Look, Little Guy, the corn is turning brown!
And then it will turn green again?
No, it will be ready to harvest.
But, how will we eat it?
He was saddened to learn that all the fields we see everywhere of both beans and corn are not for us to eat. Another little farm guy at church was aghast last week also that the corn was turning brown. His mommy told him that's what is supposed to happen.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Little Miss pulled herself up on a chair, reached across the kitchen table and said a word (well, her version of it) that I had never heard her say, "Be-bel" which, translated means, "Bible." :) She kept repeating it as she pulled the Bible-sized book toward her. The Mitford Bedside Companion!
Thursday, August 30, 2018
Wednesday, August 29, 2018
School day play
Little Miss is in the mimicking stage of speech development. She points at a bath toy, and we say, "Turtle," and she says, "te-tel."
Little Guy is really good at that and likes to do it. He likes the teacher/leader role. :)
Today on the ride home he told Little Miss it was time for her "listening check" (just like he has at school everyday), and he spent many minutes of the ride home doing her very exhaustive listening check. It was all I could do not to burst out laughing. :) And she played along! She did most of her Ling sounds, and then he moved on to words.
He had us (me) repeat the pledge line by line, and then line up (as much as one can, when driving). He pulled apart words and had me squish them together. And then let me go to centers, but all the ones I wanted were full, and he made sure I put my clip on the one I finished before I moved on to the next one. :) :) :)
And, just like that, we experienced his school day.
Little Guy is really good at that and likes to do it. He likes the teacher/leader role. :)
Today on the ride home he told Little Miss it was time for her "listening check" (just like he has at school everyday), and he spent many minutes of the ride home doing her very exhaustive listening check. It was all I could do not to burst out laughing. :) And she played along! She did most of her Ling sounds, and then he moved on to words.
He had us (me) repeat the pledge line by line, and then line up (as much as one can, when driving). He pulled apart words and had me squish them together. And then let me go to centers, but all the ones I wanted were full, and he made sure I put my clip on the one I finished before I moved on to the next one. :) :) :)
And, just like that, we experienced his school day.
Saturday, August 25, 2018
Our week
Our week is best summed up by saying that Little Miss is 2.5 hours into what will hopefully be a 3-3.5 hour nap today, after a week of 0-30 minute naps. :( It's Saturday Nap Day!!
Little Guy has helped me make "protein waffles" almost every day this week! We work hard to get enough protein, so this is wonderful!
School buses, combines, and pumpkin trucks! Oh, my! Our daily commute has proven that it is fall! Soon we'll be leaving home in plenty of time to get stuck behind slow-moving combines. :) (So far, we've only seen them in farmyards, as they're being prepped for harvest.)
Speaking of our daily commute, we are DAILY thankful for the Godsend of our friend who drives Little Guy halfway each day to school (65 miles one-way 5 days/week). I made the full trip one day this week, so I could attend my monthly meeting with his classroom teacher & main speech therapist. Since I was in town, I also observed class for an hour. (Part of my responsibility is to observe class & therapy x times a term.) I could watch his teacher for hours. She is masterful!
And I love her approach to homework. It's not primarily educational; it's primarily to build connections between parent and child, e.g., "Today we sampled five different drinks. Color these two glasses to show the two drinks you liked most. Have a parent write down what each one is."
Some of the students are weaker in pre-reading skills or fine motor skills, etc. She doesn't push, for she doesn't want them to hate that topic. But she incorporates reading, writing, math, and fine motor all day long. For the hour-long sampling of five drinks, they added "3 drinks that are already made" and "2 drinks we have to mix," to make "5 drinks total," each child wrote their name on a post-it to put on the graph, each child squeezed chocolate syrup into their jar of milk, shook the jar (with lid on), tried to unscrew the apple cider lid, shook the apple cider, etc. Unknowingly they worked on lots of skills!
Monday, in between carpool drop-off and pick-up, we went the opposite direction to meet friends we hadn't seen in 5 years and who were driving through!
Tuesday, in between carpool drop-off and pick-up, Little Miss and I sat in the Honda dealership, and then had a few hours at home.
Wednesday, in between carpool drop-off and pick-up, LM was with a sitter for 2 hours while I had an appointment in the city. In the afternoon I was thrilled for our Moms in Prayer group to start back up!
Thursday, there was no carpool drop-off and pick-up, because I drove LG and spent the day 65 miles from home. Thankfully, LM did not have to go with me, but had a very fun day elsewhere ... so fun that she did not nap!
