Following Foundations 2/5/10 February 6, 2010

Our week started with snow last Saturday. Visions of hot cocoa, warm socks, and board games danced in my head. However, my visions were shattered by a leak in the refrigerator. After we identified the source of the leak, Hubby had to crawl under the house to turn off the valve to the fridge water supply. Unfortunately, he discovered that the valve didn’t work. In the end, my “I’m from Michigan. I laugh-HA HA- in the face of winter weather” husband had to brave the snowy roads of North Carolina to get to a hardware store to buy a work-around solution. Now, a week later, the fridge isn’t leaking, but we currently don’t have a working ice maker and water dispenser. We still need a trip to an appliance store for the part to fix the original problem. And since we’re having freezing rain/snow today and tomorrow, I don’t see that trip happening this weekend. Oh, wait a minute. Snow, Schmo, Sleet, Schmeet, Ice, Schmice! I’ve got a Michigan boy for a husband! I’m sure he’ll slide to the appliance store with skills yet unseen in this neck of the woods! On the bright side, I was able to clean out underneath the fridge, which is something I’ve been wanting to do for a long time. It was scary. Very scary.

EG (5 yrs old):

This week EG finished up week 23 of Sonlight’s Core K. We’re still working through the stories in In Grandma’s Attic. Such a charming book! In Sonlight’s Science K we read about atoms, molecules, materials, mixtures and reactions….in short—chemistry. We did an experiment to see if water takes up more space when it freezes. We also started an evaporation experiment to make rainbow sugar. It will probably be next week before it is finished since we are currently having freezing rain, and I, the pregnant one with my own personal internal heater, am not about to turn up the thermostat. In other words, there isn’t much evaporation going on around here! In the meantime, I have four saucers taking up already limited counter space in our kitchen!

In Rod & Staff Math 1, EG worked on the six family. She did great on her speed drills this week. She finished one completely, and on the other two, she only lacked one or two problems. Today she became rather upset about it because she only had one problem left when I told her time was up. She decided she didn’t like speed drills and wouldn’t like them until I gave her two minutes to finish. Sigh. I guess we all have a little bit of that in us. When things don’t go our way, we sometimes get cranky and want to change the rules. We want whatever brings success with the least amount of work. Selah. Pause and meditate.

In reading, EG read a Frog and Toad book and a lesson about turtles from the Christian Liberty Press Nature Reader Book K. She also started Explode the Code book 6. She continued to work on multi-syllable words in The Ordinary Parent’s Guide to Teaching Reading.

In her memory work, EG memorized Proverbs 12:22 which says “Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord, but those who act faithfully are His delight.” She also memorized question 91 of the Baptist Catechism, which asks “What does every sin deserve?”

EG also did a little art this week. We haven’t done much in art so far in K for the very reason that I usually don’t take time to be prepared. I’m going to try to do better. We have discussed the elements of shape outlined in Drawing with Children a few times. Well, this week she finally got to the first major drawing exercise–the bird from Tico and the Golden Wings. I included a picture of her drawing. We also read a book about Michelangelo this week. EG will occasionally do projects from Evan-Moor’s How to Teach Art to Children. This week I went ahead and prepared for the project that she will do next week. See, I’m making progress in the preparation department! I think both of these art books are topnotch, and, if I can get my ducks in a row, I believe she will progress nicely in art.

EG started a new class at our local YMCA this week. It’s called Swim&Gym and it’s targeted for homeschool students. It meets once a week for an hour and a half in the early afternoon. The first half is spent in the gym playing games and learning sports skills, and the second half is spent in the pool learning to swim. She was a little bashful at first. She didn’t want to run “right over” during “Red Rover, Red Rover”. Eventually she loosened up a bit and had a great time playing balloon volleyball. She really loved the pool, but she had the same problem that she had the last time she took swim lessons: she doesn’t want to get her face wet. I told her it’s kinda hard to swim with your face pointed to the ceiling. Hopefully she will improve.

AZ (3 yrs old):

I’m happy to report that the Z-man is slowly making progress in Operation Potty Training. He managed to wake up dry every morning this week.  He only had one bad day in which he had three accidents–including one at Wal-mart. I was none too happy that day, but at least he said something about it instead of pretending that it didn’t happen.  Actually, two of those times were in the bathroom. I think he was trying to get to the potty, but he waited too late.  I still don’t trust him to tell me when he needs to go potty, but I’m encouraged by his improved attitude. I’ve been playing up to his ego to motivate him, and as a result, he reminds me daily that he is “THE big brother in the house!”

This week, the Z-man worked in Get Ready for the Code with the letter B. He seems to be getting better at hearing letter sounds at the beginning of words. He has also started coveting his sister’s reading abilities. Yes, the pouty lip came out.

In his memory work, he worked on memorizing the second commandment, which says “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.”  He also worked on question 9 of the Baptist Catechism, which asks “Are there more Gods than one?”

The Z-man started taking swimming lessons again this week. There would have been more drama than I could handle if I had signed up his sister for a class and left him high and dry. His lessons are at a rather inconvenient time, but we’re making it work. He does really well in the pool. He has no fear of the water (although my hubby says he could stand to gain a little respect) and has no problem getting his whole head wet. The teacher said he was advanced for his age, so she’s going to try some different things with him to get him swimming on his own.

SA (21 months):

Little Man is doing great in his toddler bed! He loves his Pillow Pet Grandma got him for Christmas. Sometimes at the beginning of naptime, I’ll find him playing in his room. Sometimes it takes a couple of attempts to get him to stay in the bed, but overall it hasn’t been much of a problem. There have been no problems at all during the night.

And speaking of Christmas presents, he loves his Lego Duplo blocks! He plays with them every single day and is getting better at building things. And better yet, this week he was somewhat more occupied with them than usual, especially when the Z-man played with him. As a result, his sister had a much better week doing her school work without her little brother trying to snatch it.

This week Little Man developed an affection for Elmo, or as he likes to call him, “la la la la”, as in the theme song “La la la la. La la la la. Elmo’s World.”   He actually sings his name! It’s so cute!

Me:

I think I’m starting to waddle. That’s all.

