Saturday, November 19, 2011

The Christmas Story

We watched The Christmas Story tonight. They really did a great job of portraying the older brother and younger brother rolls. Ralphie reminded us of Mica and Randy reminded us of Isaak. Not looks wise, but in how they act.

Ralphie was eager to help his dad with pretty much anything and he was impulsive. Randy was whinny and liked to hide. The two boys also wrestled up and down the steps.

Daddy said, "Oh look Ralphie is just like Mica!" Isaak said, "No he's not! Mica doesn't wear sunglasses inside!" I'm like, "You mean glasses Isaak." :)

I told Mica that I'm getting him the pink bunny suit that Ralphie got in the movie for Christmas. He said, "Oh no you don't!"


Just for fun, here's what Ralphie looks like now:

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Here's what Randy looks like now:

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If you really like the leg lamp you can get it at Think Geek for $40. I think it's tacky.

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Crazy Traits

I wanted to blog about these traits that the boys have before I forget them.

Mica's been talking then his lips keep moving even though he's done talking. It's almost like his lips say another sentence after he says the sentence. You just can't hear any words. I mentioned this at conferences to his main teacher and the speech teacher. They both said to ignore it. They said that kids sometimes go through crazy things like that. It's just a phase. I really want to video tape him doing it just to show you what I'm talking about. It's really odd. Of course if I did that, I'd bring attention to it. He also blinks a lot when he's tired.

Isaak says: "Dendent" for Didn't, "Selery" for Sorry, "Suncunt" for Second, "Ermasen" for Emerson and "Micker Donalds" for McDonalds. The last one cracks me up the most. A few I've mentioned on here before. Isaak demands that I say, "Goodbye" to his potty before he flushes it. Odd, I know. I think all preschoolers have a little oddness to them. They are little, funny people. ;)

Christmas Time is Getting Closer

Is it just me, or does it not feel like Christmas time is near?

I think it's maybe because the weather has been warmer than usual. Although it is cold today! It's also because we (my mom, sister's and I) are not doing our annual cookie decorating event. This year it's just not going to work out.

This morning I did decide to venture out of the house. Mica's been fine all day. I waited until 11 to see if he'd act or get sick again. NOPE! I'm glad I stuck around the house most of the morning. I got dishes and a lot of laundry done! Where did we go? Fat Brain Toys. I love that toy store so much! They have toys out for the boys to play with, while Mommy shops. It's small, so I can still see the kids. Also one of my students that graduated is in charge of their website and toy packaging. Pretty cool job. It's full of many toys that you just can't find other places. I got Mica a small 3D globe puzzle (it's small) and Isaak a tiny bamboo car for stocking stuffers. The boys were so preoccupied, they paid zero attention to what I was doing. I saw on their FB that if you whispered "Hide and Seek" at the check out they'd give you something. We got a Highlights Picture Find book. We get thinner ones in the mail, but this one was bigger. Perfect for our trip coming up! Isaak played with a wooden marble track and Mica was all over playing with everything. I am glad that the boys don't beg for things. They are pretty content with me saying, "If you want that, we'll put it on your Christmas list."

If I ask Mica what he wants for Christmas? He lists off all kinds of things! Too many things, Santa won't buy 1/2 of what he wants. If I ask Isaak what he wants for Christmas? He says, "A present." That Santa can cover! ;)

After our venture to the toy store, we went to Bed Bath and Beyond to get Daddy something. The boys were crazy in there. They found a full size mirror that they were making faces in and laughing up a storm!

Then we went to Hobby Lobby. There I got dark chocolate melts. Time to make some Christmas candy! I will be eating hardly zero pieces. It's fun to do and will get me in the spirit of Christmas. I also picked up chocolate advent calendars for the boys.

Last Night Mica Got Sick

He sat down to dinner and said, "My tummy hurts!" We excused him. He went to bed at the normal time of 7:45 instead of staying up later; like he does on many Friday and Saturday nights. At 12 AM he woke Daddy up; than Daddy woke me up. He threw up on his bedding. He also has drawers under his bed, and some went into the drawers. YUCK, but it happens!

I cleared off his bed, while Daddy wiped everything down. The crazy thing is, many kids act perfectly fine after they've thrown up. You really don't know if they are still sick or not!

Mica got up in the morning and I asked, "How are you feeling?" He said, "Fine." I said, "Well it's a good thing you didn't throw up again!" He said, "Oh I did, it's in the bucket in my room." I'm thinking, "Great! Thanks for telling us!"

I made JELLO juice. I just never let it set up. The boy's love it! It's a sick treat. Isaak's strongly supporting a red mustache. Then we had toast with honey, banana and Mica had Greek Yogurt while we had ham and eggs.

So far, no more sickness. I hope it's something Mica ate and not actual sickness. I'd like to run errands today. I'm waiting awhile just in case.

Thursday, November 17, 2011

Do You Regret Anything You've Done to Your Body?

This post has nothing to do with Isaak or Mica.

