Saturday, September 13, 2014
So long, farewell, Au Wiedersehen, goodbye. I leave and heave a sigh ...
Well, it has been a wonderful time writing. I have shared this blog with great friends, and we have had some great readers!
Thank you all so much for sticking with us through this blogs ups and downs.
However, we have come to a point where this blog is at a stop.
For me personally I just don't have the time to dedicate to update regularly. I will still be blogging when I can on my own personal blog, as well as writing book/product reviews. If you would like to visit my blog it's: http://the-edge-of-the-sky.blogspot.com.
So sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused anyone, we just aren't at the right place right now to commit to this with everything else we all have going on.
I'm wishing you all the best, and keep being wonderful parents.
Goodbye.
~Tori
Farewell
Bad news bears, everyone: our blog has reached a stopping point. I've had a great time sharing and blogging, but I don't have the commitment to keep it up like I once did. I'm still going to be blogging, but not here on The Case of the Missing Cheerios. If you'd like to check out my new blog, which is up and running, scope it out at http://reasonsforwaking.blogspot.com/
I'm also going to be spending a lot more time on my novel. Hopefully you can look forward to that getting published eventually, but I have to finish it first!
Again, thanks for your support and thanks for reading! Keep on being rocking parents and people, and I hope to hear from you all on my new blog. Toodles!
I'm also going to be spending a lot more time on my novel. Hopefully you can look forward to that getting published eventually, but I have to finish it first!
Again, thanks for your support and thanks for reading! Keep on being rocking parents and people, and I hope to hear from you all on my new blog. Toodles!
Labels:
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aloha,
Auf Wiedersehen,
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cheerios,
ciao,
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parents,
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so long,
tah tah,
toodles
Thursday, September 11, 2014
Mom hobbies~priddymomma
Me as McGonagall |
Hey guys! I’m getting
totally excited about Halloween coming up.
We’re having a Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets Halloween party
on Halloween this year. I have BIG
PLANS, DUDES!! I’ll share a picture or
two afterwards. My husband and I also
got the chance to begin putting in some trails on our property. I’m crazy excited to get to work on
them. Now we can enjoy so much more of
our place! Aahhh! I’m crazy.
You can say it.
The Great Hall at the Halloween feast, complete with "live" bats |
This week, I’m discussing mom hobbies. Actually, I really want to cross off the mom
and just call it “hobbies”. The issue is
that you won’t have the same kind of hobbies as a mom that you did when you
were not a mom, so I guess the mom stays.
And at this point, I’m sure you can tell I am completely hyped up on
caffeine while typing like a psycho.
IT’S TRUE!! YAY! (I’m running in circles only a little)
So…what was I talking about?
Oh. Hobbies. You need hobbies. Going through life not excited about doing
anything is super lame. I’m excited
about this party, for instance. It is
sort of a hobby of mine to throw elaborate parties. Weird, but it makes me happy to see people
surprised at the steps I took to set something up (and on a budget too!).
I also like to sew. I
don’t make time for it often, but I always make time around Halloween. I make my kiddos’ costumes (they want to be Elsa and Superman this year). Not only do they turn out better than
anything you can pick up in the store, but they are often times much cheaper. And again, I have the excuse of sewing, which
is great. I sometimes make time before
Christmas as well if one of the gifts is hand made.
Confession: No sew! Princess Cheerio was 1, and I procrastinated. Still not purchased costumes though (except the wings, because ain't nobody got time for that). |
Singing is the hobby I make the most time for, but mostly
because I can multi task as I sing. I
can sing while washing dishes, cooking, cleaning, and of course the old
stand-by of singing in the shower. I
love to dance, so I try to make time for Zumba once a week.
I love working in the yard, so I make sure I have time to do
outside chores on nice days. I like to
read, so I plan my day around my book if it happens to be really good. More than once I have turned down invites or
activities because a book I have been itching to get my hands on is released
that day or the day before. IF THEY ARE
TRULY YOUR FRIEND, THEY WILL UNDERSTAND!
I have no idea why I’m shouting.
Must be the coffee.
OH NO! My coffee is
gone! The horror! Time for a refill.
Drat! Hubby turned
off the coffee maker. He will pay for
this! (I won’t remember by the time he
gets home)
Crap. Microwaved old
coffee and burned my tongue. Why doesn’t
spell check recognize “microwaved”.
