Starting Home School

We've actually done little bits before today, but today we started the alphabet, so it felt official. I remember trying to do this three years ago with William. What a difference! It helps so much that he's older now and he has a younger sister who's really into it.

"Look! I am Thomas!"

Beautiful Slavery

Legalism is one of those things that can look so beautiful from a distance. A friend of mine who's on the long journey out of that world (not Amish but very legalistic) stopped by today. Talking to her is such a good reminder to me.

Jesus sounds harsh when He calls the Pharisees white washed tombs, beautiful on the outside but full of rotting bones on the inside. But those who have been there know He was speaking the dead truth.

Tight Rope Walker

I've commented a number of times how William would make a great tight rope walker. The other day, I came outside to find he had put a long board (smaller than a 2x4) across the basement stairwell and was enjoying bouncing his way across. Even this easy-going mama freaked out. I honestly wasn't afraid he'd mis-step; I was afraid his bouncing would break the board. So now William's board is across the (water-filled) sandbox, and I can enjoy his balancing techniques. And to think he's never even been to a circus...

Sibling Influence

I also have a cute little video of Abby playing with the Thomas roundhouse, but alas, I still can't get my videos to play on the blog.

I Need to Go to Bed Earlier

Between sickness, staying up working on little reno projects, and getting up early with Abby, I've been pretty exhausted lately. For example:

-I've left Abby's baby food on the table the last three nights.

-I told Eric last night that for my birthday I wanted to go to that place where there's a path along the road that has statues for all the different countries. "I think it's by the embassies." "Here in [our city]?" Eric asked confused. "Yeah, I think we passed it on the way to the art museum," I told him. My wise husband smiled and said, "I'll look into it."

-Then this morning William woke up soaked from his belly button to his toes. I had given the kids baths last night. I put them in their jammies afterwards, but since it was going to be a while before bed, I didn't change William into his nighttime diaper. (He's been doing really well staying dry during the day- 6 days in a row now. But last night demonstrates nighttime is a different story.) The good thing was, he wasn't upset at all; he thought it was funny. But now I have another load of laundry, including figuring out how to get out red playdough that melted into the sheet.

Note to self: Go to bed earlier tonight!

Visiting the Dinosaurs

We made a visit to the Natural History Museum today to see the dinosaur bones. I didn't get any pics inside with the actual fossils- I was too busy directing the children. But here's a couple at the picnic area outside.



They also have a live animal section outdoors. The picture on the bear is from there with some mothers helpers I took with me.


When we got home, we made dinosaur crafts. Instead of doing the ones I planned, William made himself into a dinosaur.