Tag Archives: quality time

First Day of School, Not Here in Our House Though.

Today was the first day of school for most kids in Las Vegas.  Both parents and kids were full of excitement and maybe just a little bit of anxiety this morning.  Alarm clocks buzzing, lunch bags and backpacks getting double checked so that nothing is forgotten, new shoes laced, tied, and double tied for plenty of playground fun, and we can’t forget about those first day photos getting posted to Instagram, Facebook , Twitter, and texted to grandparents.

But none of that happened here in our house.  The kids and I slept in until 8:30am.  My husband and I enjoyed a big breakfast and coffee out on the patio while the kids ran around in their bathing suits splashing in the rain and the kiddy pool water slide.  Now Jackson is napping, Marley is watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, hubby working in the garage, and I’m cranking out this blog.

Why isn’t Marley starting school today?  Well…here’s what I told my next door neighbor when she asked me this morning.

Marley is still only three, and not turning four until November.  This means she won’t be starting Kindergarten until fall of 2015 because of the age cut off here in Nevada.  As a stay at home mom, I don’t think it is necessary to send her to two years of preschool.  We spend a few hours each day working on preschool activities, and also incorporate learning into everything we do; from trips to the grocery store, gardening in the backyard, or strolls through the park.  I run a neighborhood mommy meet up group so the kids get plenty of socialization.  My husband’s work schedule gives him quite a bit of time home, making it easy for us to go camping, hiking, to museums, visit local orchards and farms, and take countless road trips exposing the kids to hands on learning opportunities like our upcoming trip to the Astronomy Festival at Great Basin National Park.  We are even giving a little bit of thought about homeschooling our kids completely.

I go back and forth on homeschooling.  There are so many pros and cons  to consider.  As a blind parent I will definitely have a few more challenges with home schooling than a sighted parent.  I can’t read handwriting, so I will have a tough time teaching my kids how to write.  I am not very tech savvy, and a lot of the curriculum comes from online sources, including PDF format which aren’t screen reader friendly.  However, homeschooling would mean we would have more control over our children’s education.  Nevada has one of the worst public school systems in the nation.  We can continue to incorporate learning in our frequent family trips.  We won’t need to worry about things like bullying, unhealthy school lunches, transportation, etc.  Like I said, so many pros and cons.

So for the next two years, at least until I need to make a decision about Kindergarten, my kids will be getting their education here at home.  I’ll talk to more parents who have chosen to homeschool and do the research so that we can make the best decision for our family.  For the next two years we won’t need to worry about alarm clocks on Monday morning delegating the start of another week.  I am going to suck up every moment of our family quality time.  Whether those moments may be adorable, annoying, or aggravating, they’ll be gone before I no it.

My Oh My, How July Flew By

I can hardly believe that it is already August.  What happened to July.  It’s as if I blinked and the entire month flew by.  It seems like only yesterday we were in June, and I was still preparing for the kids’ first flights.  Well folks, I am sincerely sorry that I’ve neglected my blog.  Here’s a little recap of the last few weeks.

We spent the first 9 days of July in Georgia visiting my brother and his family.  He is currently stationed at Ft. Stuart (about 30 minutes from Savannah).  We flew into Atlanta, and visited the Georgia Aquarium, Centennial Olympic Park, and Stone Mountain Park.  We spent an afternoon at Jeckyll Island, a driftwood beach at the southern tip of Georgia.  We spent the 4th of July at Ft. Stuart at an outdoor concert featuring Mario and Martina McBride, followed by an incredible 30 minute long fireworks show.  We celebrated my niece Raelynn’s 5th birthday.  We walked about 50 blocks and marveled at the beauty of historic Savannah.  And did a little bit of exploring in the swamps and parks of Southern Georgia.  All and all, out of everything we did, the best was just spending time with the family and watching the kids play.

After returning from vacation, I decided it was finally time to get serious about potty training Marley.   I went with the Potty Training Bootcamp Method.  This method is supposed to be a sure fire way to potty train.  This is where you say farewell to the outside world for 4 days and forego diapers completely, except for naps and at night.   It’s messy, frustrating, and took longer than just 4 days (it was more like 2 weeks), but I am happy to say that Marley is officially potty trained!

Hmm….now let me see….what else happened in July.

Ahh yes, Aaron and I had a nice evening out with friends at the Cosmopolitan.  We rarely ever get to go out without the kids.  Without any family in town, and the cost of babysitters, the last time we’d had alone was in May when we celebrated our anniversary.  However, I learned a very important lesson that night.  Drinking coffee and wine all day, and barely eating is NOT a good combination.  I found myself on the kitchen floor after passing out while fixing Jackson a bottle in the middle of the night with Jackson on top of me.  Luckily, Aaron woke up when he heard me hit the floor.  And we’re even luckier that Jackson landed on me and not the kitchen floor.  Jackson and I were both ok, and I am now making a conscious effort about staying hydrated.

The rest of the month is a blur of mommy meet ups.  We stay at home moms find all sorts of ways to keep busy.  From ice cream socials, park play dates, brunch and coffee play dates, local fire station tour, purse parties, jewelry parties, all while chasing our little ones around.  We somehow got lucky enough to get the chance to desert the kiddos with daddy and have a deliciously delightful mom’s night out.

What I enjoyed most about July was all of the family time we made happen.  Even though we were busy, we were really proactive in spending quality time as a family.  Most days were ended with a nice 3 mile stroll.  We took the kids out for a family date night which consisted of pizza and live music at the District at Green Valley Ranch in Henderson, where Marley got to shake her booty.  We spent lots of evenings out back enjoying our almost completed backyard.  And we took the family up to Mt. Charleston for Jackson’s first camping trip.  Sadly, Jackson didn’t like camping as much as we’d hoped he would.  Let’s just blame it on his 5th tooth coming in.

Farewell July.  You came and went and left me with many warm memories.