That’s a term, right? Or maybe we
can just call it “nuked”? It recognizes
that, but only because it is morbid. Is
there another term you use? WHAT IS THE
PROPER TERM??!
Anyway…um…I have no idea where I was. Have a hobby!
Right. I don’t even know where I
was going with this whole concept.
That’s a lot like life.
Stop. Breathe. Okay.
New paragraph. Maybe just ignore
this one. Of course, now you can’t
because you read the whole thing. Ha
ha! Sucks to be you.
If you don’t make time for your favorite activities, you
will end up hating everyone and being bored out of your mind. That is an opinion, obviously. When you were a kid, you were probably pretty
happy most of the time. I believe kids
are happy, because they spend large amounts of time doing exactly what
interests them and not worrying about what they should be doing most of the
time. If they want to spend hours
building legos, by gum they will! And
should something like hygiene or chores get in their way, a meltdown will occur. Grumpy adults are just the grown up versions
of these kids, meltdown included (hence the grumpy). We would all feel a lot better if we took
time to play our legos.
See ya next week, Cheerios Parents! Peace!
P.S. Please take a moment of silence for 9/11. Take a moment to appreciate the magnitude of what happened that day. God bless.
Thursday, September 4, 2014
Life update for Sept 2014~priddymomma
Hey guys! Welcome
back to yet another fantastic post about me!
Life update time. You must be so thrilled.
I have exciting news:
I’M PREGNANT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Just kidding. But now
I have your attention. Bwahaha!
I’m still in the process of getting Cheerio Champ evaluated
for Asperger’s/autism. We have another
appointment on October 2nd, so we should know more then. Princess Cheerio is as smart and adorable as
ever. My husband has been really
interested in conspiracy theories lately (IT'S A CONSPIRACY!), and I’ve been writing a novel. Yes, a novel.
How novel!
The biggest thing going on this week for us is the start of
school. We home school and love it. I will share with you what we covered our
first couple of days (Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday). If you have any
questions, feel free to ask. We are
eclectic homeschoolers and quite proud of that.
:)
Curriculum
Cheerio Champ (6) has a curriculum (created by me) based
entirely on volcanoes. There are so many
subjects related to or concerning volcanoes that I can’t even list them
all. It is plenty for one school
year! He’s in “first grade”, though he
is participating in some of Princess Cheerio’s projects and can do some 2nd
grade work. He also reads at a 6th
grade level.
Princess Cheerio (2) has her curriculum based on a book called,
“We’re Going on a Bear Hunt” by Michael Rosen.
She really adores the book. In
case you aren’t familiar, the book tells the story of a family going on a bear hunt to
catch a big bear. On their journey, they
find obstacles that they can not go over or under. They realize to their dismay that they must
go through them. They include such
things as caves, snowstorms, and grasses.
The book allows us to talk about weather, bears, environments, etc. I'm even planning to set up a bear hunt
obstacle course. I haven’t figured out
how I want to replicate “snowstorm” yet, but I’ll figure it out! Princess Cheerio will also participate in
some of the experiments and such with Cheerio Champ’s studies.
Structure
Our school week is not Monday to Friday. Instead, it is Tuesday to Saturday. My husband is off on Sundays and Mondays, so our "weekend" is different. Also, if there is a sick day or what not, we are able to flex the school week into the weekend or wrap into the next week. We don't take time off for holidays. We usually complete more than 180 days of school in a year.
Here is a "typical" school day schedule:
7:30 a.m.-wake kids, hygiene, writing practice (vocab words for Cheerio Champ, drawing for Princess Cheerio), chores
breakfast
9 a.m.-reading and discussion; any brief lectures on topics we're covering that day
9:30 a.m.-yoga and meditation
10:00 a.m.-short educational video for the day and brief recap
10:30 a.m. -quiet time/nap time (provides chill time, nap time, and play time)
12:30 p.m.- worksheets, playing, chores, lunch
after lunch until 2:30 p.m. - buckle down learning/projects (For example: Wednesday we baked GF apple crisp and drew an orca)
2:30 p.m.- dad gets home; go outside (sometimes outdoor learning for no more than 10 minutes); play and explore
3:30 p.m. -school day over
Only about 3 hours of material taught over the course of 8 hours. They learn plenty, don't get frustrated, burnt out, or bored, and sleep hard each night.
