Adventures Of Home Life

A Personal Moment

2012-02-13T11:40:00.002-05:00

I don't usually share a lot of personal stuff about my family on this blog. I do, however, share things that I have experienced and think may be helpful, especially if it's something I think other families may be struggling with. One such situation happened this weekend, and I wanted to share it because it shows that sometimes we overlook the most basic of things as we strive for "more."

This weekend, in order to prepare him for the changes, I had a talk with The Older about Tuesday being my last day of work. I explained that this meant changes in going places, doing things, and that it was going to be an adjustment because we aren't used to a strict budget that has to be followed. I was anticipating lots of questions, frustration at the idea of not doing the things he's used to doing, sadness at the possibility of not going the places we usually go and not being able to buy things just because we want them... However, he completely surprised me! His eyes got huge, and he said, "So, you'll be free all the time now to do stuff?" I told him for the most part yes, and he threw his arms around me saying, "Then I only want to go to camp three days a week this summer so that I can be with you and sis and Daddy. This is the best day ever!" Here I was thinking he'd be upset that we were going to have to scale back, and all he could think about was the time we're going to be together!

This was one of those moments that verified that it's all been worth it. The struggling, the worrying about money, the fear that I couldn't get it all done... Here's a kid who is beyond thrilled that we're going to be spending time as a family and doing mundane things versus taking a week to go on vacation, or going out and playing games at Chuck E Cheese, buying new videos, etc. And, the fact that it was his first thought and so pure in nature, I know it came from his heart. He didn't even have to think about what he should say, he just said it.

So, the next time you can't afford something that your child wants or you feel guilty because you feel your child isn't "getting what they should," look into their eyes. I can guarantee that the love they feel for you because you're there standing in front of them, loving them unconditionally, is the only thing they need... and the only thing that matters in the deepest part of their souls.

Make Your Own Bird Feeders

2012-02-12T18:02:00.000-05:00

It was freezing here in Florida today, so I really wanted to do things inside with the kids. I decided to incorporate something that I've wanted to have here at the house with a project both The Older and The Younger could do, so we made kid-friendly bird feeders!

I started with an empty soda bottle and juice bottle. I traced the "entry point" with a black pen, cut it out, and then I marked a dot about 1/2 inch below that for the perch (to add when we were done decorating).

After that, I punctured the bottle top so I could add the string for hanging when we were ready with everything.

I then set the kids up with supplies for decorating! I figured glue and colored paper to start, and then they could move on to stamps or whatever if they wanted more to do.

The Older cut out a bunch of paper but then got sidetracked, so it was only The Younger who finished hers.... Anyway, we let it dry when she was done decorating her bottle, and then we filled it with sunflower seeds.

Then it was time to hang the finished product!

As you can see, we used an unsharpened pencil for the perch. You can use a chopstick or something similar as well, and the string just goes through the bottle top and knots on the inside part of it. Then you pick your branch and tie it off. Easy!

Some thoughts:

Just make an X incision for the perch. If you cut out an actual hole, the pencil (or whatever) might slide around too much. With an X, it will be harder to push the wood through, but it will hold it steady so you won't send the bird into a spin when it lands.
Cutting the juice bottle was definitely harder than the soda bottle. I'd stick to a soda bottle when we do this again.
Be very careful when cutting! I used a sharp knife to start each cut by slicing into the plastic, then finished off with scissors. I almost lost a finger (okay, just some skin, but still...) trying to push the scissors through the bottle first.
The bottle tops were the hardest part to cut. I made an X on the top of those too, and it takes a lot of strength to slice through the plastic. The way I did it may or may not have involved a knife, pair of scissors, and hammer, and there may or may not have been some swearing and some tears. (This part will need some fine tuning in the future).

I cannot stress enough being careful when you cut the plastic. Remember, when the plastic gives, whatever you're cutting with with push right through to the other side. You want to be on a cutting board or other hard surface, and cutting away from yourself!

Playing with Pictures

2012-02-09T09:36:00.000-05:00

Valentine's Day Craft for Kids

2012-02-07T11:25:00.000-05:00

I had so much fun with this. I wasn't sure exactly what I was looking for when I went to Dollar Tree, but I got some ideas while I was there. The first one was this:

Different sized paper plates of any color (I chose red and pink)
Either construction paper for cutting shapes out, or pre-made Valentines day foam cutouts
Glue
Ribbon (optional, depending on how you want to display the craft)

She had a blast, and all we did was decorate the smaller plate, then glued it inside the bigger plate. The Younger decided to decorate that as well, and now it's drying. From here we're going to punch a hole in the top, then hang it from the roof of our porch. But, really you can do anything with it, even make it a full-sized Valentine for someone.

Madder Than I Thought

2012-01-30T15:01:00.003-05:00

I usually don't use this blog for venting, but I had to get this out before it choked me. I only put it here because I know a lot of you are struggling with the diagnoses your children have and with medical agencies/personnel, and this has a lot to do with those issues. I thought venting about what's happened to us might show you that you are not alone in your frustrations!

I used to work for a nonprofit agency. We worked with the mentally ill (my department was responsible for the criminally insane and incompetent to proceed to trial felons), and we were funded through our local DCF office. We had to account for everything we did through activity logs, and each action we completed had a different code attached to it. There were all sorts of codes for client care, and there was even one for administration duties. We couldn't bill outright for those, but we had to have one for things like paperwork and certain other non-direct client work.

I'll get to the point in a minute, but I also want to add this: It's no secret that The Older has been diagnosed with a few challenging disorders recently, both physical and mental. I've been working very hard at keeping things in order, making the right decisions, and doing everything by the book so that he doesn't have to suffer the ill-effects of anything. He has a pulmonologist, a neurologist, an audiologist, and soon a speech therapist. He wears hearing aids. He has to take 3 different medications every day, and he has to see at least 3 different doctors a month. There is unyielding paperwork to fill out, calls to make, appointments to drive to, and specialists he has to see both in and out of school. He has handled it all wonderfully, and I think The Daddy and I have been doing a great job keeping communication between us, the school, and all his doctors open and honest. There are a lot of days that we all want to throw up our hands and say "screw it all!" but we don't because it isn't an option. We continue forward because this is the life we have, and we will get through all off its complexity as a family, tears and all.

Anyway, I was told about a great subcategory to Medicaid in November, and I jumped at the chance to get The Older assigned. Basically there are a group of 'approved physicians' in this group, and each child is assigned a nurse care coordinator. They are your 'go to' guy in this maze of health care, and you call them with questions or if you think something should be getting done that isn't. You can, I'm sure, understand why I was so excited about this, right? Someone to help me keep everything organized and someone medically trained who could give me advice and suggestions? SIGN US UP! I ran around to get paperwork, fill it out, get it to them in time for the next month's enrollment, and then called to follow up daily. I was thrilled when we were approved for December, and I was finally able to breathe a bit easier.

Until January anyway, because as of January 1st, the State dropped The Older from Medicaid. I was given little notice, and I was frantic because we're talking thousands of dollars a month sometimes that our guy needs in the form of therapy and doctors and such! This meant getting him approved for the State health care, and you can't apply for that until your child isn't covered by insurance. So, that's a minimum month of no coverage.

But, that isn't even what upset me. What absolutely makes my gut churn are these "professionals" who claim to love children and want the best for them, who sit there and hug you while you cry and promise they will do anything they can for your child... But they fail to mention that it's only if they can bill your insurance! If they can't, they basically forget your child even existed, let alone sat in their office for hours at a time and grew to trust them because they promised they would make their lives better. They can't even bother with a phone call to let you know they're aware of what happened and ask if there's anything you need from them. I called and emailed just about every person who claimed to be "invested" in my son, and not one person bothered to get back to me. No one returned my call when I left a message begging for help because I was so lost, and not one "professional" bothered to contact me to see if there was anything that could be done in the meantime so that The Older didn't get confused or behind with his therapy, or suffered from not being medicated. You know who did call me? Office staff to tell me that since they ran his Medicaid for his upcoming appointment and saw it was discontinued, they went ahead and cancelled his appointment because they were sure that I didn't want to just reschedule seeing as there was no upcoming insurance for him.

I can't even begin to describe how repulsed I am by all of this. When I was working, even if something was 'non-billable,' I made calls to people who left me messages about their families. I made calls after cases were closed if people had questions, and I made damn sure all of my clients were taken care of before I closed their cases at all, even if it was on my own time! The fact that these people can just ignore someone who is in need, let alone when that person is a child, makes it hard for me to see them as professionals, let alone human beings. The fact they can just close his file and see him as a "non-billable consumer of care" makes me nauseous. Thankfully we pulled through and made sure The Older was taken care of and got what he needed, but the fact remains that I am beyond disappointed by these people that I trusted with something more precious to me than my own life. They failed. Horribly.

Of course now comes the question of how on earth I am going to continue a working relationship with these doctors. I have to for The Older's sake because, like it or not, they've been there since the beginning and really are the best in their fields, but I am so furious that I worry about how I'm going to handle it all. Mostly with the nurse coordinator I fear, because to me she's the most despicable of them all...

Kumquat Festival

2012-01-29T09:49:00.000-05:00

This weekend we attended one of my favorite events in Florida, the Kumquat Festival in Dade City. It's the last weekend in January every year, and we've been there ever year we've been married, except one year when it was raining and cold. You never know how the weather is going to be, so it's always an adventure! This weekend we lucked out, and the weather was absolutely gorgeous.

There were tons of people there, and the kids had a great time. They got free balloons from the Kumquat growers, and both of them got new outfits (out of necessity due to poor planning). I think their favorite 'booth' was the greyhound rescue booth where they were able to hug and pet all the dogs.

If you're ever in the area during the end of January, I highly recommend this event. You can browse and/or shop, eat, and there's even kumquat wine to sample.

Random Thought

2012-01-25T10:23:00.000-05:00

Someone said something awhile ago, and I didn't even really notice it until someone else pointed it out. I didn't "get it" at first, but with our new way of economizing, it's made a lot of sense to me, and it's helped me change my thinking and my emotional reactions.

"I choose not to spend my money on that."

Sounds so silly, but WOW does it work. I've found that by using that mentality, not spending money on something makes me feel empowered rather than deprived. We all have choices, and I could very easily take out a credit card and charge whatever I wanted at that moment. However, by making the conscience decision to not hand over my plastic or cash, well, I'm in control. Isn't that what we all want anyway, to be in control? It's made things a lot nicer, if only in my own head

Bubble Wrap Valentine's Day Craft

2012-01-23T11:16:00.000-05:00

We have this big roll of bubble wrap here in our garage, and I've been trying to come up with a way to use it. I've heard great things about painting with bubble wrap, so I decided to try this today with The Younger. I cut some bubble wrap into a square and then set out the tempera paint and some brushes.

I put each color in a separate Dixie cup, and then showed her how to paint the bubbles. She was so excited! I should have known that the activity would take a different turn, and it did. She just wanted to mix all the colors in the cups, so I let her go to town and do whatever she wanted. Messy? Yes. Fun? Yes yes yes!!!!

This is her final masterpiece. She loved the way the colors mixed, and I have to say I think it's pretty amazing myself. Biased maybe, but whatever ;-)

I was going to cut this into a heart shape, but then I had a much better idea. I cut hearts out of construction paper, lay them on the bubble wrap, and then lifted them up to create these:

She had a great time doing this, and she was thrilled that I didn't have to "destroy" her final masterpiece after all...

Valentine Heart Craft for Kids

2012-01-20T10:16:00.000-05:00

I wanted to get a jump on Valentines Day because lately I seem to be surprised when holidays roll around. This year I'm hoping to do handmade valentines for The Older's classmates, and I thought about what would be easy and fun for him.

This seemed like an easy Valentines Day craft for preschoolers and older kids, so I set up The Younger and let her go to work to test my theory. Supplies are easy:

Glitter Glue
Tempera Paint
Construction Paper
Marbles
Plastic Cups (or other containers)
Box or Baking Dish or Bucket
Scissors

I put the paint/glue into different plastic cups, then placed a marble in. I cut out some hearts, lined the bottom of our plastic bucket, and then The Younger chose which color she wanted to use. I dropped the marble in the bucket on top of the heart, and then she rolled the marble back and forth to make designs on the hearts.

When we were done, we set the finished products out to dry. She's excited to hang them up when they're done, and I think I might string them together and hang them from the window. For the classroom, I think I'll have The Older write his message on the hearts in marker, then do the designs... Or maybe the other way, with the design first? I'm not sure. Always up for experimenting!

