First Day of School, 2016

We kicked off a new school year today! Each kid took a turn coming into my room for a private parent-student conference, answering aloud the questions I read them from the plaque. I wrote down exactly what they said.

Lily
First Day of: 5th (I can't even...)
I am 9 (She then thought maybe she should add a percentage, but decided against it.)
63.6 lbs, 46'6"
My teacher is: My Mother
I love to: Play on screens

I want to be a: Doctor or Vet (her normal answer is vet - I haven't heard her say doctor before.)
Favorite color: Purple (She went back and forth between purple and magenta, but finally settled on purple.)
Favorite book: Cam Jansen (We have been ordering them from the library as quickly as we can, because she is just blowing through them.)

Jacob
First Day of: 3rd
I am 8 1/4 (He was very specific) =)
63 lbs, 45.5" (Should have been 45.6", as in 45 1/2 - boo, my math.)
My teacher is: My Mom
I love to: Play video games (He speaks the truth.)

I want to be a: Scientist (I've never heard of this before...it almost felt like he said the first impressive thing he could think of, but who knows - maybe it's been kicking around in his head!)
Favorite color: All of them!
Favorite book: Ricky Ricotta (He then added Cam Jansen, too.)

Samantha
First Day of: 1st
I am 6
48.4 lbs, 3'11" (Ummm not sure why I wrote 11", considering the only two options were whole and half...)
My teacher is: Mama
I love to: Color (Really. Seriously. Girl can COLOR ALL DAY.)

I want to be a: Spy (You can't tell, but she is wearing all black behind that sign, because, silly, that's what spies wear!)
Favorite color: Blue
Favorite book: Snow White (She recently discovered my copy from when I was little, where something new pops out on every page, and she LOVES it.)

Elliot (When I first asked him his name, he said "E" because he saw that I was going to write and figured I needed help.)
First Day of: PreK
I am 4 (he actually said 3. This is the one answer the kids gave me that I didn't write. I just thought it would be too confusing when looking back. We've been trying to convince him he's 4 for the last two months, but he's still not on board.)
34 lbs, 33.6" (Again, I botched the height...not sure why that was so hard for me! haha)
My teacher is: Daddy (Apparently, Ryan is teaching him all sorts of things when I'm not around.)
I love to: Paint (We don't do a lot of painting at home...maybe he's trying to tell me something.)

I want to be a: Elliot
Favorite color: Green
Favorite book: Thomas ("The Thomas book with the dinosaur!")

Note to self for next year - buy real chalkboard chalk. The sidewalk chalk wrote great, but it was hard to write with the super wide tip.

St. Patty's Day Parade

Jacob, Lily, and their good friend Hayden marched in our county's St. Patrick's Day Parade with their 4H club, the Mad STEM Scientists. Since their club's banner was not ready on time (their poor leader injured herself while her husband was out of the country on business!), these three little stinkers were asked to carry the general 4H banner for the county, and march out in front of all the 4H groups!



For three kids who had never been in a parade, they did an outstanding job - they waved like they were famous and took turns carrying each end of the banner (Jacob did significantly less carrying than the other two).

Sweet little sisters (and brothers) waiting in the crowd to cheer on their siblings!



 

Lily's favorite part of the day was getting to spend time with one of the 4H poultry clubs before the parade.



In the evening, we realized we were all burnt - both the marchers and the spectators alike. We certainly weren't expecting to be sunburned in winter!

The Hungry Pig

It all started with a refusal:

("I will not read a book but I will rite a book")

Which led to the start of something absolutely adorable:

(LOVE the bite taken out of the P!)

(Pretty sure she envisioned this on the inside of the dust jacket.)

Next, she wanted to add the "Table of Continents," but I suggested maybe she should add that AFTER she started her story and saw where it went. 

("The Baby Pig. On a farm thar was a mommy pig and a daddy pig. one day the mommy pig had a baby pig")

I'm eagerly awaiting it's continuation!

