School Update and Some Random Pics

It seemed to me that it would be a good time to catch up on how school is going around here, so, without further ado, an update on our 2013-2014 school year:

We are absolutely loving Easy Peasy (allinonehomeschool.com). Dale is on track to finish year 5 by the end of May. Which is pretty impressive, considering we didn't really get going on it full swing until January. Among other novels he has read Alice in Wonderland, and is currently working on Little Men. He's developing his writing skills, learning how to write a five-paragraph essay and be aware of creative language and complex sentences. He already  has a whopping vocabulary, so it's nice to start to see that come out in his writing now and then. The biggest hurdle we have with school is quality control. He is able to do most of his work independently, but I have to stay on my toes checking it or things get a little less than his best.

Accidently matching for church a few weeks ago.

Pretty much since the beginning of his "official" school career, Alan has been on a January to December calendar instead of August to May. Which is one of the beauties of homeschooling, really. He has never been behind or ahead, but right on schedule. That hopefully explains the fact that he began his 2nd grade work in January. He will not finish Easy Peasy level two in May, but will be able to complete the work with flying colors in November/December. He is learning a lot of grammar (nouns, proper nouns, action verbs, linking verbs, subjects, predicates). He gets frustrated with me for making him write exclusively in cursive, but his cursive is steadily improving and is already better than his print. 

The look on his face when I asked him Easter Sunday if he wanted go hunt eggs.

After letting Khan Academy fall by the wayside for several months due to web layout frustrations, I decided to check it out again recently, and I'm so glad I did! It's all different, and I love the changes. It's so much easier for me - and the boys- to see what they have done and what they need to do next. Also, lots of lower elementary concepts and exercises have been added, so Alan can do it too. Very, very pleased with that.

We are doing our usual read-through-the-Bible again this year, pretty much the same way we have done all but one of the last 5 years or so. We are currently mid-way through  II Kings, pausing a bit there to cover the prophets. Not sure at what pace I want to proceed through the rest of the Bible, whether to start the New Testament in August and take two years, or pack it all in to finish by early summer. Dale and Alan notebook most of the Bible lessons. They also (Alan particularly) like worksheets printed from Calvary Chapel Curriculum. 

We have covered a few science/history/social studies topics together this year, including animal habitats, Russia / the Olympics (which has made the boys interested in all of the news in Ukraine this spring), and currently, earthquakes.

For Tyler and Brooklyn we have been loosely following Hubbard's Cupboard's Bible and Rhyme curriculum - working our way through major stories of  the Bible and the Alphabet, along with appropriate matching crafts and occasional nursery rhymes. We sometimes sing songs, do hand rhymes, play with playdough, or get out special puzzles and games. We spend about 30 minutes of each day devoted to "Preschool Time." Tyler is ripe for learning to read. Not sure yet when I'll start official "lessons" with him. Meanwhile, Brooklyn has picked up on most of the letter sounds herself.

(I don't think she found any letter sounds in these giant eggs, though.)

I make it a point almost every day to read to Daniel and Brooklyn individually (and often Tyler, too), and then Tyler, Alan, Dale and I spend half an hour in a chapter book. We've read a couple of "Little House" books recently, and currently, Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH. It's one of my favorite times of day, and I think everyone else's, too!

Cause and effect

One of my children, who shall remain nameless (even if you guess), came bounding through the doorway from the kitchen into the playroom the other day.

There was a trip and a fall, and the clunk of the metal Wall-E lunchbox someone had left in the floor.

"I HATE LUNCHBOXES!" nameless child exclaimed to no one in particular. 

"WHY CAN'T EVERYBODY JUST USE PLAIN OL' PAPER BAGS!?!?"

Two wrongs may not make a right...

...but sometimes they can lead to one.

Tonight Dale was cleaning up the supper dishes and, in true 10-year-old fashion, carried Brooklyn's plate to the next room. He wanted to know if he could eat her leftovers. 

And, in true 10-year-old fashion, he dropped the plate, food side down.

Fortunately for the carpet, most of the food landed on Brooklyn's blanket. This, however, was more of an unfortunate development for the hour before bedtime. Said blanket should have been safe in its bed, not the playroom floor.

THE blanket, the ONE that we MUST have for sleeping, was now dirty. :-/

We proceeded with our bedtime routine as usual. When I tucked Brooklyn into bed I gave her a sweet, soft little blanket printed with pastel cupcakes. When she balked, I talked to her like a big girl and reminded her the other blanket was dirty. (She had seen and noticed it herself.)

The age 4 and up crowd sat together in the next room and finished our bedtime prayers, but we could all hear Brooklyn crying in her bed for her blanket.