Following Foundations 1/29/10 January 30, 2010

“I’m an artist, not a cook!” was the response I got Friday morning from my 5 yr old  when I asked her what she was going to make for breakfast. Oh well, I tried.

EG (5 yrs old):

EG finished up week 22 of Sonlight’s Core K. We’re really enjoying In Grandma’s Attic! We also spent some time reading about various inventions and other advances after World War II. In Science K, we read about how scientists study things and do experiments. We also floated an egg in salt water.

In Rod & Staff Math 1, EG continued to review the 5 family. She’ll start the 6 family next week. She did great on her speed drill yesterday. She finished all but one problem in the one minute time limit. She was so proud of herself. It was remarkable that she was able to do so well considering the fact that Little Man was standing there screaming the whole time because he wanted to grab her pencil. She persevered!! I included a pic of her work.

In reading, EG finished Explode the Code Book 5, read a couple of readers (Greg’s Microscope and Hill of Fire), and read from the ESV Bible. We’re also continuing to work very slowly through the last lessons of The Ordinary Parent’s Guide to Teaching Reading. The lessons are currently about common prefixes and suffixes. Some of the words that we looked at this week were illegal, illegible, talkative, and antiseptic.

In her memory work this week, EG memorized Acts 17:25, which says “And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else.” and question 90 of the Baptist Catechism.

I also included some artwork this week from the self-proclaimed artist. It’s her version of Little Man’s sock monkey.

AZ (3 yrs old):

The Z-man had a great week! Operation Potty Training had some improvements. He had a much better attitude this week. He was even dry three or four days this week when he woke up in the morning, and he also went straight to the potty without being told on those mornings! We still have a long ways to go, but I am very encouraged. (As an aside, the Z-man asked for three helpings of scrambled eggs for supper one night. Hey! Wait a minute!!! Who is this child and what have you done with my son??!!)

The Z-man did a little bit of work in his Get Ready for the Code book this week. He’s been working on identifying the f sound at the beginning of words. He also played starfall.com every day while his sister did her school.

He did great at memorization this week. He now knows Exodus 20:2-3 (the preface and 1st commandment), and, in spite of what I said last week about him needing some time to learn it, he can say Baptist catechism question 8 with minimal help! We’ll start working on question 9 next week.

I also included some artwork by the Z-man this week. This work is entitled “Camel Got Out of His Cage” and it features a man falling off a camel, a flower, a growing rainbow, and some mountains. Of course, that is all obvious from the picture.

SA (21 months):

Well, Little Man grew up a little this week. He got a big boy toddler bed last weekend. He’s been very excited about his new bed. His siblings have been downright giddy about it. He took his naps in it all week and spent the night in it Thursday night for the first time. It’s been going really well. We had to make a couple minor adjustments to put his legs back on the bed while he was sleeping. He also woke up around 3 AM or so crying and standing near his bed. Daddy put him back in the bed and he slept until 8AM this morning. He seems so little to be in a big boy bed, but we wanted him to be in a new bed some time before the new baby arrives. We don’t want him to think he’s being kicked out of his crib. He’ll be sharing his room with the baby.

Little Man is at that age….the 18-24 month range…..where he wants to be included in everything. Actually, it may be more accurate to say that he wants to take over everything. I remember having the same problem with the Z-man at that age. He didn’t want things like what his sister had; he wanted what his sister had. I’m having the same problem with Little Man. School time in the morning is usually crazy. As soon as EG sits down at the table, he is pulling up his little wooden chair to the table. He doesn’t just observe; he wreaks havoc. He climbs up and starts grabbing everything in reach. This may include the paper she is writing on or the pencil in her hand…or the pencil box….or the math teacher’s manual…. Of course, I have to take these things away from him. His world collapses. He screams. I try to distract him with some crayons and paper. This lasts for a couple of minutes. He doesn’t want to color if no one else is doing the same thing. I then try to get him involved in his legos or some Lauri pegs, but he doesn’t want to play by himself.  The problem isn’t limited to schooltime, but it involves any time anyone does anything at the table. I or EG can be playing on the floor with him with his Lego Duplo blocks, but the instant the Z-man has his Legos at the table, Little Man is running in the kitchen and pushing his little wooden chair to the table. And then we all know how it goes. He’s grabbing little Lego pieces and the Z-man is crying and Legos are falling on the floor. And then I–great with child–am stuck picking up tiny pieces off the floor. You get the picture. It ain’t pretty.  Sigh. I’m not saying all of this to ask for a solution. We try to solve this problem on a day-by-day basis. One thing that keeps me from getting very discouraged about it is the fact that I know this is a phase. It will pass. He’s just not old enough to understand the principle of “you do this while Mommy does this and then we’ll do what you want to do.” Of course, even when I’m frustrated with him, all he has to do is flash his big goofy grin. It’s irresistible….and I think he knows it!

Me:

I had a good report at the doctor. No gestational diabetes! Woohoo! I still had to have blood drawn again for another liver function test. You know you’ve been stuck one too many times when you’re on a first name basis with the lab lady at a large OB practice. I’m starting to feel like a charter member at the lab. I told her that I at least deserved a lollipop.

Following Foundations 1/22/10 January 23, 2010

Another week has passed. Monday was a holiday, and the kids got to spend some time playing in the leaves with Daddy. Due to the beautiful weather the first half of the week, they got some outside time that they desperately needed. The last couple of days were cold and wet, so they spent some time this morning blissfully playing together with legos while Mom sat with her feet up sipping some coffee. Yeah, right! The truth is that I never even got to my coffee this morning, and the lego session was plagued every 90 seconds or so with the Z-man bursting into tears because Little Man was destroying his creation. Oh, well. It makes a nice little picture.

EG (5 yrs old):

This week we began reading the charming stories in In Grandma’s Attic in week 21 of Sonlight’s Core K. We also read more missionary stories around the time of World War II, and in science we read more about the human body.

This week in Rod & Staff Math 1, she began speed drills.  The speed drills are assigned for every other lesson. She loves them! She’s still practicing the 5 family (addition facts that equal 5) in her workbook. She doesn’t get 2+3 and 3+2 100% of the time,  but she’s getting better. We’ve added in some flash cards. She also practiced counting by 2’s, 5’s, 10’s, and 1’s to 100 every day.

