Roadtrip Week

Well, it begins today ... Roadtrip Week! And we're spending it touring sunny Florida (well, mainly just central Florida, but that's okay). Today, the kids and I trekked down from Tallahassee using Abby's Florida map from her first Highlights' Which Way USA pack. Grandma and Grandpa got these for Abby for her birthday, and this was our first chance to really delve into the Florida map and activities book. It is SO cool though, and how fun it was for Abby to be able to follow along as we made our way south. Now, I must say ... today's drive was about the best trip I've ever had with the kids (and I was outnumbered) ... they were SO good, and NOT once did they ask, "are we there yet?" Amazing! Tomorrow we are going to Gatorland to check out some of the state's most famous inhabitants. Then mid-week we're hitting the road again, this time to Tampa to see one of Florida's most colorful residents (Uncle Aaron!) And at the end of the week we're going to visit one of our favorite spots in Orlando: SeaWorld. Should be fun! We'll keep you all updated of course, but there may not be as many posts as in the past few days. I was trying madly to get all of the pictures cleared off my CF card so I could take new pictures on this trip!

Princess and the Pea

Tyler is getting new "big boy" beds in his room while the kids and I are out of town this week (thanks Daddy!) The beds actually aren't new (They were purchased by my parents as antiques and used by Uncle Aaron when he was growing up. Thanks G&G and ATC for passing them on to us!) but they're new to us! Anyway, we purchased mattresses, and they were delivered yesterday. When Abby and I pulled up, we both thought the same thing: Princess and the Pea! So we had to try it out with our little princess...

Can't wait to see how the beds look in Tyler's room!

Happy Housewarming!

A friend of ours, Al Underhill (Auntie Jenn's brother) moved into his first home on Friday, so we decided he needed a little housewarming gift. I don't think I have blogged about this in the past, so I thought I'd share. I've been giving variations of this gift since soon after Dennis and I were married. I love the tradtion behind the gifts ... and the practicality of the items (you know they'll be used.) You can also add other items (sugar - for a sweet life together if it's a couple, a pineapple - a traditional sign of hospitality, wine - for joy and prosperity, candle - so your life will always have light, etc.) So, Happy Housewarming Al, and here's a peek at what we gave him ...The card says:
This housewarming tradition comes from an Old Russian folk custom. Long ago, when an emperor and empress would pay a village a visit, merchants and gentry would present their esteemed guests with a round loaf of bread piled with salt, a sign of hospitality. When given at housewarmings, therefore, bread and salt represent the giver’s wish that the recipient’s pantry will always be full.

BREAD so you'll never go hungry
SALT so you'll have good luck
HONEY for a sweet life in your new home

We wish the same for you, Al. Purchasing a home IS an undertaking. We hope you’ll enjoy your new space! - The Schnittker Family

This place is a DUMP!

No SERIOUSLY, it WAS the dump! But in true PR fashion, they called it "The Leon County Solid Waste Spectacular." Worked for us! It said in the paper that you could tour the dump ... and we Schnittkers were in. We got to see all of the equipment they use up close ... too close! And we went on a van tour of the dump ... to see the landfills and various recycling areas. But they had kids activities too. The balloon guy was a big hit. He made Tyler a big sword ...

And he made Abby some butterfly wings that matched her dress ...

Plus there were a few games to educate everyone about recycling and there were booths on energy use (we won a low-energy light bulb) and more.But the highlight of our visit (in my opinion - but Dennis says I'm a dump-junkie! Whatever ... I just like learning!) was seeing how they recycle they collect and prepare the electronics, cardboard, and styrofoam for recycling. You load large pieces of styrofoam into this machine that eats it up ... ... then it comes out the other end as "Styrofoam Poo" (I did NOT make this name up!) I love the expression on Abby's face ... watching this substance come out of the machine was equally fascinating and disgusting! But, once it hardens - they load all of the "poo" into a big bag and deliver it to the recycling place, where it is turned into more styrofoam for packing, etc. SO interesting! It was the best (and only!) morning we've ever spent at the dump.

