In Pre-K, they do a little bit of pre-reading, a little bit of math, a little bit of fine motor, a little bit of friendship skills, etc.
One of the math skills is making patterns. 2 blue bears, 1 red bear, 2 blue bears, 1 red bear, etc.
The other night we were eating mac & cheese for supper and Little Guy excitedly said, "Mom, we should make a pattern!!"
"Mac & cheese. Grilled cheese. Mac & cheese. Grilled cheese."
We've already fallen into a pattern - mac & cheese, grilled cheese, tacos, spaghetti, nachos, pizza, and on really tough nights - cold cereal.
Now that I know that my meal planning pattern is educational, I feel better about it. :)
Tuesday, October 16, 2018
Sunday, October 7, 2018
Surprised in grief
Some day I might write more of our emotionally intense past month.
One of the things that happened is that Grandma (Jim's mom) is now seeing Jesus face to face.
Some of the surprises have been:
* the sympathy card with rather lengthy hand-written note from the implement dealer!
* the mail lady coming to the visitation with wonderful stories of her encounters with Grandma at the mailbox!
* the floral arrangement-cum-wall decor sent to the funeral home, in which the wall decor was a display of the music & words to "Blessed Assurance" ~ the hymn which we sang to her during our last visit and which our whole family sang a few years ago at the front of the church where they were married, when we went on a family "pilgrimage" to celebrate one of their milestone anniversaries!
* a children's book about heaven (from the library) that included the phrase that there will be no hearing aids in heaven!
* and my search for tylenol one night. As I said, it's been an intense month, with a few other things going on. After Grandma went to heaven, we had a glorious 8 days with family. And then I crashed. I even slept through carpool pickup one afternoon (!). After a week of exhaustion & frequent naps, my lowered immunity + fall allergies = my need for Tylenol (and Mucinex and nasal spray and inhalers...), so I went searching in our medicine cabinet, knowing that I had recently (and quite accidentally) purchased a bottle of 500 tylenol tablets. Do you think I could find them? Not at all. But I was quite surprised to find ... four prescription bottles of post-surgery pain meds and three prescription bottles of 6-800 mg ibuprofen (one bottle has 120 pills!).
One of the things that happened is that Grandma (Jim's mom) is now seeing Jesus face to face.
Some of the surprises have been:
* the sympathy card with rather lengthy hand-written note from the implement dealer!
* the mail lady coming to the visitation with wonderful stories of her encounters with Grandma at the mailbox!
* the floral arrangement-cum-wall decor sent to the funeral home, in which the wall decor was a display of the music & words to "Blessed Assurance" ~ the hymn which we sang to her during our last visit and which our whole family sang a few years ago at the front of the church where they were married, when we went on a family "pilgrimage" to celebrate one of their milestone anniversaries!
* a children's book about heaven (from the library) that included the phrase that there will be no hearing aids in heaven!
* and my search for tylenol one night. As I said, it's been an intense month, with a few other things going on. After Grandma went to heaven, we had a glorious 8 days with family. And then I crashed. I even slept through carpool pickup one afternoon (!). After a week of exhaustion & frequent naps, my lowered immunity + fall allergies = my need for Tylenol (and Mucinex and nasal spray and inhalers...), so I went searching in our medicine cabinet, knowing that I had recently (and quite accidentally) purchased a bottle of 500 tylenol tablets. Do you think I could find them? Not at all. But I was quite surprised to find ... four prescription bottles of post-surgery pain meds and three prescription bottles of 6-800 mg ibuprofen (one bottle has 120 pills!).
Sunday, September 23, 2018
1000 Gifts, Vol. 5, #72
711. sunrise through the evergreens that line our yard
712. children playing freely & exuberantly in the backyard
713. outdoor playground at the nature center - where both LG & LM would have been content to stay all day!
714. older cousins who serve me by playing with / watching LG & LM when we're at Grandpa's house
715. Sunday morning!
716. our church!
717. opportunities to serve & be served
718. a combine that is repaired and working!
719. the beauty of harvest
720. God's grace and strength every day
712. children playing freely & exuberantly in the backyard
713. outdoor playground at the nature center - where both LG & LM would have been content to stay all day!
714. older cousins who serve me by playing with / watching LG & LM when we're at Grandpa's house
715. Sunday morning!
716. our church!
717. opportunities to serve & be served
718. a combine that is repaired and working!
719. the beauty of harvest
720. God's grace and strength every day
Thursday, September 20, 2018
Friendship Circle
Little Guy's class has Friendship Circle regularly at school. The best I understand, they learn about emotions and how to express them in healthy ways.
He told me the name of a book they read once, and I requested it from the library. It was helpful enough, but when the main character got mad, he used a word we don't prefer in our family.
I searched Amazon for more books, and requested them from our library. He absolutely loves them!!! Let's Talk About Feeling Disappointed is his favorite. Joy Berry has written several different series for different age groups.
At different times, I've searched for biblically based books on anger or lying or {insert character issue}, geared for 4-6 year olds.
Today when the Christmas 2018 Kids Catalog from CBD arrived, I spied these little 4 1/2" x 5 1/2" softcover books for $1.19 each or 99c each if you buy 10 or more (This is not an advertisement, just my sharing my happy find!). (Series listing at Amazon here.) "God, I Need to Talk to You About ... Disrespect, Feeling Sad, Lying, Sharing, Talking Back, etc.