Princess Cheerio drawing a picture of a volcano and a rainbow in the clouds. |
Reading and discussion with Harry Potter |
Yoga |
Meditation |
Letter of the day for Princess Cheerio |
Unit books |
Labeling parts of a volcano |
Explaining "cone" volcanoes |
Mentos-diet soda experiment |
Mentos-diet soda experiment |
Exploring |
Watching "Magic School Bus Blows Its Top" |
Baking GF apple crisp (Washington State apple). We Covered some of Washington while talking about Mount St. Helens. |
Drawing an orca (Washington State mammal) |
Hanging a thistle sock for goldfinches (Washington State bird) |
Painting like Michelangelo did in the Sistine Chapel (Italy). We covered a bit of Italy with Pompeii. |
Cheerio Champ insisted I take this picture of him completing a worksheet. |
Princess Cheerio is very outside-the-box. |
They got a bit freaked out by a Pompeii animation. I also had the volume cranked. It was awesome. |
Italian flag |
Italian flag. |
Waving arrivederci (learning a few words in Italian) |
Meditation |
Friday, August 29, 2014
Being more than just a mom~priddymomma
Hey guys! Hope you
all are having a fine week. I'm late posting again! Sorry! I’ve put in
long hours catching up on some long neglected yard work. I also found some poison ivy. Happily, I didn’t discover it with my limbs.
This post is for the ladies.
I’ll be discussing being more than just a mom. Sorry to all our male readers. I would love to give you some advice on being
more than just a dad, but unfortunately I’m not qualified, gender-wise. Hopefully you will find that some information
in this post pertains to you as well.
Parenting is one of the most rewarding experiences in the
world, arguably the MOST enjoyable. It
is also one of the hardest. Just like
any activity in life, you can overdo it and burn out. You must take breaks to recharge if you
expect to perform at your maximum potential.
It is a very important job, and you do your best if you are relaxed,
recharged, and refreshed.
The trouble is that modern parents are often so busy that
they struggle to find time to spend with their kids, let alone finding time for
a break. It just isn’t a priority. My number one piece of advice is to MAKE
time. Jot it down in your appointment
book and keep it as faithfully as you would for one of your kids’
appointments.
My second tip is to get enough sleep. Being tired adds to frustration and chaos,
and your body needs time to repair itself and to fight off illness. Yes, moms notoriously have little sleep, but
what I’m telling you is that if you have the opportunity to sleep, seize it. Being well rested will make a huge difference
in your life, and in your kids’ lives.
“But Heather! This is
great advice and all, but I thought this post was about being MORE than just a
mom! You are just giving me parenting
tips!” Am I? If you have a spare moment to yourself and
you are exhausted, what are you going to do?
Uh-huh. You bet your booty you
will be napping. “Me time” does not
equal “sleep time.” And new mothers, it
doesn’t equal “shower time” or “pee time” either. You need real legit “me time”.
After you have cleared room for yourself in your schedule
(and even an hour a week will do wonders), do something that makes your soul
sing. Taking a fitness class might be
your idea of joy or maybe your idea of hell.
Don’t force yourself to do something you won’t enjoy. That is a crappy way of giving yourself
love. Take the opportunity to do
something worth it for you.
Here are some suggestions:
bake, cook, garden, read, take a long hot bath, sing, swim, bike, run,
play with your dog, go for a walk, hike, draw, play a video game, dance, sew,
craft, meditate, go bird watching, try a new food, shop, hang out with a
friend, play a sport, scrapbook, grab a coffee, watch a movie, catch up on your
favorite tv series, plan your dream vacation, paint, check out an art exhibit,
visit the fair, assemble a puzzle, etc.
In order to be more than just a mom, you have to learn to
know yourself outside of being a mom. It
is perfectly okay if you have no idea what you enjoy anymore. Great!
It means more experimenting and intrigue as you take yourself on dates
to get to the bottom of who you are when you aren’t surrounded by
children. Yes, your kids may be
everything to you, but that doesn’t mean they are everything you are.
Thursday, August 21, 2014
Home-school vs. public school~priddymomma
Hey guys! I’m a
little late posting this due to the weather.
Yesterday, it was marvelous! My
family spent as much time as possible outside; running around with the dog,
roasting marshmallows on the fire, and playing badminton. I didn’t get to do much writing during that
time, as you can imagine. Today, the
weather further complicated things by being horrible. Thunderstorms are passing through the area,
and my satellite internet is finicky when it comes to storms. Excuses excuses. (Also, I forgot until today. Shh!)
