Adventure to Union Station- Davinci

Another adventure took place this past weekend this time I planned a little better and did some pre trip planning like I used to do when the older 5 were little.

First it was picking a day that would work for all of us as I wanted to be sure that the older boys could go, and one were I could make sure the littlest had a good nights rest. Then I went to the website to explore the activity we were going to do, and then it was on to the library website. Where I requested a bunch of books and a video on the topic we were going to explore.

The topic for this trip was Leonardo da  Vinci, at Union Station - Davinci which is a hands on exploration of his ideas. The books that I found the most useful for the nine year old to prepare him were Monday with a Mad Genius and the companion book Leonardo Da Vinci - Research Guide . We also used Leonardo Da Vinci - The world's greatest Artists books, and the night before we went we watched Leonardo da Vinci - Animated Hero Classics.


Proof that more then one of the kids went most of the pictures are of Aidan                                                                       mostly because he was with me.

There are plenty of books out there also for older children and adults, and a selection of videos on Amazon Prime, and Netflix. We really didn't do any of these for the older kids since they already had a knowledge about da Vinci and the Renaissance.

The morning of I made sure to feed them all a large breakfast and even packed a snack for the car to offer them just before we went in. Then it was on to the adventure. In order to save some money we also purchased a membership to Union Station which made the tickets to the exhibit less expensive. I know buying a membership to get pay less for special tickets why, it does make sense for us and I'll write about that later.

                         

                                                    A self playing marching band drum

The kids were not sure what to think when we first got there, the older ones were reading all the information on the walls and the youngest was starting to look upset, took a minute to figure out he thought that this was all there was, no this was only the area to line up in. Once we went in there was a short video that was interesting to watch and the youngest kept whispering over and over I knew that, he was starting to get excited. 



After the video we entered the exhibit, the first items were the no touch items and were great to look at, the youngest rushed forward and pointed out the wing hanging from the ceiling. He shouted " Mom it's just like the one in the book" We split up with the teens taking time to look at stuff they found interesting, the dad taking pictures of almost everything, and me and Aidan following his interests. There was plenty of things that were hands on, it was great to see someone build his ideas and get to play with them.

A tank idea

His workshop

    Lots of cranks, and levers, and gears

The best moment was when we entered the section on art and there was a full size reproduction of the Last Supper. Aidan was shocked, we had to explain it wasn't the real one that one is painted on a wall. He enjoyed looking at it up close and asked were was the door that was cut into it, as he remembered that from one of the books. Then he turned the corner and saw what he had been looking for the Mona Lisa, being a reproduction he got close to it and in awe said that someday he was going to see the real one.




The older kids were not done yet, so Aidan and I headed back in the exhibit to the room with blocks, a wind tunnel and instructions for building helicopters. This kept him busy until the older kids were done. 

We really enjoyed this outing, and I liked the fact that you could roam the exhibit as you liked and that there was a lot of hands on fun. Prepping Aidan with books and a video was the one thing that made this a great trip for him. We ended up the day checking out Science City more about that later and dinner at a restaurant that brings your food to you by train.

Our Adventure to the Nelson Atkins Art Museum

One of my goals this year was to explore our new area a bit more, plus with the husband being done with school for now we have more free time as a family. This month will be a busy one for outings as we try to fit in a few before the college boys head back to school.

Our first adventure was to the Nelson-Atkins Art Museum, I had gone there with the youngest earlier in the year on a school field trip and had enjoyed it and wanted to bring the rest of the family.

One very nice thing about this museum is it is free, there is a fee for parking but there is also plenty of street parking around if you don't mind a walk.

We played a game that I play with kids in museums especially art ones, we go into a gallery and I take a quick look at the pictures and then give them something to look for such as dogs, trees, and it gets them to spend the time looking at the picture and then I will ask what story is the picture telling. It was pretty cool that when we were looking at a piece of art from the middle ages, it was a alter piece , the youngest one was able to tell the story the piece was telling.

The kids really enjoyed being able to see many different types of art, we were a bit sad that the Japanese Art wing was closed until summer but it gives us a reason to go back. But a art museum is a great way to take a peek at different cultures and later talk about them.

 A little bit of better planning my part would have made the day even better, mostly having a snack in the car and feeding the bottomless pit aka the youngest one before going in would had made the day better. About an hour into the visit all he could think about was his stomach, and we heard a lot about how he was starving. But he made it though another 45 mins and a quick trip outside to the sculpture park.

