Thanksgiving is over.
The 4 day weekend is over.
Sleeping in is over.
Time to get back to reality
Matt is out of town this week from Monday to Wednesday.
Courtney goes back to preschool and Megan needs to get back to homeschooling.
It was fun while it lasted, we had some great family time this weekend with a couple of family parties, a night at the Western Heritage Museum, and an afternoon at the Joslyn Art Museum.
Time to get going!
Monday, November 28, 2011
Saturday, November 26, 2011
More words please.
Ok, Christian needs to add more words to his vocabulary soon.
All I hear all day is either "tractor" or "football"
He can also say "dada" very well along with "chair", "more", and "water."
I can't forget "choo, choo" for a train or "vroom, vroom" for a car.
I'm sure there are more than these, but I can't think of them off the top of my head. He can understand a lot more than he can say. I just would like to know what he's talking about half the time!
All I hear all day is either "tractor" or "football"
He can also say "dada" very well along with "chair", "more", and "water."
I can't forget "choo, choo" for a train or "vroom, vroom" for a car.
I'm sure there are more than these, but I can't think of them off the top of my head. He can understand a lot more than he can say. I just would like to know what he's talking about half the time!
Friday, November 25, 2011
Connections to School
Ok, for the third time today, I am going to write on my blog. I can never seem to sleep anymore, so why not just blog some more??
Ok, today I didn't have school with Megan, but in a sense, we still had it.
We went down to the Western Heritage Museum tonight for the annual Christmas tree lighting party. We parked about a half mile away, enjoyed the trains for awhile, then missed it when they turned the lights on the tree in the main reception hall. It's ok, it was crowded with people and wouldn't have seen much anyway.
Besides that, we brought what we have been learning in history and made some connections to the city of Omaha. (I am just so amazed at how much we are learning in school!)
Here is how:
We had been studying about the ancient Greeks this week in school and we are at about 500BC now. For those of you who don't know, this is about the time of the Greek Golden Age. Everything was going great for the Greeks. Their city had just been burned down by the Persians (Megan can tell you that story) and the Greeks were rebuilding their city and a whole new level of culture was arising. They built the Parthenon, created money, and established their theatre. There were many new modern thoughts and they had some great leaders at the time (Until those Spartans came in and ruined everything 50 years later.)
Today we were at the museum and we were in the Byron Reed collection, which is a huge collection of money from all over the world. I am usually bored with this section, so I really didn't pay much attention, but just today, I looked over and saw "Greek money." I said, "Megan, Megan, come over here!" We sat there together and read how each city-state in Greece had thier own insignia on their own money. They had an example there from a city-state in Greece, unfortunately, it was not one that we have been learning about, but I still thought it was so cool that we knew what a city-state was, we knew that money was pretty new at that time, and we just knew the culture. It was fun to bring it all together!
Below the Greece money, there was money from the Roman empire. I know we are going to be studying that next week, so we might need to go back.:)
At another section of the museum, they had displays about the first buildings and their architecture here in Omaha. There were some theatre masks displayed on the wall and some columns on the other wall.(I still don't know why these were there when they were talking about architecture?) Do you know where theatre masks and columns on buildings orignated? Greece you guess? Correct! We had just studied the different kinds of columns that the Greeks used in their buildings on Wednesday. We also talked about how the Greeks made their theatres and how they would use masks that would signify their moods. These masks are what you often see around theatres these days.
Awesome, isn't it??
Oh wait, it gets better.
On our way home, we stopped at Subway (against Courtney's wishes) and as I am sitting their eating, I notice that their windows are in an arch shape. Any guesses here? Ok,I will tell you then. The Romans invented the arch that we see ALL OVER THE PLACE!! Like I said, we start studying about the Roman empire next week.
Do you see why I love homeschooling??
1. She would not be learning any of this at public school.
2. Even if she was learning it, would I know she was learning it? As a parent last year when Megan was at school, I didn't know what she was learning half the time.
3. Because I am the one teaching her, I can point things out as we are out in public and I can let her make the connection. Like I did 4 times today!!
I really can't wait to teach American history next year!!!
In case you are wondering, I really like teaching all the other subject too and if I can, I like to make connecttions anyway I can. (Like when Megan says, "What time is it?" I reply with, "You can read a clock, what does it say?)
Ok, one more example just because it is funny. Here's another "connection". It's not so important to us, but to a farmer, it is very important.
We are reading a book called "Strawberry Girl" for school and in this book, the family makes a field, puts a fence around it, and puts cows in it. They want to grow strawberries in there to sell later. Now, why would a person put cows in a field that they want to grow strawberries in??? Oh yeah, the cows "fertilize" the soil so they can have better strawberries!!
This one took a little bit of explaining to Megan- poor city girl! But never fear, we got a real live example yesterday. We were driving out to my parents for Thanksgiving and out in the country, we saw some cows out in the corn fields. Of course, I say, "Look Megan and Courtney, there are cows out in the fields? What do you think they are doing out there besides eating the leftover corn?" Fertilizing!! Same concept as in the book we are reading!! I just had to laugh!
Ok, the end of my really long blog. :)
Ok, today I didn't have school with Megan, but in a sense, we still had it.
We went down to the Western Heritage Museum tonight for the annual Christmas tree lighting party. We parked about a half mile away, enjoyed the trains for awhile, then missed it when they turned the lights on the tree in the main reception hall. It's ok, it was crowded with people and wouldn't have seen much anyway.
Besides that, we brought what we have been learning in history and made some connections to the city of Omaha. (I am just so amazed at how much we are learning in school!)
Here is how:
We had been studying about the ancient Greeks this week in school and we are at about 500BC now. For those of you who don't know, this is about the time of the Greek Golden Age. Everything was going great for the Greeks. Their city had just been burned down by the Persians (Megan can tell you that story) and the Greeks were rebuilding their city and a whole new level of culture was arising. They built the Parthenon, created money, and established their theatre. There were many new modern thoughts and they had some great leaders at the time (Until those Spartans came in and ruined everything 50 years later.)
Today we were at the museum and we were in the Byron Reed collection, which is a huge collection of money from all over the world. I am usually bored with this section, so I really didn't pay much attention, but just today, I looked over and saw "Greek money." I said, "Megan, Megan, come over here!" We sat there together and read how each city-state in Greece had thier own insignia on their own money. They had an example there from a city-state in Greece, unfortunately, it was not one that we have been learning about, but I still thought it was so cool that we knew what a city-state was, we knew that money was pretty new at that time, and we just knew the culture. It was fun to bring it all together!
