Crabby Joe

Joe keeps refusing to take naps which leaves us with an overtired, cranky two year old. Last night Shawn wanted me to finish buzzing his hair but Joe was freaking out and didn't want me to do it so I asked him if he wanted to do it. He sorta looked at me like I was crazy but then when he realized I was serious he got excited and jumped up on the chair and started buzzing daddy's hair. Abby got a turn too!

Reading

Abby is starting to show a lot more interest in learning to read, as I mentioned in my last post. She has been sitting down every day with chapter books that have pictures every 3 or 4 pages and "reading" these books for 10 to 20 minutes at a time. Since she can't read yet I am so curious as to what it is she is doing in her mind. I wonder if she is making up her own story or if she is in the process of figuring out the words and starting the reading process? She also likes to sit down with her A-Z Fancy Nancy Book and spell out all the words. She told me the other day that she wanted to get a spelling book, I need to get a little more motivated and look into our options.

School again

The other night I came home from yoga and Abby was writing a book. Shawn had stapled a bunch of blank paper for her and she was rewriting a Madeline book that she has memorized, with help from Shawn. A few days later she was looking at the book and she said that once she learns how to read she will be able to read her very own book. I agreed and then asked her when she thought she would learn how to read. I ask her these sorts of questions every few months when she brings up "starting school" just because I am curious to hear what her thoughts are about learning. I also think it is really funny that she is totally convinced that she has to "do" school to learn things, especially because I have really stressed that she doesn't need school to learn. So, back to our conversation. She said she wanted to start school when she was 6 1/2, which I told her was in just a few months. I told Shawn that she wanted to start school at 6 1/2 so he jumped all over that and started talking about doing a curriculum and sitting down each day to do a little bit of school. Of course, I was just cringing inside but didn't say anything because if Abby really does want to do a curriculum, which I am pretty sure she does not understand what one is, than I want her to do it. After that conversation she decided she wanted to start next Monday and she wanted to know what I thought of that idea. I told her I thought she should just play some more. That was pretty much the end of the conversation. The next morning she told me she changed her mind and didn't want to start school when she was 6 1/2. My girl totally cracks me up!
So, am I lame because I am not encouraging her to "do" school at home??????

Nature Playground

Today I brought the kids to a local nature center and I was so happy because instead of spending the morning/afternoon inside we spent about 2 1/2 hours outside. We are having a beautiful 50+ degree day here in MN! The best thing about today is that we got to check out the new outdoor nature playground. I hadn't been there before so wasn't sure what to expect. I had our neighbor with us, who by the way just started homeschooling this week (she was in 2nd grade in public school). Well, the girls ran ahead on the trail while Joe and I slowly made our way to the play area. When we got there the girls said there was nothing to do because there was only rocks and wire. I said well come on use your imaginations. They ended up playing for over 2 hours and had a blast. This was one of my favorite "parks" to go to. Seriously, it was just a bunch of big rocks, a bridge over an empty ravine, different sized tree stumps/logs, and a fort made out of sticks that were leaning against a tree. It was great.

Catch-up

Wow, so I haven't posted in a long time and I feel like I have so much to write and yet nothing to write. Because it has been so long and I am writing this blog to help me remember the things I do with my children or the things they do without me I am just gonna do a quick update of the last two months.
* We survived Shawn's turn-a-round which lasted about 45 days. It was a tough one but we did it!
* Abby lost two of her bottom teeth last month and was so excited about it. The tooth fairy brought her some money which she was so delighted to spend on an ice cream cone.

* Halloween came and went. Both the kids had a really good time and ate lots and lots of candy. Abby dressed up as a Snow Queen (not a Snow Princess!) and Joe dressed up as a pumpkin. The costume he wore is one my mom made for my nephew who is now nearly 17. My niece also wore it about 12 years ago and Abby wore it about 4 years ago when we lived in Texas.



Here is Abby when she wore the costume.

We have had an absolutely beautiful Fall and we spent quite a few days playing in the leaves.


