Catching Up: July

When I lived in Rockville with my dad and brother, I earned the distinction for using each of the three bedrooms in the house that weren't the master. I just liked switching things up! I hope my poor children aren't disturbed by bedroom inconsistency, because I seem to be continuing the practice. This room will be the office! No, now it will be Alexander's room. Now it will be Jack's room. And now we will move. Now Alexander will be here and Jack will be here. Hmmm. No, now Alexander will be in this room instead and Jack will be here. Now they will be together! And Kai will be here! No, there! And on... and on... and on. It hasn't stopped in this house, either. We started out with Alexander and Jack in one room, Kai in the second, and Noah in the master with me. Then we moved Kai in with the big boys and Noah into the second room. Later, we moved Kai back into the second room with Noah. This July we decided to move all four boys into the master. The room is big enough that we can fit two bunk beds (right now it's one bunk bed, one twin, and one toddler mattress on the floor), and four dressers. They seem to enjoy being together and they've actually gained some nice floor space to put together train tracks. They have a nice big closet where they can shove all of their dress-up clothes, and they have two sinks that they can nasty up with their toothpaste without bothering us adults. We'll see how well they like living dorm style as they get older, but it's working well for now.

Also in July, I took the boys down to Maryland for a visit with friends. It was our longest visit yet, and I love that they are getting big enough that I can manage something like this a little easier. Not easy, but easier. We visited some of our old favorite playgrounds, our favorite lake (which happens to be one of my "happy places"), saw some good friends, had a great pool fun day with my aunt, and the big boys even got to go to a minor league baseball game. We'll see you again soon, Maryland!

Catching Up: June

In June, we completed our second  year of homeschooling. Although it does seem like forever since we stepped foot into a brick and mortar school, it also seems like we've only just begun on this homeschool journey. I have doubts almost every day about whether we are making the right choice for our kids. It's not easy, but parenting isn't easy. Having four little boys is just not easy no matter what choices you make for their education. So, we will just keep taking it as it comes.

Alexander finished up his third grade year, scoring very well on his standardized test, and having truly enjoyed a good many of the things he accomplished. He did not love every activity, of course, but in general I think he found a great number of things that he connected with. He enjoyed learning about Ben Franklin, the American Revolution, other inventors, and electricity, among other things. He continued to dislike writing and I continued to have hopes that, in time, he'll come to find pleasure in it as both his father and I do. He did well in his extracurricular sports: swimming, karate, tai kwon do, and soccer.

Jack finished up a gentle kindergarten year, impressing me with the speed at which he picks up math. He was easily working through second grade math by the middle of the year! He's steadily improving with his reading, although that doesn't come as easily as the math does. He is working diligently, though, and it was a pleasure to see him grow academically over the year.

While I did not do any formal preschool activities specifically for Kai, he picked up plenty just by hanging around. He wormed his way in to many of Jack's activities and ended the year reading at about a second grade level. It's fabulous to see what homeschooling does for the younger siblings. At times I worry that I am not giving the little ones the same amount of attention they would have to themselves if their brothers were at school for seven hours a day. However, they do get the benefit of overhearing some really rich lessons which I wouldn't necessarily think to present to a three or four year old, but that some preschoolers are in fact interested in and able to comprehend. They also get to participate in our art projects, field trips, and playdates, and they get to spend extra time with their brothers than they would if their brothers were at school all day.

We celebrated our last day of school with bowling, which the kids loved.

 

Catching Up: May

In May, I participated in the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer for the second time. It was held in DC, so I drove down on Friday night and slept at my aunt's place. Saturday morning I woke up around 4AM and drove in to DC. As with last time, I had a good deal of trouble finding the appropriate parking garage, but eventually I found it and made it onto the shuttle bus. The walk started in front of the Washington Monument and wove through much of DC and Chevy Chase. On Saturday I walked more than 26 miles. It was tiring, of course. I lost both of my big toenails and dealt with several minor blisters. My legs ached. But, it was quite nice to be back in DC and MD. It was peaceful, yet energizing. The weather was perfect and I especially loved seeing the azaleas blooming. That area is just gorgeous and the route took us past many of the popular sites. Towards the end, the volunteers (crossing guards and rest stops) kept saying, "Only 'X' more miles," but us walkers started to think they were outright lying to us. Those last two miles just had to be five. I think I was probably asleep in my tent before 7PM.

