Happy New Year

I'm back. For now.

The kiddos and I recently spent a week camping on Hunting Island in South Carolina.  Grandma and Grandpa joined us and we had a blast - lots of things to do, even with a few days of incrdible winds!  Next year will be even better as I remember more about this camping stuff.

One of our favorite parts of the trip was seeing my baby brother, Mike.  The kids called him Unna Mikey when they were younger and, for me at least, it's stuck.  He's Unna Mikey.

Well, Unna Mikey guilted me into blogging again.  He doesn't use Facebook and so isn't able to keep up with the kiddos and all their exploits.    If I want him to know what's going on in their lives, it's gotta be here since he is far away - and on the road most of the time to boot.

More of the pics from our trip later - but for now, a little bit that relates directly to Unna Mikey, even though we're not together anymore.

Unna Mikey gets to travel a lot for his job and therefore collects a bit of currency from other countries.  Knowing his niece like he does, he gave her a birthday present of currency from various countries.  He gave her the assignment of looking up each currency, finding its value, its country and something interesting about either the country or the image on the bill.  She's already gotten started on that project - she was very excited about the 10,000 Bangladeshi Rupias Unna Mikey gave her.  (Until she found out that 10,000 Rupias = $1.03!  What a lesson in currency exchange that was for her!)

I digress.  (See, I haven't changed all that much.)

On our way home from Hunting Island, we spent a day on Jekyll Island, Georgia.  While there, we toured the Georgia Sea Turtle Center.  It's a great little place that does important work rehabilitating and releasing endangered sea turtles.  Amiya, especially, fell in love with the turtles.  She spent a lot of time taking pictures, listening to the caretakers, reading information and soaking all that information up.  On our way out, I grabbed a little brochure for a turtle summer camp.

Amiya read the brochure in the car on the way home and was initially very excited.  Then she saw the cost.  $200.  She knows us.  She knows we're careful with money and that we want her to do fun things, great things, challenge her brain, challenge her thinking.  But she knows that $200 is beyond our budget for 5 days of camp - especially considering we'd have to get a hotel room for the week.  Her eyes teared up and my heart broke.  What parent doesn't want their child to be inspired and follow through on that inspiration?

So I told Amiya that she should save every penny she comes across - and maybe if we see that she's serious about this, Vinay and I will try to find a way to make it happen.  But we'd need to see that she was really serious.

$200 isn't spare change for our kiddos.  They don't get money easily.  Birthdays and Christmas from family out of town are their main source of cash.  We've recently started allowances and the kids do alright with that, but Amiya struggles with it.  That being said, if she does her chores and saves all of it, she'd  have almost everything by January.  That would leave Vinay and I six months to see if/how we can make it work.  And if it turns out that we can't, she'd still have $200 for a rocking camp in Tampa - Busch Gardens, Lowry Park Zoo, etc., all offer hands on animal camps.

This brings us to today.  It's Amiya's birthday - she's nine today.  Unbelievable!  Because the kiddos' birthdays are so close together, they got a combined gift this year - a Wii.  Amiya knew that she would only get a small gift from us tonight.  We bought her a big ol' jar, put a sea turtle sticker on it and labeled it Turtle Camp.  $5 in change in the jar and she was thrilled!

Grandma and Grandpa added in some cash for their birthday present, and Amiya added in the money she has been saving since Christmas - she ended the day with almost $60 towards turtle camp. 

And that's not counting any Rupias or other foreign currency - she agreed that those were too cool to exchange!  And right now, Unna Mikey, that's saying a lot!

The First Day of School 2011

Today was our first day of school for this year! Each year, our PTA hosts a breakfast for parents called the Cougie Cry - the joke is parents either come in boo-hooing or woo-hooing! Bet you can't guess what I was?!?

I was boo-hooing for this one. Chicky went into her classroom, sat at her desk and got to work. She gave me a long hug and my eyes started tearing up. Her classroom this year is such a change from previous years - stark and bare. (Which is good - the teacher isn't froofy and we all know I'm not froofy when it comes to school.) But it's just such a contrast. Our baby is growing up.
And I was woo-hooing for this one. He was the first to arrive in his classroom, too. And once he was in there, it was as if Vinay and I were invisible. And that's how it should be, right? But right now, three hours later, I'm feeling a little lonely for my sidekick. At this time last year, I would have been winding up whatever project I was taking on for the day and getting ready to go get him. Instead, I am sitting here doing this.

We were having fun with the signs this year. They all say, "First Day of ...." I wasn't quite sure what to have Vinay's say but I think he's ok with it.

Mine says, "First Day of No Kids at Home in Over 8 Years." The only thing I don't like is that my smile was so big it was pushing my eyes shut! Sheer giddiness will do that to a girl!

New England 2011: Dinosaur State Park

We are back from New England. Instead of putting all the pictures in one post, I am going to break 'em up. It'll be more manageable, and therefore less daunting, for me.

We flew into Hartford, CT late, late at night. The next day we set our sites on Dinosaur State Park. This was such a lucky find! Before the trip, we knew that we were going to have to find some stuff for Kev as most of our focus was on historical stuff. To say that Kev isn't into historical stuff is an understatement. I've tried picture books, movies, Magic TreeHouse, etc. At this point I don't know if he's not interested or he's too young - either way, he needed something besides Paul Revere.

Enter Dinosaur State Park.

