Not Before 7

Wordless Wednesday: On the nights Mommy is at work…

noreply@blogger.com (Mary@notbefore7) — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 12:00:00 +0000

(I found all of these pictures on my camera when I offloaded the shots. It appears the kids have a good time on their Daddy nights)

The Time Away

noreply@blogger.com (Mary@notbefore7) — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 12:00:00 +0000

Our trip to Great Wolf was such a fun time with the kids.

But for me, it is always more than that.

At home, I always feel like I have an agenda with my kids. We have daily “to-do” lists, especially during the school year. Our time is focused on getting our school work complete and making it through the day.

Which includes meal prep, meal clean-up, toy clean-up, school assignments, argument settling, and more.

Granted, we get little breaks to play board games, go do something fun, or play outside for awhile. Little breaks are good to keep us going, but they aren’t the same as time away.

A longer break is a good thing.

Two days away at a water park was EXACTLY what I needed to refresh my heart. I was able to have fun with the kids for 24 hours without ANY agenda.

I had such a fun time splashing with C in the water spouts. It was a joy to watch D play in the shallow end of the wave pool. T and I raced down the kid slides. And it was great to hit the big kid slides with K. She was so proud of herself for riding the Tornado.

And I loved having my amazing husband to share in the fun.

Moments like that help build our family bonds. I am so thankful we were able to sneak off for a night. It was an amazing blessing and I felt so fortunate the whole time.

And I have to admit, it is during vacation moments that I am glad I am “unplugged” from my iPhone. More than once, I realized when I was getting a drink at our table that if I had had my iPhone, I would have probably disengaged for a few moments to check email or upload a photo to FB.

I was glad I couldn’t.

My kids had me 100% and I had them 100%. No agendas. No distractions.

I am ready to go away again….

The things about you…C

noreply@blogger.com (Mary@notbefore7) — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 12:00:00 +0000

Dear C (age 2),

In an effort to freeze this moment in time when you are two years old, I want to record a few things about you. And I’d like to focus on the things that make you a one of a kind, ORIGINAL, two year old in this house.

After all, you are the fourth kid. One would think we’d seen it ALL by now. But no, you have brought your own unique 2 year old habits to the table for us to enjoy!

When you were a baby, you would grab a piece of the sheet you were sleeping on, tuck it in your hand and shove the thumb of that hand in your mouth.

Now you are two. Instead of the sheet, you prefer your pillowcase. If you are in your bed, or goofing around downstairs, you still like to grasp a little piece in your hand and then stick that thumb in your mouth.

I fear one day this little habit will disappear. And I will miss it and I will miss the “little you” that did this.

But in reality, you are not a baby anymore. You are two years old, and you demand things your way, like most two year olds.

Whenever I am cooking, baking or working in the kitchen, you demand your counter seat. This happens pretty much every morning, like clockwork, as soon as you see me preparing our fruit smoothies.

Boom. There you are.

“Sit there. Sit there.”

And up you go.

Sometimes you join me while you eat your lunch. Other times you just sit and observe.

It drives me crazy and I love it all at that same time.

Either way. It is you and mostly I just try to smile because I love you.

Another crazy behavior that we have NEVER seen in this house is the way you express your disagreement, frustration, or anger.

You don’t throw a tantrum most of the time. You don’t yell and scream like mad. Instead, you close your eyes…

…and you just stand there. Shutting your eyes is a major act of defiance, at least in your mind. Or you are just trying to shut all of us and our “rules” out.

Either way, we usually get the giggles, and some of the time you will join us and giggle too. Other times you just keep your eyes shut and tune everyone out.

You are obsessed with Danimals. If you could live on ONE food, it would be a Danimal. Of course, YOU are very particular about the color of the straw. If someone hands you the wrong color straw, you go CRAZY!

So we let you pick it yourself when we remember.

Your favorite spoon is the biggest one in the drawer. It is actually one of my mixing spoons. If anyone tries to talk you into another spoon, you go crazy.

