How to keep a toddler busy while homeschooling your older child

There is nothing really as annoying as trying to teach your child and being interrupted by a little one. There, I said it. It's frustrating. But toddlers are curious and they have alot to learn, too. Here's how I keep our two year old busy.

Excuse the mess- getting ready for baby! Anyway, these are little board animals with holes punched out on the edges, ready to be threaded with shoe laces. My 6 year old even likes it and it helps with handwriting!

Cheap cookie pan with cheap magnets. My two year old likes to dump them off and put them back on.

I use the last two shelves of our homeschool bookshelf for her. Dollar store containers keep blocks, play food, and board books organized.

I got this from another website. I went to Joann's and got these little wood shapes. Then I stuck sticky felted letters on each one. Great for tracing, but right now, my little one dumps them and asks what every letter is.

Another homemade toy. Cut different sized circles in a little carton lid and but different sized pompoms to fill the container with.

"Awww, look mommy, a baby one!"

Last, I have a smaller bookshelf full of board puzzles, coloring books and crayons, Tag reader books, and flashcards.

When we are homeschooling, she starts off at the table with us, wanting to do worksheets like her brother. The dollar store is a great place to get little workbooks because I don't care if she scribbles all over it at that price! I let her in on all the science and art projects, however modified. Usually, I find that she just wants to play with the material we are using. She eventually gets bored and that is when I have to redirect her. Go play with blocks. Go put your baby to sleep. Now, with everything at eye level in the homeschooling area, redirecting is a little easier.

If nothing else works, it's important to remember they don't stay little forever. It's not worth the frustration. Take breaks and snuggle your babies. Love is a great social studies lesson! :P 

Summer 2012

Summer 2012 Bucket List

Today marks our last day of boring routine! The kids are getting in their last bit of TV and video games, I'm working on the last part of the homeschool portfolio before evaluations, and tomorrow, we begin to check things off of our bucket list. We have something planned everyday from tomorrow, May 12th-July 4th. After that, we need to prepare for our new baby due any second after that (due date is technically July 26th, but mine come a bit earlier). We'll take it easy and begin 1st grade homeschool August 27th. Cross your fingers we're up to it!

First thing we did was create a list of things we wanted to do. Then I transferred them to index cards. Every day, I'm going to hang a card on the calendar for Spiderman to see every morning. He's going to be so excited.

I've got the photo memory card wiped clean, camera battery is charging...things are about to get fun. We do have one ground rule: NO TV, video games, or computer use (this includes me unless it's to study. I, unfortunately, do not get a summer break!) the entire summer.

The only thing we are going to do daily is a page from a summer bridge workbook and practice a dance routine (Spiderman wants to learn). The rest of the weeks are filled with bucket list activities, summer camps, and lazy days. Let the fun begin! I'll keep updating this one blog as we go along. Talk to you tomorrow!

Day 1: Drive-in movie- 5/12/12

Saturday, we went to see The Avengers at the drive-in. The kids had never been and She-Hulk had never been to a theater at all, so we were excited. We all dressed in our Marvel t-shirts.

She-Hulk insisted her sleeve was rolled up so as to not cover her temporary tattoo.

We brought snacks and drinks, pillows, blankets, and lawn chairs. We made a nice set up in the back of the van and really enjoyed the movie.

Spiderman in his best Super Hero pose :D

She-Hulk slept through about 2/3rd of the movie and when she got up, she was pretty confused. She then decided it was alot of fun and talked the whole time.

Overall, a great time. We'll definitely do it again!


Day 2- Lazy Day (1 of 11) 5/13/12

Today is mother's day! I got to sleep in, eat, and go back to bed. Originally, we were supposed to watch the sunset, but today has been overcast. No sun in sight! So, considering I slept so much and the only thing we did was grocery shop, we named this day a Lazy Day.

:)

Day 3- Homemade Lemonade- 5/14/12

I prepped alot of fruit this afternoon. My goal is to have a fruit salad with breakfast and a veggie salad with lunch. After all that chopping and washing and sorting, my kitchen is a wreck and I've decided to wait on prepping the veggies until tomorrow. But I figured while I was it, we should add some summer fun and make some lemonade. Afterall, I think I earned a nice cold glass after being on my feet. I seriously need an anti-fatigue kitchen mat. :D

So I put one cup water and 2 cups sugar together on the stove. I cooked it until it was almost boiling, completely clear and dissolved. Then I let it cool while I prepped my fruit. Then I hand squeezed a bag of lemons- I need a hand juicer in the future, though my hands look beautiful after all that shining up. It made about a cup and a half. I poured the lemon juice into a pitcher and poured about half of my sugar syrup in. Then I poured about 3 quarts of cold water and had the kids stir it up. It was really sweet. So I added more water- about a gallon total and almost all of the sugar syrup. Threw in some strawberries and tada! The most delicious lemonade ever. Even Spiderman approved.

