Christmas Recital

Lauren's first recital! She did a great job!

Goodbye Mr. Chew

We were going to lose it when he turned two, but I didn't mean for it to be the actual day. We were heading home (exhausted) and a feeling of dread came over me. WE LEFT IT! THE LAST ONE! I was not prepared for the first night without the pacifier but we stuck it out and we are free!

Duh Mom!

Jacob came home from preschool with a Christmas card he made. Now, I'm pretty confident at my abilty to interpret artwork. So I open the card, look at the picture and....

Me: "Jacob, is this a Christmas tree?"

Jacob: "No, it's a card."

Whaddya Want?

The doorknob to the backyard broke. So what am I to do until it is fixed? Let the kids go out the window of course (it's floor to ceiling, extremely safe). Going out is neccesary and we will not be stopped! Next thing I know, Lauren leans in the window and says, "We'd like to order three popcicles please" and then I got "We need three drinks out here please". Nice.

A Child Scorned

This is a good one.

We had only one popcicle, so we might as well had none.

Later...Jacob was asleep and Lauren said "Get Jeremy to leave me alone!". So I pulled out that one popcicle and lured Jeremy outside. Everyone wins...or so I thought.

The never fail "Fairness Radar" went crazy and Lauren was outside in a flash. So I explained that if Jeremy is outside eating a popcicle, he is not inside bothering her. We sit in silence and I'm looking at them; I said to Lauren, "You and Jeremy really look alike".

She looked at me, "Except I don't have a popcicle".

They got me again!

Keys

So, I did some grocery shopping and headed home.

1st trip in the house: Drop bag, mail and KEYS!
2nd: Get kids and their stuff in
3rd-6th: Bring in groceries

Then I go about putting everything away, finally getting down to my bag. Where are my keys! Now, losing keys is a BIG NO NO and since I can't find them by the time I have to go somewhere the next day I have to admit it. Three days pass, I've searched everywhere with no luck. Then, I do some vacuuming. When I start to use the attachment hose I hear some clanking in the vacuum. Open it up...KEYS! They had been shoved into the vacuum hose. Joe said "Good thing you clean every once in a while".

Anyone surprised?

Great Success

We've done good this week.....

Jacob...

1. Won a coloring contest

2. Making great handwriting progress

3. No accidents for over a month!!!

Lauren...

1. Started memorizing Christmas recital song

2. Scored the first goal in Sat's soccer game

3. Starting to do math in her head

Jeremy...

1. After weeks of working with me, Jacob managed to teach Jeremy two signs

2. He slept until 8 one morning

3. No new boo boo's

Golfing With Kids

They have been begging, so we took the kids to the driving range. It was a learning experience. Like...
1. Don't pick up your ball, just get a knew one
2. Be quiet outside
3. Don't sneak under the picket fence in the putting area and break into a run causing your mom to follow suit
I'm sure it was a great show. On the surface, it may have seemed like an ineffective practice but Joe had a great game the next day. Go Figure.

Weather

Yesterday we went to the YMCA fall festival, and being FALL, the pool was open of course. How could I not have known this? So the water slides and sprayers they kids have longed for were open. Last week they weren't (it was in the 60/70's) but that was yesterday's weather. Now. frequent checks must be done to see if this pool is open!!! On the bright side, all the kids got to ride horses. I think Jacob like it best. My camera died so I've been taking photos with the video camera. A new camera has been chosen and soon, I'll have better pictures.

Boo Boo, revisted

Two weeks to the day, this little guy busts open the head cut. Unbelievable, yet believable.

Ahhhh...the 80's

A while back at a resale shop I bought a bag of Barbie clothes at a reasonable price. I didn't look too much at them, I just was happy to stock-up on the cheap. Well, today when Lauren pulled out the Barbie box, I found this little number. Funny, I've never seen her dress a doll in it. I'm keeping it, in a few years it'll be in again.

Jeremy, are you prepared to mow that lawn?