As soon as the last 'Amen' was said and the boys all scattered for last minute hugs and potty stops, I looked up to see Dale with a wet soapy paper towel and a certain gingham and flower print purple blanket, scrubbing away.

A little spot cleaning and he presented his sister with THE blanket she needed. 

I love that boy. He's alright, you know.

File this one under "Socialization"

Leaving the library after our weekly story-time visit last week, a sign he has passed a dozen times before caught Dale's eye:

Brown Bag Book Club

12pm

First Wednesday Each Month

Dale said, "I like to read.  Can I go to that?"

After a little discussion with our fantastic Library Director (Mimi), it was decided yes, Dale could attend the adult-intended event.

This morning he grabbed the lunch box I packed for him and his recently finished Harriet Tubman biography and Mimi picked him up to ride to work with her.

To avoid precociousness, he had been strictly instructed on how to wait quietly for his turn, and to act like a child (albeit one with very good manners) instead of trying to be an adult.

An hour and a half later the rest of us went to pick him up and I waited anxiously for the reports.

From Mimi: Dale did great!

From Dale: He loved it!

He sat quietly eating his lunch and taking in every word as the others discussed the books they had read.  When his turn came he spoke up and gave a little summary and some interesting facts from his own book.  He came home reporting the things he had learned from his listening and visiting, glowing with pleasure.

I'm so proud of my boy for being able to mingle with book-loving, life-long-learning adults without being either bored or annoying.  

So thankful for these circumstances to give him the wonderful opportunity to do something new, and something so enriching.

Thankful to Mimi for taking him under her work-wing for an hour.  Thankful to the kind ladies and gentleman of the book club meeting for their kind welcome and respect for a 9 year old, blonde-headed, book-loving boy.

He's already looking forward to January. :)

Did you see what I saw?

Before the event we went to almost 10 days ago gets any more stale, I want to show the pictures from the booth that was a favorite for all of us.

I would love the say something poignant and inspiring about brothers and working together and so on and so forth, but the tiniest buffalo brother has spent more time crying than not this evening, so creative writing just ain't gonna happen.  You and I are lucky at this point that coherent is happening.

With that said.... pictures!

Chaps...

Gloves...

Ready...

Pull!

Pull!

Getting closer...

Almost there...

The prize!

Proud of my muscle men. :)

3 weeks old... venturing out

Daniel's been to church a couple of times, and visited grandparents' houses a couple of times. 

Today we went a little further and returned to Tuesday morning story time at the library.

It was our first time to use the double stroller we bought the day before he was born.

For a person who doesn't like to stand out or make a scene, having 5 kids in 9 years will definitely take you out of your comfort zone.

Nothing like coming through the door pushing a double stroller and toting 5 kiddos to make heads turn.

Surely it is understood, but I can't leave it unsaid: Of course they're worth it.  :)

Today was a much-anticipated day for us at story time.

Dale has been helping with the opening puppet show for several weeks now.  Recently he wrote his own script.  It was supposed to be performed on my birthday (not for my birthday, mind you, just on my birthday).

But Daniel had other plans and we were busy coming home from the hospital that day and didn't make it to story time.

So Dale's debut was delayed until today.

His show was a smashing success with the preschool-kindergarten crowd.

It was nice to regain a little bit more of our pre-baby routine!

Baby Days

 My biggest boy and my littlest boy.

Sweet baby love!

Mooovin' on

At 10:11am on 10-11-12, I texted Greg:
"Calf in the pasture. Dale and I both a little teary. SO proud of that boy."

At 10:12 Greg texted back:
"Me too. Tell him I said so."

Thus ends (for now) a just-over 5-month journey into miniature ranching.  

Gramps was in charge of purchasing all supplies (for which we will reimburse) and originally setting up the fence/pen.  He was also the calf-raising officianado.  Greg was chief pooper-scooper, Dale was head feeder, Alan helped with feedings when he could, and Mimi documented the whole thing through photography.  Yours truly made sure those daily feedings happened, and put up with calf formula and feeding paraphernalia on my kitchen counters for weeks on end.


Everyone over the age of 30 was more than ready to see the calf back in the pasture where he belongs, and where he will remain until he's sent to market next fall, especially with a new baby coming all... you know... any day now.  It was definitely time, and today was the day!

The weak and pitiful creature came into town at the end of April sitting in the floorboard of Gramps' truck.

April 27, 2012

 He wasn't going out the same way.

Tug and pull, and pull and tug, and the critter was finally on the trailer.  An uneventful ride back to the country and....

...he was quite happy with the abundant supply of grass, the wide-open space, and a whole passel of new friends!  

