What happens when you let your 3 year old pick out his own clothes...

 

I've heard you can pull anything off if you just "own it."  I don't think I've ever known how to do that before.  Maybe I should take lessons from Max.

 

 Seems to work for him.

What do you think?

Our Little Paleontologist

One of the very cool things Cole got for his birthday, was a kit for budding paleontologists (or any kid who loves to use tools and dig!)

First, he had to use the tools to dig out the dinosaur bones.

This took HOURS. I kept thinking he would get tired of it, but he was so into it, he only stopped for a couple of short breaks for food and then went back to work.

Once the bones were free, he had to put them all together. And then he had his very own Velociraptor Skeleton!

Very fun!

Homeschool Curriculum 2010

Kindergarten

The "core" subjects that we do everyday are:

Bible: My ABC Bible Verses: Hiding God's Word in Little Hearts
Math: Horizons Math
Phonics/Reading: Phonics Pathways and Explode the Code
Handwriting: A Reason for Handwriting

The rest of our subjects we rotate each day (i.e. Science on Monday, Music on Tuesday, etc.):

Science: A collection of experiments and activities from the internet and various resources
Music: Nothing too formal in the beginning, but we may add Musikgarten curriculum as the year progresses.
Art: Various projects from the internet and various resources.
Geography: I wasn't planning on doing anything formal with this yet, but Cole got a globe for his birthday and he seems so interested in the details that this week I ordered Beginning Geography.

And, of course, we supplement with lots of books from the library, games, and my personal favorite, field trips! Our first one was to the Science Museum last week. (Wish I'd taken my camera!)


Preschool
I'm not doing anything too formal for Max, but I did want him to feel he had some special "school" time, and not feel left out of all the learning fun. So, besides including him whenever I can in Cole's work, I'm using some ideas I have found online, mostly from this site: Letter of the Week preparatory Curriculum. Also, I found some great books on Amazon that he loves to work on. We bought three:
Let's Cut Paper
Let's Color
Let's Sticker and Paste

And don't worry, I haven't forgotten about Seth! He's still in the wonderful world of morning naps and that's when we do most of our school work. It won't be long, though (sniff, sniff) before he'll be dropping that nap. Then he'll join in on more of the fun, too!

So that's it! At least for now. I'm sure I'll learn all kinds of things this year, and at the end of it I'll know all the things I should have done differently. But that's ok. I'm having fun in the process, and more importantly, the kids are too!

The First Week

After months and months of research, planning, and preparation, our first day of Kindergarten finally arrived! I thought I might be a little nervous, but actually I felt so prepared, I couldn't wait to just begin already. Enough planning; let's get this show on the road!


It went pretty well, I think. At least, we did everything I had planned to do and lived to tell about it, so I consider that a success! I already feel like I've learned some things; things about what motivates and encourages Cole when he thinks something is too hard, things that keep Max interested and excited to learn new things too, things that keep Seth entertained for awhile, and things we could add as the year progresses.

Week 2 is underway, and while I don't intend to chronicle every detail of this year, I do hope to post highlights occasionally for memory's sake, as well as to update family and friends who have expressed interest in how it is going.

Along those lines, I'm going to try and get a post done soon about the curriculum we are using, for those who have asked.

With that said, here are a few highlights from our first week:

Greater than/less than practice

Concentration!

One of Max's favorites for the week.
The rice was fun to play with...I kind of like it too! :-)
(Except for the mess it made!)

Seth is in that "putting things in things" phase.
Moving blocks from one container to another keeps him busy for quite a while!

Max's shape of the week was a square, and our theme was cows.

So we made square cows!

This little experiment came from a "Science in a Bag" packet I bought at the homeschool book fair I went to earlier this year. It's pretty neat; the alligator grows in water, and we measure it every day to see how big it will get.

Graphing the results of Day2 with Mr. Alligator.
Cole's hypothesis is that it will grow to be 48cm long. We'll see!

And of course, what day of homeschool would be complete
without a break for a bit of T-Ball practice in the backyard?

A Good Start

After a morning full of kindergarten work and a break for lunch, Cole and I sat down on the couch on our first day of homeschool to work on reading.

Cole: This is when you get to be my teacher again now, don't you?

Me: Yup, that's right.

Cole: That's fun for you, isn't it, Mommy?

Me: Yes, it sure is.

Cole (cheerily): It's fun for me too.


Phew. We're off to a good start!

Little Boogers

Warning: This conversation is not for the squeamish.


Max (holding up his index finger): Look, Mommy. A booger.

Me: Ew. Well, go wipe it in a tissue or something and throw it away.

Max: But I just want to eat it.

Me: Ugh. No, we don't eat boogers. Get a tissue, please.

Max: But I want to just hold it 'til daddy comes home.

Me: Put it in the trash, please.

Max (sadly): Ok.

While Max walks to the trash can, Cole pipes up.

Cole: I've held a booger for a long time before.

Me: You have? Why?

Cole: Because I like to roll it around in my hand. But sometimes I drop it and then I can't find it. It blends into everything.


And now I'm thinking beige, speckled carpet wasn't the best choice.

Or maybe it was...

Not the ending I was expecting, but a happy one nonetheless.

As I've written about several times now, we had a little Hummingbird nest on our patio (click here for the beginning of the story).

I took this picture just a few short minutes before both babies flew for the first time. I had hoped to see it happen, and actually, the boys and I did get to see that magical moment. I only wish it hadn't been because I scared them off!

I had gone outside to water my very wilted strawberry plant, and after only a few steps onto the patio, they both let out a "Chirp" and flew off. And "flew" is a bit of an exaggeration; they sort of fluttered to the ground. I was really worried that I had messed things up since I think they probably would have stuck around a day or two longer until their wings were stronger.

