DAP

Developmentally

Appropriate

Practice

The term developmentally appropriate practice, or DAP for short, refers to a framework of principles and guidelines for practice that promotes young children's optimal learning and development.

What happened to this concept? Are we expecting just a little too much out of these kids. Think back to when you were 6, 8, 10 years old. What were you doing from day to day? Were you getting up at 6:45 am, and heading off to school by 7:30, where you stayed for the next 8 hours? During that school timedid you have PE only every other day? During that 8 hours did you have to eat your lunch in silence? During that 8 hours did you get a whole 1/2 hour break where you were free to play only the games that are permitted by the school? When you arrived home, at 4:30 pm did you shove in a snack and get straight back to your homework, cuz if you didn't you wouldn't be able to get it done in time to go to cub scouts by 7pm? Was dinner something that fit between homework assignments? Did you have to stay up till 8:30-9:00 just to find the time to take a shower?

What ever happened to childhood? Skipping, biking, playing with the neighborhood kids?

Has anyone else noticed the work load that we (as a society) are putting on the shoulders of these children? This has been bothering me for years, and has just recently come to a head. Alex is my high strung child, and is easily stressed out. Liza could care less if she gets all the stuff done or not. Tori, is a perfectionist and will do it over and over until you tell her that it is great. Liza has handled these unreasonable expectations rather well. She is able to skip off and forget her responsibilities, and lets bad grades roll off her back. (which is good and bad at the same time) Alex on the other hand is a stress case. He hates getting bad grades and feels that his grades are a reflection of who he is. (which is good in that he cares, and bad in that he is really getting down on himself)

Last Saturday, after a crushing week for Alex, we opted to give the kids the "day off". We took them out for breakfast, and then they were not required to do their Saturday jobs. They were free to spend the day playing around the house, and being kids. I think they all really needed it. As I try to teach my children responsibility to home and family, I am met with this crazy school schedule, and I feel sorry for them somedays cuz the minute the homework is done, there is a dishwasher to unload, a table to set, or laundry to put away.

Alex is having trouble at school. If you don't know my sweet boy, he is an introvert. He enjoys chess, yoyo, golf, and any such activities where he is not having to be around a whole lot of people. He likes to play with friends, but he likes to only play with one or two. He spends a lot of time in his own head, he always has, since he was very little. He thinks things through quite thoroughly, but he does this in his own time. He is almost always the last child to get in the car, the last child up to the table. He needs to complete his thought or activity before moving to the next. Not always, but often. So he has trouble at school, he is the last one to catch on that the class is lining up, he gazes off into space when the teacher is talking and can become so captivated with a paperclip that he has no idea what is going on around him. He is not trying to be bad, he really wants to do better, but he seems to be in his own realm. His teacher this year is NOT fond of his scatterbrained behavior and is punishing him by taking away that only 1/2 hour of not work time that he has. He has been in trouble for getting up to get a book, stepping out of line to sip from the water fountain, then the frosting was this week when he hit his breaking point during a game, and said "damn it" when he got "out". He got a principal write up and lost his recess for that one.

I could take it no longer... Brent and I went to visit with the principal. We felt that he was being a little picked on. The principal was wonderful, she agreed with us, and is going to work with us and Alex. She suggested getting the guidance councilor involved for Alex's feelings. (he has said "I'm going to kill myself" 3 times since school started, and refers to himself and dumb, and stupid) She wonders if he may have some Anxiety, which wouldn't surprise me.

We are feeling much better this week. So glad, and I hope this lasts. But I wish that the schools would back off a bit and let children be children. Not little adults. They have the rest of their lives to be that.

oh all the blogs

I have thought a million times this week, I should blog about that, but then at the end of the day, no blog. :-) Oh well what can you do? I guess, I will try to remember some of the ideas. Okay, so first of all, I have to tell about my lovely neighbors. I don't know how.... but every person I have met here in TN has been more then kind. Clerks in the stores, waiters, just the other ladies at the gym. Everyone has been so kind and helpful. I had a man at Bass Pro shop (who didn't work there mind you) take me around and help me find all the stuff I would need to catch bass in our pond, he even went so far as to show me how to put it all together. Seriously folks. Really really nice people. So how on earth did I land 2 of the rudest people in TN as my neighbors? Now, i do have some nice Neighbors around, but the one right beside me, and the one on the other side of her.... wow. CRABY!!! I promise you folks, we're not bad neighbors. We mow the lawn, we keep our trash in the garage, we don't let the kids go in other peoples yards w/o permission. But these two. I think I've talked about the girl right next to me. I don't know what her deal is.. but wow, NOT a social girl. Brent jokingly suggested the other day that perhaps she doesn't speak english and we have a language barrier. LOL!! She has never said more then 2 words to me at a time. She avoids any and all contact with me, last week we picked our girls (who are real pals) up from the gym child care at the same time. She acted like she didn't even see me. Even tho, I totally talked to her little girl, and had Katie telling her bye. Oh I try with her my friends, I try. I took her fresh peach jam. I took her home made Zucchini Bread and even a note, offering to take her kids if she needed a break (hubby was out of town). Gave her my phone number and everything. I will press on, and just drown her with niceness. She will either have to be nice back or tell me to "Knock it off." Which I would consider a success cuz that's 3 words instead of 2!! :-)

