Homeschool Work

This year I am focusing more on Bible memorization (books and verses) as well as Catechisms questions. I want this year to give us a good foundation for her first real year of homeschooling.... next year :-) I came up with a fun activity for Lula Mae to help her work on learning the books of the Bible. I saw someone on pintest use popsicle sticks to help kids memorize Bible verses so I switched it up and did the books of the Bible the same way. Take a look at our newest school activity!

 

 

 

 As you can see, Lula Mae loved this activity! She pulls is out frequently and I think it has really helped! She learned the New Testament so quickly!

 

I Blinked

And my babies, my tiny little babies....

 

Lula Mae at 4 days old

   

Jayce at 5 days old

                                                           

....turned into kids.

Jayce at 2 years 5 months & Lula Mae at 4 years and 5 months

These precious years are slipping away. I have pictures, videos, calendars with special notes written on them.... but I will never get to live these years again. I am trying to slow down and cherish these moments that are so swiftly leaving. And yet, time just seems to move faster. The busyness of "life" too often robs me of the precious moments I want to enjoy. I have to remind myself every single day that my babies are not babies and I need to slow down, hold them, tell them how special they are, stare at their little faces, hold their little hands, memorize the sounds of their voices, etch their silly laughs into my brain.... enjoy them while they are still little.

When did it happen though? I missed the transition somewhere. How is it that I have kids?

My babies are kids.

Our New Behavior Chart

We have been dealing with lots of new behavior around our house. Some good, but unfortunately, mostly bad. I spent some time on Pintrest and searched for a new method to help us get a handle on these behaviors, both good and bad. I wanted more than just a "oh look you are on a smiley face".... what does that even mean? I wanted something with Biblical linking and explanations. After looking at different charts and systems, I gathered up some materials and created our new behavior chart. Sorry the pictures are so terrible, it was late when I took the pictures so the lighting was horrible. 

 

This is a full length shot so you can see it all together.  To bad it's blurry :-/

 

At the top I have Galatians 6:5 "For we are each responsible for our own conduct" as a good reminder to the kids that they need to be worried about what THEY are doing, not what the other is doing. That is Lula Mae's new thing... telling me everything Jayce has done wrong.... so fun! 

 Each morning they start the day on green. I thought that verse worked perfect :-) There are 3 levels above green (blue, indigo and purple). Each level has a description of what behavior coincides. This way we can go over the description with the kids and explain how their behavior was right or wrong.   

 Below green there are also three levels (yellow, orange and red).

 Lula Mae and Jayce each have their names on a clothes pin and I clip them on opposite sides.

 I'm not going to lie, I'm worried we are going to see this a lot....

 Luckily the popper (our "rod") is hanging right beside the chart so it is easily accessible. Yep, that pink spatula is our rod. Think what you want, we discipline or kids in a Biblical way. 

I am going to have a sticker chart for each of them beside the behavior chart, then at the end of each day if they have ended on green, blue, indigo or violet they will get a sticker on their chart. Once the chart is full they get a special day with Mommy and Daddy. It's fun! It gives them a little incentive to keep their clothes pin on the upper part of the chart. 

Normal Life

Last week was CRAZY BUSY, so this week, the kids may look like this....

 

 because I just don't have the energy to even care what they dress themselves in. Sigh. I am just thrilled that one of my kids has the ability to dress themselves, even if her style is... ehhhh.... eclectic? 

We are on summer break from school, but Lula Mae has been asking to do some work so I am not sure how long our break will actually be. Jayce is interested in "school" as well so it looks like my class just doubled for next year ;-) I am going to be buckling down and getting my school closet in order and ready to go! That is number one on my list right now. 

 Jayce is having a rough summer. His skin is bad. Really, really bad. We have an allergist appointment tomorrow to try and figure out if he perhaps has developed another allergy. He is also really asserting himself these days.... not in a good way. We have lots of fits, lots of time outs, lots of apologies, lots of spankings.... just lots of the nitty gritty part of parenting that people don't like to talk about. He is not quite as strong willed as Lula Mae, but he is still a pretty far cry from a compliant child. I know this is bad, but I have to remind myself that God made him perfect and just the way He wanted him. 

We have signed the contract for the surrogacy and it has been given back to all respective parties. Pretty soon I will begin my end of the deal. I'm basically PUMPED! 

Charlie and I took the kids to the beach for a day. It was interesting.  Jayce did not seem to like the sand, but he loved the water. Lula Mae even seemed to enjoy the water. I was pretty shocked! It was a fun day and I loved seeing them have so much fun. 

