Showing posts with label mother. Show all posts
Showing posts with label mother. Show all posts

Wednesday, April 8, 2015

Wordless Wednesday...Kind Of!

Welcome to our busiest season! I am trying so hard to keep up, but it seems to always get the best of me! We were out of town and just got back yesterday. If course I paid the house sitters and made plans for them to come back tomorrow! How on earth can we even get laundry done? Maybe we should just buy all new clothes! 
How was your Easter? It was absolutely fantastic for us! We had 4 stops to make but all worked out well and with great efficiency!
Our sunflowers are growing! Now if only it would warm up to allow us a transplant! I cannot wait to see these continue to blossom. The kids enjoy watering their plants every day and measuring their growth.
I love catching my children playing quietly. I always hear that quiet children are up to no good, but so far I have only found friends playing quietly and unwinding from long mornings!
This morning we are listening to Kingdom Keepers book I on CD. This is a great way to get them to settle in for a day of studying! We love our early and quiet mornings where we break a little from the routine!
Enjoy every minute my friends!


Photobucket
   Follow Me On Facebook!
   Follow Me On Pinterest!

Tuesday, March 10, 2015

Daily Moments...

My kids have been spending time reading to service dogs, during this time I am left to my own devices and though I have this time to myself, I often find myself peeking in on them and watching.
It's often in these moments that I think of:
~how big they are getting
~how old I am getting
~how life moves far too quickly
~how much my life has taken a path I never expected it to take.

During these moments alone, I am often faced with fears and questions
~When will they push me away to let them grow up
~Will they always need me, like I still need my parents
~Will they move far and not be afraid to live their dreams
~Will they be happy and love themselves as much as I love them 
Though these days may fly by, I love capturing them in photos as I can look back at these days and remember that I was always there for them and for that brief moment that I look in at the photo, I can see my children as little ones lost in a moment.

Did you know that the base of a celery bunch can be used as a stamp for a rose? It's perfect! Add a green stem using marker or crayon and you are all set with an easy and perfect project! 
Enjoy every minute my friends!

Photobucket
   Follow Me On Facebook!
   Follow Me On Pinterest!

Sunday, March 8, 2015

MagiQuest - A Review & Tips

I've been wanting to do a review of this place for years, ever since we first became addicted, but of course other things kept getting in the way and before I knew it months would pass before i would have time. Magiquest has locations all over the USA and Japan too! It's an awesome place for families, not just kids. We go year round and once you invest in the wands, it becomes a great deal, since you will easily spend all day there. 
TIP: Call ahead and double check the hours, get there at opening and you will find you have the entire place (along with the employee and all their knowledge) all to yourself!!

TIP: Wear comfortable shoes or socks, since they let you run around barefoot (remember they are attached to a water park!) You will be up and down stairs non stop and the elevator only goes to the 2nd floor, not floors 3 & 4.
First things first, get the wands! You will be tempted to save money and have the whole family use 1 wand and then let the kids wander off while you sit and enjoy some coffee and conversation...don't! Make it a fun family outing that is worth the investment, because with so many locations, you never know when you will be at another one! We have been over 7 times already and cannot wait to do more!
TIP: Don't waste money on the toppers! You will notice that we have a few, although super cool, they weigh down your wand too much and often unscrew the cap, which makes your wand not work properly or effectively. It's a MAJOR disappointment and I wish it is something Magiquest would fix, but so far it's been a no-go.

TIP: Wear something with pockets or have some kind of a small bag (that won't get annoying). They hand you a booklet that you will need for completing your quests and they charge you if you lose it! Be sure to save them every time you complete the quest and bring them next time you come back, in case you do lose it, then you know you have extras!
My daughter even made her own cape, that's how into this we all are! If you stay in the attached Great Wolf Lodge, you will add more fun as there are Magiquest stations throughout  the resort as well, they bring many things to life and turn on lights or other fun things that always make people turn and look at what you are doing. You will be asked upon arrival to Magiquest if you want to play both ShadowQuest & MAGIQuest or just 1, go with just 1, you WILL NOT have enough time to play both games and you will just be out the additional money. 
TIP: This is a long day and you most likely won't be able to drag your kids away, pack a lunch or have something delivered. The one in Wisconsin Dells has a tucked away eating area with soda machines but nothing else. Having food in a cooler bag for the kids to graze as they play works great and then we go out for dinner after we play!