As we drove away, leaving him in his new home, Dale and I both got a laugh seeing him romp and play with his own kind and size.  I turned to Dale to tell him how proud I was of the job he's done, and the hint of tears in his eyes brought big quick tears to my own.

For months now we've gone through several sackfuls of milk replacer, quite a few of starter and calf feed, uncounted scoopfuls of poop buried.

Over 250 bottle feeds, rain or shine, and guess who gave over 90% of those?

It's how he has started and ended almost every day since May.  Not to mention making sure the calf had fresh water at all times, including those 100 degree days throughout August and September.

It's the hardest he has consistently worked on anything, ever.  He took on the responsibility whole-heartedly, and did his job without complaint.  For weeks on end.  And yes, his Daddy and I are very much proud of him for it!

Although I'm sure he'll be glad to be free from the responsibility, I'm just as sure, for a little while, at least, he's going to miss that cow in his backyard.  

And it looks like he won't be the only one....

Making a splash

As if 4 kids and a pregnant mama don't make enough of an entrance on their own, we stepped it up an extra notch at church this Sunday.

On Sunday mornings you can always count on a handful of people mingling and visiting in our church foyer as everyone arrives.  This Sunday, this is what they saw as our little herd came through the door:

Dale, usually dressed in slacks and a polo or button-up  had picked out his new and very best outfit for this week.  I didn't know until he was all dressed and looking "sharper than sharp" (his words).  So he came in dressed to the nines:

Alan was bringing a birthday gift for his Sunday School friend.  But he hadn't picked out a little trinket or anything.  No, no...  he got Rachyl a HULA HOOP.  So in walks Alan with a hula hoop as big as he is.

Tyler, inspired by all the gifting had found himself a red Spongebob gift bag while we were all still getting ready at home and loaded it up with... 2 leftover biscuits.  No baggie, no napkin.  Just a couple of naked biscuits.

Brooklyn was looking pretty spiffy herself.  Some of her outfits are dressier than others, and Saturday night I had laid out one of her frillier dresses.  I hadn't noticed the coordinated colors yet, but as everyone was oohing and ahhing over Dale in his suit, he pipes up and says.... "The way Brooklyn and I match we look like a BRIDE AND GROOM!!"

And... hello everyone... we have arrived for church!!

Celebrating 9 years of Dale!

9 years ago today I spent all day in the hospital.  

Pretty much most of that day was spent in labor.  

Pretty much most of that was miserable labor. 

(I was such a rookie.) ;)

But the reward at the end was pretty sweet.

And has been been ever since!

Happy Birthday, Sweet Boy!  We love you!

Not back to school blog hop - Student Photo Week

Dale.  My firstborn.  The one with enough energy and enthusiasm for 3 kids.  The one who is often so tender and loving with his two youngest siblings.  The one who was most excited when we said a 5th baby was coming.  The one who has caused me more doubt and challenges than the other three combined.  The one with whom I am falling in love all over again.  He'll turn 9 this week.

Alan.  Our miracle boy.  He's been through four surgeries.  He's living life with a gifted liver.  And I do mean 'living', as he often seems to treasure every moment.  He's a charmer, easily winning over many hearts thus far in his life.  He trusted Jesus as his Savior this summer, and for a person who was already tender and sweet, seeing the transformation to "new creature" has been amazing.  He'll be 6 in November.

Tyler.  My big eyed, don't-let-him-out-of-your-sight, B.O.Y.  He thinks he's every bit as big as his brothers, and he just about is.  He ate more weird found objects in his babyhood than I care to recall.  Ditto for things broken and misused.  The boy is hilarious.  Not a day goes by we don't all crack up at something he says.  He keeps us on our toes, but he makes it worthwhile.  He's 4 months from his 3rd birthday.

Brooklyn.  Our girl.  The bit of pink and softness in a sea of maleness. 

A laughing, crawling, playing baby that everyone here loves to play with, feed, change, and dress.  We're never in want for willing hands and eyes to keep her company for a few minutes, and she enjoys being the recipient of such affection!  She is 11 months old.

I knew this day was coming...

...it just got here a little sooner than I was expecting.

Or prepared for.

My firstborn got new Sunday Shoes.

Those are Dale's new shoes.

But those aren't Dale's feet.

Those are my feet.

I have a child with feet as big as mine.

It's only a matter of time until he's as tall as I am.

Let's just not think about that today, shall we?

Instead, I'll think about the fact that he can multiply and divide, lift 40+ pounds, change a diaper, read classic literature, play beginning piano, and recite whole paragraphs of scripture.  He knows the number of every Rangers baseball player, how to do those cool cup-and-saucer type tricks with a string, and can ride at least 3 miles on his bike before tiring out.

I like that kid, even if he does have big feet.