The Travel Potty {a must have!}

by Meghan // November 3, 2015 // Comments off

We just got back from a 5 day trip to see family. Well, actually .. the husband was hunting and then had to do some work in the same two towns we have family. So the kids and I hijacked his 9 hour trip. =)

It was great fun! Everything is finally unpacked, and the unpacking process reminded me of a few things you should always, always do or have when traveling long distances with children.

The most important of these things? Get one of THESE —> A portable, take-with-you-everywhere car potty.

A friend of ours gave me hers when her youngest was past the “I gotta go RIGHT NOW” phase, when I was potty training my oldest. I would have paid her $100 for it had I known then what I know now!

Why do you need one? Oh my! Let me count the ways ….

No more public bathrooms- I know, you’re thinking it is ridiculous that one might actually want to avoid public bathrooms at the expense of peeing in the car. Well, next time you have 3 tiny humans, two of which are potty trained, and one of which is a 13 month old with very grabby hands, you will understand avoiding public bathrooms.
Potty training is So. Much. Easier- I don’t use pull ups to potty train. I know, sometimes they are miraculous but they always just seemed like a diaper to me. So we have naky babies running around trying to potty in little bitty potties for a few days to learn about the process. But in those days, you HAVE to go places- the grocery, the bank, the post office … the park! But have no fear! When you have a tiny port a potty in the car, just whip out a plastic bag and let your little go potty before going in the store/building/park. We never had accidents out in public, because the kids always pottied before we left the house, and then went again in the car when we arrived at our location.
They’re easy- fold over a plastic bag, let them potty, and then throw it away. We keep extra plastic bags in the car at all times.
When you’re on a 9+ hour road trip and someone has to potty but there isn’t a gas station or rest stop (or you JUST got onto the toll road and there’s no where to use a restroom), you can pull over to a safe place and let them go in the port a potty.
There are other ways to use this particular potty seat; it can also be placed on a full size potty when potty training, or as a protective seat on another toilet (but that is kinda weird …)

I sound crazy don’t I?

I probably do … but man it is SO convenient and saves a lot of time and accidents when traveling with small children on long and short trips. Not to mention a LOT of gross situations when bathrooms are just disgusting, and stinky, and well- gross!

**I also think this would make a wonderful baby gift. We are always looking for things we can give that families won’t outgrow in a matter of weeks or months.**

We have a van with one middle seat out, so there is a big open floor space for the kids to use. But I think you could make it work with a small floor space, or even the back storage area in an SUV. It is very compact and the kids don’t mind using it at all.

(just a little tip, we take our unused but too small diapers, and place them in the bottom of the plastic bag just in case there is a tiny hole in the plastic bag …)

So, my biggest tip on traveling with small children that are potty trained- get a travel potty!

Disclaimer: Some links on this blog are affiliate links; when you use those links you help support my family, at no additional cost to you. Thank you!

A Homeschool Mom’s Book of Encouragement {a review}

by Meghan // May 6, 2015 // Comments off

The last few weeks I have been reading Real Life Press’s book, The Busy Homeschool Mom’s Guide to Daylight (physical book $12.95), written by Heidi St. John. As a matter of fact, I read most of this book while on our very relaxing family camping trip; it was a wonderful read!

About the The Busy Homeschool Mom’s Guide to Daylight

In her book, Heidi covers all the basics and then some, for homeschooling mamas. Everything from being intentional with our days to those desperate hours when things just aren’t working. The chapters include:

Intentional Daylight- Why You Need a POA, ASAP
Organized Daylight- Controlling Clutter and Reclaiming Your Space
Scheduled Daylight- The Delight and Dangers of Scheduling
Hungry Daylight- Feeding Your Family Without Losing Your Mind
Discouraged Daylight- If At First You Don’t Succeed .. Try, Try Again
Consolidated Daylight- Multi Level Teaching
Wasted Daylight- Virtual Reality
Surrendered Daylight- Finding His Heart For Your Homeschool

I mean, the chapter titles speak for themselves; if you are a homeschooling mom new or seasoned and in a rut, this is a wonderful book for you! The content is Christ centered, often quoting scripture as guidance for the homeschool, and everything she has written will resonate with you, mama!

photo credit HERE

Heidi has used real-world scenarios to demonstrate her points and show her true understanding for the struggles we all face as homeschool moms, and families. Every page speaks volumes of encouragement!

