Charlotte are you okay???!! Can you hear me???! (ignore the giggles) Someone call 911!

I can't believe it's already November. The countdown for our Florida trip is on. Charlotte, who remembers so much more, is VERY excited about it. Connor will be...when we get there. Lots of things to do before we leave yet. Christmas celebrations with everyone who we are leaving behind are coming up soon.
School is going great. Charlotte has finished a whole workbook with the Sonlight curriculum we are using so it really feels good to start a new one. The workbooks are all about "Developing the Early Learner" and include various activities working on her motor, visual, auditory and thinking skills. Things that will help her be a successful reader. She loves doing the workbooks but sometimes tires of the colouring. Sometimes, we'll just circle the right answer instead!
We have even begun some physical education now...learning to skate. We are trying to get out twice a week and after being out only a few times so far, I can see my kids will be skating much better than I ever did! It's amazing how fast Charlotte is picking it up. She definately has a natural balance and ability...like her father.
Connor's coming along but mostly enjoys the chair rides, holding his hockey stick (don't even try to take it away from him), and wearing his hockey helmet. He now totes his "new" (actually one of Stu's old broken sticks that he cut down for him) hockey stick around everywhere and is constantly slapping things around with it. A no-hockey sticks in the house rule is definately coming into play tommorow.
Also a note on Connor's potty training. It has been going great! He's really picked it up quickly...our daycare lady was amazed. He has been getting a little lazy lately, but that could be more my fault, forgetting to remind him. When he's distracted, he needs the reminder. Either that, or he just goes when Charlotte does. What great siblings...coordinating potty times.
I guess that's the update for now. gotta go review my CPR (I have the course tonight), I'm practising on my poor victim Charlotte, who thinks it's quite hilarious!

French Fry Pie

So this week is going well overall. Charlotte really enjoys the stories we read together and seems to be listening even more attentively. She is still practising printing her name and now is on to learning her phone number too! I figure that's an important thing for her to know and she is learning her numbers at the same time. I think she likes knowing that there's a purpose to it. She also likes to dial numbers for me when I make a call too. It does take a little ( a lot ) longer but that's okay...it's a learning experience right?!
She is also writing a letter to her friend Eunice from Kenya. We are going to send some stickers and some pictures of the family too for Christmas. We have to send things soon as it takes so long to go through the sorting process, translators, etc. so they say to send it a couple months in advance. Hopefully it won't be late.
Along with her schoolwork, Charlotte also seems to be mastering a very quick-witted argumentative dialogue as well. Yep, she's talking back! What???! I thought that didn't happen till she turned 13! And she's got all the great facial expressions to go with it too, the rolling of the eyes, pulling up the eyebrow, and sometimes just looking at me like I'm completely out of my mind...not yet, kid.
I'm trying to keep right on it with consequences right away, but sometimes I end up arguing right along with her, like she's making a good point or something, and I should be defending my position. I remember my mom having a little crafty duck with little ducklings beside it, painted on some piece of wood in our house that read, "Because I'm the mom, that's why!" Yah, I'll have to use that I think. I so understand it now.
Connor is now wearing underwear during the day, except at naptime. Hurray!! I am so excited, but not expecting any miracles. He is going for regular potty times but still doesn't let me know if he needs to go. He will basically hold it for over 4-5 hours before leaving a wet spot somewhere on the floor, but I do think I've seen some progress. And we are going through a lot less daipers!!! I think it'll be awhile but I'm so proud of my little boy. I still see him as my little baby I guess.
For the first couple days putting him in underwear was a little daunting...and frustrating. But I knew he could hold it. Then something happened at the library that made me rethink the whole training timing. I'm checking out books and the librarian says to me "Uh, miss?...your son is licking the door."
And there he was, Connor's licking the exit door like it's tastes like ice cream and on the other side of the door, there's now a small crowd of strangers, probably that just went through the door, squealing and laughing and 'ewwwing' at him on the other side just doing his thing.
Yep, that's my boy, just when I thought I could maybe leave there without some sort of embarrassment or humiliation! After this incident, I thought to myself, "Well I know that he might be physically ready to be potty-trained, but maybe mentally he just isn't quite there yet. That could be it.
So I guess that's all to share tonight as I wind down from a busy day and a great workout with the Tara Fitness ladies and have a hot green tea. I leave you with a little comment by my daughter I thought was kind of funny.
We had Hashbrown Casserole for dinner yesterday and Charlotte is always the first to complain about what's for dinner. So I began to explain what a casserole is and what was in this one...hashbrowns, cheese, onions... and she says "Oh, so like a french fry pie Mom?"
"Huh? Yah, I guess so honey." Cute.

