Preschool-letter 'I'

Eli chiseled an ice cream cone out of ice block.

 

We learned about insects.

and painted an ice cream cone with puffy paint...saving cream, glue, food coloring

2nd lost tooth!

Not sure how long you document teeth being lost...

but this one was special because Alison let Ben pull it.

Her motivation?  A caramel apple later that afternoon.

I'm so glad Ben can pull them, because it grosses me out just watching it wiggle.

This just made me smile.  

Alison brought home a paper of sentences she wrote in school, using their site words for the week.

Apples

Remember the apple consumption in our house?

Somehow Colin has been sneaking apples.  I have no idea how he gets them!

This particular day, he was eating 3 at one time!

Pumpkin carving

Lesson learned this year: buy a pumpkin carving kit!

Where I have been all these years?!  

Alison "designed" our face and then Ben and I carved it...with steak knives.  

Not easy.

BUT, the kids were pretty good about scooping it out and Colin loved playing in the guts.

Eli didn't like getting dirty as much, but he still helped scoop.

After everyone was done, Colin sat there by himself for a long time, coloring and playing with the pumpkin.

We roasted the seeds and placed the pumpkin on our porch.

However, the next night I took Alison to a friend's Halloween party and they carved pumpkins again.  But this time they had the wonderful little pumpkin carvers and I felt so silly for never buying one.

Thankfully there's next year :)

Bugs and bribes

We've had a little bug wondering through our house this week.  Wednesday, Eli and I both were not feeling very good, so we stayed in our pj's all day and played in his room.  We built castles and played lots of trains.

this is an all time favorite toy in our house

We played 'ring around the rosies' a couple of times and Colin started trying to say "fall down" and would yank me down.  He's pretty strong for a little squirt. 


Around lunch time, Eli said excitedly, "Hey Mom!  I'm not whining!"

He was right and sadly I hadn't realized it until then.  We had a great, relaxing, morning playing and he had a great attitude.  Maybe he just needed some rest and play time.

He's been dying to get a donut (every day when we drive by he makes sure to tell me that they're open), so I told him if he made it the rest of the day without whining, we'd go get one in the morning.

It worked.  A couple of times he started to fuss, I'd just say "donut" and he'd immediately stop.

Sometimes, a good ole' bribe does wonders.

We rushed to the donut shop before school the next morning.

He took one bite of the donut he picked out and said, "I don't like it."

I don't think he likes chocolate anymore, but he forgets that he doesn't like it and will still ask for it.  Thankfully I bought a couple of extra glazed and all was good.

Ben got the bug a few days later and now Colin has it.  Thankfully it's nothing more than a slight fever and a "yucky" feeling and I'm praying Alison is sparred...although it's not likely considering she's spent the whole weekend outside in the cold.

It works

For several years, eyebrows have been raised when we tell them that we homeschool our kids for preschool.  We are definitely in the minority and I've heard lots of speculation over time.  BUT, I just have to brag a little on my little girl and prove to everyone that it works.  Even though I didn't spend thousands of dollars on preschool, my child is still smart!

*Alison was tested on reading and is reading on a second grade level, but can read up to a 5th grade level.

*She came home with a stack of papers last week, all with 100%'s.  I asked her if she realized how good this was...she said, "I always get 100% Mommy."

*She was "citizen of the week" last week.

Preschool-Letter 'H'

We've started doing preschool one day a week with a friend.  It's so much more fun playing games and doing crafts with others. 

We jumped in with them at the letter H.

Here, they're learning about animal homes and habitats.  We talked about how God made the animals and gave them the instincts to know how to build their homes.

We also watched a short video about animal's homes.

We started a notebook full of letters to trace and color.

Then they look through magazines to find pictures of things that start with that letter and glue them in their folder.

We played hop scotch and then ate heart apples and Ho Ho's (healthy/unhealthy food) and

ham and cheese rolls (hot/cold food)

Today

This will be the title for many posts I'm afraid.

Today had some monumental moments.  

First, Alison wore jeans!

