Mom's travel tips 101::

Tuesday, 17 November 2009

Thursday is coming quick!!!

We leave for Florida on Thursday!!!!! You know that used to evoke a bit of a panic in my innards.....your know quivering, nervousness, anxiety. Either I am totally insane or we've gotten used to making the Florida trip. I hope it's the later. Even though it's only once a year, I think we've gotten the hang of it. Here are a few tips we use:

• Don't leave home without a portable DVD player and a new Never watched before video, as well as your child's favorites. This time I bought "UP". I've read good reviews about it, hope it's good!
• Especially these days pack your child's favorite snacks (and don't forget to deprive them of those the week before so they REALLY like them when they see them again! No I am not kidding about that!
• I always run out and get the kids a few new things they've never seen before...this time it was a new set of bendaroos, paperoni, an etch n sketch for Jonah and a little handheld educational game thingie for Ellie. Don't spend a lot of money, but a few new things really help!
• Hands on activities are a must! If you can manage it, a few coloring/cutting/glueing activities could take a few hours for my kids. This time we are studying the Pilgrims and their voyage to the New World, the First Thanksgiving......cornucopia craft time here we come! Also got a little playdough that came with a little hand held squeeze thing (very small and $2!!!) Of couse the classic coloring book and crayons are great, they even have these little magic pen books at Wal-Mart that the kids both love as well!
  
• New books (this time I found some that Jonah can begin to read himself) as well as a chapter book or two.....those are long for a reason! I'd rather read a long book than the same one over and over again for 7 hours! I think we are going to pack the Secret Garden this time...or another Boxccar Children (they really love those)!

The best part this time is the kids are big enough to carry their own backpacks! I am pretty excited about that! We usually have to carry everyone's stuff but this time they are thrilled to have their own bags! I am going to pack them up Wed night and hide things all throughout the pockets so it's a surprise when they find things! Our first flight leaves at 11pm so we're hoping they sleep the first flight and then we've only got 4 hours to entertain!

I also made these little tray table covers. I had this idea last year and when I googled them and found someone had already thought of them it was kind of a bummer...but hey, I still made them for us. I used whatever scrap material I had around and only paid $2.50 for the vinyl.......and here we are:

There are 5 pockets total, Two on one side have velcro to keep things in like pens and crayons, the three on the other side are open for sippy cups, juice boxes, snack bags etc....

The top is has a vinyl layer that is open so you can slide paper underneath and write with EXPO markers, or eat on the vinyl surface and wipe it off!

I added velcro to the underneath in case you have a different sized tray table you can adjust the cover!
Just pretend the box is a tray table!


It's hard to see the vinyl but....it's there!



All ready to load and go!

They really didn't take me too long to design and put together. Now off to that long long list of items to accomplish before we set sail....I mean take off!

Better late than never!

Friday, 06 November 2009

Just cause.......

Jonah on his way to find the right Pumpkin.......

The girls and their choices.....

Two confused Pumpkin pickers.......

The clan.....

Our First Visit to the Pumpkin Patch

It wasn't just a first for the kids....it was a first for me too! And for the most part it was fun BUT.......it was really really hot. I got totally fried in the 90 degree weather and left there LONGING for some cold, chilly fall, leave-changing weather. But hey, this is where we are, at least we get a little of the fall activities even if we miss out on the weather.

It was dusty, and scorching but we still managed to find some great pumpkins to carve later in the week, took a dusty bumpy hot hay ride....and ate shave ice!!! Yup we did. I have some photos somewhere....but I can't find my camera at the moment....really need to do that.

