TechyDad | The Angel Forever

Category Archives TechyDad

Disney Anniversary Dreaming Again

Posted on October 24, 2011 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

It has been almost two months since we had to cancel out 10th Anniversary trip to Walt Disney World. TechyDad and I had planned a five night stay in Orlando without the kids. When we finally decided to splurge and go to a location for our ten year anniversary, Disney just seemed natural to us. A magical honeymoon and subsequent trips back with the kids made it a quick and easy choice. We were going to bring the kids to stay with Bubbe and Grandpa while we went to Disney alone. Then, as I wrote after the case Mother Nature had other plans.

Looking back at the trip that never was makes me sad. I see people Tweet and talk about restaurants that we had advanced dining reservations for. What was harder at the time, I saw pictures from people at the parks Labor Day weekend and the Magic Kingdom was decked out in fall decorations. Each time I saw a picture, a piece of my heart crumbled more and more. Of course, as time moved past the trip, I was ok. I knew that we made the right choice. We were responsible adults. Then, as school started, there was no time to dwell on what could and should have been. I was focused on getting the boys back into the swing of things. We had to adjust to nursery school five days a week and life in third grade.

Now, it is almost November and my heart is heavy again. I long for a time to get away with TechyDad.

We are trying to see if we can figure out a time that will work for us to get away. It will probably have to wait until the kids are done with school because their crazy schedules really do complicate things. Nothing is really set in stone yet, but I think about it often. I wonder when we may finally get a chance if we will be able to get reservation to California Grill in time for the fireworks. Will we be lucky enough to snag a time to eat at other places that were on our agenda? I suppose only time will tell. Until then, I know that we were safe during the storm, and that we will one day have a magical adventure to our favorite destination again.

P.S. I am not the only one that wrote about our trip that never was. TechyDad also did a Travelogue of the Trip That Irene Canceled – Part 1 and Part 2.

Categories:
Disney dreams looking back me moments photos TechyDad weather

Percussion Practice

Posted on October 21, 2011 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

In third grade, kids at NHL’s school are allowed to sign up to play an instrument. When the band options came home, NHL immediately declared that he wanted to try the drums. Of course, I asked people what they thought about different instruments. I grew up taking piano lessons since we inherited the piano from my Nana and Papa. TechyDad took violin and my brother took clarinet for a short time.

NHL was the first person to sign up for percussion, so he was guaranteed a chance to try this instrument group. So far he loves it. We still need to work out a practice schedule at home, but we get it in as much as we can.

NHL is taking practice time very seriously. He loves to explain to us about the different notes, rests, and other items. Now if only we could figure out the best way to haul in his precious cargo. As I noted in another post, his percussion set is quite large and bulky.

Percussion Set Goes Home

So my question to you this week is inspired by NHL’s new music lessons:

What instrument did you learn to play as a child or adult? If you never took lessons, what would you love to try one day?

____________________________________________________________________________

Thanks to Kailani at An Island Life for starting this fun for Friday. Please be sure to head over to her blog to say hello and sign the linky there if you are participating.

Aloha #174

Categories:
Aloha Friday fun looking back Music photos school TechyDad

Favorite Child Syndrome

Posted on October 19, 2011 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

Let me begin by saying that this post is inspired by Rene Syler, head GEM or Good Enough Mother. I was lucky enough to meet Rene in March at Disney. In May, I had lunch with her and then saw her earlier this month at SheStreams. The woman tells it like it is and is not afraid to admit that she is not perfect. The reality is that Rene has helped countless other parents, including myself, to accept that being good enough is perfectly acceptable. Rene also reminds us to take care of ourselves so we can be the best we can for our children.

Monday night, Rene mentioned that she was going to be on a segment of Tuesday’s Anderson. The topic of the show Are Parents Playing Favorites? Rene also let all of her GEM fans know about it Tuesday morning. I set the DVR, but happened to be able to catch it and sat there with my mouth on the ground. Here is the show preview from Anderson’s website.

Leading up to the segment with Rene were two parents telling the world that they admit they have a favorite child. Then, we saw video of one mother discussing it with her six children. WHAT?! No really, I could not make this up. Next, Rene came onto the panel:

The one mother stated that she didn’t think that this was going to cause any issues for her children. In the back of my mind, I could see the future therapy bills racking up. As you can see in the clip above, Rene did NOT agree. She kept bringing up the point that we birth our kids and our role should not be to have favorites. The other mother on the panel stated that she had a favorite parent and kids often do. Once again, Rene noted that it is one thing for a child to say this about a parent, but completely different for an adult to say to their child. Amen Rene!

The odd part of this show is the timing. Driving home from school the other day, my eight year old son asked me a question. He wanted to know if I had a favorite child. I told him no I did not. Of course, then I wanted to know why he was asking this. He said he was just wondering and had asked TechyDad the same thing the day before. I told NHL that both of them were my favorite boys. I love both of them with all of my heart, and that even when they may not make the right choices, or do something that makes me upset, it does not mean that they are not a favorite or that I love them less.

I have to say that my parents did an amazing job. My brother and I often joke that one or the other is the favorite child, but neither of us is really serious. I think they knew the importance of this for our growth into the people that we would become. Thank you Mom and Dad!

