Beans, Beans

by Meghan // April 12, 2013 // Comments off

With Spring in the air, Lexie has bee learning all about plants and how they grow. So, we decided to plant some beans! I wanted her to see how the beans change from a seed to a plant, but didn’t really want to do the baggie thing. SO I did a little googling, and I I found this great idea over at The Imagination Tree. (People like to make fun of my glass jar obsession …) But she used a glass jar and cotton balls to grow beans! Genius! The best part is, it is easy, not messy, and Lexie could do it all on her own.

So I grabbed ~~one of my many jars~~ a jar, and gave her the cotton balls.

She put them in the jar..

Then she added the beans to the side of the jar, so we could see them.

Next we watered the beans. And this is what we have a few weeks later!

The great big bean didn’t do anything for a week, then one morning it had started growing!
It is going at a slower pace than the other.

This one is really taking off, and is probably ready to be planted. I am not sure why it took them 2 weeks to grow this much? They are in an east facing window, so maybe that is why?

Lexie loves telling everyone about her beans, and checking on them every day. She does so good not to touch them, but likes to pick up the jar and stare. =) This was a very fun project for her, and for me!

Hopefully this week/end we are going to get our herb seeds planted!

Our first Before Five in a Row Activities

by Meghan // April 11, 2013 // Comments off

A few weeks ago we began our fun journey with Before Five in a Row. The first story we did was, “Jesse Bear, What Will You Wear?” We bought it from Amazon; you can get it here.

Jesse Bear’s bathtub and rubber ducky counting game

I found a ton of printables online for many of the books. I really like Homeschool Creations. She has a TON of great resources on her sites. Some of the activities are too old for Lexie, like writing her name, or retelling the story. But what I did was asked her how to spell her name, and I wrote it for her. Then she could trace it if she wanted to. I also had her retell the story, and wrote it down for her… She liked all the activities, and every day wanted to know what we were doing next! She doesn’t like to draw pictures, I’m not sure why? She likes to color, but she rarely will just “draw pictures” of things. I know she has the imagination to do it, she doesn’t want to. So I don’t push it. But what she LOVES to do, is just color/scribble on a piece of paper, make marks, etc. then tell me “look, i made a ‘blank.'” Usually it is the letter V, O, I, L, or a number like 7. And she is right, whatever it is looks exactly like what she drew. Maybe a love for drawing will come later.

Lexie now knows all her letter sounds. She still confuses G with J, U and Y … and that’s about it. She likes to walk around while playing and say a letter, then the sound and a bunch of words she knows that have that beginning letter sound. So her conversation (with herself) may sound like this, “B is for /b/, /b/, Bubby. or ball. Or bounce. Or banana. Or bean.” And she will do that with lots of letters. She is definitely going to be my early reader, but I really don’t want her to start too early. Research has shown that early readers don’t progress any faster than a later or “on time” reader. So really, good readers all end up on the same level by the age of 8 or 9. Whether she reads at 4, or 6 doesn’t matter to me, as long as she gets a good, solid foundation she will progress at whatever rate she is developmentally ready for.

Here are some of the activities we rowed for our Jesse Bear week.

This was beginning sounds, and the first sheet we did. Notice how BIG and uncontrolled her circles are on this page, compared to the next page. I gave her “shirt” since it is actually a blend sound /sh/ and chair, since it is also a blend. Towards the end she just wanted to circle all the letters. haha

She was to circle the ending sound. I said the word and the sound like “bear. /r/ /r//” Then she circle what sound she heard at the end. I gave her “rose” because the E is silent

We really enjoyed our first BFIAR book and activities. She LOVES doing them, and I have to distract her when I run out of planned activities for the day, because she just wants to keep doing them. =) She has such a love for learning, and has no idea we are doing “pre-preschool.” I wish I had taken more pictures, and this week I will! We are actually spending more like two weeks on each book, because some days we don’t get to the activities. Some weeks we only do 3-4 days a week, and I don’t like to jump from book to book each week, especially if she is really enjoying it. She likes to read books until she has them memorized, so we take our time with each one. Next we are doing “The Little Bunny.”

Our Learning Room and Routine

by Meghan // April 10, 2013 // Comments off

I’ve really been trying to wait to do this post, because there are a few more things I have on my to do list for this room. But, after uploading some of the pictures, I just can’t wait anymore! I will just do an updated post when I finish my other projects.

As you know we are planning to homeschool for preschool. We have started Before Five in a Row, just for fun to get her introduced to doing some learning activities. I will post what our “learning routine” consists of below. JTom has been just as excited as me to get our room put together. He is all about us learning at home, and having fun. He is amazing and just as excited as I am about teaching Lexie. He has supported me in getting the materials I want/need for the kids, and our learning room. My kids really enjoy learning and I’m considering sending them to www.littlethinkerscenter.com, a place my friend recommended to me. My mom has been a school teacher for 20+ years, and has TONS of great material. I’m so excited she will be retiring in the next few years, and we will get lots of wonderful learning tools then. She has already started helping us on our journey with some reading rods, patterning blocks, etc. Next time I go to Memphis we are going to go through all the older resources she doesn’t use anymore. I can’t wait!

