i ♥ Faces - Anything but a Face

Josiah's ready to roll during an exciting game of monopoly.    This week anything but a face goes at i heart faces.

True Love ...

Mr. Alexander ...

Looking so innocent ...

And, yet, just this week ...

you've pooped on me (and my couch) ...

peed on me (and my bed) ...

and spit up in Daddy's mouth.

You're not so innocent after all.

Homeschooling - Week in Review

Well, this week hasn't exactly gone as planned.  Alex is getting more needy instead of less and needs to be held all day long.  He's not sleeping well at night, either, so I am utterly exhausted.  We did get a few things accomplished:

• Memorized Acts 16:31
• Learned about Daniel being taken into exile and how he refused to eat the kings food
• In Math  Caleb studied more fractions (adding, subtracting, finding LCD) and geometry.  Josiah learned about reading thermometers, mixed fractions.  Rachel continued working on subtraction and place value
• Josiah finished The Cabin Faced West and Caleb finished Meet George Washington, Rachel read a bunch of Dr. Suess and other picture books
• We read more of Johnny Tremain - We should finish next week.
• Studied the French & Indian War and Benjamin Franklin
• Wrote papers about the French & Indian War (Caleb - 5 paragraph Essay, Jo - paragraph)
• Mapped the thirteen colonies

• Learned about prokaryotic Cells and drew them.

                         Josiah's                                                                                   Rachel's

• Caleb learned about how the body disposes of waste and how the ear works
• Watched the Disney Nature movie, Oceans.
• Caleb studied pronouns in grammar.
• Josiah studied pluralization in grammar

I think that's it.  

Who told her??

I'd love to know who let Sarah know that she'll be two in a few weeks.   

Or did she just figure it out on her own???
So, what is an almost two year old up to?


Jumping on her brother ...

Playing Catch ...

Dancing ...

Climbing on the table ...

Waiting patiently for a snack ...

being super cute!

What I've Been Up To

Gazing at his beautiful face ...

holding him ...

all day long.

Wordless Wednesday - Fascinated

Parenting Epiphanies

Yesterday, I was reading a blog post (I can't find it today, so if you read it, too, can you let me know where so I can link to it).  She asked her kids, which sounds nicer, "Would please take out the trash?" or "Take out the trash."   She just knew they would say the first.  But, her son explained that with the question, he took it as an option, with the second he knew it was a command and that he was required to do it.  The second was far less confusing to him.

I showed it to Aaron and we discussed whether kids could really think that way.  Did they really not understand when I asked them to do something?   Could they really not see through the politeness to the order underneath?  We just couldn't believe it.

I went on with my day, completely forgetting what I had read.   In the evening, I kindly asked Josiah if he would please take out the recycling.   I was a little taken back when he looked directly at me and said, "No."

I then told him to take the recycling out.  He began complaining, "But, you just asked me if I wanted to, and I told you 'no'.   Now, you're making me, anyway?"   It was at that point I remembered the blog post.   I couldn't believe that it was true!   He really hadn't understood the first time I asked at all.   I guess from now on I need to eschew politeness with my children!   They truly do not understand it.

One Month Old

Alex is one month old today!  His life mainly consists of eating, sleeping and looking around at this new world he's entered.   He loves being held (mostly by Mommy) and sleeps best in Mom's arms.  Everyone in the house loves him to pieces.  We're just hoping he starts sleeping through the night soon!!

Alex with his Doggie.

That's enough pictures Mom ... this is exhausting.

Homeschooling - Week in Review

For several months leading up to Alex's birth and the time since, school has mainly consisted of Math, Grammar and Reading at our house.   This past week I've started trying to get back into the groove.   Over the next few weeks I'm hoping to get back into the full swing of things.   Of course, that's dependent on little Alex's cooperation.  Here's what we accomplished this week.

Math/Grammar/Phonics (for the girls) and Greek (Caleb)


In these basic subjects, we just do the next thing.