Below the Greece money, there was money from the Roman empire. I know we are going to be studying that next week, so we might need to go back.:)
At another section of the museum, they had displays about the first buildings and their architecture here in Omaha. There were some theatre masks displayed on the wall and some columns on the other wall.(I still don't know why these were there when they were talking about architecture?) Do you know where theatre masks and columns on buildings orignated? Greece you guess? Correct! We had just studied the different kinds of columns that the Greeks used in their buildings on Wednesday. We also talked about how the Greeks made their theatres and how they would use masks that would signify their moods. These masks are what you often see around theatres these days.
Awesome, isn't it??
Oh wait, it gets better.
On our way home, we stopped at Subway (against Courtney's wishes) and as I am sitting their eating, I notice that their windows are in an arch shape. Any guesses here? Ok,I will tell you then. The Romans invented the arch that we see ALL OVER THE PLACE!! Like I said, we start studying about the Roman empire next week.
Do you see why I love homeschooling??
1. She would not be learning any of this at public school.
2. Even if she was learning it, would I know she was learning it? As a parent last year when Megan was at school, I didn't know what she was learning half the time.
3. Because I am the one teaching her, I can point things out as we are out in public and I can let her make the connection. Like I did 4 times today!!
I really can't wait to teach American history next year!!!
In case you are wondering, I really like teaching all the other subject too and if I can, I like to make connecttions anyway I can. (Like when Megan says, "What time is it?" I reply with, "You can read a clock, what does it say?)
Ok, one more example just because it is funny. Here's another "connection". It's not so important to us, but to a farmer, it is very important.
We are reading a book called "Strawberry Girl" for school and in this book, the family makes a field, puts a fence around it, and puts cows in it. They want to grow strawberries in there to sell later. Now, why would a person put cows in a field that they want to grow strawberries in??? Oh yeah, the cows "fertilize" the soil so they can have better strawberries!!
This one took a little bit of explaining to Megan- poor city girl! But never fear, we got a real live example yesterday. We were driving out to my parents for Thanksgiving and out in the country, we saw some cows out in the corn fields. Of course, I say, "Look Megan and Courtney, there are cows out in the fields? What do you think they are doing out there besides eating the leftover corn?" Fertilizing!! Same concept as in the book we are reading!! I just had to laugh!
Ok, the end of my really long blog. :)
Day off..
I got talked into, I let Megan have the day off. I think she is enjoying it.
She has been in her room all afternoon listening to "Adventures in Odyssey."
Now we have to do school this weekend, but it is soooo nice to just sit around today!
She has been in her room all afternoon listening to "Adventures in Odyssey."
Now we have to do school this weekend, but it is soooo nice to just sit around today!
Plan for the Day :)
1. Black Friday Shopping
2. Husker Football Game
Haha! None of the above!!!
The REAL plan is to sleep in, eat breakfast, sit around a little bit, shower the children, shower myself, and then do something constructive.
The girls' playroom has been a disaster for about 2 weeks now, so that is first on the agenda. This is Courtney's agenda for the morning.
Matt is, of course, watching football. I'm surprised he hasn't turned the Husker game on yet.
Christian is playing very nicely in his room.
Megan is working on her homework, so when that is done, she gets to help Courtney with the playroom.
Then lunch.
After lunch, the teacher of Ruwe homeschool says we are going to have school today. I know it is a vacation day, but I have one day left of school for the week. I can either do it today, tomorrow, or Sunday. I figure, let's just do it today and get it done with!
And of course, we will need to do something family-friendly today since Matt is off. (Maybe he will work on the basement while I am teaching Megan this afternoon?).
I think we are going to head down to the Western Heritage Museum for the annual tree lighting ceremony. They have a lot of family-friendly activities down there, Christian is really into his trains lately, plus we have a family membership, so why not? Oh, it might be packed with people, but I think we are going to try anyway.
Then we have the weekend free and we have nothing planned, so hopefully it will be nice and relaxing!! (But of course, Matt goes back to Iowa on Monday and I am on my own again until Wednesday.)
2. Husker Football Game
Haha! None of the above!!!
The REAL plan is to sleep in, eat breakfast, sit around a little bit, shower the children, shower myself, and then do something constructive.
The girls' playroom has been a disaster for about 2 weeks now, so that is first on the agenda. This is Courtney's agenda for the morning.
Matt is, of course, watching football. I'm surprised he hasn't turned the Husker game on yet.
Christian is playing very nicely in his room.
Megan is working on her homework, so when that is done, she gets to help Courtney with the playroom.
Then lunch.
After lunch, the teacher of Ruwe homeschool says we are going to have school today. I know it is a vacation day, but I have one day left of school for the week. I can either do it today, tomorrow, or Sunday. I figure, let's just do it today and get it done with!
And of course, we will need to do something family-friendly today since Matt is off. (Maybe he will work on the basement while I am teaching Megan this afternoon?).
I think we are going to head down to the Western Heritage Museum for the annual tree lighting ceremony. They have a lot of family-friendly activities down there, Christian is really into his trains lately, plus we have a family membership, so why not? Oh, it might be packed with people, but I think we are going to try anyway.
Then we have the weekend free and we have nothing planned, so hopefully it will be nice and relaxing!! (But of course, Matt goes back to Iowa on Monday and I am on my own again until Wednesday.)
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
Vacation Days
I love days off.
I love it that none of my kid are early risers, Matt is, but he gets up and lets me be!
It's so hard for me to get out of bed unless I have to.
It's 8 and we are usually all up by now for preschool. It's 8 and nobody is up yet (except for Matt and I).
If we homeschool both girls next year and don't need to get up for preschool, how am I going to get motivated in the morning???
(We didn't get anywhere yesterday and if we don't go somewhere this morning, we're pretty much stuck here all day again. I would like to get to the gym this morning, so maybe I can kick everybody out of their beds and get going!)
I love it that none of my kid are early risers, Matt is, but he gets up and lets me be!
It's so hard for me to get out of bed unless I have to.
It's 8 and we are usually all up by now for preschool. It's 8 and nobody is up yet (except for Matt and I).
If we homeschool both girls next year and don't need to get up for preschool, how am I going to get motivated in the morning???
(We didn't get anywhere yesterday and if we don't go somewhere this morning, we're pretty much stuck here all day again. I would like to get to the gym this morning, so maybe I can kick everybody out of their beds and get going!)
Monday, November 21, 2011
Football?
I think it's funny that Christian, at 17 months of age, brings me the TV remote and says, "football?"
Sunday, November 20, 2011
Open Door Mission and Wal-mart
Yesterday we had one goal. Make a trip to the Open Door Mission.
Our goal was two-fold. Megan had collected toys for the kids down there for her birthday. It was a great idea-instead of bringing Megan presents, the people brought gifts for the Open Door Mission. It worked out great! This was something Megan wanted to do for her birthday. Don't worry, she still got presents for herself, just not as many.
