Joshua

I think that things are going well with Joshua. He's letting up on the tears when we're apart. He still has the rituals of saying goodbye that go on forever, but it's not quite as dramatic anymore and it really is sweet how much he loves me.

He's daily adding to his list of friends at school. The latest is apparently a 7 year old boy that he plays with on the playground, who seems to be a friend of a friend. He tells me about all the things he's telling his friends and teachers. When I dropped him off the other day, he happily ran inside with one of his friends and they were smiling and chatting the whole way. He even tells me that he sings along with the class when they have music or special color songs. This is unheard of for him! I think he's feeling pretty comfortable and for now, public school seems to be a wonderful choice for him.

As for the academics, they are learning letters, shapes, and colors, most of which Joshua picked up on as a toddler, but I think the skills he was lacking were of the social variety. So he may not be very challenged in academics, but I think what he is learning is very valuable.

I don't get a whole lot of feedback from the teachers besides his daily behavior sticker and that one report they sent out a few weeks ago, but apparently we'll have a conference with them in a month or so and they will also start asking for us to come help in the class when things are good and settled.

The new thing with Joshua is that he's fixing his own lunch! For some reason, fixing lunches is one of my least favorite tasks. Could possibly have to do with the fact that the amount of food I must send with Matt every day equals enough lunches for a week for the average person! (only slightly joking here) But once I realized that most of Joshua's lunch was just putting stuff from one bag into another, I thought I'd let him try and he is running with it! He knows he has to give himself a vegetable, a fruit, meat, nuts, and sometimes cheese or dried fruit for his snack. He loves deciding what to pack and mixing a concoction of nuts and dried fruit. Every morning this week he talks about how he can't wait for lunch because it's going to taste so good. I am definitely pleased to have handed off this chore!! I'm really enjoying watching Joshua's personality develop as he grow into his new role as kindergartener:)

Gray

Well I am really enjoying what feels like extra time with Gray since Joshua has started school. I notice so much more about him and can focus on him so much better. And he's just so adorable. Sorry, I'm biased I know. He cracks himself up all the time, which in turn makes me laugh and this boy just loves to make people laugh. He told me today he wanted to be Larry Boy (veggietales) so he can have a rocket and make people laugh.

We're doing school together several days a week and mostly working on reading and writing. He has been writing his name this week and is making so much progress. He also enjoyed drawing a picture the other day and is just starting to get the concept of going beyond scribbling to make a figure of something. His reading is picking up too, now that we're a little more consistent. He doesn't love it, but then again he pretty much shies away from anything that is hard work! I know that I taught Joshua much more when he was 4, but I find it hard to see Gray as ever being old enough to understand the same things his big brother did. I'm finding he can, though, if I give him a chance.

He takes such pride in his work and longs for approval, especially from Joshua. Slowly Joshua is remembering to give compliments when Gray shows him something he did. I am also seeing how caring Gray can be. The other day I was carrying a big load out to the road for recycling and dropped a box. Gray immediately ran up and said, "I'll get that for you!" What a gentleman!

I do have to watch his interactions with Julia, though. There are times that he just loves her and wants to help her. And then there are other times. Yesterday she made the mistake of breaking his stick and I found him forehead to forehead with her, screaming at her that she shouldn't have done that...to the point that she toppled over!

Gray is soo ready to go to kindergarten. He regularly asks me if it is his turn to go and today when I was explaining the process of school picture day to Joshua, he eagerly asked if he would get to go get his picture made too. I try to tell him how much I love being home with him this year, but that seems to be little consolation.

Today we were driving home and Joshua mentioned that someone in his class had a girlfriend and I asked him if he knew what that meant, which he didn't really, so I explained it all something like this: God wants men and women to get married and like the way each other looks and like to hug and kiss each other (resounding "gross!" from Joshua) so at some point boys start thinking that girls are pretty and that's just part of God getting them ready to have a wife one day ("But I'm going to always live with you," was Joshua's response). I went on to explain that when they are older, they start to want to take them on dates and spend time with them and try to figure out if she is the one God wants them to marry, but when they are little it's kind of silly to say you have a girlfriend and it really just means a friend. After that long conversation, which I mostly directed at Joshua, Gray pipes up in the back seat and says in an exasperated voice, "But Mommy! I already think Julia is pretty!" He further insisted that he would marry her one day:)

I just can't get enough of him!!

Julia

This little sweetie just melts our hearts. Yes, she can scream and has a little trouble "relating" to people in the morning (a.k.a. if you talk to her, she growls at you), but oh how cute she is and it's just such a fun age. Toddlers are just hilarious by nature I think. It's impossible to take them seriously when they mispronounce everything, walk around with a big ol' bubble behind, and have the sweetest little chubby cheeks.

