Wednesday, September 14, 2011

A bunch of updates tied into one post... :)

WOW! So, I guess I haven't been on here since JULY... Has it really been THAT long?? I guess as you can see this summer has been pretty crazy busy... Well, where to begin??

THE GIRLS-
Serenity is now 4 years old! Yeah I still can't believe that one... No one told me a year in "mom time" was more like a week "real time". I still remember the day we brought that little girl into the world :) The last 4 years have been challenging, exhausting, sometimes infuriating, but all at the same time -by far- THE best and most meaningful 4 years of my life. We're currently homeschooling (not sure for how long), and she is amazingly smart (I may be a bit biased but that's ok) ;) She's pretty darn good at writing her name now, were learning all kinds of words in Spanish, a few things in Sign Language, Weather, Days, Months, Letter sounds and uses etc. She loves art and learning new Spanish words. Were also supplementing with a Faith curriculum which is great.

Now Destiny is 1 and a half (exactly in 11 days). Destiny LOVES to get into things, I don't think there's a moment she isn't thinking about getting into something that isn't hers to get into/climb on/throw away etc. :) But I love her just the same. She is talking so much now - especially in the last two days - we actually know what she is trying to say and she seems to understand us pretty well also :) which is AWESOME. Another adventure we've started - the POTTY training process! HAHAHA Ohh boy  - I feel like maybe she holds it until she gets off the potty.... LOL. Well actually she has gone in the big girl potty a few times now I think she  just forgets because if i catch her right before she goes potty and remind her she will go to the potty but if I don't it's like she forgets haha. As long as were out of diapers some day I'll be good ;)

I could go on forever about my girls so, on to the next thing haha.

Back in June I started this "Good Morning Girls" online bible study group with about 13 other women from all over the country world - we read "The Ministry Of Motherhood" by Sally Clarkson together and did a corresponding bible study. I recommend this book to ANY and EVERY mom - yes it was THAT good. I am so happy to say - about 10 of us are going to continue through the Fall session together where we will be reading, discussing, and learning 1John. It's been a blast getting to know them over the last few months and I can't wait for this next session.

Through Sally I learned about a movie.. A movie called Dolphin Tale (Sally Clarkson's son is in this movie BTW) - It doesn't come out for another week and a half but I was lucky enough to get to see a free screening of the movie in a local theater! Of course I brought Serenity... yeah yeah yeah I too wondered if that was a good idea since it was not a cartoon lol so this next thing you're going to hear may shock you................... She LOVED IT! As did I of course. It was a great heart-warming movie (don't forget to bring a box of tissues haha). Click here to view the trailer.
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And last but definitely not least this summer I was chosen out of a select group of people to write a review about the Family_Time.Mine day planner from DotMine.

First off I want to make it clear that I have not been asked (or paid) to give any kind of opinion that is not solely my OWN.

After trying the Life_Time.Mine planner last year I was pretty hesitant to try another one out this year... I will just say that THAT particular one was not for me. So, the time came around again this year, they offered me a free planner if I agreed to write a blog containing my opinion (again). Well I am pleased to say, the Family_Time.Mine planner is one hundred and twelve times better (for me) than the Life_Time.Mine was. Maybe that's because I don't have much of a Life haha. Jk. lol.

The Family_Time.Mine is in my opinion - easier to use. It is spiral bound which means allot easier to flip to the page you need without the book closing on you (an issue with the last one not this one), and you can keep that page open allot easier as well.

It has a clever page for babysitter information (you can leave this page open for the baby sitter and it will display where you are, how to contact you, emergency numbers, notes, etc.)

A family business page (doctors numbers, neighbors, teachers, library, schools, take out numbers, etc)

A page for contacts

A "master planning guide" for each season, a monthly view and a week by week view (which allows more space for writing - LOTS of space)

A notes/lists space on each page that is perforated so it's easy to pull out and take with if needed. (also a place for sticky notes on those pages)

A large area for notes after every couple months.

A space above each page so you can write down what "family time" you have planned for the month.

and seriously SO much more- it is the only planner  I have used for longer than two weeks :)
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Now if you're even still reading this I will say there is more "news" to come.... We will have to save it for another post in the next couple weeks though so stay tuned :)

Tuesday, July 6, 2010

Summer is finally here!

So much has happened since the last post, where do I start?

4th OF JULY WEEKEND:
This last weekend was 4th of July weekend which we spent down at the beach with Dustin’s family. Now those of you who know everything that’s happened over the last 5 years knows that could have taken one of two roads – either turning into a long ugly horribly wrong weekend… OR turning out to be an unexpectedly GREAT weekend… Well I’m glad to say it took road number 2 lol. It was one of the best times I’ve had with Dustin AND his family. I guess I could stop calling them HIS family now since after 5 years their kinda my family too… lol anyways it turned out to be a pretty perfect weekend at the beach.

