FINALLY!

I know I have been a very very bad blogger. VBS is mostly to blame. I volunteered to help teach a class, and I spent much of the past 3 weeks getting ready and then all of this past week at VBS! It was SO MUCH FUN. We had a really great class of first graders. And I am so proud to announce that we had 5 children in our class alone make the decision to accept Christ as their personal Savior! I am not sure what the total count for the rest of the church was, but I heard it was around 50-60 kids. PRAISE GOD!!! We had an awesome time all week and I can't wait to do it again next year. But TODAY, is a day of much needed rest.

I took the kids to the bookstore this morning. I got a set of Ramona books. I remember reading them/having them read to me when I was in elementary school and I loved them. In the first book, Ramona is in Kindergarten, so I thought that the girls might like it. I think I am going to start reading them a chapter a night before bed. I am sooooooo tired of The Poky Little Puppy and The Tale of Peter Rabbit.

I am almost caught up on laundry. I don't think there's such a thing as completely caught up in this house. This is probably as close as it gets.

And FINALLY, Graham likes his bath! He doesn't just tolerate it, but he actually LIKES it!






A far cry from


I took Graham to the dr. yesterday because he'd been super fussy for a few days, not sleeping at night, and just not himself (he is fine, it's probably either teething or due to being in the church nursery all week for VBS) and he weighs 21 lbs. 8 oz. I can't believe how big he is getting!!!

Here is just a random shot of Graham. He was eyeing that food Eric had!

-yes he pulled himself up like that. *tear*

I am going to try to take some more pics of my kids this week. And I need to post Graham's 8 month update!

eta: I just noticed how totally orange Graham is in these pics. That's what I get for trying to edit my pictures in the dark. :-/

Summer School

We took a lot of time off from school work this past school year what with Graham being born and then moving. But I wasn't worried at all because Natalie was so far ahead (right now she's almost 1/2 way through her 1st grade stuff). We're taking it easy through the summer as well, and will start back with more structure in the fall. For now they are just having fun picking out workbooks to do or other fun activities. I am planning on making one room in our house the official schoolroom. I'll put their workboxes in there, and have shelves for all their supplies. They have a small table with chairs but I've been thinking about possibly getting another one or getting little desks for them. We're also planning on getting a new computer soon (because this one is old and running slow) and so we'll probably set this one up for the kids.

Erica has finally started to show some interest in learning how to write. She was content with just scribbling for a long time. She still can't write anything on her own, but she is getting better and better at tracing.

Blog Update

Ok so I just updated about the new title and domain name for my blog. I also have a new email address you can reach me at: amber@schoolroomoflife.com

Now that it *seems* that our last name is completely gone from this blog, I am going to begin going back and changing all of our "code" names back to our regular names. I'm sorry for all the confusion. I just didn't want our whole names on here, and because our last name was in the url and my email address, I didn't know of another way to get around that. So, if I deleted any of your past comments because it had the name of one of my kids, I'm sorry!

And if anyone happens to notice our last name anywhere on the blog can you please let me know. Thanks!

New Domain as well!!!

Now, you can just type in www.schoolroomoflife.com to get to my blog!

New Blog Title

When I decided to start this blog, I just used the first thing I thought of for the title. The Amazing World of Motherhood. I'd hoped something better would come to me, and then I'd change it. Well, a couple months ago my mother-in-law sent me a very encouraging email with the subject line "School Room of Life". The things she shared with me have stuck with me, and so has that title. I've been thinking about changing that to my blog title, and have finally decided to do it.

Our Day Out

Once again my friends Jordan and Ariana have done a fabulous job buddy-posting, and have inspired me to do a post of my own about... going out with the kids! I go somewhere with my kids almost every day. I can't stand spending more then 1-2 days a week at home all day. I'm definitely not an expert on going out with the kids, but I think for the most part, I have come up with things that work FOR US.

I really only have 2 tips. Everything else just kind of falls under one of those.

