Year 2, Day 296 & 297: The Busy Days

Tuesdays and Wednesdays are the busy days of the week.  But we survived and I didn't have a meltdown this time.  I say meltdown because I typically feel overwhelmed that we didn't do enough school between those two days, but I'm learning to let go of that a bit.  I simply can't teach them everything every semester or year.  Some years I need to be heavier on science, and some years I need to place more emphasis on handwriting.  I.e. Keturah doesn't know cursive yet because I want to sit beside her this time, which I didn't do with the boys.  And her manuscript is lacking.  None of my poor children have had a teacher who has really sat down and teach them the right strokes for each letter.  I let the book do it or I was hoping my mom would do it for me.  So, there's that.  They certainly do write enough words between grammar and our writing program, writing things out for Grandpa for Bible class, book reports, etc.  But I need to work on correcting each letter and having them practice, and it's definitely an area I struggle in.....

.....anyway...I know it's important, but it's one of those things that I am not good at.  Like art.  So it doesn't tend to get done.  But I digress, again....

Ok, yesterday's trip to the library was SUCCESSFUL!  Abishai was encouraged to share one of his coveted big machine vehicles with another boy, and he finally did without tears.  Then they made a couple of other exchanges, too. The other guy was shy because he immediately sensed that Abishai was not really willing to give up his toys to him.  But I outright told the other mom that this is exactly why we are here, so let's practice.  Same thing happened at the puppet theater and eventually, Abishai did share.  And since it was going so well, we stayed for an extra long time versus last week when we left quickly because of Abishai's bad behavior.  So, Abishai's "schooling" for the day was complete!  Justin and Keturah hadn't brought their school work, though, so that put us a bit behind for the day on that.

To combat Tuesday and Wednesdays shorter days, I have decided to tweak our schedule to better match when Jared and Benaiah leave for school and work because Abishai is usually up, too.  So if we wake up at 7, we have plenty of time to get breakfast, chores, and a couple of subjects done before we leave for a couple of hrs each of those mornings.  Then maybe we can go back to my original plan of having together time while Abishai watches his screentime before nap.  Then I won't have to be doing school all through naptime and I can actually make a phone call without sacrificing school time.  Sigh.  This is the constant struggle in a homeschooling mom's life.  But the beauty is that we can change it as often as needed.  No one has to fit in a neat little box.

But we did get enough done and the kids were co-opreating.  Also, it has turned VERY COLD like 45 degrees F for a high kind of cold and that is keeping us indoors a bit more.  It did rain a bit on Monday and Tuesday, but today it was clear and crisp.  So we are hopefully going to the bigger park with the stream tomorrow so I can get some candids of fall in the woods near the stream.  We'll go right after lunch when the weather has warmed up a bit to a high of 60 F.  In fact, PEI was at 70 F degrees today!  Then it will be cold and 90% chance of rain on Friday, and the fall colors will probably be gone after that.  I'm excited to have one more chance at getting these pictures.  Benaiah will be in school, so I won't have any of him, but I guess that also just tells the story that soon enough he won't be around and family dynamics will change.  Sad, but true.  I am glad that we had those neat field trips together.  Those are memories I will cherish because I don't know if it will happen again next year or not.

So, a couple more days of slowness and then another weekend chock full of events.  I guess our sabbath rest will come on Friday when it's downpouring again.

Abishai knows exactly which books have the trucks and cars in them during the library storyhour.  And he knows all their names, too and tries to name their colors as well.

We did a pumpkin craft at the library!  I think it's the first time Abishai used real liquid glue!  The librarian dumped some out in a bowl and we used toothpicks to spread it on the shapes.  I tried not to help too much, but I did do a lot of the glue spreading and arranging of the face.  He tried to spread glue and push down on the features.

Ta da! I'm a preschooler!

The white "teeth" you see is glue that hasn't dried yet.

As you might be able to tell, there are 3 trucks instead of 4 this week and that's because Abishai is learning to share the toys with the others!  Next time we will work on him sitting on the rug with the other kids and of course I will sit with him, too.  We are skipping next week because it falls on Halloween and it will be heavily Halloween themed. 

This brings back memories of when my Dad would play this game with Justin at this age.  We still have the Reader Rabbit preschool CD's but can't seem to get them to work on our computers.  Great company and programs though!

Learning to share with another boy of his size and demeanor.

"Hi, Daddy, I love you!" Yes, he did say that!  The phone plays a prerecorded narrating of a book, and of course this month's book is Halloween themed as well.

The other two took goofy selfies to mess around with on the kid computers.  This is Justin's open mouth in the picture.

5 daddy ducks and 2 mommy ducks, but Abishai thought they were babies.  He loves watching them!

This is "Dump it out Abishai" (compare that to the "dump it out trucks" he plays with.

I was too busy chasing the toddler at gymnastics who wouldn't stay off the gym floor so I didn't get any pictures this time.  But they worked on kicking their legs up higher and straighter in their cartwheels using mats on either side of them that they weren't supposed to hit with their feet.  Cool concept!  So, with Abishai bursting to run and climb, we headed to the Brookville Community Chruch's free for the public playground that is open daily.  It was super quiet in there, and I felt bad because my kids where playing on the really loud slide made from the roller tables you find in warehouses.  Technically, only Abishai was allowed in there, but I designated Justin and Keturah as mother's helpers and they stayed right with Abishai.  And what I thought would help, made things a bit worse because then Abishai didn't want to leave!  Whoops!

Abishai can now climb this whole thing by himself!  I don't think we've been here in 6 months or so.

New jammies, and we've got a little artist!  He scribbled while I went over homework with Keturah Wednesday evening while the boys were at Bible Bowl.

When we got home from the library, he decided to become a traveling bard and sing for his supper in all kinds of different arrangements all over the kitchen.

And each time he moved the drum set and rocking chair AND foot pedal, he put it in front of the walking path as I was getting lunch ready.

Yes, he did ALL the work himself.  He's going to be such a handful and it's going to take us all to keep him in line.

And being a perfectionist, he had to keep adjusting the pedal and the chair to match perfectly.

His favorite songs are the garbage truck and excavator songs from Blippi, so he imitated them.

Two perfectly packed Operation Christmas Child boxes!  I love the new boxes you can purchase at Hobby Lobby!  And we picked the perfect amount to fit into the box without overflowing it.  That's what you get with 14 years worth of experience packing shoeboxes!  We even did this in Canada, too.  This if for Benaiah's school because they were having a collecting effort.

We always include a note and picture, which this time had to be sent in black and white because my printer needs a little TLC so it can print in color again. Sigh.

When Baba goes to school, the other boys take over his bed!

Here's the Bible Bowl trophy that the boys earned at last month's competition.  Remember, the team gets to keep it for the month, but then it goes back so it can be reused each much Then the team that wins for the whole year will get to keep it come May next year.

Boys watching "Gone in 60 Seconds" clips from the end of that movie.  The only dialogue is the police chatter just like on the video game that they all love, "Need For Speed," which was probably developed because of this movie.  The movie is set in the 80's so it's interesting to note all the different clothing and car styles.

This big one finally weighed himself and he's officially bigger than his father by weight and height.  He's only 15! And he won't stop eating!  And he eats like a hobbit!  Crazy teenager!