Moving Days - Parts One and Two

We had a very short amount of time to sort, organize, donate, and pack in order to move from Sioux City, IA, to Kissimmee, FL. We will miss many friends who have supported us and helped us create wonderful memories. It was difficult emotionally to move but hope we will have visitors from Iowa in the coming months or years.
We got a much later start than we anticipated on Wednesday. The Trooper needed a new part for the transmission. We had far more to accomplish than we realized. We originally wanted to leave at 8 am but as we looked around Tuesday evening, we thought 11 was more accurate. Clearly, we do not know how much time three children require because we did not leave until after 7 pm. So much for meeting up with the Simonsons on the other other side of Iowa.
When we got to the hotel in Fort Dodge, Iowa, Alex was upset because a bug was flying near him in the van. I thought it was a moth and told him that it was similiar to a butterfly. Apparently it was a mosquito and it bit him. It completely flipped him out. He was belted into his car seat and he started screaming about hating night bugs. The poor child was terrified.
We ate breakfast at the hotel. Lane hasn't seen us eat donuts. She picked a chocolate donut and ate it with a spoon! It was hilarious!!
It is 95 degrees today so we can't leave the dogs in the car for long. Normally we would stop at a park or mall and let the kids run around but we are limited in what we can do with the kids since we have the dogs and it's HOT.
When the kids get out of the car, they are BONKERS! They have a ton of energy but little time to burn it off. We got to Hannibal, Missouri, and went to the Jones County Carnival. The kids ate and got to run around. I was quite impressed by Alex and Gabriel - they got on a spinning ride by themselves! These are huge developmental leaps for them.
On to another day tomorrow - we are hoping to make it to Nashville, Tennessee.

PuZzLeS

Puzzles are important for critical thinking, hand-eye coordination, and fine motor skills. Alex has always loved puzzles. We do the huge floor puzzles together and he still enjoys the smaller shape puzzles. He would sit for hours putting them together when he was younger.
Lane is now following his lead and also enjoye puzzles. She is really good at puzzles too! Gabriel, on the other hand, doesn't like them as much as his siblings. I think they are difficult for him due to his fine motor issues.
We went to garage sales this morning and I saw a few preschool 24 piece puzzles for 25 cents. I bought a Diego puzzle and thought it would be good for him but didn't get more because I didn't know if he was interested in that type of puzzle yet.
He has quite the gift for even these puzzles! Andrew and I watched him put it together with few problems. It was neat to watch him thinking about the pieces ad where they go. His problem solving skills are amazing and have definitely developed over the past year.

Giraffe Test

Giraffe Test

1. How do you put a giraffe into a refrigerator?

Stop and think about it and decide on your answer before you scroll
down.

The correct answer is: Open the refrigerator, put in the giraffe, and
close the door. This question tests whether you tend to do simple things
in an overly complicated way.

2 How do you put an elephant into a refrigerator?

Did you say, Open the refrigerator, put in the elephant, and close the
refrigerator?

Wrong Answer.

Correct Answer: Open the refrigerator, take out the giraffe, put in the
elephant and close the door. This tests your ability to think through
the repercussions of your previous actions.

3. The Lion King is hosting an animal conference. All the animals �
attend .... Except one. � Which animal does not attend?

Correct Answer : The Elephant. The elephant is in the refrigerator. You
just put him in there. �This tests your memory. Okay, even if you did
not answer the first three questions correctly, you still have one more
chance to show your true abilities.

4. There is a river you must cross but it is used by crocodiles, and
you do not have a boat. How do you manage it?

Correct Answer:? You jump into the river and swim across. Have you not
been listening? All the crocodiles are attending the Animal Meeting.
This tests whether you learn quickly from your mistakes.

According to Anderson Consulting Worldwide, around 90% of the
Professionals they tested got all questions wrong, but many preschoolers
got several correct answers.

Anderson Consulting says this conclusively disproves the theory that
most professionals do not have the brains of a four-year-old.

I received this through a yahoo group I'm in. Andrew and I laughed as we got them wrong and Gabriel answered them correctly. It just shows how differently we think. Hope you enjoy it!

Pass/Fail?

