Ingram School is wearing us out!! Rachel and I are exhausted at the end of the day. Ruby gets a nap every day, thank goodness!, so she makes it through all right. Ford is hit or miss...somehow that boy never lacks energy. He has been saying lately that he is nocturnal and I'm beginning to see a sleeping pattern similar to that of Uncle Hobo only Ford wakes up as soon as he sees a 6 on the clock and is ready to roll!!
Rachel has been doing an awesome job with her school work. Today she even wrote her first story complete with an illustration. It was about fairies and it was three sentences long, but oh my goodness it was so cute!! She and Ford are both zooming through handwriting and math. Ford learned the fine art of Dot-to-dots with the alphabet today. I love that he's found something he can sit and do by himself other than playing trains All.Day.Long. Ruby had her own little sticker station for about 30-45 minutes today. That girl LOVES stickers!!! She went through the sticker book and took out all of the stickers that had any kind of pink on them and put them on a pieces of paper. That's all she wanted to do. It was awesome (and allowed me to help Rachel with her story!). Rachel and I have been talking about the four seasons and today we put the summer and winter solstices and vernal and autumnal equinoxes on her calendar. That girl LIVES for her calendar. She said today, "I really should just keep my calendar in my school tray." I couldn't agree more. Yesterday we had an awesome time making triangles together. We cut triangles, we pasted triangles, we made triangles with popsicle sticks, we used those to stencil triangles onto paper and cut more and pasted more. We even had triangle pineapple tidbits, triangle peanut butter tortillas, and pretzels with triangle shapes in them for lunch. It was all out of the blue but worked out perfectly. So, today, I tried to do fun things like that with circles. Let's just say it wasn't as fun. Rachel thought it was boring, Ford wanted to cut but I tried to explain that circles are a lot harder than straight lines, and Ruby just kept getting frustrated that there was too much paper on her crayons. It was a mess. I finally got Rachel interested in gluing circle strings out of yarn onto our poster board, but she wanted to do about 100 of them and I needed to move on to the crying 2 year old in the corner so Rachel got mad and stormed off. For snack, they were all throwing a fit as I sliced their strawberries to look as close to circles as possible but they were quickly sedated when I brought out two doughnuts and demonstrated circles and semicircles. We also had a little incident during Social Studies time as Rachel and I were having an AWESOME time looking at a map of our town and telling if places were east, west, north, or south of our house and then looking at a map of the world and identifying the continents. Ford kept wanting the maps to be about trains, so he'd interrupt to say things like, "And then Henry could come from this place and go down this street, and yada yada yada..." or Ruby would try to interrupt with things like, "My leotard is pink, my favorite color. Mama! Mama! My leotard is pink!" I kind of lost it and had to have a long talk about how they wouldn't be invited back to Social Studies if they didn't learn the art of not interrupting!! After that, it went very well, though, and I think Rachel enjoyed that lesson. We just had such a great day yesterday that it was hard to have such a roller coaster day today. I'm going to blame it on the fact that we ate Pop Tarts for breakfast. Never again on a school day!!!
Thursday, August 29, 2013
Tuesday, August 27, 2013
Highlights from Day 2
We did a super fast day of school today. Seriously, all of our work and all of our subjects were covered by 9:30!! These kids are raring to go, so I'm taking advantage of it! Rachel and Ford were able to do math and handwriting at the same time as each other which sped things up. I love being able to stand between them while they have their space at the table and give directions, then watch and help. Ruby had the best time playing by herself with the kitchen stuff on the living room floor, so there were no interruptions. It was awesome! Rachel combined Social Studies and Language Arts by drawing the Wolf's Map and highlighting the parts of "The Three Little Pigs". It was pretty cute. Ford wanted to draw a map, too, but ended up drawing a wolf and some boxes. Oh, and a brick house at the end. For Science, we went back to the Four Seasons and drew and named different types of weather that occur mostly during certain seasons (i.e. snow in winter, rain in spring, etc.). This is all still a lot of review, but we're having a good time. We were done early enough to go to Story Time and meet the new librarian. He was pretty cool. Ford and Ruby had a great time, but Rachel decided she's just a little too old for story time, so next week we're going to take some things for her to do if she's not feeling it. During her violin lesson she had to go to the bathroom and in the bathroom started crying that she just really didn't feel like doing violin today. I think the poor girl is exhausted from two days of Kindergarten and she didn't even leave the house! I can't imagine how tired the kids are that go to school for the first time for seven straight hours!!! All three kids were asleep by 7:00 since we skipped nap time for violin. I'll be glad to switch to a later time next week, but it has been nice to actually get some work done in the evening before I completely crash!