Friday, in between carpool drop-off and pick-up, LM and I made our weekly nursing home visit to see Grandma, and, although we were home for a couple hours, LM had another no-nap day (except for 20-30 minutes in the car).
The days fly by! And if you have Bible study one morning, play group one morning, Grandma one morning, the week is full! Add in almost weekly "extras," such as every 3-4 weeks allergy shots, (late) 18 month well check, annual mammogram, etc., and it's hard to fit in the "want to's" like library story hour, park exploration, or how about down time at home?!?!
Little Guy has helped me make "protein waffles" almost every day this week! We work hard to get enough protein, so this is wonderful!
School buses, combines, and pumpkin trucks! Oh, my! Our daily commute has proven that it is fall! Soon we'll be leaving home in plenty of time to get stuck behind slow-moving combines. :) (So far, we've only seen them in farmyards, as they're being prepped for harvest.)
Speaking of our daily commute, we are DAILY thankful for the Godsend of our friend who drives Little Guy halfway each day to school (65 miles one-way 5 days/week). I made the full trip one day this week, so I could attend my monthly meeting with his classroom teacher & main speech therapist. Since I was in town, I also observed class for an hour. (Part of my responsibility is to observe class & therapy x times a term.) I could watch his teacher for hours. She is masterful!
And I love her approach to homework. It's not primarily educational; it's primarily to build connections between parent and child, e.g., "Today we sampled five different drinks. Color these two glasses to show the two drinks you liked most. Have a parent write down what each one is."
Some of the students are weaker in pre-reading skills or fine motor skills, etc. She doesn't push, for she doesn't want them to hate that topic. But she incorporates reading, writing, math, and fine motor all day long. For the hour-long sampling of five drinks, they added "3 drinks that are already made" and "2 drinks we have to mix," to make "5 drinks total," each child wrote their name on a post-it to put on the graph, each child squeezed chocolate syrup into their jar of milk, shook the jar (with lid on), tried to unscrew the apple cider lid, shook the apple cider, etc. Unknowingly they worked on lots of skills!
Monday, in between carpool drop-off and pick-up, we went the opposite direction to meet friends we hadn't seen in 5 years and who were driving through!
Tuesday, in between carpool drop-off and pick-up, Little Miss and I sat in the Honda dealership, and then had a few hours at home.
Wednesday, in between carpool drop-off and pick-up, LM was with a sitter for 2 hours while I had an appointment in the city. In the afternoon I was thrilled for our Moms in Prayer group to start back up!
Thursday, there was no carpool drop-off and pick-up, because I drove LG and spent the day 65 miles from home. Thankfully, LM did not have to go with me, but had a very fun day elsewhere ... so fun that she did not nap!
Friday, in between carpool drop-off and pick-up, LM and I made our weekly nursing home visit to see Grandma, and, although we were home for a couple hours, LM had another no-nap day (except for 20-30 minutes in the car).
The days fly by! And if you have Bible study one morning, play group one morning, Grandma one morning, the week is full! Add in almost weekly "extras," such as every 3-4 weeks allergy shots, (late) 18 month well check, annual mammogram, etc., and it's hard to fit in the "want to's" like library story hour, park exploration, or how about down time at home?!?!
Tuesday, August 21, 2018
Day in the life
A pre-K student who commutes 65 miles to all-day school 5 days/week.
A lunch to pack.
On the 7th day back to school, both children woke up on their own (finally!).
A morning carpool run and an afternoon carpool run.
A 13.5 month old van that is 1800 miles from it's 3 years/ 36,000 miles warranty and is having two issues. Translated: a morning at the car dealership.
The longest day home in a long time, so I pushed our bedclothes through the washer and dryer. (I used to religiously wash our mattress pad, sheets, and all blankets at least every two weeks. My allergies can tell that I'm off schedule.)
A toddler who was discovered holding the salt shaker upside down over the living room carpet.
A toddler who, even though she had time today to take a long nap, is in the habit of one hour naps. :(
A toddler who played with her mashed potatoes as if they were play-doh!
Thankfully, we got a reprieve from homework because the assignment was "Draw your pets." Ha!
And we had an easy-peasy but oh-so-delicious supper! Slow cooked bar-b-q chicken thighs, instant mashed potatoes, and frozen broccoli in the microwave (with parmesan cheese on top).
6.15 pm bedtime for the toddler, and 7 pm bedtime for the Pre-K-er.
And then ... preparing the sheet for our first Moms in Prayer meeting of the year, the elusive shower, :) finding some papers I will need tomorrow, and figuring out how hard it will be to install Little Miss's carseat in the sitter's car tomorrow.
