but that doesn't mean she can't be an athlete, right?

We carefully selected an ensemble and had a fancy photo shoot after school while the Dandelion napped. She really got into character, and I wouldn't be surprised if she decides to write her own fancy stories with her character in it. I do love seeing her imagination run wild!

So, now she has me asking everyone I know to vote for her entry because she really wants to be in a book. Madness!?! Yes, but it is encouraging reading and exercise. You can vote here once a day.

I suppose it is slightly less time consuming than trying to win tickets to a concert on the radio, which I recall spending entire days waiting to hear the "Song of the Day" so I could call in. I never won anything, but it wasn't for a lack of trying.

Riding the Bus

2010-10-14T13:48:00.000-04:00

Guess who got to ride a school bus for the first time? The Dandelion! He was very excited to go on a class field trip that involved riding a bus. I think he was also a little happy to not be dropped off at school without me, which he is still giving me a hard time about!

The class was headed to pick apples, which they were lucky to do because apple season has ended early this year and most places don't have any left to pick! But the orchard had saved apples for field trips and there were plenty of apples, even a lot of low ones, for the kids to pick.

He was very well behaved on the trip and enjoyed eating his apples (he had eaten at least half or more of three by the time we got back to school).

"Safe" Halloween Candy

2010-10-09T22:33:00.005-04:00

The last post got me thinking... what candy can the Dandelion have? Obviously, Reese's Peanut Butter Cups and Snickers bars are out. We also know that all M & Ms are not safe either. But it made me want to check out some of the more obscure candies that seem to only enter our world at Halloween.

I did a little searching and I found another blogger who has done a lot of label-reading and put together this list of Peanut-Free Candy. **Always recheck product labels before serving!!!**

Additionally, I have read that Sixlets were a good substitute for M&Ms, but for what ever reason they were not on the other list. **Always recheck product labels before serving!!!**

So if you are attending a Halloween party or handing out candy at your house this Halloween, perhaps you can pick one of the candies from these lists? The peanut-allergic kids will thank you :)

Melted Wax

2010-10-09T20:51:00.006-04:00

Note to Self: Don't put crayons or candles in the attic for seasonal storage.

Today I pulled out the Halloween boxes and started sorting through the goodies. We have the usual cobwebs, black cats and bats, and of course some cute ornaments from my days working at Hallmark. I have "spooky" CDs, pumpkin stickers and coloring books that I pull out for just a couple weeks every year. And I even have special plates, place mats & cups from the clearance section a few years ago.

Yes, I love hitting the seasonal section on the day after a holiday. It is then that I stock up on things for the following year. From non-perishable things to hand out to trick-or-treaters or seasonal toys & games, I always stash some stuff away. Last year I picked up mini packs of crayons... well, apparently sometime this summer it was hot enough to melt wax in our attic. Oh well. I was comforted that they had a clearance sticker indicating that I had only spent $1.

The main reason I usually put things away is for my "Halloween Store". Since the Tumbleweed was 2 1/2 I have been offering trade-in deals for her candy (not all of it, but most of it). At 2 she really couldn't eat most of it (gum, caramel, fire balls, etc), so I gave her a choice, 10 pieces of candy would buy her a small toy or a sheet of stickers. Once we come in from trick-or-treating, we sort and count candy (*lots of great math lessons if you have time) and she decides which candy she likes best and wants to keep, and what she would like to use "at the store". After the success the first year I have always made sure to hit the clearance section to "restock" the store for the following year. I have also updated my "pricing" to go along with the increased value of some of the coveted toys and the increased amount of candy as she goes to more houses each year (the goal is still to get her to trade most of it in).

The Dandelion got to participate last year, but I actually think he will enjoy it more than the Tumbleweed this year. She is getting older and "wiser". She knows she likes candy, that's for sure. It might be harder to get her to trade it in for toys or books. The Dandelion, on the other hand, is going to have to trade in a lot of his candy, since he can't have anything made with or processed near peanuts or tree nuts.

The added bonus, since my kids are little and finish pretty early, I use their trade in candy to hand out to the older kids in the neighborhood who come by later. Okay, I still keep some of my favorites around, but much of the excess is generously given away for the neighbors to deal with.

Adventures in Cooking: Awesome Find!

2010-10-07T14:27:00.006-04:00

This morning while the kids were both at school, I met up with some other moms whose kids are in school at Barnes & Noble for food & conversation. Since I was first to arrive I looked for a few magazines to flip through. Since I already had the current issues of the scrapbooking magazines, I looked for a couple other choices and hit the jackpot in the "kids" section.

Yum Food & Fun for Kids caught my eye and did not disappoint. I haven't tried a recipe yet, but they all look fabulous. I think the first one we will make, in honor of the Eagle's return from a business trip, will be from the Worldly Palates article.

There are so many "quick & easy" and "kids in the kitchen" and "picky eater friendly" recipes I can't wait to cook! (And that is saying a lot!)

Fire Prevention Week

2010-10-06T21:36:00.000-04:00

When I was a child, "participating in" fire prevention week meant spending an evening repeatedly climbing out of my sister's bedroom window waiting for the local fire department to drive by our house. They never did come past our house during our fire drills.

These days, the fire department has an open house and invites all of the school children to come. It was quite the social scene. I got to meet several kids from the Tumbleweed's class and bus, and we saw lots of friends too. The Tumbleweed's class (along with all of the first grade classes) wrote letters to the firemen and they were up on the wall at the firehouse.

The Tumbleweed's letter says:

"Dear Fire Fighter,
Thank you! How do you get your fire gear on? Are you always on the same truck? What is your favorite food? Do you save cats? Thank you for doing a grat job!"

Everybody Loves a Parade

2010-10-03T18:15:00.001-04:00

Being a member of the MOMS Club has all kinds of privileges, from group discounts on field trips to people to cook meals when you have a baby. What other group would enter a bunch of kids, 5 & under, in a parade? The kids think being a parade is the coolest thing, so this weekend we met up with our friends (my mom friends and their kid friends) for a 2 mile walk/scoot/bike through Grafton.

Of course the parade was not without its challenges --- chilly weather, a delayed start, horse poop in the road, the fire truck behind us sounding its horns, a big downhill coming out of town and tired kids. But we made it - and the kids loved it. They are both counting the days until they can be in another one.

PS - Thanks to my friend Amy for the picture of me & the kids. I have several parade pics, but none with me in them ;)

The Sound of Science?

2010-10-03T12:20:00.001-04:00

I think the Dandelion just created his very first science experiment!

Dandelion: "Mommy, Look! When I clap with my glubs [gloves] on it is quiet"
Me: "Oooh, I like quiet clapping!"
Dandelion: "Want to hear me play the piano with glubs on?"
Me: "Do you think it will be quiet too?"
Dandelion: "Uh-huh" and runs off to the piano...
Me (listening to piano): "Well, was it quieter?"
Dandelion: "No, I can still play really LOUD!"

His Hypothesis: If clapping is quieter with gloves on, then piano playing will be quieter with gloves on.

The Conclusion: Piano playing with gloves does not sound different.

Okay, childhood is really a string of trial and error experiments, but I still like his mature thought process on this one!

