Cats!

No, not the musical!  The study OF cats.  Grace has been insistent for well over a year that she is going to be a cat when she grows up.  I have had brain block for well over a year on how to foster her dreams when they are SOOO unreal.  Therefore, I have just smiled at her and let her use her imagination without hindering her, but also without encouraging her. 

About a month ago I was writing a comment on a friend's blog post when I answered my own problem.  Duh!  Just start!  Why can't I encourage her?  I try to teach Libby things about being a veterinarian, why not teach Grace about cats? 

Consequently, this week we have been counting cats, graphing cats, putting cat puzzles together, reading simple words in stories about cats, etc.  Next week we will learn about baby kittens and what they eat and catnip and more.  I am having a blast with Grace, and as of last night, all three kids were having a blast with learning.  Mission accomplished this week, time to think about next week!

 

My future kitty cat! ;)

Cutie Patootie!

 

Six Flags Fun

Although the trip to Chicago was tiring, it had nothing on the fun and exhaustion after a full day at Six Flags. 

We left on the first shuttle from the hotel (10 AM) for the park.  Our group was large enough that we had to split up.  Everyone started to pile on to the bus, but the driver stopped the last four members of our group and told us he would come back for us.  No problem!  He shut the door and off he went.  It wasn't two seconds after he drove off that Tom, Chris and I heard a pitiful cry come from the stroller holding a very sad little John.  He was devastated!  He thought that bus drove right off with out us, never to return!  I pulled him out of his stroller to comfort him, but you could still hear a sniffle every once in awhile when the bus came back about eight minutes later.  :(  To say the least, he was thrilled when he saw it coming back for us!

Once at the park we kept going from here to there to everywhere.  Sometimes we would split up and take the taller kids so they could ride a roller coaster or two.  Sometimes we would just stick together.  Here is a picture of grandma with the kids headed for the "wet" rides.  If you look hard enough you can just see Grace's pink shirt at the right edge of the picture.  :)

  

As the day wore on, kiddos were starting to act more and more tired.  Grace was loving being held by grandma!  All seven of the kids enjoyed seeing their grandma and grandpa (or otherwise called, Juana and Papa). 

 

This little boy NEVER took a nap...all day!  I was amazed at his Energizer Bunny qualities.  He was actually well behaved the whole day, as well!

 

Brenton, on the other hand...was OUT!  He was just done at one point.  I said that John was well behaved, but really ALL of the kids were well behaved ALL day long.

 

By the end of the night we were definitely wearing down, but still going.  The last shuttle back to the hotel was at 9:00 PM and at about 8:10 three of the kids, grandma and I were headed to one last water ride!  I had promised Libby long ago that we would hit it and it was do or die time!  We made it...and being that late at night there was hardly any line.  Grant and I got wet enough, but Grace and Libby got ABSOLUTELY soaked!!!  They, of course, wanted to go again, but we really needed to start heading to the front gate to meet up with the rest of our group.  The only problem was...when we got there...our group wasn't there!  We called them and they were headed our way, but time was ticking and we weren't sure we were going to make it to the shuttle on time.  That isn't a great big deal, but we weren't sure if we wanted to be a retinue of 13 walking 0.7 miles back to the hotel...not to mention at least one pretty big road to cross!  Janet and I finally decided that our part of the group was going to go catch the shuttle and then we could send him back for the rest of our group so NO ONE had to walk anywhere.  We were glad we did because the other group missed the shuttle by two minutes!  By the time we were all back at the hotel room...we were hungry and tired.  So, a short trip to Burger King and then off to Dream Land for the night!

All in all...a success!

Oh...and one last picture to make you smile.  :)  Yes, I was getting the "Liza Marie!" treatment at this very moment.

   

Camp Bee A Friend

Day Five ~ BUSY!!

Friday was the girls last day of camp for the first week.  Momma didn't get to go because this is daddy's first shift day, but she was up bright and early with daddy.  Momma got her Bible done and her "to do" list done and then the kids were up...and there was NO stopping from there!