Despite her initial written protest, once Jacob woke up and we had official quiet reading time, she quickly got lost in her book:

I never read "The Boxcar Children" growing up, but I've heard great things! Too bad our library didn't have #1 and she had to start on #5. Not that she seemed to notice...or care.

The kids officially finished 2nd grade and Kindergarten the week before last, and unless I find outside activities for them every day, they are stir crazy without the structure of school! I'm wondering if they will eventually find ways to occupy themselves without my constant intervention...because, honestly, it's making me want to jump right in to starting 3rd and 1st! I already have all the curriculum, and they seem so unable to occupy themselves without complaining or bickering... We shall see. 

Lily's 3rd and 4th Toof

Yesterday, while her grandparents were here, Lily lost* her 3rd tooth.

*"Lost" in this context is a misnomer, because a.) I still have it, and b.) "lost" implies it came out accidentally and unexpectedly - neither of which is true. With two grandparents very excited to be sharing in the moment (and promising a quarter per extraction - quite a raise from her parents' meager penny per each previous tooth!), there was apparently much motivation to finally twist those suckers loose..

Her top, left tooth came free in the downstairs bathroom with a little blood and much hurrah.

 

The lovely state of her 4th loose tooth, twisted out of place and dangling, a few hours after she removed the 3rd.

 

 

The fourth came out this morning.

Oh my goodness, look at that face. How I love that kid.

 

I can't stop staring at that adorable grin, and thinking how different she looks with that gap.

 
She was messing with the 4th tooth at the mirror, and it must have come out easier than she expected, because it slipped out of her hand and went - so she thought - right down the sink. I quickly stopped up the sink and declared it off limits until Ryan could come home from the men's retreat tomorrow and inspect. But this evening, after Lily brushed her teeth, ran the water, and spit into the stopped-up sink, I decided I couldn't leave that gross water sitting there for another day, and we bid the tooth a watery farewell and washed it down the drain (which Lily found much less sentimental than her poor, sappy Mama).

A couple minutes later, I found said tooth sitting quietly by the faucet on the sink counter. It never went into the bowl.

Currently, it is safely tucked away under her pillow, waiting for the Tooth Fairy to replace it with grandpa's 2nd quarter.

 

Kirsten and Lily today. As you can imagine, these beautiful, sweet girls are very pleased to share the same lifp.

Related:
Lily loses her 1st and 2nd (03/07/13) tooth

Elliot gets his 1st and 2nd tooth
Jacob gets his 1st tooth

One Down, 19 To Go

Overheard at the breakfast table this morning:

"Dear Jesus, Thanks for sending my tooth out so I could have another penny to put in my heart bank. And thank you for this bress-fast. In Jesus' name, Amen."

Yes, Lily lost her first tooth! After a couple weeks of examining and wiggling and waiting, her left front bottom tooth just fell out into her mouth this morning while she played with Jake and Sam at the kitchen counter. Jacob saw her remove it from her tongue and look it over, and yelled, "Lily's eating the Play-Doh!" Haha.

Earlier this year, Ryan and I were wondering what was the going rate for each tooth, but then Lily set us straight and let us know Mama needs to pay her a WHOLE PENNY per tooth. So after much, "Well, I don't know now...a whole penny?" we relented and agreed - a penny it is! Years from now she's going to be kicking herself that she didn't pay better attention when Mama first started introducing coin values ;)

PS Bad Mama almost went to bed without remembering to take the tooth out of Lily's little tooth-shaped felt pouch under her pillow and leave the penny in its place. She would have never let me live that one down! I can't believe how tiny it is next to said penny. (And it's hollow...weird.) Lily is blossoming into this beautiful, articulate, thoughtful, helpful, SWEET girl, but her tiny baby tooth - probably the first one she got 5 1/2 years ago - reminds me that she's still my little baby girl.

