Current Avery-isms

"Mom, do you know how big a foal is?"
"How big?"
"Smaller than a tree, but bigger than a trash can."

"Mom. Can I explain to you about the Roly-Poly Sit-u-wation?"
"sure."
"Well, Josiah wanted to feel the roly poly bugs. His hands are not the right size. Only my hands are the right size. When he tried to takc the roly poly bugs, he killed them. Now, they are just laying there all dead and stuff."

Last night Walter commented that Josiah was really going to town on his corn. Today Avery told Walter that she was really coming to town on this sit-u-wation.

New Testament books: Golash-ians, Cornithians, and Thesallippians.

Empathy

After a brief conversation with the nursery worker on Sunday, I feel like I'm making a positive difference in the lives of my children! One of Josiah's nursery workers has a relative named Julio. Julio is about 10 years old and is visually impaired. He frequently stays in the nursery with Josiah's group. Ms. Irma told us that Josiah intuitively goes and picks a musical toy to give to Julio. She said she has never seen a child so young that understands that Julio can't see, but that he can hear. She said that Josiah has a "good heart". I'm so proud of my little guy!

Peace At Last!

Whew!!! I love Christmas with my family, but I also enjoy coming home to a quiet house!!!

We had a really great time in Roscoe this year. It was a lot of fun to have a house full of kids. They get so excited about everything and it makes everyone else excited!! Brandon and Brady both brought their fiances so we could get to know them better. They handled the chaos well. Our family is a lot like the one on My Big Fat Greek Wedding, so any newcomer can get overwhelmed easily. Next year I think we need to make a pictoral family tree so Brittney, Tammy, and Sam (my cousin's hubby) can figure out everyone's name and who belongs to who!

We played a bunch of board games...with no tears, punches, or name calling!!! We also played 84 and Mexican train with the dominos. As always, we did lots of eating as well!!! There were several trips made to the K-Mart in Sweetwater...it is kind of a family tradition for everyone to get Joe Boxer pj's there. The kids did a lot of jumping on the trampoline. Avery and Brooke got along very well. They spent time reading to each other, playing in a 'band' together, playing with their babies (they were taking turns giving birth to stuffed animals), and playing in the bathroom where the little ones wouldn't bother them. Brooke wanted Avery to go outside with her, but Avery was afraid there would be ants. Brooke told her, "Don't worry Avery. The ants just bite for a little while and then they let go." Avery went out with her so I guess she was encouraged! Boaz (29 mos), Josiah (22 mos), and Reese (17mos) played with each other, stole toys/food from each other, wrestled each other, chased each other...they got along really well for how little they are!!!

The kids have spent the last couple of days playing with all their toys from Christmas. They both recieved a lot of money and today we combined it and bought a trampoline. The kids are jumping happily while Walter watches them. I have a feeling it will end up being the best gift of the year!!

I have to brag on Walter!!! I normally pick out my gift and he goes and pays for it. This year he picked something out on his own. He ordered it online and was so disappointed that it didn't get here before we left. We got home on Tuesday night and the mail was on hold...so Wednesday he gave me a great gift. It is a beautiful 1.25 carat and square cut Aquamarine ring! I love it!!!

Gotta go scrapbook...just ordered over 400 pictures at Walgreens...

Santa Says What?

Today Sue, Avery's OT, shared a funny Avery story. She said she and Avery were doing some Chirstmas role playing and Sue asked Avery what Santa says. Avery said, "Ho. Ho. Ho." Sue said, "Merry?" Avery replied, "had a little lamb."
Merry Christmas!!

Tomorrow were heading down to Angelton to spend the day with my Grandmother. She is moving in with my Aunt Jean after the new year so this will probably be our last visit for a while. With both of my brothers getting married in the Spring, I'm sure Holidays next year will be a lot different!

On Thursday, Walter and I will attend the dental prom. I'm not sure why they call it a prom...it's more like a Christmas party with free beer and appetizers.

On Friday we will do all last minute crafting and wrapping. I still have to make Dad's and Brooke's birthday presents. Reese's and Brooke's Christmas presents are almost done. Walter needs to work on Avery's and MeeMaw's Christmas presents.

On Saturday we will get all of the laundry done and clean the house from top to bottom. I guess Ill have to find the stockings so we can hang them up on MeeMaw's fireplace!!

After church on Sunday, we will deliver gifts to the family our Sunday school class adopted.

On Monday we will head to San Antonio. We will stay the night there before heading on to Roscoe on Tuesday. I'm not sure how we are going to get all the gifts into the car...we will probably have to give Avery her gift early and leave it here. There will more than likely be suitcases in the backseat between the kids...maybe that will cut down on some fussing!!

I don't know when we'll return...but we'll be back soon!
Have a safe and wonderful Holiday!!