(Eliot's making a silly cheese face, in case you were wondering)

She was so stinkin' cute...she even had on cowboy boots.

Second, Eliot ate a sweet potato without crying!

Third, Colin started signing please to ask for food.

This afternoon, Eliot was in the bathroom and started singing,

"God made poop!"

Yes, the poop word has entered our house...I've heard this would come soon enough...but never did I think it would be in a song about things God made.  But it was pretty entertaining.

 Eli wanted to do school this afternoon.  I've only been planning stuff for Tuesday and Thursday's, but I made up a sheet for him to practice writing and cutting.

And we worked on his memory verse..."Honor your father and your mother"


 After dinner, Ben was playing some music and Colin can never stay away when there's music.  I love this clip-it captures the essence of Colin.  He will ever so calmly try to destroy everything but is also so full of joy and sweetness.

Trip to the Zoo

Watching the giraffes eat

This week's "field trip" was to the zoo.  We started doing school once a week with a friend of mine.  They're a little ahead of us and already on the letter 'H', so we just jumped in with them.  We talked about animal's homes and habitats this week, so at the zoo we looked at the different places animals live.  Although it is really strange to think all the different animals that live at a zoo together.  Anyway, the boys loved it and Eli was most excited to see the elephants. 

Waving hi to the eagles

  Eli's favorite is the reptiles and he wanted to carefully look at each exhibit.  I had to laugh while looking at all the frogs and snakes though...I took Alison to the Detroit zoo a million times when we lived there and never once went to look at the snakes.  Now here I was reading about all the different kinds and colors.  Did you know boys love facts?  I am learning this more every day.

 

Our morning was full, having left for the zoo straight from the Y, so we were forced to eat lunch at Chick-fil-A.  I love eating chick-fil-a with Eli because he always asks for the free ice cream, takes one bite and remembers he doesn't like ice cream and I get the rest.  I know, some day he won't be 3 and I won't get his ice cream...gotta live while you can.  I even let the boys play on the play scape while I ate it :)

Precious Time

It hit me yesterday how precious this time, right now, is.

This is the time that we will forever look back on and say "remember when..."

By next summer, we'll have a 2, 4 and 7 year old.

There will be no more babies or diapers or baby food pouches.

I realized that if ever there was a time that I should be documenting every day, it's now.

Now when our kids are young and saying funny things and doing things that drive us crazy, but one day we'll miss the simple crazy things they did.

Anyway, I'm challenging myself for the next 6 months, to document the "boring" daily things that happen, because I know in a year, I'll miss these baby years and want to remember our day to day life.

So here's some random things from our week:

Colin got into the pantry and ripped open a bag of cheerios I had for preschool.  He ate them off the floor and in this moment I wanted to forever give up cleaning. 

Alison has made a new friend at school...her name is Allison!  It's the first "other Alison" we've encountered in her 6 years of life.  The kid's get out of school early one day a month and we've set up rotating play dates with Allison for those days.  This week we went for a walk down to the pier and played outside.  I'm so thankful that they don't mind the boys tagging along.

The kids have all been diggin apples lately, asking for multiple a day.  Eli doesn't like the skin on and will always ask for it peeled.  This day he wanted to try to do it himself.  I love how you can see Colin eating lunch in the corner and the chairs in the living room...I was trying to mop, but again wondering why I even bother.

 

A good friend also has 3 kids, but older than mine.  I got a text from her one morning saying she left some things on my porch.  4 GIANT bags of clothes were waiting for me...like so giant I could barely scoot them in the door.  My dining room exploded into piles of clothes as I tried to sort through everything.  Alison is set for life, so cross clothes off your Christmas list for her.  Now if someone could just drop off some hand-me-downs for me...

Ever since croup, Colin has turned into a snuggle bug!  He never snuggled before, but now when you pick him up in the morning, he lays his head on your shoulder and tucks his hands in.  It melts me to pieces!   Ben likes to rub it in every morning that he gets the better snuggles.