TIP: Once you have bought your wands and activated them, next time you go back you can still open treasure chests and activate things, you just cannot play the game without paying again. Sometimes my kids just like to go to play with all the net slimbers and slides, they bring their wands to open the chests and play with some of the things but have no interest in the games themselves. On these days my husband and I only activate our wands and challenge each other....I'm a level 7 magi you know ;)
Have fun with your family by eliciting a challenge before you begin, we like to say that the winner at the end of the day gets to pick where we eat or what movie we see or whatever we plan on doing that evening. You WILL work up an appetite with all the running up and down the stairs, using the net climbers and flying down the slides. It's an activity palace! Our kids are all old enough to venture off on their own, they know where the cooler bag of food is, where the bathrooms are and know to never leave the area, this makes playing to much more fun for all of us. 
TIP: USE THE EMPLOYEES!! Stuck on a challenge or battle? Run in and ask them for help, that's what they are there for! We learned many a trick while in there with them. 

TIP: As you solve riddles and find parts of your quests, be sure to wave your wand at everything! Stars in the sky, suits of armor, shields and pictures on the walls...they all add up coins, gold and points to your score and you only increase your levels by adding up more gold and points! Many people just solve the riddles and wonder why they don't make the high scores for the day and this is why! It's so easy to do and adds more fun to the game!
This place is 4 floors of pure adventure! You will find many parents sitting on the sidelines, but I fully believe it's because they have never tried it themselves! Get involved, and have fun with it, it's the only way to be when you are on vacation!!

TIP: DO NOT take your wands on the slides, the static electricity sometimes deactivates them. It's no big deal, as they only have to restart them and  you don't lose any information but it is a pain if you have to wait in a long line! We usually go up to the slides in pairs and 1 person goes down while the other takes the wands and just switch off doing that.
At 30.00 a person, it adds up fast your first time but please believe me that it is so worth it! This is one of those times that the money is well spent and if you are dead set on never going back, sell them to people as they walk in! We took friends with us one time and bought them wands, which they gave back as they don't live near a magiquest and this last time we were there, we were able to sell both 17.00 wands for 25.00, not too bad!
TIP: Still not sure about the cost? Check out Ebay and try and win wands there, they can delete the information on them when you arrive to a new Magiquest and then you are free to start from the beginning!
Hope this convinces you to try it out! Enjoy every minute my friends!


Photobucket
   Follow Me On Facebook!
   Follow Me On Pinterest!

Sunday, January 18, 2015

About Last Week...

What a busy week of field trips and  classes and fun! I am sorry that I have been away but I will share some fun we have been having. Our favorite books are the Pigeon books by Mo Willems. They make us laugh so much that we read them over and over again! Here is a fun Pigeon craft that is completely edible!
What You Need:
1. (1)Graham cracker
2.(3)mini oreos
3. Vanilla frosting tinted blue & yellow
4. (1)Orange starburst cut in tiny strip
5. (1) chocolate chip
6. (3) check mix squares
What to Do:
1. Spread your graham cracker with yellow frosting
2. Add 3 check mix squares as windows
3. Add 2 mini oreos as tires
4. Add blue frosting on one mini oreo
5. add chocolate chip to the top of the blue mini oreo to look like an eye
6. Add starburst sliver to blue mini orea as beak
Now you have the Pigeon Driving the Bus!! OH NO!!!

My young engineers had a bridge challenge in their LEGO class this week and their group won! They were able to withstand weight and work together to build it! 
Enjoy every minute my friends!

Photobucket
   Follow Me On Facebook!
   Follow Me On Pinterest!

Thursday, August 21, 2014

Read it & Write it, Count it & Learn it!


A new worksheet I created is perfect for beginning readers but also for spelling practice!! Use with ready made flashcards for the beginning reader or create your own for a child with a spelling test! Slip into a protective plastic sheet and you are ready to roll. #1 Place the first word in the Read-it section and have the student sound it out. Next have letter tiles ready to go and have the student spell out the word. Searching for EACH letter tile on their own helps them memorize the spelling, because they keep repeating the letter they are looking for until the find it. Step #3 is Write-It, using a dry erase  marker have your little write the spelling of the word! Get it here!
Get the cargo on the train! Using small wood squares from the hobby store, have your little one count to 50 by loading the luggage on the train! This page prints pretty light, for extra learning, I had my son use a black marker over each number to darken it but to also work on it! Print it out HERE!
Re-purpose old games for new uses! This AWESOME game of Guess Who is fun in it's original style but use it to learn something new! This one is the start of our Guess Who Catholic Saints edition from Arma Dei that we printed out. Get creative and you will find that any game can be used for fun teaching purposes!

Enjoy every minute my friends!

Photobucket
   Follow Me On Facebook!
   Follow Me On Pinterest!

Tuesday, June 3, 2014

Summer 2014 Bucket List!

June is here and it means so many things to us! Warmer weather, shorter school schedule, more time with friends, pools and waterparks but mainly it means:


Summer is here and so is our Bucket List!! We are so ready to get started that we almost could not narrow the list down to something manageable! You can get your own printable copy HERE! 