Oh, and making the bed, right? Will I get 8 hours in bed tonight is the crucial question.
A lunch to pack.
On the 7th day back to school, both children woke up on their own (finally!).
A morning carpool run and an afternoon carpool run.
A 13.5 month old van that is 1800 miles from it's 3 years/ 36,000 miles warranty and is having two issues. Translated: a morning at the car dealership.
The longest day home in a long time, so I pushed our bedclothes through the washer and dryer. (I used to religiously wash our mattress pad, sheets, and all blankets at least every two weeks. My allergies can tell that I'm off schedule.)
A toddler who was discovered holding the salt shaker upside down over the living room carpet.
A toddler who, even though she had time today to take a long nap, is in the habit of one hour naps. :(
A toddler who played with her mashed potatoes as if they were play-doh!
Thankfully, we got a reprieve from homework because the assignment was "Draw your pets." Ha!
And we had an easy-peasy but oh-so-delicious supper! Slow cooked bar-b-q chicken thighs, instant mashed potatoes, and frozen broccoli in the microwave (with parmesan cheese on top).
6.15 pm bedtime for the toddler, and 7 pm bedtime for the Pre-K-er.
And then ... preparing the sheet for our first Moms in Prayer meeting of the year, the elusive shower, :) finding some papers I will need tomorrow, and figuring out how hard it will be to install Little Miss's carseat in the sitter's car tomorrow.
Oh, and making the bed, right? Will I get 8 hours in bed tonight is the crucial question.
Sunday, August 12, 2018
Family Vacation
What did you do on your summer vacation?
Lots of things, but for one week, we packed our bags and headed south!
On our way, we dropped off two heavy bags of school supplies at Little Guy's school! Such a fun time seeing his new classroom, meeting his new teacher, and interacting with several of the staff and a few other families who were dropping off supplies at the same time!
600 miles of road construction later (or so it seemed), we arrived way after bedtime, and the kids got their second wind. :)
During our five days (and six nights) at the grandparents', we
On the drive there and back (1200 miles), we
Lots of things, but for one week, we packed our bags and headed south!
On our way, we dropped off two heavy bags of school supplies at Little Guy's school! Such a fun time seeing his new classroom, meeting his new teacher, and interacting with several of the staff and a few other families who were dropping off supplies at the same time!
600 miles of road construction later (or so it seemed), we arrived way after bedtime, and the kids got their second wind. :)
During our five days (and six nights) at the grandparents', we
- attended the church of my childhood,
- spent an hour or two every day climbing up and sitting on the various tractors (Little Guy),
- said "hi" to cows and mooed to them (Little Miss),
- enjoyed early morning porch sitting,
- visited one day with cousins recently arrived back from South Asia,
- ate lots of ice cream,
- and watermelon,
- read the Ox-Cart Man at least once daily,
- baked a cake with Aunt E,
- read books with all the aunts and grandparents!,
- experimented with Plus-Plus bricks for the first time,
- rode the carousel (5 times in a row!!),
- drank Pal's tea!,
- went to the nature preserve on top of a mountain,
- experienced summer thunderstorms in the mountains,
- went to JCPenney to use a gift card (we have no department stores left, save Kohl's and Target).
On the drive there and back (1200 miles), we
- endured lots of road construction,
- (but got to see LOTS of construction vehicles!),
- had one exceptionally bad McD's experience
- (in addition to the generally bad experiences at each one that has a kiosk - who is ready to boycott McD's with me?! :) ),
- drove through the Bluegrass (Aaah!),
- and successfully filled our gas tank both coming and going at the least expensive spot on our route!
Friday, August 10, 2018
Sweet tea
Every time we take a trip back south, I start drinking sweet tea again. {Sigh.}
This time, I learned a new way to make it! (Maybe it's the standard way?)
Pour 2 cups boiling water over two Red Rose tea bags and a couple tablespoons of sugar. Steep 5-15 minutes. Remove tea bags and stir.
Fill a 32 ounce styrofoam cup with ice cubes. Add more ice cubes so they're above the top of the cup.
Pour the hot tea in.
Enjoy!
This time, I learned a new way to make it! (Maybe it's the standard way?)
Pour 2 cups boiling water over two Red Rose tea bags and a couple tablespoons of sugar. Steep 5-15 minutes. Remove tea bags and stir.
Fill a 32 ounce styrofoam cup with ice cubes. Add more ice cubes so they're above the top of the cup.
Pour the hot tea in.
Enjoy!
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