double excitement, double the fun with....

well, not double mint gum because I'm allergic to aspertame like 50% of America.
I say double because tomorrow I'll be 33.... double 3's.
Last year I promised the unexpected and I'm pretty sure I followed through.
What have I done this year:
gained 55 lbs.... well that was unexpected (thanks old lady meds that I'll be changing soon)
lost family (another attribute to being old)
went to disney, chicago, Grand Canyon, Great wolf lodge, the amazing tour of the south East, and other sundry wonderful unexpected destinations along the way.
started homeschooling ( unexpected for all)
moved into an apartment,... and out of an apartment
learned to go with the flow (unexpected for me)
actually did pinterest things I' pinned (and I would post more of them if my camera would hook up to the computer)
became a weeeeeeee bit more computer savvy (depending on who you ask)
have read many books (only unexpected because I have 4 kids)
moved from chas to VA and soon to France and by next year I'll be moving to N. Africa

I think I've done enough unexpected things to scare an Elephant into stampeding.
What do I look forward to this year?
 I'm going to learn how to ski (better)
I'm going to lose those darn 55 lbs.... and hopefully shove them under the couch I'll be getting off of.
I'm going to eat stinky cheese
I'm going to become proficient in a new language
I'm going to make new friends
I would say I'm going to be a better mom and wife, but everyone would send me emails saying I already am and I'm not in the mood to argue....
I'm going to become computer literate
I'm going to ride a vespa
I am going to try on a uni-kini
I'm going to sing on the eiffel tower and wear a berret
I'm going to travel out of the country
I'm going to learn to cook a meat that shouldn't be eaten ... like antelope
I'm going to NOT COUPON
 I'm going to eat bread, and love it

pretty much a mid life crisis year right? except without the crisis
so what shall we call it... it's a year of mid life.... dang I hope I don't die by 66.... but then again, I'll go out with a bang , won't I .... to a year of MID LIFE!!!

what are you doing.... RUN!!!

Ella comes in my room at 11pm and sits on my bed. I start to notice that  she's moving kinda convulsive like.... until I realize
OH MY GOODNESS= she's heaving!!!
"Ella get to the bathroom"
" why? I'm not (heave) ... I'm not (heave)... I don't need t(heave)... thr(heave) up..."
"GET UP... get in that bathroom"
"I'm fine... heave heave"
"If you don't stand up, I might kill you ... I will drag you... GET OFF MY BED"
She walks out calmly, stops at the door and leans over a trashcan to barf crazy style... as she begins to super poot... (come on you know what I'm talking about.. where you strain so hard, you can't control your gas.). she runs to the bathroom and proceeds to , you know.
I open the door, "What possibly made you think you weren't going to puke? Why didn't you just go to the bathroom"
"I dunno"
Proceed to the next morning
Ella: "Hey, I'm feeling so much better. I feel great. let's get going"
Me: "not after last night"
Ella: What are you talking about? I didn't barf last night?

Can this really happen? Can a child do this in the middle of the night without REALLY knowing what's up? That's a serious body function.
And this is my week...
They said when we arrived that the school campus is small in VA and when sickness happens, it spreads... I took every precaution. sanitizer, disinfectant.... and it WONT LEAVE MY HOUSE
so before you get your panties in a bunch (I wont ask why)... I WIll overcome...
if it's the last thing to come out of me.

Snow?.... noooooo!!!

This was my reaction this morning when I opened the washing machine and found the diaper that  some dumb child OBVIOUSLY put in there (right? ok maybe it just walked in there on it's own when I put the load in while the kids were at school. couldn't possibly be my fault).
You ever done that?
As you know, maybe, you can't weed it out... I had to wash the washing machine empty, and then I stuck my clothes in the dryer and hoped that the lint trap grabbed most of it... MOST OF IT... still found baby goo, dried to some of my clothes... it was a great reminder of home

I have had a great couple weeks experiencing friends and snow, but when I'm trying to get back to real life (instead of a 5 week vaca) this was kinda a breath of fresh air... like the mistakes I always make, the things my kids always act up on are back and feels like home
which feeds into my saying, a place is not home, family is home... thanks for letting me steal that renee.

