tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-79902368546396041842024-02-07T16:22:31.255-05:00Mommy of the GoobersUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger75125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7990236854639604184.post-52406154484722217532014-02-24T01:13:00.001-05:002014-02-24T01:15:09.378-05:00Talk about insane.2014 started out with a bang. Ugh.<br />
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It's been crazy here. Things are finally starting to calm down.<br />
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Around the time of my last post (what, back in October?) one of the Goobers cracked the laptop screen. So we have been working off of cell phones for awhile.<br />
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Then we had tons of drama at work around the end of the year. To the point where Chef and I were pretty close to just walking away from the job because we couldn't deal with all the accusations flying around.<br />
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Then my Great Aunt Myrtle passed right after New Years. She was one of the most amazing women I know. She had just turned 98, and was ready to go, even if we all weren't ready to say goodbye.<br />
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Then we got hit with an apartment inspection. Which itself isn't strange, but I was at work and when I came home Chef said that it was one of our landlords, his daughter and her boyfriend. And a week later we found out that it wasn't an apartment inspection, but they were buying the apartment (who buys an apartment? but I digress. Yes, I'm still a bit bitter over the whole situation and how it was handled). We were told by one landlord (the other one, if you are keeping track) that we had until March 31. So we started looking. And seriously found NOTHING. Not one single place in our price range that would fit all of us. We started looking in the next state over...which is really like 10 minutes away for us, and we spend most of our time there anyways, 95% of our shopping is done there, since I'm addicted to Target LOL. Not much. I had said something on facebook because we were frustrated and couldn't find anything local, and weren't looking forward to a big move with next to no money (yeah, we were getting screwed with how they worked out rent with us and all that) in the middle of the school year and so close to state testing time (we have 2 testing this year). One of my friends took to her facebook and connected us with a friend who had an opening in their apartment building. A bit more than what we were paying, but a better landlord, 3 bedrooms, living room, kitchen and dining room and laundry. It's way bigger than what we had. And of course, as winter in NY goes, we moved in between snow storms. Fun.<br />
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Anyways, it's all done now. With the exception of the kids outside toys, which are still buried in snow in the backyard, but it's finally melting, so we'll be able to get them this week hopefully...we turned the lemons into lemonade, even though there is still a sour taste lingering about the whole situation.<br />
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So we are in our new place, IKEA was finally able to deliver our furniture last week, and it's all almost put together (did I mention that we had to throw out almost all our furniture because they found bedbugs in our old rental house back in MAY and they are still there. Have fun with that one. We weren't taking any chances bringing those jerks to our new place.) I just have to out my dresser together. Chunk still hasn't adjusted to sleeping here yet. He's up late, not wanting to nap...it's sucking. But the kids go back to school tomorrow after being off for a week and a half between snowdays and mid winter break, so we're going to work on getting back on schedule.<br />
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The other awesome thing is that we have a dining room. For the first time. Ever. We have been squished at a small kitchen table for 6 years now. We put the new table and chairs together as soon as they were delivered and the kids still can't get over how much room they have at dinner. Plus, we are making a corner into Chunk's Tot School spot. Which is something else we are working on this week, getting that ready so we can start next Monday. The dining room was the catch all room for the first few weeks, and I think we are down to a few bags and boxes of clothes that are waiting to be washed and sorted. (all the boxes of clothes we had in the basement are musty, so we are washing it all before putting it back into storage.)<br />
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Chunk is excited to start Tot School officially. He tells his brothers all the time that it's his school spot :D So Cute.<br />
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Anyways, since Chef bought a laptop cheap off his friend for the kids to use, I figured I'd pop on and update...it's 1:11am and Chunk is still awake watching Jake and the Neverland Pirates. Hoping he'll want to go to sleep soon, but my luck, when I left for work at 5, Chef let him fall asleep rather than keep him up a bit longer so he'd just sleep through the night...not that he cares since he's asleep. o_0<br />
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Boys.<br />
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PS I know I have to finish my K5 review...I have to go and get the kids back on it. They loved it but killed the computer after starting the program. So once they have some more time under their belts, I'll post a full review with pictures. :D<br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7990236854639604184.post-56999533951731563802013-10-10T10:13:00.000-04:002013-10-10T10:13:08.681-04:00Excited!So you all know that Spawn has some issues in school...I'm super excited today though because I received an email from k5 offering me a trial of their program! I'm excited to give it a show and see if it help Spawn and Cute Boy (who struggles a bit as well! So look for updates and a review soon!<br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;">K5 Learning has an online reading and math program for kindergarten to grade 5 students. I've been given a 6 week free trial to test and write a review of their program. If you are a blogger, you may want to check out their open invitation to write an online learning review of their program. - See more at: http://www.k5learning.com/review-k5?sid=18450#sthash.RbOeOU3M.dpuf</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7990236854639604184.post-12832146634464514182013-08-27T21:32:00.003-04:002013-08-27T21:32:36.427-04:00Time to settle into the routine once again...Summer is coming to a close. The Goobers start school in one week from today. We FINALLY got their teacher assignments and bus numbers today. I really love our school, but hate that the district waits until the last minute every year.<br />
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Spawn is heading to the middle school for the first time. And he's starting it off with a pretty heavy course load for a 5th grader. They can chose what they want to do for music; just a regular class, chorus, band, orchestra or a combination of the 3. He's chosen orchestra (playing the viola) and chorus. Not to mention all the regular classes, plus his extra reading class. And to top it off, he gets pulled from a regular class once a week for his orchestra session, so he's got to take it upon himself to go and check into class and get the assignments and make up the work. He's determined to put the work in and make it work, so I'm behind him the whole way. He's also thinking about signing up for sports and clubs as well. The only shock so far is that he's getting the bus an hour and a half earlier than usual. We live just down the road from the elementary school, so our bus stop is the last one in the morning, and the first one in the afternoon...so being on the bus for awhile will be interesting. It looks like we're one of the last stops on his morning run since they pick up about 15 minutes before the first bell, and we live about that far away.<br />
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Sweet Nut is headed into 3rd grade and is excited, at times. He reminds me a lot of myself at his age, where the concepts being taught were easy to get, the work can be knocked out in no time, but just doesn't want to do it. We had a talk the other night about not talking too much in class, so we'll see what happens. I was told numerous times by his teacher last year that he's very easily one of the smartest in the class, but it just takes him forever because he talks or tries to get out of doing the work. Reading-wise he's chomping at Spawn's heels...which frustrates Spawn to no end. Spawn will read something and then Sweet Nut will read the same thing and remember more. Just shows how different kids are. I know towards the end of the year last year, Sweet Nut was already on a mid-3rd grade level for reading and Spawn was early/mid-4th grade level (slightly behind, but A LOT better than he had been).<br />
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Cute Boy just finished his summer reading class at school and is excited to be a 1st grader. He had 2 teachers on his list that he wanted and he got second choice. He is also behind in reading and received some help during the year last year, so I'm excited for him to be full day this year and have access to more help and services. I'm not sure what he's looking forward to most, eating in the cafeteria every day, moving up to the bigger playground, or spending the day at school. My once shy little guy can not wait for school to start.<br />
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Chunk finished up his first year at daycare and loves it! We found an in home daycare that does a prek program when Cute Boy was heading to prek, and when Cute Boy graduated out, Chunk took his spot. He is thriving there, and has graduated up to a big boy chair at mealtime and a big boy mat at naptime. This year he'll start participating in more of the learning activities. They incorporate learning into everything, but the toddlers, they know have a short attention span. I do know that he'll be learning to recognize his name and the letters in it, in addition to the letter of the week program they do. By the time he heads to K in a few years, he'll have his letters under his belt!<br />
