Memorial Day

Happy Memorial Day! We got up and out early and headed to Salisbury Beach in MA...man, was it beautiful out! The perfect beach day. We only stayed there for around 3 hours before the cheap sunblock we got bled into our eyes burning them. Ry said he wanted to go home. We were like, "Do you not feel good?" And he said, "Yeah. The sun doesn't feel good right now. My eyes hurt." I didn't really realize what he was talking about until I started to drive home...my eyes were killing me! It was really hard to drive because my eyes were so sensitive. Anyway, we were fine to leave anyway, the beach was actually not too crowded, but around 1:30 ish, when we decided to leave, it started filling up.

When we got home, we worked on some projects that we've been meaning to finish up. Mom, you'll be happy to know, we replaced the wood on the side of the house. ;0) We decided to have a BBQ and just hung around and played with the kids. It was an all-around nice day!

Coco Key's

Today we went to Coco Key's Water Resort! We had four free passes from when we stayed there for the boys' birthdays in January. We had planned to meet Jamie and the gang there...they were staying the night. Of course, the day before I realized that there was a restriction on the coupon that said we couldn't go on Saturdays! I called and nothing, they wouldn't do anything for me. Then wonderful Jamie called and talked to a manager and they got us in! Thanks Jamie! So, we met them there and spent the day. The kids love this place!

Here are some pics:

Happy Birthday to Me!

So, I am thirty-three years old today! Well, actually, since I am so brain dead, this entire year I thought I was thirty-three, so basically, I lost a whole year last year, but gained an extra this year. I wrote down how old I am, so hopefully I will remember this year. So dumb!

I just wanted to use today's post to reflect on my thirty-three years of life. I have to say in all the experiences that I have had, I have absolutely no regrets. Every experience I have had has made me the person I am today and I couldn't be happier with myself and my life. Life always has ups and downs and I have definitely had some, but overall, I wouldn't change one thing about the way things are and who I share my life with.

I'll start with my family. My mother and sister are the best. Even though we are so far away, we are all very close. We talk nearly every day and I know they'd do anything for me as I would for them. We know every single thing about each other and love each other for who we are. We always have such fun together. I am so grateful for them.

I married a man who treats me awesome. He's a great father and would do anything for me. We are best friends and can just be so silly together. I also married into a family that I love. My in-laws are really great. They treat me just like I am their real daughter and I am so lucky to have such kind, thoughtful, and helpful people in my life.

We have two of the cutest kids I've ever known. They're sweet, smart, funny, and did I say, so freakin' cute! I love 'em, love 'em, love 'em! My other babies, Fred and our newest addition, Tallulah, are also some of the cutest I've seen and their personalities are the bomb! So cute, funny, and just plain crazy sometimes.

Last but not least, my friends, I have some of the greatest friends around. I have to throw a shout out there to Jamie and Dawn. Dawn I've known since forever and even though we don't talk as often as we'd like because of our busy schedules, we still have a super closer relationship that is just difficult to describe. And Jamie, I don't know what I'd do without Jamie. We haven't know each other all that long, relatively speaking, but it seems like we've known each other forever. I love all my friends!

I've surrounded myself with great people and love my life. In the past thirty-three years, I've done pretty good for myself. Thank you to everyone for shaping who I am and most of all, thank you for making every day of my life what it is.

Sorry, corny I know, but just had to do it. =0)

Davis' Farmland

Kyla's class was taking a field trip to Davis' Farmland and Jamie invited us to join them. This place was awesome! They had tons of endangered farm animals. Some were behind cages and others were just running around. There were even tiny baby animals running around...so cute! We were able to pet them, feed them, and brush them. You were even able to milk a goat, we didn't, but we watched. We took a tractor ride through the grounds and were able to see all the interesting animals. The place was huge! There were multiple playgrounds and some other cool things like riding cars on a track and a water area. Davis' also has a splash park area, which wasn't opened yet, but I was just so impressed with all the stuff that was there! It would have been kind of expensive if we didn't go with a group ($14 each), but we only had to pay $18 all together. We also got Devin in for free, which it should have been under 2 free, but we didn't realize this when we signed up for the trip, we thought 2 and under free. Anyway, we realized the morning of and no one questioned us so...

We painted our faces!

Fun at the playground!

Aww...baby goat!

We got to brush Angora bunnies!

Mother's Day

I had a great Mother's Day. Kristian made me breakfast in bed and the boys snuggled in and shared it with me. Crispy bacon and a yummy omelet. Kristian makes the best omelets! Then we cuddled for a long time...loved it! The boys got me some jammies because I've really needed new ones. Then we went for a family bike ride. It was so beautiful outside. Kristian did have a game at 3, so he left for a bit. When he came back, I went to a free Bikram yoga class. Although at some point I wished that someone would kill me, I did really enjoy it. I always pick a spot near the heater and thermostat...it's supposed to be 105 degrees in there and it was 110! Anyway, I definitely felt refreshed when I left. Then I came home and had some dinner and then me and some NAM ladies went to Chunky's Cinema Pub for a free movie and popcorn! I did get some beers, of course! It was a lot of fun!