“playing” with the reading rods

Lexie loves playing with these. She connects them, sorts them, reads the letters, says their sound, etc. I don’t really direct her play with the manipulatives. If she asks me to play, which she always does, then I will. But I follow her lead.

making a heart with her blocks

This is our room! Well, part of it. Across from all this is her “pretend play” area. It isn’t completey finished yet, and some things have changes since this picture. The gray filing cabinet came from JTom’s old work; we bought it from them for like $25, I think. It holds all the children’s books that I rotate out. Lexie has been really improving her reading recently so I’m needing to replace easier books with some that are longer. She is a creative child so the main thing that draws her to a book is the one with the best Children’s book illustrations. I have to bear this in mind whenever I’m browsing for new books because I want them to be informative while also being engaging with the pictures. The big cabinet is a china cabinet given to me by my grandmother, it was her mother’s. It holds my teaching books that I find useful, and thematic units that my classmates and I did in college, some of our art supplies, and our BFIAR books I don’t want Lexie reading yet (because I want them to be a surprise when we start them).
In the bottom are my empty binders, folders, and other supplies, along with coloring books. We LOVE doing calendar; it’s our favorite part of the day. The calendar is this one, it came from Amazon and was one of her Christmas gifts. Hanging on the calendar is our ABC bible verses; we do a new one each week. The posters came in a big tote full of thematic units given to me by a friend. The bottom one is an ABC chart, which we do the letter sounds song to. The top is a number chart that goes to 20. Lexie can (usually) successfully count to 16 on her own. The poster to the far right is a diagram of how a bean grows, with pictures of different plants and their seeds. We are currently talking about spring and how plants grow, so this fit perfectly with that.

The rug was for our old house, but not used. Choosing a rug can be quite a difficult task, but we certainly made the right choice. If you’re looking for a new rug but want a few tips before you buy one, visit https://info.bazaarvelvet.com/rug-design-guide-how-to-choose-a-luxury-rug. I have since cleaned it and it works great for our “circle time.” Max usually plays on the quilt while we do calendar, then we read together.

My favorite part of the room (right now) is probably the BIG table! Yes, I know! I love it. I found it on craigslist; the ad had been up for a while and I just knew it was already sold. When I emailed her, she said it wasn’t and to make her an offer! So I did. $40 and a trip to Lincoln later, we have a huge learning table and 4 chairs! It is great for the felt board (as you can see), manipulatives, coloring, puzzles, playing pretend, etc. It is just perfect for Lexie. Lexie likes to pretend it is her eating table after she cooks a delicious meal in her kitchen.

After we get the bathroom put in (not any time soon) and we have access to a sink, we will put a plastic office floor cover under the table and use it for painting and messy play. But with no sink down there, it doesn’t make sense right now. So we do that stuff upstairs.

Here are some more pictures:

I really want to get two of these Closet Maid Cubicles for all our manipulatives, puzzles, and other learning materials. I would pull the table out a bit and put them behind it, but horizontally so Lexie and Max can reach everything.

They also have these awesome drawers that go in them:

I would put a few of the green ones scattered throughout the shelves. All of this isn’t in my budget right now, but in due time. =)

Guest bed area

Pretend play area

On top of the cabinet is our laminator (woo hoo!), the cricut, our weekly binder and our BFIAR journaling binder. In the cabinet are puzzles, manipulatives, small blocks, and lacing cards.

I would like to eventually put everything that’s inside that cabinet on the closet maid cubicles, and put some of my supplies like laminating sheets, cricut cartridges, papers, etc in the cabinet. I have childproof locks for it so it would be off limits for little hands. The big chair doesn’t look in place where it’s at, but it’s perfect for all three of us to cuddle up and read in.
I also want to add one of these in the natural color to hold the books we are currently enjoying:

I am in the process of making something that is very special to our family for the walls. I began my journey as a stay at home mom because I felt truly called by the Lord; I truly felt it was my responsibility as my babies’ mama to raise them, and God just put it in my hear that is where I needed to be. I feel the exact same way about our time spent learning together. Maybe even more so now, than I ever did before. It’s just amazing to be with her when she learns something new, or makes a connection of two different things we have learned, read, or talked about.

A few weeks ago we talked about how God gives us gifts. I asked her an example of a gift God had given us, and she said, “Baby Max! From you belly!” (then proceeded to squish my ~~muffin top~~ belly. Then today it was pouring down rain and sleeting (Yes, in April!) on our way to gymnastics and she said “Rain is a present.” Puzzled, I replied, “a present?” She said, “From God! Thank you God, for the rain,” in the absolute most precious, melt your heart voice. It’s just one way God is working more in my life, to be a leader in hers. I love it, and although it is hard, and many days I feel like a failure, it’s a conversation like this one that reassures me if we keep doing what God is calling us to do, our mistakes will not outweigh the positive imprints we are making each day. So, all that to say, that what I am working on is definitely going to be my favorite part of the room, and a special part.

As we update, rearrange, and organize the room some more, I will do a post. =)

————–

In the meantime, here is what out “learning routine” looks like.

After breakfast and a few chores, we head downstairs for what Lexie calls, “calendar and activities!” We begin with our Bible verse and a prayer.

I have this http://keepingitpersonal.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/31-Biblical-Virtues-InfoGraphic_8.5×11.pdf which I found over at Raising Godly Children, laminated and hanging next to our calendar. I also have one in my Bible. We pray, then do our ABC Bible verse for the week. Next we sing the days of the week song, months of the year song, and do our calendar. Calendar includes the weather and season; eventually it will include a place value chart like this one. I too is on our wish list.

I plan on adding a few pocket charts for sight words, Bible verses, pictures, and other things we are learning about. The great things about pocket charts is you can change out whatever you need to, and it is always there for the children’s reference when they need it.