2014 Summer Bucket List
3 Kids, 2 Parents, 1 Awesome Summer (Again!)
  • Drive-In Movie
  • Make Crayon Candles in the Sun
  • Make Garden Mint Iced Tea brewed in the Sun
  • Visit New-To-Us-Park
  • Take long bike ride
  • Picnic in the Park
  • Go to community Movie in the Park
  • Have a mud and water outdoor party
  • Bike Wash
  • Lemonade Stand
  • Neighborhood watergun fight
  • Volunteer for a charity in need as a family
  • Kids plan and make 1 week of dinners
  • Go to a concert in the park
  • Zoo trip with friends
  • Camping
  • Amusement park with friends
  • Build a large fort to play games in
  • Rainy Day Movie Day!
  • Attempt to fry an egg outdoors
  • Make a smore in the sun
  • Race homemade boats
  • Backyard Scavenger Hunt
  • Visit 1 new park
  • Splashpark Play
  • Waterpark Day
  • Tie-dye t-shirts
  • Make glow-in-the-dark garden rocks
  • Make finger puppets
  • Ice Cube Treasure
  • Painting with Plants
  • Hole Punching Leaves to make Summer Garland
  • Beach Day!
  • Sand Play!
  • Neighborhood Smore’s Party!
  • Turn Slide into waterslide and fall in a pool of water!
  • Keep a summer journal
  • Road Trip!
  • Wear costumes in public!
  • Do School Outdoors!
  • Practice 5 random acts of kindness in one day
  • Visit 1 new park
  • Make a fairy garden
  • Build an outdoor car track
  • Bike obstacle course
  • Have a tea party
  • Make a movie
  • Make Ice-Cream in a bag
  • Pool Play & Learn
  • Firepit Party
  • Create a special drink
  • Outdoor Science Lab
  • Chalk-Art an entire block
  • Make a wishing tree in a park
  • Set up our Park Play Kits in random parks
  • Visit 1 new park
  • Practice 5 Random Acts of Kindness
  • Take a tour of some place new
  • Visit a grandparent at work
  • Buy dinner for someone in a restaurant
  • Install and Fill our Free Little Library
  • Have a neighborhood field day
  • Make a salad from all garden veggies
  • Farmers market visit and dinner from the buys
  • Buy unusual fruits and veggies for a sampling day
  • Have a giant sleepover
  • Make cards and deliver to a local nursing home
  • Have a table that the kids run at a garage sale
  • waterpark fun #2
  • splashpark fun #2
  • Try 1 new restaurant
  • Buy Ice cream for the person in line behind us at the sweet shoppe!
  • Make a new friend
  • Have a book swap
  • Create a city-wide day of play in a local park
    Make it one to remember and don't forget to enjoy every minute!


Photobucket
   Follow Me On Facebook!
   Follow Me On Pinterest!

Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Just Mommy N Me!

Hello Tuesday! Today has me chatting about the Mother/Child relationship. I aim to make this relationship one that they will treasure always. I am not looking to become their buddy, but someone that they can always come to. I want them to know that as a Mother, I make decisions that they will not always like, but they are always for the best. I want them to understand that though I may lose my temper, I always love them. I want my children to understand that even though I have 3 children, there is room in my heart for each of them. In 1 day, there are only so many hours that I can spend with each child as an individual, so I wanted to find ways in which we could always interact and if need be communicate without the rest of the world around.
After a posting from a reader that spoke of Mommy N Me notebooks, I knew this was just the thing. I quickly made up notebooks and explained their purpose on page 1. Each child gets a notebook in which we exchange notes or pictures or anything at all that may come up in the day. We take turns writing in it and when we are through with it, we put it on the receivers pillow. There are colorful pens and colored pencils that we use for just our notebooks. Every now and then Daddy will sneak in a note and it's always a random surprise for the kids and even for Mommy!  
1-on-1 dates are always fun for the kids. These make them feel special to have undivided attention from mom. Our dates usually take up about 3 hours time and can be anything at all that the child requests. Gabriel usually loves to go out for Ice Cream and then Go Karting, Miniature Golfing, Train Ride or the Science Museum.

Princess Autumn absolutely loves Mommy Time and it usually ends up with us getting Mani/Pedi's and going to a movie. Sometimes she mixes it up with a request for a Fancy Dinner out or reading books for hours while drinking tea at Barnes & Noble.

Roman is easy to please and always predictable! He loves sweets and chocolate milk and will often suggest a bakery. He likes to play in parks, no matter what the weather and then end our time together with a new matchbox car. The crazy thing is that he can find a matchbox car and often come up with the memory as to when he got it. It's pretty cool. 

How do you spend time with your kids?


Photobucket
   Follow Me On Facebook!
   Follow Me On Pinterest!
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...