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.  

Not Back to School Blog Hop - School Room

For a complete school room tour and pictures, click the link at the bottom of this post.

Most of our school is stored and completed in the biggest room in our house.

This room used to be the living room, until we did a flip flop and moved all our dining and school stuff into it.  The couch and tv got moved out into what was the dining nook.  

We love having room to spread out when it's time to gather 'round the table for school and meals.   It's even nicer when we have company!

The couch is cozy for tv and reading, and - my favorite part - central to this whole end of the house.  I can sit reading to 1 or 2 boys while keeping an eye on the 1 sitting at the table working on other things.

In this house 'keeping an eye' on everyone is highly recommended!

Click HERE for last year's School Room tour.

Happy Anniversary to Us!

August 12, 2012 and we are celebrating 12 years of marriage!

"Celebrating" being a relative term, of course.  Today it means "acknowledging with love and thankfulness."  No gifts, no parties, no candlelit evening. 

And we are both ok with that.  Our treat for the day was picking up burgers on the way home from church.  That's not a habit of ours, so it really was a treat!

We're calling our 'gift' the acquisition of 3 new (free!) bookshelves into the house.  All 3 were no longer going to be in use and would be thrown away if no one was interested.  Greg said he was interested, thankyouverymuch, and went back the next day (Friday) to pick them up.

He spent a big chunk of Saturday getting them all situated in their new places.

Two went into places I had pictured needing extra storage for quite some time, and Greg had been eyeballing the third place for a while, too.

Shelf number one received a set of casters and is now a rolling pantry next to our fridge:

Shelf two is right where Greg wanted it, in the laundry room to hold stuff that needed a home out there.

I admittedly had my doubts about this one at first as #1, it displaced other things that had been in that space and #2, I was worried about it becoming cluttered.  But with the addition of some hooks on either side for my purse and aprons problem #1 was solved.  Then seeing how it filled up with big items like the deteregent and other laundry supplies, I am feeling better about the clutter-catching risk as well.  My favorite part is that the calf-feeding supplies now have a home somewhere other than my kitchen counter!

And finally, shelf three.  To actually be used as a bookshelf!  We put this one at the end of the hallway, just as you enter the boys' room.

I'm not done 'moving into' this one yet, but already it has given relief to some other shelves in the boys' room.  Even after I finish putting all I want to into it I expect to have a little bit of shelf space left for more books.  Because we'll always be getting more books.

(And before anyone asks, YES, these shelves have been secured to the walls to avoid tipping.)

We have had a good time enjoying the fact that of all the things we consider 'needs' right now, God surprised us this weekend fulfilling some lesser-priority wants.  And that's how we're 'celebrating' our 12th. :)

Married life so far, by the numbers:
12 years
6 residences
5 kids
2 dogs
1 cat
1 fish
1 calf
4 surgeries
1 broken arm
8 jobs
10 vehicles
4 towns
3 churches

Weekly Wrap Up Week 4

Another full week!  This was our first week this school year without Daddy, as he returned to work on Monday.  That day started chaotically, but turned out ok, and the week just improved from there!

Monday:

Dale went out to practice for an event coming up on Tuesday, and the two littles were sleeping.  Alan and I took advantage of the calm to mix up some fingerpaint together:

When Dale was back and everyone awake, we all enjoyed a little painting.  Well... we all painted.  Some enjoyed it more than others.

Alan: loved. Tyler: happy (despite look of initial doubt above). Me: enjoyed experience. Dale: Participated only because I told him we'd be using the painted paper to make something later in the week.

Tuesday: Weekly storytime at the library, and Dale was asked to help with this week's puppet show.  He had a blast and really did a great job.  The whole thing reinforced my desire to put him in our local community theater's summer classes for kids!

Wednesday: Alan decided it is time for Tyler to do 'real' school.  He remembered a garage sale workbook I had tucked back just for that purpose and took upon himself the role of teacher.

Thursday: We watched a good bit of Olympics all week, but Thursday was definitely the highlight as my Taekwondo boys and I got to see some Olympic matches.  Alan may or may not have thrown his last few bites of a banana he was eating when the Brazilian he had chosen to root for lost the match in over time.

