Field Trips - Teachers Need Volunteers

I miss when you had to sign a permission slip for your kid to go on a field trip. You knew where they were going and when. I feel like in today's world that would be nice. Luckily most of the time they still make parents aware in newsletters.

It also sucks that parents can't volunteer like they used to. I remember being in elementary school and riding with a group of 3 or 4 students in a parents personal vehicle. Of course I understand why this doesn't happen today! But if parents were screened or something I think it would be nice if they were allowed to help out. That would mean though that people don't throw a fit when another parent on a field trip, say, tells their kid not to climb a fence, because they shouldn't be and they would hurt themselves.

Personally I think teachers could use the help. Its usually 1 teacher to 25 students or so. Having smaller groups of 5 or so with each parent like it used to be on field trips could be really beneficial. The students would be less distracted by other unruly students; for example, at the end of the line (a ways away from the teacher) because the adult they would need to focus on would be a couple of feet away instead of 20. It would make it easier for them to hear the adult, and easier to pay attention and LEARN.

**I have to add this on** 
Do you remember walking with a buddy? I remember holding hands when we walked on a field trip, sometimes, or just having a buddy you were supposed to stick with. I haven't seen any of that either. Everything's different. I know times are changing, but if these things help keep our kids safe why stop doing them. Change them to make them better instead of just taking them out. I did grow up in a different part of the country than we're in now, maybe they didn't do those things out here. Sigh.

These are just my opinions. I would love to hear yours. Share them Below!

Let's talk about it!

Surprise

     Oh hey guys, it's been a while hasn't it? I'm still getting the hang of this bloggin' thing, but that's not why my posts have been slacking. I have been in a lot of pain, they still don't know why. And I have been nausous, and tired. Know where this is going? Yep, I'm pregnant.

     I don't know how it's going to go. I don't know if my body can handle it. And, I'm scared. What I do know is, I'm pregnant.

     Soon I hope to post more hauls and DIYs  and fun stuff to do with the kids.  Keep checking back and I'll keep trying to get better at this.

     Thanks for sticking with me this long!

     ~ S

Soccer Season Is Here

     Hey guys, I've missed you! I have so many ideas down for posts, some of them even jotted down. They just need typed up! To do that, I have to have time! Soccer season is here and with two little ones it takes a bit of time from practices to getting ready for games and getting all that dirt off of them it takes a lot.  Its almost over. Then hopefully I can get some of the posts I have had planned up.

     Since we are talking about soccer though, and I have a few minutes, there is something on my mind.  I try to be pretty nice at these games.  At this age they don't even actually keep score (though most of us do in our heads). T's first season the coach said, "the main goals at this age are to get them going the right direction and to teach them not to touch the ball with their hands." In my experience they achieve that and much more. Well, we coached last season so I have a little experience under my belt as a coach as well. Yes, its just a little, but I did go to the coaches meeting so I know what they tell them.  One of the main things is to Rotate Your Players During Games. There are 7-8 kids on a team if they are all there, and only 5 can be on the field at a time. They are supposed to sub every 2-3 minutes. It seemed often at first, but like I said, we have done it so I know what its like. Its pretty doable. And, if its not every 2-3 minutes, then hey every 4-5 or something. The point is it should be done.  All of the kids deserve equal time to play (Of course it won't be exactly equal, noone expects that, but we do expect each child to sit out a little bit, even our own. It gives them all time to try and time to learn.)

     Here is what has been upsetting me. There is one player on M's team that doesn't get sat out. The coach says he asks them who wants to sit out and they volunteer. Newsflash, my kids talk to me. Oh and hey, I'm right there hearing what goes on sometimes as well. I know my kid does not ask to sit out that often. Well, in the coaches meeting one of the things said was that coaching is volunteer so if a parent has a problem with the way you coach, tell them they can do it next season. Knowing that, I tried not to push buttons. We might have tried to coach this season, but its not coed so the kids are on two different teams. We couldn't coach one kid's team and miss most of the other's games. So, when we found out they had a lot of coaches signed up, we weren't too worried about it. Back to the reason I was a little upset. They have played like 6 games. My daughter  has sat out a couple times in each game. We are this far in and I haven't seen 1 of the players ever sit out. My boyfriend said he thinks she did in the first game though. Well, I was fed up. He kept saying he was going to talk to the coaches, but never did. This last game M sat out some of each quarter. Yet again that player did not sit out AT ALL. There are another couple that don't sit out much either, but they do usually get sit out some. I want to make it clear that I did not want to upset the little girl, but every kid needs to sit out.  She is just a kid. It's not her fault and I understand that. I would definitely not want her feelings hurt. After this last game I was kind of fed up. M sat out a ton. It wasn't fair. So, I waited until the coach wasn't busy and I brought it up to him. Of course he said he asks them who wants to sit out. He even said she wanted to sit out one of the times this game. So I said, "Well that is one time, but you sat her out during EVERY quarter. And there are some girls that don't sit out at all." He tried to justify with that its hard out there, but I had told him in the beginning of the conversation that we had done it last season and I understand that it can be difficult sometimes. But its not impossible and every kid needs to spend some time sitting out watching their teammates. I  let him know that I would appreciate if he would try to rotate his players more often.

