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Do you like to be outdoors?
Do you like to use technology?
Would you like to find hidden boxes?
Then you would LOVE our new hobby!!
We have been introduced to geocaching. It "is a high-tech treasure hunting game played throughout the world by adventure seekers equipped with GPS devices. The basic idea is to locate hidden containers, called geocaches, outdoors and then share your experiences online. Geocaching is enjoyed by people from all age groups, with a strong sense of community and support for the environment."
How did we get into this, you ask?
Well, I was watching Dinosaur Train on PBS with Little Man one morning, and they directed me to their website. I went to the site for something else, and noticed something about Geocaching on the site. Having heard a little about geocaching before, I clicked on the link and noticed there was a box located at a park we go to all the time.
A few weeks passed before we got to the park. When we got there I had completely forgotten about geocaching. We were walking on the trail around the park when I remembered about the box. Having a smart phone comes in handy sometimes! I pulled up the website, then the coordinates. I punched them into my GPS application on my phone, and we went straight to the box area. After a little hunting in the wrong direction, I turned around and spotted it!
Do you see it?
I was so excited! I brought the box out of the tree line so Stephen and Little Man could open it with me. When we opened it, there was a paper explaining what it was in case you found it on accident. There was a log book to sign, and several small trinkets.
We signed the log and let Little Man pick out a trinket.
He took the puzzle cube and we left a green light that was on my key chain. We were hooked!! I got home and logged our find online and started looking for more in our area.
In the next few days we found many more. Some are hidden out in the open, some are cleverly hidden. We found one hanging in a tree, one in a hole in a tree, several on the ground, one way up on top of a hill.
They are hidden in all different types of containers. One was a travel soap container, one was an Altoids tin, several were like Tupperware containers, and several were ammo boxes.
They all contain different things. Some have just a log, some have logs and trinkets. Some contain travel bugs which are small trackable things. I had a travel bug in my hand that came from the Netherlands, and one that came from Washington state. You pick them up, log that you have it, then see where it is headed. You then find a cache closer to its final destination, and place it in that cache for someone else to help it on its way. One cache we found yesterday had a picture album in it for you to put your picture in it when you found it.
So far, we have found 12 (there are over 1.2 million hidden). It is quickly becoming a favorite hobby.
Check it out at geocaching.com
We were headed out tonight to go to Wal-Mart for a few items we needed. As we drove past a busy intersection, I heard Little Man from his car seat scream "MAMA... Stop the car!! I need to ride tennis wheel!!!"
I looked around and saw what he was talking about. A street carnival was set up in the abandoned parking lot. He saw a Ferris wheel.
Back-story: when we were in Florida in June, he saw one he wanted to ride. A nasty storm came thru so we didn’t get to ride it then. I told him that when he saw another one, to tell Mama to stop the car and we would go ride it. He has been reminding me a lot that he wanted to ride a "tennis" wheel.
We stopped the car and got out. I noticed I didn’t have shoes for the kiddos in the car, but figured it would be no biggie. Little Man was going to ride in the cart at the store, so I didn’t bring them. We went and bought our tickets, then got in line for the Ferris wheel. When it was our turn, we were told that to ride, Little Man had to have shoes on.
Well... Crap.
But wait! There was a thrift store in the same parking lot, so we quickly dashed in and bought some shoes for Little Man
and Little Miracle (just in case)
Once they had their shoes on, we went back to the Ferris wheel.
Little Man LOVED it!! He was looking around and pointing out the full moon, all the rides, and even the McDonalds.
Little Miracle enjoyed it too. He was looking at all the lights!
After we got off the Ferris wheel, we went to the giant slide. Mama got to ride this with Little Man. He took the middle, and I took the side. I held onto his hand because I knew we would go down at different rates, and we did! At the end, he was in my lane, but he was just laughing as loud as he could!
We then headed to the bumper cars. Daddy got to take Little Man on these. I don’t know who had more fun, Daddy or Little Man.
