Following Foundations 5/29/09 May 30, 2009

Me oh my! Crawfish pie! A completely irrelevant opener to a great week! We finished up at the NC homeschool conference on saturday, took a nature walk on Monday, and ended our week with a Sonlight Box Day!

On Memorial Day we took a hike at Eno River State Park. Off we went with the baby in a sling, a magnifying glass in hand, a camera, and a lot of curiosity.I’ve included some pictures of some things we saw, namely a queen snake, a little wood satyr (I think), a Fowler’s toad, and an unidentified fly (I would say it was a horse fly if it was black. I’m hoping someone may know what it is.) My husband says I’m much braver with a camera.

Today was our box day from Sonlight! We received Core K and p3/4. The kids were so excited. I think they were a little overwhelmed (as was I…the instructor guides make p4/5 look like a pamphlet). They were particularly excited about two things: the map and the packing material. They wanted to watch the science DVD right then (request denied). She wanted to hang the calendar in her room even though it doesn’t have any dates on it yet (request denied). They wanted to color with the snazzy Colorix crayons (request granted).

EG (4 yrs):

Since our school year officially ended last week, EG did no workbooks this week. None. Zilch. We continued reading Uncle Wiggily and a few other things she chose to repeat from the p4/5 core we just completed. I picked a few things off of our bookshelf for her to read to me. She read some Bob Books and a reader about Stuart Little, and, at the moment, she’s working through a book called My Favorite Book that I bought at a used book sale. I have a series of Abeka grade 2 readers that I think she’ll start next week. We’ll just see how it goes.

She’s working on memorizing 1 Peter 3:9 which says “Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless, for to this you were called, that you may obtain a blessing.” This is one in a series of verses from Wise Words for Moms about conflict resolution from the side of the offended. She’s constantly being “offended” by her brother. At least, she thinks she is. One verse I had her learn a while back was “Be angry and do not sin.” (Eph. 4:26) In other words, “Yes, honey. I know you want to clobber him, but be angry and sin not.” She also worked this week on question 63 of the Baptist Catechism which asks “Which is the fourth commandment?” We were only able to work on this three days this week, so she’s not quite done yet.




AZ (2 yrs):

Sigh. We’re still in the same place in the potty training with the Z-man.  Although, he’s much more interested in the M&M’s this week than last week. I think there’s hope.

AZ didn’t really do any preschool this week. Today, he asked me about it and said he wanted to do preschool. So, I let him finish a page in his Kumon Tracing book and do one maze in his new Kumon maze book. We read Green Eggs and Ham (aka Sam I Am) twice this week at his insistence. Fortunately, I was able to distract him with Put Me in the Zoo yesterday. I need a little variety to keep me sane.

At the homeschool conference, I bought him the Explode the Code primers for the upcoming school year. He was ecstatic. He has no idea what Explode the Code actually is, but he knows that it’s something that his sister does and that’s enough reason for him to be excited. Periodically through the week, regardless of context, he would say “I got ‘plode da code”. I’m not even sure if he’s going to be ready for these books come August. His sister did them at age 3 1/2, and by that time they were too easy for her (except for the writing part). But he’s not his sister. So, we’ll see.





SA (13 months):

The little man appears to have moved out of his ornery/cantankerous stage. He’s probably just between teeth, but I’m enjoying it while it lasts. He’s all about keeping up with his siblings, chewing on the remote, pulling all the magnetic letters off the fridge, drinking out of a “big boy” sippy cup, being curious about his brother’s potty training, pointing at his mother, smacking his lips to give kisses, and signing ‘more’ and ‘eat’. I can’t help but smother him with kisses!

Me:

I have the crud at the moment. Yes, I know it’s almost June and 80+ degrees outside. Sigh.

I have six days until my next guitar lesson. I know the video camera is coming for us to record the “Rondo” duet at the end of the book. This will be ‘take 2′. Actually, it’s more like ‘take 47′ considering how many times we attempted it a month ago. Before my last lesson, I could play this song. Since then, I have yet to play it without mistakes even one time. Not even once. I have perpetual stage fright, I guess. Regardless of what happens though, I’m starting book 2 after my next lesson. Go me!

