Spelling

Abby has been asking me to spell words almost non-stop the last few days. She has also been really into writing words down on paper. She doesn't always write the letters as words but just letters sprawled out all over the page. It is amazing to me how hard it is to just let her do it her way without trying to correct her. My controlling ways just creep up everywhere. Reminder to self, once again, let her be her and let her do it her way.

TV

So I just realized that Abby has not watched any movies since the last time I wrote about her watching the Diego DVD. Oh wait, she did watch Rudolph with me last week. Otherwise, she has not mentioned anything about her movies. That is a reminder to me that when I start getting worried about something that she is doing I need to go with the flow more and NOT worry.

Tired

I am tired. I have not been keeping up with the blog lately as I have been completely exhausted. The kids both had the chicken pox and then both colds. While they were better for a few days Shawn and I both got colds that have lingered for about two weeks. Now Joseph hasn't slept in nearly five nights and Shawn has been working nights this week. I am feeling a bit insane. I can't figure out what is wrong with my babe. Each night until about 1 in the morning he cries ad cries and finally passes out after much walking, holding, singing, talking, playing, distracting, tv, really anything a tired mama can think of to help her babe. I brought him to the chiro thinking he must have a raging ear infection because he cries and pulls at his ears, but he doesn't. Could it really be that he is teething? My babe only has 6 teeth at 16 months old. But really? Would teeth cause this much pain and suffering?

Snow

Today we had our first substantial snowfall. The kids loved it. Abby went with the neighbors to the big sledding hill at the end of our block. When they came back Abby, Ryan (neighbor boy), and I shoveled while Joe followed us around. They had so much fun playing on our hill and discovering all their toys with snow on it. I realized I have becom a big 'ol whimp. After about a half an hour I was ready to go in and whenever I mentioned inside to Joe he vigorously nodded his head NO. I guess I need to get some better snow gear. Cheers to the snow!

Animal Science Book/TV

So, whenever we go to the library Abby always wants to check out a DVD. She generally picks something that doesn't interest her and so she watches it once and then forgets about it. However, she does like a Diego DVD which I encouraged her to get yesterday over a Disney Bambi movie. So, this Diego video is really annoying but she loves it. She likes to watch it on her portable DVD player in the kitchen while I am cooking. Abby was never a tv kid and just recently she has started to like watching movies more and more and I am conflicted about this. Sometimes I like it because it gives me a break and other times I feel guilty about it. Well last night, after Abby had been at my mom's all afternoon, she said she wanted to make an Animal Science Book. This is a book that Diego refers to in the DVD when he has a question about an animal. We ended up having a lot of fun together making this book and it wouldn't have happened without the movie. So, I decided to release my guilt over the tv and to realize she can learn from it. Of course this is in moderation. I do not think I could handle it if she wanted to watch tv all day. Who knows maybe at some point she will want to and we will have to cross that bridge when we get to it.

Writing

Abby has really been into writing thank you cards and cards for any type of occassion. She enjoys writing all the letters except she has a hard time with S and G. She generally asks me to write those letters for her but the other day she said she wanted to learn how to write them. I printed off some tracing worksheets from the internet and she spent about 10 minutes tracing G's and S's. It was fun to watch her concentrate so intensely and was interesting to see how tired she got. She tends to have weak hand/finger muscles, which she works on with her OT. This was the first time that I could really see that the weakness in her fingers was not allowing her to do exactly what she wanted to do. Her OT sent home some hand exercises for her to do each day and we will see if they help.

Round 2: chicken pox

Joe woke up on Friday with the chicken pox. He didn't get them when Abby got hers so I assumed he didn't catch them. Well, he must have gotten them from Abby and he got them bad. He has way more spots them Abby and nightime has been rough! Abby is also sick with some fever bug so the past few days have been ugly at our place. Looking forward to two healthy kids.