What I Thought

While I have already implemented many of her ideas, there are several areas I need to work on in our homeschool and The Busy Homeschool Mom’s Guide to Daylight is helping me sort through those areas.

I loved the encouragement, the breath of fresh air that this book brought to our home and homeschool.

Heidi is funny; she has written a book all homeschool moms can relate to! I would even suggest handing it over to your husband after you have read it– I think it gives great insight to the struggles we face each day and what most of our goals are for homeschooling.

One of my weakest areas in our home is meal time! I am great at planning dinners. When I only had two young children breakfast wasn’t such a big deal, it was easy to whip something up. But now with three tiny humans (one taking a bottle and baby food), and a husband who *loves* breakfast, planning that meal would be very beneficial. I have known this for some time, but chapter 4 of this book really helped me see how important planning all our meals is.

I especially liked her chapter on consolidated daylight AKA multi-level teaching. Many of us homeschooling are working with children on multiple levels; we know that even when our children are close in age (or heck, even the same age!) that they are learning, developing, and working on different levels. Next year will be the first year I will be teaching my daughter on a drastically different level than my son. Heidi’s chapter (6) on multi-level teaching is going to be a life saver! (and I have already started making notes.)

Every chapter gives you more tips, more resources, more ways to bring your homeschool where it is meant to be! I loved this book, made many notes in the margins, and will be looking back at it time after time, I am sure.

While checking out this title, look into all of Heidi’s other titles covering everything from bible studies, to keeping the romance in your marriage (while homeschooling)!

Connect with Real Life Press

Baby and Preschooler Summaries: 18 months and 3.5yrs

by Meghan // April 9, 2014 // Comments off

{I began this post in march, but just now finished proof reading and editing errors. So, It is a month late! =) }

On March 2, Mister will be 18 months- we FINALLY have molars! He has cut the top right, and just finished the bottom right. He is now getting the right eye tooth, and has started cutting the left molars. I have to be honest- I was starting to wonder if we should see a dentist such as Dentist Framingham to see what was going on. The boy hasn’t had a tooth in months! By 18 months, Lexie had ALL but her two year molars. She had a mouth FULL of teeth, poor Max doesn’t. Hopefully by summer he will be about done (of course then it will be time for his two year molars …).

His sleep is mostly good. He takes one nap; I put him down at 12:00 on the dot, and he stays in bed until 2:30-3:00 depending on how long he sleeps. During all the teething his naps have been hit or miss- some days they are only an 1.5 hours, other days they are over 2. I have been rubbing diluted thieves oil on his gums before naps and bed time, and he loves it. The thieves helps numbs his gums.

building a city with unit bocks

Language

I have looked back at Lexie’s 17-18 month summaries, and wow! That girl was talking like crazy (and has never slowed down …). Mister had lots of words, but isn’t using complete sentences. The most he says in the way of sentences at this point is “bye bye, dada!” Everything else consist of one or two words for things he wants.

He signs more and please, and uses words for most everything else. He is bad about wanting to grunt for things- but I really try to make him use his words instead of responding to his grunts.

Physical Development

His physical development is crazy good- especially his fine motor skills. For a boy, he has always had advanced fine motor skills. His gross motor skills are good too-climbing stairs, moving stools, climbing on furniture, kicking a ball. He and Lexie love to “play soccer” in the back yard or in the house. He recently learned to climb the ladder on the playground out back, and is very proud of himself. Lexie is in gymnastics, so naturally she is all the time doing rolls and cartwheels around the house. Mister tries SO hard to do forward rolls like big sister. It is pretty cute.

shape sorter during morning “learning time”

He especially loves to tinker with things; you will often find him putting small toys inside cups, pretending to eat with a spoon, or stashing odd and ends inside a jar. Water is still his favorite activity, and calms him instantly. He will just let the water run through his fingers and is instantly soothed.

Personality

Personality wise- Max Payne is all boy. he never stops. Ever.

He is determined, and gets frustrated very easily. He is very vocal about what he does and does not like, over all is very sensitive, and snuggly. The only time he stops to relax is if he is getting tired. He loves to read books, but a few pages in has to get up and do something, then come back to finish. During playdates he does great- he snuggles me at first, and then is off to play and explore, even in new settings.

mommy and max time

Lexie is most definitely his favorite person; he follows her around and does what she tells him to … most of the time. He is her little minion- she asks him to pick up her toys or hand her something and he just doesn’t so happily. Haha, that probably won’t last much longer.