The guy that lives on the other side of her HATES dogs. Oh man does he hate them. He took one of the neighbors a leash and told them to "USE IT". He has yelled at Chinook and really gotten him riled up. Now, I keep Chinook on a lead in the back yard (cuz we don't have a fence) Some weeks he gets very little exercise and on those weeks he is like an escape artist. He can squeeze out of an open door in a flash! So this week he snuck out when the kids were home from school. I didn't chase him down, for 2 reasons. #1 if you chase him, he just goes further from home and thinks that it is a funny game. When left alone, he comes home after about 20 minutes. #2 I figured it was like 1:00 in the afternoon on a friday... there is no way that guy was home. WRONG! He was home. According to Liza, he came home and Chinook stood on my Neighbors lawn and barked at him. He came over to my house... madder then a hatter and informed me that my dog has been barking at his door for a half an hour, and is an absolute nuisance!!! First of all the dog had been out for about 15 minutes, and second of all he didn't even set foot on his property. Now granted, he should be contained. I apologized and told him that we try to keep him chained, but he sneaks out past the kids sometimes and won't come when he is called. What can I do? I don't know. I guess we get to spend some more $$ on an electric fence to contain the dog in the front AND the back yard. :-) Great!

Seriously, It doesn't bother me THAT much that they are both Ornery, and if I were still on the east coast I would most likely brush it off, but come now...... How did I get the only two ORNERY people in the state??? :-) LOL.

That story took longer to tell then I thought it would...

So on another note, I went to a consignment sale... Kind of like the Nearly new sale in MD. It was WAY over priced tho, I thought. Maybe my timing was bad, but there was actually a dress there, for a 5 yr old that was marked at $100!! It said on the tag "only worn for 2 hours" WHOS fault is that? mine? No! Don't ask me to pay for the stinkin thing. I wouldn't have paid $40 for it brand new off the rack, so I don't know where she got it from that she was looking for that kind of return. :-) Anyway.. I spent more then I should have, but got a few cute things. I am liking the Yard sales in this area... some great deals at those. Un like the yard sales in MD, they only want $.50 for their used kids clothes.

OUR ROCKIN' DEAL

When we were at the YOYO competition last week we picked up free tickets to the "Nashville Predators" Hockey game. We took the kids on Thursday night. Far be it from our family to pass up the opportunity to watch some live Hockey! It was a blast. And I LOVE LOVE cheep entertainment... here is the lowdown..

6 Seats (way high up) - Free

2 bags of "that fluffy pink stuff that that man has" - $8

Nachos and big old sprite (gotta have my nachos) - $9

Parking - $5

6 Wendy's frosties - Free

It was very fun! The "Predators" Scored 5 goals, when they do that, Wendy's gives out free frosties, so we scored again. :-) The only disappointment of the night was the fans. I do not look forward to attending a game there again. The next time we go, it will be Brent and I and we will be going to see the Flames play against them. We can only hope that the Flames whip their butts cuz this crowd is ruthless with their cheers against the other team. So much so that I actually plan to write a letter to the Nashville newspaper about how classless I feel this is. I have already written a letter to the Calgary Herald. We'll see if it gets published.

To Flames Fans: I wanted to write a letter and commend the Flames Fans for their behavior at the Hockey Games in the Saddle Dome. I recently attended a game out here in Nashville and was appalled at the classless behavior of the entire stadium. Now keep in mind, we were there to watch the "Predators", and were not personally offended that they were slamming the "Thrashers" because we are 100% Flames fans ourselves. They had cheers that went along with the "Jumbo-tron" music, where the whole stadium would shout "YOU SUCK"! and the cheer ended with "we're going to beat the H$** out of you!!! I understand a little razz here and there, but the whole stadium combined in cheers against the other team. They we so busy slamming the Thrashers that they rarely cheered FOR the Predators. Really a Classless bunch. And so I say Thank You Flames fans, for behaving yourselves, for cheering on your team. And also for welcoming other NHL teams into the dome so we can be entertained by their attempts to beat the Flames. Keep up the good sportsmanship!