SMART Boards & Spelling Tests

2010-10-01T20:30:00.000-04:00

First Grade, Month 1

The first month of school has gone pretty smoothly. The Tumbleweed has made a huge adjustment, from Montessori half day to Public School full day, and has done it relatively well. Sure, we have had some rocky days, mornings where she wants to stay home "to do fun stuff" and afternoons where she doesn't "ever want to do homework again!" And, like most kids, she has tested the teacher's discipline system just to be sure what the boundaries are (nothing big, she just continued to color after everyone had put their papers away). Despite the bumps, she seems to have made some new friends, accepted the fact that words generally need to be written in lowercase letters, and done well on her first spelling & math tests. Her reading comprehension has improved as well. However she is still working on her spacing between words in a sentence and on taking her time when writing (she rushes and leaves out letters or words sometimes).

We all attended her Back-to-School Night and got to see her classroom, met her teacher and toured the art room, music room & gym. Classrooms have changed a bit since we were kids. Her classroom doesn't have a chalkboard. It doesn't have a dry erase board either. They have a SMART Board. I guess no one has the job to clean the erasers any more!

Unfortunately, on Back-to-School Night we found out that they had replaced science & social studies in the schedule with extra reading practice. This is very disappointing, but I have a couple well connected friends who are helping with the big push to bring it back.

In the meantime, we have been doing science at home with the help of the Messy Fingers blog. After doing our first series about magnets, the Tumbleweed decided she wanted to do a magnet experiment for show and tell. We talked it through and she practiced what she would do in class. She took a magnet, a nickel and a Franc to school and had her class guess whether the magnet would pick up the nickel or the franc. When she got home she was pleased to report that she had gotten to show her class the experiment, and she had indeed tricked them. So, at her own request, she managed to get science into the school day where the district apparently cannot. Hopefully that will change soon!

First Class Field Trip & Other Preschool News

2010-09-28T20:34:00.006-04:00

Today was the Dandelion's first school field trip. They took a tour of the grocery store down the street. In order to make the groups manageable, the kids were split into four groups so only a portion of he Dandelion's classmates went with us today. Since they were mostly the youngest kids, it was a bit of a challenge keeping them from running off when they weren't strapped into carts!

The tour started with the floral department, where they took them into the back room and through the produce refrigerator. From there we headed to the pizza kitchen where the kids got to put the cheese on a pizza.

After that we headed to the lobster tank where the kids got to touch Larry the Lobster. The Dandelion was quite excited to see the lobsters but didn't want to touch it at all.

From there we headed over to the bakery, which was what I was afraid of. The Dandelion cannot eat things made in a bakery because they have peanuts/nuts so I generally steer clear of it, and today we were invited into the actual bakery. Fortunately the Dandelion was quite interested in the book of fancy cakes outside the bakery and didn't even notice that the other kids got to try squeezing frosting and that everyone got a sugar cookie to eat. Frankly, I couldn't have imagined it going any better.

The kids finished up by going back to pick up the cooked pizza and then got balloons from the floral department. The Dandelion (and his classmates) were thrilled to have balloons with their favorite characters!

So overall, the trip was fun. Actually, the class has had a lot of "special" activities so far this year. In addition to the grocery store trip, they have had a mini-golf fundraiser and a grandparents' snack day. The Dandelion was very excited when Papa came to his school for the day!

In other preschool news...

I am thrilled to report that there are weekly newsletters being sent home with what they are doing in class. This was one thing I missed most about being at other schools. I am too hands on to accept sending my kids "into a black hole" for school. I did not handle it well last year, and I am not doing too well with the whole going to school on a bus and staying there for 6.5 hours without me.

On the other hand, I am not so thrilled to report that the Dandelion has been struggling with drop-offs over the past week. He gets very clingy from the time we pull into the parking lot at school until I pry him off to get out the door. So far he doesn't really cry or scream about it, but he does put on his best pouty face and begs and pleads for me to stay at school with him. So it seems he does want to be there, he just wants me to be there too. However, the teachers have said that he seems to do it for show because as soon as I leave he acts completely normal, interacting with the teachers and other kids in the class. I do hope it blows over soon though, because I still feel bad leaving.

Additionally, he seems to be getting comfortable with people at school - from his teachers and classmates to the gymnastics teachers and the director, he does a great job of saying "hi" or "bye" with their name. He was also super excited about his first "homework", which wasn't actually homework. It was really his first handwriting worksheet. He was so proud of it. He came home and showed all of us his letter "S" paper. He seems so grown up these days!

Nate the Great and other favorite books

2010-09-26T17:44:00.001-04:00

The Tumbleweed has been on quite the reading kick lately. Between having library class at school every week and the school running a book fair, there have been plenty of new books around to capture her imagination. These days she is plowing through short chapter books, usually Junie B Jones or the Fairies books. We are working on branching out, but when left to her own devices she seems to gravitate to the same things. I have been impressed with how much her comprehension seems to have improved since school started. She is much better at answering questions about the book after she has read it. Yay - to her not grumbling & complaining when I ask "What was the book about?". Now she can even list the "characters" and tell me the "setting" and "plot"!

This weekend she picked up the book she got from Aunt Kasey for her birthday -- Nate the Great and the Big Sniff. Aunt Kasey picked this one because she and her dog Rufus were featured in a story in the "Extra Activities" section of the recent editions of the book. She seemed to really enjoy the book, and was eager to tell about what she read (although she still needs to work on her summarizing skills). Thanks Aunt Kasey!

Now we just have to work on not staying up too late reading on school nights! Hmmm... I wonder where she gets that from?

Apple Picking Minus One

2010-09-24T20:38:00.000-04:00

The Tumbleweed has been struggling with going to school some mornings because she wants to stay home and "do fun things". I guess I can't blame her. It was kind of strange today when the Dandelion and I went off on a field trip with the MOMS Club and she didn't get to come with us. On one hand it was nice to have the quality time with him (and to have only one kid to chase around), but it did feel like we were missing someone. And of course when the Dandelion recapped the event for us during dinner I got a "See, I told you that all the fun stuff happens while I am at school" from the Tumbleweed.

I guess I better get used to it, because there are still almost two full years before the Dandelion is in school all day, and there are going to be lots of activities between now and then. Hopefully the Tumbleweed starts to accept it too.

Mission: Organization - Sidetracked

2010-09-21T20:33:00.001-04:00

Closets

As any homeowner can tell you, home improvement projects really take on a life of their own. Our basement organization project is no different. We started out on our organization journey three months ago determined to "clear the clutter". The basement is really coming along and is nearly complete, but along the way we have gotten a little sidetracked and organized a few other areas of the house. This includes the kids craft cabinet, our bedroom and, as previously mentioned, our living room. With momentum on our side, I decided to tackle our three hall closets. So while the kids were both at school, our organizer came by to help me sort & purge. By the time the Eagle came home from work, I had three surprises ready and waiting. (My apologies that there are no "before" pictures, I had the closets halfway emptied before I remembered!)

Closet #1 - Cleaning Supplies
This closet had previously held much of my office supplies, which had already been given a new home in the basement. We had already started putting the brooms & vacuum in it, but now it is all of the cleaning supplies.

Closet #2 - Bedroom Linens
This closet was holding a whole bunch of stuff that we moved in with and never really unpacked. We hardly ever had a reason to open it, yet it is a prime location. We relocated items that needed to be stored and donated the ones we no longer needed and - voila! - we had space for all of our sheets & blankets!

