Week # 3 Highlights

Songs of the week:  "You're an Overcomer" - Mandisa & "These Simple Words" - Sidewalk Prophets
Verse: "Be strong in the Lord & His Mighty Power"  Eph 6:10
DREAM Academy Rule # 3:  Don't Give Up, Try Try Again.

Be strong in the LORD (not self).  Be humble enough to ask Him for help all the time! And try try again!  I am pretty sure these rules, songs & verses are for Mommy more than anybody.  Each week exactly what I need to work on is exactly the rule & verse I needed to help me!!!  I wrote out these rules months ago, I can see how God directed all of that :) He is so amazing!!

One of my favorite things about homeschooling is the extra free time to just be together and bond more.  I don't mean that we are all happiness & rainbows when I say that we bond.  Sometimes bonding looks ugly and it's more sharpening than it is snuggling.   In fact, I had a bad attitude many hours this week and was struggling to get my mind right.  I don't know what my problem was, I just wasn't feeling "filled" or "joyful"....but that happens. We pushed through, *together*.   :)

School work at the desk really only takes about 2 or 3 hours at the most per day (and not all at one time) so we have lots of learning time just learning as we live.  I feel like I've really been gifted back time with Raymond like we used to have when it was just me & him.  But now, it's better than ever because I've grown and appreciate it so much more - even just the chance to run errands together.   What used to be a hassle now feels like a great gift.  And now, unlike before, we have 2 little girls to include in our circle.    It's a beautiful gift to be together.  I especially love just being OUTside together and I love our stroller walks.  I will cry when the girls no longer fit in the stroller...and I love that Annabelle still falls asleep sometimes!

In victory news - Annabelle finally lost her paci and *I* found it first!   Every time she has lost it before, she has done fine without it but then she finds it and of course takes it back!  But now that *I* found it first, it can stay "lost" and we can be done with paci's yay!!! :)  She doesn't ask for it and has accepted it's "lost".   I hope I'm not doing damage but not giving her closure. ;)

Here they are just taking a break checking out the clouds.  Love these looks on their faces!! :)

One question we have NOT been asked yet is, "how do you socialize?" haha.  I am guessing that people a) know it's a ridiculous question or b)  know that I am Randi Jo,  so my kids are gonna be socialized :)   We socialize by being in the world every day, creating events for the moms groups (park playdates would be my choice if they aren't rained out!), having friends that are ALL ages & inviting friends into our home.   I would love to have friends more often but with Brandon's crazy work/school schedule our goal is just to have one night a month that we invite friends over for dinner.  So we satisfied September's goal :)  I tried to get a picture of Raymond & Elijah but they are always on the go.

I love the moments when I call out "break time" and they actually stay together & just work on something together or next to each other.   These are little everyday miracles I don't take for granted.  I can't create or plan these moments!! They are a gift and I just receive them whenever they come! These moments where everybody is actually just quiet, happy and there's no screaming or fighting, I LOVE those moments!!

Monday, we have cubscouts and we are looking forward to getting more out of it this year since we have more time to devote to it.  Good sister Evelyn always stands by Raymond and looks up to him so much.  Someday he will realize how much she adores him and how many countless hours she has sat at his activities and cheering him on. :) 

The girls are doing much better this week understanding the rhythm of the day and that sometimes I have to give full attention to Raymond but I *will* get special time with them eventually!  We have a good balance of everybody getting time with each other.  The girls playing together & doing girls things.  Raymond & Annabelle being silly while I work with Evelyn.  And then rambunctious Raymond bringing out Evelyn's silly side while I read with Annabelle.  One of my prayers was to get all those combinations in per day - awesome answer to prayer!! :)

One of the best activities for early readers are these word sticks.  My friend Celeste made them for us.  They are amazing! 3 letter words for sight word recognition but they are really helping Evelyn with letter sounds.  They are so great! So thankful I have creative friends because I am just NOT a pinterest, creative Mommy! 

 

The girls don't use the word "bored" but Raymond does.  They may not use the word but they do understand that being "bored" is allowed but complaining about it is not allowed.  There's no mumbling/being negative about there being "nothing to do" because we have an entire house full of things to do!... including dusting & picking up toys & vacuuming.  I have lots of grace when the girls start getting whiny and "bored" acting... they just need direction then and I'm happy to give it!  I used to just turn on the TV but I am no longer that Mommy!! :)  Now we don't turn on any TV until late afternoons/evenings - so they just have to find something to do when I'm busy with Raymond or whatever I'm doing.    I give them a few ideas but often they reject those and just create their own game.   Sometimes, I can tell they really just need some Mommy direct attention so we take a break from what we are doing and get some snuggles/reading in.  We can't  be legalistic & harsh with our kiddos!  Every situation is so different and we have to be flexible and use discernment as to what they need and what is best at *that* moment. Not sure what this game was, but it was cute:

On Tuesday, we had our first neighborhood book club for our 4 homeschooling families in our little subdvision! :)   Evelyn drew an illustration from her book and Raymond drew a picture and wrote a little "report" on the book.  The goals of book club for this week were simple: Raymond should show his book and read his report outloud nice and clear,  Evelyn should hold up her book and not cry, and Annabelle should say her name and the name of her book.  We accomplished it! :)  Evelyn didn't cry!  This was a huge feat for us!! <3 What a tender heart she is.

 

 Wednesday was the start of Bible Study Fellowship and the girls were ECSTATIC!!  They LOVE "Bible school" and woke up ready to put on their dresses and go!   This is such great, special time for them and I love what they learn there and how they are loved on there.  Raymond will normally be having Daddy special time during BSF but this week B had a meeting so RR got to go to a friend's.

Thank you God for answering my prayers about learning more science this week because we got to learn about crawfish.  We found them on the road, they had washed up from the creek behind our houses and got stuck when the water receded...and our tadpole got back legs (sorry out of focus).

 

We also learned about the differences between dissolve, mix & chemical/compound change in our science book.  And did an experiment with rice/food coloring to learn more about that.  

They played with that rice for quite a while afterward just feeling it, making shapes and being silly.  It wasn't TOO TOO messy afterward :)

A few last highlights I didn't get pictures of: 

• RR is doing so great in math.  Got a 98 on his first "test" even with a new nasty head cold that appeared this week. 
• Every other week I am going to have RR run a mile with me and see how he progresses throughout the year.  Our first run this week he got 11:59 with running/walking.  I'd say that is pretty awesome for an 8 year old!!!
• And perhaps my favorite memory of the week was when we talked about composers.   I love opening the kiddos up to art/beauty.  We chose Tchaikovsky and we learned about him as a man through that book from Roxie.  Then I found some of his work on Youtube videos and I asked them to close their eyes and tell me what they are thinking/feeling from the songs.  It was ADORABLE!!  Tchaikovsky was a very emotional/sensitive man and composer and his music is all very emotional.  In the 1812 Overture Evelyn just kept saying, "I am very sad. This is very sad" and then at the climax Raymond says, "it's a war!  They just won a war!"  --- I think Tchaikovsky would have been proud since that is what he wanted to convey.   They LOVED that he wrote Sleeping Beauty and we enjoyed listening to that.  Finally, we watched a big of Swan Lake & The Nutcracker and the girls were captivated.  I think their dreams of becoming ballerinas ballooned through the roof. 

It was another great week and we are so THANKFUL.  We are getting down our rhythm and learning valuable lessons about using WORDS not anger, screaming or tears (all 4 of us are getting better at this).    I am real proud of the way Raymond has worked hard to choose to have a good attitude and push through many frustrating moments.  Try, try again!   I see progress!!