Week in the Life {Super Bowl, Frigid Temps, OT, School, Cutest Toddler}

Sunday, February 7th

Sporting our KC colors to cheer on the Chiefs during the Super Bowl.  The game didn't go in our favor but it was a fun night anyways.  The kids loved the food buffet we did last year so we repeated that.

Monday, February 8th

Just another day at BLISS Academy.

Evie doesn't like Daddy's pouty lip.

Zayden's writing prompt was, "Something I really want to do is...." 

His writing made my eyes leak.

Mia's writing made my heart laugh.

The big kids are working on adventure stories in their writing.

Blending his way into first grade.

Zayden and Ameliya went to Israel in Galloping the Globe.  Mia was feeling it.  

Natalee and Xavier also studied Israel and Natalee really wants to take a trip to the Holy Lands now. (me too)

Ev loves the boogie board.

Tuesday, February 9th

Good morning!  Isn't she precious?

Learning time in math!

These little writers love their Draw Write Now!

I tried my first sensory bin with Evalynn.

Evie.  That is all.

Wednesday, February 10th

A regular old homeschool morning.

Day 2 of the sensory bin - and she's in time out for throwing rice.  She will learn.

Evie usually eats lunch and then when Daddy comes home she eats a second lunch - his lunch.

Little Evie had her first ponytail.

Making a late night 6x over batch of breakfast cookies with my girl.  It yielded about 6 1/2 dozen.

Hippotherapy was canceled because of the extremely low temps this week.

Thursday, February 11th

My precious naptime baby.

Cold temps or no these kids needed to run off some steam so I bundled everyone up well and they went out for about 45 minutes.  I had a warm lunch and cocoa ready when they came in!

I've been putting Evie at the table some to see if it'll help with her eating at lunch.  She's more willing to try new things when she's sitting with everyone else.

Natlalee working hard at OT with Shawni.

Trying that sensory bin again.  She's learning her limits.  And she's cute to boot.

Passing another cold weather day.

Friday, February 12th

Fun Friday!  We did a textured heart project to bring in the Valentine theme a bit.  The instructions were wonderful and it was fun to do something a bit different.

The children learned about texture, tinting, and shading in this project.

Saturday, February 13th

We had a 9:15 basketball game for Xavier.  His team scrimmaged the girls' team.  

It was a lot of fun to watch.  

The snow was blowing and coming down again when we left so we headed home and spent the rest of the day doing our weekly cleaning.  Mike and Mia worked on her Valentine's box and the kids played after chores.  Just a quiet ole Saturday.

Evie was here for nighttime snuggles.

Evie's First Pony Sprout

Little Evalynn Nancy has had her first pony "sprout."  It barely stays in and hangs on for dear life, but it's there and she's so proud of it.

I didn't want to make it too tight because she can't afford to lose any of her little hairs, so the elastic kept slipping out.  Every time she would bring it back to me and insist to have it put back in. 

While we're waiting for the top hair to get longer, little sister is working on that mullet in the back.  {wink} 

Keep growing, cutie!

Sensory Smarts {Again} - Mommy Goes Back to Toddler {Taby} Town

Back many years ago when I was still learning how to be a mom - figuring out what Natalee's specific needs were while mothering a toddler son and teaching a classroom full of preschoolers with varying degrees of special needs, I also wrote a blog called the Sensory Smart Mommy. I read and researched and went to classes on sensory input, sensory needs, and how to meet those needs for my students and my own kids. This was the time in our lives when we made a lot of our diet and lifestyle changes and sensory integration became a natural part of our lives.

As the kids have grown I've done sensory play here and there. Shaving cream, chickpeas, water beads, play-doh, water play, finger paint, pudding paint, and the like just became the way of life in the Beeler house. It wasn't unusual for Mike to come home to a water table full of water beads in the kitchen, a request for an indoor trampoline, or children covered in paint. However, as the kids got older we haven't had as much demand for sensory play and it's not second nature like it used to be. As it turns out, I'm not done raising babies yet - so here I go again. I'm committing to being more intentional for my little Evie - to still be a "sensory smart mommy" for her and give her the same experiences the other kids have had.

Weeks ago I bought a 5 pound bag of rice to dye to make a rice bin for Evie. I wanted it to be rainbow and pretty. The rice sat and it sat and it sat. Evie carried the bag of rice around but I didn't open it and get around to dying it. Today I thought, what in the world am I waiting for? So I emptied a bin and dumped out that rice. And that little girl played and played and played.


She and I played for about 30 minutes and then I started making supper, keeping her on the floor right near me where I could keep supervising her play. Part of sensory play is training your expectations of the play so the children know what they can and can't do. That means you can't just give a baby a bin of rice and expect there to be no mess but that also doesn't mean they can't learn the rules. They can! Little people are so teachable. As we sat I gave reminders - keep the rice in the bucket, we sit down to play rice, etc. Was it perfect? No. Did we both have rice in our knickers at the end? Maybe. Did she taste it?  She did - twice - but didn't care for it either time.  Did she learn? Yes. Did she love it? For sure!

The uh-oh face when some dumped out. It's okay Evie. We can clean that up. You can help.

We started with just cups.  Then I added spoons about 30 minutes in, and 15 minutes later I added tins and funnels.  Adding supplies a bit at a time extends the play.

Evie wasn't the only one who loved the rice bin. Zayden joined her and then later Ameliya came in. Xavier stopped by the bin before piano, and Natalee asked if she could have a turn tomorrow. A gentle reminder to me that sensory play is for everyone and none of them have "grown out" of this phase completely.

I'm going to use activities stored up in my brain for some of Evie's weekly change-outs, but also the Busy Toddler's guide for 1 year olds. She describes this age perfectly when she says "they aren't babies but they definitely aren't toddlers - they are tabies." Tabies. Yes. Toddler babies. Learners. Adventurers.

Any suggestions for sensory ideas I should try with my sweet little taby?

Week In the Life {Zayden's Moving On, Adventures in Sourdough, Travel to Africa}

Our Sunday was snowy - buckets and buckets of snow. Our church canceled service so we had worship at home. Mike worked on Valentine boxes with some of the kids and we just got ourselves ready for the week.

Monday, February 1st
Monday started with snuggles.

I also started a new Bible study on anxiety. Several of my friends are doing this, too, and it's nice to have accountability and someone to discuss the lessons with. It's also nice to have the Word back open with a purpose - a direction to study.

Tuesday, February 2nd

Natalee had PT on Tuesday and we schooled the rest of the day away. 

Mia and Zayden are making great progress individually in their reading and math.  Together they "traveled to Africa" in Social Studies and finished book 8 of the Secret of the Hidden Scrolls series.

I've been trying to exercise daily and little Evie is proof that our children watch us...

Practicing our selfies....

Zayden and Theo FaceTimed in the evening.

Wednesday, February 3rd

Mike took Natalee to hippotherapy and she had a great session.

Thursday, February 4th

Last week Zayden finished his Kindergarten reading phonics work and readers.  I thought a lot about how to handle this - I've never had such a zealous little student at this young of an age.  

Ultimately I decided to order him the 1st grade curriculum work and just start through it, going slowly, and pausing when or if we need to.  He was SO excited to get the next book when it arrived Tuesday night and was raring to go Wednesday morning.

Maybe his finishing early was a God thing, as I learned that the company that I've used for all 4 kids and that I taught in public school before that, discontinued their line of books for homeschooling families.  It's a big disappointment to learn they aren't going to serve the homeschool community anymore, however I went ahead and ordered everything I would need to finish Zayden through his instruction and get Evie through.  I am too old and set in my ways to change curriculums with one kid left.

Zayden is also a very brave speller!

Thursday, such a cold day, this little cutie said to me, "wouldn't a nice, warm bowl of oatmeal be so yummy for lunch?"  So some of us had oatmeal and some of us had dash eggs.

Evie had her dash eggs and then her dad's when he came home on his break.

Reading time with Evalynn, before her nap.

Friday, February 5th

Our art was African sunset animal silhouettes since the little 2 were in Africa this week.  We painted our sunsets first, and then animals native to Africa over the top of them.  Everyone tried their hand at an acacia tree, also.

Natalee:

Xavier:

Zayden:

Ameliya, with Dad's help on the lion:

Evie tried a raw onion with her supper....she's a foodie.

I made a small batch of sourdough chocolate chip cookies with my sourdough discard.  I still don't fully understand what I'm doing, but it's fun trying.

Evie approved,

and washed it down with oat milk.

Saturday, February 6th

Saturday brought more snow, but we hit the ground running Saturday morning.  I had a grocery pick up at 7 a.m. and then came home and tried my hand at sourdough pancakes. I mixed the flour, starter, and water the night before but I think I didn't get enough water in there.  They were not perfect, but they were okay and everyone gobbled them up.  They had a very good taste, and I added a bit of milk to thin them out.

 

We still had our planned activities at the YMCA despite the snow.  Natalee began private swim lessons, and Xavier had his second basketball game.  It's a very small team, and they were missing 2 boys, so they played 3 on 3.  

The rest of the day we just relaxed, the kids played, and we enjoyed a day at home.  We ended the night by watching Duma, a movie set in Kenya.