What the Kids Learned this Summer

There is always the concern that while kids are on summer vacation that they will forget everything they learned this summer.  I was not going to let that happen to my little special snowflakes.  They were going to go back to school filled with new knowledge.  I will admit it has been a challenge to keep pushing through with teaching my gifted children this summer.  Sure they protested, but I had to press forward.  It is for their future, right.

Here is the knowledge that the kids will go back to school with this year:

Amber:

Spidergirl lives…in my house.  Future skill, cleaning those cobwebs that I can’t reach.

Evie:

Ah, the legacy of attitude lives on.  Future skill,  she can shake her neck and wave her finger the next time someone tries to cut in front of me at Walmart.

Sam:

 

War has been playing out in my living room for days.  Don’t worry the Disney Princesses have been on hand to take care of all injuries. Future skill, warfare, of course.  Although, I hope he eventually learns that tanks don’t fly and dinosaurs don’t usually take part in war.

Yes, it has been a knowledge filled summer, but it has come to an end.  The kids, minus Evie, will be off to school, soon, and I will learn what it is like to have a clean house for more than 5 minutes and what those people are saying on TV.

Read Full Post »

Cabbage Ball

What is cabbage ball, you ask?  Well it is a ball that is larger than a softball; about the size of a cabbage.

I signed Sam up for cabbage ball through his school, because it was cheap, in the evening, only an hour and would get us outside.  I would have signed up Amber, but it meant spending 3 hours outside and I am not up for that.  I do regret it, because the girl is itching to do sports.  She is learning how to throw a football, desperately wants to play cabbage ball and ask to play basketball with the big boys while Sam takes Tae Kwon Do.  I think a basketball hoop is in our near future.

It is surprising how well the kids take to cabbage ball.  Sure there are wanderers, the whole team running for the ball, throwing the ball in the wrong direction and not running to all the bases.  What can you expect from a bunch of 4,5 and 6 yr olds.  There is no score keeping and everyone wins.  I, also, think everyone gets a trophy at the end of the “season”.  Yeah, it is that kind of situation.  Meh, if I really wanted to teach Sam the art of knock down drag out competition there are many places to sign him up.  We have had our fair share of COMPETITION with cheerleading, so we are taking a breather.  Besides, Sam has already experienced his mom yelling, “TAKE THAT KID OUT!” and it is only our 3rd month in TKD.  So, I am not that worried that he will not know the feel of lost.  Matter of fact he felt it, yesterday, when he took a round house kick to the chest.

Getting the game plan for the game.  I believe it mostly consist of stay on your base, try not to run into each other and not everyone needs to run for the ball at once.

And here he is, guarding his post.

You mean I was suppose to stop that ball?

I am watching you!
Yeah, well I brought my daddy with me.
First baseman is a tough position.

We got a hit!

RUN!

RUN! FORREST! RUN!

That is where our pictures end, because it is freezie pop time.  Which, let’s face it, is the main reason we are all there.

Read Full Post »

The Death Party

This past Sunday Evie turned the big 0-2.  I am not big on planning parties.  I never know what to serve or who to invite or if there should be games or any of the other million and one questions that SoHubby throws at me when thinking about one of the kids’ parties.  Around age 7 I am burnt out and simply go with cake and the kid’s favorite meal.

Since Evie is only 2 yrs old I needed to put forth some effort, so I decided to go kind of generic.  Her theme was pink and lavender.  Sure I could have gone with Princesses, Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Winnie the Pooh, etc, etc, etc, but since Evie was being tight lipped on what theme she really wanted I made the decision that was easier for me.  I know I am a selfish.  As an added bonus I thought it would be cool to have a candy buffet.  Then I made the most crucial misstep of all in planning this party, I asked for advice on the trusty Babycenter Bargain Hunter’s Board.

