New Lists for a New (Temporary) Life

Way too much to catch everyone up on right now, but suffice it to say, we're spending the school year in the US. Suprise! To everyone! Including us!

Hopefully, I'll be able to come back later and explain all of that, but right now, I've had a couple of requests to look at the morning, after school and bedtime lists I have adapted for this season.

Oh, did I not mention that the kids are going to school? For the first time? Ever? Well, they are. And, consequently, we have had to learn a whole new system, including lunch boxes and homework and PTF committee meetings (okay, so those aren't on the lists, but . . . ).

To keep my sanity (you may laugh right now), I updated our old lists, and then revised and revised them. I'm sure they'll undergo continual revision, but these are relatively final, so I thought I'd go ahead and post them. (We aren't doing individual family responsibility [aka "chore"] lists right now, because we're just doing chores as we have time. [Read: Mommy and Daddy are doing most of the work])

Hope these are helpful in spurring ideas for other families:
- morning list
- after school list
- bedtime list

You'll notice that ZL now has his own lists. He loves them. Seriously, he thinks it's so cool that he has his own lists. And, no, he does not watch TV from the time he finishes his morning list until the Bigs get home from school (although "Nick, Jr. is like preschool on TV!" ). We pull the plug relatively quickly, but this gives me an opportunity to have an extended Quiet Time on occasion (although it is pretty surreal to be listening to worship music via earbuds and have Olivia playing on the TV in front of you).

(My apologies for the funky format of some of the lists. They get simplified when they're uploaded to Google Docs, and they lose all of their pretty colors, etc.)

My Trip in Status Updates

Last time I traveled to the States by myself (oh, did I mention that I traveled to the States by myself with all five kids last week?), I kept a running note on my Palm of texts I would have sent ML along the way, if I could have. I sent it to him (and to family members) in an e-mail after I arrived.

This time, I kept thinking of Facebook status updates I would have posted, so I jotted those down. And posted them one by one after I got here. It was my in-flight entertainment. Cause, you know, you can't just put the headphones on and watch the movie when you have to keep track of and take care of five kids.

For those more into blogging than Facebook and for posterity's sake, here is My Trip in Status Updates.

Needn't have worried about Z for takeoff. He's so fascinated that he's been sitting still with his hands folded in his lap, eyes wide, the whole time.

There's a ladies-only bathroom on this flight. Haven't seen that before.

Forget the safety info. How about a video on how to latch the bathroom door?

I'm paranoid. Every time I hear someone repeatedly pinging the flight attendant, I make sure Z is not touching the buttons.

Sitting MA next to JAK and I was a win. She's reveling in helping take are of him. And I'm reveling in it, as well.

Z's fascination with the airplane has worn off. I think we only have 12 1/2 hours of the 13 hour flight left.

I've got to make or buy some sort of pouch that will hold 6-7 passports and our residency cards. They kind of balk at the ziplock bag.

Apparently, only some airlines are worried enough about peanut allergies not to serve them anymore.

Mental note: put long pants on the baby, even if you are flying from the Middle East to Texas. It's a tad chilly on the plane.

Ah, a Friends episode. Just what I would have picked for the first in-flight option on a family-filled flight when everyone is still awake.

Advantage of the plane engine noise: it drowns out some of the noise from the children in front of us. Disadvantage: the parents feel like they need to yell at each other from two seats apart.

Oh, Karen Rumbaugh, I could just kiss you for introducing me to the AquaDoodle product line. Just on the cheeks, of course. But three times on the second side.

The lady in front of me apparently only brought enough formula powder for one bottle, so now she's asking the flight attendant for milk. Seriously? For a 13-hour flight?

Is it really necessary to have the kids' meals scalding hot? (I know, one warmer, probably, but maybe they could take them out ahead of time?)

Rather than bulkhead with a bassinet as I was told I had, I have one row behind bulkhead with a bassinet on the bulkhead row. JAK is napping in the bassinet while we eat, but when it's time for me to sleep, he'll have to go into the sling. There's no way to strap him into the bassinet, and I'm afraid he'd wake up and fall out.

