March 10-16, 2019
I feel like a bear stretching my legs after a long winter hibernation. The weather was beautiful this week and we spent so much time outside and with friends! Here is our week in review:
[Sunday] Dexter spent the afternoon playing video games while Salem watched. It was a quiet day at home.
[Monday] Monday is a busy day! I did not manage to get any photographs, because the children are scattered all day. Liam has chosen to continue on at his Monday co-op so he was at The Blessing Place all day. Dexter has decided to stop attending, so he spent the day with me. We went for coffee together before we did the grocery shopping. Dexter helped find items on our list and was a great help putting things on the conveyer belt and helping bag the groceries. When we returned home, I had some chores to do, so Dexter watched some television while helping to sort everyone's laundry. He wasn't thrilled with the task, but he did a fantastic job with it. And when I would suggest he stop or take a break, he refused. Papa took Liam, Dexter and Rory to Cub Scouts Monday evening.
[Tuesday] Dexter started the morning on Tuesday checking out both his Little Passports suitcase and Rory's. Rory is not really able to use this subscription but Dexter does not mind doing the activities for both of them. He made finger puppets, and then found different foods and animals on the continent map. Liam spent the morning checking out Whyville.com for the first time. Both boys did some yoga, and then Dexter went out on the front porch to blow bubbles. That afternoon, the boys helped me in the garden and played on the trampoline. In the afternoon, Liam took an Outschool class. It was a class on how to be a dungeon master in Dungeons and Dragons. He particularly enjoyed a sound effects website the teacher shared with the class and spent a long time playing around with the website that day and listening to different sound effect. I had a meeting scheduled for that afternoon and decided to make some lemon blueberry bread to serve at the meeting. Dexter wanted to help! That evening before bed, Dexter wanted to look up the "snorelax" in the Pokémon index we had checked out from the library so we talked a little bit about alphabetical order and how to look something up in a reference book. We then spent a long time reading Pokémon descriptions. Liam took a late night Lego building club Outschool class and built some interesting things. He really enjoys taking classes from this particular teacher, who happens to also be an engineer.
[Wednesday] The dogs had a vet visit on Wednesday morning and Liam decided to go with Papa to get the dogs checked out. The dogs had to have a heartworm test and get some vaccinations and Liam and Papa discussed some behavioral problems Bodhi has been having with the vet. Liam came home with some tips and ideas on how to help Bodhi. While Liam was gone, Dexter decided to spend the morning playing Lego Dimensions, but first he chopped up some carrots to give to Casper and spent some more time with the Pokémon index. Wednesday was our last day of classes for the spring session with HIVE. Dexter has not been particularly thrilled with his art class, but told me he was very sad that it was the last day. He brought home his notebook of everything he has done during the session. I will take photographs of it later! Liam made a black heart pendent with the beads you melt together in his science experiment class. He was very excited to explain that his friend Scarlet made the same one and it was a BFF pendant. When we got home, he found some yarn and turned it into a necklace. It is currently hanging on his bookshelf beside his bed where he can admire it daily. After art and science, Dex had P.E. in the gym, playing Red Light, Green Light, and Freeze Dance, and Liam had Lego engineering on the playground. Lego engineering seemed to be a very open-ended class in which the kids spent most of their time simply building whatever they wanted. Liam obviously enjoyed it. After class was over, the boys spent time playing in the woods with their friends. Liam is currently fascinating with cursing and he and a group of boys went into the woods to practice the curse words they know. Liam let me know he learned a new word: "bitch." We discussed its origin and why it was a word I did not personally like. Liam has been experimenting with cursing in casual language around the house quite a bit: "what the fuck" and "oh, shit" are his current favorites. I think he is looking to see where the boundary is when it comes to my "no words are bad words" philosophy. I have to admit, it does push a particular button hearing him openly experiment with words I was forbidden to utter at his age, but I am holding fast to my convictions and just repeatedly reminding him that there is a time and a place for cursing and to please consider his company.
After we picked up Rory from school, we headed out to meet some friends for popsicles and a trip to Renaissance Park. The kids spend a couple of hours sliding down the big hill on cardboard boxes before we went home for dinner. After dinner, the big boys joined me back outside for some more time in the garden and then it was time for bed. Currently, Ryan is reading The Little Prince to the boys out loud at night and I am on the fourth book in the "Fudge" series by Judy Blume.
