NO...You CAN'T Read now!!!

Boy do I feel like a horrible mom when I say this, but sometimes I just have to. Every day this seems to be our dialogue....

Me: "Boys...come on time to start school!" (enthusiastically said mind you)

Boys: "Can we PLEASE start with reading?" (a little whiny)

Me: "We really need to get going on some of our other language arts first, then you can do your reading."

Boys: "wwwwwhiiiiiiinnnnnnnneeeee"

Literally this happens almost every day. The only problem with them starting with their school assigned reading is that they will not stop!!! They are both a year ahead in their "readers" with Sonlight and they just can't put them down. They really do pick the best books, but there is never enough! I have to use it as leverage to get their other schoolwork done. What a problem to have!




Brody just starting reading chapter books a few weeks ago and is doing SO well comprehending what he is reading. They both discovered these Magic Tree House books and are gobbling them up! They are a real quick read for Connor as in on the way home from church, but they take Brody a little longer. Someone told me that they were good books and we had a few on the shelf so I pulled them down and they are loving them. Brody even explained to me after reading Dolphins at Daybreak how a pearl is made! They do have some magic and one I previewed had some ghosts but we have talked about it extensively and they know it is pretend fun. Today they took $25 that I got from selling some toys on craigslist to the Book Bin and bought 11 of them with that money. Of course Connor picked out his share in numerical order and he tried real hard to be patient with Brody when he picked out ones with titles that he likes with numbers all over the place! It was VERY cute!








The other day on the way home from piano they had a great conversation about another book they both read titled "Amazing True Dog Stories." I have to say it was kind of surreal hearing them in the backseat talking so grown up and sharing this experience. It made me realize how much my little ones are growing up!







Connor curled up with his LA reader, the famous...Henry and Ribsy!




I walked by their room and the other day and saw this and thought it was so precious. He just pulled his desk chair right up to the bookshelf! I also caught him reading by flashlight one morning when he woke up early and both of the little boogers were up until 10:15 reading the other night.




Brody will be sharing his very first book report at FIGS and he chose the first real chapter book he read called....Sheep and Goat (a gift from Aunt Ann & Uncle Max)! He has practiced it so much, he has it memorized and he wrote it all by himself using an outline I gave him! I got a clip of him doing a practice run!

Easter Fun!

We had some real fun this Easter holiday! Here are the boys with the "loot" from their Easter baskets. Connor got a new bible which he was SO excited about. We have misplaced his old one, but was ready for a new one anyway. He was happy to take it to Sunday school today! He also received his very first pocket knife which we know made him feel so grown up. He got a Swiss Army Knife and he can't wait to have some fun with that! He loves his new doodle markers that color and write and is good with the candy too!

Brody got a new devotion book that he was so ready for and new "mini" markers which he loved also. I just couldn't resist getting him a little sheep after what happened the other day. We were cleaning out their room and I was encouraging them to purge through some of their belongings. I felt that we could pass on some stuffed animals and after an agonizing search we narrowed it down to 3 sheep. Then we got down to one but when he went to say "goodbye" he tried hard to be strong, but was torn up inside. I couldn't go through with or expect him to! They did get rid of a few toys and one stuffed animal so I was happy with that! He is very thrilled with his new puffy sheep!

Daddy and the boys colored eggs on Saturday while I was out and daddy was sweet enough to remember to grab a picture for me!

We finished our day up with a egg hunt and a yummy Easter ham dinner! The service at church was incredible and we had a great day!

Busy & Blissed

A few reasons why my afternoon out did NOT feel like a break from mommyhood....

1) The weather was awful; rainy and stormy off and on all day
2) I ran marathon errands for a total of 9
3) I ran those 9 errands in the awful rainy weather
4) Target and Wal-Mart supercenter were included in that bunch
5) I was out on a Saturday at the beginning of the month
6) I was out on a Saturday at the beginning of the month, the day before a holiday!

A few reasons why my afternoon out DID feel like a break!

1) My afternoon did start with lunch by myself and a good book
2) I was the only one put out by the awful weather in and out of all those stores
3) I splurged on Starbucks
4) It ended with a facial at Simply Blissed!

I had this afternoon planned all week, but the errands kept piling up. It has been forever since I had a facial and when they called earlier in the week and could get me in, I jumped on the chance! When I got there, I got to put my feet up on the couch with a warm wrap around my shoulders and a hot cup of tea. My facial was incredible...warm booties on my feet...relaxing music...and incredible smells. It was SO wonderful! They really know how to spoil you there!

Then I came home to dishes in the sink, the boys still in their pajamas wanting dinner, laundry to put away.......you know....back to reality;) Connor and Brody did enjoy their "daddy day" and even colored their Easter eggs! I enjoyed talking to them on the phone. Sounds silly...but they sound so different when I talk to them on the phone, so grown up!

All in all.....Busy & Blissed....and wonderful!

News from the FIGS front....

Our homeschool group continues to meet each week and the boys are doing wonderful and really enjoying themselves! It is definitely keeping me busy too!

Connor was awarded the very special "Stanley Sportman's Award" a few weeks ago and was very proud. He was caught sharing balls with other kids during a game of toe tag among other things that day! He slept with it on his bed the whole week!

He impressed the crowd with his Show & Tell taking a joke book that Aunt Lara got for him. He ended with 3 jokes and had everyone laughing! He also recited a poem by Robert Louis Stevenson titled My Shadow.

Brody has been a little "nervous" for presentation but did a stellar job reciting "Sheep and Lambs" by Kathryn Tynan and some scripture verse the next time. He has his first book report coming up in a week and is very excited!