The older four kids went to sleep remarkably well. After trying to figure out how to keep the headphones on Z, so he could watch something while he fell asleep, I gave up in frustration. He conked in about 30 seconds.

Jeremiah slept in the bassinet during dinner, which was great, because I had my hands free to eat and help the other kids. Not so great when he woke up and was raring to go just as it was time to sleep.

Jeremiah's been doing his army crawl, which he just started, across the seats in our row.

I think flight attendant pinging (repeatedly pushing the call button) is something akin to Chinese water torture. And I'm not even the flight attendant. Amy and Cindy, care to tell us how it feels?

The ladies-only restroom has gone the way of the dodo bird. It's first come, first serve now.

Spoke too soon. Z just hit the call button. :-/

Just got complimented on what great travellers the kids are. A. They really are. B. I'd be crazy to do this, if they weren't, and I told the guys so. And C. I don't think the contrast to the kids in front of us hurts.

Zachariah insisted on feeding me all of the M&M's out of his trail mix once he found out that I liked them. Love that kid. (Actually, he calls them M's, because that's what's written on them. There's no convincing him otherwise.)

Yeah, the bassinet in the row with the yelling kids is not really working out for me.

Requesting kids' meals, which come before the adult meals, so I can help them get set up and actually eat my meal when it comes = win.

Flight attendants should have a way to turn off the call button for a specific seat. Not arbitrarily, but some sort of three strikes, and you're out thing.

The flight attendants on this route should get combat pay. Or overtime. Or something.

I'm totally traveling by myself with five kids from here on out. I've been waved past two humungous lines, passport control and security.

Magdalyn's response when we came up to take the train from one terminal to the next in Chicago: "Oh look, Mommy!" It was grass.

I feel like I'm in the movie Airplane. We've changed gates three times so far.

It's so nice not to have to think through how to say something before I have to say it.

Make that four gate changes. All in the same terminal but back and forth between wings. Good news is that I've bonded with several fellow passengers as we've jogged along.

How to Buy a Used, Unlocked iPhone

After a couple of statuses (stati?) about how pleased I am with my (current) iPhone, I've gotten several questions about buying an unlocked phone to use overseas. As was my purpose with this blog in the first place, I'm going to park my answer here to link to in the future.

I am currently the (proud and not-so-proud) owner of two used, unlocked iPhones. So, I can tell you how to and how not to buy one.

How not to: look randomly for a used, "unlocked" phone on eBay, buy it, bring it to the country where you live and have a partially unlocked, partially functional phone/iPhone (mine never recognized wireless, which negates almost half the functionality of the iPhone and didn't wake up from sleep to ring, so you constantly had to check to see if you'd missed calls, if you wanted to put it to sleep to, say, put it in your pocket).

How to: Buy used from Gazelle on eBay. You can check them out at gazelle.com. They buy used electronics from people, evaluate them, and turn around and sell them (they also do fundraisers where non-profits can collect used electronics from people and get paid for them, which I thought was cool). The advantage they have over buying used on eBay, in general, is that they have a consistent rating system, they deal in bulk, so they know how to evaluate the condition of the piece of equipment, and they detail the condition of the piece, i.e. where scratches are, etc. I like this, because you can decide that you don't mind scratches or an engraving on the back, for example, since they'd be covered by a case, but you don't want scratches on the screen. We've bought three 3rd gen iPods and two iPhones from them, so far, and been very pleased.

"Sunday School" overseas

The same friend as the previous post recently (no, really, it was recently this time) asked whether I had any suggestions for doing "Sunday School" with her daughter. Living overseas with no convenient access to an English-speaking church, you have to be creative about these things. Even when you have a group of ex-pat friends that you fellowship with (which we do), you've most likely got a wider age range than you're going to be dealing with in the average church children's program.

Here's the answer I gave my friend:

My suggestion for "Sunday School" activities is to pick a Bible story book and work your way through it (a story a week, one a day, a few a week, whatever works for you). In preparation for each story, google, for example, "Noah sunday school lesson," "Noah coloring pages," "Noah craft," etc. This will give you plenty of activities to choose from, from dress-up to paper crafts to songs. You can pick and choose what's at P's level (and what uses supplies you have access to/you can get people to mail you :-).

