What They’ve Been Up To : Isaiah

My Isaiah boy, oh is he ever so much boy! He is not one to sit still or sit nicely. He is constantly seen upside down with feet in the air on the couch…kicking and bumping into whoever is blessed to be close by. He also does these tumbling summersaults, always upside down. Not sure what the upside thing is about but it has definitely become his trademark. What a nut.

Isaiah is no longer a little boy. He has thinned out considerably and gotten taller. And those eyelashes! Sweet mother of mercy that child is blessed with some gorgeous eyes as a result. Yes, I am a sucker for his boyish good looks and sweet smile.

He is learning to read and I am not teaching him. He just wants to know and is asking questions and figuring things out himself. Isaiah is one of those kids who doesn’t say much but is taking much in. He thinks on things for a time and then it all comes out and you are a bit taken aback at what has been going on in his mind that he wasn’t sharing. I am hoping this summer (or sooner if I can get my act together) I can spend a significant amount of time with him on the reading.

One of his favorite things is to get mail, in particular Puzzlebuzz from Highlights. That is what you see him working on in the picture above. Two magazines come together about every 4 weeks or so. When they do arrive there isn’t a moment lost. He tears them open and does almost every page in both books that first day. He simply wants to finish them all in one day and shows amazing patience and interest to sit for as long as he does to accomplish that goal.

Another fun thing about Isaiah is he has been introduced to fun socks and adores them. He has 3 pairs now. When he gets a new pair or a pair gets cleaned he has them on for 48 hours or so. It takes serious negotiating to get him to take them off so I can wash them. This has tickled me as in my younger days fun socks were so a trademark of mine. I received many a pair as a gift. I still like fun socks…but not the same kind of fun socks. It is funny to have him love them and know that I wasn’t the one who started him in that direction. I haven’t given him a single pair.

So that is what our Biggest Man has been up to. Just being a growing boy who loves being a boy.

Next up is Katie Girl and I might wait until Sunday to share on her. We’ll see how tomorrow goes. Have a blessed day.

What They've Been Up To : Kiersten

This will be a much overdue update about each of the kiddos. I suppose we’ll start from the top and work our way down.

Kiersten is doing well in school. Math is still an issue…but I think a switch in programs might be in order for next year. There is a huge amount of repetition in problem types and not just a few but 10 or so on each sheet day after day and that just wears on her (And then she wears on me. It is a vicious cycle!).

She is now doing a home school gym class through the local YMCA on Friday afternoons. This session is gymnastics and she loves it. : ) I am thankful for the VERY affordable opportunity to have something of this nature. There are some things you just cannot teach your children at home…like team sports without a team! (I know gymnastics isn’t a team sport per se, but last time all the activities were team oriented.)

She is getting to be such a big girl. And by that I just mean she is growing up. The little ladyness shows through more than little girly type things. Not sure if that makes sense. Anyhow, she is still dancing and loves that. It is a bit sad this season as I don’t get to watch. Katie is just too little to sit still and be quiet for the 45 minutes of class. Since you don’t know Miss Jean you have no idea how much that matters and how much trouble I would get in if we disrupted class.

Back to Kiersten. She has grown into a fondness for reading that tickles me. She has always had daily assigned reading of her own but lately she has been getting ‘sucked’ into the story and asks if she can read ahead. : ) She is a girl after her mother’s heart.

She also loves any type of art project you throw her way. It is her thing. We haven't done art the way we meant to when school started but that has been a result of doing art during math (all over the sheet). So it became a matter of choice for her and since art couldn't stay where it belonged we have dropped it a bit by the way side. She has however had the opportunity to be a part of an art club that meets once a month for 3 1/2 hours. Wasn't sure she would last that long but it turns out she was more worried about not having enough time versus it being too much time!

So that is what Kiersten’s been up to and how she’s doing!

I didn’t realize the amount I had to share…and so I think I’ll write about Isaiah tomorrow and Katie the next day. We’ll give them each their moment. Hope that is all right with you!

Oh, and as a side note there have been no recent bed jumping incidents (well, at least not on hers!) to report.

Somebody Please Tell Me

what makes a child go potty in the bathtub? I tried to figure out why it was this last week on two separate occasions I found urine in my tub.

My husband found it funny (I am sure my mom will as well). It is always funny for the one who gets to hear about it after the fact and had no hand in the cleaning up of the ‘funny’ incident.

I’ll leave the name out of the perpetrator in order to protect them.