In reading, EG worked on words ending in sion and tion in the The Ordinary Parent’s Guide to Teaching Reading, as well as some four syllable words. The lessons near the end of the book can be quite difficult, so we usually repeat them a few times. She also sped through a couple of readers in Sonlight’s Readers 2. Before long, I’m going to have to order the next level of books. She’s going through these too fast! I also let her read some more in the ESV Bible. I usually find the book for her, and then she looks up the chapter and verse.

This week she memorized a couple of verses for Sunday School and finished Baptist Catechism question 89. She’s now working on question 90, which asks “Are all transgressions of the law equally heinous?”

Last Saturday, I bought her a regular spiral bound notebook. She was captivated by the dalmatian puppy with pink bows in its hair that graced the cover. She decided she wanted to send letters to people, so she wrote a couple of thank-you notes for Christmas presents. She was very proud of herself. It was her first time writing on regular lined paper. She tends to do quite well in handwriting. I included a sample of her work this week.

Oh yes! One more thing about EG. She usually flosses her own teeth at night, but one day this week she asked me to do it. And what did I discover? Two permanent molars are almost completely through. That’s the kind of teething we like! I didn’t even know when kids start getting their permanent teeth. I had to go google it.

AZ (3 yrs old):

Operation Potty Training: No improvements other than I did a GREAT job getting him to the potty in time this week. Go me! I was so confident in my abilities that I even let him leave the house a couple of times this week wearing underwear instead of a pull-up!

The Z-man did his usual stuff this week with his Kumon workbooks. He actually does very well at tracing, even though he can’t write anything at all. In one workbook, he’s working on capital letters.  Today he had a capital A.  At the top of the page was the word ANT and a corresponding picture. I had left the table and was at the other end of the house when I heard “I can read! I can read!” When I arrived, he told me “that says ant!” I said “Very good! Now, let’s sound out those letters so we’ll know why it says ant.” Well, he stopped me and said he could do it by himself. So, he slowly sounded out each of the letters. I was so proud of him! He’s so excited to learn how to read. Many times he’ll say to his sister “I don’t know how to read yet” and he’ll poke his lip out. He’s an expert lip-poker-outer. Even when he’s in a good mood, if he’s telling you something that he finds disappointing, the lip comes out.

This week the Z-man has been working on memorizing the ten commandments. Right now he’s on Exodus 20.2-3, which says “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out the house of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me.” He’s doing quite well, but it took me a couple of days to make him stop saying “out of the land of Judah“. I guess when he doesn’t know a word, he just substitutes some other Bible word!! He’s also working on Baptist Catechism question 8, which asks “What is God?” The answer is “God is a Spirit, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable, in His being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness and truth.” This one is going to take him a while.

SA (21 months):

What can I say about Little Man? Doesn’t the picture speak for itself? He’s quite a character. Lately, he’s been trying to give me instructions on where to put things. I think he believes that if I didn’t have him, I wouldn’t be able to do anything. If I get a pizza out of the freezer, he pats the oven. If I get laundry out of the dryer, he runs ahead of me and pats my bed (that’s where I fold laundry). At mealtimes, he pats his place at the table, so I’ll know where to put his food. BTW, that reminds me. I think he just had a growth spurt. He’s been eating us out of house and home.

Me:

The highlight of my week was getting my blood drawn four times in a 3 hour period. Yes, some of you may be able to relate. It turns out that I failed my 1-hour glucola test last week for gestational diabetes. So, I had to do the 3-hour glucose tolerance test this week. Fun, fun. I went through the same thing when I was pregnant with Little Man and everything turned out okay. Maybe that’s the way it’ll go this time. I’ll probably know by Monday if the results are bad.

On guitar, I’m currently working through three different books, Mel Bay’s Modern Guitar Method Book 2, The Christopher Parkening Guitar Method, Vol.1 (classical), and Mark Hanson’s Fingerstyle Guitar. This is all in addition to working on music for church. I really like the sound of fingerstyle guitar playing, although right now it still feels very awkward to me. I’m so glad I decided to start taking lessons over a year ago. It keeps me accountable and pushes me forward.

Following Foundations 1/15/10 January 16, 2010

Well, I guess it’s been a while. Pregnancy and three young children tend to be energy zappers. It seems a little silly to write a weekly report after not doing so for 5 months. So I thought I would just give some thoughts on the end of 2009 and our first week back in 2010.

The Christmas season was very nice and festive. We took EG and the Z-man to Disney on Ice, and they had a blast. We also went to Tanglewood Park’s Festival of Lights and roasted marshmallows. For Advent we read the book Jotham’s Journey. Everyone really enjoyed it. I only had to edit a couple of parts that I thought were a little too intense for the kids, and I also skipped the ‘devotional’ type readings because the author’s theology didn’t quite sync with mine at times. Next Christmas we’ll read the next book in the trilogy, Bartholomew’s Passage.  We also did a Jesse Tree and an Advent wreath again this year. We traveled to see my family the week after Christmas. It was nice to visit, but Little Man was sick starting the first half of the week, and I was sick starting the second half of the week (and am still recovering). I guess we had a cold-gone-haywire. His led to sinus and ear infections. Mine led to asthma. I had a tough time getting through it, which is why we started school back this week instead of last week.

EG (5 yrs old):

Well, EG finished the fall soccer season. She finally scored a goal during the last game. Of course, it was one of the games I missed. Oh well. Here’s to the spring season!! I think practice will start next month.

For the past 5 months, we’ve been working through Sonlight’s Core K. We’ve read several good books: The Apple and the Arrow, My Father’s Dragon, Twenty and Ten, The Hundred Dresses, The Light at Tern Rock, The Family Under the Bridge, Mary on Horseback, and most recently Doctor Dolittle. We finished Doctor Dolittle a little ahead of schedule, so this week (week 20) we didn’t read much more than some missionary stories and some poems.

In science we’ve covered a variety of topics and have done some experiments. I included a picture of her weather vane experiment back in September, and most recently, a picture of the amaryllis that we sprouted in a jar of water. As you can see, the Z-man is all about the science experiments too, and Little Man gets in on the action when feasible. This week in science we started reading about the human body.

