Domestic Adventures

“I wish our lives were like a movie. That way we could skip ahead to the fun parts.”

It’s Giveaway time, and I’m very excited about this product!
Not that I have been bopping around the house singing songs and pretending my children’s tummies are guitars - no I wouldn’t do that - but maybe, just maybe, one might be inspired to by this dvd. Oh, and it’s educational too.
I’ll let the Readeez Company tell you what they’re all about:

Readeez are a new concept in children’s entertainment that combine the written word with spoken word to give kids the best of both words…The immersive Readeez approach doesn’t offer a one-at-a-time list of random words. Rather, in Readeez videos, words are placed in unforgettable context, delighting children with stories, songs, riddles, rhymes, and distinctive characters.

Of course the whole Simulsynchrotaneous, see it hear it, thing appeals to the English major/homeschool mom in me, and the kids love them because they’re “kind of wacky and very fun!.”

Trent and Emmaline particularly love the interactions between Julian (”Dad”) and Isabel Waters, the stars of many of the Readeez. Every few days, I’ll hear Trent say, “Emmaline!” (”Yes, Dad!”) “Time… for… GEOMETREEZ!” (”As you wish!”) followed by a strange series of directions always ending with Emmaline giggling and grinning as she explains how she fell on her “oops” axis.

The engaging relationship shown between Julian and Isabel Waters in the series is charming, and irresistibly appealing. In fact, this is the best part of Readeez, in my opinion. Michael Rachap, the creator of Readeez explains, “For me, that loving relationship, and its unabashed expression, IS the cake. The other stuff — the reading, the poems, the songs — that’s icing”

Close relationships between parents and children are harder and harder to find, and the engaging love between father and daughter is refreshing to see. If you pay attention as much as your children, you may learn something too.

So, now for the give away part! The Readeez Company has provided one Readeez Volume One DVD for me to give away to one of you!

1. To enter, go to Readeez.com, look around, watch some videos.
2. Come back here and leave a comment telling me which Readee is your favorite. (My favorite’s Pangrams, but you’ll have to see that one on the DVD).
3. Make sure you fill in your email address so I can contact you if you win.

That’s it! The last day to enter is Saturday, January 30. I’ll do some sort of very scientific drawing type thing and announce the winner bright and early Monday morning, February 2. I’ll be happy to ship to anyone in the US or Canada.

After you enter, don’t forget to check out the Bloggy Giveaways Carnival for many, many more giveaways.

P.S. If you’ve never commented here before, I’ll have to approve your comment before it shows up. Don’t worry, you’re entered, and your comment will appear within a few hours most likely.

Oh, I’m very excited! I have a give-away in the works and I think you’ll like it. The maker of a product I really like has very kindly offered to give away one of his products here on domestic adventures. I’m not telling what it is yet, but it’s clever and fun and is already a big hit around our house. Not only that, the maker of this product really loves what he does, and the values inherent what he produces mesh very well with our own.
Check back because as soon as I have the item in my hot little hands, I’ll tell you all about and give you a chance to win it for your very own!

Have you heard all the hubbub about the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act? It seems that just as the craft industry is picking up speed and people like me are getting hooked on the idea of buying wonderfully, beautifully handmade products for our kids, a new law intending to be all safety conscious is putting a ka-bosh on the entire industry. The CPSIA was inspired by all the lead scares and toy recalls in the past couple of years, and requires third party testing of all products intended for children under 12. I’m all for making toys safe, but my first thought was, don’t buy from China! Buy from moms and small businesses if you want safer products. Unfortunately, the testing requirements of CPSIA are pretty much impossible for most small crafters to meet and therefore makes manufacture or distribution of their products illegal.
It’s hard to predict how the enforcement of this law will go, and from what I’ve read, the intent is aimed at the big companies who are more likely to produce contaminated products, and who can more easily afford to comply, however, many small crafters are closing up shop for fear of being hit by the $100,000 fine attached to this law, even if its purpose is not aimed at them.
CPSIA, if fully implemented and enforced, will affect anyone who makes, buys, or sells children’s toys, books, or clothing. Its retroactive nature will prohibit selling children’s items on ebay, or used books on Amazon. It will make it illegal to sell children’s items at garage sales, and even to donate children’s items to charity. And if no one is allowed to sell handmade or used items, good luck buying them!
There’s lots of info on the web about this, but this is a good link here, and this one tells who you can contact to make your opinions known.
So, I’ve written my letters and stood on my soapbox. Now back to your regularly scheduled bloggy-lite.

