Things to Do - Watch More TV With Your Kids (Seriously)

We don't watch much TV as a family. Don't get me wrong - we all watch TV - T on the ipad glued to Fireman Sam, the girls in the basement with Jessie (most annoying theme song ever) and Dan and me upstairs, after the children go to bed, immersed in Breaking Bad's final season (so sad it's over now) or laughing hysterically at It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia.

We just don't often watch anything TOGETHER. Perhaps this is due to the fall of the family sitcom (outside Modern Family, which still seems a little "adult" for young kids, what is there?). We also cancelled cable a few months ago, making it impossible to channel surf (we still have Amazon streaming, Netflix streaming, and Hulu). For a while we tried Project Runway, but Hulu will only allow viewers to watch from a computer, which isn't ideal for family viewing.

So lately we're making an effort to watch more TV together. But we can't find much to watch. A friend recommended Master Chef Junior, which seems like a great idea. Another friend suggested America's Funniest Home Videos, but I'm not sure I'm up for that much cheese. Any other recommendations?? Please help. What do you watch as a family?

Movie recommendations would also be helpful - we've watched Singing in the Rain, ET, Brave, and Star Wars over and over again, but could really use something new.
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On a completely different note, the popcorn buckets above were gifted from Personal Creations, which have become one of our family's favorite presents ever. No more fighting over popcorn, now everyone has their own labeled bucket (with extra in the large tub, for emergencies of course :).

Seriously, I never knew one gift could improve sibling dynamics to such a large degree. Now I'm considering labeled bowls for everything in life, unfortunately I don't think I'm organized enough to make it work. Personal Creations also sell personalized story books (which I think would make perfect Xmas gifts) and lots of other great gifts for entertaining. Click here to check out the whole site.

Places to Go (Vacation) - Middleton Place (Charleston, SC)

Oh Monday. This weekend, actually all of last week, was overfull. Good things, but exhausting nonetheless.

In no particular order, we:
* Frolicked in Warhol's Silver Clouds.
* Playgrouped (thank you April!)
* Held our first garage sale (where I learned that underpricing things DOES NOT make them move faster).
* Attended an afternoon birthday party for one of P's friends and stayed until until 10:30 at night (I love our neighborhood).
* Cheered as P's team FINALLY won a soccer game (I know I know, the first grader teams don't keep score, but oh well, we kept score).
* Feasted on an amazing homemade brunch at the house of good friends (so so yummy).
* Slept in on Sunday morning (while the kids were at a sleepover).
* Spent LOTS of time "reading" this book on the couch.
* Discussed the fact that we eventually need to rid our house of the huge mulch pile occupying our driveway - any takers??
* Planned birthday party after birthday party ('tis the season).

Anyways, HAPPY MONDAY!!

The pics above are all from my trip a few weeks ago to Charleston, where we spent a drizzly morning touring Middleton Place - a crazy beautiful old plantation full of swamps and sculpture gardens. Alligators and farm animals. Amazing contrasts everywhere we looked. A wonderful place to visit (though the whole "fire ants" thing sort of freaks me out).

Things to Do - Cherish This Day & Random Links

This year T has shown an intense interest in Halloween decorations, whereas the girls seem to have cooled off on the holiday. Both P and F still talk about costumes (somewhat) and candy (more than somewhat), but overall the thrill has decreased.

Earlier in the week, I brought T to Party City and let him pick out even more decorations for the front yard, though I stopped short of the fog machine and the talking zombie. We mainly purchased cardboard items that you stake down - tombstones, ghosts - and fake spiderwebs for the bushes. When the girls were little I did not want to own very many seasonal decorations, we didn't yet have a good storage system, so every year we'd lose them again and again. Plus I hated bringing both girls to specialty stores, they'd fight over everything, nobody leaving happy.

This year, as soon as the girls came home from school, T ran up to them, so thrilled to show off all the effort he put into our yard. F shrugged and replied, "it's not scary at all, how come T always gets what he wants?" Usually I let such comments slide off me, as I find them ridiculous and unfair. But, upon reflection, there is a kernel of truth to it - the spoiled third child. Such a cliche.