In math, she finished Singapore Earlybird Math and started Rod & Staff Grade 1 math at the end of last year. She’s really starting to learn some addition facts now, so I’m happy about that. We’ll probably add in some Singapore Math again in 1st grade. I like how Singapore makes you think.

This week she has also been working on labeling the continents and the oceans. I finally got our markable map up on the wall, so that has helped us make some progress. Next we’ll move on to learning the USA states. She knows nothing about the states other than “Florida sticks out like a finger and we live north of there.” I’m thinking about getting a board game and/or puzzle to get her started.

EG is doing great in reading. She’s a little ahead in Sonlight’s Readers 2. She likes to read more than is scheduled. She has also read a couple of Magic Tree House books (one about Thanksgiving and another about Pompeii) for fun. She completed Explode the Code book 4 and is now working through book 5. I also started this week letting her read from the ESV Bible, and she did great!

She has memorized several verses and catechism questions since August. This week she memorized parts of Isaiah 46.10-11 which says “I say, ‘My purpose will stand and I will do all that I please….What I have said, that will I bring about. What I have planned, that will I do.’” She is currently working on question 89 of the Baptism Catechism which asks “What then is the purpose of the law since the fall?”

AZ (3 yrs old):

I regret to report that Operation Potty Training has not progressed as much as I would have hoped. The only thing that has improved has been the size of  his bladder….which means I don’t have to shuffle him to the potty every hour now….just every two hours. Our biggest problem is that he will not say when he needs to go potty. He will not. I have to tell him to go. If I don’t do that in time, he’ll just wet himself. And here’s the most frustrating part of that: most of the time, he will not even tell me that he has wet himself. He just keeps on playing until either I notice his pants are wet or his sister reports a mysterious wet spot in the floor. He’s three and a half!!!!! Inhale. Exhale. Moving on….

In school, the Z-man has mainly been working on fine motor skills, like tracing and cutting. He knows most of his letters and their sounds, but he has little phonemic awareness. So, we’ll just keep plugging away at those things for a few more months until I think he’s ready to learn to read. We’ve also been reading books from Sonlight’s p3/4. His sister loves these books as well, and the Z-man also listens in on some of her books. He loved Dr. Dolittle! I haven’t been doing much math-type stuff with him, but this week I pulled all of the Brazil nuts out of the bowl and he counted all of them up to 15. I guess that’s not too bad for a 3 year old!

Over the past few months, he has been steadily working on verse and catechism memorization.  He now knows just over twenty verses and the first seven questions of the Baptist Catechism. He’s about to start learning the ten commandments.

The Z-man received some Playmobil Knights sets for Christmas, and one of them came with a big shield and sword. He spends quite a bit of time defending the family from bad guys, dragons and strangely enough…pigs. I’ve told him “killing his sister” is not allowed.

SA (20 months):

Well, it’s been five months since our last report, and Little Man is now running around. You see that he has a head full of hair. That’s because he behaves so badly for his haircuts that not much is accomplished. A Dum-Dum sucker worked for the first haircut, but it’s been downhill ever since. Little Man can now say a few words and is getting better at sign language. He’s a book fanatic! He loves Curious George and anything with trucks. As a matter of fact, that was his first word…truck. He’s also very into whatever his siblings are doing. Of course, this usually causes problems. Little Man also has a bit of a temper. If he’s crying, it’s usually because he’s mad.

This week I was given a little ray of hope that potty training him will be easier than what we’ve been through with the Z-man. Little Man came up to me and patted his bottom and waved his hand in front of his nose. The kid needed a diaper change. Bless his heart.

Me:

I’ve made some good progress on the guitar over the last five months. I’ve been playing in church since the beginning of September, and it’s getting easier and easier. I’m now starting to learn some fingerstyle playing. James Taylor, look out! Yeah, right. In my dreams!!

We joined Netflix last night. We’re supposed to receive our first two DVD’s tomorrow. Of course, they’re for the kids. Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs and a Magic School Bus DVD about the human body. I did put a few things in the queue for me, though. We have a two week free trial, so we’ll see how it goes.

Well, that’s all I have for now. I’ll try again next week, but I’m not making any promises. I’m tired!

Following Foundations 8/14/09 August 14, 2009

As the sun sets on our second week of school, I’m left pondering a statement made by my daughter: “If Walmart goes away, mommy will be a widow.” Selah. Pause and meditate.

EG (5 yrs old):

Here’s a short summary of this week’s work: We were in week 2 of Sonlight’s Core K. We read about ancient Egyptians and how they lived and what they wore. In science, we talked about the causes of weather and the water cycle. Our read-aloud was still The Boxcar Children, which we will finish next week. In her reading, she’s working on two-syllable words. In math, she worked on how to determine “how many more or less” of something. Her handwriting was just a review of letter formation and a few small words. I couldn’t find her handwriting sheet today, so I had to make her one myself.

This week EG memorized 2 Corinthians 12:9, which says “And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” She also memorized question 68 which asks “What are the reasons attached to the fourth commandment?”

Swim lessons went okay this week. On Tuesday she put her whole face in the water. Of course, she was motivated by the fact that her little brother showed her up. See below for more info on that. I don’t think she has made much progress so far during this session of swim lessons. Part of the problem is due to the fact that they’ve had three different teachers for the past four lessons. Each new instructor has no idea what each child has already accomplished, so they don’t know how to push them to a new level. I talked to one of the “higher ups” at the Y about it. We’re hoping next month will be more consistent. Many of their instructors are part-time workers that are either in high school or college.

EG also started soccer practice this week. I think her coach has stepped things up a notch since she’s now in U6. He had them juggling the ball with their knees and trying to hit it with their heads. I’m glad she didn’t walk away with a bloody nose.

AZ (3 yrs old):

The Z-man worked on an L page for his alphabet notebook this week. His two L pictures on his poster were ‘lava’ and ‘lightning’. He didn’t do so well in Explode the Code. I don’t think he’s ready. He can’t really hear the sounds at the beginning of words. I think I’m just going to continue with his poster and his alphabet notebook for a while. This will help him learn his letter sounds really well. I may let him try ETC every once in a while to see if there’s been any improvement.

