The One About Learning & Growing
I’m always amazed at how differently my children learn and the different interests that they have. If you’ve ever seen my children you know they are a carbon copy of each other AFA looks good. They all look so much alike and yet they are so different!!
Levi loves to book learn. His reading has always been ahead of his age level and he really loves to learn by reading about things.
James loves hands on learning. His mind is definitely mathmatical and musical. He picks up songs by ear and it always amazes me how he can just sit down to the piano and play something he heard once or twice. He can figure out his math problems w/out using his fingers or manipulatives. He learns 100% differently than I do and it amazes me!
Beth just started school this year. She seems to learn more like I do. A mix of hands on and reading. She catches on very quickly to new ideas and subjects. Already she’s doing well in all her subjects and really, really enjoys learning. <3
Sammy… he's not doing school yet. But lately he's growing and learning in social ways. Learning more right from wrong and how to handle his emotions properly.
And Alyssa. She's still not very mobile. She can pull herself up if she wants, but doesn't cruise. She can scoot backwards if she wants, but doesn't crawl. She doesn't even roll over unless she HAS to. LOL! She uses screaming to get around: she screams, one of the olders comes running & grabs her. LOL! It works well for her. She has learned to drink from a cup and feed herself recently tho!! This is exciting and a biiiiggg help for me!!!
A lot of rambling
We started school last Wednesday. This Monday we started ‘officially’. It’s going ok… but can be a bit stressful. Today had one such moment. I briefly wondered why I do this to myself. I had my preschooler having a meltdown, my baby screaming to nurse (again…), my first grader saying “Mom! What do I do here?”, my second grader saying ” I don’t understand. Help me!” and my third grader saying “Mom! Where’s the meter stick? I need to measure your desk.” I almost cried, but instead took a deep breath and said a quick prayer. My first grader then remembered where the meter stick was so jumped down to get it, I was able to pop the baby on to nurse and help my second grader after distracting the preschooler w/ a Kipper video and then helped first grader. Phew.
In other news. I was SO SICK w/ mastitis last Thurs/Fri/Sat. I started the antibiotic on Sat and ended up feeling better, but so nauseas and a horrible headache from the meds. Fun, fun.
We finally spent a family day together. We went for a drive up in Keene Valley, NY and then to Saranac Lake area. It was so beautiful. We found an easy trail to hike on (It was Sat when I was sick so we couldn’t go far.) It was a good day and much needed.
I have some great pictures… I’ll have to post them.
The Only Way to Get Anything Done
It seems this is the only way I can get any housework done these days. Alyssa has definitely started the normal 9 m/o “MOM CAN’T POSSIBLY DO ANYTHING WITHOUT ME”/Screaming phase. *sigh*
A New Blog
A new blog! A new look!! Can’t wait to figure out all the ins and outs of this blog 
The Potty Trained One
Yay!! 4 kiddos out of diapers… 1 to go! Sammy is now fully potty trained! He had a small accident in the middle of the night last night, but for the most part is now making it to the potty all the time!! Sometimes he has a small accident and runs as fast as he can to the bathroom, but most of the time makes it in time. YAY!!! Now for potty training Alyssa….. 
An Accomplished Day
I love it when I get a TON done in a day.
Today it’s only noon and here’s what I’ve accomplished:
- Kitchen decluttered and cleaned
- floors swept and mopped
- bathroom cleaned
- 3 loads of laundry washed, dried and folded waiting for kids to put theirs away still
- dinner in the crockpot
- Dishes Done
- Living room cleaned and ready for vacuuming
- Refilled ink cartridges
- oven cleaned
- kids rooms cleaned and ready for vacuuming
Pretty good for just being up for about 5 hrs so far. I love days like this!!
The 100th Post!
I don’t have any deep insights or amazing stories to tell for my 100th post… but I thought I’d mention it was #100 anyway
The children got to learn about spiders and how they catch, trap and eat flies first hand tonight. I was sitting on the living room floor feeding Alyssa when I heard a fly that wouldn’t stop buzzing. Beth came over and looked and said “Oh… there’s a fly sitting on a white thing on the spider web.” Well, that started a frenzy of kids running to see what was going on. So I explained how the spider web works and how the spider was saving the fly for later so she could eat it. IT was interesting to see the spider pull the fly all the way to the top of the web, just out of sight when she was done spinning. I had never seen that before….
We’ve been at VBS Sun, Mon & Tues of this week. The children learned so much and my heart soars as I hear them praise the Lord with the songs they learned. I love to hear them talk about how “awesome God is” and the amazing things He does. I love to hear them say how He helps them on a day to day basis, even when they are sad or upset about something. <3 I love it when a church or people outside of our immediate little family reinforce the things we try to teach them here at home. <3
School is just around the corner!! Truly, for a homeschooler, school is never really done or starting… it just is. We’ve continued w/ reading throughout the summer and have gotten educational math books out of the library… we learned about science by watching the spider or taking nature walks… school is so much more than book learning and all the homeschoolers I know understand this and take full adventage of all learning possibilities. BUT… School/School is just around the corner. I have all but 2 of my books… I just had to log them now. I’m planning to even do some preschool stuff with Sammy (who just turned 3). He’s a bright boy and I think he could at least learn to write his name… He knows shapes and colors already, so I guess we’ll go a bit beyond that.
Alyssa is calling… is about that time of evening. She wants me to snuggle her down for the night.
Another One With Pictures
The One With An Update, Moodiness & Book Recommendation
I spoke with our realtor today. She said the people liked the house, but that they want something bigger. But we have ANOTHER showing on Tuesday at 11!! I’m excited that people are actually wanting to see the house and I’m confidant that when the timing is right it’ll happen… it’s all up to the Lord at this point and in the meantime we are doing everything we can to help. I think that’s the way things are supposed to work.
Today is a semi-better day, tho I find myself really struggling w/ moments of frustration. I’m so moody lately… one minute I’ll feel fine and the next I find myself frustrated by the smallest thing. grr… it’s just so unlike me to be so moody!
I just finished a book w/in less than 24 hrs! Amazing feat w/ 5 kids and an ‘on the market’ home to keep up. The book is called “A Lucky Child: A Memoir of Suriving Aushwitz as a Young Boy”. What a wonderful, amazing book. I highly recommend it (and for those who know about my thoughts about Clara’s War… this is a much more tame book than that one. Detailed, but not overly detailed like Clara’s War was. Tho I’m not saying that was a bad book. It was a great book as well, just so very detailed. )
New Happenings
- Rachael was here. It’s always nice to visit and get out of the house almost alone! I joked w/ my sister and said I only had to bring 1/6th of my work with me. (Just the baby!)
- We had another house showing yesterday (Wednesday). No feedback yet… I have to call or email my realtor tomorrow anyway, so I’ll ask if she heard anything yet.
- Hubby is really struggling w/ his job right now.
I wish I could do something to help him. His boss is a pretty moody guy, so it’s hard to know from one day to the next how he’s really feeling. Today he straight out lied to Matt and Matt knows it, but doesn’t want to confront him. I think he should… (But I wouldn’t because I’m not assertive enough.) - I’m really tired and grumpy lately. Not sure what’s going on with me… probably just normal stuff, but I’m getting annoyed with myself.
- My herbs are doing well… yay! Tho there is still something nibbling my basil. grrr..
- Oops… Sammy is asking for a ‘cuppa’. gotta run.