New address

Confession: I have been cheating on this blog.

I added our October pictures to a Shutterfly share site and really liked it. I can add more photos a lot faster than I could on the blog. And I can still write about our adventures and caption the pictures. So I think this might be a better fit for me right now (I am a little busy, you know!).

The new web address is http://chaosissleeping.shutterfly.com/. You can also sign up as a member if you would like to receive an email when there is new content.

Thanks for keeping up with our family. Hope to see you there!

One Happy Momma

Aaron asked Elliott to read him one of his favorite books, The Gruffalo. And he did! They were so sweet sitting close and reading together. My heart is so happy!

The King of All Wild Things Turns 3

We celebrated Aaron's 3rd birthday with a "Where the Wild Things Are" party for friends and family. After inviting everyone to join us for a Wild Rumpus, we set to work decorating and planning games that fit with the theme of Aaron's favorite book. The kids (all 13 of them) got gold crowns and listened to the audio recording while Matt turned the pages of the book. After the story, they made Wild Thing faces on paper plates with googly eyes, yarn, colored macaroni, construction paper shapes, and markers. We had some little artists among us! We played Pin the Tail on Max, and then they were free from organized activities to jump in the bouncy house and play in the yard. Of course there was cake and ice cream, and then Aaron opened many wonderful gifts. He is having a great time this week playing with all of his new toys!

Notable Quotes

Aaron while driving to church: "Mom, can you move that sun?"
Elliott to Aaron while driving home from church: "There's no W in Elliott."

A few more of Aaron's special words:
grass is grasshopper
basket is basketball
hot fudge sundae is hot fundae (I think he may be on to something there.)

Elliott was playing with the Batman and Luke Skywalker figures yesterday. They were going to the local art museum to see the paintings.

And, finally, at the grocery store the other day, Elliott examined at least 3 cartons of eggs for cracks before he found one for us to purchase. He was so sweet looking them over so carefully. (They did not all have cracks...they just didn't pass his inspection.)

I know these sayings are probably only funny and memorable to me, so thanks for sticking with me!

Nose

God must really be looking out for my nose. It's not a particularly attractive or special nose. Sometimes seasonal allergies attack it. More often though it is one of my children. Elliott's knee just connected with my nose as he launched himself to the other side of our pillow fort (or pillow fork as Aaron calls it). By my calculation that is 46 pounds of Elliott landing and pushing off my nose. And it hurts! This happens to me pretty often. You would think I would learn to protect my face from flying boys, or at least get one of those nose guards like the NBA players wear. Now that would be attractive!

Do other moms have this problem?

Money

Elliott and I were discussing a quick trip to Target this afternoon. He wanted to know if he could look at Lego's so I told him to get his wallet and we'll see how much money he has. And then just to have a little fun, I said maybe he could buy himself some fall clothes. His reply: "Oh no no no no."

Hall Monitor

After our morning lessons one day this week, Elliott finished his work and went to play. Aaron stood up in his chair and shouted "Elliott, get back in your chair! We're doing seat work!"

Music 101

So how does one teach music to a child who is only interested in Star Wars? Quite by accident actually. Matt put the Star Wars soundtrack on my computer. I thought it might be a nice change to see the orchestra playing the music so I found a video on YouTube. While we were watching the video, I started pointing out the different instruments to Elliott. Which led to a Google search where I found a website for kids with descriptions of many instruments and clips of music played with each instrument. Then we read about some composers and heard some of their work. And who was on the composer list? Of course John Williams, who wrote the score for Star Wars, Harry Potter, ET, Indiana Jones, Jurassic Park, etc. So we started with Star Wars and ended with Star Wars, but I like to think there was a little music lesson in there somewhere.

Aaron Speak

I finally put our hummingbird feeders out last week, and now we have hummingbirds visiting our deck throughout the day. Funny how that works! They are such interesting little birds, and we have enjoyed watching them fly up to the feeder before our loudness scares them away. When Aaron sees one drinking out of the feeder he says, "he nosing that." Well, Aaron, I suppose that is what it looks like.

