Strange things this week.

So a few strange things happened this week.  Last Saturday we took the kids out to dinner and the mall.  This may not be strange, but we hadn't been out with the kids in a few months.  The kids did great.  It was actually an enjoyable dinner.  Next, later on in the week, Daniel came up to me and asked me for a carrot.  This was after watching Curious George eat carrots, but still vegetables have always been hard for us to get down him.  Next, not once, but twice, he went to the potty by himself.  I didn't have to prompt or ask, he just did it.  I think I have to realize that my kids are growing up.  

The kids have been enjoying coloring lately, well Rachel really enjoys coloring on herself. 
This is a funny picture because when I uploaded the pictures from the week it was on it's side because I had moved the camera to it's side to take it.  Daniel was watching me fix the pictures and he was noticing that he fell down.  He was pretty adamant that I had to put him back up because he had fallen down, so I rotated all the pictures right there.  
In the mean time I had another appointment on Monday, and everything was fine.  We have an ultrasound on the 11th of Feb, so we hope to find out the sex of the child.  This weekend we have the swim lessons still, I have a baby shower to go to, and Kevin and I are going on a date to the Melting Pot.  I haven't been there before, and I am thankful we are getting a chance to try it out.  Kevin had some more time at home with the bad weather and come comp time from last week, and we all had fun while he was around.  I am thankful that January is almost gone, onto February and another step closer to warmer weather!  

Of Pigtails and Playgrounds

Cost of an indoor playground:  over $10 (depending on where you go)

Cost of the snacks:  a few dollars

Cost of having a great nap time and worn out kids: Priceless!

This week we kept busy with two different indoor playground in the area speckled in with days at home.  I have been trying to keep Daniel's nap time down so it is easier for him to get to bed at night, so getting him tired out has been a priority.  And boy do the kids run around!  I am finding that it used to be just an hour or so we could stay out, but this morning it was for two hours the kids had fun and their stamina is growing.  I think I'm the one that gets worn out quickest.  

Can you find Rachel in this picture?  She enjoys all the ball pits she finds.  
Here was one of the more exciting points of the week for me, Rachel's new hair do.  It is fun to put it up in now two different styles, and she likes the hair out of her eyes.
Here is Rachel all bundled up earlier this week.  We got her some snow pants which make a big difference.  She can't hang outside as long as Daniel, but we have some fun times.  It is actually 40 degrees today, heat wave!  
I we need one of these at our house if Daniel uses it like this:

It's "Snow" Fun:

No Title

Some weeks are blurs like this past one.  Not that we didn't do anything, or not that it was bad, just everyday life just seemed to pass on by.  Both the kids got a less than 24 hour little bug, and that didn't really affect our week.  Kevin has been working hard on a project this week, so he worked late a few nights, so that made it a little more tiring for me.  We are getting used to the new job and new role he has.  So in the mean time, it is still cold and snowy, the kids still enjoy the swim lessons, and we are taking it one day at a time.  I did have two big pieces of news from both sides of the family, my parents will be moving from Iowa to New Jersey in a few weeks, only 5 1/2 hours away instead of the 16 driving hours, and my brother and sister in law found out they will be having a little girl in June.  

Here is Daniel baking bread with me.  I have this excellent hamburger bun recipe that my mom passed along, and it actually turned out well for me.  Daniel enjoys playing with the dough, Rachel not so much.

Here are some Dad and Rachel photos.  She was pretty clingy this week and tired, so I think she is getting the last of her teeth.  
I don't quite understand why the kids want to help so much with the dishes now.  Don't they know they will be doing them for me when they get older?
The last thing to mention is that Daniel has become my little side kick on taking care of Rachel.  Questions like, where's Rachel, what's she doing, why is she crying, is she happy, demand to come here and telling her to do things are a daily occurrence.  She is pretty good at ignoring them for the most part, except for my second example below, or just being happy he is paying attention to her.

Here are two examples:

Snow Storms and Swimming Lessons

The title of this blog is how the week ended, but the week began with a 14 week ultrasound.  The Dr said it was the worst set of pictures he had taken in the last three years, you can't really see much so I won't post them, but the baby looked healthy, we got to see him or her move around and the healthy heart beating.   We are going to see the sex of the baby, if they cooperate at the 20 week appointment, I want to get rid of at least half of the clothes I have collecting in our basement!

The rest of the week was filled with me trying to get out of the house at least once a day, weather permitting, and just keeping up with the house cleaning and everything.  I did get out with some friends to see a movie, but I had to be careful because there was a lot of ice on the ground.  I saw the Curious Case of Benjamin Button, and am still trying to figure out if I liked it or not, but it is a hard movie to see when you are pregnant, with you wanting to cry at anything anyway.

