This Month in Pictures

Well, it’s not surprising. My “This week in pictures” has turned into “This month in pictures”. What have I been doing all this time!? We’ve kept up with about two hours  (recess included) of pre-K school three to four days a week. Aaron is learning more and more sight words, slowly easing in phonics (actually he hates it), loving math and we read together a lot. Aaron is still very into baseball. He and daddy have been practicing his swing in the backyard most evenings while I get a little rest time. He has recently discovered that there is this other sport that has lots of numbers called…football! He’s currently learning all the teams for that sport as well. Eric and Grant are 19 months old and it shows. They are everywhere, into everything and every toy that one has the other immediately wants. But, they are also starting to play with each other more and I inadvertently trained them to give the other one the milk cup first (I give Eric milk, and he gives it to Grant, vice versa, it’s so cute!). And, oh yeah, we’re going to have another baby in about 6 weeks! Lance Arthur will be joining the family soon and our little routine will be thrown asunder. But, I’m looking forward to snuggling another chunky little baby soon!

And, since it’s officially the hottest summer in Texas history and I look like I swallowed a basketball, we spend a lot of time inside during the day, but as soon as dinner is over the boys head out to tear up the backyard. We can water our lawns on Wednesdays and Saturdays, so that has become our water play evenings. We usually finish them up with me making some frozen strawberry lemonades or as Aaron calls it “the yummy drink!”. We’ve actually had a fairly relaxed and homey summer, looking forward to the next chapter with cooler weather and another member of the family!

Enjoy the pictures of our August 2011!!

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This is the day

Each morning wakes anew, I walk downstairs ready to attack a new day and this is the first thing I see. A big smudged sliding glass window highlighted by the rising sun. I’ll admit that many days my initial reaction is “Blurg…why do I even bother to clean it the every two weeks I do? It just ends up smudged again in about two minutes.” But, today I was overwhelmed with thankfulness for the little boy hands that smudge it over and over. Even the almost 5 year old one that can reach the handle instead of pushing the glass to open the door.

Thank you, Lord, for little hands that make smudges! One day the smudges will be gone, but so will the little hands.

This is the the day the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it!

Psalm 118:24

This couple of weeks in pictures

A broken pair of glasses turns into a fun toy!

Do you think they’ll always be so excited to do laundry?

New favorite game: Chasing each other around with oven mits…???

How many Geesaman boys can fit into a Cozy Coupe? Again, they are not allowed in the car with each other until they are 28!

Aaron was sent to time out and in a show of solidarity, the twins sat there, too.

 

Hair vs. Vaseline

Aaron at the Round Rock Express baseball game with daddy.

I don’t know, I just think babies sipping through straws is cute!

Soon after the taking of this picture, Eric was released and went spinning like a helicopter…and loved it! Thankfully, no babies were harmed in the filming of this event.

In case you ever wondered…

In case you ever wondered what Vaseline looks like in a baby’s hair, this is it…and it doesn’t come out with soap and water. I’m taking suggestions on how to remove this! His brother got into it, too, but not quite as bad.

I have to admit, he does make it look pretty cute.

Super Mom or Abiding Mom?

In the course of being pregnant, raising twins, then deciding to home-school, I’ve been called a “Super Mom”. It’s a popular term that I think pretty much describes any mother who has a child or children and manages to keep them from running into traffic most of the time. This mothering thing is no joke. It’s a daily, 24-7, 365 thing for at least 18 years, but really I think it’s for the rest of our lives. They’ll never stop being our babies and we’ll never stop wanting the best for them. I’m never quite sure what to think of the Super Mom label…is it really a compliment or have I lost focus? Does it mean I’m trying too hard? Am I doing these things to impress people? These questions were rattling around in my brain and then I came across this great graphic from www.confessionsofahomeschooler.com that paints a clearer picture of my role as a mom in God’s eyes. Just read through the Super Mom list first, you’ll need a strong drink after it thinking of having to live up to all those expectations (if you aren’t pregnant, of course). Now, read through the “Abiding Mom” side and I find the comfort and peace of knowing that I am in the Lord and He in me through this journey of motherhood. I know that however much I fret about lesson plans, curriculum or whether or not to take a sick baby to the doctor, He is in control.

Here’s a printable version…

P.S. I like the last one on “Abiding Mom” side. “Her children arise and call her blessed.” Ahhh…doesn’t that sound nice? I’ll have to keep praying on that one because my children arise and beg for a diaper change and breakfast.

Homeschooling Challenge #1 of 1 billion

Sensory exploration tubs for table time with toddlers.

We’ve been doing some sort of official-ish Pre-K type activities at home the past couple of weeks. Right now this feels like more of a practice for me figuring out how homeschooling is all going to work with our family and in our home. I’m really enjoying the challenge of finding engaging and educational activities, learning Aaron’s learning styles and adjusting my teaching and parenting styles so we don’t both go insane. But, despite all that, the biggest challenge to our at home learning has been…dun, dun, duuuuunnnnn…the twins! Two 18 month old boys who’s only objective in life is to touch, feel, explore, climb every inch of space they can and then eat whatever has just been found and explored. As you can imagine this poses a challenge when I try to get into learning with Aaron. I found last week that the babies can sit in their booster seats for up to 30 minutes and do a lot of their exploring at the table. So, I sat them down and started giving them whatever scrap of paper, ribbon, q-tip (clean, of course), thing I had laying (or is it lying??, we’re in trouble when it comes to grammar time) around. So, cheap crafty momma brain turned on and came up with an empty coffee can filled with said bits of things that I can change out each day to keep things new and interesting. The twins can play nicely on their own for a certain amount of time. That quiet play combined with this learning will hopefully allow Aaron to get some learning done as well. I imagine for a while that we will have to have our reading time and any other focused learning happening when the twins are napping in the afternoon. Each day is a new and different. The home-schooling journey is beginning!

And, yes, I realize that we’ll be adding a newborn into the mix in 12 or so weeks. It’s all about adjusting and finding what works for the moment!

Bubble Snake Maker

 

Got this idea from Come Together Kids. It took about 30 seconds to make and they had at least 30 minutes having fun exploring it. This was so much better than trying to have Aaron blow bubbles from a wand. That always creates a drippy mess and someone ends up knocking over the bubbles. This is just a plastic bottle with the end cut off, put a sock or washcloth over the bottom and secure with a rubber band. Dip the cloth in a detergent/water solution and blow your bubble snake! Definitely a keeper!

Grant and Eric weren’t quite sure what to think. They were very interested in the bubble snake, but didn’t want anything to do with touching it for quite a while.