Car Seat Confusion

Apparently as of 4/6/09 the State of Ohio is changing their car seat law. The new law, as I'm reading it states that children under 8, AND under 80 lbs, AND under 4 feet 9 inches need to be in a booster seat. I have 2 kids. Both have been out of car seats. One for 4 years, and the other for over a year. One is about to be 9 years old, but does not weigh 80lbs and is not 4 feet 9. (My Mom incidentally is just over 4 feet 9- so how will this effect adults???). My other child is 6 and doesn't meet the other criteria. SO...as law abiding citizens what do we do??? Naturally, we got rid of the car seats with the exception of one that we keep for my friends 2 year old. So now what???
I'm actually on hold with the pediatrician at the moment scheduling a well check and they don't even know what to say about it. I'm thinking this would be a good use of the grandfather law thing. I think safety is important. My kids have to wear seat belts, but with the new law it looks like I'll be shopping again for car seats.


Pediatrician is going to call me back...they aren't sure either and agree that with the height requirement what will happen to adults not the right height. Guess we'll see what they say too.

They really should have a gage!

Kids really should come with a gage. It could say "full" when they are babies and you aren't sure if they have gotten enough to eat, and "sick take to Dr", if they need antibiotics, or "sick, but they'll make it" when it's just a cold or something.
Today we're in the "sick, but really didn't need to go to the Dr mode". Of course I know that because we went to the Dr. Zach woke up not feeling good again today. He's said that off and on this week, and I've told him each time that since he doesn't have a fever I think he can make it. But today was different. He didn't feel well and when he climbed in bed with me this morning he slept for 45 more minutes. Not a normal thing. He felt warm, looked tired and said his throat and head and stomach hurt. Which for those of you who don't know is classic strep signs, even without the sore throat. So...what to do as he had 3 tests at school today.
Now I know it could be that he wanted to avoid the tests, but he felt ready for them so I was pretty sure that wasn't it. Called the dr, got him a 10:30 appointment, then called his teacher who understanding the situation asked if he could come and take his tests first thing in the morning. So that is what we did. Of course then we headed to the dr who says he has a very stuffy nose and probably due to the weather is feeling the other symptoms but it is not strep. Now, I don't really want my kids on antibiotics unless they need them, but as a Mom trying to determine if they should go to school or not I'd rather hear it is strep so we know what we are dealing with. Thus the reason...kids really need gages!

Snow Fun

A picture from this past weekend. It was cold there, but not as cold and snowy as it is here!




Another cold wintery day here. Kids were thrilled not to have to go to school. All in all the day was pretty fun. If you can count laundry, and studying for test with your kids fun. We did get a chance to play out in the snow and even spent some time playing board games tonight. It is nice to have a stay at home day every so often. Now if we could prevent the fights over who had more popcorn and who was annoying who I would have been all set. Guess there is always tomorrow for that.

Being a Hockey Fan in Ohio Stinks!

Ok,it's not being a hockey fan that stinks, it's being a fan of hockey when the state thinks everyone wants to watch the Cavs. There are other sports people! The least the Center Ice people could do is see that the game is not on because of the Cavs and add it back into the play list. Oh, well. Guess we'll have to listne to it on internet radio instead. GO WINGS!

Home

It's has certainly been a long weekend. Good, bad. It's been both. The hockey tournament went pretty well. The boys played hard, we kept onsides for the most part, played some pretty good positions, and worked together. The North Toronto team they faced on Saturday afternoon was just tough. They scored 6 goals that we were not able to answer. Our goalie played really well the entire tournament, and it was heart breaking to watch him after the third game. He kept the team from goals in the first two games, and made us all proud in the third game keeping out other shots that could have turned into goals.
The tournament itself was well run, for the most part but the rink SUCKED! It was old, and beyond smelly. In fact we dressed at the end of the stands for the last game as the locker room smelled horrid. We all know locker rooms can smell bad, but this was even worse then normal.
Having lost the third game we headed into Canada to see the Falls and then back home. It was a long weekend, and now I'm fighting a cold which is oh so much fun. Oh, well...back to life and being home. The laundry is stacked up. Guess that's the theme for today.

