Last year I had the good fortune to meet Rebecca from Shoved to Them blog. We had both donated something for an auction for an orphan, and we started talking and hit it off. I told her I was about to start homeschooling my kindergartener, and she helped me through the entire process. She helped me with exactly what curriculum to pick, by listening to what Madeleine's interests were. She likes science? Get this book. I'm terrified to teach math? Get this program that teaches how to think mathematically. (And bonus, I get to start over with kindergarten math and learn to think that way too!) She was exactly what I needed at the time and I truly believe God placed her in my life for a reason. Later on, she said she was going to write a book on homeschooling and asked me to read each chapter as she completed it. It was to be a question and answer book too and I also got to ask her each question I had about each topic she was writing about. The book was the best book on homeschooling I've ever read. I would recommend anyone starting out or anyone thinking about it or even anyone who knows someone who homeschools to read it.
It came out on amazon this week. This morning it was number 3 on the bestseller list. I'm so proud of her! Now go buy the book!!
Wednesday, May 29, 2013
Wednesday, May 22, 2013
Summer
Yesterday we went for a walk around our downtown and stopped into a little antique shop. The kids were fascinated that all the things in there were once special to someone else. All the dishes were used by other families, all the little baby clothes and shoes were worn by other babies, the dolls belonged to other little girls, the cars were played with by other little boys. I didn't have much money but I picked out an old book that had stories for children. When we got home, I put Sarah to bed upstairs and when I came down, M had found this perfect shady spot in the yard and was reading it to her brothers. So I brought their lunch out there, and they had a picnic.
Sometimes I feel like they are missing out on things, like things we can't afford (M wants to take gymnastics, I think all kids need to be in swimming lessons, etc) but then days like this I think they are having a pretty great childhood.
Sometimes I feel like they are missing out on things, like things we can't afford (M wants to take gymnastics, I think all kids need to be in swimming lessons, etc) but then days like this I think they are having a pretty great childhood.
Thursday, May 16, 2013
New Header?
It only took me like 2 hours to figure out how to do that, and the poor 4th child isn't even in it. Oh well! It was time for a change.
I want to get back to blogging more. I feel like facebook has taken over and I don't want that to happen. This has been my online baby book for almost 7 years and I don't want to slack off for the poor 3rd and 4th child. But it's 11pm now so this isn't going to be that exciting, but here's a few things that happened this week.
Madeleine asked why we weren't doing school anymore after a 5 day break. Um.... it's summer vacation Honey. Mama needs a break. She said she was ready to start first grade so I bought her a first grade workbook from costco and she is doing several pages a day. For fun.
John Paul is somewhat motivated to learn how to read, especially now that we came home from the library with a stack of superhero easy reader books. (The boy is obsessed.) So he has actually got the reading lesson book (Teach your child to read in 100 Easy Lessons) voluntarily and asked for a lesson every single day this week. Sometimes twice a day. Well, OK!
Leo is in undies full time but he still doesn't understand that you don't go number 2 in your pants. He demonstrated this lack of understanding at the children's museum yesterday. I amaze myself what I can do with a baby strapped to my back. He is also talking up a STORM, saying 4-5 word sentences, and is becoming more and more understandable (to people other than me and his speech therapist) by the day. He is listening in on the reading lessons too. He also knows every single letter and he can count to at least 14. That one might be smart.
Sarah is pretty much the best baby who ever lived. When she's tired I lay her down in her crib, turn on her mobile, pop in her giraffe paci and she goes to sleep. She wakes up in such a happy mood. She takes 2 good naps a day, sometimes 3, and goes to bed by 8 each night. She can go days without ever crying. She weighs about 16 1/2 lbs, is quite a good roller, and loves to hang out in mommy's wraps. She is the smiliest baby EVER. My friend calls her the invisible baby whenever we go places with her because she just looks all around, smiles, sleeps when she wants to, but never cries or fusses. (unlike one of her brothers, who makes up for that in a BIG way.)
We still don't have a stove. Did you know you can make hard cooked eggs in a veggie steamer? Yes you can. It hasn't really been that bad so far. Ken loves to grill and we've used the crock pot and tomorrow I might bust out the old dusty waffle maker just for fun.
I am loving taking pictures. Now my kids are so used to it they usually don't give me big cheesy grins anymore, so I've gotten some pretty great shots! I'm taking a class in a few weeks and I love to read about and try different techniques. An acquaintance saw a few of my pics on Facebook and asked if I'd take pictures of her son for his 2nd birthday. I did and she LOVED em. She wants me to take pics for her again and said several of her friends were asking who took the pics. She also gave me an awesome compliment. She said that every time she looks at previous professional pictures they've had taken, she doesn't have any good memories attached to the pictures. Instead she remembers trying to get everyone dressed and out the door, and it being a big hassle. But when she looks at my pics, she remembers gleeful bubbles and yogurt raisins and her son being relaxed and happy. I thought that was so great. And she ordered some really big prints of some of my pictures. So glad I could do that for her!
I want to get back to blogging more. I feel like facebook has taken over and I don't want that to happen. This has been my online baby book for almost 7 years and I don't want to slack off for the poor 3rd and 4th child. But it's 11pm now so this isn't going to be that exciting, but here's a few things that happened this week.
Madeleine asked why we weren't doing school anymore after a 5 day break. Um.... it's summer vacation Honey. Mama needs a break. She said she was ready to start first grade so I bought her a first grade workbook from costco and she is doing several pages a day. For fun.