Overall Max is a joy and my biggest challenge ~~(other than losing the weight I put on while pregnant with him)~~. He gets bored easily and wants to do everything big sister does, even when he isn’t quite capable. That frustrates him. But it won’t be long and he will be doing everything she does and more!

When we decided to get Lexie a violin for her third birthday, and start her in lessons there were some people that told us “good luck with that; a 3 year old in violin. ha.” I am proud my girl has proven them wrong! =) She graduated from her practice violin (which helps young children get used to handling the violin, the weight of it on their shoulder, etc) her teacher made to her real violin. She is learning to play little rhymes on each string/note and where to put her fingers. She knows all her positions and how to hold her violin properly, though she is getting used to the new shoulder rest.

Overall, Lexie is a snuggly, sweet, happy, girl who is very eager to learn. The more she can take in the better- there is no such thing as too much information or reading at this point. I struggle to keep up with her thirst for knowledge and that is where she challenges me- I am always on my toes trying to fill her need and love of learning. I can’t believe she will be 4 this year. Where has the time gone?

Graduating from practice violin to real violin

Captivated The Movie {a review}

by Meghan // April 1, 2014 // Comments off

To tell you that the Captivated DVD by Media Talk 101 has been a blessing for our family would probably be an understatement. We do not allow much “media” watching in our home to begin with; because we find most of it, though targeted at children is not really appropriate, and we would rather our children spend their time reading, playing, building, running, dancing, etc. (that isn’t to say that with being stuck inside all winter in Nebraska that we didn’t watch Winnie the Pooh or Little Women 1 too many times!). There were many times while viewing I was thinking *eek, that would be ME*

Not only did I learned a few things we can change here as well, but I was saying “Yes!” the whole time! For me, limiting media interaction for my children follows our lifestyle of natural, simple, living. This film helps support that lifestyle for us, and will be a great wake up call for many!

What Is Captivated?

Captivated has been an absolutely truth speaking, Christ centered documentary that I suggest ALL parents watch. It is also a movie you can watch with your children at your discretion (it is approved for all ages).

It is not a media bashing film! It does however present the concerns and proven issues caused by media. Captivated highlights the fact that we live in a media saturated society and this bring new challenges to every single aspect of our lives today. It features an amazing cast of experts from ministers to doctors and researchers; the documentary mentions many studies to back up everything it is presenting to you, which as a research-freak, I love!

The purpose of this film is to encourage media discernment- teaching our children (and ourselves) when, how, and to what extent using media is healthy. This is so important because everywhere we go, we are surrounded by media. The average screen time for the American child is 53 hours a week! Very out of balance, wouldn’t you say? We are living in a time where 4 year olds are asking for iPhones. My own 3.5 year old tells me she needs a “little girl computer to do ‘work’ like mommy” (fyi- never gonna happen).

Captivated has won several awards, including the Best Documentary Runner Up at the 2012 San Antonio Independent Film Festival and 2013 Best Documentary at the GloryReelz Christian Film Festival.

As someone who was totally engrossed by the documentary after watching it, I’m so glad that they decided to take it to a film festival, which saw them be successful at the same time. I’m surprised they didn’t take the next step in showcasing at local theater’s, but I guess they need something like a DCP builder to help them organize the movie and the adverts that come before it so they can have the relevant advertising. But even getting recognition at film festivals like these are a step in the right direction to get the message across.

What I Thought

*Four thumbs up!* (if I had four thumbs …)

First- I want to say I loved the beginning of the movie. How they used technology to introduce all the credits; Very creative, and right away I felt like this was going to be a fun, interesting, educational movie. And it was! I was writing down notes and quotes to share with you all the entire time!

I was not surprised to hear that today, American homes have more televisions than people. (Thankfully, we have one television, and quite frankly we could live without that one.) But how often do we come in from work, school, or running errands and turn on the television?

Do we really know what an impact this is having on our children? When you watch Captivated, you will find out!

Captivated cites research that brain studies show by spending too much time in front of media, reality starts to seem boring, and will shorten attention span. The more tv a child watches before the age of 3, the shorter their attention span. Television is hurting our children’s ability to learn and function in real life. The more cognitive stimulation children get (ie reading books, conversing, doing puzzles), the less likely they are to have a shorter attention span later in life.