Too bad Elliot isn't a few months older with his first tooth coming in, or their two smiles would be perfectly complimentary :)

Random Kid Update

- Sam's first day of preschool was last week, and Jacob started back at preschool last week, too. Sam cried for the first five minutes and then was fine.
- Elliot slept thru the night for the first time EVER two weeks ago, at six months. He did it once more this weekend. Here's hoping his nights of waking up to or three times to eat are finally at an end, because Mama's tired, kid.
- Yesterday, Lily finished "Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons" - phew! And last week, she finished the first Handwriting Without Tears book (it's orange). A couple weeks ago, I had switched her from Explode the Code (ETC) book 1 to book 2 before she finished book 1 because I thought it was too easy for her, but then she was making too many mistakes in book 2, so I'll have her finish book 1 before moving her on now.
- Two weeks ago, Jacob finished "Get Ready for the Code" - the first ETC primer. Now he's on "Get Set for the Code." He has absolutely no problem with the phonics in this book and should probably be on book 1 with Lily (he's on lesson 36 of "...100 Easy Lessons). I'll probably skip "Go for the Code" and put him right on book 1 when he's done with "Get Set..." The problem is he's sort of able to properly form letters with lots of help and concentration, but still prefers scribbling and very quickly loses focus, so the two required skills for this book are so far apart from each other (reading and writing) that I feel strange advancing jumping him ahead for one reason when the other is so far behind.
- Samantha is still an excellent color-er.
- Elliot has now tried rice cereal, bananas, applesauce, avocados, broccoli, pancakes, whole milk yogurt, and I'm sure lots of other things, but he still HATES it all. Except for this one random night, he was very happy with all the broccoli Ryan was finger-feeding him off his plate while holding him during dinner, but I was not happy with him waking up ALL NIGHT because, HELLO? broccoli?? Actually, food usually makes him throw up. Literally. First the avocado and then the yogurt. He gets it anywhere near his throat and he gags so hard he pukes all over. So what do you do with a kid who won't take a bottle and won't eat?!?!
- Lily's self-proclaimed favorite subject is math. She's currently doing addition and uses her fingers to add (I need to start drilling her with flash cards soon). It's very rare that she gets one wrong, though her 7s and 9s are frequently backwards.
- On that same note, Lily has had a lot of trouble distinguishing between b's and d's the last couple of months, which is kind of strange because she didn't used to have this problem. Can a child develop dyslexic tendencies with certain letters/numbers AFTER not having any?
- Jacob's favorite school book is his Kumon Tracing book. He could care less that he's already done each page at least twice and is happy to continue tracing over what he's already traced before. I'm just happy that he'll sit and properly (and eagerly) hold a pencil for long periods of time, regardless of what he's doing.
- Sam hates pooping. TMI? She could hold it in forever, but as the days wear on and she becomes increasingly, obviously more uncomfortable and therefore crabby, we have to force her to sit on the potty until she poops. (Fortunate for us she's a little delayed in her gross motor skills and can't get off the potty herself, so she has no choice.) There is much screaming - half in anger at us, half in pain/fear of the poop. But she is always sooo happy and relieved the minute it all comes out. Though her poop stops up out toilets. Seriously! No matter which one she uses, we have to unclog it after every time she goes, because she holds it in so long, it's like trying to flush a baseball. There is much prune juice and fiber gummies in her every day life. She's doing great with potty training otherwise...
- At his 6mo checkup, Elliot was in the 2nd percentile for weight. Argh.
- Lily has a super loose tooth. We discovered it almost two weeks ago and it's now hanging on for dear life. It's on the bottom amidst three other not-as-loose loose teeth. She's afraid to just pull it out bc it's the first one and she's not sure what will happen, but I don't see it staying put thru tomorrow. I'm so excited for her! Better get my Tooth Fairy pennies ready...
- Elliot sat unassisted for about 10 seconds today.
- Jacob is restless and frustrated. I'm wondering how to better boost his morale and encourage him more. And how to ultimately stop.the.WHINING. Sometimes I think he's just bored, but when I give him things to do I think he'll like, he just complains or quits or finds an excuse to get mad about it. I'm not sure what to do with him...
- Elliot rolled over from belly to back at three weeks, from back to belly at 4 1/2 months, and started rocking on his hands and knees two weeks ago (at six months). I finally caught it on video yesterday. He's so desperate to get moving and get into everything! I'm not looking forward to having to use the baby gates all over again, having to remember to keep the basement door closed, keeping all the little Barbie shoes and hair ties and broken crayons and everything else out of harms way, etc.

