Forward March! Part 2

Here's the video from the recent field trip. I have got to figure out an easier way to get videos from my camera to the blog.

Move Over Iron Chef

Kevin and the boys decided to make salsa this weekend. We are trying to find a good (easy) recipe that tastes like the salsa you get in a Mexican restaurant. The one he tried was good, but not great so the search continues. The good thing is that both boys love chips and salsa so I'm trying to figure out a way to sneak in some other good stuff too.

Milestones

He just decided it was time. No more training wheels. And no knee pads even though his mother requested that he wear them.

Try Not To Be Like Mike

I am not a huge sports fan. Probably doesn't come as a huge shock to most of you. I like them ok, but I'm not a die hard fan for any one particular team.

However, I've always liked David Robinson from the San Antonio Spurs. But not because of his basketball abilities. He is a very godly and very smart man. He spoke at a Math Convention that I attended (pocket protector alert). He was a math major at the Naval Academy. I was a math major too. We could be best friends. Ha! His witness for Christ both on and off the court have been inspirational to alot of people. I could get on a little soap box about how I feel about some professional athletes and their ridiculous salaries and poor lifestyle choices. But I won't. I also won't go into how annoyed I get when these same athletes do drugs and cheat on their wives, but then "Thank God" for winning a game.

Both David Robinson and Michael Jordan were recently inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame. I'm sure it has a more technical name than that, but I don't know what it is. Both gave acceptance speeches. Voddie Bauchaum a Christian author and speaker wrote a great article contrasting the two speeches here. David's speech is below. It is only seven minutes long. Michael's on the other hand is almost twenty minutes long.

I don't know if my boys will become heavily involved in sports or not. If they do, I sure hope they choose to emulate someone like David Robinson. Even if you don't have time to listen to the whole thing, catch what he says about his family starting at the 1:50 to 3:30 mark then fast forward it to the 6:45 mark and watch. What a classy, humble guy.

A Sad Throwback Thursday

This Throwback Thursday picture unfortunately has a sad story to go along with it.

The date was 36 years ago in August 1973. It was a birthday party for one of the kids from the church that I grew up in. The birthday boy is Dean Roy pictured on the left. Dean's cousin Dana is on the far left and a boy named Roger is on the right. Roger was one of those kids who always liked to have fun. You can probably see that little mischevous twinkle in his eyes. His grandmother was our church secretary for years. They lived close to our church so the church van stayed parked at their house. Rumor had it that he sneaked out of the house one night and took the church van out to cruise up and down Ruth Street in Sulphur which was "the thing" to do on Friday and Saturday nights in our little town. I don't know if that was true or not. But I still smile when I think about an old beat up blue church van cruising the strip with Roger at the wheel.

I recently ran across the above picture and just a few days ago I got a friend request from Roger on Facebook. We weren't really close growing up, but we did go to church together and saw each other here and there at school. I commented on his wall that his little girl looked so cute and asked how he was doing. You could tell from the pictures that she had her daddy wrapped around her little finger. She is probably about the same age now that he was in this picture (maybe 6 or 7). He responded that I "looked great" and he was contemplating moving back to Sulphur. Just small talk.

Tuesday of this week I found out he passed away. Just like that. He was 41 years old. I don't know any details of what happened. I am just very sad for his family (I knew many of his aunts and uncles, his dad and his brother and sister). I'm also sad for a little girl who won't grow up with her Daddy.

From Words to Full Sentences

New sentences from Luke:

"Let me have it."
"Che-chee what happened?" (if Fletcher is crying)
"What dat noise?"
"Dat hurt my ______" (fill in body part - the funny thing is he says it about everything even when he isn't hurt like when Kevin is rinsing his hair)
"Daddy, you big. Mommy, you big. Wuke is wittle." (he calls himself Wuke)
"Daddy, you haf good day?" (he asks this when Kevin gets home from work)
"Wuke cry a wittle bit" (he tells me this when I pick him up from preschool)
"Mommy always come back" (also tells me this when I pick him up)
"Happy Nappy. I wub you." (when I put him down for his nap)

And my favorite...
His room is a mess with toys everywhere -
Mom: Oh my goodness, who made this mess?
Luke: Um. Che-chee (Fletcher)
Mom: No, Fletcher didn't make it. Luke did. Who is going to clean it up?
Luke: Mommy do it

Still Life With Apples

Fletcher's kindergarten class is studying some of the great paintings from different time periods. For the last few weeks, they have been studying Still Life With Apples by Paul Cezanne. Here is the original:
Here is Fletcher's rendition:
I'm not sure why his letters are backwards in the title. It's like he copied a mirror image of the letters. After a quick Google search, there's actually a name for it -- mirror writing. It can be common in kids just learning to write. His name is done correctly. I'lll ask his teacher about it.