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As for me, I'm looking forward to getting back into a routine. Summer, while fun, throws me off in all kinds of ways. I'm looking forward to getting back to the working 3 days a week, homework at night, meal plans each week, etc...wait, did I just admit that I enjoy that? LOL.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7990236854639604184.post-55474559291170497132013-06-07T00:59:00.000-04:002013-06-07T00:59:32.835-04:00Summer 2013 Plans...So, in the midst of our elementary school making me cry every other day...darn 4th grade music receptions and their kindergarten pictures lining the hallway...and yearbooks with wishes of good luck in middle school...and Kindergarten Picnics/Graduations. Not to mention a 2 year old and a 8 year old celebrating birthdays. This June has been pretty emotional.<br />
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And to top it off, the Goobers have been asking what we're doing this summer. Like I even have time to think about it :D.<br />
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So here's what we came up with. I know we tried this last year and didn't get too far so hopefully we will this year.<br />
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Definitely hitting the Bronx Zoo. No other zoo we have been to compares.<br />
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Possibly hitting the Museum of Natural History.<br />
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Maybe heading out to the Maritime Aquarium at Norwalk and the Stepping Stones Children's Museum.<br />
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Taking part in some of the summer offerings at the library.<br />
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Participating in the summer reading program at Barnes and Noble.<br />
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I'm thinking a smaller list will let us be able to accomplish more. Plus we plan on doing LOTS of Tot School with Chunk this summer. We're working on him using more words and getting him to talk more. And if he's anything like Sweet Nut and Cute Boy, we'll regret it in a few months when he's talking non stop :D We already tried a few things, so there's some posts in the works, plus we have a whole Pinterest board of toddler ideas.<br />
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We're debating doing a summer challenge again. I'm thinking yes, but want to talk it over with the Goobers to get their feedback on it.<br />
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All in all, while dealing with that Mom feeling of the babies are growing up, I'm excited to try some of these neat things for summer.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7990236854639604184.post-41718287795798134272013-05-27T14:37:00.000-04:002013-05-27T14:37:12.919-04:00Memorial DaySo it's Memorial Day. Which means that my kids get super excited because they get to watch the parade with firetrucks and candy!<br />
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So we cart out our chairs, water bottles and sippy cups to the curb out in front of our house. We waited until the time the parade was supposed to start, because in our town, they never start on time. We learned that the hard way last year. Even still we were waiting awhile.<br />
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But, a man came up and was talking to us. It wasn't a total stranger. We knew him from Freecycle (his granddaughter is now using a bunch of Landon's baby equipment) and he's part of the Fire Dept, so the kids recognized him from school.<br />
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He asked my boys (Sweet Nut and Cute Boy...Chunk was too busy with his lollipop and Spawn is at the X's for the weekend) if they knew why there was a parade today. They said, Yep, it's Memorial Day. I'm sure he thought that they were just parroting me saying it. He asked them if they knew what Memorial Day meant and Cute Boy said that It's the day that we spend time with our families remembering the soldiers who died. Sweet Nut went even farther and said that we need to pray for all the soldiers who are fighting now and for the families of the ones who have died. The man asked if they knew anyone who was a soldier and Sweet Nut said yes, we know some who are soldiers now and that Grandpa(my grandpa-the boys call my dad Pa) was a soldier. The man asked if he knew if Grandpa was ever in a war and Sweet Nut said yes, he was in the Army Air Force in WWII and that my uncle was in the Navy in Vietnam. The man told him that it was great that he knew that and that he hoped that when the boys got bigger they would never have to go to war and Sweet Nut said, it's OK. I'm going to be a soldier because I want to be like Grandpa and be a pilot. The man said he can do that without being a soldier, and Sweet Nut said, but regular pilots only fly regular planes. I want to fly planes and protect the world from bad guys.<br />
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Who knew my kids actually pay attention when we talk about things that go on. And I'm super impressed that Sweet Nut remembered about Grandpa and my uncle, and what they did. He learned about it for a project over a year and a half ago. I guess I should prepare for him going into the armed forces now, because it's not the first time he's mentioned it.<br />
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The one thing that made me sad was that when the parade was done, both the boys noted that there were not a lot of people there, that more people were there for the carnival parade. And then my ever so wise goobers said "Mommy, more people should come to this parade. It's shorter but at least the soldiers can look down from heaven and see that we still care."<br />
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Yes, boys, you are right. All the soldiers, on earth and in heaven should know that we care.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7990236854639604184.post-8277929996628413972013-05-10T22:14:00.002-04:002013-05-10T22:14:39.829-04:00What a crazy few months.Sorry for the blog silence. We've had a rough few months, but I think we're on the other side of it now...at least I hope so!<br />
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A few quick updates: <br />
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Spawn is uber excited for middle school. He's signed up to play the viola in the orchestra and will be signing up for football next week. We're still working on some of the areas he struggles in at home, but all in all, this has been a successful year. We've also dealt with a first crush and the first letdown when she became someone else's 'girlfriend'. He's working his way towards earning being allowed to walk/ride his bike to school for the rest of the year, so that's been something good.<br />
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Sweet Nut is getting to the age where school isn't 'fun' anymore. He's a smart kid, but hates to write, so that's becoming a problem. We're working on writing at home and on penmanship, since he tends have a lot of assignments that need to be redone because they are sloppy. Content wise, he's a great writer. But it's getting him to actually write that is the problem. He just had a pretty bad bout of some form of the coxsackie virus. He had a throat full of blisters making talking and eating pretty painful. Not fun.<br />
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Cute Boy is doing ok in K. He's got a few areas he's struggling in as well, so we are working on that at home. Sight words are giving him the same trouble that letters were, he's having a hard time remembering them. He's just taken the training wheels off his bike so he's been working on that as well, and is pretty good, but has taken a few good spills. Also he made a 'greenhouse' at school and has 2 bean plants he's growing, and hopes to transfer to the big garden.<br />
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Chunk is doing great. He loves daycare, even though he won't talk there. At home he's getting more words and is putting words together. It's our 3rd time around with a late talker, so I'm not too worried yet.<br />
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Hmm...what else. Oh, we are working on a garden this year. My grandpa always had one growing up and nothing tastes as good as when it comes out of the garden. So we're working on getting a corner of the backyard tilled and cleaned up. We're going to cheat this year and buy plants, but I think the goobers and I might try to make a small greenhouse box like my grandpa used to for next year. We don't really have the space to start plants indoors, so I figure buying them is the next best option. The lilacs are blooming, so we'll start planting over the next few weeks. Spawn did have a few seed packets that he got from his dad that he planted a few weeks ago, so we'll see how they do.<br />
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Also, I was approached by Reading Eggs to try out 2 of their apps and do a review and giveaway, so we're playing with that and the review will be coming soon! I'm so excited! <br />
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I hope everyone has a great weekend and Happy Mother's Day!<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7990236854639604184.post-81236665080067994202013-01-31T02:00:00.001-05:002013-01-31T02:30:37.570-05:00{Pretty, happy, funny, real}<center><a title="like Mother, Like Daughter: {pretty, happy, funny, real}" href="http://ourmothersdaughters.blogspot.com/search/label/%7Bphfr%7D" target="_blank"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5308/5609751923_b38935def8_m.jpg" width="200" height="200" alt="round button chicken" /></a></center><br />
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It's ba-a-ck.<br />
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I've done this once...maybe twice. But I love reading them. And in my quest to document the Goobers because they aren't getting younger, I'm going to try it up each week. Try. No promises. Feel free to yell at me if I miss though :D<br />
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So the idea is to post a picture of a pretty, a happy, a funny and a real. Simple right? It's started by the ladies over at Like Mother, Like Daughter. Click the button above if you haven't read their blog before. Pretty interesting stuff over there <br />
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Anyways, lets see here...<br />
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~Pretty~<br />
