L is FOUR and T is SIX!!!

L
Favorite color- blue
Favorite toy- a beach toy with a sifter and spinney thing
Favorite TV show- Jake and the Never land Pirates
Favorite game-  Hungry Hippo
Favorite snack- granola bars
Favorite animal- elephant
Favorite song- Jesus loves me
Favorite book- Construction worker books
Best friend- Max
Birthday dinner- pizza and cake
What do you want to be when you grow up- Candy maker

T
Favorite color- blue
Favorite toy- bouncy ball
Favorite TV show- Curious George
Favorite game- Pin the Pizza on the Ninja Turtle
Favorite snack- ice cream
Favorite animal- cheetah
Favorite song- The songs in the Christmas program
Favorite book- Curious George
Best friend- Lily and Max
Birthday dinner- McDonalds
What do you want to be when you grow up- a spy

C is a year and a half.  She's still a super tough princess.  The perfect mix of uber girly and "don't mess with me"

And there's your update ;-)

T is FIVE

My sweet little guy is 5.  Wait, is that right?  No, he can't be five already!  That is not a little guy!  I'm really having a hard time with this birthday.  I'm not ready for him to grow up.  I'm not ready for this stage of life.  I like the freedom and flexibility we have to do school whenever we want, assuming we want to do it.  But at 5, kids start kindergarten at 5.  Yeah yeah yeah, we don't have to worry about that until next school year, but the fact remains that my kid is old enough to be in kindergarten.  He's just so BIG now.

We had a fun birthday party for him over the weekend.  He wanted a pumpkin patch theme and wanted it at our church.  So we bought pumpkins and set up his little patch.  We brought old tee shirts and painting supplies so the kids could paint their pumpkins.  I expected this to last a while.  It didn't!  But they were very happy to run around like little crazy people.  We had lots of balloons and a few games set up.  We didn't play many of the organized games I planned, though.  They were too crazy.  We were able to play 3 legged race, though.  It was fun.  T and his buddy B (who my sister used to nanny for, so we know him well) won both times.  I was honestly impressed with their strategy and team work!  The first round, they ran to the finish line like it was no big deal!  The second time, they fell down, but it didn't stop them from missing a beat.  They both crawled.  Ha ha!  The piñata was also a big hit.  I bought way too much candy!  Sorry other moms!

I don't think I have T's birth story written down anywhere, so I'm going to take this opportunity to share it :)

At 37 weeks, I was 3 1/2 cm dilated.  Doctor said he didn't expect me to be back next week!  Yeah!  Baby time!  Next week, I was still 3 1/2 cm.  Sigh.  Again, I left thinking I wouldn't make it to my next appointment.  Half way through the week, I have one contraction which pushed me up to 4, closer to 4 1/2 cm dilated, but still no baby.  For a month, I walked two laps around the mall every morning (it's a huge mall!) and then J and I walked laps around our apartment complex...over and over and over.  Still, no baby.  I was scheduled to be induced the day after my due date.  But finally, at 39 weeks and 5 days, I went into labor.  I called J as soon as I realized I was in labor (around 11) and asked him to come home.  It was a long drive and I was worried about being alone.  By the time he got home, I was having good, strong contractions and hopped in the shower until we ran out of hot water.  After that, we decided to head to my in-
laws house because they have a big Jacuzzi tub.  That was WONDERFUL.  The contractions hurt so much less when I was under the water.  But about 3 1/2 hours after the first contraction, we decided to head to the hospital.  J called to let them know and they told him I didn't sound like I was ready but I could be checked at their office if I felt like I needed to go.  I told him we were going straight to the hospital, not the doctors office.  I was 6 1/2 cm when we got there and so discouraged.  Soon after that, I was asking for an epidural.  Then my water broke.  That's about the time J suggested I wait to be checked again before getting the epi, because he knew how important it was to me to go med free.  9 1/2 cm!  Almost there!  Then labor stalled, I cried, almost threw up with every contraction, held onto J's arm, cried some more, then felt like I had to push.  Yay!  Baby time!  After a while of pushing, the nurse realized baby was sunny side up, which was making it hard to come out.  The doctor said he was too far down the birth canal to try to move him and he would have to be delivered that way.  YIKES.  But the nurse knew some tricks to encourage him to turn himself.  I pushed on my hands and knees for a long time and he eventually turned.  2 1/2 hours later, he was born.  After a total of 7 hours, my 8lb 8oz baby boy was born.  He left me with a 4th degree tear, but was otherwise the best baby.  Nursed ok, slept well, happy as can be.