Oh, and Dr. Ed's new office is opening up next week, so we swung by there today to fill out some forms and see the place. It's so nice and fresh and new!! I think it's going to be a much more inviting atmosphere for children and a clean, healthy place. We are really looking forward to it! (Well, don't mention the shots to Ford that he has to get next week and he's looking forward to it!)
Oh, and Dr. Ed's new office is opening up next week, so we swung by there today to fill out some forms and see the place. It's so nice and fresh and new!! I think it's going to be a much more inviting atmosphere for children and a clean, healthy place. We are really looking forward to it! (Well, don't mention the shots to Ford that he has to get next week and he's looking forward to it!)
Monday, August 26, 2013
We survived the first day!
I had no idea how this was going to go, but looking back on the day now, it was truly a success. Ruby had a few moments of melting down at really bad times while I was engaged with Ford or Rachel, but over all, we had a great time, got a lot done, and even learned a few things!
I've decided that we are in a Kindergarten/Pre-K/Preschool combo because Ford is really not just a preschooler any more. He did his own math (which was a breeze to him) and his own handwriting book (again, a breeze), and even wanted to participate when Rachel did Social Studies and Language Arts.
Ruby was really good when it was her turn to do some work. We did the Animal Parade cards, which she loves. Rachel helped her put stickers in her sticker book and then I helped her draw some pictures in it and do some simple math. She just has a hard time not being able to get attention right away (she's 2, after all!) so if I could stop and do something with her, things went fine. When it wasn't a good time to stop, it was not fine.
Here are the highlights from our day:
-Rachel and Ford both watched a math video lesson and thought they were such big kids.
-Rachel actually read Ford and Ruby's stories at nap time, she is doing so well reading!
-Rachel and Ford and I all made maps of their bedroom today for Social Studies. They were both really good at it and can't wait to make a Treasure Map later in the week.
-Rachel quickly reviewed the Four Seasons for Science and was able to draw a picture of something that would represent each season.
-I had some independent work for Rachel to try today and she was able to read the directions and follow them while Ruby had some Mama time!
-We finished all of our main subjects and work by 11:15 and were able to go for a little walk before lunch.
-We had a picnic lunch outside.
-During nap time, Rachel and I practiced her violin and did some music time talking about rhythm and beats.
-Ms. Lisa came by and played with Rachel and Ford while Ruby slept. Once, Ruby woke up, we all went outside and played. After Ms. Lisa left, we stayed outside until dinner and then ate dinner at the picnic table. These kids played outside for four straight hours (dinner included). I have been waiting all summer to be able to do that!
It really was a great day and I have to say the best part of it all was sitting outside and watching our kids play. I love that homeschooling will allow us more time for them just to play and be kids and not worry about homework and school demands. As they get older the work will be more rigorous and more challenging and they will also be involved in more activities, so I want to let them play as much as possible now. Allen and I both get such a great feeling watching them be each other's best friends and make up games together, laughing and giggling and even tackling and chasing each other.
I've decided that we are in a Kindergarten/Pre-K/Preschool combo because Ford is really not just a preschooler any more. He did his own math (which was a breeze to him) and his own handwriting book (again, a breeze), and even wanted to participate when Rachel did Social Studies and Language Arts.
Ruby was really good when it was her turn to do some work. We did the Animal Parade cards, which she loves. Rachel helped her put stickers in her sticker book and then I helped her draw some pictures in it and do some simple math. She just has a hard time not being able to get attention right away (she's 2, after all!) so if I could stop and do something with her, things went fine. When it wasn't a good time to stop, it was not fine.
Here are the highlights from our day:
-Rachel and Ford both watched a math video lesson and thought they were such big kids.
-Rachel actually read Ford and Ruby's stories at nap time, she is doing so well reading!
-Rachel and Ford and I all made maps of their bedroom today for Social Studies. They were both really good at it and can't wait to make a Treasure Map later in the week.
-Rachel quickly reviewed the Four Seasons for Science and was able to draw a picture of something that would represent each season.
-I had some independent work for Rachel to try today and she was able to read the directions and follow them while Ruby had some Mama time!
-We finished all of our main subjects and work by 11:15 and were able to go for a little walk before lunch.