No there are no bargains on this board.  Well, not many.  I will give you a brief history.  When I started on the board there were tons of bargains.  Like everything in this world bargains run in cycles.  I probably joined somewhere around Christmas, which as you can guess bargains are abundant.  Then you have the after Christmas sales.  And as that Christmas dinner you had it becomes too much; for the stores and for the customers.  Hence a big gaping lull on the BHB.  What?  Do you expect us to put down those laptops and pay attention to our kids. Pshaw!  So to keep the board going OT (off topic) posts started showing up.  That lead to drama.  And now we are known for straight talking drama.  Since the big switch there have been other boards vying for top spot of bringing the drama, but if you want to feel like a complete and total fail as a parent just go on over to the BHB.  No wonder I spend most of my children’s lives on it.

Here is my thread that caused much drama.  To save you from reading all those pages of telling me what a horrible baby killer I am, I will summarize it for you.  Basically, how dare I not warn parents of the children I invite, because “I” would never allow my child to go to a party like THAT!  Or my favorite “I hope you know CPR, because you are going to need it.”  Matter of fact we had 2 nurses at the party.  We called them Mawmaw and Nana.  Instead of answering my request of any advice I was bombarded with snarky responses about how I am going to kill children and to make sure to keep them away from deflated balloons and swimming pools.  The thing is that the ones who told me, “Hey you might want to rethink the jawbreakers” early on in the thread got me to change to another candy which I mentioned in the thread.  However, these ladies never miss a chance to drive a point home.

So I dubbed Evie’s party “The Death Party”.   I thought about having an ambulance or coroner near by.  Nah, there was already a paramedic there, we call him Pawpaw, and a cop down the street.  I am sure that would be good enough. And as with most of the parties, I plan to take tons of pictures and fail.  I am either putting things out, talking to guests, making sure children aren’t dying in a corner somewhere, and running my husband all over kingdom come for things that I should have bought more of.  But here are the few pictures that I did take:

Here we have the Death Buffet.  Look at all that death just laid out for any innocent child to come along and grab a bit of it.  I would like to say that the adults were the first ones to dive right into my jar of M&M’s.  The kids went off to the playroom.

As you can see in the front there to the left of the Death Buffet, I have a small fruit and cheese tray.  OH! MY! GOD!  What is that right there?  Is it?  NO, it can’t be!  Oh yes it is, a bowl of caramel to dip your apples in.  The empty space was for the heartattack chicken, aka Raising Cane’s along with Cane sauce, of course.  That is what SoHubby had to run out and get more of, because you know we all love a good heart attack down here.

And the worst offender of all:  THE BIRTHDAY CAKE!!  How dare I not warn those parents that there would be a fluffy, moist, creamy birthday cake at this birthday party for a 2 year old?  I really should have my head examined.  After the cake was cut, I lined the kids up for the ultimate punishment.  I handed them a favor bag and told them to take as much of the candy as they wanted.  I did, according to the oath I took when joining the BHB, did ask the parents first if it was okay.  Even some of the parents took some candy home.  My Jedi mind trick must have worked on them, too.  Death for all!!!

(And NO!  The cake doesn’t say “Happy Birthday, EVIL”.  I am not that warped.  It says Evie.)

Look, I want my kids to be healthy, but have learned, long ago, to remove the stick out of my ass. It tends to lead to being more flexible.  I have no problem with parents not letting their kids have candy.  I, on the other hand, can’t live without candy which means my kids will have it on occasion as well.  They better because the rest of the candy from the party sits in the middle of our dining room table.  Don’t worry we don’t eat there, anyway.

What I learned from my candy buffet experience: Put wrapped candy into jars that the kids can get to.  You don’t want them putting their hands into jars with unwrapped candy.  Make sure there is enough for everyone, which means you will have to accept that there will be candy leftover.  Enjoy, life is too short and the BHB will remind you that it is even shorter after you eat all that candy.  I found the penny jars (the jars in front of the cake) at Target for just over $5.  I found the other jars in a set at Target, as well, for $20.  If you want the really pretty jars go to your local Michael’s.  If you want color coordinated candy start early and expect to pay a premium.  The M&M’s were the biggest hit.  And oh, if you are not lucky enough to have medical personnel already invited to the party, make sure you print out a waiver for each parent to sign upon entering the party.  Have fun!