I also wanted to blog about dinner the other night. I don't know if I mentioned on my blog that I stupidly bought meat from the door to door meat guy. Yeah, totally ripped off, but I hoped that the meat would ROCK and I wouldn't regret my splurge so much. HUMPH, much to my dismay I grilled up his Fillet Minion last night, only to find it missing the bacon. I guess they were just fillets. Then when we dug in it was very fatty and almost had the powdery texture of a piece of liver. I seriously didn't even finish my 4 oz fillet. What a disappointment. HOWEVER my baked Potato rocked and so did the couscous salad. The Couscous salad came from Rachel Ray this month (Thanks Chris) and had baby lettuce and goat cheese and zucchini, lemon peal and juice, and cucumbers! Oh yum... it was so good! And actually kept in the fridge for a day or two. The baked potato, I got on line to see how long it would take for a baked potato to cook and found these tips and followed them. Oh delicious. Don't wrap them in foil, (this is the equivalent of steaming them.. gives you a different texture). Puncture the potato 4 times on each side. Roll in EVOO and Sea Salt and bake. Yummy. Just like the stake house ones. MMM

So I think that is about it for now. BLAH BLAH BLAH, If you've made it this far, you're crazy!! LOL

Saturday

Saturday was a great day!! We had so much fun together, I think our little family really needed this day. The kids willingly did their jobs on Friday night so that we could head out to play all day Saturday. We started off with a trip to "Riverfest" on the river here, in Sept, they have a little celebration, they have a few stages where people can perform and tons of booths and the like for people to advertise at. It was fun to go down and take a peek. We parked where everyone else seemed to be parking, and found out that the free Trolly picks up right there by our car. Yippee. The kids loved the trolly ride.

The objective of the trip was to see the Magic show. We were feeling a little stressed as we were only going to get there 10 minutes before show time. Well lucky us, we got front row seats cuz no one else wanted to go to the Magic show at 10am on a Saturday. What ever.. it was so fun!!
Here we are waiting for the show, by the end, it was pretty hot sitting there.

(oh and BTW, don't you love my new Miche? Yeah, so cute)

So the kids got picked to go on stage. The act was very much geared toward children, so the kids had a ball. Here he is trying to get Alex to turn Liza into a rabbit.
They successfully turned her into a rabbit.

Then he turned Alex into one too. (notice the boy has a yo yo in one hand and a white rope in the other?) The rope was given to him by one of the Magicians. It was part of his trick, and when he slid the knot off his rope, he threw it at Alex and told him it was a magic knot and that if he put it under his pillow, it would turn into 5 bucks by morning. (Thanks buddy!)
Sure enough the Rope turned into 5 bucks! Alex was So excited. I gotta get me about 50,000 of these things! :-)

After the Magic show and a bit of the Nashville Zoo's live animal show, we hurried to Nashville to the Science Center.
They were hosing the 2009 Tennessee State YO YO Contest! Alex LOVES YoYos. He can often be found miming his Yoyo tricks if he is not allowed to have one. It's too cute. He is pretty good and has been saving his pennies for a "cooler" yoyo. I tell you folks, I've never in my life seen so many different kinds of yoyos, and each has its own purpose.. It's incredible. In the above photo, this guy is doing "shoot the moon" with 2 yoyos! Totally cool Stuff! Below, he is doing some spiny trick, still running 2 yoyos at once.
These guys are SO talented, seriously! I had no idea that a yoyo could be so much fun! Alex ate up every minute that we were there. We found out that they have a yoyo club that meets every other Sat. Alex was invited to attend. Brent is also a yoyo geek. Always has been, he has had a few expensive yoyos. Not the $120 ones, but pretty nice ones. Anyway, the two of them are planning to attend the Yoyo club. :-) One kid had on a shirt that said "Chicks dig Yoyo guys" I had to laugh! I know I do!
Then we came home and I got ready to head out for a massage. I drug along my new friend Molly, who has never had a professional massage. (yeah, she's hooked) joined for a 6 month membership. We had such a ball, Massages followed by Panara. Does it get better? Then we went to Home Goods where I scored this cute little photography prop. :-) I love it! Anyway.. It was a wonderful day. A good time was had by all. It was very fun to watch Alex have a day full of things he loves.

MICHIE

CHECK IT OUT FRIENDS

http://www.modernmommyblog.com/index.php/2009/09/04/the-miche-bag-review-and-giveaway/comment-page-2/#comment-1755

Michie bag give away!!!! Get a piece of this! I love MICHIE!