The topic this week is home school vs. public school. I know, I know! We’ve done this before. (If you’d like to read what I had to say however
long ago, look here http://thecaseofthemissingcheerios.blogspot.com/2013/03/fanatics-and-superhumanspriddymomma.html and ignore the typo that I only just caught -_-) It’s a hot topic
though, and I promise not to bore you with the same things (mostly).
Homeschooling isn’t for everyone, but anyone can do it. Different states (or
countries for you
international readers) have different rules and regulations for the
homeschooling parent. Fortunately for
us, we live in Indiana. Indiana
is probably the most lenient state in regards to requirements for home-schools. We are required to keep
attendance records and to attend at least 180 days each year. It is also compulsory for kids to attend from
the ages of seven to eighteen. That’s
it. The superintendent can theoretically
request to see attendance records, but I don’t see that actually happening
often. We aren’t required to do any type
of testing, nor are we required to learn any specific subjects or file any
forms.
Here are my reasons for homeschooling my kids:
- No one knows my kids like I do. I understand them and their learning styles better than anyone else, because I have been around them more than anyone else.
- They don't fall behind if they are sick. In fact, they can't fall behind ever as everything is adjusted to their learning pace.
- My son has ADHD as well as having mild autism. He is really advanced in some subjects (like reading and math), but struggles with other things (social skills, listening). I don’t believe he would have reached his full potential in public school.
- My kids can wear whatever (even pajamas).
- I love homeschooling my kids. They learn, I learn, we bond.
- We aren’t in love with our school system. The local district isn’t the best, and we don’t think any public school is terrific.
- Curriculum- We always have the final say in what our kids learn. We can change it, we can cut it, or we can add to it.
- Bullying-We are a four-person household. Any bullying is always noticed and never tolerated.
- Threats- There have been awful things in the news in the past ten years concerning schools. Our kids don’t have to ride the bus or walk the hallways in fear.
- Diet-Our kids ate good foods when we started homeschooling, but now they are on a more selective diet (gluten free). I would consider homeschooling also if your child has something like a life-threatening peanut allergy.
- We can travel and continue to learn without being tied to a school schedule. Any time of the year can be vacation time.
There are more reasons, but these are the biggies. If you do send your kids to public (or
private or charter) school, that’s great as long as you are pleased with the
education they are receiving. Your
ultimate decision should take your family’s individual needs into
consideration.
As always, thanks for reading and feel free to comment or make topic requests below. :)
Thursday, August 14, 2014
Childhood hobbies~priddymomma
Hey guys! Hope you
have had a lovely week. My family had
the opportunity to visit the State Fair on Monday. Fair season is definitely one of my absolute
favorite things about summer. My husband
and I met during high school marching band, and every time we visit the fair,
it takes me back to a time when we were first falling in love...
Enough of that mushy stuff!
You didn’t come here for that, I’m sure.
You came instead to read about what hobbies I encourage in my
kiddos! (Sure you did. No arguing.)
I home school my kids, and I don’t currently have them
enrolled in anything like dance or karate (though I’d like to enroll them in
both eventually).
My son loves to read and learn facts. One of his more recent interests centered
around pumpkins. I thought it was kind
of strange and out of season, but go for it!
We ended up working together to plant a pumpkin patch, which is doing
really well and should yield 24 or so pumpkins eventually. He can tell you all about the life cycle of a
pumpkin, and all without me teaching him a thing. I love the library.
My daughter is interested in bugs and being outside. When she isn’t looking at plants and insects
through a magnifying glass, she’s trying to convince me to take her outside so
that she can do just that. She’s very
observant (and argumentative). She also loves to draw.
I believe that kids will pick up on what their parents
really love to do as well as going on to develop their own interests. Cheerio Champ has lately developed a keen
interest in the music of Andrew Lloyd Webber.
He can blame me for that, and my latest interest in “Jesus Christ
Superstar”. Both of my kids enjoy yoga
(blame me) and tai chi (all hubby’s fault).
They have music and reading in their blood.
I guess to summarize:
I encourage my kids to follow their hearts. That’s a great hobby/life goal. If they get it into their heads they want to
be acrobats, while I’ll probably have a heart attack, I will encourage their
dream and do the best I can to support them as they pursue it.
To be fair, they DO often fight over our hula hoop... |
What hobbies do you encourage in your kids? What hobbies have they picked up that they
can blame you for?
See ya next week!
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