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<a href="http://smg.beta.photobucket.com/user/jhs1629/media/AADC0FDA-CE48-4057-BD06-61728729BC9E-1641-000002520F999441.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v520/jhs1629/AADC0FDA-CE48-4057-BD06-61728729BC9E-1641-000002520F999441.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo AADC0FDA-CE48-4057-BD06-61728729BC9E-1641-000002520F999441.jpg"/></a><br />
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Homemade chili. Homemade corn bread. Homemade guacamole. Yum. <br />
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~Happy~<br />
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<a href="http://smg.beta.photobucket.com/user/jhs1629/media/C5D59527-976C-4908-B271-751954BDB777-1641-00000251F53FC3C4.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v520/jhs1629/C5D59527-976C-4908-B271-751954BDB777-1641-00000251F53FC3C4.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo C5D59527-976C-4908-B271-751954BDB777-1641-00000251F53FC3C4.jpg"/></a><br />
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My view last night. Homemade cakes mixed, baked and decorated by Goobers, who insisted on candles, singing and Are you 1... 30 has arrived, and I couldn't be happier :D<br />
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~Funny~<br />
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I have a few funnies this week. The first two are of my rock stars after my birthday concert they put on in our living room...<br />
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<a href="http://smg.beta.photobucket.com/user/jhs1629/media/EC9FD743-9BF4-4CE2-832D-FF4B022FD775-1641-00000251FEB217B0.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v520/jhs1629/EC9FD743-9BF4-4CE2-832D-FF4B022FD775-1641-00000251FEB217B0.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo EC9FD743-9BF4-4CE2-832D-FF4B022FD775-1641-00000251FEB217B0.jpg"/></a><br />
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<a href="http://smg.beta.photobucket.com/user/jhs1629/media/6E00BDAA-7253-47B6-9FBD-3940495D119E-1641-000002520A7B1F3C.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v520/jhs1629/6E00BDAA-7253-47B6-9FBD-3940495D119E-1641-000002520A7B1F3C.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo 6E00BDAA-7253-47B6-9FBD-3940495D119E-1641-000002520A7B1F3C.jpg"/></a><br />
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And this I found on my phone when uploading pictures tonight. Pretty common for there to be surprises on my camara. So here's Spawn.<br />
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<a href="http://smg.beta.photobucket.com/user/jhs1629/media/278E4EAD-1A88-4F93-9246-10FBFBF6C62B-1641-000002520F3C3C7F.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v520/jhs1629/278E4EAD-1A88-4F93-9246-10FBFBF6C62B-1641-000002520F3C3C7F.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo 278E4EAD-1A88-4F93-9246-10FBFBF6C62B-1641-000002520F3C3C7F.jpg"/></a><br />
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~Real~<br />
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<a href="http://smg.beta.photobucket.com/user/jhs1629/media/507F470B-71A2-4B68-83C1-9966FE2310EB-1641-00000251EF07D26E.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v520/jhs1629/507F470B-71A2-4B68-83C1-9966FE2310EB-1641-00000251EF07D26E.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo 507F470B-71A2-4B68-83C1-9966FE2310EB-1641-00000251EF07D26E.jpg"/></a><br />
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This was after Kindergarten Bedtime Stories. The kindy classes do it every January, go in after dinner in your pj's, with your blanket and stuffed animal and they have about a half hour of stories read by their teacher. So far all of the Goobers have had this awesome kindy teacher, we're hoping she'll still be there in 3 years when Chunk starts.<br />
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So that's my pretty, happy, funny real this week. What's yours?Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7990236854639604184.post-14685524215145931372013-01-23T13:16:00.001-05:002013-01-23T13:16:42.465-05:00Routines...they really do work!So, sometimes with Chunk I feel like a new mom all over again. I suppose I can say that with all of my Goobers when they do something new.<br />
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You would think though after being a mom for 10 years, I would have gotten the memo about sleep routines sooner.<br />
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Yeaaaaaah. <br />
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Just got it last week.<br />
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Well, let me correct that. I got it way back when. But when you work in a restaurant or in retail, you don't exactly have 'routine' hours. So it was hard. <br />
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Being home almost all of the time now though let me finally give it a shot, so we did last week.<br />
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We started with Chunk since he is the littlest. Backtracking a bit here, we took him out of the crib and into a pack n play because the big kids decided they were going to climb into the crib and play with him and bent one of the metal things that allows you to set the height of the mattress. Then when he was super sick we moved him into bed with us because we were using a nebulizer on a very strict schedule, including through the night , and it was just easier to do it when he was sleeping then wake him up for it. We tried to go back to the crib when he got better and we got the replacement piece, but he would scream. I've let my kids cry it out at bedtime before but this kid will scream for hours. Seriously. So we were stuck with him in bed.<br />
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Then he started daycare in September. And after a few days, he would go down for naps in the pack n play there. So I had the brilliant idea last week to pull out the pack n play at naptime and give it a shot. He whined for a few minutes but took his nap. Same at bedtime. Yay! Now he goes down for his nap no problems...and as long as we keep the big kids downstairs, bedtime is a breeze for him too.<br />
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Even The Chef yesterday was surprised that when they put Cute Boy on the bus that Chunk came home and laid down on the couch and took a nap. I was at a meeting and told him the routine, but you know how men and listening skills can be sometimes.<br />
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So since I was excited about the success with Chunk, I moved on to the big kids. Sweet Nut wasn't much of a problem, as long as no one bugs him, he's always been the best sleeper of the 3...but he can't have anyone awake near him or he turns into a clown. Cute Boy surprisingly has gotten better. It still takes him awhile to go to sleep, but he does. Spawn still takes for.ever. <br />
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The biggest thing with them is that since they all share a room, we have to wait until one is asleep before sending spin the next. So bedtime takes awhile. The plan is one day to at least have 3 bedrooms, one for us, and then split the boys between 2 rooms so we can send the little ones at the same time and once they are asleep, send the big ones. Unfortunately, that is probably going to take us moving out of the area, or hitting lotto. Rent is just crazy expensive here. One day though, it gives us something to work towards.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7990236854639604184.post-49188897355157410122013-01-19T20:04:00.000-05:002013-01-19T20:30:19.863-05:00They work hard for their money...So hard for their money.<br />
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Ok. I'll stop singing now.<br />
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Anyways, we're 3 weeks into our new allowance/chore system and its going surprisingly well!<br />
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I mentioned in my last post that we've been trying to figure out the whole chore mystery for years.<br />
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Thanks to Pinterest, I found a lot of different systems that people we using. But none of them really worked for us. Then I had the brilliant idea to combine a little of this with a little of that and lo and behold, we got a keeper.<br />
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The boys like it because they aren't stuck doing the same old thing all the time and I like it because I'm not nagging...as much.<br />
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So let me walk you through a Sunday afternoon at our house.<br />
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After lunch we pull these out:<br />
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<a href="http://smg.beta.photobucket.com/user/jhs1629/media/image_zps1a2f6092.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v520/jhs1629/image_zps1a2f6092.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo image_zps1a2f6092.jpg"/></a><br />
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<a href="http://smg.beta.photobucket.com/user/jhs1629/media/image_zps9deaf3ba.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v520/jhs1629/image_zps9deaf3ba.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo image_zps9deaf3ba.jpg"/></a><br />
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That's our chore box and our family bank binder.<br />
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They take turns pulling chores. Each of them gets 5. And the chores a mix of things that have to be done every day and once or twice a week.<br />
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We jot down who has what...and every once in awhile there's a trade worked out between brothers. Then we pull their log charts. These are up on the fridge and they get marked each day when something is done. We add up what they earned- daily chores are worth 25 cents. Weekly chores are worth 50 cents. We add them up and they write down what they earned in their bank register as chore payout.<br />
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<a href="http://smg.beta.photobucket.com/user/jhs1629/media/image_zpse40df8a1.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v520/jhs1629/image_zpse40df8a1.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo image_zpse40df8a1.jpg"/></a><br />