Scha

Deschooling

When I was asked to consider homeschooling for Avery, my gut response was "No way!". I started looking into modern homeschooling. I read books, met with other homeschool moms, found a homeschool store, and surfed the web for real homeschoolers. It didn't take long to convince me that homeschooling was just what Avery needed, but I still wasn't convinced I would be able to teach her all she needs to know. My aunt is a 27-year veteran to teaching Kindergarten. I asked her a lot of questions and she showed me/explained to me how she teaches in the classroom.
I threw myself into preparing to teach. I made up a calendar showing what units we would cover weekly. I broke up our day into subjects. I had art projects, science experiments, and all sorts of fun things to do with the first few units and was planning out the rest of the year in my head.
Week One. Avery quickly informed me that I did NOT do things like she did in preschool. I assured her that we were now in Kindergarten and things had to be different. She half-heartedly participated in the activities I had planned, but refused to follow my time schedule. I evaluated our week, and decided to keep trying because things would get better as she learned the schedule and got excited about being in school.
Week Two. On day eight of her reading lessons, I threw the book in the floor and gave up. She was bored to tears. I asked her to grab Charlotte's Web off the shelf and she listened as I read. Later that week I gave up on the time schedule and decide to do subjects on Avery's time-table.
Now. All the workbooks and curiculum are on the shelf. If Avery wants to use them, she can at any time. I have latched onto the theory of unschooling. It is child-led learning. If I find a project that looks fun I tell Avery about it. If she is interested, we try it. She helps me do our daily chores in the morning. Then we play together or she plays alone in her room. She has several "educational" games to play on the computer and frequents pbskids.org and everythinggirls.com. Some days we turn on the Wii and play each other. Her favorite t.v. shows are SuperWhy, Sid the Science Kid, and Little Einsteins.
I have finally set aside all of my preconcieved notions of what a homeschooling mom should be like. After reading several articles, I think Avery and will definitely enjoy the rest of the school year more. I think I am fully "Deschooled" and am ready to embrace learning instead of teaching! http://lifewithoutschool.typepad.com/lifewithoutschool/2007/09/interest-based-.html
http://applestars.homeschooljournal.net/an-introduction-to-the-creative-right-brained-learner/
http://applestars.homeschooljournal.net/2007/01/10/the-death-of-show-me-work/

Entertaining

After Avery's OT appointment today, we went to McDonald's. We have gone to this McDonald's at least once a month since Feb and today I noticed that there is a Lifeway Christian Bookstore in the shopping strip behind McD's. So, after a healthy meal of chicken nuggets and fries I dug out the stroller and the kids and I went shopping.
Josiah threw a fit in the store and we ended up leaving without purchasing anything...but we'll go back next week!!! I changed his diaper and his dispostion improved greatly!!!
The Dental Prom is coming up on December 18th. I have a great dress, but no shoes. So, next we went to the K & G next door to the Lifeway. Their women's shoes start at a size 7, so we went further down the shopping strip to Shoe Cents. They had some great shoes, but alas they were also all too big.
They have just opened a JoAnn's that I couldn't pass up!!! We bought a few random craft supplies that I need in order to finish several different projects. The new store is so bright and clean...a big change from the other local stores!!! I even found the employees to be friendly. The employees at the JoAnn's closer to my house are either a.) Totally Clueless b.) Totally Grouchy c.) Totally Clueless and Grouchy!!!! One lady reminds me of Ouiser on Steel Magnolias, "I'm not crazy, I've just been a very bad mood for the last 40 years!".
Avery wanted to go into Ross. I have been on a quest to find some black boots, more pointy than rounded toe, 1"-2" heel, and that are comfortable. Not that I'm picky or anything!!! Today I found them!!! Nine West cowboy style boots. They were originally marked $169.99, and I got them for $15.99. My math is a bit foggy but I'm pretty sure that it's a great deal!!!! Unfortunately that didn't have any fabulous dress shoes, so I'll keep looking! While trying on shoes, a lady peeked around the corner and said, "You guys are a hoot. I bet you never get bored!" I'm not sure what we said that she found funny, we were just having a regular conversation...I guess we are more entertaining than I knew!!!

On the way back to the car, I noticed a Hearing Aid store. I stopped in and made an appointment for a free hearing screening next Tuesday. The man behind the desk seemed surprised that the appt was for me. I guess I'm a tad younger than his regular patients :). I have tried to find a hearing center closer to my house. This weekend I found a dail-a-hearing test. I called the number and promptly failed the test. I let Walter call the number and he passed. His question, "Could you not hear the low tones?" Um...if I heard them I would know if they were low or high, but then I would have passed the test. However, I FAILED. I don't know which tones I didn't hear!!!!

No Energy

Avery cracks me up. She has quite an extensive vocabulary, but she often uses the "almost right" word! Today I was running the water and was getting ready to jump in the shower when she burst into the bathroom. "Mom, the energy left the computer."
Me: "Huh?" "What energy?"
Avery: "I was on pbskids.org and the computer lost it's energy. Everything went black."
Me: "It lost electricity?"
Avery: "Yeah."

So, after my shower I went to investigate. I figured she had inadvertently hit the off switch on the power strip. That wasn't the problem...hmmm. So I called Walter and left him a message to call me with instructions on how to find the breaker box. (Does it worry anyone else that all breaker boxes are made of metal...you think they would be made out of something that DOESN'T conduct electricity!!!) After he called back, I went outside and pried the breaker box door open. None of the breakers had been tripped. I went back inside and decided that maybe the power strip had gone bad. I have an extra one and was going to switch them out. When I unplugged the strip I realized the outlet is a GFCI. I hit reset and voila...the energy came back into the computer!!!!

Josiah refers to himself as Baby. So the whole time I'm working on the computer he's saying, "Momma...Baby. Momma...Baby." After I got the computer working again I turned to ask him what he needed. "Baby. Mark, Mark." Translation: I want to use the markers. So I popped him in his high chair and gave him some paper and washable markers and it made him SOOOO happy.

We put the christmas tree up on Wednesday (SHATTER PROOF ornaments only) and hung the wreath out on the door. I bought the wreath last year on clearance and today I decided to wire some ornaments on it to make it more colorful. When I opened the door to get it, Josiah took off outside. So, I took the gate off Avery's door and put it on the front door. He could look outside but not escape. Both kids were very interested in the ornament wiring and were right in the way...I mean, right by my side while I worked on the wreath. I hung it back up and went to make some lunch. Josiah started taking ornaments off the tree and throwing them outside where they bounced happily down the sidewalk. I gathered up the ornaments and put them where they belong. Now, the gate has been apprehended and put back on Avery's door, and the outside is once again closed off to Josiah!