Samantha: 117 Months, Week 1
Aedan: 84 Months, Week 3
Owen: 41 Months, Week 1
Sunday, February 14th was Valentine's Day, of course, but it was not a day where we had many plans. Before going to bed, Ben and I worked on cutting out and writing on little hearts that we taped on the kids' doors of things that we love about them. I thought it would be a sweet surprise for them when whey woke up the next morning.
The rest of the day was spent just going to church, having small group in the evening, and the rest of the time I spent working on a big assignment for my graduate class. I was tasked with choosing a topic from a content area specific to adolescent learners, and then identifying at least five conceptual words that are crucial to understanding that topic. I had to create a visual or graphic display using technology that demonstrated how I could teach those words to students, as well as describe how I would use each model or display to assist students in creating their own vocabulary learning, along with infusing technology into the display with websites, audio files, or video links. Here's an example of a graphic organizer I made, discussing the prefix pyro. This assignment took me a very long time to complete and was very involved, so it felt a little stressful to me trying to get it finished by midnight that night, while also not totally ignoring my family and taking the time to go to small group as well. It definitely felt good when I finally turned it in.
I always get worried when I am doing different types of assignments than what I have done in the past, so I was nervous about what grade I would get on this one. I worked really hard on it, and when I looked at my gradebook on Monday morning, I was relieved and proud to see that I got 100% on the vocabulary assignment.
Clothes shopping went well with Samantha on Saturday morning/afternoon, which I mentioned in the previous post. She found a lot of good stuff, and it was good that she was with me, because I probably wouldn't have picked half the stuff she chose. Plus, they were having a sale on shoes for $1 and had out the summer shoes, so I was able to get a pair of Crocs for each kid. It was a successful shopping trip, and it was fun just being able to go and spend time with Samantha. She is definitely enjoying going shopping more lately and picking things out for herself, as well as designing her own unique outfits.
We got bad weather overnight Sunday into Monday again, with freezing rain and ice, so it was a good thing that there was already a scheduled day off of school. Our driveway seemed like it had some ice on it already that morning when I took the trash down, so I put some ice melt stuff on it. Ben said the roads were okay, but it was doing some freezing rain on his way down to campus that morning. I was going to take the kids out somewhere to go sledding since we had the day off, but I didn't know if I should because I get nervous about getting back up our driveway and driving around the hilly, curvy roads around us. Our van does not have good traction, so if there is any slipperiness to the driveway, then we can't make it up. Plus, the boys were acting tired that morning which usually looks like being mean and fighting. So instead of going anywhere, we just went outside to play at our own house, and I showed them how fun it could be to play outside in the snow covered in ice, breaking off ice chunks from around the bushes where the water dripped down from the roof, and even eating icicles. Here are some pictures and videos of our time outside.
I love this little video of Owen talking and eating his icicle. It makes me smile to see him all bundled up and hear his sweet little voice.
And here's a video of what things looked like in our backyard that morning.
After some time playing outside in the cold ice and snow, we came back in to warm ourselves up. They all crowded into Samantha's bed while she read a Dog Man book to them. It was really sweet to see all of their red cheeks from playing in the cold, and how they were all sitting cuddled up next to each other.
Here's the finished cherry chocolate cheesecake that Ben made for Valentine's Day. It was delicious, and a combination of two of my favorite things: cherries and chocolate. We always say that Ben could sell his cheesecakes because they are so good!
After rearranging the rooms, putting the bunk beds up in Owen's room, and taking down his crib and changing table, we decided that we no longer needed this old convertible crib and changing table that we got from the Brashers years ago. We contacted our friend, Mandy, who is in charge of Care Portal of Luzerne County, and we donated the convertible crib and mattress, as well as a couple packages of leftover diapers and bigger pull-ups. It felt good to get the items out of our attic and to know they were going to be used to help out a family in need at some point.