And She-Hulk, too...

 And momma, three!

Can't wait for tomorrow. Batman is taking off and we're headed to Sarasota! Talk then!

Day 4- Ringling Museum 5/15/12

Today has been one hectic day. This is my second time writing this part of the blog because my power decided to go out. A weird ending to a weird day. She-Hulk tossed and turned this morning until she got out of bed at 5AM. She went to bed early last night, so she woke up too early for us. I was also tossing and turning with nausea from my first iron pill, so I was pretty exhausted.

We somehow managed to walk out of the door around 9. Spiderman took a tumble down the stairs. He probably tripped on step number 2 and landed on step number 10. It was horrible. He's ok, but he's beat up. He's got a busted lip, a scraped forehead, a bruised cheek, and cuts on his legs and knuckles. Poor guy.

Despite our set backs, we made it to Sarasota and to the Ringling Museum. She-Hulk fell asleep on the way there, but she wasn't well rested when we arrived. In other words, there was no cooperation or listening. Considering everything, she did really well in the museums. She enjoyed herself, but not because of the artwork or circus exhibits. But because of the nature!

Meeting a lizard

Meeting a friend

Climbing a tree

Collecting leaves

Stopping to smell the roses

Darting for the water.

She enjoyed the grounds of the museum. Spiderman spent most of the time in She-Hulk's empty stroller. He didn't enjoy the art like we did, but he had alot of fun in the circus museum.

There was a very impressive exhibit of miniatures

Actually getting along!

Riding in a clown car

Walking the wire

The day was looking up for lil Spiderman until about lunch time. At the cafe, he spilled his entire bottle of juice on his lap.

Luckily, the Florida heat was so intense, his pants dried almost instantly!

We had alot of fun and I'm glad we got to hang out together at the museum, but we are also very happy to be home. We are starting to feel our slight sunburns and sore muscles and I just know we'll all sleep deep tonight!

Day 5- The Park- 5/16/12

Yesterday (5/16) was actually the one day this week it was only 75 degrees. Perfect day for the park!

I planned on being there a few hours. I brought my homework and lots of water. We only stayed about 40 minutes, though. A strange man came onto the playground and was a little too friendly, so we left early. These couple of days sure have been strange! But that's ok, I know it will end today, because we're going to spend it inside having a...


Day "6"- May 21,2012

...FAMILY GAME NIGHT.

Haha, I am so glad I don't have subscribers- otherwise a 5 day wait might have lost them all! I lost a bit of momentum last week. Kids spent the night at their grandparents, too, so we lost a few days of the bucket list, but we're back! Tonight, we pulled out Candy Land and cards for Go Fish. She-Hulk had never played before and she ended up winning tonight! I made peanut butter cookies with Butterfinger peices thrown in for a Family Game Night treat. What a great evening.

Can't wait to see what tomorrow brings. Hopefully not rain, as I would like to plan a sunset viewing. :)

Day 7- May 22nd, 2012

We watched the beautiful sunset at Crystal Beach

She-Hulk cheering for the sun!

My beautiful boy!

Day 8- May 23rd, 2012

Movie night!!!

We made double chocolate cookies and popcorn. This was, of course, after we were all sugared up from free Slurpees today!

The babies got settled in and comfy to watch Transformers 3 (Spiderman's pick if you couldn't tell).

At one point, we even caught them snuggling together on the couch. TOO CUTE!!!

Day 9- Memorial Day fun

We woke up and got out to the Memorial Ceremony in our town. We didn't sit through the whole thing, but the kids are small and can only take so much. Spiderman thought it was the most boring thing ever.

In the late afternoon, we went over the great grandparents. Spiderman learned about his great grandfather's accomplishments in the war.

We ate, visited, and swam.

Afterwards, during ice cream, the kids decided to perform for everyone. Spiderman decided to recite from memorization a Toy Story book from his Tag reader system. It's pretty impressive considering it's about a 10 minute speech. She-Hulk thought she would follow in her brobot's footsteps and gave us her rendition of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. We had a great time!

Day 10- 6/2/12- Dali Museum

So this one we did because it was a homework assignment.

