Park Pictures!

View Full Album

Our picnic at the park yesterday… in February and it was really warm! 

His eyelids got heavy..

WoW John Green is Funny!

15 year old Girl: How do I get 15 year old boys to like me?

John Green: Become World of Warcraft

I had to lol. I love the vlogbrothers lighthearted, fast talking, witty vlogs.

Ara and I spent a nice, slightly hot day at the park and since I couldn't sleep last night (again!) I will now take a nap. Good nap!

Princess Carriage

Thanks to Cassandra and family this is how Ara rolls now! I wish there was one for me...

After I strolled her home she asked if she could stay outside, to sit in the carriage and finish her berries and carrots!

Tot School

I stumbled across this blog by clicking the "next blog" button on top of my page and it seems like JUST the thing I have been talking about. I am excited to have such a treasure trove of ideas and learning tools at my finger tips to better prepare Ara for Pre-K. I'll post a little explanation. I'm super excited to get started.

Tot School isn't really school at all! Don't let the name confuse you! Tot School is basically a focused time each day on the tot in your family. For those of us with older children that are homeschooled, we often place a lot of emphasis on them while the tots just *play.* This isn't bad, it just didn't work for me. Personally, I felt I was losing valuable 1 on 1 time with my precious tot that I had with my first child since he was the only one then. Tot School is the time each day I spend with him, exposing early learning skills through FUN play. Tot School is not forced, is always fun, sometimes doesn't happen the way I plan, and is always focused on my tot, "Krash."

Audio of Ara talking

This is Ara talking about her drawing. I had to record it just to remember how she uses the word "mama" like it's the normal beginning and end to a sentence! Plus, she has such a sweet little voice and the way she says Triceratops is so cute!

Hair!

Sunshine

Breaking Dawn kept me awake! (and Pre-K)

Tidbits:

• I am currently reading Persuasion by Jane Austen.
• I borrowed the movie to watch when I’m done.
• I am researching Pre-K for Ara and plan on visiting a few schools this week.
• I was sullen and moody at church and I can’t really blame any one else for that. 
• Ara has been drawing the most vivid characters out of letters. 
• I have been practicing again and it feels great.
• Ara’s constipation is clearing up, I had to resort to meds though. 
• I will still be tormenting Alex and Ara with whole grain, flax seed, Omega-3 filled meals anyway. 

Sleep deprivation: 

For the past 2 weeks I have been having trouble sleeping.  It was a spiral that spun out of control.  I began to feel stressed about going to sleep so that when I lay down my heart would race and I would squeeze my eyes shut.  Not the most productive sleeping environment.  I was getting on average about 3 hours of sleep a night and I was GRUMPY about it, let me tell you!  The past few days I have been sleeping just fine however, and I think I can pinpoint the source of my sleeplessness.  Breaking Dawn.  I was listening to it on my iPod every night.  This is my second read and I remember having problems sleeping with every book in the Twilight series.  Of, course I was usually lying awake, light on, book in hand so it was less noticeable.  There are themes in the book that really get under my skin.  On top of being an incredibly suspenseful book.  I actually feel like I should identify with the author more because she is a mother herself.  As is the author of Harry Potter.  But, in Breaking Dawn I find myself thinking that, for a Mother, she is strange.  Bella, knowing that she is going into a situation where either her or Edward will die states that she will not live without him.  In my head I wondered, how she could be so selfish.  Did she think her daughter would prefer her parents to leave her together so that they would feel no grief?  What of her daughters grief?  I suppose I am supposed to see the bond between Edward and Bella as unbreakable, perhaps stronger than a normal love.  Stronger than a Mother’s ties to her child?  Maybe I am being too harsh, I know that she was trying to ensure her daughter’s future by sacrificing her own.  At least that is how we are supposed to see it.  I know it’s a romantic book with very young characters and meant for a young audience but I just couldn’t identify with Bella on that level.  The night she first saw her baby and learned that her life could be in danger from her accelerated growth… Bella went off and had a magical night with Edward.  I KNOW the baby was asleep, but I would never have been able to compartmentalize that information long enough to go have a carefree night.  Is that just me?  “Oh, my little girl’s life is in danger?  Well, I’ll think about it later, after all she is asleep”.  A mother wrote this?  In the final installment of Harry Potter, the author has a Mother step into the role of protector to take down bad guy #2.  Out of the blue this sweet little lady steps in to shield her children from danger and does what no one thought her capable of.  And in fact the very reason Harry is so powerful is because of his Mother’s unconditional love.  Ok my rant is over, you can see I was getting obsessed with this and since I finished the book I have been sleeping better.  I am currently listening to A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson and sleeping so much better!

