Seabright Beach

Due to all the house projects I was thrown into and the last minute trip to St. George and school starting for everyone, I'm still playing catch up from our Ca trip. Here is the post from our day at Seabright Beach.

On a Beautiful Day In Ca...
we loaded the kids up (I love how pissed Baby Guy looks in this picture. He was totally asleep, and something startled him and he only opened his eyes for the 3 seconds it took to take the picture, then he was fast asleep again. He sort of looks like he wants to kill me.)

drove through Moss Landing

admired the fruit stands

and hit the beach.

I have so many memories from Seabright beach. It was fun to take my children there and make new memories with them. I hope they will remember what a perfect evening we had together.

(Santa Cruz Pier)

We played in the sand

We splashed in the waves

We ate a lot of cheese balls

and when the sun went down and the fog rolled in

we squished under a blanket and roasted marshmallows and hot dogs over a fire.
and just enjoyed being together in a wonderful place. (Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk...in a few years, I'll take the girls on the Giant Dipper. Reese did take her first roller coaster ride at Gilroy Gardens, though. I was so proud of her!)

Baby Guy

How nice that when Corbin bites me, he says, "Owwwwww, no no no. Owieeee" before he laughs and bites me again. Did any of your babies bite you when they were teething? All of mine have gone through this phase. Every time I pick them up they attack my arm or shoulder, then not again until another tooth comes in. They don't bite others, just me, and they think it is hilarious.

Labor Day BBQ

After the 10K on Labor Day we went to an annual BBQ at the Petersen's. We hung out with friends by the lake, ate a lot of really good food, went swimming, and Aaron went wake boarding. Jenny-the-only-good-neighbor sent me these pics that she took and edited.
Thanks, Jenny!



This one is my favorite. Her laugh is so contagious.

When Sisters Get Together

Good times will be had.
PS- my sister is hosting a giveaway for family portraits (no, real portraits, not this kind!) to people living in the Bay Area. Hope over to her blog and check it out.

Mean Meg

Dear Everyone,

Today has been awful. Terrible.
In fact, I'd say it's been a "Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day".

Let's talk about Pertussis.
It is evil.

Have your kids had the vaccine?
Have you had the vaccine?
Yeah, adults can get Pertussis too.
Get the vaccine.

My daughter got Pertussis in June.
It sucked.
It is said that the symptoms of Pertussis can last up to 6 weeks.

Apparently, the aftermath of Pertussis can last up to 6 months, as it is now September, and I am STILL battling with my insurance company to pay for the swab test that should have cost me $5.

They have denied the claim and refuse to pay, sticking ME with a $531 bill.
No. Thank. You.
I've spent the better half of my day on the phone with them, trying to find out why, have spoken with a fazillion customer service reps, and been on hold a total of 21 minutes. All of this to find out that I have to submit a case to the claims department just to find out WHY. If it comes back unjust, I can make an appeal.

An appeal? Well, I'm getting pretty dang good at submitting those, so yes, I will fight it, because the test was not "unnecessary" seeing as how it came back positive, and also because my insurance provider can provide no actual reason as to why it was denied other than not wanting to pay...which they are legally bound to do.

So. If I end up having to pay for it, I will, because I care about my credit, and I care about the health of my children.

But wouldn't it be great if there was no $531 bill to begin with?
Immunize your kids, people. PLEASE.

It's bananas that my kid even got sick in the first place.
Pertussis is a preventable disease...until it's left well, unprevented.

I was shocked to see a Facebook status update today that cited an article stating that the Swine Flu vaccine is dangerous and should be avoided at all cost. How many people skimmed over that article, had the crap scared out of them, and "shared" the article on their own Facebook page?

Doing a little research uncovered a little info about the author of the article. Whaddya know, another radical quack that is currently under probation for fraud. This guy is bad news.
But his article will spread like wildfire, and tons of people will avoid the Swine Flu vaccine because of it.

Know what else spreads like wildfire?
PERTUSSIS!

Fear is not an acceptable reason to not vaccinate.
Do some research, and face your fears for the health of your children.

Laziness is not an acceptable reason to not vaccinate.
Call the health department, pay your $5, and get your shots up to date.

Babies dying of communicable disease is a reason to not be lazy or afraid.
So get over it, and get your shots. Adults, teens, infants, granny, everyone.
Get your shots.

Because you can't do anything about the irresponsibility, fear, and laziness of others,
Because my kid got sick, and
Because I'm stuck with a stupid $531 bill that I'd rather spend on a big, fat plate of nachos and a couple of flights to Florida.

If you live locally, the number to the Benton County Health Dept is 479.271.1055
Call and make an appointment to today.
If you don't live locally, the number is 4-1-1
Find out the number to your Health Department, and get your freaking vaccine.

No excuses.