 

Read Full Post »

StoryLand

We went on our first summer playgroup with MOPs.  I am so happy to have found this group, through our great Special Instructor from Early Steps.  Not only do we have things to do during the summer, but we have met so many great women and kids.

I do love going to Storyland.  You get to run from one fairytale to the next right there in the middle of New Orleans.

First stop is always the pirate ship.
I asked Sam who he was, thinking that he may say Jake from Jake and the Neverland pirates.
Instead he said “CAPTAIN JACK SPARROW!”

You don’t get more whimsical then a fish riding a bicycle.
I do have to wonder why it was outside of the bathroom.

How great is it to take cover under a giant mushroom.
If you look closely, you will see that Amber has picked up on making
weird faces in pictures from her teenage aunt.
*sigh*

My favorite picture of the day.

Club Castle.
All the bounce music the anklebiter set can stand.

Taking a breather in the coolest spot in the whole place.

A break with an old friend.
We are not sure why he had that woman under him.
Of course, we didn’t ask. We wouldn’t want to be rude.
Also, we thought he was potty trained by now, but I wouldn’t mention it
if I were you.

The day ended around this point, because I just couldn’t take the whining about the heat, anymore.  Yes, we all know that we live on the surface of the sun, but most of us have accepted it and have moved on.  I guess Sam is not quite there, yet.

Read Full Post »

All About Evie

There have been a few things happening with Evie.  Big milestones that at some point, as dramatic as it sounds, we thought she might not achieve.

As a baby Evie was pretty typical.  Well, as typical as any of my babies can be.  At around 4 months old she became inconsolable.  Even though she is my third baby I had no idea what her problem was.  She was getting fed every 2 hours like the other 2.  I let her nurse until she pulled off, but she just didn’t seem happy.  This could build a bit of resentment for us, moms, because we see these little beings snuggled in their blankets getting every demand met and still they are not happy.  Also, not sleeping through the night could make anyone homicidal resentful.  At some point, I thought that maybe she was upset that she was always stuck in her swing.  Now, before you judge third baby on the floor is subject to being stepped on by older siblings and run over by the dog.  So the swing was the safest place.  I dragged the play yard downstairs and put her on her tummy.  This lead to screaming.  Ear bleeding, glass shattering, want to stab my ears with a knife screaming.  The doctor’s advice, let her scream she will stop eventually.  Or maybe I will just go deaf.  She never stopped and back in the swing she went.  At her 4 month appointment, we discovered that she had lost 13 ounces, a great achievement for most women I know; not so much for a baby.  It appeared not only was my baby factory closed for good, but the milk factory had stopped production without sending a memo.  So I went to Target, bought a can of formula and never looked back.  Results, happy baby, happy mama, family not cowering in the corner anymore.  A win-win for everyone.

We moved on with our lives until the next puzzle popped up.  Evie wouldn’t put any weight on her legs.  I had noticed that when ever I held her up she would fold her legs under.  Strange, but not a medical emergency.  Then it hit me that she never stood up like the other 2 kids.  Even when babies are newborn they have some ability to plant their feet while you hold their hands.  Evie never did that.  I mentioned it to her doctor a few times and it was always wait and see. Finally, at 8 months old he referred me to Early Steps.  She was tested and services started that summer.  We never knew why she didn’t want to put weight on her legs, but we pretty much came into agreement that it was nothing physical and more a mixture of strong-willed and fear that kept her from bringing herself to new heights.  We, also, would discover that she didn’t like certain movements.  There is a name for it, but since she has moved on I have decided to release that file from my brain.  Basically she hated swings, slides, and riding toys.  The first obstacle was the Zebra that sat in our living room waiting for the next child to tear through my house at top speed.  It seemed to take forever to get Evie to just stop scream and ripping at my clothes and then finally she was able to propel herself through  out the house.

This one small simple step would be just the thing to get Evie and I to push further and realize that even though it looked like she was playing with her therapists it work with clear results.