Touch-A-Truck

The Mall of New Hampshire in Manchester, NH put on a Touch-A-Truck event today. The kids love, LoVeD, LOVED, it! They had a fire truck, bull dozer, ambulance, limo (which was Ry's favorite-we went in 3 times!), and much more! They even had a helicopter, or lolidoctor as Ry would say. We were a little concerned about the weather, but for the most part, the rain held off...there were a few drizzles here and there, but nothing we couldn't handle.

Here are some pics:

Helicopter

Partying in the Limo

Ry in the Big Rig

Fire Truck

Kitty Update

So after about two weeks of having her, we finally settled on a name...her name is Tallulah. She and Fred are getting along very well. No cuddling yet, but hopefully they will down the road. I am just happy Fred is not scared to death of her as he is other cats. Oh Freddie!

She actually got spayed today. When we got her, she still had a lot of milk, so the vet recommended waiting until her milk dried up. It would mean quicker recovery and less pain, so of course, we waited. Well, starting last week, it may have been earlier, but it was most obvious last week, she went into heat. I've never heard a cat make those kinds of sounds. It was funny and cute, except for when she would groan at 3 am! She's been very lovey since we got her and I just hope that she'll still be as cuddly after she's had the surgery. We'll see!

Anyway, we took her to a place in Pepperell, MA. We actually had been there with Fred before. The people there are very nice and they offer this spay and neuter clinic for a reduced rate. The total cost was $97. We had called two other places in the area and they said it would cost $400! Isn't that crazy!? So glad we found this place! Plus they were able to fit us in right away, so it was perfect!

Overall kitty is doing well. Kids absolutely love her and she is surprisingly comfortable around them. She lets them pick her up and pet her, she's cuddly with us, and Fred likes her, so she's a perfect match for our family. We couldn't ask for a better kitty. So once she's all healed, we'll move on to toilet training her. It'll be so nice to not have to clean out a litter box!

Soccer Part Deux

Ryan didn't do so well the last session of soccer. He was really anxious and since Devin and I always played on the other field while he was supposed to be playing, it was really difficult for him to want to be there. Kyla, Ryan's best friend, wanted to start playing soccer, so Jamie and I decided to sign both of them up together hoping that Kyla would make Ryan feel more comfortable. She always seems to bring him out of his shell. He was a little weary at first, but after a while, he joined in and was having fun. He still needed reassurance here and there, but overall it went much better than last time. Devin was also allowed to run around on the field with them and the parents were able to sit on the field, so I think that helped a lot too.

Jamie got some great action shots. Here they are:

Graduate Thesis

This semester I had to write my graduate thesis. I chose to research social competence in homeschooled children. I chose this topic because as everyone knows, we are planning on homeschooling the boys. One of the first things I researched when Kristian brought up the idea, was the social aspect. Pretty much everyone I've talked to about us homeschooling, questioned me about socialization. From everything I read, if it is done right, homeschooled children are just as, if not more in some cases, socially competent.

I was a little hesitant in choosing this for my topic because everyone that I would need to present it to were advocates of public schooling and just thought it might be kind of controversial, but Kristian reminded me that, that is kind of what theses are supposed to be, so I went with it. It was obviously an interesting topic for me and when asked in the future about whether homeschooled kids have issues with socialization, I can respond not only with opinions, but statistical facts.

I don't normally post stuff just about me on here, but I wanted an opportunity to talk about some of the things I experienced while doing my research. Stuff that I couldn't really write in my report. One of the things that was interesting to me was the responses I got, particularly from the homeschool group. For my research, I had developed two social competence surveys. One that parents would fill out and another for the children. There were around 43 public school respondents and over 200 participants from the homeschool group. What was most interesting to me was the emails that I got from the homeschool group-rather rude to be honest. In my cover letter I mentioned that I was a graduate student and was researching a topic for my thesis. I didn't include what it was that I was researching because I didn't want their responses to be impacated by trying to prove my hypothesis one way or another. I think a lot of people must have assumed that I was out to debunk homeschooling or something because I got a lot of nasty emails.

I responded very nicely to everyone further explaining the intention of my research and after that, a lot of them apologized and I actually learned a lot from them. One of the things that I realized was that these people (homeschoolers) are so sick of people asking them about the socialization of their kids-to the point that they get defensive about it. It kind of scared me a little, which may sound weird, but I don't want to have to go through all these years having to defend our choice to homeschool. I've mentioned it to people here and there and have already gotten not so nice responses. For example, in my yoga class I talk to this older woman, she's a teacher and she knows I was a teacher. She asked me when I was going back to work and I mentioned the idea of homeschooling. Well, she made this weird face like I was crazy and then she began to tell me of this one experience she had working with a homeschooled kid. First of all, why the hell do people, pretty much complete strangers, feel they have the right to judge my decisions and second of all, just because you had one experience with one person, doesn't mean everyone is like that. I'm sure all of us know at least ONE person who is a little strange (homeschooled or publicly schooled). Anyway, I think a lot of people have an antiquated view about what homeschooling is. I just don't want to feel like I will always have to explain our decision to others for them to unjustly judge me for it. I hope at least my family and friends have enough confidence in my abilities as a teacher and a mother to know that I know what children need and that I will provide that for my children.

