My Daybook :: March 24th, 2013

We just got home last night from spending one night and two beautiful days at the coast to celebrate Sean's 40th birthday!  I started writing this post at the hotel but never did get around to adding pictures and posting. Now to finish unpacking, start the laundry, and finish our Spring Cleaning before the Triduum begins. I hope you all have a very blessed Holy Week!

Outside my the hotel window... 
we can see the Pacific Ocean!

I am thankful... 
that we were able to plan a last minute mini-vacation to celebrate Sean's 40th birthday!  He had made me promise to not plan a party for him, but on Saturday morning when I suggested a drive to the coast to attend the Latin Mass for his birthday/Palm Sunday, he thought that sounded perfect!  Even though it is Spring Break we were still able to reserve a Family size Room at a hotel for Sunday night, so once again we had to leave the house bright and early to make it to the 8am Mass over two hours away!

I am thinking...        
about getting older, and how fast the years are passing... Aren't we still in our 20's?!  On the drive over to the coast I kept teasing my husband...

 

"Road signs sure take on a whole new meaning when you hit these milestone birthdays - like turning 40 - don't they?!" 

... and while driving through the amazing, gorgeous, and ancient Redwoods... 

"Forty really isn't that old... If you are a tree!"

 

I know... It won't be long before I am going to regret teasing him about turning 40! And our children have already picked up my sense of "humor."  On my last birthday Captain said, "Mom! Now that you are 35, when you round you have to round to forty instead of thirty!"  No more Math lessons for that boy... ;)

Learning all the time... 
After Mass we took Father out to breakfast and then we drove down to the harbor before heading north to our hotel. I asked Sean to swing back around so I could snap a picture of the Coast Guard Ship. I never did get that picture, since we got a little distracted by all these sea lions and fur seals!

Don't let the pictures fool you... These Sea Lions stink!

As we drove away we overheard Snuggles say "That almost made me throw up!"  

Celebrating the liturgical year... 
It was so nice to attend a Latin Mass on Palm Sunday!  Father even asked the boys to serve. There was a visiting priest as well, who offered confessions after Mass.  I've been extra overwhelmed lately and was very happy to be able to go to confession one more time before Easter.  I also loved the penance he gave me: "Give hugs to four of your children and tell them that you love them!"



It was the perfect day to sneak in lots of hugs!

From the kitchen... 
To keep the cost of our trip to a minimum we avoided eating out for the most part.   I had packed water bottles, juice boxes, peanut butter/jelly/bread, snacks, muffins and oatmeal and then we picked up some fresh fruit and a birthday cake at the grocery store once we arrived.  We did pick up a pizza to take back to the hotel room for dinner - half BBQ chicken and half Garlic chicken, as requested by the "birthday boy."  

I didn't think about how much smoke those 40 candles were going to create... I'm just thankful that we didn't set off the fire alarm in the hotel. That could have been really bad! ;)

I am working on... 
strengthening my lungs again after that awful cold! It was so heavenly to be able to go for a run on the beach with my husband!  We snapped a couple pictures during a break at the tide pools during low tide.

 

I am creating... 
a check list for Easter!  I picked up a couple other small items at the gift shop across the street from the hotel for Easter (a red dragon for Snuggles, since it goes so well with his Knight themed books, along with some cute little purse size note pads with butterflies and peacocks on the cover for the girls) and also ordered one more book for Rascal since one of his books is on backorder.  I've also been making a grocery list and I think our Easter dinner will be pretty similar to last year.

I am hoping... 
that the kids are all healthy again by Easter. Some of them are still coughing pretty badly, especially at night, but I think we are finally reaching the end of this virus.

I am praying... 
for a special intention.

I am reading... 
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory to the children. We have never let them watch the movie  (and don't plan to) but they have been captivated by the story and keep begging for more.  Even little Rose keeps asking for "just one more chapter!"  Twinkle Toes forgot to bring a book on the trip so she has started over at the beginning to read it again.

Pondering these words...
from my page a day calendar.  How interesting, considering the penance I was given. I wonder if Father has the same calendar! ;)  I doubt it...

