For the past couple of months Allyson has been talking about ballet class and asking when she was going again. Geez. This school year we decided to let her try gymnastics instead of ballet and tap. She has made great strides with gymnastics, but keeps talking about ballet.
So, I called around to see if she could still sign up for a class or if it was too late. The city class was closed, but the place where she took dance last year was a go. When I told her we were signing her up...she was so excited! We got out this afternoon and bought her some more ballet shoes and she was ready to go!
After we got home from class I asked her which one she liked better "gymnastics or dance". She said dance because they have stamps!! Are you kidding?!? I told her "Ally we have stamps at home! You can't like dance more because they stamp your hand!" Crazy girl!
We will definitely cut back on gymnastics, but I don't have all the details worked out yet, but I'll get it figured out soon. For now she will be going to ballet once a week and she is happy!
Earlier this week Jase lost one of his front teeth and I knew the other one would be out soon too. I told him that it is hanging by a thread and that it needed to come out. I did not push him on and just let it be.
Late Friday afternoon Shawn and I were in the kitchen preparing dinner and we hear Jase in the living room "I pulled my tooth! It is out! I did it! It was hanging by a thread!" Such a big boy! So amazed that he will be 7 years old in a few short months! Here's Jase and his new look! :)
Sister Sue had pictures this morning at school. Hard to believe that this year of preschool is half way over. I can't wait to see the proofs soon!
As I was tucking Allyson in bed tonight, she started talking about a shopping trip she had went on this past weekend. She told me "Mom, I had a vanilla shake at the mall. And there is this new store: Dillard's, you would love it!" Hahaha! As you can tell I haven't taken the kids to the mall too many times!
My mom said she loved it. She tried on like 20 pairs of shoes and several hats. Look at some of these pics my mom took. And the pictures of her in the hats, she told my mom that was her model pose!! I'm going to have my hands full with her! Makes me think of that Travis Tritt song "I smell T-R-O-U-B-L-E!"
Let me just start off this post by saying if you have a weak stomach, you may want to sit this one out!! If losing teeth doesn't bother you, then you're probably good.
Both of Jase's front two teeth are pretty loose. And one of them in particular has been sticking out, straight ahead for the past couple of days. Today when he was eating lunch I had to cut his sandwich up in bite-size pieces because he could not bite it!
This afternoon we were in the living room and I noticed just how loose it was {he would not let me touch it!} and I told him to get a kleenex and pull that thing out!! Here is his attempt to pull it out!
After he tried pulling it out, here is what he was left with: his tooth turned all the way around!!! Gag! After I told him that, he told me that he felt sick!! Ha! We made our way into the bathroom and he spit a few times in the sink, but he kept everything down!
A few moments later, he got it! We were so excited. Finn was in there too and we all gave hi-fives!! Shortly after that he told me that the tooth fairy would be coming and then softly whispered "that's you!"
Tuesday morning while Finn was napping, I set up a little hunt for the old two. We had just finished a little study about two young colonist boys who were kidnapped by Indians and taken to their camp to be slaves. The boys were there for several months, learning trades from the Indians and doing all their chores. Over time, they begin to learn the Indian's language, but kept it to themselves. One day they overheard the Indians planning how they were going to take the boys up the river to Canada and sell them as slaves, along with their animal hides. The boys escaped the camp one night and were on the run for several days. They finally reached an English settlement and they helped the boys return home.
The families were beyond blessed to have them back home. They told the boys that as soon as they came up missing, they took the dogs and traced their scent through the woods. The dogs were able to follow the scent up to the river, but after that they lost it in the water. So, while the kids were working in the homeschool room, I set-up a little hunt for them. {The idea came from the curriculum...love it!} I got 10 cotton balls and put peppermint essential oil {essential oils: new found love by the way!} on them and then got out 6 more and put sweet orange essential oil on them. I made a path of peppermint EO cotton balls from my room into the bathroom, then I put sweet orange EO cotton balls around the path. I called the kids over and let them sample both scents and told them they needed to follow the peppermint smell. It was cute and the kids were laughing the entire time. The trail of cotton balls led to the bath tub, where he found the last one in it. He loved how similar it was to the story we had just finished. Then we finished up reading in our God's Wonderful Works science book about dogs and their great sense of smell. I'm glad it worked out!