Anyway, after calendar we do the number chart, ABC chart, and talk about the seed diagram (which I will change out for something else when we are done talking about spring and seeds growing). Then it is time for reading! Lexie’s second favorite part… she gets to choose if she sits in the floor, in my lap, or if we all snuggle in the big chair. She really likes to sit in the floor with Max. I let her play with the blocks or hold something in her hands. It helps her sit still and she soaks in every word. The second time we read a book, she can fill in random words all throughout. We read our BFIAR book for the week, and a 2 other books that go with what we have been learning about. So this week it is “The Little Rabbit,” “The Tiny Seed,” and “Ping Pong Pig.”

Then she practices her gymnastics (mainly to get the wiggles out for the rest of our morning …) This includes tip toeing, walking backwards, forward rolls, hopping, skipping, galloping, bear walking, kicking, walking on her heels, cartwheels, frog hopping, walking side ways, running, back bends, bridges, hand stands on the wall, etc. After that she gets a sticker, picks a special toy or book if she wants, and it is time for independent play! Whew, you tired yet? 😉

(in there somewhere, Max goes down at 8:50 for nap- sometimes we are done with “learning time,” sometimes we put him down and go back downstairs to finish.)

She does independent play in her room for 45min-1hr. During that time I pay bills, prep dinner if it’s a crockpot night, do laundry or other chores, take a shower … just whatever needs to be done that morning.

So, we don’t do her BFIAR activities until the afternoon, usually. Sometimes we may do a few things before gymnastics practice, but usually we do it after nap (so between 2-3pm). This isn’t ideal, but for now it’s what works. I can usually do a few things with her, then she has a game or coloring she can do quietly on her own. This is time that I pick up, do something with dinner, play with Max one on one, etc. Lately we have been doing some Bible reading from our family Bible; it was given to J.Tom and I when we got married by my Granny and Grandpa (thank you!). It has been in it’s box in the China cabinet for a long time. We each had our own Bible that we made notes in, etc. Now I am so excited to share our family Bible with the kids! Lexie really likes reading from it. I haven’t found just the perfect place in our day to do this on a daily basis. I would really like to do it at breakfast and then one other time in the day… we are just going to play around with it and see.

And that’s it! That is how we use our learning area and play room! We don’t do that every single day, probably 3-4 times a week. But I can tell you, our day (Lexie’s behavior) is MUCH better when we start off with this routine. I guess it gives her brain the stimulation it needs, her the attention she needs, and the fun she needs at the beginning of the day. On days we don’t do it, she is like a little wild animal all day. She definitely enjoys the play, learning, and structure of it all. And I feel very blessed to be part of it. =)

Max Baby Summary: 29/30 weeks

by Meghan // April 9, 2013 // Comments off

Wow, I know. I’m behind… Max is now 7 months old/31 weeks. This is the update for his last (month) week, which was 30weeks old/the week he turned 7 months.

We have two teeth! The first one was his bottom center right, and it came in about a week ago. 3 days later the left tooth came through. The left one seems to really be bothering him today; he’s been pulling on his ears and chewing his fingers … but of course he hurts himself now when he chews them because there are teeth in there! Haha! It won’t be long before we will have to make a dentist appointment for him; he’s growing up so fast. I want to make sure that for his first dentist visit, we go somewhere who offer Children’s Dentistry as at least that way they know how to properly treat young children so that they are used to going to the dentist and not scared, (like I am). My friend takes her children to this Dentist in Sarasota, which is where they live, and they are supposed to be very good in treating children. So, I think I may look for a dentist local to us that offers a similar service so that his first visit is a good one.

He is sitting up all the time by himself (that actually started about a month ago). He is much more balanced. I noticed when Lexie was his age, in the middle of April she was pulling up on things and turning herself around while sitting. I’m wondering if it is harder for him because we have carpet now? Lexie had hardwood floors to spin on. If Max were sitting on hardwood floors, then everytime he leans over or reaches for something he would realize, ‘Hey, I can move!” haha I may get the foam ABC mat out that Lexie used and put it down instead of the quilt they play on.. But I’m not sure how well it will work on carpet.

He is babbling a LOT! Lexie taught him to say “dadadadadada” a few weeks ago. I’ve been working with him to say “dada” when JTom comes home or is holding him. Two days ago, the boy looked at his daddy and said, “dada,” then when JTom didn’t say anything back Max said, “dada,” until his daddy replied. Then he just beamed! JTom was very proud. =) So we are pretty well convinced he knows JTom is DaDa. He has a few other babble sounds he makes and is so proud of himself. Max is also signing for milk. He signs it when he is waiting for me to make his bottle, when I sign it to him, while he is drinking his bottle… so next we are going to do “more” and “please.”

He is wearing 12 month clothes (he has a few 9mo that he can wear). About 5 days ago, he woke up and had a head full of hair?! Prior to that he had a “mohawk.” Then 2 days ago he woke up with lighter hair! It’s crazy how babies literally change over night! His eyes … well I am going to let you decide from the pictures. I really don’t know. The centers look light green, but overall they’re just really blue.

Max’s 6 month dr apt went well. He started a new medicine, I think it is prilosec for babies. They compound it at the pharmacy. The taste is terrible so he has a hard time swallowing it (even with added flavoring) but it has helped tremendously! He went from barely eating and taking bottles to eating a LOT more! I think he has gained 5 lbs in the last 3 weeks. haha He has been eating peas, green beans, carrots, apples, apples w blueberries, and avacado with no problems. Bananas constipated him for a day or so, so he hasn’t had them anymore. But there have been no problems with anything else as far as reflux goes! What a blessing and answered prayer.

