Mom Blog Work

Alex and Megan upon finding their first cache

I'm always looking for ways to get my very wired family (too wired, really) out of the house to explore our local community. We're not very outdoorsy, but I feel like we get caught up in the play-with-iThings, watch movies, hang out rut and if we don't' make an effort, we'll spend our weekends tooling around, trying to keep the kids off the various iThings that they so desire.

Enter geocaching, a high tech treasure hunting game. Here's how it works: people all over the world have hidden containers, or caches, outdoors and then have posted the coordinates of the cache online. Using a GPS-enabled device (like iPhone or Garmin GPS, etc), you enter the coordinates and then set off to find the cache. Once you find it, you log your find in the paper log in the cache and online as well. If the cache is big enough, it will often have little trinkets inside it; if you take one, you leave one (this is the part the kiddos love).

Rey and Alex on a recent cache hunt

Anyway, if you are considering taking up the game, consider these tips and tricks:

• You'll need a GPS device - we use our iPhones with the Groundspeak Geocaching App. (There's one for Android too.) We also used the Garmin GPS that my in-laws have, which was really great at getting us to the general area, but the app is really helpful for reading the description of the cache and seeing and photos or hints that are available.
• Consider wearing long pants and closed shoes. Caches are often hidden by trees and in brush. Honestly, if the cache is in too woodsy of an area, we bail. Like I said, the Notartes are not Outdoor People.
• Pickup a long stick or bring a walking stick to help move away brush in especially brushy areas. Or, to avoid that one big spider that seems to be guarding the box.
• Bring a pen and little trinkets that you can use to trade for other items in the cache. These don't have to be anything extravagant. In our very first cache, we picked up a fruit bar and dropped a little army man.
• Be prepared to not find some. We're still pretty new to this game, but we sometimes can't find the cache. Many times it's there, we just don't see it, but occasionally the cache has been taken by muggles (what caters call non-cachers), or moved.

So far, we've done 17 caches, most of them in Texas while we were visiting my in-laws. Turns out Papa Goodwin is a very talented cacher! I think he's addicted now…I sense an iPhone purchase in his future.

Learn more about geocaching at http://www.geocaching.com/default.aspx. We cache under the username ernmeg.

A few weeks ago I blogged about Scrapbooking and the 40% off Shutterfly coupon that was burning a hole in my inbox. Well, I used it! I really used it!

Here's what I ended up creating and ordering:

"Defined" photobook - Summer pictures
This was a digital scrapbook quick album from Paislee Press over at Oscraps. I filled it with favorite pictures from the past few months. Total time was probably about an hour and a half and I'm really happy with how it turned out.

Click here to view this photo book larger

Disneyland photobook
This one was done on a whim and I'm so happy I ordered it. I uploaded our Disneyland pictures from May and let Shutterfly do all the work with their automated photobook. SO easy and cute! All I did was change the title. You could customize further but I kept is simple.

Click here to view this photo book larger

In terms of quality, I am happy with the Shutterfly books. The hardback is definitely nicer and I think I'll opt for those rather than the soft cover in the future. Paper quality is nice and thick. The "simple path" option for automatically creating books from photos you upload is crazy fast and easy. I can definitely imagine doing those again in the future. They would make great quick gifts for family and friends. My only complaint is that shipping was pretty hefty coming in around the same cost as one of the books! Here's the total bill:

Of course, now they've sent me a 50% off code. I have half a mind to scan our wedding photos and get a book made finally after 8 years. I'm not sure I'm up for tackling that though, even with 50% off!

*FYI - this was not a sponsored or paid article. Just giving up the Shutterfly love on my own.

Don't mess with these jumping beans!

I'm sure he didn't mean anything by it.

He probably thought he was being cute. Maybe funny, maybe even friendly.

But calling my multi-racial children "Mexican Jumping Beans" was none of those things.