You Guys Rock!

I adapted a marble game to create this activity ... one that will hopefully help with discipline on LONG summer days! I call it: "Kids - You ROCK!" and it's similar to the toothpick "game" - each child starts with a certain number each day (we're fine tuning that after trying it yesterday for the first day). By the way, I purchased a bag of rocks and the little glass vases for $1 each at Dollar Tree. When Dennis and I have to repeatedly ask the kids to do something, if they are not listening, if they talk ugly to us, are cruel to their sibling ... you get the picture ... they lose a rock. And it goes into Mommy and Daddy's vase/jar. We're still working out the little details (suggestions welcome), but if they lose a certain number of rocks, Dennis and I will take away a toy or activity. I HOPE this works, as lately I've felt like I'm doing a lot of threatening when they're acting up:

"I'm serious Abby, lose the attitude, or I'm taking that book away." (You know she loves books, so this is a punishment to Abby) ... But then a little while later "Abby, I need you to clean up these toys you've left here. Abby? Abby? Please put down that book and come here right now and do what I've asked or we're not going to the party. 1-2..." (and eventually she ends up running to do what I've asked)

Now I know I can take something away regardless, without the rocks, but it's helpful (so far) to have something that gets their attention ("You've just lost a rock") and doesn't send them into a tailspin (which is what would happen if I took the book or party away right off the bat). Also, the sound of me plunking a rock from their full-ish jars to my empty-ish jar makes a sound that has gotten them moving. We'll see how it goes. At least it's a new approach and it's interesting to them. I've told them if my jar gets too full, I get to "spend" the rocks on some time alone ... some "Mommy time" if you will! They seem to get it, and are also, of course, very concerned when I am not taking rocks away from their sibling if THEY believe he/she is committing an offense. Little whistleblowers!

Simply SPLENDA-did Table Manners

Meet "SPLENDA," our dinnertime table manners award ... and new family friend!This particular "Keep Mommy Sane" idea came from a magazine article about table manners. While our kids aren't flat out rude at the dinner table, it's often not a relaxing experience due to the children's behavior: whining that they don't like the dinner choice, not sitting in their chairs correctly, acting crazy or generally being too silly at the table (often results in spilled drinks), interrupting while Mommy and Daddy (or the other sibling) are talking, not taking plates over, not using pleases and thank yous, repeatedly getting up to "let the cat out," begging for dessert when they haven't eating enough to justify it ... and generally NOT eating! A long list, I know ... but dinner is a time we want to enjoy, not dread.

So, when I saw this idea, I quickly clipped the magazine article to try when we had time. The author suggested you start each child with a certain number of toothpicks (we chose five, because the suggested 10 seemed like too many.) When Mommy or Daddy see a child breaking one of the table rules, or generally being a handful at dinner, the child has to relinquish a toothpick. And, if they are doing an incredibly good job, they might earn a toothpick. At the end of the meal, the child with the most toothpicks earns the "Good Manners Award," which he/she can keep in their room until the next time you play the game. I was going to buy a cheap trophy, but instead, was inspired by a group of inexpensive forks (sold for $1 at Wal-Mart). My original thought was to spray them gold and glue them in a "wand-like" design. But the glitter spraypaint didn't want to stick, so SPLENDA was born! Abby named her after the Splenda fan she's holding, but I'm a bigger fan of the dishcloth hair (bow?) and tie, and I figured I wouldn't miss one of my coffee filters to make a flower (I just bought a pack of 100!) Isn't she lovely? And, in case you're wondering ... Abby was the first dinnertime winner. Tyler had all but two toothpicks taken away last night, but Abby ended up with six toothpicks when dinner was done!

It works!