-We had a picnic lunch outside.
-During nap time, Rachel and I practiced her violin and did some music time talking about rhythm and beats.
-Ms. Lisa came by and played with Rachel and Ford while Ruby slept. Once, Ruby woke up, we all went outside and played. After Ms. Lisa left, we stayed outside until dinner and then ate dinner at the picnic table. These kids played outside for four straight hours (dinner included). I have been waiting all summer to be able to do that!
It really was a great day and I have to say the best part of it all was sitting outside and watching our kids play. I love that homeschooling will allow us more time for them just to play and be kids and not worry about homework and school demands. As they get older the work will be more rigorous and more challenging and they will also be involved in more activities, so I want to let them play as much as possible now. Allen and I both get such a great feeling watching them be each other's best friends and make up games together, laughing and giggling and even tackling and chasing each other.
Wednesday, August 21, 2013
Backpack, backpack!
This morning, Ruby woke up on the right side of the bed for once! She had such a great morning. We started our school time with our Morning Meeting at the dining room table today and everyone was excited (let's hope we keep this going next week when the workload gets bigger!). Ford did some cutting, Rachel did some handwriting, and Ruby and I did her letters together all at the same time. It was one of those moments of controlled chaos that was actually fun. I'd help Ford hold the paper and get his grip right, then I'd show Rachel what I wanted her to do next, then Ruby and I would make another letter and talk about it. Everyone was so cooperative, it was a little weird!! Once Ford was done cutting, he practiced writing his name and he wanted to practice erasing, so I just let him have at it on his own. Ruby kept going with letters but started getting kind of silly, so I just let her do what she wanted to do. Rachel moved on to her math review which was +1 and +2 and the commutative property of addition. She did a pretty good job, but she honestly does better adding +9 and +8, probably because she has those memorized and she thinks too hard on the easy ones. Ruby saw her using the math blocks and wanted to build, so when Rachel finished math, Ford had moved on to his trains (!) and Ruby started making a math block cake (she is a little chef these days!!). Then Rachel and I reviewed short vowels and long vowels. She drew a picture representing words with each of the sounds. She lacks confidence in her drawing ability but once she starts drawing she's really good at it, so by the end of the sheet she was really proud of her purple octopus and her green cucumber. Finally, Rachel did some work with coloring out of a Kindergarten book she had gotten last summer and Ford was building with Kapla blocks, so I started Ruby on a floor puzzle while I rotated the laundry. Then I sat down with Ruby to finish up the puzzle, Rachel finished, and Ford was ready for a little snack. We had a small breakfast this morning, so I fixed them some grapes and a cheese stick. Then, finally, because Ruby had such a great morning I told her we could go looking for Fairy Wings. They usually have them at the Dollar store and she just happens to have a dollar in her duck bank, so off we went. We tried two different dollar stores, Ollie's, and Fred's, but no one has fairy wings!!! Very disappointing when we are used to seeing fairy wings all the time and now all of a sudden there are none!!!! However, at Fred's, we found the cutest pink backpack on sale. Ruby has been wanting a backpack because Rachel has a yellow one and Ford has a blue one. Since they don't technically need them for school, we use them to pack their clothes sometimes when we go on trips. Well, now Ruby has one for her things. She was so cute walking around with the pack on her back. I honestly believe it's big enough that she could fit inside of it, but she was so proud showing it off and strutting in the way she does (hand on hip included). She wanted to show it to Papa, so we stopped by his school since we were close by and saw his classroom and said hello to some of the other teachers. Then it was time for lunch and a nap. For the first time this week, Ruby went right to sleep!!!!!!! Seriously, she is on a roll today! I'll probably give her ice cream for dinner if that's what she wants!!! I think a full night's sleep in her own bed did her a lot of good last night, plus she felt more a part of school today since we were all at the table together. I definitely think the dining room table is a better fit for all of us even though it gets a little loud and sometimes crowded. If it keeps Ruby behaving like this, I'll take it!!
Tuesday, August 20, 2013
Back to our old stomping grounds
We had another practice Morning Meeting today and it was just hysterical to me how much Ford and Ruby just want to tell me all about their lives as if I haven't been there for each and every story they share...so cute!
Rachel did a fabulous job reviewing the names of the months, adding 0, and the unit bars for math. She also read a Biscuit book without any trouble at all.