Then later that afternoon we were outside and I found the boys playing in the "fort". I just had to capture them together.
And here they are in action! Once Finn saw me, he could not stop "cheesing"!! Haha! Definitely a new thing of his lately. Love my kiddos.
After a long Christmas break, I can say that we successfully completed school this past week. I was sticking to my guns on getting back in our routine and hitting the books. I find that when we are home during the day, things run much smoother and we stay on track. It's when we run an errand or go on an outing that throws me for a loop. While I would like to get out and about more with other homeschoolers, sometimes {most times} it is more efficient if we stay at home. And I'm hoping this will get a little easier as Finn gets older.
In the mornings Jase will get dressed for the day, in normal clothes, but for some reason he always ends up changing into this outfit. And I mean it's nearly everyday. I'm not sure what it is, but something strikes a chord and makes him go upstairs and get into costume!! This week I finally asked him why he changes into this outfit everyday {not discouraging him, just curious} and he told me "it's because we're always learning about history!"
I am really enjoying the curriculum {Heart of Dakota} we are using this year. {Thanks Rach for introducing it to us!} Everyday is planned out very nice and neat for you and best of all it is biblically based, which was a necessity for us. And Jase is right, we do learn about history everyday and we both love it. I was not a history lover going through school, but I have a new found appreciation for it and happy to teach it to my children. In addition to Heart of Dakota, we do a few other things like a United States unit study that studies the states one by one...this was his request. He really enjoys geography. And he knows all of the state capitals too...quiz him next time you see him, he will enjoy that! :) Late this past fall I purchased a Spanish curriculum that teaches Spanish through songs; however, it has not made it in our routine as frequent as I was hoping for. Jase really likes the songs though. I need to implement it more. And we do additional phonics work with Explode the Code. I really love this curriculum, definitely helped with teaching Jase how to read. I would highly recommend it; we use it everyday. And I have started Allyson on it as well.
Here are two clips from some things we studied this week. Maine- did you know that 90% of it is covered by forests!! And they have some 2,000 islands off the coast. I bet it is beautiful there! The picture on the right is Heart of Dakota. This week we finished up a little study about 2 two pilgrim boys from the late 1600s that were kidnapped by Indians and taken to their camp to basically be slaves. After staying with the Indians for so long, they begin to understand the language and learned that Indians were going to take the boys to Canada, along with some furs, and sell them as slaves. These boys were 12 and 8 years old. They devised a plan and long story short, they escaped and ended up making it back to their settlement after several days of running from the Indians. It was a nail biter and Jase never wanted me to stop reading. Needless to say, we finished that story a little ahead of schedule!
And here is a throwback for you. I found this while picking up the schoolroom on Friday. I had the kids pose for me so I could compare the picture. Ally was just months old in this picture. I had just returned back to work {teaching} and Alisha was home with my kiddos until Christmas. Jase was going to a little school, so Alisha would stay home with Ally. Well one day Alisha called or texted me that Jase had school pictures. He was not dressed in school picture attire at all! I had originally wanted to take Ally up there and take their pictures together in their Christmas outfits. Queue Aunt Alisha in the scene! She is such a help, always has been. There she was scrambling around my house, looking for these matching outfits and she was racing the clock since pictures were at a certain time. I don't think she could ever find Ally's shoes, but she did a great job. LOL!
My little Finn. I just love him. This month he will be 18 months...a year and a half already! Time is flying by. I felt the need to document a little about him since he will be out of this phase before I know it.
Finn at lunch time this week
He loves loves to be outside. I'm so glad the weather has been warming up a bit and we can be outdoors more. I think more than being outside, he loves balls. All types. Footballs, basketballs, baseballs. We went for a walk yesterday and he carried his basketball and wanted to stop at EVERY house that had a goal in their driveway to shoot. It was too funny. I ended up carrying him because it would have taken forever. Here is a normal car riding position for him.