When I realized you can buy all 24 in one hardback book, into my Amazon cart it went, faster than you can say, "I'm feeling happy!" :)
What character-building books do you recommend?
He told me the name of a book they read once, and I requested it from the library. It was helpful enough, but when the main character got mad, he used a word we don't prefer in our family.
I searched Amazon for more books, and requested them from our library. He absolutely loves them!!! Let's Talk About Feeling Disappointed is his favorite. Joy Berry has written several different series for different age groups.
At different times, I've searched for biblically based books on anger or lying or {insert character issue}, geared for 4-6 year olds.
Today when the Christmas 2018 Kids Catalog from CBD arrived, I spied these little 4 1/2" x 5 1/2" softcover books for $1.19 each or 99c each if you buy 10 or more (This is not an advertisement, just my sharing my happy find!). (Series listing at Amazon here.) "God, I Need to Talk to You About ... Disrespect, Feeling Sad, Lying, Sharing, Talking Back, etc.
When I realized you can buy all 24 in one hardback book, into my Amazon cart it went, faster than you can say, "I'm feeling happy!" :)
What character-building books do you recommend?
Saturday, September 15, 2018
1000 Gifts, Vol. 5, #71
701. beautiful blue skies
702. fluffy white clouds floating above the earth
703. fall!
704. great all-school field trip with Little Guy's school to the pumpkin farm / agritainment zone
705. a heart-to-heart w/ LG's first therapist (aural rehab) about how the layers of loss and grief never end :(
706. getting to know a mom of a new student, hearing her story of loss and grief, and sharing our mutual love for our school
707. Little Miss's day of fun on the real farm with her aunt!!
708. watching LG run up and down the soccer field kicking the ball and making goals
709. a morning spent with other moms who "get" the HARD, welcomed me in, and are a wealth of resources and practical tips
710. the special beauty of combines rolling through corn fields
702. fluffy white clouds floating above the earth
703. fall!
704. great all-school field trip with Little Guy's school to the pumpkin farm / agritainment zone
705. a heart-to-heart w/ LG's first therapist (aural rehab) about how the layers of loss and grief never end :(
706. getting to know a mom of a new student, hearing her story of loss and grief, and sharing our mutual love for our school
707. Little Miss's day of fun on the real farm with her aunt!!
708. watching LG run up and down the soccer field kicking the ball and making goals
709. a morning spent with other moms who "get" the HARD, welcomed me in, and are a wealth of resources and practical tips
710. the special beauty of combines rolling through corn fields
Friday, September 7, 2018
Activities
Not the fun activities I hoped for like go to the park, the zoo, the pumpkin farm, the library ...
Rather ... each day has enough activities for itself.
My days these two weeks are filled with:
I'd like to think this is just the exception, but every week has 2 or 3 exceptions that add up to 5 full days. And we are headed into harvest, aka solo parenting.
Just pray for daily strength, grace, and wisdom.
Please don't email with which ones I should have cancelled. Just pray God will show us, if you feel so inclined. Would it be the basic (year late) medical/ self care? Would it be the once a quarter time I get with any friend? Would it be sanity-savers? Would it be time in God's Word, without which I will shrivel up and die? (I'm already shriveling up from stopping attending prayer meeting when Little Guy started school.)
He knows. He is carrying us. He is with us. He is using the prayers of our Aaron and Hur.
Rather ... each day has enough activities for itself.
My days these two weeks are filled with:
- 2 hours at Panera sharing about "life as a single missionary" with one preparing to go out,
- weekly morning Bible study at church,
- coffee with a friend to catch up on some of her major life events (took a month to schedule; had a conflict; took another month to reschedule),
- hair appointment,
- weekly sanity date with friend,
- eye appointment I skipped last year,
- (which reminds me, I still haven't scheduled that mammogram appointment),
- monthly adoptive moms' group, and
- field trip.
I'd like to think this is just the exception, but every week has 2 or 3 exceptions that add up to 5 full days. And we are headed into harvest, aka solo parenting.
Just pray for daily strength, grace, and wisdom.
Please don't email with which ones I should have cancelled. Just pray God will show us, if you feel so inclined. Would it be the basic (year late) medical/ self care? Would it be the once a quarter time I get with any friend? Would it be sanity-savers? Would it be time in God's Word, without which I will shrivel up and die? (I'm already shriveling up from stopping attending prayer meeting when Little Guy started school.)
He knows. He is carrying us. He is with us. He is using the prayers of our Aaron and Hur.
Thursday, September 6, 2018
Adventures
Woke up with no pajama pants or diaper on. (Load of wash for mom).
All was calm until almost supper time, when ...
Mom let out an, "Ow!" when teeth marks were left in her shoulder,
and then she climbed on a chair and reached for big brother's mug of water on the table, and "drank" it,
(spilling water on the table, the chair and the floor).
At least she didn't climb up ONTO the table, as she did the day before. :)
All was calm until almost supper time, when ...
Mom let out an, "Ow!" when teeth marks were left in her shoulder,
and then she climbed on a chair and reached for big brother's mug of water on the table, and "drank" it,
(spilling water on the table, the chair and the floor).
At least she didn't climb up ONTO the table, as she did the day before. :)
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