Clearwater Beach, Florida

2012-01-19T09:39:00.000-05:00

This week the weather finally warmed up enough, so I took the kids to Clearwater Beach in the late morning. It was wonderful to be out in the sun and hear the surf against the sand again! The kids had so much fun playing on the playground (they have a great one over by Pier 60), digging in the sand, and The Older had a chance to fly his kite! Thank you, Dollar Tree, for having the kites available 'off season.'

There were some tears when we had to leave, but once I pointed this guy out, all sadness was forgotten as we watched him soar across the water. I'm glad my children can still see the magic in their surroundings and appreciate nature :-)

Disney Movies

2012-01-16T10:07:00.000-05:00

With my dad in the hospital this past week, I wasn't able to prepare activities for the kids like I usually do. I was so pressed for time, and my anxiety was so high, I really wasn't able to do what I wanted for them. However, I did want to provide some sort of normalcy for them and give them some quality time too, I so pulled out my favorite Disney movie, Snow White.

With the kids at such different points in their lives, sometimes it's hard to find a movie that will hold both of their interests. The Older is 8 and, "too old for princesses. Plus, kissing is gross!" and The Younger is bored by "real people" and anything that doesn't have at least one cartoon character or computer animated things. For some reason though, any and all Disney movies will hold their attention. I can always count on laughter and good times when we watch Disney movies! (Although, to be honest, if there's kissing, The Older will still cover his eyes with a loud, "Ew, gross!").

Since I didn't have time to sit with them and watch a full movie, I read through Disney's movie night tips and picked a few I knew they'd have fun with. They loved the idea of making their own movie tickets and 'selling' refreshments! That was a game all in itself, and it was nice to have them play together and enjoy the whole experience.

There are so many great Disney movies out there, I can't even keep up. I have thought about joining the Disney Movie Club recently, especially since they have a deal offering 4 Disney DVDs for $1.00 total with free shipping and handling. We're trying to cut costs as a family, but to me this is totally worth it, especially since the kids love the movies! It will actually end up saving us money and give us a great activity to do as a family. I'm all about that!

Easy Math Game and Number Recognition for Preschoolers

2012-01-11T10:51:00.001-05:00

Things are crazy here on the home front right now, so I'm trying to come up with quick and easy activities that will keep The Younger busy yet having fun. I came up with something today that fit the bill and wanted to share it. There is some great learning behind this!

I gathered:

Index cards (but you can use any paper).
Black marker.
Set of dice.

I numbered the cards 1-12 and lay them on the table. I had The Younger roll the dice, count the dots, and then find the numbered card that matched the number she had counted. She loved it!

Number recognition, counting, and some adding that she didn't even know that she was doing. So easy too! Definite activity for the future :-)

Orange Creamsicle Using Real Oranges

2012-01-08T09:07:00.000-05:00

I do not like fruit. The only fruit I can tolerate (usually) are green apples, and even then it takes a lot of convincing for me to eat them. I asked on Facebook for advice about how to get more fruit in my diet, and a few people who responded advised me to try smoothies. Since I am not a yogurt fan either, I didn't even give it a thought until I noticed we had a lot of oranges hanging around in my kitchen, and there were likely going to rot before anyone ate them. Which is a tragedy. Because I hate wasting food.

Enter the smoothie. Since I had no idea about how to make one other than blending yogurt and fruit, I went ahead and searched for my blender. Which was not in the kitchen. Which means, I can only assume, that it's still packed in a box somewhere. No biggie, because I have a Magic Bullet that I used to make The Younger's baby food and that was unpacked (not sure how that happened, but oh well.)

Best. Smoothie. Ever. Um, I can only assume since it's the only one I've ever had, but still! Seriously, I had one as a snack yesterday for the first time (with a few oops), and I had one for breakfast this morning. I had both The Older (who hates yogurt and fruit too), and The Younger (who admittedly eats everything) taste it. Both of their eyes grew wide, and The Older even exclaimed, "I want one when we get home from church!"

INGREDIENTS:

Juice from one (or how ever many you want) oranges. I cannot stress enough the importance of removing all the seeds. I didn't and in my first smoothie I bit into one and it was really, really bitter and messed up the whole experience. I actually peeled, de-seeded, blended, and strained the juice this time.
1/2 to 1 cup of vanilla yogurt. I used Cabot Greek Yogurt for mine. This is depending on how many people are having smoothies, of course. Add more if more people are drinking. If you're sticking to the 1/2 to 1 cup, I found that one orange was a good balance.
1 cup ice.
If you like a more bitter/citrus flavor, you can put some orange zest in as well.

Blend all ingredients, and there you have it: A great creamsicle-flavored smoothie! It would be great in the summer too, and I have visions of sitting by the poolside with one of these, perhaps with an umbrella and some sort of 'adult' additive?

Bubble Time

2012-01-07T10:51:00.001-05:00

We needed to do something outside today! With the cold weather this week, I've been hiding out indoors, but I can only take so much of that without going pure stir crazy. Since The Younger has been begging to blow bubbles the past few days, I decided that could be their activity for the morning. The Older had gotten a "Bubble Thing" from ~~Chinaberry~~ Santa, and I knew he'd want to play with that, so I pulled it out of his pile of goodies.

We set it up quickly, and I did a test bubble to show him how it worked. From there, he took over, and now an hour later, both of them are still outside blowing bubbles!

Here he is getting ready

Get set


GO!

Once he got the hang of it, he had a blast! It was amazing to see the concentration and his ability to be deliberate in his movements, especially since he isn't on his medication (calm and deliberate are not easy for him even when he is taking his medication, even though he really tries).

After their "bubble battle," they concentrated on making As Big As You Can Make Them bubbles, and that's what they're still doing. Play on...

If you're looking for an inexpensive thing to do with your kids that will provide (seriously!) hours of fun for them, I highly suggest picking the Bubble Thing up. It's great!

Small Motor Skills Activity for Toddlers/Preschoolers

2012-01-04T10:38:00.000-05:00

Today it is freezing here in Florida! I don't even mean "cold," I mean honest-to-goodness freezing. I am not taking The Youngest outside, so I had to find some things to do with stuff I had laying around the house. I gathered up a plastic strainer and some pipe cleaners and let her go to town.

She got right into the groove of putting the pipe cleaners in the different holes, bending and shaping them how she wanted them.

The hardest part for her was the fine motor skill task of putting one side of the pipe cleaner in one hole and then trying to get the other end into a different hole without having the pipe cleaner slip out of the original space. It took quite a while and some obvious frustration, but she got it!

And she was so proud of herself! I love watching her accomplish things :-)

Right now she's marching up and down the hallway with her completed artwork/sculpture on her head and declaring herself the marching band leader. I love their imaginations...

New Year

2012-01-01T15:55:00.001-05:00

I hope you all had a happy and safe new year's night. We didn't go out but rather chose to have my MIL and her BFF over for the evening to roast marshmallows and toast the new year.

We had a BBQ, and the kids blew bubbles while we sat around and chatted. Then we lit the fire pit, loaded up the sticks with marshmallows, and made s'mores for everyone. We were even treated to a fireworks show, courtesy of our neighbors. It was a great, low-key night. Perfect for the start of 2012!

Handmade Salt Dough Ornaments

2011-12-21T12:47:00.000-05:00

We made our first batch of salt dough ornaments this week. It was a real trial and error event, but it was fun nonetheless. The kids had a blast, and they never noticed mommy's gritted teeth or silent cursing.

The dough was easy to make:

4 cups flour
1 cup salt
1-1/2 cups warm water.

The consistency was fine, I thought. However, as I tried to work with it I realized it needed WAY MORE flour, so I added it as we went along. I put flour on the wax paper, and The Older was able to work pretty well with that.

We bought a whole set of Christmas cookie cutters at Bed, Bath & Beyond, so they had a lot to choose from. The angel was a big hit!

We baked the cutouts at 325 for an hour. I've read all sorts of differing thoughts on this, but I was stuck because our oven's lowest temperature is 325. I think a lower heat for a bit longer would be better though, because ours came out a bit dark and raised. Not that the kids cared ;-)

From there we moved on to painting. The Younger had a blast with this part, and I have to say that I did too. I did learn not to use Crayola paints if you're going to use lacquer to preserve your ornaments, because it tends to come off, so these are acrylics.

Now we're just waiting for them to dry, and then we move on to dipping them in the lacquer. We'll let them dry for 24 hours, then dip them again, and at that point they should then be ready to hang on the tree for Santa. Can't wait to see them!

Handprint Christmas Wreath

2011-12-13T11:02:00.000-05:00

One of my favorite crafts to do during the holidays is to make handprint wreaths. These are great to keep year to year to see just how much growing your little one has done through the years, and the kids really like to compare their handprints to years past too.

All you need for this craft is a pair of scissors, pencil, green construction paper, glue, and a red bow (or red construction paper to make the bow). You can also decorate the wreath with pom-poms, glitter, stickers, etc., but those aren't necessary.

Start by tracing your kiddo's hand. A good number of handprints to have are around 10, but you can adjust that depending on how big you want your wreath.

At this point you cut all those little hands out. If your child is older, they can help too. If not, you can keep them busy by having them try to trace their own hand ;-)

Once you have all the hands cut out, lay them in a wreath shape with the wrists overlapping a bit (so you can glue them).

Add your red bow to the bottom of the wreath, and now you have a Christmas wreath that will last for years!


She was so proud of this. I almost couldn't convince her to let me hang it on the window!

Countdown to Christmas with Santa

2011-12-06T10:53:00.000-05:00

Even though I missed the first day of December (well, I didn't miss it, but I didn't set aside time do do this craft like I had intended), I decided to start the countdown to Christmas with a preschool Christmas craft today. I had looked around online a few days ago, and I found some great Santa cutouts. (You can do a Google search and find a lot: This one happens to be from childcareland.com). I printed it out, and then explained to The Younger how the concept worked.

I didn't want a 'plain' black and white Santa, but I am not in any way a good drawer! I decided to cut out the different parts of the Santa and go from there :-)

I got the supplies ready, which were easy since they consisted of only glue (which I watered down), a paint brush, cotton balls, and a piece of red construction paper. I also got some red felt for Santa's nose and some yellow felt for the star on his hat, but those are not remotely necessary for this activity.

I glued the eyes/beard of Santa onto the colored construction paper for The Younger, but from there I let her do the rest.

I had her start out by putting glue on Santa's mustache and eyebrows, then had her place some separated cotton balls on the glued areas. Then I had her glue the bottom part of Santa's hat and put more cotton balls on that. I traced the star on some felt and cut it our for her, and then she glued that on the paper as well.

Oh yeah, I did trace the top of Santa's hat for her as well, but she glued the area for the pom-pom at the tip of the hat and added the cotton balls herself.

Once she was done with the gluing of Santa's hat/face, we discussed the calendar and the number of days in December. We then found Day 1, 2, 3... all the way to today, the 6th. For each number found, we glued a cotton ball onto the number.

She is so proud! She can't wait until the beard is all filled in and see how it comes out. Neither can I!

Reindeer Games

2011-12-05T16:49:00.000-05:00

My computer was infected with a virus last night. I spent most of my time going through codes and such (ick!), and this morning was more of the same. I finally got it up and running well, so now I can start to focus on doing things with the kids again!

Since I didn't have time to do any special activity with them today, I invite you to take a trip back in time to my post about making reindeer heads using your kid's hands and feet. I love this one, and plan on doing it sometime this week myself :-)

Christmas Time Means Crafts

2011-12-01T09:11:00.000-05:00

This is my favorite time of year not only because of the bright lights, smiling faces, wonderful music, and the promise of Christmas miracles, but also because it's a great time for crafting with the kids! In between work and getting The Older set to get his hearing aids tomorrow/organizing medical appointments, I'm gathering all sorts of ideas and materials to begin our winter/Christmas crafting, so stay tuned...

Thanksgiving

2011-11-23T16:16:00.001-05:00

I know people are busy with the US holiday of Thanksgiving coming up, so I'm going to just take a moment and say

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

We've been having a good time here in sunny Florida, and I'll be back blogging again next week.

Painting with Cups (Experiment Day #2)

2011-11-18T08:40:00.000-05:00

Today we played with cups again (hence the title of my post, no?). I wanted to do something that she could really get into, and mess is usually best! I got all the supplies together, and I decided we'd learn about size and the relationships of size difference.

I set everything up, and after I gave her a quick preview of how to make paint circles with the cups, she went to work.

She was pretty proud of herself. We made faces, caterpillars, chains.... all sorts of things. She was thrilled that she could use different cups to produce different sized circles and from that make a picture of something she was familiar with.