This week the Z-man was suppose to memorize Psalm 56:3, which says “When I am afraid I will trust in you”. It turns out he already knew it from the Steve Green CD’s. So then we started on Psalm 121. Well, he already knew the first two verses of Psalm 121 because he’s heard his sister recite it so many times. So I guess we’ll start on verse 3 next week. This is why I have them do verses and catechisms at the table together during breakfast. It cuts the workload on down the line!

Tuesday was a great day at swim lessons for the Z-man. He put his whole head under water and came up smiling! He put his sister to shame! I had told them before swim lessons that we would wait until Thursday to have slushies for being brave. (The slushie fund is going to go the way of  ‘cash for clunkers’ if we don’t scale back!) But after he dunked his head, I caved and we went to Sonic.

The Z-man got a little bug house and a butterfly net a couple of months ago for his birthday. We have had the most fun catching bugs. This week we caught a grasshopper on the front porch. This was our first bug that pooped in the bug house. (I tried to use it as an object lesson for Operation Potty Training. Didn’t work. Can you see how desperate I am in this area?) Anyways, I’m telling about the grasshopper for this reason: The next day I hear the Z-man say “I found grasshopper!” I found him sitting in the living room with Anna Comstock’s 900 page Handbook of Nature Study pointing at a black and white drawing of a grasshopper.

SA (15 months):

Can you believe that his sister just called him the ‘evil rat’?! Apparently he’s always “ruining” their things. Ahhh, the joys of having a little brother. The Z-man just passed him in the hallway and said ” ‘cuse me, evil rat!” A little bit of manners mixed with some name calling. I told them not to call him that. They asked if they could call him “evil mouse” instead. Sigh.

Me:

I feel as though I’ve crossed a hurdle this week in my guitar playing. I guess the drudgery of playing through the diatonic chords of six different keys as a daily exercise finally paid off.  Something just clicked this week, and now, all of sudden, in addition to the keys of G and D, I can now play reasonably well in the keys of A and C. This has opened many doors to me in way of songs that I can play. I’m ecstatic to say the least! I’m thankful that the Lord has helped me perservere during the difficult times and has brought me to this point. I still have a ways to go….just one step at a time!

Following Foundations 8/7/09 August 8, 2009

Well, this was our first week of school! We celebrated our first day by taking pictures on the front porch and by going out for lunch. The week went really well, and I was pleased with how well everything flowed. Although, I did discover on the first day that Little Man needs to be napping while I read to the other two. Fortunately, he’s still taking two naps a day!

EG and AZ both started swim lessons this week. They both did well and jumped off the side of the pool. The instructor finally had to dunk EG all the way under the water. She was only getting her chin wet.  Her brother was doing the same thing but never got dunked. Maybe they go easy on the three year olds.

We attempted a nature walk this week, and I think it went okay. My biggest difficulty is trying to find an appropriate and safe place to go. I finally decided on an area in our neighborhood near a ditch with some flowing water. The kids had a good time looking around, but I was having a hard time finding something for their bug house. Eventually, I spied some cicada skins hanging on some trees. We collected three of them and saw many more higher in the trees. After we got back home, I found a neat video online about the life cycle of the cicada. They thought it was really neat to watch the cicadas molt and were very excited to tell Daddy all about it when he got home.

EG (5 yrs old):

The big kindergartener! She was very excited. She kept asking me if she was big enough for science. She said “Maybe just a little science?!” Well, Sonlight’s Science K has been her favorite this week. We sat in the laundry room with a flashlight and a globe and talked about night and day. We talked about the seasons and solar eclipses. The experiments this week were about air, and she and the Z-man had a great time doing them together. I included a picture of them doing an “air race”.

In Sonlight’s Core K, we started The Boxcar Children as our read-aloud, and we read about dinosaurs and the first people in history. I had to do a good bit of filtering of this information due to the fact that the Usborne Internet-Linked Children’s Encyclopedia is a secular book. The internet links in the encyclopedia were very good, however, and we particularly enjoyed looking at the pictures of cave paintings at Lascaux, France.

For reading and phonics, EG officially started on compound words in The Ordinary Parent’s Guide to Teaching Reading and Explode the Code Book 4.  I say “officially” because she has been reading these words for a while now, but this is the first time we’ve looked at them as part of a lesson. She started Sonlight’s Readers 2, which begin with The Beginner’s Bible. She read five days worth in The Beginner’s Bible in two days, so we had to supplement with other stuff the rest of the week. This week she also began Singapore’s Earlybird Math B and A Reason for Handwriting Book A. The “seatwork”, which consists of math, handwriting and Explode the Code, went very quickly this week. I learned last year that if her brother is doing preschool at the table at the same time, she is more interested in what he is doing. Something that should take 15 minutes would take 45 minutes. So, this week I made the Z-man wait until she finished her seatwork before he started his preschool. This arrangement worked quite well. Of course, sometimes he was just sitting at the end of the table because he wanted to “wait his turn”.

This week she memorized Luke 12:15 which says “And he said to them ‘Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness. For one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.’” Also, she has made it through question 67 of the Baptist Catechism, which asks “What is forbidden in the fourth commandment?”

AZ (3 yrs old):

The Z-man was so excited about starting Explode the Code this week. He did well this week, but it’s still too early to tell if it will be too difficult for him. He finished his Kumon Tracing book this week and started some preschool workbooks by Rod & Staff. He also started Sonlight’s p3/4 program this week. We read Eloise Wilkin Stories,  Hans Christian Anderson’s Fairy Tales, and Chicka Chicka Boom Boom…..repeatedly. His sister enjoyed the books as much as he did. AZ has gotten so much better at sitting still and listening to books. He even sat through a couple chapters of The Boxcar Children this week.

AZ also has been working on his memory verses. This week he completed Proverbs 1:7, which says “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.” He has also started working on the Baptist Catechism. He knows the first question, “Who is the first and best of beings?”, and he almost has the second question, “What is the chief end of man?”

I should have mentioned this last week, but the Z-man has made a great improvement in another area in his life. He has always been my picky eater. He eats only a handful of different things, and vegetables don’t happen to be one of them. A while back I expressed my concern to his doctor about his horrible eating habits. The doc said to just keep offering and then hopefully (and that is the keyword here) one day he would decide he liked his food. I can’t tell you how many countless times I have served green beans to this child. He has never eaten a green bean in his life.  And then….one day…….he says “Oh, I like green beans. I do” It was like the ending of the Dr. Seuss classic. And he ate his green beans, and he has eaten them two or three times since then. There is hope!!