He has also taken to calling Matt "Daddy Big Ole Man." I have no idea where he came up with that, but it is hilarious! Perhaps it's a new variation of Elliott's term "Daddy O Man."

Aaron also has started saying "oh my goodness" and "oh my stars." Both of which are extremely funny in his little 2 year old voice.

I guess he's at that age where most of what he says sounds cute. Stormtrooper usually comes out "Stormpooper." And his knowledge of Star Wars characters is astounding, but of course that's all we talk about in our house now. Even the way he says "sippy cup" is cute. And he doesn't yet have a grasp on pronouns. Matt discovered that he puts his negative at the first of his sentence, such as "No I want that" instead of "I don't want that."

There are some things that are just too cute to correct even if it is technically my job to teach him to speak properly. My niece used to say "belly butlin" and the first time I heard her say "belly button" I was so sad that she had learned the correct word. It is definitely worth writing down the funny things they say before they move past this stage.

3 Boys at the Zoo

Aunt Christy and Baby Jack came for a visit last week. On Thursday, we took a trip to the zoo and were glad that Mimi could join us too. All three boys started out in their baseball caps. Only one of them kept his on. (Hint - it's the little one who was asleep most of the time.) But it made for a cute photo of the 3 cousins ready for their zoo adventure.

After a stop at the playground, Mimi treated Elliott and Aaron to a ride on the carousel which they thoroughly enjoyed. Thank you, Mimi!

Go, Titans, Go!

The boys are ready to cheer the Titans to victory in their new shirts. My uncle gave Matt and Elliott his tickets for one the preseason games. Elliott was incredibly excited about going to the game. Aaron, however, was quite disappointed that he couldn't attend "Titans Go Night." Maybe next time, buddy.

4 Weeks

We have completed our first four weeks of homeschooling. The time has gone quickly, especially since we still have some summer activities like swimming that have kept us busy. In the past 4 weeks, we have made an All About Me book, learned 4 Bible verses, talked about what history means and read about Creation, Adam and Eve, the Fall, Noah, the Tower of Babel, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph and Moses. We have learned a fun song about the continents that Elliott put to good use at the zoo to figure out where the animals live. We are about 3/4 of the way through the first grade box of Hooked on Phonics. We do a calendar and the weather every day, and I have also added storytime to our morning work. We checked out several books from the library and enjoy choosing one each day, and we started reading Charlotte's Web this week.

Elliott has daily handwriting or thinking worksheets and is doing some Montessori fine motor activities. Math is an interesting subject. After completing Unit 8 in our Math-U-See curriculum, I took another look at the book and noticed that there are only 30 units. We had been doing a week's worth of math work in one day! It was all review for Elliott at least, and we probably would have gone through it more quickly than the book suggests, but after I realized my mistake we were able to take a little break from the math curriculum and work on telling time.

Today we went for a hike at a nearby park and explored their Nature Center and pond. The kids were able to see tadpoles in action and even caught a large tadpole that still had a tail but also little legs. It tied in nicely to our lesson on frogs this week and happened completely by accident. I am sure we will be exploring more of the programs offered at the Nature Center. The guides there were extremely helpful and friendly.

I am now planning the next four weeks of our lessons. I have learned a lot in our journey so far. I feel like our curriculum has a few weaknesses, so I will add some activities to cover those. Our schedule is working pretty well. We do calendar, storytime, history and any science or art lessons in the morning. Then we cover phonics and math during Aaron's naptime. I still need to come up some activities for Aaron. So far we've had fun and learned a lot. I think that's all I could ask for the first 4 weeks!

Obsession

My children are obsessed with Star Wars. We have been playing it almost non-stop for several days. Elliott is Luke Skywalker, Aaron is Chewbacca, and I am Princess Leia. Still working on the braids.

