We don't need no stinkin' sign language!

I posted last week about Emma showing us the sign for "All Done" so clearly.

But clearly today she was doing her own version!
She was playing in her yard peacefully (for the first time all week, I might add) and she picked up a blanket, tucked it under her chin in a snuggle and put both of her hands in the air.

Do you think she was asking to go take her nap? Well, she was and that's where she is now!

First Day of School!

We had our first day of school today!

So after the kids went to bed last night, I loaded the kitchen table with all of our books so they came down to big piles of books on the table.

Daddy made Cinnamon Buns for breakfast before he headed off to work.

I presented the kids with the school supplies in a schultuete - this is a German tradition (very big over there) where you can buy them and fill them with supplies or make your own. They had been bugging me for a week to "put their school supplies in their school boxes" so it was tough to hold them off to give them their gift.

So we went over each subject and what we were going to cover. They wanted to jump right in (Michael found a page 10 weeks into his math book and says "this page is cool can I color it right now").

We did our daily devotion (we are talking about Kindness because I couldn't find a kids daily devotion on Obedience, but trust me when I do find one, we'll move right to that!) and we did our Bible Story and then we did our History lesson for the day. They each did their History reading and I asked questions about their reading. They each practiced their piano.

Samantha went off bowling with friends in the afternoon and Michael napped. Emma did NOT nap and didn't all morning so it was quite disruptive to have her screeching all AM!!

Tomorrow we add in Handwriting and Math - the kids are chomping at the bit right now so I'm definitely going to capitalize on that. Next week we'll add in the rest of the subjects!

But all in all a good day!!

Getting Ready for School!

We're getting ready to start school. But its different this year because we are homeschooling. We are starting our day tomorrow.

The kids are going to bed a little early because they have been getting up later and later and I want to get back into a good morning routine.

I'm giving each of the kids a little gift in the morning - a schultuete. This is a German tradition that I heard about this week and I think its neat. It is a cone, made out of poster board and decorated (ours are wrapped with wrapping paper). In this cone are their school supplies. So, its a fun little way to present them with their school supplies for this year. I'll be sure to share photos tomorrow!

We won't be "learning much" tomorrow - well not any more than a regular day. I'll spend most of the time introducing them to the topics that we are going to be doing. We'll look at all of our books and how the pages are structured. I'll show them how their assignments will be presented this year and what things I'll leave for them to do as "early work" if they want to in the morning when they get up or after breakfast before I'm ready to start. We might start reading a little History after that or doing a Math worksheet (they have both already asked if I'm going to leave them one out to do in the morning). I'll add a new subject each day until we are doing every subject. I wanted to ease into the routine a little bit until we figure out what works for us. And the rest of the kids in the neighborhood are still home so its that much harder. But we're ready to go.

All Done!

When Emma was about 6 months old, I started looking into Sign Language for Babies. I had always wanted to do that with my other kids and just never got around to it. I looked up signs for many of the most common "baby" activities and I would start doing them around her (eat, food, more, sleep, all done, etc)

Nothing seemed to stick. They did say that it would take months and I kept trying and trying, but nothing. So, eventually I stopped doing most of the signs - just fell out of the habit. Except for the sign for "All Done" - because it is so easy and logical. We tend to do it at the end of each meal when we are asking Emma if she is "All Done". This is the sign for "All Done"

Over the past couple of weeks I have noticed Emma making a sign that perhaps was "All Done". I finally noticed earlier this week when Samantha was feeding Emma applesauce that she would take a couple of bits and then CLEARLY tell us she was "All Done" by doing the sign that she is doing above!!

So, she is finally learning to talk - if only with her hands!

Family Traditions (or Cereal at night, you choose)

I have talked several times about "family traditions" that have been continued into my adulthood.

One thing my mother likes to do (Hi Mom!) is to have a bowl of cereal as a snack after dinner and before bed. My sister does it from time to time to, as does my sister-in-law.

I like to have an after dinner snack - just feels like it finishes my day after I've gotten the kids down and done everything else that I couldn't get done during the day when they were awake.

Well, I finally hit the grocery store today (after needing to go for quite a few days) and had restocked the cereal. So, when I stared into the pantry tonight with the typical "What do I feel like tonight" look on my face, my eyes fell upon the new cereal boxes on the shelf and the decision was made - Frosted Mini Wheats!!