SA (15 months):

The Little Man is still toddling along. He can take a few more steps before wiping out. He has really taken to books this week. Curious George and the Bunny has been a big hit. I taught him how to cover his eyes when he sees the picture of George covering his eyes. He can almost do the sign for ‘book’.

Me:

Well, I think it’s pretty obvious that I’ve had a busy week. I’m looped, stooped, and twisted alley-oop, and I’d really like to just pass out under a coconut tree. Chicka chicka boom boom. Nevertheless, life goes on and I have to keep moving. I had a good guitar lesson this week. I do okay playing songs in the key of D or G, but I need some major work in the other keys. So, one of my assignments for next time is to practice “Amazing Grace” in different keys. It will also be beneficial for me to practice transposing in my head.

Following Foundations July 2009 August 2, 2009

I’m starting to get some heat about not having a report up for over a month. So, I guess I’d better get the lead out and start writing! At my last update, bleach was clinging to my nostrils, and I was preparing for a trip up north. Well, the bleach is still there, but the trip was a success. We went to Michigan the first week in July with some dear friends and had a blast! We celebrated the 4th of July with a small 30 minute parade (those are the best kind) and some great fireworks over the Grand River. We flew kites at the Grand Haven beach and the kids rolled in the sand…then splashed in the 55 degree water, then rolled in the sand….. (Let’s just say that after I removed the Z-man’s sand-caked clothes, he was just as sandy without them!) The beach really was great, even though the water was a tad chilly and I had to wear a jacket over my swimsuit. Below are a few pictures of our time in Michigan.

After we left Michigan we drove to Kentucky to visit the Creation Museum. On the way, I was trying to finish the book Worldliness: Resisting the Seduction of a Fallen World. As I finished up reading about how we are to abstain from every form of evil, we pull into the Triple XXX Family Restaurant in West Lafayette, Indiana. I was assured repeatedly that it was featured on the Food Network and that I wasn’t succumbing to the seduction of a fallen world by eating a burger there. Turns out that it’s named after Triple XXX Root Beer. The burgers were good, the root beer was good, and the kids thought they were pretty cool sitting on the bar stools.

The Creation Museum was awesome! The exhibits were very well done, and the content was great! God is truly a magnificent creator! We definitely plan to go back if we are able. Answers in Genesis is doing a great work for the Lord!

The third week of July was soccer camp for EG and the Z-man. Between the two of them, it lasted three hours each morning of that week. The first day was just short of disaster. Well, it was disaster for the Z-man. He screamed and clung to my leg the entire time. At the end of the day, his sister was deemed “slushie-worthy” and he was not. Let’s just say he made a big turnaround on the second day and for the rest of the week. The Little Man was just perfect the whole week. I set him up in the Radio Flyer and filled his bib with goldfish. When he wasn’t eating fishies, he played in the dirt. By the end of the week I was sick of sunscreen. I was constantly spraying a kid or rubbing sunscreen on a face. I couldn’t ever remember which kid I lathered up last, so sometimes I think they got two doses quite close together! Overall, I would say the week was a success.

The last week of July EG had vacation bible school every evening. She started crying when I dropped her off the first night. I decided to make a hasty departure because I knew it wouldn’t improve as long as I was there. Well, I did the right thing. She quickly made a new friend and she had a blast the rest of the week.

On Thursday of this week we checked out the new dinosaur exhibit at the NC Museum of Life and Science. It was really cool, and the kids were particularly excited because they’ve been on a dinosaur high ever since the Creation Museum. They also had a fossil dig where they could dig for real fossils.

So that sums up the month of July. Before I move on to the individual updates, I’ll insert a freebie here:

AZ: “What’s that?”

Daddy: “It’s a hoe. I’m using it to break up this dirt.”

AZ: “When I get big, I can use that thing!”

EG: “And when I get big, I can walk outside and say ‘So, how’s it going?”

EG (5 yrs old):

All three kids had checkups with the doctor this week, and EG did outstanding. She had to get those dreaded kindergarten shots. I just knew we would have to pull her out of a corner. Well, we talked about it a good bit beforehand. I reminded her that her friend gets four allergy shots every week and she doesn’t even cry. That it is okay to cry after the shots if she needs to, but there was no need for wiggin’ out before they even start. Well, she was the poster child for “slushie-brave”! She smiled through the first two shots. After the third shot, I could tell she was trying hard not to cry, but then the wails came. The nurse then informed us that the last shot burned. I was so proud of her!

AZ (3 yrs old):

Operation Potty Training is still in progress with the Z-man. Great improvements were made this week with the introduction of the Potty Watch. He now gets to the potty on time 90 percent of the time. Although I had to explain to him that the potty watch doesn’t handle the poopies. We’re having a little….ok, a LOT of trouble in that area.

The Z-man made much progress in the pool during our vacation. The last time he was in a pool he was afraid to let go. By the end of our vacation he was going all over the pool with his floaties and he was jumping off the side faster than you could catch him. I decided to sign him up for swimming lessons with his sister. They both start next week.

He also did great at his 3-yr old checkup this week. He went by himself with the nurse to have his vision tested. He didn’t cry when he got his finger pricked and he was proud of it!

SA ( 15 months old):

Little Man is starting to walk. He can go about 5 feet before he wipes out. He still prefers crawling at lightning speed, and for those times when he feels the need to look a little more grown up, he walks on his knees and grins. I think he’ll make fast progress now. He wants to keep up with his siblings. I took the picture below tonight. It amazes me that they can all three play together so well.

At his checkup, Little Man finally made it back in the double digits on the weight charts. He was in the 20th percentile weighing in at a mere 22 pounds. He got two shots and cried like…..well…a baby! You can’t blame the little guy. He can’t manage a slushie yet!

Me:

See all of the above!  In the middle of all this, I’m still plugging away on the guitar and making slow steady progress. We officially start school next week, so I’ve spent some time making some last minute preparations. I still don’t feel like all my ducks are in a row, but they probably never will be! Quack, Quack!