I personally am guilty of bingeing on social media on the internet. I will go weeks with barely getting on my personal Facebook, but then I will go weeks when I update daily. What could I be doing with that time? What real life am I missing because of it?

Throughout the film you will hear from real life moms, dads, mentors, and children who are impacted by media and the impact removing it had on their lives. I write a lot about young children, but the truth is teenagers are even more surrounded by media than the littles- with online cell phones, tv, radio, computers, and iPods, older children are always “connected”- but this film actually helps parent, through real life situations, find the tools to limit usage and exposure. Captivated is truly an eye opener; you will soak in all 107 minutes!

“Social networks are an enhancer for life relationships, but not a replacement.”

More Things You Need To Know About the Film

Running Time: 107 minutes
Audience: Intended for adult audiences, but approved for all ages
Where to buy: Captivated DVD
Price: $16.95

Connect with Media Talk 101

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The Ultimate Homeschool Planner {Day 2}

by Meghan // January 21, 2014 // Comments off

Welcome to TOS’s 5 days of homeschooling essentials, day two.

My #2 for of homeschool essentials is a planner. For me, it is the Ultimate Homeschool planner by Debra Bell.

This planner is a life saver when it comes to homeschooling. It allows you to plan for up to 6 students. Everything is blank so you can fill it in as you wish-dates, grids, names. At first, I wasn’t sure how I would feel about that. But after using it for a few weeks, I was in love! Many children initially think that being homeschooled is a bad option, especially when one of the things they look forward to about going to school is being with their friends. But as they soon understand, doing this is for their own benefit. Your tutor may not have all the resources that your school can provide, but through the use of the internet, everything is within your reach. Deadlines are also set to make it feel like a schooling environment. “I’d rather be playing with my friends than doing my homework“, is the type of mentality that will leave any student behind on their work. But there are online solutions to help, which means you will be on your way to getting a good grade.

As well as online services, there are many ways that you can be productive while being home schooled. Through traditional methods like using a planner, you can write days of the week, student names, or subject titles in any of the weekly grids. Then, there are monthly pages; each month gets a two page layout. These are also blank, so you can begin, end, and skip any months you’d like. For instance, we didn’t really do much in December, so I didn’t fill in the month of December. What I also like about the monthly layouts, is there are enough daily squares for those really weird months where the days fall in such a way you need a fifth row on the calendar.

There is a lot of space for notes, and each week begins with a page for a scripture focus, and goals. There is also allotted pages for each week’s “memorable moments” which I use as a journal for the kids. Even though we don’t need so much planning power just for preschool, this is a wonderful, thorough, Christian based resource.

Everything I journal and prayerfully plan for children’s educations is neatly organized in one place; that, I love.

There are some complaints about having to write in all the blank dates, etc because the moms didn’t like their handwriting…

I agree. I don’t like my sloppy handwriting. But, I also think it is a great piece of memorabilia for my children one day. I cherish the journal I have of my mom’s when she was pregnant with me, and the handwritten envelopes from my grandmothers. Along with being an amazing planner, this can be a piece like that my children can look back on one day.

The Ultimate Homeschool Planner is my second homeschool essential! Check it out on Amazon for an inside look and to read reviews.

Don’t forget about the iPad mini giveaway! Enter here:

iPad Mini Giveaway: 5 Days of Homeschooling Essentials

Want to read about other blogger’s homeschool essentials? click on a link below:

Mary @ Winecup Christian Homeschool

Jenni @ Conversaving

Meghan @ Quiet in the Chaos

Karen @ Tots and Me

Beth @ Weavings

Tawnee @ Adventures in Homeschooling

Karen @ My Harbor Lights

Amy @ Wildflower Ramblings

Kristi @ The Potter’s Hand Academy

Tara @ This Sweet Life

Traveling: On the Road with Healthy Menu Options {and M&M link-up}

by Meghan // January 20, 2014 // Comments off

We just came back from a wonderful family road trip- the husband and I loaded up the 3 year old and 16 month old, and hit the road for the beautiful mountains of Colorado.

I’ve not ever been skiing, or to CO. My husband has been a few times. It was amazing, and did I mention beautiful? The mountains were breathtaking!

