Hello friends:

My apologies for not blogging as much this summer as I did last year. There are a few reasons for this, but the biggest is that I'm trying to take things as they come and not plan as much as I did previously. This, combined with my older daughter becoming more teenage-like by the minute (and therefore wanting to do more on her own) combined with me having to work more this summer has cramped my blog so far.

A few updates: K (my 6 year old daughter) is now the proud owner of her own betta fish. She has been asking for 'a pet of her very own' for some time now, so this seemed like a good option. We have an elderly cat, but she belongs to everyone (and mom does all of the care and feeding for her). As we drove past That Fish Place one day, K announced that she'd like a fish. I realized that she had enough allowance saved up to get one, and we could resurrect our old fish tank from the garage. "Mr. Blue", our betta, seems to be happy in his new home. K is delighted and has been very serious about his care. I hope that will last!

We continue to work on piano, but are not as diligent as we should be. J gets frustrated easily because she wants it to be perfect right away. She's so like her mother (sigh). But she will still go to the piano and noodle on it. K enjoys it and continues to amaze me with how well she grasps it and remembers things, even with the irregularity of our sessions. We are using Jon Schmidt's "67 Fun Songs" and "67 Fun Songs Primer", which can be found at www.jonschmidt.com. The books tout that a parent can teach a child themselves for about a year without experience. I'm finding that's a mostly true statement, although I think knowing how to read music already has given me an upper hand, and allowed me to modify a few things to suit us. I do like that the songs really are fun and have interesting harmonizations that you want to play.

Finally, today K and I went to see "Judy Moody and the Not Bummer Summer". It was showing at Colonial Park Mall for only $2 a ticket in the afternoon (check out www.funtimecinemas.com for locations in York, Lancaster, and Harrisburg). A lady in front of us paid for 2 adults, 4 kids, and popcorn for the kids, and still only paid $33! These theaters tend to show movies that have been out for several months, so there aren't any new releases. If you're like us, this hardly matters since we don't seem to get to the theater for opening weeks anyway. And you surely can't beat those prices!

The movie centers on Megan MacDonald's book character, Judy Moody, who is determined to have an exciting summer. She creates a race between her friends to score points for every exciting thing that they do. Unfortunately for Judy, none of her 'fun' plans seem to work out, but in the end, Judy realizes that fun is where you find it. Not a bad message to remember this summer for all of us.

So--even if you haven't rode the tallest rollercoaster, traveled to Borneo, ridden an elephant, or joined the circus this summer, don't worry. The time you spend with your kids is the best adventure for everyone, and the one all of you will cherish.

Take care--keep making those memories!

Summertime gives us the opportunity to work on a few practical skills. These are things that hopefully get our girls to be a bit more independent and take care of the house with us, instead of household chores being a constant battle.

First, our kids get allowance for doing chores. They also do some chores just becaue they live here and it's part of being a family. They understand which chores need to be completed for money and that incomplete or poorly done chores result in a lower amount of money in their allowance. We also insist that part of the allowance be put in their savings account. To be honest, they are both really good at taking care of their chores and it is very rare that I need to take part of their allowance away for not completing their work. We are working on saving the other portion of allowance for things they want to buy themselves. J knows that her spending money is used to go to movies, small shopping trips, the school book orders, and entrance to school dances. Both girls save money to buy Christmas presents for the family. This system has saved me countless headaches and coming up with last minute cash. I highly recommend it. We hope to be able to gradually increase allowance as they age. Ultimately, by the time they are seniors in high school, I'd like them to have to save for their clothes and pay for their own dance lessons. We'll see how that works out. If you're interested in finding out more, I recommend Dave Ramsey's "Financial Peace Jr.", a kit which contains items to help kids understand how money works, prepare to save, etc. You can find it at www.daveramsey.com. While I don't follow his system to the letter, most of what I mentioned here is in his system. I admit, I'm a big fan of him and his ideas, and have read his "The Total Money Makeover" book, which I highly recommend for adults. It's the only personal finance book I've ever read cover to cover AND understood AND put into action.

Other skills--K learned to work the TV remote control. This doesn't sound like much, but consider how complicated those things are now! Plus, we have separate remotes for the TV and the satellite box, so there is some sophistication needed to understand this system. She's handled it well and now does not have to get me out of bed in the mornings for this. I've also had her start getting her own breakfast on the weekends, so that I can sleep in. It's just cereal and milk (I put the milk in a creamer pitcher so it's easier for her to pour) but it gets me a few extra minutes of sleep--a real sanity saver, in my life.

J learned to iron and how to hand wash a car. I taught her to iron since she already does a load of her own laundry as part of her regular chores. This just seemed like the next logical step! She now can iron her own things weekly as needed. We all washed my car as a family. J actually said that she could take that item off her bucket list!!! Clearly, we need to get this child out more!!! I think it helped that it was so hot we didn't mind when my husband 'accidentally' squirted us all with the hose!

Sometimes I think parents love their children so much that they want to do everything for them. Really, if we want our kids to be great adults, we need to let them do things for themselves, in a gradual and age-appropriate way. Don't be afraid to let them do things around the house and learn to function without your constant supervision. You'll be glad you did!

Both my kids LOVE crafts of any kind. We even have a box of random stuff known as the craft box at our house, which is used to construct random things. Basically the craft box is the dumping ground for any leftovers from previous craft projects, so there's a real variety of stuff in there.

A few craft things that were popular here last week:

Make your own T-shirt: K got a kit as a birthday present from a friend. This one was a Disney one with Tinkerbell on it. Basically, you colored the design with crayons, including a special glitter crayon for Tink's wings. You could then iron the T to make the colors permanent. After washing, it still looks pretty good! The directions also say that you can re-color and iron the shirt if the colors start to fade. You could do your own with a plain T-shirt and fabric markers, which are available at most craft stores.

We also have an overabundance of fusion beads. For the uninitiated, these are tiny tubular plastic beads in different colors. You put the bead on a form with little spikes (not sharp) to hold the beads, and then you can iron them to get them to stick together. You use parchment paper over top of the beads while you iron them so they don't stick to the iron. These darn things will occupy my kids for HOURS. If you're careful about the design, they would make cute Christmas ornaments/gifts for family. Maybe if I'm really organized (ha ha ha) I will have them create a few as gifts for the grandparents.

During a recent trip to see my mother-in-law, she taught my oldest to embroider. My MIL both embroiders and makes quilts by hand. I was surprised that J wanted to learn this, but she actually picked it up very quickly and does a great job! She is planning to make designs for a friend for a gift in the future. She's already completed a small elephant design. I was seriously impressed--this is something that I just don't have the patience for. I hope she decides to continue with it. It was also nice that my MIL was able to pass along this to J.

So get crafty people! Ask a grandparent or relative to show a skill to your kids that you may lack. The results are always beautiful.

We're back from a trip to the Outer Banks in North Carolina. Our whole family enjoyed spending time at the beach and our vacation home's private pool. We shared the home with my sister and her family and my mother and step-father. A good time was had by all!

On the road, we kept track of how many license plates from different states we saw. J really got into this as the trip went along, and then watched for them during our stay in OBX, even when we weren't on the road. We managed to see 39 states (inlcuding the District of Columbia) and 2 Canadian provinces! I was surprised at how many we saw. We even got some of the most difficult plates to spot--Alaksa and Hawaii! As we saw the different slogans on plates, we talked about what they meant. For example, Ohio's plate says "Birthplace of Aviation" because it's the home of Wilbur and Orville Wright. North Carolina's plate says "First in Flight" because that's where the actual flight took place (not far from where we stayed). J was unimpressed by the fact that the original flight lasted only 12 seconds. Ah, 12 year olds--so jaded when all they've ever known is boatloads of technology.

Since we were near Roanake, we also talked about the Lost Colony. This was something J studied in school in 5th grade, so I had to jog her memory a bit, but it came back to her eventually. If you're near the OBX, you can visit the theater production "The Lost Colony" which tells the story. www.thelostcolony.org. We did this several years ago, and it's a very good production.

On our way home, we stopped at the National Museum of the Marine Corps (www.marineheritage.org) in Quantico, VA. My husband is a former Marine, and he's wanted to visit the museum since it opened. I will admit that we did not spend near the amount of time there we would have liked and that a place like this deserves. This was due to 2 hungry kids who are female and really not all that interested in Marines, guns, and airplanes. But if you have a boy (of any age!) in your life who is into this stuff, this is the place for you.

The museum is really beautiful. The outside is sort of a slanted pyramid shape, which is the shape of the Iwo Jima memorial in Washington DC. The exhibits are laid out in a chronological order, starting with the Revolutionary War and going through present day. I learned that the Marines are called "Leathernecks" because of the thick leather collar on their original uniforms, which protected them from sabres. There's also a neat exhibit that takes you through Marine Corps basic training. You can spot the problems in a recruit's dress uniform, lift a backpack, get hollered at by a drill instructor on a recording, and try your hand at a mock firing range (admission to the museum itself is free, but there was a nominal charge to do the firing range activity).

Obviously, there's a lot of war material here, but my 6 year old wasn't phased by any of it. Granted, she is a bit young to understand everything yet, but the museum displays are effective but not overly graphic. There is even a table staffed by volunteers where kids can draw pictures of their favorite Marine, or just do a patriotic drawing. Several of their works were hung on display in this area. We hope to return someday when we have a bit more time to really take in the displays and get to the ones that we missed this time around. Now my husband is running around the house saying, "ooh rah!" and other Marine sayings. This trip surely brought out his inner jarhead (military speak for Marines).

Hope all you LancMoms are enjoying your summer and spending great times with your families! Thanks for reading!

K and I attended a unique storytime at the E-town library today: Alpaca storytime! We were outside in the small courtyard next to the library. The librarian read us a story about an alpaca who travels from Michigan to Peru to visit her grandparents, and then we were introduced to the guests of honor: 2 alpacas from Eastland Alpacas in Mount Joy. www.EastlandAlpacas.com

We learned several interesting alpaca facts. They are related to camels and llamas. The only have 2 toes on each foot and need to have their toenails trimmed regularly when living in the pasture. All domestic alpacas are microchipped. They are not for riding, because they cannot carry more than 30% of their body weight. Alpacas only have lower teeth, which need to be filed back occaisionally. They are kept for their fleece, which is used to make yarn for sweaters, socks, and other garments. They are quite gentle and shy creatures, and prefer to live in herds. They come in 20+ natural colors too!

The highlight of the storytime was of course getting to pet the alpacas at the end. I was impressed that K wanted to do this, since she tends to shy away from most dogs, and alpacas are larger than dogs. But she went right up to them and pet them repeatedly. We loved how soft they felt!

You can visit Eastland Alpacas, but please call the farm and make an appointment. They have an open house in November as well: you can feed the alpacas, lead them with their harnesses, and spend lots of quality time with them. Check out more information at their website! And don't forget to check out all of the great programs sponsored by your local library!

Saturday was K's 6th birthday party. This was the first year we threw her a party for her and her friends. We chose to celebrate at our local bowling alley, Clearview Lanes in Mount Joy.

I will admit, I am a horrible bowler (I'm much better on the Wii than I am in real life), but our whole family enjoys going. It's a nice diversion and fairly inexpensive. It can be even less expensive for your kids this summer--check out www.kidsbowlfree.com. You can sign your child up to bowl two free games each day of the summer (you pay for shoes and your own games if you choose to play). There's also an option to purchase a family pass that allows all older family members to bowl for $24.95.

This was a great option for a birthday party, and the price was very reasonable. There are also different prices for parties depending on the food you want and the amount of guests you have. We chose the least expensive option, which allowed for drinks, bowling, and shoes for all participants. We brought our own cupcakes. We had 6 kids total, including our own. All seemed to have a very good time and each kid managed at least one spare during the party. We did have the bumpers up for our lane (these prevent the ball from bowling in the gutter).

Clearview Lanes also offers different family events during the year, including bowling on New Year's Eve. We did this one year, and enjoyed it. We got to decorate our lane for a contest, entered to win door prizes, and the girls liked the glow in the dark bowling. We counted down to 5PM instead of midnight, which made a whole lot more sense for us. My husband and I usually don't stay up that late, even on holidays!

So consider bowling this summer, and check out how to get your kids to bowl for free!

Whew! We made it to the summer. My girls weren't finished with school until June 13 and 14 (kindergarten lets out a day earlier than the older kids). It seemed like a long haul this year, probably because of all the snow days we had to make up at the end. It's a relief to have everyone finished for the summer.

Although we haven't been out and about much with school only finishing this week, we have book recommendations and comments to give!

K has checked out "Lucille" by Arnold Lobel repeatedly from our library. Lobel also wrote the Frog and Toad books, which she also likes and I find particularly charming. In Lucille, the main character is a horse named Lucille who is tired of pulling the farmer's plow. The farmer's wife decides to clean her up and take her to town to buy a fancy hat, beautiful red shoes, and a lovely white dress. Lucille then meets all of the farmer's wife's lady friends. Of course, she ends up knocking them over, spilling tea, and ripping her dress. Lucille decides in the end, it's better to be a horse. She even eats the hat for dessert! K likes this story because the pictures are cute, and what little kid can resist the idea of a horse dressed up in high heels?

J read the favorite coming of age book, "Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret" by Judy Blume. As a kid, I devoured everything Judy Blume wrote. J seemed to identify with some of the troubles Margaret has, including how her friend Nancy treats her. This is something she's been struggling with at school herself--who is really your friend and who isn't. It's been a hard lesson for me to watch her learn sometimes, yet I know it's an important one. I often say to her, "You are who you hang around with in middle school". She's really taken it to heart.

Yes, "Are You There. . . " also deals with girls experiencing puberty, and Margaret's own search for a religious identity. I remember very clearly when I read the book that some of my friends' mothers couldn't believe that my mother allowed me to read it. I couldn't understand why they were so upset (and frankly, neither could my mom). Um, all of this 'growing up' stuff was going to happen to everyone eventually, right? But if this is something that you feel your child isn't ready for, you should skip this book or wait until they are old enough to handle it. I recommend ages 10-13 for this one.

J also read the Internet Girls series by Lauren Myracle (TTFN, TTYL, L8r, G8r). Myracle is sort of a Judy Blume for this generation, writing about tweens and teens in a meaningful way to them. I will admit, I have not read these. J was a bit shocked by some of the content--they deal with a set of friends in high school, and there are incidents of drinking, smoking pot, and sex. We talked about all of these things after she read the book. J did say that all of the characters in the book do have to face the consequences of their actions, good and bad, which she thought was a good thing. What makes the book attractive to teens is that they are written entirely in 'text speak', like you were listening in on someone's IM conversations. We also talked about IM and what would and would not be appropriate for IM conversations in real life. Again, these books are geared toward teenagers, so if your child is younger, you may find them unacceptable certain ages.

Am I sorry I let her read these books? No, although I admit to having a moment of panic when I realized what was in the Lauren Myracle books. But I reminded myself that I read books like this at the same age. My mom was there to answer questions that I had, and J knows that I will do the same for her. Hey LancMoms, I know it's a constant challenge to keep up with what kids read, watch on TV, and browse on the Internet these days. There are certainly issues that our moms never had to deal with. If you need some guidance, I like www.commonsensemedia.org, a site that reviews all kinds of media and gives recommended ages. Keep reading and talking to your kids!

Next time, bowling and storytime with alpacas--yes, really!

Well, it's that time of the year again, folks! School will be over for my girls on June 14 and we will run headfirst into summer (although today's heat feels like it ran headfirst into me!) For those of you who are new to this blog this summer, I write about cheap, sometimes educational, and hopefully fun activities I do with my 2 girls, ages 12 and almost 6 during the summertime.

J, my 12 year old, is finishing 6th grade. This will complete her first year in middle school. Overall, she's had a very good experience, for which I'm very thankful. She's involved in school band, chorus, and show choir. She also studies ballet and jazz dance. She's very into ballet right now, and drooling to get her pointe shoes (I am not drooling over the cost of the shoes and the associated foot problems, but I'll cross that bridge when I come to it). She enjoys reading and cooking, an important skill for her because she has a severe food allergy.

K is my soon to be 6 year old. She's finishing kindergarten, which is hard for me to believe. She will tease me by saying, "What's happening to your baby, mama?", something I say to her as I realize how quickly she is growing. She also takes ballet class and will be in her first dance recital this weekend! She loves arts and crafts, coloring, reading books, playing outside, and family games. She is a true 'girly' girl: her favorite colors are pink and purple, and she wants to be a ballerina when she grows up.

I almost hesitate to blog about our plans for the summer, because I know that we won't get to do some of the things I list. I certainly don't want to disappoint anyone out there! Nevertheless, here's the list: learn to play the piano with Jon Schmidt, book reviews and regular trips to the library, cooking lots of peanut free recipies, bowling, re-painting J's room (since Hannah Montana is passe for this age), crafts at Lancaster Creative Reuse, Wii game reviews, summer dance classes, picking strawberries, gaining financial peace for kids, and more. We'll also try to keep our school skills with math and science current.

If you have any suggestions for us, please leave me a comment or a message on LancMoms! I would love to hear from readers about suggestions, successes and disappointments in their summer activities. I try to keep the activities as inexpensive as possible, with a few splurges here and there. Hey, everyone's on a tight budget these days--we're certainly no exception to that.

One of the things I learned from last summer's experiences is to not try to plan too much. Sometimes the spontaneous things are even better than the big plans. So relax and enjoy the time with your kids--I'm sure your babies are growing as fast as mine are. We hope to see some of you on our adventures this summer!

Our family has been running its own marathon, it seems, with endless homework, school and church activities.  I think it's finally starting to catch up with all of us, especially J.  Although we've talked many times about how middle school is more demanding and the need to be more organized, she is starting to live that message.  Yesterday (Sunday), she informed me that she couldn't find her school library book and forgot to remind me that the Scholastic book order was due Friday.  She also got a low score on a science quiz, although she told me everyone in the class did poorly on the quiz.  As someone who likes to have total control, it's been hard for me to let go and let her make some of these mistakes.  I told her I hadn't seen her library book in the house and that she would have to miss out on this month's Scholastic order.  We tried to cover science better last night, in preparation for another test today.  Still, I know that if it were completely up to me, I would do things so differently.  I guess it's one of the worst parts of parenting--letting your kids fail so that they will learn how to handle situations better in the future.  Let's hope J figures this one out soon, so Mom has a lot less gray hair!  How do you let your kids handle these situations?  Any advice for getting her to step up and be more responsible? 

PS--My husband completed the Hershey Half Marathon yesterday.  This is part of his training to run the full Marine Corps Marathon at the end of the month.  He finished the half marathon (13.1 miles) in just under 2 hours.  He was quite pleased with his time and we were very proud of him.  It's quite invigorating to see the runners finish the race, and know how hard they work to train for these races.  Incidentally, the full marathon will be his 2nd marathon.  He ran the Marine Corps Marathon for the first time four years ago as a sort of "I'm turning 40 and want to cross this off my bucket list" thing.  Marathoners are a fun but strange breed--these people actually ENJOY running 26.2 miles at a time!  So the training will contine for Oct. 31--another update will follow!

Just a quick post to let everyone know that no, we have not fallen off the face of the Earth!  We have just been incredibly busy.  We are in full swing, and I'm happy to report that so far J and K absolutely love their schools.  The transition has been a breeze, for which I am incredibly thankful.  Also, the "Mom's Taxi" (Dad's too, for that matter) has been re-installed on my car as we drive to dance classes, band practices and religious education.  I was sincerely grateful for this past weekend, which had no major commitments. 

Next weekend, my husband runs the Hershey Half Marathon, which is a part of his training for the full Marine Corps Marathon on Oct. 31.  He has run the marathon before, but this time is running for Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's "Team in Training".  His web page is listed here:  http://pages.teamintraining.org/cpa/corps10/sbarraclou  He's the one in the back row with the yellow shirt.  If you're so inclined to give a donation, please do so.  ANY amount is welcome.  Thanks for considering this.

I'll put in a report after the half and full marathons, as well as special school events as they come up.  Thanks again for reading.  I hope your school year got off to a good start. 

Dear Gamma 6th grade team teachers and Mrs. S--

Here's what my kids did on their summer vacation:

1.  Picked strawberries

2. Cooked dinners together

3. Learned the age of a fallen tree

4.  Identified bugs in our backyard

5. Learned how to KenKen (math puzzles)

6. Visited the fish at That Fish Place

7. Created pictures with Tangrams

8. Talked to the animals at Lake Tobias

9. Enjoyed produce from our garden

10. Read great books

11. Went Bananagrams

12. Made Origami

13. Visited the hallowed ground at Gettysburg

14. Created art

15. Made our own ball and cup game

16. Completed crossword puzzles

17. Practiced math skills

18. Laughed along with the Popcorn Hat Players

19. Became certified expert pretzel makers at Sturgis Pretzels in Lititz

20. Enjoyed the unique science of the Mythbusters

21.  Smelled the roses at Hershey Gardens

I hope my daughters learned some things this summer.  I know what I learned:  that I was just happy to be doing things with them, and I stopped being so concerned with what they were learning and focused more on the experience we were having TOGETHER.  I've become a believer in providing experiences over providing things for my children.  I hope that's something they will pass on to their own kids someday.  I hope you got to have some fun experiences with your family this summer too. 

Both of my girls are looking forward to their new school experiences this year (6th grade and kindergarten)  I know they are a little bit nervous and excited both.  Know that their dad and I will be standing behind them, supporting them, and cheering them every step of the way.  We hope you enjoy getting to know them. 

Sincerely,

J and K's mom

PS for the readers:  This isn't the end of my blog--I plan to add entries on our families activities and experiences as things come up.  Although I can't promise that the entries will be as frequent, but I hope to keep them up as I'm able.  Coming up in our lives--my husband is running a half and a full marathon in October!  Thanks so much for reading and I hope everyone has a terrific start to school.

For our last trip of the summer, J, K, my mother  and I went to the Hershey Gardens, located near the Hotel Hershey.   www.hersheygardens.org.  J was there when she was younger, but this was K's first time visiting. 

The gardens were created by Mr. Hershey in 1937 after being asked to sponsor a national rosarium in Washington D.C.  Mr. Hershey decided to build his own botanical garden so that the public could come and enjoy it.  Since its inception, the garden has grown to a 23 acre garden, including an Italian Rose Garden, a Japanese garden, an arboretum, and the children's garden.

My girls both enjoy the children's garden, especially the butterfly house.  The butterfly house is an enclosed space with plants and tons of butterflies!  Sometimes they will even land on you.  You sometimes have to watch where you are walking so you don't step on any.  You can also see different chrysalises and cocoons and even some recently hatched butterflies.  K enjoyed carrying around the butterfly guide given to visitors which helped us identify the different butterflies.  The butterfly house is only open until September 12 this year, so hurry in to see them!  Their other favorite is the gigantic Hershey Kiss sculptures that squirt water at random times!

The children's garden also features an alphabet garden, with a plant representing each letter of the alphabet, a sundial that uses your own shadow to create the time, a place to learn fractions using a chocolate bar relief in the concrete (why wasn't learning fractions like that in school?), a bird blind with the perfect tree for kids to climb, and other fun things.  My kids both just love being outside, so even when we were finished in the children's garden, they enjoyed smelling the roses in the Italian garden and just looking at all the different flowers and trees.  J even recalled some things she had learned about the different trees from her nature walks at summer camp. 

Right now, there is also a display called "For the Birds" which runs until September 26.  It's a neat display of over 20 different birdhouses, many made with recycled materials.  They range in look from all natural materials to eclectic (a caboose, one covered in seashells, one carved as an bearded man with a hat).  Visitors are given a ballot at the entrance to the gardens and you can vote for your favorite!  We all enjoyed this, and took our time choosing our favorites.  We finished our day by having a picnic lunch at the tables located just outside the garden entrance. 

I think some folks will wonder if their kids will enjoy anything outside of the children's garden, but mine really did.  If you have outdoorsy kids, they will really enjoy this experience.

School starts Monday!  Although I won't be contributing as much to the blog then, but I plan a "wrap-up" entry for the summer.  Consider it something of a "what we did on our summer vacation" essay.  Thanks for reading!

It's the week before school starts for everyone at our house, which means a lot less time for our activities and blogging.  Back to school means not only shopping for clothes and school supplies for our daughters, but also for my husband and myself.  Teachers need the same things, especially when both of the teachers in this house recently lost weight and have no clothing that fits properly.  Our budget is just about busted, but hey, we look good!

I can tell it's back to school time because the ambient level of bickering in our house has intensified this week.  I know that this is actually a good thing, because both girls are ready for a change of scene.  Mom staying sane while putting up with it is another story.

K and I have a book recommendation:  Kindergarten Rocks by Katie Davis.  It's a cute tale of a boy who is a little nervous about the first day of kindergarten.  Luckily he has a big sister to explain things to him, reminding him that "Kindergarten Rocks!"  He eventually relaxes and has a good day, until he temporarily loses his favorite stuffed dog, Rufus.  Rufus is eventually located in the block area of the room, and Dex realizes that from now on Rufus needs to stay at home.  In the end, he is excited to return for more kindergarten fun.  Having the stuffed dog stay home was a good lesson for K:  she has carted a toy Woody Woodpecker around since birth, and we are constantly reminding her that Woody will need to stay at home.  I think she gets it now, and has been more willing to leave Woody at home or in the car when running errands. 

Today we also made our own ball and cup game using plastic cups, masking tape, string, and plastic knives.  You can find an instructional video at www.FlowCircus.com/srp2010.  I found this site in a roundabout way--our library was giving out free bookmarks, which had this site listed on them.  It's an extremely simple craft and time occupying toy all in one!  It doesn't get any better than this, folks.  If you want more fun, you can also make your own juggling balls, or go to www.fundama.com for more easy to make skill toys.  K got easily frustrated by the game, but I think will come around on it.  J was into it, but also needed a fair amount of practice before having repeated success.  Apparently, this game exists in some form in just about every part of the globe.  You can find out about more history at the Fundama site as well. 

PS--speaking of the library, our lovely state government has once again cut funding to public libraries.  Our library made the news since they are being asked to stay open this week (after planning to be closed the entire week) despite the fact that they are not being funded to do so.  Please, please, please contact Governor Rendell, your state senator and representative, and local government officials and let them know that our public libraries are vitally important to our children and our community members. 

On Thursday, we're scheduled for a trip to the Hershey Gardens, which will likely be our last blog activity for the summer.  Hope you are enjoying your remaining days of summer fun.  Thanks for reading.

J and I have become big fans of the LancMoms Family Crosswords puzzles.  We do them together when they show up on our doorstep, and are getting pretty handy at them, if we do say so ourselves.  I wish it came out more often!  Hint, hint Lancaster Newspapers. 

The crossword is just the right balance of thinking for adults and kids who are in 4th grade or higher.  I try to fill in as many of the adult clues first, and then let J do the kid clues.  Whatever is left open we figure out together.  This initially was met with some eye rolling and mild complaining, but now when she sees the crossword, she actually gets pretty excited about it. 

By the way, we are slowly improving with math skills through practice.  The first worksheet was troublesome, but I knew that more practice would allow for improvment, and I was right.  Sometimes moms ARE actually right.  Shocking, I know.  We're going to keep up the sheets and practice in the hopes that we'll be that much more prepared for the looming 6th grade. 