Closet #3 - Bathroom Linens
This had been our "linen closet". It was crammed with all of the sheets, towels, kitchen linens and other miscellaneous items. It was so full that things had started being shoved in wherever they fit, rather than being put away where they belonged. With the sheets & blankets in their new home, there was plenty of space for the towels!

We are close to wrapping up the basement project, so check back for the big reveal!

Book Fair Flashback

2010-09-14T20:11:00.000-04:00

This morning I volunteered at the Tumbleweed's school book fair. This is her first year at public school, and therefore my two hours of the book fair was the most time I have spent in the building so far. I didn't see her while I was there since the Dandelion's school hours did not overlap her library time, but I did get help out with a class of 2nd graders and a class of 3rd graders.

Being at the school brought back so many memories from my own childhood, particularly of attending my elementary school book fair (which is not the same school that the Tumbleweed attends). If you had asked me a week ago, "was there a stage at your school when you were in first grade?", I don't think I would have known the answer. But today memories suddenly came rushing back and I had a flashback to the school book fair which I now recall being held on the stage of the gymnasium, behind the closed curtains. Crazy.

I came home that afternoon, with the Dandelion napping and the Tumbleweed still at school, and dug out my memorabilia boxes from school. I was hunting for something specific, and I found it. It was my 1st grade journal from Mrs. Whitbourne's class. In it were mentions of my favorite class (art), field trips we took (grocery store, post office and a rained out trip to the zoo), a drawing of my sister & I in our Halloween costumes (a witch and Cheer Bear), and some of my favorite toys (My Little Pony & Cabbage Patch Kids). What an awesome time capsule it was.

I found a few other gems in the boxes, but tucked them all back away before the kids could get into anything. It is fun to take a trip down memory lane from time to time. I wonder what memories going to the school open house this week will bring back...

Hawk Hill - 4 Years Later

2010-09-12T20:40:00.000-04:00

When we first moved her four years ago we stuck pretty close to home. We had a one and a half year old, who didn't go to school yet and had very few activities. We didn't know our way around the neighboring towns. We hadn't found all of the local attractions. But that didn't mean we didn't do anything. We invited our friends out to visit and went apple picking at the orchard down the road.

Four years later, we are much busier driving all over town (and to the neighboring towns) for sports, activities and school. But just as we did our first fall, we supported our local orchard. The kids went apple picking with Papa. As always the train play structure was a big hit and they want to stop every day to play. The Tumbleweed is a bit bigger than she was four years ago.

Go Red Team!

2010-09-11T16:35:00.000-04:00

The fall soccer season kicked-off this week. The Eagle is coaching both kids this year --- which means coaching 2 teams. And they were both assigned red jerseys. Madness!

The Tumbleweed's U6 team had the first game of the season on Friday night. She is on a team with a bunch of her friends again this year and they were all super excited to play. And they played awesome, the 5 five year olds each scored a goal! They don't really keep score, but if they did the red team would have won handily. Lots of fun, and funny moments, a perfect way to start the season.

The Dandelion finally got to take the field on Saturday morning for the U4 clinic & game. He has several little buddies on the team and they were absolutely adorable following along during warm-up and learning not to touch the ball with their hands. After 30 minutes of "practice", the kids lined up for a game.

Shin Guard Check!

The Dandelion kept his head in the game pretty well! He had a couple turns with the ball and took it straight upfield. Straight from where he started just happened to be five feet to the left of the un-manned goal, but that's okay :)

I'd say soccer weekend #1 was a success - and it was also the first fall season that hasn't started out with a rain-out. Fingers crossed for the rest of the season!

One is the Loneliest Number

2010-09-03T21:23:00.004-04:00

With the Tumbleweed in school all day, the Dandelion has had some adjusting to do. Last year she was in school every afternoon and he hardly seemed to notice, although that was partially because for much of the year he napped during a portion of her school time. This year is different. She is gone for 7 1/2 hours.

On the first day she had school he seemed to really enjoy it. He pulled out lots of different toys, "made" me imaginary things, invited me to play trains with him (so I would build a fancy track), and came and visited me, but only for a few minutes, while I was doing something. Then off he went to do something else. He liked the freedom.

Fast forward to today - just 5 days later - and he was a different kid. By 9:30 he was demanding that I take him to playgroup at a local center (something we haven't done since June). After much discussion about playgroups not starting yet, he stomped away yelling. I found him upstairs a short while later hiding under a "tent". When I asked him what he was doing he said "Waiting for my friends to come to my birthday party" To which I responded, "you are?" and he replied, "Yeah, but I don't have any friends." :( I felt so bad for him. And at the same time I was amazed at his ability to verbalize his feelings. *big hugs*

So I guess the moral of the week is, when your kids are used to being busy, playing with each other and seeing their friends a lot, don't change too much at once. Perhaps I should have made more plans to get out with friends his friends this week, rather than enjoying the peace & quiet of not having both kids home fighting over things all day. Not to worry, the Dandelion and I have plenty planned for next week!

What did you do at school today?

2010-08-30T21:25:00.008-04:00

It was finally here - the first day of school! The Tumbleweed was so excited she got right up, devoured breakfast, and got dressed & ready to go in record time (with a little extra time to dance around her room to the music on her alarm clock)! We were out at the bus stop extra early for pictures (of course!) and the Eagle even stayed to watch her get on the bus for the first time.

The bus picked her up on it's return trip, so she doesn't have to cross. The route listed her as crossing, so I am glad the bus driver noticed and switched it. When she stopped she said we were a day early - they had the Tumbleweed down as a kindergartener. We assured her that she was going to first grade and off she went with a big smile and a wave.

The Dandelion and I should have planned more to do today, because I spend most of the morning wondering what she was doing :) The Dandelion fully enjoyed having free reign in the playrooom and was so busy doing stuff he basically ignored me for a good 3 hours! It seemed like the longest morning ever, but it was very peaceful.

Finally it was time to go to pick her up! Thankfully I have a talkative little girl and got the full run-down of her day over the course of the afternoon and evening...

8:00 - Bus ride was fun, "the bus goes faster than your car!" She also mentioned that tomorrow when all the kindergarteners start that they (the 1st-3rd graders) "have to sit in the back for the rest of the year!" and leave 5 seats open in the front for kindergarteners. I do hope she can sit near the kindergarteners she knows when they start tomorrow!

8:45 - At school, "we all lined up and went to our class"

[There was a bit of a gap here, but there was something about taking out the picture of themselves that they had to bring and coloring rainbow balloons. And she read one page of a book. She also appears to have eaten her entire snack.]

Recess (somewhere around 11:30) - she did the circle monkey bars "with no help" and saw one of her friends in another class. Then she got to try jump roping with two teachers holding the rope. She only got two jumps this way, but "one boy did 16! Maybe he could be in my TV show!"

Lunch (after recess) - "we came in like 3rd graders" (I have no idea what this means, but she said it more than once) She had lunch with two kids from her class and they "didn't really talk". [She seemed to have a lot of lunch left, so I wonder what she was doing if she didn't talk!]

