Day to day fun

I've been teaching Michael reading lessons from the "Teach Your Child To Read in 100 Lessons" book. It worked great for Nicole and is really easy to use. Michael needs a little more incentive to sit down in his chair (he will be so wiggly that he will literally fall off the chair with no other cause than his own wiggles!) so I discovered that he loves gummy bears as much as his dad! He is over halfway done with the book and even though I don't practice writing letters with him, he has started drawing them. As you can see here, he started writing the word 'mom' all by himself. I am careful to keep him away from permanent markers because I remember that Joe wrote "I love mom" in permanent marker on the back of the couch back in the day.

I saw this cute idea to make rainbow waffles. We don't have a circular waffle maker but the concept was still fun.

The kids loved them! Michael was convinced they had different flavors and he ate so many I was sure he would be sick, but he was fine.

My kids love crayons, paint and makers. We've gone through phases of "structured drawing" that usually turns into the phase of  "kids getting out the paint when I'm not in the room and causing major messes" to the phase of "not even a pen or pencil within reach" to the phase that "I feel bad they are deprived and get the stuff back out". Here we are in the structured drawing phase.

Nicole has been working very hard on some entries in a Reflections PTA competition that will be due Monday. She is working on a unicorn picture and also a story. Look for the finished products soon!

Halloween and Raking Leaves

 

 

Nicole was a witch with a black mole on her nose, Michael was a bee (he had this stinger on the back so he'd run around trying to "sting" you but it was hilarious watching him try to turn around and sting before his siblings could run off), and Jake Jake was a cute little cow. Jim and I did the Mickey/Minnie Mouse costumes and Diana wore the pumpkin costume my family has worn I think from Josh on down through all of the boys when they were infants. All of my kids have worn it too, but I forgot to take a picture of Diana wearing it.

 

All of the candy! They had 10 minutes of eating whatever they wanted, then we dumped it in a bowl. After they went to bed, Jim and I enjoyed some parent tax and then heard from upstairs Nicole saying "Don't eat all of the candy!" She knows us well.

Michael raked all of the leaves by himself and felt so good about it! I read this book about what a boy needs from his mother:  1. To be respected. 2. To be needed. 3. To be fulfilled. The book also talked about giving sincere, not false, praise.  I've found he is much happier and consequently behaves better when these needs are being met. For example, whenever one of Diana's toys breaks or he breaks something, Michael says "I can fix it Mom" and he is absolutely confident he can. I love that confidence and encourage him to fix things and take care of Diana's toys and he takes on that responsibility with joy. (It's very cute too :)

Jake had the small rake and mostly ran around trying to get bushes, the swingset, or his brother.

Checkups

Jake on a fishing trip with daddy. They did "put the fish back in the water and say bye-bye" according to Jake. The kids love these evening fishing trips at the neighborhood pond with Jim. And for the peace and quiet I can clean the kitchen in, so do I!

 

Michael had his 4 yr checkup. Most notably he told the doctor that he 'exsasizes' and that "Daddy exsasizes in the circus." Just in case you wondered what Jim does in his spare time :) Mike is big and strong, measuring 39lbs (72nd%) and 42 in tall (79th%) and 15.7 BMI (54th%), on target to stand shoulder to shoulder with daddy someday :) He is going through an artist kick right now, he and the doctor discussed the pen drawings on Michael's pants and I've been trying to find something stronger than the Mr. Clean magic eraser that hasn't worked so magically on his blue pen drawings all over the kitchen flooring.

 

At her checkup this week, we measured sweet Diana at 11lbs (4th%) and 24in tall (33rd%). We discovered she has only gained a pound and only grown about an inch in the last two months, so I've been trying to figure out how to lactate better and make sure she gets all the food she needs.

 

She is very strong and alert, and her big brothers keep her constantly entertained! One day the boys were playing astronauts and had her in the midst of their blankets and toys and she was the main attraction in the space shuttle as they huddled near her calling out the commands and excitement. She adores them too :)

 

Nicole lost her second front tooth finally. She was at her yearly doctor's appointment (yes, that's three this week and they were all on different days!) and the doctor asked if she wanted him to pull it out. For some reason she said yes (ouch!) and so he got it out for her with three good tugs. I think Nicole really wanted the tooth fairy's note and gift! She got a dollar bill, some gummy bears that Nicole determined the tooth fairy got from the cupboards, and a note in daddy's handwriting saying "you are awesome!" Nicole is still growing tall- she is 50 inches tall (above 99th%), weighs 51 lbs (80th%) and he BMI is 14.6 (30th%). I have a feeling she will be as tall as me within a few years.