Then, we moved on to "free play." This was more of a mom-turned-her-back-for-a-minute rather than planned, but that's okay with me!

She is usually happiest when she's messiest, and I think that's great.

Sneak preveiw of Breaking Dawn

2011-11-16T23:30:00.000-05:00

Okay, so I'm not twelve, but is there really an age limit when it comes to the Twilight Saga?

I think not.

So, when a friend asked me if I wanted to go with her to see the sneak preview of Breaking Dawn, I jumped on it! The showing was run by Summit (obviously), and started at 7pm. I got in line at 5pm with my friend who had been there since 4:30pm, and we were about 20 people in. It was actually nice and orderly, and I enjoyed my time in line catching up with her.

We got searched for electronic devices before we were able to even get down the hall with the showing, which was fine with me because they didn't care about the diet Coke and assorted snacks I had in my purse, and my friend had taken our phones/iPad/Nook to the car. We got in the theater and had to sit "California style," (meaning we all had to fill in the rows top to bottom based on how we entered the theater) which although people grumbled and moaned, it was the best idea to keep some of the more ~~annoying~~ excited guests from getting ~~truly obnoxious~~ overzealous. They did the usual Twilight trivia for prizes (I got a sticker and a poster, but I haven't told anyone yet because that would mean I'm one of "them"), and then they started the show.

I don't want to ruin it for people before they see it, so I will just bullet point a few things I noticed so I don't give anything away:

Kristen Stewart does have more than one facial expression in this movie. In fact, I really liked her in this one!
I'm very pleased with how tasteful The Scene was done (you know which one I mean if you've read the book/know anything about what's happening in this movie).
The evolving of "the situation" was very very very well done. It had all the elements of desperation, pure love, and fear. My only complaint is that I wish they had gone in to Rosalie's fierce protection a bit more.
I wish so much that one of the scenes was done differently. It ruined that whole section of the movie for me because I couldn't stop laughing in embarrassment at how they did it. I'm sure the critics are going to rip it apart.

There is, of course, a lot more I want to say, but I won't because I know the majority of people are seeing it at midnight tomorrow. HAPPY WATCHING!!!!!

Bowling With Cups (Experiment Day #1)

2011-11-14T16:08:00.000-05:00

I had such a great response to the kids playing with cups, I decided to try using them in different ways this whole week. Today's activity was easy to set up, and although The Younger started playing by herself today, once The Older came home, he started playing too. It's been an hour, and they're still going strong!

Set up was simple. Now, it didn't start out in this pattern (I had arranged the cups to form a regular bowling setup), but The Younger had ideas of her own.

She then decided to try and knock down fewer cups that were set up in a different shape...

... and was pleased with the result!

I'm not sure how long they're going to play "cup bowling," but they haven't shown any signs of stopping yet!

Keep Busy Using Household Items and Do It Cheaply

2011-11-08T18:14:00.003-05:00

I work from home, and it's the best change I made in my life. While I sometimes miss "adult time" in an office, when I think about what I gain from not being around the drama and being so present in the lives of my children, I can't come up with one reason why going back to my full-time job would be worth it. I'm saving around $940 a month in childcare, and that alone makes my transition financially sound.

Admittedly, it's hard sometimes in regards to schedules and routines. I'm lucky that I have family that lives about 6 houses away, and they are willing to watch The Younger when she's napping so I can run and pick up The Older from school. It usually works out well because I work a window shift (any 4 hours from 11:30am to 5:30 pm which is awesome), and she usually naps from 11:30 on, sometimes until 4pm! The only days it is a bit challenging is Wednesdays. I have to decide if I want her to nap and wake her up or if I forgo the nap (because my parents are busy on Wednesdays and can't be here to watch her). That can be hard, because when she's up without a nap all day, she can get really tired and be a ~~pest~~ treat.

I found a great way to keep them occupied today! Paper cups was all it took, and they were busy for over 2 hours. It was fantastic!!!!

Both The Younger and The Older found ways to stack/arrange/make obstacle courses out of these, and they had a blast doing it :-)

Happy Birthday To My Hero

2011-11-04T09:19:00.003-04:00

The Older is turning 8 this weekend. When I think about it I am amazed that so much time has gone by, but then on the flip side of that, thinking about everything we've gone through makes it feel like several lifetimes rather than "just" 8 years. I have so many experiences and images forever wrapped together with my soul, so many firsts and, hopefully, lasts, but whenever his birthday rolls around, I find myself filled with the early memories; the sound of machines breathing for my little boy, the fear before calling the NICU because his tiny heart might have stopped beating in the night, the daily tests, the IVs in his head, not being able to hold him, wanting to love him but being afraid to because I wouldn't be stong enough to make it without him in my life... But, here we are today! Struggles and all, I wake up every day thankful that this miracle child is here in our lives, enriching our very existence.

I found this blog post from when he was sick in December of 2004, and I find the sentiment as true today as it was 7 years ago:

"I sat with him all night and just watched him breathe. I was more content in seeing his little chest rise and fall then I can remember being in such a long time. The rattle and wheeze were just a whisper and if I tried, tried, tried, I could almost wish them away.

I sometimes think that the smaller the body, the bigger the soul. I have met some of the most successful, prominent people in the community and they have such a ghostly essence of humanity that it leaves me chilled. They command such things as respect and, in turn, get it because of a name, a face, or a history... And then there's my son who, in these very short thirteen months, has proven to me that heroes are not always where you'd expect them.

It's amazing to me that this little person has encompassed my soul to such a degree that if there's any shift in the dynamics of him, I feel like I am changing as well. My very being is so entwined with and so aware of his very soul, I can almost feel every alteration in his perceptions. I look up to him, and I strive to be everything he could ever need. I hurt for him, I ache when I feel like I've failed, and I feel pieces of me wither when I am helpless to change an aspect of life that is unjustly created for him.

Yesterday I learned that my son is stronger than I have given him credit for being. His very nature is strength, and every day I see evidence of the amazing soul he has. He is a champion and is, in every way, my Hero."

So, happy birthday to my Hero!!!!

Shop Local to Save

2011-11-01T13:04:00.001-04:00

If you're looking for reasons to buy local, there are so many! I am a big advocate of local/organic purchasing, but sometimes it's hard because I want to lower my carbon foot print yet don't want to forgo organic and quality... It can be confusing. I do shop at the grocery store like most people, and I find myself picking up produce there just for the convenience factor. I then leave the store wanting to kick myself because I truly dislike the quality and the price of most produce at the 'big stores,' not to mention the fact that I hate the pesticides and fossil fuel it takes to package/ship the products.

I do take the family to Bearss Groves, which is a local fresh produce market near me. I love it because they have friendly people who work there, it's clean, and the produce is fresh. Every time I go there I'm happy because I know I've "done good" for the environment, but today I was also reminded how much I love it there because of the price! I got 3 different kinds of grapes (one was a huge bin of organic!), 2 kinds of plums, zucchini, bananas, eggplant, sun-dried tomatoes, 2 kinds of apples, green beans, sugar snap peas, apricots, brussel sprouts, and eggs. In my head I thought out what it would be at the grocery store, and I'm sure it would have been over $55... I got it all for $31! That's amazing!

I know everyone is looking to save money any way they can, and I wholeheartedly believe that shopping local can help. No only will it save you money, but it's also something you can feel good about too. How many things can you say that about nowadays?

Sales Pressure

2011-10-25T20:09:00.000-04:00

Saleswoman: "I'm going to trim the wicks for you so you can light them as soon as you get home. Do you have a wick trimmer?"
Me: "No, I just cut the wicks with scissors after I burn them. That works fine for me."
Saleswoman: "Oh! But, you don't get a nice burn off them then. They tend to burn sort of uneven and off-center."
Me: "Well, that's okay; they're like me! I definitely don't need a tool for that. Uneven and off-center? I can respect that."
Saleswoman: blink blink "Um, have a nice evening."

Halloween Pictures

2011-10-23T08:16:00.004-04:00

Sometimes, getting a good holiday picture is just impossible.

Senory Issue Support at Theaters

2011-10-21T08:04:00.004-04:00

I was hesitant to write this post in an effort to respect The Older's privacy. However, when something like this comes along, I think it's in part my 'duty' to share information in the hopes it helps other parents of kids who have sensory issues/Autism/Asperger syndrome.

My son's school went on a field trip to the Tampa Theater this week. It's a great place filled with history and independent films, and I'm thrilled the kids get to experience that with the school. I didn't even think twice when I signed the form for him to go; it never crossed my mind that there would be any issue. Part of that was because I thought they were seeing a regular movie, and part of it was, well, I just didn't think ahead.

They saw the show Little Monster Tales, and it was loud. Not only that, but there was a class of younger kids there who were screaming, and because The Older's class was in the back, the sound bounced off the wall. According to his teacher The Older, who has been diagnosed with Pervasive Developmental Disorder, ended up curled up in a ball with his hands over his ears and looking like he was in physical pain from the noise. Because his brain can't process senses like other children his age, noises and the like send him into a panic, and he reacts like he is in pain because he truly is in pain. His teacher, a wonderful person who was also his teacher last year, covered his ears as well, but the real blessing was the class mom who was with them. She recognized what was happening with The Older right away, and she ran out into the lobby and brought back foam earplugs! They weren't quite as fancy as the ones shown, but they were similar, and he was able to sit through the show; he was able to enjoy the whole experience with his friends with no further issues at all. I am so happy he was able to see everything and not have to leave!

Since this is all new to me, the news that movie theaters even have these available might be well known. However, if even one parent reads this and can help their child enjoy something that they otherwise would have to miss out on, then I had to share what I learned. Because of this I'm going to buy a pair of earplugs so that he has them with him all the time, just in case we go somewhere and are surprised by something, but I'm thrilled to know that movie theaters have these in case I forget!

Gardening Family

2011-10-18T09:21:00.006-04:00

Yesterday was overcast and dreary here, and we were (are) expecting a tropical depression to move over the state today. I decided to work on my garden a bit because I want it to be more of a garden for kids to enjoy rather than one they aren't allowed in, and I thought it would be a good activity for The Younger to be involved in while The Older was at school.

As you can see, the garden sort of got away from me. Admittedly, it needed work when we moved in, but obviously I never did said work, and it turned into The Mighty Jungle.

I knew I basically had to take everything out that was dead or unidentifiable and trim back the rest. Since the pepper plants did have some peppers on them, I gave The Younger a bag, and she became the keeper of the vegetables.

This did not last long. As usual, she got her own idea and ran around the yard finding 'clues' (i.e. broken twigs, leaves, a Brillo pad (?), some rocks) and putting them safely in the bag. It worked out, actually, because I got to rip out a lot of 'stuff' that she would have yelled at me for tossing if she had been right there with me.

When she came back from her adventure, mystery apparently solved, she was thrilled with the one plant left standing in the back of the plot. She spent a good 15 minutes patting the soil around it, smelling the leaves, and pronouncing it "her" plant.

I am anticipating a lot of time in the garden, and I'm thrilled. I hope to turn it into a whole-family project so we can all learn about this style of gardening. I know The Older loves it; at the old house I had a hydroponic system that he loved helping me with.

This will be new to us, planting in the dirt, and I think it will be fun to see where it takes us!

Easy Ghost Craft

2011-10-13T15:48:00.004-04:00

Today we were all feeling a bit better after being wiped out by some nasty head cold thing, so I spent the day fine-tuning some medical appointments/information for The Older, and then had a meeting with ADT for their oh-relocation-would-have-been-free-but-now-that-your-system-is-out-of-date-you-need-to-pay-with-either-the-balance-left-on-your-credit-card-or-your-first-born-its-your-choice meeting. By the time I finished my shift at work following that and picked up The Oldest from school, both kids were in need of some attention. I had to come up with something quick and easy, so I decided to make footprint ghosts.

These are easy to do (this was my first time doing this as I just came up with the idea in about 30 seconds), so I think I'll try to incorporate this into all the holiday decorating/crafting on one way or another. All this project took was white paper, a pen, a black marker, and some scissors.

First, have the kiddo put their foot on a piece of white paper (I used copy paper, but I think I'll try thicker paper next time), and trace the foot. Try to keep their toes together, if you can.

This is not a good example of proper foot placement, but The Older was adamant that this picture be included.

When you're done tracing, the image should look something like this.

If they're old enough, have them cut out the image or, if they're young like The Younger, cut it out for them.

The Older was quite excited to do this project, and he thought long and hard about how he wanted his ghost's face to look.

Here's their finished projects!