Friday: Unexpected day off for Daddy.  Dale and Alan finished their school in record time to be able to go with him for some errands.  More school for Tyler, a sort-by-color activity:

"Teacher" Alan sticking close by.

Brooklyn even got in on the school action this week.  Inspired by the ideas from a post on sensory activity ideas my sister sent, I gave Brooklyn a couple of ice cubes to play with this afternoon.

She had as much fun eating them as she did playing with them. :)

In addition to all the fun and games we managed to cover our full schedule of academics, which included the following:

Alan's Bible topic this week was attentiveness.  He continued with short a and moved on to short i sounds in phonics (Explode the Code 1).  

For cursive we reviewed 't' and 'i', and added 'j' and 'e'.  Alan's first cursive word: 'jet'!  We'll start next week practicing with 'tie' and 'tee' in addition to 'it' and 'jet' and another new letter or two.

Alan also did a lot of hands on and workbook work with the concept of beginning addition.

I've noticed as he's read to me lately that he reads so much better when there are no pictures to look at.  With pictures he tries to guess the text.  Same thing with familiar stories.  With no pictures he actually reads the sounds and puts them together fairly smoothly to make words.  

Dale continued learning the 20 key people of the Old Testament.  I had a test scheduled for today (Friday) but it seemed silly since I knew he knew the material.  So, I had him do his 'test' orally, telling Daddy all he has learned so far.  He passed with flying colors. ;)

He finished reading Genesis and began Exodus.

I am pleased with his improved effort in all his language arts subjects - writing, handwriting, spelling, and grammar.  I think he is proud of the better work he is producing.  We will still be working toward more improvement over the weeks ahead.

Tyler is one week into a two-week unit of Beach and Ocean stuff.  We've had a lot of fun reading and making this week.  His projects are great for putting a little extra crafting and fun into the big boys' days as well. 

Peace in the storm

Not long after tucking the boys into bed last night we heard the first rumbles of thunder.  

Thrilled at the promise of coming rain, I still winced at the timing and hoped the boys were already asleep.

Soon the flashes were brighter and closer, and the rumbles turned into claps.  Sure enough, around the corner peeped a wide-eyed 2 1/2 foot blondie.  With sheet and pillow.  

Greg and I were halfway visiting, halfway watching the Olympics with no volume, so it was easy to bed Tyler down on one end of the couch.

It wasn't long before the other thunderstorm-wary brother appeared.  Skeptical of it actually coming off without poking, kicking, wrestling and tattling, we settled Alan in next to Tyler on the couch while the storm boomed on.

It didn't take long, and only a few reminders to "lay down" and "close your eyes" before we looked over to see this:

Oh, the sweetness of sleeping babies.

This morning in our family devotion time we talked about God caring for us, and I thought about those two peaceful boys.

How often do we do what we think is the "right" thing and run to God when problems arise, but we run to him begging or demanding that he fix it.  "Do something, God!" we cry out.

Our boys came to Mama & Daddy afraid of a storm, but never once did they ask us to make it stop.  They simply rested in the comfort of nothing but our presence.

If only we can learn to follow their lead!  To simply rest in in the comfort of His presence.

And he said, My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest.

Exodus 33:14

We made it!

After a summer off, today was Daddy Buffalo's first day back to school.

Which meant it was our first day back without Daddy.

Which meant me, alone, all day, with all 4 kids.  Yeah, yeah, I know.  They're mine.  And sure I can handle them!  And sure the rest of the Mamas do it year-round.

But once you get spoiled to having Daddy around every day.... well... you're spoiled!

Anyway, for all it could have been, the day was very smooth.  Probably partly due to the fact that we started back with school and routine 2 weeks ago, so a lot of things were already in place.

It's a good thing, because the day did not get off to a smooth start.

I woke up in the 1am hour with very little room on my side of the bed, Greg in the middle, and Alan squished up next to him.  I looked over the situation and decided the best option was to abandon ship and go sleep in Alan and Tyler's bed with Tyler.

For whatever reason, Tyler also left for the big bed, leaving me alone in the kid bed.

