The day she learned to read

There is something truly wonderful about these short, dark, cozy winter days. 

That's not my usual tune in February, which is far and away my least favorite month for exactly the reasons above: the days are short, dark, cold and devoid of beauty. 

Unless, that is, we choose to find it.  To go after it.  To create it.  

It has been a season of learning and discovery for me.  Or, perhaps more accurately, a season of uncovering, dusting off and remembering truths I used to know and have forgotten.  

Life is too short to live even one month devoid of beauty.  

Beautiful things are happening in our house.  In the midst of chilly winter days, our hearts and minds have been ablaze with a world of words.  We've delighted in the simplicity and hardships of  life a hundred and fifty years ago through they eyes of Laura Ingalls.  We've smelled the kitchen in the Ingalls home, we've shared their trials and worried over whether Pa would make it through a blizzard.  

It has been wonderful to spend our days together, over a pile of legos or a coloring book and a cup of cocoa, sharing stories of heroism to feed our imaginations.  To explore, at our own pace, music, poetry, art.  To study Latin.  To revel in history and ancient cultures.  To sing through math and geography.  

These are the blessings I get to surround myself with during our long winter days indoors.  

There are so many moments that I am excited and inspired on this wonderful, bizarre journey where the children never get on a school bus and the house is never clean.  

One of the very most gratifying things - like, ever - happened recently. 

My big girl learned to read.  Not to sound out, which she has been able to do for a long time.  Not recognize a sight word here or there.  Not read a short sentence or stumble through a long one, full of choppy hesitation.

Read. All fluent and grown up like, from a book with chapters in it that she picked up and purposed to read... and then she did.

It was pretty amazing.

I know that all children will eventually learn to read, so it isn't the act itself that filled me with such emotion it actually brought me to tears (although the thought that my baby is a reader is pretty incredible.  Why does time move so quickly?!).

No.  It's the thought that I was fully present for each part along the way, offering encouragement and soothing frustrated tears and even offering a (hopefully) gentle push when it was called for.  That this is the first of so many hills we will conquer together, side by side.  That I have the privilege of watching her struggle, keep trying and succeed.  That it will be me to help her through the next challenge (tomorrow).

Her proud, happy face tells the whole story of how she felt about it all.

I forget sometimes how foreign and unnatural this way of life can look from the outside, and how the I'd never have the patience for that!s and but what about socialization?!s can role in and mount up so powerfully against something that is truly so simple.  Not easy, but simple.

And so, so worthwhile.

The Nutcracker's Sweet

My little girl is growing up.

So, so very fast.  When I think about the fact that she's almost five; that we've already seen her through nearly 1/4 of the time we'll have raising her... I just treasure the wonderful, joyful little lady she's becoming.

And recently, she proved it again with a pretty major milestone: her first ballet recital!

She has been asking to take ballet for at least a year.  We even threw her a ballet-themed fourth birthday party, because she's just been obsessed with dance.  She has been taking gymnastics for ages, but we knew that this fall was the time to jump on the dance train.  

And, seriously?  She does it beautifully.  Not that she's a prodigy by any stretch, but she does exhibit much more grace than I had imagined she'd be capable of, given what happens to her body if you've ever watched her run.  It's not a bad thing; coordination just isn't one of her strengths.  At nearly five, she can't catch, throw, kick or otherwise manipulate a ball with any grace, but the kid can sure dance!

The recital was adorable.  We were lucky, because even though he had to work, Casey took some time off in the middle of the day to meet us at the high school so he could see her perform.  The kids danced to this song, Holidays at Home, and she was so over the moon excited because her costume was pink.  Not just pink, guys.  Her favorite color - pink!

The cherry on this ice cream sundae was definitely little brother's response when he spotted her on stage.  It was hilarious, actually.  When the curtains opened, Logan, who was standing up in Daddy's lap exclaimed, "THERE'S LEAH!  I SEE HER!  HI, LEAH!" in his cute little voice that echoed through the otherwise quiet auditorium.  She couldn't see him, but we could clearly see her big grin and little wave while the other audience members had a chuckle.  

And, naturally, I couldn't have been more proud if she'd just been elected president.  In fact, I didn't make it all the way through the performance before the tears hit me.  I know it sounds cheesey (like you expected anything else from me?), but I just couldn't help myself.  I'm so in awe that we've made it to this point - the point where she's a real little person, who selects dance over gymnastics, who is smart and kind and brave enough to get up on a dark stage and perform in front of a crowd without hesitation.  It's amazing to me!  

Even seeing her name printed in the program was a WOW, I'm a mom! moment for me.  It seems like just yesterday that I was picking out that name just for her!  More than that, it seems just yesterday that it was me up there on stage - in a choir concert, in a band concert, a dance recital, a musical.  I lived out my young life on a stage, a field and in a pool... how did I so quickly trade places with my own mother, cheering on my daughter?!  I was overwhelmed with awe, pride and love.  She's a keeper, that kid of mine.

Time.  Holy moly, how I wish it would slow down.  

They were adorable.  And she was so very proud of herself.  I don't blame her; that feeling was mutual.

That time we potty trained a boy.

And it was, like, sooooooo much easier than potty training a girl.  I would use more "o's" in that phrase, but I think I've already exceeded the socially-approved limit.

Against the entire world of pop culture which reminds me that potty training a boy is SO.MUCH.HARDER! than potty training a girl.  Maybe this is true, but in case you had any doubts that kids have their own minds, spirits and intentions, my 22-month old little boy was all over debunking that myth.

Here's pretty much how it went:

Logan: Mommy, go potty please?
Me: Sure honey!  Oh, yep, you already took off your pants, how about that.  Let's go sit on the potty!
Logan: Otay.
....aaaaaand cue the pee pee.

That was the end of the story.

We had been talking about going in the potty for several weeks, and he was crazy excited about both the underpants that he got to pick out, and the "special potty" we picked up for his use.  I had hyped how awesome it would be beforehand, but he wasn't even willing to wait for me to be ready because he already was.

We did a three-day naked potty training marathon.  No one in or out.  We set the timer for every 15 minutes, and Logan got excited every single time that "PEEPEETIMER!" went off.  He had a few accidents at first - as in, the first morning - and then grasped the concept beautifully.

Bonus: getting to see those adorable nekkid bebe cheeks.  Seriously, I love 'em.

On days 2 and 3, we were able to go to about every 30 minutes, and he was already diligently telling me (much of the time) when he had to go on his own, outside of the timer.  It was pretty impressive.

It's been a little over a month, and that child has this concept down pat.  Seriously, easiest potty training of all time.  He still has accidents here and there, and he probably will for a while.  Because, well, let's face it: he isn't even 2 yet.

I'm definitely learning lots that I didn't know about proper boy toilet etiquette.  Like, for example, the fact that I couldn't figure out how to get him on a big potty in a public place for like two weeks without it either spraying up and over the seat, or out from between the seat and the bowl.

Turns out, there's a really simple solution, just in case you were wondering, because unlike a girl's, boys' sprayers can be aimed.  So instead of letting it hit me in the face every time while trying to avoid dropping him in the toilet, turns out, I can just point it down.  (Yes, it took me two weeks to figure that out.  Don't even say anything.)

Don't even get me started on how simple it is to have an unanticipated potty break, say, at the park or on a walk, or once, even in the parking lot at the grocery store.  Boys have it so much easier than girls.

My favorite is when people compliment me on getting him potty trained so soon.  Hah!  Yeah, because I totally had anything to do with it.

It's a lot of work, this whole potty training business... though I'm not changing diapers, there is definitely a lot more jumping up and down to help him make sure he gets on and off the potty successfully.  For the first couple of weeks, he would wake up and go even before he came to get me out of bed.  Which, as you might imagine, resulted in me being roused at 5:07 a.m. by a boy who was extremely proud of himself, shouting, "MOMMA!  POOP IN THERE!"  In there was loosely interpreted to mean partially in the bowl, all over his legs, down the wall and smeared all over the little potty, but it was hard to argue with his enthusiasm.

Now, he's getting into a much better routine and "in there" generally means the actual potty.

Plus, I got to thoroughly wash all those diapers and snap them back up for someone's tiny tushy, hopefully to be making an appearance soon.

All in all, I'm obscenely, ridiculously, over-the-top proud of this kid.  He completely mastered this big job all on his own with just a little cheerleading and extra laundry from me.  I couldn't love him any more!

Week 3 Roundup

Our third week of preschool was brought to us by the letter A and the garden of Eden.

Predictably then, our activities were chalk full of one thing: APPLES!

We made prints using apples and paint.  Once they were dry, we used them to do a variety of activities.  We hung them on the wall and practiced counting in order, which she has completely mastered. 

I gave her a basket, and she got to "pick" the apples off the "tree" (aka the wall.  It wasn't fancy, but totally fun anyway.)  She recognizes the numbers in order, so we were done with this in about five minutes, but it was enough fun that I put them back up and we did it again a few times. 

We did an apple taste test, and had great conversations about the ways that the apples are similar and different.  We got to explore the word OBSERVE.  My favorite part of homeschooling isn't the activities, it's the conversations and listening to her frame the world for herself.  She knows so much!

We recorded our findings (while practicing the letter X, of course).  She got a little mavericky and drew her first S - totally on her own - for "soft" and a G for juicy.  Love.

This child loves her work books, so we did a little of that too.

And I'm quite happy to report that the chalkboard is getting its fair share of use!  (Those big circles are apples, not bombs, in case you were wondering.)

We used the apples to do a few things, including working on patterns, and doing this apple craft based on our memory verse.  I'm starting to suspect that Leah knows quite a few sight words.  She decided that she wanted to glue down "God" first, so she picked it up and pulled it out of the pile.  

 Except that I hadn't read the words to her yet, or told her anything about what we were doing.

Logan really liked this activity.  I heard an awful lot of "ooooooh!" pointyfinger.  

We made applesauce and apple pie.  We made an apple tree using her foot and her hands.  We drew apples with water colors and made a diagram of an apple on a paper plate.

On Friday, we took a little trip to a farm to pick raspberries.  I looked for a you-pick-it apple orchard, but just couldn't find one.  It's been an unusual year weather-wise in Colorado, so perhaps it just wasn't in the cards.  

So that wraps it up for us!  We're looking forward to the letter Z and the story of Noah's Ark!

Leah and Logan - Dancing in September.

What triumphs and challenges did you face this week?  Anything you and your child are particularly proud of?  Brag it out!

Happy learning, friends!

Homeschool: Week 2 Roundup

A little roundup of our activities this week.  We studied the first 7 days of creation, and the letter g {for garden, obviously}.  We did some practice cutting with scissors and counting with beans.

Get excited, folks - we're going in.

How Does a Garden Grow? I cut out all the pieces the night before (by the by, you don't have to feel intimidated by my mad paper flower-cutting skills.  What can I say?  There are just some things I excel at), and then Leah and I had a great conversation about what plants need to grow: Dirt, sunlight, water.  She glued each piece into place, and pretended to plant and water her seeds.  Then, we discussed the other parts of a flower (stem, leaves, flower.  We're not technical yet) and she put them all into place as she wanted.  I had intended to glue the pipe cleaner down, but it's really stinkin' hard to glue pipe cleaner using only a glue stick.  Enter: tape.  

Mr. Smiley.  I so wish I could take credit for this, because it's preschool genius.  Since it's our first time using scissors, Leah needed some prompting to help her remember to keep her thumb up.  I'd tried some simple reminding, but I needed something better.  Enter: Mr. Smiley.  I know.  Genius, right?  Instead of reminding/nagging, all I have to say is, "Can you see Mr. Smiley?" and she knows.  Awesome.  

Scissors Assessment.  I wanted to see how accurately Leah is able to use her scissors, so we did this little test.  I drew lines on a piece of paper and asked her to cut on the lines, ONLY on the lines and no further.  Interesting thing I'm discovering about my daughter: She's not great at the sticking to it thing.  As you can see, the first two lines - the ones where she was super focused, determined and willing to work hard - were pretty much perfect.  By line 3, she got a little bored and decided to improvise.  So, at age three and a half, that's her attention span: two lines.  I have my work cut out for me...

 Fine motor skills strengthening.  Another thing I know (besides the fact that this photo is out of focus) is that Leah needs some work on her fine motor skills.  She's amazing in so many areas of life, but this is one that is tough for her.  So, we set out to work on it.  Supplies: Colander and pipe cleaners cut in thirds.  Goal: Go to town threading pipe cleaners through the holes.  I told her it was worms in the garden.  Go Team Fine Motor Skills!

Creation book.  A fabulous idea that came from our curriculum where you use clear contact paper to build collages of the things God made on each of the first seven days.  This was activity day three (fish, birds, animals and people; not to be confused with day three of creation).  Other days not pictured on account of it took me three days to figure out the contact paper properly because I'm a little challenged in the fine motor skill department, too.  

Letter g on the chalkboard.  Self explanatory.  But can I brag ('cause I'm going to.  What?! Modesty is so overrated): she drew the capital letters on her own without any prompting or practice.  

Counting beans.  Another exercise in sticking to it.  We did 1-3 so she could get the hang of it, and I could tell that by the time we got to eight we were going to be in trouble.  Not because she couldn't do it, but because she could do it and was easily distracted.  So, we started jumping around and I let her select the next number she wanted to count to give her a little more buy in.  It took a lot of overenthusiastic celebrating and encouragement, but we made it.  Whew!

Workbook.  Go letter g.  

Ink pad flowers.  Her thumb pressed into a red ink pad, combined with a green crayon.  We added a few necessary things for a garden - worm, butterfly, bee, ladybug, the usual - and done and done!

We had a great second week, and g was so.much.easier for her than x, which pushed her super-linear, vertical/horizontal axis-only what'sadiagonal? boundaries.  We are looking forward to all the apples next week!

So... talk back: How'd it go for you?  What activities did you try this week?  Looking forward to hearing from you and have a blessed weekend!

She goes to preschool. I go, too.

So, today.

All you moms who are on Facebook and you're posting sweet photos of your sweet little ones decked out with new shoes, brand-spankin-new backpacks and those fabulous pencil bouquets.  Your kiddos are SO CUTE!  Oh, and also: your posts about how sad/excited you are to have some free time to yourself while the kids are at preschool?  YOU MAKE ME SICK!  {If you were here, you'd see my big sarcastic smile, and you'd immediately stop with the hate mail you're about to press send on.  Just trust me on this one.}

I'm green, to be more precise.  Green with more than a little touch of envy.

Because we too have met that milestone here in our house.

We, too, put on shiny new(ish) shoes, donned that backpack that is so cute on account of its 70% size-to-wearer ratio.  

We too went on a howcuteareyouonyourfirstdayofpreschool?! photo binge.

But, when we were finished that age-old first day ritual, we did not get in the car and drive away to meet teachers and classmates.  No, no.  Instead, we did this:

and went right back inside.  

Because, folks?  We're homeschooling.

Yep, you heard that right.  Break out your pitchforks.  I can already hear you thinking, first the breadmaking and now THIS?  Where does it end?!  

If it's coming as a shock to you, you're in good company.  I don't know that I've talked about this before.  It's one of those things I've felt called to do pretty much since that pretty baby made her appearance on this Earth.  It was NOT something I planned on when I imagined having kids. It was not something I knew when I was pregnant with Leah.  As a child, when I envisioned my life as a teacher, there was absolutely a classroom and like 25+ kids involved, so I can be completely honest when I tell you that the desire to homeschool was a surprise even to me.

Someday, I'll tell you all about the reasons behind our decision.  They are obviously multifaceted and largely involve two things: 1) faith and 2) my own experiences as a public education teacher.

For now, I'll suffice it to say that I feel so, so good about the decision.  And also completely slightly terrified.  And more than a little overwhelmed when I think about how many years it's going to be before I am ever alone in this house again. GULP.

This choice is not for everyone, I realize, but it's one that we as a family are so ridiculously excited about.  All joking and snarking aside, we're psyched.  We feel extremely lucky that, after all these years of talk, we're able to take full advantage of the opportunity.   

Of course, we're only one day in, so I'll keep you posted...

She will go first {and I will gladly eat my words}

Remember when we talked about my shy, reserved child who has to scope everything out before jumping in? 

Generally speaking, this is just part of who she is, and I absolutely love it.  She's not the child who is comfortable in big crowds or classes, she doesn't join in on a whim.  Love.

Well, we've found an exception to this rule that I love equally as much.  Enter Leah, master of the pool.

My kid has always, always been a water baby.  She looooooves to play in the water.  She always has.  So I signed her up for independent swim lessons this summer, and the child absolutely blossomed.