We added their names and the date to the back of the ghosts so that we can look back over the years and see how much their feet have grown :-) We hung them up to the window that we put the pumpkins on from earlier in the week, and now we have a real fancy window!

Holloween Pumpkin Activity

2011-10-10T09:37:00.004-04:00

I had this great pumpkin carving idea for my toddler. See, in Florida you can't just carve a regular old pumpkin and leave it on your doorstep, a reality I learned when I first moved here in 2000. All you get from that is a large, wet, moldy mess on your front porch, and that's a Halloween horror I don't want my kids to experience. I decided a great alternative would be to get carvable fake pumpkins, and then both The Older and The Younger could make their own pumpkin that would last. I'd cut out different eyes, noses, and mouths, for The Younger, and she could create the face she wanted while the older drew his own.

I started out with these, and The Younger got to work, creating all the different pumpkin faces her little mind could come up with.

However, as all projects do, this one took a different turn when she realized that what fun it was to make pumpkin faces! So, I furiously continued to cut out pumpkins and the shapes she called out, such as "Circle eyes! Square nose! EARS!"

With all these pumpkins, we decided to put some in the windows so everyone could see her creations.

Now I get to look forward to repeating the activity again this afternoon when The Older comes home from school, because once he sees these he's going to want to make his own. I'd better get to cutting!

Events in Tampa Bay

2011-10-07T08:40:00.000-04:00

Here is a list of some 2011 Children's Halloween events in the Tampa Bay Area that I've found. I haven't been to many of these, so I suggest calling to verify the events and to check and see if they're suitable for kids before you go.

Hydro Harvest Farms Zoo Boo Event
1101 East Shell Point Road
Ruskin, FL
(813) 645-6574
October 22 from 12-3

Hydro Harvest Farms is hosting its 6th Annual Boo Fest. This FREE Event is a favorite for kids of all ages. There are games, crafts, a pumpkin painting contest and a huge pumpkin patch. Wear your costume for more goodies! Come hungry, we have a concession stand full of delicious food and drinks, including our famous Strawberry Shortcakes.

Halloween Spooktacular
October 29 4-10pm
Largo Central Park, 101 Central Park Drive, Largo
4 to 10 p.m.

Dress up in your favorite costume and join the fun of the 17th Annual Halloween Spooktacular on Saturday, October 29, 2011 from 4pm until 10pm in Largo Central Park. This enormous and exhilarating event takes up all the green space. The trick-or-treat path wraps around the entirety of central field. Inflatables, slides, games, activities and concessions fill the center and outer areas. Visit the old library field for tons of fun specifically geared to the littlest ones. There's so much going on that the whole family is sure to have a fantastic night.

Haunted House & Hayride of Horror
8005 S. Racetrack Rd. Tampa, Florida 33635
Dates are Friday and Saturday nights, October 7, 8, 14, 15, 21, 22, 28, 29. Hours are from Dusk until 10 p.m.

Come join us for some Halloween howling and entertainment on the farm. Enjoy an open-air tractor hayride through the woods, a haunted house, pony rides, and farm animals. Afterwards, enjoy the bonfire and roast some marshmallows. Do you dare to join us for the memory or nightmare of a lifetime?!

Central Pasco & Gulf Railroad's Halloween Train
October 21-22, October 28-29 from 7-10pm
Adults- $5
Kids- $3
2 and under free

This 7-1/2"-gauge railroad is located at Crews Lake Wilderness Park in Pasco County, about 25 miles north of Tampa. There will be refreshments available for purchase.

Our Land of the Lourdes Fall Festival
October 13-16
730 San Salvador Drive, Dunedin
Free admission and free parking

Live entertainment, arts and crafts, flea market, games, and Oktoberfest (October 14-15)

Museum Mysteries
October 13, 10:30-11:30 am
801 Old Water St.
$6 adults; and $10 children 3-5

Dress in your favorite costume and visit the Tampa Bay History Center. Help solve a mystery by trying to find a missing artifact with fingerprints and a gallery search. Kids can make a fingerprint craft and participate in a sing-along.

Haunted Ape Escape
The Suncoast Primate Sanctuary at 4600 Alt. U.S. 19 in Palm Harbor
October 21-22, October 28-29
General admission $4
Adult costume party is $10

Tour a haunted house walk a haunted trail. Enjoy costume contests and kids’ activities. Adult costume contest is Oct. 22, with kids’ costume contest Oct. 29.

Haunted Hike
October 22, 6:30-8:30 pm
13th Avenue and 13th Street North in St. Petersburg.
Purchase tickets at Dairy Inn, 1201 MLK Jr. St. N.
Night of event is $7 for adults and $3 kids for kids 12 and younger

Walk through Historic St. Pete during this family-friendly tour. These one hour tours leave every 15 minutes and cover one mile. Guides will take the 'hikers' down the creepy alleys and the brick-paved streets to old home and landmarks where there will be costumed characters who will be telling and acting out spooky stories.

Guppyween
701 Channelside Drive
October 23, 4-9 pm
Free for members
$12 for adults and $2 for children younger than 12

The Florida Aquarium's annual supervised children's Halloween party features candy stations and kids crafts.

Owl-o-ween
McGough Nature Park
11901 146th St, Largo 33774
October 28, 6-8 pm
Call (727)518-3047 to reserve your spot
$3 per person, children 2 years and under are free

Kids can trick-or-treat along the nature trail, roast marshmallows around a campfire and participate in other kids' activities, all while learning about animals.

Night at the Museum
Tampa Bay History Center, 801 Old Water St.
813-228-0097 for information
October 30th, 5-7 pm

Watch exhibits come to life as historic figures and movie characters roam the halls after hours. Wear your coolest costume, play ghoulish games, make creepy crafts and go on a scavenger hunt. And, kids can get candy from historic figures and movie characters who come to life!

Halloween in the Park
England Brothers Band Shell at Town Square Plaza Park, 5010 81st Ave. N. Pinellas Park
727-541-0895 for information
October 31st, 4-8 pm
Free

Kids can collect candy along a treat trail set up by local businesses and community organizations in the area. Carnival games and costume contest begin at 4 p.m.; Treat Trail opens at 6 p.m.

Fall Festivals and Events Tampa Bay Area

2011-10-06T08:10:00.003-04:00

I've been searching for fall festivals in Tampa and the surrounding areas, and this is a short list of what I've come up with so far. A lot of information I've found was outdated when I looked into it, so I'd suggest double-checking (not that I doubt my research skills, mind you) to be sure what's listed is accurate for the event. Happy autumn!

Horsepower For Kids

8005 South racetrack Road
Tampa, FL 33635

Weekly on Saturdays and Sundays

Pony rides, hayrides, train rides, face painting, petting zoo, baby chicks, ducks, bunnies. All included.

Sweetfields Farms
17250 Benes Roush Rd.
Masaryktown, Fl 34604
Telephone: (352) 279-0977
FEES
12 years and older $8.50 each
3 years-11 years $4.50 each
2 years and under are Free

Starting October 8th, you can head over to Sweetfields Farms to visit their pumpkin patch and pick up a pumpkin, participate in their fall activities, and then starting on October 21st, they also have 'flashlight night' select evenings to experience the fall maze. It sounds pretty exciting!. For a calendar of events, click here.

Hunsader Farms Pumpkin Festival
October 15 & 16, October 22 & 23, and October 29 & 30
9:00 am - 5:00 pm
ADMISSION $8, Children 12 and under are free
PARKING $5

Everyday at the Pumpkin Festival is loads of fun and consists of: 100+ Craft Booths • Live Music • Pumpkins • Charity Pumpkin Games • Pioneer Trades Village • Hayrides • Pony Rides • Chainsaw Sculptor • Corn Maze Scarecrow Displays • Homemade Ice Cream • Farm Roasted Sweet Corn • Food Galore • Pumpkin Pie • Pumpkin Cannon-hourly• Corn Cannons• Rock Climbing Wall• Power Jump • Petting Zoo • Barnyard Playground • Face Painting • Children’s Train Ride • Juggler • Fresh Produce • Bi-Plane Rides • Remote Controlled Airplanes • Butterfly Experience • Frog Jumping Championship

The admission price includes: craft show, live shows, musical entertainment, hayrides, Pumpkin Cannon viewing, Chainsaw sculptor, playground, petting zoo and Pioneer trades village.

Okoberfest

October 8

Lakeland, Florida-

Call 863-682-7249 for more information

A cultural festival for the whole family celebrating German food, dance, art, cars and fun.

City of Treasure Island Halloween Spooktacular and Fall Festival
Friday, October 28, 2011
6-9pm
Treasure Bay Golf and Tennis
10315 Paradise Boulevard, Treasure Island
For additional information, call the Treasure Island
Recreation Department at 547-4575, ext 237

Activities include: Haunted Hayride and Cemetery - open from 7:15pm(dusk) to 9:00pm (minimal fee charged), Fortune Teller, Face Painter & Caricature Artist (minimal fee charged), Balloon Twister, Singing Scarecrow, Magician, Refreshments

The Florida Railroad Museum
The Pumpkin Patch Express departs at 9:00 AM, 12:00 PM and 3 PM on October 29 & 30.
12210 83rd St East
Parrish, FL 34219

The Pumpkin Express is a full-sized train that drives you out to the pumpkin patch.

I'll be posting more as I uncover them! There will also be a post of Halloween events coming tomorrow as well :-)

Hillsborough County Fair 2011 Is Coming

2011-10-01T18:27:00.004-04:00

The Hillsborough County Fair is coming to the Tampa Bay area again from October 12-October 16. The fair is located in Brandon, Florida, and the fairgrounds are located on the east side of Brandon at the intersection of State Road 60 and Sydney Washer Road.

The cost for general admission is:

ADULT -$7.00

STUDENTS - $5.00 (6 years old through High School)

CHILDREN - 5 Years or Younger - FREE!

FREE PARKING!

Special deals are as follows:

Wednesday, October 12 - DOLLAR DAY $1 Admission $1 Rides
Thursday, October 13 – WRISTBAND $15 Open to close
Thursday, October 13 – FFA Day At The Fair Free Admission if dressed in FFA jacket or with FFA membership card
Friday, October 14 – WRISTBAND $20 Open to close
Saturday, October 15 - TWO WRISTBAND CHOICES - $20 EACH 10 am to 5 pm -or- 5pm to Close
Sunday, October 16 – $2.00 off Admission with church or worship bulletin dated Oct. 15 or Oct. 16. One person per bulletin.

Lack Of Organization. Help!

2011-09-28T09:26:00.002-04:00

I hadn't realized how long it had been since I'd written here! In my defense, things got a bit out of control here with The Older, and we've been having conferences or specialist appointments almost daily. Couple that with work and taking time to be a family, well, you can imagine how little 'free' time we've had.

Right now I'm working on organization! I've saved (almost) every piece of paper with any information on it from The Older's school/doctor visit from the age of 3 onward, and I've needed to take it all with me to the neurologist, audiologist, pediatrician, ENT, etc. They ask for all kinds of information, so I need to be able to flip to things quickly. Right now I have everything in a huge 3-ring binder with information separated by colored tabs, but I'm not happy with that arrangement. I dislike hole punching paper because it tends to fall apart after awhile, and the pockets are no good for holding paper because it always falls out and into the parking lot on a blustery day (so it seems)... So, I'm looking for ideas! Anyone have any easy ways to keep paper organized and portable?

Neighborhood Collage

2011-09-20T15:47:00.005-04:00

The weather has been beautiful, so I've been trying to keep the kiddos outside as much as possible. The other day The Younger and I decided to walk around the neighborhood and pick up "neat things" that we found along the way. She has a Cars lunch bag that she loves, so we decided to take that with us to collect our goodies.

We spent a good deal of time picking up leaves and deciding which ones were the best of the lot. We also looked at clouds, shadows, and the airplanes. She picked up rocks, some flowers, and some grass, but none of them actually made the grade to "get in the bag."

After we toured the area, we returned home to make a collage of our trip.

She was pretty excited about this project. She really felt like it was "hers," and that she had been 100% involved in creating the masterpiece.

We used blue for the sky, cotton balls for the clouds, a red airplane sticker for, well, an airplane, and then I cut out a 'shadow' for her to use, (and that blob is a pine cone au naturale) . I had so much fun with this project! It was really neat to watch her decide what she thought she should keep and what she tossed away, and then see how she picked what she wanted to use to represent our walk. I plan to do this again soon because it's a great activity that uses so many different facets of learning!