We decided to go to the library this morning and check out some books. We also wanted to say hi to Mr. Jason and everyone else since we haven't been to the library in TWO WEEKS! I can't really believe that it's been so long since we've been to the library. Seriously, there are weeks where we've gone every.single.day. Story time starts back up next week and we were talking to Jason about whether Rachel might feel too old for it now. He, of course, said she was welcome to be there and participate, but he might also have some things for her to do (I say put her to work!) or this might be a good time for her to read some books on her own or get some of her school work done. We'll see how it goes. We spent a long time hanging out at the library checking out the new arrangement which is going to make finding books a lot easier and ordering some things we're hoping to read soon.
We are now filling a little time with everyone in charge of entertaining themselves for 20 minutes!!! You wouldn't believe how hard that is for them!!! No one was going to sleep at nap time, so I decided not to fight it any more since we have to be at violin soon and I'd rather them not nap then wake them up and take grumpy people to Rachel's lesson! I can't wait for the Fall session of violin to start and Rachel's lesson to be moved to 3:30 so that we don't have to stress about nap time!
With Fall starting, we wanted Ford to have some sort of activity that he's excited about. I'm ready for him to branch out and make some friends and learn from some other adults. He got a soccer ball at the beach and was pretty intent that he was going to play soccer, so we've signed him up for what's called the Instructional League meaning it's just instruction and no games. I thought this would be a good way to see if he actually likes soccer without too much stress. Plus, it will give us an activity to do on evenings when Allen is teaching one of his college classes. The girls can play at the park while Ford does soccer and he'll see that we're there but not hovering. He's excited for Rachel to watch him since he spent all summer watching her do tennis!
Life is slowly getting back to a routine and it feels good. We even saw some red leaves outside today. I get excited when I think about Fall. It's by far my favorite time of year. I'm thankful to have so much energy so I can enjoy it!
Rachel did a fabulous job reviewing the names of the months, adding 0, and the unit bars for math. She also read a Biscuit book without any trouble at all.
We decided to go to the library this morning and check out some books. We also wanted to say hi to Mr. Jason and everyone else since we haven't been to the library in TWO WEEKS! I can't really believe that it's been so long since we've been to the library. Seriously, there are weeks where we've gone every.single.day. Story time starts back up next week and we were talking to Jason about whether Rachel might feel too old for it now. He, of course, said she was welcome to be there and participate, but he might also have some things for her to do (I say put her to work!) or this might be a good time for her to read some books on her own or get some of her school work done. We'll see how it goes. We spent a long time hanging out at the library checking out the new arrangement which is going to make finding books a lot easier and ordering some things we're hoping to read soon.
We are now filling a little time with everyone in charge of entertaining themselves for 20 minutes!!! You wouldn't believe how hard that is for them!!! No one was going to sleep at nap time, so I decided not to fight it any more since we have to be at violin soon and I'd rather them not nap then wake them up and take grumpy people to Rachel's lesson! I can't wait for the Fall session of violin to start and Rachel's lesson to be moved to 3:30 so that we don't have to stress about nap time!
With Fall starting, we wanted Ford to have some sort of activity that he's excited about. I'm ready for him to branch out and make some friends and learn from some other adults. He got a soccer ball at the beach and was pretty intent that he was going to play soccer, so we've signed him up for what's called the Instructional League meaning it's just instruction and no games. I thought this would be a good way to see if he actually likes soccer without too much stress. Plus, it will give us an activity to do on evenings when Allen is teaching one of his college classes. The girls can play at the park while Ford does soccer and he'll see that we're there but not hovering. He's excited for Rachel to watch him since he spent all summer watching her do tennis!
Life is slowly getting back to a routine and it feels good. We even saw some red leaves outside today. I get excited when I think about Fall. It's by far my favorite time of year. I'm thankful to have so much energy so I can enjoy it!
Monday, August 19, 2013
Let's get it started...
We are easing our way back into school this week with an official First Day of School being next Monday. Rachel is so anxious to be able to say she is "in Kindergarten". She even slid me a note out in the hall yesterday during rest time that said "already for school" (as in All Ready for School!). She is so cute. I told her that this week we'd review some things from last year, finish up her Bob books (which she did today!), and start getting back into a routine.
Here's what I've figured out so far for this year:
We are going to try to keep a regular routine (not necessarily schedule) every day. I want everyone to eat breakfast, brush teeth, get dressed, potty, and make their beds by 8:45. In that time, I'd also like to make sure that the dishwasher is emptied if necessary and the laundry is caught up if necessary. That way around 8:45 we can actually start school.