That. Is. The. Spoon. You. Want.

You LOVE to take the cushions off the sofa. Sometimes you play with them, but mostly you just like to sit without a cushion.

(Note: I have NO idea why you are sitting with a cream cheese container. This is NOT typical, but was going on the morning I took this in December. It just goes to show you that there is never a dull moment…)

You are one of a kind, original, and we love you!

Love, Mommy

Great Wolf Lodge Adventure

noreply@blogger.com (Mary@notbefore7) — Sun, 19 Feb 2012 12:00:00 +0000

(And…a little return to the present, then back to December catch-up)

Without telling our children, we made a one night reservation at the Great Wolf Lodge in Williamsburg. This is a place we have wanted to visit each year, but have chosen to wait until there wasn’t a baby or toddler in the house.

Course, a two year old is pushing it, but we decided that we could handle it for one night!

Sunday morning the kids woke, prepared to get ready for church. Instead, we surprised them and announced that we were off to Williamsburg to a water park hotel. We let them look at pictures online, gave them a few minutes to pack anything they needed for sleep, and we took off.

Everyone was so excited! The ride down was easy and in three hours, we were pulling into the Pizza Hut in Williamburg for lunch.

After lunch, we checked in and got our bracelets for the water park. Everyone had a blast that first few hours.

After 5 hours of swimming, we headed up to our room. We had dinner in the room and enjoyed a little down time.

The kids had fun exploring their Kids Cabin in the room.

After dinner, the boys stayed upstairs to relax a bit while the girls and I went back to the water park.

The majority of the families were off having dinner and it was pretty empty. The girls took a shot at surfing. This was a lot of fun for them because they have been interested in surfing ever since they watched the movie, “Soul Surfer”.

K (age 9) took a trip down the water slides, only to find that at nighttime, they are pitch black. She survived it, but didn’t do it again.

Then it was off to the wave pool for a little while.

Then the girls did the little obstacle area for awhile. T (age 7), in particular, liked this area. She spent a lot of time on it the next day too.

I was happy to have my DSLR. This was the first time I played with the shutter speed manually. Without some adjustment, the pictures in this place were too dark at night.

Then it was back up to Pajama Story Time in the Lobby. Afterward, the three older kiddos and I grabbed some fudge downstairs. Then we headed off to bed.

Then it was off to bed to get ready for an early, busy morning.

K (age 9) had a great time on the tube slides. She and I spent a lot of time going down the tubes together or racing one another.

The boys really enjoyed this area where they could play with the water.

An AWESOME time was had by all. We can’t wait to return next year!

Train Garden Creativity

noreply@blogger.com (Mary@notbefore7) — Sat, 18 Feb 2012 12:00:00 +0000

Every year we tour several train gardens.

Every year it inspires our children to set up “scenes” around the house. This year the girls set up three scenes in their bedroom and gave tours to their father and I.

The first scene was a pretty involved scene with Barbie dolls on their bunk beds.

Then there was a scene involving the American Girl Dolls in action.

The final scene was created in their dollhouse using their fairy figurines.

New scenes were set up the next week with the Barbies.

Their creativity never ceases to amaze me!

Train Garden Tradition

noreply@blogger.com (Mary@notbefore7) — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 12:00:00 +0000

Every year we visit a variety of train gardens. This is a fun tradition, popular in MD and PA for sure. I am not sure where else, but my FL family didn’t know what we were talking about.

Many of the local fire stations put up a train garden for the Christmas Season, so we visit two of the fire stations. We have also found a wonderful train garden display at an Auto Body Shop. It has amazing detail!

The Auto Body Shop train garden:

The Arbutus Fire Station, around the corner from the Auto Body Shop…

Most train gardens have little buttons around the display for visitors to press. They cause some part of the set up to move or light up. The kids enjoy discovering what each button controls.

The Ellicott City Fire Station…

Year after year, the train gardens never get old.