Tuesday, February 16th the kids had another "snow day" which was actually their second Google Classroom day since they had already reached seven snow days so far this winter. Here is some work Aedan did that day at home: a reading paper where he read a passage and answered some questions, comparing numbers that are greater than, reading a passage and then answering a question and drawing a picture about it, as well as a Mystery Picture page with base-ten blocks. Samantha did all her work online and submitted it through Google Classroom, so I don't know exactly what she did, and I don't have pictures of any of it.
Here is my cute little Aedan, in his adorable blue striped sweater, proudly showing off his crazy Lego creation that he made. I just love his sweet smile and his wonderful creativity with Legos.
I left this last picture in here because I just love his hair when it gets long. You can see the cowlick in the back where his hair just always sticks up, as well as how long his sideburns and the back of his hair is. His hair grows in so fast and so thick, but his hair is so soft, fluffy, and nice. Sometimes I like the look of him with slightly longer hair, and we can get away with it more in the winter time when his head isn't getting as hot and sweaty.
Keeping up with the kids on all these days at home definitely tires Izzy out. Here she is curled up on the couch with her head propped up on the pillow at the end of the couch where I was sitting covered up by the blanket. She's not a big cuddler, but she does enjoy lying near us at night when all the kids are tucked into bed.
On Wednesday Ben stopped by the Wilkes-Barre YMCA to officially register Owen for preschool for the fall. I felt confident about our decision, the location, how it would fit into our schedule, and what Owen would be able to experience while he was there. I feel like it's just enough hours for him to have the preschool experience, without it being too overwhelming or time-consuming. Plus, I will still have three days a week with him at home with me. I know I have these next two years at home before I look into going back into teaching more full time, whether that looks like more substitute teaching, a building sub, a long-term sub, or a full classroom teacher. I want Owen to experience preschool, make friends, learn and grow, but I also want to soak up as much time with him as I can before I am no longer a stay at home mom. It has been the joy and privilege of my life to be able to stay home and take care of my kids for the last eight years. I feel honored to have made the sacrifice, and I know I will look back fondly on these years and the memories I made with each of my children. Sometimes I don't feel quite ready to let it go. I am excited, yet nervous, to get back into working and teaching full time, but I know it is something I am called to and gifted in, so I hope that it is not too difficult to get back into the classroom some day when the time is right. In the meantime, I'm glad that Owen will get the chance to go to preschool, go swimming two times a week, play with other kids his age, and be able to learn and grow in an environment outside the home.
Samantha got a sweet Valentine's Day package from her best friend from Michigan, Marek. She got this cute little stuffed animal, as well as the gold necklace she is wearing in the picture. It had two circle pendants hanging from the chain: one with the outline of the state of Michigan and one with the outline of the state of Pennsylvania, which was such a sweet and thoughtful gift. Samantha felt so happy that he thought of sending her these gifts (which I'm sure his mom had something to do with).
I sure do love this girl of mind. She is beautiful inside and out.
Here is some work the kids brought home from school on Wednesday. Aedan has this picture combining what looks like Dog Man and Star Wars. We also got his report card for marking period two. For Art, there is a comment that he participates in class. For Music, there is a comment that he has a positive attitude. For PE, there is a comment that he participates in class and listens/follows directions. For Language Arts, there is a comment that he has a positive attitude, and he got 99%. For Math, he has a reminder to practice math facts, and he got a 98%. He didn't have number grades for Science and Social Studies. He got a 94% in Spelling, and his average for the marking period is 97%. Way to go, Aedan! I am so proud of him and the effort he puts into his school work, even if it is a little boring and easy at times. He is a smart boy, and it's awesome to see how much he is learning and growing, even in this very strange school year during Covid.
