Busy, Busy, Busy!

Wow! What a winter. We have been non-stop with school, had multiple illnesses, some of which have taken us to the hospital, and here we are with the snow still on the ground, but thoughts of warmer weather on our minds. We have traveled, played, and worked our way through months of bitter cold (yes, I think it has been lots colder this year than I remember from years past). I look to the end of this month as hopefully showing signs of the spring to come.

The latest big events involve DD. She has just turned 5 years old. Where have the years gone. She is reading at about a 1st grade level (untested) and should test at close to a 2nd grade level by early summer. She surprises me every day with the things she can read by herself. She seems to like math too (something I'm very pleased about). She was truly disappointed when she realized she had completed her handwriting book for the year. I have had to create or find replacements to finish out the year. She still misspells her name from time to time, but as most of you know, we didn't give her the easiest spelling to learn and she gets it right most of the time. I also think she is going to be quite the knitter. She just started learning, but her tension is really good and once she gets past the first stitch in a row just speeds right through faster than I can keep up. I realized quickly that she needed her own needles instead of using her brothers as shown in the picture.

The boys seem to progress faster than I can keep up, and then will get stumped on something that you would think was relatively simple. But they get it all with practice and I am very proud of them. They read at a good solid 4th grade level and math is on track for their age. Writing still stumps them much of the time. You would think a Capital letter was a foreign object, LOL. But I'm sure they will overcome this in time as well. We are working hard to be ready for assessments in early May and then celebrate with a fun and easy summer. They also moved into Wolves in Cub Scouts. They don't seem to really understand what that means, but again, they will get it in time.

DH continues to work too hard and I feel like I don't work hard enough (except for those days when the boys really don't get it - but those are very few and far between). It seems no matter how hard DH works during the day, he always feels like he should be doing more. I really have to work hard to get him to think "home" not "work". Maybe some day he will get that they don't pay him to work past 5 o'clock.

Hugs to all, and help me think spring, OK?

Winter is well on it's way!

I still can't seem to make it here every week. Don't know, just seems like life gets in the way.

At any rate, we have colder temps (30s and 40s), leaves are nearly all on the ground, and termination dust (snow on the mountains). Guess that means we are well on our way to winter. We are looking forward to it in our house, because that means sledding, snowmen and snow angels. I'm also hoping we can really get the kids skiing this year. DS#2 proclaimed his desire the minute he learned we were moving back to Alaska, so we really must make a point of it. Of course, it would have been nice to go a little longer before turning on the heat.

We have also had our share of mini-crisis recently. As summer drew to a close, we finally got sunny days and that meant some good scrapes and bruises while riding bikes. The worst, however, happened just last evening and inside the house. DD was getting a piggyback ride from DS#1 (even after my constant warnings that she was too big for him) and fell, hitting her head. At first it looked like she had merely bumped it and I could not even find a red mark. But I hugged her and came up with blood all over my face. She has a pretty good gash on the crown of her head under all that hair, but thankfully it looked worse than it was. Our makeshift compression bandage made her look like a pink pirate and she had a good headache last night, but she is fine today. I have to say, this goes down as one of the worst mini-crisis yet.

Yep! Two posts in one day!!!

We went to the State Fair this week. They had 2 special days that with the price of one ticket the second was free. The rides were the same. Well, who could pass up that price, right? The kids had a blast and I have tons of pictures to get scrapped, but that might take a bit. They loved the ferris wheel, DD was thrilled on the Merry-go-round, and you could not even imagine the grins on the real live ponies. But for me there was one other very special event. I had entered two knitted items and one took an honorable mention (my Entrelac bag) and I got a blue ribbon on my Sock Monkey. Of course, they weren't the purple division champ ribbons, but I got something on both. Since this is my first fair, I'm pretty pleased.


Then there was this one sign that I just had to have a picture of. It was on the horse trailer that the pony ride used as it's center.

Hmmmph! Two weeks without posting!

I sure hope you will forgive me. It was a real scramble to be ready for the new school term last week so I never made it here to post. I have some pictures to share and some tales to tell, so here goes.....

Our 4th of July

Birthday Notes

My Life (at a Potluck with Family)

Remember: all of this and more can be seen in my scrapping gallery at DigitalScrapbookPlace.com.

How time does fly!

It has been a very busy summer as is evidenced by my lack of adding anything to this blog. We have made so many trips to the library for books and events I can't even count them. Let's see, we played pirates and learned about Polar Bears. The kids participated in the reading program, and really did so well with it, we have started one here at home too. You should hear those boys go! And DD isn't far behind. July 4th weekend was packed with activities including a trip to Camp Conway (my BIL/SILs new weekend getaway) and the parade of course. By Monday of that weekend the kids were content to laze around the house. Then there was a fabulous air show at the military base. We had the Thunderbirds, Blue Angels and Canadian Snowbirds all in one day!

Although we did well on assessments in May, we were behind in math, so we went back to school in July and will be caught up this week. Added to that we have started some of our projects for this year. We will be studying states, countries and biographies each month so we started with one of each to study together. Starting next month, the boys will each do their own report and then share his findings with the family. And for added benefit, we get to have guest speakers for two countries as family members come and share information on where they grew up. We are also starting a family history which we got started with a bang when FIL was in town and personally came for the interview. There will be much more to come on that front I'm sure.

And we can't forget celebrating the boys 7th birthday! Big new bikes with no trainers were a big hit and DD got the hand me down which to her was the "new" bike.

I will try to add pictures for these events tomorrow. So check back! I'm really going to try and do better, posting at least every weekend.

My goodness! A month has gone by!

Hard to believe it's been a month since that incredible moment with the kids. It's not all been roses, but there have been highlights. The boys moved up a notch and are now officially Cub Scout Wolves. DD is showing some progress with the potty training since getting her on the meds (but still a lot of mental stubbornness to contend with). Spring has sprung and then left again as is normal for Alaska. And I'm sure it won't be long and mosquitoes will be taking over. And school is nearly finished (officially any way) for another summer.

Which brings me to todays news. The boys were assessed today and I'm proud to say they are 2nd to 3rd grade level! We will be having a special dinner to commemorate their promotions and then take a break from the daily grind. (Only because Mom needs some prep time!) Although there is no official assessment for DD, her reading places her in late kinder level and I'm sure she will be testing into late first by fall. That is in most areas, she is still progressing with the writing at a much slower pace than the reading and math.

Well, I do need to get busy: always more to do than time to do it in!

Proud Mommy Moments!

Some days you think you are really beating your head against the wall (kind of like Monday when something as simple as how to write the date can totally escape the boys)! But then there are days like today. One which totally surprises you! One that makes you feel like you can really do this home school thing. Not only, did the boys remember how to write the date (something that they should have been able to do because they have been doing it for, oh, about 6 months or more) but DD proudly wrote her own name. She did it by herself. For those of you familiar with it, this is no small task for a 4 year old. Not only is it a long name to spell, but it is not a usual spelling. She has traced it many times, but today she did it twice, all by herself. I only wish I could share the photo with you all, but as you know, I have a policy of not publishing my children's names here. So, if you would like to see this feat, please leave a comment or send me an email and I will happily email you a copy of the photo (sorry, only family please!)