Some Bible story books we have (in no particular order):
- The Rhyme Bible Storybook for Toddlers (I notice this is a younger version of the Rhyme Bible Storybook. Haven't seen it, but it might be worth checking into.)
- The Picture Bible: particularly good for older children (and younger children who long to be/seem older :-); done in a "graphic novel"-type format (that's geek speak for "comic book," and it actually more accurately represents the book itself; it is not "childish" at all); very engaging
- My First Bible in Pictures: very simple (a few sentence each) stories with an easy question at the end; the first story Bible we used with MS and similar to one ML grew up with
- Read and Learn Bible: we haven't had this one long, and the illustrations aren't my favorite (a little too cartoonish), but it looks like a good option for an 2nd grade-ish level reader to read independently or to be read to a younger child
- The Early Reader's Bible: kind of like a study Bible for 1st graders; lots of questions and application scenarios; would also be perfect to read to older preschoolers/kindergarteners
- The Right Choices Bible: out of print, which is a shame, because it presents Bible stories in light of the (right or wrong) choices they make; would be worth looking for used
- Egermeier's Bible Story Book: one of the most in depth story Bibles you'll find; the stories are often several pages in length (small type) with detailed illustrations; good for reading aloud to a very interested K or 1st-grader or an older child; the read-alone level is probably 3rd grade or above
- The Jesus Storybook Bible: we don't actually have this book, a friend brought it with her when she moved here recently; it tells all of the stories of the Bible as they point to Jesus, and I'm very intrigued to check it out further
- One-Year Children's Bible: another that we don't have, but piqued my interest as I was searching for links for the others; we may have to get this one; because, obviously, our motto is "never can have too many story Bibles"

I also love using scripture songs for verse memorization. We like GodRocks! and Seeds Family Worship. I like to type up the verse and put pictures above major words (from Google images searches) to help with memorization (I repeat the pictures from verse to verse for the same concept). And we use sign language for major words when we're singing the songs. I have a bit of a background with sign language vocabulary, but a good online dictionary is really all you need (ASLUniversity and Michigan State's ASL Browser are the two that I use).

Now, this was written to someone just looking for something to use with a two-and-a-half-year-old, but it really can apply up through upper elementary age, at least. At that point, you can include children in your own gathering, start them on independent studies, etc.

Hopefully, this will spark some ideas for those living in similar circumstances.

Entertaining 2-year-olds (whether or not they're being angels)

A friend asked me recently (okay, back in February, but I've been meaning to post this since then) for some ideas for entertaining her 2 1/2-year-old daughter. Since most of our children have been or will be two, I thought this was a topic of possible general interest, so I thought I'd post my response here. This family lives in India, so my comments as to "available there" refer to that fact.

Ah, children's toys/activities. How did you know my weakness? We've never had "bristle blocks," "waffle blocks," or "tinker toys," but just about everything else non-electronic . . .

I don't know what all you would have access to there, but I'll list several things, and hopefully, you'll hit the jackpot on some. Or something will look promising enough to be worth the time to make, if that's an option.

- lacing cards (threading a shoelace through holes around the edge of a shape; could be made, if necessary)
- Duplos/MegaBlocks (large/extra-large legos)
- cardboard bricks (these come flat and then you assemble them, so it's possible to bring them over in a suitcase/trunk)
- instruments, like shakers, cymbals, drum, etc. (although, then, you have to deal with the noise :-)
- dollhouse (Melissa & Doug makes a folding one that is relatively compact, but you could probably find something locally or make something out of cardboard boxes)
- dolls & doll stroller, plus doll blankets, doll bed, etc.
- dress up clothes (if you have a used clothing bazaar, this is good for stocking up; also, buy scarves, etc., locally; they're great for dress-up, plus it ties the kids into the culture)
- wooden puzzles
- Mr. Potato Head
- magnetic playsets (search for "magnetic playset" on christianbook.com; they're backgrounds with figures to play with on them; also great for travel)
- play food and dishes
- wooden blocks
- books (if you can, train her to look at them by herself, especially ones she's been read enough to know the story line)

For an electronic options, iTunes has a great selection of PBS shows. At that age, Little Einsteins and Blue's Clues (okay, so that's Nick, Jr.) are good options. We tried to steer clear of Dora, with the goal of mastering Arabic before we added Spanish, but that's just a personal preference.

