Procrastinator Who???

Haha! I just thought I'd make all ya'll feel better today by posting what I've put off for about two months. My twins' room! 

For some reason, twins constantly feel the need to follow each other around. Even when they are running, they about mow each other down...it's like they're drawn to the same strip of grass or sidewalk. They can't find their own little spot. They both have to be there. In the same exact place it seems. Their bedroom is no exception. Matthew & Maya both love the idea of cracking open the closet doors and chasing each other in and out of the narrow space in front of the shelves, knocking over every precariously-placed item on their way! Then, to add insult to injury, they tear out all the shoes, yank down the clothes, squeeze out the Desitin, slather themselves with lotion...you get the picture, right? So, in all my busy-ness over the last few months, I've just squished stuff right on back inside the closet, smooshed the doors shut, and have gone along on my merry way. But after a while you just can't close the doors anymore in peace. You have a gnawing feeling in your stomach. Add to that feeling the ever-growing pile of clothes that Grandma has so graciously washed and put on their dressers, and the stuff that they keep throwing on their bedroom floor, and you've got an imminent disaster awaiting!

So on Spring Break (is this REALLY what break is for?), I decided to tackle the bedroom project! Nope, not decorating. Nothing fancy here. Just cleaning. I decided to spend a quick 1/2 hour in their room and it turned into a huge 4-hour ordeal! YIKES! But...I got rid of so much stuff, organized what they had and even got their toy bin off of their floor! Yes, you'll get to see how unimaginative I am in the decorating department and you might even see the broken blinds that need to be replaced (and the blanket that is desperately trying to cover the bright spots--don't judge!), but please try to remember, I'm attempting to make you feel GOOD about your own selves! So, BE NICE! lol... And here are the pics to prove what a mess I've been! :) And yes, I know the pictures are ugly. Dirty rooms are usually difficult to make look pretty. lol...

This (with exception of the bins) is the pile of stuff from 2 shelves...

See the 2 shelves that were emptied? The bin on
bottom is a mixture of a bunch of stuff that the
twins have been pulling out of the closet. UGH!

On left-4 bags of stuff I'm donating or selling. On right- 3 bags of trash +
a few boxes & a bunch of blankets that
definitely did NOT need to be in that small room!

Nicely organized shelves with toy
bin & puzzles & books inside so
they don't have to be sitting out in
the middle of the room! YAY!

I forgot to take a before pic of this side of the
closet. It wasn't pretty. Their was so much stuff
bulging out of the shelf and the floor that you
couldn't see what belonged to whom and so
forth. Now it's nicely cleaned with nothing on the
floor for M&M to mess up! 

Field Trip Drama!

Hello Everyone!!!

**Warning** This post may contain some gross-ness. Just giving you fair warning. Tried not to be too yucky!
**Double Warning** There are TONS of pics included in this post. Sorry. Couldn't help it! :)

So on our third "lovely" (read: not so sunny, so we HAD to go somewhere warmer) day of Spring Break, after a night of being sicky (I ate something that most definitely did NOT agree with my tum-tum...can you tell I have 5 kids? I can't even speak proper English!), we woke up and I had a secret field trip planned for the kids. However, one of my kids woke up with an upset tummy too, so I wasn't quite sure we were going to make it. But after a bit, she felt better and we were on our way. Just a quick stop to the bank was all we needed and we were going to head out. Only I decided it would be a grand plan to give that child (the one who had been feeling a bit off) the iPad to play with on our way to the bank. That child just so happens to be prone to car-sickness. WHAT WAS I THINKING? I had to pull over and wait til the nausea wore off. THEN...we were on our way. Again. The only problem was...we had to drive through a very curvy stretch, and the car-sick child got more car sick (luckily I had found an Olive Garden cup for her to hold...just in case). There she went, "chucking" away, til I was able to pull over and help the poor kid out. A very nice police officer pulled over behind us to make sure all was well. She felt better almost instantly and we were on our way for what seemed like the twentieth time! Luckily, the lil gal fell asleep til we arrived at our destination, and she was perfectly fine after that! SHEESH!

So, you ask, where did we go? We went to the Children's Discovery Museum of the Desert. It was $8 for each of us (under 2 is free). They have so many cool things to do & see. We have been there once before and my children have been begging us to take them back ever since! They have a huge, magnetic wall with all sorts of metal lids, containers, and other magnets sticking to it. The kids can take them off and arrange them however they like. They have a really cool rope maze that I didn't take pics of this time. You clip your child to a rope and they have to make their way through all the ropes (while attached). It's awesome! My kids' favorite areas were the "General Store" and "Pizza Parlor." We spent over half of our time in those two sections alone. My girls also loved the dress-up section, but my poor son was like, "Get me outta here!!!" I think he pooped in his pull-up just to make that happen. We didn't go back. lol...