The second part of the plan was to clean out the storage section in our basement and take everything that we weren't using/ didn't need/ will never use again down there too. This also included items that I have been putting in piles throughout the house- old clothes, old shoes, old small appliances.
It took a couple of hours to clean it out, but we got it. It is amazing what we found down there! For instance, Megan has been begging me to find this porcelain doll that grandma Jo had given her when she was a baby. I looked in every box in her room and I just couldn't figure out where it went! Well, it was in a box in the basement. She was about in tears when I found it!
We also found a couple of boxes of more items that we had received for our wedding that could go in our China hutch- glass bowls, goblets, flower vases, etc. I found old scrap books and a crate of piano books (that's where those went!). I also found a box of school books. Somewhere along the line, my mom had found these elementary English books. They are full of stories and I thought Megan would love reading out of them.
We got rid of a lot of stuff too. Our old microwave that we took out of kitchen last year went to the mission. We had intended to sell it on Craig's list, but never did. We had old towels we were never going to use, some flower vases that we have doubles of, and some other household items. I am so glad these were all going to nice organization that will give them to people who need them. The mission does such good work in Omaha and starting in December, I think we are going to start serving down there as a family. This is one thing I really want to incorporate as part of the Ruwe homeschool. :)
So as Matt and Megan were delivering items to the Open Dorr Mission, Courtney and I decided that we wanted to make some banana bread. Well, you can't make banana bread without eggs, so that idea was thrown out the window. Next I decided to find something to make for a thanksgiving get-together that we have Sunday afternoon. After looking through my pantry, I decided I had nothing to take. Plus it was Matt's birthday on Sunday, and we hadn't gotten a gift for him yet. So I made an executive decision and Courtney, Christian, and I were off to Wal-Mart!
Shopping went great, except I am beginning to dislike going grocery shopping on the weekends. Unofortunately, the trouble started at the check-out lanes. Christian was being good in the cart like usual and then he spotted the tractor. Wal-Mart had set up this big section of bikes and riding toys for young kids like Christian and Courtney. They were right by the check-out lanes too! There was a John Deere jeep and a couple of race cars that were for boys. Christian spotted these and almost jumped out of his seat!
The whole time he was saying, "Tractor, Tractor!". I would say, "Do you want to ride the tractor?" and he would get even more excited! I had let Courtney go play on them and other kids were on them, so he was not too good in the cart. The cashier was even saying, "I'm going as fast as I can!"
I got all done checking out and I took him over there and he was all smiles! He got on the green jeep and was thrilled! Then he got on a car, back to the jeep, then over to a race car. He was having a great time!! (How was I going to get him out of here?)
He got out of the 2nd race car and headed back to the jeep when another boy came along and got into that race car that he was just in. He immediately got jealous and he screamed at the top of his lungs! He has a tendency to do this, he thinks that once he's played in it, the toy is his. So I picked him up and we headed to the door. Poor thing needs to learn to share!
While I was buckling Christian into his carseat in the car, I looked over at Courtney and she looked kind of sad. I said, "Courtney, we had to leave because your brother was being naughty."
She looked at me with her big brown eyes and that were welling up in tears. She said, "He was NOT being naughty, he was being very good" and she started crying! Poor thing! She wanted me to tell the other boy to get off the car so Christian could ride it again! She does not like it when Christian gets his feelings hurt, expecially by other kids!
I tried to explain to her that Christian has to share and he was being very good until that moment. She said, "I don't want to talk about it anymore." Fine Courtney! I love her heart!
So anyway, we got home and Matt and Megan were back home and it was a very peaceful evening! Too bad those Huskers lost.
Our goal was two-fold. Megan had collected toys for the kids down there for her birthday. It was a great idea-instead of bringing Megan presents, the people brought gifts for the Open Door Mission. It worked out great! This was something Megan wanted to do for her birthday. Don't worry, she still got presents for herself, just not as many.
The second part of the plan was to clean out the storage section in our basement and take everything that we weren't using/ didn't need/ will never use again down there too. This also included items that I have been putting in piles throughout the house- old clothes, old shoes, old small appliances.
It took a couple of hours to clean it out, but we got it. It is amazing what we found down there! For instance, Megan has been begging me to find this porcelain doll that grandma Jo had given her when she was a baby. I looked in every box in her room and I just couldn't figure out where it went! Well, it was in a box in the basement. She was about in tears when I found it!
We also found a couple of boxes of more items that we had received for our wedding that could go in our China hutch- glass bowls, goblets, flower vases, etc. I found old scrap books and a crate of piano books (that's where those went!). I also found a box of school books. Somewhere along the line, my mom had found these elementary English books. They are full of stories and I thought Megan would love reading out of them.
We got rid of a lot of stuff too. Our old microwave that we took out of kitchen last year went to the mission. We had intended to sell it on Craig's list, but never did. We had old towels we were never going to use, some flower vases that we have doubles of, and some other household items. I am so glad these were all going to nice organization that will give them to people who need them. The mission does such good work in Omaha and starting in December, I think we are going to start serving down there as a family. This is one thing I really want to incorporate as part of the Ruwe homeschool. :)
So as Matt and Megan were delivering items to the Open Dorr Mission, Courtney and I decided that we wanted to make some banana bread. Well, you can't make banana bread without eggs, so that idea was thrown out the window. Next I decided to find something to make for a thanksgiving get-together that we have Sunday afternoon. After looking through my pantry, I decided I had nothing to take. Plus it was Matt's birthday on Sunday, and we hadn't gotten a gift for him yet. So I made an executive decision and Courtney, Christian, and I were off to Wal-Mart!
Shopping went great, except I am beginning to dislike going grocery shopping on the weekends. Unofortunately, the trouble started at the check-out lanes. Christian was being good in the cart like usual and then he spotted the tractor. Wal-Mart had set up this big section of bikes and riding toys for young kids like Christian and Courtney. They were right by the check-out lanes too! There was a John Deere jeep and a couple of race cars that were for boys. Christian spotted these and almost jumped out of his seat!
The whole time he was saying, "Tractor, Tractor!". I would say, "Do you want to ride the tractor?" and he would get even more excited! I had let Courtney go play on them and other kids were on them, so he was not too good in the cart. The cashier was even saying, "I'm going as fast as I can!"
I got all done checking out and I took him over there and he was all smiles! He got on the green jeep and was thrilled! Then he got on a car, back to the jeep, then over to a race car. He was having a great time!! (How was I going to get him out of here?)
He got out of the 2nd race car and headed back to the jeep when another boy came along and got into that race car that he was just in. He immediately got jealous and he screamed at the top of his lungs! He has a tendency to do this, he thinks that once he's played in it, the toy is his. So I picked him up and we headed to the door. Poor thing needs to learn to share!
