Trying to find normal

Our world has been out of sorts lately, to say the least.  It's been almost two weeks since my father died and we just haven't quite gotten fully back on track.  I feel like I'm living in a fog similar to the fog that comes when a new baby arrives.  You just kind of get up and keep moving because really, what choice do you have?  The difference here is that instead of a baby, we have grief and instead of diapers and feedings, we have lots of questions.  Allen and I have really tried to keep things as normal as possible for the kids but it's not always easy.  School has definitely not been what I hoped but we haven't completely lost focus.  Rachel started learning about the seven continents focusing on Asia this week.  We read a book about wind today and made a weather vane for the yard.  We haven't worked together on spelling hardly at all, but the other night when I left her room, she said, "Mama!  G-o-o-d n-i-g-h-t.". I was so proud of her for learning to spell that on her own!!  Ford has drastically improved at soccer.  He's finally taking the initiative to go up to the kid with the ball and kick it away before he/she can score.  I think we have a defender on our hands.  He has been the one with the most questions lately and wants to know all about why your body gets sick and where our bones go.  He told us out of the blue today that when he dies he wants to be beside Rachel's box because she's his best friend...pretty sweet in a creepy kind of way!  Ruby has become even more of an extremist than I ever thought possible.  She has hit a stage of not liking anything from the clothes we pick out to the food we serve for any meal.  I just keep trying to move on and let her throw a fit and then watch her go back to sweet when she gets over it.  She is really into coloring and pasting these days, so I'm trying to sit down with her more to do that.  Not quite ready to let her do the cutting yet!
     Our day is all about keeping things balanced and helping everyone get what they need.  We're also at the point of the year where time seems to speed up, so it feels even harder to catch up some days.  We've got Halloween costumes ready (thank goodness!) and then we'll have to figure out what our plan is for Thanksgiving.  Then we'll start that game of will the baby come before or after Christmas?!?!  My hope is we'll make it to January before we meet Baxter, but we've got to be ready for him just in case!  It's a wild ride around here and I know for the next year I'm going to be doing just as much hanging on as I will be driving!!

Calming down and gearing up for Fall

It was so nice today to not have to be anywhere in the morning at all.  We were able to cruise through some school work, get focused back on what's important, and starting gearing up for our Fall Festival.  By the time 10:30 rolled around, we had finished all of our work and rearranged the house a little in case of bad weather on Sunday.  In case you haven't heard, Sunday is the Autumnal Equinox and since Rachel put it on her calendar, she thought we ought to celebrate.  So, we're having a Fall Festival with chili, pumpkin pie, sweet potatoes, baked apples, and candy corn.  Plus, who knows what other goodies might show up!!  We started making a big leaf pile in the back yard to play in, but now it looks like rain might turn this into an indoor party.  We moved the train/lego/multi-purpose table into the living room for the kids to use as a place to eat and play and now the playroom looks like the biggest room in the house!!  Rachel and Ford both practiced their cutting skills today and made some leaves for decorating.  We went to the dollar store and picked up a few party necessities.  I think we're going to have a great time.  First, though, we have to get through Saturday which is the Arts Festival at our church.  Rachel is playing the violin with the other violin students and she, surprisingly for the way things have been going lately, is not nervous at all.  She's pretty much all business when it comes to playing her violin which is why the anxiety she had been going through was really starting to worry me!!  Her lesson today went really well, though, despite the fact that I had to hold Ruby most of the time.  Ruby climbed up some cubbies yesterday and they fell on her and bruised her leg pretty badly, but she got over it and has been her little active self.  Today, though, she woke up from nap time and screamed for literally 15-20 minutes nonstop which is not like her.  She can usually move on pretty quickly but she finally was able to sort of tell me that her foot, not leg, hurt.  I really think what happened is that her foot must have gotten caught between the bed and the wall at nap time and was numb and hurt while the circulation was coming back, but I was so worried that it had something to do with her injury from yesterday.  Anyway, Rachel managed to have a great practice with Ms. Luci while Ruby sat with me and then Allen came to check on her foot.  She was walking by the time Rachel was done, but still limping a little.  I think she's going to be fine, but it was just another crazy Thursday occurrence!!

