Our boys still have bit of Canada in them but they are certainly American through and through. Loving the red, white, and blue. Here is a great video of Zeke!
Monthly Archives: November 2007
The Pledge of Allegiance
Classic TV Turn Off Week Activities…
Connect Four, Othello, War, and even short games of Scrabble – short because all they can usually make are three letter words! - are always ressurected during TV turn off week. Last night Elijah and Zeke played Connect Four for a while (and let me just say that it’s so cool that they can actually play a game together, completely by themselves!) and then decided that they would invent their own boardgames. They both came up with some pretty creative ideas! …Oh yes! It’s good to be bored!
P.S. And yes, it is the second week in November…I know. It wasn’t until Tuesday afternoon last week that I realized that it was the first week of the month and that I’d completely forgotten our TV turn off week! Oops.
A Little Clarity Please, Dr. Seuss
Elijah and Zeke are usually pretty good sports about listening to whatever book Noah wants to read before bed, so long as I also read them a chapter or two from the chapter book of their choice. So, last evening, when Noah chose The Cat in the Hat as a bedtime story, they listened in.
They thought many parts of the story were pretty ridiculous, but I thought this comment by Elijah was especially funny…
Thing One and Thing Two? Those names are a little vague don’t you think? I mean, a “thing” could be just about anything really. What kind of names are those? That’s just way to vague.
He just learned the definition of the word vague… kudos to him for working it into his daily vocabulary!
P.S. Some snow flurries just started to fall!
School Musings
Zeke and I attended his first parent/teacher conference of elementary school yesterday. A lovely way to spend thirty minutes, I think… listening to someone sing my son’s praises! Zeke’s off to a fabulous start in his school career. His reading progress in just the first couple of months of kindergarten has just been incredible. …My children certainly do me proud!
Hillcrest hired a brand new kindergarten teacher this year and Zeke was so excited to get him. Dave and I love him. He’s such a sweetheart. A short autobiography about him was published in the school’s first newsletter, in which he deemed his current job, his “dream job.” How comforting to know that my son’s kindergarten teacher adores his job!
Elijah’s transition into second grade has been a bit of an adjustment. Elijah is a great little learner, but the homework situation has changed this year. Homework in kindergarten was non-existant, and his first grade teacher was pretty laid-back about it. Her mindset towards homework was “if he’s not grasping this concept at school, then here’s something to work on at home” type thing. So, besides reading for twenty minutes each night, and recording it in his reading log, he didn’t have much homework last year either.
So it’s been kind of a shock to have 45+ minutes of homework some nights. His teacher is very scrupulous about homework completion, something that I obviously have to support wholeheartedly outwardly, no matter how I feel about it inwardly! My personal opinion is that second graders shouldn’t have very much homework. Elijah leaves at 8:30 AM, and doesn’t get home untill 4:00 PM each day. A long day for a seven year old, I think! To have to come home and do homework on top of that is just a bit much. But…I guess I’ve gotta roll with the punches.
Well! This has turned into quite a long post! I’ll add one more thing that I’ve been pondering to my “school musings,”…I’m very seriously considering homeschooling next year. The idea both excites me, and frightens me. Could I do it? Should I do it? I want to… mostly because I’m unhappy with the amount of time that my two children will be spending away from me. Sure, it would be a challenge, but I really don’t want to be “that” mom…the mom whose kids-are-driving-her-crazy-and-she-can’t-wait-for-summer-vacation-to-be-over mom. You know what I mean? I want to enjoy my kids. Really enjoy them. Invest in them. They’re gonna be grown up and gone so fast!
Anyway, so ends my “school musings.” I’m done pondering in cyberspace for now.
Sunrise: 6:59 AM, Sunset: 4:53 PM
I love when the time goes back! Isn’t it great to have a whole extra hour in the morning? I certainly think so…but I have to two kids that need to get out the door by 8:30, so it’s a very welcome change! This morning, since we were all, literally, up with the sun, Noah and I made “muvins” for breakfast…
“Me hep you make muvins, Mumma”
Mmmm…cinnamon topped oatmeal muffins. Good ol’ wholesome comfort food. So yummy, but also good for you; made with old-fashioned oats and whole wheat flour. Dave and I each had one, but sat back and watched our three boys devour most of them! Wow. I know it’s just a foreshadowing of what’s to come…imagine them as teenagers!
And sunset is right before suppertime today, another reason that I love the fall time-change. It’s so cosy to eat supper with candles at twilight. Ah, what a great time of year.
P.S. Oh, gee, I almost forgot my favorite part…the kids go to bed an hour earlier!
Giraffes…They Always Make Me Laugh!
Giraffes always makes me smile, and stop and think about the incredible creativity of our God. All of the creatures on the earth speak of this, but for some reason the giraffe is my favorite. I love to imagine the Lord thinking, “Hmmm, maybe a long neck for this one. Yes, a very long neck…and tessellating spots. Yes…yes…beautiful!” And what about those knobby things on the top of a giraffe’s head. I’m sure He put them there just ’cause they’re cute!
So I was tickled when I found this giraffe costume for Phoebe to wear to our church’s Fall Festival for just $1.50! The genius of having the festival after Halloween, when all the costumes are on clearance!
Rollin', Rollin', Rollin'…
Here is a short unedited video of Phoebe as she attempts her first roll over! I was rivited to the screen as I watched this earlier today. While you’re at our YouTube page, be sure to check out some other videos of our kids displaying outstanding feats of strength and achievement.