Evie progressed slowly, but it all became much easier.  She was more comfortable with her therapists and might even say she looked forward to them coming every Monday.  We pushed on hoping and praying that one day she was going to walk.  However, the months were slipping by.  In the meantime we saw progress in the form of pulling and standing up.

We were all very happy.  However in the back of my mind I would run through when Amber and Sam was walking and the worry never left.  I kept searching for answers which was hard, because there was nothing obvious to put into Google to find out what was going on.  Her therapists didn’t quite know and neither did her doctor.  I would ask at her 15 month check up if there was anything he could feel that could be wrong.  He said no and that if she didn’t start showing any progression toward walking he would referred me to a neurologist.  Maybe Evie got a flashback to the 2 times she had blood drawn during her big weight lost at Children’s Hospital and she worked harder.  Hey that wasn’t fun for either of us, sister.  Or maybe her walking time was 18 months, because on one lazy Saturday evening while we all sat in the living room watching TV she would stand up and take her first steps.

That is the moment that opened the floodgates.  She would start babbling after this when before she had not uttered more than a few grunts.  She would sit on the towel with the OT and be dragged across the floor.  Fun for your average kid, but terror inducing for Evie.  She would tolerate the swing without clawing at me for dear life and screaming like we were murdering her.  It just seemed that she had finally realized that being upright wasn’t so bad and moving was even better.  Life was grand.  And now, she is a walking, somewhat talking, very opinionated toddler that no one could ever tell needed therapy.  A true Early Steps success story.

So we said good bye to the OT, started some speech therapy, since she is not quite where she should be for her age, and exploring the world around her.  It will always be a mystery why she never put weight on her legs as a baby, why she didn’t crawl until she was 12 months old, and the many other milestones that she met late (according to her siblings and the charts), but she is rolling, now.  I will often sit and wonder what if I never called Early Steps?  And the answer is usually they just gave me the extra information and help I needed to get through this small problem.  And, yes, it was a small problem.  If one thing being a parent has taught me is that once one hill is conquer there is a mountain right behind it.

Read Full Post »

Halloween!

Let’s start with the Pumpkin Patch.  A tradition that consumes you with trying to get the perfect picture, then you die because you, even, annoy yourself:

First goal is to get everyone to look at the camera.

Not quite there, yet, but dammit if I will give up.
We are talking about memories, people!

Close!

Not quite what I had in mind, but I won’t give up!

Okay, now we are just going backwards.

Very good, now, can we get a smile from EVERYONE!

Yeah, this isn’t going to work.
I am screaming, SMILE, Evie is distracted by the hay and Sam is plotting his midnight rampage.
Amber, on the other hand, could do this all day long.
I guess we will have actual memories, instead of those plastered face smiles hiding our bitterness.

Costumes:

I couldn’t resist.
If  Robert Downey, Jr. is ever not up for IronMan 3, I have his replacement.

I was proud to escort IronMan, a Glamor witch and Ophelia.
Yes, that’s right the same Ophelia from Hamlet.
Don’t ask.  This was her 3rd costume within a week.
That girl is lucky I didn’t spend any money on those costumes.

And finally, DA DA DUM!:

SoHubby’s spontaneous Shit My Dad Says costume.
Things to know:
Sohubby did NOT have to buy any part of this costume.
Yes, he had all parts waiting in his closet.
He did NOT plan to wear this for Halloween.
He simply went upstairs and put something on to take the kids Trick or Treating.

Spooky, spooky decorations:

It was a wild, fun, crazy, whiny, sugar filled, scary, busy, happy Halloween.
I hope people like getting some candy with their Christmas gifts, because I was left with buckets of it.
Onward to Thanksgiving.
Who decided that all the eating holidays should be at the end of the year?

 

Read Full Post »

Sesame Street 1 2 3 Imagine

We sat with excitement not knowing what to expect.  Sure we had seen Curious George, but this was Sesame Street!
The kids settled into their seats with their jumbo bag of cotton candy, which they were instructed to share, with eyes glued on the stage.