Not to mention poor Honey. I felt so terrible for her when she came back to her nest a few minutes later and her nest was empty! I wondered what went through her poor little bird brain. She perched on the side and looked down into the nest. After poking around in it a bit (maybe she thought they were hiding in it somewhere?), she lifted off and hovered around the nest, looking on either side. Then she broadened her view by flying to the perimeters of the patio and looked all around. Finally, she came right up to the patio door and looked inside.

In the words of Max, "That is very sad!"

But things seem to have turned out all right after all. I've seem them fly around our yard a few times since then, and a few days ago, we were at our neighbors' house down the street and happened to look out in time to see a dear little hummingbird feasting on a pretty flower right outside the window. I guess I can't be totally sure, but I'm pretty confident it was one of the babies.

So now we have an empty nest and a whole lot of poop to clean up.

Yeah, gross, right?

Apparently baby hummingbirds come out trained not to poop in the nest, and so they lift their little bottoms over the side and shoot it out. Max was the only one of us to have seen this in action. "Look Mommy, poop just flew out da nest!"

But I don't mind. What's a little poop in exchange for watching a miracle take place right outside my window? I am astounded at God's delicate design. That He would weave such a tiny little creature into the tapestry of the universe speaks volumes to me about His tender and intricate touch. And if He put so much thought into the little hummingbirds, how much more did He think of you and me when He made us?

"Are not two sparrows sold for a cent? And yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So do not fear; you are more valuable than many sparrows" (Matthew 10:29-31).

Our Father loves us. And I am so thankful to have had the opportunity to see His creation from another perspective.



A look back at Tiny and Don during the short 3 weeks they lived with us...

July 1

July 3

July 7

July 9

July 10

July 15

July 16

July 19

And just so you know how small the nest was, (and the inhabitants inside!):



So long, little feathered friends! We are glad you came to stay!

In just two weeks...

Honey Hummingbird's babies went from this...

...to this.


Amazing, isn't it? I took that picture just yesterday. And then today, I looked out the window to see this...



They look like real birds now! The boys call them Tiny and Don (affectionately named after two of the characters on Dinosaur Train).

Won't be long and we'll have to say goodbye to our sweet friends!

We have baby birds!

After faithfully sitting on her nest for 16 days, Honey is now the proud mommy of two tiny hummingbirds!




Honey has been a good little mommy, sitting on the birds to keep their body temperature regulated (which is necessary for about a week after they are born), and feeding them regularly.

Here she is at meal time.

We leave for vacation on Sunday, and I bet by the time we get back, they'll look pretty different. They have quite a way to go to look like their mother, don't they!

Seth's Game

Seth came up with a little game all by himself, and I've caught him playing it several times.

First he opens the toy ottomons and finds a coaster inside (not sure how the coaster gets in there, but whatever).

Then he climbs up the ottoman onto the couch.

When he reaches the top, he turns to throw the coaster back down into the ottoman.

Then he climbs back down...

...and gets it back again.

Then it's back up to the top he goes...

...to do it all again!

It's so cute to watch him play it, and it keeps him occupied for quite awhile!

My cute little game inventor!

Aspirations

In my earlier years, I had all kinds of answers to the "What do you want to be when you grow up?" question. My list ranged from nurse to piano teacher to heart surgeon to FBI Agent. My friends used to call me "phase girl" because my interests changed so often! I will say, though, the thing that came up most often was "housewife and mom." How thankful I am to get to be just that!

And now that I have my own children, I think it's sweet to hear the boys talk about what they want to be when they grow up. I'm sure their desires will change as they grow (considering how none of them are even 5 yet!), but it's fun for me to hear what they think about adult life and what they aspire to be.

Cole has mentioned three things; a dad, a crane driver, and most recently, a paleontologist. Dinosaurs are all the rage in our house these days!

Max has made me chuckle a couple of times recently in talking about what he wants to be.

One day after church, we passed a Bye Bye Buggy as we walked down the hall towards the parking lot. (For those of you who don't know what a "Bye Bye Buggy" is, it's basically a stroller on steroids. Most of them hold 6 kids and are used in our church for the younger children. The kids get strapped in and get to go sight-seeing through the halls.)

"Mommy," Max said. "When I grow up I want to be a buggy-pusher!"

And you know, it fits. Max is always asking to push things any chance he gets; the shopping cart, the stroller, the lawn mower.

But the one I like the best is this one...

"When I grow up," Max said, "I want to be a Grandpa."

"Oh yeah?" I replied, "So you can be a police officer like your Grandpa?"

He nodded. "Yeah. And I can have hair on my lip. It's called a mustache."

"Oh, I see." I said, smiling.

"And I can drive a truck. And wear boots," he continued.

"You love your Grandpa, don't you, Max?"

Max nodded.

That boy sure does love his Grandpa!

Honey's Eggs

For the last week or so, little Honey Hummingbird has been flitting to and from her nest, busy as a bee making it just perfect for raising her young (see last post for details). But as of 2 days ago, she has spent considerably more time at home, making me suspect the nest is complete and the time has come to have her babies.


Sure enough, when Honey took a short break from sitting on her nest yesterday morning, I looked and found...


...one sweet little egg! It's only slightly bigger than the eraser of a pencil.




And then today...




...another one!

I've never been much of a bird-watcher, but I am just fascinated with this whole thing going on in our backyard, right outside my window. I am in awe of God's creation and how the One who "fills the heavens and the earth" (Jer. 23:24), Who created the vast universe, would also create such a tiny little creature with delicate wings and movement, and give her instincts and abilities to make this soft little nest, and then fill it with tiny little eggs. It's beautiful. And I thank Him for giving us the opportunity to see it so close!