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Then they either work with Mom using the calculator to figure out what 20% is, or Spawn gets a piece of paper and does the multiplication by hand. This money goes into their savings. They can't touch their savings. (Eventually when they get enough saved they'll go with MaMa (my mom) to open a savings account.). The rest is theirs to save or spend. Right now we have them convinced to save for our Disney trip.<br />
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Starting tomorrow, we're getting rid of the check sheets and making it electronic. I found today (thanks Pinterest!) a website called MyJobChart.com. We played with it today and it is pretty awesome!<br />
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<a href="http://smg.beta.photobucket.com/user/jhs1629/media/image_zps17f5e422.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v520/jhs1629/image_zps17f5e422.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo image_zps17f5e422.jpg"/></a><br />
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You set up your account and then add your kids and assign them jobs. They earn points rather than money (each point is equal to 1 cent) and you can set what the jobs are worth. You can set rewards they can earn, there are general ones and they also link to Amazon, so you can put a specific toy or something (right now theirs are filled with skylanders.)<br />
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After the kids earn their points they go to their store where they can organize their points to savings, organizations to give to and rewards. Once they feel they have enough points in one of those sections, they can 'spend' it, which emails you to let you know what they want, so you can either put it in the bank, donate, or buy it.<br />
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<a href="http://smg.beta.photobucket.com/user/jhs1629/media/image_zps24073304.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v520/jhs1629/image_zps24073304.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo image_zps24073304.jpg"/></a><br />
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So far the boys like it, I figured they would, because its electronic. We have it linked on the iPad so they can just click and open it. Once they do that they click their picture and enter their password to get into their account.<br />
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So thats's how we have chores worked out.<br />
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Allowance is a whole different animal. We started this month giving them a dollar for their age, so for example, Spawn got $10. Again, they have to save 20% of that. We're actually going to start tweaking this too this coming month. A friend of mine does this with her boys and we're going to give it a shot as well. The goal is to correct behavior and have them behave, but also to make you look for the good and compliment the positive. There's a mason jar for each kid and a jar of marbles/stones. Each time they get caught doing something good, you compliment them and add a stone to their jar. At the end of the month a full jar is worth $10. They can't lose stones, because remember, you are trying to be positive. She says since they started it she's noticed a change, so I'm anxious to see if it works on Goobers as well.<br />
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So far so good.<br />
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Just a note. Although I talked a lot about MyJobChart.com, they don't know who I am or that I wrote this. I just found it and thought it was neat and wanted to share. Best part is that it's free...well, the site is free...the kids will eventually expect money :)<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7990236854639604184.post-31672302793842234622013-01-16T21:01:00.001-05:002013-01-16T21:01:31.178-05:00Cha-cha-cha-changes.So here we are, the beginning of another New Year...and we're making lots of changes!<br />
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First, if you read the last post you know we're working on building our savings. It's been a rough few weeks but the budget is in place and we're starting to use it.<br />
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Second is food wise. I desperately need to lose weight as I've watched it get closer and closer to a super scary number. One day I'll share but not yet. Spawn, Sweet Nut and The Chef can stand to shed some pounds as well. I decided to dive in head first with meal planning. This is our first full week and so far so good. I made the menu on Saturday and went shopping Sunday. The plan is to make at least a weeks worth of menus (ideally I'd like to do the whole month, but I have to work up to that) and to shopping once a week. There are times where I'm in the grocery store once a day or more, and we start buying junk food we don't need just because its there. By forcing myself to only go once a week, I'm hoping it helps keep the junk food out. We're also trying some new recipes and we're going to be adding some sort of salad or raw veggie platter to the menu every day starting next week.<br />
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Our other big change is our new chore payout/allowance system. I've been looking for a new system for awhile and I've taken some components of what I've read and made up one that so far works for us. Each Sunday the big 3 draw 5 chores out of a box. Those are their chores for the week. We list them on the fridge next to their check sheets. Each Sunday before we draw new chores we have chore payout. Then on the first Sunday of the month, we give them their allowance...$1 for each year they have been alive. We're on our second week and its going pretty well. <br />
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And one of the big reasons for our new system is that we are planning to head down to the House of Mouse at the end of April. Yep, we're heading down for a week at Disney. So we've told the boys that they can certainly spend the money now, we strongly recommend to save it for Disney, because we are not giving them money. And it's been working. <br />
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So that's what's been going on around here. Oh and Spawn hit the big ole 10!!! Chunk was getting over the flu so we just needed the wheelchair.<br />
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Hope the New Year is treating you well so far...what resolutions or changes are happening with you?Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7990236854639604184.post-8915677664949376912012-12-19T14:24:00.001-05:002012-12-19T14:24:27.342-05:00Random ramblingsI've been thinking a lot. Which could be dangerous, LOL.<br />
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The Chef and I are working on making an setting a budget for the New Year. We're in the process of reading and learning Dave Ramsey's method. We know quite a few people that have had success with that. And we're to the point where we should be getting rid of most of our debt in the next few months, so we figured it would be a good time to start.<br />
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In looking at and crunching the numbers the looming question has been if I should go back to work full time. I haven't technically been full time since Chunk was born, even though for almost a year I was working 2 part time jobs. <br />
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So we plate with and crunched the numbers. If I go back full time, right now, the 2 biggest goobers would have to go to before school care 3 days a week, and after school care once a week. Plus Cute Boy would need daycare in the mornings 3 days a week (he's in afternoon kindergarten) and after school one day a week...and Chunk would be full time in daycare. We priced it out using our options of in school before and after school for the big boys and our sitter and our daycare, and no matter how we crunch it, I'll need a very very well paying full time job.<br />
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If I stay home, it saves us the money for child care. Yes, Chunk goes 3 days a week to daycare, but he LOVES it there and he's doing great. Plus it allows me to be able to go into school and help a lot which the Goobers love. (And for the most part works out to be when the baby is at daycare!). I actually like being home (surprisingly!) and like that we have family dinners 4x a week, and that even the other 3 nights the boys and I have time together (chef works until 8pm 3 nights a week)<br />
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When we worked out the numbers, no matter what way we did it, for the most part we just get by. If I'm working, most of that money goes to childcare.<br />
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So where does that leave me? I'm going to invest more time in developing my Thirty One business. I love the company and the products, and they spoil their consultants! And it allows me to make my own schedule. I'm also doing some part time stuff behind the scenes at the repair shop. Which is good because I love the shop, and miss it sometimes! <br />
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And the upside to all of this, which I realized today as I sit here with a Chunk who didn't go to daycare because he pulled an all nighter last night? I get to be here for my kids. I loved working full time, but for me, at this point right now, even though they drive me insane, I'm right where I want to be.<br />
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7990236854639604184.post-13723083649709952832012-10-02T23:08:00.000-04:002012-10-02T23:08:35.137-04:00The sleep battle...I dread bedtime in our house. Sleep has always been a rough spot in our house. Spawn has never been a great sleeper; Sweet Nut is a great sleeper if people leave him alone and let him fall asleep; and Cute Boy and Chunk take f.o.r.e.v.e.r. to go to sleep. Throw the 3 goobers all sharing a room into the mix and it's a recipe for disaster.<br />
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One of the things Spawn's doctors were looking at trying to figure out why his asthma medicine wasn't helping much was how he slept. How long it took him to fall asleep and how many times he woke up at night. Thankfully with the removal of his adenoid we got the night wakings down to almost none. But there was still the hours long battle to actually fall asleep.<br />
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I'm not a great sleeper either, so that might be part of it. I have battles with insomnia and a few years back I was told about using relaxation and meditation to go to sleep. Using you tube videos, I found what ones worked best and most nights that's how I'll fall asleep-headphones in my ears and the iPhone or iPod next to me. <br />