So much to be thankful for...God is good!

This week was busy. School was for two days only (Monday and Tuesday) because I had to work (Wed and Thursday) and then Charlotte and Connor both took turns with the cold/flu for the weekend. We did do some finger painting which was fun. A seasonal turkey, which actually turned out pretty nicely. Crafts are certainly not my strong suit, but I have now another lovely book full of ideas from Nana B, my mother-in-law. She was a teacher and said she has a few more helpful things we might be able to use for our homeschool. We are truly blessed, surrounded by supportive parents! The best thing about this book is the art supplies, usually things found in my house such as buttons, cards, etc. So I don't have to spend a lot on different materials which makes things easier!
Charlotte has really improved in her colouring or, as I would put it, fine motor skills! She is now being careful about staying in the lines and having much more success at it. It's great to watch as she refines her skills. Anytime there is colouring involved, the object, no matter what colour it might be realistically, will be crayoned using a beautiful array of colours. "Look Mom, I did rainbow colours!" She is quite happy with her rainbows! She's a colourful child.
Charlotte was so tired Friday that she actually took an afternoon nap, which is very unusual for her and she said "I don't want to do school today Mom." with a tired look in her eyes. This is rare, so we left it at that. This week we will be able to make it up though as I only work Wednesday this week. Yay!
The weekend was a lot of fun! Friday evening, my cousin Jenaia and her kids, Jodi-Lin and Dominic came up, and the kids had a blast. Charlotte and Jodi-Lin play very well together. Connor and Dominic are at the "not sharing stage" and Connor has this irresistable urge to take away things that Dominic was playing with. He does the same with his sister's things. Not that he really cares to play with her doll or anything, he just picks it up with a big grin on his face, and says "Charlotte! Baby!" and then he runs. He just loves the reaction I guess, which he always gets! And the battle that ensues.
My cousin Jenaia is homeschooling too so we always have lots to talk about when we get together. It's a great support for me and exchanging ideas is fun. Their family is also on a gluten/dairy free diet now so we made a delicious gluten free dinner Friday night. It was amazing! The kids enjoyed it too. And then it was cinnamon apples for dessert. That was a hit as well.
Saturday, we took the kids next door and our neighbour Jade taught me how to brush and saddle up Tess, the little pony, so the kids could go for a ride. Charlotte was pretty insistent she be the first to ride. The kids enjoyed brushing Tess, sweeping out the barn, and picking up all the little kittens there, but Connor made me a little nervous always going to walk behind Tess, where he couldn't be seen. Tess is a good little pony though, very friendly. Jade even showed us how to "spike" her mane! We've got a bit to learn about horses but I think it will be a great experience for the kids...and me!
Saturday afternoon, it was off to Aunt Patty's place way out near Lion's Head for turkey dinner with the whole Gard family! It was great to see cousins we haven't seen in years!
Danielle, my sister, and Derek, her hubby, arrived Saturday night. Dani's belly seems to have jutted out more than the last time I saw her, maybe 3 weeks ago. We are very excited to have a new little baby in the family. Charlotte is pretty certain it's a girl. So we'll see.
Sunday night we had my immediate family here and Great Grandma Kruisselbrink, Andrew, my cousin, and Carl Mulder, a friend of the family. Another big turkey dinner.
On Monday night, we had a delicious dinner with Papa Doyle and Nana B. The kids liked watching the chipmunks and squirrels in their backyard, we don't usually see those at our place. It was a great night. And they of course gave the kiddies their usual little packs of Smarties for the ride home. Grandparents and their candy!!
So it's back to the routine after busy weekend. I am not afraid to say it, I always like to say goodbye to company, almost as much as I love having them here! It was a beautiful Thanksgiving weekend. Sure reminds me of how blessed we are...and how fast my waistline can expand after that many dinners (and desserts) in a row. I'll be sure to post some pics of the weekend later.

Why is mommy's face turning red?