Mommy fail though. I was yelling at Little Man to put his hands in the air and right as he did, Daddy hit a car in front of him and Little Man smashed his nose into the bar! He was fine, but held his nose the rest of the ride!
The last ride we did was the Tilt-A-Whirl. Little Man and Mommy did this one. I was yelling "wheeeee" the whole time and at one point, I heard Little Man yelling it too.
It was a great ending to a stressful day. Little Man finally got to ride his "tennis wheel"
Tune in tomorrow for Thankful Thursday. We made the card today but could not thank this person untill tomorrow.
Thankful Thursday is BACK! Come join me and say “thanks!” to people in your life!
Today we decided (ok, Little Man BEGGED and begged) to go to Monkey Joes. If you have no idea what that is, think lots of inflatable bounce houses indoors. It is really fun, and Little Man loves it. He asks at least once a week to go to “Jumping Joes”
We colored our card today and even put stickers on it. When we got to Monkey Joes, one of our favorite employees was working the front counter, so we gave her the card. She LOVED it. She read it and then gave Little Man a hug. I think we made her day!
Are you teaching your kids to say thank you?
I am one of those Mamas.
Ya know?
The ones that nurse their babies past 6 months. Past 12 months.
The ones that would struggle but be so determined (read, stubborn) to make nursing work.
The ones that rear-faces past 20 lbs and 12 months.
The ones that wear their baby. Or their toddler. Or both.
The ones that question the mainstream way most of the time.
The ones that share their bed with their babies.
The ones that can not stand to hear their babies cry.
The ones that thinks crying-it-out sleep training is cruel.
The ones that uses cloth diapers even when everyone thought they were crazy for doing so.
The ones that let their kid play in the dirt, get all muddy and play in the rain.
The ones that makes all their babies food from fresh veggies and fruits and does not start feeding them solids till past 6 months.
The ones that when the child falls down, tells the child to “get back up, brush it off, and go play!”
The ones that plan to home school, but have not even started to look into what they are going to do.
The ones that are in no rush to start schooling.
The ones that will go upstairs 15 times to re-tuck the toddler back into bed.
The ones that give their toddler chocolate milk before bed.
The ones that will do anything to be able to stay home with their babies.
The ones that let their toddler eat brownies for breakfast. Just not every day.
The ones that does not get dressed unless they are leaving the house. And even then, they don't getting all fancy.
The ones that love to tell their birth stories. Little Mans birth made me a mother, but Little Miracles defined me as a woman.
The ones that forgets to blog for a long time then has so much on their mind they can’t get it all out!
The ones that could, if given the time, sit on the couch all day long and not move.
The ones that can not go a day without putting their hair in a ponytail.
The ones that go back and read old blog posts and notice all the grammatical errors, but don’t bother to fix them.
What kind of Mama are you?
My Little Miracle is 9 months old!! Just over 9 months ago I was shocked and surprised to have an unassisted homebirth.
I tell people that if he had been my first child, he would have been my last. He is very difficult, needy, fussy. But I love him just the same.
He loves to be held, loves to nurse, still loves to be swaddled.
He gets his feelings hurt easily. Loud noises make him cry.
He loves it when Daddy sings to him.
He loves to play with his older brothers toys. (To which, I always hear Little Man saying “no, MINE!”)
He puts everything in his mouth. He hates squash and avocados.
He would prefer breast milk over solids.
He flirts with the best of ‘em. The ladies love him.
He is very serious, and likes to study people and things.
He rarely laughs, but when he does, it is infectious.
He is my Little Miracle.
My heart is overflowing tonight. Every few months or so I look at my Little Man and I think “This age is my FAVORITE!” I am doing it again.
He will be 3 a month from tomorrow. I don’t believe it. No, I don’t want to believe it.
Just last week he was that 7 lb tiny baby placed into my arms after a hell of a lot of work pushing him out. Now he is an independent, loving, funny, outgoing, shall I say, little man.
The things this kid says make my heart melt. He always says “I do it myself” with the emphasis on “myself”. He makes himself proud. He makes his mama even prouder. (Is that even a word?) He always says “peas” and “tank you” and even says “yes ma’am” and “no ma’am”, even to Daddy. Hey, he is learning.
