Preschool Corner

~Wyatt is 4 years old. Levi is 3 years old~


Looking back, I found that the last post about our tot school and preschool corner adventures was quite a few months ago! But that doesn't mean that we haven't been doing "school". That's the awesome thing about teaching your children at home, it can happen anywhere, about anything, at anytime! I just happen to "document" on my blog every once in awhile for memory sake (and the grandparents of course!)
Since I posted last, we have gone through the alphabet up to Letter W. I follow (very loosely) The Letter of the Week idea, but sometimes it takes us 2 weeks to get through all the fun activities and lessons on the particular letter. And when I say it takes 2 weeks, that still is only 3 or 4 days total of actual "preschool" around the kitchen table. No need to have sit-down "school" everyday! We have plenty of fun things that keep us busy from errands to playdates, to chores to family time. To read more on the "curriculum" I have used for my now 4 yr old and 3 yr old, read this post.

We did fun activities for Letter N is for Nest (in the spring time, complete w/ our very own robin nest in our pergola outside Levi's window) Wish I had a picture of that! But here is a picture of the Bird's Nests we made at Easter.



We did coloring pages for Letter O is for Octopus
And reading books from the library for Letter P is for Penguin
And fun color by number for Letter Q is for Quilt.
For Letter R, we did a great painting activity and made a rainbow by dipping the eraser side of a pencil in paint and making dots along along an arch.


For Letter S we had coloring pages of snakes (Levi's favorite) and did a Letter Hunt for things that start w/ the Letter S that we could find in our house.
For Letter T, I finally captured some pictures of our activities...

Below is Levi's sorting of Uppercase and Lowercase T's

Wyatt practicing tracing (all printables in these pics are from www.confessionsofahomeschooler.com)

Levi doing a color matching game also from Confessions of a Homeschooler



Then we did Letter U for umbrella and had some more color by number fun along w/ library books as always to go w/ our theme!
Now we are going thru V, W, X, Y, Z at Grandma's house this summer!

And there are always puzzles to enjoy! This is one of the biggest ones Wyatt has ever worked on! I love my preschoolers :-)

June

WOW--a month since I posted last!! I have intended many times to post something, but it just never happened! And we have been quite busy w/ lots of "moving" (of sorts). When I was packing our bags in preparation for our 2 months in PA, it sure felt like we were packing up to move again! Considering it only took about 5 days to pack and I could leave all my wall hangings and dishes, I guess it wasn't quite as bad as the 5 moves we have made in the past 4 years! And then every 10 days or so while we are up here in PA, I will be packing my and the kids' bags to go to and from camp and Grandma's house and vice versa!! Seriously, I should write an e-book on Sensible, Organized Packing! ha! I think I have learned quite alot of tips to pass along! Actually between me and my sister (her husband is in sports evangelism and travels 9 months out of the year), I think we could write a best seller!

We are having a blast in PA, but I miss my house! After not having a permament residence for the past (almost) 4 years, it was so great to finally be settled! It made it harder to leave NC this summer. Can't believe this is our 4th summer spent in PA! The first year Adam had this summer job, Levi was only 8 weeks old!

And Wyatt was only 16 months!

Ahhh...a 2 month old and a 16 month old, a daughter and son-in-law, and a dog invading my parents' house for the whole summer!! Not sure if they were thrilled or not, but we have some great memories and pictures for sure! Can't believe this was 3 years ago!


Ok, onto this summer so far...I am pleased to announce that I made it thru--staying NINE DAYS and NIGHTS at camp!! ha! that's the longest stretch of time I have ever stayed! It's not "camp" itself; it's the 2 preschoolers that live in our cabin that makes it tricky! :-) Like any vacation with children, you're ready to come home to some normalcy after awhile...at least I am! They can only get so over-tired and over-stimulated! By the 9th day, the meltdowns were more frequent than the happy times, so I knew it was time to go!
Unfortunately, it rained 5 of those 9 days that we were at camp. Thankfully, they have a great Arts & Crafts building and also an indoor gymnastics arena. The boys loved painting on big paper w/ huge paintbrushes! And of course they loved the gymnastics arena b/c they could just run around and jump on the huge trampoline (which I have since learned is called a tumbling track!).
It was too cool to do any of the water activities...pool, lake, lake trampoline, etc). Yes, "too cool"!! Wyatt keeps telling people that "it's so hot in NC but not here!" The weather is alot cooler and more rainy, but everything is so GREEN! The grass is amazing!! Soft, green, no fire ants, no red clay-dirt! The kids (and I) love to go bare foot up here since we don't get to very often in NC!
Now we are at my parents' house for a while to enjoy some of my parents' time off from work for the 4th of July and a trip to Dutch Wonderland!

Here are some pictures from our time at camp back in June:

They have gotten alot of practice at hitting wiffle balls that Daddy pitches to them.

