In other news...things are still pretty much the same here. Owen is recovering well and Jack has adjusted right into the family like he's been here forever. The last couple of nights he has decided he wants a 3am feeding which is no fun. He was sleeping straight until 7am up until this week. At first I thought it was a growth spurt, but last night when he woke a 3 he nursed for a couple seconds and passed out. Just enough to help himself fall back asleep. So I'm not looking forward to the next couple of nights when he discovers that mommy isn't going to give up the goods anymore. Growth spurts I'm okay with, but all night buffet, I'm not. But other then that...he is doing super. He's very laid back and calm. It's been a huge blessing to have such an easy going baby. Owen on the other hand has been keeping me very busy. His Birthday is next month, but he has hit the two's full force and a little early. He is my first screamer. Ella could throw a pretty good fit, but Owen has her beat hands down. It's made life a little more difficult for me because I already "have my hands full" as I'm reminded by random people on a daily basis and then on top of it, Owen will absolutely loose it every time he doesn't get his way. I'm so glad I have been through this before. It's the only way I don't burst into tears myself lol. I just have to keep reminding myself that this will pass, the hard work of correcting him is worth it. I look at my sweet Ella who is an absolute joy and just steady the course. I've been bringing my stroller along everywhere so that I have a place to buckle him in when I need a way to contain him during a fit. I just have to get over the shrinking feeling of having all eyes on me while I discipline him. Being a mom can be so hard sometimes. Randy and I were just saying yesterday that we are seeing some change in him. Still a long way to go, but the more he is learning to talk, the less frustrated he is getting. The good news is that his funny, sweet, personality far outweighs his stubborn streak. He can have me ready to pull my hair out and then melt my heart the next second.
School is going well for the big kids. I feel like we are really starting to find our way (finally) with homeschooling. I've really learned a lot this year about what works for us and what doesn't work. It makes me look forward to making curriculum adjustments for next year. In addition to our usual core subjects like Math, etc. we have been doing a unit study on American History. We are really enjoying it and trying to take our time as we get through each weeks studies. Some times we buz right through a week and other weeks we take our time and spend two weeks on them. It usually just depends on the lessons and how many of the suggested activities we want to tackle. That's one of my favorite things about homeschooling is having the ability to take as much time or as little as we need.
This particular week we had a fun science project/craft. I have to admit...I was actually dreading this one because lately there is just so much going on that the crafts can get overwhelming. It's just more stuff to buy and gather and more prep then I have time for. But Ella and Noah enjoy them so much and have been begging me to get back to doing them more often. SO I made a list and had my hubby bring home the things we would need. I'm so glad I didn't miss out on this fun. It took us all of ten minutes to squish up some berries and mix in the vinegar and salt. The kids then got to cut feathers to make their own quill pens and actually wrote letters with the home made ink. They loved it and it was the perfect way to finish up our lessons on the Declaration on Independence.
Jack is officially past the three month mark. I just can't believe it. He is such a blessing. He is sleeping great (besides the random two night wake ups I mentioned earlier) and napping on a pretty good routine during the day. He smiles and "talks" all the time. He is just all around happy. He is *so* close to rolling over from back to tummy. He gets so close and then gets really ticked when he can't. He hates tummy time and would much rather be under his play mat. He is a joy. We all just adore him.
The next few pictures are just a couple random ones from a Birthday party we went to last week. The kids were running around so fast that they were blurry in almost all of the others.
Another exciting thing from this past month is that we officially joined our Homeschool Group's Co-Op. This means that once a week the kids get to take classes with other homeschool kids. It's a lot of fun. This semester Ella is taking a class called World Fest where she is learning about different countries. She also has PE and some fun time in her Lego class. Noah and Owen go to Five in a Row where they get to have story time, crafts, and snacks that all are themed by whatever stories we are reading that week. They also have their own PE, too. We look forward to it every week. The kids (and mommy) look forward to seeing their friends! These are a couple pics I snapped during our Valentines Party in Noah and Owen's class.
This last chunk of pictures is from a "President's Day Party" we had with friends. We had some friends over and shared lessons about presidents. My amazing friend even put together President's Day lap books for the older kids to make. They had so much fun learning, playing, and decorating a red, white, and blue cake.
Welp...another post in the bag. Thanks for reading my ramblings year after year. I would say that I promise to post more often...but we all know how that goes...