Following Foundations 6/26/09 June 27, 2009

This has been a long, tiring week, and I’m glad it’s just about over. It’s vacation time again. We leave towards the end of next week and will be gone the following week. We’re heading up to Michigan to visit Grandma, and we’re taking some dear friends with us. On the way back we’re stopping by the Creation Museum. Yea!!! I’m so excited about this trip. I’m looking forward to the beach (Lake Michigan), some cooler weather, and the world’s largest musical fountain.  I’ll post the highlights of our trip in 2 or 3 weeks.

EG (5 yrs):
EG finished her first session of swimming lessons this week with a splash! She was very brave this week—slushy brave, as we call it. I’m sure Sonic appreciated our business twice this week. She’s skipping lessons in July and will resume in August. We’re hoping to get some pool time on our vacation so she can get some extra practice. We’re hoping maybe her brother picked up something from the sidelines as well. He says he’s ready to jump in.

We finished reading Uncle Wiggly this week and reread all the Peter Rabbit tales by Beatrix Potter. She completed “Goldilocks & the Three Bears” from Literature Pockets: Folk Tales and Fairy Tales. In reading, she’s still going through the Abeka readers. Her current book is Pinocchio. She only has a few pages left, so we’ll probably finish it tomorrow.

She completed memorizing question 65 of the Baptist Catechism which says “Which day of the seven has God appointed to be the weekly Sabbath?”, and began working on question 66, which says “How is the Sabbath to be sanctified?” She completed memorizing Psalm 32:5 and is now working on James 5:16 which says “Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed.”

AZ (3 yrs):

Operation Potty Training: Sigh.

The Z-man completed a J page for his alphabet notebook. His two J words on his poster were Jupiter and jockey (pretty good, huh?!) He completed memorizing 1 Chronicles 16:34 which says “Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever!” He spent the rest of the week peeing on the floor and on the couch–twice.

SA (14 months):

Little man woke up on the wrong side of the crib a couple days this week. He even cried through breakfast. Oh, he ate well….he’s all about some breakfast…..but he managed to cry at the same time. He likes to walk while holding a hand. It won’t be long now. He’s so ready to keep up with his siblings.

Me:

I cleaned this week. And then I cleaned some more…..and some more. I moved the couch. Ewww. I moved my big chair. Ewww some more. I vaccuumed–3 times. I would have steam cleaned, but I did that last week. Correction. The dog got sick on Tuesday. I did steam clean part of the living room. I dusted. I mopped. I bleached and then I bleached some more.  I cut loose with some baking powder on part of the kitchen floor. I spilled an entire cup of coffee on the bathroom floor during Operation Potty Training. I mopped the bathroom floor. I did a load of laundry every day. I cleaned out the laundry room (note: at some point, “dust” can rightly be called “dirt”–and this was the case in the laundry room.) I moved the dryer. Major ewww. I cleaned one cushion of the couch. Three hours later I cleaned another cushion of the couch (see AZ section above). I swished toilets, cleaned sinks and scrubbed the tub. I was up by 7 AM or earlier every morning and went to bed at midnight or later. I prayed….a lot. I went to the grocery store…with all three kids. Not such a good idea. I bought Sonic slushies–twice. I got my driver’s license renewed. My friend and I helped our kids make fireworks shirts for our upcoming trip. I fixed supper every night. I played the Uncle Wiggly Game and Sum Swamp with the kids. I lost every game…the Z-man won every game. I practiced the guitar–four times. That is not good, but I couldn’t manage to peel myself off the floor to do it anymore than that.I am exhausted and all I smell is bleach. It’s stuck in my nostrils.

Following Foundations 6/19/09 June 20, 2009

We started our week with a birthday party for EG and AZ at the NC Museum of Life and Science.  I don’t think the Z-man quite understood that the party was for him too until he started opening the gifts. We had it in the Lepidoptera Lab above the Butterfly House. However, there weren’t any lepidopterans in our party room,  but only some walking sticks, tadpoles and hissing cockroaches. One walking stick wanted to join the party and escaped from his cage. He was ordered back in his tank by museum staff before the festivities began. EG thought he just wanted some cake.

The cake was a big 12×18  box of crayons made by my friend Susan. It was so cute! The Z-man was so ready to blow his candles out. He was VERY serious about it! After gifts and cake, we all piled into the butterfly house. The butterflies were very active  that day. The star attraction was a beautiful birdwing butterfly (second butterfly picture below). It wouldn’t be still long enough for a good picture. We all had a great time and our guests were able to enjoy the museum.

EG (5 yrs old):

EG received many fun gifts at her party: Shrinky Dinks, Sum Swamp, dress for her and her baby doll, butterfly crafts & My Little Pony. It was Daddy’s idea to give her an old-fashioned nightgown. (She’s very prissy and she loves nightgowns.) I searched around online until I found exactly what I was looking for–a Little House on the Prairie nightgown and night cap with a matching outfit for her baby doll. I emailed the lady her measurements, and she hemmed it with a double hem so it will fit her now and later. It is so cute. She has slept in it every night. She even wears the night cap that came with it. It just cracks me up!

Her brother received a bug house and a butterfly net. They managed to catch a firefly one night this week. The firefly spent the night in the bug house on the night stand in their room. The next morning she prances into our room in her prairie nightgown and night cap, carrying the bug house. She then proceeds to climb in our bed and observe the prisoner. Sigh. “Do you really have to do that in MY bed?!”

Swimming lessons were a little better this week than last. She didn’t get a slushie until after her Thursday lesson. She wasn’t brave enough on Tuesday. The Z-man was sure to point that out to her: “You not get slushie. You not brave. You not jump. You said ‘No’. You not get slushie.” If they hadn’t been strapped in their car seats, she probably would have smacked him. Oh well, it almost served her right after what she said to him at breakfast that day. More about that in the AZ section.

She completed a pocket for “The Gingerbread Man” in her Literature Pockets: Folktales and Fairy Tales.  She worked on memorizing question 65 of the Baptist Catechism which says “Which day of the seven has God appointed to be the weekly Sabbath?” She also worked on memorizing Psalm 32:5 which says “I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity; I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,” and you forgave the iniquity of my sin.”