Wordless Wednesday May 27, 2009

Following Foundations 5/22/2009 May 23, 2009

“Daddy, I need to tell you a secret. I think AZ needs a visit from Special Agent Oso.” And so began our last official week of school. Throw in an end-of-season soccer party and a trip to the park, and it all made for a nice week in spite of the fact that Oso never showed up.

EG(4 yrs):

We completed Sonlight’s p4/5 and Explode the Code book3. Woohoo! We combined some last week and this week so we could finish on Wednesday due to the homeschool conference starting on Thursday. Our last new books were The Complete Adventures of Peter Rabbit and New Toes for Tia. She really enjoyed the Beatrix Potter stories and did not find them at all soporific, and she responded with alacrity when it came time to read them. I, on the other hand, felt like I needed a dictionary for a few words. New Toes for Tia was another missionary story from Thailand by the same publishers as The Gods Must Be Angry. I love Sonlight for including missionary stories in their cores!

In her reading this week, she read The Bravest Dog Ever: The True Story of Balto, which is a level 3 reader. It was difficult for her, but she was able to read most of it without help. I guess Sonlight just wanted to throw in a hard reader for the last one just to see how it goes. Well, it went okay, but she’s not ready for level 3 readers as a general rule.

This week she memorized Matthew 18:15 which says “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone.” We’re going to try to put this into practice between her and her brother. (Although, when he does things like throwing a soccer ball at her head at close range, she will probably need reinforcements from the powers that be.) She also memorized question 62 of the Baptist Catechism which asks “What is the reason annexed to the third commandment?”

AZ (2 yrs):

The Z-man did a G page for his alphabet notebook. He will continue his alphabet notebook through the summer. It would break his heart if I told him we weren’t doing preschool. His two G words on his poster were grasshopper and goalie. He’s had fun pointing out the goalie this week in the hockey playoffs. My hubby is torn about which team he should give his loyalty. He went all through school with the coach of the Pittsburg Penguins. At the same time, the Hurricanes are the in-state team. Oh, what to do….. In the meantime, the Z-man gets extra G practice with guh-guh-goalie.

Is my child the only one who feels the need to wear protective gear while they do school? I mean, all I really do is peer at him over the top of my spectacles and whack him on the head with my ruler when he gives the wrong answer. So, I guess that could justify the helmet. But knee pads?? His sister is probably the one who needs the helmet to protect herself from soccer balls flying through the living room. BTW, he is not allowed to play with the soccer ball in the house until next week.

I started a little M&M incentive program on tuesday to encourage him to use the potty. The problem is not that he won’t use the potty, it’s just that he’ll only go if I take him. He takes no intiative whatsoever on getting to the potty on time. He gets an M&M in his “I went potty in the potty” jar when he uses the potty AND he is dry. Anytime he does not “put the potty in the potty”, he loses an M&M. I thought it would be best not to go negative so he wouldn’t, as Anne Shirley would say, fall into the “depths of despair”. He can have any M&M’s that he has accumulated in his jar for a bedtime snack. Tuesday night he had no M&M’s. Wednesday night he had one M&M. So far there hasn’t been any improvement. The only thing that has changed is  “Monny, I wet floor!” has been replaced by “Monny, I lost M&M!”

SA ( 12 months):

He’s a goofball! I usually say that AZ is going to be the death of me, but something tells me the little man is going to outdo his brother. It’s just this look he has in his eyes…..

Me:

I am currently at the NC Homeschool Conference. Fun, fun! I’m blessed to have church family keeping our children for us. While we’ve been away, they’ve been having great fun driving tractors, looking at cows, shopping at the dollar store, feeding a horse, eating popsicles on the porch, and who knows what else. And me? I just went to dinner and didn’t have to cut up anybody’s food! I miss my babies, though…….

Wordless Wednesday May 20, 2009

Following Foundations 5/15/09 May 16, 2009

It was a dark and stormy night….. Well, actually it wasn’t dark yet, but it sure was stormy when our power went out last Saturday. After the power company gave an estimation for the power to be back on the following morning, we decided to jump ship and head to a hotel. The kids were ecstatic.  EG and AZ had to share a sofa bed (actually it was a ‘loveseat” bed that wasn’t much wider than a twin-sized bed). They thought it was fun at first, but by 3 AM the complaining started. Let’s just say I didn’t get much sleep. My Mother’s Day breakfast consisted of a bagel and various other things from our “free” continental breakfast. Towards the end of breakfast, the lights went out. After a couple seconds of wondering why the flat screen TV was still going and the juice machine was still lit, I hear behind me “ME TURN LIGHT OFF!” There was the Z-man at the light switch. Oh my. We apologized and made a hasty departure. Exit, stage right.