I want to start with a Morning Meeting. We practiced one this morning and it was so cute. Ford kept wanting to tell me about what he did this summer. Ruby kept wanting me to look at her baby doll. Rachel had packed a school bag and just wanted to get to work!
Each hour of the day I want to try to accomplish a different subject for Rachel within the hour. As in, from 9-10 we will try to get through reading and handwriting. Also during that hour I want to get to handwriting with Ford. I'm sure there will be many times I have to stop for Ruby within that hour, and that should allow time for her as well. (10-11 will be math for each of them, 11-12 Science and/or SS for Rachel, 12-lunch, 1-nap, 2-violin practice, 3-music for everyone, 4-Papa's home on MWF!!/Arts and crafts on T/TH, 5-dinner, 6-physical activity, 7-bath and bed). When I look at it by the hour, I realize we have a LOT to do during the day!!! I'm sure there are days that we won't get to Science and SS or music and we may finish everything by 10 if Ruby's in a particularly self-entertaining mood, so this is just a rough estimate! We'll see how this goes and revamp as necessary. I'm also trying to keep to a routine that we can maintain once there is a newborn to feed every two hours or so in January!
Rachel did a great job today with reviewing the days of the week, handwriting with the days, and place value with her math. Ruby was awesome at sitting close to us and reading books to herself (as in calling out the names of the pictures, it was really cute). Ford is soaking up all the train time he can get by himself before he has to get to work! He and Ruby also spent some time playing with the math blocks which Ford can't wait to use. I hope he's not completely disappointed when he realizes that they're not exactly for building boats and fireplaces like he did today!
We're going to be super busy around here, but I'm just taking the attitude of One Day at a Time and realizing that we won't ever get to everything every single day!!
Here's what I've figured out so far for this year:
We are going to try to keep a regular routine (not necessarily schedule) every day. I want everyone to eat breakfast, brush teeth, get dressed, potty, and make their beds by 8:45. In that time, I'd also like to make sure that the dishwasher is emptied if necessary and the laundry is caught up if necessary. That way around 8:45 we can actually start school.
I want to start with a Morning Meeting. We practiced one this morning and it was so cute. Ford kept wanting to tell me about what he did this summer. Ruby kept wanting me to look at her baby doll. Rachel had packed a school bag and just wanted to get to work!
Each hour of the day I want to try to accomplish a different subject for Rachel within the hour. As in, from 9-10 we will try to get through reading and handwriting. Also during that hour I want to get to handwriting with Ford. I'm sure there will be many times I have to stop for Ruby within that hour, and that should allow time for her as well. (10-11 will be math for each of them, 11-12 Science and/or SS for Rachel, 12-lunch, 1-nap, 2-violin practice, 3-music for everyone, 4-Papa's home on MWF!!/Arts and crafts on T/TH, 5-dinner, 6-physical activity, 7-bath and bed). When I look at it by the hour, I realize we have a LOT to do during the day!!! I'm sure there are days that we won't get to Science and SS or music and we may finish everything by 10 if Ruby's in a particularly self-entertaining mood, so this is just a rough estimate! We'll see how this goes and revamp as necessary. I'm also trying to keep to a routine that we can maintain once there is a newborn to feed every two hours or so in January!
Rachel did a great job today with reviewing the days of the week, handwriting with the days, and place value with her math. Ruby was awesome at sitting close to us and reading books to herself (as in calling out the names of the pictures, it was really cute). Ford is soaking up all the train time he can get by himself before he has to get to work! He and Ruby also spent some time playing with the math blocks which Ford can't wait to use. I hope he's not completely disappointed when he realizes that they're not exactly for building boats and fireplaces like he did today!
We're going to be super busy around here, but I'm just taking the attitude of One Day at a Time and realizing that we won't ever get to everything every single day!!
Friday, August 9, 2013
I couldn't have said it better myself...