Thanksgiving craft

So, I bought this craft project about three weeks ago and Abby and I have been slowly working on them. It was fun but also made me realize that I need to give up control. Man I had to bite my tongue so many times. I kept wanting to correct her or to tell her where to place everything etc. I am way too much of a perfectionist. I could see how my perfectionism was making her not have as much fun as she could have if I just let her do her thing. So, I did give up my control and the place cards still look great.

how to homeschool

So, this is a question that has been coming up more and more often at my house. I tend towards unschooling and my hubby leans toward "school at home." Meaning curriculum. I am not entirely opposed to curriculum if that is something that Abby enjoys. Because I have done a lot of reading about unschooling I do believe in it and I feel like it would be the best approach for Abby. Of course there are days when I wonder if by choosing unschooling I might be failing her in some way like the school system failed me. My hubby definitely thinks we would be failing her by not "challenging" her because he doesn't really believe that kids are motivated to learn on their own. I understand why he doesn't believe this because he is a product of the school system and hasn't done any reading on unschooling. I think this will be a challenge for both of us and I really hope we can find a "way" that works for all of us. We have plenty of time as we both agree that we won't do any type of schooling until she is 6 which is not until next August. Time is on our side.

Reading

Abby loves to "read" her books out loud to me. She is getting so creative with her stories I just love to listen to her. Tonight, before bed, she was reading her Fancy Nancy book and she incorporated characters from about 5 different stories and made up a really funny story. She just kept adding new people in and thinking of funny things for them to do and say - it was hilarious.

Chicken pox

Well the chicken pox are here. On day 15 of the incubation period Abby woke up with a few red spots. She now has a full blown case of the pox. They are everywhere! The first few days were a breeze but last night was really hard. She was in a lot of pain and her throat hurt really bad. She woke up pretty sick and was very sad the first part of the day but she seemed better for the second half. I am wondering how long these will last as she is still getting new spots. I am not sure if Joe will get them or not. So far he has no spots. If he does get them I hope it is a milder case than his big sister has. Cheers to building our kids immune systems!

Joseph

This post is to document the happenings of Mr Joe. Joseph is 15 months old and lovin life. He is still obsessed and in love with balls. He has an incredible arm and can throw a ball very well. He absolutely adores books and demands that we read to him ALOT. One nice thing is that if he is freaking out I can read him a book or turn music on which calms him down. Abby likes to turn the cd player on and the two of them jump, run and dance around the living room together every day. He loves to follow Abby and her friends around the house and play chase. He likes to make the noises for monkeys, lions, cows and owls. He also loves to play with Abby's fishing rod, which Shawn tied a ball onto the end. He uses the potty nearly 100% of the time and lets me know whenever he needs to go. He is a super happy dude!

Lantern Walk

Last night was the Lantern Walk at Maple Tree Cottage. It was really fun to be a part of this with Abby,to see how excited she was and to see her interacting with the other kids and with Jean. Jean sat near the bonfire and lit up jack-o-lanterns and told stories to the children and they sang a few songs together. We then ended the night by lighting the lanterns and walking together. It was a great evening.

Starting homeschool

On Saturday we went to music class and then to the nature center for a hike. The weather was perfect and we ended with a small bonfire. Afterwards we went home and put Joe down for a nap. While Joe napped, Abby and I ate lunch and she reminded me that she wanted to start homeschooling today. I asked her what she wanted to do and she said her numbers so she traced the number 2 and tomorrow she said she wants to do her 3's. Today is Wednesday and I haven't heard anything from her about doing more homeschooling activities. I printed some number tracing worksheets off the internet to have on hand in case she asks about it again soon.

Halloween

We went trick or treating tonight with a few of the neighborhood kids. The weather was great, there were a ton of kids out and two of our neighbors had bonfires going. Everyone had a blast!

Homeschool conversation

We spent another beautiful day at the park today with some friends. On the way home I asked Abby what she wanted to do once we "officially" start homeschooling next year. She said she wanted to learn her letters and numbers. I told her we could start working on that now if she wanted to and she thought that was great and announced that we were starting our first day of homeschool today. After dinner she realized we hadn't done her school stuff (she was playing with the neighbors and went on a walk by the river) and declared that we will do it tomorrow right after we eat breakfast and get dressed. We have music class tomorrow at 9 and are meeting friends for a hike afterwards so we shall see what happens. It will be interesting to see if she wants me to "teach" her or if she wants to just practice on her own. She already knows how to write her letters but not any numbers. We'll see.