So, a shorter entry for today.  More to come next week.  Thanks for reading!

The answer to the title question of this entry?  Practice, practice, practice.  The idea of repetition begetting success has hit home here recently, and I'm reminded of the old joke in the title.

Since school is now only weeks away, I'm trying (emphasis on that word!) to get the girls slightly more focused on activities they will do in school.  This is coming in more worksheet like form.  K got sheets on circling letters in a poem and putting together puzzles, both of which she handled with no problems.  J actually asked for a worksheet on long division.  I printed one out after I picked myself up from shock.  I also printed one on fractions.  She did the fraction one last night, with a great deal of frustration.  Again, many of the mistakes were just silly errors, and a result of being out of practice with these skills.  She is such a perfectionist--her perfectionist mother wonders where that must come from. 

We'll attempt the long division page tonight, but with a reminder for her about needing to practice.  I think this will hit home if I tie it in to her clarinet.  She recently received her band tryout piece in the mail and again, had some frustration initially with the challenges of the piece.  Last night, she noticed that sections of the music improved because of her practicing.  I plan to make the same correlation with her math problems.

This is one of the problems I've seen in schools lately.  Teachers have a lot of material to cover for the standardized testing, but little time to allow students to practice those skills.  Unfortnately, the students who take longer to master some skills are the ones who end up suffering.  I'm sure there are plenty of teachers out there who are frustrated by this as well.  I wish there was an easy solution.  I know that not all students have parents who will have the time, energy, patience, and education to give their kids extra time to practice their skills, be it in reading, math, or music.  What happens to those kids?  I don't know, and I worry about them. 

In the meantime, we'll keep practicing.  I'm reminded of a saying I heard once about a stonecutter knowing that the stone doesn't break because of the 1000th blow, but because of all of the blows that came before that one.  Practicing is like that too.  Results will come, and sometimes when you least expect it.

Since we live in Western Lancaster County, we are almost halfway between Harrisburg and Lancaster, and York.  We like having access to all of the different things that these cities have to offer.  One of our frequent pilgrimages is to Popcorn Hat Players in the Strawberry Square complex in downtown Harrisburg (www.gamutplays.org)

The Popcorn Hat theater has been performing wacky and wonderful shows for children and their families since 1993.  They also do productions for school assemblies, run a theater school, and as the Gamut Classic Theater, performs Shakespeare's plays and does free Shakespeare in the park performances in the summertime.  These folks could define versatile!

We've attended Popcorn Hat productions since J was 4 years old or so, and K has been there twice now.  We even had J's 6th birthday party there.  The plays are usually fairy tales, albeit the fractured variety.  We saw "The Princess and the Pea" on Thursday.  Every Popcorn Hat show is very informal.  Admission is $7 per person.  Most of the time, you sit on the floor.  Each show starts with the actors leading songs.  We did "Bill Grogan's Goat" and the ever popular and hilarious "Baby Shark" complete with motions.  (An aside to the 3 young mothers sitting next to us who sat through the songs talking to each other:  lighten up.  You're missing having fun with your child.  You'll never get this time back, so stop worrying about how cool you look.  No one cares here.)  The audience is always participating in Popcorn Hat shows, from singing along to actually acting on stage with the actors.  Once J was chosen to be a part of "The Golden Goose", and I've seen them choose kids to be thereindeer in "'Twas the Night Before Christmas."  All of the productions include humor that kids will get, and some that is just for the adults, kind of like it is on Sesame Street.  For example, at this production, the male contingent of the cast burst into "Halo" by Beyonce at one point during the show, as well as a brief clip of "Single Ladies".  I think I was laughing so hard I was crying at that point. 

After the show, there is a food court in Strawberry Square, and a really neat clock on the first floor that runs on gravity and billiard balls--seriously.  Both my kids could just spend hours watching it.  If you park in the Walnut Street garage, you can take the garage elevator to level A (Stawberry Arcade level) which leads you straight to the theater, Strawberry Square, and the Whitaker Center, without even going outside.  It's easy to make a day of it!

 For $7, you really can't beat the entertainment.  I've never seen a bad show there.  My mom often takes the grandchildren there as a special treat, and my kids request visits there frequently.  The place is a gem.  Families all over Central PA have discovered it--now it's your turn.  Be prepared to dance, sing, laugh, and completely love your Popcorn Hat experience.

When I was around 5 years old, a relative got me "My Book About Me" by Dr. Suess and Roy McKie (Random House).  I still have my copy, all filled in with my lousy but cute spelling.  My mom bought both of my girls their own copy when they reached the same age.

K got her copy this year for her birthday in June.  We had put it aside, and I forgot about it.  She rediscovered it within the last few days, and I knew we were going to have to start filling in all of those blanks.  Today we got started, but with limited success, I admit.

The book has kids answer many questions about themselves, their home, foods they like, their pets, and other topics.  We started with the questions about height, weight, hair, eye color, and tracing your hand.  Kids also get to trace their foot.  This is the part where we hit the wall.  K had a hard time tracing her foot herself, and was making the tracing too wide.  I wanted her to do a more precise job (go ahead, laugh) and told her she needed to listen better if we were going to continue.  Yes, I know how stupid I sound--I'm arguing with a 5 year old about tracing her foot on a piece of paper. 

I should now mention that both of my children have inheirited their parents' stubborn gene.  Honestly, I secretly admire this quality in them.  I hope that the stubborness will help them stand up for themselves and keep them strong in tough situations.  That being said, I could have done without it today.  I took the book and told K we would continue when she was ready to listen, and she could tell me when she was ready to start again.  I then got up to do other things.  The kid waited me out for a good 45 minutes--no kidding.  I could tell that part of the crankiness (oops, I mean fortitude) on her part was due to being tired.  I almost thought she would take a nap at one point, something she hasn't done in a long time.  Finally, she got up and went back to the book, and with some encouragement, asked to continue. 

We didn't finish filling in the whole book--it's 60 pages long, and I knew it wouldn't keep her attention that long.  She did like the part where we marched around the house counting windows, pictures, clocks, keyholes, and faucets.  This is also the way I discovered that she is still writing most of her numbers backwards, but I didn't correct it too much today.  That's for another day.

  I'm glad we were able to do some of the book without further tantrums from either of us.  I will try to remember that the backwards numbers will be fun to look back on some day, for both of us.  No, it wasn't a stellar parenting day, but nobody's perfect.   Thankfully, 5 year olds have short memories and are quick to forgive.  Not a bad example for the rest of us. 

Although I haven't read the book, "Eat, Pray, Love" or seen the movie, I think K could do her own version of this for the kindergarten set.  Every day, the two questions she asks me without fail are, "Where are we going today?" and "What are we having for dinner?"  Her entire life seems to revolve around food and travel.

Since my husband and J are at band camp this week (brings back fond memories for all you former bandies, right?), I needed to find some things for K and me to do together.  I also had errands to run.  My mom suggested taking her to Sturgis Pretzels in Lititz for the tour, which was a quick and nice diversion.

Sturgis Pretzel Bakery is located at 219 E. Main Street in the quaint downtown section of Lititz (www.juliussturgis.com).  Driving through this section, I wished downtown E-town looked like this.  I would love to come back just to shop the cute stores, but that's going to have to wait for a time when I can be without children and have no distractions.  The tour of the oldest pretzel factory in American costs $3 for adults and $2 for kids, a great bargain.  I was surprised how many folks were there for a Monday morning, and clearly many were tourists.  The tour allows each visitor to make their own pretzel out of playdough, view the brick ovens, see a pretzel twisting machine, and hear about the history of pretzel making in this country, as well as the origins of the pretzel itself.  As it turns out, pretzels originated in France, where they were given to children as a reward for learning their prayers.  The twist of the pretzel can represent folded hands or the binding of marriage.  The ones developed in France were soft, but Sturgis discovered that if you accidentally left them in the oven too long, they got hard and crunchy.  He liked this variation, and set off on his own to perfect it.  Now the Sturgis pretzels that you see in stores are made by Tom Sturgis, a descendant of Julius, the founder, in a plant near Reading. 

K and I both enjoyed twisting our own pretzels, even if we didn't get to bake and eat them.  We even got a pretzel twisting diploma for our efforts.  We also each got a small bag of pretzels at the end of the tour.  The tour is very short, probably only 15 minutes in duration, perfect for those with shorter attention spans.  They even have stools for little ones to reach the countertops where you make your pretzel.  There is a gift shop that sells merchandise as well as other pretzels, although we did not stop in. 

Then we had errands to attend to, including a stop at the pet shop.  This time it was PetSmart on the Fruitville Pike.  I'm always amazed at the amount of time we can kill in one of these places just looking at the different animals.  We saw lizards, turtles, snakes, guinea pigs, hamsters, rats, birds, cats, fish, and dogs being groomed as well as some lucky pups just walking with their owners in the store (all must be on leashes).  Finally, we stopped at Old Navy.  Psst moms:  kids jeans are on sale right now, starting at $10!  My advice--take your kid and have them try them on.  It astounds me that I can buy 3 pairs of the same size, style, and length jeans and they all fit differently.  The same goes for jeans for J, which is why I had to return a pair today. 