I am listening...  
to very excited children!  One of them has already asked for an "ocean" themed birthday party for their next birthday.  They are all having so much fun!  We have also started a list of "things to bring" the next time we are able to come over to the coast: A kite, shovel, sand buckets, frisbee, etc...

Around the house hotel room... 
Traveling with a big family is difficult and expensive, so we usually avoid it when ever possible, opting for a summer camping trip or day trip for our family "vacations."

This trip actually worked out well though and I am hoping we will be able to do it again!  We booked the "L shaped Family Room" which had 2 queen sized beds, a queen size pull out couch, and we asked for a roll-away.  The girls had one of the queens, Rascal and Snuggles had the couch/bed, Captain had the roll-away, and we bought a pack-and-play for Bud!

Here are a few more pictures taken during the afternoon, in the hotel room and on the beach. 

One of my favorite things...  
watching the Sunset over the ocean.

This week's plans...

We had a dear friend and her children over for lunch today, and tomorrow we will be working on some Spring cleaning and grocery shopping for Easter.  Other than that it will be a quiet week in our home as we observe the Triduum and celebrate Easter!

A little peek at Monday...

because I just haven't shared enough pictures from our trip yet! ;) 

After checking out of the hotel on Monday morning we headed North to another beach, a couple lookout points to watch for Whales, and then to a park before driving home.  

Tooth Trauma

Subtitled:  C is for Crazy, Crying, Chips, Crowns, Caps, Cuts, and my Children taking the Alphabet Path Completely too far.... They better Cut it out, if they want to Continue! ;)

Thursday night was crazy... I've definitely had some traumatic moments in my life, but nothing has ever affected all our children like what happened on Thursday. The day started out completely normal. I posted about our Kindergarten activities for the letter B, I spoke with a friend on the phone, my kids worked on their schoolwork, we picked up the house, and then the tutor came from 1:00-6:00. She actually even took the boys to their Lego Robotics class for me, where they had their picture taken for the local paper!  However, just after 7pm I posted on Facebook that "We could really use some prayers right now..." before heading to the ER.



After the tutor left, I started making dinner while my children completed a couple science experiments left over from the last couple chapters of their science course.

After completing our 2nd experiment, we headed back into the house and into the kitchen so the kids could all add the results and conclusion to their journals, just as Dad/Hubby arrived home from work for the day.  The kids and I continued to discuss what we had just learned.   I was sitting on one of the bar stools talking to the kids.   Captain was holding the baby on one side of the island, Twinkle Toes was standing at the end, Chiquita had skipped off to the school room to find a pencil, and Rascal was standing in between the island and the sink.   (In the very spot, I will add, that I had *almost* purchased a rug for a few days before, but didn't want to spend the money... Still upset with myself for not buying it!)  

Of course, even when they are talking, boys don't hold still for very long...  Lifting himself up between the sink/counter and the island, Rascal swung his body forward.  As he swung back to "land" he slipped and went down, face first, onto our hard tile kitchen floor. He had been looking at me and talking to me at the time. I was about to say "Don't do that." but by then it was too late... Blocked by the counter and totally helpless, I saw his face hit the ground as a tooth flew out of his mouth, his head bounced before coming back down and hitting again, this time chin first, while the remaining dagger of a tooth tore through his bottom lip.

His initial response, grabbing his mouth and trying his best to shake it off, was "Ooh, that hurt!" before noticing the blood gushing everywhere.

By that time I was around the counter and praying that he was okay and that I had imagined the tooth bouncing out... I kept thinking "Are there any baby teeth left in the front??? Please let it be a baby tooth!!!"

Everyone came running to the kitchen.   I had him open his mouth while my husband went to get a rag to help with all the blood, and, sure enough, he was missing more than half of his top front tooth. I told him to open his hand, there was the rest of the tooth, which he had somehow managed to catch! I couldn't help it, I started crying. "Oh, NO! Your tooth!" which set everyone else to crying... He was crying, saying he was "so sorry..." Captain who was already holding Bud started crying along with the baby... Twinkle Toes and Chiquita started crying... Snuggles started wailing... and Rose must have thought "enough of all this" since she just looked around at everyone crying and headed back to here room, climbed into bed, and went to sleep without dinner.  It was traumatic to say the least!