Normal life has just kept me so busy these days. I love normal life though. That is where amazing memories are made, that is where life lessons are taught, that is where God teaches us the most. However when normal life keeps me busy, my poor blog, like yours I am sure, get pushed to the back burner. I have been sneaking around in the shadows visiting your blogs and trying to keep up! I hope you are all having a great summer! 

Be back soon with more random updates from our crazy busy life!

The Little Things

Lula Mae loves drawing and writing. Her favorite thing to do these days is make cards and messages for people. After a tough day, nothing melts my heart like finding this on my nightstand.

And when I flip it over and see this.... 

...it blows my mind. Number one, it blows my mind how smart my 4 year old is to write so many things all on her own.... number two, it blows my mind how unconditionally loved I am by her. She sees the good in me, even when I can't. She loves me unconditionally, even though I don't show her that same unconditional love. She loves the Lord and I see that in the little things like this. I am honored to get to call her my daughter. The little things like this help make up for all that bad moments of the day for sure!  

And Then She Was 4....

 

 I had an amazing pregnancy with Lula Mae. Other than some preterm contractions and delivering at 36 weeks, everything was perfect. Even being born 4 weeks early our little girl was healthy. 6 lbs 3 oz and as precious as could be, we were smitten.

 

 I loved every moment of her babyhood. She was an easy baby. Her biggest problem was needing to be on a rigid schedule. I liked the schedule, don't get me wrong, but this girl wanted everything to be the same... every.single.day. Don't even think about messing it up by half an hour! OCD from day one folks, I kid you not!

 Her first 6 months were good. She was cute as a button and such a happy girl. Although she still had peach fuzz for hair.... no bows for this girl yet!

At a year she was bubbly and talkative. She was always laughing and smiling. She was so content to just sit and play. So content! By this time she was already reading so many words and was so into learning new ones!

By 18 months she finally decided to walk.  Her hair was growing... and as it grew those curls started showing! She loved being outside and would talk your head off if you let her. She had started reading sentences at this point.

 

At two she became a big sister. He curls we getting longer and more precious! She was a sweet little girl and yet so sassy. Tiny and talkative still. 

 As she neared 3 we saw so much change in her. Lots of personality and independence came spilling out of her tiny body.

 At 3 we hit a wall. Don't let that sweet face fool you, she was quite a wild one. She started learning how to be a person and that my friends got ugly. She started throwing fits and tantrums like you would not believe. We figured it would not be long and we would be out off the woods and start seeing our sweet little girl again. 

We were wrong! The second half of her 3rd year was terrible. We struggled day in and day out with this little curly headed thing. I won't lie, there were times where I thought she must be the spawn of satan! She made everything from eating to going to the store difficult. She was harder at 3 and a half than any other stage and Charlie and I both were being worn down. Our little curly headed girl is one of the strongest willed children I have ever seen, and I know God will use her mightily someday! 

And now she is 4. No longer a baby, or even a toddler.... a little kid. A kid with spunk and personality that I cannot do justice writing about. She is a one of a kind and I am so blessed to call her my daughter! She is so smart that it is scary sometimes. She has all the books of the old Testament memorized and knows roughly 30 bible verses and 29 Catechisms. She adores church and everyone there. She loves worship music and has a new love for dancing. She would live outside if it were up to her. She loves Veggie Tales and would spend all day in front of a TV if we would allow it. She never meets a stranger. She is quite a big helper, but you have to ask for it... she is not one to just jump in there. We are still working on having a servants heart ;-) She can blow your mind with her deep thoughts and conversations. The more I look at her the more I fill with pride. I am so proud of her in so many ways. She started out so tiny and seems so big now. God is working hard on her and I adore seeing the process. This year was our toughest yet with Lula Mae but Charlie and I are both still standing and we won't give up on this precious little girl!

Happy birthday Lula Mae Bell. I love you so much!

Not Babies

I just cleaned 4 years of grime off of our high chair because Jayce is now in a booster seat at the table.

He sits there like it is no big deal.

We just took down our two walk through baby gate (technically Jayce ripped one out of the wall, hulk style) Why have a gate up when the youngest child can open it on his own.

He would walk through and then close it behind himself like it was no big deal.

I no longer have to carry Jayce to the van. He can climb into the van and then into his seat all by himself.

He jumps in a waits to be buckled like it is no big deal

When Jayce finds trash on the floor he takes it to the trash can.

He tells me later that he threw something away like it is no big deal.

