2.28.2013

forever young

my sweet man had a birthday last saturday.  we had a bit of a crazy week, so the usual birthday plans had to be condensed into 3-4 days.  no matter.  we just went with it, and still had a great time.


a new pair of shoes and a new tattoo was his birthday gift from him to him.  i think that was a good start to the week's celebration.


we made our usual run to the market for crepes and beef smokies.


there was a stop at the zoo's rain forest, and to say a little hello to the elephants.


then we spent an afternoon bumming around downtown, with a required stop at CLE clothing company.



and to finish the week, an awesome friend surprised him with a birthday gift of sausage links and bacon!  he knows my husband well.

happy birthday my sweet man!

2.20.2013

wordless wednesday :: these two

from little playmates...


to making plans to save the rainforest...

photo credit: debbie calaway.
it's been so fun to watch emma and her friend grow together.  they have BIG plans people.  plans to help save the rainforest.  plans to help save the whales.  plans to make this world a better place.

more wordless wednesday here, here and here.

2.13.2013

wordless wednesday :: another year down




happy birthday, my sweet baby!


more wordless wednesday here, here, and here.

2.12.2013

:: 24/12 ::

my baby cash,

2 years ago you made your entrance into this world.  for a while you were our little baby peanut, because you were the youngest and you were a bit on the smaller end (compared to your big brother at the same age, that is).  but somewhere between last february and this february, you sprouted big time.  out of the blue your legs turned into tree trunks, and you can now easily wear many of your brother's shirts. 


i look at you and i don't really see a baby anymore.  you are still sweet, and still enjoy a little rocking and cuddling before bed.  but you have turned into a little boy.  there is no more toddling or sitting in the high chair or going in the stroller for walks.  you want to keep up with your older siblings so things like strollers and high chairs are for the birds.  you won't even settle for crayons when everyone else gets to use markers.


one of the things i absolutely love about you is your affection for your little baby sister.  you love showering her with drooly kisses, and i think you would literally smother her [with love] if i didn't hold you back.  i've even caught you trying to "read" to her a few times.  it is seriously the sweetest thing!


you are starting to figure out all these different words, and in the past 6 months, you have been able to communicate your needs pretty clearly.  that means no more floppy fish tantrums or beating up your big brother! it is interesting to watch you navigate yourself between emma and gibson, trying to claim your own space yet be a part of the group at the same time.


i love you my sweet baby.  and daddy loves you, and your brothers and sisters love you too.  i am looking forward to watching you grow this coming year.  you are a sweet blessing to our family.


love,
mommy

2.07.2013

6 months

dear baby peanut,

yesterday you turned 6 months, and i don't think i was quite ready for it.  yet at the same time i was.  i know...that doesn't make any sense at all, but it does in my head.

i wasn't quite ready for you being half a year old, because i have really been enjoying you being a sweet baby.  baby coos, baby smiles, baby hands, baby smells, baby feet, baby snuggles.  i love it, love it, love it.  feeling like you are going to forever be the youngest in the family, i kinda want to hang on (REALLY TIGHT) to all the baby-ness.

but at the same time, i am ready to see you grow and grow.  sometimes i like to imagine you toddling around after your big brothers and sister, or doing girl time with me and emma, or date time with your daddy...it brings a smile to my face. 


you have gotten more vocal these past few weeks filling the room with lots of high pitch squealing.  one of my favorite things you've been doing lately is reaching for my face and squeezing my lips or my cheek between your baby fingers.  it's actually kind of painful when i have forgotten to trim your fingernails, but it's so stinkin' adorable i am more than willing to put up with the pain.

and speaking of those baby fingers, you are getting quite adept at putting a couple of them in your mouth to suck on.  it seems to make you quite happy when you manage to do that.  sometimes it even helps you fall asleep.  now all you need to do is figure out how to do that more often, and i'm quite certain your napping habits would improve.

remember that you are loved, my little peanut.  mommy and daddy love you so very much, and it's evident from the attention you get that your siblings love you just as much as we do.


love,
mommy

2.06.2013

wordless wednesday::littlest

the youngest of 5 is 6 months today.  seriously?  bitter.sweet.



more wordless wednesday here, here and here.

2.04.2013

learning together: W16Y01 and Y0

tax season! tax season! this means i'm gonna give you a rundown of week 16 as quickly as possible.  if you noticed, i added year 0 to the title for gibson.  he has been so responsive to learning letters and doing copywork these past weeks that i think it's time we make it "official."

you can go here to find out what year 0 is all about, and here to check out the booklist. we've read many of the books on this list (though there are still more we have yet to read), and all the kids enjoy listening to the stories.

bible:

we read 1 samuel 31 and emma tried her hand at a crossword puzzle (lesson 81 from the calvary curriculum site) for the first time.

our scripture memory verse was john 3:16.  this was easy-peasy for emma since we've had this as our memory verse before.  but reviewing it was nice, because it gave gibson a chance to try and memorize it.  we also watched the rizers video for this particular verse and the kids liked it a lot.

french:

the kids watched lessons 1-3 from youlearnfrench on youtube.  bonjour!


language arts:

copywork for emma was our memory verse for 1 day and an excerpt from the poem us two by a. a. milne for 2 days.

we went through mcguffey lessons 57 and 60.

spelling words this week were on, ox, lot, got and snot (this one got a laugh).  we only spent 3 days on these words.

similar to emma's letter of the month when she was younger, i will be doing a letter a week for gibson.  all of his activity sheets pertaining to that letter will be kept in a folder for easy access, and to allow him to work independently if he chooses to.


this week we did the letter g (i plan on going through all the letters in his name).  i'm primarily using these sites to put his folder together: tot school printables (also for cash when he wants to join in), raising rockstars and homeschool creations.



he has been so into doing his own school and wanting to trace and learn his letters.  i love it. and i'm thankful that this transition was low-key and painless (which i think it should be).  it was just 6 months (or so) ago that he was uninterested in learning letters or numbers...it's funny to see the change.

math:

we are almost done with the life of fred book so we only did one chapter (17)  this week to stretch it out longer.

history:

we read hengist's treachery from our island story.  new vocab word: treachery.  i forgot to read inchcape rock from fifty famous stories so that will have to be tacked on to week 17.

art and music study were the same as last week's.

literature:

we read the leap at rhodes and the wild boar and the fox from the aesop for children.  the kids listened to the sing-song of old man kangaroo from just so stories.  from beautiful stories from shakespeare we read as you like it.


we didn't read any poems from a. a. milne's book because emma had misplaced it somewhere.  we found it in the car hidden underneath a bunch of stuff on sunday.  yay!

science/nature study:

mammal of the week was a pig.  we read over some brief information about domestic and wild pigs, and emma drew her rendition of a domesticated piggy.  oink, oink.

we read peter learns something about spooky from the burgess bird book, and looked up some information about screech owls.  we listened to their sound and watched a couple of short video clips on them.

life skill:

emma continues to be a natural helper (for the most part) around the house.  she has been promoted to putting away the clean plates from the dishwasher so that gibson can take over her old job of putting away utensils.  now i just have to make sure to give them more opportunities to practice their new skills.

other things:

it snowed last week so the kids had some time enjoying the snow.

inside the kids busied themselves with books, games, and playing together and independently.




cash has been wanting to join in the table work fun, so i've been giving him his own sheet to complete. i think he is quite proud of his work.


more next week!  a bientot!
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