His sleep has finally gotten a little better for naps, and here is what his routine looks like:
6:45/7:15 wake
7:00/7:15 up, medicine, eat
7:45 independent play in pack n play
8:00/8:15 go downstairs to do calendar and activities with Lexie
8:50 wind down for nap
8:55-9 asleep (usually a 1hr10min-1.5hr nap)
10:15-10:45 wake up
11:00/11:15 eat, play
12:30-1:00 down for nap; we do 12:30 if he was SUPER tired from a short first nap, but 1:00 if not
2:00-3:00 wake up; time depends on what time he went down for second nap. (Usually a 1hr10min-1.5hr nap)
3:00 eat, play
sometimes he takes a cat nap (he is in the process of dropping this nap)
Ideally, his dinner is 6:00, bedtime is 7pm
On days he doesn’t get good sleep (usually if naps are interrupted it’s with a poopy diaper, or we go to the library for story time…) then we do bedtime an hour early, so asleep at 6pm. That helps his catch up on sleep, and keeps him from getting in an over tired cycle which can take weeks for a small child to get out of.

Lexie is doing great. She still enjoys gymnastics, and has all her “imaginary” friends. We read Goldilocks and the Three Bears, along with Billy Goats Gruff and the Three Little Pigs recently … now everything is a “daddy fill in the blank” “mommy fill in the blank,” or a “baby/Lexie fill in the blank.” Obviously this goes according to size of said object. =)

reading

She started letting me wash her hair in the kitchen sink, so hair washing and bath time are no longer a fight. She was doing great, and then about 4(?) or so weeks ago, it became an absolute screaming, tearful battle to get her in the tub so I could wash her hair. She doesn’t like teh water to get in her ears or eyes. Of course we did EVERYTHING to prevent this, but when
she is screaming and moving around, it becomes impossible to keep the water only on her hair …. After I convinced her the kitchen sink would be fun, and that my Memaw washed my hair in the kitchen sink, she was okay with it. =)

Two weekends ago, Spring hit Nebraska. Although this coming week is supposed to be stormy and cold, the last two weeks have been warm and sunny. We don’t do the Easter Bunny, so Lexie got a spring basket with some new learning toys and a few necessities. We gave her a Thomas the Engine (electric) toothbrush, some new PJs, new dry erase markers for her dry erase board, a pair of fiskar kid’s scissors, and some accessories for her light table. (The light table is a whole other post! Look for it later this week or next!)

She also got her first real kite! In Nebraska it is very windy, and out where we live used to be cornfields, so there are no big trees around the house, they are all a street over at the park and school. So it’s the perfect place to fly a kite. She had so much fun!

In many of the pictures I am posting, the grass was just barely turning green, now it is all green and trees have started budding and blooming(?). Our garden season is off from the south by about a month, so we don’t need to get anything in the ground for a few more weeks, at the latest May 1st.

JTom has been traveling some with work. He went to Milan, Italy last week. He brought back three bottles of Italian wine and some parmesean cheese. I still haven’t tasted the Italian wine, but I am sure it will be great. The cheese … well it’s good! =) In Italy they put (very expensive) balsamic vinegar on a little piece (like a cube) or parmesean cheese and eat it. So when we went to Grand Island last weekend we got some of the good, “gourmet” (though no expensive…) balsamic vinegar and tried it on the cheese. YUM! New favorite snack, for sure.
He brought back some “monies from Italy” for Lexie and she was beyond pleased. haha I got a beautiful rosary, and the wine.

Turkey season in Nebraska has opened, so JTom may be hunting Saturday. He joined a hunting lease here, that covers hunting land all over Nebraska, and in other states as well. I told him if he brings home meat so I don’t have to buy nasty store meat, it will be worth it. He said “it’s called hunting, not killing. I can’t promise I will bring anything home.” So, we will see if we end up w a turkey in the freezer. =)

We have started planning our garden. We know we are going to get in tomatoes and maybe a few other things. We have to get the fence done soon, hopefully in the next few weeks. All of the pictures below are from March, so they are actually a few weeks old, or older. You will notice Max’s hair isn’t very thick. Look at his hair and fat rolls in the next posts with pictures! It’s crazy how quickly they change.

reading to Bubby

Mister Bear playing in the bath

reading her Bible to Max

I love to be upside down

new outfit

playing outside in the dirt

Happy Bear

Angel Baby

just minding my own business…..

Until now ….

picnic outside

happy bear

Mister outside in the exersaucer

Hi Mama- look at me!

Sensory and Exploration Fun: Water Beads!

by Meghan // March 25, 2013 // Comments off

So … in the blogging world of preschool, home school, and public school there are these marvelous little things called “water beads.” They are non toxic and meant to be used in flower arrangements. But, lo and behold, they make fabulous fun for children. (and mamas… and probably daddies and grandparents too.) You can get them relatively cheap, these are like the ones we use:

I wasn’t sure what or how to do them… So I sorta winged it. The water beads start out like this:

Ours came in a plastic bag. That little bag, which you can only partially see, can take an entire gallon of water! I used maybe a fourth a gallon of water on ours, and you will see how big they became…

I started out by letting her touch the hard plastic beads. We talked about what they felt like, and compared them to other things in the kitchen.

Then we added water! I asked her what she thought would happen if we added water. She said “oh, I don’t know?” So, of course, we added water to see what would happen!

After we added the water, we let them sit a while. The above picture was probably after a few hours…

At this point I let her touch them and see if they seemed different. Of course they were, they were no longer tiny and hard, they were bigger and squishier!

Not so sure…

“OK, I’m getting the hang of it, these aren’t so bad!”

At this stage, the beads were not yet expanded all the way, so they felt like they had little edges all over them, like a squishy golf ball.