Forward March!

Our first "field" trip was to a large open field. How's that for a literal interpretation of the concept?

It was all about the Revolutionary War, Civil War, WWI, WWII, and the Vietnam War. It was rainy and muddy on Friday and the different stations were very spread out so we were only able to see a few things, but Fletcher (and his friend Noah) had fun. They were a little young for the American history aspect of the trip, but they enjoyed seeing the various military vehicles and people dressed up like soldiers from the different wars.

Fletcher saw this and said, "Look, Mom! They have barbeque here!" Actually this is a replica of a submarine used in the war. I suppose you could cook some serious bbq on this thing if it really were a grill.
The kids did a little marching and firing practice.

They watched a blacksmith make a horseshoe.

I have a few videos from the day too, but I am having trouble getting them to upload onto the blog. Guess I need to do some research... Maybe I'll post them later this week.

AmEx Points

Today is our first field trip for Fletcher's school. Given the subject matter of the field trip, I'm sure I'll have at least a story or two for Monday's post. I'll let you wonder all weekend what kind of trip it was.

We've had some American Express points for quite some time now and we haven't been able to come up with a good use for them. I had been asking for a camera small enough to put in my purse. Don't get me wrong, I love Kevin's big fancy camera. He takes amazing pictures with it. But the key word is BIG. Too big to lug around when trying to keep up with kids. Our video camera is big too. I wanted something I could carry with me to capture those everyday moments with the boys. As a bonus, I've heard many of the compact digital cameras have video capability as well. Kevin did some research. Coupled with a 30% off special, we were able to use some of our AmEx points for this:

It's a Canon Powershot SD 980IS

I wish I could impress you with some fancy camera language. All I know is that it has a nifty touch screen and records video in HD. I don't think our craigslist TV has HD but now my videos on the blog will be top notch. I think. We'll see if anyone notices a difference. Let's just hope it is super user friendly because I don't have time to read a manual. I'm too busy going on field trips.

Esther

I haven't done a Beth Moore Bible study in quite some time. She is a phenomenal Bible teacher. However, her studies require homework that takes about 45 minutes a day. With two small children, I haven't felt like I could make that work without getting way behind. Now with Fletcher in kindergarten and Luke in preschool, I decided to do the Esther: It's Tough Being A Woman study through our church. I've heard good things about it. I'm excited to see what God shows me through this study.

Here's a little Bible factoid for you: Did you know God's name is not mentioned one time in Esther. Not once. But as we learned on Wednesday, just because His name is absent doesn't mean his presence isn't all over the story in that book.

Big Plans

Conversation between Mom and Fletcher after having a not-so-fun discussion about always telling the truth even when it is difficult to do...

Fletcher (with a very serious look and tone): Mom, I need to tell you bye because I'm not going to see you again.
Mom: Oh? Where are you going?
Fletcher: I'm going to go live at another house.
Mom: So you are not going to see me again?
Fletcher: Yeah.
Mom: Where is this house going to be?
Fletcher: On the empty lot next door.
Mom: Like right next door?
Fletcher: Right out there (pointing out the window)
Mom: How will you get food?
Fletcher: I'll come back over here to eat.
Mom: But I thought you said you weren't going to see me again.
Fletcher: Hmmm

Clearly, there are a few kinks he needs to work out in his little plan.

I Not Wike

Conversation with all four of us in the car...

Fletcher: Dad, can you turn the radio to another station?
Kevin: (flipping through the stations stopping on a "Hits from the 70/80/90's" station)
Kevin: oooh good song.
Luke: I not wike dis song (translation: I don't like this song)
Kevin: This is a good song. Fire and Rain.
Rachel: This is James Taylor.
Luke: I not wike 'ames waylor

Hi, meet Luke. He is two years old. Can you tell? :-)

This is just one of many recent examples of his new found "opinion". I just wish they didn't all start with "I not wike ______"

One more for the record. Kevin was helping him thank Jesus for breakfast yesterday morning. Luke has started saying "yep" and "uh-huh" when he agrees with what you are saying. So the prayer went a little like this...

Kevin: Dear Jesus, thank you for today.
Luke: Yep
K: Thank you for Mommy, Daddy, Fletcher and Sadie
L: Uh-huh
K: Thank you for my oatmeal
L: Yep
K: Thank you for my orange juice
L: Uh-huh
K: Help me to have a good day today
L: Yep
K: And obey mommy and daddy with a happy heart
L: Um (then long silence) A-men

Got Milk?