Well I finally got all of Jonah's MBT Academy figured out.....I think. I think I mentioned before I really think enrolling in this Charter school is going to be the best of both worlds for us! I have always loved school and Jonah has always shown an interest in going to an actual school, and this way we get a little of both. For the most part I get to implement our curriculum, including "Faith Based". We ordered a new curriculum from Sonlight (though we started with Lifepac from Alpha-Omega) and it seems to have a classical feel to it, which I am excited about. The online teacher then assigns one thing a week ( don't even think they are all required but we'll do them anyway) and along with the assignment comes a webclass and a Face to Face class. So twice a month (at least) Jonah will be able to go down to the Academy and take part in a traditinal classroom setting! The Academy also schedules 2 Fieldtrips a month for the kids to be included in and I can bring along ALL the kids with me! I'm pretty excited. It took me all of last week to get everything squared away and understand what was going on...but I think we are really going to love this. And if not.....we'll go back to doing in ourselves next year!

Friday was the first of 17 Furlough Days here in Hawaii. Although it'll be hard to make up for the lost wages, I really enjoyed having Dave home an extra day. This Friday and next are also Furlough Fridays....can't wait! It gives us an extra day for family time and just to get things done that we normally wouldn't have the time to! And I think it helped me relax a little more this weekend and face a new week with a better attitude!

It's taken me all the way until now to really feel like I have a handle on both the homeschooling and the house as well as the rest of what I am responsible for. I am still behind on sewing but I am working up to that slowly!

Can I just throw in here I totally don't feel pregnant? Other than crying at silly things here and there. I still have had no morning sickness, no cravings (except a little OJ), nothing....I didn't even bloat out like I normally do. In the back of my mind I get a little worried about this, only because the girls made me sick and tired....no pun intended......but Jonah's pregnancy was a breeze so maybe that's a sign........I'm 12 weeks along so Friday we should be able to pick up the baby's heartbeat on a dopler. Praying for healthy baby beats!

I recieved a Once-A-Month-Cooking Cookbook from a friend at church yesterday. I had heard of it, and wanted to give it a try when Gracia was born but never got around to it. But after spending some time today looking at this book I am so excited to start trying this out! Talk about simplifying one more thing in my life!!!!! I am going to get things prepped to try some cooking this Friday. I may not do an entire month, depending on how much freezer room we actually have!! But I am going try it!

Tonites trial recipe:

Nan's Indonesian Pork

1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
2 1/2 t chopped garlic
1/2 t crushed red pepper
pork loin
12 oz can of pineapple ice cream topping (gonna used crushed pineapple instead)

Mix soy sauce, PB, garlic and red pepper

bake the pork loin, 350 for 1 hour 20 minutes

Stir sauce, pineapple and 3/4 c of juices from roasting pan, heat to boiling, reduce heat simmer for 5 minutes pour over pork loin and serve.

I dunno....sound pretty yummy!!!

Crazy Lazy Monday

Okay so we did NO school today.

This past weekend wasn't particularly rough.....but yesterday I got up at 3:30 am and made it to the church by 4:30am to meet 13 other ladies and do the Race for the Cure in support of Breast Cancer Research. I've never done anything like that but I so enjoyed myself!!! It was so worth getting up so early and getting to fellowship with the other ladies from the church. We've got a great group there!
Before:


After:


It was a 5K...maybe next year I'll jog instead of walk! Though it was fun just to have an hour to gab!

SO today just never happened. I was productive though in getting all sorts of other curriculum ready and planned though. Found yet another great resource of homeschooling. It's a bit pricey at $99 for a year subscription BUT if you have kids in different grades, this site ranges from PreK-6th grade and it's everything from Evan-Moor publications. You can get Units premade, games, learning centers, activities, crafts.....seriously ANYTHING. I think it's well worth $99 a year. You can sign up for a FREE 3 day membership to check everything out too! Go to Teacherbox.com and check it out if you are looking for great additions to any curriculum. I just printed out some great units and centers on Spiders (for after we finish Charolett's Web) and an intro to history and Ancient History for our History lessons! I plan on laminating some of the components and letting the kids use dry erase markers instead of printing out multiple pages!

I got Jonah's new curriculum ordered for Kindergarten through MBTA, but I went ahead and ordered some 1st grade reading curriculum beause the poor kid is bored out of his mind. So hopefully we'll get him interested in ths new curriculum! I know it's a little late to switch but hey. We went with the Sonlight curriculum. I liked that it has a classical approach as well and it comes with tons of resources and a complete curriculum. SO manu Kindergarten curriculums only come with Language Arts and Math! But both of the kids really love learning sciene and Italian and other subjects. Those subjects end up being a reward for finishing OTHER work!