On Sunday morning as I walked into the food tent for breakfast, a volunteer placed a pink sash/ribbon in my hand. Every three minutes, someone is diagnosed with breast cancer, so sashes were distributed every three minutes as a visual reminder of this. Over the course of the weekend, an ever larger percentage of walkers wore a sash. One woman, a survivor, described to me how hard it hit her when the volunteer seemed to pop out of nowhere to hand her the "diagnosis." She said she felt it was too similar to her actual diagnosis, which also seemed to come out of nowhere. Her only relief was that it hadn't been her (adult) daughter, who was walking with her. Even though those sashes didn't mean we'd actually been diagnosed, she said she still was relieved that her daughter wasn't handed one.

On Sunday I walked another 14 miles, and eventually just laid in the grass at the end of the course relaxing before I caught the shuttle bus back to my car and drove home. Thanks again to all my donors, who together donated more than $2,000 to help in the fight against breast cancer. 

(Pink because I was in my pink tent)

Catching Up: April

Whew, it's been a long time. The last time I updated was six months ago, so quite a bit has happened since then.

In April, Noah turned two and Kai turned four. We are trying not to crowd our home with more things, so the boys' main present was a membership to the Crayola Experience. Kai had also requested to visit a specific, very cool playground in Maryland, so we made that happen as well. It was a great trip. The Crayola Experience Membership has been great so far, too. I've managed to take all four kids there several times without another adult! That's big time.

Noah is as adorable as can be. He's also T-R-O-U-B-L-E. Well, he's two. He seems to prefer the color blue, likes his Disney Junior shows, enjoys playing with Magformers or being outside doing anything, and has epic tantrums.

Kai is a quirky little guy who likes to play with Jack, listen in on his brothers' lessons, swing on our swingset, and read. He loves to pretend to be a dog named Cupcake. He likes Ritz crackers and pizza as long as it's not homemade. His favorite color is blue and he loves Mo Willems' Elephant and Piggie series. He adores playing Monopoly Junior with PopPop.

Sewing!

Last week we invited a homeschool friend over for a sewing play date. The kids were excited to sew their own pillows, but the other mom and I both thought they'd last maybe ten minutes and be bored to tears. To our surprise, our 9, 7, and 6 year old children sat quietly concentrating long enough to complete their entire pillows themselves! I also made one for Kai. They were all incredibly pleased with themselves and their pillows, and I was definitely impressed with their focus!

Alexander is NINE

I feel like I was just writing a post for Alexander's 8th birthday, lamenting that I only had 10 years left raising him. Well, now I am down to nine. We are HALFWAY TO EIGHTEEN. It's very, very strange to think of it that way!

This year Alexander chose to forgo a party in order to receive a more expensive gift: a 3DSXL, a portable game system. It was something he has been wanting for a while, and he loves it, so I think he made a good choice.

I gave all the kids off from school and Alexander spent most of the day playing with his new toy. He asked for KFC for his birthday dinner, spent an hour in the "Y Zone" at the YMCA while Jack had gymnastics, and we met his best friend and Justin at Dairy Queen. The kid didn't even want a birthday cake; he wanted a banana split! It worked out well.

Alexander is now in his second year of homeschooling and is in third grade. His favorite subjects in school are science and cursive. He loves Club Penguin, "Pick Your Path" books, comic books, Beyblades, and the color pink. He wants to be a scientist or inventor when he grows up. He likes writing his own books, eating snow, riding his bike, and is playing on his soccer team at the YMCA. He's affectionate, curious, creative, smart, and funny. He's mature enough to watch Noah for me while I take a shower, and loves running into the library for me to pick up and return books so I don't have to get everyone out of the car. Happy Birthday, Alexander!

Hershey Park Candylane

This year for Christmas, Justin's parents gave us some money, which we decided to spend on a fun experience instead of another toy or thing, which we clearly don't need. We decided to try out Hershey Park's winter event, Candyland. We got there just after the park opened at noon and met Aunt Eileen there. After an immediate rush to the bathroom, our first stop was the official measurement station. Alexander was a Twizzler; Jack was a Hershey bar; Kai was a Hershey Kiss and Noah was a Hershey's Miniature. There number of rides that were opened was limited, and it was quite a bit more crowded than I expected. We spent an inordinate amount of time deciding where to go, using the bathroom, eating food, and putting on and taking off hats, gloves, and extra coats. However, we did manage to get the kids on a fair number of rides. Noah learned to say "riiiii" for ride, and was thrilled with everything we put him on. They started asking to go home around 6:00, but they said they had a really fun time. Over all, I think it was a good use of our Christmas gift from Justin's parents. Thanks, Mom and Dad! The kids had a great day!