And then there they were; all our favorites.  We were a little bummed that Zoe hadn’t tagged along with Elmo.  They are best friends, you know, but Abby Cadabby, Ernie, the Count and Cookie Monster were there, so we couldn’t stay sad for long.

We were taken on all sorts of adventures with the help of our imaginations.  You just close your eyes, think of a place and then you are there.  Get it?  1-2-3!

Our favorites were:

Ernie’s trip on the high seas on the SS Rubber Duckie.

The dancing glowing fish kept the kids mesmerized.

We even got to meet an octopus that sang and dance.

Then Elmo transported us to Africa:

Finally the show ended with a parade.  Something we know a little bit about down here:

Of course this show, coming from Sesame Street, delivered consistency and familiarity which made the kids feel comfortable.  There were many kids dressed as their favorite character from the show which I am sure added to their excitement.  The characters moved with ease and their voices were perfect.  A key component when dealing with kids and their favorites.  They will notice the tiniest detailif out of place.  Sam imagined right along with the characters and in true Sesame Street fashion learned through music, dance and pure entertainment.  I will admit I was happy to see my favorites, as well, Count, Ernie and, everyone’s favorite I think, Cookie Monster.

There was only one small problem the 90 minute length of the show.  While I wouldn’t cut anything, because it would take away from the show as a whole, the small kids seemed ill equipped to handle 90 minutes.  Even the most well behaved children were on the verge of full on meltdown after the intermission.  However, that could be that it was 7pm on a Friday night.  I would have loved to have taken the kids to one of the earlier shows, but our schedule didn’t permit it.  Even with the struggle of keeping tired children from melting down, the show was a success.  I mean look at that face what do you think?

That face is all the endorsement you should need to know that this show was a success.

We received 5 free tickets to the show in return for a blog giveaway and my review.

Read Full Post »

The BIG Sesame Street Giveaway!

*GIVE AWAY IS NOW CLOSED. Drawing is in process.  Good luck, everyone!

*Remember: To be eligible to win the tickets you need to post a comment on this post.  It doesn’t matter what your comment is about, just as long as it is on this post. *

There will be singing, dancing, and high adventures with all your favorite Sesame Street characters.  My inside scoop tells me that Ernie is a captain on the high seas, Bert meets an octopus struggling with the blues and Elmo, yes ELMO, will be dancing to a beat that can only be found in the African rain forest.  Impossible, you say?  No way, you say? Um, have you been listening?  It is Sesame Street and Elmo.  There is no limit to what they can do.  And my secret source tells me that many of the Sesame Street friends will be there to sing and dance along, too.

TM/© 2010 Sesame Workshop. All Rights Reserved. Photographs courtesy of VEE Corporation.

Because this is such a big show I was given 4 tickets to give to a lucky reader of my blog.  All you have to do is leave a comment between now and October 1, 2010.  Doesn’t matter what the comment says, but keep it clean.  I reserve the right to delete any inappropriate comment, which would then leave you out of the running for these great tickets.  Just thought I had to mention that.  Over the course of the next 2.5 weeks I will give you some Sesame Street trivia to keep y’all busy.  You don’t have to get the answer right to win and you can comment as many times as you want.   The winner will be chosen by either Amber or Sam, depending on who is in the better mood that day, by pulling a number out a “hat”.  Don’t worry, I will record the process so you know it is all legit.

Even if you don’t win you can still see Sesame Street Live “1-2-3 Imagine! with Elmo & Friends” at the New Orleans Arena from Wednesday, October 20 – Saturday, October 23, 2010.  Check the box offices or ticketmaster for times and ticket prices.

Let’s start with our first trivia question.  I will be adding them to this post, so there won’t be any confusion.  Remember you don’t have to get the question correct; it will just give you something to talk about.  Here we go:

Which character is Elmo’s best friend? Zoe

What musical instrument does Ernie play? Saxophone

All of the Sesame Street Muppets have four fingers, except ____, who has five? Cookie Monster

In the first season of Sesame Street, Oscar the Grouch was what color? Orange

I took the weekend off, but here is your new question, how many celebrities have visited Sesame Street? Over 440 (WOW!)