Now that the fog has lifted from the Labor Day Curse of 2013 (that's how we'll refer to the stomach bug that invaded our house this week...it's close enough to Labor Day to count for this year's curse!), I have been able to do something that I haven't done in awhile. I have actually been sitting in a chair and reading a book for an HOUR. My eyes aren't closing, no kids are asking for anything, and Allen is catching up on his sleep. Our book club read a Maeve Binchy book, Echoes, around St. Patrick's Day so that we could say we did something Irish. I really liked the book and wanted to read more by her, so I picked up Heart and Soul at the library a week or so ago. It is so good that I haven't been able to put it down for an hour. All of that led me to Google Maeve Binchy and see what else she had written. I have heard of Circle of Friends because it was a pretty popular movie when I was in high school or college...I think college. Other than that, though, I didn't know any of her books. I love the way she writes and I wanted to read more about her, so I clicked on the section that told about her life and this is what I found:
I was happy and confident. That was quite simply because I had a mother and a father at home who thought I was wonderful. They thought all their geese were swans. It was a gift greater than beauty or riches, the feeling that you were as fine as anyone else.
What a great way to describe how your parents felt about you growing up! I hope our children know how much I truly love them and how I think that they are all so wonderful and precious and unique. I must tell them every day 100 times that I love them but I hope they feel it as well as hear it. Even this sweet baby moving around in my belly is such a precious gift that I will cherish for my whole life and I've never even met him! What a better place the world would be if all parents loved their children this much and all children felt loved this much.
I was happy and confident. That was quite simply because I had a mother and a father at home who thought I was wonderful. They thought all their geese were swans. It was a gift greater than beauty or riches, the feeling that you were as fine as anyone else.
What a great way to describe how your parents felt about you growing up! I hope our children know how much I truly love them and how I think that they are all so wonderful and precious and unique. I must tell them every day 100 times that I love them but I hope they feel it as well as hear it. Even this sweet baby moving around in my belly is such a precious gift that I will cherish for my whole life and I've never even met him! What a better place the world would be if all parents loved their children this much and all children felt loved this much.
Thursday, August 8, 2013
Do Learning Styles and Sickness Styles correlate?
We have been hit HARD by the stomach bug!! Thank goodness we've all had a turn on, whether it came out of the top or the bottom. Hopefully we are all on the mend. I've had lots of time to process the fact that every single person in this family has his/her own sickness style and they are so very unique.
Rachel got sick first, so let's start with her. First of all, I should note, that after living for 5 1/2 years in a house where other people have gotten stomach bugs, this is the first time she has ever thrown up!! Pretty amazing if you ask me! It all started at her violin lesson on Tuesday. She was doing well and playing her violin and then I noticed she started speeding up...a LOT. She handed Miss Luci the violin, turned to me with a super pale fast and started crying while saying, "I want to go home!" I literally had no idea what was going on. In that split second, I thought her violin career was over! However, that was all quickly followed by projectile blueberry and strawberry vomit (you're welcome). Over the course of the day, she had to change many outfits, because, quite frankly, she didn't know what to do when she was sick. Once she got it all out, she just wanted her pajamas on and wanted to lay with her Mama. She quickly went to sleep in my bed. The next day, she spent the whole day being wishy-washy. She wanted to eat something, no she didn't want to eat something. She wanted to hold the trash can just in case, no the trash can got on her nerves, so she put it down. She wanted to get out her sewing, then after one stitch, she wanted to put it up (this happened at least five times!). She wanted to watch the movie with her brother and sister, no she wanted to go to bed, now cover her up, oh, no, she wants to watch the movie. That happened at least 150 times (it was only an hour long movie!). This morning she was up and back to her old self...including putting her fingers back in her mouth. Allen and I both keep reminding her that putting her fingers in her mouth is probably how this all started, but old habits die hard.
I'll call her sickness style: NERVOUS WISHY-WASHY
Our most remarkable friend and pediatrician came by on his way to town after Rachel begged me to call him. I agreed since she had thrown up about 5 times too many. While he was here, Ford was chatting him up and playing on the front porch (we wouldn't let him or his wife in!) while Rachel and I sat on the swing relaxing. Ruby was running around the yard like she was going to escape this crazy house. Ford went inside for about two minutes and on his way back out, he threw up all over the porch, how's that for good timing? At that point, we knew it was time for some medicine, because this was going to spiral out of control fast! Ford was really good at keeping his mess contained once we got him a trash can, but (TMI warning, but isn't this whole post a little TMI?) he kept spitting which was not settling well with me! He started to bounce back once we found Thomas on the lap top so that he'd sit still and relax. He woke up a couple of times in the night, but there was a beach towel and trash can on the floor by my bed (he was on the other side of Rachel like an old married couple) and he made it to the trash can every time. In the morning, he drank some cold water and it came right back up. He decided then and there he wasn't eating or drinking for the rest of the day. After a few problems getting it to work, Grandpa pulled through with his Netflix account on our laptop and Ford literally spent the rest of the day in the corner of the couch watching shows. He honestly didn't even get up to go to the bathroom until dinner time at which point he had a little water and half of a graham cracker.