Reading


Caleb - Finished Mr. Revere and I by Robert Lawson and started Meet George Washington by Joan Heilbroner

Josiah - Started The Cabin Faced West by Jean Fritz

Rachel - Various picture books  (My boys never seemed to enjoy reading picture books once they were reading well, but Rachel loves too!).

Writing


They described how the ocean influenced the relationship between the colonies and England.


History


This week we've been learning about the 13 colonies and their interaction with each other and with England and the rest of the world.   We've learned the role the ocean played in colonial life and the American Revolution.  We also learned about how Freedom of the Press was established in the Colonies.  For Geography, we named the colonies, and compared the distance between them and England.

Read aloud - We are still reading in Johnny Tremain (what a long book!!).   This week we read about the Boston Tea Party.  We also learned about Whigs and Tories.   We had a nice discussion about whether we would have been Whigs or Tories.   One  said a whig  ... one said a Tory.   Whig ... Tory ... which would you be?

Science


We learned about cells and made a basic cell out of a baggie (cell membrane), jello (cytoplasm) and a grape (the nucleus).

We also watched the documentary Planet Earth.

Caleb reviewed the immune system this week.

The girls made 3-d hearts for Valentine's Day.

Caleb made Valentine's for his friends and cousins.

Caleb received his 4-H pin for completing his first year in 4-H.

And so they don't feel left out, Sarah 'reading' to Alex.  You can see the selection of books she had already read all over the floor!

Alex ...

Wordless Wednesday - Relaxing

Guess Who??

Rachel ...

Fun with Daddy

(WARNING:  This post contains a gross picture at the end.  You are forewarned.)

Jada and Aaron were playing a game where she would jump off the footstool onto the couch, giving him a high five.   She must be Daddy's favorite, because any other of the kids would have gotten yelled at for jumping on the couch.

(Josiah is trying to get the perfect picture as well).

After she got tired out, she decided to play tickle table (her words, not mine).  The other two girls joined in.

Then, the unthinkable happened!   Rachel began searching on the blanket for something ... her tooth!   The fun and games ended in her lost tooth ... and no tears (which is a big deal when it comes to Rachel and teeth!!).

Yep ... the new tooth is already coming in behind.  That tooth was definitely ready to come out!!

Happy Valentine's Day!

It's been almost 13 years since we had our first date.   We're a perfect match.  Soul mates.   You get better with each and every year.    I love you!!  

Photos by Caleb

i ♥ Faces - Red

This week the theme at i heart faces is red, not only in honor of Valentine's Day, but also in support of Go Red for Women.    My red shot is of my littlest lady, reading one of her red books!!

Doing Laundry ...

Tuesday night/Wednesday morning Alex woke up to eat around 12:30.   As I was feeding him I heard the sump pump run 3 or 4 times.   I thought this was really weird, since the only time the sump pump runs is when it rains or snow is melting.  It was -6 degrees that night.   As the baby was eating I grew more and more confused.   Then, I thought I heard some water running.

I laid down the baby and went out to investigate.  The water sound was coming from the laundry room.  I had started the washer right before I went to bed, over 2 hours earlier.  It had been filling all that time and was overflowing.   I spent the next hour cleaning up water (which thankfully had not gone outside of the laundry room, and instead had ran into the crawl space, thus the sump pump running).

The repair man came and decided it could be fixed ... but he had to order parts.  So, we are without a washer for a week.   I had tons of wet towels from cleaning up the flooding ... and we do have 8 people living in our house, so I was off to the laundromat on Friday morning.   Caleb went along to help me carry the wet laundry.   While we were waiting, I snapped a few pictures of him in the laundromat.

Hopefully, I can make it until Wednesday, when the repairman returns to finish his repairs.   The laundromat isn't my favorite place in the world, but going makes me thankful that I have a washer and do not have to make the trip there on a weekly basis!

Sarah and Alex

My two babies ...

Baby girl ...  Baby boy ...  the last two of six.

He looks up to her.

She looks out for him.

I think this is the beginning of a beautiful relationship