Last year about this time, Luke's nose started running like a faucet. Non-stop. Buy stock in the Kleenex Corporation. Runny nose. I assumed it was probably seasonal allergies, but he was too young to do any kind of testing. Some tests come back as "false positives" if kids get tested too early.

So at his 2 year check up, I asked his pediatrician about testing again. He said we would do an Immunocap test which tests the blood as opposed to a skin prick test. Blood tests are supposedly more accurate. I won't go into the details of the visit to the lab to get the blood drawn. Let's just say, it was less than a fun experience for all parties involved.

We received the results and apparently Luke has a milk allergy. Huh? I've been giving him oh, I don't know, milk, cheese, yogurt, chocolate milk, quesadillas, pizza, cheese sticks, grilled cheese sandwiches, ice cream, shakes, and all manner of dairy since he was about a year old. Let me give you my address so you can send me the Mother of The Year Award.

Typically, children with milk allergies have significant symptoms like eczema, diarrhea, vomiting, stomach aches, etc. Luke has had none of that. None. Just a runny nose that stopped running for the last 6 months as soon as the weather got warm. But his milk intake never changed. Figure that one out and get back to me!

Well, we went back to the doctor's office so he could explain the results to me and we could figure out what to do next. His suggestion was to go one entire month with no milk in his diet then reintroduce it over a three day period. After a month of no milk then three days with milk, if we don't see any significant changes then we can just go back to a normal diet. I guess the mentality is that the number is so low (.78 if that means anything), that having milk here and there probably doesn't bother him.

But here's the kicker.

Go into your pantry and start reading labels.

I'll wait.

Oh my goodness gracious. Milk is in everything! Well, obviously not everything. But it is in LOTS of stuff. It is even in some lunch meat. How weird is that?

I went to our local healthy food store and bought rice milk, oat milk, and almond milk. I also bought yogurt made with coconut milk and cheese made with rice milk. I made smoothies with the coconut milk yogurt and no one complained. I made scrambled eggs with almond milk and they ate them. Thankfully, some of the cereals, crackers, and snacks Luke already likes are dairy free as are all of the fruits he likes so he'll still have familiar foods.

I have a whole new appreciation for moms whose children have severe allergies. Reading labels wears me out. Thinking about every single thing my child puts in his mouth is exhausting. I had to pack him a special snack for church since they serve goldfish and - you guessed it - they have milk in them. We went to Five Guys for lunch on Sunday. I asked about their hamburger and hotdog buns and sure enough, they have milk in them.

This could be a long four weeks. I'll let you know what we discover.

Linus Would Be Proud

It's the great pumpkin Charlie Brown. Or in our case, it's nothing short of a miracle. We have one orange pumpkin and three or four white ones growing in our garden. They should be a nice size by the time Halloween gets here.

Let Them Be Little

We did a little photo shoot with the boys over the Labor Day weekend. Some of our favorites are below the video.

The song is by Billy Dean. Needless to say, I am a bit lacking in the audio editing realm.

Luke's First Day Of Preschool

Well, He did ok. He was excited to go to school. So excited that I had trouble getting him to stand still for a picture as you can see below. Once we got there, he went in the room and I helped him find a toy to play with. I stayed for a little while and told him the I had to go to a meeting. He seemed ok and kissed me goodbye, but once I was actually out of the room, he started crying and the teacher held him. When I picked him up at noon, the teacher said he would cry, calm down, then cry more, then calm down. Having Rocky there really helped. I am sure it will get better with time. Thanks for the prayers!

Star Of The Week

Fletcher came home Friday with a piece of blank poster board. His name was drawn out of the hat as the first "Star of the Week" so he needed to create a poster all about himself. But there were no instructions. I vaguely remember seeing the teacher's poster at the Open House but I was too busy keeping up with Luke to really read it. I asked, "Fletcher, are you sure your teacher didn't give you any piece of paper with directions?" He said she didn't. I So I emailed her and she sent the instructions. Thankfully, she also sent two picture examples - hers and a student from last year's class.

I had a difficult time not letting my OCD tendencies kick in and do the project for him. I do have lots of cute fonts, scrapbook paper, and crafty stuff. But I wanted him to do work too. The teacher did say parents could do the writing since most of these kids are just learning letters. As you can see we did a combo of both. He drew pictures of most of the items.
Just in case you can't read it - here's his list
Favorite book - The Boxcar Children
Favorite subject - science
Favorite Bible story - David and Goliath
Birthday - Dec 16
Favorite color - blue
Favorite food - tacos
I wish for a hunting gun
I want to be a policeman when I grow up
Favorite thing to do - play outside
Favorite place - Gatlinburg
We also included a picture of him, a family picture, a picture of him as a little guy, a picture of him playing outside and a picture of him in Gatlinburg.
It took awhile but I think he was proud of himself for writing all those words.