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I thought about it back when I started using them for myself to let the kids use them, but don't know why I never did.<br />
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Then someone brought up the idea to me the other day. I looked for videos that were geared more towards kids and found some that I thought were worth giving a shot.<br />
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We tried them tonight and, seriously, Spawn was almost asleep at the end of the first one. All 3 big boys were out by the end of the second one and it was only 9:20. Unheard of in my house, in 9.5 years that all the boys, and most importantly, Spawn were sleeping that early.<br />
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We've tried the early bedtimes, split bedtimes etc. Nothing worked. So I'm hoping that we've finally found what works. Spawn tends to instigate and wake up the other 2 if he "feels lonely".<br />
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The first video we used was this one:<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/aaTDNYjk-Gw" width="560"></iframe><br />
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It's a Progressive Muscle Relaxation for kids. I love this type of relaxation and use it often...when I'm tired, when I'm stressed...whenever I need a few minutes to myself. The best part about this one is once you have an idea of how it works you can do it anytime, anywhere. Basically what it does is have you works groups of muscles, tightening them and then relaxing them multiple times, which strangely enough really relaxes them. Most of the ones I've used start with the hands or feet and work their way around the body. This particular one is geared specifically for kids and starts with the hands. It has them pretend to squeeze the juice out of lemons. Then it works the face by having them scrunch their nose and foreheads to make a fly go away. Clench the jaw by pretending they are biting on a jawbreaker. Pull their neck into their shoulders pretending they are turtles pulling their heads into their shells. Pretend they are lazy cats stretching in the sun etc. It's an almost 14 minute video, and by then end of this one, the boys were still awake, but you could tell they were calmed down. They took a bathroom break and when Spawn climbed back into bed he has some very heavy eyelids.<br />
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Then we moved onto this one:<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/_MlpUJKkX6w" width="420"></iframe><br />
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This guy is a hypnotherapist, and this is a guided sleep relaxation video. Guided relaxations are just that. Where the person basically takes you to a place, in this case to the castle because the kids are princes or princesses. The beginning they have their eyes open and watch, and they loved seeing this little guy from a video game. After a few minutes he has them close their eyes to begin the journey. This video, unlike the previous has no direction to open their eyes at the end, because hopefully, as a sleep video, they are asleep by the end of it. This is just over 8 minutes and by the end of this, Sweet Nut was snoring, Spawn was out like a light and Cute Boy had just fallen asleep.<br />
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This was only our first night of using these with the kids and I have to say, I'm happy with the results. I'm looking through other sleep relaxation videos to change up and see what ones work best. For me, longer ones work and I can't use the same one over and over because I start 'reading' the script in my head. I tend to stick with certain types or certain voices though once I find one that works.<br />
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Oh, and you might wonder how we did this. I just brought my iPhone into their room, turned off anything that made noise (fan included) and had them lay on their backs in their beds. The first video talks about them sitting in a chair (it's made to use in school) but they had no problems following along laying down. <br />
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Hopefully, I'll be able to update in a few days that we've had continued success and I'll post other videos that work for us as we find them. It's easy to find though, just do searches on you tube.<br />
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I'll have another blog post geared towards adults with some videos soon!<br />
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Sweet Dreams! Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7990236854639604184.post-71045814077214029172012-10-02T22:40:00.000-04:002012-10-02T22:40:38.602-04:00Changing things up...So while I was leaning before towards a homeschooling blog, obviously plans have changed.<br />
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I've decided to head in a more general mom blog direction with special areas for ADHD (and what works with our kids) and Class Moms (because there are great ideas everywhere, but not many places where you can get all the stuff in one spot.) I may eventually branch these off into their own blogs, but for now, everything will be here.<br />
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We still do some Tot School with Chunk, so those posts will be sprinkled throughout, and who knows, maybe one day we will be official homeschoolers.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7990236854639604184.post-34171450952327173182012-10-01T01:28:00.001-04:002012-10-01T01:28:48.973-04:00Updates on the goings on here...Soooooooo...it's been awhile. And you know how it can be here...totally insane.<br />
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Anyways, update on us. Spawn had his adenoid taken out just under 2 months ago. He's doing better, no more snoring, no more night wakings, so we're hopeful that we get a good report when we head back to the immunologist. Chunk has done better since we changed his meds, but we still have some random fevers and he's had a rattle in his chest that we need to follow up on.<br />
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School wise, ugh. The Ex completely flipped a week before school started and refused to help or support Spawn and homeschooling. Spawn and I talked it over and we decided to head back to school, for now. We were able to meet his teacher the day before school started and had some time to chat, and she seems to be a great fit for him so far. He still wants to homeschool and mentions it every once in awhile, but is doing ok.<br />
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Sweet Nut LOVES his teacher. It's the first time he's had a man teacher, and so far he's doing great. He somehow convinced me to become class mom, so you'll be seeing more from me with things I'm doing. I'm also one of 4 class moms for Spawn's class. Oh boy.<br />
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Cute Boy LOVES kindergarten. He has the same teacher the older boys had for K and he's doing ok! We need to work on letters but nothing to worry about yet she said.<br />
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Chunk also started school! He took Cute Boy's spots at daycare 3 days a week, and while he's not so sure he wants to be dropped off, he loves it there.<br />
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Chunk had been staying up to 12ish each night, and I have no idea why. It's killing my sleep though, I had problems with insomnia before, now it's just like really? Sucks,<br />
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Anyways, there's the quick update. More to come later.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7990236854639604184.post-65450837524902612402012-08-09T00:10:00.000-04:002012-08-09T00:12:48.760-04:002012-2013 Curriculum Choices<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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So, it's that time of year. The time of year where Spawn is super excited to start homeschooling and I'm ready to run to the hills screaming in fear.</div>
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Well, maybe not. Although, the thought has crossed my mind.</div>
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I'm having those thoughts that apparently every home school mom has at some point. You know the ones. I can't do this. I must be crazy. </div>
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Terrified. At least I have a month left.</div>
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So since I'm working on the paperwork that my district needs, I figured I might as well lay it all out here, right?</div>
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So here's the plan for this year. </div>
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<b>Spawn is 9.5 years old and going into 4th grade but is working at a 3rd grade math and reading level, per our elementary school.</b></div>
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<b>Math: </b>Saxon Intermediate 3 </div>
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We started with this not long after he got out of school, very laid back about it. We're a few lessons in and it seems that it works for him. He's understanding concepts better now and he enjoys it, for the most part.</div>
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<b>Reading: </b>Read Alouds/Reading for comprehension. No real curriculum for this, going for fluency and learning techniques so he remembers what he reads. We have a recommended reading list for 3-5th grade from the state, so we'll be working on books on that list. </div>
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<b>Spelling: </b>A Reason For Spelling C</div>
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<b>Handwriting: </b>A Reason for Handwriting C or D</div>
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<b>Grammar: </b>Easy Grammar</div>
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<b>History/Geography:</b> Story of the World Vol. 1. He wants to learn about the ancients and the founding fathers, so I'm not sure how that's going to work. He's a bit over ambitious. :D</div>
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<b>Science: </b>Still undecided. Most likely Apologia.</div>
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<b>Health: </b>Horizons 4th Grade Health Program</div>
