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« Previous EntriesThe Year that was 2011
Monday, January 2nd, 2012It is hard to believe that 2012 is here. Once again, the year went by with a lot of fun, photos, and memories. Here are just some of the highlights from the year that was 2011.
January:
- Mother Nature started her tricks with a lot of snow that came our way. We had fun making memories with the sled in our own yard.
- I started writing Education posts at The Disney Driven Life and introduced it to everyone. Thank you to J.L. for the amazing opportunity. I look forward to getting back on track in 2012.
- NHL lost three more teeth during the first three months of the year. Much relief as they came out without dental assistance.
February 2011:
- The Snowpacalypse welcomed the month of February threatening 18-30 inches of snow. It left lots of the white stuff and tons of ice damage. Our neighbors probably had a laugh with knee-highs on our roof.
- With all of the freezing cold, even the little guy was trying to ride Tony Pony to Disney World to escape. Of course, we were gearing up for Disney Social Media Moms Celebration 2011 in March.
- We continued to take the boys to introduce them to hockey. They had a blast checking out all of the extras between the on ice action.
March 2011:
- Mother Nature teased us with warmth to melt snow mountains early in the month, only to knock us down with an ice storm to remember. Crackling trees and ice pelting the house is hard to listen to in the dark.
- A magical trip to Walt Disney World for the Disney Social Media Moms Celebration allowed me to see amazing friends, learn, and have fun with my family. Lots of items from that trip were shared throughout the months ahead.
- Of course, the reality world hit hard once we got back from our magical adventure. Tough decisions were ahead and left my head spinning. All of this made me remember the wise words of Rene Syler – The Good Enough Mother.
April 2011:
- Passover preparations were dominant this month. Making lists, shopping, and getting the house ready. Of course, we also captured memories of the holiday itself.
- Lots of moments where I wished I was not the adult who had to make decision. Thank goodness, JSL helped to keep me smiling along the way.
- A routine visit to the dentist for NHL revealed the need to see an orthodontist. We made the appointment for several months later in June, but knew the missing adult tooth was going to be something to contend with.
May 2011:
- Even moms need field trips. Yes, the weekend before Mother’s Day, Cutestkidever and I jumped into the car for a lunch date with Rene Syler.
- JSL’s 4th birthday and new love for Jake and the Never Land Pirates required working on a theme for his party. Supplies were bought and cupcakes were made.
- The sun coming back also provided an opportunity to test out our new grill, plant some veggies, and attempt to regrow our front lawn.
June 2011:
- After taking NHL out of a school he had been in since kindergarten, TechyDad and I watched as our second grader started to flourish in a new school. Once again, we started to believe in the education system. This entire drama made it SO hard to bite my tongue and keep a lot of things to myself.
- Father’s Day we spent a fun day together. We had lunch out, went mini-golfing, and had dinner with Nana and Papa. It reminded me of how special these moments together are.
- The end of June marked a major milestone for TechyDad and me. We celebrated out 10th wedding anniversary. Memories of our special day, honeymoon at Walt Disney World, and everything over the ten years together came flooding back. Of course, the day of our actual anniversary was a house nightmare. A plumbing fix resulted in us moving out for several days.
July 2011:
- The month started with a visit out to see my brother and his family for 4th of July. While there, we went cherry picking and beat our previous record. A day at Niagara Falls was also included in the fun adventures.
- Both of the boys were home with me for the entire summer. We looked for fun activities to do. We often ended up at the library for learning and crafting.
- We also spent a lot of time at Michaels crafting our way around the world. Yes, Michaels and Crayola teamed up to make a great passport of crafts for kids to do that were mostly free. The kids learned so much and we found some great new crafts to try later on.
August 2011:
- At the end of July, we started to think about a magical getaway to celebrate our 10th anniversary. Shortly after this, we booked a fantastic trip to relive our honeymoon at Walt Disney World. Everything was planned from the hotel, dining, and place for the kids to stay over Labor Day.
- NHL turned 8 in August and requested lion cupcakes. We documented the construction process and birthday celebration.