This morning we made little miniature Star Wars puppets by printing out internet pictures of the characters and taping them to craft sticks. It's getting nerdier and nerdier around here. I am supposed to be making more characters right now. Shhhh - I had to blog this while E is cutting out the pictures. He's working on fine motor skills though, so I'm counting that as school. :)

You can see the puppets in our play-doh creation of, you guessed it, more Star Wars. Clockwise from the top is the Millenium Falcon (or Molivian Falcon as some members of our family call it), Luke's X-Wing, Luke's house, and Darth Vader's Tie Fighter (in black).

Elliott did say a few minutes ago, "Momma, you're the best!" That definitely makes it worth it.

Oh dear, he's getting the play-doh out. I better finish making my little Star Wars people on sticks!

Elliott's First Day of Kindergarten

Elliott started Kindergarten today! We had a fun time learning about Creation, History, Math, and Phonics. We also took pictures, measured and weighed Elliott and listed his favorite things. The boys really enjoyed singing and acting out a song about the continents. They got to hop and crawl and act like monkeys. It was perfect for them.

I still have to learn the best way to organize our learning time. We did part of our work this morning and then finished up with phonics and math while Aaron took a nap this afternoon. That seemed to work pretty well.

I asked Elliott what he thought about our day, and he said "good." I think that means it was a successful first day!

The Importance of Bedtime

Tonight a thunderstorm rolled through our neighborhood right around bedtime. The boys got to stay up a little later than usual watching a movie and then the thunder began. Aaron wasn’t scared at all when I put him to bed, even though the thunder and lightning were intense. Our power flickered a few times, so I got out the flashlights after I left his room. About 5 minutes later, the power did go out. I came upstairs to check on Aaron and the lights were back on before I got up the stairs. He was looking at me when I peeked in his room, so I went in and rocked him for 10 minutes or so.

Aaron and I have spent a lot of time together rocking in that lovely Pottery Barn rocker that Matt gave me for my birthday 6 years ago. As we were rocking, I was reminded of all those times and the bond that we share because of our middle of the night time together. I was thinking about what a special time that is to share together, even when you’re sleep-deprived and begging God to just please let this baby sleep through the night.

We still do bedtime with our boys. They are still young, but I have found it to be such a special time that I plan to continue it as they grow. Maybe we won’t be rocking and singing lullabies, but it’s a great time to just share about the day and see what’s on their minds. Family mealtimes seem to be all the rage these days, and they certainly are important. But bedtime is also a really important part of our day. It’s rarely peaceful. Sometimes chaotic. Occasionally maddening. The pajamas, the teeth brushing, the potty time, did I mention the teeth brushing? But then, after they are herded into their rooms (finally!), it’s storytime, and Bible time, and prayer time. Aaron still likes lullabies. Elliott likes to snuggle. And in case you haven’t noticed, my boys are rarely still and quiet – which is what makes bedtime so nice. They are calm, quiet, snuggly. I ask Elliott if he has any problems or questions. Did he have a fun day? Aaron wants to sing our new silly version of “All the Pretty Little Horses” over and over again. And then they are asleep, and the house is finally quiet, and I get to spend some time with my sweet husband. And we get ready to do it all over again the next day. And I wouldn’t change a thing.

On manners and dead sea creatures

I will post the picture first as an excuse for the completely unrelated thoughts that are bombarding my brain tonight.

We got back from the beach on Saturday evening. It was such a fun trip, and I will write a real post when I have a few extra brain cells to spare.

Anyway, I have been accumulating children's clothes for 5 years now and have about run out of room in our closet downstairs. So naturally, I would choose this week (after vacation and before we begin homeschooling next week) to go through each and every item of clothing that the boys have worn over the past 5 years and try to determine if it makes the cut to go back into the closet, if it should be donated to Goodwill, or sold at consignment. That giant pile of clothes in the picture is all that I have purged and is almost half of what I started with. I am feeling so free...except for the bags and bags of clothes to go to Goodwill, a friend with a new baby, and the consignment store. I am, however, making progress on the school room (once you get past the bags of clothes) and will hopefully post pictures soon. I could even see enough carpet to vacuum tonight!

Then I came upstairs, put the boys to bed, did the dishes, and found some formerly living sea creatures in a plastic watering can that my niece collected her shells in...last week. It was a bit odoriferous.