     Do you think that's ok? Did I handle it alright? I felt bad for M always having to go out and I wanted to stand up for her. I was nervous though, because I didn't want to upset that little girl or anyone else on her team and I didn't want to piss off the coach.  This post was not planned. I just typed as I went, so hopefully it reads alright too. Let me know what you think below! This Momma could use some feedback. What would you have done?

     Miss you guys! Talk to you soon!

~ S

DT Finds From Our Trip To OK

(More Pictures Below)

     Our first DT stop was the morning after staying the night at one of the worst hotels I have experienced. They didn't have toothpaste or toothbrushes so we Definitely needed those. We had planned on buying deodorant, because we didn't expect them to have any (though most do). The hotel didn't have shampoo or conditioner for us all either. I'll get in to more about that awful stay in another post. THIS is about DT :) I needed a better pen to right in our trip journal, so I got a Fluffy Pink pen, which if you follow me on Instagram or SnapChat(ReadySetMom) you have probably already seen! It looked silly but I LOVE writing with it. It makes me feel pretty too. We Got M a Lisa Frank Pen too. I think she's gonna love it! Had to grab some tape, because its one of the best places to buy it. Taping things in the journal as we go is SO much easier than doing it all later! We bought some Applesnax applesauce cups. After that last stay I wanted to make sure we had something to eat with us. I feel like their aloe lip balm works pretty well so I picked up the 2 pack of those. They had the Salon Selectives 3 minute hair therapy, so I finally got to pick up some of that ( I can hardly wait to try it!). As we were leaving I decided I needed some sunglasses to help us through the trip too. So I had to make another purchase for those. When I did, C decided the kids needed dry erase boards for the trip too. They have little characters in the corners and come come a string attached so they can be hung up. They each came with a pen that had an eraser on the cap, which was handy, but Madison's stopped working before we got home. We also got a smiley face hacky sack for the boy. (I think it was at that one). Overall, it was a pretty big haul.

     The next one was after our trip to the aquarium. It was an alright store. Not too special but we found a few good things. We got the stacked Physicians Formula nail polishes everyone had been hauling in Bare it All, a glass shaped like a Coke can, the Scotch double sided tape (which I love), and a pen shaped like a blue dog for C.

     We made two other DT stops during our trip. These two were more interesting. The first was Giant! This was the biggest Dollar Tree I had ever seen! Now, the products didn't vary that much from the other stores, they were just spread out more, but, man it was huge! I did pick up another fluffy pen (in case I don't find them when I get home. What can I say, I really enjoy them!). This one was in hot pink. I saw some cute Monkey wall art that I thought might be fun for one of the kids' walls, a bag of Blow Pops (The suckers we got from a candy purchase at the mall  were a big Fail and they wanted something Yummy), dry erase markers in cute springy colors, some Denali Original Moose Tracks snack mix (I knew this trip was going to require more sweets), and a drawer organizer in black.

     The last store was kind of a sad way to end my DT experiences for the trip. It was lacking in products, wasn't that clean and wasn't that welcoming. I still bought a splatter screen for when I am cooking (I had been thinking about trying it out). I thought I bought one other item but I can't remember what it was.

     My favorite DT find from the trip is, by far, my pink fluffy pen! But I have to say, when we got deodorant I chose the Teen Spirit in Pink Crush, and it smells so good. It has like a sweet scent to it. It seems like a younger scent, but I really enjoy it. At this point the kids haven't gotten all of the items that are for them, but so far it looks like their favorites are the dry erase boards.

     I hope you enjoyed seeing what we found on our trip to Oklahoma! If I missed posting a picture of something we got and you would like to see it, please let me know in the comments below and I will see what I can do!

Here are some extra pics I took just for YOU!

