The website, raisinghomemakers.com is offering a terrific giveaway collection from Doorposts.com. If you are interested in raising young ladies who will be confident and happy wives, devoted to His service...these are excellent resources!
www.rasinghomemakers.com
www.doorposts.com
Check it out!
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Monday, March 14, 2011
Cool curriculum!
I follow Raising Homemakers on Facebook and they are doing a great giveaway right now! This phonics set looks like it will jive well with the Charlotte Mason or Classical Schooling approaches and I hope to get my hands on a set! Go check it out!
http://raisinghomemakers.com/2011/phonics-museum-reading-curriculum-giveaway-210-value/
http://raisinghomemakers.com/2011/phonics-museum-reading-curriculum-giveaway-210-value/
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Overseas travel with kids; what do you really need?
We travel a LOT. We are not always globe trotting, sometimes we are only driving half of the height or width of the US. Sometimes, lately, we are traveling to the other side of the globe. I am learning that there are some things that really make a difference in how much we enjoy the trip and some things that just add weight.
I am a chronic over-packer. On our first overseas trip you should have seen the ridiculous level of Stuff I packed in an attempt to keep my 3 munchkins entertained. The Little Lady is not yet 7, the Manling is only recently 5 and the Baby is 2. They all require interaction and entertainment, but it wasn't as complicated/difficult as I feared. I packed EACH of them a backpack FULL of snacks, toys, electronics, coloring books, notebooks, crayons, stickers, sticker albums, reading lights, books, and on, and on... you get the picture. It probably doesn't need to be said, but I will say - they were rolling backpacks.
We are currently planning a trip from Korea back to the US. I am taking 1 backpack of diversions and snacks. One. That is how much I over packed last time.
In our one carry-on bag, we will have snacks for everyone: fruit bars, applesauce pouches, (have you seen this invention - marvelous! All natural, no dyes or corn procucts, no spoon needed and even Baby can feed herself applesauce neatly - LOVE it!)
fruit bars, dry cereal, little containers of peanut butter and crackers. We will also have a Leapster 2 for the elder children with their assortment of games, a DS light and a few games and the oh, SO important: Kindle
and iPhone. Now, I can read to them for as long as my voice holds out because we have our entire library in my purse and so many good books to read, most of which have been obtained at little to NO cost! When I need a break, they have their electronics and I can read MY books! Shoulder- raising, eye- squenching, grimacing, clenching clasped hands to the chest, Happiness. Even Baby can be entertained because Baby loves the iPhone. She can navigate to her favorites independently and relishes the ability to flip from one entertainment option to the next at a speed from which only a toddler could glean actual appreciation. She watches 15 seconds of each of her signing time videos, she plays with her alphabet program, she sings with her Korean action songs, she flips through her flash cards, she looks at pictures of her favorite people, she plays cut the rope (gleefully giggling, "I made him sad." when the candy falls out of reach of the pathetically cute little alien) and then she randomly shuffles through all of those activities again every 3-5 minutes. She is thrilled to keep up this ADD type of electronic enjoyment until she is forced to relinquish the device. All of these activities will be accessible on the plane. None require internet connection. I will also bring a small sticker album and sticker sheets for Baby, diapers, wipes and a complete change of clothes for Baby (without providing too much detail - I've come to the conclusion that cabin pressurization does *ahem* interesting things to a baby's elimination equipment...the result of this observation is that I now carry a complete change of clothes for Baby - all the way down to the shoes AND I put a waterproof diaper cover from our cloth diapering kit OVER the paper diaper.) I don't anticipate needing more than these items.
In some ways, I feel like One Of Those Mothers, you know...the Ones Who Use Electronics As Babysitters. You realize, of course, that Those Mothers are never the Best Mothers. Okay, let's be realistic here. Who came up with these definitions and restrictions? Let's define more realistically. If I make it from Korea to East Coast USA with all 3 kids and at least most of what we took on the plane in the first place, I'm at least a Moderately Successful Mother. If I manage the trip without earning the lifelong loathing of every adult on the plane who has not yet been blessed with children, I am a Very Successful Mother and if I get off the plane with everything that I took onto the plane, am not despised by other adults AND have 3 munchkins who do not quake at the thought of ever getting on a plane again, I am a Wildly Successful Mother. Don't you think that sounds more reasonable?
I think real success is actually attainable in those terms. The secret will be in having enough snacks, backup batteries and having a fully charged iPhone before we leave. When we travel, the electronics will remain in the bag for the first hour while the children are entertained by looking out the window, the in-flight music offerings, one trip per potty trained munchkin to the Tiny Toilet with the Darling Sink and hand sanitizer and at least 5 minutes per child devoted to raising and lowering the arm rests and seat back trays. Then, we will read for a bit. Then, we will have some snacks. Then, we break out the electronics. This should get us about 1/4 of the way through our journey. The rest of the trip will be cycling through those activities repeatedly with the occasional welcome interruption of offered drinks, snacks and "meals". If we are very fortunate, one of the in-flight movies offered will be one that doesn't threaten to corrupt the morals or shock the world view of the munchkins.