A friend loaned us the Uncle Wiggily Game to go along with the Uncle Wiggily book we are reading. We were able to play once this week, and the kids loved it. We were excited to finally see a picture of a skeezick and a pipsisewah on the game board! Those “bad chaps” are mentioned every once in a while in the stories, but the only thing we know about them is that they want to nibble Uncle Wiggily’s ears.

AZ (3 yrs old):

Happy Birthday to the Z-man this week! He thinks he can conquer the world now that he’s 3 years old. When I told him this week that he was still too little to open the van door, he said “I not little. I bigger! I three!” I thought some punches were going to be thrown at breakfast on his birthday. For some reason, his sister thought he was supposed to grow a foot overnight and sprout a new head or something. She told him in a very sassy, hands-on-the-hips tone “You can’t be three. You don’t look three. If you’re gonna be three, you better look three!” Oh, that fired him up! “You stop saying that!!! I are three!! Monny, (aka Mommy) she say I not three! WAAAAHHHH!!”

AZ also received some fun gifts at his party: tools, puzzles, a sticker book (his sister is upset that I won’t make him share his sticker book with her), a Playmobil racecar, a Tonka truck, and the already mentioned butterfly net and bug house. We gave him the Busy Bible activity book. Now that he’s three, he will be sitting with us through our church worship service. We started last Sunday. He didn’t do too bad, but he’s much more high maintenance than his sister was at that age.

There is still nothing new to report on Operation Potty Training. Absolutely nothing. Actually I’m thinking that I should be the one eating the M&M’s. Afterall, I’m the one who is solely responsible for getting him to the potty.

The picture below is curtesy of my friend Audrey. It’s nice, isn’t it?

SA (13 months):

Little man is starting to do some cruising. It won’t be much longer and he’ll be walking. I’m sorry to report that the only picture I took of Little Man all week was of him passed out in his car seat on the way home from the party. He was wore out. The other picture I had to swipe from my friend Tony’s facebook page. (Hope you don’t mind, Tony!)

Me:

Last friday I went to the Mom’s Coffee Connection at a nearby church. The topic was meal planning. Oh, how I needed this! I could probably stand a few sessions of meal planning instruction. Well, I did very well this week. The lady had made a suggestion that she found in a cookbook of using themes to plan a menu. The themes were Comfort Food, Italian, Mexican, Seafood/Meatless, Pizza Night, Grill Night and Family Traditions. I still have the last two themes left for this weekend. Also, my husband had just bought 10 pounds of ground beef from Sam’s Club. I made an extra meatloaf for the freezer. I prepared patties for 3 meals + leftovers of Salisbury steak and froze them. I made at least 3 meals worth + leftovers of spaghetti sauce. And I still have two pounds left in the freezer that I haven’t touched. I also cleaned out the pantry today and took stock of what I have.  Go me!

Following Foundations 6/12/09 June 13, 2009

Well, summer has arrived! A walk with the wagon….at noon….about did me in one day this week. What was I thinking?! And, of course, with the snazzy new canopy on the wagon, all three wanted to ride. You can’t much blame Little Man since he can’t walk, but his sister would have booted him to the curb for a chance to ride! In the end, she just booted the Z-man after she finally understood the fact that I couldn’t pull the wagon AND carry the baby at the same time. I had left my third arm back at the house.

EG (5 yrs old):

EG regressed somewhat at swimming lessons this week.  I think it was because last week when she jumped in, she went all the way under. It took a good bit of coaxing by the instructor to get her to jump again this week, and on Thursday, she actually broke down and cried. We had a good long talk afterward. I’m not sure how much good it will do, but I have a bribe of a Sonic slushie in place for next week as an incentive for being brave.

We’re still reading through Uncle Wiggily and other selections from our bookcase. She’s been reading through some Abeka readers and learning about silent letters in her reading lessons. She continued to work on Literature Pockets: Folktales and Fairy Tales. This week the story was “The Three Little Pigs”.

She memorized question 64 of the Baptist Catechism which asks “What is required in the fourth commandment?”, and she memorized Ephesians 4:32 which says “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another as God in Christ forgave you”. We’ve been working especially on the “tenderhearted” part. As in “Your brother just whacked his head on the wall….again….and he’s in the floor crying, and you’re on the other side of the room looking the other way and saying ‘I didn’t do it. I don’t know what happened’. Now, do you think you’re being tenderhearted in this situation?” Sigh.

AZ (2 yrs old):

I still have nothing new to report on Operation Potty Training. It’s kinda like the government stimulus. I keep dishing out the M&M’s, and yet there’s nothing to show for it. Well, I guess it is somewhat different. The M&M’s actually belong to me.

The Z-man completed an I page for his alphabet notebook. He worked on memorizing 1 Chronicles 16:34 which says “Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; for His steadfast love endures forever.”

This week he received his free soccer jersey for signing up for the soccer camp at the end of July. It will probably fit in about three years. Of course, he doesn’t care. He found his shin guards and got all dressed up. He’s concerned that he doesn’t have any “soccer” shoes. He doesn’t actually need cleats for the camp, but he has it in his head that he needs them.

Last Saturday was half-price day at our local Sonic. The Z-man got this bug holder/viewer thingy in his kid’s meal. We’ve had an ant, two earwigs and a firefly in that thing this week. Half-price kid’s meal with bug holder at Sonic: $1.50 Laughing hysterically when an ant pokes its antenna through the air hole: Priceless.

SA (13 months):

Little Man had his first haircut this week! It was desperately needed. He was getting the shaggy head. At first he was quite upset about the fishy cape they put on him.  Then a dum-dum entered the scene, and he managed to pull himself together. He really does look like a little man now! He also has a couple molars coming in this week. Anyone wanna babysit?

Me:

My biggest accomplishment this week was sorting through the kids’ clothes. You gotta love Space Saver bags!

We also signed up on Skype this week and did a free video call with Grandma. The kids didn’t seem to understand the whole experience, but they did enjoy making faces in the camera.

And finally, my husband introduced me to the geekiest website on the world wide web: Instructables.com Enjoy. Be sure to check out the throwies for those times when you have absolutely nothing else to do with your time.