I think I inherited the gene from my mother!

First Golf Outing!

Michael got his first set of "Real" golf clubs for his birthday (thanks Granny and Granddaddy!). We haven't had a chance to take him out with them, between school and trips and other things going on. Well, yesterday the schedule and the weather cooperated and Mike finally got a chance to take Michael to the driving range to "break in" his new clubs.

When they returned, I asked Mike how it was. He said, "Well, I *#&$". And, Michael needs to learn the difference between a golf club and a baseball bat, because he swings them both the same way!!

But, still, not bad for a 6 year old!

A sign she is growing up

You see and hear signs that your children are growing every day. Obviously at Emma's age, the changes are more often and more dramatic. While we were on vacation, she started using "two syllable" words - or more appropriately, "two SOUND" words.

I am no longer Mama - I am Mom-MEEEEEE. DaDa is now Da-DEEEE. Emily's dog is "Bel-wa". Today Emma said "wa-er" for water while driving by the lake at the front of the neighborhood.

Another sign that Emma is growing up is her ability to follow directions. She picked up my shoes and I asked her to bring them and put them in a basket. She did just that. She can (when she chooses) put something down when I ask, or stand up when I ask. She will take her paci out and put it in the bed when I ask her. It is, of course, all when she "chooses" to do so

Countdown to starting school!

Now that we have completed our vacation, I am on the countdown to the official start of our first year of homeschooling!

Home - and tired!

Well, after a long day yesterday we finally arrived home. I spent the morning packing up all of our clothes and toys and things in Emily's house. I also had to put the carseat back together because I had to wash it the night before. After we got all packed up, we all piled in the car for the 45 minute ride to the airport.

Emma spent most of the car ride "screeching" - she really has a set of lungs on her and her screams are piercing. I should have known this was a sign of things to come.

We ate a quick fast-food lunch at the airport and proceeded to our gate. Unfortunately, when we got there, I saw the flight was delayed about 30 minutes - due to air traffic. I should have known - we could have eaten a more relaxed lunch. So, we hung around the gate area in case they made changes and finally got a chance to board. Emma was clearly tired and, unfortunately, she fell asleep pretty quickly. I say unfortunately because we were then delayed on the ground another 25 minutes - again due to air traffic. The pilot actually pulled over and turned off the plane while we waited.

So, we finally got into the air and Emma was peacefully sleeping. I got the kids set up watching a video on my laptop and looked forward to a few relaxing minutes. That's all I got. Emma woke up. And, she spent the rest of the flight screeching. I mean screeching. I think maybe the pilot didn't hear her, but I can't guarantee it. It wasn't really fussing - sometimes she was playing and laughing at me as I tried to quiet her down. She would be quiet for a couple of minutes and then start screeching again - turning it on and off like a switch. Finally, I brought up a picture of Mike on my phone and she smiled and looked at that. But didn't like it when the screen dimmed, so she would touch a button to get the lights back on - but I would have to bring the picture back up (and of course, she would yell at me to do that). That entertained her for about 20 minutes, but then she wanted the phone. Not really a problem but she didn't want to play with it while it was off, and she kept "on and off" connecting to things while it was on.

I'm sure the people around us were wondering what they signed up for when they got tickets on this flight - thankfully the plane is actually kind of loud so hopefully it drowned some of the noise out. I finally just had to ignore it because I couldn't do anything to stop it!

But, we finally landed 45 minutes late and took a quick walk over to baggage claim where we found Daddy collecting our luggage! Emma was quite happy to see him and never once demonstrated the screeching that had characterized our previous 3 hours!

Galveston - Moody Gardens

On our last full day in Houston, we drove down to Galveston. Emily found this neat "resort/conference center" called Moody Gardens. They have 3 "pyramids" that are different themed displays. We decided to see the Rainforest Pyramid. It was a really neat display of plants and animals found in the rainforest. We saw lots of different types of Macaws, which (I think) are my favorite birds because they are so colorful and have interesting personalities. There were also some beautiful flowers and plants throughout the display and I took this opportunity to experiment with some photo taking techniques - and some of the photos turned out quite beautifully.




We had lunch at a nice restaurant in the visitors center - and then we went to see a SpongeBob Squarepants movie in 4D. The technology has advanced so much in the development of 3D movies, and the addition of spraying water, puffing air, seat movement and other techniques really make you feel like you are in the movie.

