Remembering those we love and those who have served our country...

 We attempted to teach our kids about their ancestors and those who have selflessly served our country on Memorial Day.   It was a nice thought, but didn't turn out exactly the way I thought it would.  I think the girls learned and enjoyed it, but we have got a long way to go in terms of teaching respect.  Our little lovelies were stepping on the headstones, stealing flowers, scaling fences, and at one point Nicholas was wearing some rosary beads.  Fortunately my husband put them back where they belonged before I had a chance to snap a picture.  I also just pulled an entire handful of flowers out of a couple of pockets while sorting laundry.  I'm sure they were meant to be souvenirs.

Grave Robbers (Above & Below)

Sorry, mourners of Mr. & Mrs. Roach, but this is my worst nightmare.  I'm really fine with my children never coming to visit my grave, but I am not fine with them decorating it with plastic flowers, especially not the entire plastic flower department at Walmart.

Spring Break 2011

A couple of my friends decided to leave town together with their kids for Spring Break.  They invited us, but I declined.  Every party has a pooper, right. I just couldn't imagine myself with my four children, two of them two-year-olds, swimming, hiking, etc. and having fun or bringing all of us back alive.  I don't think my husband would have appreciated it if I had come home with a kid or two less than what I had left with.  I am also saving my pennies for a vacation later this year, but I didn't want to be the lame-o mom that's child replies to the big, "What did you do for Spring Break?" question when they return to school with a, "I went to the library." as the most exciting thing that we did.  I'll admit, I didn't want to take the heat from my kids when their friends were all away having fun, so I thought it would go over much better if I had an exciting plan up my sleeve.  My kids are still young enough that thrills are pretty cheap, so I decided that we would go somewhere close, find a cheap hotel room and let them swim.  My mom told me about a hotel that is located in the "armpit" of our state.  I would mention the name, but I don't want to get a bunch of hate mail!  Every state seems to have one, so just imagine the armpit of your state and you will be there.  I looked at it online.  Looked pretty good to me and we ended up having hotel points for it, which made it free.  Even cheaper than I imagined!  It was about 40 minutes from our house.  We didn't spend enough on gas to keep track of and my kids only asked when we were going to be there once.  Many people take their kids to exotic, tropical locations for Spring Break.  We prefer Armpit, USA!  My kids absolutely LOVED it and ask at least once a day when we are going back.  I am quite sure we will be "vacationing" there again soon.

Document the things they say...

I love Becky Higgins website.   She has great ideas for kids, crafts, recipes, etc.  If you are not familiar with her.  I highly suggest you take a look www.beckyhiggins.com.  My version of this is having a journal or notebook for each child and having easy access to write down those things you don't want to forget right away.  You could do the same thing making a file for each child on your computer if you prefer.  I am definately going to be "interviewing" my kiddos and adding this to their books.

www.beckyhiggins.com
February 3rd, 2011

There is a plethora of ways to document what your child says. Today I’m touching on two of those ways.
And by the way, this isn’t just for kids. Of course the ideas are applicable to adults just as well. Perhaps to David’s dismay, I have been known to document his exact words once in a while, particularly in those years before our children came along. I may or may not have made him answer a full list of interview questions once or twice. In the name of personal & family history of course. (He must love me?)
{ interview style }
First I’m going to pass along an idea from reader Meggan in Sequim, Washington. Perhaps you’ll relate.
Meggan wrote, I was trying to recall the last time I actually sat down with my kids and just had a conversation with them. Well to be honest, it’s been a while. I’ve been so busy with errands, taking kids to school, meetings, etc. that I haven’t spent that one-on-one time that each kid deserves with his/her parent. So, I put a hold on our morning activities, and sat my kids down & talked.

Meggan’s creative twist on the activity was to treat her child like a star and she was their fan and they set up an interview. The key is to write down their answers exactly as the words come out of their mouth. That’s what makes it so precious, so real, so accurate. For example, her 4-year old stated that he likes candy as his favorite food, and it came out “Can-knee” so she wrote it down just as that.

Meggan added, It was such an amazing moment with each of them. I enjoyed hearing their cute little voices & mispronunciations. To tie it in with my POTD, I set my camera up across from us, set it on “self-timer” and took a picture of us conversing.
Meggan is adding this interview page to her Project Life book. She continues, I am truly enjoying the POTD idea– it’s allowed me to look at my life more in depth rather than just scratching the surface. If you’re interested in seeing how she set up her document to include, here it is:

……….

{ capture the quote }

It’s as simple as that. Your child says something you don’t want to forget because it is so precious, so funny, so witty. Write it down immediately while it’s fresh & as accurate as possible. Same principle applies when someone (a friend, a sibling, a teacher) tells you something your child said or did. W R I T E   I T   D O W N .

For those of you doing a picture-a-day with Project Life, including a funny quote or story is always a great idea. You can accompany the story with a picture of that child or something related to the story. Or not.

Example. This is a POTD from one day last week:

The journaling for that day reads: Got the following email from our friend/neighbor Steph: “So today after school Claire saw Shane and I walking and asked if she could come over to play. After I explained to her that Shelby was home under the weather, she finally cut to the chase. “Well, could you bring your dog over then?” This is Classic Claire. It’s all about the dog for her. Another Classic Claire thing right now is how she signs her name with a flower or a heart or both. Such a girly girl.

I was able to take a little anecdote, as shared by a friend … and a picture of Claire’s current way of signing her name … and blend them together in a “Classic Claire” entry for that day.