Celebrating the semester

While we don't believe in paying for good grades, we do believe in celebrating all that hard work. As one of the children once said if we paid them for grades we would be broke, my answer was more you should work hard in school because that is your job right now and the work you do now makes for better opportunities  later. They still think it would be a great idea to be paid since they had heard that there were kids out there, who did receive money for grades.

In the past we usually would go to Pizza Hut as a family and enjoy a meal and each other at the completion of a marking period and at the end of the year we would do something bigger like a trip to Chuck E Cheese. That was a very big deal with having a large family and a budget ,meals out didn't happen often. Life is a bit different now that we have only have four kids at home and  two of them still at home are really away at college most of the year.

So we saved our celebration for the end of the first semester, but most of our children have out grown Chuck E Cheese. So it was time to find something new, and it was a trip to Dave and Busters, we started the fun by playing 20 questions in the car, they knew that we were going on a adventure but where was unknown. So after singing the required song by Little Einsteins they started asking questions no one guessed where we were going so it was a nice surprise when we arrived. The youngest one I don't really think understood what fun he was going to have until after he had eaten and dad handed over the card to go play games, the look on his face. 

Our Adventure Song

Found out that Aidan is very good at skee ball, and Nolan is still very good at video games which really was not really a surprise but he was the only one who at the end of our time still had a ton of credits on his card. Speaking of cards those things are the greatest, no juggling tokens or tickets from games needed those cards years ago. 

Was this a pricey outing yes it was, but it was nice to connect with each other, the food was pretty good, and they all had fun. The youngest is a little more motivated to study his times tables as he really would like to go back again at the end of the school year. We did order from the Eat and Play Combo which cost us 24.99 a person and each person was given a 20 dollar play card. So 4.99 for the meal and 20 dollars to play games. Next time we will go on a Wednesday night since games are all 1/2 price so they will get more time to play. 

Looking forward to another great semester from the kids.

It's a Marathon not a race- 10th grade

10 th grade another year closer to graduation, and making sure our kids can live on their own. This years big discussions are about future plans, because for a lot of schools at the end of this year you will be making choices for the rest of high school.

And while I truly believe that they need to be responsible for their own school work and the consequences, life planning I am still very involved in. Because I am lucky if at this stage of the game they think about planning the term paper due in a week, thinking 5 years down the line not happening at least with my group.

They will be deciding on technical  training programs, which three of my children have done, or college in high school which one of mine has done, some schools it will be AP classes and other options. The summer in-between 10th and 11th is a good time to explore some interests, that might mean camps, volunteer work, family trips or projects. Some things that we have done is have a son interested in building, spend the summer helping a friend do a project on our house, sent one child to a summer camp about math and science. Another went to a military summer encampment, and one went on an overseas trip. You can even do things local, for example if you have a child interest in teaching, have them volunteer at camp, VBS. If hospital work is something that catches their eye have them volunteer at a hospital, or even visiting elderly family members or working as a Junior Member of a Fire Department.

Most of all keep talking and listening to them, at this stage you may have some conflicts, which I have found true with my daughters, and my husband our sons. Right now I have one that I have to keep reminding her how to speak to me, while my husband has no problem at all with her. I just take a big breath and remember her older sister going through the same thing and in the only 3 short years which seemed real long at the time she turned into a very nice young women who I enjoy spending time with. As someone said once you just have to love them until you like them.

Work on life skills too, have them sit along side you while you pay the bills, take them grocery shopping with you, talk about budgets. Teach them to clean, do laundry, meal plan and prepare a meal. I can say that my one son made some money when he went to college as there were kids in the laundry room staring at the machines with no idea on how to do laundry, and he offered to teach them for a dollar. I usually stop doing their laundry in 9th grade, it's up to them to do their laundry, also depending on the child they also start cooking a meal a week around the end of 10th grade. I have a great pasta maker, another who makes pizza every Friday Night, and one who is a little flighty in the kitchen but can cook with someone to toss advice to him. Some of these things we learned after the first child, that poor first kid.

Next up 11th grade, time sure does fly.

Things They Don't tell you when you bring them home

Since I have been looking back at pictures some things the kids have taught me over the years have come to mind.

