Spring is here! {2014}

{pictures March 28, 2014, on an oddly wind-free morning!}

This winter, Lexie learned to swing all by herself!  And, she can actually go pretty high…  Then I convinced her (why, oh why?!) to jump out!  She is very proud of herself.

Spring day play

 

Max learned to climb to the top of the swing set by himself this winter.  We will spend the spring learning how to climb down ….  haha

 

 

Max enjoying the warm morning

Look!  Green grass!  (and a sweet, worn out dog.)

 

 

 

Charlie enjoying the spring day

Are you spending time outside this spring?

Weekly Wrap-Up Sept 20, 2013- Play With Me by Marie Hall Ets

This last week has been a LOT of fun!



We started each day off with Bible time at beakfast, like always.  We also did our memory work here- Lexie has learned Matthew 7:12, and a poem about the wind over the course of the last few weeks.  I thought about doing a weekly verse and a weekly poem, but at this age I feel like maybe that’s just too much.  So I think we will do one or two a month. Oh, and she has both memorized already.  We will just continue reviewing them.

Then we did a few chores and went down stairs for calendar, and story time.  Here is when Mister plays with us, we do a little circle time, and
Pooh series by A.A.Milne.  We are reading The House At Pooh Corner.  

And Lexie just loves it.  She asks to read the chapters over and over, and retells the stories.  She likes t be sure she gets every detail correct.  Maybe she is a future writer?  =) 

We also have my original collection in one bound book, I think it was what I got on my first Christmas?  Or maybe later, but I know I was young.  It is my favorite book. 

Each day we read our weekly BFIAR story, which was Play with Me by Marie Hall Ets

Lexie LOVED this story, and the activities we did with it (we used the pond pack from Homeschool Creations and Homeschool Share).  She had me read it over and over and over …  while I read, she colored or we snuggled.

The activities were a lot of fun, and included a “Who Am I?” clue word game, and gluing which is Lexie’s favorite!

(this is actually a tracing activity we didn’t get to last week for our BFIAR story, and she wanted to do it)


We also went to the library to play and get our apple and fall books for this week.  (YAY!)

One day we went to the park and played.  There, we collected tiny pine cones, talked about what animals might live there, climbed a tree, blew dandelions … you know the typical nature walk kinda things.  =)


Friday we packed up and went camping at Neobrara State Park.  It was awesome, and a much needed family weekend.  I will write about it another time.  =)











This week we finished (FINALLY!) our thank you cards from Bug and Mister’s birthdays.  Now I just have to get them addressed and in the mail ..  



We also had a wonderful playdate at a friend’s house, played outside a ton (LOVE fall weather), and worked in the garden.  Lexie is such a great helper in the garden and enjoys finding what we have on the vine each morning.  

Her Great-grandaddy Payne would be proud of his littler gardener.

Protector of the tomatoes (Scarlet likes to eat them off the plant ..)

Playing outside with Lilly

Mister and his favorite person- “dag dag!” = dog dog!


Sweet bear at the park, just hanging out and climbing on the slide.


he was actually tasting leaves … 

The result of her big morning at the park.  First day of a nap in 2 weeks- AAAAH!

Since she took a nap, she got to go to walmart late with mama- check out the sundress and camo boots!

Some of the last few days’ harvest- what are now fermented tomatoes!

He just loves to eat

waky waky sleepy Lexie!

Loves for his dog dog



What did you do this past week with your littles and family?


Shaving Cream Play

While it was still cold and snowy, we had a lot of fun with shaving cream.  This is from the first time we did shaving cream in the new house; we have fun adding toys (mainly engines) into the shaving cream fun.

I moved her little table from the living room to the kitchen.  When she got up from nap, this is what she found:

She was one happy girl that afternoon!  She loves any type of messy play.  She squeezed and squished the shaving cream between her fingers.  She especially loved the scent (menthol) of it.

It is super easy to clean up off the floors, and of course to rinse off her.
We do shaving cream play a lot- it is a favorite of Lexie’s (and mama’s too, because there is no mixing or recipe to follow)!

What is your favorite messy play?

Baby Summary Weeks 35-36

Max hit the 37 week mark yesterday, so this is a post for the last two weeks of his life.