Product Review: Global Beauty Care Wipes and So Natural Banana Slices

(Both of these were purchased at the Dollar Tree)

     Well, my face was kind of burning a few minutes after I used the wipes. That might just be because I was kind of breaking out though. I don't know. I liked that the wipes were pre-moistened. Others I have gotten at the Dollar Tree said they were and well...they weren't. Now they weren't as moist as one's I have used from other stores, BUT they were still damp and worked alright. I did wet the wipe a little more after trying straight out of the package. Then, it seemed to work a little better. Overall, so far, not too bad. I want to try it with some other makeup though.

     The only ingredient listed on the package of banana slices was BANANAS, and on the front of the package it actually says they are freeze dried. They were kinda gross to me. My son however loved them, which was kind of weird because he hasn't been liking bananas lately. My daughter tried them at the same time, and she has been liking bananas lately. Her face went "eww" while his face went "yum". He pretty much ate the whole bag himself, Not All At Once, Lol! I found them too be too sweet for me. Being that the only ingredient listed on the package is bananas. I say for a dollar it's worth a try. Now, we have bananas the boy will eat!

     As always, comments welcome! Let me know what you think below.
~ S

New DT Finds

     This is my first post with some newer equipment, so there will be pictures!

     I made a quick trip to DT and noticed a few new (at least new to me) items. I picked up some disposable coffee cups with lids, which I had used before and 2 sticker books for the little ones. I also got coffee stirrers and an air pump which I had started seeing probably a couple of weeks ago at most. I didn't pick up any of the new items I found,  but I took pictures in case any of you might want to see them.

     Also there were these wipes I came across that I've been wondering about for a while.  They are in a purple package.  I was wondering how they compare to the Good & Clean ones in the yellow and teal packaging. If you've tried them,  please let me know!

Pics Below :)

These are the canvas pencil bags. There were 4 different designs.

I saw these cute snack cups I had to snap a picture of too : )

These are the wipes i was wondering about. What do you guys think? How do they compare to the Good & Clean ones DT sells? Should I buy them and try them out??

 I noticed these little bags of cookies. I think they're knew. Online I saw them for close to $3 a bag. I'm still looking for  good scanner app to use to compare in the store though.

Thanks for reading! Share your thoughts below, please!

~ S

Mrs. Field's Cookies at DT!!

It's a Great deal! My DT is out now, and no I didn't buy them all! 8 Individually wrapped cookies for $1. YUM!

I should be getting my camera back tomorrow. Then I will be able to post pics WITH posts!

Check your store for these cookies and other great deals. I have other great product finds from DT I am thinking of sharing, some are name brand others are not. Let me know below if you would be interested in a post about these products!

~ S

Merle Norman Cosmetics Advice, Please!

I have been dabbling in make-up more and more, but I got gift certificates for Merle Norman Cosmetics and can't even recall hearing of them!

If you have heard of them and can give me advice on products, good ones or ones to maybe stay away from, that would be Great. I have been trying to do some research but don't seem to be getting very far!

All Comments Welcome! LOL! I'll share pictures of what I get after I spend the gift certificates. Then hopefully I can share with you guys how they work for me!

~ *S*

Parent-Teacher Conferences

...so much more information than a report card

I know they can't post all their details of your kids' progress on the online account, but it sure would be nice! They have the records. We could benefit from the records, but its not shown on there. I'm not talking about having every detail added online, but it would be nice to know what progress my child has made with sight words, or other specific skills that they are tested on (like phoneme deletion etc). My son made it through all of the sight words on the list we were given for his grade MONTHS ago. I just found out that he is part the way through another list that the teacher decided to test him on. Learning this I asked for the list of the next level words. Two things come to mind. One, why did it take months for them to test him on his sight words. Two, had they tested him sooner they could have posted it online (or something) so that I would know where he stood.

Its not shown on report cards. It would kind of be nice to see it, besides at parent-teacher conferences where we need to jot notes of our children's progress and what they have achieved or should work on next. Has anyone else experienced this??? Maybe I am just trying to know more about what my child's levels are, and what he is working on than normal, but it seems normal to me. He was above level when he started and he WANTED to learn more. So, initially I was worried his levels were dropping because they don't allow for going off schedule or lesson plans for the class. Really though, anymore I just want to know where he is at so if he wants to work on things in his time at home I can help him. Let me know below if you have any ideas on this. I don't want to push him too hard, but he WANTS to learn more. At parent-teacher conferences they go over some of the tests they've done and I try to take notes as quickly and efficiently as I can. Sometimes as they are rushing us through the conference I feel like I missed something I should have written. Any tips on that part?? Does anyone else even do that, lol?!

