5QF:01/21/20111

Ahhh, it's Friday and it should be a great day! But I am sitting at the Honda dealership with my Odyssey waiting to see what is wrong with it. I noticed a soccer ball sized puddle under it in the driveway. Well, the technicians find nothing. So now I am stumped,,, why is it when your car does something at home as soon as it gets to the service center it stops???!!! Grrrrr!

So I am keeping my mind busy with some 5 Question Friday!!!!

1. Where did you meet your spouse and did you instantly know it was love?
I was a senior in high school and my hubby was a junior. At the time I was dating his friend who was also a senior and it was Senior early release day. My boyfriend at the time was having vehicle problems so he asked his friend(hubs) to skip school and go with us. They were going surfing at the beach and I was pretty much tagging along. While the guys (there were five of them) were surfing, I was so bored in my cute bikini( yes,, the last time I ever wore one) I decided to walk into the waves and cool off. Or get some one's attention. And low and behold I get stung by a jellyfish! That crap hurt!! So I head back to the pickup truck and sit there, practically in tears and (hubs) saw from the ocean that something was wrong. My boyfriend could have cared less. So my "knight in shining armor" comes in to see what happened. We spent the next few hours chatting and enjoying each other's company. I was interested at ALL. Just friends.
A few weeks of "just friends" and talking on the phone I fell for him. And the rest is history. This year we will celebrate our 10 year anniversary! We've been together 18 years!!!!

2. What is your favorite room in your house?
I love my family room. It's where we as a family spend most of our time playing games, reading books or watching movies together. It's the place in our house where besides the kitchen we spend most of our time being a family.

3. Can you wiggle your ears?
Uhhhh, no. Not without moving my jaw. Which really hurts right now. It's raining and the barometric pressure is killing my head.

4. What is your evening ritual?

Dinner, bath for one child, shower for the other, brushing teeth,taking vitamins and allergy medicine, reading a bedtime story, chasing one kiddo to bed(he loves it) and lights out for kids. Once the kids are in bed, the hubby and I might watch some tv (depending on the night), I check email, facebook, my blog, write a blog post, edit photos, and read a few chapters of the current book I am reading. Depending on what I am doing my hubby my play his online game, or PS3. he has been busy with his MacBook lately. Our nights are random on what we do after the kids go to bed.

5. How many hours of sleep do you need to function?
To function I need at least five. I would love to get more and actually get about seven on Saturday's. My body is so accustomed to getting less sleep that if I get too much I have a headache ALL day.

Writer's Workshop- Let them be little

If you choose to accept this task of writing for Mama Kat's Writer's Workshop you will be expected to choose one or more of the writing prompts. I chose #3 this week. I love writing when some one else has good ideas, not like I don't have great things to write about, I just seem to forget them a lot of the time.

3.) It has been said that kids these days are pushed into too many extra-curricular activities and are not given the freedom to play and be bored and to use their imaginations. Is this true?

I wouldn't say ALL children fall into that category but a lot do. In my opinion most of these children would probably be happier if their parents didn't sign them up for football, baseball, guitar lessons and soccer all in one season. Do those kids really need all that extra activity in one day after school and on weekends? Not really. Kids need to be kids and enjoy playing make believe games and exploring the outside world. An eight year old child moderately riding their bicycle for an hour will burn 136 calories. Think about when you were a kid and you used to ride your bike for hours on the weekdays after homework was done and you would ride your bike to your friends house three blocks away and you guys would jump on your bikes to ride to your other friend's house. That would be at least 300 calories burned on one Saturday alone.

I'm not saying that joining extra-curricular activities is bad, but all in moderation. If your daughter likes to dance, then join a few classes a week putting in 4-5 hours a week. But don't add cheerleading which leads to cheering at games on the weekends and night practices along with her dance class schedule. Where does that leave time for family interaction during dinner? It doesn't. You'll be eating dinner in your mini van, grabbing McDonald's or Wendy's or maybe even some Chick Fil A and eating on the run.Well you might as well discredit the activities as being for weight loss. Your child will only be burning those fast food consumed calories and fat. We won't get into how many calories are in those chicken nuggets.

I agree that kids need interaction with other kids in an activity that they love, whether or not they are good at it. But all in moderation. Let kids be kids, they're only little once.

Thank God for the Blessings

There's nothing cuter than a little 3 year old boy who just got
out of the bath tub wearing a froggy hooded towel.

I love my little man who is such a ham.
This little boy who warms my heart every night
when he wants to be such a big boy and try and wash his own hair.
Even after I have suds-ed his head and rinsed him clean
then I find him squeezing shampoo into the tub.

I just love his sweet smile and giggles
when I try to take his photos.
Thank you Lord for blessing me with this sweet little boy.

