Library Day

On the first day of our unit studies we go to the library. I usually place the books I need/want on hold and have the librarian pull them for me. That way I can just waltz right in, grab my books and head out. Well, for whatever reason, I decided to locate the books myself this week. NIGHTMARE with three kids. Charlotte was all over the place ripping books off of the shelf. I was lugging Chase around in the car seat and sweating my brains out b/c I didn't want to take off my coat and have something else to carry. I'm not sure I'll ever do that again. The worst part is that I never even found the books that I needed. They were NOT on the shelf where they should have been.

How does one successfully visit the library with three kids under five?

Gavin

This week Gavin is learning John 14:2. I asked him if he knew what it meant as we were going through it, phrase by phrase. He interrupted me to inform me that "prepared" means (and I quote) " I peed in my pair of pants, so I need to get a new pair."

Where on earth does he come up with these things?

Alive and Well

We are here! and we are doing quite well. Life with three is busy. Chase Matthew has transitioned into our family well and we are enjoying him thoroughly. He is a sweet little guy who just seems to fit right it!

I had a dr.'s appointment on Nov. 5th. They did an ultrasound to check my fluid and promptly sent me directly to the hospital. Do not go home, do not pass go, etc. I got there around 12:30, they started the pitocin around 2:00, at 5:30 my nurse checked me and then ran out of the room. Ryan and I looked at each other and stared to laugh. Then we heard he yell down the hall, "DR. TYLER, DR. TYLER - YOU COME CATCH BABY!" We didn't believe her. My previous deliveries lasted around 18 hours. When Woo (our nurse :) ) came back into the room Ryan asked her when she thought the baby would be born. Her response was "BEFORE 6:00!!!!" Again, we looked at each other and laughed. We still didn't believe her. The next thing I knew, Dr. Tyler was in my room and baby Chase was flying out of me! It was seriously that fast. We were just cracking up the entire time b/c we couldn't believe it was happening. As soon as he was born the doctor was saying, "That's a big baby, he's at least 9 lbs!" 9lbs, 9 oz., to be exact! The poor guy came out so quickly that he was a little beat up. His face and head were bruised and the whites of his eyes were blood red. His bruising went away after a few days but he's still hanging on to the red eyes a bit. He's feeding and sleeping pretty well. We've had a few rough nights but overall I couldn't ask for an easier baby.

Gavin is over the moon and so in love with "Chaser Bean". He asks to hold him all the time and really wants to know when he can feed him a bottle! He watches him for me when I do the laundry or hop in the shower.

Charlotte had a rough week and half. She wasn't quite sure what to think. We've dealt with temper tantrums, waking up in the night, lots of mischief and have heard the word "NO!" a lot. Towards the end of last week she started calming down again and seems to be used to our new life with Chase. She loves him so much. She's never taken her frustration out on him. She loves to kiss him and wants to share everything with him - including suckers, chocolate chip cookies and sippy cups. She seems to think that he should share everything of his with her, too! I've seen her in his car seat and his bouncy chair. I've caught her with his passy in her mouth quite often and she even climbed up on my lap and tried to have a go at nursing. Yeah, I don't think so, Charlotte!

I am loving our new family of five. God is giving me lots of grace and patience during these busy days. I am trying to soak it all in and enjoy each moment - even getting pee'd on (Gavin thinks that is a HOOT!). Gavin has been learning Galatians 5:22-23 this week. "But the fruit of the Spirit is Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness and Self-Control. Hmmm, I think I needed that verse more than he did this week! I love how the Lord works these things out for us!

Well, this is way too long as it is. I'm sure you didn't make it to the end! Hopefully soon we'll get into a routine and blogging will be a part of it.

Happy Thanksgiving!

L is for Leaf

"I will live and grow in Jesus"

This week (okay, week and a half) we learned all about the letter L and Leaves. Who knew there was so much to learn about leaves! We learned the different names of them, what their function is, how they can not live apart from the tree (just like we can not live and flourish apart from God) and many more things.

We made a chart and charted the different colors of leaves that we collected. We also sorted our leaves by sizes and shapes.



We did leaf rubbing. That was fun because while we were doing it Gavin said,
"This is awesome, MOM!" I loved that moment.

We made a book of leaves that we traced and named.

We painted leaf outlines.

We made a stained glass leaf picture - also very cool!

We read the book "A tree is nice" and Gavin made his own book retelling the story.

We also ramped up our math this week. I had Gavin doing some worksheets from mathisfun.com. He seems to really enjoy math and learning about numbers.

We preserved some leaves.

We had a great object lesson all week with a plant that we took care of. We ripped one leaf off of the plant to demonstrate how it can not live apart from the plant, just as we can not live apart from God. We sang, "Read your Bible pray every day". Charlotte and Gavin have been singing it together a lot this week. It's been SO CUTE to watch them.

We also did our letter worksheets, practiced penmanship (it's getting better) and played lots of games with the alphabet.

We've also been working on our phonics and reading. Reading with Gavin has been a long drawn out process. I feel like we've stopped and started so many times b/c he was just getting so frustrated with it. I was so afraid he was going to hate reading so I never really pushed it. Once we started homeschooling, I started all over again with our book "Teach your child to read in 100 easy lessons." I think we've started and stopped this two or three times. The part that kills me is that the book really works, he just wasn't all that into it. This time around has been different, though. He loves it, he's flying through it and reading GREAT! He is reading the stories in the book pretty quickly, without even having to sound out each letter. He has even started reading street signs and really anything he can figure out. It's cute and SO FUN! I finally feel like he's getting it! YAY!!!

Well, that was pretty much our lesson on the letter L and Leaves. I think it was my favorite one so far. Probably because I added so much to the curriculum this week. I felt like I was going a better job of teaching him and he was having more fun, too.

Our next lesson is A, Apple - "If I stay in Jesus, I will have much fruit". I'm not sure when we will be starting it, though. I think we'll be taking a week off after baby gets here!

40 weeks and 3 days . . .

Well, I am half way through my master plan. It doesn't really feel like nesting because I really have no desire to be doing these tasks. However, the thought of coming home to a clean and organized house after having the baby is forcing me to continue. I am just plugging away doing what I can each day. It is exhausting but at least I am sleeping better because of it. At the end of a long day I sit down and think, "I really hope I don't have this baby tonight, I don't have the energy!!"

My doc set the induction date for Tuesday, November 9th. It looks like we will be going all the way again. The funny part is that I am totally okay with that this time around. I was mentally prepared this time. I wouldn't even know what to do if I went into labor. I guess my body just doesn't get it. This will be my third induction.

The good news is that I think we've picked a name! I'm not ready tell what it will be, just in case we change our minds, though. You'll just have to wait and see . . .