Still here...

The past couple months have been really busy with the holidays and my new job! I'm now working 5-7 hours a week doing children's ministry for our church. This really has been a wonderful opportunity- I feel like I'm using my gifting and my training to bless our church. Most of it can be done from home so I still have the ability to teach and train my little ones! God really put this in my lap unexpectedly and it's been a huge blessing!

This last month I was involved in launching a blog for our children's ministry with resources, activities and articles for parents. (Email me if you want the link). So fun to use my experience blogging to also bless the church!

The kids are doing well and getting big:

Grace is now almost 17 months old. She started walking Nov 19th. We were at a playdate and she just stood up and took 20 steps. Then she did it again and again and again. There's no turning back now!

In the last month her speech has also blossomed. She probably has about 30-40 words and is adding new words each day. Jonathan was a late talker, so this has been very fun to watch! (I swear when he began talking he spoke in sentences!) She tries to sing songs with us and we can often hear her walking around singing the ABC song (not the letters, but the melody).

She loves to snuggle in with a book and really just be into anything her older brother is doing!

Jonathan just turned three years old and is growing up so fast! Three has been presenting its own challenges but we're adjusting. Potty training is still going on-- yesterday he actually initiated, so there's a glimmer of hope! He's for the most part dropped his naptime so we've instituted quiet play/rest time. '

Lately he's been into Cars, Richard Scarry books, picture puzzles (I Spy, 1001 Things to Spot), Clifford books, and being energetic!

Bible-wise, we've moved into the life of Christ. This week we're discussing Jesus Calling the 12 Disciples. I hope to at least get back to posting our Bible lessons. We've also been working on practicing godly choices.

Jonathan has his letters and their sounds down, so I've been wrestling a little with what to do next. He's picked up on beginning letter sounds and rhyming words. He's not ready to write, but he pretends to write. We've been practicing a lot with pencils lately. He got an easel for Christmas and he enjoys writing on the whiteboard a lot. (As does Grace!)

Mathwise, he's counting fairly well. He gets up to 15 and sometimes to 20. His daddy does some basic word problems with him and he follows along well. He loves games! We got him My First Orchard for Christmas and he also received The Snail's Pace Race and Teddy Mix & Match for his birthday. He loves to pull out a game!

 I don't want to push him, but I want to challenge him. In fact, it seems like he acts up a bit more when we don't have at least 15-30 minutes of learning time. So I'm wrestling with what to do with him this year. I just bought the Teacher's Guide for Sonlight P3/4. My hope is to read all the books with him and Grace over this year or so. But I think he's up for a bit more of a challenge... Any suggestions would be welcome!

So that's our lives right now. Hopefully I'll be able to work blogging back in soon-- I do miss it!

Update

Curried Cream of Chicken Soup (excuse the messy rim!)

I haven't posted in a week! Wow! Well, illness hit our home pretty hard last week and we're still catching up. Croup. Bronchitis. I lost my voice in the midst of it all and my wonderful husband worked from home to help me with the kids.

We had a lot of soup. Curried Cream of Chicken Soup, to be specific.

In other updates, Grace is also to a point where she's getting ready to go down to one nap. Part of me is thrilled because we can do more with our mornings, but part of me isn't sure how to entertain her while I have a project for Jonathan. Sometimes I feel like I'm just skating by.

I've also started working part time [5-7 hrs a week] for our church's children's ministry. I'm coordinating curriculum, supplies, etc. for grades 1-5. I'm excited because it's something close to my heart and training, it also provides that extra spending money that can be fun at times.

Anyways, I've also been wrestling a little bit with apathy in regards to blogging. I love sharing what we're doing, but the tension to get everything written down wears on me sometimes. Don't get me wrong, I still intend to be blogging, but just saying that sometimes I feel a little more introverted...

Does that every happen to you?  What do you do?

Curried Cream of Chicken Soup

2 tbsp butter

3 tbsp flour

dash of pepper

3 cups chicken broth

1 cup milk

1 1/2 cups chopped, cooked chicken

1/2 cup shredded cheese (or more)

poultry seasoning

curry power

salt & pepper to taste

In a large saucepan, melt butter, then stir in flour and a dash of pepper. Add chicken broth and milk. Cook and stir until bubbly. Cook and stir one minute more. Stir in the chicken; heat through. Add cheese until soup is at your desired consistency and flavor, then add poultry seasoning, curry powder, salt and pepper to taste. 