One more wild and crazy day

Hopefully we have made our run of all the appointments and such we need to take care for for awhile.  We've had to zoom through school work for the past couple of days and I'm ready tomorrow to buckle down and focus some more.  This morning we had to be out the door at 8:45, so we did a quick round of math review and handwriting and Rachel did some reading.  I guess you could say we're sticking to the three Rs before we go on with our day.  At 9:00 poor Ford didn't know what was coming.  On the way to the doctor's office, I told him that we didn't quite finish with his check up last time and they had called to ask us to come back.  He was so excited to go back just for him and to get some Thomas stickers, so I didn't have the heart to tell him why we were going.  Ms. Sarah came in and asked me the bajillion questions they have to ask before giving vaccinations and one of them was, "Is he allergic to anything?" I said no and then she mentioned the word shot (I can't quite remember what that question was), and Ford piped up, "I am definitely allergic to shots!"  At that point he started to catch on.  However, we read a Thomas book while she went to prepare everything and it talked about Thomas being a brave little engine, so he was quite a brave little engine.  He laid down for her and was fine when she cleaned his legs and seemed to understand what was coming...he just didn't realize how bad it would be until she actually stuck the needles in his legs.  Poor guy.  He hasn't screamed that much in a long time.  Luckily, they have condensed the four shots down to two, so it was over pretty quickly.  I think he had his feelings hurt more than anything, but he calmed down when I told him I'd carry him out and we could stop and get a Thomas sticker.  He did such a great job!!  When we left, I told him I'd take him for a smoothie for a snack today since he did so well and since the girls were so well behaved while we waited.  In the car Rachel said, "Next time I need shots, don't tell me until we get there.  That went much better than when I had shots!"  I couldn't agree more.  That girl worried for a week and then refused to lay down and then screamed and convulsed and threw a fit and she had to be still for four shots.  It was a nightmare!!  So, all in all, this was a much better experience!!  Now we just wait a little over a year until it's Ruby's turn...they may have to put her in restraints!  Of course, by then, it may come in a mist, who knows!!
Anyway, after our snack at the coffee house, we swung by the education store, then went to story time (where Rachel completed her assignment to find some mystery books and Ford made sure they had ordered the new Thomas movie for him!), went by church to drop off some things for the festival this weekend, came home and ate lunch, took a nap, and went outside until dinner.
Tomorrow we'll begin decorating for our Autumnal Equinox celebration!!!

Day of Appointments

We had a quick little session of school time this morning before our day of crazy began.  Allen, Ford, and Rachel all had cleanings at the dentist this morning.  We live close enough to the dentist that Ruby and I decided to walk down and join them so she could get a glimpse of what it would be like when her turn comes up in the spring.  It was a great day for a walk!!!  Those appointments started at 8:30 and we were home a little after 10.  Everyone (even Ruby) came home with a new toothbrush and great teeth!  Once everyone got settled, I took off for a check up with my midwife to see how Baby Baxter is doing.  His heartbeat was great, he's measuring on the big side, and all was well.  Next month I go for the hour long glucose test and then I start checking in every two weeks!  Time is starting to fly by.  After leaving my appointment I got to go out to lunch with Lisa to talk about Daisy Scouts.  I have no idea when I last went out to lunch with another adult and no kids.  That time flew by faster than anything else!!!  I got home right at the end of nap time and the big kids were already up and playing in the yard with Allen.  We played some more and hung out in the awesome weather and then came in for dinner.  After dinner Allen was off to teach a night course and the rest of us headed to the soccer field.  Dr. Ed and Ms. Lisa came to watch Ford play soccer and he was so excited!  He gets so nervous and anxious at the end when they do a scrimmage, but he told me he'd stay in soccer "for the snacks" even if he had to play the games!  The boy loves those Doritos and Capri Suns at the end!!!  I got everyone home and bathed and teeth brushed with their new fancy toothbrushes, read stories, said prayers, sang songs, and now everyone is sleeping soundly.  It was a busy day but they had a blast being able to spend so much time with their Papa!!
Now wish us luck with Ford's shots tomorrow...