1. Never wash a kid covered in flour, because flour + water in hair equals Paper Mache , and a Paper Mache kid is not normally something you want.
                                                 

 

2. If the kid or kids get really quiet, usually when you are in the bathroom, find them quick because something's in life are guarantees.One is that your children will always need you when you are in the bathroom. They could be playing nicely together or by themselves but as soon as you go to the bathroom the world is ending and they " NEED" you. So if for any reason they actually let you go alone, or maybe even get a shower, guarantee number two is happening they are into something or thinking of getting into something.

3. Know the way to the ER, drive it a few times, because when you really need to get there you will not be thinking about how to get there. You will be yelling at the kids in the back to keep pressure on it, or hold it still.

4. Nose and Ears for some reason kids love to stick things that do not belong in them into them. The nose is easier, the best way to get something out is to place your mouth over theirs and press your finger against the side of the nose that doesn't have a pea, bead, vitamin, pillow stuffing in it, and blow. It should come flying out.  Ears that one is usually a trip to the doctor, and since they never tell you that they put something in there, you usually find out about it at the doctor's anyway. When you take them in for a check up and the doctor insists that your child has lost one of the tubes in his ear, and you have to insist that your child has never had tubes, and he shows you and you have to tell the doctor that looks like a perler bead.

5. It is OK to ban things from your home, your children will still grow up to be decent human beings with out perler bead crafts ( see number 4 ) , glitter, Brat dolls, gum ( for a period of time ), trampolines and anything else that you really just don't want to deal with.

6. In the summer keep a pair of shoes, clean shirt for each kid and diaper wipes in the van, because that trip to the ER is almost always going to happen just before dinner when they are the dirtiest and have no shoes on. And it's handy to have when you have a child that for some reason had two shoes when they left the house but only one when you get to the store.

7. Make rules that make sense to your home, like here we never throw or kick to third base ( see number 8 about windows), we only throw nerf balls in the upstairs hallway ( sometimes it's easier to give in a bit then to always say no)

8. Don't sweat the small stuff, correct them , teach them, ground them. But in the end paint will cover the names written on the walls, the pictures drawn, and even the red painted handprints (Blue's Clues anyone). Drywall can be patched, and windows replaced, and hair grows back.

9. Listen to them, there will be days they will have nothing to say and others when all they want to do is talk. Listen to them when they are young and they will still want to talk to you when they are teens. Mind you that there are days during the why stage when you might wish to leave it all and be a hermit, and times when they are teens that you wonder if you really needed to know that.


10. Give them hugs, when they are sweet little guys, when they are smelly teens, and if they don't come and hug you once a day go looking for them and give them a hug. I find it great that when I am in the high school and pass one of my teens in the hallway they will break away from their friends and give me a hug right there. Some kids may not like hugs, so even just sitting close is a good thing.



11. When you look out the door and count the number of teens that it looks like you will be feeding dinner to don't panic make more rice, potatoes or even an extra veggie or two. Just cut the meat pieces a little smaller.

12. Teach them to read, have them see you spend time reading, have books handy, read out loud to them, go to the library, read the same books your teens do so that you can discuss them. Find a " family" book, one that you read to all of them at that stage of life. For us that has been Dr.Suess for the non readers, Owl at Home and Father Bear for the early readers, and a favorite read aloud book has been Mother West Wind.

13. Lice happens to us all and the more children you have, and the more sports they play the higher the chance that some day you will get that call from the nurse. That makes your head itch, gives you an instant headache, and increases your house work. Grab some chocolate, a diet coke, the meds from the store and a movie that the kid likes. It's going to be a long night but your not alone.

                                
Just a few if the things I don't want to forget, I am sure I will have more to add.

 

 

Seasons of Change

                                 

Changes, we have a lot of changes happening around here in the next month, so many that it's hard to think some days. So many that I want to grab a diet coke and either hide in my room with a book or binge on Netflix.

I have known that these changes have been coming for a while, but I am a lot like an ostrich and just wanted to hide my head in the sand. But we have reached the point of no longer being able to do that.

My daughter is getting married in 17 days, yes 17 days and we have so much to do, but before all that I have  graduation party number one for our boys and nephew in 10 days. Then we have all the last week of school stuff followed by graduation, and then moving all the way from NY to Kansas.

 

 

Deep breath, I can do it, I can do it. I know I can because I have a great family that helps, wonderful friends that are there when you need them most, and most of all I get a husband in the same state as me in only 12 days.

                           

I need my quite mornings

I am not a morning person, in that while I regularly wake up at 5:30 am, please don't expect me to want to interact with anyone. Lately as  in the last 3 days I have a little one who has been getting up at the same time as I do.