To say Max ha started eating is an understatement.  The boy is devouring finger foods.  Everything from dried blueberries and apples to sausage and sauerkraut!  He ate the sauerkraut like it was running away from him!  This weekend he enjoyed my cucumber and tomato salad in oil and vinegar … with garlic!  We still do pureed foods just because sometimes I don’t have a meal made that doesn’t have dairy in it, but he is eating a LOT more finger foods.  I can’t wait for him to try watermelon and cantaloupe this summer.

We still only have two teeth, but I think he is working on the top two.  They’re a little white but not puffy yet. He has been napping great!  Most days are 2 1.5 hour naps, sometimes a cat nap at 4:30 if he is really tired.  But we usually just do early bedtime at 6:30pm instead.


Crawling … well, he is moving about 2 feet at a time before he falls on his belly and decides to roll over.  So yes, he is crawling, but not for long distances.  He rolls and scoots around a LOT more than he does crawl.  **EDIT: he crawled all the way across the living room floor today!  I know, it’s a 37 week update, but had to add it!  YAY MAX!**


He enjoys being outside, and playing in the water.  We have had beautiful, warm weather as of late.  So Mama has been laying out while the kids play.  He sits in the baby blow up bath tub and Lexie plays in her kiddie pool.  Speaking of which, they are finishing our fence!  Woo hoo!  I am so excited.  It should be complete tomorrow morning.  They did most of it today.  Lexie is so excited, she has been waiting on her fence for a very long 3 months.

Helping mama make the salad …


Last weekend was Mother’s day; we went to church at the Methodist church (which I liked a lot, surprisingly, coming from a full gospel girl.   It was really homey).  JTom got me a bread maker for Mother’s day- woo hoo!  We have already used it several times and LOVE it.  way better than doing it by hand, any day.

This past weekend we stayed home and worked around the house.  JTom and Lexie got the garden in and JTom got the sprinklers set up in the flower bed.  He cut into the sprinkler system and put little sprayers in the flower beds.  They’re really cute.  Our garden this year is just: tomatoes (roma, big beef, early girl, burly boys, and cherry), red and green bell peppers, cucumbers, zucchini, and butternut squash. We put the bed in on the south side of the house, where they dug out for flower beds.  It’s the perfect spot, and J.Tom may cut in some sprayers for the garden as well.  I sure hope so.




I got some petunias for the back porch and filled the hanging baskets for the front, like I do every year.  Lexie and I planted some giant impatience in a big pot for the front porch; they smell SO good.  (I love having a front door that we use to come into the house)  

JTom also got some new burners for the inside of his grill, so we can get back to grilling again soon.

Overall it has been a low key couple of weeks.  Some how things have seemed really busy, but in all honesty we haven’t been super busy. 


How have you spent your last few weeks?  Anything exciting happening?

water play


she couldn’t resist; we didn’t have a kiddie pool yet




Mmm  blueberries





Our record heat one day last week- 100 degrees here in lil ole York (we had snow on the ground the week before …)


Daddy and Mister


Reading a gymnastics books while waiting on class to start.




My morning Yoga





Mmmm Cucumber!


My Mister’s curls



wearing Daddy’s hat and looking like my cousin Wesley’s twin when he was this age.  Like, if she didn’t have on the lace night gown, she would look exactly like him.


wearing daddy’s hat



{BIG} Magnet Fun!

Oh the magnet fun has began! I remember in elementary school, the kids who took the circle magnets off the chalk tray were envied by all the good kids, too scared to do it themselves.

How the magnets attracted each other, rolled across the desk, how they felt in your hands. Aah. Magnets were. So. Cool. (or was it just me?)

My dad mailed us some magnets from his shop.


Saying Lexie (who will be 3 in September) is obsessed is an under statement! As she excitedly opened the box and unwrapped the magnets, she kept saying, “ooh, what is it? Its for Essie? What did Payne send, do you think?”

We spent 2 hours playing with these magnets the day she got them in the mail. They come out of truck parts (engines, transmissions, oil things, and what not? I don’t really remember all the things my dad said they come out of ..). But Payne is a mechanic, and a build-it fix-it guy to boot.