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<b>Art: </b>He's signed up for a 11 week program through a homeschooling group we are in, and then after that we will be using HomeArtStudio</div>
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<b>Music: </b>He learned the recorder last year in school, so I think this year we'll be taking it to the piano. We'll also study some composers and pieces that they have written. We're going to rotate music and art throughout the year.</div>
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<b>Physical Ed:</b> Our home school group has gym/park days, so we'll be making it to as many of them as we can, and he wants to sign up for flag football at the rec center.</div>
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I've also borrowed the idea of a calendar notebook. He wants a morning meeting time with the calendar and all, so we're doing it big kid style. It's got the usual date, weather, days in school, etc, but we also have journal prompts and a number of the day sheet. Once I have it all set up, I'll post pictures and links.</div>
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I think that's everything. Until we start using it all and change it up :D</div>
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Linking up to the Not Back to School Blog Hop!</div>
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<a href="http://www.ihomeschoolnetwork.com/category/not-back-to-school-blog-hop/"><img alt="Not Back to School Blog Hop" height="125" src="http://www.ihomeschoolnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/nbts-blog-hop-2012.jpg" width="125" /></a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7990236854639604184.post-46076137992103901362012-07-27T15:40:00.001-04:002012-07-27T15:40:34.293-04:00Going cra-a-a-zy!We haven't disappeared, I promise!<br />
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We're just been keeping busy...keeping goobers occupied...and doctor appointments.<br />
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I have a blog post to do, but haven't gotten around to it...hopefully this weekend if I can find some time between the carnival being down the street from our house and getting ready for my trip to Atlanta to meet up with some friends and go to my first Thirty One National Conference.<br />
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Oh, and I'm in full swing getting things ready for September.<br />
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Yep. Cra-a-a-azy.<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7990236854639604184.post-4796839239424139452012-07-10T00:16:00.001-04:002012-07-10T00:16:43.441-04:00Moments to Remember<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.1plus1plus1equals1.net/tag/Moments%20to%20Remember/" target="_blank"><img src="http://i678.photobucket.com/albums/vv146/homeschoolcreations/MomentstoRemember125x125.jpg" title="Moments to Remember" /></a></div>
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After a late night of fireworks and fun this is what I woke up to in my bed. Chunk has been sleeping with us since he's been sick and Cute Boy apparently climbed into bed sometime after Chef left for work.</div>
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<br /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7990236854639604184.post-56922840724146443092012-07-09T23:55:00.000-04:002012-07-10T00:09:27.768-04:00Fourth of July Fun<div style="text-align: center;">
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*Chunk is 13 months old*</div>
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So this week, we celebrated America's birthday. I surprised the boys that morning with some homemade playdough (our first batch!)</div>
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A hit with Cute Boy!</div>
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Chunk wasn't so sure</div>
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But of course we had to taste test it.</div>
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Squish!</div>
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Even Spawn had to get in on the fun.</div>
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Mixing colors.</div>
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Smushing some blue and red together to see what they make!</div>
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Purple!</div>
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This kept Cute Boy occupied for a long time. Spawn played for about 15 minutes and Chunk for about 2. He wasn't thrilled with it at all.</div>
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Overall, it was a hit with the fivester. Chunk played a bit but really wasn't thrilled with it. Or the taste of it :D</div>
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Chunk had more fun dumping things out of kitchen cabinets.</div>
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Just the right size for a baby hideout. I did have to relocate some things, but I keep a few things in there still. He's in the pull it all out and then put it back stage, so things like the colanders, sauce pans and lids and frying pan keep him occupied in more ways than one.</div>
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Cute Boy tossed some of his cereal on Chunk's tray. He earned Fruity Pebbles as a reward (yes, he chose cereal over a toy) and Chunk was working really hard on picking them up. Not that he gets it often, but he gave his pincher grip a good workout.</div>
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And that paintbrush spent many a day in his hand. He likes the noise it makes when he crawls.</div>
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Not thrilled that Mommy made him get dressed so she could get a picture.</div>
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Then we headed outside to play!</div>
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Cute Boy and J from the other apartment with their sparklers. Such a fun surprise from MaMa and Pa. They dropped them off right as we were eating dinner, so Cute Boy ate FAST so he could go out and do them.</div>
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FIREWORKS!</div>
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I had walked outside to put away Chunk's push car and watched Nature's Fireworks. It was so awesome. No thunder, but an amazing lightning storm in the clouds. Even Cute Boy who hates storms came out to watch. This picture really doesn't do it justice.</div>
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Happier with this 4th of July Shirt. Waiting for the fireworks to begin on TV</div>
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Transfixed.</div>
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Him Too.</div>
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We're in the middle of a big construction project at work so the boys steal my phone as soon as I come home to scour for new pictures. This one is a favorite.</div>
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Then we got to go to a birthday party this weekend for Chunk's best buddy. It was a blast between the pool, pony rides, bounce house and quad rides (Spawn's FAVORITE)</div>
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Coyboy Cute Boy</div>
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Chunk even went!</div>
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Ride em cowboy!</div>
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Lil S blowing out his candle with Mommy. Thanks for inviting us to your awesome party!</div>
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Chuk also went into the pool for the first time. I didn't get any pictures, because well, I was in the pool with him and my assistant photographer Spawn was exploring with goggles. He did take that awesome pic of Cute Boy though. Anyways, back to Chunk, he was unsure at first, but ended up loving it. </div>
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Yelling at me for disturbing his book "reading"</div>
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I went up to my mom's last week to pick up a box of clothes that my dad was giving the Chef and my mom had pulled out the box of stuff she kept at the house when Spawn and Sweet Nut were little. So we have a whole bunch of "new" books for Cute Boy and Chunk. They were going through the box this afternoon and were having a blast.</div>
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<br /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7990236854639604184.post-82559850540530056812012-07-03T21:08:00.000-04:002012-07-03T21:14:02.181-04:00Time to explore!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1plus1plus1equals1.com/TotSchool.html" target="_blank"><img alt="Tot School" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKUxwUYGjX28_VM8vDjolKB-0Okwf0fPI2MS2byuy6Bxt7EaPJxhYNdVlOzIeVSO-kHMtGCAZ1ZfPH2NPC-Q9F7ls7c9aLgAJrpI5GcB3DvElhQDEYBB9sDx9q_LXcsPShCLukWedzgYUk/s400/TotSchool2.gif" /></a>
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We decided to play and make a mess today. Chunk had a blast exploring different textures. We started out with just some cheerios on his tray...then I added a spoonful of butterscotch pudding. Yum.</div>
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He figured out very quickly how much fun it is to smear it all over the high chair tray. Then we added in some ice pop pieces to the mix.<br />
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I was surprised because usually he doesn't like things that are really cold in his mouth, but he sucked on hat ice pop for a few minutes!</div>