In the 1960s, a construction worker was removing large patches of earth when he found tracks in a limestone layer. His discovery was quickly determined to be a perfect fossilized-marsh where dinosaurs had walked. The state of Connecticut worked to preserve this tract and make it into a place where everyone could see the dinosaur prints.

For about $15 for our entire family, we spent the morning checking out prints, learning how paleontologists can determine whether a dinosaur was running/walking or grazing/foraging just from prints. They had interactive displays, a room full of dinosaur activities, several movies, etc. It was really a great find - and we were able to remind Kev that we did something for him each time he was bored at a historical site. That was priceless.

Kev loved it, Amiya enjoyed it and V and I were happy to report that this budget-friendly morning was a perfect start to our vacation!

Where In The World....

Somewhere around April, we bought the kiddos placemats with world and United States maps on them. Conversation around the table instantly became very map-centric and we plotted our path for our trip to South Carolina, as well as our upcoming trip to Massachusetts and Boston. Eventually it turned to places that our families are from, where the dinosaurs were, where different stories are set, etc.

Vinay, capitalizing on this interest, decided we should get a globe. We shopped around - Craigslist, eBay, Target, Lakeshore, etc. Globes are expensive. And with the ever-changing world borders and boundaries, it was hard to justify spending big bucks for a globe that might not be accurate for more than a few years. That being said, Vinay found this globe and we bit the bullet. It was more than we wanted to spend, but it was high-interest for the munchkins because of its' interactive features.

And it has been a great purchase! They play with it all the time - and they can both identify upwards of 50 countries around the world. I'm not sure how they'll do on a map without names, but they rock at this one. So, the next time you hear something about Kazakhstan or Eritrea on the news, give Kev a call. He'll help you find it!

The Naked Summer

It is hot in Florida. Really and truly hot. And then it's humid, too. We're having the sort of weather now that we usually have in August. Couple that with a lack of rain and soaring electricity bills - meaning no sprinklers, no hose fights and the a/c set very high. So yeah, it's been tricky to find ways to keep cool.

For me, but not for Kev. He has decided that nearly naked is the way to be. He runs around the house in his little man boxer briefs. He'd be naked if we let him, but we have to draw the line somewhere.

Here he's all dudded up to make pancakes. He's got briefs on, but nothing else.
He's our very own Naked Chef.

He's doing his summer work here - exploring patterns and shapes
using pattern blocks. Nearly naked, again.

And finally, because I reminded him that we had to go get his sister,
he agreed to put some clothes on. Before this, however, he was
working on his puzzle almost au naturel for a good thirty minutes.

On the upside, the laundry load should be a lot easier this week, no?

Preschool Graduate

Kev had his preschool graduation recently. It was a super sweet, very preschool-appropriate ceremony. Can't believe the little man is on his way to kindergarten next year! (Also can't believe I am going to get 6 hours a day without kiddos. It's been eight years since that happened.)

Shaking hands with Ms. Mae. Wrong hand, but no biggie.

With the graduate, after the ceremony.

Signing the alphabet.

The ending of this school year has been really emotional for me. (Mostly because I'm a spaz....) Both kids had such great teachers this year - teachers who really understood and appreciated the people that our kids are. They were accepted and valued at face value and after Amiya's year last year, when this wasn't the case, it's been a lovely, lovely experience. I'm sad to be leaving these teachers because we don't know who the kids will have next year. Hopefully it will be an equally wonderful experience.

Locks of Love, Take III

It's hotter than blazes down here already. Help me. It's not even June yet and I don't want to go outside until November. There are all sorts of little signs that it's too hot - the carseats are literally painful for the kids to get into, the grass doesn't have a chance of staying green if we don't supplement the watering (we don't, sorry neighbors), the drying rack is in the foyer - not to be put away again until fall when we're not swimming daily. And then there's the chicky. The chicky with the hair down to her bottom.


She's sweaty most days and her hair is heavy. It's just really, really heavy. Plus it adds about 10 minutes to every morning and at least 5 to every physical activity - we have to put it up for gymnastics, for swimming, for soccer. It's getting to be a pain - and, most importantly, it's getting to be so long that it's actually falling out. Whether due to hormones or the weight of each hair on the hair follicle, it's coming out en masse via the hairbrush.
So, Vinay and I talked to her, once again, about the fact that it might be a good time for her to get it cut for Locks of Love. We tried back in October, and she was game for a while - even had me set the appointment up - but then she got cold feet. Her hair is her hair and her choice, so we backed off.

But this time it was clear that something needed to be done - our floor seemed to be carpeting itself with all of her cast-offs. We talked about helping out another child who doesn't have hair. We talked about less time in the mornings to get ready, about being able to shower herself without all the crazy long hair to rinse out, about cute clips and barrettes that her heavy hair pulls right out. And we talked about how by the time she is in middle school, her hair can be just as long again since it grows so fast. Sold!

Off we went - she smiled through the whole thing!

And now? Now she looks cuter than a bug. Really, seriously, cuter than a bug. But you're going to have to wait to see the after pictures because the ones I took don't do her justice. Huh-uh. Not at all. She is way cuter than the pictures would lead you to believe, but it's hotter than blazes out here and we were dying to get into the house.

Mad Moves

Kev was cutting a rug the other night at Amiya's school picnic. He walked up to Cougie, grabbed his paws and started dancing. And he danced and he danced and he danced. It's usually a middle school kid who gets stuck in Cougie and whoever it was did a great job with Kev! I'm not sure where Kev got his love of footwork, but love it he does.