Sanity on a Road Trip

We leave tomorrow for our 45 hour round trip road trip to Yellowstone. Yes, that will be Rick and myself and four children in a car for looooooong periods of time!

Many years ago I bought a book called "Sanity in the Summertime". I have used it many, many times! It's a little outdated, but gives a gazillion ideas on how to have a quality summer with your children. One chapter is on travel. Many of the ideas have been implemented on our road trips.

One idea I have used, and modified, is giving travel gifts. When my older kids were little, the Travel Fairy would bring a wrapped gift to each of the kids each day of our trip. Sometimes it would be in their seat when they came back from a rest stop, sometimes it would be on their bed in the morning. The gifts were anything from disposable cameras to chewing gum to car games, etc. They looked so forward to those gifts!

The book actually advised that you do what I am planning to do on this trip  ... to have a bag in the car with car activities to give the kids throughout the trip. This will be the longest we are on the road for any one period of time so I decided to do it this way instead. I plan to wait until we stop for dinner tomorrow night and then leave something for each of them in their car seat when they come back out. They'll love it! And I enjoy doing it! Then I have something else for them on our next long stretch which will be a couple of days later.

One thing that drives me batty on a trip is disorganization in the car! Oh, it drives me crazy to have everybody's stuff everywhere and for there to be trash everywhere! I can't enjoy a trip when that happens!

So, on this trip I bought these over-the-seat organizers for each of the kids. It has three velcro compartments, two small and one large and deep. I have told each of the kids that they are allowed to take in the car whatever they can fit into those pockets, and that's it! If it doesn't fit, it doesn't go! I also tied a Walmart sack to the bottom of each one for trash. At each stop I plan to make everybody clean up their "area" to get ready for the next leg. Hopefully I will be able to keep a small portion of my sanity by doing this.

New

In the words of my wise Hannah ...

Praise God for his new mercies and the love he shows all day everyday no matter what my mood is. Thank goodness he never gets so annoyed with me that he ceases to love. Uncompromising, never ending, unconditional, real love. So beautiful.

And from Sarah Mae ...

"Let me know that you're near me, let me know your touch. Let me know that you're near me...let that be enough." Switchfoot

** these were in their posts today.

And the Hits Keep Rolling ....

This has been an extremely difficult few months. It seems like every time I turn around I am getting some kind of seriously bad news. I haven't elaborated on all of the attacks I have experienced, but maybe you have sensed them in the tone of my posts at times. I am generally a very strong person, but I'll be honest that I am feeling a little weak right now.

We leave for vacation on Friday and I am very distracted with lots of circumstances that are out of my control. I want this to be a fun time for my family. I want it to be a vacation my children will always remember, one filled with laughter and love.

So, I am asking for some prayers .. just for protection against any other attacks, as well as strength and a positive attitude.

Family Fun Night ~ Ice Age 3

Last night was our weekly Family Fun Night event. This week we decided to go see "Ice Age 3: Dawn of the Dinosaurs". As a family, we're Ice Age fans. We love Sid the Sloth. You will often catch us quoting our favorite lines from the movies. Over the past couple of weeks we have even adjusted our budget to allow for many trips to McDonald's to get all of the toys from the new movie. 

This was the first time all six of us have gone to a movie together. I've taken all the kids, Rick's taken various combinations of the kids, but we've never gone together. Honestly, I never thought we would get to this place in our lives. It was great! Brynne is a movie fanatic and goes often with Kyndal. Eli doesn't like the dark theatre or loud noises and wasn't at all excited about going, even though he has loved the other movies. During the whole movie, as it would get dark and the music would change, he'd say, "this isn't good" and would grab Rick's arm and hold it in front of his face, peeking out above it so he could still see. Other than that, there weren't any emergency trips to the bathroom or getting up and down or crying or anything. It was amazing!

The movie itself was a little slow to start, but cute. It had fun humor and was clean, which is rare even in a cartoon movie these days. We really enjoyed it!

Our Family Fun events have become very important to us! Our LifeCoach suggested that we do weekly family team meetings and then plan a day or night to do something together as a family. The kids all really look forward to doing it. But what we have found is that Rick and I really look forward to them too!

I highly suggest you do this with your family. For years we have said that we need to do family game nights or bowling nights and such and have never done them. I'm sad we wasted so many years. Kyndal will be in high school this year .. she was in kindergarten when we moved here. Now Eli's going to be in kindergarten. Time goes by so fast! Don't let it slip away .. do this with your kids! It costs money (although doesn't have to all the time), but you can't afford not to do it.

Simple Woman's Daybook

For Today  ~  July 7, 2009

Outside my window... it's slightly cooler and a little overcast.

I am thinking... about how much I have to get done in the next two days to get us ready to go on vacation.

I am thankful ...  for a pain free, good night's sleep.

From the learning rooms... Dawson is learning a lot about poisonous snakes right now.

From the kitchen... We are eating whatever we can find in the fridge and pantry because we go on vacation on Friday and I don't want to cook this week.

I am wearing... jean capris, my black flip flops and a black shirt with green and yellow flowers on it.

I am creating... piles in our playroom of things to load into the camper on Friday.

I am praying ... for a healing of my heart and convictions for change.

I am going... to eat something because I am starving and then try to make some lists.