While I was buckling Christian into his carseat in the car, I looked over at Courtney and she looked kind of sad. I said, "Courtney, we had to leave because your brother was being naughty."
She looked at me with her big brown eyes and that were welling up in tears. She said, "He was NOT being naughty, he was being very good" and she started crying! Poor thing! She wanted me to tell the other boy to get off the car so Christian could ride it again! She does not like it when Christian gets his feelings hurt, expecially by other kids!
I tried to explain to her that Christian has to share and he was being very good until that moment. She said, "I don't want to talk about it anymore." Fine Courtney! I love her heart!
So anyway, we got home and Matt and Megan were back home and it was a very peaceful evening! Too bad those Huskers lost.
Friday, November 18, 2011
The stove is fixed!
About a month or two ago, we realized there was a screw missing off the side of the door of the stove (that came out because I lean on the handle all the time.)
The screw was completely gone and now my door was hanging about an inch open on one side. It was hard to get to an appliance store to get a screw specifically for our stove, so fixing the stove was put on hold. Until last Saturday.
We made a special trip to an appliance store at 72nd and Dodge and ordered the $4.50 screw. It wasn't even a half inch long.
So today, Matt picked up the screw and while I was gone tonight, he fixed my stove!!
Wow, does it look so much better! Maybe now I can open the door without thinking the front glass is going to come out and shatter everywhere!
Thanks Matt....now onto finishing the basement.:)
The screw was completely gone and now my door was hanging about an inch open on one side. It was hard to get to an appliance store to get a screw specifically for our stove, so fixing the stove was put on hold. Until last Saturday.
We made a special trip to an appliance store at 72nd and Dodge and ordered the $4.50 screw. It wasn't even a half inch long.
So today, Matt picked up the screw and while I was gone tonight, he fixed my stove!!
Wow, does it look so much better! Maybe now I can open the door without thinking the front glass is going to come out and shatter everywhere!
Thanks Matt....now onto finishing the basement.:)
Thursday, November 17, 2011
Random Thoughts from the Week
1. I love Tuesdays and Thursdays. No reason to get up and out the door by 8:45. We sleep in, a little bit and enjoy the morning. Wait, I catch up on housework and the laundry. But stil...
2. Christian and Courtney are such buddies lately!! When I put Christian down for a nap at 1:30 so I can teach Megan for a couple of hours, Courtney says, "Mom, do you HAVE to put him down for a nap? I want somebody to play with." She is really starting to get bored by herself while I am teaching Megan. She can't wait for him to get up so she can play with him. I have offered her to sit down and do school with us, but she doesn't want to. She usually ends up wondering around the house until Christian wakes up. Oh and interrupting us about every 10 minutes to see if it's 3:00 yet so she can have her "ice cream break." She was so good about playing by herself during this time! What happened?
3. When Christian is awake, dump truck rides are usually what Courtney and Christian are doing. Christian will get in the dump truck and Courtney will push him around the house as fast as she can. Christian loves it!!
Now if Megan were to touch the dump truck while Christian was in it, he would have nothing of it. Them two don't play together very well and I think it is because Megan doesn't "play" with Christian, she is usually teasing him, irritating him, laying on him, etc. He doesn't really like her close to him.
4. Matt is gone in Iowa again this week. He was supposed to go next week and we had a nice vacation planned. We were going to go along and stay at a hotel that had a waterpark! But unfortunately, his company doesn't want him in Iowa next week, so no more vacation. :( It would've worked great during the week of Thanksgiving because Courtney doesn't have preschool on Wednesday.
5. I sat at the kitchen table for 4 hours yesterday teaching kids!!! 4 hours!!!
I started school wtih Megan at 1:30 and about 3, Courtney was begging for her "ice cream break" (like usual) This works for me too. :) We took about a half hour break for ice cream and to get Christian up. Then I finished with Megan about 4:30.
Then Courtney wanted to do school! I love sitting down with her because she is soooo eager to learn lately. We sat at the table for another 45 minutes or so working on her preschool books. I was begging her to be done, I had had enough talking and teaching, but the other two were gone playing, so it was perfect timing. Ahhh, when she decided we were done, I got up and vegged in front of the TV for awhile!
If we decide to homeschool Courtney next year, how will this work?? It will definitely help that I will not have her preschool schedule to work around!
6. Megan's favorite two subjects are history and Bible. Anybody can ask her and this will be her reply. I am with you Megan!
I have to admit, we are learning world history this year and everything we are learning lately, I was never taught in school, so I am learning right along with her. Right now we are at about 500 BC and yesterday we learned how King Xerxes of Persia invaded Greece. We learned the whole story of how the smaller Athenian army defeated the huge army of Persia! Wow! I am a history buff, so I am loving this!! Megan is too!
I think it's awesome that when we open our Bible to do our lesson there and we are learning about the same people and places as in history class. On Tuesday, we were talking about King Darius and Persia and how he tried to invade Greece (the 2nd attempt, King Xerxes was the 3rd attempt). Well, we flipped our Bible open to the book of Daniel and guess who we are talking about - King Darius of Persia! I love it!!!
Really, who thought I would get excited about the Perians, Greeks, Spartans, Assyrians, Babylonians, Mesopotamians, the Indus Valley, China at 500 BC??
And would Megan be getting ANY of this at public school? NO!! (But is it important that she learns history in 2nd grade? Should we be doing more reading and writing and math like they would be doing in school? Obviously I don't think so. :)
7. Did you know that the $150 million bond issue for Milard Public Schools failed this week? Yes, the voters voted it down, which included Matt and I. Would you vote for a tax increase when your kids did not go to school there?? But I do think that higher security and doors on their elementary school classrooms was a good idea, I do not think artificial turf is. This is a district that took bussing away for 900 students and yet wants to add artifical turf. Hmmm.
8. Courtney is making some really good friends at preschool this year! One of her main friends is a girl named Livi. Yesterday at pick up her mom said to me, "Everyday Livi asks if there is preschool because she can't wait to come and play with Courtney." Isn't that sweet?? We definitely have to have them over to play.
9. I am loving my gym membership. Two hours completely by myself two days a week is great! Courtney is at preschool, Christian and Megan are in childcare. Yesterday I was in the pool for about an hour and a half. Seriously, it is so relaxing. Exercising plus having time to myself! Two things that are great for me right now!
10. Ok, so I didn't really mean to write to 10, but if you know me, I like even numbers, so I just can't end at 9. :) Don't even ask me about my fettish with even vs. odd numbers (yes, having 3 children drives me nuts)! Anyway, off to get the kids up...