 

Pre-K:

I have been staring at my computer screen in frustration pouring over information about local schools offering a pre-k program.  Aside from the emotional factors I have to also consider price, location, and quality.  Most private schools are too pricey and even the community schools sometimes charge a good amount.  There are also a few charter schools in our neighborhood and they are free.  So, do we try to put her in a program at an elementary school, one that she could stay at for K-6 or do we look at a program based solely on it’s student:teacher ratio, report card, test scores? 

I keep asking myself if I was right to keep her home.  Is she better off now than she would be if we had sent her to daycare?  I can see the drawbacks.  She is socially not as advanced as many other children her age.  She doesn’t know how to wait in line or interact with her peers.  On the positive side she has great communication skills, and a good sense of herself.  How ready is she for school?  What more can I do to help her?  I have questions… I also have books on the subject but I am still torn.  We have been working with her everyday on her letters and numbers and she is excelling beyond my expectations.  She doesn’t lack potential that is certain.. she takes after her Dad. I want so badly to make things easier for her.  To prepare her for the world.  I want to give her the skills to navigate school and at the same time I want to protect her forever.  I’m a wreck, anyone surprised?  Didn’t think so.

 

Wow this was a long post.

 

I still have no wallet.

"Some people lay things down around them neatly; some of us toss. If you're a tosser, go into the most traveled spots of the most suspect rooms, then pretend that you're tossing the object as you turn in a circle."

I lost my wallet sometime between when I taught Saturday and realized I had no money on Sunday. I thought the wikiHow article was funny but I still have not found it! I did check my bank and all my millions of dollars are still in there so I guess it's lost not stolen.

Come back!!

The thing that is making me most sad is that my Target gift card Alex got me for my birthday was in there. I have been holding onto it until I think of something really special. Now, it might never be!

How to Find Lost Objects

from wikiHow - The How to Manual That You Can Edit

?]]
Do you often find yourself in a frenzy and tearing apart your home in search of something? Are you late for work again because you couldn't find your car keys? Use this guide to save time -- and your sanity.

Steps

1. Check your immediate surroundings. Survey the room or rooms where the item might be. Don't go into depth, searching under piles of clothes and inside pants' pockets. Instead, just look around to see if the item is in plain sight.
   
2. Look for the missing object where it is supposed to be, or where it can usually be found. If you lost your check card, then you should obviously check your wallet. If your keys are missing, then look in your door and car locks to make sure you didn't simply forget them.
   
3. Check on your person. It sounds silly, but it's possible to forget that your glasses are already hanging around your neck, perched on your head, or even right in front of your eyes. Check these obvious spots once more even if you're sure you already did.
   
4. Search for the missing object in depth. Now that you know the object is not in plain view, look in more detail around your home and car. If you have a messy residence, this may require some time. Make sure to be thorough. Most people have the same daily routine, which will narrow things down a bit. Eliminate places that the item is very unlikely to be (such as keys in the oven) to save time. You probably thought of several possible places, gave a cursory check of the first few, and by the time you got to the end of your list were getting worried and looking more carefully. Go back and look carefully in those more likely places too.
   
5. Clean your surroundings. Try doing a rigorous tidy-up of your room, house, apartment, dorm room, car, book bag, backpack, purse, or whatever area you have likely lost your item. Items seldom disappear from spotlessly neat areas. Just cleaning up may very well reveal the whereabouts of your lost item. If not, well, at least you cleaned up!
   
6. Think back to the last time and place you used the missing object. Did you take it to work or to a friend's house? Were you recently at a restaurant or on the city bus? When did you use the object last? Retracing your steps may lead to the object. These things usually happen when we are on auto-pilot and get distracted. Maybe someone was cleaning up and moved your item. Where might they have put it?
   
7. Call the people and places you've been recently. Now that you have narrowed down the places it could be, call your friends, your job, the bus station, etc. They may be holding your missing object for you.
   
8. Ask others to help you look for it Enlisting the help of others will often enhance your chances of spotting the lost item. This could be your family members, your friends, the bus driver, even total strangers (who are often remarkably obliging in looking for a misplaced item!). You can even put an advertisement in the local newspaper, on lampposts or on Craig's List--it's a long shot but may be worth it if your lost object is valuable.
   
9. Search systematically Depending on your surroundings, try to come up with a system to avoid overlooking an area. For instance, if you think you may have lost your lucky penny in a grassy lawn, you may want to create a search pattern by yourself or with volunteers to avoid overlooking an area.
   