[Thursday] On Thursday morning, Liam wanted to make bread "the old-fashioned" way. Dexter decided to help. We talked about how yeast works and discussed fractions. I found a piece of paper to rip into pieces to explain how fractions are a part of a whole when the boys had questions about how many "1/4" teaspoons were in one whole teaspoon. While the bread was rising, the boys decided to play video games. At lunch time, they listened to the second book in the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series on audio while they ate. After lunch, Dexter had a class to take on Outschool, all about neighborhoods around the world. He rated the class, "Eh...medium." and did not seem particularly interested in taking another class with this teacher. He enjoyed his Spanish class so much last month that he took two in one day, so I tend to trust his instincts. In the afternoon, Dexter went to spend the night with his friend Lilith and Scarlet came to spend the night at our house. Scarlet and Liam played in the rain for a couple of hours, jumping on the trampoline and making mud cupcakes. The watched the Smurf movie, played Minecraft, ate junk food and stayed up way too late!
[Friday] On Friday, Liam and Scarlet started the morning watching cartoons on their iPads and playing video games. When they got hungry, we headed to a vegan café for smoothies and then they wanted to hit the mall. We window-shopped and I snagged a huge book of Mad Libs while we browsed the bookstore. When we sat down for lunch, we cracked it open and after a quick discussion about the parts of speech, the kids picked it up quickly. Hilarity ensued. They had a great time coming up with silly nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs. After lunch, they played for a little while longer before it was time to head to Grams birthday dinner! We swapped kids and then headed to their favorite restaurant: Ichiban! Ichiban is a Japanese steakhouse and I feel like it is a learning experience in itself. The boys love watching the chef cook the food and always have a thousand questions no matter how many times we go. Dexter also tried sushi (he wasn't a fan) and we played a game of War with playing cards while we waited. War is a great came for teaching number sequencing.
[Saturday] Saturday was the St. Patty's Day parade downtown so we got on our festive-wear and headed to watch the shenanigans. The parade included bagpipe players, which was really neat! After the parade was over, the fire department was allowing kids to climb into the fire trucks, and Dexter did not want to miss it! While the kids were checking out the fire trucks, one of the fire fighters decided to show the kids the clothes and gear that fire fighters wear and they ended up having an entire fire safety lesson. After the parade, Nana and Pop came to visit and we had a lovely afternoon with family. Liam has been wearing a step-counter with a digital clock during the day. During bedtime reading, we added a new book: The Mansion of Mazes. It is a math-based choose you own adventure story and they boys stayed completely engaged with it! We only made it about halfway through, and they were actually disappointed to put it away. This books is a part of a series and this particular one deals with time, measurement and shapes.
And that wraps up my first weekly wrap-up!
[Sunday] Dexter spent the afternoon playing video games while Salem watched. It was a quiet day at home.
[Monday] Monday is a busy day! I did not manage to get any photographs, because the children are scattered all day. Liam has chosen to continue on at his Monday co-op so he was at The Blessing Place all day. Dexter has decided to stop attending, so he spent the day with me. We went for coffee together before we did the grocery shopping. Dexter helped find items on our list and was a great help putting things on the conveyer belt and helping bag the groceries. When we returned home, I had some chores to do, so Dexter watched some television while helping to sort everyone's laundry. He wasn't thrilled with the task, but he did a fantastic job with it. And when I would suggest he stop or take a break, he refused. Papa took Liam, Dexter and Rory to Cub Scouts Monday evening.
[Tuesday] Dexter started the morning on Tuesday checking out both his Little Passports suitcase and Rory's. Rory is not really able to use this subscription but Dexter does not mind doing the activities for both of them. He made finger puppets, and then found different foods and animals on the continent map. Liam spent the morning checking out Whyville.com for the first time. Both boys did some yoga, and then Dexter went out on the front porch to blow bubbles. That afternoon, the boys helped me in the garden and played on the trampoline. In the afternoon, Liam took an Outschool class. It was a class on how to be a dungeon master in Dungeons and Dragons. He particularly enjoyed a sound effects website the teacher shared with the class and spent a long time playing around with the website that day and listening to different sound effect. I had a meeting scheduled for that afternoon and decided to make some lemon blueberry bread to serve at the meeting. Dexter wanted to help! That evening before bed, Dexter wanted to look up the "snorelax" in the Pokémon index we had checked out from the library so we talked a little bit about alphabetical order and how to look something up in a reference book. We then spent a long time reading Pokémon descriptions. Liam took a late night Lego building club Outschool class and built some interesting things. He really enjoys taking classes from this particular teacher, who happens to also be an engineer.