A Mama's Heart

Both of my boys are navigating new territory. Fletcher started kindergarten and Luke is starting preschool two mornings a week. Sometimes it's hard for a mama's heart to handle. Fletcher said numerous times last week that he loves school. He was sad that he didn't get to go on Friday. Those are either home learning days or field trip days.

However, he mentioned to Kevin Saturday night before bed that a particular boy in his class told him that he didn't like him. Fletcher also said that same child said he didn't want to sit next to Fletcher at lunch. Earlier in the week Fletcher told me this child pushed him down the slide. Of course, at that age it is hard to know how much of it is true, first of all. Second, how much is just "boys being boys". Third, what exactly did Fletcher say or do first. And finally how much is just both of them being five years old and saying anything that comes into their little minds. But it is still hard to hear. The Mama Bear in me wants so badly to fix it all. Remember this post? I mean, after all, how could someone not like my child? Right? I'm finding that even at a small school, kids can say and do unkind things. It's just life and part of the world we live in (the world that is only our temporary home). We are trying to give Fletcher a toolbox, so to speak, of things he can say and do in these situations. Also, we remind him that Jesus is always right there with him. We've also started praying for his classmates (by name) - not so much that God would change them, but that Fletcher would always treat them in a kind and loving way no matter how anyone else acts.

Luke's preschool starts Tuesday. He'll be there from 9:30 am to 1:30 pm. Hopefully. He still has trouble being away from me in the church nursery and that's just a little over an hour. I'm not sure how he will handle preschool. His teachers seem super nice and we talked about things he likes and ways to help him (books, going outside, food). He's just never away from me that often so when I do leave him, he is not sure what to do. We normally leave Rocky (his stuffed dog lovey) at home, but I told his teacher I will probably tuck it into his backpack if they can't get him calmed down. At church, he has a different teacher every week, but at preschool Ms. Jennifer and Ms. Amy are there all the time. Let's hope that consistency works in our favor. Say a little prayer for him on Tuesday morning if you think of him.

I think this Mama's heart needs to get prayed up. I am sure those of you with older children are smiling or perhaps chuckling and thinking "She has no idea..." If I think preschool and kindergarten are hard, I don't know how on earth I will handle the preteen and teenage years.

Oops!

With the start of school, a bad couple of days (better now) and me catching a cold, I completely forgot to blog last night.

More interesting life stories on Monday.

Have a great weekend!

Alexander

We have a children's book called Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day. Poor Alexander is having a rough time at school, with his siblings, and his parents. He thinks that if he just moves to Australia all will be well.

After the last two days, I feel a teeny bit like Alexander.

Here's the brief recap:

The new school year has thrown a kink into Luke's nap schedule. I pick up Fletcher at 2:05 and we get home by 2:15 or so. Luke has been going down for his nap around 1 to 1:30. I have to keep talking to him in the car to keep him awake until we get home. Well, Tuesday Luke decided naps were no fun and he was still talking in his bed at 3 pm.

Our kitchen has one of those pull out trash cans disguised as a cabinet. I must have left it open slightly because Sadie got into it (also Tuesday afternoon). There were coffee grounds, shredded diaper and who knows what else all over the kitchen floor. Time to clean up and wash the kitchen rugs.

The weather was so nice out that we went to a friend's house to play for awhile before dinner. Luke was on the top level of their play set about 5 feet up. He said he wanted to get down but I was holding Jen's baby so Jen was going to help him down. For whatever reason he started backing away from her and fell out of the opening of the play set onto the ground below. I was yelling "Luke! Stop!" but I couldn't get to him in time. Did I mention it was five feet up? He was fine (covered in mulch with even some in his mouth), but I was a bit shaken.

Kevin was out of town on Tuesday night. I always have trouble sleeping when he is gone. I finally fell asleep and was awakened at 4:42 am by the "whoo-hooo-hooing" of an owl somewhere in our backyard. It continued for a good 10 minutes until I was thoroughly awake! Grrrr!

We got Fletcher off to school on Wednesday morning only to return home to the realization that I had left our bedroom door open. We always keep it closed and I just rushed out and forgot to check. Some of you may remember from a previous post that we "retrained" Sadie to sleep on a dog bed instead of our bed. Well, in the 15 minute round trip to school, she hopped up on our bed and urinated gallons of pee. I am not kidding when I say I've never seen that much pee come out of a dog --- AFTER I already taken her out a few minutes before we left. It's like she was saving it all up. She did it on Kevin's side of the bed (remember he's not home) so clearly she is less than impressed with the care she is receiving in his absence. I think I could even say she might be a little miffed that he seems to go away every week or so.