Art Class! - "The best part of the day!" She was excited about her project and stressed to me that she would bring it home after it dries. She also mentioned that she had to go potty really bad during art class :)

2:00 - Using the Smart Board. "You can write on it with your finger and use markers that don't even have any ink!" She said she got to write on it herself and they did a letter matching game and a "what's your favorite color" game.

I picked her up, happy as can be, just before 3:00 so we could race over to gymnastics. She told me that there were 21 kids in her class (10 girls and 11 boys), she listed lots of their names, and made sure to tell me that she "left her pencil box at school until June!" She also said that someone asked if there was any homework today, to which the teacher replied "Not on the first day, that would be sad."

I am so glad she had a great time! I was impressed that she made it through an hour and a half of gymnastics after such a busy day. I do think she is going to be pretty wiped out by the end of such an exciting week, so things could get interesting!

Anticipation

2010-08-29T22:16:00.004-04:00

On Friday we had the opportunity to tour the elementary school where the Tumbleweed will be starting first grade. We have both been eagerly anticipating this day, almost as much as the first day of school!

We did a practice run with our morning school routine before heading to the school. The Tumbleweed did well with her first time waking to an alarm clock and followed the schedule very well. I am hopeful that it always goes smoothly, but I imagine it won't take long before we forget to lay out clothes the night before or run out of the favorite lunch item creating a bottleneck in the plan. Here is the sign I made to hang by her bedroom door to help us all stay on track.

Once we got over to the school, we got a tour from our MOMS Club friends and her 1st and 3rd grader who both went to the school last year. She got to see her classroom and sit at her desk! We saw the library, lunchroom, gym, music & art rooms and of course the playground. On our way out, another friend who has the same teacher arrived so we headed back into the school with them. While peeking in the closed classroom door, her teacher spotted us and came over to meet us. I must say, I feel much better having had a chance to speak with the teacher before sending her on her way the first day :)

As I write this on the eve of her first day of elementary school, I am really wishing that I was Samantha Stevens and could twitch my nose and make myself a fly on the wall in her classroom tomorrow. I wonder if she will get lost or know right where to go. I wonder if she will be outgoing and make friends or be shy. I wonder if she will be quiet in class or get in trouble for talking out of turn. I wonder if she will listen to instructions or daydream. I wonder if she will speak up if she needs something or wait for someone to offer help. I wonder if she will feel out of place or fit right in.

It is so hard to know what your child will do when you are not there. Sometimes I look at her and she seems so grown up, and other times I think she seems so young! I hope she is the confident leader that I know her to be elsewhere, but it is so hard to tell what her "place" will be in her class. One thing I do know, it will be a long 7 hours from the time she gets on the bus until I see her again wondering what she is doing at every moment!

Skip To My Lou

2010-08-28T21:52:00.000-04:00

While we were road-tripping this summer, the kids watched some Kidsongs DVDs in the car. They were a big hit with both kids. The Dandelion like them because there was a boy in the show with his name. The Tumbleweed's favorite video was "Skip to my Lou", which has inspired her to practice her jump roping "so I can be on TV". And I mean seriously practicing her jump roping (at one point asking if she could take jump roping lessons). Over the past week we had several rainy days and she must have spent over an hour each of the days out in the Eagle's empty garage bay practicing. She has gotten pretty good, especially since she has a pretty lousy $1 princess jump rope.

At the end of the week she decided that she had not learned enough tricks to be a jumproper on TV, but she knew all the words to the song so she could be the singer. From there, she developed a whole production strategy. She drew up a flier with the additional cast members that she would need (3 bike riders, 5 jump ropers, 4 hula hoopers and 2 runners) and asked me to make 14 copies. She has it all planned out. Her 14 friends will meet us at the park, where she will borrow the Eagle's video camera and film the whole thing and "send it in to the TV people". She sure is driven when she wants to be!

In addition to the jump roping, the kids have also been riding the Dandelion's scooter and bike in the garage on the rainy days. The Eagle & I decided that if they were going to play in the garage so much it might make sense for the Tumbleweed to have her own scooter (she had passed on her small scooter to a younger friend in the spring) since the garage is a bit small for her to ride her bike in. So today we presented her with the option to give up her "little girl" vanity and ten toys of her choosing for the upcoming MOMS Club Toy Swap and in exchange we would get her a scooter. It took a little thinking, but she did decide to go for the scooter.

Mission: Organization - Phase 4, cont.

2010-08-28T21:06:00.001-04:00

Mud Room

Many of our organizing goals have been centered around making life easier "by the time the kids go back to school". So since it is now officially "Back-to-School" I thought it was a good time to reveal our "Mud Room Drop Zone". This is the area that we frequently "dumped" things as we came in the door from the car (it was also home to the pantry).

It is now set up to house the kids things...

There are two units, one for each kid. Starting at the top, we have hung up some artwork that was laying around the basement. Next is a little information center with an inbox for important paperwork and a mini bulletin board to post calendars and notices. The kids each have 6 cubbies. We are still working on officially assigning these spaces, some are for extra totebags we pack in for little trips, but I have found it helpful when I unload the car to put each kids' things in bins and when they fill I ask them to take them upstairs and put their things away. On the left side they each have two hooks for coats and on the right one larger hook for their school bag, and on the bottom shoes.

We have been working with these cubbies for over a month now, and I must say, the first couple weeks were a little discouraging as the kids seemed to feel the need to empty the bins several times a day and leave everything on the floor. After a while the novelty wore off and they learned that they would have to clean up what ever they dumped out. I think I am really going to like having all of their school things in one place!

Filling In

2010-08-26T20:32:00.001-04:00

Our busy schedule was complicated this week with us having to fit in the Tumbleweed's first trip to the dentist to have cavities filled. She was a real trooper and accepted everything that came her way quite well. No tears or refusing to do what she was asked. I was quite impressed.

She is determined to not have to go back for any more anytime soon and has been really good about brushing her teeth, flossing and using a fluoride rinse ever since she was told she had a cavity.

PRE-Schlool

2010-08-26T20:06:00.000-04:00

The Dandelion had has first week of pre-school (or PRE-Schlool as he says it) this week. Getting all of the paperwork in place to leave an Epi-Pen at the school was no small feat and I was exhausted by the time I had all of the changes of clothes labeled and instructions/forms filled out the night before.

The first day was an hour and a half of orientation, where the Tumbleweed and I stayed at the school. He was pretty cool with that and even asked when we were leaving at one point. The Tumbleweed and I left him there for a few minutes and he didn't even seem to notice. He played well with the other kids and enjoyed painting at the easel (the Tumbleweed's favorite activity when she was in Preschool I too). He made 3 paintings "of Dinoco McQueen" (they only had blue & white paint out)! He didn't quite understand why they had to keep the paintings at school, but that seemed like a good reason to go back on Thursday...

Thursday was the first drop-off day, and he did pretty well initially. I half expected him to cling to my leg and not let us go. Instead he did say that he wanted us to stay, but then he just pouted while a teacher tried to distract him and he wasn't crying when I left.

The Tumbleweed and I headed out for "Girls Day" and went to Dunkin Donuts. We haven't been able to go to Dunkin since the Dandelion was diagnosed with the peanut allergy, since he can no longer have the treats he used to get there. She was thrilled to say the least. After that we went and got her back-to-school hair cut, trimming about 6 inches off! It was lots of fun to spend girly time with her.

