Work from School, Star Wars, and More Gymnastics

Samantha: 117 Months, Week 3

Aedan: 85 Months, Week 1

Owen: 41 Months, Week 3

Someone asked Ben recently if he had found his car keys yet, and they still haven't turned up because we still have huge piles of snow everywhere. Hopefully they will turn up at some point. I didn't talk about this in my last post, but on Saturday night we decided to go to a membership service at Restored. It was the first time we had been back to church since before Covid, almost a whole year of being at home. I wasn't sure what I thought about going at first because the thought of going to church in the evening with all three kids sitting with us, didn't seem like a good plan to me. However, we had them bring books with them, and we knew it wouldn't be too long of a service, as it wasn't a regular church service. However, despite my hesitancy, it was really good for us to be there. Ben commented that we got to watch Samantha and Aedan worship with their whole hearts in a room with other people. Ben also talked to Aedan about communion and how it is good that we feel sad about Jesus choosing to sacrifice for us, but that we should also feel grateful and full of joy. He remarked how fun it is having kids get to this point where we can have conversations like that.

I had spent a lot of time in the last couple of weeks finishing the photo book for our little peanut, talking about our time spent with her. I finished it and sent it out last week, both to our little peanut's mom and dad, as well as ordering a copy to keep for ourselves as well. It was supposed to be delivered over the weekend, so I checked on Monday morning to see if they got it, but I never got a response from either mom or dad about receiving the book, or what they thought of all the photos from her first 6 months of life. It was disappointing to me that I never even knew if they got the books that I spent my time and energy making for them, as well as our money to order and ship to them. However, I just had to remind myself that I wasn't doing this in order to illicit some response from them, but just as a kind gesture so they have a collection of all the precious pictures and moments we captured of her first six months of life, so that way they can look back and see her growth and development, and they have a record of that time in her life as well. Putting the book together was such an emotional experience for me. I found myself tearing up very often, feeling very sad that this little girl was no longer with us, and hoping that she was safe, loved, and growing well.

The other notable things from that Monday were that we submitted paper work for refinancing our home at a lower interest rate which will save us a considerable amount of money over time. Ben had been working hard on submitting all the necessary documents so that we could lock in a good interest rate. It was a lot of work and paperwork, but we were glad to be able to take advantage of the opportunity. Also, I had my weekly counseling appointment online, which I usually have on Monday afternoons. It has been good for me to have this weekly time to talk through things, how I'm feeling, and any struggles that I am facing. My counselor is easy to talk to, and I have uninterrupted time to talk while Owen is napping.

Also, Owen and I made some blueberry banana bread together that morning. He likes to help with jobs around the house, so he was excited to be able to mash the bananas for me. As you can see, he was taking his job very seriously.

Here is the work the kids brought home from school that day. Samantha had a vocabulary review for "Shiloh," a Build a Snowman activity she did for math class, homework in multiplying and simplifying fractions, and a coloring page about adding and subtracting fractions and mixed numbers. Aedan had his weekly newsletter with his spelling words to study, mittens and a hot chocolate mug that he made in art class, a coloring page with his spelling words, a 100% on his spelling test, a 100% on his weekly reading test, and a 100% on his Chapter 7 Math Test about comparing numbers using greater than or less than. He's doing so well on his 1st grade work. Most of the time, it's all very easy, and he doesn't have to work too hard to get these excellent grades. So far, school seems to come naturally to him.

Here is some more work Samantha and Aedan brought home on Tuesday. Samantha got 100% on a spelling test. Aedan did a worksheet on completing the sentence, did a lesson on adding and subtracting within 20, practiced adding -ed to words, and another paper where there are lots of lasers shooting from ships. It's always fun to see so many little pictures drawn on his papers.

Aedan is loving Star Wars these days, and his love of it is rubbing off on Owen as well. Here they are pretending to be Jedi with the force. They hold their hand out, yell "force, force," and then both fall backwards. I could hear them out in the living room doing this, so I had to come take a video. They are so cute together. Owen is always so happy when Aedan comes home from school and plays with him.

It was my turn to take Samantha to gymnastics that evening, and I have to admit that I wasn't too impressed with the gymnastics lesson place. They stretched for almost the first 15 minutes of her 45 minute lesson. During her time there, she only did the beam once and the bars once. Most kids are just standing around or getting into things they shouldn't be. It's too big of a class for only two teachers. In Canada they had like 6-8 kids in each class and constantly had them doing something. Samantha was doing a good job and worked hard, but it didn't seem like they were working on or teaching any particular skills. Here is Samantha practicing the beam and doing leg dips as she walks.

Here is Samantha doing an arm hang on the bars, and then practicing a kick out. You can tell it's hurting her hands some from rubbing on the bar because she keeps shaking her hands after she is done holding on. She also worked on jumping up, flipping her legs over, and spinning over the bar, and her teacher helped her hold at the top before spinning forward back around the bar. They definitely were trying to teach her things, but it's hard when you only have one opportunity to practice it each week. Samantha did a really good job at pushing herself to do something hard though. I was proud of her for how much effort she was putting into it, and she was really enjoying her gymnastics class.

Last but not least, she practiced doing the various types of jumps while jumping on the bouncy floor to give them momentum and height.

This year with Covid impacting things and cancelling activities and groups, it has been hard to feel connected or have anything to go do with Owen. We have spent a lot more time at home than normal, which is okay, but I was trying to figure out a way we could try to get moms together again, like the Bible study we had that would meet at Abide. I was talking to my friend, Grace, about it, and we decided to take the initiative to make something happen. We made plans to meet at Abide with some moms, and Kaili offered to watch the kids for us for a certain number of weeks. There was also talk of Mandy starting something on Friday mornings as well. So on Thursday morning, we had our first meet-up at Abide, the first time in a long time, probably since before Covid. It was great to get together, drink yummy hot coffee, and have adult conversation again, as well as for Owen to have fun playing with other kids in the children's room they have in the back of the coffee shop.

Also, it snowed again on Thursday. We have gotten so much snow this year! Not as much as up in the U.P., but definitely more than we got last winter.

I know I included a picture of Aedan drawing this picture of scenes from Dog Man, but he also took the time to color it very carefully and completely before putting tape on it and putting it up on the wall. It turned out so well! I love the colors he chose and the details he included in the building and characters. Aedan is a very creative, artistic boy.

Thursday afternoon was Owen's turn at gymnastics again. Here he is following his teacher through the obstacle course. I thought it was cute that he was right behind her, the first kid in line. He was doing a really good job following her example, following directions, and doing all the tasks in the obstacle course.

Here he is practicing his forward roll by going over this large octagon-shaped mat. In the video you can also see him riding the little roller coaster car, and then being responsible to take it back for the next child to ride.

Here they are having some free time to jump around on the bouncy floor.

And finally, some cool down stretching to end the class. Owen is such a cute boy, and he is such a good listener and respectful in group situations like this. I am proud to watch how he behaves in class.

Here is some work Samantha brought home from school that day: a Read Across America Word Search, practice with her spelling words that have or or ar, a Chapter 7 Review Test for Math, and the Chapter 7 Math Test covering all the work with fractions that she has been doing lately that she got 100% on.

Aedan did another page where he chose words to complete the sentence, drew some pictures for Dr. Seuss Day during Read Across America week, a mid-chapter checkpoint on adding and subtracting, practice writing his spelling words, and a couple more pictures.

Sitting next to Owen at mealtime means that you get a lot of hugs from him. He is still a very cuddly, hands-on little boy, and he loves to give people hugs all the time. Sometimes we want him to stop because it seems like he is trying to delay things by always stopping and hugging us, but I never want him to stop hugging me because I love his hugs. I often tell him he is the best hugger and gives the best hugs. There is just something about his little arms wrapped around my neck that instantly fills me with a sense of calm and happiness. He is so affectionate, and I never want to discourage that trait in him.

It's fun to see what the boys choose to play with, and on this Friday before school, they had gotten out the Playmobil stuff and were playing with the space shuttle, helicopter, and plane. Aedan is always sad when he has to stop playing to get ready to go to school.

Here are the cute brothers posing for a picture for me in front of their flying vehicles. They really have enjoyed playing with each other so much more lately.

I emailed the Pella people about a quote for a sliding screen door we got last year, and of course the sliding screen door is not available anymore because it's from an original Pella sliding door. Pella has phased those doors out due to the age. So now I was considering getting price quotes from other places to see how much it would cost. It would be so nice to have a screen door installed on our patio door to help let in cooler air when it starts getting hotter out this spring and summer.

Ben and I hadn't been out on a date in a while, so I made plans for Christina, Grace's sister, to come up to our house to babysit so we could go out. Samantha wasn't too excited about us leaving, and really had a hard time thinking about it. She even started crying, talking about how she wasn't going to be able to fall asleep until we got back home. Ben and I went out to dinner and looked around Barnes and Noble, getting some coffee, and just sitting and talking for a while. We had a good time getting out, and it was nice to test a babysitter. This was one of the first times we paid for a babysitter since moving out to Pennsylvania. It's hard to justify paying money for someone to watch your kids, and it often feels like its' more work than it's worth, but it's important for Ben and I to have time together away from our kids. When we got back home, the boys were in bed, and Christina was just finishing up with Samantha, so Ben and I decided to go up there and say good night to her so that she knew we were home and could fall asleep easier. She has such a hard time with things are different, and so many things have been impacting her sleep lately. We felt bad because sometimes it seems like we can't go anywhere or do anything that goes out of our range of normal because then we just know that it is going to impact Samantha's sleep. I had never seen her so upset about us leaving, and she really doesn't like it when we are out past bedtime and she can't say good night to us or doesn't know when we get home. Poor girl, she is still just having so much trouble with sleep, and Ben and I continue to be at a loss for what to do.

(Blog about February 28-March 6, 2021)