Beth the Cheerleader

Yes, despite my lifelong tomboy ways, I have managed to raise a little cheerleader. Beth loves it, and she is pretty good too! This winter she is on a squad here on the Air Force base, and cheers during basketball games.


Little Carrie is enjoying her first session of ballet and tap lessons this winter. She can be pretty hit or miss. Some days she is really into it, and other days she just wants to run around and good off with her friends. Her class is for ages 3-5, and boy are they cute!

TV in schools

I posted on facebook yesterday how I was shocked at how much television my kids watch in school. They're in kindergarten and first grade, and they watch everything from music videos for music class, to "The Magic School Bus" for science, to "Reading Rainbow" for reading. The list just goes on and on. If it is wet or chilly outside (hello...it is winter) they watch tv for recess. While they wait for the buses to be called, it's time for more tv.

Since our current county isn't exactly known for it's great schools, I was sure this was a pretty isolated occurrence. I was surprised to see that this morning I had lots of comments, from friends all over the country, who had similar concerns about their own child's school.

Is this really what elementary school is coming to? I don't see any reason in the world kids should need to watch a video at school more than once or twice a month. Maybe the occasional educational film, and also the occasional movie for a class party or other celebration. If they have all this extra time, why not just send the kids home after a half day and save the tax payers a lot of money? I feel pretty certain that everyone could watch tv at home for free. Everyone would hate that idea of course. It would be very hard on working mothers, and I can certainly sympathize there. However, it does beg the question...are public schools in the business of providing daycare or education? If the answer is in fact education, shouldn't they be doing something worthwhile with their instructional hours?

On another note, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends no more than two hours of total screen time for children each day. My first thought when reading that is "Who watches tv two hours every single day?" We're not really tv people, so two hours seems like kind of a lot. However, when you add up the entire day, and also include computer time, it becomes extremely easy to meet and surpass those two hours. I think most parents would assume that their children are not spending even more time in front of a tv at school.

I really am just curious as to why this is becoming so widespread and acceptable in our schools. I guess it requires limited supervision, and no real materials, and that in itself is appealing when so many of our schools are in a budget crises. I really implore you though...if you work with children think outside the box. The pay-off is so worth it.

Happy Birthday Beth!

Yes, it is already time for another birthday post! My little Mary Elizabeth turned seven yesterday. Beth is our oldest, and is such a good big sister. She'll always have a special place in my heart since she is the one who made me a mommy. We spent a great deal of time alone together early on, as her Daddy was away with the Coast Guard nine months out of the first year of her life. Instead of it being a difficult time though, she made it a very happy time for me. We had a beautiful home right near the beach in Florida, and I felt like I was on a vacation with just my little baby. Our days were filled with long walks, trips to the park, and visits with friends. She was very happy and a great sleeper and eater right from the beginning. Older people we met on the Air Force base often asked to hold her, and she always gave them a big smile and went right over. It wasn't until our second child that I realized none of this was really typical. It was only Beth that slept through the night very early, and had a smile on her face everyday. She had some health concerns that first year as well, but even that couldn't keep her down.

As a seven year old Beth still has a smile on her face everyday. That is the one thing that has not changed. She is quick to laugh and is definitely the silliest of the kids. She is also very loving and smart though. We're very proud of her, and as she is getting older she is becoming a big help to me. She makes friends easily, which is great since she has lived in four states during her short life. She loves to read, and is an excellent reader already. We bought her a little booklight a few months ago, and now she reads well into the night. She also loves art, and is always drawing or creating something. I love to see the products of her imagination. Her greatest love is probably animals, particularly her pet cats. She says she wants to be a veterniarian when she grows up, and I think she just might. Beth is a girly girl in most ways, and already loves to shop. None of that describes me, so I think that particular gene must have skipped a generation. Luckily for her, her grandmother and great-grandmother (GG) also love to shop, and they keep her supplied with cute outfits. She also loves to be outside though, and spends her summers hunting for worms and bugs. I guess she has a little tomboy in her after all.