 It was nice to see the artwork and was actually one of my and Batman's first dates :) The kids running around in the museum was quite a challenge, but they had fun. Aidan got to complete a scavenger hunt for a prize and we got this really cool photo:

Day 11- June 11-15th- Summer camp

Spiderman went to his very first summer camp this week. He had a blast. They made crafts, went to the pool, took a trip to the zoo, and had a big party with a petting zoo and face painting! She-Hulk wanted to be big and join him. So cute. Spiderman even won a prize for Crazy Hat Day!

We tried soccer camp the following week, but Aidan decided he didn't really like it. We have two more camps coming up: construction camp and science camp. Hope he likes them better!

NOTE**

We have slowed down on our summer fun. After our weekend at the Dali  museum, I started having painful contractions and was admitted to the hospital. They were able to stop the contractions, but I've had to rest. The more active I am, the stronger they get. We're spending the rest of the summer being lazy, watching lots of TV, coloring, and playing with toys. It's a bummer, but we know Captain America is not ready to arrive yet! Looking forward to our next year of homeschooling!

How to have a spotless home when you have kids

Ok, so there's been alot of this quote circulating on Pinterest. It's cute and it's funny, and it certainly is true...to an extent. When I think of my dream home life, nothing in it is touched. It's constantly in a state that Better Homes and Gardens would be proud to show off. Honestly, my dream home life is a bit unrealistic.

For one, the homes in Better Homes and Garden are usually of people who are wealthy- in other words, they aren't home enough to mess it up. Or maybe they're at their other home. Or they're retired. Whatever, because...

For two, photographers come in and stage their homes with props and lighting. It's not real, like really real.

But still. That doesn't mean you can't live in a beautiful, clean home. And maybe kids run your life (and certainly your home), but it's possible to get things done. And I would know. If you came over to my place uninvited, you would probably swear I was expecting you. I don't stress over it, either. Even while pregnant and exhausted, this homeschooling mother to a 6 year old, caregiver to a 2 year old, and full time University student keeps the house under her thumb.

It's simple once you get going. For me, a perfectionist, the hardest part was waiting for my disastrous home to come together. Have patience. Here's how to have a spotless home despite having kids:

1. Understand that a magazine home is not worth the stress. No housekeeping is. In the end, your children remember you, the activities- and alot of times, those activities include the messes they've made- and the good times at home. They do not recall how clean the bathroom was or whether or not the blinds were dusty.

2. Start with the basics- what do you want done everyday? Write out a list. Here's mine:
   1. An empty sink
   2. An empty laundry basket
   3. A generally clean, company-approved home- in every single room.
   4. No all day cleaning projects
   5. A home that smells fresh

Ok, so I started off with something like that. These are the goals I would need to work on everyday. From this list, I made a couple routines. Routines are the answer. If you're someone (like me) who hates routine, you might swear this isn't going to work even before you begin. I can assure you that you will be so happy with your home and how little effort you put into it that you'll stick to it. You might hate it, but you'll know you can never go back to the way things were before.

Before routines, I would scrub down the house every Sunday. I would clean from the time I woke up to the time I went to bed. Or I would wait until a part of the home got bad enough that it demanded my attention. And I did this because I just didn't have the time. Or the energy. And it wasn't like I grew up in a spotless home. It was a foreign concept. But I chose to make house cleaning a priority for one single reason:

When I got a moment to myself (so rare, after all), I didn't want to spend it guilting myself with things I "should" do around the house. I just wanted to relax for once.

I created a morning and evening routine. Each of them take less than a half an hour. Here they are:

1. Wake up, make breakfast.
2. Clean up after breakfast: have kids clear the table, unload the dishwasher and load it up with breakfast dishes, wipe the counters and table.
3. Get dressed- have Spiderman do his morning routine (get dressed, make sure clothes go into laundry basket, brush teeth and hair, and make bed), help She-Hulk get dressed, get self dressed, teeth brushed, hair combed...
4. Make bed. It's amazing how good it feels to crawl into a made bed after a long day.
5. Do a load of laundry

Tada.

Then I open the blinds and am ready to begin homeschool lessons and studying for my own classes without being completely distracted by mess.

In the evening, after dinner, it looks similar:

1. Clean up: have kids clear table, load dishwasher and run it, wipe counter and table. Have kids start cleaning up their toys and rooms.
2. Sweep kitchen floor
3. Empty trashcans from kitchen and bathrooms
4. Do a once over of the entire home- pick up random messes
5. Kids nighttime routine- bath, book, pick outfit for tomorrow, bed

When making you routine, you have to consider any issues you are having. For me, Spiderman pulls clothes down from his closet, breaking the hangers and leaving piles of clothes on the floor. So now we pick out an outfit before bed. Now he's in charge of making sure all the clothes are in the baskets. Every morning, he combines the baskets and brings me the clothes to make a load. I made sure to put a basket both in his closet and his bathroom. With She-Hulk, she kept getting into the homeschool supplies in the bookcase. So I put the supplies in a tote bag and made our lessons portable. Then, I filled the bookcase with toys she could play with while we did lessons.

