Color Wonder? Color Scary!

I was very eager to jump on the Color Wonder and Go Paint band wagon. I love to let the kids paint, but we frequently have quarters that have cheap beige carpet, which means it is impossible to clean. The kids have not been huge fans, mainly I think because it takes a second for the color to show up on the paper after you paint, color, or stamp. The best is by far the Color Wonder paint that comes inside the paint brush. I think the worst overall is the finger paint because it inevitably gets under their fingernails and has a very odd consistency, particularly smeared on the carpet.

One thing that concerns me about these products is the ability to melt plastic. A couple of years ago one of my boys left a marker on something plastic and it left an indentation in the plastic. More recently I purchased the Go Paint Stampers for an airplane trip. Of course the caps that came with the stamps were lost very quickly. I left one in a bag sitting on top of a plastic fork. Lo and behold, the ink in the stamper melted part of the plastic prongs on the fork.

I don't know about you, but I have serious questions as to how these products qualify as non-toxic if the ink can melt plastic. That is why I will no longer purchase these products.

Man in Canoe

Okay so this morning I was watching the footage of the terrible flooding in Indiana, and what do I see, but a man in a canoe paddling across the flood waters. Now this man is not a rescue person, not a firefighter, nope, he is an average dude who has kept his canoe in his garage for just this occasion. I imagine that he has not taken the thing out in years, but along comes a flood, and he just has to canoe around the block. Am I crazy or is there always that one dude in a canoe in flood footage no matter what state in the United States there is some kind of flood? Amidst the raging flood waters there is some guy paddling along as if he is out on a Sunday morning taking advantage of the fine day.

Day Care

I suppose it would be a lot easier for me to go back to work if I could find a good care provider for my kids. My experience so far has been with three different preschools and two CDCs on post. Only one of the preschools either of my kids have been to felt right. H and S are currently going to a "Camp." I am skeptical because it is $50 more a week than their preschool program during the school year. They made it half an hour longer to justify the price. I have some small issues that I can totally overlook because my kids are having fun, but I hate dropping my children off with people who are not enthusiastic about children. I could totally run a daycare out of the house, but I am not enthusiastic about other people's children, so I abstain. I wish others would do so. I realize there is a lot of money in watching children, but come on, try to enjoy it. You can tell the providers who love what they are doing. For instance in Germany at the CDC there was Ms Darla. She was the best provider ever, hands down. She had so much joy in her face when she talked about the kids. She was one of a kind. H had a great teacher this past year, unfortunately we moved and had to leave before the end of the school year. She was so excited to teach S next year. Ugh.

I cannot imagine how tough it is for working moms to drop their kids off. I just wish that providers in general could put a little more pep in their step.

The Bar Exam

I am taking the Virginia Bar Exam. Two years ago I failed the North Carolina Bar Exam. My excuse was that my husband was in command and I found out I was pregnant after I sent in my application. Well this time I am pregnant with our fourth or as we affectionately call her, Delta. I will pass this time, no questions asked. I may go insane in the process, but I will do this. Any encouraging words would be very welcome, particularly in July!!

Rain Rain Go Away

We drove to North Carolina on Saturday to get C baptized. The trip took about six hours, seven if you include our hour long stop to let the kids stretch their legs. So on Sunday we left about 1:30 to head back home. It took us almost ten hours to get home. The weather was horrendous, torrential downpours and terrible traffic. A car driving behind us tried to whip around us and ended up spinning out in the median on a major highway. It was so scary. We didn't get home until after 11 pm. Then my poor husband had to wake up and drive to work, dodging flooded roads the entire way. It is still raining. I am just grateful that we didn't meet up with any tornadoes!!!

Moon Sand is the Devil

I used one of my Michaels 50% off coupon to buy Moon Sand for our airplane trip to Florida. Fortunately I wised up before the trip and did not take it along. This morning, prompted by a major rain storm, I cracked open the moon sand. What a total disaster!! Sand inside the house is not a good idea, even if it does stick together from time to time. I didn't buy the kit, just a tub, so we didn't have any of the molds you can use to shape the sand. It also meant that we didn't have the play mat. I would highly recommend some kind of mat on the table, because it took a lot of wiping and cleaning to get that stuff off of the table. Then I had to vacuum up all the sand that fell on the floor, it all came up, but left a very fine grit on the floor that won't come up.

I really can't say anything nice about moon sand. Save yourself time and money, don't buy it.

Another New House

We have moved yet again!! This time, we moved ourselves onto post. Wow, I thought pcsing was challenging, but moving on your own is a whole new category. My poor husband had some guys from work help him, but he was on the other end of everything that came into or out of the house. He worked so hard. Fortunately I was just exhausted, I thought at the time that I was just so miserable. That was until last week when the constant nausea showed up!! I had no idea that I would desperately want to go back to just feeling tired.

We love our new house, which makes the hassle of the Uhaul and the 40 plastic bins that we bought from Target worth it. The first morning we were in the new house the boys ran outside and played and played in the backyard. We'd gone almost a year without a yard and now we have a fenced in backyard which is so fantastic. Also for the first time since 2003 we have our own walls, no sharing, no duplex, no townhouse, just us!!!