Summer School

It is flat out TOO HOT to do anything else, so we have started up school!

We are just 3 days into our new curriculum(Heart of Dakota), and are really enjoying our school time.

It is just the right blend of reading and activities, although it will be next week before I'm organized enough to add in our math and Isaac's formal grammar work. I have both of them and need to lay out the scheduling for each subject.

The boys enjoyed geography playing "twister" with the continents we taped to the floor, making currents in the bathtub with medicine droppers for paper boat shapes, and for science today we learned about sea creature's blubber with a little vegetable shortening on their hands and a sink full of ice water.

Alyza is learning all about the letter "A", and how God created everything... She is very enthusiastic, and the fingerplays and songs we are learning are PERFECT for her learning style and personality. Trystan is reading like a hurricane, devouring everything I give him. Isaac is enjoying himself despite his preconceptions, and really likes his biography on Amelia Earhart he selected. Overall, a great start!

We still have plenty of time for playing in the hose and eating popsicles, too, those other required summer courses! Yesterday the kids were sprayed by firemen at the library park, and went through fire obstacle courses... quite a hit!

Other than that, the house is a bit of a wreck, and we are all getting a workout killing flies! SUMMER!

Crunchy Dragon Eggs

Took Trystan to see "How to Train Your Dragon" today! As a surprise, I had picked up several bags of "How to Train Your Dragon" candy eggs on clearance a few weeks ago. I pulled a bag of them out of my purse during the show and gave them to Trystan.

After a while, he asked me, "Mom, what do these eggs look like?" It is, of course, dark in the theatre, and we had 3d glasses on... hard to see much! I told him,"I don't know, sweetie, like dragon eggs I suppose, kind of blue with brownish spots on them."

A little while later, he says, "It's alright, mom. At first I thought they were just crunchy. I figured out how to take the wrappers off, now."

How do you like your cheese?

Just wondering.

Alyza tried hers on a small plate, which was unacceptable.  Then we tried it in a cereal bowl, which was unacceptable and apparently angering. 

Then we tried it in a small bowl, at her request, only to discover that the tiny pink lady believes that cheese in a bowl makes her SICK. and AGGRAVATED.

We discovered that all of this switching around, screaming, and flailing in the floor makes mommy SICK and AGGRAVATED, too. The solution was simple. 

No cheese for little girls until they take a nap.

How do YOU communicate?

Friday night at our Living Free ministry, we were teaching the kids about the role communication plays in conflict resolution, and the different types of communication that there are. The kids had a great time showing examples of communication, like stomping out of a room and eye rolling, and temper tantrums. So at the end we are sitting in a circle and reviewing and Trystan lays down on his back in the middle of the circle and tells us "I know what communication is. My friend Addie and I communicate with our MINDS, and then we communicate with our EYES, and then some times we talk..." I just put my head down, because I was trying not to shake with laughter, and my co-teacher, Niki tells him, "Trystan that sounds like flirting to me." Trystan just smiled his biggest smile and said "YES, IT IS."

He must be like his Daddy...

The other morning before kindergarten, Trystan comes to me with a piece of paper held to his chest and asks desperately, "Mommy, how do you spell going home with?" I told him letter by letter as he wrote it, but as he was writing this I see that on the top of his paper he has written 'Addy' and on the bottom he has written 'Trystan'. We went through 2 pieces of paper until he felt he had it correct, this forgery he was so sure was going to get his teacher to send his friend home with him in the afternoon.

My mom picked Trystan up from school for me, so I sent her a text warning her that Trystan was going to try to sneak home a girl in the car. Apparently she wore a blue dress on friday, just for Trystan, since it matches his eyes... He is working on another version of the note that he is certain will work. I told him that he couldn't bring her home and he said, "Why not, Mom? Addy doesn't make a mess and she is a good cleaner." I'm so glad he has his priorities straight at five.

What is this??

Apparently part of mothering male children is finding strange things in your freezer.

Today we found a bowl of frozen brown gray icemuck, that we have now successfully identified after several rounds of "What is this?" and boy laughter. They are very creative. I admit that it has never before occurred to me that the water bowl sitting beside your paint tray could be frozen. It is not a pretty looking sight.

Last week Isaac conducted his favorite experiment with ice cubes and salt, but then froze the briny results, and for days I wondered what on earth Jeff had set in the freezer!!

Maybe I should give him his own shelf!

Rank Graduation

Last Friday was Rank Graduation at Top Notch TaeKwonDo. The kids had a blast getting to show off their mad martial arts skills for parents, grandparents and friends. At the end of the ceremony they received their certificates and the grand prize: their new belts. Trystan has graduated to a beginner yellow belt, and Isaac is now sporting an advanced yellow belt!!