I needed to run a few errands this afternoon so we decided to have dinner out and use a gift card we had for Buffalo Wild Wings.  Every time we go to BWW, Ben has to ask them to turn the volume down and every time we remember why we love that place so much.  There's 5,000 TV's and our kids just sit in awe the whole time.  AND they love the mac n' cheese.

 Quiet kids + good food= great dinner for us!

Didn't hurt that it was free either.

Ben made a good point that since it's so loud there, even if our kids scream and throw a fit, no one will even notice.

Happy Spot

This is a common scene while I cook dinner.

Colin will scout out my phone, somehow snatch it up and plops himself down at my feet.  I remember Eliot doing to the same thing at this age, but it also involved a Smoochie next to him.  Must be something in the genes...or maybe I have very alluring feet :)

Eliot James, 3.5

Simply Stylin'

I was getting ready for the day when Alison came in my room to ask me to do her hair.

This is how she was dressed for school:

I had this outfit stashed away for Christmas in the back of her closet, but she couldn't resist the sparkles.

She asked me to put her hair in a bun and then added a sparkle headband.

She was beautiful...slightly overdressed for 1st grade, but simply beautiful.

I told her to get her shoes on so we could head out to the bus stop.

She came back like this...

Tennis shoes.

I tried to hide my giggle and asked her why she chose tennis shoes (with purple socks!).

"It's gym day."

Of course.

So off she went to school, in a Christmas outfit, purple socks and tennis shoes.

The Verdict is...

We're both winners!

Well, kind of.

We both reached our goals and ran personal best 5k's...that's what's important.

Ben...23:30

Jen...25:05

Apparently there was some fierce out of town competition and Ben didn't place for his division.  I'm bummed because he did amazing and definitely deserves a medal.

I got third place for my division and ran my fastest mile to date (1st mile was a 7:30 pace).

It misted the whole morning and it made the path slick, but we had fun and got to spend the morning with some really great friends. 

New smiles

The kids were playing together one evening and I realized that they all have new smiles.

Eli is starting to look like a little boy and not a toddler.

Alison smiles like a chipmunk to show off her missing tooth.

And Colin gives the cutest, tooth filled smile I've ever seen.

Love seeing them play together and love watching them grow.

Lost tooth

After months of longing for a tooth to fall out, Alison finally lost one!

Since she's young for her grade, she's one of the last to join the toothless club-

last year, she watched kid after kid loose teeth and wondered incessantly when it would be her turn.

Sunday morning, she woke up missing a tooth and thankfully wasn't freaked out by the fact that she most likely swallowed it in her sleep (we weren't able to find the tooth).

Bout of Croup

 Friday, I knew Colin wasn't feeling super great, but didn't think much of it.  

But then he woke up a few hours after being in bed, barely able to breath.

I googled answers and called Beth and we spent the night trying every remedy there is.  Ben was away on a trip and I wanted to make it through the night so I didn't have to wake up the kids...but I knew I was going to have to get help.  By morning, he still was working hard to breath and we headed to the ER.  They were quick to get us back and immediately diagnosed him with croup.  He was given steroids and a breathing treatment and they took x-rays to make sure he didn't have pneumonia.

waiting for the meds to kick in

I could tell an immediate difference once he got the medicine.  Praise the Lord!

But then they told me we had to wait for 3 hours to see if he continued to improve and I realized that I had all of my kids in the ER.  

Do you know what happens in the ER?  Emergencies...and my kids were watching.  Praise the Lord for friends who can get on base!  Katie quickly came to get the kids and took care of them the rest of the day.

Finally asleep after a LONG night

We ended the day with a movie/pizza night and ate lots of junk food...chocolate solves everything :)

Colin has continued to get better each day.  He hasn't had any wheezing since Saturday and only has a slight cough.

I'm so thankful that it's over and I am so sorry I haven't been more sympathetic to other momma's that have been through it.

Preschool-Letter 'A'

This week, Eli cut out a letter A, made an alligator and ate Ants on a log for a snack.  Then he made an apple garland craft with the fruit of the spirit on it.