Each child has tended to get into certain things. Once when Lauren was little I heard her playing with pots and pans and thought nothing of it. A while later I come to find her breaking eggs in a pan on the kitchen floor. There was also the time she sprayed a whole can of Pam on the stove. That one was messy. Jacob has a weakness for electronics. One time I woke up in the middle of the night to Dora. He'd popped a DVD into the computer and got it started. Not to mention all the things he taken apart. So what is Jeremy's weakness? Tools, or anything in the garage. This little guy is constantly trying to sneak the screwdrivers and tapemeasure I have stashed in the kitchen. And if granted access to the garage? He is in a toolbox or in a daze, staring at Dad's motorcycle (this explains that handprints). He snuck in behind me today and I caught him on the lawnmower. We're ready for you buddy, the yard's all yours!

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Something From Lauren

We love you grandma, jacob and jeremy. We can play, we can cook and we can paint.

Halloween

Worn-out clown

Before trick-or-treating

After trick-or-treating

The festivities have ended and we survived. Lauren was a ballet cat, Jeremy was a dragon and Jacob decided to be a clown (with a green nose!). He saw the Backyardigans episode "The Best Clowns in Town" and loved it. I've found that the boys just aren't as interested in dressing up as Lauren. I think it's because costumes tend to slow you down, they are not interested in that!! I took the kids around the block and then we gave out candy in the front yard and played with neighbors. About a minute after we ran out of candy, Jeremy was involved in a face-to-face collision. With yet another busted lip, we called it a night. Everyone had a fun and was tired! As for the candy...it is in a secure location.


Jacob and Jeremy had checkups today and here are the current stats: Jacob 36 lbs, 37 3/4 inches tall and Jeremy 30.3 lbs and 35 1/2 inches tall. That's right, Jeremy is catching up with





Jacob.

Crafts and stuff

I am not good at cute, craft stuff but here are a few things we've done lately. We made our first lapbook (apparently it's the thing to do). It's a mini display of what you've learned so you can review and share. This one was for the boys and quite simple compared to some I saw online. We also made corn-husk dolls. They look a little creepy in the picture (voodoo?) but were a lot of fun to make and decorate. The only string I had was the pink wrapping kind so that explains that.

Coldness

When I heard a cold front was coming Monday, my reaction was "Yeah Right". Sure enough it got chilly and we had to make due with last year's clothes until I could get to the store. Bellies were hanging out and pants barely made it past the knee but we survived! When it blew in it was soooo windy Lauren said "I think it's hurricane!".




First cold day! " Okay everyone, suck-in"

Trouble

Poor Jeremy

This is our fifth year enrolled in St. Bernadette's Mother's Day Out/Preschool program. But, today was the first time I signed an accident report. We've been hurt before, but this is the first time for tears. Just Tuesday I picked up Jeremy and his whole right cheek was scratched. He either fell on the mulch or hit the pavement, no one saw it happen and he kept on playing. Today he busted he lip and there were tears (and blood). Luckily, they have plenty of cure-all on hand....popcicles. It wasn't over yet. While climbing a shelf tonight, he fell back and nicely split the back of his head. By the time I crossed the room, he had blood down his back. Yikes! It was a great opportunity to show the others what they should not do (that would be the things I tell them not to do).







Yikes, back of shirt and ice pack. Obviously, traumitized, Jeremy forces down some pop-ice. If you think he looks bad you should have seen me. As the one holding him and stopping the bleeding (thank you first responder class) I look like something out of the horror movie. Luckily kids heal quickly and the whole thing lasted about 2 minutes.

A Funny or Two

Jeremy sat on the pumpkin and Lauren said "He looks like an old man". Nice. So they all got pictures on the pumpkin. Also, I think Jeremy's been hitting the clubs (or the stamp kit).

The YMCA Finally Opened!!!!

Today was the big day and it is nice. There is a regular pool, a "water park" pool, super nice equipment and more. There was a sign up for two years saying a YMCA was being built, then they started building and that took another year and then we joined during an early special and then......the one bad thing. Apparently each Y gets its name from someone who gives a large donation and this one may have been named after one of my "sworn enemies". I can think of two big money folks with this last name and both are no good. It is the Perry Family YMCA. Now I'll plug a great website : http://www.impeachperry.com
I decided everytime I see the name I'll get mad and workout harder.
Anyways, they have neat stuff for kids and are considering activities for homeschoolers.