Piece of cake

What a better week we're already having!!!  We got so much school work done today with such great attitudes.  Ruby wasn't 100% perfect or entertained, but she had a much better day than she's been having!  Ford started his new math lesson today with a video from Mr. Steve (his "math teacher"!) who told him that this week's lesson would be a piece of cake.  Ford thought that was the funniest thing he'd ever heard and sure enough, the lesson was easy peasy!  He learned about the Magic C today in his handwriting which was fascinating to him and also a piece of cake!  After we'd been doing school work for a little while, Ms. Gail called to see if she could bring us some leftovers from Will's birthday party including, what else, but four pieces of cake!!!  We were really cracking up then about things being a piece of cake!
Rachel zoomed through handwriting and math (a new lesson on squares, rectangles, and skip counting by five which she can already do, but I like her doing some review practice).  We started talking about predictions today in Language Arts.  Her favorite thing was when we got out the story paper.  I had started a story for her and let her predict what would happen next and finish the story.  She loved writing about a girl who finds pixie dust in the woods and is able to fly!  I'm pretty sure she's also decided to be a fairy for Halloween...the girl is a planner!  We did an assessment for Social Studies today where I just asked her a few basic questions about the Geography we've been doing.  She was able to easily answer all seven questions.  I was so proud!!  I really had no idea if she'd be able to answer the questions in a way that someone else could see she understood the concepts, but she did great!  For Science today we talked about rainbows.  We made our own rainbow by putting a mirror into a bowl and filling it with water.  Then we shined a flashlight on the mirror and it put a rainbow up on the wall.  It was pretty cool and all of the kids loved it.  They were amazed that all rainbows don't come in that "normal" arch shape.  We had fun drawing rainbows with the colors in the right order but not shaped like arches.  Surprisingly, though, Ford stuck to the arch.  I think he was afraid to get it "wrong".
We had a great time all together, too, exploring our new calendar that has a place to change the month, a place for day of the week labels, numbers to change every month, a special square showing where Fall begins (and lots of other holiday squares), and a place to show the season and the weather!  I think we will enjoy using that calendar together every day!
Ruby and Rachel played so nicely together after getting our school work done.  They dressed up like princesses and had their own ball in the living room with ballerina music.  Ford and I were able to build a pretty cool track for the engines while the girls danced.  I was able to finally get the laundry put away after everyone felt entertained.  Then we saw Ms. Vanessa and decided to have a picnic and ride bikes (we had to get that sugar energy out from the cake!).  Now everyone is asleep or resting.  I am so thankful for a better attitude in myself today as well as better attitudes in the kids.  We're definitely making some progress!!

Violin and the rest of the stuff

This morning I said a little prayer that if Rachel could go back to having a great time at violin, I could put up with anything else that could come my way today.  It's been a long three weeks of violin with Rachel having anxiety after the whole first-time-I-ever-threw-up-was-at-my-violin-lesson episode!  Well, talk about prayers being answered!!!  Violin was awesome!!  She relapsed for about two seconds and then I reminded her that she was in control (thanks to Liz for some awesome advice on dealing with childhood anxiety!).  After that she chatted up Ms. Luci, showed off her new skills, told Ms. Luci some facts she learned in her nonfiction book about violins, learned a new song, and found out she gets to play at an arts festival in a week and a half!  She's back and I couldn't be more excited!!!
But about that other half of the prayer, yeah, it got answered, too!!!  I started off the day by telling myself that we were going to have a stress-free day and I was going to do my best to not say "No" to Rachel unless it was something harmful or destructive because I really wanted her to have a good day before violin.  By the time Allen had left for work (around 7:30), she was already in time out for grabbing Ford and Ruby.  I can't let that go.  She is so rough with them and almost always someone ends up getting hurt when she grabs them.  Well, we got past that.  Then, I thought, "We'll do Play-Doh to start today.  Rachel loves that and we've cleared off the train table for lots of space."  I ended up playing Play-Doh with Ruby, just the two of us, while Rachel and Ford played trains in the living room.  Ford came to join us, then FINALLY Rachel came and had a great time.  That led into them wanting to do arts and crafts and I said, "Why not?"  The table is clear once we move the Play-Doh and I'm up for fun today!  Ha!  Rachel wanted to sit on the table and she was doing so well, that I let that slide.  Ruby and Ford were having a great time with markers, scissors, glue, paper, etc.  Somehow we ended up with paint out...that always seems to make things go badly, especially if we're not at the big table with newspaper or outside...Rachel decided she needed to put glitter glue and paint all over her hands and spread it everywhere while she's sitting on the table.  I couldn't take it any more.  When her picture was done, I picked her up and took her to the bathroom to clean up. It was on her arms and legs and on her clothes and I lost it.  She said she was just "being like Ruby".  I had to remind her that Ruby is TWO YEARS OLD!  It seems kind of silly now that we were both crying because we were mad and frustrated, but it was rough at the time!  While I was cleaning up Rachel, Ruby proceeded to get paint on the carpet and in her hair and on her clothes, too.  Once I got the girls cleaned up and changed and got rid of the paint, Ford decided he wanted to paint (after saying he didn't want to earlier).  I was like, "Are you kidding me??!?!?!?"  I asked you earlier and you said no and now I've got everything cleaned up.  NO WAY!!  So, he started crying.  This was one of those walk out of the room and take a deep breath moments.  So, what did I do?  I got out a snack (it was after 9 by this point).  Everyone cheered up with a snack and then we started our regular school work and all was well.  Seriously, except for a couple of reminders to Ruby that we could play when I finished with Ford and Rachel, the world turned around.  The big kids actually did a really good job with their work.  Rachel wrote a nonfiction story about herself and was proud of her illustration.  Ford did a super job with his writing and math.  All three of them had a great time using a thermometer and measuring the temperature of water that's been sitting out, water put in the freezer for a few minutes, and water put in the microwave for a few minutes.  Rachel read aloud to us and did a great job with her math and handwriting.  Really, I should have just started the day like normal.  This is what I get for breaking the routine by trying to ease stress!!  I'm thinking you ease stress by sticking to the norm!!

