Our Family Project

Adam's started his first week of preschool.  We picked up where preschool left off last year: the letter H, number 10, reviewing his shapes.  I wanted the theme to be something really enjoyable ... so I picked: Water. We talked about animals that live in water, made a trip to the pool to swim in water, and did our science experiment to discover what floats.  Adam loved putting things in the water.  I had a hard time getting him to form a hypothesis ... he just wanted to find out! When we were finished we got out his preschool journal and he drew pictures of the things that float on one side of the page and things that sink on the other side of the page.  Then, he wrote his letter H, and his number 10. Each day he asks if he can do preschool.  It's so wonderful to have a child that motivates me to keep preparing and teaching.  And, I'm sure it doesn't help that he is so willing to learn and grow, and he picks up on things super fast, even befor...

With each of my children I've phased out using their sippy cups before they turn two-years-old.  I read somewhere that it helps them to form the sounds for their words correctly, and it also helps to reduce orthodontic work in the future.  One of the things that I've also done is skipped from a bottle at 12 months of age straight to a sippy cup at 13- or 14-months-old.  I think this stops the baby from getting so attached to the bottle that they have a hard time giving it up.  And, I think this also rings true with switching from sippy cups to regular cups at a younger age. So, Maryanne has started to use regular cups.  In fact, that's pretty much all she uses anymore ... mainly due to the fact that I've lost her sippy cups and I'm too cheap to buy her any new ones.  (She only had a total of two anyway.)  So, when she drinks her vitamin D milk ... she really looks like she is in an ad for the "Got Milk?" campaign.  And, even with the drib...

While we were visiting my friend, Aubrey in Utah, Maryanne tried grapes for the first time.  Well, actually, it was probably the first time she's eaten them and actually went back for seconds.  I thank Aubrey's little boy, Graham, for this.  He and Maryanne are only a few weeks apart in age, and while Aubrey and I were preparing dinner, I was feeding her little boy and Maryanne little snacks of the fruit I was cutting.  Graham was chowing down on everything I gave him, and I think Maryanne saw this and decided it must be good.  So, she started to do it also! Now, I can't keep her away from grapes!  We had them at dinner one night and left the bowl out afterward.  She overturned an empty laundry basket, climbed on and started stealing grapes out of the bowl.  Yum!  I'm so glad she has branched out and away from her usual fare.  Thanks, Aubrey & Graham!

This last weekend, Jon took the children swimming in our pool at our complex while my mom and I visited for a while.  After a few minutes they all came back because Adam had to use the bathroom.  So, I sent everyone back and said I'd bring Adam back.  I saw it as the perfect picture-taking opportunity!  They are all so cute, and I love watching them swim. The pool has three little fountains that are the perfect depth for Maryanne.  And, the fountains are great toys too! For some reason, we attract strange people at the pool.  This man was swimming laps and Andrew threw one of his toys into the water ahead of him.  He dove down and got the toy for him, then proceeded to tease Andrew about it.  Later, he swam under the water behind Eliza and poked her in the sides.  Maybe people here like children and we are supposed to give them the opportunity to play with some????  Oh, and for those of you who read my status on...

In May we had every intention of homeschooling this year. I won't bore you with my reasons, unless you really want to know. So, because we made that decision, we didn't get the children enrolled earlier in the summer. By the beginning of August, the children decided they'd rather go to public school. I think the experience they got through k12 wasn't very good. Seemed like they just took test after test to keep up (they had to complete 80% of the k12 curriculum in two and a half months), and I don't think they retained any of what they learned. Sad. *sigh* So, we looked at the school they hopefully will be attending if we ever get the house we have an offer on. Their start date was August 16th. We were in Utah until the 15th, so on the 17th (I left my license in UT and couldn't enroll them without it) I made some phone calls to the district and the school itself. The three persons I talked to said that we could enroll in that school, as long as we bring in a s...

After two months of heat, I decided it was time to make the "big cut."  Honestly, it was almost spontaneous.  In the past, I've scheduled my hair appointment weeks in advance.  I'd go to the store and purchase a couple of hairstyle magazines, then leaf through them selecting several hairstyles I might choose.  Then, I'd mull over those hairstyles choosing which parts of each one that I liked and wanted for my new 'do. But, this time around?  I called the day before my appointment, printed off a picture I saw online, and headed out the next day with Jon in tow to take pictures. 10" tail cut off! Thankfully, (and probably selfishly) I was making a Locks of Love cut.  So, I knew how much was coming off and how short my hair would be after the "big cut."   When she started the "real" cut, she gradually took off more and more until we came to the final result.  I think it helped me to get used to how short it is now.  We kept loo...

While looking through my photo files I found this video that I think I meant to post last winter and never got around to it.  The quality is so awful ... but I don't know if it's any worse than the shrieking!  This is what Maryanne was like before she starting talking ... totally screaming for everything ... and always at the top of her lungs.  I'm so thankful that stage is over!

Last week we were able to go with Jon to Utah.  He had training for work in Salt Lake City, so we tagged along to visit family while he was in the office.  We had a blast, but it went by too quickly!  I wish I'd gotten more pictures, but that's usually how it goes ... I either take too many and wish I'd played more, or I didn't take enough and played too much!  Here are a few photos of our fun week: We met my brother-in-law and his family downtown and let the children play in the fountains at the Gateway shopping center.  While we were standing there watching, I read a sign that said not to be in the fountains during the musical water show.  We considered that, and realized that everyone's children were in the fountains during the show; and what were we to do ... pull out our children when the guideline wasn't really being enforced?  So, we let them play.  And, they got completely soaked! That night we went to dinner with Jon's brother and si...