He is a mess I tell ya! And we have made the mistake of letting him take a hard baseball in the house a time or two...yeah, that thing goes flying right in your face. A lover of balls, you get the picture. :)
He talks quite a bit to me. Well let me rephrase that, he makes a lot of noise. Even though he is babbling and his vocabulary is limited, he can now communicate what he wants most of the time. I can usually tell when he wants to go outside, needs something to eat or drink, wants a ball, or is tired. Oh and he will bring me books and motion for me to sit on the floor with him. Then he will sit in my lap and give me the book to read to him. It is the sweetest thing I tell you. I remember when Allyson started doing that.
And he is still a fan of electric outlets, but usually doesn't bother them too often...he has moved up in the world. We are now onto light switches. Every. Single. Room. He wants to turn the switch on and off. At first he would flip the light on/off right away, now he will tease you by putting his finger on the switch and smile and then after several seconds he will flip it. Little turkey! He loves to see the light turn off/on!
Guns...he is a fan. Not sure if he would have a choice in the matter, living in this household, but nonetheless he likes them. Anytime Jase has his Old Betsy gun downstairs, you better bet that Finn will want it. Here is a clip where Finn won and got the gun.
Yes, I flinch every time he has it and just waiting for him to hit the TV! Speaking of TV, here is a video of him watching The Duck Commander with the boys. He thought it was the funniest thing.
This past week or so he has started walking backwards and it is too cute. I was trying to get him to do it this week after dinner and he just thought I was taking a picture of him. He definitely has "cheese" down!!
He gives the sweetest sugars around. And you better believe that I ask for them often! He better love his Mama! School time is interesting when he is awake since he thinks he should be in the midst of it all, on top of the table, coloring on everything. He is definitely determined. I have learned my lesson not to let him walk around with a crayon anymore. Big mistake. The magic eraser and I have become good friends lately!
He is a good eater and there is not much he doesn't like, which makes meal time less stressful. He sleeps great in his bed {crib} all night long. Such a big boy. Definitely the best sleeper thus far out of the three. He loves his naps and it is nothing for him to take a 2-3 hour nap each day. During that time I usually buckle down and finish school up with the big kids.
Oh I almost forgot...he LOVES shoes! Several times a day I will find him in the laundry room, digging in the shoe bins and putting shoes on! He's gotta thing for boots! :)
He's such a happy baby and we cannot imagine our life without him. Thank you God for this blessing.
Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. James 1:17
This morning Jase had his first game of the season. He played 2 years ago for the YMCA, but half of the time he was on the other team since they always needed a player. It was definitely a "fun league" and not so much of a learning one. This year he is learning tons, which is great!
I loved this. They opened up in prayer together as a group and at halftime they had devotion time. Giving God glory, no matter what we are doing!
Here is a clip of his first game. He got to shoot once and pass the ball in a couple of times. He really enjoyed the game!
This afternoon I was in the kitchen cooking and I looked up and found the boys practicing. Daddy was working with him on fundamentals and situations. I just love a good day at home with my family: this is truly where my heart is happy.
On Friday, PawPaw took Jase to Space Center Houston. Jase was super excited and so was PawPaw! Before they stopped at the Space Center, they went to some of the buildings within in NASA. Since PawPaw works there, he has some connections. ;-)
It was pretty cool, Jase got to see several of the space shuttle mock-ups that PawPaw helped build.
Oh and this was cool. Jase got to control this hoover seat. It hoovers off of the ground just a hair, well actually 1/3 of a human hair to be exact! I believe the astronauts practice on this seat before working the real deal in space. One hand controls the motions: forward, backward, left and right. And the other hand controls turning clockwise or counter clockwise. He really enjoyed this. Also, my younger brother has a similar picture taken 18 years ago with this same man; pretty cool.
They took a lunch break and then headed over to the actual Space Center. There is currently a Leonardo Da Vinci exhibit going on and Jase said that was pretty neat.
He had a great time and a special thanks to PawPaw for taking him. The first thing Jase said when he came home was "we need to do more science in school!" Point taken! Haha!
Shawn and I are high school sweethearts. Married for 12 years with 4 beautiful children and reside in the great state of Texas. We are sinners who have been saved by grace, through faith in Christ Jesus. In our home we enjoy: laughing, praising and learning about God, watching sports, and homeschooling.