I feel like report cards are copy and paste. Your kid is on par, above, or below, with the range to be in any section being pretty broad. This would allow for most kids to land in the on par range. I could be wrong, that might just be how it seems (but there really is a choice of 4 options and those are 3 of them. The other, I'm thinking, is "not applicable" or something along those lines). If its right, I get that it makes the school look better because it would allow the school to look like its students are primarily where they should be. At a glance that system looks normal. But, I have been told by several teachers that my child is above grade level in certain areas, yet on his report card he is "at grade level" still. So in this particular school I guess the qualifications to be put at above grade level on the report card are different. I don't feel like this benefits the students or the parents. (It might not benefit others, but I don't have those persepectives, so I don't know) As parents, knowing where our children stand would be a good thing! If my child is (and has been) reading at the next grade level and his reading and writing skills for the quarter say on par then I am going to consider it inaccurate. Luckily, because I talked to the teacher, I know where my child stands. But, if I were to just go by the report card I would think my child was at a much lower level. From the students point of view, not now obviously but in the future, they would look back and not have accurate information. I guess if other teachers review the information it would mislead them as to what level to teach the student unless they had access to the in depth information. I am thankful that the teachers have the info and go over it with us at conferences! I want to make sure that's out there! It would just be nice to see what our kids have achieved and what the next things they will be (or should be) learning are.

Thank for reading my little rant, lol! If you have any advice, please share it below! I would love to hear from you!

~ * S *

Click Comment below to share your thoughts!

Follow on Facebook, now that you can!

     Sorry guys! I made a Facebook page for this site back around when I created it. Apparently all the posts were only visible to the person managing it. Oops! I fixed it though just this morning. Sooo follow there to stay up to date! I try to post there each time I make a new post here!

     Thanks for reading! And, don't forget to comment, I like to hear from you guys!

     I wonder who will be the first to comment on the Facebook page...now that its visible to you guys LOL!

NYC Lipstick!!

Oh Creamy Caramel!

     It's so perfect, so natural looking...at least on me. Its a shade of their ExpertLast Lipsticks, and well I love it! I tried a few other colors after seeing such a cheap lipstick so highly reviewed, but was quickly turned off. The shade I bought swatched more red than I thought it would. Then, while wearing they would kind of come out at the corners of my mouth and run where they shouldn't.

     Well... then I saw them in a few DT (Dollar Tree) hauls on YouTube and got curious yet again. Luckily they showed up in my DT and I had the courage to try them again! I got 2 shades, one was a worse fail than before. The other, was one of the best lipsticks ever! Ok maybe not ever, but its one of my favorites. I can put it on so easily, it dries pretty quick and doesn't smear. It looks natural, but better lol! I love it!

**Pictures will be added soon, including a swatch of this perfect color!**

Here is a link to it on amazon:  http://amzn.com/B00F63JWIW

Cold Weather Experiment, Decor, Fun?

Giant Lawn Marbles? Lawn Ornaments? I don't know what to call them, but we made an attempt at making them...whatever they are!

Here's what you need: Balloons, food coloring, water, and a couple of REALLY cold days.

We started close to 8 pm. I wanted to do it earlier, but you know how it is being a mom. Timelines don't always playout like we plan. I thought if we were able to do them the night before they might be frozen by morning and we could all see how they look before school the next day. The next morning however they were sloshy

...is that a word, sloshy?

Here are the balloons on the lawn waiting to freeze.
The extra colors are other balloons that popped when they were set down. Lol we had a little trouble.

Anyway, one of them seemed to have a slow leak. I didn't want one of us to not have a balloon out there when we popped them, so I put it in a bowl. I figured it would still freeze. No. The next morning 3 of them were frozen, 1 was not. Can you guess which one? Yeah I don't know what happened. We weren't all together so we didn't pop them and by this afternoon they were sloshy again.

...I think I have decided it is a word.

Here is the sad one in the bowl.

They did eventually freeze. Then you pop them and peel the balloon off.

They look like this until you flip them over...

Then some of them look like this...

Overall it kind of worked, but when we have another run of cold days I want to try again and so a few thing differently

I'm back!

I know.  How crappy, start a blog and leave it for a month.  Surely you thought I had given up.  On the contrary, Christmas, birthdays, moving, family going through things, and still often I thought of this blog.  I am excited to be back sharing with you!  We did a few projects amidst it all.  I'll be posting one soon, so keep an eye out!  I'm so glad to be back.  Hopefully next week I'll get the rest of the site up and running.  Thanks for reading!