I have this college student. I'll call him Jay for the sake of this post. He loves attention. He came up to my desk and said, "Hey Mrs. Apel I just got a tattoo!" I said, "Oh really?!" Jay says, "Let me show you." I didn't even say that I wanted to see it. He pulls his sleeve up and shows me his tattoo. It's a voluptuous lady squatting holding her breasts up. I'm not sure how he thought I'd respond. I just said, "Boobs."

Then I asked about the cost of this tat? Jay's a student that's always complaining about not having money for rent, art supplies and food.

His girlfriend and girlfriend's parents paid for it. It was his birthday present. Never mind that his girlfriend is trying to save up to go to college herself. I said, "Well I bet they are proud of your tat!" I was of course being sarcastic. I mean what was I supposed to say?

As he walked away I thought about him as an 80 year old man with great grand kids. I'm sure he'll be either covering up his tattoo, or he'll be a sick man that shows it off to everyone just to see their reaction.

I have a lot of students that get tattoos. I work at an art college. It's the subject matter of this tat that makes me want to shake my head. It's not even a nude done in an tasteful, artistic way.

I turned to my assistant and said, "I'm getting a tattoo of a penis on my arm next week." Of course I'm totally joking!!! NEVER! 

Oh and I'm seeing some CRAZY piercing's!

One girl pierced her own tongue. Talk about dangerous!

For awhile it seemed like crazy piercing was kind of going out. Students were putting loop holes through their ears the size of a quarter. I haven't seen that in awhile. The hand above, those piercings seem to be what's in. They do look kind of cool, but one girl that has them is infected all the time.
Have you or do you know anyone that has ever regretted getting a tattoo or piercing?

I've only had my ears pierced. No tats. Daddy has a few tats. The only ones I see point in, is remembrance tattoos. Someone close to you passes away, and you get a tattoo symbol or name to remember them by.

I'd think that with the Go Green movement, artists would want the natural, unpeirced, untattooed look. The 80's style is back, so piercing does go with the punk rock movement.

Soup

I made a really good soup this week! Check out the recipe I posted here!

Bubble Space

I had a dentist appointment yesterday. The lady that cleaned my teeth started talking to me about her five year old that's in preschool. Her son happens to have a friend that is a girl. In the past they have always kissed each other goodbye. She's trying to let him know that, it's no longer appropriate to kiss girls his age.

Then a girl that I teach with got a call from her daughter's principle saying, "We're having problems with ____ kissing boy's in class." She did her best not to giggle. Then had a talk with her daughter (who is in kindergarten). 

I told both ladies above about Mica's class in kindergarten having trouble with infringing on people's space. Mica's teacher says that this is very common with kindergarten, first and even second graders to want to give each other hugs and kisses. It's not just Mica that they are having problems with.

We as parents teach our kids to be affectionate. In their first years it's acceptable to kiss and hug the people they see. Most of them are relatives or close friends. We send them off into independent land; once they get comfortable with their fellow classmates some of them want to kiss, hug and boys often want to wrestle.

When I was in kindergarten I in no way thought about kissing a boy. I thought they had cooties.

What used to be acceptable in their minds is no longer acceptable. What once was cute, is no longer appropriate.

What are we doing about this:
  • We've talked to Mica's teacher a few times. She's really glad we're on her side. I guess a lot of parents don't care now a days, which is really sad! She thinks they get a lot of this from TV. Mica has barely watched TV. I can blame it on Disney's Princess' and Prince's. They really glorify a kiss!
  • We've talked to Mica many times about giving people space! At school they call this, "Bubble Space."
  • We've talked about germs.
  • We've talked about how it's ok to kiss and hug people like Mommy, Daddy, Grandma's and Grandpa's. It's however not ok to kiss or hug classmates.
  • He's had to write apology letters. 
  • We've sent him to bed early. With Mica, naughty behavior clears up with sleep much of the time.
  • Daddy emailed and asked Boys Town what to do? That may seem obsessive, but hey if they have the right answers then we need to hear them.
  • I've talked about role playing with Mica. He seems to like to act. Why not try to act like I'm a fellow student of his?
  • Daddy thought about making a contract with Mica. If he breaks it and infringes on someone's personal space at school, he looses something really important to him. We of course would explain all this to him.
I do have to say that I'm glad that Mica isn't the only one infringing on people's bubble space. He's not the only one that sticks out like a sore thumb. Then again, other classmates might be where he's getting this from.

What we don't want is Mica afraid to tell us when something goes wrong!

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

WW Faux Camping {Linky}

In Order: Cousin Evan, Cousin Elijah, Isaak and Mica
I posted a few shot of our faux camping experience here. I had a few more that I thought could go up for WW. The boy's had so much fun with their cousins!

Elijah and Isaak having a deep conversation about Pillow Pets.

Evan being his giggly self. Mica looking silly. I've bought Mica other stuffed animals. He still holds onto this cheap rabbit he got from preschool.



If you have a moment, enter my low entry here.

Isaak's into Spider-Man and Mica's into Batman

I really don't know how they got into these characters, but they are!