I also read through Sue Patrick's workbox System handbook over the weekend and really love the way she approaches organizing for homeschooling! It has excited the kids the few days we've used it. I can't wait to keep going!

Tomorrow is a new day.....and we'll start new then!

PS.....we did go on an hour long bike ride and located a crown flower tree WITH lots of caterpillars on it!!!

Reorganizing!

It seems like ever since Jonah came down with Cerebellitis life had turned into a face paced crazy tailspin and it hasn't slowed down. There have been so many changes, additions, beginnings......I can't seem to slow down or catch up....which ever would bring me to the present would be nice. I suppose life is that way perpetually. Dynamic and exciting even when you yearn for boring.....or at least a quite hour to lose yourself in a book. And though I wouldn't change things, I do feel like my life needed some major reorganizing lately. So that's what we've been up to.

I got a little tired searching for my homeschool supplies and book in four different places. It was a little stressful and frustrating at times. So Saturday we cleaned out all the kids toys (tossing and donating) in their rooms as well as the downstairs closet. Under the stairs is officially a toy-free homeschool haven. I go and sit under there just to have a peaceful place to go! It's wonderful. All curriculum, books, educational manipulatives, puzzles, games, craft supplies......EVERYTHING is now neatly stored, easily axcessable, and easy to find!!!!

I also bought a laminator, alright truth be told I bought 2...a cold one on a roll and a heat one that uses sheets...and YES I needed both! I make so many games and things for the kids it's nice to be able to preserve them and reuse them over and over without them getting ruined! SO I've had a little fun with that for a few days!

Part of my organizing is adding a workbox system to our homeschooling. I used to prep everything and lay everything out on the table and just shuffle through it. Not the greatest system! I was purusing a blog called Homeschool Creations and found this article on Workboxes, and even without reading the book on how to do it and why it works......I was sold. I made my own little system and can't wait to use it tomorrow! My baskets are already filled with goodies!!!

Numbered baskets filled with different activities for the kids


Basket #10...love those sticky velcro dots! I've seen other Moms make this into a workbooks system using folders instead. I love the baskets though because we do so many hands on activities, games, crafts etc. Jonahs curriculum has thick workbooks and teacher's manuals that we work with and they all fit right in there! Science experiments, art....whatever!


This is Jonah's schedule so he can see what we are working on that day, what's to come, and how much we have until we are finished with our day!


Under each tag is a number, directing the child to where they can find the work!


For Bible Jonah will find a devotional book, a Bible lesson and a craft!


A bunch on workbox tags for every thing you can think of! Laminated of course!!!! You can download ones from the blog linked above or make your own! I did both!

I haven't actually used the workboxes though I've filled them with the kids work for tomorrow! I whole heartedly believe this will make our day so much easier and smoother! Can't wait to update you on how it goes!

Well it's almost nine and the kids are still up runing around....I'm going to try and update my blog more often. I've missed blogging! I've missed having an online journal and scrapbook of what we are doing and learning and living! My little Gracia is growing up fast and not being photographed nearly enough! We've got some catching up to do folks!

Welcome back!

It's been a while, I apologize for slipping off the globe for a while. I have so much to catch up on.

We were side swiped a week ago by a little thing called life.

I went it to have a hernia repaired for the second time, and while I was recovering we received a call that my oldest child and only son was having trouble walking, standing, sitting, etc. It's been a really rough week.

He was released from the hospital yesterday afternoon, but still has months of recovery to go. The doctors have said he has a virus induced kind of Ataxia. This means he has lost most of his muscle control making it hard for him to do anything on his own requiring muscle coordination from walking to talking.

It's been a pretty devastating week in someways and so uplifting in others, we've never felt the Grace and peace of God as I have this week, seen His hand in all of the healing that is taking place in Jonah, and seen his people move as Christ would have. Supporting us and praying for us like I've never experienced.