Now that the routines were in place, I could feel good knowing the basics were taken care of. But if you are anything like I was, every room in your home needs some serious cleaning. Take it slow. Do a room or an area everyday after your morning routine. Then, in the evening, when you do a once over, make sure to upkeep that area you deep cleaned, nothing else. Tomorrow, do another area and maintain both areas. Keep it up and within a week or so, your entire home is spotless and maintained. As for kids rooms, if they are young enough, it's best to clean it for them and then when you do a once over, make sure they are picking up after themselves. I still have to go in and clean their rooms, but I only do it about once a month. It's just not worth the stress!

After everything has come together, you'll realize there are other things that need to be done on a regular basis. On top of my morning and evening routines, I have a daily chore. Just one.

Monday- Mop- kitchen and two bathrooms
Tuesday- Dust- anything and everything
Wednesday- Scrub bathrooms- I suppose you could add this to your morning routine. FlyLady does. But I have better things to do.
Thursdy- Vacuum- and honestly, I find we do this more than once a week, but I just want to make sure it's in there.
Friday- Linen- change all the sheets on all the beds and wash the old ones. It's important to wash your sheets once a week. Plus, the freshness is welcoming. :)
Saturday- Swing day. This was a term I got from Pinterest. Basically, I realized there are things that need to be done even less often, but will get overlooked if I don't schedule it in.
      1. Bleach trashcans
      2. Clean walls and baseboards- kids, hello?
      3. Shampoo carpets- I live in an apartment and my cheap carpet is destroyed.
      4. Special Project- in my case, I'm moving at the end of the year and I'm having a baby, so these projects could be anything from downsizing a closet to painting a dresser. For anyone with kids, this could be downsizing toys, organizing toys, clearing out old clothes, cleaning under their bed, etc.

So week 1, I bleach the trashcans. Week 2, I clean the walls, etc., etc.
     5. Sunday- grocery shopping. I have a whole system for this- menu planning, sales ads, couponing, cleaning out fridge and cupboards, etc.

This works for me. It seems like alot at once, but if you integrate it slow and create routines that work around your family's natural habits, it's really simple. At night, I get the satisfaction of sitting down, lighting candles, and relaxing. I don't worry about a single thing that needs to get done.

I think your schedule might be a little different, but I'm pretty sure if you stick to the routine, I could come over uninvited. :) If I can keep it up without any energy and having to put hours in on campus and then study hardcore at home while actively homeschooling (I have a separate afternoon routine for homeschool) two kids, I think you can do it, too. I certainly hope so.

Getting Ready for Summer!

29 weeks!

Well, I thought I'd be a bit better at this updating thing than I have! Last week, we finally decided our baby's name: Captain America. We finally pressured ourselves after realizing we had to register for the hospital and get the social security information ready. It was Batman who reminded me about the registration. I said, "Yeah, but you can only register when you're 3 months away from delivering" and he gave me this look...yeah, it's THAT close! I'm kinda freaking out a bit.

Easter 2012

I had my mom here for my birthday and for 3 weeks. She flew in with my brother, so we got to visit with him for the weekend and Easter. My mom helped out with the kids and the house. It felt nice to get a break. The kids had a blast, too. She took them to Toys R Us and the pool, took Spiderman to a movie, and gave She-Hulk a Build-A-Bear experience:

Mom, She-Hulk, and I went out for tea- just us girls. We ate good food, laughed about how much I looked like Hurley from Lost when I brushed out my rag curls, almost got caught in a closing park, and watched a marathon of Vampire Diaries- overall, just a really nice time.

My health has been cleared! I did a 30 day event monitor and a stress echo test on my heart. I have a really fast heart rate and anemia, but aside from that, baby and I are healthy!

I made all A's this semester. Couldn't be happier!! Spiderman's first homeschool year is coming to a close. We'll spend this next week finishing up and then we'll enjoy our first summer break! We are making a bucket list: you can find it on Pinterest:

http://pinterest.com/misskendall/summer-bucket-list/

I will try to remember to update sometime in the next week or two when I clear out our homeschool stuff and start putting together our portfolio, books, and next year's curriculum. Maybe it will help someone else just beginning...

:)