These magnets are so strong, even I have a hard time pulling them apart sometimes.  Seriously.

You can tell all those little plasticized, weak, kiddie magnets we won’t be buying them, because we have awesome magnets to play with!






We decided to set the bigger magnets up across her table and predict which one the smaller magnets would roll towards. Then she would flick the small, cylinder shaped magnets towards the row of bigger magnets and see where it went. 

Sometimes the magnetism just made them all crazily attract to each other, and we would suddenly have a huge clump of magnets!



I had as much fun as she did. Very cool. So thanks Payne. 🙂

Here is a video of her playing with them- she can’t get enough!   

How do you use magnets for learning fun with your children?  Let me know in the comments!


Max Week 32/33 Summary.. and a huge photo bomb!

I wrote this entire post, and then it somehow was replaced with a duplicate of another post?!  And now I am feeling very frustrated.  So it’s going to be an abbreviated version of the original.

Max has just finished his 33rd week of life, and will be 34 weeks old (almost 8 months old) on Sunday.

Eating
He is eating better; I got his medicine flavored differently, and he takes it no problem now.  He is eating everything except bananas.  They still bother his tummy

Development
Max is standing better, sometimes without holding onto anything, and has become brave enough to take a few steps in the same spot he is standing (in other words, he doesn’t move, just picks up his feet).  He has learned to fall onto his booty instead of his back, so there is a lot less crying going on now!  Woo hoo

He says dada and has started trying to say mama.  But it comes out na-na.  He does this especially when he is hungry/while I’m making his bottle or food.  Since he has started talking, he has stopped all that screeching.  YAY  He is still signing for milk, and has not picked up the sign for “more” or “please” yet, but I haven’t been very consistent.

We are in wonder week 37 territory.  Naps have been short, but he isn’t too terribly cranky… it could be worse.  This is supposedly a tough wonder week, so we will see.  After this mental leap he will be able to categorize things in his environment, like milk and oatmeal are foods, jtom, lexie and I are his family at home vs people he doesn’t recognize, etc.  He will start practicing crawling sometime after this leap (*edit* during the cat nap he refused this afternoon, he was up on his hands and knees rocking… so I guess the urge to start trying has begun).

It’s funny how different he and Lexie are; at this age she was raring to go, 24/7!  She wanted to move, was loud, and wanted to talk to/get attention from everyone she saw.  I remember my friend Whitney saying how determined Lexie was, and that’s true to this day.  Max is more timid, laid back..  and you could say he is lazy.  =)  He is getting more and more excited about standing though; it’s really cute when he starts flapping his arms, smiling, and cheering for himself.  He’s just a really sweet baby and is sensitive; but I do remember Lexie being sensitive too.  She was scared easily by certain toys, noises, or faces.  Max is the same in that aspect.

Lexie Raye
I had so many updates on her before I lost the original post, and now I can’t remember any of them!  Ugh!

We still have engine friends, though the dinosaurs haven’t been back.  She has been showing more interest in dinosaurs, so we may do a unit study on them this summer just for fun.  Oh yea- she has finally stopped fighting baths.  No more screaming or crying hysteria; and I was able, after many weeks, to convince her washing her hair in the sink would be fun!  So now she will lay on the counter and let me wash her hair in the kitchen sink- I told her how my memaw washed my hair like that when I was a little girl.  She really liked that and mentions it every time we wash her hair.  She also enjoys bath time now; I plugged the hole in all her bath toys with hot glue (pinterest is useful, sometimes!)  The black mold that came out of them freaked her out (uh … it would freak me out, too.  but there was no way to keep them cleaned out).  So, that is no longer a problem.

Mommy and “wittle Baby Essie”

Now I know how my parents felt when I sent my water back 7 times at a restaurant because there were “floaties in it.”  She is the same way about anything she deems should not have dirt on/in it.  But playing in or throwing dirt outside, laying down in mud, and eating bird seed are all A-Okay!  