When we arrived at school for pick-up I got a huge running hug from the Dandelion. I checked in with the teacher who said he did have a little trouble adjusting & following directions at the beginning and went off to play by himself. She said when they went over he was crying and said "I miss my Mommy" :(. He did tell me when we got in the car that he had been sad at school because he missed me, but then he "played and got happy and went in the Zone!" (The Zone is the indoor playground at school).

All in all, not bad... we shall see how week two goes.

With a Beak

2010-08-25T21:18:00.003-04:00

With all of the school supplies in the house, it is no surprise that the Dandelion has taken an interest in pencils lately. He likes to carry them around, put them over his ears and stick them in the spirals of notebooks. He claims he has to write notes, but rarely actually writes marks on paper with them (usually when presented with paper he asks for markers).

Despite not actually using them to write, he does know the difference between a pencil that writes and one that has not yet been sharpened, as he pointed out when he said, "This one doesn't have a beak on it. Can you put a beak on it?" It was so cute that I even sharpened the pencil by hand instead of going upstairs to get the battery operated sharpener.

The Tumbleweed has corrected him enough times now that he usually calls is a "tiP", with an extra emphasis on the "puh" at the end. But the week of "beak" was really cute :)

And all of this reminds me of my favorite movie quote, perfect for this time of year...

"Don't you love New York in the fall? It makes me wanna buy school supplies. I would send you a bouquet of newly sharpened pencils if I knew your name and address." - Joe Fox (Tom Hanks), You've Got Mail

The Fairy Godmother's Ball

2010-08-22T21:40:00.002-04:00

This past weekend was my sister's wedding. We spent a long weekend "back home" visiting with family and celebrating her special day. All but 2 of my 14 cousins were there, and the kids enjoyed seeing their 2nd cousins who are all close in age (three going into 1st grade and two starting preschool).

As usual, there were last minute things to do --- like getting my dress altered. My mom had a wonderful friend who was able to come alter my dress right at my parents' house! She also hemmed the Dandelion's pants with him on her lap studying how the sewing machine worked!

The kids were a bit of disaster at the rehearsal - both falling asleep in the car on the 10 minute ride from my grandma's lake house. Waking them up probably wasn't worth it, but it seemed important at the time to try. Oh well.

On the wedding day, the Eagle followed the limo around during pictures and got the kids in their clothes each time. We did let the kids go on a short limo ride to the ceremony, which they thought was totally awesome. I am pleased to say that the kids made it down the aisle and completed their jobs of flower girl and ring bearer with minimal disruption and we brought enough distractions/food that neither had to be removed during the ceremony. Hooray! The setting was beautiful, the weather cooperated and the bride & groom were stunning. Congrats to the happy couple!

At the reception, I got to enjoy eating at the head table with no kids. Apparently the price of the seat was a short speech, which I survived but not without a few tears :) Once the music got going, both kids had a blast dancing the night away. The Dandelion had his own little breakdancing moves that we hilarious to watch and he had a blast doing "cool tricks like Jack". We had to institute a "No Handstands on the Dance Floor" rule for the Tumbleweed so she didn't kick anyone, but once she got over that she was skipping around the dance floor and trying to mimic all the moves everyone else was doing.

We had a great time!

*The Tumbleweed wore the same dress in my sister-in-law's wedding - 3 years ago! We never made one alteration she just grew a few inches....

Just Barely

2010-08-16T20:52:00.008-04:00

It was a big weekend for the Dandelion! He is finally tall enough to do all the rides at StoryLand and most of the rides at Attitash (potty training kept him off the waterslides, and you have to be 4 years old to rock climb). Fortunately they only measure in shoes or he would not have reached a whopping 36 1/2" LOL!

He was so excited to bounce on the EuroBungy Trampoline, fly down the Alpine Slide, ride the Polar Coaster (twice) and get drenched on the water rides. He was not as thrilled to wait in the lines, but now that he can go on some rides I think he is starting to understand why people wait in lines (at least I really hope he is!)

The Tumbleweed also reached new heights this weekend making it to the top of the rock wall (although she is still eagerly anticipating her 6th birthday so she can climb the rock wall at the Y).

She also did her first back flip (actually 8 - she counted!) on the EuroBungy Trampoline. After watching that, I must confess that I am starting to develop new gymnastics fears. I never could understand all the flinching parents who couldn't watch their kids in the gym, but it is a bit more difficult to watch her attempt something new than it was for me attempting tricks myself or coaching other people's kids. Very strange!

It was a jam-packed couple of days, but we managed to do a lot of fun stuff and even find a few letterboxes!

Mission: Organization - Phase 4

2010-08-12T19:55:00.004-04:00

Ta-da!

It has taken lots of time and effort, but I finally have a true "before and after" to share. When we first set out on our organizing mission, we wanted to get the basement in order. Over the last two months we have sorted, cleared and rearranged our basement space and in the process it has also taken us to other parts of the house. So, even thought there are still a few finishing touches to put on the basement (sorry, no basement reveal just yet), I can share the progress we made in the living room during our latest organizing night.

I must admit, I didn't officially take a before picture. I know, but I realized it after we had already finished most of the organizing. After much searching, I was able to dig up an old (May 2008) picture that I think illustrates the problem pretty well (every other picture I have of the living room was carefully angled to not include the "problem areas").

So, now you see why there are no pictures. Want to see what it looks like right now?

Ta-da!

This is the former computer desk converted into a homework desk for the soon-to-be first grader to do her homework.

I don't know if the pictures do it justice, because I have seen the transformation in person, but the whole family thinks it looks pretty awesome.

Back to finishing the basement...

Mission: Organization - Phase 3

2010-08-05T10:32:00.008-04:00

System Reset

Last night was our third appointment with our organizer. Before she came we were supposed to sort through the boxes of paperwork that had come from our desks, the mail pile, old files and from the numerous boxes of old paperwork that were in the basement. Supposed to. This was a bigger task than either of us had thought. We put lots of hours of work into sorting & shredding, but we did not entirely complete our homework.

But, that did not stop us from getting lots done during her visit. To begin with we cleared the remaining surfaces, and sorted the "left over" items into a few categories, including: items to return to stores/friends and keepsakes. As it turns out, there were lots of little things in our desks & files that could really be categorized as "keepsakes" that we aren't ready to part with and derive some enjoyment from, but that didn't really need to take up our "everyday space". By putting these items in a designated box, we are able to hold on to a manageable amount and keep our everyday space clear of things we do not use on a regular basis.

Once the surface clearing was done, we now had room to set up our new "Mail Center". After much discussion, it was decided that the mail center should be in the new office space, which is nearby the door we regularly enter and just before the stairs. This is to be the "landing zone" for all things paper that come in the house. We re-purposed some furniture that was in the space and stole the bulletin board from the Tumbleweed's room for the main set up. On the bulletin board we have space for important "action items" and envelopes for the little things (like coupons & Box Tops) that often get lost in a pile. We also have paper trays for bills and "To Do". And, most importantly the trash can, paper recycling bin and shredder are all within reach as the mail is sorted.

