Matthew says

Da-ee!
Da-ee!
Da-ee!
Da-ee!
Da-ee!
Da-ee!

Ah-yo!

(Literal translation: Daddy! 6x Daniel!
Practical translation: Daddy come and see-Daniel is here!)

Seriously

Homeschooling has officially begun in our home. Since we got back from our holidays sometime we began. I thought having a bit more structure might help with some of the severe behaviour problems that have blown up since the kids are no longer spoiled rotten and have realized that they do indeed have another sibling, and must split their mother 4 ways now, and in 4 disproportionate ways at that. Now that January is almost over, the kids seem to have settled down to their former more manageable level of (dis)obedience. When I tuck myself in at nights my throat no longer feels strained from yelling, and my adrenaline is not pumping madly from poor anger management and self control. Time has settled the kids, no thanks to thoughtful interventions.

My reading stack is a little big, and I'm rather behind...but some of it is pleasure reading, and a lot of it only neads to be read a snippet at a time. So maybe I'll manage.

Just to break any (dis)illusions you may have about me homeschooling:
I plan to spend not more than a half hour with Nathan per day, Mon-Fri
All days start with some Bible stuff (currently Schoolland book above) and singing
Reading lessons will begin next month since Nathan appears (to my untrained eye) to be ready
Matthew and Melanie join a bit of it, and Melanie gets her own "lesson" as sitting practice mostly
I have no idea where I'm going with this homeschooling business
Philip is the resource/motivator/goal setter/monitor

Wish me luck on this new venture. ;)

Nathan says

Mommy, can we go to the zoo someday?
(How about we go there for your birthday?)

Um. No thank you. I'd rather have a birthday party with cake and candles and have all my friends come over and give me presents.

Can we go the zoo for Melanie's birthday?

2 Months

The TWO MONTH milestone has come and gone. But not unnoticed.

It's too bad the giver of this shirt didn't get a matching one for me. It'd probably be more accurate for me than Daniel, when summing up the past two months. Well, he does get cranky sometimes too, I guess. And maybe I'm always cranky...so then it is accurate this way after all. :p

He's holding up his head pretty well now.

But he gets tired of it real quick. I think his total tummy time on the floor is currently at 25 minutes. Maybe I don't give him the time of the day, or maybe I'm a big suck to his complaining.

I'll let you decide.

Melanie says

Mommy,
I wish I could be a baby
a real baby.
(Why is that, Melanie?)

Then I could cry lots and lots!

She must be a female.

Cuter Pictures of Cuter Kids

"Let me whisper something in your ear Melanie!"

Where is that ear again? (Time for a haircut?)

"Woo, woo!"

"Goggy!"

These hands seem to be mine...

but what are they for?

Every now and then I am tempted to write a long deep blog.
But then I don't have time.
Or don't want to say stuff anymore.
:p

From a Funny Friday

What is so funny about life?

Daniel ponders this.

Nathan, and Melanie, on the other hand

know all about funny things.
And so does Matthew.


When I showed Nathan this pic of himself

he cracked up.

And Melanie did the same.
(as usual)

Matthew can also be funny without trying to,

like when he puts his touque on himself.

Smart Mothers

Even from across the country my Mom can guess what I'm doing!
I was indeed shopping.

Now here's some kids playing pictures dedicated to her!

I'm not sure what these guys did while I was out shopping,
so I'll just show you what they did a day ago:

Matthew was busy at the piano.
You can see that having a book
(no music notes are necessary, however)
is mandatory for playing.
Piano playing is a fine art of balance
half turning pages, and half hitting the keys.

And who are busy in the background?

Melanie and Nathan are sharing my pencil and her eraser.
Anything slightly new is exciting!

(And no one is sick anymore. :) )

One day I'll be able to tell what my kids are up to behind my back,
but for now I just have to pretend.

Blissfully Better + Bakeries

Guess what I got lots of last night?

Even Daniel only got me up once.
Which is a change from his 2 or 3 times this past week.
Probably helped him that nobody else peeped all night.

"Let's play Bakeries" says Nathan.

What he really means, is,
"let's be cooks" or
"Let's play restaurant".
No matter how hard I try

I can't get them to grasp that they can't actually
BE bakeries.
Unless they're really weird.

So I guess, maybe they can be.

Do you like the new room layout?
I brought up the picnic table, which they're making great use of!
But now they're less eager to go downstairs when I want them to.

Today life is

short on sleep.

This morning Nathan managed to have breakfast in his pjs.

He was mostly flopped down.
After this he crawled back in bed 'til 11.
But now he seems energetic enough.

Melanie has been entertaining herself all day.
It's rare that both her biggish brothers leave her alone.

She has just recovered from a good cry and has promised
to be a good girl 'til nap time.
(No promises for after that.)

Matthew, despite being hit the hardest,
is still his goofball self

most of the time.
The rest of the time he wants to be up.
And when I just can't hold him anymore,
he is not pleased.

The cheeriest one of us is the healthiest.

Go figure.
I really do hope he stays that way!!
Our atmosphere can use all the cheer it can get!

As for Mommy Roze;
I now have 7 full nights of poor sleep. Poor, this time, is defined as: up more than six times and less than 15. Yup. That many. Last night was a treat, in the sense that only two beds and bodies needed to be cleaned.

So how is super mom coping?
She is:

Very tired.
"Lost it" once last night.
(Very angry bordering on abusive)
Obsessed about sleep.
My head is all fuzzy (from lack of sleep.)
Thinks nothing of a dirty bed or child anymore:
Bring it on-if only I can SLEEP!
Still virus free.

Speaking of sleep, we should have lunch.
After which, I shall nap. :)

The fresh bread looks fab.
But we shall be toasting it 'til it's very dry
and unpalatable.
Then the kids won't ingest too much.

By next week I'll be dying to attack something
heavy, full of fat, and very bad for you.

Soon I shall
SSSSSSSSSSSSSSleeep.

still alive

Daddy's turn.

Better?

So Melanie got it too.
But not Mommy or Daddy yet.
Or Daniel, thankfully.

But we may still get our turn. :)

Time to clean a bit.

Sick

Poor boys are sick.

We got the nasty bug that I was warned by a friend to avoid.
And it's highly contagious too, apparently.
Hopefully Melanie doesn't get it...but so far I haven't heard of anyone skipping it...I'm sure to get a turn too. :)

Ah well.

I will have lots and lots of laundry to fold when I get to that. Now I'm only concerned that there are clean sheets available when I need replacements. And yeah, I am resting as much as I can to make up for last night, and to try keep Daniel's food supply from diminishing.

That's the washer...time to do the laundry switcheroo.

I cannot imagine how mommy's ever managed to deal with this sort of thing when laundry was all done by hand!!!

Presenting Their Royal Highnesses:

In majestic attire.


Prince Nathan

The heir to the throne is pleased to show you his outfit.
He was rather disappointed when we got home
when he found his ribbon was hiding under his vest.
"Too bad nobody could see my pretty ribbon hiding under my vest"
says his majesty.

Princess Melanie

This beautiful girl blended in nicely with the other beauties at the party.
However, her intellect was noticeable lacking,
and she didn't follow everything that happened.
It was a five year old party after all, and she's only 3.
But she had fun anyways.

Prince Matthew

As is not uncommon with royal children, this child acted as one royally pampered.
After putting him down on the floor (he would not refrain from injuring his mother)
he still wanted to be held by her.
When denied this most reasonable desire of his,
he banged his regal head up and down on the floor.