The real highlight of this week was a trip to the North Carolina Zoo. The weather was in the 70’s and absolutely beautiful! It couldn’t be beat! Many of the animals were active and the polar bear put on a good show.

EG (4 yrs old):

We completed week 35 of Sonlights p4/5. One week left!! We finished A Reason for Handwriting K this week. She read A Big Ball of String and finished Little Bear’s Friend. She has only one book left of Sonlight’s Readers 1. I can’t believe we’re almost done! In Why Do Tigers Have Stripes? we read about how spotted skunks show off their pattern to warn enemies. And then at the zoo, we saw a spotted skunk (and a very active one at that)! I just loved how we had read about it the day before! Of course, she wasn’t nearly as giddy about it as I was, but I thought it was great all the same.

She completed memorizing 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, which says “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” We also worked briefly on Proverbs 17:22 which says “A joyful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit dries up the bones.” It turned out she already knew this verse from listening to Steve Green’s Hide ‘Em in Your Heart CD’s. She also memorized question 61 of the Baptist Catechism which asks “What is forbidden in the third commandment?”

She’s still moving along slowly on the piano. I have a little video below of her playing “Marching Song”. By the way, please ignore all of the stuff piled up on my bar in the background. The bar only stays clean about 2 and a half minutes per week.

AZ (2 yrs old):

The Z-man worked on the letter F this week and made an F page for his alphabet notebook. Also, for the first time I was able to give him a few letter sounds and he would give me the letters. Woohoo! Thank you Starfall!! He’s working on memorizing Psalm 119:105, which says “Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.”

Potty training hasn’t progressed as much as I would have hoped. I found poop on the bottom of my shoe today, if that tells you anything.  This boy is going to be the death of me.

I included a video of the Z-man singing a medley of “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” and “Jesus Loves Me” with a little heresy thrown in. He obviously hasn’t been paying attention during our devotion time. Enjoy!

SA (12 months):

The little man had some firsts this week. He ate a peanut butter and jelly sandwich,  he played with trucks (as in pushing them around instead of just chewing on them), and he signed “more” (as in sign language) for the first time at breakfast today. For the rest of the day his siblings had him performing his “sign” like a trained seal. He also tried his hand at a little Jerry Lee Lewis. Goodness Gracious! Great balls of fire!

Me:

I got a new camera this week! Our old digital camera was a 3MP Casio that was top of the line back in the day. Although it still takes great pictures, it has gone the the way of the dinosaurs and is much too clunky to carry around with me all the time. My new camera is a Canon PowerShot A1000IS. I love it! All of the above pictures and videos were taken with my new camera, with the exception of the soccer pictures. The image stabilization is awesome. I wasn’t sure how the picture of the lion at the zoo would turn out because it was heavily zoomed and shaky, but I think it turned out great! I reduced the recording pixels down from 10 MP to 6MP. That’s still probably more than I need. I’m not planning on printing poster-sized prints anytime soon.  Happy Mother’s Day to me!

Following Foundations 5/08/09 May 9, 2009

I’ve been accused of rambling. So this is going to be short and sweet. Well, actually I don’t have tons to talk about this week, so it’s just a convenient opportunity to not ramble. I do have pictures this week. I swiped some batteries for my camera from the My First LeapPad. They’ll have to live without Leap’s Big Day for a while. By the way, does anybody else get a kick out of “I’m a BIG piece of pie!”? Oh drats, I’m doing it…..

EG (4 yrs):

We completed week 34 of Sonlight’s P4/5. We talked about anvils, caterpillars that look like bird poop, and how Uncle Wiggily always saves the day. In her reading this week she read A Fly Went By and half of Little Bear’s Friend. She didn’t quite complete a new memory verse this week, although she is working on 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, which says ^“Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” We’re learning this verse in the context of being thankful for what God has given us, rather than complaining. She memorized question 60 of the Baptist Catechism, which asks “What is required in the third commandment?”