Playskool Holiday Gift Giving Ideas for Kids is cool! I know Isaak would love this toy:


Monday, November 14, 2011

Learning/Reading Websites For Kids

A week ago we went to Mica's school for a book swap. They also went over a lot with parents. One of the things is websites to refer to for learning/reading.

Websites for Children:

Starfall: This one is great for preschool all the way up to 2nd grade. Kids that are just learning their letter sounds will gain a lot from this website!


Isaak's in the ABCs section, while Mica's in the Learn to Read and It's Fun to Read ones. They have games that fit their level. Mica's learning how to place the sound of the letter in the context of the word. I'm Reading has Comic Books, Greek Myths, Fables and more!

KS1 Bitesize: This one is for both literary as well as math skills.


Math includes: Add, Subtract, Multiply and Divide. It also includes Time, Money and more.
Literacy includes: Phonics, Spelling, Rhyming, Sentence Structure and more.

Jump Start: This one you do have to register for. You can opt out anytime. It is free. Their games are super fun and of course learning based.



Form Swift - Common Core Lesson Plans: This one is great for coming up with Math Science English lesson plans. I'm always working on lesson plans for my kids during the summer. It's free. You can print out lesson plans in PDF format.


Sheppard Software: This has all kind of learning games for all ages.


Story Place: Has online books.


abcya: Has all kinds of learning apps. Something I'm totally not into yet, but probably should be. You get to pick their grade level, which is great! Oh and the illustrations I love!



Literacy CyberSpace: Has a ton of sites to go to for the age level of your child. This one goes all the way up to High School! If you're looking for a site for your child to go to over the summer, this is the one!


Storyline Online: Has books for younger kids that celebs read. Yes Betty White reads Dirty Harry. I assure you it's not dirty in an adult way! This site is strictly for kids!


Story Starter: This is put on by Scholastic. It has a roulette wheel and picks topics for kids to write about. This is great for older elementary; for when they want to write a story, but don't know where to start.


Kabongo: This is another one you do have to register for. It is free. They do not email you like crazy. I know because I have an account. Mica loves playing it!


Kabongo: This is another one you do have to register for. It is free. They do not email you like crazy. I know because I have an account. Mica loves playing it!

Tutoo: This is site that makes it simple for students to search for all the tutors within their local area. They are currently used by thousands of tutors and students daily and feel our service is helpful and may potentially be a useful resource for your site readers.


Sunday, November 13, 2011

This Land is Your Land

Mica must be singing This Land is Your Land in school.

He was singing in the car last night:

This land is your land, this land is my land
From California, to the New York Island
From the redwood forest, to the gulf stream waters
This land was made for you and me

Then he stopped and said, "Daddy where is the redwood forest that they are talking about in the song? Where is the gulf stream waters?"

He thinks well beyond what I did at that age! I just sang the song, and didn't give it too much thought.

Today I Was Sung to and I Was a Princess!

Mica sang a rap version of Up On the Housetop. I tried filming him, but he kept forgetting the words. Actually he kept getting the contemporary version mixed up with the old school version. Yep the words were different. No longer does Will get a hammer and lots of tacks; he gets an i pod and lots of tracks. HA

Isaak sang to me Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star. He had to sing it three times before I would put it on the blog. The boy wouldn't stop moving. The first time he ended up on the floor, singing in a ball and the second time he had his butt up in the air! This is take three:


Then I made some Christmas Cookies. That's a process!

While I was doing that Mica nominated me as his Princess. Mica was a Prince Mica and Isaak was a King Isaak. They each had robes and hats on. I had to summon the Prince and King when I needed them.

Princess Mommy: "Prince Mica! Hurry! I need your help! The cows are in the meadow and the sheep are in the corn!"
Prince Mica: He shooed the animals out of the meadow and corn. Then I was instructed to kiss him and tell him that I liked his hat! ;)

Princess Mommy: "King Isaak! Hurry! I need your help! Humpty Dumpty is about ready to fall off our red chair!" We actually have one, so I prepped him on there.
King Isaak: Saved him. I gave him a kiss.

This went on for a good 45 minutes! I came up with all kinds of emergencies they had to assist me with. ;)

Last Night We All Got Together as a Family

It was Aunt Angela's birthday. I know she likes tea, so I got her this by Tea Forte:

It wasn't anything she asked for, but she liked it! I thought the design was really cool. I'm a sucker for cool design and packaging!

Grandma Spiehs made enchiladas! Oh I love them. I have been making them with Greek Yogurt in replace of sour cream. Still they are yummy! I brought a salad. Not too exciting, but a good for you food. Angela made dips and the mint chocolate cake.

The young boys played really good. I was waiting for cousin Elijah to collapse! He was so tired from our faux camping experience.

I was happy to see that Cousin Emerson was doing much better! Last week was a really bad week for him! He was turning blue from his diaper area down. He is now getting rest and not turning blue! WOO HOO! I have to mention that he's a super chunk!


After much conversation, eating, playing and hanging out it was time to head for home.

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The opinions on this blog are my personal take on products and topics relating to motherhood. This blog is a personal blog written and edited by me.

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