Catch up time

I would love to be able to say that I have neglected this blog because I have been filling my days with wonderful, fun, memory making, creative adventures with my children.  Since I really want to be honest, even online (which I hear is a rarity these days), I will tell you the truth. 

I have been sleeping in every chance I get, even if it means that my children are starving (to death they will tell you) while they fill their minds with useless information as they watch TV.  I have also been napping whenever possible while they once again starve (their words, not mine) and watch DVD's and play the wii. I have snuck in some reading time - no, not the curl the kids up on your lap and read Dr Seuss kind - the hide in the bathroom or out on the porch so you can finish your suspense novel kind.  And then there is always Pinterest in case I get bored.  :)

We have been busy, however.  Baseball/Tball occupies a whole lot of our evenings.  And we've had cub scout day camp and our church campout that yours truly was in charge of.  Our annual family vacation to Bear Lake is coming up in a couple weeks.  I have truly tried to follow the themes for the week.  Maybe not always quite in the detail that I had planned but at least a couple of fun things a week.

Last week was Dr. Seuss week.  We had green eggs and ham for lunch one day and the two oldest played out the book - kind of like a readers theater for the younger ones.  They loved their eggs green.  :)  We also did a game based off the title, "Oh the Places You'll Go".  While we were out running errands one day, I brought along a regular number dice and a colored dice.  Red meant go straight, yellow meant turn right and green meant turn left.  The number dice told us who many blocks to travel.  The kids took turns rolling the dice.  The only downside was that I had forgotten how much anxiety my children have and that sponteinity is NOT in their vocabulary.  We drove through some fairly frightening areas of the city but ended up making it just one block away from a freeway entrance to return home when the timer went off.  :) 

This week is Castle week.  Castle is one of my favorite "mom" shows.  No, we did not sit down together and watch re-runs, especially not the steamy season finale!  We had grand plans to visit a house built to resemble a castle and have lunch and play at a castle park but then one of the kiddos caught pink eye.  Knowing how much parents dread this "disease", we opted to stay home.  One day, the kids built the floor plan for a castle with blocks then we looked up pictures of the inside of Buckingham Palace on line.  Today, they are having a fairy tale movie marathon.  Tomorrow, we will be building a castle based cat house for our new kitty additions to the family.  A has already drawn the outside of it to scale.  ( I figure that counts as math review, right?)

Other than that, we are surviving.  Next week is the 4th of July and we are looking forward to the small town celebration that our town has every year - complete with a 10 minute parade, the redneck waterslide, foot races for all ages, firemen's ball, bingo, candy drop from an airplane, patriotic program and an awesome fireworks display.  It reminds me what I love about this country and that there is still good left in America.  :) 

Next post I will catch you up on a few of my ramblings (and rantings and ravings).  And eventually, I'll share our journey as a family with kids with different abilities - I prefer to think of it that way.
Hope you are surviving summer - only 8 weeks left in our school district! 

Summer 2012 Week 1

Well, it has begun.  Summer.  This week I opted for a PBS show to base our activities around.  Dinosaur Train.  It actually grows on you and I find myself referring to Dr. Scott the paleontologist as my expert on all things dinosaur. 

Last year, I scored an amazing deal on a pass that gets our entire family into the local dinosaur park, the train museum and a nature center for an entire year.  It expires the end of June so I am putting all of the activities that can happen using that pass as #1 priorities this summer. 

Today we visited the Dinosaur park and saw all of the different species and fossils and fun stuff.  The kids had a blast.  It was the hottest day of the year so far so I am glad we went early.  Plus, it is almost deserted right after opening!  :)  When we got home, we had a carnivore lunch of scrambled eggs with ham and cheese.  We decided that we don't want to be carnivores.  Ugh. 

Tomorrow we are making fossils and then re-discovering them later on in the day using plaster of paris, toy dinosaurs that always seem to be laying around (until I want to find them in the morning), a under the bed storage box, used up paintbrushes and a thing of play sand.  And we're going to have an omnivore lunch.  :)

Wednesday is movie day - Land Before Time - easy day for Mom.  And a herbivore lunch.

Thursday we are heading to the train museum to fulfill the train part and having dinosaur chicken nuggets for lunch.

Friday is my day off!  :)

Today I did make my own discovery (as Dr. Scott says we should) - I will not be taking all of my children with me to the grocery store without my hubby there EVER AGAIN!  Way too much of an adventure!