Wyatt can't get enough of "baseball". He even runs the bases after a good hit!

The gymnastics arena is a favorite for both boys!

It's a full gym w/ a tumble track, uneven bars, balance beam, vault, horse, etc!!


The arts and crafts building. Painting "smocks" on!

Levi helping Daddy pick up the basketballs at the end of activity time for the campers.

Butterflies

I bought a Butterfly kit last winter when a homeschool store was going out of business. I got it for a great deal and thought it would be interesting to watch the catepillars change into butterflies. They had done this at our local library the year before and the boys asked alot of questions about the whole process.
I don't have any pictures of the beginning stages of the catepillars or their chrysilas, but these pics are the day that we let the butterflies go. Levi was standing ready w/ his butterfly to catch one when it started flying. Sadly, they flew up and away so fast, he really had no chance. Wyatt was able to get one to momentarily go on his finger b4 it flew away, but my camera wasn't quick enough to capture the moment ;-(
One of my favorite blogs is doing a give-away for a butterfly kit. And I would love win this and do the butterfly project again next Spring! You can enter to win too!
Just click here for details.

May--potty training, strawberries, flower pics

The first week of May, I cleared my calendar and STAYED HOME (no errands, no playdates, no park) to focus on potty training with my 2nd born child! I thought it might be a little easier since I potty trained W just a year and a half ago. What was thinking? I must have forgotten that tiny, but oh so important fact that L is a strong-willed, stubborn (is that the same thing?), "I do it by myself" kind-of-child!
L turned 3 in April. He talks and comprehends like a 5 yr old (and I'm not even over-exaggerating or biased...it's crazy the stuff he verbalizes). But his actions and understanding of right and wrong are age appropriate for a "terrible two stage" who just recently turned 3 yrs old. So, that combined w/ his personality...I very quickly realized on Day 1 of potty training, that it was not going to be easy. After potty training one child already, I totally understand that there WILL be messes. Lots of messes! I get that. I will be cleaning pee and poop off of the floor, out of underwear, out of bedding, etc, etc. That's one of the hard parts of potty training. Also, there's the challenge of getting them to understand the whole process, and physically controlling it. I knew that would be hard too. I never thought that I'd also be fighting to get him to just sit there. I had special drinks, special snacks, prizes and rewards, special movies, etc, etc. I thought we'd just spend lots of time sitting on the potty chair, potty ring, big potty...whatever! I was ready...or so I thought. I didn't think he would cry about sitting there. I mean I was giving him "the world"...allowing him to watch movies all AM, eat candy, etc. Let's just sit here! Oh no! Tears, angry grunts of protest, "I-don't-want-to-sit"....over and over! well, to shorten the story, after many days of trying many different angles, promising him a bike, and a bunk bed...nothing worked to peak an interest in him towards being a big boy like W and Daddy. He would occasionally have a success on the potty (not w/o a fight to get him on it), but then he would poop in his underwear and not even tell me. He didn't even mind sitting in it. YUCK!!
Then one day, I heard him get out of his bed during his nap time. I went upstairs to see what he was doing, and I was met in the hallway w/ the noise of a flushing toilet and w/ him hoisting a stool over his head carrying it back to his room and a big smile on his face. "Mommy, I went pee-pee in your potty all by myself!"
Now of course, the toilet had been flushed, so I had no proof if it actually happened. I asked him if he went standing up to sitting (we had been working on both, but he's not quite tall enough yet). He said he stood on his stool. I asked him if any drips got on the potty or the floor. (still wondering if this actually happened). He said, "Yes, but I wiped it w/ my shirt"....oh Levi!!! :-)
And THAT was the day that Levi decided that he would go potty all by himself! We have had less than 5 accidents since that day a month ago! Even overnight, he wears underwear and wakes up dry! Praise the Lord!

Tears


Silent protest


Also, in May, we enjoyed strawberries from our own garden!! The previous owner had planted a strawberry patch either last year or perhaps the year before, and we got to enjoy them this spring!


All of the following were also planted by the previous owner! I hope I can keep them going year after year!
Different variety of tulips


Gorgeous Climbing Rose Bush


Peonies!


Rhododendron

Most often on my "New Favorite Book" list...

Adam laughs, but I often have "new" favorite things. Do you??
I'll say, "This is my 'new' favorite food, resturant, movie, book, etc, etc". I guess the 'new' part is the fact that I'm saying it's my favorite right now. Or I like it so much that it's a favorite of mine, but it doesn't mean that something else in that same category that was my favorite a few months ago is no longer my favorite.
Make sense?? If you are a female, it will probably make a little more sense I guess.

Well, I have been re-reading a favorite book of mine the past few weeks. I think it's the 3rd time I have read it completely through. I often open the book and turn to dog-eared pages or flip thru to find the sections that I have underlined on a prior read-thru. The way I'm describing it, it sounds like a text book that I am studying. And in a way I am!