10. Consider the possibility that the item may have been stolen. Do not panic, but consider how much the item might be worth to a stranger and whether anyone might want it as their own. If the item is relatively valueless, of course, it's unlikely to be an object of theft. However, you never know--people sometimes steal things for apparently nonsensical reasons.
    
11. Give it time. Sometimes an item will surface in time. Your sister finds it while vacuuming in an oddball spot you never would thought of, for instance. Unless it is something which can cause serious problems (like credit cards, cell phone, checkbook, I.D.), sometimes just waiting pays off.
    
12. Make sure the missing item doesn't get lost again, whether it is found or you replace it. Whether the item is replaced or found, get a better key chain (and use it for its purpose), organize your home, and have a designated place to store your valuables until the next time you need them.
    

Video

Tips

• Do not look blindly for the item. The first reaction is to search for the missing item everywhere imaginable, leading to frustration. Take a moment to calm down and think logically. Be methodical and split the area up in smaller zones and scan one at a time. If you go back, always search the area as you've earlier defined.
  
• On at least one search pass, look above eye-level. So often, we're looking down while searching, but might have put the item on a higher shelf, "just for a moment."
  
• Check everything again and again. If you have searched your room for your keys three times, check again. It is not rare to find something in the very place you thought you had already searched thoroughly. Ask someone else to help you if you don't mind them looking through your things.
  
• Don't forget the automobile! For most people, the last place they were before coming home was in their car. For small objects (such as keys and credit cards), be sure to look between and under the seats of your car to make sure they didn't fall out of your pocket.
  
• Consider the item's characteristics. The nature of certain items makes them easier or more difficult to locate. Missing cell phones, for example, can often be recovered by simply calling the number of the phone, assuming the phone is powered on and charged. Also, consider that when you use the item. For example, if you often use something in the winter, try checking the pockets of your winter jackets.
  
• If none of this works, just stop looking. Get your mind completely off finding the object. This gives the amazing computer in your brain a chance to work, which sometimes leads to instant recall.
  
• Write your name in heavy duty markers on valuables in a hidden place. That way, if they get stolen, you can easily prove it's yours.
  
• If you don't find the item quickly, stop looking and start picking up and/or cleaning your house, car, or office. This changes your focus and level of frustration. When you find the item (or even if you don't), you'll be on your way to more organized surroundings and less likely to misplace things.
  
• Know your habits. Some people lay things down around them neatly; some of us toss. If you're a tosser, go into the most traveled spots of the most suspect rooms, then pretend that you're tossing the object as you turn in a circle. This gives you a radius (based on how you would toss that particular object -- you'd toss your keys differently than a notebook or breakable object) of roughly where it would be, including the trajectory it could have bounced off of the bed or a sofa cushion.
  
• For next time try to remember where you first looked for it, when you realized it was lost. Keep it in this place and you should avoid losing the same thing again. Usually the first place that springs to mind will be the same each time.
  
• If the object is small, and you think it might be on the floor, lay your head down so that the floor is at eye level. This makes small objects more easily seen.
  
• Try to keep backups of the most common misplaced things (keys, wallet, purse, cell phone, and the remote control), so that if you don't have time to look for them, you can still get by. Make sure they look and feel different from the originals and keep them in a separate place. You don't want to lose both by always thinking you had the other one.
  
• Habit is a great substitute for memory. Practice the habit of putting your keys and wallet/purse in the same place, every time. If you catch yourself thinking, "I'll just put it here for a moment...", stop, give yourself a small dope-slap, and go put it in the Proper Place...which should be a convenient and dedicated shelf or container very close to The First Place You Looked.
  
• Put your keys on a nail or key hooks (available at a hardware or home decor store) next to the door. You will always have your keys handy and the fire dept advises putting them where you can grab and go. You could also keep a dish or shelf (frisbee, abalone shell -- whatever will hold your stuff) where you put all those important things (phone, wallet, keys, change) right as you walk in the door.
  
• Put your jewelry into a jewelry box to keep it easy to find and a clean look to your bureau.
  
• When you do something, say it. When you talk, your brain works to remember what are you doing. If you put your wallet somewhere, say to yourself where you put it.
  
• If you are extremely worried, use one of those new RFID tags and locaters. Just don't lose the locater.
  
• You can also try services like TheFoundBin. These sites list found objects on an easy to use map.
  
• If nothing whatsoever works, simply pay to replace the item. After you have the new one, the lost item will suddenly appear in a place you thought you had raided thousands of times.
  
