a smooth road trip with a little kid

A few weeks ago Travis, Lydia, Teresa, and I left the boys at Grandma's and drove to Nashville for my friend's profession of final vows with the Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia.  The 7 hour drive was done in a little over 8 hours each way and it was really, really smooth.  

Before we left I did some research into travel tips for toddlers and I'm so glad I did.  We don't have a dvd player in our car and there was absolutely no screen time in the car.  I thought I'd share the ideas that worked for me in case they come in handy for anyone else in the future.

#1 Leave the ornery ones with Grandma.

She fell asleep with her arm propped up like that multiple times.

Okay, this one is partially a joke, but I do want to acknowledge that 4 year old Lydia and 2 month old Teresa are both really happy, easy kids.  Not having super active Bennet and tends-to-whine James made the trip easier.

#2  Activity Binder

Lydia picked out a cheap binder and then, without her seeing, I filled it with the following:

- A map showing our route.  I printed it off Google Maps, cut it down to size, and inserted it in the front of the binder.

- A pencil case that had markers, crayons, and a pen.

- Blank paper for her to draw and write on.

- Stickers

Except for the binder we already had these things in the house, I just had to collect them and package them in the new binder and they were then special.

#3 Scavenger Hunt
Mom's Minivan has a great scavenger hunt you can print for free.  It has a words and pictures so it doesn't matter if your kid can read or not.  I still had to help Lydia with it until she got the hang of it but once she did she would proudly check things off on her own.  I printed off two, one for each way.

#4 Packages to open
This was another tip I found online.  Have a series of gifts to hand out as needed.  The gifts don't need to be new - part of the fun is just opening a present for Pete's sake!  The gifts I used were:

- Pipe cleaners.  This one was suggested on several sites but was a complete dud for Lydia.  I tried to get her to make jewelry and different shapes out of them but she wasn't interested.

- Snack necklace kit.  Around the time of her afternoon snack I gave her a bag with a shoelace, chocolate covered pretzels, fruit loops, and fudge striped cookies (they are shaped like 'O's).  She strung everything together, finished in time for snacks, and munched away happily.  I gave her this gift on the way down and the way home and she loved it both times

yum

- Glow sticks.  This was the best gift of the bunch.  I waited until the sun was setting to give them to her and she had a blast forming them into halos, bracelets, and whatnot.  The glow sticks kept her happy for over an hour - I think the darker it got the neater they were so she didn't tire of them too soon.

Lydia's "loop-dee-loop"

- Some I Spy books.  Lydia already owned them but hadn't looked at them in a long time.  The beauty of the I Spy book is that she just has to match pictures, though I did also read them to her, too.

- A rosary.  This way we prayed the rosary as a family, asking for safe travels.  Lydia even led some of the decades.

These few little tricks made our drive so nice.  Our trip was quick - down on Tuesday and home on Wednesday - but we were able to do it peacefully and happily.  I hope some of these ideas will help someone else!

Sister and Lydia.

7 quick takes

1 - Before you get too far into this song please be warned that a major f bomb is dropped in this one.  I'm pretty much sick of their single, which I posted a few weeks ago.  I can no longer listen to it.  Top 40 radio, you have overplayed and therefore killed another good song, for me anyways.  This song, though was recommended to me by my husband who had a student play it for him earlier this week.

2 - Honestly, I had no idea what song to post here this week.  I've been listening to the Maccabeats a lot lately, especially their cover of Matisyahu's Miracle.  It's how I'm prepping for the birth, weirdly.

If you're in the mood for a Hannukah song, and not a song that sounds a little like The Lion King, then you can watch this one:



3 - And yes, I'm still pregnant.  Last night I had some pretty strong, long contractions but whenever I'd sit and rest they'd stop.  I was tempted to go for a walk or scrub my tubs or something but overall I'm just too tired to do a bunch of work for something that would end once I sat down.

4 - Today I will have my first one of these since last fall.

Aaahhhh!  Pioneer Woman's iced coffee.  I bought Bailey's creamer just to go with it.  I am excited.

5 - For Mother's Day I'm doing this awesome thing:  hanging out with my mom without the kids.  Maybe it's bad that on the day that celebrates my motherhood the one thing I want is to be by myself with another adult.  No diapers, holding, correcting, wiping, feeding, buckling in, buckling out... 

6 - Today we have a playdate and since I am not in labor we will be there!  Yay for playdates!

7 - Courtesy of Netflix my kids are now fans of three staples from my childhood:  Care Bears, Strawberry Shortcake, and My Little Ponies.  The Ponies and Shortcake and updated, ya know, but I still like that Lydia loves what I loved as a little girl. 

Hallie's hosting Quick Takes this week.  Please pray for Jennifer, the soul of the man who was in the motorcycle accident she witnessed, and his loved ones.  Thanks.

we've been watching Disney movies

Today my sweet little three and a half year old oh-so-sincerely asked me,

"Mom, do I have a Cave of Wonders in my mouth?"

