A few product reviews

Here it is Friday already. We have done little except play with all our new things since Christmas day. The kids just haven't gotten tired of anything yet. They play with these things over and over again sometimes for hours and hours. Here are a few of the toys that we have being enjoying the last few days. We are just enjoying our vacation time and doing nothing but play, play and play.

Sophie of course got her Tabby Cat Vmigo. She loved the dog Vmigo that she got for her birthday but she LOVES the cat. I have to agree with her. The cat is a bit more fun. I don't know why exactly maybe it is just the novelty of it but the graphics are better on this one for one thing. Maybe it is newer. I found the dog on ebay. It was new in the package but it might have been an older version. Anyway.. the cat gets played a lot!

I got Sophie a latch hook kit for Christmas and we attempted it yesterday. I used to do these when I was little and she is always asking me for projects so I thought this was one we could give a try.
It may be a little beyond her but she can do it. She just gets bored with it after only about 3 stitches. It is going to take a long time before this one gets done. But she really wants to make a pillow out of the puppy and kitten picture so maybe she will work on it a bit now and again.
This marble run was added to our box of blocks and the kids have enjoyed building all sorts of runs using the blocks that came with the set and all our old blocks as well. Thanks Grandma!
We haven't actually finished a game of River Roads and Rails yet but we give it a try each day and the kids love it. Henry just really wants to play a little too much and ruins the layout after awhile and we don't have the drive to start over again. But the kids keep getting it out when there is a lull in the action. They even taught Dad how to play it last night. He LOVED it and wanted to keep playing until the end of all the cards but as usual Henry got the better of us and "Monstered" the layout. So one day we will actually finish the game.

Because Henry loves to throw things he received this little hoop and ball to hang on his bedroom door. We have a bunch of hand made cloth balls as well. The boys love to just go in there and shoot baskets. They have figured out that the little tramp in their room is fun to bounce on to get a little higher for a better shot.
I don't know about this horse. Sophie seems to think it is always sick. She has had ear infections, a burst ear drum, a number of leg breaks and even a few belly aches from bad hay. This poor horse is always having to go to the vet for all sorts of check ups and medical interventions. She is languishing on a pillow bed with a blanket over her right now. She needs a good rest to get over her latest illness. Again... Grandma I think this one is a hit!
This wasn't actually a Christmas present. We returned an item and ended up getting this Playmobil castle set. Ian loves it and even got up early this morning so he could play with it again. He loves to play knights and has gotten out out old set of knights and has them storm the castle over and over again. Henry loves the catapult and has the little flames flying. This is the first Playmobil set we have ever had and we really like it. They are already planning the sets that they want next. Maybe this one was a mistake after all. It is going to receive hours and hours of play over the next little bit.

It hasn't been all play and nothing else. We have also been reading the new books we got for Christmas too.And we also made our weekly trip to the library and checked out a number of books as usual. Even when we don't "do school" we still end up taking home a bag full of books.

We are enjoying our vacation time but I am actually looking forward to getting back to our normal schedule. Days seem to go on forever for me when we don't have school to do. I also seem to get a lot less done. The kids want me to play with them more so I get even less time to read my book or do what I need to do. So maybe we will get back to the books next week with a light bit of school work to ease us back into it.

Traffic School

Well I finally finished Traffic School today. And I did it all in the comfort of my home. I couldn't believe I was able to do Traffic School online. I have actually been completing the course for about a month now. I could do it little by little as long as I finished it before the deadline. Finally last night I finished the last 2 sections. My favorite ones too. Driving under the influence has always been trouble for me. When I was 15 trying to pass the written driving test these are the questions I always messed up on. I had to retake the test twice if I remember right. I just hate having to memorize a bunch of numbers. I don't really care if a person's BAC is 0.08% or 0.1%. I know it will never apply to me since I don't drink at all. But I guess the reminder to not drive when taking medications was a useful or at least somewhat applicable. And the warning signs to look for when driving so you can avoid Drunk Drivers will come in handy. But mostly I have learned to more observant while driving. I now never answer my cell phone while driving. That is what got me into trouble this time, anyway.