Our Mail Center

Shared Office Supplies

After we had set up a mail center, we tackled the other big reason our paperwork gets out of hand - the filing system. Our files were so outdated and stuffed that there was no where to put the new stuff, which was causing it to pile up. We started with a clean slate and emptied everything, and only added back in the items we currently need. Additionally, we now have a monthly filing system for past 'action items', paid bills and receipts. This should keep the mail area clear of "old" stuff, and eliminate the piles that usually appear on my desk.

It feels pretty good to have a such clear spaces then I look around! There are still several boxes of items that need to be sorted and/or returned to their homes upstairs. And there is still some reshuffling of the items that belong with my desk/computer but are still upstairs near it's former location. But even though we still have some homework, we can see the light at the end of the tunnel!

An Update Update

2010-08-02T22:42:00.002-04:00

Returning to blogosphere from a vacation is challenging. There is so much to report, so many cute stories to tell, so many pictures to share, but life is continuing and it is hard to go back and recap a (very busy) week's worth of stuff. I have sat down to write a recap of various sections of our trip to Lake Placid for the IronMan race a half dozen times and it is just not flowing right now.

So, rather than get hung up on trying to complete that before I report on current events, I am just going to say --- you'll have to stay tuned and look for pre-dated updates around July 26th. I'll get to them, but maybe only little by little. We have lots going on as we approach the new school year: my sister's wedding, races, organizing and lots more fun in the sun.

Mis-spoken

2010-07-20T20:48:00.002-04:00

Some of my favorite kid moments are the silly things they say. From mispronouncing words to using them in the wrong context, kids are full of funny things to say. I am reminded of this daily by both kids. And as much as I think what they said was so funny that I will never forget, I often can't remember the story when I go to relay it to someone else. Before I forget, here are a couple of recent quotable kid moments...

Dandelion

As a three-year-old, the Dandelion is learning lots of new words all the time. His pronunciation is pretty good, but he does tend to switch around some letters. My current favorites are "vathing suit" [bathing suit] and "bacation" [vacation]. I am not sure quite why these particular words got mixed up, but that is how he says them every time. Most other words he mixes up on purpose, either by changing the first letter to create rhymes or switching the first letters of two words like they do in the Shel Silverstein book "Runny Babbit". Hopefully is passion for "wixed up mords" won't hurt him too much in school.

Otherwise, he is pretty good at absorbing "big words" and using them when you least expect them ("Neat-o Mosquito!"). However every once in a while he does remind us that he is only three, like he did today... After I put him back in bed for the tenth or fifteenth time tonight, I told him "This is unacceptable. You can not keep getting out of bed" in my best SuperNanny voice, as I have numerous other times in his little life. But today, perhaps to stall or perhaps truthfully, he said, "What does un-accept-amle" mean?" Argh. Cuteness? Stalling? SuperNanny would say I can't answer him either way. I guess we will have to discuss it in the morning.

Tumbleweed

With very few exceptions, the Tumbleweed only mixes up her pronunciation on purpose (she too likes Runny Babbit and considers it a game to switch the words around). However, occasionally she gets caught up by words with two meanings. The latest example was this afternoon... She was looking at some of the piles we have been sorting in the basement and found a bag of records (LPs). Having not seen them before she asks, "What are these?" Giving the short, but true, answer I said, "Daddy's records" without giving it much thought. To that she replied, "How many records did he break? He must have been really fast to have so many!" I couldn't stop laughing to explain it to her so for now she thinks Daddy has lots of "record books with all of his broken records in them". Too funny.

Indoor Fishing?

2010-07-18T23:16:00.004-04:00

For each of their birthdays, the kids received fishing poles from Nana & Papa. During a recent visit to my grandma's house on the lake, the kids tested them out.

However, they didn't catch anything. Because as my dad always says, "there are no fish in Canandaigua Lake". Or perhaps they needed to work on their technique. We decided to make a trip to the Bass Pro Shop this weekend and they were able to do just that.

The Bass Pro Shop was a pretty cool place, with live fish and turtles in various aquariums. This particular day they were also running their "Family Summer Camp", which meant there was a craft, a presentation to learn more about fishing and a boat to practice casting. And it was all free! The kids really enjoyed it.

Mission: Organization - Phase 2, cont.

2010-07-16T22:35:00.001-04:00

The Good Stuff

We had our second visit from our professional organizer this week. We had done lots of homework, including sorting through numerous piles, donating unused items, and moving furniture. We had come a long way since the first visit, if I do say so myself. We are making our way down the path to an organized life, but we are not there yet.

During this visit we discussed some of the redefined spaces and elaborated on how we would use them on a daily basis. Would the items need to be in the reach of the kids, or out of their reach? Would we be using them daily or occasionally? How many items do we have space for?

In the organizing process, that last question is the big one. How many items do we have space for? Quite often it lead to more purging. For example, my shopping bag collection has out grown the reasonable amount of space to store them. Sure, all the bags were useful. They weren't broken, they were varied in size and they save then environment from plastic bags. But, we don't have room for all of them. In the end, we selected 7 grocery bags and about 7 "shopping" bags (of varying sizes) to keep. That left about a dozen in the donate pile.

That is a simple illustration of the latest part of the process. Getting to "The Good Stuff". Our initial sorting had gotten us close, but once we had redefined the spaces we could see that some of the things that had seemed good the first time around might not really be worthy of a piece of real estate in our new plan. With each new system we set up there is a finite amount of space and we have to choose the things that are most important to us to keep in that space. That's "The Good Stuff".

Sure we still have more work to do (much of it mundane filing), but even as I look around now I am starting to see "The Good Stuff" where there were once piles and misplaced items. We are starting to see the real benefits of all of our hard work, which makes it easier to keep moving towards the finish line.

The kids play with Play-Doh in our new "Messy Craft Area" (formerly where the Eagle's music desk lived)

She's Got Mail!

2010-07-13T17:47:00.000-04:00

A month earlier than expected, the Tumbleweed got her letter from the school with the information for the fall and a letter from her first grade teacher today. She was so excited!

When I was a kid, it was written on the bottom of our report cards on the last day of school. Everyone would compare on the bus ride home, hoping to find friends in their class. The Tumbleweed's school mails the letters home during the summer, but these days that's no big deal. We have Facebook! By the time we opened our letter, I had already seen a Facebook comment that one of the Tumbleweed's gymnastics teammates had that same teacher. Knowing that, she is even more excited for school to start. Hopefully we won't be starting the year with "talks too much in class" notes coming home!

After the initial excitement, it didn't take long for her to ask to go school supply shopping. The apple didn't fall far ;)

Three-year-olds are like Elephants

2010-07-13T16:09:00.003-04:00

They never forget.

The Dandelion remembers the strangest and smallest details. He can tell you exactly where he got "Yellow Bath McQueen" (Walmart) and "Blue Bath McQueen" (Target). He noticed that I tried switching desk chairs with the Eagle, and switched them back right away. He announces his friends' house every time we drive past it.

I am working on getting him to use his skills for good (like, putting toys away or finding something that is lost), but it seems like his innate ability is for remembering things we'd rather he didn't. He is particularly good reminding me when I have said, "maybe later" to change the topic. He always asks later.