Thankful

I hate to admit it, but days where I feel like this are so few and far between that I have stopped right in the middle to blog about it. Today, I am feeling so thankful.... not just everyday thankful, but REALLY REALLY thankful. Not for anything in-particular, just the little stuff. Things that come to mind,

-my Katie girl... we have so much fun together

-my gps... it shows me all the cool back roads of my new town

-James Jones and Flylady- who bring my home into order and help me w/ my kids

-that the rain waited till Katie and I got home today

-my sweet husband... who's proven to me, that when he isn't completely consumed by his training, he will step right up to the plate, he helps me in so many ways, and MOST OF ALL he is my best friend, and he moves everywhere that I do. :-)

-the organization of the church- we spent the weekend at ward and stake picnics. It was great to feel like family

-my friends and family, far and near who offer support and friendship.

-gym memberships

-my children's teachers

-extracurricular options for my kids

-healthy foods

-and not so healthy foods.

-the examples of others

-the internet and the way it keeps me close to those who are far, and also that it helps me to learn and know about things I would have never known about.

-military discounts

-financial security

-heath insurance

-the opportunity to live here in TN where it is so beautiful

-our new home... all the extra space... the garage... the quiet street.... the cool floor and counters that don't show when they are dirty..

-my i mac, and photoshop

-my camera and the ability to create with it.

I could go on for hours..... I didn't even come close to everything, but I've got things to do, and I am glad that I do. :-)

(ps. even tho there are a pile of things "wrong" with this photo... I love it.... it's how I feel today.)

My Sister

She is going to hate this... cuz she hates cheese, but I had to say happy birthday to my sister.

Thank you for all the advice... the examples and your friendship. I'll just leave it at that so i am not teased. :-) Love you trix (ps. Fat guy with electrodes)

What I've been up to

So my apologies go out to the Haneys and the Davis's who were swept under the rug for these new born sessions. I will finish you're stuff, ASAP. I just got into a rhythm here and then these little sweet hearts were born. Aren't they beautiful babies?

This little gal in photos 1, 2, and 4 was a perfect angel, sleeping thought many wardrobe changes. Too fun. I wish I had taken more poses then I did, she was at such a perfect age to be photographed. SO SLEEPY

This other little fella, he wasn't so sleepy. Mom said he had a tummy ache from not poopin so well (we all know how that goes) So, it took some doing, but we got him to sleep and got some good shots in. He made it worth our while. :-) It's been fun.
I have a maternity shoot on Friday, but I promise I'll finish Maryland before I proof the maternity shoot. :-) Love you guys.

Airing of Grievances (you've been warned)

No really, it's not that whiney of a post... Just stuff to write down.

1) I've been drinking slim fast shakes for over 2 weeks now. Being sure not to snack or eat between. I've been eating quite healthy and enjoying that. The prep time is longer, and the shopping trips more frequent (fresh produce), but I do enjoy it. HOWEVER. i haven't lost an ounce which leads to...

2) The dingy lady at the YMCA won't call me back, so I am waiting on her to get my membership. I didn't want to sign up for a membership if I am going to be hired and get it for free. So I haven't been working out. (my own fault cuz I could ride the bike, or do other stuff here at home)

3) Alex has had piles and piles of homework every night, except the past 2 nights. This relief is only because his teacher is sick! I am sure she will return with a vengeance and the poor boy won't have a moments rest. He was really stressed out last week. I told Brent that poor Alex was keeping med-school hours. Waking at 7 home from school at 4:10, home work, dinner, homework, bed. Poor guy. Then today, I took him to the Dr's office. (well child visit for the schools records) The Dr walked in and said, "I need then to take off their clothes. She, (pointing to Liza) can leave her shirt on." Then he left. He was back in a flash, and wondered why no one was on the table yet. (we were all trying to figure out if he wanted them completely naked or what. I said "They can leave their undies on right?" "Oh yeah," SO Alex strips down to his little skinny monkey body and climbs up on the table, as shy as could be. (He was VERY worried that he was going to get a shot) The Dr comes at him with an otoscope, and Alex starts to cry. YES! I said cry... uncontrollably. Sobbing. He won't open his mouth, he has his hands shoved in front of his mouth. WHAT????? Why on earth is he acting this way?? seriously!! So I try to calm him down. nothing. I pull him off the table and tell Liza to go first. He gathered himself together and did just fine after that, but he never did tell me why he was SO upset!

BUT really folks...8 yrs old and crying at the drs? GRRR (it didn't help that the dr was super callous about the whole thing.)