Free Children's Health Fair

2011-09-15T09:22:00.000-04:00

There's another free family event in Tampa that would be great to attend. The South Florida Baptist Hospital is holding a Children's Health Fair in Plant City on Saturday, October 1st, from 10 am to 2 pm. It's taking place at the Arthur Boring Building at the Strawberry Festival Grounds and will offer free screenings for infants to 12-year-olds including dental, hearing, scoliosis, skin cancer, vision, and more. There's also a lot of information for parents on health and nutrition, child ID, Healthy Start, and much, much more. For more information, you can call 813-757-8511.

ZooBoo at Lowry Park Zoo

2011-09-14T08:15:00.005-04:00

I have always loved the zoo. Unfortunately The Older feels that he's "too old" for the zoo and it's "boring," but The Younger loves it. I haven't taken her in awhile, but I think we may go for their annual ZooBoo event.

I just got word that they are offering a "Shriek Peek" of the event, which is really exciting! On September 23rd and 24th, admission is just $10 for people ages 3 and up. Two and under are FREE! They're going to have a new haunted trail, Tomb of Revenge, and free rides on the roller coaster and all the other rides as well. They are also going to be sporting new inflatables this year!

If you can't make it the weekend of the 23rd, the event is also open September 30 and October 1, 7-9, 14-16, 21-23 and 27-30. After the Shriek Peek weekend, however, general admission is $17 for adults and $14 for children ages 3-11.

Children under 2 are free, and parking is free.

Free Train Rides in Largo

2011-09-13T05:55:00.000-04:00

Looking for another free family activity in Tampa? Largo Central Park offers train rides the first full weekend of every month. We went there when The Younger was about 2 months old and The Older was 5. The Younger couldn't ride (children have to be able to sit up on their own), but The Older and I rode together. It was really fun! The train small, so you ride on the train, not in it, but it's smooth and you get to see a lot of the park and its pretty scenery.

After the train ride, we explored the park itself. It's beautiful there, and my only regret was that we didn't have a picnic lunch with us. We have to go again now the The Younger is old enough to ride, and I think we'll make a whole day of it.

A Day of Terror, Years of Healing

2011-09-09T05:30:00.001-04:00

September 11th. Can you believe it was 10 years ago? The images are still burned in our minds and souls, and I'm sure just about everyone remembers where they were and what they were doing when the horror started. Where were you? What were you doing?

I was working downtown at the probation office. I was getting my files ready for court when a friend of mine grabbed my arm and said a plane hit the World Trade Center. I was upset, but I just assumed that it was a random accident. I was discussing it with another co-worker in the file room when I realized people were running to my friend's cubicle where the closest radio was, and it was there that it dawned on me that this was huge. This was the real thing.

It was there among my co-workers that I heard the news of the second plane... and the third plane, and it was among the stunned silence following the news that my heart began to ache and my mind tried to make sense of what was happening. It only took about a minute for people to start crying, for the moms among us who had children in the military to start grabbing the hands of the people closest to them, for those of us with family working in cities around the country to start panicking because we didn't know if the attacks were going to happen outside of New York.

Now, sitting here with the news on in the background, I hear the audiotapes of the people who were on the plane. Images of the planes flying into the building fill the screen, and people are sharing their thoughts and memories of that day. It leaves such a bitter taste in my mouth, and yet it also reminds me of the days, weeks, months following the horror when our country pulled together and truly became ONE, and that fills me with pride, honor, and thankfulness that I live in America.

So, where were you that day? What were you doing?

Local and Free Events at Public Libraries

2011-09-08T08:25:00.005-04:00

The Youngest was a bit out of sorts yesterday, but I didn't want to keep her in the house all day. The Mom's Group I'm a part of was meeting at the library for story time, and I decided at the last minute to go. I highly recommend checking out your local library for events your kids can take part in. They're free, and the events are always fun and educational!

She had such a good time! There was about 30 minutes of stories and songs, and she really enjoyed being with the other kids. The time-frame was perfect too; not so long that they got bored, but long enough to where the kids felt like they had really 'done' something. I think this will be on our schedule permanently!

Quick and Easy Craft

2011-09-01T12:16:00.003-04:00

Another busy day with rushing from the doctor's office to The Older's school to drop him off, then back home for some time with The Younger before starting work. Since I was pressed for time, I did a super-easy craft that you can do any time and they love. All it takes is colored paper, and a glue stick!

I tore up some colored paper into pieces, gave her a glue stick, and she went to town covering paper in different colors. Never boring, and a really easy activity that works on those motor skills.

Toddler Painting Activity

2011-08-29T10:48:00.005-04:00

Today I was pressed for time between the gym and work. I decided to set up some painting for The Younger because she seems to be happiest when she's painting, and this falls into the category of one of my favorite activities for toddlers.

I set up everything we needed which only took about 2 minutes. I like to use different things when we do this, because she is always amazed at the different patterns she can come up with. I managed to find two cars from The Older's room that had been unpacked (and I had seen this idea on Mess For Less and thought is was great!), so I grabbed those along with some stamps and a paint brush.

At first she stuck with the stamps, and I think that's because she was familiar with those tools.

I let her experiment for bit with those, and then showed her how to run the truck through the paint and how the tires made different patterns. Boy, did she get into it!

I find this activity so much fun! I love watching her come up with all sorts of different pictures and just love the way she gets so excited when discovering something new. Most of all, it's easy and a quick clean up :-)

New Addition

2011-08-25T06:38:00.005-04:00

When The Daddy and I got together in 2001, we each had a dog (and I had a cat too) which made living in a one bedroom condo tight! We eventually moved into a house with a nice backyard, so it made the living situation better for all of use. When I got pregnant and had The Older it was still okay, but then once I had The Younger, things got a bit crowed again. But, we loved our furbabies and wouldn't have even considered giving one of them up. Ever.

The Daddy's dog, Bear, passed away about 2 years ago, and it was devistating for all of us. It took about a year for the griving to end, and around that time people started asking us if we wanted to adopt this dog or that dog... and I said no to them all. I felt that bringing a strange dog into the mix wouldn't be fair to our older dog, Sable, and I didn't want there to be an issue with the children possibly getting hurt either.

Yesterday when I left the gym, The Daddy called with an offer for another dog; a female chocolate Lab named Abby. Her owners were being forced to sell their home and move into an apartment and they couldn't take her. Abby grew up with their kids so I knew she was good with children... and I said yes, we could adopt her. I can only blame this on the endorphins from working out and the fact that I never say no to chocolate!

The Daddy brought Abby home last evening, and everyone got along great! Even The Queen, Sable, seemed to adjust.

The place is like Disney Land to Abby! The house she came from had no yard at all, so she had a great time running around with Sable.

The kids loved her. The Older kept asking us if we thought Abby would be happy here with her new family, and The Younger kept saying, "Yay! Happy Doggies! Two tails now!"

This morning was a bit chaotic. Abby met me on the stairs and tried to climb into my arms, which was quite a change from Sable's low-key attitude. I let them out to play, and they came in panting and happy. Sable sat like the queen she is, and Abby bounced around her like a pogo stick.

The only problem came when it was time to eat, so at this point I'm going to have to separate them.

So far so good, though. And, the Older is being terrific and making sure he spends the majority of the time with his best buddy, so jealousy is minimal :-)

Autism Awareness

2011-08-24T20:42:00.001-04:00

This is a cause very close to my heart. We are going through some testing with The Older, and we are getting closer to answers, thankfully.

If you have questions about Autism or your child's development, this is a great blog to visit. There are tons of resources and information for all your questions.

Florida Beach Fun

2011-08-23T10:23:00.005-04:00

We went to Clearwater Beach on Sunday to watch the sunset. We had such a good time, I decided that we would go again yesterday to celebrate the last day of summer vacation.

As always, the kids surprised me. They had wanted to spend all of Sunday evening in the water, but when we got there on Monday, they wanted to dig in the sand and not go in the water.

I got them into the water after about an hour, and we had a great time. We got to see a bunch of sea life too, including 2 pods of dolphins, a ray, and this guy:

This was a great find! The Younger was thrilled at being able to see a 'real crab,' and The Older asked all sorts of questions about where it had come from, why it was there, how it breathed, etc. It was a great discussion, and we talked a lot about crustaceans and the like. What I couldn't answer we looked up when we got home, and it was fun learning right along with him.

Back to School Prep

2011-08-18T15:37:00.005-04:00

This week I've been trying to get The Older back into the grove of going to bed at 7:30 pm and doing 'work.' In the beginning of summer I was really good at making sure he read for at least 30 minutes a day and having him work on second grade worksheets, but when the move came, I slacked. A lot. Badly. So, getting back into the rhythm has been hard, but he's whining less, so I think we're in the homestretch.

On of my favorite things to do with him are the Brain Quest books.

It's easy to use, and the learning activities are fun for him. For instance, today we worked on reading (reading a poem, locating the rhyming words, and then thinking up his own), math (figuring out how many coins equal a particular sum and such), and phonics (using consonant clusters to finish words).

While The Older and I work on his book, The Younger uses the time to sit at her desk/easel to color and use a sticker book.

I like that they both feel involved with what we're doing, and I can divide my attention equally. I'm hoping that once school starts and The Older starts bringing homework to be done, we can make it a real "family time" so no one feels like they're missing out on anything.

Window Painting Activity

2011-08-16T11:17:00.007-04:00

Today I unpacked one of the boxes of art supplies and found the paint! I decided it would be a perfect day to make our own window paint and then paint the sliding glass door out to the pool. When I told The Daddy about our plan he grew quiet a minute and then, in his ever-positive way, he said "Well, that's great! Now the window will get clean." Not what I had in mind, but I took credit and gave an enthusiastic "Of course! That was my plan."

I gathered up our supplies:

Crayola washable Tempera paint
Melissa and Doug non-spill paint containers
Brushes
Dish-washing Detergent

I mixed the paint with a little (a teaspoon or so. The more you use the thinner the paint becomes, and I wanted them to have bright colors). It took only about 2 minutes to mix that up, and then we were ready to get creative! They were so excited at the prospect of 'forbidden painting' that they got right to work.

There was even sharing!

But, that didn't last long. Apparently there was some mix-up about who really wanted the purple paint over who wanted it just because the other did.

Good thing the door is long. They were able to get their very own side, creating their own pictures without interference.

What fun they had! They spent about an hour doing this, and they only stopped because they ran out of room. I suggested washing it all off so we could do it again, but The Older was horrified. "What?! Daddy won't be able to see what we did then!" So, the artwork stays until tomorrow. The Daddy will just have to wait for his clean windows. *smile*

Stock Up on School Supplies

2011-08-11T11:51:00.003-04:00

Now is a great time to stock up on school supplies and on art supplies for the little ones that aren't ready for school yet! Stores are having great deals right now, and with the Florida tax-free holiday coming up, it doesn't get much better than this! (I know a lot of states already had their tax-free holiday, and I hope you got to stock up too. If you are unsure when your state tax holiday is, click here for the site to check).

I was at our local grocery store and picked up 3 boxes of crayons, 3 bottles of glue, 4 glue sticks, 2 boxes of colored pencils, and 2 boxes of large markers for only $7! I know, I should have waited for the tax-free weekend, but for $7 I couldn't resist getting them.

Dunedin Srayground (Splash Park)

2011-08-09T08:00:00.002-04:00

This past weekend we went to the Dunedin Kiwanis Sprayground which turned out to be a terrific water splash park. Really, it was amazing! We packed a cooler with snacks and lunch, and we got there at around 9:30 a.m. I was pleasantly surprised because it was much bigger then I thought it was going to be, and it was very clean. Since I'm always looking for good Florida parks and recreation centers, this was a great suggestion from a friend in my Mom's Group.

There were benches around the outskirts, so we found a place to sit in the shade, lathered the kids with sunscreen, and off they went!

We stayed for about 3 hours! I usually can keep The Older at places like this for an hour at most, but he had a great time shooting the water cannons, and they both loved the slide.

Getting The Younger to leave was pretty difficult even though she was exhausted. Luckily there was a thunder storm, and she knows that if she hears thunder she is to leave any water she's in. So, her screaming only lasted about 5 minutes ;-)

This splash park is located at in Highlander Park at 1937 Ed Eckert Drive in Dunedin. Even if it takes a little while to get there, it's worth the drive!

Soda and Mentos Eruption

2011-08-07T07:00:00.002-04:00

During this whole moving process, I did mange to do some fun things with the kids. My camera was packed away for most of them, but I did manage to take pictures of one experiment I did with The Older: The Soda and Mentos Explosion!

Since I've never done this before, I did a lot of reading about the experiment (but missed something important, as you'll see). One of the main points people made were that all of the Mentos have to make it into the bottle at the same time. Sure, no problem! I thought. I'm quick like cat!