Some other Dandelion-isms at three:

~He likes to sing. Sometimes making up a tune and singing the words he would normally just speak. Sometimes singing songs he knows, our favorites are the theme from Cars ("I am a highway, I wanna rah-way, oh-ha-ho"), theme from the TV show Meteor and the Mighty Monster Trucks ("Meaty-dam-your and monster truck jam"), and the Toy Story theme ("You've got a friend in me, I got a friend in me")

~He is interested in rocketships and space. He noticed that the globe was moved to the mantle (part of the re-organization movement), and asked "Why do we have that planet up there? Are there aliens on it?" A couple days later, he came to me and said, "Mommy, wouldn't be cool if we had our very own rocketship and we could blast off into the sky?" Plus he is always flying Buzz Lightyear, "To infinity and beyond..."

~He likes to mimic grown-up behaviors, like 'typing' e-mails and making calls on his cell phone. He also mimics some "big sister" sayings, like "wouldn't it be cool", "what ever" and "little brothers" (what the Tumbleweed says when he knocks something over or falls down. Now he says it when someone else, including the Tumbleweed, does those things - LOL).

~He talks in a squeaky voice. Sometimes he is making his toys talk, sometimes he is being shy. Most of the time when he does this it is really cute, but occasionally I wish he would just talk normally.

He certainly like the role of making people smile.

Note: Above photo was taken by the Tumbleweed of the Dandelion and his friends at the zoo.

Mission: Organization - Phase 2

2010-07-12T22:44:00.004-04:00

Redefined Spaces

Part of our "organizing homework" was to make some decisions about what functions we wanted our spaces to have. Over time spaces that we had originally assigned a certain function to had taken on one or more other functions. For instance, our basement "guest room" had our pull out sofa and pillows as we had intended, but had more recently taken on the additional role of the Eagle's home office. On the other hand, my computer was in our living room with a single chair (our time-out chair) and basically nothing else. It took our organizer pointing out that it made more sense to have our computers in an "office" downstairs where we could share resources and the infrequently used sofa bed in the living room so people could actually sit down.

Hmmmm... why didn't we think of that? Well, I guess that is because when you see it every day it doesn't occur to you to change it. So after two weeks of contemplating and measuring, we started moving things around. We called in reinforcements to move the couch (which I think will only be moved again by movers) up to the living room. And after a week of adjusting to that, the Eagle assembled a new desk for my computer in the basement.

I think it is going to take a little adjusting to not having the computer in the living room where I pass by it every two minutes, but it is nice working in the basement where it is much cooler in the summertime.

Our visions for the rest of the basement are somewhat clearer than they were now that we have cleared out the spaces more, but for all of the work we have done I still feel like there is so much more to do! We only have a couple days left to get the rest of our homework done, which is no small task. We are plugging away, but it really does take time to do it right!

Back to work...

Water, Water & More Water

2010-07-09T22:24:00.000-04:00

The first week of July was much anticipated at our house. The Dandelion had been eagerly waiting until he could go to camp and play soccer. He was so excited he even got himself dressed in his "soccer clothes" - a very nice LONG sleeve shirt for a day that would end up being in the high 90s by noon. But there was no changing his mind - he was wearing his soccer shirt to soccer camp!

Day one went was a little rough, with both kids coming off the field for extra water breaks and not listening to instructions well. The Tumbleweed got into the swing of things by day two, with the coaches remarking at the end of practice that she had done really well with her passing during the scrimmages (something most kids her age haven't learned yet). However, the Dandelion struggled in the heat. He was pretty content to watch his friends from his chair on the sidelines, but then was sad when he got home that soccer was over. Too bad three-years-olds don't understand the concept of time very well :(

Day three was the much anticipated "England Day" at camp. This is the day that the kids bring "something English" to camp. The Tumbleweed had just received a new "Beefeater" bear from Papa a couple weeks ago and was eager to take it to camp. When it was her turn, she showed the bear and then sang "London Bridge" while making the bear dance. She and her Pinkalicious soccer teammate won top honors! The coaches said it was the song that put it over the top ;)

Days four and five went better for both kids. With a few incentives (a new water bottle, spray bottles with fans and a Talking Buzz Lightyear) and some pep talks, the Dandelion finally got out and played for most of the time. He really seemed to enjoy himself while he was playing, but every time he caught sight of someone or something on the sidelines he would come right back over. He didn't really listen long enough to understand most of the games, but he did like dribbling the ball across the field and kicking it into the goal!

By the end of the week I was completely exhausted from the early mornings, water bottle filling, cleat tying, 3-year-old chasing, picture taking and just generally being in the heat. We all worked hard, but it was worth it.

The Wall Comes Down

2010-07-05T20:55:00.001-04:00

The last major child proofing barrier in our house has been the gate at the top of the stairs. We've had it there for about 3 years now, and I think that there are still only a handful of people who know how to open it. The kids never figured out how to open it, but have learned how to go over it (although they only did that 2-3 times). Lately we have only been using it occasionally, generally when the adult in the house needs to do something that takes their attention away from the kids temporarily and we need to know where they are (like taking a shower).

But this week the tide has turned and we have truly shifted away from "baby mode". We took the gate down. Actually it came down because we were moving the couch up from the basement (part of our organization homework), but for now we have decided to leave it down since the Dandelion handles himself just fine on the stairs these days.

So far so good. We actually used the basement a lot this week, due to the sweltering heat on the main floor of the house. The kids were able to go up and down whenever they needed to and I didn't have to check to see if the gate was open if they wanted to go up and down.

Now the only thing we need to work on is not going out the front door with out a grown up, as both kids have shown the ability to unlock the deadbolt on the front door. This is extra aggravating because back in the winter the lock was so sticky it took 5-10 minutes of wiggling to let in a guest. Is it possible to un-WD40 something?

Our First Plant

2010-07-04T07:24:00.000-04:00

No this isn't a garden update. It's actually a letterboxing update.

While visiting my parents the kids and I planted our first letterbox for others to find. It was a little more challenging that I would have liked to find a place to put the box and I am not entire convinced that it won't be found by a "muggle" (non-letterboxer). Perhaps when we go back I will move it some.

This box (Rochester Junction) has my first hand-carved stamp. I was debating about sharing the stamp image, because I am proud of how it came out, but it seems as though that is frowned upon in letterboxing so I guess if you want to see it you will have to find it ;)

Edit: Someone has already found it!

Garden Update: Blueberries

2010-07-01T15:24:00.006-04:00

This year everything in our area is about two weeks ahead of schedule, due to warm weather and good growing conditions. And, with that, I am pleased to report that we have grown our first blueberries! I found the first ripe one this morning. I'll wait a few days to try to pick a few more than one, but there won't really be that many. I think we might get about a dozen - LOL. I am still pleased that the bush is bearing fruit at all this year, since it did not produce any after I planted it last spring.

Other garden notes:
- The Lupine has bounced back with one more final stalk.
- The Foxglove plants have each grown about 3-4 smaller stalks all of which have bloomed, after the original stalks failed to bloom.
- The strawberries are done, with a total harvest of about 4 dozen berries over about 3 weeks.
- The lilies have all bloomed nicely - first the Stargazers, then the red lilies and finally the white lilies.

Stroller-free?

2010-06-28T17:08:00.002-04:00

Today we were off to Davis Farmland with our MOMS Club friends. My big debate as we were getting ready to go was if I should bring the stroller or let the Dandelion walk. I decided to leave the stroller in the car and it went just fine!

