Lazy Sunday

It has been a wonderful, lazy Sunday here. It's the perfect fall day- blue skies, cool air. The boys are taking naps! Long naps! They both really need them, also... Don't get me wrong, I love to have them around, but sometimes it is just so nice to have a break from the mayhem! Anna read her book (this week she's working on "On the Shores of Silver Lake") for an hour, then we did some fun crafts are almost impossible to do with Henry and Sam underfoot. We made birds and fish out of cut up paper, glitter glue and feathers. Then we had time for our new favorite card game- we call it "Fish for 10s." Basically, you play "Go Fish" except instead of trying to get pairs, you try to get combinations of two cards that add up to 10. Anna almost always wins- but I won today! Best of all, we got to play with Geoff! Anna loves showing off for her Daddy! Now Anna is outside helping Geoff with the birds. It's nice for her to have some time alone with us once in a while.

Yesterday we brought Anna to the eye doctor and found out what we had been suspecting- she needs glasses! Her vision is actually pretty bad- the doctor said she will need to wear her glasses all the time. She is near sighted, so it hasn't been a problem for her school work since most of what we do is set on a table in front of us or on my lap while we sit together on the couch. We noticed in recent months that she wants to be really close to the TV when we watch movies, though. She is very very excited to get her glasses- she was disappointed when she found out that they had to be ordered and she couldn't bring them home right away. I feel a little bad that we didn't get her in sooner! At least we got it done, though, and now she'll be able to see much better. She had fun at the eye doctor's- all the office ladies were delighted with her- she's such a sweetheart!

So, we just finished up a busy week and we have another one on the way! Tomorrow we have my Mom's group meeting at our church in the morning, then Tuesday are Co-op classes and dance class in the evening. Luckily that's all on the calendar for now- we might try to organize a playdate for Friday. Anna continues to work really hard at school - she's an amazing pupil! We had a pretty rough day last week where she had zero attention span and she told me she wished she was Sam so she could just play all day (this was while Sam was whining about how he wants to do school "like Anna" and ride his bike "like Anna"), but we got through it. This week we are continuing to learn state capitals, studying amphibians, and our usual math/grammar/writing stuff. The weather is supposed to be nice all week, so we'll do plenty of outside play as well!

No More Training Wheels!

We are so proud of our big girl who can now bike all on her own! Next up - learn how to stop!

Sick Week

It’s been a really great past few weeks- the weather here has been so wonderful! We’re starting to see a lot of fall color as well. Fall is definitely my favorite season- I wish it lasted more than just a few months! Unfortunately, everyone at our house, starting with Anna, has gotten sick this week. Over the weekend I lost my voice, but luckily it's back again now. We decided to take the entire week off of our extracurricular activities and just try to get everybody healthy again. It’s been nice to have a quiet week at home. The kids are feeling pretty good, but they have awful coughing fits and runny noses that make me want to keep them away from other kids! So, we have still been busy with school, but also with biking! I don’t actually know the typical age kids start biking on only two wheels (both Geoff and I were super old when we learned), but Anna and Sam are almost biking on their own now! Both of them, but especially Anna, are very proud of themselves! I am amazed- I figured that if they were able to bike without training wheels by the time they turn 10 we’d be in good shape! We have an old, small bike that had one broken training wheel, so I took both training wheels away. I was thinking that the kids could use it mainly for balance practice, but they have both started biking on it! Anna gets nervous about things like that, so it was a big step for her to decide on her own to try it out. Sam will try anything- especially if it is something Anna is interested in… I think he can bike farther than she can since he can move his little legs so fast on the pedals. I think we will be able to take the training wheels off their regular bikes this weekend! Very exciting

Sam has been so interested in learning how to write his name that I decided I should start teaching him his letters more systematically- try to head off any bad habits before they are ingrained. So we are going to start Hand Writing Without Tears for preschoolers. This is a very gentle introduction to capital letters and numbers with lots of non-writing activities to get ready for writing. We are only going to work on it when he’s interested- I’m not planning anything formal for him yet. So far he is loving it- we started with “S” even though it is definitely not the first letter recommended. We “built” the letter out of some foam shapes I made, practiced the letter on a chalk board with wet sponges, chalk and fingertips before trying out some paper work. Sam did really well with it! He’s got his capital A down, so next up is the letter “M!” I’m not sure why I’m always surprised to see Sam so interested in writing/coloring etc- maybe it’s because he is such a crazy active boy most of the time! I am going to post a picture he drew on his own today- I was amazed by it! Not too bad for a kid who had no interest in touching a crayon until a few months ago!