So we've been watching Aladdin...  But we also were on a Sleeping Beauty kick for awhile which brought a terrible fear of dragons into my little girl's heart.

"Mommy, what if a dragon comes and tries to get me while I'm sleeping?"

"Well there aren't any dragons around us.  None will come to our town."

"But what if one does?"

"Well, St. Michael and your Guardian Angel will protect you."

"But they're up in Heaven."

"Well then Daddy will get his shot gun and kill it."

"Okay.  Good night, Mommy."

What I should have said

Yesterday the kids and I went to the bank.  James was strapped in the double stroller and slightly fussy.  Bennet, who was supposed to be strapped in the double stroller, was walking around it in his stocking feet.  Lydia, who was supposed to be standing sweetly next to the stroller, was following Bennet.

If we had been at Mass we would have been in the hall.  But we were at the bank and the teller had made a mistake so it was taking longer and the kids were a little noisy but not that bad.  I mean, sometimes babies fuss and there's nothing wrong with little kids playing and laughing.

But the grumpy old man the next station over must have thought they were more than a handful and he told his teller, "I'm glad they're not my kids."

I looked at his teller, who looked at me.  She clearly felt awkward.  I didn't say anything, though I decided that if we left at the same time I'd let him know I had heard what he said and that I found it offensive.  I don't think he was intending to be mean - I think he was essentially saying the same thing that everyone is saying when they comment, "Your hands are full!"  Unfortunately for him he just sounded more rude.

But what I wish I would have done is said, clearly and just as loudly as he had, "Sir, I am glad they're not yours, too.  I wouldn't give such joy to one who cannot appreciate its value."

BOO-YAH!

what to do on a Monday night

Travis is on a bromance man date with his best friend, at a bar watching the Bears game. 

The kids are asleep (finally!  nap time was horrible today!) and my headache has finally gone away (maybe it was all the water I drank?).

So now I can finally post a picture of my kids on Halloween.

A knight, a princess, and a lion.  roar!

Wow those kids are cute!  How 'bout we look at some more pictures of them?

I caught Lydia "reading" the Bible.  She was actually saying the words to the Guardian Angel prayer.  (Do you know that prayer? So good:  Angel of God, my guardian dear, to whom God's love commits me here.  Ever this day be at my side to light, to rule, to guard, to guide.  It's a great prayer to start the day, at bedtime, when you've got the heebie jeebies, or when you're about to blow your top.)

Also, Lydia's been practically living in her Rapunzel dress since mid October.  She's so cute.

James, greeting me at the door.  Did you know he's walking now?  He's walking now.

Bennet, super happy about his gigantic, warm from the oven, made from scratch chocolate chip cookie.

Do you remember awhile ago when I was on a serious hunt for the. best. chocolate. chip. cookie. recipe. EVAH!?  I found it.  That's what one looks like.

It is possible that Bennet may not be wearing pants or a diaper in this picture.

This was gearing-up-for-quiet-time time.  (Yes, I know it's lame that I do that but sometimes it's needed.)  Put on a PBS Kids show from Netflix to occupy L and B while I lay James down and then send the other two upstairs. 

Notice how spread out Lydia is?  I had just painted her toenails and fingernails and she's letting them dry. 

Need something a little different to read?  My dear, dear friend, Crafty Katie, has started a blog to chronicle her year on sabatical.  She turned down a teaching position and is living off savings and a small income from working as DRE at her church.  Already her blog is great.  God check it out: 

Look to Him and Be Radiant

Lastly, if you don't like country music or you didn't got to MTHS don't click on the following link.  But if you do like country, went to my high school, or want to see my high school crush is up to these days then check out Jake Maurer. 

I had a serious, mad crush on that man some 12 years ago.  Whew!  It's almost embarrassing to think about it now.

The crazy thing is that last night I spent the first half of my sleeping dreaming about Jacob and the Black Smoke Monster (does he have a name?  I never caught it.)  And the second half of the night I was dreaming that I was back in high school, dating Jake.  So it was interesting when I saw the link to his updated website on Facebook today. 

And I know what you're thinking.  But I was not stalking him - I saw it in my newsfeed.

Good night!

for tantrum throwing toddlers

Momopoly has a great post today on dealing with that very thing.  Here's a snippit:

I’m nursing the baby and reading with my oldest daughter from Teach Your Child How to Read in 100 Lessons when my toddler starts to fall apart. She throws a crayon. She hits her big sister. She starts screeching.


“Use words,” I screech back.

More tears spill from her big, brown eyes, saying what words cannot. I need you, Mommy.

Later that same day we are cuddled next to one another. She places her hand on my cheek, a tender gesture that never fails to tug at my heart.

And then she uses her words very well. “Mommy, why do you yell at me when I ‘cwry’?”

To read the rest, go here.