Here is his yearly quiz :)
Favorite food- corn dogs
Least favorite- spaghetti
Favorite toy- the lazer tag and the remote control truck, both he got for his birthday
Favorite game- tag
Favorite tv show- spiderman
Best friend- little girl who used to live across the street, but moved to the single family area in our community (L)
Favorite place- Chick Fil A
Favorite color- blue
Favorite book- Where the Sidewalk Ends, by Shel Silverstein
Favorite song- Oh no, never let go
Future Career- Stay home to help Mommy with the children.  Ha ha.  He's such a sweet kid.  But this mommy is done having children!  ;-)

No School!

We have taken the past few weeks off from school.  While I miss the structure and the time we spend gathered at our table, I thought it would be rough to try to learn academics with all that the boys have been doing.  We've done some fun things, though!  Like....


Busch Gardens!

 

Then, we stayed at a hotel and went to a place filled with trampolines and apple picking.

 

Obviously, a good time was had by all.  We can't wait to go again.  I love spending time with my little family.

 

After our family getaway, the boys tried their own little trip without mommy and daddy.  My parents took them to visit my sister in North Carolina.  T had a great time, L was ready to come home.   In fact, he threw such tantrums that they came home two days early.  J and I planned to go through our entire house, top to bottom, and clean, purge, and organize.  We got through a lot of stuff, but we have a lot left.  Sigh.  Oh well.  Someday, we will have a nice, clean, organized home.  When that day comes, I think I'll miss the excitement and joy young kids bring.  It would be nice if I could have both, though.  A clean house and young, joy-filled kids ;-)

 

Now that we've had a couple weeks off, I'm debating whether to hit the books again, or to work more on chores.  A certain child has a really hard time cleaning up after himself and doing things on his own.  Even things like getting dressed.  Part of me is thinking that I need to take this time to teach them more how to take care of their things (this goes back to my frustration over my house). 

 

Letter B! And a 7 Month Old.

We worked on the letter B last week.  I decided it would be easier to blog our whole week in one post.  Unfortunately, I didn't get pictures of everything we did, but I'll share some of our fun things.  So here we go!

This week, I introduced journaling.  We "wrote" a lot about the BEACH (my favorite place to be!).  The way we did this was by having the boys color a picture and then telling me exactly what words to write down.  I encouraged them to use full sentences, which was hard at times, but I think they will catch on quickly.  T LOVES journaling.

 

 L worked on squares.

 

T fed the Bunny some carrots.  I would write a number on the bunny's belly and he gave the bunny that many carrots.

 

L sorted Bugs by color.  This was his favorite activity and he has taken them out several times since. (He really does where clothes sometimes.  I promise.  Lol)

 

 We did a few other things, too (but don't have pics of on my computer...).  The best game of the week was Balloon Blast!  I wrote numbers and shapes on the sidewalk and let the boys throw water balloons at whatever number/shape I called out.  We also made butterflies out of capital B's and tissue paper. (This is not my picture, but this is the project. Here's the website it came from)
Princess had her first play date, complete with dress up!  Oh my, how adorable are these two together???  And what makes these BFF's even better is that they have very similar names.  As in, almost identical.  I see lots of fun (and confusion) between these two as the years go by.

 And one more picture, because my sweet little princess is growing up!  7 months old!  Already?!?  Her big accomplishments are 3 teeth, all along the bottom (with more coming), she's crawling, pulling up on things, and responding to her name.  She is probably the most popular kid on the planet because she smiles at anyone who looks at her.  It's fun walking through a store or church because everyone ooo's and aaah's over her and she EATS IT UP.  She has started on solid food and LOVES it.  I mean absolutely loves it!!!  We are slow to introduce things because I want her breast fed as much as possible, but so far she's tried peas, banana, apple, and mushy carrots.  When she eats, she always says, "ummm mmm mmm ummmmmm."  Oh, another big accomplishment this past month is that she now sleeps in her own room instead of Mommy and Daddy's room.  She does great in there.  She's so much like her biggest brother.