Similarly, pbskids.org and nickjr.com have some simple games that P might be ready to get started on, if you have a desktop computer you're willing to let her play on. Or if you want to attach a mouse to a laptop (that would work for some 2 1/2-yr-olds, for others, it would be a recipe for disaster :-).

If you have a video iPod, audible.com/kids is building a collection of children's audible books that show the illustrations on the screen as the book is being played. Under "categories" at the bottom of the page, look at "with synchronized images." Kids books can be kind of short, but if you teach her to navigate the click wheel or she listens/watches nearby with you to help, it might buy you a decent chunk of time. (Man, I did *not* need to look at that site again. I'm a sucker for children's books and gadgets. This is the perfect marriage of the two. :-P)

Children's Songs

Went looking for "Wheels on the Bus" (one of Z's favorites) and, well, I stumbled upon this "little" list. Okay, so it was a tad comprehensive. I shelved it to the wish list until the kids' annual Christmas iTunes gift certificates came from Uncle Carter & Aunt Karen. Then, I spent Z's and JAK's on the essentials of the essentials. The following was the result. (I noted a few others, such as several songs from the Mary Poppins sound track, for future purchase. Shhh. Don't tell MA. Her birthday is this week. :-)

Chicken Dance - DJ's Choice
B-I-N-G-O - Larry Groce & the Disneyland Children's Sing-Along Chorus
ABC (The Alphabet Song) - Dora the Explorer
Are You Sleeping? - Twin Sisters
Rubber Duckie - Ernie
The Farmer in the Dell - Larry Groce
Hokey Pokey - Ultimate Party Mix
I've Been Working on the Railroad - Pete Seeger
Old MacDonald - Larry Groce
It's a Small World - Disney Studio Chorus
Itsy Bitsy Spider - Tom Gardner
John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt - Larry Groce
Twinkle Twinkle Little Star - Elizabeth Mitchell
Head, Shoulders, Knees & Toes - VeggieTales
Pop! Goes the Weasel - Larry Groce
Row, Row, Row Your Boat - Elizabeth Mitchell
Shoo, Fly, Don't Bother Me - Larry Groce
This Old Man - Rob Newhouse
Wheels on the Bus - The Little Series
Skip to My Lou - Larry Groce
Where is Thumbkin? - David Jacobi
Linus & Lucy - Vince Guaraldi Trio

* Also of note is iTunes Essentials Children's Lullabies list. We have many of them, and it's enchanting.

Mommy/Baby Hospital Lists

Quietly announcing that I'm going to try to post something to one of my three blogs each day in February. I figure that's a smoother attempt at getting back into blogging than to try to jump full force into one of them (or worse, all of them). We'll see how I do.

A friend here is due any day and has been packing (and re-packing) her hospital bags. I remembered that I had an ongoing list in my Palm software, so I looked it up and sent it to her. Thought it would be good to post here among all of my other lists.

the "adult" bag (myself and dh)
coffee (for ML & prepared for me)
pillows
hair towel
towel obviously from a previous pregnancy, since the current hospital provides these
camera
house shoes
socks: both
pads
Tucks medicated haven't needed these since my first, but I guess I never took them off
underwear: both
bra
q-tips
lotion
make up
toothbrushes
toothpaste
scrubby
wash cloth
tylenol
ibuprofen
deodorants
hair gel (ML)
brushes
pajamas: both
clean clothes: ML because we got there without any for him one time; oops
t-shirt
jeans
iPod
khaki pants a trusty pair of "transitional size" pants
water bottles: sm 1/2 froz, lg froz again, the more recent hospital provides cold water
OJ
kids' books for when they visit the hospital
phone charger think we forgot this one time, too
blood work
admission papers
bananas/dried apricots

the baby's bag (aka everything else)
candy to give out at the hospital, a cultural tradition
diapers
wipes
hats
gowns/sleepers
under shirts
shoes
pacifiers
blankets
changing pad
alcohol pads
bottles
formula
baby blanket