- The end of the month was heart breaking. We watched as Hurricane Irene wrecked havoc up and down the east coast. Thanks to the fear of the kids being stuck with no power and our flight getting canceled, we postponed our big trip to Disney. Being responsible adults was tough.
September 2011:
- The boys started back to school after Labor Day. NHL loved his new school and was settling into third grade. JSL thrived at his familiar nursery school and we had lots of fun going apple picking with his class.
- As a Type-A personality, I am a planner. So it was very rare for me to pack up in just a few days notice to head to New York City for the first ever SheStreams Conference. It was an amazing time seeing friends, learning, and getting away for a weekend. A huge thank you to all of those that made it a magical and empowering weekend.
October 2011:
- As a third grader, NHL started to take band in school. He picked percussion instruments and drum practice even got a Disney touch thanks to Nana and Papa.
- During the month of October, two large packages arrived to host parties. The boys loved learning and playing with LeapFrog items during the Learn, Create, and Share Party. The LeapPad had been an amazing addition to our family learning electronics. HexBugs also invaded our house for some glow-in-the-dark holiday fun.
- Halloween was a lot of fun thanks to everyone staying healthy. NHL was Darth Vader, JSL was Jedi Tigger, and even TechyDad dressed up. Of course, Snowtober threatened to make things more interesting just a day before heading out.
November 2011:
- The start of the month meant going to a fun event for bloggers at Price Chopper, headquarters. The Price Chopper Holiday Cheer afternoon showcased endless holiday entertaining ideas. Of course, I wanted to highlight the Decadent Desserts line.
- This was also the month that my entire family fell in love with Susan Egan. I had been lucky enough to see Susan at Disney Social Media Moms in March, but her new CD review was a hit in our house. My little guy even had a crush on her and certainly did care more than Nina.
- The boys learned about what an aufruf is and spent a lot of time with family in November during Thanksgiving weekend.
December 2011:
- The month began with full on Muppet madness in our house. The boys have always loved the Muppets, but the anticipation of the new movie brought it on even more. There was Muppets mania clothing style and lots of Muppet music playing in our house. Heck, I even tossed in some fun Muppets nail polish. Bringing things from our childhood back are so much fun.
- Chanukah was more quiet this year as we focused on time with each other, festive music, watching the menorah glow, and less attention on presents.
- A surprise trip to Build-A-Bear workshop introduced our family to Snowflake and Clumsy. Snowflake has been on a lot of adventures and even requested a beary special knitted scarf.
There were so many other things that made 2011 special and amazing. Thank goodness that is what archives are for. We can look back, laugh, cry, remember, and reflect.
What are some of your favorite part of the year that was 2011?
Catch Me There – Mickey Mouse and Schools Collide
Tuesday, December 6th, 2011What, you ask, is controversial about Mickey Mouse and education? I know many of you are telling yourself that there is so much that Disney, Mickey Mouse, and the rest of the gang can teach your children. You do not have to sell me on that. As NDM183, I write about the world of education in The Disney Driven Life. I have used Disney within my past classroom, with my own children, and beyond.
I have been on a bit of a hiatus with my post on The Disney Driven Life. Then, I had an idea for a topic. Always on the minds of parents is whether or not it is “ok” to take a child out of school for a vacation. Being an educator who once thought a certain way, and now a parent that has slightly altered her theory – this seemed like a great topic to pick up.
What I did not expect was the controversy to hit so quickly. When I posted a question to my teacher friends on Facebook, it got heated quickly. Parents of children came in to defend their views. People talked about what they did as children and now as parents. It made me wonder if I should continue on.
In the end, this heated commenting sparked an idea. My almost finished post morphed before my eyes. It quickly became at least a three post series.
My latest post on The Disney Driven Life: The Mickey Mouse Over School Dilemma – Part 1 is all about how the need to talk about this topic came to fruition. Please stop by to say hello and check out the other magical posts from my Disney Drive Life friends. My other posts there can be found under NDM183 – that’s me!
100 Days of School Projects – Catch Me There
Sunday, September 18th, 2011It may only be September, but before you know it your children may be coming home with a 100th Day of School project. Did you have to do one as a child? You probably didn’t since they have not been celebrating this day very long.