This week has run pretty smoothly. School has been going really well. Both Charlotte and I look forward to it. Charlotte is very close to writing her name all by herself! She is starting to recognize many of her letters. She is very particular and doesn't quite appreciate it when I call one letter a "small a" and one letter a "big or capital A", because they don't look EXACTLY the same. "Mom, THIS A does NOT look like THIS one!!" On a positive note, I will just call this her seamless attention to detail.
I bought the Leap Frog Fridge Magnets to help her with the alphabet sounds. She really likes to use them, so does Connor. It did start a few WARS here, but I guess it's something worth fighting for. Connor is starting to hum little tunes now and attempting to sing along to the alphabet song. It sounds so sweet...music to my ears.
We have made a few trips to the library so far. I'd like to make it a weekly routine. This week, Charlotte and Connor really enjoyed playing games on the computers there. Connor was "colouring" pictures using the mouse a bit. It's really amazing how young they can start on a computer. And it's great they make them just for kids, heavy duty, cause Connor also likes to hammer away at the keys. Boys will be boys...ROUGH.
At the end of our library trip, after Charlotte had handed the lady her library card for her books, she noticed a man standing in line behind us, with a really noticeably red face. "You're face is REALLY red!" she decided to tell him, being sure to make eye contact and saying it at an appropriate volume, for everyone in line to hear. He was a friendly man, thankfully, as he replied, "I know, I'm stressed out!" As I could feel MY face starting to burn, flushed with a red all it's own by now, I added, "And look, now Mommy's face is turning red too!" Well, the librarian and people in line had a chuckle for the day anyways.
After that, we quietly left and had a little talk about being careful what we say about people, especially if it's something someone might be embarrassed about it, or in case we might hurt someone's feelings. "It's best if you need to say something about someone, you whisper it to mommy first!" Yah, that might work. It's funny how these lessons are learned. Yes, funny, that's for sure.
We went to PumpkinFest in Port Elgin today and oh, what fun! One thing I always think about Charlotte missing out on school, is the bus ride! Of course I think that way, I spent about an hour and a half everyday back in my school days. As much fun as I had with the kids on the bus, usually with the ones who were on it as long as I was, what a waste of time!! Back to today though, the kids LOVED sitting on it as there were NO carseats strapping them down and it was fun to sit right beside mom and Grammy, and look out the window. Of course this one was only about 15 minutes or less. It was a treat! Note to self: we'll have to take the bus transit in Owen Sound sometime soon.
The kids went on two rides, plus rode the horses and jumped around in one of those big jumping gym things, sorry I have no idea what to call them. They had a blast. We even got a new Playtime Activities by Usborne for us to use for school! Packed with really cute and easy crafty ideas, I can't wait to get started. What can I say, Pumpkinfest has it all! Well now that my two little monkeys have me completely exhausted, I am so happy to note, it is also their bedtime. So off I go to tuck my two little darlings in. Thanks for reading and please write some comments, I'd love to hear them! It doesn't take much to sign in. Until next time...

Runny Noses and Lullabies

Today we are all sick with colds, sore throats, runny noses...all the fun stuff. I am happy to say that after having a short power nap while my dear son, Connor, 2 1/2 years, was down for his nap, I awoke, with enough energy to do some school work with my dear daughter, Charlotte, 4 years old. It was truly amazing to see what we could get done while my little trouble maker was in bed. Usually we do school in the morning when I figure both of us are fresh and awake and ready to work. But today was an exception and it was actually really quiet and just the two of us, and no dirty daiper interuptions.
Speaking of those, I have just begun potty training with Connor and it is certainly not going as easily as it did with my daughter. Connor is quite content to sit on his potty but would much rather do his "numbers" in the new underwear I bought for him, with the flashy airplanes and helicopters on them. He is also quite content to sit in his dirty underwear for quite a while too. I seriously thought he'd at least do something on the potty today but no. I suppose there's always still hope for tommorow...or next year. We'll keep trying.
Today ended with me a little upset, just a little, when I witnessed Charlotte throwing, yes throwing, one of our sweet little kittens against the window and giggling as she was doing it. Connor sat on his bike and watched as she did and was finding it quite entertaining as well. I was appalled as she is usually so gentle with them and Connor tries to be too. She said she was trying to see if it could stick to the window as she could see the poor things paws and claws splay out as it hit the window. Apparently she was trying to pass it off as an afternoon experiment. This child is always the one with, at the very least, a creative, if not intelligent, explanation.
Needless to say she was sent to her room promptly after saying sorry to the kitty, without her usual bedtime stories and card game. Mommy said this was her "punishment"...a word we were learning the meaning of today from her school storybook. Charlotte decidedly said "Mommy, I don't like punishing!!" and stormed off to her room. She did still get her bedtime prayers with mom and also a lullaby at her request. Boy I do hope she nevers gets too old for a lullaby.