So squeeze in a trip to Sturgis next time you're in beautiful Lititz.  We're going to have to return, since I realized after the fact that we could have also gone to the Wilbur Chocolate museum, too!  How could I forget about Wilbur buds, seriously?  Ah, chocolate. . . the perfect reason for a another visit.   

After a few weeks off due to camp and our all too brief vacation, J returned to making dinner this week.  Tacos were on the menu last night.  She consulted one of my cookbooks for the idea, but we just used ground beef, a packet of taco seasoning, hard shells, and then added our own toppings, including shredded cheese.  J had never tried the hard shell tacos before this.  She always orders soft ones when we eat out, so this was new for her.  She liked them a lot.   They're so easy to make, something different, and everyone likes them!

J wanted me to read "Among the Hidden" by Margaret Peterson Haddix for some time now.  I had some time the last 2 days to finally read it.  J's 5th grade teacher read it to the class this past year, along with the second book in the series.  The book talks about a place where families are only allowed to have 2 children.  Luke, the main character, is a forbidden 3rd child in his family, so he is constantly in hiding in his own home.  As the land next to his farm is cleared to make way for a new housing development, Luke is forced to watch from the crack in the roof of the attic, where his bedroom is located.  Luke observes the construction and the families moving in, realizing that they are all much more well off than his own family.  The most important discovery Luke makes from his viewing spot is the existence of another "shadow child" like himself.  He creates a plan to meet her, and that's where the action in the book really takes off.  I won't reveal any more in the plot here, but I can highly recommend the book.  J was surprised to learn that there are places in the world where families are limited in the amount of children they may have (like China).  This is especially meaningful for our family since I have a sister who is adopted from China.  Since J hadn't discussed these things in her class, it really created another dimension for her to understand the situation there more fully.  You can learn more about the book, the series, and the author at www.haddixbooks.com

I feel like we are already counting the days until school will start and have already shopped for many school supplies.  Argh.  Where is the summer going?  Hope you are all enjoying the days as they fly by.

Thanks for reading!

Good news!  J had her first success with the KenKen puzzle I talked about in my last entry.  It did take a few tries and correcting some errors, but she did it.  She was really excited about getting it right, which was fun to see.  This was an easy puzzle, that only used numbers 1 through 5.  As the puzzles increase in the amount of numbers they use, the difficulty seems to increase.  We're going to try another one tomorrow.

I never expected to recommend a TV show as a part of our educational finds this summer, but I'm learning that education can happen in some unexpected places.  J has learned a few things, reviewed a few science concepts, and had many laughs while watching "Mythbusters" on Discovery Channel.  http://dsc.discovery.com/tv/mythbusters/  I wish this show had been around when I was in middle school!  The folks on the show test myths and scenarios you see on TV and movies to see if they actually work in real life.  Yes, they generally are exploding some object in at least one segment of the show, but that's part of the fun.  By the way, viewers are always warned to never try the experiments at home.  There was one exception to that rule--they tried to separate 2 phone books that had their pages interlaced (but not glued or taped in any way).  There are more examples of the phone book experiments on their website you can check out.  It's pretty amazing, and really fun. 

Safety is always considered--that's where their crash test dummy named "Buster" comes in.  The poor thing has been dropped, exploded, set on fire, shot, you name it.  In one episode, they had to actually create a new dummy because the old one was just worn out.  

I know that the experiments shown aren't really practical in any sense (mostly), but I think it is good to have some proof for kids that stuff shown in the movies and TV is not real, even if you say this all the time.  They also explain each experiement, what they are doing and why, and why the myth is busted or confirmed.  One word of warning--some of the experiements have to do with alcohol consumption, so you may need to prescreen the shows or material on the website for age appropriatness. 

So, educational moments can come from some unlikely places.  But anything that can get my kid interested in science and experiements and make it fun and entertaining has my vote.  More cooking to come in the next installment!

We've returned from a quick but relaxing (and much needed) trip to the beach.  The girls were 4 years younger on the last beach trip, which means K had just turned 1.  It's amazing to see how much they've grown and changed in that time.  We've taken a small break from the brain activities I've been so diligently providing this summer, although J had several beach questions that we're going to figure out, such as, "Why are some waves bigger than others?" and "What makes the tide go in and out?"  I also hope to have her do some more cooking later this week.  The beach did remind me of something, too.  In this society that preaches having the newest and latest gadget, I would much rather spend money on experiences instead of things.  The memories are much more worthwhile to me, and to the girls, I hope.  While I know that J is begging for her own cell phone this year, it's nice to just focus on the basics, like riding the waves, building sandcasters, seeing dolphins, and being together as a family. 

To return to the fun of learning in the summer--one of the math puzzles we're trying is called a KenKen puzzle.  I found these at http://www.education.com/worksheets/middle-school/.  There are several puzzles that are in .pdf form, so you can save them to your computer.  There is a range of difficulty in puzzles, and you can download the answers as well.  KenKen means "wisdom squared" in Japanese.  They are a combination of math and sudoku puzzles.  You need to figure out the computation and only use each number in each row and column once.  I think the first one I chose for J to do may have been too difficult, so we may have to back up to a really basic one.  I've also noticed that often she wants my support and guidance for math more, even though I know she knows how to do the problems (sometimes better than I do, depending on the computation!)  I'm embarrassed to admit that I had to do a lot more review for 5th grade math than I expected, and I'm sure 6th grade this year will not be an improvement for me!  Yikes.  I'll report back on our success later in the week.  I also think her need for support goes back to that logic thing I mentioned in earlier posts--she has difficulty following the reasoning of these kinds of things, so it's good practice for her.

K is working on tying shoelaces, which is a hit or miss skill for her right now.  Just to clear the air, we use the "two bunny ears" method.  Go ahead and laugh (my husband does), but that's how I learned.  I truly cannot do it the other way.  We're also making sure she knows our address well, although she has our phone number including the area code down pat.  Last week, she got the final round of immunizations needed to go to kindergarten, and I think she is actually starting to feel ready to go. 

Finally, a reader recommendation for more math practice:  www.ixl.com (see comments on my entry "A Taste of the Orient").  This mom used this site for her 6 and 9 year old children.  You can select your state and it will ask you problems that relate to your state's standards for testing.  You can do a limited amount of practice problems for free, and it does show you the correct answer when your answer is wrong.  The reader who suggested it says she pays $12/month for both children to use the site as registered members, which allows you more access to the features they provide.  I liked that they made the problems like a fast paced quiz show, which kept it interesting and challenging, but still fun. 

I'm already starting to see back to school signs in stores (for crying out loud, I even saw Halloween stuff at one place that will remain nameless!!)  Time is truly flying by for us this summer.  Have fun and keep learning.  Thanks for reading!

One of K's favorite Lancaster destinations is That Fish Place/That Pet Place, located on Centerville Pike (www.thatpetplace.com).  If you have a kid under the age of 12, you've probably made at least one excursion to this wonderful place.

Yes, it's a humongous pet store.  They have great supplies for all kinds of pets, and a great helpful staff.  If you are one of those families who can't keep a goldfish alive for more than 2 weeks, fear not--there is so much to see at That Fish Place, you don't even need to worry about having your own pet. 

The main entrance leads you in to the pet supply section of the store.  There is a large reptile area immediately to the right.  They have snakes, lizards, turtles, and frogs.  The last time we were there, they had just received a shipment of new snakes, so we watched one of the employees put the snakes into the cages.  The snakes come in pillowcase-like bags--we thought they were empty until we realized they were moving on the countertop!  Some of the reptiles and other animals are permanent residents of the store, with signs on their cages explaining why they came to the store (they got too large, the owner couldn't care for them properly, etc.)  It's a good lesson for all of us, reminding us caring for these creatures is a big responsibility and shouldn't be taken lightly. 

Next, we usually visit the small mammal room, where you can see rabbits, ferrets, mice, rats, hamsters, guinea pigs, and the resident chinchilla.  I had a guinea pig as a kid, so this room brings back fond memories for me (except for having to clean the cage--not my favorite chore).  Usually the ferrets are kept in a large baby play yard, and you can watch them playing or eating, which always amuses K. 

There is a small enclosure with different birds that are very pretty to watch, but noisy!  We also saw a room with cats from the humane society.  The cats and dogs at That Pet Place are all shelter animals that are available for adoption.  Good to see that they are fighting the puppy mill problem and helping to provide forever homes for shelter animals.  More information and adoption fees can be found on the website. 

Before you get to the entrance of That Fish Place, there is a tidal pool where you can reach in and touch anything, including the coral, rocks and skates (fish that look like small stingrays).  There are also regular shows at the tidal pool, where the staff will give you lots of information about the creatures in the tidal pool.  And finally, the fish room--literally row after row of aquarium tanks filled with every kind of fish you can imagine, fresh water and salt water varieties.  There is a new section that is devoted to outdoor ponds, where they sell plants and fish for your own little garden oasis.

K completely loves this place, and I'm sure many more trips are in our future.  Yes, it's a store, and you may have to put up with your child asking you to buy them a new best friend.  But just going to and seeing all the animals is really fun.  Hey, you can always give the goldfish another try. 

I admit it, I am not a math minded person.  I never have been.  Considering that I'm a musician, I've always felt a bit odd that I don't like math more.  After all, the music notation system is all based on fractions.  (My younger students just love it when I tell them that.)  I know that J likes math, but still has her struggles with it, and from what I observe, most of the struggles come from using logic. 