• If the object is small enough to fit in say, a pocket, then try checking dirty pants that have not been washed yet or are somewhere in the laundry room.
  

Warnings

• If the item can be easily replaced, then cut your losses to avoid further inconvenience. Check and credit cards, for example, can be replaced by your bank, usually free of charge. If a card has not been found after going through the above steps, call to have the card deactivated and have a new one sent. Many places do not check photo I.D when using such cards, and if it has been stolen, you could be hurt financially if you don't report the loss promptly.
  

Related wikiHows

• How to Deal With Losing Your Wallet
  
• How to Find a Lost Dog
  
• How to Organize Your Home
  

Article provided by wikiHow, a wiki how-to manual. Please edit this article and find author credits at the original wikiHow article on How to Find Lost Objects. All content on wikiHow can be shared under a Creative Commons license.

Crazy Friday

While I was teaching, my neighbors had a blow out fight and the police came.. Ghetto flute lessons anyone?

--
==================================================================
This mobile text message is brought to you by AT&T

I've never seen someone so perfect.

Laundry day!

Ara is Using the Flushing Toilet!

Most Innovative Toilets in the World

This toilet celebratory post is in honor of one Miss Ara who has been successfully using the flushing toilet for 3 days in a row now! 

 

*pause for applause*

 

She has been doing really well at home using her Fisher Price potty chair but she couldn’t get over her fears of the loud flushing toilets that most of us are accustomed to.  This was quite an obstacle when we were out in public without our potty chair in tow.  Needless to say, I am happy to be flushing instead of dumping and cheering instead of wiping.

 

Go Ara girl!

To Do List (for my life)

1. See my daughter grow up and live her life to the fullest.

2. Hike the grand canyon.

3.  Learn as much as I can about everything.

4.  Dive with marine mammals.

5.  Shed my inhibitions and sing Karaoke.

6.  Feel compassion for every person I meet.

7.  Touch a panda bear!

8.  Travel.  Everywhere.

9.  Really appreciate and hold those I love close to me. 

10.  Play flute often and well.

11.  See an alligator in the wild.

12.  Teach with sincerity.

13.  Be supportive of myself inside my head.

14.  Take a vacation with Alex and really relax.

15.  Take great pictures.

16.  Make time for friends.

17.  Travel through Europe with Ara.

18.  Petition to make M&M day an official holiday!

 

Ok, now I’m getting silly.  This is my list (so far)!

 

Already done:

1.  See the Swiss Alps, from the top.

2.  Sky dive.

3.  Feed a baby seal.

 

I’ll try to think of more because the length of this part of the list is depressing!

Starbucks Is Not Your Office (but it would be great if it was)!

“Reader jessettrs sends in this ridiculous image taken at a Starbucks on 42nd and 9th. Yeah, it's a guy with a Mac Mini and a 15-inch LCD.

Our tipster also says that there's a T-Mobile G1 hanging off that contraption for some reason, and the guy looks like a homeless dude. Anyone who needs to bring the entire contents of their home office into a coffee shop is as good as, we say.”

To read the full story click here.

 

Maybe, this guy is just a little smarter than the rest of us.. I mean are we not headed into a financial recession?  Cut the internet bills and set up shop in a Starbucks!  I hear they have refreshments there.. (subliminal message: Italian Soda!)

Love from Ara

Ara & her grandpa

My Dad came over today to take Ara and I to lunch. I had Ara all excited about going to her eat Macoronii & Cheese and icecream (which was a little shameless since Jason's Deli is one of my favorite places). I didn't realize until he got here that my Mom has our car seat in her car so we were stuck walking to a local place. We used the new "princess carriage" that Cassandra gave us last night, it's a really cool stroller/bike trailer. The walk was really nice, the weather was sunny but not hot and we ate outside at this little Mexican resturant around the corner. It was a really nice day. Now, I just need nap time to start to make it perfect!

Super tall tower

Tonight we FINALLY made it over to Cassandra's house. Ara fell in love with her 9 year old daughter instantly and she followed her around happily. I love when Ara finds a good kid to idolize! I am writing my blog out of order since I just mentioned the stroller/trailer that Cassandra gave us in my blog for today and now I am writing about last night and the time warp in my brain is making me dizzy! The picture is just the block tower Ara and I built last night, she was also partially in undressed because she was stalling getting her pajamas on and I was an accomplice! Ok I have to stop I am having an upside down feeling that needs to stop!

Posting via Email

So many strings that tie me to the internet. Twitter, blog, facebook.. I am a puppet on a string! (Just testing email posts :D)