hospital-ality

First I want to say thank you to EVERYONE who was willing to host us for the past 5 weeks.
I thought it was funny that so many houses had disease and we escaped 90% of it. We had 2 girls who had a fever for less than 24 hours.
I want to talk about hospitality.
It is amazing that there is such a thing as the gift of hospitality. There are so many things I saw this trip that were so different but I would still consider to be great hospitable people.
I had some people who wanted to do EVERYTHING for us. There were some people who wanted us to feel like part of the family and pitch in. Some people had their houses decorated to the hilt, some people had very simple decorations (and maybe piles of dirty laundry everywhere for me to fold).
Some people had toothbrushes (and even one house that had robes for everyone in the family) in case we forgot and some were pulling towels out of the dryer as we got there.
No matter what I saw that they were trying to make us feel welcome at their house.... and we totally did. No ones house did we feel out of place or nervous. No one made us wish it was time to leave.
so what is hospitality and what makes it a gift?
Hospitality is making someone feel at home... and making it seem seemless. That is where the gift is.
So, thank you for your hospitality even if it included trips to the hospital for you.

Car Edition PART II

 I admit... I'm kinda a nerd...
But here's a packing list for the car.... first go to the dollar store because it's amazing.... I got these 6 mini m&m packs for a dollar... good for treats and small enough to throw across the car ....

 With the M&M's I will start with m and m graphing... it's good for all of them to learn a little something... we got comparing, adding, fractions, graphing, tasty m's and coloring all at once... even add a little tally, number learning etc... gotta take up 15 minutes right?

 I'm trying to be age appropriate... so I have dry erase boards, but nyla can't do markers if you know what I mean so I found these markers... little more expensive, but worth saving shirts and car and whatever else... the board is dollar store and they can always write on the windows too... that's gotta be 30 minutes.

 The dollar store has these crafts... seems lik boys wouldn't like them, but I 'm not convinced... the one on the left has sea creatures... it's not girly... but the "jewels" are self sticking . the board on the right is the sticky and you stick sequins... coloring board in the middle... have a contest who can make the best, but pass out awards to all of them which you can also find at the dollar store.... depending on the craftiness of your kid, this could be forever.

Fazoodles abound!!!! I found these giant fuzzy pipe cleaners at the dollar store... and they came with stickers for eyeballs... or get regular pipe cleaners and create animals... who can make a giraffe, who can rock it poppet!!!!

 These were bonuses... a box full of animals and tin foil... make foil animals, have them make oragami or something.... the creatures were on clearance at walmart.. totally worth it.

 My favorite.. magnet fun... get a pan from the dollar store and then I did splurge at Barnes and Noble... i found in the travel game section (they have one of those!!!!) magnetic puzzles... this way, they can do puzzles and they stay in the pan... for nyla there's animals... and for a treat challenge they have to do a tanagram... magnetic from B&N for 2$

So here's a backpack... a notebook of paper, crafts, fuzzy noodles, dice game, a box of crayons... and we're set!!!! Head out on the road!

This might pinterest you: car edition

well, actually I couldn't find ANYTHING on facebook that I didn't already come up with on my own...
so here's what I've come up with:
*skittle sorting: have them shade in, count, add, answer all kinds of questions while they snack on treats and if they get everything right, give them a mini skittle pack wrapped in foil.
Why foil?
Then we can make foil staches... or animals or rings or whatever...
*Car scavenger hunt. Yah, I know you know it all, but there are different age groups in my car... I have one who can't read, one who just started and a smarty pants.... so I have to gauge it different.
so preschool: pictures of things that can be found on the road or billboards
just reading: name the pictures that you put on preschool
Smarty pants: name specific ads
EXAMPLE: cow, c-o-w, and chickfila
give a prize not to the first but to each one as they finish
*have an ABC jar... they have to find all 26 letters and when they do, give abc crackers wrapped in foil
* magnets: get a dollar store cookie sheet . they're small... have some cut up pipe cleaners or magnets that they can play with.
* Have a coloring theme party: best monster, best superhero, favorite animal etc
* make paperbag puppets
* time to learn: learn to tie shoes, read, biographies, learn aobut where you're going etc
*take the name of the place you're going ... ex. chicago, illinois. take the letters and seehow many words you can make out of it.
*pipe cleaner animals

hope this helps with car trips!!!

movin on up

Had a conversation with Ada the other day. Now if you've never had a conversation with a 4 year old, they can be um..... interesting... and when you have one with Ada, she'll rock your world with insight.
she  was telling me about moving overseas.
She told me she was excited, but when she got tired of it, she was moving back.
"how?", I asked.
"I'm going to bribe the customs people with candy"
Who do you think you'll live with?
 "I'm not living with anyone. I think I'll find a lost child who has no family or place to live and invite her to come to America with me and then we'll live together."

So my brilliant 4 year old...
What do I do with a conversation like this...
ok.