John Paul is somewhat motivated to learn how to read, especially now that we came home from the library with a stack of superhero easy reader books. (The boy is obsessed.) So he has actually got the reading lesson book (Teach your child to read in 100 Easy Lessons) voluntarily and asked for a lesson every single day this week. Sometimes twice a day. Well, OK!
Leo is in undies full time but he still doesn't understand that you don't go number 2 in your pants. He demonstrated this lack of understanding at the children's museum yesterday. I amaze myself what I can do with a baby strapped to my back. He is also talking up a STORM, saying 4-5 word sentences, and is becoming more and more understandable (to people other than me and his speech therapist) by the day. He is listening in on the reading lessons too. He also knows every single letter and he can count to at least 14. That one might be smart.
Sarah is pretty much the best baby who ever lived. When she's tired I lay her down in her crib, turn on her mobile, pop in her giraffe paci and she goes to sleep. She wakes up in such a happy mood. She takes 2 good naps a day, sometimes 3, and goes to bed by 8 each night. She can go days without ever crying. She weighs about 16 1/2 lbs, is quite a good roller, and loves to hang out in mommy's wraps. She is the smiliest baby EVER. My friend calls her the invisible baby whenever we go places with her because she just looks all around, smiles, sleeps when she wants to, but never cries or fusses. (unlike one of her brothers, who makes up for that in a BIG way.)
We still don't have a stove. Did you know you can make hard cooked eggs in a veggie steamer? Yes you can. It hasn't really been that bad so far. Ken loves to grill and we've used the crock pot and tomorrow I might bust out the old dusty waffle maker just for fun.
I am loving taking pictures. Now my kids are so used to it they usually don't give me big cheesy grins anymore, so I've gotten some pretty great shots! I'm taking a class in a few weeks and I love to read about and try different techniques. An acquaintance saw a few of my pics on Facebook and asked if I'd take pictures of her son for his 2nd birthday. I did and she LOVED em. She wants me to take pics for her again and said several of her friends were asking who took the pics. She also gave me an awesome compliment. She said that every time she looks at previous professional pictures they've had taken, she doesn't have any good memories attached to the pictures. Instead she remembers trying to get everyone dressed and out the door, and it being a big hassle. But when she looks at my pics, she remembers gleeful bubbles and yogurt raisins and her son being relaxed and happy. I thought that was so great. And she ordered some really big prints of some of my pictures. So glad I could do that for her!
Monday, May 13, 2013
It had a good run.
Our 1968 stove that is. The other night, ken and I were sitting in the family room after the kids went to bed and we heard a loud POP and then flames and smoke started shooting out of the front of our stove. Ken quickly put out the fire with the extinguisher and turned off the breaker and I called 911. She instructed us to get the kids out of the house. 5 fire trucks and a policeman showed up in about 3 minutes, complete with sirens at 9:30 at night. They checked out the stove and said we were safe to go to sleep. The kids got fire hats and got to see the truck. Soooo glad this happened while we were awake and everyone is safe.
Now we are having some issues (stove is not a standard size so we either special order a 27 inch drop in stove or we get a standard and rip out cabinets.) meanwhile I'm using the crockpot, steamer, grill etc.
if anyone has any ideas for breakfast, lunch or dinner with no stove or oven, let me know!
Sunday, May 05, 2013
No pictures in this post you'll be happy to know.
First of all, Madeleine is DONE with kindergarten!!! I'll post more on that later but I'm so proud of her (and me!) and so excited that WE DID IT!!!! This year has been amazing and I'm looking forward to first grade.
But right now I wanted to share a little story of a boy who is about 90% potty trained. This is a story about the 10%. You've been warned.
So Leo usually does perfect at home. He's been in big boy undies for about 3 weeks now and knows the drill. He kind of freaks out about "going" in public though. He hates automatic flush. He's scared of going when we are out and has to REALLY have to go before it happens. Then, he HAS to stand up which usually means he either stands on my feet or I have to hold him up with one hand and aim with the other. This usually happens with a baby on my back. There's a mental picture for you.
So last night, we went to hear Ken's band play at a Mexican restaurant. We were sitting outside, and I noticed Leo had to "go." So I took him inside and as soon as he gets in the bathroom he starts yelling, "Stand up! Stand up!" So I was able to hold him up and he went. A little while later, the same scenario. He stood up, I aimed, only..............
It wasn't pee.
Let's just say, for the rest of the night, there was a tiny pair of Mickey Mouse undies in the trash can and a little boy going commando.
But right now I wanted to share a little story of a boy who is about 90% potty trained. This is a story about the 10%. You've been warned.
So Leo usually does perfect at home. He's been in big boy undies for about 3 weeks now and knows the drill. He kind of freaks out about "going" in public though. He hates automatic flush. He's scared of going when we are out and has to REALLY have to go before it happens. Then, he HAS to stand up which usually means he either stands on my feet or I have to hold him up with one hand and aim with the other. This usually happens with a baby on my back. There's a mental picture for you.
So last night, we went to hear Ken's band play at a Mexican restaurant. We were sitting outside, and I noticed Leo had to "go." So I took him inside and as soon as he gets in the bathroom he starts yelling, "Stand up! Stand up!" So I was able to hold him up and he went. A little while later, the same scenario. He stood up, I aimed, only..............
It wasn't pee.
Let's just say, for the rest of the night, there was a tiny pair of Mickey Mouse undies in the trash can and a little boy going commando.
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