Fortunately, she does like puzzles.  We regularly complete the crossword puzzle in the LancMoms section of the newspaper when it shows up, and she likes Sudoku puzzles.  A few years ago, I acquired her a set of Tangrams.  Tangrams are a set of geometric pieces (five triangles, one square, and one rhomboid) that when placed together, can make certain shapes.  The object is to replicate shapes found in a book or online using all of the "tans" or pieces.  The figures can be random shapes or look like animals or people.  Some of them are REALLY challenging. 

It's a game you can do by yourself or with others.  You can time each other to see how long it takes to figure out the puzzle, or work together.  I found several websites about Tangrams, but this one has lots of free downloads of printables, software, and history of Tangrams, which came from China.  www.tangrams.ca. 

Although I haven't tried it with K, I'm sure even she would like Tangrams.  I know that she would just use the shapes to make her own creations, like she creates her own "words" with Bananagrams.  That's fine.  It's still stretching her mind without her even realizing it, which is my goal with all of these summer activities.

One other small revelation:  J said to me in the car today, "You know, mom, it's not good to be too obsessed with one thing.  If you are, you miss out on a lot of other new experiences."  Wow.  Maybe some days I do get this parent thing right after all.  I'm going to enjoy the moment while it lasts. 

Thanks for reading, and enjoy those little moments. 

I teach at a summer camp this week, so I haven't had as much time for blog entries.  My job this week coupled with J being away at camp means that K and Daddy get to spend some serious quality time together.  They kicked off their week together by going to Lake Tobias on Monday.  I don't have pictures available yet, but I'll try to post some later.

K is my animal lover (although sometimes she worships from a distance).  She is the member of the family who pays the most attention to our elderly cat.  She can identify more wild birds than her older sister and loves going to Zoo America at Hershey.  The last time we went to Lake Tobias she was still a baby in a stroller, but this time she was able to take in the action. 

Lake Tobias Wildlife Park is located in Halifax, PA (www.laketobias.com) and is a combination zoo, petting zoo, and safari tour.  There are animals in enclosures that you can walk around and see, as well as a petting zoo.  My husband said this was K's favorite part.  She was especially attached to a miniature horse in the petting zoo and returned to see it several times.  She was also highly amused by the goats in the petting area, which kept trying to eat Dad's shorts.  The highlight for Dad is always the safari tour.  Guests ride in a converted school bus--the top part of the bus is cut off, kind of like a convertible with a lot of seats.  The driver takes you through the fields, where you can see longhorn cattle, rhea birds, buffalo, elk, sheep and many other animals.  You can buy feed for the animals before the tour.  The driver stops the bus at certain areas and the animals will come right up to you!  The elk will literally climb the steps of the bus.  Dad knows this, so he always tries to sit in the front seat of the bus.  He reports that K nearly crawled under the seat when the elk showed up (hey, they are really huge, especially to a 5 year old!) but she really enjoyed it.  There is also a reptile house and special reptile show.

Admission to the part is $4 per person for ages 3 and up.  The safari tour is $5 per person (ages 3 and up), and the reptile building is $1 per person (ages 3 and up).  We had a buy one get one free coupon for the safari tour from an entertainment book.  There is a concession stand in the park as well.

We've visited Lake Tobias as a family several times in the past when J was young, and I'm sure this won't be our last trip there.  Getting so close the the animals is such a unique experience, one that's hard to duplicate elsewhere.  Lake Tobias is a family run business, and you definitely get the feeling that there is a lot of pride in the park about that.  It's a great place for families, and we all highly recommend a trip there. 

Another new recipie success at our house--personal pizzas.  We found the recipie in the "Better Homes and Gardens New Junior Cookbook."  (A side note:  "New" in the title is relative--the book was published in 1979, and I remember my sister having her own copy when we were kids.)  Still, the recipies are simple enough for most kids to handle by themselves, with help from an adult when needed for the oven or stove, and all the foods are very kid friendly.

The recipies takes refrigerated biscuits and makes them the pizza dough.  You just flatten them out with your rolling pin, using flour as necessary to prevent them sticking to the rolling pin or your countertop.  We then topped each pizza with sauce, cheese and the toppings we liked, and baked.  Even K got to help with this one--she loves putting on the cheese!  These would be great for a kid's party or sleepover.

In additional foodie news, we picked the first green beans from our garden.  J commented with wonder, "They're so much better when they're fresh!"  Even K, who is not big on green veggies yet, ate a bean without complaint.  I was worried about the time commitment when we put in this garden, but the maintenance has not been as much work as I anticipated.  I picked another batch of beans today, and my husband picked 2 cucumbers and a green pepper.  The only downside has been the groundhog who thinks we opened a salad bar for his own dining pleasure.  He ate every bit of lettuce that grew, to my great disappointment.  We've chased him out numerous times (I won't go into how--some animal lovers might not be pleased), but he keeps returning.  We don't want to use any chemicals on the plants since we're eating the food.  Any suggestions from some experienced gardeners out there? 

Next week I'll try to focus more on activites for the little one, since J will be away at camp for the week.  Stay cool!

J and I both just finished reading Lois Lowry's book, "The Giver."  It was leant to J by her 5th grade teacher at the end of school.  I had heard about this book from a few online sources as well as another parent who is a middle school librarian.  Everyone said, "It's a book that you really have to think about."  They were all right.

I love that Lowry wrote such a challenging book for school age kids.  It's not challenging in the language per se, it's the ideas that it presents--the ideas of perfection in society, government control, emotions and memory, and death.  Some people would wonder why these topics were included in a so-called 'children's' book, but in J's and my experience, we both got different things out of it.  I always say your reaction to a book, piece of music, movie, art, or theater is often based on what you bring to the experience.  That was certainly the case here, and definitely in a good way.

The main character, Jonas, lives with his family unit in a society where everything is governed and nothing is questioned (no one is really bothered by this either).  No one feels any real emotions, can see colors or hear music.  Turning 12 means Jonas will be assigned to his future job and begin training.  Jonas is selected to be the community's "Receiver" or stronghold of past memories.  He is trained by a man he calls, "The Giver."  Through the training process, he learns what real emotions are, and the revelations will cause him to change the path of his life, as well as those around him. 

I will admit, if you have an overly sensitive kid, this may not be the book for you.  One scene in particular was very hard for me to read, even though I had guessed that what was going to happen.  I will say that J didn't have as strong a reaction as I did when reading the same scene, but again, I attribute that to the whole experience thing I mentioned above.  But if you want a great book that will provoke some really important conversations, this is a great read.  The ending can be interpreted several different ways, but we both agreed that we liked that not everything is spelled out for the reader. 

Jessica even emailed the author and just today received a response!  She was absolutely thrilled that a real author responded to her.  This may have made an even bigger impression on her than the book itself.  Thanks for the lovely reply, Mrs. Lowry.  We're putting the companion novels "Gathering Blue" and "Messenger" on our to-read list! 

We have discovered the joys of Bananagrams.  For the uninitiated, it's a game that comes with letter tiles, similar to those used in Scrabble.  The tiles are packaged in a cute sack shaped like a banana.  We got our set at AC Moore.  The title of the game is a play on words (anagrams--when you make new words from the letters of other words).  The game is similar to Scrabble, but it's every man for himself.  Each player gets their own tiles and then makes up their own words in a crossword-like layout.  The winner is determined by who makes up the most words and uses up all of their tiles.  I bought the game on J's recommendation--she played it at school and said, "It's really fun, Mom!"

Our entire family enjoys the game, even the 5 year old.  My husband can generally wipe the floor with anyone in Scrabble, so I knew he would be good at this.  What levels the playing field for all of us it that it's the amount of words you make, not the length of each word, that counts.  This means that all of us at least have a fighting chance, but I'll be honest--he still wins almost all of the time.

No, K doesn't really know how to spell, but she can do her name (if she pulls all the right letters) or J's name.  She will also sometimes spell dog or cat.  Most of the time she just puts all of the letters in a big long line to make some crazy word.  But she's learning to identify all of the letters, and spell a few simple ones.  Sometimes I will have her make words on a list that I make up--things like "I", "am", "be", "and", etc.  I'm always pleasantly surprised by how well J does when we play, and some of the words that she can come up with.  I'm finally starting to see the results from all of the reading.  That's pretty exciting. 

This game saved us from a good deal of boredom on a trip to grandma's this past weekend.  Sometimes there's not a lot for the girls to do there, so this really helped pass time during our visit.  The picture is from J's successful attempt to use all of the letter tiles in one giant puzzle.

Go bananas with your family!

Today:  a book review from J.  She just finished "The Red Pyramid" by Rick Riordan (Hyperion).  He also wrote the Percy Jackson books, which she devoured.  I've read the first 2 Percy books myself, which I thought were wicked fun--the most fun I've had reading a book since the Harry Potter series.  "Red Pyramid" took J a while to read--it's a rather long book (she started it toward the end of school).  Here's her review (her words, with my spelling corrections):

"If I were a critic about to rate "The Red Pyramid" by Rick Riordan I would give it 5 stars.  I say this because the book is full of action and suspense, it really painted a picture in my head.  It used great detail.  Rick Riordan did an excellent job by including great artifacts that actually existed in Egyptian times.  Riordan even adds hints of humor.  This book has all the good components of a truly amazing story."

