Genna Turns 11!

Genna's birthday always sneaks up on me, no matter how many times she reminds me and tells me what kind of party she wants.  Her birthday falls on Thanksgiving weekend, when friends are gone.  This year she had a friend over on the Sunday before her birthday, she brought cupcakes to vaulting on Monday, and had a friend over on her actual birthday, which was Tuesday. 

Sunday Present

Tuesday Cake: Don't ever buy the tie-dye cake mix!

This amazing young lady understands that we are investing much of our resources into vaulting, so she is content with her small parties and new vaulting shoes and socks as her gift from us.  As long as she can keep participating in competitions, she is good to go.  I just love this girl!

Heidi Turns 3!

I love this girl. She is so crazy, wild, and fun.  She is loud, sensitive, and bossy.  She doesn't like dresses, but she does love pink and purple and sparkly shoes. 

And she screams. Oh man, can she scream.  She absolutely cannot stand having the dogs downstairs by the fire, so she screams at them to get upstairs.  Sometimes she just tosses them out the front door.  When I tell her to leave the dogs in, she cries that they're stinky.  I wonder where she picked that up from?

Heidi: First thing in the morning: Crazy Hair!

I am just as thankful that Heidi is #7 just as Daniel is #5.  There is just something about these Longbranch babies that make us go hmmmm....

I cannot WAIT to see if she stops cutting her hair this year.

So Happiest of Birthdays to my Super Spunky Little Girl!

Everyone's Favorite Trick Monkey

Jason is so teachable right now.  And so cute.  He is going to be dreadfully spoiled (if he isn't already) by his mama and sisters.  He doesn't call me mama though.  He calls me, "MOM!" because that is how everyone else says it.  He just turned 16 months old.  It's hard to believe both Ian and Lula already had a baby sibling at this age.

Just in case you wondered how the corn got in the peanut butter...

I love the little dimple on his right cheek. His sister has the same one.

We love his curls too!

This is his vaulting move that he learned from his Sissy

And his other vaulting move.

He has a way of looking at us with his big, brown eyes that makes our hearts melt.  He is such a naughty boy though!  He hits, he bites, and he throws heavy things at us.  He laughs when we say, "Ouch!"  Such a sweet naughty monster.  And forever the baby of the family.

TJed Day

I'm only writing this out so when I come back and read old posts for fun, I have a record of a normal day. Not super great or fun. Not super stressful that I need to laugh about. Just normal.

On Monday (today is Wednesday), I was able to get "it all" done.  I worked for a few hours on my dad's business after I started the laundry.  I did some science with my anatomy and physiology class (subject: teeth).  We talked about why it is important to clean our teeth, made a decision to dissolve Daniel's next baby tooth in soda, and talked about the upcoming dentist appointments starting next week.  We reviewed the digestive system (we know everything we need to know thanks to The Magic Schoolbus, thank you) and learned about the renal system.  The fun never ends around here!

After we did the group work, I sent everyone off to do their individual subjects.  I manage chaos while those who are independent enough to learn alone do so.

Fiona is finally thriving in a math program.  She is (mostly) enjoying Math U See Beta.  She watches the DVD on my computer and then completes how ever many pages we can complete in a day (it all depends on what else we have going on).  She is reading like crazy whenever she can, so I do not even assign books.  She asked for suggestions, so I gave her a stack of books from my stash.

Daniel is so non-traditional.  His math sheets often look like this:

Praise the Lord for him being #5 and not #1.  I never would have survived if he were.  I have learned so much about kids and the amazing way they function in the last few years.  One thing I've really had slap me in the face is being purposeful about building transitions into my day.  This means I don't accomplish much in the way of number of subjects, but the quality of what we do cover is much better.  This includes eating peanut butter sandwiches, I kid you not.  I really do need to stand over them (all) and make sure every task, whether it be eating, tidying, or learning, is finished to completion.

Tuesday morning ran much like Monday, only I pulled out my indestructible world map and outlined China and the Koreas with the wet erase marker.  We reviewed the definition of a peninsula and how it is different from an island, which led us to Japan.  At that moment, Shane came around, saw that we were talking about the Koreas, and added his two cents about their history and politics.  Another light bulb moment for me!  Always keep my younger class a few weeks behind Shane so when he notices what we are doing, he can be the guy who already knows everything.  I was free to read on in my Eastern Hemisphere book, so I can teach from conversation instead of reading straight from the book. 