But it is a big deal.  To me at least. My baby is doing things for himself, needing me less and less. That is a big deal! I think my husband is secretly thrilled with all of these events, but I am somehow sad. It is odd feeling less needed by my kids. For nearly 4 years now I have been needed. Now all of a sudden, I'm kinda not. I am grateful that my kids are happy, healthy and basically normal. Still it stinks a little to see the babyness stripped from our house. 

This new phase of life will be fun I am sure, each season of life is precious in its own way. I am looking forward to this new season. And someday perhaps there will be another season of babies for us. Right now I am focusing on my two wonderful kids who are growing up quicker than I could have ever imagined.

Sounds

I am listening to the sound of "learning". Lula Mae at the table working on Spanish and math, Jayce in the living room watching Your Baby Can Read.

When did it come to this?

When did my tiny babies turn into kids?

I feel like I should be listening to the sounds of crying and cooing, not talking and learning.

When Lula Mae was born I thought her turning 4 was "a long way off" and now we are a mere month from it.

After Jayce arrived I felt like his toddler years were a distant future, and yet in nearly 2 weeks he will turn 2.

We are here. We are at those moments that we thought were so far away. It makes me think about how quickly I will be remembering these moments as long past.

I thought that we would be welcoming a new baby when these milestones surfaced, but God changed my heart. He has given me great peace in waiting on a new baby. We want more, but we want to enjoy these precious moments with our first two gifts before that day comes. These precious moments are so fleeting and I want to hold my breath and soak them all in.

When I cuddle Jayce before bed I close my eyes and imagine my boy as that tiny baby he once was. When Lula Mae hugs me I imagine that sweet baby who was always laughing and smiling.

When my babies were born I had trouble picturing them as anything but, now I find I am having trouble remembering them as babies. Funny how time does that, huh?

Life With A Literal Child

I have mentioned before how literal Lula Mae is, and I just want to give you a little snap shot of what I mean.

On our trip together we stopped in to see Esther and Scott. Scott was leaving for work and said he had to hit the road:

Why would you hit the road Scott?

I'm sure in her mind she wanted to know what the road did to Scott to deserve to be hit.

We worked on a some rhyming and spelling this past week at school:

Mommy, what rhymes with monkey. Hey, donkey looks like monkey! Mommy, you have been saying donkey wrong. It looks like monkey so they have to rhyme.

I know one little girl who is NOT going to enjoy learning the rules to the english language!

Lula Mae has been taught since birth that we invite Jesus to live in our hearts and today she asked me:

Mommy, does Jesus wiggle around in there when I dance? Does it make him dizzy and fall down?

A few moments later:

When I get a boo boo on my toe does he swim down to make it better? How does he get to my toe to heal it if he is in my heart? Or on my head?

Life with a literal child is quite interesting, to say the least.

Domino Math

Lula Mae has been doing simple math for quite sometime now. Lula Mae is a child who learns well visually, but she also works well with manipulatives. Math is an easy thing to teach to little ones because they haven't figured out that math is not fun (I was not a fan of math.... AT ALL in school). Today I used dominoes to help her with addition.


I had her count the dots on one side, write the number, then count the dots on the other side and write that number. Then she counted all the dots together and wrote her answer.


Since she has been doing addition for a while now I used this particular activity to help teach her the proper equation format. We worked on putting each number in the right spot, where the plus sign should be as well as the equal sign. Then we talked about where the answer should go. It was an easy and quick activity to get together and do with her. She really seemed to love it!

A Strange Thing That Makes Me Happy

Planning Disney vacations.

It is not because I love Disney (even though we all know I so do) I think it is more because I love planning.

The ability to say "On this day we are going to eat here at this time" makes me happy. Why?

I like control.

There are few things in life (basically nothing) but Disney planning... I have control over.

I am pretty glad that Charlie is a go-with-the-flow kinda guy or I might not enjoy these plannings so much.

After Lula Mae and I return from our mother/daughter trip I am gonna work on a post of my best tips and tricks for an affordable Disney vacation. I LOVE saving money and mixing that with Disney.... well it makes me giddy.

Because these two kids....

love them some Disney, but they also enjoy eating, so budgeting is quite necessary :-)

Math Activity

A while back I taught Lula Mae my phone number and Charlies phone number. I think that a child should know a few basic things to keep them safe (address, phone numbers, parents full names). I found a great way to help teach Lula Mae how to type our phone numbers....

google

a calculator! It works great because I can ask her to "dial" it, then check the number when she is done. Plus, she can see it too and check her work. Just one more use for an everyday household item :-)