And while I was washing the sand down my kitchen sink and hoping that sand sharpens garbage disposal blades, I began pondering what my children should call adults. Up until now, the boys have called the adults in their lives by their first names such as Mrs. Katie and Mr. Chris. In preschool, children call their teachers by their first name prefaced with Ms. or Mr. But in kindergarten, they begin using the teachers' last name. Which made me wonder - is this related to the child's age, the adult's age, the situation, or some other arbitrary factor? Perhaps the difficulty of pronouncing their last name?

And when do you go back to calling adults by their first name? I am pretty sure if I ran into the parents of my childhood best friend, I would want to call them Mr. and Mrs. England even though they attended my wedding 9 years ago and I have 2 children of my own.

I have recently found myself using the adult's age as the standard for their moniker. So if someone belongs to my parents' generation, they will likely be called by their last name. If the person is close to my age, then I would go with the first name.

Are there any rules about this? If you have any suggestions, please leave them in the comments. Now, please pardon me, I must go Google manners.

On Monday after several days of parties and visiting with family and friends, we took advantage of the holiday to have a family day of our own. Matt and I took the boys to the children's museum for some hands-on fun. The boys had such fun and there were some new exhibits since the last time we were there. After a morning of playing, we had lunch at the crowd-pleasing Chick-fil-a. Then it was back home where everyone took a nap - even Elliott. He fell fast asleep in the car on the way home. He was up late that night, but afternoon naps are always a nice treat.

The boys are ready to hit the road!

Daddy gets to practice his keyboard skills on the tour bus.

I think the day was a success.

Lost Tooth

Elliott lost his first tooth last night! It came out while I was brushing his teeth. He said "ouch" a few times while I was brushing and when I pulled the toothbrush out of his mouth, there was a little bitty tooth on the brush! He put it under his pillow and was most excited to find $2 there this morning.

Meeting Baby Jackson

The boys have a new cousin named Jackson, and we finally got to meet him over the 4th of July weekend. Aaron was especially enamored with his new cousin. He loves babies, and "Baby Jack" was no exception. He wanted to hold him and give him his pacifier. He was so sweet asking me to put Jack in the swing and then on the playmat and then back again.
Jim and Mary hosted a brunch so the family could come by and see Christy and Lino and meet the baby. MaMa was in town and surrounded by 9 of her great-grandchildren. Here are some pictures of the weekend.

Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to a wonderful dad! We love you!

And one of mom and the boys since we didn't get a picture on Mother's Day.

Three beautiful smiles

The boys show off their tattoos.
Aaron is currently obsessed with temporary tattoos. As soon as we take one off, he insists on having another.

We celebrated Father's Day with a cookout at our house. Here is my dad surrounded by his girls (and a couple of boys). The other cousins missed out on the photo, but imagine 4 more grandkids in there around their Pappy.

Happenings

We've started out the summer with a pretty busy schedule and plans to do more fun things in the next couple of months. We're anticipating a vacation to the Gulf Coast depending on what happens with the oil spill. We had to cancel some plans in May, so we are hoping that Matt can take a day off work and we'll have a Family Fun Day where we can enjoy some fun activities and spend the day together. I am also trying to figure out what to do with our "fun room" downstairs. It will probably become our school room so I would like to paint and update the furniture down there. And add in some storage for homeschool books and desks or a table to work on.

We are continuing to work on potty training with Aaron. I have been doing lots of laundry, and between potty accidents, swimming lessons, and playing in the pool there are wet clothes everywhere. Aaron is wearing big boy underwear during the day, and I've already had to raid Elliott's underwear drawer to find more dry underwear.

Aaron is talking really well now. I can understand almost everything he says, but occasionally ask for a translation from Elliott. The boys are playing together much better now which is really nice. I even got dinner started tonight while they were playing happily downstairs. Yay!

Aaron is very expressive and gets in your face when he's trying to tell you something. His excitement is contagious and you can't help but smile.

