Today the boys & I went to the science museum to meet a dear friend and her 2 children. I honestly love this place! We bought the family pass for a bargain and we've went multiple times in the past year. It's soon to expire so we'll be getting in as many trips as we can over the next month and then we'll renew again in October when they run another half-off special. We walked around for over five hours today. And 5 kids ranging in 2-6 did not get bored. We watched the Science Show and C gladly volunteered to go on stage. C is his father's son in many ways but this is where he differs. He's become more and more outgoing over the years and I think it's wonderful! Maybe he has more of me in him than I thought...
They played in bubbles, got wet, messed around in the gymnastics area, watched a show on Physics, looked at old planes, rode in a space shuttle (my favorite part was watching them on the screen while they were inside) while getting to say "roger that", and so much more. Anyway, I'm terrible at remembering this stuff so today I took tons of pictures and thought I'd blog about it. What a fun day!
Thursday, January 26, 2012
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
The forgotten blog...
The blog. I have many days that I think about shutting down the blog. But then I remember that it is almost six years old and it seems unfair to shut it down. It holds so many memories that if it weren't for this blog I would have long forgotten. But I can tell I'm having a harder and harder time coming on here to write the truth. I have a journal I keep and it's much easier vomiting the truth on that with no one to judge me. So I'll continue to try to keep up with this at a very slow pace and one day I'll look back at it and surely be glad I held onto it.
Life has been good. Probably better than it has ever been for me (minus the raging hormone swings that occasionally come on full force) as a mother. I contribute it to the boys getting older. I dig my kids at this age. They are a lot of fun. Homeschooling has been so much fun and C's reading in the past few months has taken off. We curl up in my bed every day for phonics. Some days we are finished in an hour, the next day it make take us two. But the reward of homeschooling has been so wonderful. He's now reading chapter books and pronouncing words I'd never expect. I love it! We are hoping to have first grade finished before the baby gets here and he can take a break until we kick start 2nd grade. B is a complete sponge when it comes to school. He's only four but has known for sometime all his ABC's and writes his own name, along with Buddy's name (his security sheep). He writes it on all the pages he colors or homeschool sheets he accomplishes. He asked me once to show him how to write his name and since then has done it on his own. He's my most independent and it has been fun to watch him as a parent. He's ready to start school so I'm going to order his Kindergarten books and get it started while his enthusiasm and passion for learning is so high! As for L, the kid is hilarious. He'd much rather entertain with made up words like "fart-fick-a-doo". I can show him any letter or number and ask him again one minute later and he's already forgotten. And since he's only 3 we'll evaluate him later. It's funny, I always thought him & B would be in the same grade because of their 8 month age difference but I've realized that B will probably be a grade ahead. This is the most structured we've been with homeschooling and it's been good for all of us. While C & I work on school, B & L have developed such a bond and have become quite the buddies. They play with legos, wooden blocks or color for hours. It's been so much fun watching their relationship develop. We took a field trip to an aquarium last week. We are going to start frequenting the library more because of C reading chapter books and who doesn't love reading new books. And our membership to the science museum has been a wonderful tool for learning. We have plans to go there Thursday. As they get older we can broaden our trips to include visits to historical places, museums, national parks and much more. I'm so thankful for homeschooling and I think it's going to fit this crew very well!
Something else that has changed in the past few years is my desire for other interaction with adults. With the boys getting older I find I crave it so much less. C and I talk throughout the day while homeschooling or him asking questions and all three boys have become awesome gamers! So we play Uno, Sequence, and me & the 2 younger boys love puzzles! I have found with all these changes my days are less frustrating and much more enjoyable. That being said, it makes me nervous that sweet little 'bugsy' is about to rock my world. Let's hope not.
My boys need fed and the day must begin. Until next time, wishing you all happy days with those you love!