Lily's Hard-Earned Cupcake

Yesterday, Lily finished "Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons." This was a super huge accomplishment for her, so to celebrate, today I took her to our favorite local cupcake shop with Sam, Elliot, and our friend Christina while Jacob was at preschool.

The Happy Birthday Hands

When the kids wash their hands, they sing the Happy Birthday song a couple times to make sure they've scrubbed long enough.

Which means we've heard nothing but "Happy Birthday, dear Elliot" many, many times a day for the last four months. Apparently, he's the gift that keeps on giving.

1st Grader?

It's kinda crazy, but somehow Lily is starting 1st grade tomorrow.

Did you catch that? FIRST GRADE.

I realize if she were in a traditional school and not homeschooled, she'd still be in her third month of Kindergarten, and that this is a really strange time to start a new grade, but she's all done with her Kindergarten curriculum, so instead of being bored to tears for the next 9 months, we might as well continue! (Even if the idea of having a first grader blows my mind.)

Onward and upward...

I think she's excited. I told her this evening that tomorrow she's starting 1st grade, and she gave me this funny look and asked, "But not at a school, right?" It's the first time I think I've seen her look down on the idea of being in a traditional school, which caught me off guard, and I want to make sure we avoid that sentiment. She and Jacob went to preschool two days/week and loved it (and so did I), so she definitely knows the difference between being home and being "at school." But up until now, she's always idealized school as a place where all you do is plaaaaay and you never have to learn anything - whether or not that's true - for what I assume are the following reasons:

A.) At preschool, they were more clever and experienced and sneaky than me at teaching the kids through play without letting the kids KNOW they're being taught while playing, and

B.) It was preschool. No one pushes you to learn how to read at preschool. Or do anything else you don't want to do. I don't have the luxury of letting her push that off into first grade. Sorry, kid, you've gotta apply yourself even when it doesn't come easily (like reading).

So I'm still not sure where the apprehensive question came from - I'm glad she's enjoying being home, but there's no assumption that she always will be. We're taking this "home learning" stuff year by year, which the kids know, so should we transition them to traditional school one day, they won't be surprised or unwilling.

The possible future school transition is the main reason I feel really weird starting her in 1st grade tomorrow. Does that mean if we want to send her to school next year, she'd start in 2nd, even though according to the calendar and her birthday, she would only be starting 1st? I certainly wouldn't want her repeating 1st in school if she's already done all the work at home. But where would we make up that extra time we lost, since we didn't start 1st at the beginning of this school year?

And the real question is, would she be mature enough for 2nd by next September, since technically she would only be starting 1st then? I'm not worried about her academically, but she's always been a little delayed maturity-wise, or in relating to other people, and I'd hate to see her struggling to make friends and feeling accepted. I already see how difficult it is for her with her regular little group of friends; it would break my heart to see it multiplied times 25 or however many kids would be in her class.

But anyway, future trepidation aside, I'm excited for her to start 1st tomorrow. She'll be using the "My Father's World" 1st Grade curriculum (she just completed MFW Kindergarten), which starts slowly, building on the Kindergarten concepts she was just taught, so I'm expecting it to be well accepted.

Here's the curriculum breakdown I'm expecting, for any interested parties...

From what I understand, History and Bible are tied together, covering major topics from Genesis to Revelation, and reading has a focus on the Proverbs. (I'm not yet sure how/where spelling is tied in...?) Plus, Jacob's preschool lessons from ABCJesusLovesMe.com include a wonderful Bible program each week, so we're going to try to bring all of the children into both Bible lessons, if possible. Everything else is meaningless if the kids don't have a solid Biblical foundation underneath it all. We want the kids to not just be moral and good (which is hard enough), but children who love the Lord and seek to put Him first in their lives. Please pray that every day we will be good examples not just through what we say, but through our actions, which can be so hard when there are little eyes watching you and learning from you 24 hours a day!