Lately we've done a little session I'll call "Intro to Potty Training" with Julia. She now tells me most of the time when she needs to poop and talks about the potty a lot. There's just one problem...she does not want to actually sit on the potty but would prefer to talk about it and have it happen by standing beside the potty and thinking about it really hard. As you can imagine, that doesn't really work. But for about half a day, we tried it out and she did somewhat end up going on a little froggy potty. Not ready to do the whole big deal yet though.

Here are some of my favorite little phrases she's been saying:

toothbrush: "tooshwuff"

Thank you Mommy: "Tanka mama"

when she holds winter pjs: "I got da bankee!"

Matt's camera: "Daddy's cheese"

pretty flowers: "pitty flurrs"

she's thirsty: "water-nilk"

Joshua's backpack: "Tasha's packpack"

eggs: aygs

bed: bade

New things lately:

sort of running

sort of singing Jesus Loves Me in a really high voice

asking for "this little piggy home"

trying her hardest to imitate jump roping at the gym, which amounts to lots of high stepping

saying over and over and over again, "want to pway" until someone holds her hand and prays with her

asking for "AnnaSage", two year old twin girls in our small group

pretending to talk on the phone on anything with buttons...calculator, car unlock clicker thingy, etc. She says, "Hey. How you. See ya. Bye."

picking out her own clothes

It's about time...

...for another post. I used to be so good about keeping up with this. Or maybe I just had more time or more stuff to write about. Or no one to talk to but the kids and the computer! For whatever reason, I have put the blog at a low priority so I'll try to catch up with the happenings around here a little bit now.

This week has been a little different since Barnette and Cindy are in Italy. It feels more like the old days I suppose, with many nights just being me and kids. Somehow I've gotten used to it and maybe because we are getting out more during the day, it doesn't seem like the burden it used to be to do the whole dinner, bath, bed thing by myself.

Yep, our days are definitely full and we are on the road way more than we used to be. It will be nice to live closer to Joshua's school, yet the kids are getting used to the travel time and I've quickly established a habit of praying together in the car every morning, which is not something we have been great about doing together at home. I often encourage Joshua with something about his day at school, like just doing one nice thing for one person, but he always says he forgot what I said once he got to school!

Surely something will one day stick with him, right? I wonder sometimes. Joshua has gotten into this habit of saying, "That's no fun!!" when I tell him to do something he doesn't like, give punishment, etc. I was talking to the boys about life being about so much more than having fun and asked them what the point of life was.

If you know me well, you know I'm not one to shy away from "lectures" as I've been teased about. I talk to my kids all the time about what life is about, about loving and serving the Lord and others, about heaven, about Jesus' example, about growing in character. Here's what I finally pulled out of them that they thought was most important in life:

Gray: "You always have to obey Mommy and Daddy."
Joshua: "Money. You have to have it to live."

Oh dear. I guess my words are going in one ear and out the other and my actions are showing them what I value most. In fact I do of course talk all the time about obedience and also about using money wisely, things being too expensive, etc. Wake up call to me to spend a little more time on the issues of the heart and a little less time on things like obedience and stewardship, which should be the outcome of a heart that loves Jesus.

So what else is new around here? I'll give an update on each of us and make the blog post them over the next few days so that it will seem like I'm updating regularly:)

Shape Walk

Friday I got to go to Joshua's school and take a few of the kids around the school looking for triangles and squares. Joshua was so happy to have us there and Gray really loved sitting on the carpet with him and playing on the playground. Julia was getting into EVERYTHING...scissors, toys, glue sticks, marbles, etc. so it was good we weren't there for too long! It was great to see Joshua in his element and meet some of his friends. I hope to be able to go back soon and do more with the class.

Ordinary and Extraordinary

I meant to write about my birthday before now because I'm sure I will forget things, but here's what I remember... some parts of the day were ordinary: Got the kids up and some of my children growled, whined, and/or frowned at me. Ate breakfast and took Joshua to school. Had lunch with Julia and Gray. Read a little during rest time. Changed diapers. Fixed lunches. Broke up fights. Played a game where I was the only participant that paid attention and didn't complain. Fussed, instructed, hugged, held, loved, etc. Normal everyday life doesn't stop for your birthday...even your 30th birthday!

But thankfully not all the day was ordinary! I got to go to women's Bible study and a few friends surprised me with flowers and cards. The whole group sang Happy Birthday to me. I got to talk to three of my favorite people in the world on the phone. Many people sent me Happy Birthday messages on the internet. I got to wear new clothes. Matt gave me gifts: some super good (but dairy, sugar, and gluten-free) chocolate cookies that I devoured, some new tennis shoes and socks, and a pretty workout shirt. But my favorite gift was a necklace from 147 million orphans. I have been so touched by the stories of a girl in Uganda who organized a group of terribly poor women to make these necklaces from recycled magazine paper beads. I had bought a few of the necklaces for others, but didn't have one myself and it meant a lot that Matt would pick a gift like this that he knew would be meaningful to me. For supper, we had some very good (but way too expensive) gluten-free pizza from Mellow Mushroom and then after the kids went to bed we watched a fairly entertaining movie that didn't have any adventure/blood and guts/etc in it. Now that is extraordinary! (To give Matt credit, he would let me pick movies at other times too, but since I know he doesn't like the "romantic comedy" genre, I usually don't feel right picking that type unless it's my birthday!)