I have yet to get a good video of Jacob. So he is getting a post to himself

Ice pack time!
Ouch! Good Times!
The mystery electronic thing
What the electronic thing belongs to

Anyone who can get Jacob to open up will quickly see how funny he is. Unfortunately, I haven't gotten a video worthy of him. So he gets a post to himself. The injuries continue. First Jacob cut the bottom of his big toe. Very traumatic. When the SCREAMING starts, I usually give it a second to see if the problem will go away. Not this time. So of course, I head downstairs with a big "SOMEONE BETTER BE HURT" and sure enough, someone was. At first I thought he might need stitches but it ended up being ok. Two days later, he was running through the garage while Jeremy was pushing a stroller around. Hello first black eye. Later in the week I find him playing with some piece from something electronic. Now Jacob has a habit of taking things apart, and I had no idea where this came from. So I'm trying to figure out where this came from without getting him upset because he knew he might be in trouble (all I was getting was "I don't know"). It turned out to be the inside of a plastic light-up heart that WAS attached to one of Lauren's princess shoes.No crisis! In better news, he is getting better at writing some of his letters and is enjoying doing schoolwork along with Lauren.

P.S. I'm still figuring this out, the pictures were supposed come at the end

Week In Review

Crisis! Jacob got a big, big-toe cut. We are still learning about Native Americans and this week we've been talking about what they eat. I think since we made corn bread "muffins" there were expectations of eating muffins (blueberry, chocolate chip). They got a thumbs-down from Lauren; she was able to pull herself together for a picture.
What's up haircut?
Lauren's piano lesson for the week. Someday (soon) the piano will be tuned.

Lauren's an "Official Daisy"

Today was the "investiture ceremony" for Lauren's troop. Now she's sporting the Daisy pin.

Jeremy's Favorite Song

About a month ago Jeremy decided on a favorite song. You have to appreciate what he'll do to hear it. Lucky for us, our kids have good taste in music. Even better, the kids think the name of the song is "Chunk of Love" (really Jungle Love-Steve Miller Band).

Notes from Jacob

I am a cowboy!

Love Jacob

Notes from Lauren

Hi guys!

This week we went to Kemah, played soccer and outside. I love you, from Lauren, Jacob and Jeremy

Realism

My original plan was to start my blog last Monday, make daily entries for a week, then send out the blog link. That way, there would be some stuff to read. As you can (don't) see, that plan didn't go so well. So, here's what we've been up to. The school stuff I ordered came in and we've settled on a schedule that works for us. Basically, mornings are language arts, math and piano practice. After lunch and a break, we do social studies, science and art. This works well because the language and math are structured and I know how much we need to do each day and in the morning we have the most momentum. Then we eat and play and finish up with work that is not as structured. Since I couldn't find a curriculum I like in social studies and science, I am using the library and some online resources to go through topics. For science we are picking a climate(starting with the Temperate Forest) and learning about the plants, animals and weather there. Then we can use the globe and blank maps to find the where these climates exist in the world. Depending on the interest level we can spend more or less time on an area. As for history, I wanted to do U.S. history and not much was available. So we are using the library and websites to learn (we are starting with Native Americans). As for art much of what we'll do will be tied into what we are learning. I still like to use the Ed Emberly books to practice drawing. I also been working at helping the kids do more for themselves. While this can be messy and SLOW, I am hoping it will payoff in the future. We'll see how it goes!

White Keys

After three piano lessons, Lauren has moved to the white keys!

Super Hero Kids

Lauren thought up this name, we'll see if they can live up to it. Monday, is our busiest day. In addition to schoolwork we have Daisy's, CCE and soccer practice. At Daisy's Lauren made a "sit-upon", something to sit on when camping. They used real needles! As for soccer, Jacob and Lauren's team is the Hawks and their color is maroon.