Suddenly, the crying at bedtime every night stopped.  The first night we waited a few hours then went and checked on her.  She had climbed into her rocking chair to sleep.  We always put her down in her bed, but then she moves to the rocking chair.  At bout 8:30 every night I go move her to the bed.  I don’t care if she sleeps in the floor, as long as she stays in her room, off the couch, and out of our bed!  Anyway, so that’s how she has been falling asleep for the last 2 weeks.  Hopefully it is a phase that ends soon, and she will be comfortable falling asleep in her bed again.  We don’t know what freaked her out about her bed, suddenly.  She has started talking about things getting her.  We have prayed with her about it, and emphasize that in our home she is safe; nothing is going to get her and that most of the things she is talking

about are pretend, not real.  I’m sure it is part of a developmental phase; she is starting to realize there are real dangers in the world, but doesn’t know how to rationalize that idea yet.


Spring is finally here!  YAY!  Yesterday we went to the park for a lunch and play date with JTom. After nap we walked to the school and played on the playground there.  This morning we went to the library for story time, then after lunch we went for a run.  It is the first time I have ran since I was pregnant with Max, so it’s been about 16 months…?  Yea.  So, my calves were sore 10 minutes after we got back home!  But a good sore and I enjoyed every minute of my run.  I pushed them in the double jogger.  We went to the disc golf park across from the house.  There is a wide, paved track that goes all around; it’s very wind-y and has lots of inclines and hills.  It was a good workout.  We ran/walked 2 miles.  My goal is to run 6-8 miles a week, more if weather permits.  I love running and it makes me feel good.

proud Mister Bear

Yea, what’s up?

Hey, what’re yooou doing?

Hrm, I landed on my booty … what do I think of this?

Hey, Na-Na… what just happened?

Hrm…

Oh well, I’ll just rest my eyes a bit

Ha- just kidding!

putting her engines to night-night in their “hallway bed Tidmouth Sheds”

patting them and tucking them in to bed

night night engine!

“are you still in there?”

oh there you are!

Are you ready for wake up time?

upside down- washing her hair in the sink


Tomorrow we are going fishing!  Woo Hoo!  As much as JTom and I LOVE to fish, we have never taken Lexie.  So tomorrow is the day!  There is a really nice lake on the west side of town, so that’s where we are headed tomorrow.  This next week we are going to keep tweaking our routine until we find something that really works best.  I’m trying to get up earlier in the mornings to start my day, and be sure everything is picked up and in order before bed (which I’ve always done, but I’ve been slacking lately).

Here are a ton more pictures of our last week or two.




Dada!


this is a different day than all the other red diaper pics.  This was the first day he stood with the activity table




April 26, 2013

Max Baby Summary: Week 31

Max has been very clingy this week.  His second tooth is here, and he is chewing like crazy with his side gums, so I am wondering if he is getting more teeth?!  But I’m not sure.  For the most part this last week was good.  Minus the screaming.  Oh my!  The screaming.  And it isn’t screaming like, “Oh, I’m mad so I’m screaming.”  Or “feed me now!” (though he does that sometimes while I get a bottle ready.) No, it is just screaming.  For FUN.  A high pitched “Wheeee!” sounding scream.  He was doing this while we ate lunch the other day.  Lexie leaned over, put her hand on my forearm and said, “Mama.  I do not like that sound.”  Oh sweet girl, neither do I!  Hopefully he will grow out of it before long.

He is signing milk all the time now.  While I make his bottle, that little hand is just going to town signing for “milk.”  It’s so sweet.  He has been eating okay, but not great.  Since the first tooth broke through he has good days and bad; he usually is only taking 4-5ounces, but will finish the rest mixed into cereal.  However, because his new meds are working for his reflux, he is able to eat lots of real foods he couldn’t eat before, and now protests plain oatmeal!  The boy wants real food.  haha  So we have been doing lots of avacado, carrots, peas, green beans, pears, apples and blueberries, etc.

His sleep has been better this past week, with only a few short naps.  This weekend he had *perfect* sleep. All. Weekend. Long.  It was amazing, really.  I also found the activity table; it was hidden in the garage.  We started using it this past weekend, and he did really well.  For a baby who doesn’t seem the least bit interested in crawling or moving around at all, really, he stood up on his own for a long time playing at the table.  He hasn’t mastered the art of bending his legs when he falls; so rather than fall onto his bottom … he just topples over like a stiff log.  haha  He doesn’t think it’s very funny, and usually gets really scared when it happens, so I try to avoid it… but the boy needs to learn how to fall onto his booty.  So we are working on bending his knees and bouncing while standing, but those feet are firmly planted; I just don’t think he’s ready for all that yet really.