Sign Language and the Early Learner

After giving birth to your child do you ever think about what the next years will hold? You pretty much are concentrating on feedings, diaper changes and sleep schedules. Once you get the first few months under your belt you tackle rolling over, crawling and solid foods. Not far away your little one will be pulling up on the furniture, walking and babbling. Communication with your little bundle of joy is limited until they can actually speak words.
Most moms begin talking to their unborn babies while in the womb and your child recognizes your voice the moment they are born. But they cannot verbally communicate to you. Did the thought ever cross your mind about signing to them? Even children that do not have hearing impairments can quickly communicate with their parents in the form of "sign".

I was contacted by Emily Patterson about her recent article on Sign Language and Early Childhood Education and the importance of it. I found the article quite interesting and wish that I had known this when I gave birth to my first child seven years ago. I used to think parents who "signed" with their children instead of just trying to teach them to talk were silly. After visiting with my brother and his son this Christmas I changed my mind. My nephew who is 18 months old uses several "signs" that he has been doing since he was 9 months old and has quite a vocabulary and is putting 2-3 word sentences together. It is amazing! I hope you find her article as interesting as I did and consider the positives of early learning.


Sign Language and Early Childhood Education

The ability to communicate articulately in a variety of ways with the widest possible audience, is a skill that can take you far in our society today. Whether you learn a second language for job opportunity or just to become more diverse, it is a great unique ability.

This includes bilingual ability as well as the ability to communicate in non-verbal ways for the benefit of the disabled – primarily the deaf.

Signing Before They Can Speak

Research has shown that the early years of ages 2 to 5 is the best time to educate children in different modes of communication and language. This goes beyond the spoken word (though it is an optimal time for children to learn a second language); many young children have an aptitude for signing as well. This can be taught at home or some child care programs incorporate it into their curriculum.

While teaching a 2 year old a second language may seem a tad early or odd, it's actually been shown that sign language is innate. Many indigenous peoples around the world, including American Indian nations, have used sign language for centuries to facilitate communication with other tribes with whom they do not share a language. Some paleontologists and anthropologists theorize that Neanderthals – who apparently lacked the vocal mechanism to produce many spoken words – depended a great deal upon hand gestures to communicate.

Boulder Daily Camera published an article in 2003 presenting strong evidence that babies as young as six months old communicate with their hands:

"...by 6 to 7 months, babies can remember a sign. At eight months, children
can begin to imitate gestures and sign single words. By 24 months, children
can sign compound words and full sentences. They say sign language reduces
frustration in young children by giving them a means to express themselves
before they know how to talk." (Glarion, 2003)


The Best Time To Start

The sooner the better for children to start. From the ages 2 to 5, the child's brain is most flexible, making it easier for them to learn not only one language, but two or three even. They are able to mimic the signs when learning sign language, and in most cases even create their own in the beginning (which is ok!)

Not only does early childhood education in signing give pre-verbal youngsters a way to communicate, it can also strengthen the parent child-bond. Signing minimizes frustration levels and helps parents to communicate with their children before they can even walk!

It Can Last A Lifetime

The benefits are endless. Incorporating sign language into a child's early education not only optimizes learning potential for children but it helps them in the future as well.

Studies show that young children who are taught sign language at an early age actually develop better verbal skills as they get older. They have higher levels of skill in vocabulary, spelling and music as well.


Co-written by Emily Patterson and Kathleen Thomas


Emily and Kathleen are Communications Coordinators for the Indiana child care facility, a member of the AdvancED® accredited family of Primrose Schools (located in 16 states throughout the U.S.) and part of the network of child care preschools delivering progressive, early childhood, Balanced Learning® curriculum

Home Schooling?

Source

When I found out that my husband was going to be getting a raise that would allow me to stay home with my children I had all these dreams and ideas about crafts, teaching and some sort of home schooling. I bought supplies, reorganized my computer room and tried to mentally prepare myself for what lie ahead.
I failed though. My journey to staying home started over the summer of 2010 and I think the only thing I did accomplish was keeping the kids occupied with reading books, taking day trips to the museum, beach, park and mall like my daughter requested and a few crafts. Once school started and I got a regular routine back I figured I better start some kind of rudimentary schooling for Little E who will be going to preschool this fall.
He is above where he should be academically because he was enrolled in daycare from 8 weeks old to almost three years old and has that advantage. He knows all his colors, shapes, left and right, most of his letters, knows the number 1-9 and can count to 15. He can recognize the spelling of his name but cannot spell it to me.
I figured he might as well continue in his learning until he goes back to school so I bought some alphabet flash cards that have uppercase and lowercase letters. It's funny how he recognizes the uppercase letters but struggles with the lowercase.
I started with the uppercase for now and have collected the letters he doesn't remember. For those letters he struggles with I have started doing weekly projects that include that letter.Last week we worked on the letter R. We colored an "r", we cut out colored strips of construction paper and glued them onto another paper with the letter R and then cut out the R after the glue dried. Giving us a Rainbow R. Little E loved this project. I focused on words that started with R and have found the repetition works best for my little guy. I found this project on Confessions from a HomeSchooler , a fellow home schooler/ bloggers website.
This week we will work on the letter Q. Little E thinks it's an "o" so at least he recognizes the O but we have to get him to pay attention to the little tail it has.