After leaving Moody Gardens, we drove around Galveston Island to see some of the older buildings and the nice beaches. We then headed home - and again, Emma was asleep before we left the parking lot.

And, oh, by the way, the kids went hunting for frogs after dark tonight - and found 12 of them!! All Emily and I can say is "Ick!"

Houston Zoo

On what we hoped was the coolest day of the week, we ventured out to the Houston Zoo. I'm still trying to figure out why anyone lives in this hot state, and the trip to the zoo didn't convince me to move here!! It was cool, for about 45 minutes after an absolute downpour during lunch, but other than that, it was hot, sticky, sweaty, and humid. I was literally melting!!







The Houston Zoo is nice. It is a lot bigger than the National Zoo. We actually needed to plot our course on the map at the beginning to make sure we saw everything. They have a really neat kids area where you can see some animals more "up close and personal", such as the "pop up" tubes in the middle of the Prairie Dog hill. They also had an petting zoo, where you could visit with goats - although they ran under cover quickly when it started to sprinkle.






I think my favorite part of the park was the Primate display. They have lots of different monkeys, gorillas, chimps, etc. Watch this video of the gorillas howling - literally - at each other. It is pretty funny and could be heard throughout the primate display (it's a little long but worth it)



The Orangutans were sweet. There was a mother with her baby. For starters, the "man" in the cage was lounging against the window of the pen while Mama chased the baby around. The mother demonstrated many of the same behaviors you see in people - the baby tried to run away and she grabbed her ankle so she couldn't go far, she played rough and tumble with her baby - all for us to see - and then sighed and moved off when the baby ran off and she had to chase him. It was cute.






It was a very nice zoo - probably even better when its not 100 degrees outside!

We enjoyed every opportunity to view the INSIDE displays - even though the kids favorite one was the Reptile House. And I think the heat was too much for Emma - I'm not sure we were out of the parking lot before she was asleep in her car seat!!

And, I'll leave you with a calming video of the sea turtle swimming in his tank in the Aquarium.

Emma's vacation

Emma has been a riot on this vacation. She has been cruising the entire main floor of Emily's house - always with Bella the dog on her trail like a "mother hen". Bella is very worried about Emma all the time and comes running every time Emma cries even a little bit. I saw Bella laid out asleep in the middle of the floor tonight and I remarked to Emily that Ed must have worn her out tonight - and Emily said she felt certain that it was Emma that wore Bella out.

Emma hasn't been a big fan of the pool. As a matter of fact, that is an understatement. When I take her into the pool with me, she grabs hold of each of my bathing suit straps and holds on for dear life, and tucks her head into my neck hiding her face. I have been able to pry her off of me a couple of times and give her a dunk or too - she comes up every times with really big eyes from looking underwater. But that said, she LOVES to sit on the steps into the pool, or the "shelf" at the end of the pool. She sat there for a long time throwing the ball, playing with the torpedo, or just splashing the water around - as far as she was concerned, that WAS the pool.

But the funniest thing is that Emma LOVES Ed. Its not in and of itself funny except when you compare it to the fact that she REALLY doesn't like strangers and didn't even want Aunt Emmy coming anywhere near her when we saw her at the airport. But, the minute she saw Ed, she ran up to him and "asked him" (in her best Emma speak" to hold her - they sat in the recliner for a long time together and Emma just loved sitting there with Ed!

So Emma has certainly had a good vacation - and we have worn her out. She is sleeping in a pack-n-play in my closet (so that it is sufficiently dark and quiet) and I had to wake her up from BOTH naps today so that she would sleep tonight!

Houston Children's Museum

We took a day trip to the Houston Children's Museum. I can hardly call it a museum - because everything there is "hands on" for the kids. It is welcoming from the minute you drive up - when you see the bright yellow building with happy children adorning the front entrance - all in the middle of a city block in Downtown Houston.




The fun started the minute we walked in the door, with displays in the lobby showing gadgets and gears - something for the kids to play with while the parents got tickets! Then, we got to take part of a "special" exhibit - only here for the summer - where the kids got to make their own Stomp Rockets. Pretty neat project and something we could easily do ourselves at home. That's what I think is neat - I got some good ideas for projects we could do at home.