Here are my pics of the day. Some were on my camera, the last 7 were on my cell phone (yes, yes, I forgot to take an extra battery for my camera). My kids had SO much fun and thanked me profusely...with HUGS no less! **FYI** There are other fun exhibits too and a nice outdoor area with a picnic spot, in addition to a gift shop.

Magnetic Wall

Sophie on the pulley. You sit on it and pull the rope until you get to the top.
Let go of the rope and down you go!

Matthew watching...

Maya the "Archaeologist"

My artsy-fartsy shot of the magnetic nuts & bolts.

The lady HAD to step in the pic at the last moment!

I loved seeing the twins at this little, round window!

Matthew the Firefighter

Emma's shoes. HAD to take a pic of them while she was busy
playing dress-up. :)

Maya started undressing in the dress-up area...
You're really supposed to keep your clothes on in public, right? lol

Caitlin...simply mahhhvelous, dahhling!

This was a display where you sit in the wheelchair and see how fast you can
wheel it! I'm not sure how fast they went, but they learned that your arms
get tired quickly! 

They LOVED this store!

Happy Shoppers!

Double Trouble!

Cashier Caitlin

Emma made me a FAB pizza!

These rubber legos were AWESOME!!!!

It's a recession and they're taking DOUBLE our money!! WHAT???

OH YEAH! Painting a REAL VW Bug! I wonder how many layers of paint
this thing has???

SPRING BREAK!!!!!!!

Yay! It's Spring Break for us this week! Unfortunately, our crazy California weather has decided to take another turn for the worse. Okay, okay, it's not really THAT bad, but in case you're not from Cali...here's the scoop. A week and a half ago, we had the craziest storm we've had for a lonnnng time, and I think the absolute loudest thunder I've heard! Ever. (And I grew up in Ohio, where thunderstorms were a common occurence!) After I thought the house was going to collapse from the shake of the thunder, it began to SNOW (yes, snow) at our house. In "sunny, Southern California." Then last weekend was full of sunshine. I'm talking 90 degrees-get-your-sunscreen-it-should-be-June hot. I wore shorts to soccer games, put on the sunblock and was really a pretty happy camper!

Now that it's spring break...it's 60 degrees. WHAT?!? Where did the lovely sunshine go??? **sigh** Well, we'll just have to deal with it, but I guess there will be no bathing suit/beach days. We started today by completely vegging out (I was actually doing research on revamping this blog), watching a movie, and having fun by making some really cute hair clips. We found an online tutorial and went to town! Here is how they turned out! If I can find the darned link again, I will post it here.

Here are our Springtime "flowers." :)

My Vase of "Flowers"

Cute Flower Clippies

My Girls Wearing Their New Clippies

Until next time~

~Heather

Slow & Steady Wins the Race

I want to start by saying (and it's probably not the first time I've said this) that it's not that easy to avoid comparing your children. My eldest was already beginning to read before she entered kindergarten (of course, I had WAY more time to play with her one-on-one and we did a LOT of reading and played phonics games). My third child, Emma, was not quite that advanced. I had just had my twins & was simply a very busy lady. So, the little woman was starting to sound out letters, but that was about it. She recognized the alphabet by sight and knew most of the sounds. She displayed a high level of intelligence, but I felt that she was a bit slow at picking up reading, mostly from a lack on my part, I'm sure. But she plugged away and worked hard.

Well, fast forward to last month. She took a "test" to see where she was in her learning. At the beginning of the year she was reading at a level that a kindergartener would be reading in their second month of school! I was shocked and discouraged (I'm an avid reader!)! Not so great. But after almost completing our first year of homeschooling, using that wonderful phonics book I posted about last time and Bob Books, she is now reading at a 2.1 level (that's 2nd grade, 1st month). She is still a bit slow at sounding out new words, but she can sound them out! GO EMMA! I'm so proud of her hard work, and even when it seems slow, we're making progress. Phew!

She is also improving quite a bit in writing and math. At the beginning of the year, she was at k.2. level and now she is at a 1.4 level (1st grade, month 4). In math, she started at a 2.1 (2nd grade, 1st month) and is now at a 3rd grade level. Math U See is awesome, once you get past the boring first month or two. It teaches concepts in a very visual, concrete way. I actually bought a different math for her for next year, and I'm thinking that I might just stick with Math U See. I wish my older girls had started with Math U See. :( Oh well...you live and learn. Maybe slowly. But slow & steady wins the race, right?