Of course, my oldest has experienced this for a few years now. When he was in kindergarten we made a cool Googly Eye banner. This was something we came up with while exploring a craft store for ideas. The next year we had to come up with a project idea while at Disney World. The result was this:
My latest post on The Disney Driven Life: 100 Days of School Projects with Disney Memories is all about how we came up with this idea while on our trip. I share other ideas that we considered and ask people to let me know what other possibilities with Disney they can think of. 
Please stop by to say hello and check out the other magical posts from my Disney Drive Life friends. My other posts there can be found under NDM183 – that’s me!
What 100th Day of school projects have you done with your children? I would love to know and think it would be great to share with others. Please share in the comments below and if you have written posts about them, feel free to leave a link as well.
Getting to Know You Back-to-School – Catch Me There
Tuesday, September 6th, 2011This morning I will be taking my oldest son to his first day of third grade (photos coming later). My heart is hopeful for an amazing year. I think every parent wishes this for their children. Of course, no parent expects the worst and we experienced that last year. I did not write about it much because it was not needed. Bullying, bad classroom management, inexperienced administrators, bullying, and not following doctor notes just some of the issues.
Today, I will be putting on a brave face as I take NHL to school. He is excited to be in his new school and has already met his teacher. She asked to meet him this summer when she heard some of the events from last year. Yes, a teacher going above and beyond to ease a child’s fears. It made my summer to know this professional was thinking about my child.
As a teacher, I understood the need to get to know my students and use parents to help me with this. The more information you have the better things can get for the entire classroom family. Reality check here, it was SO much easier on the reverse side teaching the kids.
My latest post on The Disney Driven Life: Getting to Know You – Back-to-School is all about ways that teachers and families can get to know each other. I share what I did when teaching and the latest craze in back-to-school teacher gifts.
Please stop by to say hello and check out the other magical posts from my Disney Drive Life friends. My other posts there can be found under NDM183 – that’s me!
How do you help your child during this hectic back-to-school time when fears may be high?
Cutting and Pasting Practice – Catch Me There
Sunday, August 21st, 2011As a teacher, you would think that I would know when kids need to learn to cut and paste. Well, you would be wrong. I have now been caught off guard with both of my kids. Thanks to this, we spent time this summer practicing and working on cutting and pasting skills. To help make this more fun, I tied in Disney. Shocked, aren’t you?!
My latest post on The Disney Driven Life: Cutting and Pasting Practice with Disney is all about the project that we did and more ideas you can try. It really is amazing how much time kids will spend cutting and pasting when they have items that they love in front of them.
Please stop by to say hello and check out the other magical posts from my Disney Drive Life friends. My other posts there can be found under NDM183 – that’s me!
So what other ideas do you have for cutting and pasting practice with younger kids?
Do not forget that even older children need to work on these skills since they do not use scissors as often as younger kids may in school and when crafting.
Art Education Meets Disney – Catch Me There
Sunday, August 7th, 2011When you bring a child to an event where they need to be creative, you never know what may inspire them. Case in point was when the boys and I went to our local library for a Story Tower event run by the Tang Museum. I wrote about the actual program here on my blog in a post titled When Art Meets Library.
I hinted that NHL was inspired by Disney’s Animal Kingdom when it was his time to make a story tower. I expanded on this for my most recent Education post for The Disney Driven Life titled When Disney Collides with Art Education. NHL showed me that he learned a great deal during our trips to Disney. He knew about different animals, their habitats, and where they were within the types of vegetation. I loved how he mimicked this knowledge by creating his own animal kingdom complete with Fast Pass. To read more about this, please stop by and read the rest of the story.
Please stop by to say hello and check out the other magical posts from my Disney Drive Life friends. My other posts there can be found under NDM183 – that’s me!
Have your children ever used things from your travels at times you least expected? Please be sure to share in the comments below.
Painting with Water – Catch Me There
Sunday, July 24th, 2011During the summer, I typically try to take the kids outside to enjoy the weather. Of course, this week that was not really possible thanks to the extreme heat and humidity. It was just too hot and hard to breathe and function while living in an oven. Once the weather cools off some, I hope to be able to take the boys out to do some painting with water.