I called our dentist who asked a few questions before telling me to put the tooth in some milk and take Rascal in for stitches. He would see us in the morning...

We drove in to town and instead of stitches they ended up glueing Rascals lip back together. Apparently stitches would have been too easy to mess with and pull out right there on his lip, and glue is working much better for these sorts of injuries. He was also given a prescription for antibiotics to prevent infection from the "Human Bite" and his lip should heal in about 2-3 weeks.

By the time we got home everyone had calmed down... It did make me smile when Captain told me that Snuggles laid in bed, while we were at the Doctor's, and cried,  "I just NEVER wanted this to happen to ANYONE!!!  First it happened this summer to Big Michael, and now it has happened to (Rascal)!" All of the kids were so sad for their brother.  ♥

*Big Michael is the 14 year old grandson of our friend/swimming teacher, who broke both of his front teeth this summer doing a back flip off the diving board... I was surprised Snuggles remembered, but he loved meeting "Big Michael" who was up visiting.

Friday morning Hubby took everyone to Mass, while I headed to the Dentist with Rascal and the baby. Rascal, being the good sport that he always is, decided to wear his new "Hockey" shirt.  (So much for me worrying about the boys losing teeth playing Hockey... It happened anyways, while doing schoolwork with me!)

We did discover that one end of a nerve was exposed and it will take time to tell the extent of the damage, and whether or not the tooth can be saved.  (Basically his tooth could possibly start to turn black within 3 months to 3 years.)  He will probably end up needing a root canal and/or a cap or crown. The dentist was able to glue the tooth back together for now.   We also found that there was still another piece of the tooth missing, which we then x-rayed his lip to make sure it hadn't been embedded. (Thanks be to God, that it hadn't!) The dentist told us that in a couple days the tooth would hopefully be rehydrated and blend in (better) with the original tooth.

Of course, we still don't have dental insurance (we are in the process of applying but it won't take effect until January, and we had already managed to wrack up a ridiculously huge bill between the Orthodontist and Dentist the past couple months, before this) but it will all work out somehow.

Note:  These pictures were posted with permission, but they may come back down if Rascal changes his mind. 

I ended up having quite the panic attack (post-traumatic stress?) Thursday night.  I am still giving myself a hard time ... If only I had had dinner ready, if only I hadn't required the kids to complete their science assignments for the week, if only I had bought that rug which would have softened the fall...  I need to cut it out!   I can't change anything.   God allowed this to happen, and our little guy will be okay.   {deep breath... sob....}   It's just so hard to see your children hurt...  I'm trying to not be so hard on myself, and pray to St. Apollonia, patroness against tooth problems, for her intercession!

Along the Alphabet Path {The Plan for 2012-2013}

"Once upon a time there was a little boy named Michael who lived with his family at the edge of a beautiful woods...." 

And so begins our second adventure learning Along the Alphabet Path!

Despite thinking that I might need to come up with a different theme/story this time (Woodland Creatures, Knights, etc) for a certain little five year old boy of ours, Snuggles was quite captivated by "Michael and Mrs. Applebee!" And how perfect that our family even happens to live "at the edge of a beautiful woods!"  Perhaps we'll just skip the "girly" flower fairy coloring pages this time and focus on our faith, the saints, and more.  I just love how easy it is to modify the Alphabet Path to work for each child.  There are so many fun ideas and options to choose from, it's going to be such a fun year!

Since Snuggles just turned five during the summer, he is starting Kindergarten younger than any of our other children. (Captain did start at this age, but he really wasn't ready and ended up repeating 2nd grade due to his Auditory Processing Challenges. And for Twinkle Toes, our other late summer baby, we "waited" until she had just turned 6 to officially call her a Kindergartner.)  I'm not going to worry about whether or not we complete the Alphabet Path in one year or two - taking our time and spending two weeks on each letter, or more if necessary.  If it takes us 3 years to get through K & 1st grade, no big deal.  I'd rather this extra little guy of mine be the oldest in his class with a solid foundation, rather than one of the youngest struggling to keep up!  (Not that it really matters, since we homeschool, but still...) 