Miles of stockinet stitch, courtesy of Nana's knitting machine

I am trying to be "done" with "school" by afternoon so we can be more "flexible" with "learning."  Yes, all those quotes were necessary.  Afternoons are for me and my learning if I am to follow the TJed methodology.  Monday afternoon I blogged.  I set the example that writing (spelling, grammar, recording my thoughts and feelings, communicating with others through the written word) is something that is fun and necessary. Tuesday we had to work, so we were on the road all afternoon.  Wednesday afternoons, Shane and Genevieve have a science class taught by a local (Washington State certified) teacher and homeschool mom.  They are taking my favorite class to teach (that isn't preschool): chemistry.  They get to do real experiments with real chemicals and real glassware!  Of course I own all that stuff too, but there are no toddlers at their teacher's house.  Only other middle schoolers.  Shane and Genna are perfect study partners.  Genna is a perfectionist and makes Shane quiz her over and over, which means Shane gets plenty of practice in too.

Ian is home after school every afternoon now that football is over.  All the little kids are happy to see him.  I am too.  Although I miss him, I'm glad that someone else had to grade his schoolwork and tell him to answer in complete sentences.   He is a decent student and has shown that although I felt like I didn't do enough for him, the combination of what we did do and his natural talent is enough to get by.  The biggest thing he has to work on are character based.

Next blog post will be Jason milestones!

Daniel

He settled down. He is teachable.  He learns.

Playing Corners (a math game)

Daniel can read. He can swim. He has memorized the white belt poomse at Taekwondo and the Scout Law for Cub Scouts.  He can add ones, tens, and hundreds.  He can spell words that aren't butt or poop.

I'm not saying he's perfect, because he isn't.  He still has his moments where he can't get out of other people's spaces and can't stop giggling about silly things. He also gets upset and is immovable about something he sets his heart on (like being the pancake flipper).  Aaaaannnnd he still gets carsick (and only in Mark's car).  But he is nothing like he used to be.

There is something to be said about letting these little boys grow and learn on their own timeline.  Last year, I pulled waaaaay back on how hard I pushed this precious boy and I am SO GLAD that I did.  When I stopped TEACHING him and focused on just LOVING him, he responded.

Today, he sat down and read a real book to me.  I haven't been able to find Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons for two weeks, so he hasn't been getting his reading lessons when he asks.  (Note the when he asks part).  Lula handed me a Little Critter book, and I asked Daniel how much of it he could read.  Hey, the whole thing! No Pat the Rat or Bob Books for this guy. He is ready for Dr. Seuss!

Little Preschool

My Little Tornadoes drive me crazy, but gosh, I sure love doing the preschool thing with them.  Having them underfoot during homeschool hours is nothing like having Daniel underfoot and you all remember what he was like, don't you???

I don't think I've pulled Mighty Mind out of my school cupboard for years and years... Most of the magnets have fallen off, but all the pieces are there.  Lula was able to complete about half the cards before the shapes got too hard and Heidi did about ten of them.  I was mostly working on politely-waiting and asking-for-help-without-shouting skills with the girls and teaching Jason to not touch (and stay off the table).... like that will ever happen.

Recess is essential.  Can you believe this mild weather? I have kids running around in SHORTS with the windows open.  We are halfway through November and have only had three fires in the wood stove- and they were mostly for ambience. My big plan to keep my sanity is to take the kids outside more this winter.  I'm shedding the coats and boots that don't meet the rainy day requirements for our family and hopefully replacing them with USEFUL rain gear for their Christmas present (shhhhh! Don't tell!)  I'm tired of being home; I want adventure!

How do you know your preschooler is ready for fun hands-on crafts?  When they sneak off with scissors and do this:

Own it, mamas.  I hear the snip snip, thank God it's not their hair (again), and get going with the printer.  I used to try not to print because it uses so much ink, but  you should see how much Lula loves her binder of schoolwork!  She pulls it off the shelf several times a day to look at the pages she created.  She is writing the words Lula, Mom, Dad, and Cat.

I love Lula's intense concentration!

This project was perfect for her.  She knows the numbers from 1 to 10, so she was just working on her cutting skills and her asking-nicely-for-a-turn-with-the-glue-stick skills.  Heidi needed more help with the numbers and cutting, but she was thrilled to glue all by herself!

Nice haircut, Heidi