School's Steady Routine

School has fallen back into a nice soft routine.  We go mostly all morning, with short breaks here and there.  Xavier, at age 5, has most of the afternoon off usually, while Natalee, at 6 1/2 comes back for some extra after lunch.  We like to school on the weekends with Dad or a bit in the evening when he's home.  "Unconventional" is our friend and we're thankful for the flexibility.

Snapshots from the last couple of weeks...

 Our little reader...she enjoys reading so much!

Xavier's math is getting a bit harder - reading and building numbers with units, tens and hundreds place.  It's fun to watch him need to think and work hard!

He's also been working hard to build his relationship with Ameliya, who often pushes him away.  It's a delight to see moments like this when he's taking a break...

Natalee is getting math.  Rejoice!  She's enjoying the addition wrap-ups and I'm noticing that she's committing the facts to memory.  I'm so thankful I swallowed my pride and took her back a level in math so she could be successful and get the skills concretely.  

 The smile.  ^^  Worth. it.

Xavier's reading is accelerating to two letters/sounds a week.  He's handling it well and I'm excited to get to the meat of teaching him to read.  He's not quite "there" but he will be when he reviews all the letters and sounds.  Such an exciting season!

 

He's also really obsessed with ink pens.  I choose to let these little things (like coloring with pen) go.

School isn't always done at the table...the kids often choose the floor, couch, etc.  Wherever there is room and a comfy learning space!

  

We're loving our Sonlight Core B history!   

 

Natalee particularly gives a lot of attention to her Akebu to Zapotec journal.

We also read the story of Jim Elliot this past week and were in awe of it's outcome.  I won't ruin it for you but it was heart-wrenching.  I allowed the children to watch the Torchlighters episode of his story on our iPad after we read about him in our Missions with the Millers and they were truly enthralled.

We're also enjoying the book Mr. Popper's Penguins and are about finished with it, and we've completed our first book in our Science series and are preparing for the next one.  I realize we've finally found our good and steady pace just in time for baby #4 to come in and upturn it!  It's okay - the great thing about homeschooling is it's adaptability, right?

Three Day Trial {Potty Training}

We're doing a three day potty training trial with Miss Ameliya, starting today and running through Tuesday.  If she shows progress we'll forge ahead and if she's not quite there we'll retreat for the time being.  Frankly, she's quite "smart" enough as far as knowing what's going on, if I can just convince her that it's her own brilliant idea!  

We did some Target shopping yesterday and she chose Minnie Mouse panties and we sprung for the Minnie Mouse potty ring also - we have one but it's Cars and Mom is a sucker.

We had one successful tinkle on the potty tonight and many accidents.  She was very disturbed by her wet unders so I hope that means there is hope.  

Only because you can't truly see anything...is she not the cutest thing ever?  So sorry, teenage and grown up Mia...

Tomorrow we go at it again!  Today, Mike was nervous when she wanted to climb and rough house as per usual...although I think he only got peed on once!!  Ha!

Wish us luck and send us your positive thoughts!  Especially as I fly mostly solo with the job tomorrow and Tuesday!

Mia Antics - An Update on the Diva!

Mia, Mia, oh sweet Mia.  

She's growing...preparing to get promoted from the youngest position in the hierarchy.  

Climbing, the climbing never ends...

She's enjoying the magnet board very much and seems to like her Mickey characters!

I sold both our pack n play and our playard and decided to buy an easy up pop n play.  She can still sleep in it, it can go outside, and I can trap her in it for a few minutes if I need to get something done.  It is light, carries in a bag like a camping chair, and sets up in a few seconds.  I love it.  The floor isn't padded but a thick quilt folded on the bottom solves that for snoozing.  Overall I'm excited and don't think I'll be sorry.  

She was very happy in it the couple of times we set it up.  It does take up more room than a pack n play but I like it much better for playing for toddlers.  I kind of think some ball pit balls in there would be a blast...kind of. 

When Ameliya hears the name of a food she enjoys she now cheers and holds up her hand to let you know she wants one!  This particular day was when Natalee said, "Mom, can I have a cookie for dessert?"  Ameliya chimed in with a raised hand and a "me me me!"

She's getting quite a big voice, if only she spoke our language instead of her language.  She had LOTS to say after Grandma left the other day.

We had a precious moment the other day when she crawled up in my lap to take a little mid morning snooze.  Not sick, just snuggly.

She also has quite a fashion sense and delights in choosing her own clothes!  Her bedtime get-up the other night included leggings under her shorts.

And she thinks she's quite a little mama lady around the house.  Mike told Xabe to get the stuff so he could do his hair for church this morning and Mia hustled around so she could do the boys' hair.  What a sweetheart.

Ah Ameliya, we love you.  It's so fun to watch you grow everyday! 

Big Sister/Brother Gifts {Preparing for #4}

Preparations are coming together for baby #4.  One of the things we like to do is take a gift to the hospital to present to the big brother/sisters when they come to visit the new baby.  

Natalee remembers getting one when she came to meet Ameliya...she's pretty excited! :)  

We simply do this just because, to us, it's a big deal to get a new sibling.  A time of celebration for the older children, too!  This time we did jammies for the sleepover at Grandma and Papa's while we're at the hospital (we did jammies last time, too!), an activity item to play with while at the hospital and a book for snuggling up and reading.

I love the double sets of cotton PJs I was able to snag from Wal-Mart...they came in packs of 2 for each child in a character they like.  I can picture their sweet snuggly little selves in them, all clean and ready for bed.  I took them out and pre-washed them so Grandma wouldn't have to.

-Natalee-

The doodle cards look super fun and easy to enjoy.  

-Xavier-

-Ameliya-

Mia's brother and sister both have a Water WOW! book and she's pretty intrigued by them.  I'm excited to give her one for herself...not that she'll want it then - she'll want their doodle cards...lol.

Vicious cycle.

I'm excited to have these packed up and ready to go...later this week I'm ready to tackle packing #4's hospital bag and *maybe* soon my hospital bag!

Getting closer...chugging along!

A Day at Aunt Lauren's

We had a baby check up appointment today and went to Aunt Lauren's to spend the afternoon.  The baby checked out great and we had a fun visit.  Aunt Lauren and Uncle Lance have a nice wooded yard...fun for the kids to build a pretend campfire and set up the sun shade to play pretend camping!

Also a perfect afternoon for an ice cream sandwich!

We took our school along although we didn't get a ton accomplished!  I intended to catch up tonight but instead we snuggled extra.  Tomorrow is another day!

 Xavier was being quite the jokester with the bonnet.