It will likely take him a few months to fully recover from the Ataxia. There are no medications or treatments that will cure this, only time and some physical therapy. And of course prayer!!!!

Other than that I apologize for seeming to be so irresponsible in responding to emails and getting those samples mailed off! I am so excited about getting our name out, but obviously some things come first! Thanks in advance for your understanding!

I also have a flip video review to post and one for Fuzzibuns as well...both I can't wait to get to! Those will be coming in the next few weeks or so.

for more posts on Jonah you can visit: http://hawaiianheldts.xanga.com/weblog

Broken, battered and bruised

The only thing that comes after the pain and the heartache is the healing.

My heart is in pain, my stomach, my spirit is in pain, my emotions, my psyche, my physical self. I ache all over. I can barely move myself around the house. Yes we are home.

Since yesterday at 2:30pm Jonah started keeping food down and making remarkable improvements, and with his healing, my wounds are open and layed bare waiting for the scabs and scars to start forming.

I have been a physical and emotional mess since yesterday. I can hold it together for short periods of time until the tornado of emotions flare up. I vacillate on a teeter-totter or joy and sorrow. I have boughts from a few tears to outright sob ,uncontrollable outpouring of the bottled up emotions that have been hiding deep within this last week. This is one roller coaster I hope God destroys.

I can't even describe to you the utter feeling of helplessness that accompanies a call that your son can't walk, to be in your own state of emergency and no be able to run to your child's side where he needs you. To hear him calling your name in confusing and fear and not be able to get to him. It was horrible. Then to walk into the the hospital room and see your vibrant, talkative, energetic, bright boy reduced to almost nothing of what he was like just a few days prior. I felt instantly like I had lost him. I had lost him. Though he was here in body and he was alive, he was not my little Jonah. His eyes flashed and the corners of his mouth curved up when he saw me and I KNEW he was as excited as I was to be in his presence. But my neck missed his little arms wrapped around me, the whisper of an I love you in my ear. The unknown as huge as a gaping ugly hole between us. To put it mildly I was devastated.

I couldn't even enjoy his little smile, the way his eyes curved under those huge brown jewels, the way his cheeks piled up to form little apples and his chin pointed down in mystery. It was gone. No laugh, no joy as his name suggests.

And in the same wordlessness I have for describing those feelings are also the feelings of utter peace and grace bestowed upon us by our Creator. It is truly indescribable. It does indeed surpass all understanding, it was the only thing what was holding me up. Literally allowing enough strength to survive the day, the doctors rambling, the vomiting, the pain, all of it. I pray now for that same peace to continue to cloak us and guard our hearts, we need it so badly.

Some of the sobbing today is from utter relief, though our ordeal is far from over, we are on the upswing. It is so hard to hear Jonah speak so slowly and labored when he used to talk a mile a minute! My heart aches for all the time I asked him to stop talking or got irritated at the endless questions he would ask. I watch him so proudly sit up on his own for a few seconds before falling back, and my heart aches for the times I wised he would sit still and not run around like a monkey. All the things that I've done and said without thinking, without regard to the blessing my kids are to me, taking them for granted fully. I have. For the times I wished I could have a break, take a vacation. For the times I've been so irritated by their antics. I've cried, I've begged God to not let me forget this experience in light of that. To take all these moments and cherish them, even the most simple ones. I so easily could have been robbed of all that.

What is really important in this life is before me in these little blessings. The other sobs came from overwhelming joy that Jonah was healing, that he is getting better everyday, that God hears and answers our prayers to make his little body better. So many parents don't come home with their child, as we did. Even though life will be different for a while and we have lots of adjustments to make, he is here, and he is still the vibrant gift of God given to us almost 5 years ago, even if he moves and speaks a bit slower for a while.

Now this mess of a Mom needs to go crawl in bed.

for more posts on Jonah please visit: http://hawaiianheldts.xanga.com/weblog