That is just not allowed, per my way of thinking. I have my morning routine, get up let the dog out, feed the animals and then some time on the computer, start a to-do list. By then I might be able to acknowledge you, but still don't expect me to meet any of your needs. Once I have the laundry going, breakfast started, and lunches packed I might want to talk to you. And weekends really children should not be up before 8, I need that extra bit of quite that I don't get on school days.

But the "little one" just doesn't get it, he wants to eat, he wants to use my computer, he wants to talk about important things, and so on. So what we have is a conflict of wants and needs, what I want or I view as a need, and the same for him to me what he views as needs I view as his wants.

What to do about this, today's solution was to send him to my room with the tv remote, and a bowl of cearl. Along with a prayer that tomorrow he will sleep a bit more tomorrow.

Happy Father's Day

Dad's like to color and play games

Dad's do the weird things that mom's would never do.

They make you do chores

They take you many many places

They watch you play game after game, sport season after season and they are the one that makes the noise cheering you on.

They are fun to hang out with

And yes they do make more then chicken nuggets and picking up pizza and Mcdonald's

 


Grandpa's go on trips with you and tell you yes when mom and dad say no. But then they just keep going on vacation when you have to go back to school and snow.



They love to sit next to you and just watch the fire, and relaxing after a long day of work.



They come and help you built a safe home for your chickens and ducks and even let you help.

And most of all grandpa's are still very big kids.

And while I don't have a picture of my Grandpa on this computer, I just wanted to say that I miss you grandpa, you were to me all the things my dad is to my kids. 

Master Chef Cook Off

We are fan's of the show Master Chef around here and enjoy watching it, but of course being the family that we are that's not enough.

                     So we had our own cook off this summer :  

                                         Mom vs Dad

An item that neither of us had ever eaten or made before.

Since we do not have a Master Chef Pantry we were allowed to look up our recipes and make a shopping list.

Since we also don't have a Master Chef Kitchen we were allowed to set up workstations before hand.

Dad's Workstation

Mom's Workstation

The Tasting Area

But all the rules apply:

We only had 1 hour and once we started we were not allowed to go into the cupboards or fridge for more items.

One Stove made things interesting

I am in it to win, mine was going to be better then his, and since the kids were judges I had high hopes of winning.

The kids took their job as judges seriously asking questions while we cooked just like on the show. And that is very distracting when you are on a time limit, trying to make something you have never made and being asked questions all about it.

The dad thinks his potato based one is going to win, I don't think so.

What a messy workstation

Look at mine all nice and clean

This was mine based on ricotta cheese, served with a light tomato cheese sauce

The judges taking the tasting very seriously, looking at taste, texture, seasoning and more.

The Dad's potoae based, with a alfredo sauce

Who was the winner, well the kids were smart they called it a tie, after offering a lot of feed back on what was good and was bad.

Looking forward to the next challenge.

I MADE IT - update

This week I have been a bit more successful on my goals, each morning the family has had breakfast and that even includes the husband who mind you was a bit surprised. Since he leaves before the kids get up all he usually gets is coffee and a lunch.

This weeks breakfasts included frozen waffles, chocolate chip pancakes, cereal, bagel sandwiches ( bagels, eggs, cheese, sausage), waffle sandwich ( waffles with sausage). This week I am adding to the morning breakfast goal by aiming to serve fruit smoothies with breakfast at least three times this week.

The other morning goal I am adding is cleaning the upstairs bathroom every morning, I figure it should take me no more then five min's to do, verses the twenty it does now when I only do it two times a week. This bathroom is still the job of Kathryn to deep clean once a week during the school year, and she still has the litter box every day. 

Afternoon goals, I can say that one is still taking a bit. There have been a few more blogs written this week but not really as often as I would like. I really need to move from thinking up blogs in my head to getting them written out. I do know that part of the issue is allotting time to do it and then doing it. But I am also adding another goal to this time slot and that is to exercise Monday- Friday.

I have no excuse not to exercise as I work at a Senior Center with a exercise room, so this week my goal is to stay after work for 30 min each day and use that exercise room. 

Dinner time goals, we have had dinner each night this week, except for one day when we had leftovers and cereal on a crazy night. This week menu has included cheesy potatoes with ham, meatloaf, chicken enchilada's , chicken and dumplings, pizza night, and a dinner out to celebrate a lot of good things happening around here.

So this week I am adding a goal to not only serve dinner each night but to also serve a salad each night or raw veggies.