The most excitement of the week was with the swim lessons.  The kids were awake pretty early and ready to go, and loved being in the pool.  Daniel didn't stop kicking his legs the whole time.  The kids were in a parent and child group together and they had a blast.  I think Kevin and I had fun too.  The funny thing is that at the YMCA there is a basketball court across the hallway from the locker rooms, so right after they were done swimming they wanted to play some hoops.  For the next seven weeks the kids will be having two sports Saturdays.

Here is Daniel in anticipation of getting into the water.  He is almost old enough to try lessons by himself, but I think we have a swimmer on our hands.

Here Rachel is sporting her very cute (and inexpensive) bathing suit.  She liked it too, but she was a lot more clingy during the lesson and got cold near the end.  She was watching and laughing at Daniel most of the time, it has been such a blessing to have them play and laugh at each other a lot this week.  
This is what I think the rest of the Saturdays will look like.  The kids were ravenously hungry afterward and both napped early today.  I love swim lessons :-).

So this afternoon we are going to be having another "typical" snowstorm.  Looks like another night in and taking it easy.  I hope you all have a relaxing weekend as well!

Confessions on a Pajama Day

The weather is nasty outside, so it is a stay home and get some things done in your pajama's type day.  I will post pictures of the kids a little later this week, but I wanted to talk about homeschooling, and the desire to homeschool in our family.

I have been thinking about this for a few years now and am excited each and every day about the thought of homeschooling.  Through talking to a few different people and looking into a bunch of different teaching options, I have settled on this program from the Foundation for American Christian Education (www.face.net).  It teaches using what they call the Principle Approach using the Bible and Noah Webster's 1828 American Dictionary of the English Language as the basis of learning.  It is not about filling out workbooks and completing lessons, but about the child reasoning, deducting, researching, reading the classics, writing out lessons and thoughts in their own notebooks.  I know for too many years I just memorized for the tests, and am excited about learning again some of the basics and beyond.  I am actually going through a self directed study book now in preparation, and to retrain even the way that I learn, that I can apply in every area of my life.

So with that being said, won't the kids need socialization?  Yes, and I know I could use that myself!  I do plan on getting involved with other homeschoolers and/or homeschooling organization (there are currently over 1.5 million children being homeschooled in the country right now), and there is no way I am keeping my kids away from sports, we plan on getting involved in Boy Scouts and other activities like that, and taking trips and hand's on activities to reinforce all that we have been learning.  

At this time, this is my passion, and I just wanted to share that will all that read this blog.  I know that all of our children have a lot of similarities and differences, and I look forward unlocking the passion and meet the needs of each specifically.  

"Let every student be plainly instructed and earnestly pressed to consider well, the end of his Life and studies is to know God and Jesus Christ which is eternall Life, John 7:3, and therefore to lay Christ as the bottome, as the only foundation of all sound knowledge and learning." ~ New England's First Fruits, Harvard College, 1643

Ok, that is all I have for now on this subject, we will continue with the pictures and updates on the kids at the end of the week!

Thru New Year's and Beyond

It has been a good family of four filled week.  Kevin got off early on Wednesday, because of snow, and we had the four day weekend together.  Which is good because it seems Daniel is a little more daddy clingy lately.  We stayed up late two nights in a row, all for good reasons, but it seems like the kid's don't understand when to sleep in or not.  

Here is Daniel helping me make breakfast New Year's Day.  I have been surprised how helpful he wants to be with baking and how much fun we can have together, if you don't mind it being a little more messy.  

I know this picture is blurry, I just enjoy the expression on Rachel's face.  She gets so excited about the littlest things.

Here is Daniel getting ready for the Orange Bowl game.  He stayed up to watch a little of it, well really just eat some of the chips we had, and I stayed up until a halftime, and Kevin watched the whole game.  

Kevin has been helping me out around the house organizing and cleaning up things like closets that I chose not to open because I am afraid of what will fall out on me.  Our spring cleaning is happening a little earlier.

We discovered Daniel enjoys bowling, and here is a little clip of the kids playing this morning.  We also went on base this afternoon and learned the kids did well at a real bowling alley as well.  It is nice to have another fun thing to do this winter with them.

As for the New Year, we have decided to enjoy life a little more this year.  After last year and all the weekend that were used going up to the home in NH and taking care of that, we want to explore and enjoy New England a little more.  Hopefully that means spending more time with friends, taking a few more day trips, and enjoying the kids at this season of their lives.  I feel that now that we do have kids, the time passes so much quicker than it used to, and I want to enjoy the journey better with them.  With that being said however, I do have a countdown until Spring, but I think we have a few more fun moments of winter to enjoy.  Happy New Year to you and God Bless!!