About a month ago, I was awoken by Little Miracle. He sleeps in our bed. (I love it. Don’t knock it till you try it. And always practice SAFE co-sleeping) I was snuggling with him and nursing him back to sleep when I thought I heard noises coming from Little Mans room. Once Little Miracle was back asleep, I went to Little Mans room. I laid down at his door to peek under and see if he was playing or sleeping. As soon as I got my head on the floor, I hear from the other side of the door “Hi Mama!!” in a “hey, Mamas here and I get to play” tone of voice. Mind you, this was 3 am. I got off the floor, and opened his door. It took a few books, and a talking to him that we don’t get up until the sun gets up, to get him back in bed.
Last week I went to get him out of his bed to get ready to go to church. I had already gotten dressed and I chose to wear a blue dress I bought at Old Navy that has flowers on the bottom. I snuck into his room, and sat on the side of his bed. I rubbed his back, which woke him up. He sat up with a smile, and said “Mommy wearing flowers. Mommy a princess.”
He loves to ride his bike outside. Just tonight he learned how to actually pedal the thing. Been telling him to use the pedals for months now, but he didn’t want to. He does everything on his own time, just like he has from the day he was born.
He is almost 3, but he will always be my Little Man.
We parked next to this Corvette today. Little Man was impressed.
Boys and their toys...
Yup. We have gone there! I always said I would wait until Little Man was ready before we attempted to potty train him. I would ask him if he wanted to potty train, and he would say "YES!!!" thinking it was a train. I thought he was ready a few weeks ago, as he went all day in the potty, but the next day he was asking for his diapers back. He would hold it all day when naked and as soon as he got his diaper on he would be soaked.
This week he woke up from his nap dry twice. The second day I told him when he got up that if he peed in the potty, we would go to Monkey Joes. I totally did not expect his next move. He walked over to the potty and went! So we packed up the car and went off to Monkey Joes.
That night I decided he was ready. I had tried M&Ms before and they did not work. I figured we would try a reward chart. He is still obsessed with trains, so I made him a "Potty TRAINing" chart. His stickers he gets for using the potty makes the train tracks, and when the track is built, we will go to Monkey Joes.
This worked like a charm! The first day he had 9 pees and 2 poops, with only one accident. That first accident was the only one he has had while at home. He went straight to big boy underwear (even at naps! hes in pull ups at night)even when not home, so we have had a few accidents when out. He refuses to use the big potty. He will sit on it, but we have not been successful with getting him to actually use them. We will get there soon!
We are on the 4th full day now, and he has not looked back. I think this may actually be it! He is VERY proud of his Thomas The Train (don't get me started... I can't stand the show, but he loves it) Underwear (that he picked out himself!) and his "Potty TRAINing" chart.
In other news, Little Miracle is sitting up, and rocking on hands and knees! He is getting TOO BIG!! He started solids a month or so ago and LOVES them too.
Our local mall has a train that runs around inside it. Every time we go to the mall, Little Man HAS to ride the train. He LOVES that train. We ride it so often, we became friends with the main conductor, Conductor Bob.
Imagine our happiness when the mall announced that every other Wednesday is "Story Time With Conductor Bob"! Needless to say, Little Man was excited!
The first one was this last Wednesday. We woke up and got dressed. The whole time we were getting dressed Little Man was talking about the train. "We go to mall ride train Bob" he says. I was telling him that today, Conductor Bob was going to read him a story! Oh- Little Man LOVES his books, so that made his day!
We got to the mall a little early so Little Man could play on the indoor playground they have there. When story time was about to start, we headed over to the train.
We picked a good spot on the floor to sit, and waited for the story to begin. Conductor Bob read "The Little Engine That Could" (one of Little Mans favorite books!)
After the book was read, there were activities for the kids to do. The art project was sand art. Little Man had never done this before, and he likes to throw sand in the sand box (even thought I tell him no several times, and take him away from the sand box) so I was kinda nervous.