I hope someday I can explain to the girls that this year the decorations were what I wanted as well - one more October with a preschooler who is mesmerized by Halloween's fake scariness, watching T smile as a cardboard sign transforms into something magical after we stake it to the ground.

A new post is up on Cherish This Day - click here to see this week's photos (some amazing shots this week!)
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RANDOM LINKS:

* I can't stop listening to this song and this song. So so good.

* Of course, I am over the moon about Alice Munro's Nobel Prize. She amazes me (she's even in my bio statement, see if over there on the right?).
(1) I loved this piece where different authors talk about their favorite stories.
(2) The Paris Review's interview of Munro is a must read for any fan.
(3) I also recently finished (even before she won the Nobel) Lives of Mothers & Daughters: Growing Up with Alice Munro, which is written by Munro's daughter, and is a great story - about women, motherhood, art, family history, and fame.
(4) Further, her "personal history" piece in the New Yorker is a pretty awesome read - "I did not go home for my mother’s last illness or for her funeral. I had two small children and nobody in Vancouver to leave them with. We could barely have afforded the trip, and my husband had a contempt for formal behavior, but why blame it on him? I felt the same. We say of some things that they can’t be forgiven, or that we will never forgive ourselves. But we do—we do it all the time. . . . When my mother was dying, she got out of the hospital somehow, at night, and wandered around town until someone who didn’t know her at all spotted her and took her in. If this were fiction, as I said, it would be too much, but it is true."

* I love Ron Mueck.

* The 10 Sexiest Books of All Time.

* Can a feedlot be beautiful? These aerial images are absolutely incredible (both haunting and gorgeous).

* Warped childhood, Restoration Hardware style. Funny.

* Have you ever heard of the Alice books? Apparently they've been banned more than any other books in the past decade. Is it frightening that I now really want my kids to read them? Especially after I read this interview with their author?

* I can't stop perusing this new-to-me blog - great photos and words.
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And to round out the week, I'm including some soccer pics of T and his friends. Coach Emma (UK Petite Elite) is the best soccer coast ever. She's amazing (though I can't say I'm as big of a fan of the Gunston Bubble, something about the air pressure in there always makes me feel woozy.



Practice outside before class. (I'm not sure "practice" is the right word, but I'm going with it).



Life inside the bubble . . .



The gang (and quite a wonderful gang at that).

HAPPY FRIDAY EVERYONE!!

Things to Read - Favorite Kids' Books X

Cold rainy days = lots of reading on the couch. Here are some of our recent favorites (and click here to read our former reviews):

PICTURE BOOKS



Warning: Do Not Open This Book

me - Okay, so I pretty much love this book, it's super clever and short.

P (age 6) - Wait, now I get it - the monkeys are actually in the book (as she keeps opening and shutting the cover over and over).

T (age 4) - Read it again? Please!! It's so funny. I love the monkeys. And I love the trap. I like bananas too.



Chloe and the Lion

F (age 8) - I thought it was really funny because it was different than a regular story.

P (age 6) - I thought it was funny how the illustrator and author were part of the story and got in a fight with each other.

T (age 4) - I liked it because the man that draws the pictures was part of the story.



The Dark

T (age 4) - When it's midnight, I get really scared, so I snuggle with pink sheet. (me - T, are you going to review the book?)

P (age 6) - I'm not scared of the dark, I'm scared of the bad stuff that can happen when I'm in the dark. (me - Is anyone going to review the book?)

P - I thought the book was okay.

T - I thought it was funny that the dark talked. I wish the dark would talk in real life. Could you please read it again now?



Tap The Magic Tree

me - This is an interactive book, very similar to Press Here. (though I still like Press Here better)

T (age 4) - This is so fun [as he claps, points, etc.].

P (age 6) - Now please read it again mom, without doing what the tree tells us to do [so I read it again].

P - It's fake! It's fake! I knew it. The pages stay the same whether or not we follow the tree's directions.

T - Can we still read it again? It's still fun, I don't care if it's fake.