4)Liza brought home a big old "F" in social studies last week. Yeah... that would be an F in a grade that she has already done once! To her credit, I don't think they did Geography in MD, but still, we ask her every night what she is supposed to be studying, and she kept telling us that she had no homework. So much for that theory... now she has to show me her agenda book and check every thing off with me. Oh well, I hoped she was old enough, but I guess not. Today at the Dr's she was the brave one that showed alex that a nasal vaccine wouldn't hurt, so for that I am grateful. But today, she was also the one that drove me the most NUTS! on the table off the table, laying down and ripping up the paper sheet over and over, shoes off in the waiting room, dancing around the squares in the waiting room, on the dr's rolling chair, across the room and back on the wheels, flying into the door with a thud, on the drs rolling chair. Yelling, laughing and talking really loud in the little cell of a room that they shoved the 4 of us in. Oh my heavens, my patience was running thin. I love her dearly, she is a good girl, with a good heart, and a LOT of energy, sometimes it is difficult to see the positives of her energy levels when those levels are not appropriate for the setting. In a campground, they're fine... in a dr's office... not so much.

4) As I was typing this, I got a knock at the door. I have no blinds, so they can see me sitting here at my computer. I answer it knowing full well that he wants to sell me something. I am lured in at the thought of a tasty T bone. I let him and his meat in. WHAT?? Who are they kidding??? $40.00 for 4 T bones??? $10/ stake!?!? Maybe I've been in the commissary too long, but that's a little steep for me. He starts off trying to sell me 6 boxes of meat. Then 3 boxes. I tell him I'll take one. One box, but not $40 for Tbones. (you really shouldn't eat that large of a portion of meat in one sitting anyway.) So I give him $40 for 8 fillet minions. Still too expensive, and now, like a stray cat, he will come back and come back and come back. DANG IT!!! I hate it when I do stupid stuff.

5) I miss Tori. I keep looking for her when we go places during the day. Sure it's nice to be down one body, but she's such a sweet girl. I do miss having her around, and so does Katie. Which leads me to the next one...

6) Katie needs some friends. She does such a good job at playing by herself, but she keeps talking about how much she misses Leah. While we love and miss Leah, she needs to make some new pals to hang out with. Maybe when we start going to the gym she'll find some one there.

7) Meeting with the Bishop tonight... oh what will it be? Meeting for Brent tonight too.... I am more worried about his calling then I am about mine. I have really enjoyed having him around and happy. I don't want my stressed out husband back. I've actually gotten to see the Brent that I married, and I've missed him. I almost cried the night before he went back to work because I don't want him to go back to hating his life again. He has assured me since, that he is enjoying his job and will not be being grumpy.

8)I wish I could buy Brent a plane. I am torn on how to feel about the whole plane thing. I see him being SOOOO happy as he is pursuing this hobby, but the plane is not a need, it is a want, for me, it is a want for him to be happy. Now really, he could buy a new car, and it would cost more then the plane he is looking at, he has said he'll drive the neon forever, if he can have this plane instead. What to do?

9) I made 8 loves of Zucchini bread yesterday. I have a loaf to give to my neighbor, but she is so crusty, I am afraid to take it over. Yes, me, social girl... afraid to approach someone, that just tells you how crusty she is. But I know that I need to be as nice as I can be, so I will take it over, I just need to take it at a time when I don't have to worry about waking someone up. Maybe I'll wait till I see her out watering or something. Sheesh, really?

10) I have a TON of proofing to do. I've done 2 baby shoots and I have a maternity shoot to do on Friday. I am a little worried that I will make a reputation for myself as being the "free" photographer, and then I am going to be stuck! The proofing takes quite a lot of time and effort. I've been tired lately, more then usual, and wanting to go to bed at 11 with Brent. I get nothing done if I do that. So it's taking me forever to get through these pictures.

Okay enough... There you have it... all the stuff rolling around in my head. What a time. :-) Im impressed you made it this far. :-)

Holy blog drought !!

Alex is LOVING having his dad around more often these days. After School today and before dinner, Brent and Alex snuck in a quick run over to the pond. They bought new lures on Saturday and just HAD to get out and try them. They had a very successful 45 minutes.

First pulled in this little guy.
Then wrestled a little......
And pulled out this guy!!! Nice work boys! Right now they are catching and releasing, so no bass for dinner tonight. (I am NOT sad about that. :-)) I love how happy Alex looks in these pictures. He LOVES fishing with his dad! I am pretty sure that I know what he wants for Christmas, since he and his dad are sharing right now.
Congratulations BOYS!