Elliott's soccer season was canceled after the flood, so he only got to play 3 games. He is taking swimming lessons now though and is very comfortable in the water. We are almost finished with the Five in a Row curriculum that we have been using. I have all of our books for Kindergarten and just need to go through and make our plans and get some school supplies. Elliott has just finished reading a collection of "Dick and Jane" stories. We celebrated with an ice cream treat tonight. By the end of the book, he was reading more comfortably and with more expression. It is amazing to watch the progress that he is making. He is eager to learn and I think will be fun to teach.

Most of the time, Elliott can be found playing Legos or Star Wars. His tools are gathering dust in his workshop, but he continues to choose toys that involve building and when asked says that he wants to be a "worker" when he grows up.

He also has his first loose tooth. I am not ready for that at all. But he has had these teeth since he was 4 months old, so I guess it's time for them to come out. It just seems like something that should only happen to "big boys," and it's hard to believe that my baby can be big enough to lose his teeth. And I remember some traumatic tooth-pulling episodes from my childhood and do not look forward to actually pulling his teeth.

I think that's all the news I have for now. If I ever get our fun room cleaned up, painted, and organized, maybe I will post some pictures. Don't hold your breath waiting for that post!

Elliott enjoying his ice cream sundae after reading 193 pages of "Dick and Jane."

Slip 'n' Slide Fun

Elliott and his buddy Caleb

Elliott, Aaron, Caleb and Seth
I had to contain them in the pool to get them all in the same picture!

Star Wars

Elliott has become quite a fan of Star Wars lately. When I saw the advertisement for a Star Wars Party at a local bookstore this weekend, I knew we had to attend. And the timing worked out well for Elliott to wear his new Storm Trooper costume. He has started getting an allowance so he combined his savings with some money he received for his preschool graduation, and we ordered his costume on eBay. On Thursday, he saw the mailman pull into the driveway and ran out of his room screaming "My costume is here!"

On Saturday, Elliott donned his costume and borrowed blaster gun and we headed off to the bookstore. We saw his cousin Princess Leia AKA Sophia and they had their picture taken with a Storm Trooper. Elliott also had pictures taken with Darth Vader, Obi Wan Kenobi, and Chewbacca. He entered a contest for best costume but was beaten out by a pint-sized Storm Trooper who wooed the audience with his cuteness.

Aaron's favorite character is Chewbacca. He liked the 7' tall furry creature from a distance but was not as enamored when he got up close. The boys had a fun time and like telling everyone about the characters they met.

Elliott the Preschool Graduate

Elliott is a preschool graduate! His graduation ceremony was last week. The kids did a program first where they sang a few songs. They sang “Jesus, You’re My Firm Foundation,” “Lord, I Lift Your Name on High,” and “Special, Special, Special Me.” Elliott was quite the entertainer. He was very silly and at one point shouted out to the audience, “Savannah, don’t you laugh at me!” He must get that from Matt. I was more like the little girl who Mrs. Michelle had to escort down the aisle because she’s so shy. After the kids sang their songs, they went out and put on their caps and gowns, then the director Mrs. Brittany called their names as each one marched in to Pomp and Circumstance and got their medal and diploma. The graduates did one more song (complete with scarves that had been rolled up in their diplomas) and then they got to throw their hats up in the air. Elliott must have missed the directions to go sit with your parents when he was searching for his hat, because he sat back down in his chair on the stage and stayed there by himself while Mrs. Brittany honored the teacher of the year and parent volunteers.

After the ceremony, the families went downstairs for a reception in the gym. The boys had cake and punch, and we picked up Elliott’s scrapbook that his teacher Mrs. Michelle had made for him. It had some pictures from the year with his friends and teachers and some of his special artwork. He also got a little Bible.

When I picked him up at school the day of graduation, Mrs. Michelle said that Elliott told her that he was wearing his tuxedo to graduation. This is the tux that he wore a year and a half ago and is very short on him now. I had to break the news to him that he couldn’t wear it anymore except to play dress-up. He handled it well though.

Elliott really enjoyed preschool. He only went one day a week, but he liked playing his friends there and he had the sweetest teachers.