Some days you just have to scrap your lesson plan...

Ever have one of those days?


After focusing on babysitting and then potty training last week, I was excited to start some new activities with Jonathan and Grace. But, it just isn't happening today. Everything I attempted this morning was met with whining or disinterest.

For example, I had this cute Halloween-themed Montessori activity lined up for today... it only lasted a couple minutes. Grace is cutting her molars and is pretty irritable right now. Jonathan kept trying to grab my attention this morning by acting up.

So, I had to scrap the "lesson plan" today-- or at least my agenda for the day. Sometimes you just have to tune into your kids and what they need... the alphabet will still be there tomorrow. It's hard to let go sometimes, isn't it? Maybe we'll go for a walk after they wake up from naps (please sleep today!) 


So in the meantime, pray for wisdom and patience so I can figure out what exactly they do need today!

Potty Training- Day Three

Well, I think perhaps we made it!

We had no more accidents yesterday-- and Jonathan even stopped playing to run to the potty. We had no accidents this morning until we ventured out to the park, but that was the only one. He has one more big present left to earn on his potty chart (the Cars DVD). But, I think I can say that he's potty trained! I expect accidents here and there, but he's initiating and going potty on his own. We use Pull-Ups for nap time and I may for church this weekend... but I think the hardest part is done.

Whew! I am exhausted. I hope to be back to regular posting next week. For now, I'm going to take it easy! Have a great weekend!

Potty Training Update-- Day Two

This is our singing potty chair.
Warning: It will serenade our house guests at random!

So, we went through 14 pairs of underwear yesterday- I think that may be a record! But by the end of the night Jonathan had started initiating more-- and even got enough stars on his chart to earn a Tow Mater truck I bought at Walmart.


This morning, we only had two accidents and he went potty by himself enough times to earn another Cars toy-- I think its name is Pacer. So things are looking better! Both of the accidents were when he was distracted (a toy or eating lunch), so we'll continue to work on it. At least we've made good progress! I feel exhausted, my house is in shambles, but I'm encouraged nonetheless!

Potty Training Day One

It's been quiet around here. I'm taking the week off to focus on potty training. We babysat for friends Monday and Tuesday. And today we started potty training... all that to say, I'll be back with Kids in the Word (and other posts) next week.

For those of you who are interested in the potty training details...

We're throwing Jonathan a three day potty party. This morning he woke up and the family room and bathroom area were decorated with streamers and balloons (left over from 1st birthday celebrations). We bought a boy doll that goes potty and started to "potty train" the doll. Our doll went on the potty a few times and got treats (which he shared with Jonathan) and star stickers on his potty chart.

I intended to keep Jonathan in diapers until after nap, but then he wanted to be in big boy underwear just like the doll. So we moved into his Cars and Thomas the Train underpants.

Now, our biggest hurdle with potty training is having him initiate going potty. He's been very comfortable sitting and using the potty-- but always at our initiative. He typically uses it three or four times a day (after every meal). We've had the occasional dirty diapers and lots and lots of wet ones. And every once in a while he'll initiate going potty. But not usually. So, my hope is by moving him into big boy underwear, he'll begin to initiate more.

At first, we had one poop in underwear which he told me about right away. Then, we had several pairs of wet underwear-- one of which he told me about, the rest he didn't seem to care. I was pretty discouraged! We checked every 15 minutes to see if he was dry. If he was dry, he got a treat. If he was wet, we changed his underwear and put him on the potty. If he got anything in the potty, we put some stars on his chart,

I knew to expect accidents, but I didn't expect him not to care. We cleaned up the accidents and talked about how our pee/poo is supposed to go in the potty-- not the floor. We also talked about telling our body to wait until we ran to the potty.

So, he finally initiated and told me "Mama! I have to go pee!" So we ran to the potty, he went pee and mommy did a happy dance. He put a sticker on his chart (which happened to complete a row) and got a toy-- a Tow Mader truck. Suddenly, he was a lot more motivated. He initiated one more time after that and now it's time for nap (in a pull up).

I don't know whether or not the trend will continue, but at least it's progress! Stay tuned for more updates... but I'd love if you have words of wisdom to share...