This next paper was a parent report from Accelerated Reader. He had a 344 as his scaled score which was based on the difficulty of questions and number of correct responses. His percentile rank was 96, showing that his reading skills are higher than 96% of students nationally in the same grade, which clearly shows he is above average. His grade equivalent was 3.2 which means his reading skills are comparable to a typical third grader after the second month of the school year. His instructional reading level was 2.9, and this is the grade level at which Aedan is at least 80% proficient at recognizing words and comprehending reading materials. So a 2.9 means he is at least 80% proficient at reading second grade materials. His zone of proximal development shows the reading levels that are appropriately challenging for reading practice where he should be choosing books for growth in reading. So he should be choosing books that fall between the 7th month of second grade and the 8th month of 3rd grade reading level. Since I have used Accelerated Reader at schools in the past, I was very excited to see this report and to see how much Aedan is excelling in his reading skills and abilities. I am so proud of him, and I love to see how much he loves reading. I'm pretty impressed that he is already reading at close to a 3rd grade reading level a little over halfway through 1st grade.
Here is another picture that Aedan drew of a Dog Man scene.
Here are some papers from Samantha: practice with her spelling words with long e and o sounds, math practice on cross simplifying, as well as solving problems with fractions and comparing fractions.
We also got Samantha's report card for marking period two. She didn't get number grades for Art, Music, PE or Technology Ed, but she got comments of participates in class for Art, positive attitude and participates in class for Music, participates in class and listens/follows directions for PE, and is a diligent worker for Technology Ed. She had a 98% in Language Arts with the comment that she was courteous and cooperative. She got a 99% in Science, a 100% in Social Studies, and a 99% in her 5th grade math class, for an average of 99%. Wow, this girl amazes me! She is so smart, such a hard worker, and school just comes so naturally to her. I love to watch how much she grows and learns. Not only is she going up a grade for math and doing excellent, she is also going to Gifted every day and keeping up with that work as well. Lehman-Jackson has been so good for her. She has just blossomed and really risen to the challenge. I am so proud of her, and the example she sets for her brothers in what it looks like to be a hard worker and have that hard work pay off.
Here is more work from the kids. Samantha got 100% on her spelling test and practiced the long u sound in the next list of spelling words. Aedan has his weekly reading/spelling newsletter, another picture that he drew titled Revolutionary War, and a spelling test, a math page, and a reading test that he got all 100% on.
Since we didn't go out and go sledding early in the week because I was afraid of the icy roads and driveway, we decided to go out after Owen's nap on Wednesday, and Ben ended up meeting us there as well. However, as you can see in the videos, the snow was just covered with a thin layer of ice, making it very hard and bumpy. This first video is of Aedan coming down the hill, and he starts crying at the end of the video because he tried to stop himself with his hand and ended up jamming his finger on the ground.
Next up was Owen, and he was on a different type of sled, plus he is lighter, so he didn't bounce around quite as much on his way down the hill. I was pretty impressed with how he was able to stay on the sled and put his hand out to correct himself when he felt himself tipping to the side.
I was at the top helping the kids get on, and this next video is of Samantha. You can see that she got going pretty fast on the thinner plastic sled, and once she hit the bumps at the bottom, it just popped her right off the sled. Needless to say, we didn't want anyone else to get hurt by sledding down the hard, icy hill, so we decided to take a break after this.
Instead we decided to break off ice chunks from on top of the snow and throw them at Daddy as he used one of the sleds as a shield. The kids took turns chucking the ice, and they thought this was great fun. You can see in the video that the boys, especially Owen, could just run across the top of the snow because of how hard the layer of ice was on top of the snow. Also, the sunset in the sky is so pretty in this video with the hues of blue, the yellow, orange, pink, and red. I love where we live. It is so beautiful, and we have so many chances to get outside and enjoy the nature around us.
After we had our fill of throwing ice chunks and it was getting darker outside, we headed out, stopping at Grotto Pizza for dinner, since we were playing outside over dinnertime and didn't have time to go home and make dinner.