Anyhow, now that we are a couple weeks into our new school year, I've had time to figure out just what the Alphabet Path is going to look like for Snuggles!   I've run across a few fun new additions that I am looking forward to sharing with you all.

In addition to his daily Religion, Math, and Language Arts, we will focus on one area of the Alphabet Path each afternoon:

• Monday :: Letter Introduction & Formation
• Tuesday :: A, B... Seas & Storybook Science
• Wednesday :: Arts & Crafts
• Thursday :: My Catholic Faith
• Friday (or on the weekend) :: A to Z Recipes

Here's the list of some of the resources we will be using this year:
(Note: Most of these books were already on our bookshelves, with just a few new additions.)

Letter Introduction:

Monday - Week One

Along the Alphabet Path Story Book by Elizabeth Foss

Flower Fairy Alphabet & CD

An Alphabet of Catholic Saints

Monday - Week Two

All About Reading - Pre-1 (My Book of Letters, The ZigZag Zebra, and Lizard Lou)

Handwriting Without Tears Wooden Pieces

Modeling Wax

(Over the two week period will will  complete worksheet from My Book of Letters.  For each letter he will complete the worksheets for Capital Letter, Lowercase Letter, and the Letter Sound.  Even if you don't want to use the All About Reading Program as a whole, the My Book of Letters Activity Book is such a great supplemental for the Alphabet Path!)

A, B... Seas:

Participate with older siblings study of Swimming Creatures

Tuesday - Week One

Sea Life Alphabet Coloring Book

Ocean Life From A to Z Book & DVD

Make an Ocean Box - adding one item for each letter of the alpabet

Various Ocean Movies and Documentaries

Storybook Science:

Tuesday - Week Two

Apples, Bubbles and Crystals: Your Science ABCs

Let's Read and Find Out Series

Various Picture Books

Arts & Crafts:

Wednesday - Week One (Art Appreciation)

Museum ABC 

My First ABC Board Book

Museum ABC Nesting Blocks

Wednesday - Week Two (Letter based Craft and/or Activity)

Various Arts & Craft Projects/Activities

My Catholic Faith:

Thursday - Week One

An Alphabet of Saints
S is for Saints
An Alphabet of Catholic Saints

An Alphabet of Mary
Various Saint Picture Books & Coloring Pages

An Alphabet of Saints: Painted Wooden Dolls

Thursday - Week Two

God's Alphabet

A is for Altar, B is for Bible

Writing ABC's on Little Hearts by Pondered In My Heart

A to Z Recipes:

Friday - Week One

My A to Z Recipe Box: An Alphabet of Recipes for Kids

"From Ants in My Applesauce to Zany Zucchini Sticks, these 26 recipes offer young chefs a wide variety of hands-on cooking adventures. Each recipe has clear, simple steps that children will find easy to followand in the process, they'll learn about the foods they enjoy and practice skills like following directions and measuring, too. "

I'm loving this little recipe box...  For Aa week we made Ants in my Applesauce, and next week we will be making Blueberry Buckle!  In addition to all the great recipes, each card also offers suggestions for servings and variations, plus fun facts.  The letter tab at the top of each card works as a divider for any additional recipes you might want to add to the collection, using the 26 blank recipe cards which are provided, or your own.

Friday - Week Two 

Additional Recipe of Choice - Add Recipe to Recipe Box using one of the 26 Blank Cards

You can find all of our posts for the Alphabet Path listed on this page.  I'll continue to add to the current label "Alphabet Path" for scrolling through everything.  I also just filed all the posts from when the girls were learning along the Alphabet Path here:  Alphabet Path (2009-2010) and will begin a new label for Snuggles: Alphabet Path (2012-2013).  I'll be back soon along after awhile to add all about Aa week!

Is anyone else learning Along the Alphabet Path this year?