[Wednesday] The dogs had a vet visit on Wednesday morning and Liam decided to go with Papa to get the dogs checked out. The dogs had to have a heartworm test and get some vaccinations and Liam and Papa discussed some behavioral problems Bodhi has been having with the vet. Liam came home with some tips and ideas on how to help Bodhi. While Liam was gone, Dexter decided to spend the morning playing Lego Dimensions, but first he chopped up some carrots to give to Casper and spent some more time with the Pokémon index. Wednesday was our last day of classes for the spring session with HIVE. Dexter has not been particularly thrilled with his art class, but told me he was very sad that it was the last day. He brought home his notebook of everything he has done during the session. I will take photographs of it later! Liam made a black heart pendent with the beads you melt together in his science experiment class. He was very excited to explain that his friend Scarlet made the same one and it was a BFF pendant. When we got home, he found some yarn and turned it into a necklace. It is currently hanging on his bookshelf beside his bed where he can admire it daily. After art and science, Dex had P.E. in the gym, playing Red Light, Green Light, and Freeze Dance, and Liam had Lego engineering on the playground. Lego engineering seemed to be a very open-ended class in which the kids spent most of their time simply building whatever they wanted. Liam obviously enjoyed it. After class was over, the boys spent time playing in the woods with their friends. Liam is currently fascinating with cursing and he and a group of boys went into the woods to practice the curse words they know. Liam let me know he learned a new word: "bitch." We discussed its origin and why it was a word I did not personally like. Liam has been experimenting with cursing in casual language around the house quite a bit: "what the fuck" and "oh, shit" are his current favorites. I think he is looking to see where the boundary is when it comes to my "no words are bad words" philosophy. I have to admit, it does push a particular button hearing him openly experiment with words I was forbidden to utter at his age, but I am holding fast to my convictions and just repeatedly reminding him that there is a time and a place for cursing and to please consider his company.
After we picked up Rory from school, we headed out to meet some friends for popsicles and a trip to Renaissance Park. The kids spend a couple of hours sliding down the big hill on cardboard boxes before we went home for dinner. After dinner, the big boys joined me back outside for some more time in the garden and then it was time for bed. Currently, Ryan is reading The Little Prince to the boys out loud at night and I am on the fourth book in the "Fudge" series by Judy Blume.
[Thursday] On Thursday morning, Liam wanted to make bread "the old-fashioned" way. Dexter decided to help. We talked about how yeast works and discussed fractions. I found a piece of paper to rip into pieces to explain how fractions are a part of a whole when the boys had questions about how many "1/4" teaspoons were in one whole teaspoon. While the bread was rising, the boys decided to play video games. At lunch time, they listened to the second book in the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series on audio while they ate. After lunch, Dexter had a class to take on Outschool, all about neighborhoods around the world. He rated the class, "Eh...medium." and did not seem particularly interested in taking another class with this teacher. He enjoyed his Spanish class so much last month that he took two in one day, so I tend to trust his instincts. In the afternoon, Dexter went to spend the night with his friend Lilith and Scarlet came to spend the night at our house. Scarlet and Liam played in the rain for a couple of hours, jumping on the trampoline and making mud cupcakes. The watched the Smurf movie, played Minecraft, ate junk food and stayed up way too late!
[Friday] On Friday, Liam and Scarlet started the morning watching cartoons on their iPads and playing video games. When they got hungry, we headed to a vegan café for smoothies and then they wanted to hit the mall. We window-shopped and I snagged a huge book of Mad Libs while we browsed the bookstore. When we sat down for lunch, we cracked it open and after a quick discussion about the parts of speech, the kids picked it up quickly. Hilarity ensued. They had a great time coming up with silly nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs. After lunch, they played for a little while longer before it was time to head to Grams birthday dinner! We swapped kids and then headed to their favorite restaurant: Ichiban! Ichiban is a Japanese steakhouse and I feel like it is a learning experience in itself. The boys love watching the chef cook the food and always have a thousand questions no matter how many times we go. Dexter also tried sushi (he wasn't a fan) and we played a game of War with playing cards while we waited. War is a great came for teaching number sequencing.
[Saturday] Saturday was the St. Patty's Day parade downtown so we got on our festive-wear and headed to watch the shenanigans. The parade included bagpipe players, which was really neat! After the parade was over, the fire department was allowing kids to climb into the fire trucks, and Dexter did not want to miss it! While the kids were checking out the fire trucks, one of the fire fighters decided to show the kids the clothes and gear that fire fighters wear and they ended up having an entire fire safety lesson. After the parade, Nana and Pop came to visit and we had a lovely afternoon with family. Liam has been wearing a step-counter with a digital clock during the day. During bedtime reading, we added a new book: The Mansion of Mazes. It is a math-based choose you own adventure story and they boys stayed completely engaged with it! We only made it about halfway through, and they were actually disappointed to put it away. This books is a part of a series and this particular one deals with time, measurement and shapes.
And that wraps up my first weekly wrap-up!
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