Later that afternoon:

Here’s where the real fun begins! This is after 4-5 hours. The beads have absorbed most of the water, but are still slippery to the touch. When I asked if we should check on our beads, she said “oh yes!” First, I asked what they felt like now, were they bigger or smaller than before, etc. Then I asked her where all the water went … she replied “Oh! It’s in the beads!!! The water is in the beads!” She was SO excited.

I gave her some measuring/prep bowls, a strainer and let her go to town.

She seriously had so much fun! Here she was lining them up.

oooh- big mess!

She decided she needed to put her feet in, “Can I put my feet in? Oooh, what does it feel like?” —yes>

Later that afternoon, Piglet needed to take a dive in the water beads.

Then, by her suggestion, we needed to add water!

Have to try a piece of ice

yum!

oooh, let’s put our feet in the water beads with the ice!

Scooping, pouring, do it again!

I’m not kidding when I say she did this for hours. These are a great learning tool, and of course it’s just fun for kids.

Just FYI: these cannot go down the drain or in the washing machine! They can hold SO much water and will clog your drains.**

To dry them out, spread them out on a cookie sheet (or something similar) where they have plenty of room for the moisture to evaporate. Then put them in a bag to reuse them! The instructions that came with ours say they can be reused for up to two years.

JTom is building Lexie a light table soon (hopefully by Easter)- Woo hoo! And these are going to be SO much fun on it!

Sensory and Exploration Fun: Oobleck

by Meghan // March 23, 2013 // Comments off

Oobleck, or Ooblick is a lot of fun. We have done it before, but Lexie was much smaller and it wasn’t very successful. I believe the idea came from a Dr. Seuss book. We did it when I worked at an early learning program in AR. It was so much fun, even the teachers looked forward to the days we did Oobleck.

Here is the recipe we used in case you would like to try it:
1 part water
1.5-2 parts cornstarch

Yep. That’s it! I lean towards the bit more water side of things, I think it makes the sensory part more appealing and easier for little hands. It is actually a good therapy for increasing muscle strength in hands for people of any age. When you grab oobleck, you can ball it up into a thick, almost powdery …. something. I’m not sure how to describe it! But when you let it lay open on your hand it becomes a liquid Hrm. Ok, I don’t know how to explain what it is, so we will show you. This was by far Lexie’s favorite “at-ivity” yet!

Here is a very short video of us playing:

The Lincoln Children’s Museum

by Meghan // March 22, 2013 // Comments off

A few weekends ago, (March 9th, to be exact) JTom had a great idea to spend a family day together in Lincoln. We didn’t tell her where we were going, I just told her we had a surprise for after we ran some errands. She loved the children’s museum in Hot Springs so much, we knew she would love this one, too. We went to Sam’s, the hardware store, and then to the Children’s Museum. After that we had pizza, at Lexie’s request, and then came home for naps. The Lincoln Children’s Museum was great- packed with kids on a Saturday morning of course, but Lexie did good after the initial shock wore off. She loved the water and especially enjoyed doing everything with her daddy. She is a Mama’s girl when Daddy isn’t around (and sometimes when he is..) but she is her daddy’s baby through and through.

Can you guess what her favorite part was? You can guess either: playing in the water, driving the big truck, making a sandwich, or watching everyone else (I will tell you now, this last one was not her favorite thing … but it was a close second!) I will label her favorite activity under the picture…

playing at the big water fountain

making water go through pipes and funnels

working with daddy

Her favorite part- driving the BIG truck!

they’re in there

flying an airplane

loved the keyboard

driving in space

He gets daddy of the year- not only can he style hair, pick our clothes, and install water softeners and filtration systems ….. he can face paint!

milk, pizza, and colors- the best life ever!

nap time after her big day

It was a great family outing day! One of our family goals for the year was to spend more days together doing little things away from the house, and camping more. Hopefully we will have some great camping adventures this spring and summer!

28 weeks old (6.5 months)/ First update since February

by Meghan // March 22, 2013 // Comments off

Well, it’s been a while huh? So … we have moved! We successfully moved our children, the animals, and our belongings a month ago. Whew, it was a little crazy, but we did it!

Sweet little mister

First I will do a quick update on Max and Lexie, then an update on everything else. Max has outgrown most of his 6 month clothes and is sitting for long stretches of time now. He still likes his feet, and loves his Lexie. We have been signing for “milk” for a month or two now, and he has started to do it back while eating or waiting for me to finish making a bottle. I am not sure if he has put the meaning of it to the actual result, but he signs back at me. So he is either good at imitating and will get the meaning soon, or he already gets it. He has been less than a good sleeper since we moved.
For the first 3-4 weeks his room was too bright while we waited on blinds to arrive. He was also getting used to his new surroundings, which I think was very distracting for him. He has started having good naps about every other
day. I’ve noticed when I get him up he smells SO BADLY of acid, and his sheets have been stained, so I do believe we are dealing with reflux again. This could be due to many things: A)not taking his medicine. We were doing probiotics and no dairy which were both helping. But at this age reflux tends to flare back up, and teething can make it worse. B) his baby food could be contaminated with dairy. Did you know food companies are not required to put ingredients on their products if it is cross contaminated, and not an actual ingredient? So it is possible his baby foods are coming in contact w milk. Also, I don’t have the carton to his oatmeal, but it’s possible it contains whey. We are going to the grocery store today so I am going to double check. We go to the dr tomorrow afternoon.