The Rest of Week F

I wasn't able to update the blog each day, so here's a quick peek at the rest of the fun things we did this past week:
Feather painting

 

 

 This was T's math one day

 

 I have two kids in Awana this year!  L is in Cubbies and T is in Sparks!

L working on his F flag

 

 Writing in shaving cream

T's F flag

 

 L's turn to draw shapes in shaving cream

 

 Princess watching her brothers and being a little ham

 

 We made puffy paint and made Fish with it, but I forgot to get a pic

Meal Plan

This week, we are having:

Ham and potatoes
Chipotle Chicken
Tortilla soup made from left over chicken
Pot Roast
And J will grill out.  Yum!

Still haven't started planning out all meals, but I'm just happy to had dinners for the week. :)

School was good again today.  L had a harder time, but that's to be expected.  It will take him awhile to get into the routine.  I also skipped morning chores because I'm hoping to get to the grocery store today.  I didn't think I could get to both.  Back to school.  I should say that I get most (all?) of our school projects from pinterest, but I'm really bad about saving the pin and giving credit to whom credit is due.  If I stole your ideas, THANK YOU and I'm sorry!  So, we are on F.  T worked on his book and did great, but didn't ask to do more today.  It was a lot of coloring and that isn't his favorite.

L worked on a flower picture (because it begins with F).  T did one after he finished his book.

 

 We did some science today.  I made up papers for them to predict whether objects will float (F theme).

 

 L absolutely loves water, so he had a blast.  T loved it, too.  L didn't really do the paper, but he did say his thoughts (usually after he put the object into the water; he doesn't like being wrong).  Please ignore our recycling in the background.  T made those "decorations" hanging on the wall. 

I let them watch a few youtube videos on a frog's life cycle.  Double science lessons today! 

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/474003929501133127/ This one was made by a 2nd grade class.

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/474003929501640913/ Another one, not as cute though.

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/474003929501640670/ This is a cute little song they enjoyed.

 

T did a little bit of math from his math book.  He never finished the second book last year, so we will slowly make our way through it.  He gets a little bored with it after a while, so we are in no hurry.  L didn't do any math.  He reached his limit pretty quickly today.

 

Little L is 3!

My sweet little guy is now a 3 year old!  I can't believe how fast these kids are growing.  Unfortunately we didn't get a lot of pictures from his party (forgot my camera), but we celebrated at my community's lake.  It was fun but he got overwhelmed by the end.  He told his grandmother, "I don't want to be the birthday boy anymore."  Lol!  Poor kid!  I try to ask the kids some questions on their birthday.  I don't know what I did with last year's answers, but here is how my L answered this year:

Favorite Food: Snacks
Least Favorite: Carrots
Favorite Toy: Nemo (He just got this for his birthday.  He's played with it twice)
Favorite Game: wrestling
Favorite TV show: JoJo's Circus (this changes weekly)
Best Friend: Daddy and T
Favorite Place to Go: Chick Fil A
Favorite Color: Blue
Favorite Book: Cars
Favorite Song: Veggie Tales
Future Career: Fly Helicopter     


The following day was Princess' half birthday.  At 6 months old, C can sit up by herself (she's even pushed herself into a sitting position twice!).  She has started scooting across the floor, gets on all fours and rocks, and has had a taste of banana and a baby mum mum.  She loves both and so badly wants to eat more!  Poor girl has to wait until we get back from our vacation, though.  This momma doesn't want to deal with those types of dirty diapers while we are gone (breast fed poo washes out, but once babies start solids, you have to dump and get it off first).  She also loves hair, her thumb, and people.  She is not a fan of diaper changes and being away from her Mommy.

We are in the process of planning for school (something else that has to wait until we get home from the beach).  This year, I've decided against a curriculum.  Well, actually I did buy a reading curriculum, but we didn't buy math, language, or anything else.  I came to the realization that one of the main reasons we chose to homeschool is because I don't want these boys sitting at a table doing papers all day long, so why would I do that at home?  Plus, we feel convicted to pay off our car and not buying curriculum will save us money.  That makes extra work for me, but I've had fun putting together games and projects to do in place of paperwork.  I will try to keep this blog posted on our fun stuff.  But you know me and blogging ;-)