Gone was my shy, reserved little girl who waited for everyone else to go first before jumping in.

 

 

Suddenly, she was outgoing.  She was determined.  Without bias (okay, well, maybe a little bias), she was the star student.  She did everything the teachers asked of her, and she did it crazy well.  She was completely without fear, hesitation or  concern. 

Sometimes, she was bold to the point of being pushy.  She wanted to go first, and more often than not, she did.  (The whole concept of waiting in line isn't one we're familiar with.)

She loved jumping in the pool.  Loved it. 

 

And every single day, when everyone else had already gotten out of the pool, she asked if she could do it again.  And she totally rocked it. 

 

That sweet child of mine.  We're talking absolute head-to-toe transformation.

 

On the last day of classes, they opened up the big water slide.  The other 4 kids in the class all sat on the teachers' laps to ride down the slide.  Not this girl.  She put on her life jacket and jumped down that slide all on her own, even though it scared her a little. 

 

 

I could not be more proud of that big girl.  Her momma was kind of a water baby, too, so it's fun to see her love something that always meant so much to me.  More than that, though, watching her gain confidence and come out of her shell and find something she excels at and enjoys - wow.  It makes me appreciate just how much she's growing up, and what a cool little lady she's growing into. 

 

Not to mention, she's pretty proud of herself (in case you can't tell). 

MIMI has all straight lines

Our grandma Mimi's birthday is at the end of April. 

A great amount of thought was put into what would be written on her card.  There was quite a day of storytelling that followed, largely from the backseat of my car with a waterbottle in one hand and a Rapunzel doll in the other. 

When I asked her if she wanted to sign the back of the card, she initially told me yes. 

So I wrote out her name for her and prepared to help her write it.  She's getting quite proficient at it these days.

Then, she told me that since the card was for Mimi, she wanted to write her name.  And also because "it has all straight lines."

You know what?

 

MIMI does have all straight lines.  You know what else?  Smart girls are so totally awesome.  Get down with your straight lines, kid.  And don't ever - ever - stop writing.

Dear Olympics: You'll be seeing us in 2028.

Because, for reals: we're going.  Olympics, here we come.  Why, you ask?  Because someone...

...had her first gymnastics class today. (And completely rocked it, I might add.  You know it must be true if it comes from her mother.)

 

That right there is the face of determination.

 

I didn't take any pictures in the gym, but it was sooooooo-ooo much fun to watch.  She was a bit nervous going in.  We talked to God and told Him all about her fears.  It was, after all, her first big-girl class completely independent of her momma. 

 

The first ten minutes were a little dicey as she tried to take it all in.  She didn't shy away and she wasn't afraid to leave me, but she also didn't participate at all.  Instead, she just looked around and watched as the other kids stretched; a move that absolutely typifies her personality to a tee.  She is not a joiner.  She is not one who jumps right in.  She has to test the water, evaluate, and decide it's okay to go forward.  I adore that about her, by the way.  I may have prayed {often} for exactly that quality while she was in my belly.

 

Once the whole concept passed though, she blossomed.  She summersaulted.  She walked on the balance beam.  She hung on the rings.  She jumped on the trampoline.  She hopped on one foot.  She totally stuck the landing. 

 

It was pretty impressive for her first time.  And this kid of mine cannot wait to go back. 

 



Love that girl.

Grateful for

Target.

And the fact that, when we visited Target today, Miss Leah began pointing out all the letters she knows.  Which, as it turns out, is pretty much all of them. 

The "Merry Christmas" signs?  She rocked them.  She knows all the letters in "Starbucks Coffee" (hmmm... imagine that...). 

She even knows a handful of lowercase letters, which we haven't worked much on.  And, if you're wondering how the kid got so smart, it's in part because I let her watch TV.  Seriously.  If you haven't tuned in to SuperWhy, you're missing out.  That's a shameless TV plug from a reading teacher, it's that good.    

Sure, she confuses W and M.  And sometimes T and I, depending on the font of the letters.  But the girl knows her letters, and we had so much fun finding signs and pointing them out.  I absolutely adore that a trip to the store can become such a learning experience. 

While we're at it, I'm pretty darn thankful for all the reading that goes on in our house.  I hope that's always the case. 

Smart happens everywhere.