Day, Interrupted

We had another weird day today, but we made it.  We had to be out of our house from 11-2 for a Realtors' Open House (keep your fingers crossed that something comes of it!).  That meant, we had to clean the house last night, but not clean everything because, let's face it, three small children brushing their teeth are going to destroy the bathroom counter again in the morning!  Oh, and of course, there's breakfast to clean up and not pulling out every toy...
Anyway, we made it.  We managed to all hang out in our little bitty play room and do some school work and play with only so many toys at one time.  Everybody actually did a pretty good job in the playroom all together.  Ford did his handwriting and math.  Rachel did her handwriting and math.  She also read aloud for us and we all did her Language Arts together.  We read a nonfiction book about weather and talked about some facts that we learned.  After that, everyone went nuts while I finished cleaning up all the final things (like removing things to the car that were in the way, vacuuming one last time, etc.)  I think we left the house in pretty good shape and got out of the house by 9:30.  I couldn't stand the thought of messing things up too much, so we went ahead and ate a snack in the car, went through the drop off at the library with some books, drove around town for a little while, watched a train go by, and then went to my mother's house.  While we were there, we tried to not leave the TV on the entire time (since they think TV and eating are the only two activities allowed at Baba's house!).  Mom was at a meeting, so I pulled out the crayons, coloring books, puzzles, and assorted toys and we had a fun time playing with new things.  Ford found some dot-to-dots in a couple of the books.  Rachel found some color by number (or letter) and Ruby found some stickers.  They did such a good job playing, I let them watch a show while I got lunch ready.  Then we turned the TV off again and finished lunch (they started eating while watching, but there wasn't much eating going on!).  We played and took potty breaks and cleaned up all the toys.  Then we all got settled on the couch with blankets and turned on a Tinkerbell movie.  I was hoping Rachel and Ford would rest and Ruby would sleep.  I think I was the only one to actually close my eyes!!  After Tinkerbell, Ford watched one Thomas episode and Ruby watched some Tickety Toc thing.  We had a popsicle and then it was time to come home.  Rachel and I finished up her school work.  We made different types of clouds with glue sticks and cotton, we looked at clouds in a weather book, and we recorded our weather information on our chart for the day.  Then we talked about oceans on maps and on globes.  She added the Atlantic Ocean to her map of our state and felt pretty good about all she had accomplished today.  (FYI Ruby fell asleep on the way home and slept through Science and Social Studies.  Ford was so happy to see his trains again, that we didn't see him for a good 45 minutes!).  Then we went outside for some soccer once Ruby woke up.  She was a grouch for the rest of the day and after eating dinner with Allen and sending him on his way, I told the kids we would have a dance party and then it was time for bed!  We started bedtime at 6:00 since no one had gotten a good nap or rest.  Ford was asleep by 6:45.  At 7:45 I was still fighting with Ruby to lay still and trying to convince Rachel that she should stop thinking about how horrible last week's violin lesson was.  She's terrified that she's never going to have a good lesson again and it's keeping her awake!!!  Help!!  I told her to picture all the clouds in her mind that we talked about and to cuddle up with her stuffed animals and I think she finally went to sleep.  I haven't been back in to check on Ruby because I don't want to start all over again if she's not asleep yet, but I guess I'll go in there in a little while and hope that everyone's snoozing.  It's been quiet, at least, for the last 30 minutes, so that's a start!