Kings Table Mid-Year

noreply@blogger.com (Mary@notbefore7) — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 12:00:00 +0000

Our mini co-op of six families continues to meet at my home on Fridays. It is going very well. In fact, it is going better than I would have predicted.

We have started a unit on Chemistry, using Real Science for Kids. I really enjoy this curriculum because it does what it says…brings REAL science to young kids!

Our K-2 class is using the Pre-Level Chemistry textbook and lab book. One of our first experiments was building molecules with marshmallows. The younger kids learned that atoms can combine in different ways.

Our 3rd-7th grade class is split into two groups for this unit. The third graders are doing the Pre-Level book, as it is designed for 2nd-3rd graders. It is perfect for their age.

The 4th-7th graders work with me and are using the Level One Chemistry Textbook and lab book. The marshmallow lab for this group used different color marshmallows to represent the different atoms. The atoms had rules and we built models of actual molecules following the rules.

What I love about this curriculum for my family of four is that we can all study the same topic but each student can approach it at their own level. The labs coordinate topics, so the materials are similar and the concepts are on the same topics. The Level One book takes things to a deeper level while the Pre-Level book is very introductory.

The kids continue to experience a variety of art activities and study various artists. We have studied Whistler and Remington so far this year.

Our music teacher continues to teach folksongs, hymns, music theory, and so much more.

I feel so fortunate to have a friend with a degree in this area because my children have benefitted so much from her instruction.

So it is true that Thursday night is kind of crazy as I set up tables and clean up rooms, but it has been well worth the educational benefits this year!

Wordless Wednesday: Cousins

noreply@blogger.com (Mary@notbefore7) — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 12:00:00 +0000

A true story…

noreply@blogger.com (Mary@notbefore7) — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 18:54:00 +0000

Hi Mary,
Leigh Ann, Momma Roar, mentioned you are currently at Great Wolf Lodge in Williamsburg. I am here too. I would love to meet you face to face. :) We are leaving Tues morning. I hope y'all are having a great stay.

Blessings,

Melodye
_________________________________________________________

**Note: Melodye is a mommy of three whom I met blogging WAY back in the beginning (five years ago). We had not spoken online directly in about three years, but I knew exactly who she was. I was THRILLED that I had checked my email that AM because I had planned to stay “unplugged” the whole trip.
__________________________________________________________

Melodye,
Ahhh....just checked my email. I am here room 3041....we are going to the pool this AM. I am in a black and white horizontal striped top bathing suit with a coral/reddish/orange bottom. (Someone else is in it, but with a black bottom....wonder if it is you....LOL)

The black and white strips have a coral/red/orange strip on the top too - just one :) We are going to try for a table by the lockers/little kid pool with the baby slides.

Hope you find me. I won't be back online. So glad you emailed!

Mary
_____________________________________________________________

So. Yeah. Random meeting with online blogging friend and she is the mom in the matching tankini.

Which probably meant we looked rather funny walking around together and chatting for the next few hours.

But it was hilariously funny and SO good to meet!

Tiny Talk Tuesday

noreply@blogger.com (Mary@notbefore7) — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 12:00:00 +0000

Tiny Talk Tuesdsay is no longer a blog carnival at this site. BUT, it is still a blog carnival! (see the new button) So if you want to participate, head on over and link up!

Mom: D (age 5), you are lucky to have a friend coming to roller skate with you today! Caleb is coming!
D: Oh! But mom, (quiet voice now), don't tell Caleb that I love Catherine.
Mom: Huh?
D: I don't want him to know.
Mom: OK. I won't tell him.
___________________________________________________

T (age 7): I am thinking of an animal. It lives in...hmmm....I can't remember if it is North or South Arctica... ____________________________________________________

C (age 2.5 years): I'm scary!
Meaning: I am scared.
____________________________________________________

Strange....there is no link here. Head over to Kelly's and link up!

