First Field Trip

Well, we have been busy, but we were able to take time for a field trip. On the first day of school for all the local schools, we chose to take a field trip. Since we live in "Sweet Home Alabama" we went to the Bass Pro Shop.

Broken

2 little monkeys jumping off the bed, one jumped off and broke her....foot!

It is called a buckle break, it is a wrinkle in the bone. Nothing too serious, but enough to cause some pain and scare mommy!

She gets to wear this very fashionable boot for a month. She has had it on for almost a week now, and she is over it!

Last Minute Vacation

My parents live about 2 1/2 hours away. We try to get together often, but it does not always work out. We were finally able to work something out just about 3 days before we left. My husband had to work, but would join us for the last 3 days. Here are some pictures of our adventure.

Packing for myself and 3 young children.

Each of us had a "undergarment" bag, and the rest were packed with clothes per day.

Grammy and Grampa put a pool up for the kiddies to play in.

Story time with Grampa.

Not only did we get to see my parents, but my oldest brother was on vacation just 45 minutes away, so we went to his condo to enjoy time with him and his family.....and the beach!

Grammy and Ray-J

Uncle Bryan teaching Ray-J to swim.

Grammy with Emma

Grampa and Cathy Belle resting by the pool.

Aunt Amy, Uncle Bryan, Emma, and Ray-J

Day 2: Fishing

My niece Kaitlynn, my wonderful husband, and my sister-in-law Amy.

Yes, she ate the sand, yum ;)

Fishing

We also celebrated Emma's 3rd birthday!

Emma, my niece Ashlynn, and Ray-J

We had so much fun, and are planning on doing it again next year!

Little girls are becoming plumbers

I don't know if any of you have noticed lately, but there is a problem with little girls clothes. I noticed years ago when I was a Nanny. The fashion designers design girls clothes to look older than they are, we all know that children growing up too fast, but that is another post. What I am referring to is what is a classic plumber look.....

Because the current style is for women to wear things in their hips, there is nothing wrong with this for women, but little girls do not have hips. If their shirts are not long enough then you have the plumber problem. I have a few problems with this.

 First, little girls (and anyone for that matter) do not need to be showing the world any part of their backside. It may be funny or "cute" to see a little crack when she bends over, but really think about it. They are showing the world, or whoever is looking that way, their bottom. How would you feel if that was you exposing that area! 

Secondly, it is immodest, and we need to be teaching them modesty even from a young age. I am currently trying to teach my daughter to sit properly, yes she mostly wears skirts, but I even remind her to sit like a lady in shorts. It is important to me ( and my husband desires it too) to raise ladies. We are slowing starting on proper etiquette, but as she ages we will become more in depth.  

How do solve I solve this problem, when I see my daughter bend over in a pair of capris to pick a flower. Well, I am sad to say she will no longer be wearing this pants. I am trying to have her wear more skirts and dresses, because I believe that is more feminine, but I do allow for some capris. Here are some things i do:

~Elastic waistbands usually do not slip down, tend to stay at the natural waistline not allowing for immodesty. 

~Longer shirts that cover just in case it does happen, these shirts usually have to cover the bottom while standing to give enough allowance when the child bends

~Skirts usually do not have this problem, and if they would there should be something under them that should provide coverage.

~Dresses eliminate the problem

If your daughters clothes do this I don't want to sound like I am judging you for it (this post came about because I saw it when my daughter bent over), but I am asking you to consider covering yours.

I have noticed the clothes that are less trendy and less "adult like" are more modest as well, not all the time, but most of the time. I try to dress my children like little kids rather then little women/men. We only have 18-20 years (roughly) where they are home with us, and that time goes by so fast! Let's keep them little as long as we can.

*** For their safety, I didn't want to include this part in the main part of the post, but I feel it needs to be said because while those other I feel are good enough reasons, this is my biggest concern. I want to handle this one delicately, pedophiles they are everywhere, grocery stores, malls, specialty stores, and even your neighborhood. Some have already been charged and convicted, while others have not found their victim yet. If you visually stimulate them by allowing your daughter to expose herself. I shudder to think what might happen while you look away for a second. I know that is a bit drastic to think this way, but the world we live in today is simply no longer safe. Children have been taken while riding their bikes, while walking home from school, while at public pools, while on vacations, unfortunately it could happen anywhere. You do not have to look very far to even find where things have happened in churches. I am sad to say I have been in a church where children were abused in this way. We need to protect them, and tech them how to protect themselves. 

Update and Field Trips

Well, it is our first week, and other than on the 2nd when I realized he was going to be learning colors and shapes for the first half of the year, and decided to squish it all into the first month, I would say it went well. He had a couple of break downs (that is a nice way of saying he cried because he either got frustrated or did not want to do it any more). We are suppose to start on a new letter next week and he still has no idea what sound the letter I makes, so we may need to drag it out some more. I know he will catch on eventually.

As far as field trips go here is a list:

Grocery Store

Zoo

Art museum

Fort

Old Town

Capitol

Beach

Fish Farm

Farm

Pumpkin Patch

Historic Downtown

Hospital

Police Station

Fire Station

Park

River

Caverns

Wildlife Museum

Sports Game

Library

Bass Pro Shop

School Schedule

I hope you will forgive me for not posting this yesterday. My mother-in-law is in the hospital and the kids and I went to be with her, while my husband took my father-in-law to have outpatient surgery. We practiced writing and letter yesterday while we were out. Here is our schedule, not much, but it works

30-40 minutes Bible

Pray

20 minutes Phonics

20 minutes Story (read aloud)

10 minutes Language

20 minutes Numbers

That is it for our day. My soon to be 3 year old sits at the table with us and listens along with my son and she colors when it is time for him to do any work. For now this works, as the year progresses thing my shift and that will be ok. Here are a couple of pictures of Home Ec/Math/Counting

Cookie Bars with Frosting and Sprinkles