At 5:45 Greg woke up about to be pushed off MY side of the bed with Alan and Tyler both squished against him, and his side nearly empty, so he escorted all boys back to their bed.  Which ousted me, but at least back to my own bed!

Unfortunately, I never got back to sleep.  Neither did Daddy, Alan, or Tyler, for that matter.

And then....

Trying to make breakfast and get everyone's day started before Daddy had to leave, we had some livestock excitement.

Dale bottle-fed the calf as usual, and then after a second trip to the back yard he raced back in with this announcement:

"The calf is out of his pen!"

Because this post is already long enough, I will only say that this was a very exciting never-seen-before turn of events.

And Dale did get the calf back in the pen.  Eventually.

In spite of our early and somewhat chaotic beginning, it was a good day.  And we were all very, very glad to see Daddy home again at the end of it. :)

"NOT" Back-to-school Blog hop - Curriculum Week!

A complete listing of our curriculum for this year (with links!) can be found on my 2012-2013 Curriculum page.  Below are the subjects we are covering this year and my thoughts on some of our curriculum choices. 

Dale (4th Grade)

Bible

Math

Handwriting

Writing

Spelling

Grammar

Science

Social studies

Piano

We are loving our Bible curriculum so far!  If you are interested in several approaches and memory keys to getting a broad overview of the Old and New Testaments, definitely check out these materials on Amazon.

Singapore math is still working well for Dale in our 4th year.  We have also gotten lots of help from these multiplication memorizer cards: 

Multiplication Memorizer Kit

  For a very visual learner (and his Mama) they have been a life-saver!

This is our first year trying Natural Speller.  I love the combination of "do-it-yourself" with the convenience and accountability of a purchased curriculum.  I also like that the daily activities focus on actually practicing the spelling words (and occasionally other skills like grammar) without wasting time on busy work.

Alan (1st Grade)

Alan could be more accurately be described as Kindergarten and a Half.  Or even Two-Thirds.  But for simplicity's sake and the enthusiasm of a new school year, I'm going for it and calling him "First Grade".  I expect by the time we take our baby-break this fall he will be fully into First Grade work.  Don't you just love homeschooling? :)

Bible

Phonics

Cursive

Math

Reading

Typing

Science

Social studies

Spelling

Bible:
Alan and I are studying Biblical examples of positive character traits using two different online sources.  They combine well with plenty of Bible stories, memory verses, teaching tips and game and activity ideas.  Hubbard's Cupboard is suitable for preschool through young elementary, and Kids of Integrity would easily stretch for an upper-elementary student.

Phonics:
After knowing about it for years, this is my first time to actually use Explode the Code.  So far Level 1 has proven to be just below Alan's skill level, which is ok for reinforcement and foundation-building.  The only trick for us has been the writing exercises, since we are learning cursive first.  We skip the writing exercises in the book (or do them orally) since we have only just begun cursive and I don't want to practice manuscript at this point.

Math:
Since Singapore has worked so well for Dale (and we have 3+ years' worth of books laid by) I am starting Alan there as well.  We did reach back and begin with the Kindergarten B book for some extra work with place value and numbers to 20.

Tyler (2 1/2)

I believe preschoolers (ie any child not ready for sit-down work, from babies on up) should:

1. Be read to - lots!

2. Make stuff.  

Both free-style and parent-guided, with a good variety of supplies.

3. Do stuff.

Hands on things like sorting and puzzle working, 

and bigger things like finger plays or singing songs.  

In other words: play.

Sometimes I wing it, and sometimes I find a curriculum helps.  We are currently loosely following the Joyful Learning Curriculum for 2 year olds at Hubbard's Cupboard.
For us that means checking out lots of books from the library on the current 2-week topic, using some of the ideas from Hubbard's Cupboard, and searching the Internet for other ideas that fit with the theme.  One or two activities a day is plenty for us.  

As we play, make, and read through this year I will also begin gently introducing letter sounds to Tyler, along with making sure he knows his colors and other basic skills.  He's not even three, so there is plenty of time.  At the same time, kids this age are ripe for learning, so why wait and miss opportunities?

Linking up with: