The girls were invited to a beauty day birthday celebration on Saturday. They have brightly painted nails still and had a wonderful time!
Natalee cried when her hair came undone when she was playing.
Tuesday, July 19, 2016
Ball Season Finale
Our nephew had his final baseball game of the summer last night- his team played the championship game of a tournament and won.
{Totally stole this pic from his mom - it's a great picture of him.}
Our own ball games overlapped with almost all of Colby's games - that coupled with vacation meant we hadn't made it to any games yet! We picked a great game to go to!
It is an effort to load 4 kids up and take them to a baseball game alone. I went through a season where I didn't do a good job of making this effort (back when I only had 1-2 kids!). As the years pass, I'm realizing that these moments are fleeting. You always think there will be another game or another chance...but sometimes there isn't. I'm not saying I'll always make it to everything, but I am saying that, even if I'm up more than down, running kids to the potty and disciplining and only looking up occasionally, that I don't take these moments for granted like I used to.
Colby, we're proud of you - not just in baseball, but the young man you're becoming. Love you, kid!
An Evening with Adelyn
We got to keep our sweet niece, Adelyn, for a few hours Saturday night. What fun! She wasn't a huge fan of being in our house, but as long as we stayed outside she was happy as a lark!!
She mastered our little slide...
...played clubhouse with Ameliya...
...enjoyed the sandbox...
{although she did have Auntie Jenn clean off her hands when she got them messy}
...and took a bike cart ride with Mia and Uncle Mike.
I wasn't successful at getting her to eat, but we were successful at snuggling.
We love you, Adelyn!
Bucket Truck Rides
Last week at Story Hour the children got bucket truck rides from Tri-County Electric! I was surprised that all THREE of my "big" kids were brave enough to go for a turn!
Ameliya wasn't sure until I told her this is what Uncle Vance does. Then she got suited up and said, "me go wike (like) Vance."
I did not offer to go with her. I trusted the lineman in the bucket, and truth be told I had no desire to go that high. Ha. She did great!
Xavier actually went twice. He was paired with a younger boy, and then at the end there was an older child who didn't have a partner so he got to go again! Lucky duck!
Natalee went up with a friend that she was excited to see at Story Hour!
This week the Conservation Department is visiting Story Hour! The kids are looking forward to it!
Meet Ralph
A few weeks ago Mom's sweet dog, Sadie, was in an accident. She was a gentle giant and Ameliya in particular loved her.
After a few weeks without a dog at the farm, my dad got himself a little (for now) Anatolian Shepherd and Border Collie mix puppy. Meet Ralph...
You can't replace an old dog, but you can make new memories with a new dog.
Xavier seems to be trying harder with Ralph to make a bond, which is nice to see. He's always been a little dog shy.
Ralph still has siblings for sale and it's taking all my willpower to not get one. A dog in town didn't work out for us last time and I know it's not best for the dog...but mercy they are sweet!
The First Week of School
The rest of the first week of school went pretty well. We fell into a fairly easy routine and enjoyed our new subjects as well as our old favorites.
Spanish has definitely been a highlight so far. We do it daily and our lessons take about 30 minutes, depending on how many times I have them work on their new words/phrases, and sing the songs. The songs are definitely helping with correct pronunciation and remembering the words.
I also purchased the Song School Spanish DVD (it didn't come with the kit). It's thorough and does a good job with pronunciation and explaining, however it's a smidge dry. (We're at that cross between watching a DVD for education vs entertainment!) Ameliya, however, LOVES it. She's growing quite a cute little Spanish vocabulary along with the big kids.
Natalee is excelling and understanding her math this year. I'm still SO grateful I had her repeat the Alpha math last year after Beta proved to be such a struggle in the first couple of weeks. Follow your guts, parents!
Xavier's math is just enough to push him a little, which is perfect.
We are trying a new science. I'm finding *I'm* not excited to do it everyday like I am some of the other subjects, but the kids seem to like it. I think science just doesn't excite me. :( I'm working on not letting that transfer to my children.
Our lessons focused on light, reflection, and rainbows.
Xavier loves his Sing Spell Read and Write. He's excited to get through the alphabet review so he can start learning to read!! (Me too! I love to teach beginning reading!)
He also got to try out our new Mobi Max during some down time.
Ameliya is trying to keep up. She loves "school" and is enjoying her drawer of special school things I made for her. I put this puzzle set in her school drawer and she loved it the first time we got it out! I was pleased with how quickly she figured it out!
Sometimes she gets to take a turn with the math blocks, also...
Scissors remain a favorite...
I decided to do a couple of oral "tests" at the end of the week to make sure things are sticking. I like oral exams, especially for young children.
Spanish, Chapter 1...
Geography, Continents and Oceans...
Zayden naps through a big chunk of our morning school, but the rest of the time he makes sure his presence is known. He sticks close to the hubbub so he doesn't get forgotten, unless he can find something naughty to do and then he slips off quietly.
Overall we've had minimal whines, lots of excitement, and some great learning. I'm praying this continues through the school year!!
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