Summer time!!!! Summer...BINGO!!!!

Summer time is finally here! Officially! Spring was not easy this year. You might have noticed my non-blog happening. It got progressively worse and was decimating me physically and emotionally. Spiritually it was knocking me onto my knees to repeat the words of the Serenity Prayer throughout the day and night. Just rough. School situations finally ended for the kids a little over a week ago and I finished up last Friday. Doctors and dentists the beginning of the week. This means TODAY marked the beginning of our official summer!

I thought we needed something new and exciting to celebrate this exciting beginning. I have been lax about most of my plans for the summer. Hubby pushed me to plan an official vacation. Our lazy summers in PA are something we normally look forward to, this year I am not ready for that yet. I'm also trying to severely limit our spending on gas and other frivolous stuff. So I needed something that could bring some of the fun, random activities into our everyday. I came up with "Summer Bingo".

Many of you may have heard of summer bingo before. It is a mainstay amongst home-schoolers and stay-at-home moms to alleviate the "Mom, I'm bored" syndrome spreads like a contagious disease amongst school aged kids. So we busted it out of my mental archives to put into action. I came up with some simple, blank 25 square boards for each child. I made up a 2 column per page, 2 page list of ideas for activities (one page side is random, onepage side is grouped by concepts like Math, Writing, Chores, Serving Others, Outdoors Fun and Art). I made a sheet with house rules and rewards. Finally I sat down with the kids to start it.

The rules are simple:
1. Chores need to be done each day before you can work on it.
2. Sunday you get a new chart to fill in with activities for the week. You can choose a free space as long as you make the chart. If Mom makes the chart, no free space (and it might be a chore space then too).
3. Keep the 'rents informed about what squares you are doing.
4. You get a ticket for each bingo completed (horizontal, vertical, diagonal, h, corners). Tickets can be spent on prizes.
5. Blackout Bingo by Saturday earns you $5 to spend as you wish.

Rewards are pretty simple to:
1 ticket- Extra 10 minutes of quiet reading at bedtime
2 tickets- Popsicle/scoop of ice-cream at home
3 tickets- 1 hour of Wii/Dsi/TV
4 tickets- Redbox rental
5 tickets- Ice-cream out (like a fastfood cone)
Blackout BINGO- $5 to spend as you wish!

The kids very quickly decided which activities to put on their board, working together so they could fulfill the "sibling" activities at the same time. They checked the choices off on their own lists so they no which ones not to repeat. And the got started. Free space done- check! First activity- make and play a board game- check! Off to a grand start!

Now for this week's problem. We are starting on Wednesday. They only have tonight, tomorrow, Friday and Saturday to complete BINGO. They had so much fun making the games and now playing them that I can't get them to move on. And lots of this week's activities are lllooonnnnggggg! The trade-off is worth it though: it is the teamwork going on. They haven't argued all evening! At all. They are enjoying each others company. They are encouraging each others creativity. They'll move on when they're ready. Hoping this is a great to start to the BEST SUMMER YET!

BINGO! I think its a winner!!!

Weekend getaway...

It started as a romantic getaway. That is until we realized we'd be bringing the kids. Then it became a family trip with a meal as grown-ups at some point during the outing. What fun we had though! Here are some of the spectacular views we enjoyed at the hotel (along with great food, the smore's in the outside fireplace, and the amazing pool)...


After our checkout, we headed to the ocean. We stopped in a rinky dink town and saw a gem of a waterfront house from 1861 for sale. Wish it were realistic in price and effort but I thinks not! Gorgeous though...


It rained a bit while we explored the grounds of the old house and as we got back on the road. We eventually got away from the spring downpour. Grey skies chased us, but we beat them to the beach. We were there just long enough to go touch the Atlantic, find a few shells, and chase a few gulls before the skies opened up again and the rains came down...

Then back in the car for a new route back home! We had a delightful time enjoying our family and parts of the eastern shore we haven't adventured in and around before. As always it ended too soon, but we'll be looking forward to next time!!!

Long days and weeks...

Sometimes life seems to fly by, other moments creep. My days and weeks lately have been long! Between my body dragging these days, my work outside and inside the home, and the needs of those people around me each day life certainly can drag. I am so ready for a break! Many days it feels like the focus is difficult to take off my own little existence and its struggles.

I then look at those around me and realize that I can keep my life in perspective. A friend's child is seeing how fragile life is as she sees one of her young pals mourn the death of her mother. I watch as a child from our school battles life threatening cancer and her family faces medical bills that tower out of reach. I see so many sad faces as the world watches Japan face natural disasters and their impending tragic effect on life all over their country and potentially their impact on the world.



Many prayers going out, lighting a candle for those who need to see the Light...