2. Christian and Courtney are such buddies lately!! When I put Christian down for a nap at 1:30 so I can teach Megan for a couple of hours, Courtney says, "Mom, do you HAVE to put him down for a nap? I want somebody to play with." She is really starting to get bored by herself while I am teaching Megan. She can't wait for him to get up so she can play with him. I have offered her to sit down and do school with us, but she doesn't want to. She usually ends up wondering around the house until Christian wakes up. Oh and interrupting us about every 10 minutes to see if it's 3:00 yet so she can have her "ice cream break." She was so good about playing by herself during this time! What happened?
3. When Christian is awake, dump truck rides are usually what Courtney and Christian are doing. Christian will get in the dump truck and Courtney will push him around the house as fast as she can. Christian loves it!!
Now if Megan were to touch the dump truck while Christian was in it, he would have nothing of it. Them two don't play together very well and I think it is because Megan doesn't "play" with Christian, she is usually teasing him, irritating him, laying on him, etc. He doesn't really like her close to him.
4. Matt is gone in Iowa again this week. He was supposed to go next week and we had a nice vacation planned. We were going to go along and stay at a hotel that had a waterpark! But unfortunately, his company doesn't want him in Iowa next week, so no more vacation. :( It would've worked great during the week of Thanksgiving because Courtney doesn't have preschool on Wednesday.
5. I sat at the kitchen table for 4 hours yesterday teaching kids!!! 4 hours!!!
I started school wtih Megan at 1:30 and about 3, Courtney was begging for her "ice cream break" (like usual) This works for me too. :) We took about a half hour break for ice cream and to get Christian up. Then I finished with Megan about 4:30.
Then Courtney wanted to do school! I love sitting down with her because she is soooo eager to learn lately. We sat at the table for another 45 minutes or so working on her preschool books. I was begging her to be done, I had had enough talking and teaching, but the other two were gone playing, so it was perfect timing. Ahhh, when she decided we were done, I got up and vegged in front of the TV for awhile!
If we decide to homeschool Courtney next year, how will this work?? It will definitely help that I will not have her preschool schedule to work around!
6. Megan's favorite two subjects are history and Bible. Anybody can ask her and this will be her reply. I am with you Megan!
I have to admit, we are learning world history this year and everything we are learning lately, I was never taught in school, so I am learning right along with her. Right now we are at about 500 BC and yesterday we learned how King Xerxes of Persia invaded Greece. We learned the whole story of how the smaller Athenian army defeated the huge army of Persia! Wow! I am a history buff, so I am loving this!! Megan is too!
I think it's awesome that when we open our Bible to do our lesson there and we are learning about the same people and places as in history class. On Tuesday, we were talking about King Darius and Persia and how he tried to invade Greece (the 2nd attempt, King Xerxes was the 3rd attempt). Well, we flipped our Bible open to the book of Daniel and guess who we are talking about - King Darius of Persia! I love it!!!
Really, who thought I would get excited about the Perians, Greeks, Spartans, Assyrians, Babylonians, Mesopotamians, the Indus Valley, China at 500 BC??
And would Megan be getting ANY of this at public school? NO!! (But is it important that she learns history in 2nd grade? Should we be doing more reading and writing and math like they would be doing in school? Obviously I don't think so. :)
7. Did you know that the $150 million bond issue for Milard Public Schools failed this week? Yes, the voters voted it down, which included Matt and I. Would you vote for a tax increase when your kids did not go to school there?? But I do think that higher security and doors on their elementary school classrooms was a good idea, I do not think artificial turf is. This is a district that took bussing away for 900 students and yet wants to add artifical turf. Hmmm.
8. Courtney is making some really good friends at preschool this year! One of her main friends is a girl named Livi. Yesterday at pick up her mom said to me, "Everyday Livi asks if there is preschool because she can't wait to come and play with Courtney." Isn't that sweet?? We definitely have to have them over to play.
9. I am loving my gym membership. Two hours completely by myself two days a week is great! Courtney is at preschool, Christian and Megan are in childcare. Yesterday I was in the pool for about an hour and a half. Seriously, it is so relaxing. Exercising plus having time to myself! Two things that are great for me right now!
10. Ok, so I didn't really mean to write to 10, but if you know me, I like even numbers, so I just can't end at 9. :) Don't even ask me about my fettish with even vs. odd numbers (yes, having 3 children drives me nuts)! Anyway, off to get the kids up...
Monday, November 14, 2011
Megan's quote of the day
Today, I was struggling to get Megan to do her math homework, again.
It was about lunch time and I finally said, "Megan, you need to get your homework done before I will let you eat lunch!"
Her response was, "What? You care more about my homework than your starving child??"
Yes Megan, at this moment I do! :)
It was about lunch time and I finally said, "Megan, you need to get your homework done before I will let you eat lunch!"
Her response was, "What? You care more about my homework than your starving child??"
Yes Megan, at this moment I do! :)
What would you do at 3 am?
I just had to laugh. This was one of the questions for a game at the baby shower I attended yesterday.
What would you do at 3 am while you are up with the baby?
Seriously now, are you really going to watch TV, catch up on reading, check facebook, listen to music???
First of all, you might need both hands to do some of these things and if you are breastfeeding at 3 am, that may not be possible.
Second, are you really going to stimulate yourself so much that you are going to wake up and not be able to go back to sleep? Why would you do this, especially if you have to get up and go to work in the morning?
Third, when I was up at 3 am, I wasn't up long enough to really do any of these things. Catch up on reading? watch tv?
Ok, here's my answer. When you get up, turn a night light on, keep the room quiet, do not stimulate yourself or the baby with any bright lights!! Do not stimulate your brain at all. Really, who wants to think at 3 am?? I don't! Feed the baby, change the baby, put the baby back to bed. Put yourself back to bed. Nothing else! (Somebody said they should pray during that time- that is an excellent thing to do while feeding the baby at 3 am too!)
Now, if the baby thinks he/ she wants to be a night owl and be up for hours, sure, go ahead and watch TV/ read a book/ etc. I totally understand. If you're going to be up, might as well do something. But really, try your best to get everybody back to bed!!
That is my answer about what to do at 3 am!
(Can't you tell I never did any of those things??)
What would you do at 3 am while you are up with the baby?
Seriously now, are you really going to watch TV, catch up on reading, check facebook, listen to music???
First of all, you might need both hands to do some of these things and if you are breastfeeding at 3 am, that may not be possible.
Second, are you really going to stimulate yourself so much that you are going to wake up and not be able to go back to sleep? Why would you do this, especially if you have to get up and go to work in the morning?
Third, when I was up at 3 am, I wasn't up long enough to really do any of these things. Catch up on reading? watch tv?