Nope, not even close. All I can say is that I'm glad I was wearing black, and I was super glad that I had thought to buy more than one bottle of soda and more than one package of Mentos!

Here is our innocent bottle of soda getting ready for combustion:

The Older was a bit nervous about putting the candy in the bottle. He had seen what happened to me so he wasn't so sure about doing it himself, but he didn't want me to do it either, so he really had no choice.

As you can see (?), I put the Mentos in tape. I rolled them into a tube with the top and bottom open so the soda could touch the candies, and figured that would be easier than trying to drop them in one at a time. By the way, I should tell you that was not easy to do. At all. And, it was messy. But, it worked (sort of):

Yes, it was a little less than thrilling because I had not been aware that you're supposed to use DIET SODA. I managed to make up for it by acting excited and "beyond amazed" that we got a reaction by mixing two such innocent things, and The Older got swept up by my acting. Then he managed to make my stomach turn:

Yup, there he is, drinking the soda! Blech! He swears the candy "tasted good and kinda soda-y," but it made me gag.

We came in after this and looked up why this reaction occurs (per Wikipedia, it is because the the surface of the mint Mentos is littered with many small holes that increase the surface area for reaction (and thus the quantity of reagents exposed to each other at any given time), thereby allowing CO₂ bubbles to form with a rapidity and in a quantity that are responsible for the "jet"- or "geyser"-like nature of the effusion). Of course this then led to a discussion and many, many hours of my assuring him that if he eats Mentos and drinks soda, he will not explode...

Affordable Prescription Glasses for Kids (and Adults)

2011-08-06T20:02:00.003-04:00

Back to school time is fast approaching! I can't believe the summer is almost over... Where did the time go?! Sad as it is, there's one thing I love at back to school time: Tax-free holiday! I stock up on shorts and tee-shirts and only have to get two or three long-sleeved shirts, so I can get a lot of things in just the one tax-free weekend.

One thing I can't get tax free, however, are children's glasses. I've been nervous about this because I know how The Older hates change, and I wasn't sure how to approach the subject of glasses with him. And the price? Ugh. With all the new bills that come with moving into a larger house, I certainly was not looking forward to that, either!

Being the savvy (or addicted, depending on who you speak to in the house) internet person I am, I have spent hours looking up reputable places to get The Older's glasses from. I was interested in a place that is trustworthy, but my other focus was affordable prescription eyeglasses.

In my search, I came across Zenni Optical. Awesome! They have glasses for $6.95 (and higher, of course), and they are so cute! I showed them to The Older, and he was actually excited at the thought of getting a pair. Not only that, but at $6.95, I can get him 3 pairs! I'm sure he'll need more than one pair which baseball and such, so this was a great find.

Tell me, are these not the cutest things for an-almost-8-year-old boy? He's so excited about these, I almost want to get all 3 in these frames (but I won't. They have too many cute ones to choose from).

Time Off

2011-07-31T20:29:00.004-04:00

Ahhhhh.... Saturday we spent moving into a new house! It's been a slow move for over a month, in actuality, but the big part of the move was this weekend (things like the "widow-maker desk" as our friend called it and the "caterpillar couch," which about killed both my husband and our friend, had to be brought over along with our beds). The kids were a bit out of sorts due to the change, so I spent the whole week and this weekend focused on them. I haven't been online due to that (and not having internet access), but we did do a few experiments intermittently, so I'll be putting them up here this week as well as visiting my blogging pals. I swear I haven't deserted anyone ;-)

Outdoor Play with Mud

2011-07-25T11:17:00.006-04:00

Since we had such a busy weekend moving into the new house (and still aren't done), this is what kept the kids occupied in the in the backyard:

Yes, that is in fact a huge mud puddle that I helped them create.

Yes it was messy and yes, it did hurt my grass, but watching them play and giggle and not needing anything else but each other, well, it was totally worth it.

Back to School 2011

2011-07-22T07:50:00.002-04:00

It's time for one of my favorite events again: The All About Kids Annual Back to School Bash held at the Tampa Convention Center. Taken directly from their website, they say "The All About Kids Back to School bash is an annual, 2 day, fun filled event! It provides everyone who attends an opportunity to enjoy interactive exhibits, live family entertainment, and sample new treats for this year's lunch box!" This year it's being held on July 30 & 31 2011, 12 pm - 4 pm.

We go every year, and we always come away with the great stuff. Last year we got a bunch of treats, a free bicycle helmet for each kid, school supplies, etc., for free. They had face painting, balloon animals, a petting zoo... It's really a great event for anyone with kids. They have a lot of great stuff planned this year, including free haircuts, Radio Disney giveaways, bread making, and more.

Click here for a dollar off an adult ticket ($9); kids 12 and under are free.

Easy Science Experiment for Kids

2011-07-21T10:33:00.000-04:00

The afternoon of the water balloon day, we decided it was time to set up shop and work on an experiment. I wanted to teach The Older about how different substances create different things entirely, so we got some more balloons together and gathered up the rest of our supplies as well.

The first step was to add baking soda to a plastic bottle (about 2 tablespoons or so). For that I had him use an ice cream scoop (for entertainment purposes we used my pig one), and we used a funnel so he could get the baking soda easily into the bottle.

After that, he carefully poured some vinegar into the plastic bottle....

... and when it started to fizz, we put the balloon over the top of the opening.

Please tell me, at what age do they smile normally for the camera?

The Older was thrilled that it "blew up by itself," and The Younger was pretty amazed by the whole process. She was itching to try, and The Older was happy to help her get everything ready.

However, They Younger got a bit overzealous....

... and we had to do a bit of rearranging of who was going to do what which she was NOT happy about.

But, the end result pleased her very much, and she is now the proud creator of her very own blown-up balloon.

This is a very easy activity to do with your kids, and I'm sure they will be as amazed as mine were. All you need to do this yourself are the following:

Baking soda
White vinegar
Funnel
Spoon
Small-mouthed bottle (water bottles work well)
Balloons

I would suggest doing this activity outside too (see picture #6)

Old-Fashioned Water Balloon Fun

2011-07-20T10:12:00.003-04:00

It was such a hot day, I decided to forgo my "lesson" and let the kids have some old-fashioned fun playing with water balloons. I picked up a pack at The Dollar Store the other day and was happy that they were on hand so I didn't have to load everyone up and go to the store.

After about a year of my life passing before getting a pile of balloons large enough to make the whole thing worthwhile, we headed out to the middle of the yard to toss them back and forth.

I thought we may have to "teach" The Younger how to play, but she got right into it, tossing the balloons so they landed right at The Older's feet. As you can tell by the picture, that isn't exactly how he wanted it to go, but that's okay.

The Older got a bit excited when his turn came around and didn't understand why we couldn't smash the balloons into the body of his sister, but she didn't seem to mind at all when he actually hit her...

... which ended up being a good thing, because she got soaked.

They had a great time, and I laughed so hard I actually fell over twice. The kids were wet, happy, and tired by the time we were done, and I considered the activity a complete success. If you get a chance, head out and toss some water balloons. I can guarantee you'll at least get a chuckle out of it!

Time Slipping

2011-07-19T08:15:00.000-04:00

This week is already getting away from me! Work has been really busy, so I've been trying to make up for some lost time last week by working some extra hours this week. The Older has been at camp so that's been easy, and The Younger has been pretty tired (growth spurt?) and asking to go to bed earlier than usual, so it's been easier for me to work as well.

That being said, I'm looking forward to Thursday! The Older will be home, and I have lots of fun and experiments to that day. Stay tuned :-)

Play with Ice

2011-07-17T15:27:00.003-04:00

This week I've decided to focus on water and ice and do fun experiments with both elements. The kids are fascinated with the way water works, so I thought adding "ice" to the equation would be fun too. I like the idea of them learning about cause and effect, and I really enjoy the way The Older wants to experiment in ways I would never even think to.

Today was a short introduction into ice and the way salt changes it. I started with a Styrofoam container (that happened to hold the pork from that menu the night before. One point for recycling mom!) and filled it with water. I froze it overnight, and in the morning had a larger-than-average ice cube.

I let both kids rub it to see that it was just like the ice that magically appears from our freezer, and then they had the fun job of figuring out how to get the ice out of the container. Once that was figured out, I gave each one a small dish of salt, and they poured some onto the big ice cube to see what would happen.

While The Younger was a bit unsure what was going on, The Older figured out right away that the ice was melting where he had put the salt!

He thought it was "Way cool!" Just like I had hoped, this led to internet searches about why salt melts ice. The Younger, though thinking it was pretty neat, was happier to play with some ice cubes from the fridge in some free play while The Older did his research.

I think, if I were to do this experiment again, I would add food coloring to the "big" ice cube so that they could see the effect of the salt a bit better. But, it was still fun, and tomorrow I have an idea for a really fun experiment involving water, a balloon, and some other ingredient found right in our own kitchen!

Sidewalk Painting, Take Two

2011-07-14T10:23:00.003-04:00

Yesterday The Older had camp, so The Younger and I decided to do some sidewalk painting (recipe here). I only did 2 colors because there was a storm coming, and I knew our time was limited for the kids paint.

When The Older got home, he saw what we had done and was pretty upset that he hadn't gotten to play too. So, I promised him today that we could do some more. I mixed up a new batch for them to use, and as I should know by now, the whole experience took on a life of its own! Paint brushes became overrated, so they moved on to fingers with some brush work thrown in.

They both decided to try painting the box from my earlier entry, so they splatter painted that....

Which led to this.

What a mess! I didn't mind though, because it comes off easily in water. So, they painted each other, rolled around in what was spilled, and made a general mess of my back patio. It was easy to clean up; just took a hose and sprayed the whole thing down. It was a great way for them to spend 2 hours!

Water Play On a Hot Day

2011-07-13T07:15:00.000-04:00

I packed the kids up early this morning and headed out to have some water fun. I decided to hit the Zephyr Water Park from my earlier post and experience my very first splash park ever. I didn't know what to expect, so I was pretty excited.

When we first arrived, there was no water in the splash area. None. I was so disappointed! But, since I was there, I decided to scope out the park anyway and let the kids play on the playground. Not a bad spot!

The playground, though small, was shaded and had enough to do to keep both The Younger and Older occupied.

After about an hour, another family arrived. To my surprise, they walked into the splash area and turned the water on themselves! Score! Apparently the park likes to save water and energy; another huge plus for me.

They had an absolute blast. There was so much laughter and shrieking, I was amazed the wildlife hung around. They never tired of the spray, and I loved watching them find different ways to play.

After they tired out, we had a picnic at one of the park benches by the lake.

We must have sat there for an hour just enjoying the views and each other. They even got to feed some of the birds that stopped by.

I would absolutely recommend this park for anyone with kids. The park was easy to navigate, there was plenty of parking, and the place didn't get busy until around 11 a.m. Pack a cooler, because you're going to want to spend time with the ducks and at the playground!

Activities for Kids: Flower Power and Splatter Painting

2011-07-11T08:42:00.000-04:00

Since Daddy was over painting the other house this weekend, the kids and I had the days to ourselves. I had to come up with things that both The Older and The Younger would like to do, so I spent a good hour looking stuff up and looking at things we had around the house (that weren't packed already).

The first thought I had was to color flowers since Daddy brought a mixed bouquet home last night. So, the kids both picked out what colors they wanted, and we set up our 'experiment." I filled the cups with water, The Older added the food coloring to the cup for his flower, and I helped The Younger with hers.

The Younger had a bit of difficulty understanding why we had to leave the flowers on the window sill and not play with them, but she eventually came around.

After that, I wanted to have them outside since it's rained for about 4 days straight and we are all a bit stir-crazy. I decided on a messy project that we couldn't do indoors, so I settled on "splatter painting" with toothbrushes, and I though I'd use a box (since we have so many here now) rather than regular paper. By doing that, we we can "reuse" the project too.

Here they are setting up the paint. This was just watered-down Crayola Tempera Paint in Melissa and Doug Spill-Proof Paint Cups.

And, GO!

They had a ball! I tried showing them how to run their fingers down the bristles (toward them so the paint didn't hit them), but they decided to paint their own ways.

The Older decided to paint while sitting and trying all sorts of different splatter patterns.

The Younger just enjoyed rubbing as many colors together as she could.

And, of course, The Older had a ball getting messy.

The kids had a great time, and it kept them outside for over an hour! Following this was tubby time, nap time for The Younger, and reading time for The Older. Mommy got to enjoy doing some serious laundry, but what a great day! Totally worth the cleanup.