She’s been doing great on the keyboard. I’m hoping things are going to move very slowly. One, I don’t want to rush her. And two, I need our little 49-key keyboard to be sufficient for a while! We started on rhythm this week. We clapped out quarter notes and half notes. Once, when I was telling my husband that I wouldn’t be having another guitar lesson for four weeks, she chimed in “well, I guess I’m gonna be doing ‘quarter quarter half note’ for the next four weeks!”

AZ (2 yrs):

The Z-man worked on the letter E this week.  We completed an E page for his alphabet notebook. The E page from homeschoolshare was too advanced for him, so I had to improvise with other things I found on the web. He finished his Easy Mazes book this week! We filled out the certificate in the back of the book and stuck it on the fridge. I highly recommend Kumon workbooks for preschoolers. When he first started the maze book a few months ago, I wasn’t sure if he would be able to do it. Eventually, the only help he needed was to make sure he was holding his pencil correctly before he started. This week he finished memorizing Isaiah 30:15 and then quickly learned Isaiah 43:5 which says “Fear not, for I am with you”. He recognized this as one of his sister’s verses, and he got very excited about that. He’s all about keeping up with the Jone’s his sister.

I know many kids will ask for a million things to stall going to bed. Well, either this boy is addicted to cough medicine or he’s unable to think of more creative ways to get out of the bed at night. The conversation goes like this:

AZ: “me need meh-cine.”

Me: “why do you need medicine?”

AZ: “to ‘top my toffin.”

Me: “but you aren’t coughing.”

AZ: (coughing fit) “See!”

Me: “Go to bed.”

Repeat the next night.

SA (12 months):

I think he’s full of himself. What do you think? BTW, I’ve had that Mickey Mouse stool since I was three. I can tell my kids with confidence: “If you stand on that stool, you will fall on your noggin. Trust me. I know.”

Me:

I had a guitar lesson this week. My teacher had been talking about recording us playing this duet at the end of my Mel Bay book. Well he showed up yesterday with the camera, so I guess he wasn’t bluffing like I had hoped. And of course, you can guess what happened. After practicing “Rondo” ad nauseam for the last several weeks, I completely fell apart once the camera came on. “Studio jitters”, he called it. Or maybe it was one too many falls off the Mickey Mouse stool. I don’t know. Let’s just say that we’re going to try it again in four weeks. I know how to play that stinkin’ song. Really, I do.

Following Foundations 5/01/09 May 2, 2009

Well, it’s been two weeks since our last report, so I’m feeling a little rusty in the writing department.  So here goes…. Last week we visited family in Mississippi and had a great time. After putzing around on Tuesday, we headed to the Jackson Zoo on Wednesday (gotta make use of our zoo membership, you know). The elephants got very close, the flamingos were friendly, and the lemonade was expensive. A good time was had by all.

On Thursday we headed to the Mississippi Museum of Natural Science (gotta make use of our science museum membership, you know). AZ got to pet a snake. The museum lady had given the “two-finger” petting rule, so he had his two fingers ready while he waited in line. He kept losing his “two-finger” position while he waited, so Daddy had to keep helping him get it back. EG didn’t even hesitate to pass on the snake-petting. (One night on the way home she had a meltdown over a mosquito in the van, if that tells you anything. It took her a half hour to recover). The museum was very nice. Most of it was “taxidermified” (maybe that’s typical of natural science museums), but it was very well done. Although there was this one shelf that I guess was just the “dead animal” shelf. I didn’t quite get the point of that one. Everything was belly-up and not gussied up. Hmmm. The fossil/dinosaur room was quite nice. They also had a nice outdoor trail.