The battle against chaos in Emmaline’s room is an ongoing, tiring thing. It seems we just get it clean when suddenly everything is piled on the floor again and she has to get to her bed by way of a bulldozed path through the mess.
“Why?” I asked Trent in desperation one night after having nearly broken my ankle tripping on stray toys, “why are all of her toys always on the floor when it seems like she hardly ever plays with any of them? I haven’t seen her play with her dollhouse in ages, and yet every dollhouse accessory is out!” While Emmie slept, we mused over different answers. Maybe she just has too much stuff? Maybe it’s too hard to put away in all those separate bins? Maybe this or that, though none our ideas seemed to really fit.
I was determined to once again tackle Emmie’s room the next day, so in the morning we started with a little inspiration. I pulled her into my lap and we watched the above video from Readeez. “How would you like to sing that song to Daddy when he gets home tonight?” I asked. She was obviously not fooled into thinking this would be fun, but together we faced the chaos anyway.
Before we began I had the good thought to ask her the questions Trent and I had been so puzzled over. “Emmie, do you really like all these toys or do you just dump them out and not play with them?”
“Oh, I don’t play with them,” she answered ever so matter-of-factly. “I have to dump them out so I can play with the boxes they’re in. I just play with the boxes and my imagination.” Mystery solved!
Turns out the boxes holding the toys make great trains, oceans, caves, beds, swimming pools, and all sorts of other things. We were able to sort through her toys and remove several entire categories of toys she no longer has an interest in, and pare down her collection of other stuff as well. What’s left is what she really loves and several large empty buckets big enough to climb in.
So once again, it really is the box they want, not what’s in it.

We’ve had a wonderful week, but this morning awoke to a sick little girl who needs lots of tender loving care. She’s nestled on the couch watching the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe right now, and only half awake, curled around a mixing bowl - just in case.
Just a day in the life of a mommy, and though it’s not my favorite kind, I’m so glad for the privilege of taking care of her today. I’m glad to be the one to wrap her in her princess blanket and deliver water and saltines. I’m glad to stroke her hair and tell her stories about dwarves and magical rose gardens. I’m glad to pray for her and comfort her.
This post by SouleMama reflects the same kind of gladness in motherhood, joy in the right now, and it was good to read this morning.

So, we’re having another boy and we’ve got to start thinking about names. We have to start thinking now, because it generally takes Trent and I a while to decide on something. So far, we’ve vetoed each other’s first choices, but haven’t gotten too much further. Lucky for us, we have helpers this time.

M: How about Joshua? How about Spaghetti? How about Tomato and Hotdog? How about a great big name like Joshua Spaghetti Caleb?

E: Stop it! We’re getting all hopped up on silly names!

P.S. Can you tell Micah’s buddy friend is on his mind?

Trent’s big birthday gift this year was going to be a mini-vacation get-away. I figured out a budget and gave him a couple of suggestions. His suggestion was even better though. “So,” mused Trent, “for the same budget we’re planning for two or three nights away, we could get Disney annual passes for all of us and have lots of get-away days.” Whoa, that’s true. So that’s what we did.
So far we’ve spent an evening at Epcot (Applecot in Emmaline’s mind) and an afternoon at the Magic Kingdom. We’re really enjoying how easy-going our Disney days have been. Without the pressure of getting our money’s worth out of each day, we can show up leisurely, take out time, see what we can see and plan to see later what we don’t have time for.
Showing up late in the day is also nice for a lot of reasons. We arrived at Epcot around 6pm and got a better parking spot than I can get at the mall. Walked right in and onto Spaceship Earth without waiting in line at all. In fact, the only thing we waited for was Soarin’ (I loved watching Micah scramble to get his feet on the seat as we plunged toward the “water” on that ride). We took time to enjoy the play areas and the lights embedded in the sidewalks and all the details we tend to hurry by but that are so fascinating for kids.
It’s also fun for Micah to pipe up in the afternoon, “I want to go on a train ride!” and just say okay, hop in the car and take a train around the Magic Kingdom.
A couple of tips about passes…
Florida resident seasonal passes are great because the blackout dates are dates you probably won’t want to go anyway. The heat of summer is blacked out (easy decision for us since our new arrival will be here around the beginning of summer). Also, the two weeks around Christmas as well as the week of spring break are blacked out - who wants to be at Disney during their peak season anyway?
We bought seasonal passes for three of us, and upgraded one of the kids’ passes to annual because that includes free parking that I’m pretty sure will pay off (parking is $12!)
So we’re all really enjoying Trent’s birthday gift.

Expected around the first of June.

I thought I had finished Christmas shopping for Emmaline, but when I saw this Enchanted Fairy Garden at the store, I couldn’t pass it up. It turned out to be one of her favorites, and really how could it not be when it combines painting, planting, and fairies?

Emmaline and a few friends shared the job of painting the ceramic toadstools, fairy house, and dish. Then Emmie and I planted the seeds the next day. I’m amazed at how much they’ve grown already - and the wheat grass has already endured a “haircut”. Fortunately, the set came with lots of seeds, so I’m just keeping them handy to replant when needed.
This is the kind of toy I really love. No buzzing or beeping or batteries, just beauty and a bit of imagination.