It's happening!!

Last night for bedtime stories we read a few old Pooh bedtime stories, The Princess and the Potty (5 times), and Where the Wild Things Are. I've been trying to incorporate more excellent literature into things and I saw this title on a booklist and was surprised to realize that I had never read a copy to the kids. I remember how magical that book was so I was watching the kids carefully and did my best dramatic reading of it 2 or 3 times as requested. I thought maybe I saw sparks.

Then this morning during our lessons I noticed Isaac's hand kept reaching out and rubbing the cover of it, still laying there on the coffee table, tempting him. Eventually it was sitting beside him during our bible review. While I was telling him about what was coming up next week he had it open in his lap reading it quietly. "We know this is probably soup, because it was hot, but what do you suppose this is?" he asked running his finger over the picture of Max's dinner. He helped me straighten up the living room, trying to earn that last bit of money he needs for his next bionicle. Then I left the room, and shortly thereafter I hear the story of the wild things coming to life from right around the corner as Isaac treats sweet sister with the story over and over again.

Then of course, sweet sister demands Princess and the Potty, and Isaac reads her this one, too. What a prince.

Update coming soon...

I was getting on a role, updating regularly, and pfhhht.

Sorry, I will update soon with pictures. The boys had a wonderful TKD graduation party, and we have had a busy week. The laundry is so overdue I am considering giving it a name, like Otis or Bob, but I need a grumpy name for it because it is always sneering at me.

Anyhow this week has been full of scheduling surprises, so I will go and tame the mess with a whip and chair, because it is not going to get calmer for quite some time!!

Bible study started today, too, and it was wonderful. I am looking forward to learning more about the Psalms of Ascents. Pray that we get some homeschooling done today!!

From injured retreat to determined volley...

Overwhelmed? Tired? Discouraged?

Kelly over at GenerationCedar says it best here on her post. Thank you, Kelly!! I really needed that today!!

Wordless Wednesday

Even in their sleep...

About 4 am Trystan clomped into bed with us, and after a while I heard him talking. My mind immediately went to the stomach virus rounds of last year, so I was right on top of it, "What, baby? are you ok? Tummy hurt?"

Eyes still closed he says rather grumpily,"I AM on my snake. I'm riding it right now!" They even make me giggle at 5 am...

update: I asked him what he dreamed about last night. He says it was cookies.

Trip to the Children's Museum

What fun we had!! The kids were so good and had so much fun. They played and learned and I was so blessed watching them. Sometimes field trips with Trystan's preschool class make me a little nuts. But they are getting a little older and stayed a little closer this time. The overall stress level was alot lower, especially since we immediately opted to go our own way and not try to keep up with certain kids. As soon as we started we went the opposite way of the crowd, enjoyed the museum in reverse, and the kids got to enjoy each attraction longer and had more time for everything.

I learned new things about each of the kids.

Isaac is not afraid of heights anymore. He climbed way up in the skyscraper exhibit and navigated the thing by himself. He has great comedic sense, too. One of the last exhibits we went to was a theater stage where the kids can put on a show and dress up in costume. Isaac found a clown coat, and Trystan found a shark costume. Hilarity ensued when the chicken dance song was played. A great circus like chase scene erupted behind and around a bunch of princesses who thought they owned the stage. Great stuff. Plus the child is more handsome than Cary Grant in a policeman's duds.

Alyza loves to paint. LOVES to paint. There are alot of Chinese exhibits right now, and there is one with paintbrushes and an 'aqua-doodle' type of surface where the kids can try to paint Chinese calligraphy. When they use the wet paintbrushes it turns the surface black, like ink. Alyza spent over half an hour at this exhibit. I finally had to gently pry the brush from her fingers, because her brothers had already fully explored every single other nearby activity. I think that might have been the activity that sent her over the top. She was talking about it when she took her nap after lunch.

Trystan can be trusted more. Several times he made me worried when I couldn't immediately spot him and once or twice when I REALLY couldn't find him and enlisted Isaac to help me. He usually showed up right beside me in a moment or two, tagging back to show me what he had just found. A year ago he would not have tagged back. A year and a half ago, if he slipped your hand you had better run fast and not stop! This child is so independent he tried to run away from home at 17 1/2 months! I am not saying I can relax now, but I was proud of his attempt to keep me apprised of what he was doing. OH!! and his new respect for the rules!! The video at the beginning gave them an overview of the museum and safety, and (except for the running part) he was very steadfast in following the rules. All on his own. Wow. He also looks adorable in a fireman's uniform.

