{this moment}

Following Soule Mama: {this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

The First Day of Homeschool

And what a day it was!

My dear littles knew it was coming, and they were literally begging for it to begin for about a week beforehand. The day of, however, was a different story. I'll admit that I wasn't completely prepared for the issues that came up. I knew that Airius would probably immediately pronounce everything to be "booooring" (he did) and that Callie would want to be included in absolutely everything (she did) and that somebody would ask about watching TV or playing DS (they did). But I didn't realize that my children would be anxious in that most negative of senses. I could see for most of the actual "schooling" time that the twins were really reliving the anxieties and fears that had been brought about by their preschool and kindergarten years in the public school system.


Looking for gnomes on our walk

Annie woke up and immediately pronounced every piece of clothing she owned to be itchy or hurty or otherwise unsuitable, including the outfit she'd laid out for herself the night before. She cried for an hour, despite hugs and reassurance and many, many outfit changes, and only came down to breakfast when I said it was time to go for a walk. Airius was on a hair trigger and had mini-meltdowns anytime anything was perceived by him as going the least bit wrong. On our walk we saw some of the children from their former school waiting at a bus stop, and both the twins said they were sad that they would not see their old friends at school today. Airius repeatedly brought up that all teachers are "big meanies" with the unspoken fear that I would suddenly turn on him looming in the background. Oy. I... stayed calm and carried on. Oh yes I did!


The straight line and the curve

Biggest high of the day: Airius realizing he could finger knit! Last year he tried and wound up so frustrated with it that I made him put it away. He refused to pick it up again until today. He spent quite a bit of time knitting today and is really looking forward to making his own needles and knitting just like Mama!


The way he balanced his yarn ball on his feet just killed me!

I had planned to give the whole play by play, but honestly I'm more than a little exhausted and have to wake up early to take the two littlest ones to their well child checkups in the morning. It may not have been what I planned, but I think our first day was what it needed to be. Here's hoping for smoother sailing ahead...

Celebration and a Question

We recently had one special 4th birthday party at our house. Here's how we celebrated:

Homemade decorations


A singular present, long awaited


Flowers picked in the morning by the birthday girl, a photo of the day she came home to us, and a cupcake just dripping with purple frosting


A grandma-made dress with fabric and pattern both specially selected by the birthday girl


Facepainting


A reluctant adventure in NeverNeverLand


Neverland obstacle course in the BLAZING heat

And now for the question. You may notice that, despite our Waldorf inclinations, we do not have a birthday ring tradition in our house. This is partially because I don't understand the birthday ring. I suspect that there is a story to this particular little tradition, perhaps some symbolism that I'm unaware of, but I cannot find this information anywhere. Does anyone know how/when the tradition of the birthday ring was started?

Build and Grow

Oh my. I have been neglectful of my blogging duties, and the blog has barely even started! *sigh*

This past weekend we attended our first "official" Build and Grow workshop at our local Lowe's. I say this is the first official one because we were actually introduced to the program through a carnival at a local business, but there they simply gave us the kits to take home. This time we actually went to Lowe's and built our project there, mainly because it's good to get out of the house and be surrounded by other people once in awhile.

Let me say, in all honesty, that I really try to avoid the big chain stores of the Lowe's type, but I couldn't pass up this opportunity. I've been wanting to add woodworking to our list of activities, but my husband is more than a little trepidatious about the idea. Hammers and screwdrivers equal DANGER to him, and while that certainly can be the case, I think the best thing is to teach our children how to use these tools in the proper, respectful manner to avoid injury. This little workshop, with Lowe's workers presiding, seemed the perfect thing to assuage his fears and let the kids get down with a few tools.

I had originally planned to take the three older children by myself, but at the last minute my husband graciously decided to come, so it became a family event (which thrilled me!). The project was to build a toy UFO, complete with blinking signal light at the top. My son was so very excited. While the girls' enthusiasm didn't quite match that of their brother, they certainly didn't want to be left out of the experience. This was especially the case when they realized that they got goggles and a project apron with nametag to keep (the children are meant to bring their aprons and goggles back for subsequent projects). All of the toy's pieces were pre-cut, and nail holes were pre-drilled but still the project had its challenges. We managed to get all three UFO's built in the matter of half an hour or so though, including each child putting the decorative stickers on their completed toy.

When we were done we were given certificates of completion, Boy Scout-like badges to sew onto their aprons (which, of course, I still haven't done) and six free frosty coupons which I felt was an okay, rare treat on an extremely hot day. The kids were thrilled!

The workshops happen every two weeks, and each of my three older children is eager to go back for the next project, a bug house. Right up their alley...

Overall, I think this is a great fit for our family with its tool phobia, even if my husband did hammer his thumb to the point of bleeding. ;) (It just HAD to happen to HIM, didn't it? Sheesh.) If you are interested in attending a clinic near you, please visit the Lowe's Build and Grow website.

Also, I feel the need to say that I was not in any way compensated by Lowe's for this post. Thanks!

{this moment}

Following Soule Mama: {this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

Phew!

You know, sometimes life just catches up to you (me), and so I took an unexpected break from blogging. We've had an illness circulating through the family, the kind of illness that plugs up little noses and makes going to sleep quite uncomfortable, so our littlest little was up all night. Every night. For more than a week. You know what that means for Mama, right?

There were times when all I could think about was, "I have to take pictures of that! I have to blog that. Our family will want to see that." But at this point I'm so far behind on those "that"s that, well, I'm just going to move on.

So tomorrow's a new day, a new post. Unless life happens.

Happy Independence Day!

{Airius oohing and ahhing over the fireworks. They never get old.}

We're wishing you all an incredibly joyful and festive 4th of July!