Painting with water? Check out what I mean:
It is exactly what it sounds like. I have written about it before and it was inspired from a walk with my family at my favorite location. Walt Disney World helped me to come up with this fun way to keep the kids busy during the summer
My latest post on The Disney Driven Life is about Painting and Learning with Water. I show how this activity inspired by the creative minds at Walt Disney World gave me a fun summer learning tool to use with my child. Not only is it fun, but the kids really can learn items about science and more.
Please stop by to say hello and check out the other magical posts from my Disney Drive Life friends. My other posts there can be found under NDM183 – that’s me!
Before I go, here is a video that Disney Parks shared so you can see the magic of Custodial Art come to life.
What would you draw with water if you had a chance? Please let me know in the comments below. Have a magical week!
Summer Reading Disney Style – Catch Me There
Monday, July 11th, 2011
This summer, the boys and I are participating in a reading program at the local library. Thanks to this, NHL has been highly motivated to read books. What’s even better, he likes and is intrigued with chapter books. This has not always been the case.
In the past, I bought him books like the Phineas and Ferb one seen here, but he was too upset about the concept of chapter books.
It has been exciting to watch NHL devour different series of books over the last few weeks. I love seeing the excitement in his eyes as he announces he has finished another chapter.
My last Disney Driven Life post was Summer Reading With Disney. I wrote about NHL’s fears about chapter books, things we tried, and shared some great resources from Disney. Did you know that they have a website where you can search for titles based on age of child, categories of books, and featured characters. They do and you can read about it on my post.
Please stop by to say hello and check out the other magical posts from my Disney Drive Life friends. My other posts there can be found under NDM183 – that’s me!
Before I go, I wanted to share a fun video that I love featuring Phineas, Ferb, and Regis Philbin. Yes, THE Regis Philbin sings a Phineas and Ferb song. Oh and Neil Patrick Harris also has a small part in it.
Are you Phineas and Ferb fans? Let me know if you have a favorite character on the show.
Teaching Kids About Bullies – Catch Me There
Thursday, June 9th, 2011Each and every school is now faced with the dilemma of how to teach students about this topic. The reality is that educators need to be trained on how to present it within the curriculum and how to recognize it within the school setting. Children need to recognize when they are being a bullied, we need to try to prevent this behavior from the start.
Have you or your children ever been bullied?
In a perfect world, bullies would not exist. Unfortunately, I know this is not the case. TechyDad and I have written about this topic many times. We have had to deal with this on several levels this year.
This week, my post on The Disney Driven Life focuses on bullies. More specifically, Teaching Kids About Bullies With Disney. Yes, I think we could utilize Disney stories and movies to help teach kids about bullies and other forms of character education. I am certainly thinking outside of the box, but often times that is the best way to reach kids. You look for something that you can connect to the topic at hand and present it in a fun manner that will stick with them for life. Please stop by to check out my latest on connecting Disney with education and let me know what Disney bullies you can think of.
I hope to see you at The Disney Driven Life to say hello to everyone else that writes there as well. My other posts there can be found under NDM183 – that’s me!
Living With The Land – Catch Me There
Sunday, May 22nd, 2011The sun was supposed to come out today, but it looks like that has changed again. After over a week of nearly non-stop rain, we are going a bit stir crazy here. The week has been filled with rain, headaches, and flash flood warnings.
Yesterday, when there was a break in the rain, we went to buy some vegetable plants. The cold and then constant rain did not allow us to start our modest little garden from seeds this years. Still, we are hoping to have some of our own tomatoes and zucchini (all that we bought at this point) to prepare with the boys.
Growing a garden has definitely been inspired by our love of Disney. This week, I wrote about being inspired by Epcot’s Living With The Land. Over on The Disney Driven Life, I make a connection with Epcot, growing a garden, and learning. Be sure to head on over to check out my latest on connecting Disney with education. My other posts there can be found under NDM183 – that’s me!
While at Disney World in March, I decided to capture a little video while on Living With The Land. Here is little teaser of the ride. You can hear my very active three year old in the background.
I hope to see you at A Disney Driven Life to say hello to everyone else that writes there as well.