For math, My Father's World 1st Grade uses "The Complete Book of Math, Grades 1-2," which goes through each concept in general and then at the end goes back through them all a second time in greater depth. Tomorrow, we start with patterns, which I'm sure our budding artist will love. Math is also scheduled to include pattern blocks, using the book, "Pattern Animals: Puzzles for Pattern Blocks" (plus a whole bunch of printable patterns I already had), and I'm sure we'll be throwing much more in there, including Cuisenaire Rods, using the "Cuisenaire Rods Alphabet Book" from Kindergarten. Science focuses on nature, using three little books, "Things Outdoors", "Science with Water", and "Science with Plants." I'm trying to have a good attitude about any possible upcoming experiments, though honestly if I could find a homeschool co-op that took science off my shoulders, I'd be one happy camper.

I'm very much looking forward to the art lessons, which use the book, "Drawing with Children" by Mona Brookes. That girl could just sit and draw, draw, draw all day, so I'm sure she'll love perfecting her mad skillz. I also got her one book from the "Draw Write Now" series for her to use in her quiet time while the younger kids (and Mama?) have nap time - I can just picture her taking that to the peace and quiet of her room and drawing away. Music uses an Introduction to the Orchestra approach, incorporating "Peter and the Wolf" and "Carnival of the Animals" CDs, as well as a musical instruments coloring and explanation book.

We will continue supplementing one lesson per day from, "Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons" (we're on lesson 64 at the moment), so that when MFW 1's reading section picks up in earnest, she'll hopefully be ready. We're also adding in "Handwriting Without Tears" - I started her on their "Letters and Numbers for Me" book (Kindergarten) last week, and she sat down with it and didn't come up for air until 19 pages later. Ummmm, OK. You can bet the 2nd book, "My Printing Book," was definitely ordered later that night. I also ordered books 1 and 1 1/2 of "Explode the Code" because I've heard such wonderful things about that program and honestly wanted to get on the bandwagon! They are more visual than "Teach Your Child to Read..." and I think that will really appeal to her if she starts struggling more or resisting more.

I'm still trying to nail down the following:

• Do we get her piano lessons or just enroll her in gymnastics? Can't see doing both...
• The best way to incorporate Spanish and German (and possibly Latin later)
• Teaching typing. Have some ideas, need to make decisions...

Any other education gaps I need to fill? Just give me a shout.

I'll try to remember to report back after we are a little ways into 1st grade, and I definitely want to take the time to write about everything we're doing and have planned for that other little stinker, Jacob. But for now, it's 2:37 a.m. and I'd better get to bed since tomorrow is "1st day of school" (again) for our unique and creative little BIG girl, Lily.

PS There are so many beautiful pictures of Lily hard at work that I'd love to weave throughout this post, but there are just not enough hours in the day... *Sigh* Hopefully, words will paint a sufficient picture for now.

Under the Weather

Jacob has a fever, and I hate that the first thing I think of is seizures...

It's been a long time since we've dealt with febrile seizures around here, and I praise the Lord that Lily will very soon be six and officially too old to get any more. But I can't say the same for 4 1/2 yr old Jacob. He hasn't had a fever in forever (as opposed to Samantha who seemingly ALWAYS has a fever, but has thankfully never - so far - seized), and I'm hoping it passes quickly. I'm feeling a little OFF myself, which I hope turns out to be nothing, because sick little boy + sick Mama + nursing baby who wakes up at night does not = a happy household...

So prayers for our little household are appreciated.

(Jacob on a field trip earlier today...this should have been my first clue.)

(His total breakdown in the car on the way home should have been my second clue. NOT FUN.)