The first day we were in Rockaway the weather was just perfect! We had a BBQ and then just kinda hung out… Everyone got along so well without arguing. Serenity LOVED playing with her cousins Grace and Eden. She was all but GLUED to Grace for the whole weekend :)

The only not so perfect thing that first day was the fact that just a couple hours after we got there the sirens went off to let us know some 20 year old guy was caught off guard by a wave and was taken under – they searched for him the rest of the day and well into that evening and I don’t believe he was ever found again.

Then on the fourth everyone got together in the evening for dinner and fireworks which again was a great time.

FAMILY UPDATES: I still can’t believe we have been blessed with TWO very beautiful girls. It’s challenging – So much more so than it was with just one little girl – but also SOO worth every minute of it. My life is never dull with Serenity and Destiny in it… There’s always something new and exciting… Like the fact that destiny is now almost 4 months old! She’s already rolling over, trying to scoot, grabbing at things, and possibly teething (she is soooooo drooly and chews on my fingers like she’s trying to take them off haha ), she even talks in the cutest little “voice” ever! In her baby language of course. I feel so blessed and lucky to be able to experience this all over again. With Serenity it all went by so fast, but we enjoyed every minute of that too. Both times so far have just been incredible.

It’s hard to believe almost a whole three years have gone by since that very special day in September of 2007 when we were blessed with Serenity (our first little girl). She is so smart, she knows how to work her computer and get online to a few websites she’s allowed to play on for a few minutes at a time, her favorites beingwww.sproutonline.com and www.nickjr.com. I have never known a 2 1/2 year old to know how to navigate the web or even a computer… I blame this on her daddy being a little bit of a computer addict haha. She talks amazingly well, of course her brain goes a little faster than her mouth can move sometimes but if you ask her to slow down she does great :D   The nice thing about her is that she doesn’t rely on her computer to entertain her (I wont let her lol), she’s pretty good at using her imagination too and playing with toys like a almost three year old should. Were working with little work books from Barnes & Noble to teach her how to follow instruction and trace/stay on the line when she’s tracing and she’s doing great so far. Still a little messy but I’ve found it’s all about getting her to slow down and really pay attention. Getting her to slow down has always been a challenge BUT it’s definitely the key to success with her and CAN be done. Her love of learning new things also helps a ton!

SERENITY GOING TO SCHOOL… OR NOTDustin and I looked into preschools for serenity and decided on a nice little preschool in Milwaukee… After words kicking our selves a bit because we’re just not sure if sending Serenity to a public school is really best for not only us but her as well and mostly her. As probably every parent knows “they say” the first 3-5 years in a  child’s life are very important and that is also when they have the most learning potential… Well I was thinking sending Serenity to school would be a great way for her to meet friends and have a little bit of a social life and kids to play with… So Dustin and I signed her up because we didn’t want all the spots to be taken. Not to mention the fact that Serenity has wanted to go to “preschool” like Caillou since just a couple months after she turned two years old… I didn’t want to let her down and tell her “you’ll never be able to experience that Serenity” So she’s signed up to start in September this year….

Now, after we had made that decision… a couple months after actually, I felt Dustin and I should revisit our talk about Serenity attending public school. I knew my views had changed a bit and apparently so had Dustin’s. I am pretty sure I want to home school serenity… I want to at least try to make it work so that I know what she is learning and how I as her mother can help her. Especially if I am going to be a stay at home mom I think, it is MY job as her MOTHER to teach her what she will need to know. It also makes it easier for me to make sure my child isn’t learning things she doesn’t need to know from other children. Now don’t get me wrong… I do not want to shelter her from the “real world” and I don’t think that’s what I’m doing, I just want her to learn the difference between what is acceptable for her age and what is not. In public school everyone especially the girls are growing up way too fast and are taught by others that its ok. I mean seriously have you seen the way they dress? The things they listen to? Or even the things they do with their free time? Allot of people today would like to say “this is normal childish/teenager behavior… they’ll see one day that it doesn’t work in the real world and they will grow out of it eventually”. The truth is, I don’t believe this. I don’t believe kids grow out of something they’re taught is ok all their lives very easily. They need their parents to help guide them in learning what’s ok and what’s just not acceptable from the beginning. Anyways I think you get the point… So Dustin and I have decided and don’t quote me because things are always open to change depending on circumstance – but as of right now… Since her preschool has already been paid for and she’s so excited already to go… Were going to let her go to preschool this year, since its only 2 1/2 hours a day for 2 days a week she will still be doing most of her learning at home anyway. Then after this year of preschool, I am going to home school her and instead of taking that “social life” & ability to go out and make some friends we will enroll her in a dance class, or art class, etc… She will get to chose what type of extra curricular class she would like to take on the side. This way she’s still able to be social but she’s not spending all day every day with these kids who have completely different values. And really they’re cutting the funding for all these schools and taking just about everything good out of them anyway so I don’t feel she will be missing out on much.

I know everyone’s opinion is different on the school issue but this is my opinion and no ones going to change that. What may be best for your family may not be best for mine and I’m ok with that.
This is a pretty LONG blog but these are SOME of the main updates and discussions we’ve had recently… Hopefully I will get to blog again very soon but for now I’ve got to get back to my little family :)

I hope everyone had a great 4th of July weekend and continues to have a great week!

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

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