We had an art lesson on Gauguin and they had a project titled "Surprise Color" with oil pastels which they enjoyed. Connor created a castle, a field and an orange river with a shark ( a few surprises there) Brody of course did a sheep.....mmmm...imagine that, threw in a purple tree and blue grass!

On Tuesday we went to the Elsinore Theatre with a few families from our group to enjoy "Nate the Great". It was very well done and the kids had a ball!

Yesterday was our Ressurection Party and it was full of fun! We had PE...craft time....snacks with our friends...acted out the Sounds of Easter....and had a relay race blowing chocolate eggs through straws! What fun!

This group of homeschool families has been such a blessing to us over the past few months and we love seeing our friends each and every week!

Language Arts Laughs!

I just have to report a few funny things going around here during school hours!

Connor was learning about adverbs last week and had a writing assignment to write some sentences using them and this is my favorite...

My mom helps me with my schoolwork goodly.

This just made me chuckle, doesn't sound right to me. Honestly, that day during our read aloud time of Red Sails to Capri, there it was again used in a sentence. After some quick computer research looks like it is a word, though obviously not used often these days, and I don't think it should be used as an adverb. (Mom, I'm sure you will advise me more on this!) I am thrilled however that he sees my help as a positive thing!

Brody is really fun to do language arts with as well. In order to keep him interested, I try to put each spelling word when used in a sentence in some sort of sheep context! Not easy, but definitely keeps me on my toes! He will write about sheep in any way and any time that he can. When studying homonyms last week, he had to write a sentence for 4 different ones. Here is what he came up with...

know - I know I want more sheep.
no - No, Sheepie is mine.
their - Their sheep are running.
there - There were a lot of sheep.

As long as he gets it, I don't care how he gets it! Now, that is tailoring an education!

To Indulge or Not to Indulge...

For some reason on my parenting journey I am super sensitive to NOT indulge my children. I'm not even sure where it comes from. I'm sure if I felt I really need to know a few hours in some sort of therapy would pull out some buried emotional instance from my past, but truthfully I just don't care. I want to give my children good things and I love giving them gifts, I just don't want them to feel entitled, I want them to be grateful and appreciative.



The definition of indulge is... To give free rein to; To yield to the desires and whims of



I am wanting to raise boys that care more about the needs of others and don't enjoy being around kids that get everything they want or think they need. I was bound and determined to be able to walk through a store with my kids not kicking and screaming because they want a toy or some other item. It has taken discipline on my part but has paid off!



But I have to share a story...



A few months ago, the boys and I ran into TJ Maxx looking for some pictures to decorate a wall with. We ran into this stuffed dog, a huge stuffed dog and my boys just fell in love with him. They carried him around the store and talked of getting him. When we added up the money they had between them they were $5 short. At $3 a week each it would take a week of waiting. Brody was very encouraging to Connor explaining that next week they could afford to get the new beloved item, but Connor struggled a little more. He reasoned that if I would give him the money they could get him now! It took every ounce of willpower on my part to not shower this gift on them, but I felt I just couldn't! So, we hid him in the store (boy did I score some serious points with that one), and I told them we would talk to daddy and we would see. They both walked out of that store, not the least bit upset and I was so impressed with their behavior! Anyway, after talking with daddy we decided to "lend" them the money because there was only one of him and we didn't know if we would be there the next week. So, we made the exception and went back the next day.

Wow were they excited. They took that whole night to really decide if this was something they wanted to spend ALL their money on, if they could share him, where he would go in the room and what they would name him.

He was there and we brought him home the next day. They bought their first thing on credit! I can't find the picture but they slept for 2 nights in our guest bed with that dog in the middle so they could share him properly. They wrote journal entries on him, played with him every day and were just so thrilled.

So, I have to report two months later that "Paws" is still at the top of the favorite list. They absolutely adore that silly dog. They dress him, switch off sleeping with him, and even have created books for him when he attending their "school". It is so precious!

Looking back, I am so excited about the way it turned out. I love to say yes to them! Truthfully, I'm not even sure if they did pay me the money because it isn't about that..it is about the life lesson! It is about raising adults who can wait...It is about raising adults who can think through a decision, and raising adults who are grateful.

The Heart of a Servant

I am so incredibly proud of my Brody. He has worked SO hard over the past few weeks and I have been witness to a huge attitude change in his life.

It started a few weeks ago....we were out running errands with Aldine. She is a friend of ours that lives at Wilson House. She is unable to drive because of her disability which has her bound to a wheelchair so we take her out a few times a month to run errands with her. We were taking her home, carrying in all sorts of things and I was pushing her when I asked Brody to get the door to let us in. He was upset because Connor got to carry something bigger than him and so he made up an excuse about not having a hand to help. He did the same thing moments later when we arrived at her room. I am always working with my boys to open doors for people, especially women and anyone with their arms full and certainly anyone in a wheelchair!

After getting her settled, I had a long talk with Brody about being a servant to others and being helpful to those we care about and to strangers. I told him I was a little saddened to see him act so selfishly.

I also had to sit back and realize my part. By habit, I usually ask Connor to help by opening those doors, and doing all sorts of other small tasks for me. I'm sure it just has to do with him being the oldest. Well, I realize that this has not been helpful for Brody to see how significant he CAN be and what he can do. So, that day I started consciously asking him to do little things and most of the time it was received very well.

I have to say...I hardly recognize this kid! Just tonight as one example, he heard Connor mention that he left his book out in the living room and he bolted on his own and went and got it for him. Actually, I don't think a day has gone by that he has not jumped up and done something for one of us without being asked to do so. He has shown us how thoughtful and caring he truly is and I love that he is sharing this side of him! God has blessed him with so many wonderful gifts and I love being a small part of nuturing those in him. What an awesome journey I am on with him each and every day!