Digger, Dozer, Dumper

me - This book is a collection of poems about construction vehicles, the poems are actually pretty good.

T (age 4) - I want to drive an ambulance.

P (age 6) - I'd be a cherry picker so I could save cats. Even though I'm allergic to cats.

T - Trucks can't really think, can they? (me - Is anyone going to review the book?)

P - It was okay for a truck book.

T - I like it! I like trucks!



Chloe

P (age 6) - I want to read it one more time.

T (age 4) - It's so cool! I liked when they got the TV and played in the box instead.

P - Do you know what's good about that? They learned that playing and having fun is more important than watching TV (me - seriously? I can't make this stuff up).

T - I liked how they hang out with Chloe instead of watching TV.



Night Shift

me - Lately this is T's favorite book, probably because it documents several different careers that he's never heard of before. Also, he likes to yell out all the jobs before I turn the pages.

T (age 4) - I like the newspaper printers because I love getting the newspaper in the morning. I also like the boats a lot. I learned a lot.

EARLY READERS



Flat Stanley Goes Camping

me - We have a hard time finding good early readers, but P seems to really like the Flat Stanley series.

P (age 6) - I liked it. It's about a flat boy. They get lost in the forest and he becomes a parachute and a boat. Eventually he saves the day.

CHAPTER BOOKS (note - these are purely F's reviews as I've never read these books (though I want to one day)).



Fake Mustache

F (age 8) - This was a really cool book. A boy named Casper buys a fake mustache that makes him become evil. Because it's so real looking his friend has to stop him from becoming president and taking over the world. Only two people aren't brainwashed by the mustache because they're the only ones who know it's fake. I really like that it shows kids saving the world and not adults. It was very exciting.



Phantom Tollbooth

F (age 8) - I liked this book, though there were some tragic parts like a lot of people had to run a lot, there were dangerous times. Even the end is a little sad but then Milo realizes, because of his adventures, that he has all the time in the world in his room. I liked the humbug and the watchdog and the Kings of numbers and letters. Milo makes the kings find peace. There were funny parts and it deals with how words work so it's a book that is better to read to yourself than to read out loud.

Things to Do - 12 in 12 (October 2013)

This month the 12th fell on a Saturday. It seemed like an active, busy day, but for this post I could barely scrape together 12 pictures. Artistically some days you're on and some days you're not. Blame it on the rain. Anyways, we had fun, even if the fun didn't photograph very well . . .



8 am - Bikram Yoga first thing in the morning is a wonderful way to start the weekend.



10 am - T, Coco, and Odessa spent the morning on the dog bed.



11 am - P making a birthday card for her friend before her ice skating party (Dan took her and said she did fantastic considering she's never skated before)





noon - While T paints "scary" Halloween pictures (this is a witch, FYI), F and I play Swish (Think Fun gave us all new games to review on the blog, a giveaway will be posted in a few weeks, so stay tuned).



1 pm - Finally, after three days the rain takes a break for awhile. So we take advantage of the "nice" weather and walk to the library. The baseball field has morphed into a pond.



1:15 pm - Everyone always stereotypes boys as messy and dirt-loving and girls as mud adverse. But in our family it hasn't really worked out that way. F can't resist a puddle, whereas T hates wet feet.



1:45 pm - We tied the dogs to a bench while we were at the library. Coco couldn't wait for her pack to "reunite."



2:30 pm - The firehouse hosts an open house for fire prevention month. The girls chose to skip it, so I take T and watch him "drive" firetrucks for awhile.



4:45 pm - Dan stood in line 45 minutes for our "reserved" seats at Medieval Times. Whereas I spent 45 minutes looking for a parking spot. I was not amused. Arundel Mills is truly a horrible place (why would anyone build a casino, mall, and 1000 person jousting venue all in one spot?).



6:00 pm - Our knight lost, but the kids still had the time of their lives (I'll post a review next week).



7:00 pm - Heading home (and back to the 21st century). I had no idea malls were this crowded on Saturday night. (Not sure how P managed to avoid all photos for this month, she's a tricky one).

Now click on over to Not-So-SAHM to see how her Saturday went.