Anna continues to do a great job with her school work. I’m learning a lot from her work also- did you know, for example, that when you have a single syllable word with an “o” or an “i” followed by two consonants that the vowels usually make their long sounds? This is called the “find gold rule,” in case you care. I have also reminded myself of the state capitals, what the definition of an adverb is, and more about fish than I ever wanted to know. It is funny to hear Sam singing the songs for the definitions of nouns and verbs and how to write a complete sentence! Henry even chimes in on some of the songs! In her free time, Marianna is still obsessed with dinosaurs and drawing in addition to biking and reading. Her pictures are amazing- I love to see all the details she will add to a scene. I’m not actually sure why I am doing an art curriculum at all, since she spends so much time each day drawing. She also continues to make good progress in her reading out loud- today she read me a chapter from Little House on the Prairie and did an excellent job.

Henry is talking up a storm- this morning he said: “Happy to see you” to me. Such a sweetie. He also sings constantly - that is, when he’s not being really quiet and sneaky and trying to escape from the house through the laundry room door. I installed some child proof knobs, but I have a feeling they won’t be Henry-proof… If Henry had his way he would be outside all day long!

Whirl-wind Weekend

The guys goofing around practicing handstands- even Henry!


Maybe Henry will just teach himself to read!


Thanks to the Brewers making it into the playoffs with home field advantage, we were able to make a trip to Wisconsin so Geoff, his parents and his brother Tom could go to the first game. We got in very very late on Friday night and everyone was up at about the usual time (which is still 6 for us). Geoff and I were kind of hoping that the kids would sleep in a little, but oh well. We had a fun filled morning playing and visiting with the cows. Henry especially loved the tractor toy- it kept him very occupied out in the yard! Then Jenna, Michael and cousin Simon arrived- it was so much fun to see how much Simon has grown in just a few short months! The kids all had a great time hanging out together. More Aunts and Uncles came and the kids and I had a really fun, relaxing day while Geoff had a great time watching the Brewers win- Marianna and Aunt Tricia even set up a tea party complete with cupcakes for all of us!

Sunday was another busy, fun day with lots and lots of great football food. After church we stopped at the grocery store and each person got to pick out what game day food they would like. That was really fun! Sam picked canteloupe, Anna picked icecream cones, and Henry came along for the ride. Besides watching the Packers game, the kids had naps (even Anna!), a ride behind a tractor to feed some very angry cows (technically, one bull and one steer), and a football game in the back yard. We didn't get back on the road for home until 7:30, so it made for a really late night, but it was worth it for such a great weekend! Every time we are back in Wisconsin we always wish we lived closer! At least her in Missouri we are only 6 hours away instead of the 12 hours away we lived in Pennsylvania! Thanks to Jim and Mary Jo for putting up with all of us and giving us such a great time! (I would have posted some pictures from this weekend- but I forgot my camera!)

I knew everyone would be tired on Monday, so I had planned out a pretty light day for school. The kids all slept in until 7am! That was a nice surprise! We got a good day of school in- we were able to do English, Grammar and Science outside while the boys played on the bikes and Geoff's tractor. There was still plenty of time before lunch for Anna to join the boys on her bike also! It was a perfect fall day- so nice that it makes you forget how hot and miserable it was here all summer!

Here's the plan for the rest of the week:

We are working on State Capitals for the Southern Border states, classifying short sentences and learning about pronouns, continuing to memorize addition facts and practice doubles addition, studying fish in science, doing writing and narration exercises from Charlotte's Web, reading worksheets on "Harry the Dirty Dog," and practicing memory work. Hopefully I can get to the grocery store sometime!!

Tuesday- School after breakfast, then off to Art, Drama and Music. Finish any school in the afternoon, then dance class in the evening.
Wednesday- School, then girlscouts meeting in the evening
Thursday- School and my (hopefully) final doctors appointment to do one final blood test
Friday- Catchup and art day for school, possible playdate as long as everyone is healthy!

I'm looking forward to a wonderful week and hope you have the same!