Traveling With Small Children, take two

The wedding start time was 7pm.
Again this was a perfect time
for the beautiful sunset.



I did get to see the bride, our niece walk
down the aisle.
I did get to see her groom's face as he first
saw her in her dress.

The rest of the wedding,
was spent outside with the twins.
Again I was not alone.
Several other mothers were there too.
We took our shoes off and enjoyed
the beautiful sunset.
The children played, there was peace.

We allowed the twin who we are only allowing
to have his pacifier at night time to have his
pacifier practically the whole trip.
We know we will have fun dealing with that when
we get home, but for this trip it was
a life line to peace.

Visiting with relatives when you have small
children to watch can be difficult.
The only relatives we got to visit with
was ones who came into our environment.
By that I mean, coming and standing with us
as we watched the children play.
We could not sit and visit.
Sitting, what is that?
Would I change anything?
Absolutely not.

Traveling with small children:
Giving a little, allowing a little
and expecting little.
Many blessings.

Traveling With Small Children

We got back late Sunday from traveling
to the North Carolina/Virginia border
for a wedding.
Our niece got married to her longtime
boyfriend of 11 years.

Rehearsal dinner was at their farm.
Starting time 7:30 pm.
This time is perfect for catching the beautiful sunset.

But, can be challenging for those with small children.
Especially those who have children
with bed times at 7pm.

So, what do you do?
Well, you make the most of the situation.
You give a little, you allow a little,
you expect little.
Children whose sleep patterns are interrupted
will react.

My children averaged 6 1/2 hours less sleep each day
on our trip.
That and they are sleeping in a strange environment.
There were many parents of small children
at the wedding, so we were not alone.
How do I think my children did?
Considering we drove over 1200 miles,
ate a lot on the go, no naps,
pretty good.

Summer Heat

How is your Summer going?
Ours is hot, hot, hot.
Mornings spent in the back yard or at the park
or even a beach trip.
School time mid day during the hottest hours.
Late afternoons, at the pool.
No one is having troubles with sleep.
Snores abound.

5K Run

My friend and I ran a 5K June 13th at 8pm.
We ran while our husbands sat at a restaurant on the river
enjoying themselves.
Yes, we ran for the pies,
but received none.

We are not speedsters.
We run for the love of running.
We are runners.

The Perfect Run

The wind at your back,
the sun in front of you, and
your friend by your side.

unknown author

Innocent

Not me Mommy.
I am your blue eyed angel.
The other twin makes me.

Just remember that.
It is always his fault.
I am always the one smiling and giggling.

Yes, you are right, my angel.
As long as we don't break your routine,
are not around crowds,
and we have not caught you pulling down blinds.
Also, why is it you we find in the other
twins bed, turning the monitor off,
clicking every light switch on,
wall climbing the kitchen cabinets,
and playing in the toilet?
All the while the other twin
is sleeping.

We love you all the same, but
don't think we don't know.
Our little blue eyed angel.

Our Year One Has Begun

We started year one last week, gently.
How did it go?
A little challenging for my oldest.
Phonics, math, copy work, and free readings,
there was no change.
Narration.
This was our challenge.
Narration was a new concept for my son
and frankly for me too.
We struggled.
I tried reading a paragraph at a time.
This did not help
especially with the more difficult readings.
But, reading two or three sentences at a time
did.
This made for slow going.
We did not get through all the readings of the week.
We will try to catch up this week.

Did my son enjoy the readings?
Yes and no.
Doing the narrations seemed to frustrate him.
The stories do not read smoothly
due to the frequent pausing with doing the narrations.
The dots did not connect for him.
So, to try to eliminate his frustration,
I read the readings through without
stopping so he could hear the story flow.
This was done after narrating completed.
Dots connected then.

What of retention?
I wondered about this, but Sunday
my son asked questions about some of the readings.
I smiled as I answered.
Dots connecting.

Today is the first day of week two.
Starting gently,
that is us.

Simply Legos

I could only smile as I walked down the stairs.


I think we need to purchase some more Legos.
What do you think?
But, the truth is this is only half.

I bet I find a some Legos over the next few days
with my feet, ouch.