The boys were proud to show off the fruits of their hard work to Ninnie, Mr. J.D., Grantee, cousin Julia, Uncle Jake and Aunt Christina, Ms. Latisha, and of course, Mom and Dad. Afterwards we celebrated with chips and dip, pizza, brownies and ice cream.

The highlight of the ceremony for the kids was watching a beginner red/black belt perform a bo staff exhibition. When that staff WHOOSHED through the air dozens of mouths dropped open and dreams of bo staff swooshing began. Isaac ALREADY wanted to learn the bo staff, this just gave him more ammunition. It gave Trystan a little belt envy, because you have to be at least a yellow belt to pursue weapons classes.


Isaac's belt group was called up and were given the opportunity to show off their ChunGee, which is a combination of nineteen moves with varying turns. Memorizing their ChunGees and executing it flawlessly was the test they had to pass to earn the last of the six belt stripes they had to have in order to graduate. Isaac had it memorized weeks in advance of the testing, and really impressed his teacher.
Trystan's class came up and rocked the house with their EEE-YAHS! The littlest white belt class is without a doubt the loudest in the building and they really put on a show. Their pint sized punches and snapkicks will make you cry for their cuteness, and they are really tough. The week after graduation they got to try some board breaking, and they are a tough little crew. They executed their moves with incredible precision accompanied by ear deafening screams, of which you could make out Trystan's voice at the top of the pack. He is probably the loudest white belt in the room, and he always makes his teacher smile with his enthusiasm when he is paying attention. I will never forget when he received his belt. He had to go back up to the teacher 3 times. He forgot his certificate, He forgot to give her five, and he forgot his belt. He just laughed with everybody else and shook his head.
These boys have always been dangerous little warriors. Now they have belts to prove this point.

Oh, and Trystan is made of rubber. Just ask him to do the splits and stretch forward. You will hear his head thump on the floor.

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.

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!!

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!

Beauty in the Ashes

I had to deliver some bitter news to my little boy yesterday. What followed is an unfading portrait in my heart of bravery, courage, and love.

I had told Trystan the day before that our ancient kitty, Jynxie, was going to be going to heaven soon. Recently a family friend's pet had passed on and Trystan was absolutely devastated that he did not get to say goodbye, so I felt that he really needed that this time. Jynxie did not appear to be in any pain, but was beyond tired in her frail old body, so we kept her comfortable with heat packs and towels and quiet, and Trystan unselfishly spent alot of time just sitting and holding her, petting her, grieving her coming passing, and remembering the stories I've told him about when she was young ( long before he was ever born!). Isaac checked on her, too, but his relationship with this ancient feline is not the same as Trystan's . He checked on her hourly and sometimes more often than that. Sometimes I had to convince him to go play video games to get his mind otherwise occupied.

She passed yesterday. I was at the store, and Trystan told Jeff that Jynxie was by the door and he had been petting her again, and when he went to check on her he found that she was gone. She either died while he was petting her, or right after he walked out of the room. Jeff moved her and called me and I rushed home, and as I was walking in the door, here he comes, eyes wide and starting to panic just a little bit saying "I can't find Jynxie, where is she? I can't find Jynxie, she's gone!" and I dropped my bags and scooped him up and told him.............


Of course he cried, and railed, and said that when he got to heaven he was going to punch Adam and Eve in the face, because it was all their fault about the apple, and he would never forgive them. He even said he wanted to die, too, because Belle is in heaven, and now Jynxie, and he wanted to be with them..........This I expected. But the next part I did not.

The boys came outside to help us find the perfect resting spot for her. By the rosebush, right between the crepe myrtles, and after Jeff had dug the bed I began seeing how big this different thing in him is.

He was so insistent upon seeing her again, so much so that I knew if we didn't allow it he would dig her up when we weren't looking to say goodbye again. Jeff shepherded the boys through this and Isaac was done - he wanted to go inside. He needed to grieve quietly, and he didn't want anything to do with the next part. I really didn't either!

I was quietly praying that the Lord would not allow this to scar his heart, but to heal it instead, and to do a new thing through it. I couldn't understand how, but I knew God could.

Trystan told his Dad that he wanted to put her in the ground. My heart just flipped over in my chest. I wish you could have seen his face. His little nose and cheeks red from the cold and from tears, the wind tangling up his hair, his eyes, dry and calm, determined, dignified, and a little less innocent.

The hole was just too deep, so Daddy helped him lower her into her bed. I will never forget that scene. A boy with a heart so big that it is utterly unflinching in the face of death.


That is the heart of a warrior.