My brother in-law "Dumbee" (aka Uncle B) travels ALOT for work. When my sister in-law was alive, he traveled 2 weeks out of every month....now it is almost 3. He use to travel to London (he is from the UK), the Caribbean and all over Europe but now he goes a little bit further. He now frequents Botswana, South Africa, Mauritius (the island next to Madagascar) and other African countries. He has many stories, some good photos and souvenirs but most of his time is spent working or getting over his jet lag. The poor guy hasn't even had time for a safari yet :(
This past trip before Christmas, "Dumbee" started sending postcards to the kids from his different destinations. It has been very exciting to receive them and they have turned into the perfect learning experience for Z! With every postcard we check out the pictures, read what B has written or drawn (he is an amazing artist), check out the postage and how much it costs and then get out the stuffed globe that Z has and find B's location. The postcards hang on our fridge and Z and C love to look at them, carry them around and find where B has been. I hope to take this interest a bit further and explore some of the cultures and habitats in these areas. Z loves to learn about people and animals and this will be a great springboard. B has promised to keep the postcards coming so we can look forward to more teachable moments in the near future. Who knows, maybe B will end up living in one of these countries for a bit and we will be able to go on a wonderful adventure to see him :)
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Where in the World is Dumbee??
Monday, January 17, 2011
This Is the New Year!
Friday, January 14, 2011
This Momma is Now Homeschooling :)
So what happened?? Well to make a long story a little bit shorter.....we are no longer satisfied with Z's preschool. They have major communication issues (we dealt with this back when Z broke his leg) and are a bit apathetic to parent concerns around a certain child in the class who has violent outbursts and fits of aggression. S and I felt that the classroom was no longer a place where Z felt safe (or we felt safe sending him) and after counsel with a child psychologist, a lawyer and family and friends, we made the difficult decision to pull him out.
We did not want our son to be exposed to the violent behaviors and language coming from a certain student on our dime. This is a private school and does not have the resources that are needed to deal with a child like this. Z is the second child to be pulled out this year and the school seems unphased by it. This child has choked (the little girl had red marks on her neck), hit, punched, kicked, tripped, told students that he was going to stab them until they were dead, told Z he was going to step on his head until he was dead and so much more. He seems a bit unstable and I feel the school is doing the poor child a diservice by pretending that they can handle him when they do not have the services that a public school would have (guidance counselors, therapists, psychologists etc.). I feel very badly for the child and his family and hope that when he goes to Kindergarten next year, he will get the services he needs. For now, I don't need my child being part of their experiment to fix the child's issues with love. They actually said that by surrounding this child by loving and caring children, they feel that he can overcome some of his challenges. Well I am sorry but my child will not be one of those guinea pigs anymore.
I could go on and on but I will stop. It is time to put this entire thing behind me and focus on this beautiful gift I have been given.....the gift of time to learn and play with my children. I know it won't be easy but I am filling our week with play dates, fun projects, play time, our music classes and adventures. I hope you will come along with us for the ride :)
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Our First Snow Day of 2011 in Pictures
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
The Power of Music
It is amazing how a song or jingle can generate so much emotion and bring back so many memories. The other day I was in a bit of a mood (trying to get two kids out of the house when both are being disagreeable is a bit of a challenge) and was racing to our Kindermusik class. About half way there, the song In the Summertime came on and I couldn't help but smile and chuckle. A huge grin came over my face as I thought of my youngest sister K dancing around at my wedding. This song was our favorite the week before my wedding and she dedicated it to me at the wedding. As I listened I thought of that amazing and crazy time. A tear came to my eye when I thought of how lucky I am to have a crazy and sweet sister like K. Her gift to me for my wedding was to take the week off and work as my personal assistant. She helped to keep me sane (it was tough at times) and we had a great time together. My wedding was in Newport RI and my parents rented a beach house in Narragansett RI for the week of my wedding. It was so much fun and I remember all of the times we listened to In the Summertime. From that moment on, I was in a much better mood and I am sure my children were very thankful.
Later that day we were driving to the grocery store when an add for Fiddler on the Roof came onto the radio. They played a snippet from Sunrise, Sunset and then Tradition. The tears started uncontrollably flowing from my body. I tried to stop them for Z's sake but couldn't do it. I was sobbing and missing my sister in-law so very much. Kiki loved the theater and acted in many local productions in the city she lived in. The last show that we saw her in was Fiddler and hearing the music brought all of those memories back. It is still hard for me to grasp that she is really gone.