When we left I was carrying Alyza to the van and she said with her head on my shoulder, "Mommy, my fingers hurt." These kids were just exhausted from all of that fun.

Thank you, Lord for a fabulous morning.

house wins...

Balancing homeschool and housework is always a challenge, and today I must admit that the house wins.

Today we are reading the rest of Benjamin Franklin by D'Aulaire and our bible reading and review. Tomorrow we have a field trip to the Children's Museum of Memphis, and if the boys would like to wear clothes instead of pj's and superhero costumes, we will be practicing laundry sorting skills today.

KungFuPanda was a blast last night, and I almost missed it. On the way home from TaeKwonDo it occured to me that it was almost 7, and that if I ran them all through the shower quickly, they could still make it to bed at 7:30, and today would be so much smoother. I am so glad I blogged about it and held myself to it. We had a great time, laughed and cuddled, and nobody even spilled popcorn (God is so good). The kids were 2 hours late to bed, but they fell asleep instantly and without a grumble, complaint, or extra drink of water. Ahhhhhh.

Really, Mom, Zelda Phantom Hourglass IS like school work,,,,

Today we reviewed 2 digit addition (and attitude correction). We also reviewed this unit's bible verse Matthew 5:14 and our lesson. We wrote a letter to Mama and Papa; Trystan and Alyza sent drawings. We reviewed map basics and found relative's locations on a map of the world and Jerusalem, too.

Isaac is trying to convince me that Zelda on the DS IS schoolwork, because he has to keep finding his location on the map, even identifying the correct quadrants by directions. Maybe I am out of strong will mom energy today, but I'm going with it. I suppose Zelda is somewhat educational, and I know it is fun, too.

Bible reading time was hectic this morning, though, with 2 pre-readers that have their own bibles, and TURN issues. In order to please them both, Alyza wound up doing one extra bible reading chapter, and Trystan did three extra. I probably shouldn't complain about that. It just got me so off track I forgot to make Isaac do his narration from his bible reading. Attitude correction (also known as math) took most of the day.

So, I am going to only do SOME of the incredibly necessary housework this afternoon, and when we come home from TaeKwonDo tonight I am going to pop popcorn and dogpile on the couch with the kids and watch Kung Fu Panda. Hopefully that will make all of us feel better.

hair loss awareness begins young.

My son Trystan really likes my hair long. It's almost time for me to make an appointment to get it chopped off for locks of love again, so I thought I should start preparing him. (Last time I did it he cried for hours, and kept talking about it for months.)

So I told him,"It's almost time for Mommy to get her hair cut again and give it to kids who don't have any hair. Would you like to go with me this time?" Trystan says while rubbing my hair, "Oh, yeah! We should probably give some to Will's dad and Uncle Jake, too. They sure need some."

Haiku by Isaac

the blue alien
found the giant burrito.
he ate it all up.

A boy's version of a classic nature poem. My days are filled with such testosterone.

We are...

still here!!

We started the Weaver curriculum in January, and I like a few things about it. (I got a copy from a friend)

We've made alot of trips to the library, and I am getting very good at using their internet features to reserve books from other libraries. I LOVE this. So, we've been reading alot of good books that Weaver and veterans of the Weaver recommend. Isaac has been skipping ahead in his math books to fractions and bar graphs because he really likes them (i.e. they are easy for him) so I let him do this instead of my choice, because, well I just can't bring myself to step on ANY form of enthusiasm for math.

He has really enjoyed learning more about rocks and minerals, and eats up the picture books with his eyes!!! He has also enjoyed learning about Thomas Edison and how he handled failure.

Our schedule has been off this month. A friend of mine's mother has been in the hospital, and we have been keeping her younger children off and on so she can see her in ICU. We've enjoyed being able to help her and give her kids a sense of normal but fun while their Mommy gets to see her Mommy. I know what it is like to have a small family and be in a child care crisis!! It has happened to us quite a few times. I don't think I could handle being pregnant again, we have such a hard time finding anyone to watch my children while I'm in labor!! As a result I LOVE to volunteer for emergency babysitting, I know what a blessing it is!