Anyway, the results of the social competence surveys showed that homeschooled students performed just as well and in some areas higher than publicly schooled kids. I am not against public schooling, heck, I was a teacher myself. However, I can see that homeschooling can provide a lot of great social opportunities as well. This morning I received my grade, which was 290/300 (equivalent to around 97) and since I handed it in by a certain date, I also received an extra 50 points, so my total score was 340/300. It was a lot of hard work, but I am glad it is done and I am proud of what I accomplished. I am also happy that I chose a topic that was meaningful to me. Now I only have one more class to go and I will have my Master's in Education (M.Ed). Well, I still have to put together a portfolio and do an oral exam in the fall, but as far as classes, I will be done at the end of the summer! Yay!

The Story of Dode

Ryan and Dode

This is Do Do. He is Ryan's baby. "He's a good baby." It started way back when Ryan was around 1 maybe 1 and a half. We went to Parker's Maple Barn with Nana and Pa. They have a country store there and Ryan saw a penguin and he knew he wanted it. Nana tried to show him some of the cuter stuffed animals, but he kept grabbing for the penguin. On the way home, he named him Vin. He loved this penguin and took him everywhere.

Ryan sleeping with Vin

When we went to NY one time, we brought Vin, of course, but when we had to leave, we couldn't find him. For weeks he was gone, no where to be found. Parker's was closed for the season, so we couldn't get a new one. We called the company that made the penguin to see if they had another one like it...nothing! Months later when Parker's re-opened. The first day, we went there to get another Vin. They had one! So, we bought it and gave it to Ry thinking there would be this loving reunion. He took the penguin and threw it on the ground and said, "Fred". He somehow knew that it wasn't the original. Fred was happy to take it! Not long after, Nana went to FL and picked up another penguin. She gave it to Ryan and love at first sight! He named him Do Do and Do Do has never left his side since.

A few weeks later we were in NY again and guess who turned up...the orignial Vin! When Ryan saw him, he called him Do Do and gave him to Devin, so now it's "Devin's Do Do". Now, Ryan, Devin, and Fred have their very own Do Do. Do Do's nickname is Dode...Ry came up with it. Anyway, I never knew how much penguins would mean to this family. I've personally never really cared for penguins...didn't really think they were that cute out of all the animals, but I've warmed up. I really had no choice. All Ry talks about all day is penguins. He really wants to touch a penguin...not sure if there is a place we can do that...maybe Seaworld? I don't know, but it's just so funny how Do Do is actually like a family member. Ry pretends Do Do's talking and puts on this cute squeaky voice. He sometimes says to Do Do, "Do Do, you're so special. I'm so proud of you." Too cute!

My Little Geniuses

Ok, so I never brag, ever! BUT, a mother is entitled to it once and a while, right? I am kidding when I say they are geniuses, but there are somethings they do that just impress me. They are such sponges at this age! I've been meaning to get a video of this for a couple of months now and finally did it. It's not the best version I've seen of them doing it, but it's what I had the time to get. Sometimes when they see me with the video camera, they start doing all their tricks, singing, counting, and dancing, so I had to get what I could in the time I had.

Here's Devin identifying the planets:



Here's Ryan identifying the planets:

While we're on the subject...I figured I'd take a moment to talk about all the things that impress me about my kids. Let's see...Devin can count to 20 and backwards from 10 (so can Ry, but I am impressed that Devin can do this at 2). He also knows all of his shapes. The way he throws a football, man, he's good. We'll he's actually been doing this as long as I can remember...maybe even before 18 months. His grip on the football is like a pro and he throws a spiral. Mark my words, he is going to be a great quarterback! He can throw regular balls to, and catch them.

Ryan's always loved cars. His newest thing is wanting to know about the type of car. He knows his car, the '84 westie, is a Volkswagen and is able to point out every Volkswagen on the road. I think this also has to do with good product placement on the Curious George movie where the man in the yellow hat drives a VW onto a boat. Anyway, he can spot them out anywhere. It takes me a while sometimes to find where it is, but it is always there. He can do this with Toyotas too. It's just a funny little talent.

They both sing and hold a tune really well. They also have a pretty good musical sense. They play the drums and guitar, on a toddler level, but they keep a pretty consistent beat. I think they'll be musical like their mommy. They also both absorb information. For example, we'd be watching a Baby Einstein and they'll ask me what something is..."whirlygig." Well, we'd be driving down the road and they'll see one and point it out, "Mommy look, a whirlygig" (or their way of saying that word). It just blows my mind how easily they remember things. So much so, I don't even remember teaching them some of these things.

I am just always in amazement about what my kids know. It's hard for me to think of or write down every little thing they can do, but it's things like this just get me really excited about homeschooling. Kids naturally want to learn and when they are allowed to explore what they want to learn, they really do learn it and remember it. Most of the things my kids know, they know because they were interested in learning about it. I was definitely there taking advantage of teachable moments, but their desire to want to know about these things came from inside them.