Mom Friends

Posted on by Jessica Skipper

Today I had the pleasure of hosting a play date with a very good friend of mine and her two boys, 2 and 3 months.  L and J are so cute! Punky and Bay have become infatuated with babies so they were happy to have J over to snuggle.  And having her friend over was all Punky could talk about all morning – “Are they here yet?  When are they going to be here?!”  I love that Bay and L are about the same age so they get to grow up together, and he’s a good playmate for Punky too since she’s used to playing with her brother.  Of course, squabbles ensue when a guest encroaches on your territory, but playing together this way really is the best way for kids to learn to problem solve and communicate with others.  I loved listening to them hash out their problems.  There’s something to be learned from the way kids can work through a problem – even if they need a grown-up’s help – and then move on without resentment.

Beyond the kids having a good time playing together, there is nothing more important to a mom, Continue reading Mom Friends

Who Needs the Beach?

Posted on by Jessica Skipper

What do you think of when you hear the word, “beach”?  Vacation? Sand? Breeze? Waves?

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You want to know what I hear?  Sand on everything. Crabs. Sharks. Wind burn. Sun burn. “Mom, I have to potty!!”  Yes, I know.  That’s a pretty miserable way to think of the beach.  It’s supposed to be fun and carefree and relaxing, but with a toddler and a preschooler….it is decidedly not!  At least not for me.  You see, I’ve lived at the beach my whole life and I have never liked it!  I always got sand in my bathing suit and I’m not a fan of the waves.  I mean, who can swim in that?  And then if you go out past the breakers you have to worry about whatever it is that might be swimming with you.  No thank you!  I hear from my friends with kids how much fun they have had at the beach playing with their littles, but it just doesn’t suit my fancy.  I try to go once or twice a year just so I can say I took the kids but other than that, we stick with the pool. Continue reading Who Needs the Beach?

Bust the indoor boredom blues

Posted on by Jessica Skipper

It’s been a while, huh?  But I’m still here and still working with the kiddos on playing, growing, and learning!  We’ve had some family in town so it’s been a bit hectic and our schedule is all screwy.  But what’s new?!  In the past few days we have been to toddler story time at the museum to learn about the sun and shadows, gone to the aquarium on the ferry with a big group of friends, played at the splash pad at our local park, gone fishing with daddy, and had lots of snuggle time with my sister’s new baby.  Whew!  It has been a crazy week, but so much fun!  And the best part… Continue reading Bust the indoor boredom blues

Piles and Piles of Fun!

Posted on by Jessica Skipper

A couple weeks ago I had to clean out my classroom. Quite the ordeal since I had basically lived in that room for 2 years. I had decorated with self-made curtains to shade the windows, printed shelf liner adorned my cabinets and tabletops, canvases painted by Punky and me were all over the walls, matching baskets and bins stored all the goodies I had purchased for students and I to use. So many markers, clips, sticky notes, notebooks, and pens galore! So I packed it all up, brought my hubby to load it all in the truck, and toted it back to the house. Hubby cried, “oh no no no” all the way home! Continue reading Piles and Piles of Fun!

Bead me up scottie

Posted on by Jessica Skipper

What a glorious thing it is to have free time!  Yesterday was technically my last day at school, but because I made it so.  Teachers in our county have workdays through next Monday, but since I’m not going back next year those days of professional development seemed unnecessary, so I took my remaining personal time to end the year a bit early.  My kids’ sitter has been kind enough to keep them for these last few days anyway so I can have a little time to myself.  I dropped the kids off around 8 and came back to the house, had my coffee and a bowl of cereal before I got to work on the laundry.  I watched an episode of my girly binge show while I folded and put away a load.  I was meaning to put the next load in the dryer, but it didn’t seem right to run the dryer heating up the whole house for an hour or more when there was so much good sunshine outside.  I called up my daddy and had him help me put up a clothesline and hung up the clean towels and sheets.  This was all before lunch!  I made up some quick mac-n-cheese with peas, picked the garden, then got to work on the massive pile of stuff I brought home from school – sorting and putting away.  A storm rolled in on me so I pulled the laundry in and went to get my babies and got started on dinner.  An easy throw-together meal of ground venison sauteed with onions and garlic, cream of mushroom soup, cheddar cheese soup, milk and pasta, topped with a little shredded cheese at the end.  Not exactly the most healthy but it only cost about $3 to make enough for all four of us plus leftovers so I’ll forgive myself this time!

After all of this I still had about an hour and a half before it was time to start the bedtime routine so I decided to make something of that time.  Continue reading Bead me up scottie

Days and Weeks to Come

Posted on by Jessica Skipper

One of my daughter’s favorite questions is “How much longer until…?” This is a tough one to answer for a kid who has little concept of time vocabulary. I often refer to things that are days away by the number of “sleeps” she has left which has seemed to work.  Punky has gotten better about relational time words such as today, tomorrow, and yesterday, but still struggles with the concept of a day versus a week or a month.  Sometimes I will show her the family calendar and point out the current day and have her help me count the days until the anticipated event. Continue reading Days and Weeks to Come

Counting the Sunshines

Posted on by Jessica Skipper

If you’ve read my introductory posts, you know I have just recently made the decision to stay home and homeschool my children. This is a whole new world! I am now solely responsible for everything my four year old and two year old do and don’t know how to do! Talk about scary!

I know it’s summer and everyone is supposed to be taking a break (including this tired teacher) but my mind is whirling with plans for how to go about educating my babies without making them hate me or completely screwing them up.

We just happened to be at my parents’ house Saturday afternoon and I thought, “Let’s get started!” My inner teacher wanted a teaching craft-activity to go with the season, started mentally scanning Pinterest, and tabulating available supplies. Luckily I reigned myself in before it got too crazy and I decided on something easy. Continue reading Counting the Sunshines