Merry Christmas!

2010 Christmas Card?

Slideshow design customized with Smilebox

Announcement: My Child is 4 and Does Not go to Preschool!

So when I took a year off this year and decided I was going to keep the boys home with me, I never realized what interesting questions my children and I would be subjected to. People (strangers, mostly nosy mothers) will approach Julian at the playground or wherever, and ask him how old he is. When they find out that he's 4, the next question is, does he go to preschool. Then when he replies no, I get a funny look from said nosy mother. Then I feel like I have to go into this big explanation that he was in preschool last year and I'm a teacher and he's at home with me this year since I took a year off work. Really I didn't think that there was going to be this "stigma" that my child's not in PRESCHOOL!

So, I was venting about this to my husband and a friend this evening as we were leaving to go meet my family for dinner at a restaurant. Well, sure enough, end of dinner, the waitress comes over to the table and begins talking with Julian. Here's how the conversation goes:

Waitress: How old are you?
J: 4
W: Do you go to preschool?
J: No
W: Do you want to go to preschool?
J: No. I just go to church school.

Now, in my mind I'm going,  "WTF, here we go again." But this time I decide not to say anything because I really don't have to defend my choices to my waitress! Oh and when she asked if he wanted to go to preschool, I just wanted to say, "Oh, 'cause you're going to pay for it and send him there?"

So here comes the justice! Waitress comes over again and Julian's drawing in his notebook. She's talking to him and he's drawing and he makes some sort of picture for her. Mark says, "Why don't you write her name on it." She had just told us her name was Rhonda, so without hesitation or a moment of thought, Julian wrote, R-U-N-D-A. To which, of course, she was stunned. Then he proceeded to write his first and last name.
By this time, she said, "Wow! You're mommy sure works with you! You really don't need preschool!" Then he proceeded to write- mom, dad, Liam, Marln (Marilyn), and Pop (Pop-Pop).

I can only hope he continues doing this every time someone begins this dreaded conversation!

It's November Already??

Greenfield Village

DFD Pumpkin Patch

A witch, the Verizon guy, a dalmatian,
and Woody from Toy Story.

Neighborhood "Spooktacular" Parade

I can't believe it's already November! We had lots of fun for Halloween. The kids went to lots of different parties and events. We visited two apple orchards and ate lots of cider (Liam's new favorite) and doughnuts, had fun on tractor and hay rides, visited the Dearborn Fire Station's Pumpkin Patch a few times,went on a haunted train ride a few times, participated in the Highland Neighborhood Associations Spooktacular parade, and went to a few parties.

 I think Julian's favorite thing was the skeleton we made out of plastic milk jugs. He told me one week that he wanted to learn about skeletons. So we did! He can tell you all about bones now and the names of bones. We visited out chiropractor (who is a great man) that week and he showed him some models of the spine and x-rays. Julian really enjoyed that. It's been fun (and interesting) being able to create his curriculum!

This year was the first year that Julian really voiced his opinion about what he wanted to be for Halloween. I already lots of costumes and decided the boys would be a fireman/firetruck and a dalmatian. Cute, right? Well, Julian was adamant that he was NOT going to wear the firetruck costume. He put on these toy Buzz Light Year Wings over his clothes and insisted he was Buzz Light Year. He went through the parade like that. So then I felt bad and took him to Target to see if they had any "real" costumes left. Of course, no Buzz, but they had 1 Woody costume left, in his size. Meant to be, I guess!

Liam really got the concept this year. I thought he wouldn't last very long trick-or-treating, but he proved us all wrong. Not only did he last, he was dancing and singing (Iron Man, of course) the whole time. In fact, he would have outlast the other kids had we let him. He was never scared. Went up to every house, said "trick-or-treat" and "thank you" to everyone! So proud of my little man! Speaking of proud, Liam is finally off ALL meds! I thought we'd never get to this point! Crossing my fingers that this continues!

We have so many upcoming things we are excited about too! This week we get to go on a field trip with our homeschool group to a police station! The boys will love it! We're also taking a trip to the Detroit Science Center. I'm also looking forward to Sunday when Julian sings in church with his preschool class! I can't wait to see my little singer!!!