What a nice husband I have ... he let ME sleep in this morning (it was only until 8:00, but who's complaining!) And when I came out of the bedroom, the breakfast dishes were cleaned up, laundry was being folded/hung, and the kids were playing Lite Brite while listening to a book on CD. I thought I was in the Twilight Zone! Actually, they had just chosen something from "The BORED Board" ... one of my summer "Keep Mommy Sane" ideas. Cool, huh!?!I had seen an entry in a kids activity book on putting slips of paper with activities in a jar and letting them choose, but since Abby can read (and she likes choices, like her mom!) I thought this would work well. Plus, as you know, I love a good play on words. Hope "The BORED Board" works for us this summer. I figure I can always add post-it pages or redo the list if the ideas get stale. But the kids helped me make the list, so they should be onBOARD. No pun intended!

Summer Vacation Begins!

Well, summer has officially begun ... in more ways than one! We were actually going to head out and do a few things, when what should start? The afternoon rainstorm ... a regular event here during the summer. So, I decided, what's another half hour!? We'll stay dry, and I'll blog a bit about our day. As you can imagine, if you read my post this morning, I was a bit unsure of how Abby would be feeling when I picked her up today (early release day) ... but she was in good spirits. And when Tyler told her that there were surprises at home, well ... she perked RIGHT up! Here's Abby's expression when they ran in the house and saw our banner (idea stolen directly from Family Fun magazine ... not ashamed to admit it!) I had LOTS of fun this week, gathering a few little goodies for the buckets that greeted them with this banner. They got some favorites: a flashlight, an expanding animal, silly string, a book on CD I plucked from a Wendy's kids meal this week, pixie stix, animal crackers ... and their passport. Then, taped around the sides were details about some of the fun things we'll be doing this summer. Oh, "Summer" also sent them a package each.Tyler, who had spotted the "surprises" right before we left to get Abby at school, broke right into his Transformer car (bought on the sly when he "helped me shop" at Marshalls this week) ...And Abby's package contained this cool beach towel/bag ... that doubles as a checkers game when you need a break at the pool! The passports were my favorite ... again, derived from an idea I read about in Family Fun magazine this spring. I broke out my scrapbooking sticker letters for the front, then doctored some recent pictures (not the ones with the best smiles by the way ... because who's passport picture is their favorite?!?) for the information page. I'll have to take a picture once they "authorize it" with their signature. The idea is that they'll take these passports with them as we run errands and do other stuff this summer. I'm guessing the grocery store clerks, post office workers, etc. won't mind stamping "something" on the pages (even if it's a date stamp or a sticker, maybe even a smiley face they draw). Should make doing errands a bit more fun.And, we do have a bunch of theme weeks planned. This is partially because I'm anal and have gotten so used to the way things work at a preschool and in kindergarten. But, it's also because we have so many little crafts and projects we have wanted to do (make ice cream, make a mosaic stepping stone, try science projects from some of our cool books) that I wanted to "schedule" them somehow. I also am forever cutting ideas out of magazines, and I've found most of them fit in one of these categories. So, here's what we have planned, should you have ideas for us or want to follow along:

June 1-5: Roadtrip (Florida) Week
June 8-12: Artists Week (art, poetry and writing)
June 15-19: Nature Week
June 22-26: Our Stay-cation (found in ... of course, Family Fun!)
June 29-July 3: Science Week
July 6-10: Advent Circus Camp (I'm teaching/they're attending)
July 13-17: St. John's VBS (I'm teaching/they're attending)
July 20-31: Two weeks of vacation prep and recovery ... Dennis and I are going to CA (the theme is: get yourself packed and get organized for the kind in-laws who are staying with the kids!)
August 3-7: Mommy's Choice Week (random ideas)
August 10-14: Abby's Choice Week
August 17-21: Tyler's Choice Week

Can you tell I'm kind of excited about this summer?!? I'm really looking forward to all of the time I'll get to spend with the kids, ironic, since I've just somewhat ignored them for awhile as I wrote this marathon post. I usually do most of my posting at night when they're in bed, but I was too excited to wait. Next up? Some pictures of a couple new games/rules/family incentives we'll have going on this summer (this sounds like Coca-Cola ... "we're running an incentive for the month of June ...") Far too much to write about now. Happy Summer All!

Let's go to the movies!