Holy Moly!

To quote Mickey Redman...Holy Moly! We came to Niagara Falls this weekend for a hockey tournament. We came planning on playing Canadian teams, and sure that it was going to be really tough. They get more ice time, they have more practices, it only seemed logical after we lost all of our games at last weekends tournament. But BOY were we WRONG!
The first game we were in our defensive zone for a solid 3 minutes, unable to clear the puck. Then they got it out and look out the goals started. They weren't easy, they had to fight for most of them and really play strong. Just the same the team scored 4 unanswered goals. We won the game, and moved on to the second game.
Again, thinking this is going to be tough. And it really was. Again, the boys played hard. Zach got a shot at a break away, made his way down the ice and took the shot. It hit the goalie in the pads and rebounded right to him. Then he shot it top shelf and Bam we were up 1-0. We won the game with that score and now we are waiting for tomorrow's game to see if we will be staying in Niagara until the Championship game on Sunday.
WOW! Way to go boys!

Hockey Weekend

Another hockey weekend is just around the corner. Last weekends tourny was fun, the boys played pretty well. They got bunched up a few times, but really that was the only thing that seemed to go wrong. They barely went off sides, they kept up with the other teams decently, even the team that had beat them 11-3 the previous weekend.
Not a bad showing, although disappointing that we didn't win any of the games. More so perhaps for the kids that were on the team last year that won that particular tourny. Regardless, we talked on the way home about being proud of your effort as a team. And they did work as a team.
This weekend we're headed to NY. Another tourny on the horizon, and this time with mainly Canadian Teams. I certainly am not saying that our kids can't do it. I know they will work hard and play as a team, and have fun. Those things are important. But when you hear it's Canadian Teams you just kind of pause. Mainly because ice time is easier to get in Canada, to the tune of most days having practice. In the States we're lucky if we get practice once a week. So, we'll see. Will the boys enjoy the weekend? You bet! Will they be even more excited if they win after last weekend? You bet! Will they still have fun and learn more about hockey if they don't win? Absolutely.
Let's Go Mustangs! It's time for a Hockey Trip!
15 kids
4 hours of driving
3 games
sheets of open ice...how does Master Card put it...Priceless!

The Dog is Freaked Out

We have a wonderful, black lab, named B'Elanna. She is a good dog, with the exception of her being a bit emotional. Phil left for Florida on Saturday and ever since she has followed me around the house, going in bathrooms, and the laundry room where typically she would not go. (she isn't a fan of tile floor). She's also sat by the front door waiting for the kids to let her out when they are trying to get out to the bus in the morning. Now I don't know if it's her age this time, she's almost 12, or the fact that Phil is gone, or the fact that it is cold...today only 7 degrees at the moment. I do know it's not like her. On top of it today she has not eaten her breakfast yet. She didn't eat yesterdays until I was home around 1:30. So, I guess we'll see if she is ok after he gets back. At least he can be happy that someone in the house really missed him!

A New Presidency

I havent' had a chance to see any coverage on the inaugaration of President Obama today, but I did ask the kids if they were able to see any of it at school. Both confirmed that they did watch it. I'm glad they had the chance to witness that part of the Presidency. It is important. I pray that what they remember is that the President placed his hand on a bible and swore to uphold the law of the country and to serve well in the Presidency.
My kids know that I did not vote for Obama, and they know the reasons I chose not to. But they also know that this is who the country picked and that our job now is to pray for the President and respect his position. We might not always agree with his decisions, but we still need to respect the role he plays.
May God bless this country as it moves forward in 2009.

Mom of the year!?

Trying out for the role these last couple of days. With Phil out of town, we've done movie night and sleepover night twice in my room. Tonight, it's back to their own rooms so we can all get a good nights sleep before school starts up tomorrow. Today, I became an even bigger hero when I gave our son his birthday present 3 weeks early! We had decided together that we would get him a DS for his birthday and with an upcoming road trip scheduled this week we figured it was a good time for him to get it and make sure it works before we head out on the road trip. So far it seems to be working. I can't wait for the fight when I ask him to clean it up for the evening. Oh, well...it's a part of the parenting thing.

