ABC & 123's Summer Prize Picnic

ABC & 123 is hosting a summer time picnic! This picnic is for anyone looking for new ideas to help boost their lesson plans and make learning fun! The picnic includes lesson plans, craft activities, games, resources and most importantly it gives the opportunity for you to share your own ideas! It's going to be a great place to meet others with the same interest! As if that's not enough of a reason to join there are weekly prizes to be won!

I'm a few days late to the picnic but better late than never, right? (Teacher - I swear it's an excused tardy!) The picnic starts off with an introduction of the participants so here I go!

Me & My Family:
Let's see. I'm happily married (next month makes 10 years!) and blessed to be able to stay at home with my two girls - Kailani who is six and in the 1st grade and Momo (Moani) who is two.
Before becoming a SAHM I taught in both the public and private schools - one of my best experiences was working at ASSETS - a private school for both gifted and/or dyslexic children. I have my Master's in Special Education (K-12) but I'm undecided as to whether I will return to teaching once my youngest starts attending school. I know how much work it takes to teach and it takes that much more work to be a mom. I'm not too sure if can do both! We will see. No decisions have to be made yet!

How long have you been reading ABC & 123?
I found ABC & 123 sometime in February. I'm not even sure how! I think it was a matter of one click of the mouse, then another, then another. Katie had posted a response to a thread on JesseKate Designs blog and I clicked on her name and found Katie's Nesting Spot. Another click lead me to ABC & 123 and I have been a fan ever since. I even blogged about them here!

How did you come up with your blog title?
I have to thank my BFF Stephanie for the title. She is always calling me a mess. It started when my husband was deployed and I had to hold down the fort, take care of my kids and stay sane all at the same time. Something was ALWAYS going on within my household! It's not because my house is a mess. Well, uh. Maybe. ;)

Case in point. While writing this intro I noticed that Momo was awfully quiet. If you are parent you know that quiet can equal no good. Here's what she was doing:


She managed to open up my dad's can of mixed nuts and then dumped them. Notice there aren't a whole lot of cashews? She loves cashews!

Ten minutes later (while I am still working on this intro) I kid you not:

That's why my blog is called "Mama's a Mess!"

What types of activities do you most enjoy doing with your children?
Swimming! Prior to becoming a teacher I spent many years lifeguarding, teaching swim lessons (infants through adults) and coaching competitive swimming. We gave Kailani her name because it means "heavenly ocean" in Hawaiian. Luckily she LOVES the water. Momo loves the water as well but has yet to go swimming in the ocean. The first time I took her to Water Country USA she screamed when I placed her in the pool. Uh - no. NOT ACCEPTABLE! Turned out the reason why she cried was the water was much cooler in that particular pool! She is a beast in the
water!

An oldie but goodie - Kailani (3)

What are your summer plans?
We are doing quite a bit of traveling this summer. Back in December we moved from Virginia to North Carolina. In about six weeks or so we will fly out to Washington to visit with my sister and her family. Then we will fly back to my home state of Hawaii where we will be living once again!

What is your favorite picnic activity and food?
For me the best picnics are those at the beach! Chill out, relax, swim and have fun! Bring a cooler full of cold drinks, fruits (watermelons or honeydew melons!) sandwiches for the kids and sushi for me! (I know that sounds odd but I used to stop by Kozo Sushi all the time before heading to the beach!)

Obviously there is a lot more to me, my family and my blog but let's leave it at that! Thanks so much for reading! I'm looking forward to meeting other participants of the picnic. If you're not signed up for the picnic but want to click here!