Evening goal, I did it each night before I went to bed the sink was empty the dishes were done, note I said when I went to bed it was empty. Somehow there was always a dish or two in there in the morning, but at least they are placing the dishes in the sink. So this week I am going to add another goal and that is to bring back dinner chores for the kids.

For a while it has been easier to do it myself, or ask one or two children to help me with something, but not anymore it's time for the kids to step up and start helping. The hardest part has been trying to think of a way to get dinner chores done when we are never sure who will be home for dinner but I have a idea, that I will share later this week if it works.

So that is this weeks update and new goals. So the question is why did meeting goals work this week, when it hasn't worked in the last month. Well I had been keeping this to myself, but last Sunday I shared with the family my goals and that they should encourage me to meet them. And it worked, so goals are easier to make if you share them with those that can help you out.

Raising the Caboose

So what is a caboose, for this blog that would be a child born 5 or more years after the next older child with no more children close in age after him, more so if the older siblings are close in age. In our home the first set of children are 21,19,16,15,13 all born within eight years from oldest to youngest. 

Our Caboose

Then we have the caboose who is 7, raising him is a lot different then first five. Because it almost like raising an only child but you have older children to.

Aidan wants to do things that kids his age do like playgrounds, children's museums, play in the sand, and so on all the things that I loved doing with the older kids. We did those things as a family since with 5 kids under 10 I needed to go places to expel their energy and there was something that interested the 8 year old and yet kept the 1 year old happy to.

Making sure to have fun stuff for him and his friends to do.

The hard part is doing those things as a family, since really there is not much at a children's museum that is going to keep a 16 year old happy, and having a 6 ft man who might only be 15 playing on the playground can come across as a little creepy to the other adults.

So I have started to make a effort to do these things with just Aidan making it happen, yes it's not as a family but he needs to do kid things to. We do a lot as a family and most of these things are older kid activities that Aidan can enjoy.

For example yesterday after dropping of the 15 year old at Civil Air Patrol which is a meeting that takes 3 hours and is 45 minute's from home, I brought Aidan along for the trip . 


Side note that is one of the problems it is a lot easier to leave Aidan home with a older kid then take him with me shopping, trips to town and so on. Since I have built in sitters which I didn't have with the first set of kids, who went every where with me.

He can make it though a 3 course meal, and loves to wear suits

We headed to a playground that the older group of kids had enjoyed a lot when they were younger, we spent over 2 hours there. He rode his bike, and played forever on that playground, yes I could have left him home with the older kids and enjoyed 3 hours to myself. But taking him was the better , not easier choice.

You can learn to beat any game with a older brother around

Others things about raising the Caboose that I have noticed and am trying hard to correct are things like :

Chores the older set were doing a lot more at his age then he does, because it is so much easier to have a older kid do the dishwasher then to teach the youngest how. As I said earlier it is easier to leave him home with a older child then to take him shopping and teach him how to behave in a store. It's easier to send a older kid out to play with him then it is to do it myself. I see a theme here, easier, which sometimes is not a bad thing but in this case I think it is. I need to work on making the better choice not the easier one.

That doesn't mean the older ones don't get asked to play with Aidan ( my tennis playing could make you cry or die of laughter) , or that Aidan always gets to go to CAP ( if it's raining there really isn't much for him to do). But it does mean making the effort.

Pluses of being a Caboose, he is not shy, he can walk onto any playground and just join in with any group of kids. He is totally comfortable with older kids and adults. He is a great sous chef since I know that a 7 year old can use a knife to cut up veggies safely, I would say he started at 5.

Need a egg cracked, a carrot diced I am your man.

 He doesn't seem to get hurt as much as the older boys did at his age, not having close in age brothers telling you climb higher, ride faster, jump further might be the reason. He is great at pick up games of soccer, held behind the bleachers while his big brothers and sister are playing their games. 

Older brothers are great for adventures

Plus he has an older brother who buys him the cool clothes that mom won't and will fish with him, a older sister that will coach his soccer team and worries more about him getting hurt then his mom does.

Older sisters who love you lots and think you are the cutest thing

Another older brother who will play endless games of tennis with him.Another older brother who will show him how to beat that game on the Wii, and another older sister who shows him the best spots for finding frogs, turtles and which berries to eat. 

This is a old picture, those games of tennis have been going on for a long time

So while raising the Caboose is different that raising the main part of the train it is still a lot of fun.

Only a caboose could get his older brother and sister to play with capes in public