As for Lexie, since we cut back on milk, yogurt, etc. her eczema doesn’t seem to flare as much on her face. I just want to know for sure that Max has a dairy allergy, and what is causing Lexie’s eczema. I had some of his Prevacid left over so we started it again… with our new insurance we have to pay for all of it, and here it will cost us …. wait for it ….. $224.31. for a 31 day supply. When the insurance lady told me this I cried all morning. How is it possible these medicine companies can sell pain meds for $10-$15 a bottle (which many people turn around and sell on the street for $5+ a pill) and my son’s medicine, which he needs in order to EAT costs more than a car note? I don’t understand how this is possible?! And they don’t make a generic for the SoluTabs he has been prescribed. So at the dr tomorrow we will be asking what else we can do, if the dr. feels it is the reflux flaring up again.

snuggly girl after bath

So, because of the possible reflux flare up, the move, teething, etc. Max has just not been taking good naps. On good days he will take 1.5hr naps. On bad days, he sleeps for 20-40 minutes at a time. It’s exhausting for everyone, because it effects everyone. But like I said, about every other day is a good day for him. Then we try to replicate it the next, and it’s awful. I really have no idea what is going on. Hopefully it will smooth out in the next few weeks.

Lexie loves her new gymnastics. It is much different than the gym we went to in AR. Her tot class is in the evenings, and there is a lot happening in the gym at that time. It is really overwhelming for her, and it takes her about 10 minutes to become cooperative and pay attention to what we are doing. She has always been this way; at MDO she stood back and watched the other kids until she was comfortable a few weeks into it. The same went for playing at the Y while I worked out. And also at our play dates. Now instead of quietly standing back and watching, she just wants to go do something else, and won’t pay attention. I think this just comes along with her age, and being overwhelmed. After a few weeks I think she will be more comfortable. She has learned a lot of new, more advanced things, and has also shown the teacher a lot of things she could already do.

She LOVES her new house- her favorite room is the basement. I have set up a little area down there for us to play and learn. It is also plenty big for us to “practice” her gymnastics in the mornings when we can’t go outside. =) Gotta get some of the wiggles out. She is obsessed with Thomas and Friends (although she has’t watched TV since our first week here-more on that in a minute), and to ~~definitely not~~ help out with that situation, a train runs through the corn field on the other side of the house. They all have names from Thomas-Gordon, Charlie, Rose, Emily, etc. All names are the same as her imaginary friends that showed up after Christmas… and are still around. Nap times are now spent talking to them, instead of not napping. But I’ve convinced her to tell them she needs to sleep, so they need to sleep. She tells them no talking, but that lasts all of 15-20 minutes. (hey- I think that’s pretty good for a two year old!)

We have been doing a lot of fun activities; it is a lot easier now that I have a place to keep all our materials and things. I am going to do several separate posts on those.

Here are a few pictures from the last few weeks around the house:

helping daddy

telling daddy how to do it … no doubt.

good morning!

reading Thomas with Daddy

oh garsh!

sharing her Baby lamb with Mister, and asking for a kiss on the hand

just playing and watching Sissy Lexie

I can sit up really well now!

bath time

Lexie reading to Max (and she got all the words right!)

Scarlet’s new normal- she can see in the back sliding glass door and windows. She and Lexie talk to each other.

Going for a walk

I know- so dang sweet!

This is how they clear the roads out here-they push the snow into our backyard! Lexie liked it though

“Oh- Im going to show daddy I wear his hat!”

Max vs Lilly- the stare down

Before the BIG cut

This is hair after- it now sits right at her shoulders when wet

Good times!

Homeschool Preschool

by Meghan // February 10, 2013 // Comments off

Lexie and I have so much fun playing and learning. As you can probably tell from my posts about our typical day, we just use everyday life for learning; reading, crafts, playing outside, outings to the library, park, museum, etc make up our learning experiences. After the move, Lexie will be 2.5, and she is so advanced in so many areas already, I feel like maybe we could start doing more in-depth conversations about the books we read, add more structure to some of our days, more sustenance … Basically add a little more intention to how we spend our time at home. Obviously I am not going to fill every minute of our days with stuff to do- after all, just playing is how young children learn anyway. But I think this spring and summer we are going to do Before Five in a Row.

Five in a Row is a small, traditional learning platform (I wont call it a curriculum, because it isn’t) that uses great, classic children’s literature for teaching children ages 5+. It includes books like “Corduroy,” “The Carrot Seed,” and “Make Way for Ducklings.” Each story is read for 5days and you discuss a different part of the book each day, and do a learning activity (if you want to). The BEFORE Five in a Row (or BFIAR as it is shortened), is the same thing, with books for younger learners; both platforms include daily Bible study along with the story activities. Here is the description from their site:

“Dedicated to protecting and nurturing the early years of childhood, Before Five in a Row opens up the world of learning through great books and creative play, and builds a solid foundation for more formal education to come.”

It is just a great, informal way to start introducing preschool or school in general. Although I am not sure I believe in “preschool” as it is today, I know my Lexie; I know she thrives on learning and loves reading. Sometimes we read the same book 7 times in a row until she is satisfied she has seen everything in every picture and has asked as many questions as she can. She just loves to learn; not all children are this way, and I am sure not all of mine will be. But she is, so I want to encourage her love of learning and help it flourish.

I could very easily choose my own books, my own Bible verses that go with the story’s “lesson” or theme, and find my own activities to do with them …. But this requires a lot of planning and is rather time consuming. For $35 I can buy the BFIAR book with the ideas in it, and then enrich it with our own touch. We already have a lot of the books on the list (there are 24, but one is out of print, though I am sure we can find it used somewhere) and what we don’t have I will find on amazon used or borrow from the library if we have to. I’d like to buy them all, so we have a good collection of classic literature to always go to on our shelf; plus we can use it with each child. I also plan to create a lapbooking journal for each book. Lapbooking is a whole other topic in itself, but it is basically a project based way to “assess.” Really, you just use a file folder to glue, write and keep together all your activities for whatever topic you are learning about. Since she is a little young for that, we will keep a binder as a “journal” or portfolio, to put all the activities. It will also act as a memory book. The best thing is, the children can go back through it and recall what we did and what they learned. As a teacher, I know this is a very important part of literacy and education. Plus, Lexie Raye will love that!