Ok, here's my answer. When you get up, turn a night light on, keep the room quiet, do not stimulate yourself or the baby with any bright lights!! Do not stimulate your brain at all. Really, who wants to think at 3 am?? I don't! Feed the baby, change the baby, put the baby back to bed. Put yourself back to bed. Nothing else! (Somebody said they should pray during that time- that is an excellent thing to do while feeding the baby at 3 am too!)
Now, if the baby thinks he/ she wants to be a night owl and be up for hours, sure, go ahead and watch TV/ read a book/ etc. I totally understand. If you're going to be up, might as well do something. But really, try your best to get everybody back to bed!!
That is my answer about what to do at 3 am!
(Can't you tell I never did any of those things??)
Sunday, November 13, 2011
5 Parties in 4 Days
Ok, all I can say is that I am tired of "parties", tired of cake,tired of chit-chatting, and tired of singing happy birthday! This week/ weekend was a little much. I am very happy for everybody and their birthdays, but I am D-O-N-E!I just want to curl up and spend some time alone!!
Thursday night- Megan had her family birthday party.
Friday night- Megan had her friends party.
Saturday- my niece's first birthday party
Sunday morning- our church's 30th birthday party (yes, they threw a party for our church)
Sunday afternoon- sister-in-laws baby shower
I am exhausted, but I still have to make supper for the family and teach Megan tonight. I let her have Thurday and Friday off from school because it was her birthday and we had to get ready for her parties, but she is not getting out of it. I told her we were going to make it up on the weekend and we will. I love the flexibility of homeschooling, but I don't like having to do school on the weekends, especially on a Sunday night. Everything from last week has to be done before we go to bed tonight, my rule!
Tomorrow we start our week over again!
Thursday night- Megan had her family birthday party.
Friday night- Megan had her friends party.
Saturday- my niece's first birthday party
Sunday morning- our church's 30th birthday party (yes, they threw a party for our church)
Sunday afternoon- sister-in-laws baby shower
I am exhausted, but I still have to make supper for the family and teach Megan tonight. I let her have Thurday and Friday off from school because it was her birthday and we had to get ready for her parties, but she is not getting out of it. I told her we were going to make it up on the weekend and we will. I love the flexibility of homeschooling, but I don't like having to do school on the weekends, especially on a Sunday night. Everything from last week has to be done before we go to bed tonight, my rule!
Tomorrow we start our week over again!
Friday, November 11, 2011
Chaos!
Yep, that's what you get when you invite nine girls from ages 7-9 years over for a 2 1/2 hour birthday party!
Hmmm. What notes should I take from this year to apply to next year?
Hmmm. What notes should I take from this year to apply to next year?
The Big Birthday!
Yesterday was the big birthday that Megan had counted down to for months. She was patient through Christian and Courtney's birthday. She always wanted to know why her birthday was last, we say, "We saved the best for last."
A couple days earlier, she had told me that she didn't want to go to school on her birthday. With homeschooling, we could do that, but I didn't really have any other time this week to sit down with her for school. I had told her that I needed to do school on her birthday, so we could take Friday afternoon off to get ready for her friends' party. I have 4 day lesson plans, so taking a day off each week seems to work out really well.
I usually take Tuesday and Thursdays mornings to just stay home and catch up on things like housework. So yesterday, we did that. I made Megan waffles for breakfast, we all got dressed, and we cleaned up a little bit. I didn't want to clean the entire house on Friday afternoon, so my idea was to get some done on Thursday morning. We did and I was happy with the progress.
We went out to CiCi's for lunch, per Megan's request, and then we headed over to Kohl's for a little shopping. I had 30% off coupon and Megan wanted a couple more fleece shirts. Before we headed in though, Matt had mentioned that we should see a movie that afternoon and soon I stared reminded him that we had to do school and that I didn't have any other good time to do school before Sunday night. His response, "But it's Megan's birthday, let her have some fun!" Ugh, go ahead and ruin my plans, but he had a point.
We got our shopping done and I gave in. It was her birthday and Matt had decided to take the afternoon off to spend it with her, he just didn't tell me until then! We decided to see "Puss in Boots" at Village Pointe. So much for school. :(
The movie got over about 4:30 and we headed home. About 5, we had some friends stop over and by 5:45, we needed to leave to go to Megan's party at Godfather's. (I thought I could get math or reading in during this house, but that didn't happen either!)
Megan's party at Godfather's was a great success! She's old enough where she doesn't need a big party at our house anymore, but I still wanted to do something for her. I had her uncles and aunts asking me about her party and I knew people had bought her gifts already. We rented out the party room at Godfathers, just invited immediate family, bought everybody pizza and pop, and had a little get-together. I thought it turned out well, except for when Megan was spitting as she blew out her candles! We will have to work with her for next year. :)
Megan and I also came up with the idea that she should donate her presents to the Open Door Mission. I am so glad that the family supported her little service project and bought things for them. She got a couple of presents from grandmas and she will get presents tonight with her friends' party.
I think she had a great birthday and I better get busy and start planning her party for tonight! Yikes!!
A couple days earlier, she had told me that she didn't want to go to school on her birthday. With homeschooling, we could do that, but I didn't really have any other time this week to sit down with her for school. I had told her that I needed to do school on her birthday, so we could take Friday afternoon off to get ready for her friends' party. I have 4 day lesson plans, so taking a day off each week seems to work out really well.
I usually take Tuesday and Thursdays mornings to just stay home and catch up on things like housework. So yesterday, we did that. I made Megan waffles for breakfast, we all got dressed, and we cleaned up a little bit. I didn't want to clean the entire house on Friday afternoon, so my idea was to get some done on Thursday morning. We did and I was happy with the progress.
We went out to CiCi's for lunch, per Megan's request, and then we headed over to Kohl's for a little shopping. I had 30% off coupon and Megan wanted a couple more fleece shirts. Before we headed in though, Matt had mentioned that we should see a movie that afternoon and soon I stared reminded him that we had to do school and that I didn't have any other good time to do school before Sunday night. His response, "But it's Megan's birthday, let her have some fun!" Ugh, go ahead and ruin my plans, but he had a point.
We got our shopping done and I gave in. It was her birthday and Matt had decided to take the afternoon off to spend it with her, he just didn't tell me until then! We decided to see "Puss in Boots" at Village Pointe. So much for school. :(
The movie got over about 4:30 and we headed home. About 5, we had some friends stop over and by 5:45, we needed to leave to go to Megan's party at Godfather's. (I thought I could get math or reading in during this house, but that didn't happen either!)