I think this is the coolest thing. During the summer, at 10:00 a.m. on Tuesdays/Wednesdays (Regal) and 10:00 a.m. on Wednesdays only (AMC), our movie theatres show FREE (or VERY inexpensively priced) movies. It's a great opportunity to catch some of the kids' flicks you missed, and if your little one (the reason you probably didn't go when the movie first came out) doesn't sit through the whole thing, you won't feel like you wasted your money. Genius. Thanks Regal Cinemas and AMC ... you can count me and the kids in for one or two movies! Here are the local showtimes (check the links above to find your local shows/times if you're not in Tallahassee):

REGAL CINEMAS (Governor's Square)
June 2-3:
Horton Hears A Who (G)
Nim's Island (PG)

June 9-10:

Curious George (G)
Spiderwick Chronicles (PG)

June 16-17:
Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium (G)
Water Horse: Legend Of The Deep (PG)

June 23-24:
Mr. Bean's Holiday (G)
Madagascar 2: Escape To Africa (PG)

June 30-July 1:
Arctic Tale (G)
Igor (PG)

July 7-8:

Everyone's Hero (G)
Kung Fu Panda (PG)

July 14-15:
Charlotte's Web (G)
Shrek The Third (PG)

July 21-22:
The Tale Of Despereaux (G)
Bee Movie (PG)

July 28-29:
Space Chimps (G)
Alvin And The Chipmunks (PG)

AMC (Tallahassee Mall)

June 17:

Space Chimps

June 24:

Kung Fu Panda

July 1:

Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa

July 8:

Tale of Despereaux

July 15:

Horton Hears a Who

July 22:

The Spiderwick Chronicles

July 29:
Nim's Island

August 5:

Star Wars: The Clone Wars

Kindergarten: CHECK!

You'd think Abby would be excited today. But, she's NOT! She's sad, because she says she'll miss her teacher and her friends, and "there will be nothing fun to do this summer." But ... I know differently (wait until later today ... I will post about all of our fun summer plans.) Unfortunately, she wasn't privvy to the fun that's in store, so my personalized lunch bag (and a placemat with a similar saying about breakfast) didn't go over so well! No joke. THIS is the face she was giving me this morning when I was being all perky about the last day of school. Cute, huh? NOT. Had she not changed her 'tude, I might have dumped out the yummy lunch in that bag and packed the leftover Tilapia (that she's been complaining about ever since we ate it two nights ago) instead! HA ... that would have taught her not to give ME the stinkface! Til later blog friends...

Clean House!

It IS like a dream, isn't it?!? The WHOLE house clean at ONE TIME (and of course, that's minus the piles I park on the extra chair in the breakfast room, the laundry I stuff in the bedroom closet, and the heaven knows what I cram into the office ... a room that won't see the light of day until Abby and Tyler are in high school!) But I truly look forward to this luxury - bi-weekly cleaning help - when my bathrooms are both clean, my kitchen is spotless, my floors are shiny ... for a short time! Not to be dramatic, but it's like a breath of fresh air. I always feel like, with the clutter and dirt out of the way, I can tackle some of the other projects lying around. In other words, I can "see the forest through the trees!" What a good feeling. Dennis may walk in and enjoy the clean for a moment or two, but to me, it really IS wonderful! In fact ... BYE blog friends, I'm off to the couch to enjoy some quiet music and a glass of wine in my clean living room (before it gets trashed again tomorrow!)

ALL CAUGHT UP!

Okay, I have to tell you all - it is SUCH a relief to be completely and totally caught up on this blog! No more "rewinding" ... it's all here.

And as I write those words, I'm thinking to myself ... I don't often get to say that I'm totally caught up on anything. Let's see ... dishes? Not tonight. Laundry? Not even close. Ironing? More likely I'll not even start that one. Weight loss? I'd be amazed if I ever get to the point where I'm caught up to where I should be weight/healthwise. The list goes on and on: home improvement projects, thank you notes, errands, projects for work, photo organization, car maintainence.