Considering Mister has been having such good sleep as of late, it is fitting that Lexie has been a little hit or miss.  A few weeks ago, she went from not wanting to go to bed at night (read: saying she is tired, wanting to sleep, but also wanting us to pat her or rock her, which we don’t do because she has always gone right to sleep) to sleeping in her rocking chair.  For some strange reason she has decided she wants to fall asleep in her rocking chair; and despite our attempts at keeping her in the bed, she gets up.  But we have been going in and putting her back in the bed.  The craziest part about all of this is she has been NAPPING.  Consistently.  For an entire week!  I think this is partially because she is done teething.  All her two year molars are in, and now she is back to eating and sleeping well.  We considered taking the rocking chair out of the room, but I think we will just wait and see how long this phase lasts.  Maybe she is just ready for a big bed… I am not sure.  The 2.5 year mark usually is a developmental milestone for children when you generally see added clinginess, sleep disruptions, and new fears develop.  She is definitely more clingy to both JTom and me, and has mentioned being afraid a few different story characters were going to “get me.”  We have reassured her nothing is going to get her; she doesn’t mention this at bed time or anything, just sometimes while playing alone in her room.

Moni, Shelby, and Lilly watching us play doll house

Her imagination is wild!  We still have engines that are beyond wearing out their welcome.  haha  I think I tell them things 200 times a day. “Will you tell me engines what I am eating?  Will you tell my engines they need to sleep at nap time?  Will you tell my engines they need to stay on the swing set and leave Scarlet alone?…..”  Oh my.  Then, the other night we had dinosaurs.  On the ceiling.  The engines go everywhere with us; she even includes them in her stories during stretching at gymnastics.  They really like the museum.  As long as I don’t have to feed them, I guess they can stay.  😉

Right now, Lexie is really into reading her devotional and Bible.  I mean … like they are attached at her hip.  As a matter of fact, the devotional is falling apart, and she can read every day, word for word, from January until today.  Not kidding.  That’s what we read for every nap and bedtime.  It is her favorite.  She is now acting like a little Mama to Max and her dolls.  When Max cries she says, “Oh!  Let me go see what is wrong to Max.  Max, what is wrong to you?  Tell me why.”  haha  I am not sure why she says “to” instead of “what,” but I’m sure she will figure it out soon enough.  Her new favorite words are “fantastic!” and “earlier.”  Hearing her say earlier is hilarious.

chewing on a pear
dyeing Easter eggs … a week late  =/
painting her fingernails

We visited a church this past Sunday.  It was really nice; it reminded me of my church growing up, which was a Full Gospel church.  This is a non denominational church, it is small but has many young families.  I am excited to maybe visit it again this coming Sunday.  J.Tom was raised Presbyterian, so it is different than he is used to.  But I actually felt like I was in church.  For the past 5 years in Hot Springs I just didn’t get what I needed from our church; provided I didn’t give much back to them in way of serving.  I never felt like it was home.  The sermons were more like the new school way of thinking-motivational sermons or get people involved in serving the church, but let’s not talk about sin, salvation, the devil, or how to grow in Christ.  That’s how I felt, anyway.  The church we visited Sunday had an amazing sermon, though a little long, and a great worship service.  Lexie walked into children’s church like she owned the place.  haha  She enjoyed herself (although she was supposed to be in the nursery since she isn’t 3 yet..)  I don’t know if we will visit a different church this week or try this one again.  We will just pray about it and see. We just hope to find a church that gives us what we both need, and that we can be a serve as well.

How did you find your church home? Is it one you grew up in or one you found after marriage, college, children…?