Next, J and I are both going to read "The Giver" by Lois Lowry (Delacorte).  We did a mother/daughter read last summer at my suggestion, and I think she actually enjoyed it.  This time the book was her suggestion.  She has already hinted to me that it's a book that makes you think, and said, "My kind of book!"  Mine too!

I don't know where she gets these ideas, but K wanted to try origami, the Japanese art of paper folding.  She's actually asked repeatedly.  Since J started some of her summer activities this week (basketball camp and summer ballet classes), tonight seemed like a good night to try.  I had some leftover origami paper and instruction books from the last time I did this craft, which was probably when J was younger. 

K's favorites were a crane that could flap its wings when you pulled the tail, and a small paper balloon that you can actually blow up.  I got the paper into the correct position and let her do the actual folding.  It's not as neat this way, but it kept her involved.  After doing a butterfly, the flapping crane, and balloon, she decided she would "do some herself."  Translated, this meant that she would take a piece of paper, fold it a million different ways, then proudly show me and say, "Look, mommy!  I made a (bird/plane/table/sleeping bag/clapping hands, etc.)"  She did notice how folding the paper made different shapes, which surprised me.  The book we used mentioned that Japanese children are taught origami at a young age because it teaches them geometry and improves their calligraphy by making their fingers more nimble! 

If you don't have origami paper, squares of wrapping paper will work, or just regular paper.  If it's not square, you'll need to cut it into that shape, since almost all origami uses square pieces of paper.  Your library is a great source for how-to books.  We have "Origami Inspired by Japanese Prints" by Steve and Megumi Biddle (The Metropolitan Museum of Art:  Viking).  It has easy to follow instructions, great step-by-step pictures for those who are all thumbs, and ties the origami to Japanese prints shown in the book, as well as historical and cultural explanations in simple terms.  Online there are some cute, easy, kid-friendly ideas at http://www.origami-instructions.com/origami-for-kids.html. 

Kids are usually fascinated by this craft, and it does have a magical element to it.  Taking a regular piece of paper and folding it into a bird, rabbit, or panda--it's like creating an instant toy!  Both of my girls enjoy it, even my older one.  Give it a try--the easy designs are pretty forgiving, and chances are your kids will want to try creating their own, like mine did. 

And so, "Sayonara" (goodbye in Japanese) from Lancaster County!  See you next time!

Today--a free day for everyone in the family, so we took a day trip to the Gettysburg battlefield.  I haven't been there since I was middle school aged.  I just finished reading "The Killer Angels" by Michael Shaara, a historical fiction book about the battle.  I knew as soon as I finished the book I wanted to revisit the battlefield. 

The visitor's center at the battlefield is very nice, and still fairly new.  There is a cafeteria, snack bar, and ice cream on the deck.  You can also buy tickets to see the cyclorama and movie which are housed there, although we did not do this.  We visited the bookstore/gift shop, but kept our souvenirs to those pennies that you put through the machine and smash them into an oval shape.  They did have numerous cool penny souvenirs (in homage to Lincoln), as well as books, T-shirts, figurines, etc.  If you're a Civil War buff, you'll probably find something you can't live without.  The food at the center was slightly more than you'd pay at McDonalds ($24 for all four of us) but portions were substantial.  We also had a good time looking at all the different license plates in the parking lot.  J was impressed that people from all over the country come here, and realized that it was something important and special.

Our first stop was a walk to the Soldier's National Cemetery, where Lincoln gave his Gettysburg address.  On the way there, we could see parts of the battlefield, some monuments, and a house that was used as a hospital.  The girls were very interested in this, and had a hard time initially--"But it just looks like a house!"  We had to explain to them that they used what was nearby out of necessity.  Our visit to the cemetery was personal--my husband has a uncle (a WWII vet) who is buried there.  We got directions from a ranger at the visitor's center, who told us where to find the grave.  We found it handily and snapped a few pictures.  Uncle Tom was only 30 years old when he was killed--one of the heroes of "The Greatest Generation."

We drove the self-guided auto tour of the battlefield, leaving the car at certain points for better views.  It's very well marked, and you can take as much or as little time as you want at various stops.  I read from the brochure as we reached certain points on the tour, so we all could understand what had happened at each location.  Monuments are almost everywhere you turn, something I hadn't remembered from my childhood.  K commented repeatedly about all of the cannons.   Looking down on the field from the height of Little Roundtop, you can see Devil's Den, where the Confederates stationed their snipers, as well as the field where Pickett's famous charge was held.  As I stood there, I was picturing the smells, sights, and noise of the battle.  It was hard for me to imagine how a Confederate sniper could hit anything at that distance, but a ranger commented they could hit a target from 1000 yards, and the distance from the top of Little Roundtop to Devil's Den was only half that distance. 

We were initially a little worried that K would be bored, but she loved being outside, seeing the different monuments, and climbing the stairs at the Pennsylvania monument to take in the view.  We knew J was old enough to have some appreciation for the place, and did a brief history lesson on the Civil War before arriving.  She had only studied the Revolutionary War this year in school, so now she has a little bit of a head start on the Civil War.  She did mention that many of her classmates have visited the battlefield.  When I asked her what she thought of the place, she said "It was cool.  It was a lot bigger than I expected it to be." 

I hope we'll be able to take another trip to the battlefield someday.  We are so lucky to live near this amazing national treasure.  If you're one of those folks who always says, "We should go to Gettysburg.  We live so close, and we've never been there,"  please take the time to go, especially if you have kids in the 9-12 age range.  They will certainly be old enough to understand some of the importance of this hallowed ground.  I know I have a new appreciation for it after today's visit. 

J had the opportunity to spend the day with a good friend, which allowed me some one on one time with K.  Although I still (and probably always will) think of her as my baby, I realize she is 5 years old now, and growing up.  I don't stress as much about building in educational things with her, mostly because she asks about 10,000 questions a day.  I figure me answering all of that is educational in itself.  Seriously, there just seem to be millions of chances to build learning for her every day, so I try to take advantage of the little moments. 

I would like to say a special thank you to the wonderful people at Crayola, who provided our arts and crafts activities today.  Since I was quite tired from lack of sleep the previous night, I was not in a very inventive mood.  We colored with those fabulous Color Wonder markers--you know, the ones that only work on the special paper.  For those looking for extra bling, there are now sets with glitter that you can "paint" over your picture for added pizazz.  Our set features Tinkerbell.  We gave her the proper glitter treatment in her portraits today.

We also used a Crayola Model Magic kit which allowed us to build an alien like creature.  You covered a plastic base with the Model Magic clay, then used a tool to create little dots and starts to attach to the outside of the creature.   You can find more activities, free coloring pages, and product information at www.crayola.com. 

Maybe the best part of doing these things together was just the chance to talk about things.  Of course, a 5 year old's thought process is quite random, but that's part of the charm.  I realized there's a lot going on in that little head when she asked me why Catrina (the baby caterpillar on the Oswald TV show) doesn't ever grow up and become a butterfly. 

Finally, a book recommendation.  K and I both love the Llama Llama books by Anna Dewdney.  We've read Llama Llama Mad at Mama and Llama Llama Misses Mama.  "Misses Mama" talks about going to preschool for the first time.  Although K has attended preschool, she's asking a lot of questions about kindergarten, so this fits our life nicely right now.  "Mad at Mama" was recommended by my sister.  In this one, the little llama must run errands with Mama, but gets impatient.  He eventually throws a fit in the store.  Mama Llama calms him, has him help clean the mess, and then treats him to ice cream.  My sister points out that she needed to remind her son that little llama gets the ice cream BECAUSE he cleaned up, not because he made the mess.  Both books have rhyming prose that's fun to hear, and the pictures are really cute.  Check them out at your local library.

I guess my own little caterpillar is turning into a butterfly before my eyes.  This is just the beginning of a whole new world for her, and I love watching it unfold.  Until next time, enjoy the little moments. 

First, I added Tags and Categories to my blog entries, so if you're looking for a specific idea, this should make it easier!

We continue with:  J learning to cook!  We're hoping to make this a weekly event, and we'll report on the recipes and results here.  On tonight's menu:  Chinese Soup, featured in the "Kids Can Cook" book I mentioned last week.  This was basically a chicken corn soup with some asian flare (soy sauce).  We shopped for necessary ingredients this afternoon.  I can't remember a time when this kid was actually excited about going to the supermarket,  until now!  The soup was very easy to prepare.  J did most of the work.  I would step in to help with the chopping--she's still not super confident about handling a knife.  She now understands how onions can make your eyes water too!  She struggled a little with cutting the chicken into small pieces, but happily chopped carrots.  The entire family LOVED this soup!  Even K, who can be ridiculously picky until she actually tries something, liked it right off the bat.  We have leftovers too, so we will continue to enjoy it this week.  The cookbook has to be returned to the library next week, but we're planning to copy down the recipies we liked or still want to try. 