Multi-tasking

It's been a wild day!!!  We had a lot of things to cover in school this morning and somehow we managed to get to them all, but I wasn't sure we were going to make it!!
Ford did a great job with writing the letter E and drawing on the chalkboard and writing words.  Then he did some counting for math.  When we got to his train book, though, that has little preschool and kindergarten-type activities, I didn't know if he'd ever stop!!  He's become obsessed with dot-to-dots, but he can't quite get them done all by himself.  So, every minute or so, he'd call out, "Where's number 19?" and I'd have to leave Rachel or Ruby and help him find the next number.  Some of his final pictures are hysterical, but he's getting there.  He must have done 20 of them today!
Ruby couldn't quite get herself together today.  She wasn't bad, but she just needed a lot of help.  She'd say she wanted to do one thing, then get started and I'd move on to help Rachel and then as soon as we got started, Ruby would call to say she needed something or wanted to do something different.  I finally told Rachel just to do her handwriting and math sheet (since she can do those with very little, if any, help) and then we'd wait on everything else until Ford and Rachel were settled (as in, not doing dot-to-dots for Ford and finding something that would finally keep Ruby's attention!).
So, finally, Rachel and I were able to talk about the difference between fiction and nonfiction.  She read an entire nonfiction book about weather to me that she'd never seen before.  We talked about weather, precipitation, clouds, and temperature.  We started a weather chart for the week.  We looked at mountains on maps and the globe.  We added mountains to a map of our state with a key at the bottom as well as a compass showing NSEW.  We practiced all of her bow patterns on her violin and then we finished up by reading Max Found Two Sticks and going back to our music discussion of rhythm.  Everyone joined in by getting two Kapla blocks and we did a rhythm parade.  It was pretty fun and these kids have more rhythm than I thought!!  I made them a special lunch of pigs in a blanket (something they never get, but love!) and now everyone is sleeping or resting.
Sometimes it amazes me how quickly the time can go by!!!

Thursdays might just put me over the edge

Our life is not normal and I realize that.  I like not being normal, but sometimes it takes its toll.  I went walking with a friend last night and she was saying how she doesn't know how I get through the day without a TV on.  I'll admit, when my kids watch TV, they are still and quiet and I can do just about anything I want to, but they truly turn into zombies and I don't like it.  Most people I know get to go back to the "real world" when school starts.  They can send their kids off for the day and then go to their jobs and talk to adults and go to the bathroom without an audience or a screaming match in the other room.  A lot of people get their kids to bed and then can unwind for the night.  Granted, there are nights that I can do that, but if no one took a nap or rested during the day, this is when my work of laundry, planning for school the next day, and just catching up in general starts.  Thursdays have become the hardest days around here.  We do school all morning, try to get in a quick nap, head to Rachel's violin lesson, and then I'm on my own until bedtime.  (Allen teaches a night course on Thursdays and has to go straight there from the middle school in order to be on time.)  Today really just about put me over the edge!  We threw in two over-due well visits (for Ford and Rachel) plus all of the errands I needed to get done while in town.  We kind of had to rush through math and handwriting this morning, then shove some science and social studies in during nap time.  Then Rachel had a meltdown at violin...she's terrified she's going to throw up again and has kind of a mini-panic attack when we get there.   Then once we got back home, Ruby has one of her evenings of being absolutely crazy while I'm in the middle of trying to talk to our realtor on the phone.  The one shining moment in our evening was that everyone actually ate their dinner (Ruby had three bowls!) and didn't complain at all.  I didn't actually have any moments of throwing in the towel completely today, but all of it added together, plus that feeling of rushing from one place to the other with no down time in between was a lot.  I think I just need to remember in the future not to plan anything for Thursday mornings.  It was just too much!  I also told Rachel that she is absolutely required to rest as long as Ruby is napping on Thursdays so that she doesn't go into meltdown mode again at violin which used to be her favorite thing in the world to do!
It was a wild ride today and we're taking a little longer than I thought to adjust to this whole school schedule thing, but in the end, I can sit here and type this and think of just as many good things that happened today:
Rachel and Ford are absolutely healthy!
All three kids behaved at the doctor's office and didn't tear anything up!
When Rachel started playing violin, she did a great job!!
Ruby and Ford and Rachel all entertained themselves at the education store while I talked to Mr. Toby, then we came home with some cool reusable stickers from the store and they actually all entertained themselves without fighting while I made lunch (that's a serious high point of the day!)
Ruby didn't have any accidents today and pretty much went to the bathroom by herself all day!
Rachel could tell me facts about the Polar Zone, Tropical Zone, and Temperate Zone as well as show me the equator and talk about what lines of latitude are.
Nobody got hurt...even though I must have said 100 times, "You're going to hurt yourself!"
Allen has a job (well, jobs) and at least one of them makes him happy.  Hopefully this will all lead to an awesome career for him!
We're doing it, we're making it, I just need to keep focusing on the positives :)