The kids were excited to be dropped off at camp...and John wasn't too happy with me for dragging him away.  The girls must have had so much fun that it wiped them out!  By the time Chris came to pick them up they were walking around like zombies.  Neither of them could find their bags and they both left their water bottles behind.

No time for naps though!  We were off for Chicago in a flash!  It was a L-O-N-G drive complicated by the fact that the directions were wrong.  They were only off by about 5 miles, but that is enough to drive a tired person batty!

It was a long day, but all-in-all a good one.  :)

Confessions of a Tree Killer

Do you know any tree huggers?  I sure do!  Now, before you get upset, let me explain that I am not calling names here.  For me, that is a term of endearment for my friends that just happen to be...a little more green than me.

I have to confess, I am not that "green" person.  I don't do a great job with recycling, I use paper plates, and paper towels and I use disposable diapers.  I am trying to garden this year, though!  :D  That being said, my worst offense would have to be ALL the paper I use!

You see, if I don't write it down, it doesn't end up happening.  So, I have to write a list of everything that needs done in a day.  That means writing down "school" and "lunch" and all of those things you do every day as well as the things that are only one time things.  Will we eat if I don't write lunch down? Probably, but it might be something like a handful of grapes and a swiss roll.  If I write it down, I will actually think through lunch and my children get a more balanced meal.

After I write my initial list, then I have to prioritize.  Is there anything that needs done before a certain time?  What is more important...reading to John or scrubbing the toilet?  Is there anything that needs to be done FOR SOMEONE ELSE?  You know, those questions that need answered.  Therefore, I write it down again.  (Seriously, the repetition is good for my brain.)

I have a separate piece of paper to write down thoughts that come to my head throughout the day.  You know, the thoughts like, "Oh, I want to remember to check out that documentary on schools...Superman something."  If I don't write the thought down I either obsess over it until I do something about it, in the process derailing my entire day (not exaggerating!) or I forget about and spend the rest of my day trying to remember what I forgot.

The key to making this system work for me is that I need to remember WHERE I placed my little slips of paper (you know the slips of paper with MY MIND on them).  As long as I can keep track of my little brains, well...then at least I killed a tree for a good reason.  Right?

Camp Bee A Friend

Day Four ~ All Better Now

As of Thursday ALL three Tucker girls were at camp again!  Yea!!!  We arrived bright and early to the sleepy eyed counselors still eating breakfast.  Amazing how as the week begins everyone is chipper, but as the week drags on, well...do we have to get up this early?

Although it was a bit chilly the kids had the opportunity to enjoy a fire truck come to spray water on them.  It was fun to watch the personalities of the kids come alive in this situation.  Some (Libby included) were right there in the thick of things!  They didn't care that it was chilly and just wanted to have some water fun.  Others, stayed on the fringe and just watched.  The last group (Grace included) just stayed away...period.  It was too cold, and they wanted nothing to do with water at that moment.  I am pretty sure that Grace was the first kiddo to turn around and say, "Can I put my clothes back on?"

After the water, our group (The Little Monsters) headed to the playground to play.  The kids were all having a good time playing tag when somehow the game got a little skewed and it turned in to "Run From Liza!"  and "Ships Ahoy" at the same time.  From there I figured I might as well fit the theme so I turned into an alligator, and then a shark.  The kids had a blast running and playing, and were still enjoying themselves as I snuck off for other responsibilities.

I didn't know what to expect when I went to pick up the girls, but amazingly thankfully they were in great spirits and we had a good time together after camp.  Toward the end of the evening we ALL got a little grumpy and I, for one, was certainly glad when bed time rolled around.  ;)

Camp Bee a Friend

Day Three ~ More Sickness

It seems like my accounts of our camp experience are not going well!  Momma's tummy was still feeling out of sorts on Wednesday, but she was pretty sure all she needed was some food to settle things down.  BUT poor Grace took up where momma left off.  :(  She was SOOOO sad when I told her that she was going to have to stay home for the day.  She kept saying, "But, I feel fine!"  Poor girl!