* Abby is still doing swimming lessons and amazing me every week with what she can do. She had decided she didn't want to go next session, which starts in January, which kinda bummed me out. She has this tendency to quit things. But then I was talking to her more about it and how helpful lesson are and how I can't swim yadayada, and then she decided she does want to continue but only if she can have the same teacher. Hope I can figure that one out!
* Abby started ice skating lessons a few weeks ago. It is every Saturday morning and the really nice part is that Shawn has been able to go the first few classes so he brings his skates and goes out on the ice with her after her lessons for 30 minutes of practice skating. She has already gained a ton of confidence. Last year she wasn't able to even stand on the ice without us holding her and now she sorta shuffles across the ice all by herself and she is so proud of herself. It is just awesome to see the joy on her face.
* Joe is talking like crazy and loves to sing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer and his ABC's. He also loves to count and proudly counts to 20 on his own.
* Another thing that happened here is that I weaned Joe. It actually doesn't seem to be that big because it happened so gradually and then he was just done. He quit asking and I didn't offer and then the other day I realized it had been over a week since he nursed.
* Last weekend we went to a Martinmas celebration at a farm in Stillwater. It was really nice. The kids made lanterns and then we did a lantern walk and ended in a horse barn where Abby got to ride a horse. She was so excited and she probably had one of the biggest grins on her face that I have ever seen. Afterwards there was a potluck dinner and a huge bonfire. We all had a relly nice time.

school

There are so many things I have wanted to include on my blog about school starting, funny things Abby has said about school etc. and I just haven't gotten around to doing it. Last night when we were getting ready for bed Abby declared she wanted go practice writing the number 5. She has been really into reading digital clocks lately and wanted to write a 5 like it is on the clock. So she got out paper and pen and practiced 5's and 3's. She would not quit, I kept saying I wanted to go to bed but she was all kiddy and saying she was doing school and how she wanted to start school now etc. etc. Mind you, she has said this many times in the past. She also mentioned that she wanted to learn to read. I asked if she wanted me to teach her or if she wanted to learn by herself. She wants me to teach her. I guess it is time to do a little research; maybe she will forget. I would be happy if she waited at least another year before she started to read. Oh yeah, she also asked if we would do letters and numbers in the same day and I asked what she wanted and she said no to both in one day and then she wanted to know how long we would do school each day and I told her that 15 minutes seemed like a good amount of time, she agreed. Well she is awake now and hasn't mentioned anything about doing school so we will see how motivated she is still.
I will end the post with a funny conversation I overheard at the park. A girl asked Abby how old she was, and then wanted to know if she was in K or 1st grade. Abby responded that she was homeschooled and so that meant she didn't do school. I think she meant that we don't do grades. Anyways, it made me laugh, especailly seeing the little girl look at her in a very confused way.

Home ownership . . .

here we come. Well we have decided to buy the house we have been living in for the past year and a half. Lots of things happening around here. Abby is super happy that we will be staying at the house and we are glad to not have to move!!! More news soon.

Abby turns 6!

My baby girl turned six this month. We were trying to decide what to do for her birthday and many different scenarios were dreamed up. For awhile she was pretty set on having a bunch of kids go to Foss for a swimming party but then she decided she didn't want that because she didn't think she would be able to talk to all of her friends and that would make them feel bad. In the end she decided to invite the two neighbor kids to join her at the Rainforest Cafe for lunch. We did that on her actual birthday and then a few days later we had family over.


Morning of Abby's birthday.


Getting ready to open up present from mom, dad and Joe.


Checking everything out at the restaurant.


The three amigos.


Opening presents. This is a hair accessory kit from Ryan.


Auntie Kelly helped Abby to do her hair all fancy for her family party.


Abby ecstatic with her birthday gift from grandma and grandpa. She got Molly McIntire an American Girl Doll. She is absolutely in love with this doll!


Abby, Molly and Joe getting ready for cake and ice cream.

Weekend camper camping

The weekend after getting back from our cabin trip we were invited by Shawn's co-worker to a resort he owns. So we traveled to a rural area outside of Frederick, WI and had another fabulous weeekend. We once again had perfect weather which has been rare this summer and spent the entire time outdoors. The kids swam/played in the water, Abby went on a few speed boat rides and a ride on the yellow banana pulled behind the speed boat. Shawn played on the Jet Ski and got pulled on the tube and yellow banana. I got to just hang out on the beach and enjoy myself as well as soak up the joy my family was feeling. Cheers to fantastic MN summers and fun loving people!


Abby in the speed boat


The kids on the yellow banana.


Shawn and the ladies on the yellow banana.

Joe watching it all safely from shore.