Focus

Wow! It is day 2 of no school due to extreme temps. Although, our -12 is not near as bad as my friends -20 yesterday. Just the same, the kids are home and now watching Tom and Jerry. We're having a pretty good day, built a cool magnetic sculpture, and the kids are getting along for the most part.
The biggest problem is staying focused on getting other things done. UGH! I don't know if it's just the other noise in the house or the fact that it's freezing out. I just can't seem to focus on anything today. The pile of stuff to get done is growing, but it's just not getting done. Oh, well. With that in mind it's off to the mess of a room upstairs to try and get a little bit more done .

PJ kind of Day!

Kiddos are home today, it's a balmy 5 degrees out. Apparently, only our district and one other close by closed, while most remained open. The kids are happy in their pjs which is fine, but the several projects we've started now through out the house are starting to get under my skin.
I was already in the midst of cleaning Z's room, still working on that actually. Now toys are strewn along the family room floor, just in case they want to play with that again later. There's a clay puck drying in my craft room, a butterfly half painted and various other things. Fun, fun fun! Oh, well. Time to work on Z's room for an hour then it will be time to play a board game or two. Might as well enjoy the time.

Overstuffed?!

Have you ever noticed as Americans we are simply "overstuffed"! Not just in the weight aspect, although as a Nation we are that too. But just in terms of stuff. I spent last week going through my daughters "stuff" and weeding things out. I ended up giving 2 garbage bags of things away, things that she could maybe still use but certainly doesn't need. I'm starting my sons room today. But even looking around my office, I have an entire mug of pens, a stack of magazines, as well as other stuff.

Perhaps this is the year to become less about "stuff", from weight to items in the house it's time to trim back and get rid of it. We don't really need it and we can't take it with us when we go, so why keep dusting it off? With that in mind it's time to head upstairs with the three boxes...keep, throw out, and get it out of my house!

Wish me luck.

Dealing with Difficult People

Started a Bible Study today called the Peace Maker. We're also going through the book by Max Lucdao called Dealing with Difficult People. While that may sound like I think I'm perfect and the others are the problem that is not the case. Regardless, in one session I've already realized a very valuable tip. We all have people we'd rather not deal with. Sometimes we are those people to someone else. The first step is trying to see them the way God does. Do we do that? Or do we see them as annoying, bothersome, whiny, etc, etc, etc. If we can see them as someone with value, and look at them lovingly then we can move towards getting along. It's not always easy, we'll make mistakes, but just that stopping and thinking about them as someone with value may just help alleviate some of the mistakes we may make.
Just this morning I know I really needed to stop and see value in my kids, where I was only seeing whining and fighting. They both need to be heard, did I take the time to really listen, or was I too focused on getting out of the house for them to go to school and me to head off to my class. SLOW DOWN, look at the situation, love the people and then deal with the situation. We all make mistakes, we are all imperfect. Now, to apply it and move on.

Schedule Change

As we cling to our planners, blackberrys or other ways to control our schedule I hope we remember what's really important. I guess today is a good example of that. I started the day with my list of what I wanted to get accomplished. I still had it running in my head when my son said he didn't feel good. I know that with the furnace on so much a sore throat is not neccessarily a sign of being really sick so I encouraged him to go to school. Shortly after coming home from the grocery store I got the call.
It's easy to know it's the school as we only get the last 4 digits sent on our caller id. Sure enough he was not feeling good and I needed to go get him. So, do I get mad and throw my arms up and give up for the day. NO! Instead, I say a pray of thanks that I'm able to go get him, without much of a problem and bring him home to rest. True, I won't get everything I was planning to get done finished today, but I will show him that Mom is there for him, and hopefully get him better so he can go to school tomorrow. Afterall, that really is why I'm home during the day anyway.

Spellingcity.com check it out!

As a Mom I'm always looking for ways to help my kids with learning. Spelling is typically practiced at our house on the way to and from hockey practice, gymnastics and church activities. (I strongly suggest if you are on the go a lot to copy the kids lists and keep them in the car, or near where you keep your car keys for grab and go practice.) We've found that to be a quick way to practice most of the time.