 


Dear Lexie

It has been a while since I did a Dear Lexie post.  Looks like now I need to add Dear Max posts, too.  Tonight was a fitting night for this selection on my list of topics to blog.  It turns out today was national siblings day, so that created a bit of a somber night for me.  J.Tom is out of town until tomorrow, and the kids are in bed asleep.  All I want to do is go hold them (but Lexie has been feeling insecure the past few nights, crying a bed time, so i def think going in to hold her would make that situation much worse.  Tonight she didn’t cry, and went right to sleep).  My thoughts of my brother always bring me to a sad place.  I just miss him so much, and I feel like I forget more of him every day.  I’ve tried to write things down that I’ve remembered over the past 3.5 years, but I know I can’t remember it all.  Anyhow, on top of those feelings and just the need to write something down, I decided it was a good night for a Dear Lexie post.

Dear Lexie,
Tonight, as I was working on some Bible scriptures for us to talk about in the coming weeks, I came across a verse that stopped me in my tracks.  The minute I read it, I thought to myself  “If there were only one thing I could say to her for the rest of her life, this is it.”

The section was titled “Shining as Stars

Therefore my dear friends, as you have always obeyed- continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.  Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe.


In which you shine like stars in the universe.

Please don’t be afraid to be different.  Please don’t be afraid to shine like a star.  Not a movie star, or a music star, or any star of the flesh, but a star in which God crafted every prism of light, every twinkle and every color for a purpose.  His purpose.  Don’t let anyone ever make you feel less than good enough; God created you piece by piece in His image so that you may one day live in His kingdom.  When you are judged (and you will be) or talked down to (and you will be) for your faith, your convictions, or your kindness, remember you are a shining star, and that despite what others may say or think, there are people who love you for you.  And one day, you will find someone, like your daddy and I found each other, that loves you for your love of Christ.  For the love that pours out of your every pore.  For the funny personality, the smart mind, the beautiful spirit that you share every day.

As your mama, I am going to do everything I can to mold your character into a Christ loving and following young lady.  Never be afraid to go against society.  Society is full of evil, malice, and selfishness; and you my sweet girl are non of those things.  Don’t hide in a closet, of course, but arm yourself with the Word of God, and ask that he arm your heart and mind that you might live the life he has envisioned for you, to do His work.  Your daddy and I are trying to build that foundation now, and I pray that we take more right steps than we do wrong; that we may hide His Word in your heart so you have the protection you need in life.

Grow.  Grow every day.  When your life feels stagnant, open your Bible and read.  Do something good for another person in need.  Make cookies for your neighbor.  Volunteer to work with small children who may not get love at home.  And in everything you do, seek Him and He will fill your life full of blessings.  He loves you for who you are, but despite this He wants you to be like Jesus.  Kind, compassionate,  patient, loving.  Those are big shoes to fill, I know.  But today, when you put on your new “summer play, pool shoes,” you looked down and said, “Oh! I have shoes like Jesus’s shoes!”  And my sweet Lou, you were made to fill those shoes.

I can’t protect you from every evil, every hurt, every harsh word. But I can prepare you for it. I can show you how to love, and I can lead by example.   I wish I had always had a love for reading the Bible as I have now.   I was blessed enough to fall in love with your daddy, who had a strong Christian faith and lead me to wanting an even stronger relationship with Christ. But not everyone is so fortunate. Some people settle for less, because they think they will never find someone who shares the same beliefs, the same convictions.  Just know this- you were created by the Master Creator, and in His plan for you there lies happiness and love; if you strive to live close to his heart and in the light of his Grace, you will be blessed on earth beyond your comprehension, and have an everlasting life in Heaven.

“A woman’s heart should be so hidden in God that a man has to seek Him just to find her.”
― Max Lucado

This is so true. Don’t chase boys or men or love. There is no need to go searching for love; when you establish the foundation for love through a relationship with Christ, a love on earth will come.  The same goes with friends. Not everyone will be kind, or understand who you are. A nd that is okay. You don’t need everyone to like you, life is not a popularity contest. Try not to fall into the ways of the world, for the world is corrupt and unkind.  Instead, surround yourself with Godly people, show them the bright, shining star you are. Set the example so that others might want to follow. And above all, give glory to God; for without him we would all have and be nothing.

I love you Lou,
Mama



Beans, Beans

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

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.”




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