http://scribblesnscraps.com/blendedfamilies Just an educated mom of five, examining the dynamics of blended families in general, along with her very own. Sun, 20 Jul 2008 14:22:48 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en I laugh now, because I am always one to say how incredible our blended family dynamics are. You rarely can tell that these kids haven't always been together. While of course there are fights, as any siblings have, overall they just have a connection and its good. Except today, I saw ... http://scribblesnscraps.com/blendedfamilies/family-dynamics-took-a-plunge/ Yes, you read that right. Doesn't it make your stomach churn? We are in a year-round school district, and today is the first day of school. It was so hard watching my two youngest still left in elementary school climb aboard that bus and get swallowed up for another year. Summer ... http://scribblesnscraps.com/blendedfamilies/first-day-of-school/ Tonight was Meet the Teacher night at the elementary school. We only have two left there, and it made it a bit easier to fit all the activities in. Normally we were running all over the place. This was a bit less work. The coolest part for my daughter Brie, is ... http://scribblesnscraps.com/blendedfamilies/meet-the-new-teachers/ This weekend was our first camping trip without dad with us. He took some overtime shifts at work, so he was working all weekend. We planned to go down with two sets of friends of ours, but that took a twist too. My best friends are two women who are ... http://scribblesnscraps.com/blendedfamilies/camping-without-dad/ My house has once again been invaded by the two teens that were away at camp. It was so unbelievably quiet all week. I thought for sure with the two oldest gone it would be loud because the little ones would be active, but nope. Nobody seemed to know what ... http://scribblesnscraps.com/blendedfamilies/theyre-baaaaack/ I am sure it doesn’t take a brain surgeon to figure out how all those things can combine to make one complete disaster. Yeah. So I get this call yesterday from a number I didn’t recognize. I let the machine get it. I was surprised to hear my son’s voice since ... http://scribblesnscraps.com/blendedfamilies/water-balloons-camp-and-black-eyes/ It has been an interesting two years as we have blended our family. There were a lot of things I had never done with my kids, places we hadn't been, things I had been meaning to do but never done. Enter Nicole and the kids and suddenly things changed. We ... http://scribblesnscraps.com/blendedfamilies/so-many-firsts-and-still-they-continue/ Well, we got the kiddo’s off to camp today. The two oldest left this morning for teen camp so we have the other three home still. They go to the same camp in July. My step-daughter was funny this morning. She told me that she had a dream that we couldn’t ... http://scribblesnscraps.com/blendedfamilies/hi-ho-hi-ho-its-off-to-camp-they-go/ Thirteen Ways To Remind Your Kids You Love Them. 1. Give compliments often. Focus on the positive and not the negative so much. Be sure your kids know you are proud of them often. 2. Pull out the scrapbooks, photo albums and pictures. Sit with your children and look through them. ... http://scribblesnscraps.com/blendedfamilies/thursday-thirteen-thirteen-ways-to-remind-your-kids-you-love-them/ Before I say much of anything, I want to apologize for not being around much lately. Life gets busy, especially at the end of the school year. I am sorry I haven't been around, but I have been answering emails and comments, so at least I have that in my ... http://scribblesnscraps.com/blendedfamilies/does-mom-ever-get-a-vacation/