There were lots of rooms and displays - the kids could "practice" how to go grocery shopping, from choosing their food to paying and seeing how much change they would receive. They had corresponding displays that talked about cows and how the milk gets from the cows to the grocery store - and a display about chickens, including live baby chicks! They also got to see how lots of different machines worked, and each of them tried to pull themselves up using ropes on pulleys to see how the different number of pulleys affected their ability to pull themselves up!


There were just so many activities for the kids to do, its hard to enumerate them all here. But, we think our favorite room was the "prototype" room where they had some activities they were considering making a permanent part of the museum and they were getting feedback. Michael loved playing with the "balls and clips" toy where he was able to use a crank to adjust the angle of a ramp and have golf balls roll down into a bucket. Samantha loved playing with what I called a "pinball machine" where they shot a ping pong ball and scored points based on the cards that they hit.


Did you know that you can make a "jet paper airplane" with a balloon - well you can. We will definitely try that at home.

Space Center - Houston

On our first full day in Houston for vacation with my sister Emily, we went to Johnson Space Center - NASA. Michael is fascinated with space and we definitely knew he would enjoy it.










When you "Go to NASA", what you are really doing is going to a visitor's center that they have built called "Space Center Houston". It is on the property of Johnson Space Center, but away from any of the "business of NASA"


The first exhibit we visited was a short movie about the United States' space activities - from Mercury through the Space Shuttle. Emma would NOT sit still during this movie. After watching the movie, we walked through an exhibit where they had samples of EACH of the different space capsules - Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo. They also had a model of the Moon Rover that was used in the later Apollo missions. We got to walk through a sample of the Skylab.



After giving the kids a good taste of space activities, we took a tram ride around the Johnson Space Center. We had two different "destinations" to choose from and we chose to go see "Historical Mission Control". You drive through what looks like a "normal office park" and pull up to a quite non-descript building. But, after walking into the lobby and up 87 steps - and they make a point to tell you that you will be walking up 87 steps - you walk down the hall and into the observation room of the original Mission Control. This room was used by the media, distinguished guests and family members to watch operations of the numerous space missions starting with Mercury until well into the shuttle missions, when they upgraded to a new modern facility. The walls of mission control were adorned with mission patches signifying all of the missions run from that room, and other souvenirs and momentos of the momentous occasions steered from that room - from the walk on the moon of Apollo 11, the fight to return the crew of Apollo 13, and the last Apollo mission in conjunction with the Soviet space agency. Other activities including the management of Skylab, the early launches of the space shuttle and the loss of the Challenger shuttle and crew. After moving Mission Control to a new facility, they retro fitted the historical Mission Control with the panels used during the Apollo days.



The kids had a great time using the simulators to "Land the Space Shuttle", and we watched MANY crashes during their attempts to land. We also saw a neat presentation of what life is like living on the International Space Station, where the presenter talked about what happens to your body in zero gravity, and demonstrated how the astronauts eat, sleep, and bathe. They also had a neat exhibit showing all the different kinds of suits and uniforms that the astronauts have worn, and had mission photos from EACH of the missions, starting with Mercury through the most recent shuttle mission.

At the front of Space Center, Houston, they have a HUGE play area, and after seeing all that we wanted to see about NASA, we let the kids play in the play area for a while before coming home.

Of course, sight-seeing aside, the kids were almost MORE interested in swimming in Aunt Emily's pool - so after we returned from NASA, we all donned our suits (including Emma) and spent some time in the pool. Emma didn't have the best time right away, and was quite perterbed with me when I dipped her under the water, but she eventually warmed up to the idea of playing in the water, and had a good time.

We're Leavin' - on a Jet Plane!

So, tomorrow around 12:45pm, I am hopping on a jet plane, with 3 kids (and no hubby) to head to Houston! Going to spend a week visiting with my sister Emily.

Traditions

Sometimes traditions are passed down through generations. Others are new events that you hope to share with your kids and their kids...

Well, last night we celebrated another "Stopper Family Tradition". It was Mike's birthday. We went to Otani, the Japanese steak house not far from the house. It was certainly a nice dinner (although Emma didn't seem too happy to be there), but we don't go too often because its a little pricey!

That said - my kids have decided that Otani is where you go for a birthday. So, we go AT LEAST 4 times a year. And they didn't understand why we didn't go for Emma's birthday, because she certainly likes the food!!