And if you're wondering if my bad day got better while I typed this, you might be interested to know that my kids got in an argument over a paintbrush and one of them now has a black eye, and I just went into the kitchen to answer the phone and I stepped on a piece of ham on the way.

Yeah. ham.

There was a freaking piece of ham just sitting there on the carpet.
Why?
Because today has been a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day. That's why.

Oh, and Henry the Hoarder has called me 4 times today.
He's probably just trying to confirm our lunch date for tomorrow. (thanks for that, Aaron).
I feel too mean to answer his call, so it's gone to voice mail every time.

Mean Meg is on her broom. Look out.

Sweatin'

This morning:

Reese: Daddy, Justin Bieber is sooooo hot!

Aaron: [does a double take] What? Meeeeeeeeeg!

Meg: [enters room] what?

Aaron: Reese, tell your Mother what you just said to me

Reese: Justin Bieber is hot!

Aaron: Hot, Meg. HOT. That just happened. What are they teaching my daughter at that horrible school?! Justin Bieber? Are you kidding me, Meg? This is what she is learning?

Meg: Ok. Let's relax. Reese, 'Justin Bieber is hot'...what does that mean?

Reese: Well, I guess he went outside and got sweaty because it was a hot hot day and now he is so super hot.

Friendly Frogs: Let's Go to the Beach!

8th Let’s Go: to the Beach!
This week included some of the curriculum that we did last year during "Summer" week, so I didn't go into a ton of detail on those activities in this post. Click here to see the post from that date for a better descriptions on those activities and a review/synopsis of the literature we read today.

Good Morning, Friendly Frogs!
I like to have a set activity for the children to do at the table during the short time that they are waiting for all of their friends to arrive. This is usually books, magnets, puzzles, or a sensory activity.

Share: Bring something that begins with letter H (The friendly frogs brought a hat, another hat, a helmet, a hammer, a Halloween ghost, and Mrs. Meg brought a hippo)

Color: Yellow

Shape: Rectangle

Books: Summer By Lois Santrey, Time to Get Dressed By DK Publishing, How Will We Get to the Beach? By Brigitte Luciani

Cooking: Berry Banana Smoothies –the children help measure, pour, and blend some “berry refreshing” smoothies. Top drinks off with paper umbrellas and a straw and drink them outside on the patio “beach”

Dramatic Play: Beach Play prop box (sand toys, sunglasses, towels, sunscreen, flip flops, umbrella, sun hats, beach balls, etc) Encourage the children to pretend they are playing at the beach. What do they see?

Circle Time: Part of our circle time routine is the job chart. Each child finds their name and then I ask them a few practical life skill questions like "where do you live? What is your mom's name, dad's name, last name, etc? What is your phone number? How old are you? What street do you live on?After this, they choose a job on the job chart. They can choose from Calendar Helper, Lights Monitor, Song Leader, Flag Holder, Sweeper, Snack Helper, or Line Leader

Sensory: Colored Sand Play! This was a hit.


Fine Motor: Tracing yellow wavy lines ("ocean waves")
It's not my style to have children sit around and do busy work all day. They are going to get so much of that when they get to Kindergarten. My teaching philosophy is that preschool is a place for children to learn HOW to learn, and develop a love for learning. A child will be more successful at letter writing and recognition later, if they first learn how to relax, listen, and follow along with a story that is read aloud to them, and if they first develop good control of their fine motor skills. How foreign is the concept of writing a capital letter A, Z, N,Y, M, K, R, V, X, or W to a child who hasn't first learned how to draw a diagonal line?
First we trace with a finger to teach the hand to move in the pattern we want it to
Next we trace the line using a pencil or crayon. Baby steps to handwriting success.

Snack: yellow banana, yellow apples, yellow cheese, and rectangle graham crackers.

Art: painting yellow starfish. We added some blue sand to the paint for an extra sensory experience.

Math: Seashell Sort (by size, by shape, by pattern, by color...)
Science: Hot and Cold Chart-provide several items for the children sort and place on a Hot or Cold Chart of where they typically belong. (ice cubes, bed buddy, fan, water from fridge, photo of snowman, curling iron, muffin pan, frozen vegetables, can of soup, blankie, ice pop)

Language: read How Will We Get To the Beach? and encourage the children to examine each page to guess what item Roxanne is missing on her way to the beach.

Cognitive Activity: Play “what’s missing” with similar items that Roxanne (from the book) wanted to take to the beach (book, turtle, baby, ball, umbrella, sunglasses)

Practical Life: I can get myself dressed! What clothes do you wear in the Summer time?

Gross Motor: Beach Balls-provide the children with a variety of beach balls to play catch with.

Music & Movement: Oh What Do You Do in the Summer time, Baby Beluga, Jack in the Box, Animal Sounds Guessing Game

Goodbye Friends