Unlike the last time we went we barely saw the animals. I felt a little bad skipping them initially, but the kids were having so much fun at the water park and on the playground it didn't make sense to pull them away.

The Dandelion's favorite attraction was definitely the "Goat Carts", where he was content to pedal around the track over & over for a good hour & a half (divided into three separate visits). He also loved the water park and "painting" one of the playground houses with water.

The Tumbleweed probably would have been content to stay in the waterpark all day (it was really hot!), especially the new bubble area! She also enjoyed the playground and couldn't wait to paint her own face on her way out.

I am looking forward to taking them back again soon!

Note to Self: Turning Three

2010-06-24T21:32:00.000-04:00

The Dandelion turned 3 today and from the moment he woke up he was ready to celebrate. And after a crazy whirlwind day, here are a few things I learned today.

1- If you aren't having a party, don't tell a three-year-old that it is his birthday.
As I would for anyone else, I said "Happy Birthday" to the Dandelion when he woke up. Whoops. His response "It's my party day? I get presents!" I had planned to celebrate his birthday with a party over 4th of July, so needless to say I wasn't exactly prepared for him to understand "birthday = party = presents".

2- When you are scrambling to throw together birthday festivities for a three-year-old, remember that they probably just want to eat the frosting anyway.
After pulling together green Jell-o cupcakes and decorating them like the aliens from Toy Story 3, I was a little disappointed that the birthday boy just wanted to eat the Cool Whip frosting. All that work making sure I had peanut free candies to decorate with, and he didn't even eat them! Well, I thought they were good ;)

3- When your husband asks if he can get the child a gift, it is probably as much for himself as it is for the kid.
The Eagle really wanted to get the Dandelion a drum for his birthday. The bongos were a big hit with the Dandelion, and the Eagle.

So, what I had planned to be a "regular day" with a favorite dinner turned into a balloons, presents, and cupcakes "party". Next year I have to remember that if I am planning something on a different day, it should be before the actual birthday.

Mission: Organization - Phase 1

2010-06-23T16:44:00.005-04:00

Out with the Old

Once again we are attempting to create more order in our house. It seems as though, despite my ability to create minute by minute spreadsheets for trips to Disney World, I have a mental block when it comes to organizing the things that come into the house on a daily basis. With mail and duffel bags from a weekend trip and school art projects, our basement is being taken over and turned into "The Drop Zone" (perhaps this is the reason Target puts bullseyes on their bags?).

Since we have spent four years in this house and never managed to figure out this issue, we have decided to bring in a professional. Over the weekend we had our first visit and it was pretty much like I had expected (fortunately I have had much experience watching organizational shows on TV).

Just like the "initial sort" from a television show, we held up item after item and decided its fate - keep, donate, or trash/recycling. All the way, laughing at the ridiculous things we had kept for no reason or jumping for joy when unearthing a forgotten treasure. In between there was, of course, an analysis of our daily habits and discussion of ways to reconfigure the furniture.

By the end of the night we had 5 boxes of paper recycling, 3 huge trash bags, and about 7 small trash bags of things to donate. Pretty good for one night. We also were left with several options for ways to rearrange the spaces to mull over. And then there is homework. We certainly have a lot to get done in the next three weeks! But having a deadline is good motivation for both of us and we are already making good progress on our own. Three weeks & counting until our next session...

Summer Swim

2010-06-18T19:44:00.000-04:00

With the Tumbleweed out of school early and some conflicts in our scheduling for July & August, the kids did their swimming lessons in June. We opted for "swim weeks" this year (instead of the one-a-week lessons) and I think it worked out pretty well. The kids went every day for a week to their lessons and really seemed to build on their skills a bit quicker than usual. Or perhaps that was because they hadn't had lessons for many months. Either way, I think it worked out well.

The Tumbleweed had a new-found confidence with her pink goggles. On the second day she hopped back in the water at the end of the lesson and showed me the elementary back stroke (aka "chicken-airplane-soldier") all by herself. Swimming on her back was a major hurdle for her, and she certainly made a lot of progress in that area! At the end of the week the instructor moved her up to "Ray".

The Dandelion got to take his first solo lessons and he couldn't have been more thrilled. He smiled through almost every minute of class with "Miss Caramel" (aka Miss Caroline). It was quite the opposite of the Tumbleweed's first solo lesson. Only on the last day did he decide that he didn't want to jump off the platform. I think this was after he had taken some pretty daredevil flying leaps off it and gone under a little more than he had realized he would (see picture below). He didn't put up a big stink about it and the teacher just held his hands as he happily jumped off the side. Aside from that, he loved swimming and was disappointed to be done on the last day.

All things considered, both kids had wonderful swimming experiences and are eagerly looking forward to swimming this summer!

It's Shiny, It's Sparkly...

2010-06-18T19:17:00.002-04:00

It's GONE!

After yet another solo craft project the Tumbleweed has lost the privilege of using glitter in this house. I don't know why I didn't do it after the last time she took it out of the craft cabinet and made a giant mess (which resulted in permanent purple speckles on my craft table). But after spending 30 minutes on the phone today, mostly on hold, I have yet another glue & glitter mess all over the table, chairs & floor.

So, if there is any glitter left in the bottles, it is all going in the trash tonight. It is clear to me that the person who invented glitter did not have children.

It's Showtime!

2010-06-16T20:16:00.001-04:00

The end of the school year means it is Gymnastics Show time! Each of the kids had a chance to perform the things they learned this year.

The Tumbleweed was first. She and her Level 1 team were well practiced and started on beam, where they used the medium beams and did their basic beam complex before doing lever handstands and a round off dismount with a little spot from the teacher. Next they did bars, performing their strength combinations first. Then each girl got a chance to take solo turns, first showing a pullover, 3 casts to a back-hip-circle, forward roll dismount. The Tumbleweed was so proud to be able to do hers by herself! She had just gotten her back hip circle the previous week. For their final turn, Miss Jen helped each of them do cast handstands! Their final rotation was floor. They showed a variety of tumbling skills, including rolls, cartwheels, round-offs, one arm cartwheels and were spotted on back-bend, kick-overs. It was a great year!

The grand finale - a handstand on the bar!

Miss Jen & the Level 1 Team

The Dandelion had his show the following day. He has been in a Parent & Tot class since January, so I did the show "with" him. His group started on floor, where he (and all the grown ups) was glad to get the blue star. This was the only star he ever wanted and in previous weeks he had refused to do floor when he didn't get blue. After a series of kangaroo jumps, bear walks and forward rolls each child took a solo turn at backward rolls down a wedge and "cartwheels" (I think he is going to be a lefty, but we'll see). Then they did beam, where he had a few moments where he didn't want to cooperate by surprised us all by doing the forward roll on the low beam (with mats built up) completely straight and all by himself. Too bad he won't need that later! They finished up on parallel bars before lining up for their medals. He did very well, but I think my favorite part was later when he took off his medal and said, "Good Job Mommy. You were the star of the show." and put his medal around my neck. He is so sweet :)

Tuck hold on the P-bars

Miss Deb gives him his medal

The summer session will start in July. The Tumbleweed moving up to Level 2 with Miss Heather and the Dandelion will be able to take a Parent & Tot class at the same time as one of the Tumbleweed's practices. One less day to sit around the lobby! Hooray!