I realize I just posted on here on Monday night so there isn't a ton to report. But the big thing of the week was that the girls started their piano lessons on Wednesday morning. As expected, there was a bit of an argument about who got to go first (no doubt some day down the road they will be arguing over this because both will want to be SECOND) but we got it figured out. They will rotate each week. I have been overseeing their 15 minutes of practicing each day since then. Calleigh already learned a little song, "When Dreams Come True," and Aubree will learn it soon after she strengthens her fingers. But that didn't stop her from sitting down with Calleigh and singing it as Calleigh played. They both had heard the song for the first time at their lesson but by the afternoon, they had already figured it all out and were "performing" together. Now you talk about warming a mother's heart! That did it right there. It was the sweetest thing.
This morning I skipped yard sales, yes you read that correctly, to go to a Valentine's party for the kids put on by Jennifer, of course! I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I missed one of her parties. It was a beautifully sunny day but was only in the mid-50's with a little breeze. It was fine until we finished eating outside and then Calaubra started shaking and saying they were cold. I was in the same boat so we moved it inside and I couldn't help thinking how wimpy we were especially considering my parents buried in several feet of snow up north. Despite the "cold" we had a good time and the kids all exchanged Valentine's so that led to a bunch of fun afterwards to go through their bags and see what they got. I had to laugh though because pretty much every other mother either made or bought these fancy decorated boxes or bags to put their kids Valentine's in whereas I was like "Oh, look. Here's this free little back pack we got at the Science Center last month. This should do the trick." Yup, that's how I roll.
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| The best part of the party was getting to ride the horse or pony. |
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| Even Colby got in on the action. |
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| Waiting for our turn to get some food. Brady looks like he's wearing an umpire chest protector. |
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| You can tell he's getting a little cold. Well, I can at least. |
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| Going through all the Valentine's at home. They put everything together and organized it into piles. |
This week our tenant in our original townhouse rental called and said they are moving out because their family is expanding. They've been really good and easy tenants for almost six years so I'm sad to see them go especially since it creates work for me. Now we are on the hunt for a new tenant. Their lease doesn't actually expire until the end of October but since they've been so great I said I would work with them...as soon as we find a new tenant they can move out. It's actually nice when tenants break their lease because they very willing to make sure the place looks good and then I make them be there so show prospective tenants around. The other plus is that we will be able to get more rent now because we only increased the rent by $25 in six years and that was only his least year. Rents have gone up a lot since 2009 so they were getting a good deal. Hopefully it all works out.
Colby has had a much better week with his sleep. When last I wrote he had been waking up in the middle of the night for the past few nights but fortunately they stopped happening on Monday and things are back to normal. Normal is that he sleeps from about 8:15 to 6:30. Still waiting for that 6:30 to shift later. Calaubra all dropped their morning nap at 15 months but even though Colby is closing in on 18 months, he is still doing a morning nap from 10:30 to 11:15. I wake him at 11:15 so he'll still sleep in the afternoons (I NEED my quiet time). He then naps from about 3:00 to 4:15 or 4:30. Every one in awhile if he sleeps later than 6:30, I skip the morning nap and put him to sleep at 1:00. When he does that, he'll sleep as late as 3:30 or later sometimes. I'm not sure which set up I prefer. When he takes the morning nap though, we can at least get some school done without him bugging us.
He's getting to that age when he noticing little things about his siblings. Usually he eats a YoBaby yogurt every morning right out of the yogurt container. Yesterday Brady asked me if he could have a "baby" yogurt but he wanted it in a bowl. I gave it to him and the next thing I know, Colby is throwing a fit. I finally figured out that he saw Brady eating the yogurt out of bowl rather than the container so HE wanted his that way too. As soon as I did that, he was happy again. Then, same thing with a glass of milk. Aubree had milk in an actual glass and when I gave one to Colby in a sippy cup, he went bonkers. He had to have a glass like Aubree. Glasses and toddler do not mix so that was obviously heavily supervised.
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| Having it in a bowl. Yup, a righty. Boo!! |
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| Just like the other kids now with their bowls. |
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| Drinking from a glass. |
Couple of conversations with the kids:
First, I just have to preface it by saying that I have done ZERO formal teaching of any kind with Brady. No teaching numbers, no teaching letters. He has no interest in it and I don't see how knowing that stuff at three is going to make his life any better. But, I was curious to see if he's picked up anything in the course of everyday life.
Me: (Pointing to a coloring book with a big 'M' on it): "Brady, what letter is this?"
Brady: "Two!"
So I guess that's a no! The other thing that cracks me up is that he's always talking about when he's five. As in "When I'm five, I'm going to watch Inja Turtles!" (That's what he called the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles which we don't watch or read about it but he sees them at like Target). Or "Can I chew gum when I'm five?" "Can I put that polish on my toes when I'm five?" So I asked him today, "Brady, how old are you going to be at your next birthday?" He says "Five!" And I'm like, "Brady, no, FOUR comes after three, not five." I'm not sure how devestating of a blow this news is or what.
For our Bible class this week we've been talking about Jesus being called Immanuel which means "God with us." One of the things they wanted us to do was go to a big store and talk to your children about what to do if they were to get lost. We were to tell them that even if you don't see your mom, know that "God is with you." We were at Publix on Wednesday so I decided I would go through the drill with them there. I was trying to be very calm so I wouldn't get them scared or worried or anything.
Me: "Okay, guys, what would you do if you got lost here in Publix? I know you might be scared but would you know what do do?
Aubree (basically scoffing): "Actually, I know my way home from here."
Oh-kay, then. Pardon me for being concerned!
A few other pictures...
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| This week Aubree got the bright idea to make flags. Our map of the world has all the flags on it so she'd take a picture of one with me phone to refer to while she sat at the table coloring it. Do you know any of these countries? |
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| Some science experiments that didn't work. A dented ping pong ball was supposed to pop the dent out when submerged in warm water. Nope. |
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| The coin on the mouth (hard to see) of this bottle was supposed to lift off the bottle when warm water was dumped around the bottle. Another nope. |
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| The sides of the bottle were supposed to collapse in when you shook the ice that I put in the bottle. Pretty sure those sides were already bent in a little before I started. So not a good day for Science. |
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| Umm, so apparently a kid snuck downstairs during quiet time and took this picture of me while I was diligently cleaning the house, working on lesson plans, and cooking a gourmet meal for supper that night. Wait, how did this get in here? |
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| Supper at Target last night. We love to live the high life when Daddy's gone! |
Have a Happy Sabbath!
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