We are so blessed to be able to travel for a little family vacation. And just because we are traveling doesn’t mean we go crazy with junk food. We try very hard to stick within a reasonable budget, and eat healthy snacks. {which exclude fast food!}

We see it as, the more money we save while on the road, the more we can enjoy spending on nice meals and fun for the kids, once we get where we’re going.

So what does our road trip food look like?

It looks like several pre made peanut butter sandwiches, 4-8 oranges, 3-4 apples, a container of clean grapes, a few bananas, and a bag of nuts or trail mix.

Then we pack a small cooler with Lexie’s rice milk and Mister’s coconut milk, along with lots of bottled water. In that cooler we usually add lunch meat, and anything else that needs to be kept cool or cold. The cooler goes in the very back of the van or suv with our luggage.

When we stop for gas we may grab a few snacks, like more nuts or pretzels.

This trip, we traveled for about 8 hours. Some people think we are crazy to travel for that long with two young children. Maybe we are! One of our friends said that we should fly instead and then get a quote from this relocation company. She said they would pick up our suv and take it to and from Colorado so that we could still drive it whilst we were away. This was tempting, but flying is more expensive and makes it harder to control what you are eating. And hey, the drive is part of the trip for us. We actually managed to rent a car seat for the kids, so that made things easier for us. We spent a lot of time in the car on this vacation so it was important that the kids were safe and comfortable whilst on the road.

At lunch time on our journey, we stopped at a park where I made us sandwiches with spinach, and we had salads with homemade dressing. The kids were able to run around and enjoy themselves, and then we were back on the road in less than an hour.

I also like to pack freezer food for meals once we get to our hotel. We stayed in a condo that had a small kitchen. I grabbed a bag of frozen mexican chicken soup, and some frozen sloppy joes. This way we can eat one or two nice meals out for dinner, and still have healthy, delicious meals in our condo a few nights to save on cash. We are a family that eats out maybe 3 times a month; we don’t really enjoy eating our every single meal while on vacation.

And that is it! It is so easy to pack a small cooler (you will be amazed what you can fit inside!) and a lunch bag with fruits and pre made sandwiches for easy, on the road meals.

Going on vacation doesn’t have to wreck havoc in your wallet, or your health!

Be encouraged, friends! What foods do you pack for road trips?

January 20th ~

{Quiet in the Chaos}

by Meghan // January 4, 2014 // Comments off

Hectic.

Busy.

Joyful.

Exhausting.

Worrisome.

Bliss.

Chaotic.

Routine.

Those are words I would use to describe being a wife and mother. A stay at home mom, a work at home mom, a work from home mom, a homeschooling mom. It doesn’t matter.

We all struggle.

We all question our abilities.

We all fail.

And we all get back up, and try again.

We wipe tears. We kiss scraped knees. We comb {insert doll or stuffed animal name here}’s hair. We buy back up lovies. We cook hot meals for hungry bellies after a long day. We vacuum floors to keep dangerous things out of little mouths. We wash a million loads of laundry every week. We tend to sick babies {and daddies}.

My goal for this blog, is two fold. I want to do all those things joyfully. I want to serve my family without complaints, without huffs, without an “I deserve…” mentality. Because that isn’t why any of us were called to be mamas. We were called to serve our families, to serve God. So my first goal for this new blog, is to remind each of us to joyfully serve through the chaos.

My second goal here, is to remind you of the quiet. Be encouraged.

I once read that raising littles is so hard. It is all those things I listed at the top of this post, and more. It is absolutely mentally and physically exhausting, to give yourself 100% of the time to someone else, knowing the decisions you make today, will determine their tomorrows.

Ask for the quiet.

When it is crazy, when there is a baby boy at your feet crying “eat, eat” and signing please because breakfast is 15 minutes past his hunger alarm, and a three year old crying because there is a motorized Thomas the Train stuck in her hair, and a husband trying to get ready for work when he can’t find a pair of ironed pants …

Ask for the quiet.

God delivers. He hasn’t failed me yet. He hasn’t failed you yet. When I need a minute, just a minute to regroup, have a cup of coffee, and get off my feet, all I have to do is ask. And it comes.

There is quiet in the chaos. In the homeschooling day, in the rush to get out the door to work, in the business of working from home, and raising children who depend on you for everything, there is quiet in the chaos.