So, anyway, Happy Birthday Mike. I have to keep reminding him that he's getting older. When we talk about "other people" (celebrities, famous people, etc) he will speculate as to their age - and usually suggest merely a year or two older than himself, when all along that person has been 10 or more years older than him - he's just lost track of the fact that he's 38!

PS. Thanks for the card, Mom!

Old Friends!

I have two old friends from when I worked at AMS - Jill and Karen. I hadn't seen either of them in a long time, since they have both gone to other companies and I stopped working. A few weeks back I was getting nostalgic and contacted each of them about getting together.

So our 3 families got together for a cookout this evening at our house. It was nice to see them and we comfortably fell back into conversations about the kids, our houses, our jobs and other friends we had from our jobs. Our families have certainly changed, as all of our "older kids" have grown so much since we've seen them, and the Cinibulks (and the Stoppers) have added a new member of the family. Emma, incidentally, loved playing with Karen's 2 year old Kyle - she hugged him and he said "Bye Bye Mema" when they left.

And can you believe I don't have one picture to show for it!

Samantha's First Job

Samantha had her first "job" today. She went to my friend's house to be a mother's helper. She was having a Creative Memories workshop and wanted Samantha to entertain her 3 year old. This friend had babysat Samantha the other day and saw how well that Samantha and her daughter played together, so she suggested it. It went great, Samantha had a great time and so did my friend's daughter. And Samantha earned $5 for her time (I told her not to pay too much - just to give her an idea that working earns you money).

She must have done a good job because my friend invited her back to help again next month!

Camp Week

I planned a couple of "camps" for the kids this summer to give them a chance to do some things they don't otherwise get a chance to do during the year.

This past week, Samantha had horseback riding camp and Michael had basketball camp. Despite the fact that I felt like I was in the car all morning, it actually worked out well (with Michael in camp from 8-11 and Samantha in camp 10-12).


Michael was excited to talk about the types of passes that he learned about, and about dribbling with both hands, and was excited to share that the kids beat the parents in the game at the end of the week (42-10 I believe was the final score!!). He really had a great time and showed us yet another sport that he enjoys (and plays well). And I was so pleased to see what a great sport he was. Whoever on his team had the ball, he was cheering for them to shoot and score! I was really proud.


Samantha loved her horse camp and has already asked to go back. She rode a pony this week named Nikki. She learned how to take care of Nikki, brush her and give her a bath, as well as putting her saddle on and taking it off. In the riding ring, she learned to control the pony, getting her to start and stop and turn as she wanted. She was even able to trot with a guide and was doing very well at "posting" while the horse was trotting. It was fun to watch her ride and made me nostalgic for when I rode horses at summer camp as a child.

It was a nice week for the kids to have some activities, and I was able to get a few things done around the house, but it will be nice for things to be a little "lower key" this coming week as we really have nothing planned!

Washington Nationals!!

Last year, the DC area got their first professional baseball team in 30 years when the Washington Nationals relocated from Montreal to Washington, DC. With both Mike and I being baseball fans, we were excited to have the team. But, with 3 kids in tow, and many summer days topping 90 degrees with high humidity, there isn't always a great day to go to the game.

Last Friday, I heard a weather report on the radio talking about how perfect the weekend weather was going to be - 80 degrees during the day, 60 degrees at night, with low humidity. I then heard an ad for the Washington Nationals being in town. A few web searches and a couple of phone calls later, we had tickets to the Saturday night game.

Now, last year, we paid for the most inexpensive tickets we could, which were right field seats. The seats were fine, but the way the field is designed (being a former football stadium) the seats were VERY HIGH up because the wall is 50' or 60' before the seats start.


So, we splurged for seats a little lower down - and they were perfect. We looked right down the third base line to home plate. We ended up with front row (of the section) seats on the end of a row, so I had a railing in front for Emma to play with, and a spot on the concrete beside me for her to sit on the ground if she wanted to. While she was clearly happiest when she was actually sitting in one of OUR chairs, we were happy to move her around as we didn't have to pay for her until she is 2 as long as she "sits in our lap".

Well, a great time was had by all DESPITE the loss to the San Diego Padres. The Nationals started the game with a home run hit off the first pitch to the first batter in the bottom of the first, but it went downhill from there!!

But, we had great seats, close parking, and a fun time. Definitely worth the money and warrants a return trip soon!!