Let's call his style: NEAT and CLEAN in TV LAND
This morning at 3 AM, I got struck by the bug. I really think I"m having the hardest time recovering since I have this other little guy in my belly. It has taken me until now to even really want to sit up. I spent much of the day on the couch or in bed once Allen got home. I'm a sleeper and I do better if I can just close my eyes and ward off the sickness, but there's not much time for that when other people need you. Thank goodness Allen only had to work a few hours this morning, so that he could take over. I did manage to get up and make a color wheel with the kids while I was feeling better. I was feeling guilty for all of the TV they've been watching, so we used the water color pencils and mixed colors with Q-tips. Then we watched some more TV!
I"ll call my style: SLEEPWALKING
Ruby managed to make it all the way until late this afternoon before she got sick. She came in to sit with me after telling Allen that her belly hurt. She had some rough time on the potty and then it finally came out of the top. I'm going to say within 5.2 seconds after throwing up, she was jumping on the bed and wanting dinner. I made her wait awhile before eating a Saltine and sure enough, she threw that up immediately. That didn't prevent her from crawling all over me and bouncing up and down while watching Daniel Tiger. I'm pretty sure we watched every episode. I don't need to hear a trolley again for a long time! When it was time to transition to bed time (even though she'd been on the bed with me for several hours), she even ran to the laundry room to put her clothes in the washing machine and then came barreling down the hall yelling, "NAKED!" She went to sleep pretty quickly but soon woke up with what I hope is one last throw up episode (probably from some water).
Her style: UP AND RUNNING
Poor Allen has endured all of this like a champ and is trying his best to avoid getting sick. He likes staying busy and not focusing on what's going on inside. I'm afraid once he stops and lays down tonight, he'll finally purge and be done with it. Then we can spend a good 24-48 hours getting all of these germs cleared out of here.
His style: BUSY BEE
The last few days have made me not want to leave the house for a loooooooooong time. I barely remember most of today and I hate missing a day when Ford and Rachel were feeling so good and wanting to do things. Of course, they didn't really complain much about non-stop TV!! There's a rude awakening coming on that, though. We told them Grandpa let us use his Netflix for the weekend and then it's over. We've done so well finding other things to do and I'm ready to feel good and get back to that. After all, next week will be our last official week of summer vacation!!
I hope I haven't grossed you out too bad.
Rachel got sick first, so let's start with her. First of all, I should note, that after living for 5 1/2 years in a house where other people have gotten stomach bugs, this is the first time she has ever thrown up!! Pretty amazing if you ask me! It all started at her violin lesson on Tuesday. She was doing well and playing her violin and then I noticed she started speeding up...a LOT. She handed Miss Luci the violin, turned to me with a super pale fast and started crying while saying, "I want to go home!" I literally had no idea what was going on. In that split second, I thought her violin career was over! However, that was all quickly followed by projectile blueberry and strawberry vomit (you're welcome). Over the course of the day, she had to change many outfits, because, quite frankly, she didn't know what to do when she was sick. Once she got it all out, she just wanted her pajamas on and wanted to lay with her Mama. She quickly went to sleep in my bed. The next day, she spent the whole day being wishy-washy. She wanted to eat something, no she didn't want to eat something. She wanted to hold the trash can just in case, no the trash can got on her nerves, so she put it down. She wanted to get out her sewing, then after one stitch, she wanted to put it up (this happened at least five times!). She wanted to watch the movie with her brother and sister, no she wanted to go to bed, now cover her up, oh, no, she wants to watch the movie. That happened at least 150 times (it was only an hour long movie!). This morning she was up and back to her old self...including putting her fingers back in her mouth. Allen and I both keep reminding her that putting her fingers in her mouth is probably how this all started, but old habits die hard.