So yes, it was a good day and I felt very thankful for all my loving family and friends!

Little Watermelon

Julia picked out this outfit Sunday, which is the famous watermelon romper that her cousins Abby and Carly wore to have their picture made in, complete with cute little pigtails. Miraculously, Julia kept pigtails in her hair all morning and I was able to get a few good shots. Anyone see any cousin resemblance or is it just the hair?

Roof and Siding

Yep, that's a white metal roof. Unusual, but we like it. We're going for as much energy efficiency as we can manage. The siding will be painted again, but you get the general idea. We copied the color from Matt's parents' neighbors. It's some crazy combination that they gave us the "secret" to. Haven't done the front steps yet and the door will probably be stained brown, so the outside isn't quite complete. Now on to insulation and drywall!

A Message from God?

So I was just commenting on my sister's blog and the "word verification" code thing that I had to type in was "bathe". Is it merely coincidence that up until a few hours ago, my last bath was hmmm...Tuesday? I think not.

In other news, Joshua brought home his first homework from school. He has to write his name 5 times and do a coloring sheet. With the very pressing deadline of next Friday. Ha. He also had his first "consideration report" and we are none too happy about it. He got a "good" on behavior (as opposed to the preferable excellent) and on the "needs improvement" list, "working quietly" and "following directions" were both checked. Ugh! I know it's only kindergarten, but I was telling my mom the other day that I still remember getting called down for talking in kindergarten and that's most likely because it was the only time I ever got in trouble! So I expected no less from Joshua.

He won't tell us much about anything specific except that he thinks he was talking when he shouldn't have been. I guess the good spin on the issue is that I feared he'd be too shy to feel comfortable talking to any of the kids or teachers. That's obviously not a problem. In fact, he's added to the list of his friends. One is a girl that he won't tell me her name. Two others are Micah and Scott. And then we have Constantine and Sayid:) He's continuing to enjoy the multicultural guys in the class, which I think is great, but it also cracks me up!

I think next Friday I'll be going to his class for a "shape walk" around the school, so I'm interested to meet Joshua's new friends and hopefully their parents too. This schooling method is definitely putting us on the path to branching out!

Nothing like a good honkey

Last Hoorah

Forgot to post this picture of our rainy day last hoorah before Joshua goes back to school trip to the Museum of Life and Science. Obviously, the rain only made the trip more fun!

A Shower for Constance

The kids and I went home this weekend to welcome my cousin back from London, where she lives and works for World Harvest, and to celebrate her engagement with a bridal shower. Our trip was very much a whirlwind. We got there Friday late afternoon, hosted both the shower and a big family birthday party on Saturday, then came back home on Sunday, due to Joshua's wheezing from a cold. It was fun, but too short and eventful!

So here are some pictures from the parties Saturday. Jeannie did the beautiful decorations and sent them from West Virginia. We missed you, Jeannie! You can see we had a few fun games, including "team dress a bride in toilet paper":) It was great to catch up with Constance the other family members we got to see.

You've got a friend in me

So Joshua told us today that he has two friends at school now. The backstory? Well first of all he has denied for weeks that he would make any friends at school and after 3 days, he seems to have debunked his own theory.

Secondly, on the first day of school, he told me about a boy in his class he thought was named Tin (it's actually something like Thinh) who didn't know his numbers or colors. We talked about how he might need someone to help him and maybe he didn't know English.

On Day 2, I asked the boys what was the best way to make a friend. Joshua said, "Find somebody that needs help," and a few minutes later was back on the subject of the guy who didn't know his colors, so I thought, "Wow! He's really thinking about what I said and paying attention to his classmates."

As a side note, Gray's idea for the best way to make a friend was, "Find someone with a really big...scratch...from a COUGAR!" Right.

So then today, Day 3, Joshua tells Matt on the way home that he has two friends and their names are Thinh and Lorenzo. (I'm amazed that he chose guys who aren't like him. Think it is pretty neat!)

I asked him how he made friends with them and he said, "I just made them my friends...I didn't tell them." Haha. He said sometimes he follows one around and sometimes he follows the other and sometimes he plays by himself. He said the teacher put Lorenzo's rest mat by his today but he didn't know why.

I tried to get out of him what he liked about these guys. He said he thinks it could be because Thinh doesn't talk like us...maybe. So who really knows what's going through his mind, but hopefully he really is being a friend to his classmates and they are really being good friends back to him! Would love to be a fly on the wall and see what goes on. I've signed up to volunteer in the class for probably more things than I really can do, but guess that will start in a few weeks when the kids are settled.