Be still and know that I am God ~Psalm 46:10

34-36 Weeks Baby Summary

by Meghan // May 10, 2013 // Comments off

*I have been building this post all week, so “today” isn’t actually today ….*

Max has grown by leaps and bounds in the last 5 days! He suddenly went for a bitty baby to a big boy! He is almost crawling (edit: AAAAh! He crawled 2 knees worth today!), waving hi, giving wide, slobbery, open mouthed kisses, and laughing more than ever. Tonight for bedtime was the first time he put his head on my shoulder and his arms around me while we sang for night night. I usually hold him like a baby while he sucks his thumb and winds down. He’s such a sweet bear. Today, he also went from the crawling position to sitting position for the first time.

…. see, lots of firsts!

He said Mama while we were playing downstairs, hiding out from the rain. I was so excited. He is trying really hard to talk. A lot. The past few days I have had the living room fan, he is mesmerized; and I know all babies love fans. But this boy like instantly smiles and is hypnotized by the fan! He likes to play games now, like throwing his head back so you will hold him upside down, and putting his chin up so you can tickle his neck. It’s so funny. These are all things Lexie was doing long before 8 months. But it’s like he just decided, “Hey, I think I’m ready to move and have fun!” Before, he was so lazy and laid back. He is still laid back, just enjoys moving around now.

He gets so excited and is so proud that he can get up and rock on his knees, push up on his toes, and crawl backwards sometimes. He will be crawling more by the weekend, we are sure! Lexie gets very excited with him. She likes to show him how to do it.

He really enjoys playing in the grass. One of the great things about having a real lawn, is he can play and feel the grass without the fear of stickers.

I have him his first asparagus this week. He loved it! He also likes dill pickles (did I mention that last time?) and blueberries.

Lexie has been the sweetest most affectionate two year old ever this last two weeks. She is constantly telling me how much she loves me, hugging my neck tight, kissing me, playing and teasing, loving on her bubby even more, and just growing more kind and loving every day. Lexie has a tender heart; she doesn’t like for other people to be hurt or upset, but has had her share of not being so nice (like a typical two year old)… Pushing, chasing the dog, hitting Max … terrorizing the chickens comes to mind too.

But lately she has been so affectionate. Last night we were doing bedtime routine, and she just wrapped her arms around my neck, hugged me and said, “i love you more than this much!”

I’m sure my monster toddler will return soon, but until then i will take all these loves i can get! Her new favorite *obsessive* topics to talk about are the things that make God happy, and being grateful. It’s wonderful to see Christ in your child’s life, even before they completely understand the implications of their relationship with Him.

sweet Mister Bear

reading her Bible outside

talking to her buddy

I can do it, I can do it!

Heh

She is crazy about her umbrella!

Mmmm Blueberries!

Yes, I like them!

monkey girl

Mama, look where I can climb!

I’m doing it!

Did you see me?!?!

Mommy and Lexie

water play!

Max Week 32/33 Summary.. and a huge photo bomb!

by Meghan // April 27, 2013 // Comments off

I wrote this entire post, and then it somehow was replaced with a duplicate of another post?! And now I am feeling very frustrated. So it’s going to be an abbreviated version of the original.

Max has just finished his 33rd week of life, and will be 34 weeks old (almost 8 months old) on Sunday.

Eating
He is eating better; I got his medicine flavored differently, and he takes it no problem now. He is eating everything except bananas. They still bother his tummy

Development
Max is standing better, sometimes without holding onto anything, and has become brave enough to take a few steps in the same spot he is standing (in other words, he doesn’t move, just picks up his feet). He has learned to fall onto his booty instead of his back, so there is a lot less crying going on now! Woo hoo

He says dada and has started trying to say mama. But it comes out na-na. He does this especially when he is hungry/while I’m making his bottle or food. Since he has started talking, he has stopped all that screeching. YAY He is still signing for milk, and has not picked up the sign for “more” or “please” yet, but I haven’t been very consistent.

We are in wonder week 37 territory. Naps have been short, but he isn’t too terribly cranky… it could be worse. This is supposedly a tough wonder week, so we will see. After this mental leap he will be able to categorize things in his environment, like milk and oatmeal are foods, jtom, lexie and I are his family at home vs people he doesn’t recognize, etc. He will start practicing crawling sometime after this leap (*edit* during the cat nap he refused this afternoon, he was up on his hands and knees rocking… so I guess the urge to start trying has begun).