In other news, Lily's eczema is currently in a state of withdrawal - not sure how to better describe a condition that, at least in her case, goes through periods of varying intensity, but never seems to completely go away. At least not yet! I know the current healing is in response mainly to all the prayers for her legs from my recent Facebook post - and partially to the new cream her sweet, concerned daddy bought her ;)

Continued prayers for COMPLETE healing appreciated - you know how much more rashes and the like itch when they are on their way out!

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Snapshot of Now

Yesterday, Elliot smiled for the first time. Not just one of those sleep smiles or milk-coma smiles or my-tummy-hurts smiles. But a REAL smile, right at me, starting a little crooked then making his whole face light up. He looked so much like baby Jacob smiling - it was awesome, and certainly made his super fussy day much easier to tolerate.

Also yesterday, Elliot rolled over on Lily's bed. FOUR TIMES. From belly to back. At just over 5 weeks old. (He actually did it once at 4 weeks, but I thought it was a fluke.) Lily and I couldn't believe it. The first time, he was pretty close, but couldn't quite get flipped (one leg was high up in the air, flailing, determined) so I gave him a little nudge. The second time, it took him quite some time, but he was able to do it himself. The third time was a little quicker, and the fourth time was immediate. SLOW DOWN, young Padawan.

This week, he also started coo-ing. And making brief eye-contact. It's ADORABLE. Sweet little noises during his [brief] moments of calm alertness. It's really nice to see signs of him being more alert, more aware, and not just unhappy every time he's awake. His tummy troubles will be brought up at his 6-wk visit tomorrow.

Yesterday, Jacob wrote his name for the first time ever. Not just some scribbles, but actual [almost legible] attempts at letters...in [mostly] the correct order. It TOTALLY COUNTS. Because his previous attempts at writing his "name" had more closely resembled nothing close - like, just a straight line. Or a whole bunch of deformed circles next to each other. So I'll take it!

Samantha is AWESOME holding a pen or crayon or what have you. She figured it out all by herself waaaay before Jacob, and can sit there coloring for HOURS - I do not exaggerate. Little girl's incredible. It certainly makes school time with the other two much easier, now that I know how to keep the toddler occupied. I've started giving her things to color that are helping her learn without her realizing I'm helping her learn. Tricksy Mama.

Samantha has known her colors since before she turned two. Without anyone teaching her - just by observing the other kids. Within the last few months, she's added some of the secondary colors to her repertoire: pink (pinch), brown, black (blach). Her favorite color has always been purple - though for some reason, Lily always insists it's yellow. Samantha knows a few letters (especially S - go figure) and has been able to count to 3 for a while. In nursery on Sunday, they told me she counted to 10, but I had never heard it. Then just yesterday, I saw her count to 8 before shouting GO! and throwing herself headlong onto a pile of pillows. Oh I love my silly Sam!

Just today, Lily finally FINALLY was able to quickly and easily do the sight word activity sheet in her My Father's World homeschool Kindergarten curriculum. She's been running away from this particular worksheet every week since they started appearing months ago, and so today, I casually encouraged her to try again, and wouldn't you know it...? She read every word lickity split! No guessing which picture the words matched this time. It was such a huge breakthrough, I felt like crying.

And finally, last week, Lily learned how to draw a heart. Now there are hearts EVERYWHERE. I love it.

"Gospel For Asia" Prayer Collage

This morning, Ryan let me know how much extra we needed to tithe from some recent Freelance work I had, so the kids and I sat down, looked thru the Gospel For Asia catalog, and each picked a few things to purchase for families in need.



Then we cut out those things from the catalog and Lily very carefully glued them onto a piece of construction paper. She was adamant about how her little chickies should NOT have legs (I think the feet creeped her out for some reason) and then she colored the whoooole paper blue so her chickies could go swimming.



I tried to convince her that maybe the cold girl in the blanket couldn't swim? Or that maybe the lantern wouldn't work if it got wet? Until she informed me all the water was going BEHIND them - silly Mama, what was I thinking!



I think she was very happy with her creation =) Now we can remember what specific items we can pray are put to good use all year long!



(She made sure to tell me she was smiling behind the paper...And I certainly heard the "Cheeeeese!")

 

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