Allergies

Well I got a phone call from the pediatrician recently. The little man has allergies. He had stopped eating lots of things and we were getting increasingly worried about it. In the last few weeks we have knocked a bunch of things out of our diet and are finding some new favorites. We already didn't do food dyes and some preservatives (petroleum based products) so this has been interesting. Not cheap overall either as we go through trial and error. Not cheap in general- most cheap processed foods are loaded with the first three items on or list of can't eats.

10 things that are allergy or sensitivity inducing foods...

1. wheat
2. soy
3. corn
4. peanuts
5. apples
6. oranges
7. tomatoes
8. raw pears
9. raw peaches
10. raw carrots

10 things we are now enjoying eating

1. corn, soy, wheat free bread when it is toasty hot with butter but not cold with sunbutter
2. rice mac and cheese (rice pasta)
3. baked sweet and white potatoes
4. rice in the crock pot, then served with either milk and honey or cheese
5. frozen mashed bananas
6. steak
7. soda with real cane sugar like Pepsi Throwback and Sierra Mist Natural
8. eggs
9. baked oatmeal (like a big, soft cookie)
10. cream of rice cereal

Add into this our traditional items like yogurt, oatmeal, homemade soups, fruit (cantelope, banana, pineapple, blueberries and strawberries) and veggies (squash, peas, cooked carrots, broccoli and peppers). It is hard not to just pick up something to eat while you are out. Only a few chain restaurants like Outback are able to do safe meals; they actually have a whole gluten free menu which gives us a good start. It is also hard to get used to carrying all the meds we need to have with us in case of an reaction (anaphylaxis). The good news is that he is eating again (and eating and eating) and some other little things like congestion are being positively affected. We are so blessed to be dealing with an otherwise healthy kid, allergies are something we can deal with! This is a journey I can handle...

Brussels Sprouts...

Have you ever tried the little fellows? You know the mini cabbages? Your mom probably bought them in the bag from the frozen vegetable section at the local grocery market. That is how I always buy them. And I like them. But no one else does. Not even the husband. And he doesn't even fake liking them and complain later. He just does not eat them. At all.

Well, I keep hearing that the fresh ones are good. Like other people like them. Their families like them. So I put them on my mental grocery list. You know the one. "I need to remember to buy them if I see them, cause no one else in the family will." So today in Costco the big 2 lb bag of fresh brussel sprouts was calling my name. I put them in my cart with other "oddities" like snap peas, celery, and cucumbers. The children were not thrilled.

Shortly after arriving home I started hearing, "I'm hungry!" A quick snack and Mama was off to research brussels sprouts. I decided on a meal of whole wheat spaghetti and sauce, brussel sprouts, avocados and fresh bread. I know, lots of starch. We originally talked about tomato sauce, but decided that maybe pesto would go better. I don't put pine nuts in pesto, but the kids love the garlic, basil, cheese concoction that I came up with. I cut the avocados and sliced the bread.

Meanwhile I soaked the halved sprouts in salty water. Then tossed in oil, salt, and pepper. Finally placed them cut side down on the tray and carefully put in the oven at 475. Took them out in about 15 minutes. Got everything ready and called the kids.

They were excited to see the spaghetti dish. A nice bowl for each. A slice of bread. And the brussels sprouts and avocados in the center of the table. And excitement...until they saw the sprouts.

The excitement became dread as they exclaimed, "You are not going to make us eat those!"

Quietly I responded, "Just one." Groans ensue. I didn't say anything else about it until they asked for seconds on the pasta. Then just a quiet, "What about the sprouts?"

Little Lady was first. She tried the tiniest one we could find. She popped it in, looked at her brother and exclaimed, "You have to try it, it tastes like fries." Salt definitely helps doesn't it.

He grudgingly tried one as well, but his was spit out with a big, "Yuck, leafy!" When he realized he wouldn't get anything else, he popped it back and chugged some water. He was not happy about it though!!!

And me? Tastes like fries was a pretty good description. Yummy little brussels sprout fries!!! I think they may make it onto the table again. At least once until the big bag is finished.

Snow...

While we haven't gotten the massive storms of last year, we have gotten a few, smaller storms this year. We love snow!


Some front lawn sledding...


Snow angels...


Wet mittens and shoes left on the porch...

New Year...New ???

So the New Year is here! In fact it is almost a month in. Honestly, I was hoping to blog more. Instead it seems I am blogging less. So much for a new leaf! So here are some things I have done since January 1st...

Started using an agenda book to keep track.
Visited the dentist with an infected tooth.
Started cooking more at home.
Got report cards done for 2nd quarter.
Enjoyed time with my husband.
Done the day to day stuff with the kids.
Spent some time with friends.
Worked hard.
Played Bunco.
Prayed.
Laughed.
Loved.
Lived.

So not too bad, eh? I never did resolutions this year. Just didn't really get to finishing them. I did look back at last years and realized...it's all good...I succeeded at mine. I said I would make an effort to be more earth friendly and recycle/reuse/repurpose in a way that was more efficient than I had been. And I did.