TIP #1 - Be Realistic
I know that if I try to go out when it's naptime, or mealtime, the kids are going to be tired and whiny, or downright awful. I know if we are gone ALL DAY running errands, I will be bashing my head into the concrete at the end of the day. I know my kids' limits, and try as hard as I can to stay within them. There is of course the occasional dr. appt. that we have to take at an odd time, so we just do the best we can in those situations.

I also can't expect that my children are going to do exactly what I say and act perfectly all the time (ha! wouldn't that be nice!). I have to realize that they are children after all, and expect that things are not going to go as planned all the time.

Kids are curious and I can't expect that they won't want to explore any and everything in their sight. I tell them they can touch things with 1 finger. This works so well! They get to quench their thirst of curiosity without pulling clothes down from the racks or knocking down display cases.

I can't expect that grocery shopping is going to be exciting for them. So I try to find ways to make it a little more enjoyable. Sometimes we stop and get a hot chocolate or Icee at the beginning of the trip. Sometimes I let them help pick which foods we should get (cereal, fruit etc.). Sometimes we play games like I Spy. Anything to keep them from saying the dreaded, "Are we ready to pay yet?"

TIP #2 - Be Prepared
I have to plan out where we'll be going and what we'll need. I have to make sure I have everything ready before we leave the house. Do I need a fully stocked diaper bag (for going to church or the gym where Graham will be in childcare) or will just a couple diapers/wipes do (quick trip to 1 place under an hour)? Will the girls need things to keep them entertained (dr. appts.)? Are we going to eat lunch while we're out? Will Graham need a bottle while we're out?

Today, I had 3 things I wanted to accomplish outside the house.
1 - gym
2 - Target, quick trip
3 - mall, 2 stores

I planned to leave after Graham's first nap (he usually wakes up between 9-10am). So during his nap, I made sure I had everything ready that I needed. Since we were going to the gym, I needed a fully stocked diaper bag (lots of diapers, wipes, extra clothes, bib, burp rag, ready made bottle, pacifier, blanket, toys). And since we were going to run other errands afterward, I needed to bring a change of clothes etc, for me. Since we'd be gone during/around lunchtime, I planned that we'd eat lunch at Luby's in the mall. The girls always eat so well there, and it's not fast food! Not that I am against fast food AT ALL, just that it's what we usually get when we're out, so when I have the chance to do something different - that's easy - I go for that. So I also put some baby food for Graham in the diaper bag, and stuff to make another bottle if needed. The girls would get a snack at the gym, and wouldn't need anything else for entertainment while we were out. Done!

Ready to go! The girls keep a few things in the car to play with. Natalie is playing with a magnet board in this pic.

Graham always has some sort of toy to play with as well. Our van has a built in DVD player and we also have a portable one. But they only get used on long trips. Our day to day trips are short enough that I don't even bother with it. We save it for when we go out of town, or anytime they're going to be in the car for an hour or more at once.


We got to the gym and they fed Graham a bottle, and the girls got snacks. I worked myself into a sweaty mess. No pictures of that! LOL

Then we went to Target (it's in the same parking lot as the gym)

We usually have this set up - Graham in the front, Erica in the back, and Natalie walking. Erica rarely wants to walk, and it's easier for me this way. If I know we're getting a lot of things, I try to get one of those buggies that has the extra 2 seats in the front for big kids and put the girls there, then Graham in the seat w/ his cart cover (check out my friend Maryum's store, she made Graham's).


And we use a cart cover because of this...


The girls were mad because we had to leave the gym. The LOVE going there.



After Target we headed to the mall. First stop, lunch at Luby's.
Hold his own bottle, yeah right.


Mmmmm, Jello! (notice the empty plates! - fish, corn, okra, mac n cheese, wheat roll - DEVOURED)


Balloons!


Natalie takes any opportunity to help with Graham.


We tied the balloons to their arms (and Graham's to the stroller) while we went in the 2 stores I needed to go to. Then before getting into the car, we let them go (that's my rule, I hate balloons in the car).



We made it home 3 hours after we left and everyone was happy!