I showed him how to get the sand out of the container with the spoon and pour it into the elephant necklace that he picked out. He was instantly a pro! He picked all the colors and poured all the sand.
After our art project was complete, we went and spun the prize wheel. Little Man picked out a toy car. We then went to, of course, ride the train!
We had SO much fun with Story Time! I can't wait to see what the next one will bring!
I had EVERY intention of doing Thankful Thursday on time this week!! We made this card on Monday, and I just forgot to post! So here it is!
Little Miracle had a well check this week, and Little Man was sick a few weeks back, so we have been seeing a lot of our pediatrician lately. We decided to say Thank You to him for keeping Little Miracle well, and for making Little Man feel better when he is sick.
We have THE BEST pediatrician. He doesn't question my decisions to delay some vaccines, he actually has his own schedule of ones he thinks are important, and we talked it over and decided on the best schedule for my kids! He doesn't push solids early, doesn't push formula (I have NEVER been offered formula with this pediatrician, Little Mans pediatrician offered me formula at EVERY appointment..."It would be so much easier to just give him formula" when I was having problems nursing... but that is another post for another day!), and actually supports extended rear-facing. They are great at not pushing antibiotics unless they are truly needed and basically just lets the parent be the parent! I love them.
The main doctor we see there goes out of his way to make both kids feel welcome. It was an appointment for Little Miracle, but he read a book to Little Man when he came in. He always has stickers or little toys to make the kids feel better, and the waiting room has trains EVERYWHERE (even one that goes around the ceiling). Needless to say, Little Man never wants to leave!
Little Miracle even helped!
Our pediatrician was very grateful for the card. Little Man basically threw it at him, but he caught it, and talked to Little Man about his card for a few minutes. He was impressed at Little Mans artwork.
Are you teaching your kids to say Thank You?
Little Man was just getting up from taking a "quiet time" on the floor while we are on vacation. Stephen put Little Miracle down on the floor for a second also. Little Man figured Little Miracle needed a "quiet time... aka nap" also. So he proceeded to tuck him in with his blanket, then he brought over his pillow and dog. Lastly his "choc milk" cup. Now Little Miracle was set to take a nap! Too bad it didn't work!
We are on vacation!! Having a great time in (usually, but not right now) sunny Florida! We come to Florida every year.
Today we decided to do a little shopping. We went to the super Target across from our timeshare and then to one of the billion souvenir shops. Then we went down the street to a clothing store that we visit every year. On the way back, there was road construction that had traffic stopped for miles. I pulled off trying to find a back road back to our condo (but someone took the GPS out of my car). Little Miracle was hungry too, so I decided to just stop and feed him. I pulled into a gas station, and into a parking spot that was near a mechanic shop. Stephen got Little Miracle out of his car seat and handed him to me in the drivers seat, and I proceeded to nurse him. A few seconds later, a man knocked on the passenger door. My mom who was sitting there rolled down the window and the man asked if we could move the car because he needed to put a car that was being towed in that spot. I jumped out and let Stephen move the car (easier than putting Little Miracle back into the car seat still hungry!). Stephen moved the car near the gas pumps. I walked over and got back in the car, while still nursing. Another minute later, a different man knocked on the window. This time the driver window. I was wearing a spaghetti strap dress so was not very discreet, but I was in the car so I did not think anyone would be seeing me! The man that knocked noticed what I was doing right after he knocked and jumped back to the passenger door, kinda unsure what to do. I rolled down the window, and he asked me to move the car again, because we were blocking the gas pumps (we were blocking one... but there was 4 of them that were still open). I told him I would move the car in a minute, when the baby was done. He said OK and moved on. I don't think he expected to see a mom nursing in the car when he set out to make us move.
Little Miracle finished nursing and I handed him back to Stephen to go back to his car seat and moved the car. It was quite an adventure. I had pulled out of the traffic to feed Little Miracle very quickly and not be noticed while doing so, and ended up being noticed and asked to move the car twice in 10 minutes! We did finally get back in the traffic and an hour after we started heading home, we made it back, just before the rain came.