After we do BFIAR this summer, and probably through to Christmas since it will take about 6 months to complete, I would really like to do Son Light P3/4. It is a bit more expensive at $200+, and is very similar to BFIAR. The difference is it is a little more intense. I really think she will enjoy it; many mamas that homeschool for preschool use both BFIAR and SonLight together. Sonlight is $269 if you get the included story books on their list, but we have some of them, and with some serious planning ahead, we can get all the books used. Then I will only need to get the instructors guide; it isn’t very expensive.

I have been reading and researching preschool stuff since lexie was born ;). J.Tom and I have always known that if circumstances provided, we wanted to homeschool for preschool, and beyond if we are able. I will do an entire series on reasons why, because the reasons are too numerous to list or discuss in one little paragraph here. But we believe we can give our children a Christ and family centered education, that is much more rich than any public school can. Education simply is not what it used to be; an older, wiser homeschooling couple made a very valid point: you send your children off to school, to be raised by someone else for 8+hours a day, submerged in a sea children that don’t share the same family values as you. Then you get them back 18 years later and winder, “what happened to my child?” For so long children were raised at home, with their mothers who also taught them. The family was a unit and we did not depend on the government or anyone else to raise out children and teach them all they need to know. Honestly, I know where education is, and where it is going and I don’t want my children in it. We want them at home, and with other families who feel the same way. It doesn’t mean we shelter them from the world and all it’s ugliness; on the contrary. it means we teach them everything we can about the world and how to be Godly in it. It means WE get to do it as a family, in God’s way. It is something that we have a lot of prayer invested in, and will continue to do so, because who knows right now where we will be or what we will be doing. OK! Anyway, I will stop here on this topic before I get too far off track. I will do another post about that later. 🙂

Back to preschool. Sonlight is supposed to be a great program that is a little more like a curriculum, and is more intense that BFIAR. After that she will be turning 4 and I’m not sure what we will do. If we love SonLight, we may do their P4/5 program. If not, we will try something else. But at least by then we will know a little more about her style and how she likes to learn.

I am looking forward to it because I think it will be fun for her. If she weren’t showing interest like she is, I wouldn’t even consider it yet. I think it will be a great way to build on what we already do; and it may actually not even be as much as we already do on our own … but for $35 we will find out. =)

22 weeks old … I think

by Meghan // February 8, 2013 // Comments off

Im in bed writing this post, and i usually have my planner to help me with what week i am on. I do not, however, have my planner. Oh- it is a very fun planner, it is an Erin Condren life planner, and i LOVE it. My only complaint is there aren’t enough lined pages for writing notes and thoughts .. but they sell a separate notebook for that, of course! Anyway. This is not a post about my planner. The point of me mentioning it, was to say the weeks are running together on me!

Max is in the middle of his 22nd week of life; this weekend is going to be SO busy, so I am writing this one early. He is rolling over like crazy; especially when he is trying to go to sleep. He is a side sleeper. So he rolls onto his side and sucks his thumb. Its oh. My. Gah. So cute! Bt, he also flips over to his belly. And while playing and alert, he can easily flip back over to his back. B when he is tired and trying to go to sleep, he gets angry and does a lot of yelling… So i have to go roll him back over. It doesn’t happen all the time, but it does happen.

He is nursing better, thankfully. He is taking his bottles well, but after about 5oz he is ready for his oatmeal. The boy is devouring oatmeal! I use a measuring spoon to measure out the oatmeal, then eye ball the formula to mix it with. He usually ends up eating 4-6 tablespoons, sometimes more, 3xs a day. That usually means i end up mixing the rest of his 8oz bottle into the oatmeal. So he is taking a full 8-9oz per feeding. I am still doing the probiotics twice a day and not doing any solids besides the oatmeal. Since we are moving and all, I think I will wait until after the move to add in real foods. It will just be easier with the traveling and everything to only have t have oatmeal, formula, and my pump in case he doesn’t nurse well.

He is in 6 month clothes and pajamas, and can wear some 6-9 footies, they’re just a little big in the feet. But it wont be long and they will fit perfectly. We are still signing, I am doing “milk” and “more,” while he eats. He watches me, like “Hrm, what is it that she’s doing?” but hasn’t started signing back at me yet. He likes to squeal! It sounds like he is gasping for breath, you know what I mean? But he is squealing- it’s cute. He is obsessed with his feet (what a difference a week makes!) and reaches for his toys, or anything that is in front of him. I have started sitting him up more, and he can balance for a second before he topples over. =)

Lexie is so much fun, we have started building forts! She loves it, haha. We went to Mid America Science Museum Sunday, and it was wonderful! We have never been because before now she was really too young to enjoy it. But thanks to super bowl, we were the only souls in the whole place. Seriously, she got to run around and do anything and everything she wanted. It was us and a lady building with blocks. And the guy who took my $10. Lexie is under 3, so she was free. Who knew a $10 outing would be so fun?! I promised we would go back next week after Jtom leaves. I have some videos i will upload here soon.