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In other Chunk news, he's officially in a big boy seat.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhe0rAj1zOdQ4Oz5LbIWuAGAjYhNrPIXgyL055XHOiOsnor3PA6uMy5JMyfULBdIJZHLAOOuTJbVwfI8quZ9wIII4QONirhkEHjKvrGI1EqGw0YBbeP8SzeDyRIoktwvhGOA8-LTS5eOKc/s1600/7F948890-8AB7-45EF-8C16-37954395C21A.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhe0rAj1zOdQ4Oz5LbIWuAGAjYhNrPIXgyL055XHOiOsnor3PA6uMy5JMyfULBdIJZHLAOOuTJbVwfI8quZ9wIII4QONirhkEHjKvrGI1EqGw0YBbeP8SzeDyRIoktwvhGOA8-LTS5eOKc/s320/7F948890-8AB7-45EF-8C16-37954395C21A.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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He's the only one of the goobers to make it past <strike>a year </strike>8 months in an infant seat. Spawn and Sweet Nut both outgrew them by weight by 6 months, and Cute Boy was about 8 months when he outgrew his. Chunk made it to 13 months and 2 days! The only reason we switched was because we couldn't loosen or tighten the seat belt anymore. He was at the limit. He still has a while to go to his the weight limit (he was 28 pounds at his 1 year check up, and 25 pounds at the immunologist last week). To say we are happy with the seat is an understatement! The seat he had was the Graco Snugride 35. It's a little sad, I'm slightly attached to the seat, but happy with what we got. We bought the Graco MyRide 65. I've been eyeing it for awhile, and I was actually trying to hold out for the Graco Size4Me to hit stores, but I didn't want to wait longer with not being able to adjust his harness. And we got lucky-our Target has all the MyRide65s on clearance (so I know the new seats are coming...darn) So we got a deal on it. It was a pretty easy install, or as easy as an install can be in the Beast. We did it in the Target parking lot and he had no problems getting into it. The one thing I don't like, and might end up still getting the Size4Me is that I'm going to have to uninstall it to rethread the harness when he gets bigger.</div>
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<br /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7990236854639604184.post-80167487579577152672012-06-30T18:30:00.002-04:002012-06-30T18:31:00.044-04:00First week of Summer Vacay!<br />
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<center><a href="http://www.1plus1plus1equals1.net/tag/Moments%20to%20Remember/" target="_blank"><img src="http://i678.photobucket.com/albums/vv146/homeschoolcreations/MomentstoRemember125x125.jpg" title="Moments to Remember" /></a></center><center><br /></center><center>Chunk has had a rough week. This was Monday night when he still was fighting his fever. I sat him down to fix the big boys dinner and he fell asleep in his chair.</center><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgK9YvliYw26dhQgM68gt-J4KTTrQIOvau21ty-wRqwMZyYDrCj6c1V1NYHJc9ycssRLiC_NmJLfWT8ySM2Im8AYgpPObvRYd9TgYNsN4k4BGlffX5ZcjxNOBY9quDZA4JuUBdVaU4if4Q/s1600/photo+(24).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgK9YvliYw26dhQgM68gt-J4KTTrQIOvau21ty-wRqwMZyYDrCj6c1V1NYHJc9ycssRLiC_NmJLfWT8ySM2Im8AYgpPObvRYd9TgYNsN4k4BGlffX5ZcjxNOBY9quDZA4JuUBdVaU4if4Q/s320/photo+(24).JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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Poor sleepy boy.</div>
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Then he perked up a bit on Tuesday and we were able to hit the movies to see Madagascar 3.</div>
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First movie trip!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVzoLYYwy22io9x4o8Amz68itdECSHKiLbXTVYQlGVz0AnHw-qKKoO-nSxbFHbqkDdgxEBlE3wVpfGswbvSBZ1Qq4BQxkHxDoOI5cCWCwE-Xv7o30Ey-VNfRxtJYcS7FiISeyoh7QfLMI/s1600/photo+%252821%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVzoLYYwy22io9x4o8Amz68itdECSHKiLbXTVYQlGVz0AnHw-qKKoO-nSxbFHbqkDdgxEBlE3wVpfGswbvSBZ1Qq4BQxkHxDoOI5cCWCwE-Xv7o30Ey-VNfRxtJYcS7FiISeyoh7QfLMI/s320/photo+%252821%2529.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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(I promise Chef isn't sleeping, he's not fond of pictures.)</div>
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And these two were thrilled with being surprised with a movie theater trip.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEV9GKgEx-xvacDLW_gDswnYsvH5oi-W2Lf8s6AoOKrh-N_WqAHb3jOnYOUCjoI6275gtUpEcv996Lkx4nnGKgTarA0HlmOaU8K6FS74mCLCbkjuL5WI_GLX7MQ-C0w8i5MosYcNl99Bk/s1600/photo+%252822%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEV9GKgEx-xvacDLW_gDswnYsvH5oi-W2Lf8s6AoOKrh-N_WqAHb3jOnYOUCjoI6275gtUpEcv996Lkx4nnGKgTarA0HlmOaU8K6FS74mCLCbkjuL5WI_GLX7MQ-C0w8i5MosYcNl99Bk/s320/photo+%252822%2529.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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And here's a happy Chunk. If we could get rid of this nasty cough, we'd be golden!</div>
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He learned how to "drop" things and get them picked up for attention. Fun times.</div>
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I promise, Spawn didn't miss out on all the fun. He was up at his dad's when we hit the movie theater, but him and Chef have a movie date for the new spiderman movie that's coming out. And we have him this coming week. Plus, my boy-who-hated-school is begging to start homeschooling, so Monday after Chunk's doctor appointment, we're starting with some readin', 'ritin and 'rithmatic.</div>
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<center style="text-align: left;"><br /></center>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7990236854639604184.post-74784996889643078162012-06-29T18:57:00.000-04:002012-06-29T18:57:10.328-04:00Still not to sure...what's going on with Chunk.<br />
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We met with the pediatric allergist/immunologist today.<span style="font-family: arial, verdana, tahoma, sans;"><span style="font-size: 12px;"> He's not totally sure that chunk's issues are environmental. He did tell us to go ahead with the plan to get rid of the carpeting left in the house and the mold test. He said there is a definite wheeze there, but that there's also a lot of upper respiratory noise.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial, verdana, tahoma, sans;"><span style="font-size: 12px;">The plan is to switch up his meds. He'll be on Flovent and Singulair instead of Pulmicort. He's also doing another round of antibiotics and prednisone. The hope is that by switching meds we see a change in his breathing and that the antibiotics and prednisone clear up what's causing it. He thinks that there's some bug causing him to get sick and that last time he was on the antibiotics it didn't get it all.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial, verdana, tahoma, sans;"><span style="font-size: 12px;">So, no real answers yet. Hoping to see some change this weekend. We go back Monday for a recheck.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial, verdana, tahoma, sans;"><span style="font-size: 12px;">And in Spawn news, we've made the decision to go forward with taking his adenoids out. He responded well to the antibiotics, so they think that there was a long sinus infection causing some of his troubles, but he's still having issues sleeping and still has a small annoying cough and stuffy nose. He feels that since he's responded well to treatment so far that this is one of the last puzzle pieces in figuring out what's going on. He even told Spawn that he feels that after surgery he might be able to wean off all his meds and be med free this time next year! I like that he really includes Spawn in all of our discussions and makes sure that he understand every thing we've done or are planning on doing. Spawn did admit that he's nervous about having surgery, but he's excited at the prospect of not needed to be on an inhaler and nasal spray all the time. His surgery is scheduled for Aug 7.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial, verdana, tahoma, sans;"><span style="font-size: 12px;">So I've been a downer the last few posts...but Spawn wants to start some stuff school wise, so we'll be jumping into a light schedule this coming week. He's so excited!</span></span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7990236854639604184.post-6459497951238819562012-06-26T23:29:00.000-04:002012-06-26T23:30:30.795-04:00Looking for answers...Chunk is sick. Again.<br />
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Over 2 weeks ago he came down with a nasty cold. Fever, coughing, wheezing, the whole 9 yards. Today we went back in for a recheck. Last Wednesday he sounded so much better. Then Saturday night he started back coughing- and ended up throwing up a few times. This has happened a few times since then. Get to the dr's today and he listens to his chest and isn't happy with what he hears.<br />
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We have to keep up the albuterol and pulmicort and get into the allergist for allergy testing. If I can't get in within the next week I'm to go back to the regular dr for more prednisone. <br />
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We were also told to get rid of the carpets in the house and to do a mold test. There's something that's making him sick and we need to find out what.<br />
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Luckily we didn't have much carpet left in the house. Just the stairs and living room. The Chef spent the afternoon ripping the carpet off the stairs and removing all the nails and nail strips. He's going to paint them and we'll get something non slip to put on them for the goobers safety. Tomorrow we'll check and see what's under the living room carpet. So far since we moved in and ripped out carpet we've had decent wood floor underneath that just needed to be repainted. So we're hoping to find the same thing in the living room.<br />
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Pink eye is still going through the house too. The Chef is getting over it, I have it and Chunk had a gunky eye after his nap. <br />
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We also head back to the allergist with Spawn on Friday to see what course they will take next. I think he's done better since his heavy duty round of antibiotics, but I'm interested to see what he says. There was talk of taking his adenoids out this summer, so I'm sure we'll talk about that as well. I'm hoping they can just squeeze Chunk in at the same time, but we'll see.<br />
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No fun.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7990236854639604184.post-69723084845591961882012-06-22T18:32:00.001-04:002012-06-22T18:35:00.918-04:00The heat is on....It's the first heat wave of the summer here in NY. And it's H.O.T.<br />
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To top it off, Chunk got a cold that *almost* developed into pneumonia. It was a rough weekend/beginning of the week...fevers of 101-103, lots of nebulizer treatments, antibiotics and our usual prednisone battle. The boy can not STAND prednisone. He won't just spit it out, he gags himself on it and makes himself sick. The last few times we went the shot route as opposed to battling him, but this time, we decided to try it. I think we're going to stick with the shot. Anyways, the worry was because his O2 sats were low...between 83-85. But he's better. Thank goodness. I'm sleeping again instead of being up all night with a cranky baby. And when Momma is happy, everyone is happy.