WARNING- Proud Mommy Moment!!!

This is one of the writing assignments that Julian did yesterday. The directions asked him to look at the picture and come up with a story about what was happening. It also provided a word bank of short e words to help. On his own he wrote the sentence "There's a spiders web in Peg's way." Peg is the name of the hen flying the jet. It's from one of his reading books. Anyway, then he wanted to go on and write "A bat is on mom's shoulder." The only thing I helped him with on this sentence was the "sh" for shoulder. 

I'm so proud of him! He's learning so quickly and doing so well! It's been such a gift to be able to stay home with him and teach him.

Who Needs an Oven??

Never would have said that before until our oven broke. It's the never ending saga in our household. Basically, mom leaves job, cuts budget and oven breaks. That's Rummel luck for you!

The good news is we (we, as in Mark and his Dad with the help of his friend Tom who repairs appliances) know how to fix it. Well, we know now. Although through never ending trial and errors and parts that were ordered and didn't work and now having to go order a new part. So I guess it's still up in the air as to whether it will be fixed. It's been a month already!

So what's a girl to do?? Planning carefully! I've been cooking everything on the stove top. Now it's been so long, I'm getting more creative. Come to think of it, with all these "extra" appliances, we hardly really need a stove. For example, I made brownies tonight without an oven (I used the waffle iron), and they're really good! We warm the garlic bread for our pasta on the grill (just about anything can be cooked on a grill). I made apple crisp in a skillet and even found a cookie recipe that uses a skillet! We have a toaster oven, a roaster, a Crock Pot, and a bread machine. Those things can't take care of everything an oven can, but I think we're doing pretty well without an oven. Never would have imagined!

Waffle Brownies 

 

These Are the Days of Our Lives.....

......and I hope my children will remember them, because I always will.

Today, we ventured out to The Henry Ford Estates. I hadn't planned on it, but it was turning out to be great weather and I was sick of going to the park. Julian had been learning about the signs of fall, so I figured why not. We ended up spending 2 hours walking all over the grounds (and didn't cover that much ground either). We stopped to look at the waterfall (our favorite). We found leaves, needles, bark, moss, fungus, sticks, flowers, logs, roots, geese, ducks, squirrels, eggs that were laid on a leaf, a pond, a river, a swamp, acorns, and (I'm sure you get the idea now).

Liam and Julian in front of the waterfall.

It was great fun exploring the grounds through the eyes of my children. It was great to see them feel free and adventuresome. Their curiosity piqued at each new sighting or change in direction of the path.

Taking a little snack break beside the pond.

I plan on taking them back many times over the year so that we can see how things change through the seasons. I really think that the more they see it and explore it, the more they will come to understand about nature. It's great to see the world outside of a book!

Kelly

P.S. Sorry for the crappy cell phone pics. Forgot the camera!

It's Back to School Time!

Mark is back to work and I'm not! I can't remember the last time I felt this happy. The only way I can describe it is bliss! I LOVE being home with the boys. Last week we watched a few of our friends' kids. The boys had someone new to play with every day. We also joined a Homeschool Group. We meet once a week at a school for gym time (run by a gym teacher) and outside play time. Then the kids meet inside for snack, crafts, and play time. They plan field trips and other activities too. We all had a great time meeting new friends! We also had fun going to the library yesterday and found out that they are having a Play dough contest! Ohhhh....the possibilities! Today we went to the Home Depot for the kid's workshop. Julian completed his third project today, a race car, and Liam made a football holder.

Julian and I started easing into his "school" routine this week. Last week we only did seat work (math and reading) for about 10 mins. a day. Then he would spend about 5-10 mins. doing some independent work (coloring and such). This week I'm going to try and double it by having him do work in the morning and afternoon.

I also picked up a (very) part-time gig! I'm TJing (Trivia Jockey) a Live Trivia show at Key West in Taylor on Sundays at 6pm! Last week was my first week, and although hardly anyone showed up, I managed to get 3 teams and we all had a good time. I love doing the trivia shows because I get out of the house for a little bit, get to have a lot of fun, and make money all at the same time! Lucky me!

To be continued.....