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.