Megan's party at Godfather's was a great success! She's old enough where she doesn't need a big party at our house anymore, but I still wanted to do something for her. I had her uncles and aunts asking me about her party and I knew people had bought her gifts already. We rented out the party room at Godfathers, just invited immediate family, bought everybody pizza and pop, and had a little get-together. I thought it turned out well, except for when Megan was spitting as she blew out her candles! We will have to work with her for next year. :)
Megan and I also came up with the idea that she should donate her presents to the Open Door Mission. I am so glad that the family supported her little service project and bought things for them. She got a couple of presents from grandmas and she will get presents tonight with her friends' party.
I think she had a great birthday and I better get busy and start planning her party for tonight! Yikes!!
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
A night off from AWANA
I haven't stayed home from AWANA in the last four years that we have been going.
Christian hasn't been feeling good all week. He's had a runny nose, but last night and today, he's felt a little warm. Tonight Matt and I decided, at the last minute, that we should keep him home. He didn't have a very good nap today because I had to take the girls to the dentist at 3. You could tell he was tired. While we were eating supper tonight, he just looked miserable!
We decided that I should stay home with him because Matt has missed the last two weeks of Cubbies with Courtney. They left about 6 and I sat down in front of the TV with Christian was on my lap and he didn't move! This is not like him at all!!
About 6:40 I put his pajamas because he was yawning and by 6:45, he was asleep on my lap! Poor thing!
He is in bed now, but I'm not sure if he will sleep all night or not. I hope so, he needs to sleep to get better.
Now I have the next two hours to myself!! I should really do something I want to do, BUT Megan is having 9 friends over Friday night for her birthday party and I don't have much time to clean between now and then. Unfortunately, I am going to enjoy my peace and quiet and clean!
As for the dentists today, both girls got glowing reports. Well, Megan needs to brush better, but neither one had any cavities! The hygenist wanted to put sealants on Megan's teeth and Megan would only let her do one, she closed her mouth and wouldn't let her do anymore.:( Now I have to take her back in about a month to finish them. Courtney's teeth were great and she has one six-year molar in already. They want to put sealants on that one the next time we are in. Sounds good to me!
Christian hasn't been feeling good all week. He's had a runny nose, but last night and today, he's felt a little warm. Tonight Matt and I decided, at the last minute, that we should keep him home. He didn't have a very good nap today because I had to take the girls to the dentist at 3. You could tell he was tired. While we were eating supper tonight, he just looked miserable!
We decided that I should stay home with him because Matt has missed the last two weeks of Cubbies with Courtney. They left about 6 and I sat down in front of the TV with Christian was on my lap and he didn't move! This is not like him at all!!
About 6:40 I put his pajamas because he was yawning and by 6:45, he was asleep on my lap! Poor thing!
He is in bed now, but I'm not sure if he will sleep all night or not. I hope so, he needs to sleep to get better.
Now I have the next two hours to myself!! I should really do something I want to do, BUT Megan is having 9 friends over Friday night for her birthday party and I don't have much time to clean between now and then. Unfortunately, I am going to enjoy my peace and quiet and clean!
As for the dentists today, both girls got glowing reports. Well, Megan needs to brush better, but neither one had any cavities! The hygenist wanted to put sealants on Megan's teeth and Megan would only let her do one, she closed her mouth and wouldn't let her do anymore.:( Now I have to take her back in about a month to finish them. Courtney's teeth were great and she has one six-year molar in already. They want to put sealants on that one the next time we are in. Sounds good to me!
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
I think I started something...
Courtney has been begging me to teach her to read. I want to teach her because her excitement to learn is so great right now, but I'm having a hard time finding time to sit down with her.
Tonight I got to put her to bed. We were doing connect the dots with the alphabet and somehow we got on the subject of her wanting to learn to read. I had also found some alphabet cards while I was sitting there, so I decided to test her and see what she knew.
She knew almost all the alphabet, so I went through again and started teaching her the sounds. She knew some really well, like the ones she had learned in preschool, but others not so much.
I wanted to push it further. I got out a piece of paper and wrote the word "fun" on it, wondering if she could figure it out. With much prompting, she did! You should've seen her eyes light up!!
We turned fun into sun, which she also got. Then we went to it, then sit, then hit. (We could do the whole word family!)
I think once she figures out the sounds to words, she will take off in reading!
I think we might be doing more of this tomorrow! Good thing I kept a lot of Megan's kindergarten readers and word family papers! I might need to get those out soon. And add some Courtney reading time to our school time in the afternoons.
Tonight I got to put her to bed. We were doing connect the dots with the alphabet and somehow we got on the subject of her wanting to learn to read. I had also found some alphabet cards while I was sitting there, so I decided to test her and see what she knew.
She knew almost all the alphabet, so I went through again and started teaching her the sounds. She knew some really well, like the ones she had learned in preschool, but others not so much.
I wanted to push it further. I got out a piece of paper and wrote the word "fun" on it, wondering if she could figure it out. With much prompting, she did! You should've seen her eyes light up!!
We turned fun into sun, which she also got. Then we went to it, then sit, then hit. (We could do the whole word family!)
I think once she figures out the sounds to words, she will take off in reading!
I think we might be doing more of this tomorrow! Good thing I kept a lot of Megan's kindergarten readers and word family papers! I might need to get those out soon. And add some Courtney reading time to our school time in the afternoons.
Monday, November 7, 2011
Good News!
Wow, it's been awhile since I have been to the doctor and received some good news!
(I don't write about any of my health problems on here, if you haven't noticed.)
I went to the dentist today and came out with a great report!
No cavities, no need for a crown, no need for a root canal, nothing! YAY!!!
There is something going on with one of my front teeth, but nothing showed up in the xray, so the dentist said to let it be.
This is good news!
Even though my teeth are good, doesn't mean that my jaw is good....
(I don't write about any of my health problems on here, if you haven't noticed.)
I went to the dentist today and came out with a great report!
No cavities, no need for a crown, no need for a root canal, nothing! YAY!!!
There is something going on with one of my front teeth, but nothing showed up in the xray, so the dentist said to let it be.
This is good news!
Even though my teeth are good, doesn't mean that my jaw is good....
Very peaceful :)
While I was making dinner tonight, it seemed very peaceful in the house.
Nobody was being crazy, nobody was fighting, nobody was being left out!
Do you know why? They were watching a movie!
(I don't know the last time they watched a movie, I usually don't even have the TV on during the day, but I was gone at the dentist and they conned daddy into letting them watch a movie! Wow, I should do this more often :)
Nobody was being crazy, nobody was fighting, nobody was being left out!
Do you know why? They were watching a movie!
(I don't know the last time they watched a movie, I usually don't even have the TV on during the day, but I was gone at the dentist and they conned daddy into letting them watch a movie! Wow, I should do this more often :)
Sunday, November 6, 2011
Homework troubles again!