Here’s an interesting one, which puppet is the only in history to have testified before congress? Elmo

Wooooo, another tough one: Where did the word Muppet come from? Jim Henson combined the words marionette and puppet.  Hmmm…I always thought it was monster and puppet together.  Learn a lot these days.

I am going to go with a slightly easier question, Whose Super Hero identity makes him smarter than a speeding bullet? Super Grover

Oops, I forgot to put a question up, yesterday, so here it is, today, Who was the first celebrity to appear on Sesame Street? James Earl Jones

I didn’t forget about the question for Monday.  I was just sick and went to bed early after running around all day.  So, here are 2 questions to keep you busy.  Remember we are almost to the end of the contest.  We will pick a winner Friday night, October 1.

Which character likes collecting junk, standing in line, arguing and rainy days? (This one is easy.  Here is a hint, the answer is not ME!)

Bernice the pigeon belongs to which character? Bert

Okay, once again the technology Gods were against me last night and I couldn’t get my blog to work.  In other words, I went to bed totally pissed off that I couldn’t put up a question.  So 2 questions, again, today.

How many bottle caps does Bert have in his collection? More than 368

How many Grammy Awards has Sesame Street won? 9

Disclaimer: My family was given 5 free tickets to the show for my participation in this promotion.

Read Full Post »

Guess Who is Coming to New Orleans?

TM/© 2010 Sesame Workshop. All Rights Reserved. Photographs courtesy of VEE Corporation.

That’s right!  Curious George is coming to the New Orleans Arena Friday, September 10 to Sunday, September 12.  You know that silly little monkey that has been getting into all kinds of trouble for over 65 years.

It was so nice of him to come down for my birthday weekend, but I have a feeling he will be a bit too busy.  How do I know that  Curious George is going to be busy?  Because the nice people at the Vee Corporation have allowed me to give the locals of the Greater New Orleans area a discount when purchasing their tickets. Just go to ticketmaster.com and enter the code FRIEND to receive $3 off, excluding Gold Circle, Monkey and Opening Night tickets.

TM/© 2010 Sesame Workshop. All Rights Reserved. Photographs courtesy of VEE Corporation.

So come on down to the Arena and see what kind of adventures Curious George gets into in his first ever Broadway style show. I hear there is travel, food, and, of course, silly adventures that not only include George’s best friend, The Man with the Yellow Hat, but many other new friends.  You will just have to see it to believe it.  And be sure to say HI! if you see us, because we wouldn’t miss this for the world.  One last thing, stay tuned to the blog,  because I have another surprise coming soon that includes some other friends that you all will know.  I wouldn’t miss if I were you.

Disclaimer:  I have received free tickets for my family to this show for doing this blog post.

Curious George Live!

A VEE Corporation Production in association with Universal Pictures Stage Productions and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. CG: ® & © 2010 Universal Studios and/or HMH. Photos courtesy of VEE Corporation.

Read Full Post »

Evie’s Photo Shoot

A few weeks ago, I met up with Cara from Cara Jouglard Photography to have a mini photo shoot.  I have always wanted to have a photographer come to me and take the kids pictures.  My aunt does this for her family portraits and they always come out great.  Besides, I love to help someone in a new venture.  Cara promised me a free 8 x 10 for allowing her to use Evie’s photos in her new photography business.

We met at a local park and while our boys played Cara went to work capturing Evie on digital (?).  She was patient and willing to get in the dirt, literally, to get the picture.  That is kind of important when shooting children since they are usually not at eye level with most adults. Cara even brought some props such as a chair and rocking horse.  Another good thing is having a photographer knowing when to quit and not push the child to utter frustration.  I am not sure how many picture Cara snapped, but what she got was great.  So great I ended up buying a couple more prints and having great trouble picking which ones I wanted.

Here is a taste of what the photo shoot produce:

Thanks Cara for giving us an opportunity to meet with you and get some great pictures.

Read Full Post »