Hurray! One more thing on my list is now complete. This has been hanging over my head since August. And the deadline was only 3 weeks away so it was time to finish it! I actually enjoyed being able to do it at home. I did have to go and take a test at the UPS store, of all places, where they made sure it was actually me taking the test. Much nicer then having to sit through a full day of boring lecture like the last time I had to do Traffic School.

So now I need to be very good and come to a complete stop at every stop sign so I don't ever have to take Traffic School again.

It couldn't have been worse!

I had an errand to run this afternoon. I had 12 pictures I needed to laminate, so I thought I should get them done today. After Henry's nap I got the kids into the car and drove over to the teacher supply/ Learning store where there is a laminating machine which I can use for cheep. We arrived there and found that there was a teacher there laminating about a thousand pages of work for her class. So we waited. I figured it couldn't be that long and this is a really cool store to look through. So we wandered around a little.

My kids got more and more excited by all the fun toys, paints, tools and everything in this store. Ian is yelling to Sophie over the aisles to come and see what he found. Henry has found a bunch of balls and starts throwing them around. I get them picked up and I tell Ian that he can't yell like that in the store. They then find a pretend microphone and start yelling into it something that sounds like an attempt at singing. I should have just left then, knowing that my kids were getting more and more amped up. But no... I really need some things laminated and I don't want to have to come back.

After looking through all the craft supplies and paints, the teacher is finally done with the laminator. I go to laminate my things and another teacher steps in first. She has a little placemat project her class did and so 30 placemats have to go through the laminator. Again I wait. Really should have left here. But no... I stay.... Finally it is my turn.

I do 4 of my 12 pages that need laminating and the laminating plastic has run out and the rolls have to be replaced. I wait while they change this. I show my kids the musical instruments which were near the laminator. Mistake! Bad idea to show my kids drums of any kind. And they had a gong there with of course had to be gonged over and over again. Evidently the guy changing the rolls was a new guy and didn't know what he was doing because it was taking a really long time. Finally he says he is done.

I put the rest of my pages through and he then tells me that something is wrong. The new guy evidently put the roll on upside down so the sticky side wasn't down. So..... I then had to cut out all 6 pages from the laminate and then peal the upside down plastic off and then run them through again. The whole time trying to keep my 3 very active children from gonging that gong too many times, hitting each other with rain sticks, or Henry throwing more balls. (They must have had balls everywhere in that store.) I didn't succeed in keeping my kids under control. While I cut out the pages, Ian, when running around the corner of one of the aisles, banged his forehead on the edge of one of the shelves and gashed his head. He is one of those kids that holds his breath so he started turning purple and collapsed on the floor. I of course am used to this so don't freak out but the lady behind the service desk sure did. She had me sit him down while she got an ice pack. Then she had me fill out an incident report and a waiver for medical attention.

So finally my pages are laminated and I have signed the papers. I stand in the line to check out behind 6 people who no doubt are totally annoyed by me and my lovely children. When I get up to the desk finally they tell me that they aren't going to charge me for the laminating because of the mistake that the guy made. Thank You! But couldn't you have told me that before I waited in line with my sobbing boy with the goose egg on his forehead, the little wild man who wriggles and squirms until you have to put him down only to pick him up a few seconds later to keep him from throwing yet another object, and Sophie who can't stop giggling at it all or provoking Henry even more.

I can't think of any shopping/errand experience that has gone worse. I was in that store for almost 2 hours to laminate 12 pages.



I think I need a laminator for Christmas!

Blah!

I don't have anything to say. Nothing profound comes to mind. I don't have anything new to share with the world. I guess this is a good thing. Normal life is unexciting but at the same time so nice. The daily trials still haunt me. Sophie still tries to get out of doing any school. I am still trying to keep Henry from destroying our house and cleaning up after him, when he attempts it (usually while I am distracted). I am always trying to make sure Ian feels loved. He does sometime get lost in the shuffle, poor kid.
It is Tuesday and I tried to think of a top 10 list and just couldn't or at least haven't yet. Maybe by the end of the day I will have had an epiphany. But for now.... Hello everyone!