Tonight,like any other night, Megan had homework. She had 5 pages of handwriting and two pages of math to get done before school tomorrow. She has 2 to 3 pages of handwriting everyday. Since it's not a daily "lesson", I usually let it slide until Sunday night. Then she has to have everything from the previous week finished.
Well, it came to be 7:45 pm tonight and I reminded her that she had homework to do. So she immediately started to complain. She did pull out her math and finished that in about 10-15 minutes without too much trouble.
About 8 pm, she pulled out her handwriting. She was sitting in the living room with us til about 8:20 and had 1/2 a page done. By 8:30, nothing more was done, except a lot more complaining and moaning about it.
About 8:35, Matt and I had had enough complaining and I was determined that she was going to get it done before she went to bed. We had already told her that if it wasn't done by 8:30, she would get no books for bedtime.
I also know that if I put Megan in a room all by herself, she will get busy. This is probably the one thing she hates the most in life, but I had no other choice! There is nobody to distract her and nobody for her to talk to. So I took her handwriting book and pencil and took it up to my sitting room off my master bedroom. She went in and I told her she could not come out until it was done and I shut the door behind me. Wow, she was not happy with this situation!
Within ten minutes, she had everything completed! I knew it would work!
(I knew it would because I've had to do this before for a math test). If we continue to homeschool, we need to have our own "homeschool" room where she can go and do homework or give her her own room back with her own desk.
Well, it came to be 7:45 pm tonight and I reminded her that she had homework to do. So she immediately started to complain. She did pull out her math and finished that in about 10-15 minutes without too much trouble.
About 8 pm, she pulled out her handwriting. She was sitting in the living room with us til about 8:20 and had 1/2 a page done. By 8:30, nothing more was done, except a lot more complaining and moaning about it.
About 8:35, Matt and I had had enough complaining and I was determined that she was going to get it done before she went to bed. We had already told her that if it wasn't done by 8:30, she would get no books for bedtime.
I also know that if I put Megan in a room all by herself, she will get busy. This is probably the one thing she hates the most in life, but I had no other choice! There is nobody to distract her and nobody for her to talk to. So I took her handwriting book and pencil and took it up to my sitting room off my master bedroom. She went in and I told her she could not come out until it was done and I shut the door behind me. Wow, she was not happy with this situation!
Within ten minutes, she had everything completed! I knew it would work!
(I knew it would because I've had to do this before for a math test). If we continue to homeschool, we need to have our own "homeschool" room where she can go and do homework or give her her own room back with her own desk.
Time Change!
Anybody else love laying in bed until the kids decide to wake up? I'm loving the extra hour of "down time" for me, I don't get it very often!
It's 8:02 new time, which means 9:02 old time, and my girls are still sleeping!!
Christian is awake and talking in his crib.
I loev that my kids are not early risers!!
But I should probably go wake them up, we have church this morning!
It's 8:02 new time, which means 9:02 old time, and my girls are still sleeping!!
Christian is awake and talking in his crib.
I loev that my kids are not early risers!!
But I should probably go wake them up, we have church this morning!
Saturday, November 5, 2011
I survived.
Matt was gone another 3 days this week and I survived again.
I had to rearrange a few things this week because we were behind in school from the previous week, but we are all caught up now. I am really amazed at how much Megan is picking up! For instance, I think I gave her my cold. I asked her this morning, "Do you remember from health what we are supposed to eat when we get sick?" She responded,"an apple!" (I was really looking for vitamin C, but an apple contains vitamin C, so she was correct!)
We are also having great fun reading a story about a Chinese missinoary Gladys Alyward. She is a lady who flunked out of missionary school in England, but was still determined to be a missionary in China. After travelling 6 weeks to find an English missionary in China, her dream comes true, but only after many trials that only God could have gotten her through! We are at the part in the book now where she has become a local foot inspector. Her job is to go to local villages and make sure parents unbind their little girls feet. What is feet binding, you may ask? Well, ask Megan! It's where the Chinese would fold little girls' feet over and then wrap them up like that so they grow crooked. They did this because they thought men didn't like "big" feet. The women could only hobble with bound feet. Megan and I looked up pictures of bound feet on the internet and we have really learned a lot about this terrible custom the Chinese used to do.
During this time in this book, the government made a rule that bound feet are illegal. Gladys had to go from village to village to make sure everybody under the age of 10 had unbound feet. By age 12, your feet were stuck that way. :( Gladys was picked because she could actually walk. She was not from China and her feet were not bound. Everyday when I ask Megan what subject she wants to do first, she always said, "Read Gladys!" I'm so glad she is enjoying learning! It is a very interesting book and I would highly recommend it to anyone.
Anyway, sorry about that tangent, but I love to see my girls love learning!
I had to rearrange a few things this week because we were behind in school from the previous week, but we are all caught up now. I am really amazed at how much Megan is picking up! For instance, I think I gave her my cold. I asked her this morning, "Do you remember from health what we are supposed to eat when we get sick?" She responded,"an apple!" (I was really looking for vitamin C, but an apple contains vitamin C, so she was correct!)
We are also having great fun reading a story about a Chinese missinoary Gladys Alyward. She is a lady who flunked out of missionary school in England, but was still determined to be a missionary in China. After travelling 6 weeks to find an English missionary in China, her dream comes true, but only after many trials that only God could have gotten her through! We are at the part in the book now where she has become a local foot inspector. Her job is to go to local villages and make sure parents unbind their little girls feet. What is feet binding, you may ask? Well, ask Megan! It's where the Chinese would fold little girls' feet over and then wrap them up like that so they grow crooked. They did this because they thought men didn't like "big" feet. The women could only hobble with bound feet. Megan and I looked up pictures of bound feet on the internet and we have really learned a lot about this terrible custom the Chinese used to do.
During this time in this book, the government made a rule that bound feet are illegal. Gladys had to go from village to village to make sure everybody under the age of 10 had unbound feet. By age 12, your feet were stuck that way. :( Gladys was picked because she could actually walk. She was not from China and her feet were not bound. Everyday when I ask Megan what subject she wants to do first, she always said, "Read Gladys!" I'm so glad she is enjoying learning! It is a very interesting book and I would highly recommend it to anyone.
Anyway, sorry about that tangent, but I love to see my girls love learning!
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
Magic Powers
This morning, Courtney came up to me and said, "If I use my secret powers from my secret hiding place, can I change this candy so it is good for me and then have it for breakfast??"
No Courtney!!!
I thought that was very creative and a very sneaky way to have candy for breakfast!!
No Courtney!!!
I thought that was very creative and a very sneaky way to have candy for breakfast!!
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