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Thankfully Chunk started feeling better just as the tempratures started to climb so we pulled out his new water table the other night for him to play with. We had no idea it was going to be such a hit with the big Goobers too!<br />
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This is the <a href="http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=12530128" target="_blank">water table</a> we have...it's pretty neat. We also added in some of the water toys that Chunk got for his birthday from his buddy.</div>
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<img alt="B. Fish & Splish Bath Boat.Opens in a new window" src="http://img2.targetimg2.com/wcsstore/TargetSAS//img/p/12/02/12026415.jpg" />
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I'm not sure where it was bought from, but I found one <a href="http://www.target.com/p/b-fish-splish-bath-boat/-/A-12026415" target="_blank">here</a>. We keep the big boat in the bath tub, but let them take the other pieces to the water table. The neat thing about the boat is that all the little pieces fit inside. You lift off the top and store away!</div>
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The other hit from his birthday was <a href="http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=11554169&prodFindSrc=search" target="_blank">this</a>.</div>
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We still have the ball pit section and the tunnel, but the tent section got ripped at his party. Not Happy.</div>
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He's happy though with the parts he has left...especially since he can throw the balls out and then yell when he runs out to have someone to toss them back in for him.</div>
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Sweet Nut turned 7 too this month. And his "bestest" present by far was<a href="http://www.target.com/p/skylanders-spyro-s-adventure-starter-pack-xbox-360/-/A-13561789" target="_blank"> this</a></div>
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<img alt="Skylanders Spyro's Adventure Starter Pack (XBOX 360).Opens in a new window" src="http://img3.targetimg3.com/wcsstore/TargetSAS//img/p/13/56/13561789.jpg" /></div>
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And Cute Boy-who helped us pick out presents also chose <a href="http://www.target.com/p/skylanders-character-pack-eruptor/-/A-14169600" target="_blank">this</a> and <a href="http://www.target.com/p/nintendo-ds-skylanders-zip-case-nintendo-ds/-/A-14048325" target="_blank">this</a> for him.</div>
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<img alt="Nintendo DS Skylanders Zip Case (Nintendo DS).Opens in a new window" src="http://img1.targetimg1.com/wcsstore/TargetSAS//img/p/14/04/14048325.jpg" /><img alt="Skylanders Character Pack - Eruptor.Opens in a new window" src="http://img2.targetimg2.com/wcsstore/TargetSAS//img/p/14/16/14169600_120613223000.jpg" />
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I'm excited, because, well, it is a neat game. But mostly, because I can do <a href="http://www.1plus1plus1equals1.net/2012/03/skylanders-kindergarten-printables/" target="_blank">this</a> with Cute Boy...and Sweet Nut too! </div>
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<a href="http://www.1plus1plus1equals1.net/2012/03/skylanders-kindergarten-printables/" target="_blank"><img alt="Slide1" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-6fnwXeB08qU/T1PWsKqtlDI/AAAAAAAApcc/NxOskqIK1z8/Slide1_thumb9.jpg?imgmax=800" /></a>
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I'm all for things they they DON'T think are educational, but really are. And I love that when they are playing it together, the game kind of MAKES them work together. The goobers are very competitive and they are slowly getting that teamwork can be fun too.</div>
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7990236854639604184.post-64827460377416080082012-06-18T18:32:00.002-04:002012-06-18T18:32:44.511-04:00Attack of the Germs.It's been a rough weekend.<br />
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Spawn brought home pinkeye on Thursday. Then Sweet Nut got sick at field day. Then Chunk got a nasty cough and fever all weekend. Oh and Sweet Nut got pink eye on Saturday.<br />
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The big ones are doing better. Chunk is still pretty rough. The dr upped his albuterol to every 4 hours, and he's also on prednisone and antibiotics. We go back in the morning.<br />
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I'm hoping this combo of meds work. Momma hasn't gotten a good night sleep in 3 nights now. Chef traded missing his soccer game so I could go to a meeting tonight for on call duty tonight. I know I'll still be up though.<br />
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We go back to the dr to get rechecked in the morning. Fun times in the goober house.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7990236854639604184.post-65476919647671378782012-06-14T16:54:00.000-04:002012-06-18T00:42:18.859-04:00Tot School too!<br />
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<center><a href="http://lapbooksbycarisa.homestead.com/TotSchool.html" target="_blank"><img alt="Tot School" border="0" src="http://i688.photobucket.com/albums/vv250/carisafrank/Blog%20Buttons/totschool150.jpg" /></a>
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So Chunk turned one this month. I'm still not sure where the time goes, but I've finally had to accept that he's one. He's not walking yet, but he's getting brave enough to let go when he's standing up, so I guess it's coming soon.<br />
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He started last month going to the daycare that Cute Boy goes to, but he's only going one day a week. He wasn't too sure about it at first, but now he has a bit of a cry right when I leave-but that's quickly solved because he gets dropped off at breakfast.<br />
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Spawn's math books came a couple of weeks ago and he's been begging me to start them, so we did. We're not full force in them, because he still has a week of "school" left...if you can count field day today and 3 half days next week. Usually, Chef will take the middle goobers out to play while Spawn works and it's just me and Baby Chunk inside with him. <br />
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I've been toying with the idea of <a href="http://www.1plus1plus1equals1.net/2009/06/behind-scenes-where-do-i-begin/" target="_blank">Tot School</a> for Chunk for a few weeks. The plan is to have some safe "educational" things he can do while Spawn works as well. I didn't plan on starting for a few months yet-you know, I'm still in denial that my baby boy is 1. But we decided last night to go for it. Accidentally.<br />
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I had stopped off after getting Cute Boy from school at the grocery store. And of course, he asked for candy. But he asked for his brothers too, so I couldn't really say no...that and they were on sale. He picked Mini M&Ms for them. Spawn inhaled them and left the tube on the table...so I started playing with Chunk, putting his puffs in there and he'd pour them out. Then I decided to see if he would put them in and he did!<br />
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So I went digging in our "homeschool box" (which is a box of stuff we bought to do Cute Boy's homeshcool Prek before we started at this daycare he's at) and pulled out some pom poms. Tossed a bunch on his tray and a few more into a cup...and it kept him occupied for about 15 minutes-putting them into the tube, taking them out, putting them into the cup...<br />
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Of course there were a few times that he tried to taste test them, so please don't do this with your tot if you can't be watching them.<br />
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And here's a shot of Spawn working on some math while the Tot School was having fun.</div>
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So, we're adding Tot School to the mix. I've got a few other ideas that he can do with things we have around the house...I encourage you, if you have a tot, think about it. It's really nothing that you aren't doing already. We teach them new things all day long. </div>
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If you are interested in learning more about Tot School or seeing what other Tots are up to, check out <a href="http://www.1plus1plus1equals1.net/" target="_blank">1+1+1=1</a>. Carisa's son is the one who coined the phrase Tot School for his little brother and she ahs a weekly link up where other Tot Schooler's post what there tot is up too. I've been reading her blog for awhile for things with the older boys and I'm excited about starting Tot School with Chunk. The nice thing about her link up, is that the Tot's age is listed right in the links, so you don't have to sift through all of them to find what other tots the same age as your tot are up too, although I have been to get ideas for when he's older. We'll also be doing her Summer Challenge with the Big Goobers once school gets out, so look for a post coming on that as well!</div>
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</center></center>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1