I am reading... "Secrets" by Jude Deveraux (still).

I am hoping... to finish my book before Friday and to not be a grouch all week because I feel overwhelmed.

I am hearing... the kids play Pajama Sam on the computer upstairs.

Around the house... it is semi-quiet and orderly.

One of my favorite things... is working out and I can't wait to start going back to the Y when we get back from our vacation. I'm hoping it will help my mood, too.

A few plans for the rest of the week... Tonight we are going to the movies to see "Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs" for our Family Fun Night. Tomorrow I am continuing to pack and get organized. On Thursday I have my last post-surgical doctor's appointment. And, on Friday we leave for our week long trip to Yellowstone!

Here is a picture thought I am sharing..

This is the little tree frog Dawson caught to race in the frog races at the 4th celebration. He put it on this tree when he was done and it immediately blended into it. Cool!

Class Reunion

The Windsor High School Class of 1989 gathered on Friday night for its 20th Reunion. We had 20 out of our graduating class of 48 show up. I was really excited with that number! I think we look pretty good for a bunch of old farts!!

4th of July at Farrington Park

The 4th holiday was exhausting! After a busy week, and my 20th high school reunion on Friday night, I just didn't have the excitement for the 4th festivities as I usually do. Here is a photo recap of our activities ...

Me and my honey

Eli and Brynne

Dawson's racing frog

Eli on the playground

Dawson's 2nd place finish

Kyndal doing the egg race and me bending over in the background picking up the egg I dropped.

Eli, Brynne and daddy

Eli's fall in the sack race

He was upset about it!!

Brynne hopping to the finish line. She didn't win but didn't care.

Me telling Kyndal that I was going to kill her if she hurt me in this race! We wiped out at the end.

The seconds before I was wearing the egg all over my chest!

All the kiddos in their homemade t-shirts.

Rick and my sister Kristen kept the blue ribbon in the family for the egg toss after dad and I blew our repeat performance.

Rylee and Kyndal in the "Poo Canoe" in the carboard boat regatta. My dad owns a portable potty business, thus the outhouse and boat name.

Hope you all had a happy 4th!!

Rick Rocks ~ Because He Does Cannonballs!

Yep .. he's the fun one! If the kids want to have fun, it's daddy they go to. I'm too cautious, not a risk taker. Daddy will just jump right in.

But, it's not just in ways of fun. Rick jumps into everything in cannonball fashion ... full force! For me, I have to over-analyze everything to the point that when I finally make a decision sometimes the opportunity has even passed. Or, maybe I make a decision to do something, but then my heart's not completely in it. When Rick makes a decision ... he jumps! Sometimes, most times, it makes a huge splash, especially to the world around us. But the ripples of the waves trickle out, slowly touching all in their path, and eventually subside, and Rick emerges with a smile on his face and a resolve to move forward and live out the consequences of his splash. He doesn't just jump in without reason, without purpose. He's a thought-provoking man, an analyzer as well. But the difference between the two of us is that he's not afraid to climb to that ledge and jump in! I admire that about him and I'm glad that he has the faith to do it. He's taken us to some incredible places, and continues to do so, by his willingness to just jump in!

Rick Rocks ~ Because he does cannonballs !!!

DIY ~ Annual 4th of July Shirts

The 4th of July is one of our favorite holidays as a family. We always spend the week in Missouri to attend the 4th celebration at our local park. This celebration has been going on annually for over 100 years.

Something I do every year is try to come up with homemade t-shirt ideas for my four kids and my 11 year old niece. A couple of years ago we used corrugated cardboard to make star stamps and stamped striped stars onto white shirts. Last year the kids taped off stripes and painted them red for the stripes of a flag. Then they put star stickers on and sprayed blue shirt dye for the stars of the flag. 

This year we used bleach to make stars on red and blue shirts. Here's how we did it ...

Step 1. Trace different size stars onto freezer paper and cut them out.

Step 2. Iron the stars onto a dark colored shirt, with the waxy side down, in the pattern of your choice.

Step 3. Put a piece of cardboard or poster board (or in my case a cutting board) in the shirt to keep the bleach from bleeding through.

Step 4. Take it outside, lay it flat and spray it with pure bleach in a spray bottle.

Step 5. Wait for it to dry and watch the bleach spots turn white.

Step 6. When completely dry, peel the stars off the shirt.

Step 7. Voila!!

Here is a picture of two of the four shirts I made. The older kids haven't made their shirts yet, but these projects are fun because everybody's shirt ends up different.

I'll post a group picture in the t-shirts later.

Just Keep Swimming

The highlight of Grandma and Papa's has to be swimming!

My parents have an inground pool, so we can swim all day, every day that we are here. The kids love it!

On this trip, Eli and Brynne have spent the majority of the day swimming. They swim about 4 times a day, only coming in for a short rest or to eat. For the first time they have each learned to jump off the diving board. And, Brynne has been swimming without her lifejacket or ring, pushing off from the side and actually swimming!

They have just really enjoyed themselves and it makes me realize how much I want a pool at our house or to live somewhere with a neighborhood pool. Mama has also enjoyed sitting by the pool, laying out and reading her book. I even laid out on a raft for about 30 minutes yesterday. Ahhhhh .....