So I strip our bed because she got it everywhere - sheets, mattress cover, down duvet, duvet cover. Time to wash everything. I go into the laundry room and I'm reminded of the kitchen rugs. Two of the three are still damp so I throw them in the dryer. Bad idea. I go back to check on them and the stuff on the back of them that makes them "non skid" has flaked off everywhere into the dryer. It was like I had dried a load of sand. So Luke and I cleaned that up because of course without his brother here he is bored to tears and has nothing to do.

But I am reminded that I have two healthy happy children. Fletcher loves school. Kevin has a good job that provides for our family. I am loved by my family and my heavenly Father. So even on those terrible, horrible, no good, very bad days (or in my case, two days), I hope I can choose to find the positive instead of dwelling on the negative.

But a trip to Australia might be nice.

And This Is Just The First Week

This is the email we received from Fletcher's teacher.

This week in Kindergarten B:

Bible: Our school in its entirety will be studying "Who I Am In Christ" this year in morning assembly, or "Alpha time," and following along the same theme in our afternoon classroom Bible time, or "Omega time." This first week we will go through Arborbrook's motto together: I Am, I Can, I Ought, I Will. Your child will be learning, "I am a unique child of God, created in His image. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. I ought to do God's will. I will make the right choice and do what the Lord requires of me."
Our first memory verse will be I John 3:2, "Beloved, now are we (the) children of God, and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as He is." Usually we use the NIV version, but this week I am using the NKJV because I have a song we can use to fit this translation and make it easier to learn.

Language Arts: Our first book for morning read aloud time will be The Kissing Hand, by Audrey Penn, and wonderful, tender story about a little raccoon on his first day (night) of school. Then we will begin reading a chapter a day of Flat Stanley, and the children will make their own Flat Stanley to send out in the mail!
For phonics and copywork we will be reviewing the proper way to hold a pencil and write our names, and also learning our "A-Z Sounds" song.
Every day we also make time for silent reading so the children can enjoy books on their own!

Math: We will begin with instruction in the correct way to write the numbers 0-9, use our teddy bear manipulatives to practice counting, play "Giant Dice" bingo, and even do a graphing activity to get to know one another better.

Science and Nature Study: We will learn good forest manners and take our first walks on the nature trail, and also make a nature bracelet to wear home.

Poetry and Composer Study: We try to weave poems and rhymes into our day several times a week, and also share great music with the children at least once a week. This week's piece will be "Claire de Lune" by Claude Debussy, and the children will have the opportunity to paint while listening.

Picture Study: We also make time each week to acquaint the children with great works of art in different forms and from different countries. We begin the year with Paul Cezanne's "Still Life With Apples."

Five in a Row/ Galloping the Globe: This is my favorite part of the day, as we travel around the world through books and a variety of special activities! Our first Five In a Row book is Letters From Felix, a precious story about a little girl whose stuffed bunny, Felix, gets lost in a airport and ends up visiting a number of exotic countries and sending her letters about his adventures. It is such a fun way for the children to get interested in geography. Oh, and we will be learning our continents song, to the tune of "Yankee Doodle."

I am praying for your children by name before I go to bed at night, and asking God to work in their hearts and lives as they learn this year, that they might grow as Jesus did-- in wisdom, in stature, and in favor with God and man!

First Day of School

As promised, here are the pictures from Fletcher's first day of school. Unfortunately, it was raining, but he was still really excited. He does have to wear a uniform (gold, white, blue or dark green shirt with khaki or navy shorts).

At breakfast yesterday he asked me if I could please clean up the house while he was at school. He said, "It would be nice to come home to a lovely clean house." Yes, lovely. Oh how I will miss him while he is at school! The school hosted a Boo Hoo Brunch for all the moms of kindergarteners. I did ok. I think Luke was enough of a distraction for me not to think too hard about my baby going to kindergarten.

He is attending a small Christian school near our house. There are 8 children in his kindergarten class - 5 boys and 3 girls. The school follows a "Charlotte Mason" philosophy which includes lots of time outdoors exploring God's creation, books, great composers, great artists and the basics. Fridays are either field trip days or "home education" days which means they don't physically go to the school on Fridays but they do still learn at home or on a field trip. Some of the trips this year include a trip to a Train Museum, a trip to a real gold mine where they can pan for gold and a trip to an apple orchard. Kevin and I feel like this will be a great school for Fletcher.

Tomorrow, I'll post the email that his kindergarten teacher sent out listing the things they will be doing this week.