As far as my own entertainment, who has time to be bored? or entertained, for that matter? If I get a glorious half hour of reading uninterrupted, I will count it all joy. I anticipate spending most of my time "Look, Mommy!"-ing, taking items out of the bag, returning items to the bag, reading stories to someone in my lap and one or two others hanging onto my armrest, shuttling potty goers to and from the appropriately named water closet, settling drinks or snacks, clearing up drinks or snacks, answering questions about clouds, air pressure, the morally questionable bit of in-flight movie that was glimpsed, the workings of a toilet in flight and the looks, smells and activities of the other passengers.
Travel! We love it! How could anyone NOT enjoy traveling? ;)
I am a chronic over-packer. On our first overseas trip you should have seen the ridiculous level of Stuff I packed in an attempt to keep my 3 munchkins entertained. The Little Lady is not yet 7, the Manling is only recently 5 and the Baby is 2. They all require interaction and entertainment, but it wasn't as complicated/difficult as I feared. I packed EACH of them a backpack FULL of snacks, toys, electronics, coloring books, notebooks, crayons, stickers, sticker albums, reading lights, books, and on, and on... you get the picture. It probably doesn't need to be said, but I will say - they were rolling backpacks.
We are currently planning a trip from Korea back to the US. I am taking 1 backpack of diversions and snacks. One. That is how much I over packed last time.
In our one carry-on bag, we will have snacks for everyone: fruit bars, applesauce pouches, (have you seen this invention - marvelous! All natural, no dyes or corn procucts, no spoon needed and even Baby can feed herself applesauce neatly - LOVE it!)
fruit bars, dry cereal, little containers of peanut butter and crackers. We will also have a Leapster 2 for the elder children with their assortment of games, a DS light and a few games and the oh, SO important: Kindleand iPhone. Now, I can read to them for as long as my voice holds out because we have our entire library in my purse and so many good books to read, most of which have been obtained at little to NO cost! When I need a break, they have their electronics and I can read MY books! Shoulder- raising, eye- squenching, grimacing, clenching clasped hands to the chest, Happiness. Even Baby can be entertained because Baby loves the iPhone. She can navigate to her favorites independently and relishes the ability to flip from one entertainment option to the next at a speed from which only a toddler could glean actual appreciation. She watches 15 seconds of each of her signing time videos, she plays with her alphabet program, she sings with her Korean action songs, she flips through her flash cards, she looks at pictures of her favorite people, she plays cut the rope (gleefully giggling, "I made him sad." when the candy falls out of reach of the pathetically cute little alien) and then she randomly shuffles through all of those activities again every 3-5 minutes. She is thrilled to keep up this ADD type of electronic enjoyment until she is forced to relinquish the device. All of these activities will be accessible on the plane. None require internet connection. I will also bring a small sticker album and sticker sheets for Baby, diapers, wipes and a complete change of clothes for Baby (without providing too much detail - I've come to the conclusion that cabin pressurization does *ahem* interesting things to a baby's elimination equipment...the result of this observation is that I now carry a complete change of clothes for Baby - all the way down to the shoes AND I put a waterproof diaper cover from our cloth diapering kit OVER the paper diaper.) I don't anticipate needing more than these items.
In some ways, I feel like One Of Those Mothers, you know...the Ones Who Use Electronics As Babysitters. You realize, of course, that Those Mothers are never the Best Mothers. Okay, let's be realistic here. Who came up with these definitions and restrictions? Let's define more realistically. If I make it from Korea to East Coast USA with all 3 kids and at least most of what we took on the plane in the first place, I'm at least a Moderately Successful Mother. If I manage the trip without earning the lifelong loathing of every adult on the plane who has not yet been blessed with children, I am a Very Successful Mother and if I get off the plane with everything that I took onto the plane, am not despised by other adults AND have 3 munchkins who do not quake at the thought of ever getting on a plane again, I am a Wildly Successful Mother. Don't you think that sounds more reasonable?
I think real success is actually attainable in those terms. The secret will be in having enough snacks, backup batteries and having a fully charged iPhone before we leave. When we travel, the electronics will remain in the bag for the first hour while the children are entertained by looking out the window, the in-flight music offerings, one trip per potty trained munchkin to the Tiny Toilet with the Darling Sink and hand sanitizer and at least 5 minutes per child devoted to raising and lowering the arm rests and seat back trays. Then, we will read for a bit. Then, we will have some snacks. Then, we break out the electronics. This should get us about 1/4 of the way through our journey. The rest of the trip will be cycling through those activities repeatedly with the occasional welcome interruption of offered drinks, snacks and "meals". If we are very fortunate, one of the in-flight movies offered will be one that doesn't threaten to corrupt the morals or shock the world view of the munchkins.
As far as my own entertainment, who has time to be bored? or entertained, for that matter? If I get a glorious half hour of reading uninterrupted, I will count it all joy. I anticipate spending most of my time "Look, Mommy!"-ing, taking items out of the bag, returning items to the bag, reading stories to someone in my lap and one or two others hanging onto my armrest, shuttling potty goers to and from the appropriately named water closet, settling drinks or snacks, clearing up drinks or snacks, answering questions about clouds, air pressure, the morally questionable bit of in-flight movie that was glimpsed, the workings of a toilet in flight and the looks, smells and activities of the other passengers.
Travel! We love it! How could anyone NOT enjoy traveling? ;)
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