It’s funny how different he and Lexie are; at this age she was raring to go, 24/7! She wanted to move, was loud, and wanted to talk to/get attention from everyone she saw. I remember my friend Whitney saying how determined Lexie was, and that’s true to this day. Max is more timid, laid back.. and you could say he is lazy. =) He is getting more and more excited about standing though; it’s really cute when he starts flapping his arms, smiling, and cheering for himself. He’s just a really sweet baby and is sensitive; but I do remember Lexie being sensitive too. She was scared easily by certain toys, noises, or faces. Max is the same in that aspect.

Lexie Raye
I had so many updates on her before I lost the original post, and now I can’t remember any of them! Ugh!

We still have engine friends, though the dinosaurs haven’t been back. She has been showing more interest in dinosaurs, so we may do a unit study on them this summer just for fun. Oh yea- she has finally stopped fighting baths. No more screaming or crying hysteria; and I was able, after many weeks, to convince her washing her hair in the sink would be fun! So now she will lay on the counter and let me wash her hair in the kitchen sink- I told her how my memaw washed my hair like that when I was a little girl. She really liked that and mentions it every time we wash her hair. She also enjoys bath time now; I plugged the hole in all her bath toys with hot glue (pinterest is useful, sometimes!) The black mold that came out of them freaked her out (uh … it would freak me out, too. but there was no way to keep them cleaned out). So, that is no longer a problem.

Mommy and “wittle Baby Essie”

Now I know how my parents felt when I sent my water back 7 times at a restaurant because there were “floaties in it.” She is the same way about anything she deems should not have dirt on/in it. But playing in or throwing dirt outside, laying down in mud, and eating bird seed are all A-Okay!

Suddenly, the crying at bedtime every night stopped. The first night we waited a few hours then went and checked on her. She had climbed into her rocking chair to sleep. We always put her down in her bed, but then she moves to the rocking chair. At bout 8:30 every night I go move her to the bed. I don’t care if she sleeps in the floor, as long as she stays in her room, off the couch, and out of our bed! Anyway, so that’s how she has been falling asleep for the last 2 weeks. Hopefully it is a phase that ends soon, and she will be comfortable falling asleep in her bed again. We don’t know what freaked her out about her bed, suddenly. She has started talking about things getting her. We have prayed with her about it, and emphasize that in our home she is safe; nothing is going to get her and that most of the things she is talking

about are pretend, not real. I’m sure it is part of a developmental phase; she is starting to realize there are real dangers in the world, but doesn’t know how to rationalize that idea yet.

Spring is finally here! YAY! Yesterday we went to the park for a lunch and play date with JTom. After nap we walked to the school and played on the playground there. This morning we went to the library for story time, then after lunch we went for a run. It is the first time I have ran since I was pregnant with Max, so it’s been about 16 months…? Yea. So, my calves were sore 10 minutes after we got back home! But a good sore and I enjoyed every minute of my run. I pushed them in the double jogger. We went to the disc golf park across from the house. There is a wide, paved track that goes all around; it’s very wind-y and has lots of inclines and hills. It was a good workout. We ran/walked 2 miles. My goal is to run 6-8 miles a week, more if weather permits. I love running and it makes me feel good.

proud Mister Bear

Yea, what’s up?

Hey, what’re yooou doing?

Hrm, I landed on my booty … what do I think of this?

Hey, Na-Na… what just happened?

Hrm…

Oh well, I’ll just rest my eyes a bit

Ha- just kidding!

putting her engines to night-night in their “hallway bed Tidmouth Sheds”

patting them and tucking them in to bed

night night engine!

“are you still in there?”

oh there you are!

Are you ready for wake up time?

upside down- washing her hair in the sink

Tomorrow we are going fishing! Woo Hoo! As much as JTom and I LOVE to fish, we have never taken Lexie. So tomorrow is the day! There is a really nice lake on the west side of town, so that’s where we are headed tomorrow. This next week we are going to keep tweaking our routine until we find something that really works best. I’m trying to get up earlier in the mornings to start my day, and be sure everything is picked up and in order before bed (which I’ve always done, but I’ve been slacking lately).

Here are a ton more pictures of our last week or two.