Tour A Giraffe Farm

2011-07-08T13:16:00.000-04:00

I'm a sucker for animals. I have always loved animals, and since moving here to Florida I've seen a lot of animals up close that I hadn't seen before moving here. However, one of my favorite animals remains the giraffe! Luckily both The Older and The Younger love giraffes too, so when we go to Busch Gardens we can hang out in the safari area without much complaint.

When I saw this on Fox 13 news this past week, I was so excited: A Giraffe Farm that offers tours! I can't even imagine how amazing this would be. I think when The Younger turns 3 (or 4), I may save up and take the family here. It's right in Dade City, and I think it's worth the price for a 2 hour tour (cue Gilligan's Island theme song).

Regal Cinemas Summer Movie Express

2011-07-02T10:20:00.000-04:00

I know that finding activities during the summer months is hard sometimes, especially in Florida where the heat can be oppressive. I've been pretty lucky so far in that The Younger loves arts and crafts so she's happy inside during the hottest parts of the day, but it's been trickier with The Older.

I had forgotten about Regal Cinemas Summer Movie Express until last night, and I'm happy I saw something that jogged this old memory of mine. For only $1, you can see G or PG rated movies with your kids at select Regal Cinema locations around the country. They're shown on Tuesday and Wednesdays at 10 am, and the selection is really good! It took me awhile to find the calender of showings, so I'll just put the link here so it's easier for people looking for it.

The snack bar prices remain the same for these showings, so if you're looking to save money you may want to eat before you go to a show. Or, you could always put a sandwich (or two) in your purse. Not that anyone would actually ever do that, right? ;-)

Reading Your Way to the Ballpark

2011-06-30T08:44:00.000-04:00

I just heard about this so I'm a bit behind, but our local MLB team is hosting a summer reading program. Together with the local libraries of the surrounding communities, The Tampa Bay Rays are hosting the Reading Your Way to the Ballpark where kids can actually get a free ticket to a game for logging 24 hours of reading. They pick up a "game card" at the local library, and after they reach certain goals (i.e., read a certain number of hours) they receive prizes:

First Base - Sunburst Tattoo
Second Base - Evan Longoria Reading with the Rays Poster
Third Base - Rays Slap Bracelet
Home Plate - Ticket to a Rays Game*

The Older will make sure he gets to that Slap Bracelet; he collects them. He's excited for this, and I'm happy that he's excited for reading!

*The Rays game ticket is to be chosen from pre-selected dates and based upon availability

Art With Stamps

2011-06-29T11:39:00.000-04:00

I was going through Tuesday Morning the other day, and I came across a Cra-Z-art Stamp 'n Doodle package for $2.99. I have never heard of Cra-Z anything, so I decided to risk the $2.99-plus-tax and see what it was all about.

Well, I have to say that I'm impressed with what's included for the money. In the package were 3 different colored paints, 3 stamps (moon, footprint, and heart), a stamp roller of stars, a sponge, paintbrush, and a plastic dish to hold the paint. To be honest, I didn't use the paint that came with the package because I didn't have time to do a wash-from-the-furniture-and-toddler test, so I used Crayola Tempera paints instead.

The Younger had a ball mixing the colors and finding out how the stamps worked. Her favorite, I think, was the roller which she manged to roll on everything, including herself. I liked her imagination while using these; for instance, with the star roller she colored in the stars with different colors rather than leaving them as white images.

I would definitely recommend this for parents. The stamps are easy for little hands to manipulate, and while there are enough stamps to choose from that they won't get bored, the choices aren't overwhelming either. I plan to buy more of these when I see them!

Natural and Organic Products for Kids

2011-06-27T08:13:00.000-04:00

When the news came out that Johnson and Johnson and Wal-Mart were being sued for using harmful chemicals in their children's shampoos, I asked around about the different organic/natural products my friends were using. I used organic products with The Older and mostly with The Younger, but I haven't been as vigilant with her (I can always be swayed by a big bottle of baby wash that smells yummy). A friend of mine suggested products from The Eco Store, so I checked them out.

Love them! Not only are the safe and eco-friendly, but when I compared prices I was thrilled (I'm a prime member at Amazon, and even with the free shipping, the prices were more with Amazon for products I usually use). I looked through all the products at The Eco Store and selected on a body wash and shampoo to try... and two months later I still have half a bottle of each left. On their site they say "Our products also help to ensure value for the dollar for our customers. Our super-concentrates means that a little really does go a long way - saving you money by cutting down significantly on cost per use" and they aren't kidding!

Not only were they less expensive and lasted longer, I love how they work. The Younger's hair doesn't tangle when I wash it, her eyes don't tear when I rinse the shampoo from her hair, and when it drys, her hair is easy to control. The body wash is great too, and The Older will use it because it "smells good" and it doesn't bother his sensitive skin. Definite win!

Geography For Kids and Cultural Enrichment

2011-06-22T10:48:00.001-04:00

One of the summer goals I have for The Older is for him to learn that the world extends beyond our neighborhood, and I've been wondering how to teach diversity in a way he can understand and appreciate. It's a "grown-up" concept, but it is so important given the cultural diversity of our nation and our world.

I received an offer through Mamapedia for Little Passports last month, and I read through the site with excitement because it is exactly the type of thing that will help The Older learn and have fun doing it. So, for days I've been running out to the mailbox waiting for the first shipment to arrive, and it finally did! I ripped open the box, and this is what we received:

How cute! It's like a suitcase, and it reminds me of a lunchbox with the little metal handles. I opened it, and I loved what I found inside of it:

So, our adventure begins tomorrow when The Older has a day off from camp. I'm so excited to do this with him and learn about other countries as well. I have projects set up to do monthly that tie into each country we learn about, and I'm hoping that we are going to have as much fun as I think we are!

The Future

2011-06-15T07:24:00.000-04:00

When I was a kid, Epcot bored me to tears. I guess, after the magic of The Magic Kingdom and all it's Mickey Mouse splendor, learning about technology couldn't really compete in my mind. However, my kids love Epcot, and now I think it's one of the best Disney parks (they can all be the best, can't they?).

We like to hit the park before it even opens, though I think we only manged to do that one time this past year. No matter, because I usually plan out our visit beforehand, and I give credit to The Official Home of the Unofficial Guide Touring Plans. I bought the book when we received our season passes, and then downloaded the free app on my Android. Once I saw that I could get real-time line waits and information about crowds, I bought the year subscription to the site and have never been sorry! It's great because I personalize our trip, print it out with a map, and then I don't have to worry about it at all.

By far, my favorite ride is Soarin'. Wow! It engages all the senses, and I cannot wait until The Younger is tall enough to ride it! Even for me, a person who is not thrilled with heights, this is a truly amazing adventure. We always make sure to get to The Land Pavilion first (along with 80% of the park guests, it seems) to grab a FastPass before they're all gone. Then we ride the Living with the Land boat ride (admittedly, this is completely amazing to me since my hydroponic garden seems to grow weeds and not much else), see The Circle of Life movie which is a great piece on how we affect the environment and brings me to tears every time, and then we hit the rest of the park in the order which I have mapped out... Usually.

We spend the majority of our time at Innoventions, which is fine by me. It's indoors and air conditioned! Actually, I love it because both kids can play and explore and learn here, and they have a great time together.

They made their own paper this day. The Older has his in his room, and he's waiting for 'something special' to put on it. The Younger, however, decided to stamp the tar out of it.

The best thing about Epcot is that it's great for all ages. There's something for everyone, and there are things to do for adults and children so there is no boredom (or minimal anyway). I've also never stood on line for more than 15 minutes, and a lot of the rides had no lines at all. Can't be that at The Magic Kingdom, that's for sure!

Summer Reading

2011-06-14T08:04:00.000-04:00

The Older's school is really a great place. They are very family oriented, and they make sure to pass along information that will be beneficial to the kids or their families.On the last day of school we got a great flyer from the media specialist regarding summer reading.

Scholastic Summer Reading Challenge- I don't know about you, but my family is a competitive bunch! I think that's why I enjoy this so much; it encourages The Older by tapping into that part of his personality. Not only does he get to "compete" with other kids to try to read more minutes, but they also have the site set up by school so that the schools as a whole can compete. (If your child's school is not listed, you can email them to request they add it to their database). He gets his own page to log his minutes read, and he can also enter sweepstakes to win prizes!

Pizza Hut Book-It Program- This site is fun! There are games, reading charts, challenges with chances to win prizes, and great recipes too.

Barnes & Nobles- This is more for the parents, I think. You can enter to win a free NOOK color here, and if you read and recommend books, you get a free book.

Reading Rockets- I haven't had much chance to look this site over, but it appears to be a fantastic place for resources on summer reading.

Don't forget your local public library too. Most sponsor a summer reading program as well.

Remember, kids who don't read over the summer can lose months of learning progress!

Fish Fun!

2011-06-11T17:34:00.000-04:00

One of the greatest things here in Tampa Bay (in my opinion, anyway), is the Florida Aquarium. Not only is there at ton of stuff to look at, from birds to alligators to otters to fish, but they have a terrific water area for the kids to play in.

The above picture was taken at the touch tank. Not only are there rays, but now they have sharks you can touch as well.

The outdoor water area is a favorite for the kids. I like to get there right at 10 am when they open, because there's very little shade. Lots of seating though, so if you don't mind losing 15 pounds in water weight, then it doesn't matter what time you get there.

My kiddos love the big pirate ship. Water guns are a big hit!

And, of course, let us not forget the fountains!

Or the rope climbing.

There are places to eat there, and my favorite is the little grill right at the water play area. They have light fare and tropical drinks too! I bring snack and juice boxes, but I'm always lured by the smell of the food and the promise of a cool drink. I do try to resist, but when in Rome...

Animal Noises

2011-06-10T11:00:00.000-04:00

I just love this A to Z Learning Zoo. We actually got it when The Older was around 2 years old, so this poor thing has manged to survive for 5 years! Granted, we're missing the animals from about H-N, but that's okay. I don't think that it will cause any serious long-term damage, unless we go to the zoo and she starts calling kangaroos parrots and telling people they squack.

The Simpsons - Two Bad Neighbors

2011-06-09T08:41:00.000-04:00

I appreciate the guest post, Kelvin Armstrong

The Simpsons episode Two Bad Neighbors features former President George Bush Sr. as The Simpsons new neighbor. It is one of my favorite episodes for a number of reasons. It parodies Dennis the Menace in many ways, but then sees George Bush spanking Bart for misbehaving.

Grandpa "Abe" Simpsons says that when he was youg he used to be spanked by Presidents all the time. He remarks that Grover Cleveland had spanked him on two non consecutive occasions. This is, of course, a reference to the non consecutive presidential terms that Cleveland served. The pranking and back and forth between the Simpson boys and the former president are truly classic moments of the Simpsons.

There is a certain sects of Simpsons fans that would argue that the series has been going down hill in more recent years. One of the few universally agreed upon things is that this is one of the classic episodes that is agreed upon by all Simpsons fans as a favorite. You can still catch the classic episodes of The Simpsons in syndication on direc4u.com. If you see this episode coming up you should be sure to record it with your digital video recorder, or you can even do the old fashioned method of recording The Simpsons and put it on a VHS Cassette, of course the trouble is finding blank ones for sale now a days

Photo Book

2011-06-03T22:31:00.001-04:00

Shutterfly always has great deals! I'm a sort of photo-hoarder; I don't print out my photos but rather store them on my hard drive until I get a virus and they all get wiped out. But, since my brother and his family are leaving the state on Friday, I decided to make them a photobook of memories from the pictures that I haven't lost (yet).

Here it is:

Click here to view this photo book larger

Easy Preschool Crafts

2011-05-25T16:10:00.000-04:00

We had cable problems. Again. Which meant being home for the tech guy. Again. I hadn't really planned on that, so I had limited ideas on what to do.

Luckily, I remembered some preschool activities I had wanted to to with The Younger for awhile, so I picked one that used the supplies I had on hand.

Binoculars:

2 toilet paper rolls
Stickers
Stapler
Yarn

She adored this project! We completed the decorating, then stapled the tubes together, ran a string through the sides, and went into the backyard to look for birds. It was simple, but fun none the less.

Computer and Play-Dough

2011-05-24T11:29:00.000-04:00

Phew! Today has been a busy day. We've been having internet/phone problems the past 2 days, so I haven't been able to go out for my usual morning walks due to the excessive amount of time it has been taking me to resolve the issues. (If this blog ever becomes the sort where I review products and service, I know the first company I'm rating!).