An hour in the life

I've been wanting to do a "day in the life" post. Sharing what we do in a day with pics and all. But today I'll settle for an hour. We don't have plans of going anywhere today (that is until Eric gets home - I'm going to a Discovery Toys party), which is a rarity for us these days. So I thought I'd take the opportunity to take some pics and share a small snipit of our day.

These were all taken from about 10:30-11:30am.

Graham wakes up from his nap, happy as can be! (I stood him up there, but he held on and stood there on his own for several minutes)



Time to get changed and come downstairs for some playtime with Mommy and Big Sisters



Lunchtime!
The girls got a slice of leftover pizza, applesauce, cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, ranch dressing, and milk.



Those silly girls!



Graham got a bottle


and then some practice eating real food (dry toast) and drinking water from a sippy



He hates solid food and "chokes" on anything that's not liquid or darn near close to it - and I say "chokes" because he's not really choking. He might have a crumb on the tip of tongue (which is hanging out of his mouth), and he'll act like it's gagging him! LOL


He's happier just eating his sippy


or high chair straps


And this one is from yesterday. I just think he looks so huge here!

Birth Order

Two of my friends, Jordan and Ariana, made posts about birth order and their kids. I thought it would be fun to do a post of my own because my kids are very similar in age to theirs.

Natalie - the first born

She is a very typical oldest child. She is very smart, very driven, very thirsty for knowledge. She picks up on things easily and enjoys learning new things. I have a feeling she will be the easiest to homeschool because she's happy learning in any way just as long as she's learning something.



She is also very nurturing. She loves nothing more than to "help", especially with her younger siblings. She is always begging to help feed Graham, or to open something for Erica. She's our little mama, always looking out for everyone else. If someone's not happy, she's right there trying to fix it. She LOVES to give hugs and kisses to her younger siblings, but doesn't like to give them out to anyone else very often.



When she's the oldest one around (like at home, or at playgroup where she's almost always the oldest by at least a year) she definitely likes to take charge and tell everyone else how things are. But when she's not the lead (like in Sunday School or other age-divided classes, since she's usually the youngest because of when her bday falls) she becomes very shy and to herself. She makes friends easily with younger kids, but not as easily with her peers.


She's my only child that actually enjoys "chores". She will willingly pick up her toys (most of the time) and is always asking to help with the laundry or dishes. She likes the idea of things being in order and organized, but lacks the follow through sometimes (this is me to a T, and I'm a first born too).


Erica - the middle child


She is definitely smart, but does not seem to care one way or the other about learning. She's happy to do some schoolwork here and there, but I have to make things very fun for her to stay interested. It takes her a little longer to catch on to things, but she loves the one on one attention she gets when I'm working with her.


She is a HUGE cuddle bug. She loves to just crawl up in your lap and sit with you. She loves hugs and kisses and telling you "I love you".


She is definitely not the nurturing type. In fact, I think for a few months she probably didn't even realize she had a baby brother lol. Only occassionally is she willing to help out in anyway with him. She has better things to do afterall!


She goes back and forth between trying to lead and trying to follow. Some days she's happy to do whatever Natalie wants them to do. Other days she wants to do what SHE wants to do and nothing is going to change her mind!




She does not care if her toys are strewn all over the house. She does not care if every piece of clothing she owns is piled on the floor. She does not care if she is wearing two different colored socks, neither of which matches either her shirt or pants. In fact, she prefers things in chaos. She's almost always wearing some sort of dress up clothes (hat, purse, shoes, tutu etc.). She likes carrying around her "stuff" in some sort of bag/bucket/tote. She loathes cleaning up. What's the point when she's just gonna throw it all around again anyway?

Graham - the last born (for now)



He really is too young for me to totally see his personality, but I can see it starting to form. He's pretty easy going now. Up until about a month ago he was super high needs - always needing to be fed or held. Now though he eats much less often, and sleeps much better. So when he's awake (and fed), he's pretty easy going. He loves to be on the go, and loves to do things to make you laugh. He makes silly faces, and silly noises, and loves to get a reaction out of you!