We have a pretty strong bedtime routine of getting pajamas on, brushing teeth, and then reading books together. The kids even wore their matching Christmas pajamas that night. Ben and I always take turns reading to the kids so that way we aren't just always reading to the same kid. Owen will often sit with us as we read to Aedan because he likes hearing his books as well. Well, after a fun night of playing outside and going out to eat, Owen was a tired boy and cuddled right up on my lap as we listened to Aedan read his book. Owen is still such a cuddler, and I just love it. He gives the best hugs, and it will be really sad for me when he doesn't want to do this as much as he grows up.
Aedan discovered I was taking pictures of him and decided to make a grumpy face for me. This boy doesn't like to have sneaky pictures taken of him!
Aedan is such a good reader, and he was reading this chapter book from the "Teacher from the Black Lagoon" series. Owen and I love listening to him read. It's such an enjoyable way to end our day.
Samantha was up late again on Wednesday night. It was almost 11:00, and she was still awake. I was trying to get some work done for my class, and she kept walking around and coming downstairs saying that she couldn't fall asleep. I was getting frustrated enough that I told Ben he needed to take a turn talking to her. It is so perplexing what makes these nights happen and why she can't just calm herself down when it is so late at night and she is so very tired. Poor girl. My heart just breaks for her as she struggles through this challenge.
Thursday was another snow day that was declared a Google Classroom instructional day. Here is the work that Aedan did that day that we took pictures of and sent in to his teacher. He wrote his spelling words two times each, practiced finding numbers that are less than, answered some questions about a reading passage, and solved some math problems to make a mystery picture.
Now that activities are starting back up again, and the kids' swim lessons will be ending soon, I decided it would be fun to give them a try at gymnastics. There was a local gymnastics center that was offering Ninja Warrior classes for the boys' age, and they thought that sounded like fun. I signed Samantha up for an intermediate girls' class, too. However, Owen started his first Ninja Warrior class that Thursday afternoon at 3:30. Ben came home a little early from campus so I could take him to his class, and it was fun to watch him that afternoon. Here he is doing the ninja warrior course they helped him go through. His teacher is showing him how to do a cartwheel.
They even had a bounce area for the kids to jump around on. Owen is on the right side and then in the back in this video.
After they had some free time to bounce, the teacher showed them different types of jumps and had them practice that. Owen is so cute trying to copy his teacher as best as he could. He really was a great listener and participated in everything during the whole class.
Here he is learning how to hang like a monkey on the bar.
February 18th was Izzy's 4th birthday! We decided we would put peanut butter between a couple treats as her special birthday treat. We even sung Happy Birthday to her, but all she cared about was getting the yummy peanut butter treat. Here is our pretty dog who has been such a good dog for our family. I'm so glad we got her as a puppy a little over 4 years ago!
I honestly couldn't believe it, but Friday was another snow day that they declared a Google Classroom instruction day. The kids only had one day of school this week, on Wednesday, because of all the snow we we got that week. It was so crazy! However, I am very glad that they decided to switch over to Google Classroom days so that way we don't have to keep adding on all these extra days at the end of the school year and extend even more into the summer.
Here is the work Aedan completed on Friday that we sent in to his teacher. He read a couple passages and answered some questions about them and used symbols to compare numbers. All his work is very easy for him to complete, and I always make him do extra things, too, like read to me, take an AR quiz, practice his math facts, and things like that, since I never feel like he gets enough work or is challenged enough in what he can actually do. I'm sure he doesn't like that I add more on top of what his teacher expects him to do, but that's okay. It's good for him.
That afternoon, since it was Friday, and the kids had completed all of their work for the week, I let Samantha and Aedan watch a movie while Owen napped. Again, I'm not exactly sure what they watched, but I'm pretty sure it was another Star Wars movie, since they know they can't watch those when Owen is awake. I've decided it's just a special thing that Samantha and Aedan can share with each other. I love how they are sitting close and cuddled up under a blanket together.