We celebrated Beth's birthday with a double party at a local indoor playground for her and Carrie. In our family we do a party for the kids every other year. On off years we do a small celebration with just the six of us. This year was a party year! The girls had a lot of fun, and overall I think it was a big success.

Happy Birthday Beth! We love you!

Happy Birthday Carrie!

Sweet little Caroline Louise is four years old today. Wow! Where has the time gone? She is still our little peanut, but it's easy to see that she is growing up. Wherever her older brother and sister are, she is sure to be close behind. At four years old Carrie likes to draw and paint, and can write her name. "cARRie"....so cute. She can ride her bike with training wheels, and flies up and down the sidewalks. It makes her poor mother nervous! Her favorite food is fruit...especially strawberries. Her favorite book is "The Story About Ping", and every time she reads it she longingly tells me how she wishes she could be a duck as well. She loves to watch Diego on tv, and knows how to come downstairs and stream it on Netflix through the Wii in the mornings. We don't have cable tv, but she has adapted well and misses nothing. Her favorite animal continues to be pandas, and she still carries around her good friend "Bobo" the stuffed panda. "He" has been outfitted for the season in a frilly Valentine's Day outfit from Build-A-Bear. Her favorite color is green, followed by yellow. She loves her pet cats, especially Waffles, who allows herself to be carried around. Carrie goes to preschool two mornings a week, and has done very well. She mostly seems to play with the boys and enjoys jumping, running, and roughhousing. She is a wild one! It must be all that red hair.

Happy Birthday Carrie! We love you so much!

Mom Quote of the Morning

"Life is a learning experience, and now you all know that it is wrong to sleep with silly putty." And so begin the kids' Christmas break.....

Sometimes I feel like I should be upset, but I have to turn my face away so the kids don't see me laughing. What else can you do? Life with little kids is just funny. Of course some things are only funny after the fact. And some things LONG after the fact.

In other news, I had to sit Katy down last night and tell her some sad news. Her last bottle melted in the dishwasher last night. She's 18 months old, so I opted not to replace it. Poor Katy! She had been down to just a bedtime bottle for months, but it was hard to drop that last one. She is just so sweet and snuggly at bedtime. She did very well though, and went to bed after having a little sippy of milk. I can't believe my little one is in a toddler bed and off the bottle. She is growing up on me.

Only 3 1/2 more years...

Today is one of those days where I wish I knew where Matt's follow-up assignment was going to be...so I could pack up and move there now. This is our fifth base, and we really liked the other four. I guess you can't get lucky every time. I particularly loved Mississippi, and I feel like that is where we should be now. The Coast Guard feels otherwise however! I guess this is it until 2015, and we really are trying to make the best of it.

One Year Ago

Oh what a difference a year makes! This time last year we had just had the movers pack up all of our things in Connecticut. It was bitterly cold...all of 11 degrees the day we packed up. We weren't able to get any of our Christmas decorations out, as we knew we would be on the move when the big day arrived. Christmas day was spent in a hotel room in Virginia, which was almost half-way to our new base in Misssissippi. To add to the craziness, Matt and I got the flu that week. I remember shivering under the blankets in our hotel while poor feverish Matt stayed up late putting bikes together. Thankfully no children became sick. That was Christmas miracle in itself!

Fast forward to this holiday season. We have now been in the DC area for almost four months now, and are pretty well settled in. I feel like we are getting to catch up on all the holiday traditions we ad to skip last year. Each Sunday we enjoy watching the advent candle being lit at church. We have also enjoyed our own advent calendar at home. The kids have just skipped from one holiday party to the next. There is no shortage of fun things to do here! There was a USO party, the youth center party, the library party, the chapel party, and finally Matt's unit party. Yes, six Christmas parties! Such craziness and good times. We went and cut our own tree this year, and have all of our favorite ornaments up. Most of them are homemade, most have been repaired at least once, and none of them match. I feel like our tree just screams tackiness, and I love it!

Here are my big girls enjoying some Christmas crafts.