So-so school and Soccer Madness

Nothing overly exciting happened during our school time today.  I guess the biggest news is that Ruby actually "worked" the whole time Ford and Rachel were doing handwriting and math.  She actually kept herself entertained at the table with us!  Rachel and I had a hard time connecting today on things.  She kept getting confused about weather and climate and I finally said, "We'll try again tomorrow."  Then I introduced the word fiction to her and we talked about books that have made up characters and TV shows that are made up.  I asked her to write a short (as in three sentences) fictional story.  Holy Cannoli!  She could not think of a thing to make up.  She ended up writing about a girl named Rachel who had a nature class and her class did leaf rubbings and then took them all home.  Did I mention that tomorrow she's actually "teaching" a nature class and having the kids do leaf rubbings and then they can take them home?  Well, it hasn't happened yet, so technically it was fiction!  We've got to work on her creativity!!
We went to story time today and Ruby actually participated today and let Mr. Drew (the new guy) stamp both of her hands.  We're making progress!  It's so funny how the most outgoing girl in the house (and she's got some competition!) goes into a shell around new people.  I keep telling Mr. Drew that one day he'll wish she was shy and quiet again because he won't be able to get a word in!!
I have to say the most exciting event of the day, today, though, was Ford's first day at soccer!  Just to give you a little background info...we tried to send Ford to preschool when he was 2.  It did not go well.  He went twice and I gave up.  Rachel made such an easy transition into preschool.  She had some tears every now and then, but she loved school and she loved her teachers, so she made it through the day.  Ford, however, literally hyperventilated for 2 hours both times he tried to go to preschool.  Poor Ms. Karen, his teacher, would carry him around and he would cry and cry.  She probably weighed about 60 pounds to his 30 pounds so it was interesting to see (I peeked at them through the window onto the playground one day and she walked around with him the whole time.)  It broke my heart and I just didn't see any reason to keep trying that when there was no need for preschool at the time.  So, when Ford said he wanted to sign up for soccer, I was a little apprehensive.  I was very excited that he wanted to do something on his own and that he would be around other kids his age, but I just wasn't sure that he'd actually go through with it.  He was so excited tonight with his cleats and his little bitty shin guards and his tall blue socks.  We got to the soccer field and went right out there with Coach Greg and kicked that ball like a champ.  He jogged around the field, he stopped the ball with his foot, he even kicked the ball into play when it was his turn.  I'm not sure he would have even known I was still there if it weren't for the fact that I had his water bottle and it was HOT so I got to see him a couple of times for water breaks.  He was so proud of himself and I was so proud of him.  Even Rachel wanted to take pictures and videos of him because she was so impressed!  He answered the coach's questions and made my heart swell.  He is definitely turning the corner on his neediness and I love that he's feeling some independence.  It just makes me a little sad that he might not live in our basement forever like Allen and I thought...

Triangles, Circles, and Roller Coasters

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!!!

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!)

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.

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!!

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!

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!!

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.