Anyway, while I was on the phone with the cable company this morning, The Younger was being entertained by the Fisher-Price ABC Zoo Game. I love this game because it's easy for young kids to use, and it helps them learn their ABCs and animals as well.

After she was done playing with the animals, we moved on to play-dough. I wanted something low-effort on my part but fun for her, so I added a few friends to the mix for her to play with.

I'm glad we did this when The Older was not home. It would have driven him crazy to have her mix the colored play-dough together! She had a good time though.

Yesterday when The Older got home from school, I made a few more batches of Glop for them to play with. He loved it!

As you can see from this next picture, they made a HUGE mess. Especially fun was when they decided that The Younger should be covered in the mixture. That was great.

**NOTE*** If you have tile floors, be careful! Although easy to clean up, I found that the floor was very slippery after vacuuming/washing.

Fun With Glop

2011-05-23T11:16:00.000-04:00

We did a fantastic experiment today that The Younger loved doing. It was easy to make and easy to tweak to her abilities. All it took was 1/2 cup corn starch, 1/4 cup water, 2 drops of food coloring, and we had over an hour of fun!

Mix the cornstarch and water together, stir, and then add the food coloring (you can use as much or as little as you like to achieve the color your kiddos want to play with).

The Younger had a great time. At first she loved just putting her fingers in it. It looks like a solid, but it quickly turned to liquid as she played with it.

She quickly progressed to using spoons to stir the goop, and she also liked dribbling it onto wax paper to see what she could create.

We then added some Little People animals to the fun. I showed her how the animals would stay on top of the goop until she pressed down a little bit. She loved it, and then wanted to see what would happen when the goop was put onto the animal. She was thrilled when it turned from liquid to solid.

And then it was time to just get as messy as possible. That was the most fun!

Great craft for toddlers, and an easy craft for kids off all ages.

Summer Planning

2011-05-20T12:04:00.000-04:00

I ordered a bunch of craft supplies from Amazon yesterday. I was having palpitations looking at the total, but then I saw an offer for a $40 credit to be applied to your purchase if you qualified for their charge card. So, will full intentions to pay off the balance when the bill comes in, I applied, got approved, and managed to find everything we're going to need for the summer. I can't wait for it all to get here!

I spent this week going through books, online sites, and talking to people about things to do this summer. I then wrote them out, made some adjustments for the ages of the kids, and then set up a schedule. Looks like we're going to be all set! I have art projects, science projects, games, places to go, and learning activities lined up, and I'm excited to get going.

Stay tuned!

Ocean Bottle

2011-05-17T11:28:00.000-04:00

A great preschool craft (or really for any-aged kids crafts) is an ocean bottle. This is really easy to do, and you can mix it up any way you like to meet the needs of the children you're with.

I just started with an empty juice container and some supplies I had around the house:

Then I pulled out some tinfoil to make "fish," and The Younger and I went around the yard to find acorns and small rocks for "dolphins" and "coral". After that we filled the bottle with water, added some blue food coloring, and she went to town creating her own piece of the ocean.

She spent about 30 minutes after adding all of her treasures shaking the bottle around an laughing. It's been a source of enjoyment for a few days now, and we've done a lot of reading about different ocean animals and the ocean environment too.

*hint* Glue the bottle top closed. I'm sure I don't have to explain why.

Lowry Park Zoo Offers

2011-05-02T11:49:00.000-04:00

Lowry Park Zoo is offering free admission to moms this Mother's Day Weekend! It's the last weekend of DinoQuest, so make sure to take advantage of that too. Visit their website for all the information.

Mother’s Day Weekend - FREE ADMISSION OFFER
Saturday, May 7 • 9:30 a.m.-5 p.m.
Sunday, May 8 • 9:30 a.m.-5 p.m.

There is also their $5 admission day coming up on May 22. With free parking, who can beat that deal?

Outdoor Bowling Game

2011-04-18T18:59:00.000-04:00

Today we did an outdoor game that both kids could participate in. We did some bowling outside! I took empty water bottles (any size will do, but I used 2 liter-sized), filled them with a little sand so they wouldn't blow over, and then let the kids "bowl." I let The Younger stand closer than The Older, but he was surprisingly okay with that. To add to the fun, we kept score on a chart made out of chalk on the driveway. They loved marking down their score almost as much as they loved bowling!

This would make a good kids birthday party game too, and can be adjusted as needed for indoor our outdoor play.

Tampa Bay Rays Day

2011-04-17T11:08:00.000-04:00

We had a fantastic time at the Tampa Bay Rays game today! The Older and his cousins got to do a parade around the field and then run the bases. I was surprised with how well they all behaved (sometimes having 5 boys under the age of 8 together for hours at a time can be a bit rough), and The Younger had a great time too. I was exhausted by the time I got home, but it was well worth it!

Free Family Activity Tampa Bay

2011-04-16T19:35:00.000-04:00

If you're looking for something free and fun to do with the whole family, kids included, you may want to consider WaterPlay at Zephyr Park. It hasn't been quite warm enough to take the kids there this season, but I'm looking forward to going. It feels like the time will be right pretty soon, so stay tuned for some pictures!

Things To Do With Kids Tampa Bay

2011-04-15T10:27:00.000-04:00

It's time for Spirit Night! May 13, 2011 at 7:10 pm, the Tampa Bay Rays host the Orioles at Tropicana Stadium. Outfield tickets are $14 and Upper Reserved Tickets are just $8. Sponsored by Hillsborough County Public Schools and Mosaic, this is a great event for the whole family! Ask your child's teacher for more details.

Easter Crafts

2011-04-14T10:58:00.000-04:00

I was at The Dollar Store last week, and I found foam Easter shapes. I got some pastel-colored foam stickers and some pom-poms, and The Younger and I set up shop. I had to help her peel the backs off of the stickers and assist her with gluing, but my involvement was pretty minor.

She really got into the project, and she loved having everything spread out. It was easier for her to see everything well that way too.

Her finished project was cute; however I wish I had thought a little bit ahead about how to hang it. My original thought was to tape it to the window facing the street, but the pom-poms made it impossible to do that. I ended up taping it so it faced into the house, and she was fine with it.

Easy Kids Crafts Ideas: Noodle Art

2011-04-13T08:51:00.000-04:00

I was looking for something The Older could do as a quick activity while I finished up some work today. I found something simple and used supplies that I had on hand. All I needed was:

- Pasta (uncooked)

- Glue

- Cookie Sheet

Sculptures are fun to make when they're made with noodles :-)

Summer Fun

2011-04-12T12:40:00.000-04:00

Summer is coming! I can feel it in the air, and I'm excited! This is the first year I'm going to be home with the kiddos, and I'm really looking forward to what we can do together. However, since The Older is really at the age where he wants to be with his friends and not just his Old Mom every day, I have been looking into camps that aren't wildly expensive.

This past weekend we took a tour of our local YMCA. Wow, they are something else! They have camps set up by weeks, such as Magic Camp, Water Camp, Passport Camp, etc. They're camps are set up as either half-day or full-day programs, and they offer financial assistance of up to 35% off monthly membership fees and class/event/camp costs. They also have a ton of things the family can do together such as their water park, basketball courts, and gymnastics room.

I'd love to join, but at this point I don't know if it's the smartest thing for us. I'll tell ya though; that water park is worth joining for just by itself!

Water Fun

2011-04-10T12:54:00.000-04:00

This is The Younger. She loves water, so I picked up a slip and slide that was on sale. I lay a tarp underneath to keep it from ripping and to give her some space to play in puddles and such. She loves it!

Also, I found that empty bottles make great squirt guns! I used an old dish-washing soap bottle and a Heinz 57 Sauce bottle. Both kids love them.

On The Fly

2011-04-09T12:42:00.000-04:00

I caught this at The Older's Little League game this weekend. This was right before the poor catcher was knocked off his feet by the ball speeding toward his neck...

Lull

2011-04-06T16:07:00.000-04:00

My computer died in March. I still have the one I use for my job, but I don't have my photo software loaded onto it, and I don't like accessing many websites with it due to the sensitivity of the information I have access to for work purposes.

That being said, I have pictures and blog posts to put here in a few days when I have access to another computer. The kids and I have been playing, so there are going to be quite a few!

No Luck This Year

2011-03-17T09:08:00.000-04:00

The Older spent a great deal of time this week making his Leprechaun trap. Last year we created one together, but this year he was determined to do it on is own "since last year we didn't catch anything!"

This is the trap we made last year.

It was a lot of fun to make, and consisted of felt and a canister of oatmeal. Super easy!

This is The Older's trap this year.

He took a big pot "so the leprechaun can't climb out," and covered it with black construction paper. He then took some coins and wrapped them in yellow construction paper so that he could "fool them into thinking there is gold!" He then covered the top of the pot with black paper, set the coins on top, and made a ladder out of crayons so the leprechauns could get to the gold, thus falling through a slit he had in the paper.

Unfortunately, the sly little devils got away this year too and left behind some chocolate coins, glitter, and some Irish-themed buttons for him to wear today.

This year they came in through the window! It's hard to see, but there is glitter, a dead giveaway that the little guys where here.

Just so you know, the leprechauns did not leave the coins in a straight line, nor did they leave the Starburst. It was mysteriously set up this way when I got up in the morning... The Older seems to like getting up in the dead of night and arranging things the way he likes it!

Rainy Day

2011-03-09T09:56:00.000-05:00

It rained today, and even though I knew it was coming I was surprised. I wanted to do something with the rain rather than because of the rain, so I grabbed a pair of flip-flops from The Younger's closet and let her explore the backyard.

It was a struggle to keep the shoes on, but she had a really good time just walking through the leaves and finding puddles to splash in.

We wandered around the yard and picked up wet leaves, sticks, and rocks, and then we played in the sand for a bit. We even got to see some of the creatures the heavy rains had uncovered!

She was outside for a good hour and slept for about 3 hours later that afternoon. Ahhh, fresh air!

Painting With Tools

2011-03-08T08:06:00.000-05:00

It was a dreary day, so I decided to pull out the paints again for The Younger. She hopped up on her chair with so much excitement that I realized I'd have to figure out a bunch of painting projects for us to do every week!

I was going to let her "be messy" and have her use only her hands, but she started yelling "Brush, brush, brush," and I realized she wanted the toothbrush to use. I decided that, in addition to that, I'd get her a few other things to experiment with too.

The cookie cutter would have been easier to use if I'd had a bigger plate for the paint, but she manged.

Spoons were a big hit too, which surprised me.

Cotton balls were well received.

Then she decided to use the toothbrush on the cotton balls which fascinated her.

A plastic spreader was fun to use, but she wasn't as thrilled with it as she was with the other items.

Especially her hands!

Fundraiser

2011-03-05T13:10:00.000-05:00

I know this doesn't keep with the "theme" of this blog, but I wanted to let people know that I am officially "in training" for one to the biggest undertakings I've ever signed on for. Every little bit helps to reach the goal we've set as a team, and no amount is too small a donation! So, if you would like to donate in honor of someone, I'd be honored to put their name on my shirt (or whatever item we decide to use when we walk). Or, there's another option!

March Thirty-One Gifts Fundraiser

My team mate, Kim, has a friend who is a Thirty-One Gifts consultant and is helping us with fundraising for our team Soul Warriors by graciously giving us 50% of her profit on most items and 100% of her profit on anything bought that is PINK – (Soul Warriors is our team we formed to walk in the Susan G. Komen 3-Day for the Cure® this coming October). Please help us by clicking on the link here: www.mythirtyone.com/dnixon From there on the right side click my events that will take you to a new screen with a box that has WALK FOR A CURE. There will be a box that says shop now. You just need to hit that and SHOP!!

For instance: "For every $31 they spend they can get one purse for 50% off…so if they spend $93 they can choose 3 purses at 50% off each. When they choose the purse that will be 50% off, they must choose the item# with the S at the end."

PINK Items at 100% of her profit…
Wristlet wallet in Pixie PINK Medallion
Small Rosette Clip in PINK
Large Rosette Clip in PINK
Mirror Compact in PINK Circle Spirals
Shoulder Strap in Hot PINK
Scarf in PINK Circle Spirals
Cinch Sac in PINK Circle Spirals
Mini Retro Metro Bag in PINK
Fitted Purse Skirt in PINK Medallion
Fitted Purse Skirt in Ombre Giraffe
Storage Tote in Deep PINK Rings

She will also give us 100% of her profit on the $6 embroidery cost of these colors..

The party is open until March 18th so you have plenty of time to shop! Please consider shopping now and help us raise money for a cure for breast cancer!

We have also started a blog to share our new adventure with everyone. Please come by and say hi: Soul Warriors.