"Don't Make Me Count to Three" by Ginger Plowman.


I love it b/c she is really down to earth and the way she writes shows that she just a "normal" stay at home mom that struggles w/ the same things that I do. She is funny and keeps it real too. And most importantly she uses lots of scripture references, and quotes verses all throughout the book.
She points out that we should NOT have to say "don't make me count to three". When we say that or repeat ourselves, saying, "I told you to..." Then our children grow to expect that they do not have to obey when they hear us the first time. They know we are going to count to three or repeat our instructions again b4 we really "mean business".
She also points out how the phrase "Who had it first?" is really not best. Both children are NOT "preferring one another" as the Bible instructs. It doesn't matter who had it first. They are both being selfish.
I just love this book so much with all her real life examples and how she puts the focus on "what does the Bible say?" that I just had to post about it! I am not getting paid for this and didn't get a free book or anything. Just had a "day off from my job" and wanted to share something that has helped me in hopes that it will help you too! It's very similar to the "heart training" talked about in the book Shepherding a Child's Heart by Tedd Tripp.
Below is an exerpt from her book that gives the underlying tone that she set throughout the whole book.

I would like to encourage you to keep searching and learning from your holy instruction manual, the Bible. What a blessing it is that God has not left us to figure out how to raise our children on our own. He has provided us with everything we need for life and godliness. Please know that this book does not contain everything that you need to know for raising your children. You can't do step A and then step B and always get C as a result. If you depend only on the information I have provided, you will wind up defeated and confused. You must be 100% dependent upon God and His Word. His will is not for us to be defeated and confused, but dependent upon Him. And when we acknowledge Him in all our ways, He promises to give us wisdom and make our paths straight. "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight" Proverbs 3:5-6
Training our children in righteousness is a process, but God promises that just like laboring in a garden, we will reap what we sow. Let us keep on sowing the seeds of righteousness. I can think of no better garden to plant those seeds in than in the soil of my children's hearts. To God be the Glory!

My Baby Turned 3!

Levi's birthday was in April, but today was his due date!! He started out surprising us with being born a month early, and now everday with Levi is unpredictable :-)
But he sure is sweet!! Can't believe my baby boy is 3 yrs old and no longer a toddler. I love you Levi!

The day of his birthday party started out a little rough w/ Adam, Wyatt and I having food poisioning from the night before. But Levi had no idea and was so excited for his party. I re-used the Diego themed items from Wyatt's 3rd birtday party. Thankfully they are still too young really know or care about stuff like that. I'm all about getting the most out of our money by doing second-hand for anything and everything!

April

Wow--the whole month is GONE! April was crazy for us (thus no blog posts).
Every weekend we had something going on starting with Wyatt's outpatient surgery (umbilical hernia repair--Google it for info), then Levi's 3rd birthday (I will give him his own blog post and pics tomorrow), then a trip to the Outer Banks, then Adam's family came to town for Easter, then our neighborhood yard sale! Phew!
I got behind on everything!! Not much "school" done w/ the kids, not many pictures, not many blog posts, not much cleaning...just enough chores to have clean clothes, towels, and dishes.
I still can't belive how fast "time is flying" now that the boys are older and more self-sufficient. It seemed as if time just drug on when we were in the baby stages and not getting much sleep. Back then, I was so much looking forward to the preschool ages, that now I feel like I wished away the baby stages and didn't enjoy them enough ;-( But I'm not going to waste anymore time wishing away things but instead eat up every minute of the time with them now! But now of course the time is flying and I wish I could slow it down. Or better yet, stop it completely! Well, maybe I'd stop it AFTER Levi is totally potty trained...I'm ready to be past the act of potty training! ugh!

Here are some pictures and info from April:

Right before they gave him the "silly juice" to relax him in prep for the anesthesia


"Silly Juice" is kicking in. He kept asking everyone how we knew his name. ha!


The silly juice made him look really drugged and swollen in his face too.


Afterwards a few hours in recovery that were very rough, he was happy for this popsicle (which he promptly threw up right after we were discharged)


This Beach Access sign is just a few hundred feet from my in-laws house at the Outer Banks. The walk up the sandy path thru the dunes to the beach is actually further than the distance we walked from their house to this sign! Great location!




Almost there...beautiful dunes and the beach all to ourselves!


Since the water was too cold, the boys spent alot of time "playing" football.


More football


Family picture


The Easter treats we decorated (and taste tested) for the neighbors. (click on the picture to enlarge the view)


More Easter treats...Bird's Nests complete with jelly bean "eggs", and Peep "birds".


Easter Sunday family picture


Adam's parents with all their grandchildren


All the Haines grandchildren (click to enlarge photo to see Levi's priceless facial expression)