Music is an amazing thing. It can bring such joy and sadness to those who listen. It can help to make you feel calm or pump you up for a good run. Music is like a time stamp that helps us to remember certain events in our lives. And now I leave you with a little pick me up, at least it is for me ;)
Monday, January 10, 2011
Gifts from Lil' C
My precious baby girl gave me two gifts this holiday season and both were so very special. This child is so connected to those around her, it was almost as if she had heard me when I asked for these two very things to happen around Christmas.
I had told S a few weeks before Christmas that I wanted to wean my little darling around Christmas. She would be 14 months at that point and I felt it was the perfect time to finish. My friend Sey and my sister L thought that this was a crazy time to wean a baby. As my friend Sey said, "They suggest that smokers wait until the craziness of the holidays are behind them before they give up smoking, shouldn't you do the same with breastfeeding?". I knew she was right and decided to wait until after New Years to give up the final feeding.
Well on her 14 month birthday (3 days before Christmas), I went into nurse my little angel and she flat out refused me. It was as if she had heard my hope and decided to make it happen (or maybe she just wanted to end things on her terms ;). Regardless, she refused me and never nursed again!
Her second gift was the gift of sleep :) I had told S that all I wanted for Christmas was to sleep through the night. Guess who slept through the night for the first time ever on Christmas Eve???? Yes, can you believe it?? She didn't do it again after that but on Christmas Eve she gave me a full nights sleep. I think she knew Santa was watching :)
Those were the beautiful gifts that my daughter gave me for Christmas......to precious gifts for her tired mommy :)
Thursday, January 6, 2011
Focus on the Family is Back!
Last year, Connie from The Young and the Relentless started a "Focus on the Family" feature. Once a month she posted her family goals and encouraged others to do the same. I LOVED this exercise but unfortunately due to all of the events that happened last spring, did not get to finish off the year. I have decided that I want to give it a go again and hope to publish a new set of goals each month. Here is what I have for January :)
Family Time
for our backyard animal friends to enjoy*Take them on at least one adventure
*plan some fun winter "lessons" for Z
*have our weekly budget meetings with a glass of wine
I am so blessed to have such a wonderful husband and two wonderful children. As we head into this new year I look forward to some quality time playing, laughing and enjoying each others company. We have a busy and crazy year ahead with S's new company trying to get off the ground but I know that the four of us can pull together and get through it. I love you guys!
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
Our Family Resolutions
New Years Eve morning, we went out for a family breakfast and each shared our New Years resolutions :) Here they are:
Z said that he wanted to "work" to earn money for a cash register by drawing pictures for people.
S said that he wanted to find more balance in his life and start living by the motto, "Work Hard, Play Hard". Right now he just works way too hard :(
I said that I wanted to continue to work to find balance in my life by finding more time for myself, continue my quest to become a "Rational Minimalist" and help my family be as healthy and happy as we can be.
Lil C said "glable able, lable bla dada". We think that this means she wants to finally sleep through the night on a regular basis, grow the rest of her teeth in a painless way and not throw anymore temper tantrums :) What do you think she said??
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
Advent Letter Project Reflection
What an amazing month December turned out to be. I had been dreading it for so many reasons but my children's love and enthusiasm for the holiday season and my Advent Letter Project helped to make the month very special. I received many thoughtful and nice gifts for Christmas but the best presents I recieved were the notes, calls and comments about the 24 (actually it turned out to be closer to 45) Advent Letters that I wrote. Each one was a gift to write and the reaction from them was so touching. It made all of the time and effort that I put into the project worth it.
December was a trip down memory lane for me. I allowed myself time to recognize those important people in my life, remember all of our good times together and reflect upon why they are so special to me. Most of the letters brought me to tears as I wrote them, many led me to chuckle but each and every one was written from the heart and I know that the recipients were deeply touched. I am not yet done with the project, I have a few more letters to write and plan to do one a month throughout 2011 :)
I want to once again thank Jabari for his beautiful book
which inspired me to create this project. I want to also thank my husband S for all his patience and support throughout my letter writing and most of all I want to thank all of the recipients for the thoughtful and loving responses and for helping to make me the person that I am today. I love you all!If you would like to learn more about my personal project called "Advent Letters", please click here :)