Daddy dropped Libby off at camp and then came back so we could enjoy some time with Grace and John.  Daddy asked if he needed to stay home again, but I told him I thought I could handle things on the home front.  When we picked up Libby from camp she had an award on her shirt.  I asked her how she won her award...she had no clue.  She immediately began to cry over silly little things, and had two break downs before we even left Albrecht Acres property.  Momma instincts told me she needed a nap!  Sure enough, she didn't even fight it, and I am pretty sure that she fell asleep halfway to her bedroom.  ;)  I only let her sleep for about 40 minutes for fear that she wouldn't want to sleep at night, alas all this having fun is wearing my little darling out!  She went to bed at 8:30 without a problem!

*Oh, and rest assured...by the time I get to day three of camp, we all got to go again.  :)

Camp Bee A Friend

Day Two ~ One Sick Momma

After a good night of sleep (for the girls that is) they actually woke themselves up at 7:00 this morning.  They rolled out of bed, and, well I guess rolling is the key word.  They were still dragging their feet a bit.  They still didn't really want to eat the yummy breakfast daddy made them.  The difference between the two days is that today, momma didn't want to eat daddy's yummy breakfast either!  She wasn't feeling so well! 

As forward as momma was to heading back to camp for round two, it just wasn't going to happen!  Thankfully, daddy stayed home from work and took care of the sick momma!  As for John...he was an angel!  He was such a good boy for his daddy.  By the time daddy came home with two girls today, one (Grace) was probably even grouchier than yesterday and just fell into her bed for a nap and the other (Libby) is already asking if she can go back next year.  Success!  We shall see how day three goes, now.  Hopefully, momma will be able to re-join her friends!

Camp Bee A Friend

Day One ~ Rough Start

We have a quaint little campground about 2 miles (if that) from our house called Albrecht Acres.  They deal solely with special needs individuals and make sure to have plenty of activities for them.  Two weeks of the year, they do a camp for typical learning children AND children on the spectrum.  It is a great way to make the typical learning children aware of their special friends and help them to know that different does NOT equal bad.

I wanted Libby and Grace to be able to attend this year, but didn't think we were going to be able to make that happen.  At the very last minute, we were able to squeeze in, as long as mommy helped out for part of the day.  :)  I have to admit, it has been so long since I have done anything outside of the house for a certain length of time that it was almost a daunting thought.  That being said, I knew it would be WELL worth it in the end.  So, we signed up and got ready to trot off down the road the next morning!

Monday morning arrived and I jumped out of bed bright and early to get things rolling.  After a shower, it was time to get the girls up.  They, for some reason, were not as excited as I was.  They dragged their toes through breakfast and even asked if they had to do this "every day."  I told them it would be worth it in the end, but they couldn't catch the vision quite yet.  I ended up dragging them down the road, instead of the three of us trotting off.

By the end of the day, I think they would admit that they had an "ok" time, although they were still both tired and grouchy.  I told them that maybe we should make their bed time a little earlier for the night.  That just might help!  They were worn out enough that when I tucked them in at 8:30...not a single child fought me! 

Guilt-y!

Imagine with me, if you will...John's adorable face meeting me at the top of the stairs.  He grins as wide as an alligator and proudly exclaims, "Candy!"  I close my eyes, already knowing where this is going, and ask, "Did you eat candy?"  His smile gets wider, if that is possible, as he replies, "Yes!"  I look at him with a look of dismay, and query, "Were you supposed to eat candy without asking mommy?"  His sweet little face falls.  He knows he should have asked.  Would he have had the opportunity to eat the last five pieces of candy had he asked?  No, but he knows mommy's answer would have either been "yes" or "as soon as lunch is over."

Funny, I could probably take a lesson from this.  Maybe I should start asking God for permission a little more, and stop informing him after I have made decisions.