Pumpkins

Yesterday was a beautiful fall day. We spent the whole day outside absorbing as much sun as we possibly could. Abby played with the neighbor kids and helped carve pumkpins with one of the families. While she was playing, Joe and I scooped the guts out of the pumpkin that dad and Abby carved after dinner. Joe thought it was great fun to feel the goopy innards. Abby really enjoyed drawing the type of face she wanted for her jack-o-lantern and worked hard at trying to carve it.

Fall Day

This morning we went to a make-up music class. Shawn had the day off so he went with us which was really nice for me. During the class the teacher talked about macro and micro beats and later in the afternoon Abby was sorting her beads into macro and micro bead piles. I thought that was awesome. Later I asked if she knew what was a micro or macro beat and she said no so I showed her by clapping the different beats on my legs. I think she was a little disappointed that it wasn't beads the teacher had been talking about.
While Joe napped with dad, Abby and I made chocolate mint (gf/cf)cookies and then went on a walk. It was nice to have that alone time with her and knowing that I didn't have to keep one ear to the monitor.



Later we raked leaves and played in the piles. Abby loved jumping in the leaves and Joe loved playing with Abby's fishing pole. He is already figuring out how to cast. He can push the button to release the line and he is attempting to reel it in.
My kids are awesome!
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Making apple sauce

About two weeks ago we went to the orchard and picked a bunch of apples. Abby has really been into eating applesauce lately and so she wanted to make our own. I was able to borrow an apple peeler and corer from our neighbor, which turns out is an awesome gadget. Abby used it to peel a few apples but got tired of it quickly. Joe and Shawn ended up doing the majority of the work. We cooked the apples down and then froze some and put some in the refrigerator for Abby's breakfast tomorrow.

Lanterns

Today Abby and I made lanterns for her lantern walk at Maple Tree Cottage. Her favorite color is purple which you can see from her lantern.

homeschooling

My mom asked me today when I was going to start taking classes to learn how to teach my kids. I guess I will be hearing these sorts of comments more and more. Of course now that Abby is 5 we get the non-stop kindergarten questions.

weekend

We started our Friday by going to Gleason's open gym and watching the kiddos run, jump and bounce. It was hilarious to see Joe bounce on the trampoline, he absolutely loved it. Abby loved running up and down the long trampoline and then jumping into the foam pit. In the late afternoon we intentionally tryed to catch the chicken pox. Abby shared suckers and Joe shared a sippy cup with two girls who had the pox! From there we went to a halloween themed bday party. Between the pox stop and the bday party we stopped at the co-op and Abby learned where paper bags come from. Lately, everytime we go somewhere she wants her own bag. Usually I don't mind or I try and remember to bring her bag. This time we only got butter and so did not need a bag. When I said no she got really mad. When I stopped and explained to her why I thought it was wasteful and told her where the bags came from (cut down trees) she was like oh ok - but of course my ever thinking girl said well what about plastic :) It is funny how if you take the time to explain things kids of course get it.
Saturday we missed music class because Abby slept in and instead we went and cheered on a friend who ran a half marathon. We then went to the PO for an API meeting and snacks. Home for lunch and nap. Abby had a playdate here so we played in the yard and enjoyed one of the last warm Fall days.
Today the reality that winter is coming struck us as a few snowflakes fell from the sky and we hunkered down in the house. While Joe napped, Abby and I made GF/CF pumpkin bars. She has really been getting into helping in the kitchen. Afterwards, I mixed up some paint for her and she painted while I made dinner.

In the beginning

This is my first post to my first blog. I decided to create this so that I can document our "relaxed homeschooling" days and have something to look back at periodically to see if I am living the sort of life I really want to be living.