A little too much colonial history…

noreply@blogger.com (Mary@notbefore7) — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 12:00:00 +0000

Produces kids who use hula hoops for colonial games…

Words with Friends

noreply@blogger.com (Mary@notbefore7) — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 02:52:00 +0000

Recently, I began playing Words with Friends online. My daughter, K (age 9) is dying to play!

I am not sure how to register her because she does not have a facebook account or email address, so she often helps me with my games.

But, she is a creative little gal, so she came up with her own solution…

Hey Mom, let’s play WWF. I started the game.

Of course, graph paper took it a step up.

And without any given letters or bonus points to worry about, it is a pretty relaxing way to play.

Of course, the teacher in me did toss out an encouragement to get “bonus points” if you used your Wordly Wise Vocabulary words…

Then a little “chat window” popped up, so I replied…

Love that girl!

The end of an era

noreply@blogger.com (Mary@notbefore7) — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 19:14:00 +0000

I have to admit that my neglect of my little blog isn't going to end.

I keep trying to record thoughts and memories here, but I have realized that my work (2 nights a week), my learning to cook homemade whole food, my 4 active kiddos, bible study, our extended family, and homeschool seem to keep me too busy to have commitments here.

My online blogging comes AFTER my in-real-life living. Which means that a weekly commitment to my blog carnival: Tiny Talk Tuesday has to be let go. As much has that has been a household "name" here for so long, I can no longer commit to hosting it.

My Monday nights are filled EVERY week. I work Monday nights and have done so for years, but now I regular commitments after work as well. There have been too many Tuesdays that I wake up and realized I never "got to" Tiny Talk.

And there have now been too many Tuesdays that I don't even have time to fix that.

So I hope to keep recording my Tiny Talk when I can, but I can't commit to it. Maybe there is someone out there who would like to commit to hosting the Tiny Talk Tuesday carnival? If so, shoot me an email. If there happens to be more than one person interested, then I'll see how that works out.

But for now, I will not be hosting it anymore, only participating as I can.

Thanks for understanding and for the memories for over 4 years.

Mary

Wordless Wednesday: 2 Generations of Sisters

noreply@blogger.com (Mary@notbefore7) — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 12:00:00 +0000

Wordless Wednesday: School Year Portraits by Mom

noreply@blogger.com (Mary@notbefore7) — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 12:00:00 +0000

C (age 2)

D (age 4)…the final…

His out takes…

T (age 7)…the “portrait looking one”….

and the one Mommy framed…

K (age 9), who was suddenly “grown up” in this shot, and cooperated too well to have out-takes…

Loving my camera and the 50mm 1.8f lens!

noreply@blogger.com (Mary@notbefore7) — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 05:00:00 +0000

Wordless Wednesday: No Words, Just My Boy

noreply@blogger.com (Mary@notbefore7) — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 12:00:00 +0000

Hosting Advent Dinner

noreply@blogger.com (Mary@notbefore7) — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 12:00:00 +0000

Many years ago, my parents began the tradition of weekly dinners during the Advent Season.

This year, my parents were out of town, so Eric and I hosted the first dinner. It was Thanksgiving weekend and we invited my Grandmother and Uncle as well as some good friends over for dinner.

It was such a fun night! We really enjoyed hosting one of the dinners, and so did our children.

It was a great night and a fun way to begin the Advent Season in our home.

Wordless Wednesday: Mommy playing with her camera on our Nature Walks

noreply@blogger.com (Mary@notbefore7) — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 12:00:00 +0000

Tiny Talk Tuesday

noreply@blogger.com (Mary@notbefore7) — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 04:30:00 +0000

Tiny Talk Tuesday helps parents focus on one of the many joys of parenting - the funny things that our little ones (and sometimes big ones) have to say.

Join in the fun and record the Tiny Talk overheard in your house! Publish a post on your blog and link us to the laughs. Then be sure to link to the blog carnival on this post so more bloggers can join in the fun.

The guidelines can be found here if you need them.
_____________________________________________________
K: Mom, what's TOT (on her pants?)

Mom: Oh, that's LOL.

K: Lol (pronouncing it as a word)

Mom: It means Laugh out loud. Like when you talk on the computer and someone says something funny, they don't know you are laughing....

K: So you write back, "I LOL'ed"

Mom: Nope, you just write LOL.

(uh...give it a few years and she'll be filling me in)
______________________________________________________

I took a trip about one hour north to meet a friend for dinner. When I arrived, I called home to let my husband know that I arrived. K (age 9) answered the phone....

K: Hello.

Mom: Hey K. It's Mommy. Would you tell Daddy that I made it?

K: What did you make?

Mom: (laugh) No. I mean that I made it here. I arrived here.

K: Oh.

(funny when you hear the phrases they still don't know, even at age 9....cute)
_______________________________________________________

Your Turn:

More Art Fun

noreply@blogger.com (Mary@notbefore7) — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 12:00:00 +0000

I LOVE the new art website I discovered.

We have had a blast creating some fun projects! The Owl project was a lot of fun!

(HINT: Frame 3D projects by removing the glass!)

Our next project was the Nativity Silhouette. This one was very striking on her blog and I thought it would be a nice one for everyone to do.

Everyone except C (age 2), who was napping, but woke up in time for the picture and quickly grabbed something to hold and pose with.

Which was SO. DARN. CUTE.

I love that they all look so well done. D (age 4) has a beautiful one, as well as both of his sisters!

I think we’ll make it a goal to do at least one a month. Love that site!

Our Recycling Bin

noreply@blogger.com (Mary@notbefore7) — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 12:00:00 +0000

I look in and see a bunch of recycling…

They dig in and see treasures, art supplies, games, and all sorts of fun…

And they go to work…

Because it is not an egg carton…it is a tiny house with rooms for individual fairies…

I love imagination!

The Document Game

noreply@blogger.com (Mary@notbefore7) — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 12:00:00 +0000

My kids love to play a game they made up. They call it the Document Game.

Basically, K (age 9), writes documents for everyone to agree to and sign.

The other day, I found this one on the floor….

I was relieved, of course, till I noticed that my youngest child didn’t sign…

A Hidden Gem in the Day

noreply@blogger.com (Mary@notbefore7) — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 12:00:00 +0000

Our family took a tour offered at the local conservancy. While the tour guide was very nice and was doing her best to engage the kids, my kids we ready to do more exploring than the guide was providing.

So when the tour guide decided NOT to go up the hill because there was a steep spot we should “avoid” as a group….well, that was all the invitation we needed to consider some alternative plans.

“Mom, what is over that hill?”

“What is being worked on? Are we allowed to go that way?”

Well…the path was open to the public, so we decided that this was the right moment to leave the group quietly and head in the opposite direction.

Boy were we glad that we did.

Over that hill, and down, down, down the “steep section being worked on” was a lovely creek.

OH YEAH!

Rocks. Water. Dirt.

What more could we ask for?

Let the building, throwing, laughing and fun begin!

And mommy took note of the benches and picnic tables in the area.

Yes. We WILL spend quite a bit of time here in the spring. Awesome find!

Kick the ball!

noreply@blogger.com (Mary@notbefore7) — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 12:00:00 +0000

T (age 7) has always enjoyed soccer. But I am not a fan of demanding schedules for little ones. I am also not a fan of spending a ton of money to play a sport when you are only SEVEN.

But I digress.

This year, our solution was the Thunder Soccer Club’s Micro-clinic. It is a multi-age skills program for 4-10 year olds, focusing on learning skills through games.

It is only once a week for 1.5 hours, so the schedule wasn’t demanding. (NO WEEKEND GAMES)

The cost was pretty reasonable in comparison to other soccer options.

T had a great time and met some fun kids.

Course, one new friend in particular had her attention a bit too much…ahem…

Uh….get back to the GAME my dear. The GAME.

It was a ton of fun and a great few weeks of soccer.