Today I joining Mamarazzi on what she hopes might be a Blogger Revolution to end no-reply blogger comments.

Meeting a Blogger in Real Life

Do you ever look forward to meeting some one for the first time and then after wards you feel like, "why didn't I say this or that?!" I am not really a shy person but for some reason I turned speech less.
This weekend I got the opportunity to take my family to Tampa, FL for a photo shoot with Jennifer McKinney aka McKMama. I was excited to be able to line up a shoot because I found out she was coming to Florida the previous Sunday.
We arrived in Tampa, Ybor City and hour and 45 minutes early on Saturday and I checked Twitter to see if she had changed locations. She was on a lunch break after taking a full morning of shoots. I texted Jennifer to tell her I was there and it was as if we were real friends. We had some silly banter about where she was sitting and locating what vehicle I was driving. I really felt at ease about meeting one of my favorite bloggers and having her take photos of my children.

But after we met and she introduced herself to the kids I really didn't want to get in her way. For me, our time was on a professional level and she was working. We chatted a few times, once about my booking being lucky right before she came to Florida and about how my hubby didn't want photos taken of him. ( We got him to do a few.) But I really wish I hadn't been so tongue tied.
I think I was like in a dream. I know it's corny, but when you actually get to meet a blog writer that you have been reading for quite some time it's surreal. It's like, "wow they actually exist and they are a real person." It's funny how you read about some one's life and you feel as if you know them on a personal level. I really wanted to give Jennifer a hug at the end of my shoot, but I wasn't sure how she would take that. I'm such a worrier.

I was so excited to see her little baby Lachlan and meet her sister, Hillary at the end of our shoot. Her children are so adorable and seeing her newest addition in person gave me that "awwww" moment. I wish the little guy hadn't been so fussy, but he was hungry for his mama. I would have loved to give him a snuggle.

After leaving Tampa and getting back on the interstate to drive the two hour trip home, I had those "why didn't I do this, or say that" moments. I hate that. I wish I hadn't been so speech less.

Pour Your Heart Out: Hiding Behind the Proud

I know this is a day late, but I wanted to link up this week.

Again, just a brief reminder that everyone linking is pouring their hearts out and we should all be respectful in our comments. ;)

I have avoided posting about this because of fear. Fear about what others might think about me. Fear that I will be judged. But this is who I am and who I was.
Do you what it's like to not be able to control yourself? It starts with something agitating you and then you lose your temper. But it doesn't stop there, it boils over and before you know it everything around you scratches at you and you lash out at anyone in your path. Not physically, but verbally lashing. When it's all over and you've calmed down, you feel guilt. HUGE GUILT. You apologize and those that you have affected accept your apology and you go on. You say it won;t happen again, but it does. Again and again and again.
It gets worse, each time escalating into more. And before you know it, you don't who you are. Who is this person that I am or have become? You tell yourself that you're going to stop being that way. You pray to God that he will give you the strength to control yourself. Then something happens, you're running late to work and you lash out and scream at everyone. You blame God for not giving you the strength and will power to hold yourself together. You blame everyone else for making the problems. If only the kids moved faster and didn't dawdle in the morning. If only that guy in the car in front of you would go faster, you wouldn't have to get mad. It's their fault, not yours. Spiraling out of control you finally break down and go against what you didn't want to do. Get medical help.
After one awful morning of running late, yelling at the kids you finally make the call. Practically in tears with the receptionist you tell them why you want to see the doctor. She fits you an appointment that morning. You breath a sigh of relief that you might finally be able to end the chaos, the rage.
The doctor prescribes you with some medicine and schedules you for a follow up appointment in one month. After two weeks on the pills, you actually feel normal. Things that once bothered you don't seem to matter as much but there is still an edginess to certain occurrences. You see the doctor again and he increases your dosage and adds more pills. After a week of taking the new combination you notice that life is better enjoyed. That your kids don't have that look of worry on their faces when they spill milk all over the table. You actually laugh at the spectacle of spilled milk dripping on the floor.
Is this what normal is? Why was it so hard to admit that I had a problem that I couldn't solve myself? That I needed help. Was I too proud?