Week at the cabin

Earlier in August we spent a week at a cabin in rural Dent. This is near the town Vergas where my cousins and grandma live. I spent many summers as a kid going to Vergas and have super fond memories of it. We had such a wonderful time that I was really sad to leave. First we probably had the best weather of the summer, everyday was hot and sunny which is perfect weather for hanging out on the beach, playing ball, swimming, hunting for frogs and just plain old lazying around. We met some wonderful families who also stayed at the resort and it just so happened that one was a homeschooling family from California. It was really great just hanging out with everyone and being able to completely relax and not feel like we had to go anywhere or do anything. Abby got to go on a few speed boat rides and Shawn went water skiing and tubing. The kids spent the entire day and evening outdoors and were so happy. One day Shawn's parents came for a visit which was really nice. Another night we went to my cousins for dinner. He had just gotten a shipment of baby chicks so the kids loved seeing those and he has pigs. We also got to ride on a four wheeler through their cornfield and woods. We had grandma over to the cabin for dinner and late night smores. We went to Big Jim's and got yummy treats, grandma had her first Monkey Tail and Joe and Abby loved their popsicles and ice cream. We ended the week by celebrating my grandma's 80th birthday. Fun was definitely had by all!


Pontoon ride with the Ackermans





Shawn, Abby and cousin Derrick after a fun 4 wheeler ride. I was even brave enough to take Derrick and Abby out. Mr Joe didn't think it looked like fun so he took a nap with gma instead.



Grandma and Darcy trying to find some shade at the cabin.



Baby chicks!



My two handsome boys!


Abby gettting ready to jump off the floating dock.


There she goes!


Shawn and the other big boys going on a tube ride.


Abby and Kaelen going for a speed boat ride. Abby thought the boat was a blast.


Joe and Ashlynn sitting on the rocks fishing. Look how cute they are!


S'mores with grandma.


Enjoying a beautiful sunset.


Monkey tail and popsicle for the kiddos at Big Jim's.


Basketball on the beach.


The kids playing ball. Joe and Ashlynn took turns batting while Abby and her barbies were the cheerleaders.



All of us at grandma's 80th birthday party.

Swimming Update

Well my friend wanted me to post an update about swimming which is good, maybe it will kick me into gear to start posting again.
So, swimming has been awesome! Abby just finished her last summer camp and will have two weeks off before her next session which will be one class a week. Her confidence levels have completely soared. She jumps right into the water and now "dives" all the way down to the bottom of the pool on her own. She is able to swim quite a distance under water and is figuring out how to come up for a breath and go right back under for more swimming. She is also learning to back float and trying to get the hang of going from her front to back, she pretty much gets the back to front already, which is fantastic. She was at our neighbors swimming the other night and when they brought her home my neighbor said she just couldn't believe how much her swimming abilities have improved in just a month. Woohoo.

Swimming lessons.

We decided to try swimming lessons again for Abby and I am so glad we did. She is doing fantastic and absolutely loving it! We signed up for a summer camp class which was four days a week for two weeks. By the last day she was seriously swimming! She went under water two days in a row and grabbed rings that the teacher was holding under water. This child of mine, who had so much fear of going under water, now goes under water all on her own. She was ready. I am so glad we never forced her to finish the other classes she had. She has even asked to do more lessons. We signed her up for another camp and I look forward to seeing how much more she will do. I am so incredibly proud of her it has been awesome to see her eyes light up and the look of amazement on her face after she accomplishes something she thought she couldn't do. You go girl!

Biking and canoeing

Shawn has to work the night shift tonight and has been working a lot lately so he wanted to do something fun with the kids today. We decided to bike over to Lake Harriet, which is a couple of miles, and then go canoeing. Once we got to the lake and it was time to put the life jackets on Joe decided he absolutely did not want to go boating. I tried to get him to sit in the canoe but he refused. So we decided to sit on the shore and play in the sand while Shawn and Abby went out. Abby had a great time but only lasted about 10 minutes. Abby said she had a lot of fun but didn't want to do it anymore. Shawn ended up canoeing by himself for awhile and then we headed back home. I don't think it was quite the canoeing that Shawn had in mind but it was still a very nice afternoon.

Joe happy that he doesn't have to go canoeing.


Getting ready to take off.


Shawn and Abby out on the lake.



Checking out the ducks.


Watching dad come in.

Joe turned two.

My baby is two!!! We had the family over to celebrate and here are a few photos.

Dad and Joe enjoying their cake and ice cream.


The family.



This was probably Joe's favorite gift. I was trying to find him one like this and mentioned to my sister that I was having a hard time. The next day she called to see if I found one and I hadn't. She surprised us by giving Joe Tyler's (who is 16) hoop. The hoop is in great condition and they still had the original ball. Joe constantly asks to play and just loves it!



Family picture



Cousin Serena helping with a gift.



Grandma helping with a gift.


Joe diggin his new tractor.