Unfortunatly, reciting the spelling for words is not always fun. Luckily, http://www.spellingcity.com/index.php has found a way to make it a bit more fun. The site is FREE! Which is a nice benefit. I started an account in under 2 minutes. The hardest part was picking a name and a password I'd remember, in case my computer forgets to remember it for me. Then when my kids bring home their lists I simply type the words in for them and save them under my childs name and the date of the test. Ex. Zach 1/9 for this weeks list. When we do have time in the evening they can go on and play games that help them to not only practice spelling the words but also learning what they mean. At the end of the week, the night before the test, we log on to the site and they can take a test to see if they've learned the words. I still suggest having them handwrite a practice test too, as it helps to remember what it felt like to write it down. Handwriting a test is also neccessary when the child has to write their words in cursive.

The test function on the site is also good when you first enter the list just to see what words the child really needs to work on during the week. This is a great educational site, and safe to send them to for playing a game. Which as parents we need to be so careful about. Thanks spellingcity.com, you've made one area of study a bit easier.

Brrrr!

We finally got snow! Of course with it, came the 19 degree mornings. Once inside it's fine, but waiting for the bus is not much fun. The kids were freezing too, even though they were quite bundled up. I'm hoping it either warms up a ton, or the school keeps them in for recess. I guess we'll just wait and see.
The kids were thrilled to play in the little bit of snow we had last night, but even more excited that I said they could probably play in it again this afternoon after school. Hopefully, they'll forget that they want me to play in it with them.
It's not that I don't want to play with them, it's more a matter of not having snow clothes to be out there running around in. Oh, well we'll see what happens.

Working Out

For Christmas I received the Wii Fitness Coach Program, and it's actually pretty good. I was thinking I would like the Jillian Wii Fit program, but then thought it might be to difficult to start with. I'm glad I got the program I did. It's interesting as it has been a different workout each day this week. That's kind of nice as the same ones lose my interest quickly. Each day focuses on a different area, and the "fitness coach" helps you to set goals and a routine. So far I'm 3 for 3 of my 5 days this week. I actually feel pretty good about it too, which is helpful.
It's funny how we think we are still in shape until we start a program. I'm quickly seeing that I've been less stressed and more relaxed since starting it, and also have felt more like eating better too. (Although last night I NEEDED a Pepsi!).
With the kids back in school I'm trying to get back into a routine. I'm hoping it will be a long term one.

Messy Bedrooms

Why is it that no matter how you train your kids to pick up after themselves they still end up with messy bedrooms? I'm sure some of it is due to us not standing there and watching them clean up their rooms, and some of it is just in the nature of playing with things. The crazy thing is it's not a toy issue. It's books, and shoes, and lip gloss and earrings! The hardest part is I remember clearly keeping my room a mess when I was a kid, and since Zach's room is my old room it's sometimes hard to get after him about it. So, I guess I just have to live with it, or work with both kids to pick up the mess. Getting rid of half of their things would help too. Something I'm secretly working on each day while they are at school! I suppose that sounds heartless but truthfully they would never know if things went missing, as I'm only getting rid of clothes and toys that they never wear or play with. Hope I get done before June 11th!

Starting Fresh

I wonder how many people are starting fresh today. Back to school, back to work, back to getting things done. I feel like it has been an amzingly productive day. Of course, it helps that the sun that doesn't shine often between November and May is shining today.
I've been able to exercise, get household chores done, go grocery shopping and even work on piled up paperwork on my desk. It's great! Now if I could figure out a way to do all that when the kids are on break next it would be even more amazing. For now I'll just try to keep up with the plan of getting things done.
Good luck to anyone else who started fresh today!

Happy New Year! 2009

Another year has come and gone, and I find myself of course reflecting on what that means. Goals are being set, whether out loud or internally. Some of them are that this year I will:
complain less
eat less
weigh less
stress less
read more
pray more
sleep more
learn more
spend time with family and friends more
exercise more
drink water more!

So far, off to a fairly good start and it's only 10 am. I've read, prayed, slept, family is already over and I walked on the treadmill. Now if the pace can keep up it will be a great year! Good luck with all your goals.
Happy new year!