I'll call her sickness style: NERVOUS WISHY-WASHY
Our most remarkable friend and pediatrician came by on his way to town after Rachel begged me to call him. I agreed since she had thrown up about 5 times too many. While he was here, Ford was chatting him up and playing on the front porch (we wouldn't let him or his wife in!) while Rachel and I sat on the swing relaxing. Ruby was running around the yard like she was going to escape this crazy house. Ford went inside for about two minutes and on his way back out, he threw up all over the porch, how's that for good timing? At that point, we knew it was time for some medicine, because this was going to spiral out of control fast! Ford was really good at keeping his mess contained once we got him a trash can, but (TMI warning, but isn't this whole post a little TMI?) he kept spitting which was not settling well with me! He started to bounce back once we found Thomas on the lap top so that he'd sit still and relax. He woke up a couple of times in the night, but there was a beach towel and trash can on the floor by my bed (he was on the other side of Rachel like an old married couple) and he made it to the trash can every time. In the morning, he drank some cold water and it came right back up. He decided then and there he wasn't eating or drinking for the rest of the day. After a few problems getting it to work, Grandpa pulled through with his Netflix account on our laptop and Ford literally spent the rest of the day in the corner of the couch watching shows. He honestly didn't even get up to go to the bathroom until dinner time at which point he had a little water and half of a graham cracker.
Let's call his style: NEAT and CLEAN in TV LAND
This morning at 3 AM, I got struck by the bug. I really think I"m having the hardest time recovering since I have this other little guy in my belly. It has taken me until now to even really want to sit up. I spent much of the day on the couch or in bed once Allen got home. I'm a sleeper and I do better if I can just close my eyes and ward off the sickness, but there's not much time for that when other people need you. Thank goodness Allen only had to work a few hours this morning, so that he could take over. I did manage to get up and make a color wheel with the kids while I was feeling better. I was feeling guilty for all of the TV they've been watching, so we used the water color pencils and mixed colors with Q-tips. Then we watched some more TV!
I"ll call my style: SLEEPWALKING
Ruby managed to make it all the way until late this afternoon before she got sick. She came in to sit with me after telling Allen that her belly hurt. She had some rough time on the potty and then it finally came out of the top. I'm going to say within 5.2 seconds after throwing up, she was jumping on the bed and wanting dinner. I made her wait awhile before eating a Saltine and sure enough, she threw that up immediately. That didn't prevent her from crawling all over me and bouncing up and down while watching Daniel Tiger. I'm pretty sure we watched every episode. I don't need to hear a trolley again for a long time! When it was time to transition to bed time (even though she'd been on the bed with me for several hours), she even ran to the laundry room to put her clothes in the washing machine and then came barreling down the hall yelling, "NAKED!" She went to sleep pretty quickly but soon woke up with what I hope is one last throw up episode (probably from some water).
Her style: UP AND RUNNING
Poor Allen has endured all of this like a champ and is trying his best to avoid getting sick. He likes staying busy and not focusing on what's going on inside. I'm afraid once he stops and lays down tonight, he'll finally purge and be done with it. Then we can spend a good 24-48 hours getting all of these germs cleared out of here.
His style: BUSY BEE
The last few days have made me not want to leave the house for a loooooooooong time. I barely remember most of today and I hate missing a day when Ford and Rachel were feeling so good and wanting to do things. Of course, they didn't really complain much about non-stop TV!! There's a rude awakening coming on that, though. We told them Grandpa let us use his Netflix for the weekend and then it's over. We've done so well finding other things to do and I'm ready to feel good and get back to that. After all, next week will be our last official week of summer vacation!!
I hope I haven't grossed you out too bad.
Friday, August 2, 2013
Ready to plan
I received my Kindergarten handbook for teachers from Core Knowledge a couple of days ago and I am so excited about it. Literally, it lays out for you what your Kindergartner needs to know in the areas of Literature, Art, Music, Science, Math, and Social Studies. It was an expensive book ($80) but spread out over four children, that really doesn't seem so bad to provide such a solid framework for what we need to cover this year. Rachel has made great strides in reading this summer and I know where we're headed there (starting to work on attacking words on her own, looking at blends, and spelling). Math is pretty straightforward with the Math-U-See that we're using and she's doing great with that. I was starting to get a little nervous, though, about Science and Social Studies and now I at least have a place to start. The idea behind Core Knowledge is that knowledge builds on itself, so if we continue with this program she will have been given the background knowledge that she needs to go to the next level. As a former public school teacher, I can tell you that the biggest thing the kids I taught lacked was background knowledge. It's hard to read a story and picture what's happening when you have no idea what they are talking about! I get very excited about planning. My favorite part of the school year was always the week before school started when I got everything ready to go and I'm feeling that all over again but with even more excitement because we can do it however we want!!!
Let's get planning!!!
Let's get planning!!!
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