Dada!

this is a different day than all the other red diaper pics. This was the first day he stood with the activity table

April 26, 2013

Before Five in A Row: The Little Rabbit

by Meghan // April 27, 2013 // Comments off

You can find all the printables we used this week at Homeschool Creations.

We had a great week this week! We really rowed The Little Rabbit for two weeks, like we did the other books we have done. We really enjoy taking our time. =) The great thing is, this is all for fun for us at this age, so there is NO need to hurry.

Lexie really enjoyed doing our activities for The Little Rabbit; later in the week when I told her it was time for activities, her table in the living room suddenly looked like this:

That’s how much she enjoys it! At the beginning of the week, we began with the tracing sheets.

tracing the word “rabbit”

(I showed her how to trace on the first one, then she did the rest)

so serious!

We do the tracing sheets for fine motor practice. At 2.5 years old, I don’t expect anything we are doing to be perfect. But I do expect her to try, and always do her best. Here is my favorite activity we do with each book:

Beginning letter sounds. She got the ALL this time. I was really impressed; I said I don’t expect the things we are doing to be perfect or correct … but that’s kinda not true. I do expect the things she has already mastered to be done correctly, or close to it since I know she can. We all have moments we forget things, or confuse things. (especially me!) Anyhow, she got all the beginning letter sounds correctly on the capital sheet, and on the lower case I think she confused the letters b and d. I have a picture, but I can’t find it anywhere… I may have lost it when I moved it from the phone to the computer.

This is the matching game… the printables come with several different pictures from the book, some have the name under them, some do not. They have different activities to go along with each set. We don’t always use the sheets for their main purpose, simply because she may not be ready for that skill. But we do use them, even if it is just for identifying the letter, etc.

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This was a sorting sheet. I cut the squares, she glued them in place, either under “flowers” or “animals.” We talked about each one along the way, and where/if they were in the story.

This activity was labeling the parts of a turtle. So, I was really proud of this- I had cut each part out, and laid them out neatly. Then I touched each one and read aloud what it said. SO like, I would say “head” and point to the word head. Then, we looked at the turtle and I asked her what part of the body I was pointing to. She replied with the correct answer… but then I asked which label we needed and SHE ALWAYS CHOSE THE CORRECT ONE! And after she picked it up, she would say, “/h/ /h/ This one says “head!” Shut. up. I was so proud of her. Some she remembered from me pointing to them, but she identified the ones she didn’t remember by sounding out the first letter and matching it to the body part with the same beginning letter sound.

We also practiced cutting this week. She got scissors in her spring basket, so we decided to put them to some (more) use. While getting my B.S.E in early childhood education, we were taught you always put the pencil, crayon, scissors, etc in front of the center of the child’s body. This way they can grab the object with the hand they prefer to use, versus you putting it in their right or left hand, when that may not be the one they are naturally inclined to use. Lexie is still on showing a hand dominance. Looking at the pages above, you may think she is obviously right handed. But often times she uses her left hand for things, and gets a much better result than when she uses her right. The pictures below are from her cutting paper using her left hand. When she used her right, she couldn’t quite get the feel of opening and closing the scissors, and her cuts were short and choppy. When she used her left, this was the result:

I tried to get a picture of her mouth (but couldn’t) When she opened the scissors, she opened her mouth as wide as she could, too. Very cute.

Usually by 2 or 3 children start showing signs of hand dominance. I am still unsure which Lexie will use. When handing her a crayon or scissors, I always put them either on the table in front of her, or hand them to her at the center of her body. Sometimes I even have her put her hands by her side, then take the object from me, to see which she will use. Sometimes she uses her right, sometimes her left… and sometimes she will grab something with her right, but then move it to her left. So we will see. Handedness is an important part of formal writing, which isn’t a stage we are remotely close to. But before a child can be expected to write correctly, or neatly (which is required in kindergarten in public school), they need to have established consistent handedness. We have quite sometime before she has to be ready for all that.

The book itself was a wonderful little book about a girl who gets a pet rabbit. She names her buttercup. Buttercup has seven baby bunnies (which are oh. so. cute) and the little girl names them after the days of the week. Lexie and I thought this was very creative- we love the days of the week and months of the year! What’s different about the book, is it’s all done in real photographs instead of hand or computer illustration. For a little over $2 brand new on Amazon, it is a good addition to your library, we definitely recommend it!