Okay, now I'm depressing myself! But, my point is ... well, WAS ... that I'm relieved to have all of our current-ish events posted to this blog. I hope a couple of you enjoy reading it, as I do it to keep all of you friends and family members up-to-date on the lives of Abby and Tyler. But, it now seems to me that this blog is more than just an "online newsletter" of sorts (it's original purpose). For me, it's a creative outlet ... an emotional outlet, a means to get the thoughts out of my head and down on paper (or, screen). It's a way to archive the events in our lives (because it would be bad news if all of it had to stay in my head!) ... and that's important to me. I may not be caught up anywhere else, but I AM caught up on this blog. Cross something off the list ... for tonight at least. Small victories, huh?

What's good for Peter ...

... is good for Paul! Does anyone else remember that saying? It was one of my grandmother's (Bebom's) favorites, and I never understood it ... until now! Fairness has become THE thing at our house, and I don't like it! I am seriously thinking of banning the phrase, "That's not fair! (Child's name here) got a (bigger/nicer/better) ..." from use this summer. That drives me CRAZY! But, to keep everyone happy, I am trying MY best to do for one child what I do for the other. And, since Tyler and I made little end-of-the-year notes for his classmates last week, Abby and I did the same for her friends last night. We worked together on the saying to go along with the mechanical pencil she gave each friend (Abby is a pretty "punny" girl, I must say!) and she wrote one out, then we copied it to cardstock and prepared the notes together. One issue - we forgot to proof the original note, and we found afterward that our phone number was written "8778-4448" ... oops! Hence, the star!

Spring REWIND: Tyler's School Program

Last "REWIND" ... thank goodness! Poor Tyler, he drew the short end of the stick this month. It all seems to be about Abby, but I know his time will come. In fact, he looks like he's having a great time on stage here at his Advent Spring Dance/Movement Show. Tyler has a really wonderful class ... it's be a fun year for him. He has made some great friends, like Campbell who is one of his best pals.After the show (he did the Hokey Pokey and 2-3 other songs), Tyler came running offstage to show Grammy his prize for being good. Ms. Jan is no dummy! If you want the children to perform, you promise them a prize! Way to go Tyler ... on a very entertaining show.

Spring REWIND: Birthday Dinner

I mentioned Abby's birthday dinner at Red Elephant, which was right after her spring Petite Players show. Hence the drama faces on the cake! But "drama" does happen to be a good word to describe our girl ... good thing we love her! Big hits in the present department were a fairy music/jewelry box from Auntie Jenn. A bag of cool, colorful rocks and a geology book from Grandma and Grandpa.

And this journal from Uncle Aaron. He thinks it's wonderful that Abby is reading so much, and he would like her to record the books in this journal so she can look back someday and see what she was reading. Oops! Where's Abby? She may be SIX now folks, but she's still a loopy little one. Remember what I said about DRAMA! I think Abby had dropped one of her stones/rocks and was picking it up ... but she got stuck. Fortunately, Mom and Jenn came to the birthday girl's rescue!

Spring REWIND: Petite Players

What a pleasant surprise that Abby's spring Petite Players show fell on her 6th birthday! It was a festive day to begin with, but after the show, we just moved the party to Red Elephant for Abby's birthday dinner. This meant Grammy and Auntie Jenn were able to be there for the whole thing too. The show was adorable ... something about the mystery of "Circus City." Abby did a GREAT job!I know she's looking forward to a second year of Petite Players next year, and a summer workshop there in June.

Spring REWIND: Mrs. Shaw's Shower

We hosted a baby shower for Mrs. Shaw (Abby's teacher) around Abby's birthday. She is due in the fall, but the kids really wanted to wish her well. So, a group of parents coordinated breakfast and LOTS of presents ... as well as cake (which they ate later that day) to let Mrs. Shaw know we are excited for she and her husband! A couple months back (while preparing pottery pieces for the Roberts' Silent Auction), mom and I had the kids put their names and thumbprints on a cookie jar for Mrs. Shaw. We figured, what kind of mom doesn't have a cookie jar (oops! I don't!) so we wanted to get her started off on the right foot. She loved it! The chocolate chips on the cookies were each child's fingerprints, and the top said "Thanks for making us SMART COOKIES!"