But someone, please tell me why is it that a child will bypass the toilet, which is immediately in front of the door, to go to the bathtub where they must have climbed in and peed in my tub? Inquiring minds really do want to know!

( I thought leaving the name of the child out was fair…but I never said anything about their picture!!!)

Flannel Sheets

Who knew?

I never would have guessed they would be such a big deal. Never. I also never would have guessed by having a pair on my bed that my children would hop in and snuggle way more than they ever did before. Nap even with me.

Is has been funny and amazing.

My Beloved and I chatted and decided we would get them each a pair. I had gone to Kohls to look a week or so ago and found nothing. This week when I went (super duper sale on) I asked a sales lady and she showed me where they were. On clearance (did a little dance right then and there). :)

Anyhow, with some dear gift card money I grabbed both Kiersten and Isaiah their own pair of flannel sheets. They were a steal, let me tell you. I know get over the deal already!

I just wasn’t able to get them washed right away that night I bought them. I did the next day but they weren’t going to be dry until an hour after bedtime and I was in no mood to let them stay up later. Needed Mom time, if you know what I mean. (My Beloved had been gone all day and wouldn’t be home for a few more hours yet.)

So the next morning, before we have left for church Isaiah asks me about the sheets. I open the dryer to show him there they are just waiting for me to put them on your bed. I am no sooner home from church (I stay later than the rest of the family to help in the kids’ area for second service) and am still eating my lunch when he asks me if I put the sheets on his bed yet. I had to reply no once again with the promise that before he went to bed that night I would have them on.

They were sooooo funny that night in their beds. They snuggled in nice and deep. Isaiah at one point had his hands behind his head looking like a dude sleeping with the covers up to his chin. :) He didn’t stay that way for long as his arms must have gotten cold and he curled into a ball.

Can I just say that next morning was the first time in a long time Isaiah did not wake up around 6ish to come bother me? The older ones both slept in until 7:30ish and Katie woke up a bit before them, but not much. Sleeping in was bliss let me tell you. The sheets would have paid for themselves alone for the extra few minutes of rest in bed they afforded me. Being on clearance now is the added bonus! :)

(And Mom, I have pictures…they’ll be in my next post – promise. I love you!)

She Did It Again

I don’t know about other parents out there, but some days I do wonder if my children have unusually thick skulls. And I am not referring to their ability to hit theirs heads often and have it be no big deal. I am referring to their constant banging against the wall of discipline time after time to only get the same answer and yet do that same behavior time and again.

What I am referring to specifically is my children and jumping on beds. You may recall it was just a few short weeks ago they got busted for jumping on Kiersten’s bed and literally busting it. Today while I am on the phone, within my line of vision, a child of mine goes in and jumps on my bed! I proceed to kick them out, swiftly, with a few choice words about jumping on beds, yet again.

So why am I surprised a few short hours after this incident children come downstairs to say that they have once again broken two of the slats under Kiersten’s bed as a result of jumping?!!!

Dear me, what am I doing wrong that my children don’t get it?

Anyhow, it was Kiersten who was seen earlier on my bed and who came to confess later. I had to tell she would be the one passing that piece of information on to Dad. I would not. She became upset right away knowing how mad he got the last time but even more so because she would be the one to tell him, not me. She sees him differently, is in more awe of him and cherishes his opinion way differently than mine. So telling him was going to be extremely difficult for her, and I knew that and used that to my advantage. (Hopefully. We’ll see how long it takes before they jump and break aforementioned bed again!)

She is telling me her excuses, “Isaiah made me do it.” There were other excuses as well and I just had to tell her blaming others for what you chose to do will not go over well for you. You need to accept that you made your own choice and it wasn’t a good one and therefore there will be consequences.

So when she hears the key in the door, knowing Dad is home, she flees to her room. That child had wings on I assure you! I went ahead and gave him the heads up so he had a few moments to process the situation before she came to confess. I knew she was really upset and didn’t want him to be too upset in the moment, if that makes sense.

It took her about 20 minutes I would say (in between I was asked, “Should I seek her out?” to which I had replied, “No, let her come to you.”) before she reappeared eyes and nose red with tissue in hand. I had my back to them at the sink as I listened to her tearful confession about jumping and breaking the bed. I have to tell you I cried for her (though she didn’t know it). It was good for her to confess and I knew it but I felt for how worked up she had made herself.

In the end she had a small talking to, her accomplice included, and then was told she owed Dad $1 for the board to fix the bed. She promptly went up, retrieved the money and handed it over and then was a new girl. Confession does wonders for the soul, doesn’t it?