Here is how Owen was sleeping that afternoon. I have the video monitor pointed at his bed so that I can tell if he's actually laying down and napping at nap time. When I saw his cute, sleepy face right in view of the camera, I just had to take a picture of it. He often falls asleep on his back like his, sometimes even with his arms folded behind his head. It reminds me a lot of how Samantha falls asleep, but she has her arms resting on her chest instead. I like to watch our kids sleep. They are so calm and so peaceful.
These next few pictures are a little strange, but I offered to host a Norwex party for one of my friends who is a consultant. I was mainly doing it because I like the few products I have tried, and I was hoping that by hosting a party, I could earn free things, including the mop system, which is what I really wanted. With all our wood floors, I really needed something easier and more efficient to clean the floors with, and the Norwex mop system would work great. Heather wanted me to post some before and after pictures of things I cleaned with my favorite products that I have already tried, so I took pictures of the kids' dirty sink and mirror in the upstairs bathroom, cleaned it, and then took pictures again to show how clean and shiny I could get is just by using the Norwex Envirocloth and Window Cloth. No chemicals or cleaners involved! Just the cloth and water. It's pretty amazing actually, and so easy to do that I will definitely get my kids involved in cleaning their own bathroom in the future.
Here are a couple pictures of Owen eating his spaghetti dinner that Friday night. I don't know why I took these pictures. He must have been doing something silly because that is definitely a common occurrence for him at dinnertime. He's such a goofball and loves the extra attention.
On Saturday Ben offered to take the clothes back to Once Upon a Child that Samantha didn't want because they ended up not fitting her right. Dressing rooms were still closed last weekend when I took her shopping there, because of Covid, so she wasn't able to try anything on. I wanted to get some cleaning done that day, so Ben offered to do the forty-five minute drive there and back to help me out.
I had to clean up blood from Aedan's bed because he had a bloody nose overnight and had some blood splatters and smears from trying to take care of it himself. I made sure he knew that was something he could have come downstairs and asked for help with, and that he didn't need to just take care of it on his own. Poor boy. I'm glad for his independence, but I don't want him to feel like he can't come to us if he needs us for something during the night.
Ben took Samantha to her swim lesson on Saturday morning, and they were playing monkey in the middle that day. She was having a great time playing and swimming.
I took the boys to their lesson, while Ben took Samantha to another Care Portal drop off. Owen practiced floating around the pool on his back, with support of course.
He swam down the length of the pool with a back float hooked on, as well as a pool noodle to lean on in the front for balance.
He also jumped off the platform into the water again, and this time he was much more brave than last week. Before they had to lower him down more into the water, but this time he was able to mostly jump in while just holding his teacher's hands. He flailed around a little as he splashed back up out of the water, but he did much better than last week, and I was proud of him.
Then, they got their pool noodles and swam back the length of the pool.
He stood on the side and jumped toward the pool noodle as his teachers held it out for him, before going off and swimming on his own. However, he was being a little silly and distracted while he was swimming, so it took him a while to swim all the way back down to the other end. He loves being in the water so much!
Aedan also did some practicing of floating on his back while holding a kickboard above his tummy and kicking his feet out behind him. He was pretty good and fast at this, needing some guidance from his teacher as his head hit the lane dividers.
Aedan also got to jump into the pool with his back float on, aiming for his pool noodle and then swimming to join the other boys in his class in the middle of the pool. It makes me smile that he always plugs his nose when he jumps into the water because he really doesn't like water going up his nose.
The Care Portal delivery was short that morning, and Samantha was so tired after being up late again the night before because she couldn't sleep. Here are some pictures Ben took of Samantha and himself at the coffee shop that they met up at before Care Portal drop offs. Samantha likes getting hot chocolate there.
The kids were all being mean and grumpy that day as we got back home and were getting ready for lunch. It was just one of those days where everyone needed to eat and either nap or have time by themselves to recharge and calm down. Swimming tires them out as well, so we tend to take it easy at home on Saturday afternoons.
(Blog about February 14-20, 2021)
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