Tuesday we went to the library. I have packed up *most* of her books, so we have started borrowing them. Her new favorite book is the “Three Billy Goats Gruff”. She retells it by saying, “the billy goat broke the troooole!” That’s the only thing she cares about. I didn’t realize how scary/weird those classical stories are… But they are important for her to read. She is down to one day a week of school, so now we can do something fun on that day we don’t do school anymore. Really, I’m relieved she isn’t going to school two days a week. A break is nice, but now that Max is older and can travel more easily for outings, i feel like our time can be better spent together, learning and experiencing things together. Although i did a lot of chores while she was at school 2 days a week, the other three days during the week were mostly spent at home, because otherwise were were out of the house 3-5 days out of the week! That’s a lot of running and going with two young children. It’s just too much for us. So now that she’s down to one day, we can use a second day for our outing(s), and spend the other days playing and learning at home. Its less chaotic and less pressure.

My woven wrap came in! WE LOVE IT! It is a beautiful bright turquoise. I only know hwo to do one carry, but I will learn some others soon. I have sold some of my girly cloth diapers, and have my ring sling listed to sell. I am saving money for this wrap:

Isn’t it beautiful?! It is a super strong wrap, the length I want is $135, so I have a way to go to save! But I am getting there. I have tried to find one used, but they’re hard to find because people love them so much. So I may end up having to pay full price. The mama owned business I want to get it from offers a 5% discount coupon, so that would help some. Anyway, wraps are super fun. There is a whole lingo (sorta like cloth diapering, and sleep training) for wearing babies, especially in wraps. You have to “break in” your wrap. The Colimacon et Cie that i bought is pretty soft out of the package and doesn’t require as much breaking in. But the Storch I want is one that needs a lot of work. It’s suggested that you sleep on/with it, use it for picnics, forts, braid it (which is basically making a chain knot like you would in crochet), let the kids play on it, wash it, etc. to get it broken in good. I want the longer length in this one so I can do more carries with it, plus I like having a longer tail on mine. The turquoise one I have is an average size length at 4.6 meters, but I think I would be more comfy with the longer length, especially until I lose some more of the baby weight (which is slowly coming off, but at least it is coming off!) I got a few pics of Max and me in the wrap outside the other day; after I get them uploaded to the computer I will get them on the blog.

Anyway, so that’s what we have been up to. Something sweet, the other day we were reading our devotional. That day it was about angels, and how God sends them to watch over us and take care of us. Lexie said, “Like Da does!” (She calls JTom Daddy, dada, and Da, a lot). I said, “Yes! Just like Daddy does.” Oh, priceless. Today, JTom got home and Lexie was down for nap… not napping. When it was time to get her up, he went in and she was so excited she stuttered. She couldn’t get anything out! It was so cute. When he got her changed into her “walking panties” (those are her regular panties, instead of her “night night” panties which are her lupus , and got her milk she said, “mama! I am so excited, Daddy is HERE!” haha After that we showed daddy all her new tricks- she can wink! We also do this thing where I lay on the floor on my back, and put my hands by my head. She stands in my hands and I lift her up. It is what we used to do in cheerleading to prepare for single basing stunts. Anyway, she loves it, so that was new. We also do a new trick where i lay down and put my feet on her chest, then lift her in the air, and she is on my feet … if that makes sense? I will get JTom to do some pictures this weekend. Anyway, we had to show him that, and the library books … and the fort. Then I ran to TJ Max to get boxes and they played outside, feeding the chickens and stuff.

About the move
We have the movers lined up for Monday, February 18th. They will come and do some of the packing I am not doing, like the kitchen, breakables, pictures, mirrors, electronics, etc. Tuesday the semi truck will come and load up, and leave! The kids and I are going to drive to Memphis, see family in a quick 36 hours, and then my mom is traveling with us to Nebraska. Once there, our things will hopefully have arrived by then, and we can get settled in. Mom can help w the kids, and the decorating, etc. Although we have all this “planned” it is strictly contingent on the closing of the house. I am signing papers in AR and supposed to be over-nighting them back to whomever I’m told to… There are still a few things not complete, like something the appraiser is supposed to have turned in. If everything gets done and here are no glitches, we close next Friday. 7 days and a handful of hours from right this moment. And I am terrified. Not really. I am actually pretty calm about it, for me. I’m just concerned about something not going right and the closing being moved … which means we live separate for 2+more weeks. =/ The other option is to move into the basement JTom is a guest in. And if closing doesn’t go well, then that may be just what we do! Just pray for us that things go smoothly, and happen like they should.

Thankfully, JTom’s uncle is just 40 minutes away and he is going to take the chicks for us. I am so sad, and I mean SO SAD, to let them go. They’re so rotten, and so sweet. And I have enjoyed eggs every single day since JTom has been gone; with the longer days they are back to laying an egg a piece per day! Maybe that’s why I am losing weight, I eat eggs and whole wheat toast for breakfast and dinner. =)

Here are some videos. I figured out how to upload them from my phone to youtube, so hopefully I will be loading a lot more on here in the future.

I don’t remember if i posted this one or not? It is from August (notice her tan!), she was not yet 2, identifying all her ABCs. She now knows the sounds of some of the letters. We play phonemic awareness games during the day; for instance I will ask her what words start with the /m/ sound- like Max. And she will name a bunch of words that start with m. She also does it on her own, randomly. I might say, “let’s do a flip!” and out of no where she will say, “flip is like four or friday!” Using that as a teachable moment, we will talk about the letter f and the sound it makes. We have fun =)

Identifying and placing some of the States on her map puzzle

These are all from the museum Sunday:

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This is probably my favorite. It was so warm the other day, and she wanted to water the flowers. So… that is what she did!