That night we headed to a catfish house for supper. This is always a non-negotiable event for me when we go to MS. I’m a catfish snob. (I’m also a sweet tea snob. Whenever we travel north of West Virginia, if I’m fortunate enough to find a place that has iced tea, I always ask if it is brewed. When you’re not in “iced tea” country anymore, you never know when they’re just gonna mix a powder in some water and call it a “refreshing summer-time beverage”. They just don’t know any better, so you really have to be careful about things like that. I’ve had some of my husband’s family ask me about sun tea. Sun tea? Not one person I’ve ever known in the South has the patience to wait hours for a pitcher of tea. I mean, who wants to drink water?) That was a rabbit trail. Back to the catfish. Catfish are raised in Mississippi, Arkansas and Louisiana. Along with not drinking mixed tea, I make it a rule to not eat catfish unless I’m in one of those three states. In MS we have “catfish houses” that specialize in fried catfish. The one we went to that night only serves catfish and chicken. Sides include pickled onions, hush puppies, cole slaw, some sort of greens (turnips, I think), french fries, corn bread, and last, but certainly not least, fried dill pickles. And sweet tea.

On Friday, we spent the day with my grandmother. She doesn’t get out much, so a trip to Cracker Barrel and Walgreens was a real treat for her. Later that day I went and bought a new guitar. More about this later in the “me” section. (Big smile ) We went out to eat that night with my dad (I wonder why I always gain 5 pounds when I go home to MS? Hmmm?), and then finished out the night tinkering with my new guitar (another big smile ).

On saturday we went to a crawfish boil (they also had fried catfish for people (like me) who have an aversion to eating anything that has an alias that includes the word “bug”.) My hubby got a crawfish-eating lesson from my dad. There was also plenty of good banana pudding. I’m also a banana pudding snob.  But I digress…..

Saturday afternoon was party time!! SA is now one year old, so we had his first birthday party with our family! We had it at the city park, which is my old stomping ground. At first he was traumatized by his own little birthday cake. Daddy had to hold him while he ate his cake. We all left the park a little sticky.

We finished out our visit on Sunday by going to church, putzing around some more, and more eating out. I wonder why I gain….oh, wait a minute….I’ve already asked that.

So that was our trip to Mississippi. Beautiful weather, low drama, great trip.

We traveled back on Monday of this week. Thursday was a play day with some friends. So, this week we crammed five days of school into three. I think we got something accomplished. I think. Oh, and just so you know, all of the pictures below are still from our trip. I used up all of my batteries last week.

EG (4 yrs old):

We completed week 33 of Sonlight’s p4/5. Lots of fun stories. We’re still loving Uncle Wiggily, and Milly Molly Mandy just gives her this giddy smile. We’re winding down in Explode the Code book 3 and A Reason for Handwriting K. I think she’s ready for a workbook break. We didn’t do any crafty stuff this week, although she told me she wants to do a lapbook on birds.

She memorized two catechism questions this week, “What are the reasons added to the second commandment?” and “Which is the third commandment?”. She already knew half of the second one starting out, and they both had short answers. She also finished memorizing Proverbs 21:2, which says “Every way of a man is right in his own eyes, but the LORD weighs the heart.” and Proverbs 27:2, which says “Let another praise you, and not your own mouth; a stranger, and not your own lips.” I think she has memorization in the bag.

I have this little keyboard that she is always asking to play. She wants me to sing while she “plays”. She wants to do her “piano lesson” like I have my guitar lesson. Well, I went to the music store last night and bought her Bastien’s Piano for the Young Beginner Primer A and the theory workbook that goes with it. I’m not really sure which piano series I’d like for her to use, but I thought I could swing 11 bucks for these two books regardless. I gave her her first piano lesson today at her insistence. The first page in the book is about sitting correctly at the piano. We stacked up some phone books, but she still need another few inches to be at just the right height. Daddy’s Systematic Theology book gave her the extra boost to make it just right! Now I just hope the keyboard doesn’t go on the blink. I just bought a new guitar, you know (big smile ).

AZ (2 yrs old):

Well, even the Z-man did some school this week. We completed a D page for his alphabet notebook. No pictures. Sorry. I cut out a little strip of D’s that he was supposed to  trace over to glue on his D page. He got so excited because it looked like his sister’s handwriting stuff. He played with dominoes (one of his D words) this week. He has one page left in his “walla” book (Kumon Easy Maze book with the Koala on the cover). He’s still working on memorizing Isaiah 30:15 which says “In quietness and in trust shall be your strength.”