Here's what went down:
My mom, our nanny Martha (who is Mexican) and my two little boys were at a local diner for breakfast yesterday. The boys were bouncing to their table (as boys usually do), when they walked by a man who muttered "Mexican Jumping Beans" to them as they passed.

My mom, who is unaccustomed to this type of comment, smiled and went to their seat. As she sat there, she became more and more angry. Why did this random person think it was OK to say anything to them as they passed, let alone make some off-hand racial comment?

Coming from a white, middle class family, I too don't experience this type of classification…ever really. It makes me sad to think that some people are going to see my smart, funny, quirky little boys by the skin color first. I need to think of a snappy come back, beyond "hey - they aren't even mexican, jack-ass!" (Which, is totally besides the point, anyway.)

The reality is that they are going to experience things like this from time to time, and this instance was pretty mild. Martha, our nanny, deals with this on a daily basis it seems. When we are out together, people often won't speak directly to her, assuming she doesn't speak English. Or, she just gets treated subtly differently. Maybe they'll check her entrance ticket a few times more than everyone else. Or ask her if she paid again..and again.

This type of treatment is pervasive and difficult to combat. And honestly, I don't know what the right way to react is. We've talked about race on MBW before (here and here) and I'm sure this won't be the last time.

The one funny outcome? Ernest has taken to calling the boys Filipino Jumping Beans around the house. Way to turn that around, right? Your words have no power, stupid guy.

Bonus: here a video of the boys doing the robot in that very diner. Tangential, yes, but totally cute:

The Writing Center has been getting a lot if use and my little writer is still enjoying her space quite a bit. She is moving into the very first phase of reading and is taking a stab at sounding words out left and right. It is so fun!

I wanted to share the newest additions to the Writing Center. Armed with some scissors, index cards and a sharpie you can make some great early reading and writing tools!

Favorite Word Cards

I created three sets of word cards so far - family names, friend's names and animals. Each name/word is written on a 3x5 card and then hole punched and put on a ring. Easy! Margeaux has been cruising through the family and animal ones and gets really excited when she can get through the word by herself. It's really fun to watch her use these. I'm hoping that she'll start using them for writing too by copying the words.

Movable Alphabet
This is a homemade version of the Montessori Movable Alphabet based on instructions I found online. I cut 3x5 cards in half and wrote (a lot) of letters. Each letter card is then placed into a recipe box so they're easy to find and organize. Our daycare isn't Montessori based so I'm trying to introduce some of the aspects at home. I thought that she'd like this activity but it might be a little too "open" for her the way I initially introduced it. I think I need to provide more a little more direction. We'll keep trying! I know this will get some use sooner or later.

Trap Door Readers
Now these are cool! I bought the Trap Door Readers pdf from evenspor's Etsy shop and can't wait 'til Margeaux wants to use these. These take a little bit of time to cut out but they're not at all difficult. I definitely suggest using an exacto knife for the windows.

Finally, here's a video showing the name cards in use. Ankit is the name of one of her friends. Isn't it exciting to hear all those letters being sounded out?!

Hey! It's World Breastfeeding week - didjaknow? We're big supporters of breastfeeding, despite the fact that our nursing days are mostly over (for a while at least), and we wanted to join in and make a point of supporting Breastfeeding Week.

We were trying to come up with a fun, snarky top 10 list, but instead, you get this:

Top 10 Random Points of Breastfeeding Awesomeness

(Yes, it's been that kind of week)

1. Baby food on tap! You never have to carry around a bottle and formula and worry about finding warm water.
2. Extra calories burned
3. Filling out that dress is no longer an issue?
4. Late night nursing snuggles with baby. It's late, you're tired, but it's still awesome.
5. Getting a natural high off oxytocin
6. Excuse to duck out of the room when you feel like hiding from the in-laws (Diaper changes are good for this too!)
7. "Gotta nurse the baby" = mandatory mama rest periods
8. Knowing you're doing the best for your baby and yourself
9. Instant, natural, built-in baby calmer
10. What's cooler than accidentally shooting milk across the room?