Lane failed several hearing tests which resulted in tubes being put in her ears over a month ago. I took her back to the ENT and audiologist last week. It was a brutal, long wait with all three children but it's tough to complain with the flooding and destruction going on around us. The receptionist gave us some post it notes and we made the most of our game players while in the waiting room.
The kids also played with two other children in the waiting room. Their mother is due with her fourth child any day and she looked miserable. She proceeded to tell me about her third child passing away recently and shared photos. I felt awful for her and it was an awkward moment between two strangers who only shared motherhood in common. That and a long wait in a waiting room.
The ENT said that her tubes looked great and we moved on to the audiologist. I was prepared to hear the worst. We had been warned when her tubes were put in that she didn't have fluid and would probably need many tests to determine her hearing loss.
The audiologist showed me the results after we sat in the soundproof room (I hate sitting in those rooms because I can hear myself breathing. I never know what I'm allowed to say either). My heart raced and I felt lightheaded when I looked at the computer screen. The wavy lines meant nothing to me which is tough to admit after working with them for years in math courses.
He explained that her lines are far away from each other and that point in time she is hearing fine. She PASSED!! Oh sweet relief washed over me. I cried happy tears and told him how grateful I was for good news. I honestly wanted to hug him but realized he appreciated his personal space.
I have noticed that her speech is improving as well. She is putting some two word sentences together now - "my baby" "hi dada" etc...

Mojitos at Minervas

One of my favorite things to do when the weather is nice is to eat outside with my family. It's especially nice when we can eat at a restaurant. The kids are calmer and I am happier because I have nothing to prepare or clean up. Shortly after Andrew came home, we went to Minervas for a late lunch. Even better, this became dinner so we only had to give the kids snacks later! The weather was fabulous, the food delicious, and the two Mojitos were perfect after the past two weeks. Mojitos might become my favorite summertime drink. If anyone wants to go out for Mojitos this summer, give me a call!
This photo makes me giggle. It was taken by Gabriel with my phone.

The Big Arches

Andrew was out of town for a couple days. I felt lazy Saturday and offered to take the kids to McDonalds for lunch. I was positive they would be excited since this is now a rare occurance. I should learn to never anticipate the reactions of children. Alex was thrilled. Laney didn't seem to care and Gabriel began to whine and complain. He told me,"I only want to eat healthy food Mom!" We agreed to have salad and water together. He might help me become more health consious!

Crayon people

I went through the boys paperwork from school School has been done for a week but I was recovering from surgery and sorting papers wasn't high on my to do list.
There were neat gifts for the boys in their backpacks and thankfully I remembered to empty Gabriel's lunch bag. That would have been a funky disaster at the end of summer.
The kids and I sorted the crayons as well We had a lot of broken crayons sitting in our old Thomas the Tank Engine box. It was time to move on to something new
Since I am frugal and a former preschool teacher, I didn't have the heart to throw away the crayons. Instead, the kids and I took off the paper, broke them into smaller pieces, and created crayon people.
I've been surprised at the creativity my children have used with their crayon people already. There have been several little games created with them so far. Here is a photo of the broken crayons and the finished product.

Getting greener: laundry soap

I've wanted to make laundry detergent for two years. I kept losing my nerve. It's much faster to pick up a bottle of detergent at the store, I thought. The problem is that I'm working in being greener and using less chemicals. It's very expensive to buy ready made products that fit these categories.
I picked up washing soda, borax, and Ivory soap at the store I grated the soap and added one cup of each of the other ingredients in the food processor. It took a few minutes to assemble and put together. The total cost per wash will be pennies because I'll only use 1-2 tablespoons per load. Next up will be homemade household cleaner and dishwasher detergent.
I also ordered lavender essential oil to add to the mixture. It honestly isn't needed because it smells fresh from the Ivory soap. When it arrives I'll add it and see if it smells even better.

Parenting Tip: Buy an inexpensive water table

Sensory tables have been seen in preschool rooms for years. I remember seeing them when I was a kid. They were filled with sand and toys, sometimes water or rice. It didn't matter, we loved it. Teachers get creative and create fascinating scenes for children. Science museums do the same favor for kids.
All three of my children LOVE to play with our water table. I've put rice in it with cars. I've put only toys in it and tons and tons of water. I even put a pond of plastic duckies in it for a birthday party We've had our table since 2004. It has endured the weight of many children through the years and it's still in great shape.
I think I paid less than $30 for this gem. If I were to figure out the play to money scale on this beauty, I would have to say it passes. You can skip the fancier versions, kids honestly don't care.
My kids played with ours this afternoon while I cleaned our back deck. They did their "work" too they told me, as they dumped water all over the deck. It was a blissful moment to watch them play together so nicely.