TechyDad and I always tell the boys that they are our favorite 8 and 4 year olds. The reality is that at any given moment my attention may be with one child over the other, but it is not because of favoritism. Parenting is a balancing act and each day we try to make it work. I am a parent and spread myself to the kiddo that needs it at that moment. Is it perfect? Nope, but that’s the beauty of parenting. We learn from our mistakes and our kids become better humans because of it.

So, what do you think about this subject? Should parents have a favorite child?

Categories:
Blogging Conference DisneySMMoms me moments photos real world news TechyDad television

Personalized Princess Time at Disney

Posted on October 17, 2011 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

Growing up, people would always ask my parents why we would go time after time to Walt Disney World. I never really understood why people would ask these questions. The reason: it was a place where our entire family could enjoy our time together. We were able to leave the real world behind, be carefree, and see/experience something new no matter how familiar we were with the parks.

As an adult, I get it. I now understand the magic of a Disney vacation on a different level. Before we go, I have everything planned. We have our entertainment built in, our resort has many options to offer, and even meals are booked and with the meal plan only tips need to be paid. By the time we arrive in Orlando, we have paid for everything except some souvenirs and ready to enjoy our time there.

Back in March, when we were planning some dining reservations I told TechyDad that I had a request. In all of my visits to Walt Disney World, I had never eaten with the princesses. Yes, this mother of two boys wanted to see Belle, Ariel, Arora, and other important ladies in Disney history. TechyDad was not entirely sure that it was the best thing to do with two boys, but I insisted. NHL and JSL were young enough to appreciate the experience without complaints about mostly girls in their princess gear being there.

We were able to snag some lunch reservations to Akershus Royal Banquet Hall in Epcot. We had a magical experience. We had our photo taken with Belle before we were seated. Then, each of the princesses came around to meet and greet every table. What impressed me the most was how the characters interacted with the boys. Check out how Ariel noticed something in the autograph book and talked about pirates.

A magical moment that we captured and can show back to the boys when they are older. Of course, we can also show JSL the goofy smile that he was sporting most of the trip when it was time for photos.

While we were waiting for our dessert, I pulled out the video camera and asked NHL what he thought of the experience. I figured it would be interesting to see what a seven year old boy, with no sisters, had to say about dining with Disney Princesses. This is what he had to say in the very distracted environment.

I do believe that we made the right choice going to this restaurant on our March vacation. I know it was a magical memory that will live with us for many years to come.

If you have any magical Disney moments to share, I would love to hear them. As always, if you have any questions about Disney – just ask away.

Categories:
decisions Disney food glorious food fun interesting jsl looking back milestone nhl photos TechyDad travel vacation video yummy

Tuesday Tales – Kindle Enters Our World

Posted on October 11, 2011 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

Tuesday Tales

Back in July, I wrote about eReader envy. I mentioned that I really was curious about owning an eReader, but there were just too many other items that were higher on the need to take care of priority list (owning a house is the pits). At the time, I introduced you to Pod.

Hey Pod I inherited Pod from my mother and father. Pod had a good life with me and taught me the joys of reading on eReader-like format via the Kindle App. As the summer moved on, Pod and I started to drift apart. You see, Pod was not keeping a charge very well. The boys would take her with a full charge and soon after she would be flashing red. Now, I have to head over to the Apple Store to see what my options are.

That could have been the end of things, but my eReading life forever changed the other day. Just before Rosh Hashana started, I caught a Tweet that was sent to TechyDad. It was congratulating him on winning a Kindle. I ran screaming into the other room to tell TechyDad about it and let him know that he had a short amount of time to claim it or another winner would be selected. Last Friday night, just before Yom Kippur was about to begin, the doorbell sound let us know there was a package outside.

This was inside the small box waiting outside:

I am in love! TechyDad won the Kindle Keyboard, Wi-Fi, 6" E Ink Display and it is amazing. Now, I wonder why I never asked for one for my birthday, Chanukah, or any other time. The light weight nature compared to a book, the no glare easy to read screen (compared to Pod), and ability to take multiple books with me at all times. Yes, I still like my paper books, but oh my this is fantastic for on the go and will rock when traveling. I even tried the Wifi the other night to use Twitter and see my blog. A bit of a pain without the touch screen option on this model, but it is there in a pinch.

Over the weekend, I was able to borrow a book from our library system for the Kindle to start reading. I decided to start with The Geeks Shall Inherit the Earth: Popularity, Quirk Theory, and Why Outsiders Thrive After High School by Alexandria Robbins. More on this coming soon since I think it is an extremely powerful read that ALL educators and others should check out. I also tried a picture book for the kids to check out. No, it is not in color, but the boys still adored Dream Big, Little Pig! by Kristi Yamaguchi. Here is a preview of what they saw:

I am looking forward to reading more thanks to the Kindle and hope to figure out more of a book list soon. Another item to toss out there, Kindle’s technical support has been amazing. A few glitches have cropped up and getting a human to solved the problem has been quick and easy. A huge thank you to Amazon for this important piece of the puzzle.

Do you have an eReader or Kindle App? I would love to know what you think and could use any book suggestions that you have loved in this format.

What have you read recently? Please be sure to link up to your Book Posts, and/or leave a comment below. Include something you read on your own, with a child or someone else. Tuesday Tales are all about spreading the love for books.

Disclosure: We won the Amazon Kindle from a blog giveaway. Three product links are to our Amazon Affiliate where we will receive a percentage of money for the sale of the books should you opt to buy the Kindle or books mentioned.