Friends of Ingram School

While it's summer and we're calm and "relaxed" (ha!) I just want to take a minute to thank all of our friends for being our friends.  There are so many people in our lives who are supportive of our decision to homeschool and are excited for us to officially start this journey.  I can't tell you how many people offer us things to help out or tell us how proud they are of us for doing this.  We also have so many friends who allow us to come to their houses and tear the place up and still invite us back for more (let's face it Ingram School recess can get wild!).  Then add on to that the people who help teach our children and love our children and set good examples for our children and we have an amazing network of people who enrich the lives of our family.  I can gripe and complain and whine and question and wonder about lots of people in my life, but when it comes down to it, I usually say what I need to say, move on, and realize that I truly do appreciate what we have in our lives.  My mother is always willing to provide "Baba School" for Ruby and/or Ford when Rachel has violin lessons.  Lisa is always willing to tailor art classes to what our kids need as well as countless other projects and gifts that she knows will be useful and educational.  Dr. Ed always takes care of our medical needs no matter what time of the day.  Amanda lends books for Rachel to use to practice reading as well as gives numerous lessons on sharing :) and lots of love. Vanessa offers art and Spanish exposure to our children and a place for Ford to practice sharing trains!  Kristin brings Wyatt to play with us on Fridays which has really shown our kids how much they are looking forward to another little Ingram running around.  Liz loves our children unconditionally and always keeps us in the know on what extra-curricular possibilities are out there.  Matthew and Victoria always provide a fun time for our kids and truly top the list when it comes to Most Fun Aunt and Uncle in the World!  This list of people is also a list of people who I know would drop anything they're doing if we needed help or if we had an emergency.  One effect of homeschooling is that our kids don't easily trust adults and to some people that's weird, but I'm pretty glad that they won't walk off with just anybody.  I can truly say that our kids would be willing to go with anybody I've mentioned here (along with Grandpa, too, who I should say would bankroll any project, field trip, or meal Ingram School needs) and they would feel safe and cared for.  I know there are lots of other people who would help us and take care of our kids or do things we ask, but this is our core group of people that I can always count on and for that I am truly grateful.  Allen and I don't like to lean on people or ask for help very often, but when we do it's usually one of these people or their spouses who support us, too.  We couldn't do it without you!

Order up!

Rachel and I officially ordered the Teacher Handbook for Kindergarten as well as the handwriting books for both big kids this morning!  I feel like teacher workdays are on the way :)

Summer Vacation

We have FOR REALSIES been on summer vacation lately.  Our dear friends shared their beach house with us for a week and our kids soaked up the sun, sand, and salt like nobody's business.  We investigated hermit crabs and swam across inlets.  We ate cheeseballs and ice cream.  We rode a ferry and went to the aquarium.  We also watched just how crazy four kids can be together for an entire week with TV, junk food, and fun, fun, fun!!!
This week we've kind of gotten back in to our summer routine including tennis and reading as well as letter tracing and handwriting.  I'm getting excited about Fall coming (since summer just decided to fly on by in July!).  We have two more weeks of hanging out and relaxing, then a few days visiting my brother and sister-in-law and then we return, Allen starts teaching his college classes twice a week and then school starts back for him the last week of August.  I'm thinking we'll start getting back to our Fall school routine when Allen starts going back to work regularly.  I think the kids will understand that Papa is in school, so they are in school, too.  I'm going to order their handwriting books soon as well as a math book for Ford.  I am also very excited about ordering a Kindergarten Teacher's Handbook for the Core Knowledge Series.  I hope it will help me navigate through Kindergarten especially when it comes to Science and Social Studies.  There is an art program that comes with it, but I think we will cover that in the Spring with art classes with Ms. Lisa.
Our house is still on the market and we're thinking it may be time to switch to a more aggressive realtor.  We just need to be out of limbo and move on with whatever our future plans will be.  The baby in my belly is moving and growing.  I felt him move a little bit at the beach, but he loves to move when I sit on Ford's bed (a true sign that these brothers are bonded!!).  I will be 17 weeks on Monday which is crazy!!  I can't believe that in three weeks, I'll be halfway through this pregnancy.  Time just continues to move on and life is fun!  We've had some ups and downs with Ruby and some temper tantrums lately, but she is absolutely 100% daytime potty trained, so I'll take a little fit every now and then to be done with potty training.  She hasn't had a single accident since we got back from the beach (knock on wood) and has been telling me when she needs to go instead of just going when I tell her to.
The girls have new beds and are sharing a "Girls' Room" now.  Ford loves it because he was able to move his train table back into his room (which means we don't see him as much, but he comes out every now and then when he misses us :)  Rachel is zooming through her Bob books and has 9 books left in the whole 3 box series to finish!!  Ford says he wants to start reading now, too, so the Bob books may be in his near future...we'll see.  We have lots of little readers for Rachel to move on to.  It's been so exciting to see her learn to read and be able to read road signs and  things at the grocery store.
Life is good.