I admit, one thing I'm struggling with is doing more math with J.  She does a great job with fractions when we're cooking something, dividing in her head without struggles.  But on paper--it's another thing altogether.  Today we tried "Stacking Dice Puzzles".  You can find the worksheets at www.education.com/worksheets or through www.math-drills.com.  These were interesting logic puzzles using dice.  It helps if you actually have about 4-5 dice to manipulate to solve the problems.  We did one sheet today and hope to finish the other tomorrow.  J's reaction:  it was okay.  She made some silly mistakes, mostly because she just didn't think logically about what the question was asking.  This tends to be her problem in school as well.  I'm still looking for ways to improve her math without drilling on worksheets, so if anyone has some ideas about this, please share them! 

Lastly, today J and I played flute and clarinet duets (me on flute, her on clarinet).  She's played for 2 years now and catches on quickly.  Still, because both mom and dad are music teachers, she will balk at having to practice over the summer.  We're trying some easy duets, which she played well tonight.  She also got a book of Disney songs and movie themes, so she plays those for fun.   Although I'm "assigning" her duets as I would with my flute students, I really just want her to play because it's fun.  I think it's hard for her because she tends to be too perfectionistic about her playing.  Living with two music teachers probably doesn't help this, I realize.  I keep telling her I don't care about the mistakes and just want to play!  Sometimes that's a hard sell, but I keep trying. 

In all of these learning opportunities, we're still getting out to see family, go swimming, and enjoy the summer and each other.  We hope your family is doing the same.  Until next time!

On a whim, I bought K a "bug kit" and the dollar store a few days ago.  The kit consisted of a clear plastic tub with a vented lid for observing the bugs and a small net for catching them.  I didn't honestly anticipate that she'd catch anything, but figured she might have some luck with fireflies.  I should have known better. . .

Yesterday, both girls were outside with the bug kit when I heard, "Mom!  You've got to come and see this bug!  It's huge!"  Hearing the words "huge" and "bug" in the same sentence never gives me a warm and fuzzy feeling, but in the name of science and providing learning opportunities for all of you Lancaster County moms and kids, I went to investigate. 

They were right.  It was a very huge bug.  White with black spots, with an orange body underneath.  Something about it didn't look right.  With my husband laughing at me, I caught the bug in the box on my second attempt.  After making sure that lid was on darn tight, we had a closer look. 

We had caught a moth, specifically a Giant Leopard Moth--that's the picture that's attached to this entry.  It had likely just hatched from its cocoon, because it could only crawl around and the wings still looked somewhat slimy.  The body was quite large--probably an inch and a half in length.  Turns out these critters live in in the Eastern US, from Massachusetts down to Florida.  We studied it briefly and then returned it to the same place in the yard where we found it.  I looked up the bug online at www.bugguide.net to find out what kind of moth we'd discovered.  They have a clickable guide that you can search, which makes it easy.  There are many photos of bugs that people from all over submit to the site (who knew--bugwatching?)  If your kid is into bugs, the bug kit (or even just an empty butter tub with holes in the lid) and the Internet are a great place to start learning more. 

Even I have to admit, the moth was quite pretty to look at, but I was still quite happy to let it go back to living in my neighborhood.  My husband tells me that in the Philippines there are beetles as big as your hand.  Ewww.  I'll stick to Pennsylvania bugs. 

We have A LOT of trees in our yard.  Big ones.  We love them in the spring and summer for their shade and leaves, and are not so fond of them in autumn, when we are cleaning up those leaves.  It's practically a neighborhood requirement to own a leafblower.  During that 3 hour long thunderstorm on Memorial Day, an ash tree in the side yard started to pull out of the ground.  By the end of the week, it fell over, mercifully missing the house.  And yes, a tree DOES make a sound when it falls in the forest! 

We had the tree cut up into firewood lengths that we plan to use in our fire pit out back.  This also led to a great opportunity to figure out how old the tree was.  First we estimated the age of the tree--J guessed 100 years, K guessed 80 years.  Then, starting in the middle, we counted the rings.  We found 73.  I took a pen and marked the tree rings when each of us were born, the year the house was built, and calcualted when the tree was born.  I also showed the girls how some rings were larger than others, indicating the tree grew more in those years, perhaps due to good weather and growing conditions. 

I'll be honest--they were not as fascinated with this process as I was, and it didn't hold their interest for a terribly long time, although the entire activity wasn't time consuming either.  But hopefully they learned a little something about the trees around us and could appreciate nature a bit more.  J did mention a large tree section in the nature center where she goes to summer camp, so she did relate this experience to a past one. 

I know it's hard for them to really understand how different the world would have been in the 1930's, when the tree first started growing.  It's a bit hard for me, too!  Yet in a world where everything seems to happen in an instant and we're told that the newest things must be the greatest, it's nice to take a moment to appreciate something lasted way longer than some electronic gadget. 

Summer vacation is officially off and running at our house.  We started by making our weekly pilgrimage to the local public library.  I generally take K every other week during the year.  J has her school library to rely on during the school year, but likes going in the summer and choosing her own books.  One of J's goals this summer:  to learn to cook something besides macaroni and cheese and grilled cheese sandwiches.  She found a kid's cookbook (Kids Can Cook by Judy Williams, published by Anness Publishing) and happily browsed the recipies.  More on this to follow.

After lunch, we indulged for the first time in a favorite Lancaster County activity:  picking strawberries!  There are lots of places to choose from to pick your own, but get there this week, since berries will be past their prime soon.  We chose Heller's Shady Creek Farm, located on Mt. Joy Road (Rt. 772) in Manheim, just past LCBC.  The lady who greeted us said this was the last week for folks to pick their own berries, but there are still plenty of nice ones left.  The girls and I picked 8 quarts in less than 30 minutes.  They really loved it, even J, who doesn't like to actually eat strawberries.  On the other hand, K could eat her body weight in them.  I haven't picked berries since I was a kid.  We all really enjoyed this, and it was inexpensive entertainment ($2 a quart).  We'll freeze our extras so we can enjoy them longer. 

After browsing the cookbook, I suggested a couple of recipies that J could make this evening for dinner.  She was quite excited about the idea.  She did much of the prep and actual cooking, and did a great job dividing fractions as we "halved" a recipie to cut down on the amount of servings.  She chose to make fried chicken fingers and baked potato wedges.  We did some minor alterations (cooking the potatoes in the microwave instead of the oven for the initial bake) to save time.  We also altered some of the spices to our liking.  She was quite pleased with the results!  K kept thanking her for making dinner, saying, "It's good!"  We're going to try another new recipie from the book next week:  Chinese soup. 

So far, so good.  Yes, they still get on each other's nerves--it can be a big challenge with my two, since they are 6 1/2 years apart in age.  But I'm happy with today and enjoyed just spending time with my girls.  And now, off to clean and freeze more strawberries. . .

The official start to summer is only two days away at our house.  My older daughter, J,  is about to finish 5th grade and my younger one , K, will start kindergarten in the fall.  My goal this summer:  to prevent brain drain.

I admit, I made a half hearted attempt at this last summer.  We did some math problems here and there, and J learned to use a sewing machine and sew a shirt.  We made trips to the library and even had a mother/daughter book that we read and discussed.  I plan to continue with these ideas, and hopefully add even more this time.

J attends public school.  Her experience has been overwhelmingly positive, but I can't help feeling that she's missing something sometimes.  There is so much focus on having kids pass the PSSA tests that I feel a lot of the freedom to explore subjects and topics is missing now.  Please teachers, I'm not blaming you--I know you have so many more issues to deal with now than you did when I was a kid.  (My husband is a public school teacher, by the way).  This is my other motivation for preventing summer brain drain:  to get to learn about what WE want to. 

Please understand, I'm not thinking about grinding away at math worksheets every morning at the kitchen table.  But even J recognized that she forgot a lot of math last summer and wants to make sure it doesn't happen again.  It actually frustrated her!  We also plan to go to a local amusement park, go swimming, visit family, and just play together.  I don't want all of their learning to come from books, so we'll make sure we have plenty of things that are just for fun.  I'm going to share our activities with you, what we've learned, and hopefully get some great suggestions from local moms as well!  Like everyone else these days, we are on a tight budget, so I hope to include many low cost and/or free ideas here. 

Before we get started, let me introduce my family to you:

Mom:  I'm an adjuct college professor, performing musician, and sometime writer.  I'm originally from central Pennsylvania.  I am a ravenous reader, like to knit, and do home improvement projects.  My summer hope is to improve as a writer which is another reason why I wanted to blog about our experiences.

Dad:  S teaches music at a public high school in Lancaster County.  He adores his girls!  He recently also lost over 70 pounds, loves to work in the yard, and has completed a marathon.  He also builds model railroad buildings for fun. 

J:  will finish 5th grade by the end of this week.  She is 11 years old.  She takes ballet and jazz dance classes, plays intramural basketball, and is learning the clarinet.  She loves making stuff--crafts, designing outfits, creating stuff out of cardboard boxes, you name it.  She currently wants to be a rock star when she grows up (don't get me started).

K:  will start kindergarten this fall.  She will be 5 next week, which is so hard for me to believe!  She loves to play outside, draw pictures, do crafts, puzzles, anything involving Barbies or Polly Pockets.  She adores cats but is not comfortable around dogs.  She is generally like sunshine on a cloudy day, but has her "thunderstorm" moments, too. 

We're glad to meet all of you and look forward to sharing our summer with you!