Life has been good. Probably better than it has ever been for me (minus the raging hormone swings that occasionally come on full force) as a mother. I contribute it to the boys getting older. I dig my kids at this age. They are a lot of fun. Homeschooling has been so much fun and C's reading in the past few months has taken off. We curl up in my bed every day for phonics. Some days we are finished in an hour, the next day it make take us two. But the reward of homeschooling has been so wonderful. He's now reading chapter books and pronouncing words I'd never expect. I love it! We are hoping to have first grade finished before the baby gets here and he can take a break until we kick start 2nd grade. B is a complete sponge when it comes to school. He's only four but has known for sometime all his ABC's and writes his own name, along with Buddy's name (his security sheep). He writes it on all the pages he colors or homeschool sheets he accomplishes. He asked me once to show him how to write his name and since then has done it on his own. He's my most independent and it has been fun to watch him as a parent. He's ready to start school so I'm going to order his Kindergarten books and get it started while his enthusiasm and passion for learning is so high! As for L, the kid is hilarious. He'd much rather entertain with made up words like "fart-fick-a-doo". I can show him any letter or number and ask him again one minute later and he's already forgotten. And since he's only 3 we'll evaluate him later. It's funny, I always thought him & B would be in the same grade because of their 8 month age difference but I've realized that B will probably be a grade ahead. This is the most structured we've been with homeschooling and it's been good for all of us. While C & I work on school, B & L have developed such a bond and have become quite the buddies. They play with legos, wooden blocks or color for hours. It's been so much fun watching their relationship develop. We took a field trip to an aquarium last week. We are going to start frequenting the library more because of C reading chapter books and who doesn't love reading new books. And our membership to the science museum has been a wonderful tool for learning. We have plans to go there Thursday. As they get older we can broaden our trips to include visits to historical places, museums, national parks and much more. I'm so thankful for homeschooling and I think it's going to fit this crew very well!
Something else that has changed in the past few years is my desire for other interaction with adults. With the boys getting older I find I crave it so much less. C and I talk throughout the day while homeschooling or him asking questions and all three boys have become awesome gamers! So we play Uno, Sequence, and me & the 2 younger boys love puzzles! I have found with all these changes my days are less frustrating and much more enjoyable. That being said, it makes me nervous that sweet little 'bugsy' is about to rock my world. Let's hope not.
My boys need fed and the day must begin. Until next time, wishing you all happy days with those you love!
Friday, January 06, 2012
Role Models!
My parents and 2 youngest siblings are in Senegal right now visiting another younger sister Poe who has been there the past 17 months volunteering through PC. She lives in a village south of Kedougou in her own little hut with a PC family. She has 9-10 more months to go and will then be finished. My parents and siblings flew into Dakar to meet Poe and after a couple nights they traveled by bus to Kedougou and next they'll travel to Poe's village. My little sister has sent a couple emails updating us on the trip and it's been nice hearing about the trip. The most recent included a bus ride from Dakar to Kedougou that took them 17 hours. At one point the driver of the bus stopped at a garage and sat around with other men and talked/argued and Poe finally negotiated with him to drive them the rest of the way. He then opted to drop them off 2-3 miles from their hotel and they walked the rest of the way. Thankfully Poe has been there long enough to know how some of this works and is able to navigate pretty well. Anyway, they walked the remainder of the way and all is well. But while reading the email I couldn't help but think about how cool it is that my parents are there right now experiencing all of this. And most likely, they are probably handling it beautifully. Their main priority the past 36 years has been raising their 11 children. They raised us to be independent, strong, adventurous and sufficient. They've lived in the same home the past 33 years, sharing 2 bathrooms with 13 people. They are extremely frugal, very generous and 2 people that I look up to SO much. The first time they flew away together was when we sent them to Alaska for one of their anniversaries. Our family vacations included multiple camping trips (which we loved and cherish the memories to this day) and they set a fine example for us children. And reading the email this morning, while imagining my 2 parents trekking across Senegal with their 3 kids made me smile. Because it's just one more thing that they've handled with grace and strength. I realize there are people who accomplish this stuff every day but I'm still proud of them. Other than visiting another sister in London, they are in Africa for their 2nd international trip. I love it! And I'm so thankful for all they have taught me the past 30 years. Daily, they are still setting an example in my life and I'm so proud to be their daughter. Thank you!
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