We really need to put the potty training thing in high gear. I think he needs some sort of external motivation.  At the same time, I need an alarm that goes off every hour to remind me to take him to the bathroom. Pullups are expensive. Really, having him just wear underwear would probably be the best thing for his motivation. He does get upset when he wets the living room floor. Of course, I get upset, too. The only time he doesn’t care is when he’s playing starfall. Once, I found him standing in a puddle while he was playing starfall. He was oblivious.

And here is an AZ freebie for the week:

“Daddy, does that taste like crawberries or verms?” (that’s “worms” for those who need a translation)

SA (1 yr old):

Happy Birthday!! Wow. Where has this year gone? They grow up way too fast. He went for his checkup on thursday and weighed in at a mere 19 lbs 2 oz. This is my first kid where I couldn’t legally turn the car seat around on their 1st birthday. The doctor said he’s very healthy and easy to tote around. I usually take all three kids to doctor appointments. It’s usually not that big of deal and they usually behave well. So, the nurse comes in and I strip the baby down to his diaper so he can be weighed. We’re walking down the hall and she stops at the scale. The kind that you stand on. She says, “Can he stand on the scale?”. Uhhh. The first thing out of my mouth before I even thought about it was “This appointment is for the baby”, and I had this look on my face that my friends know all too well.  And then a split second later, I thought “the baby is the one with no clothes on. She has to know the appointment is for him.” I don’t know if she thought I was rude or if I was an idiot. It just seemed like a completely absurd question to me. I mean, I know many 12 month olds can walk, but do they actually stand still on a scale? Anyways, she then said something about some 1 year old’s being able to stand on a scale. The kid just started pulling up (easily) 2 days before!! (Ten minutes after we arrived home from our trip, I turn around and he’s pulled up on his feet. I guess he was tired of sitting in the car for 13 hours.) As I was filling out the questionnaire about my child’s development, I contemplated writing “My child can’t stand on a scale at 12 months. Should I be concerned?” Our doctor explained that the nurses had a meeting a few weeks ago because some parents complained about their 1 yr olds being put on the “baby” scale. So now they’re giving parents the option. Good grief. (It reminded me of the time I went to a restaurant with my daughter when she was 3 months old and the hostess gave her a pack of crayons.) Outside the lab, there was a woman there with her 12 month old son. He looked huge next to SA. I heard her talking about some of the words that her son says. SA just babbles and sniffs at me (kinda like a puppy….it’s quite funny). I told SA he’d better get his act together. Then I thought better of it….they just grow up too fast. I’ll happily tote my babbling, sniffing, 19 lb 1 yr old around while I still have the opportunity. It won’t be long and he’ll be peeing on my living room floor.

Me:

Woohoo! I bought a new guitar! I got a Martin DCX1E. My dad helped me pick it out. Well, actually I had already been looking before and it was the guitar that I really liked. My dad just checked it out for me and confirmed my choice. It has a nice, warm sound and it’s simple and beautiful and most importantly, I could afford it. We had Guitar Center do a price check at Mississippi Music and, as a result, we got $70 off the price. I bought the most 2-yr old resistant case they had and I got a strap for it. Not that I can play with a strap yet. But anyways…. My plan is to have some 10’s put on it tomorrow. It came with 11’s, and they’re a little tough on my fingers. I was all ready to show it off to my guitar teacher yesterday, but he was sick and had to cancel my lesson. He mentioned that he wants to videotape us playing one of the duets at the end of my Mel Bay book. Hmmm. I hope he has an “edit” feature. I’d probably do best with a hidden camera!! I bought the 2nd Mel Bay book last week (when you’re spending several hundred on a guitar, what’s another $20?) This book comes with a CD of the songs in the book. I popped that puppy in the CD player and about had a coronary. And that was just the review lessons. I think I can. I think I can. I think I can.

I read a couple books while on vacation. Well, I finished one I had already started and then read another one. I finished Parenting in the Pew by Robbie Castleman and read I Don’t Have Enough Faith to be an Atheist by Frank Turek and Norman Geisler. I really enjoyed reading the latter book, except for Norman Geisler’s soteriology (branch of theology that deals with salvation). Let’s just say that I won’t be reading any systematic theology from Geisler.

And just to kinda round out the edges on this report….. I scrubbed some of those hidden places in my kitchen today. I need to work off that extra five pounds I mysteriously gained last week.