Trip to Central Illinois

Last week we went down to central Illinois for Jonathan's great-grandfather's funeral. We spent several days down state visiting with family and it was good to see lots of relatives we haven't seen in a while.

While we were there we went to an apple orchard with Nana and Papa. It was a lot of fun! Here are some pictures from the day:

That's my name! (this is the first year he recognized it!)

Swinging with Papa

Feeding goats was a highlight

As was climbing on the hay maze

Jonathan's first pony ride with Nana supervising

He brought me flowers for the first time! :)

I-L-L-I-N-O-I-S Fans!

Weekly Wrap Up

This week was a tad rougher than last week. Jonathan came down with croup late Saturday night and so he was a bit off this week. He only napped two out of  five weekdays, which combined with feeling sick made him much less likely to listen and cooperate with Momma. The late afternoons/evenings were the roughest, but the past few days he seems to be feeling better and has had much smoother days.

In praying this week, I must confess that I got behind. But I did pray that he would develop more of the fruit of the Spirit in his life (peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control). I was also very convicted that I need to be praying these things for myself! By the evenings this week I was out of patience and struggling in many of these other areas. It was exhausting.

But, we're persevering and trying to cultivate good habits of attentiveness and obedience. It's a delicate balance of knowing he's a boy, and therefore will be very energetic and loud at times, but still drawing boundaries where appropriate. All the more I need prayers for wisdom as new challenges arise each day.

I've been very blessed by going through this book and meeting a couple ladies who also have a heart for their little boys. Thank you for facilitating Shonda!




And then there's the Homemaker's Challenge... I had a pretty productive week, although I am definitely behind in the book. 
I was particularly blessed by Tauna's post: Willing Hands. I'm a perfectionist. I want to do everything perfectly. I stress out about failing.  And  overall, I'm so inspired by looking at other blogs and seeing what other mothers are doing-- it's been a way of mentoring for me as I'm learning how to maintain my home and teach and disciple my children. Yet at the same time, I compare myself and judge myself for falling short. I need a new ideal. I don't know what that looks like yet, but I'm praying through it. 
So to celebrate the little successes this week...
 I managed to get dinner on the table 5 nights in a row! Yay! I struggle with menu planning a lot. I also washed my wood floors- something I've never done before. And I washed the insides of my windows. So, I'm happy with what I accomplished. I'm still learning to develop routines that work for me, so that's my goal right now. 
Have a great weekend! 

Weekly Wrap Up

Wow. What a week. I'd have to say this is one of the roughest ones I've had all year. You'd think since it was Labor Day, that it would have been a easy, short week... but that was not the case. Sigh.

Warrior Prayers

I mentioned on Monday that I was joining in the Fall session of 21 Days of Prayer for Sons. Ever since then, it's been a battle-- let me tell you! I've prayed for heart change, obedience, submission, integrity for Jonathan (as well as Grace, my future son-in-law and myself).



The Good: Jonathan has gotten much better at sharing. We've been stressing being kind to others and that seems to really resonate with him. So there's some progress-- yay!

The Bad: Temper tantrums and deliberate disobedience have reared their ugly head this week. It's unusual for Jonathan. He ordinarily has a overall sweet temperament. I have lots of questions for more experienced moms:

* how do you deal with temper tantrums?
* Jonathan has also decided to mostly stop napping during the afternoons-- he's 32 mos. I don't know if the two issues are related... when do little ones generally stop napping?



31 Days to Clean 


I've also joined in the September session of 31 Days to Clean over at Homemaker's Challenge. So, as a general progress update, this week I:

* reviewed my mission statement
* hung some fall decor and some wall art in my mudroom
* cleaned out my refrigerator
* cleaned the top of my refrigerator
* cleaned the outsides of my cabinets and appliances
* cleaned out my microwave and my oven
* mopped the kitchen floor

So there's some progress there too.


So this week I've spent more time disciplining and cleaning than anything else. We got very little "Tot School" accomplished this week. I feel broken, humbled, and weak.  So, my readers, I don't have it all together. I'm not Super Mom! I feel physically and emotionally drained this week. I've had to "run away" for some me time a couple evenings and make some Starbucks runs during the day to keep mommy sane. So, please pray for me and my little ones this week. It's been rough, but this too will pass...  right???

Tot School- b is for bug (and birthday!)

Jonathan is 31 Months

This will be an short post this week because we've been busy this weekend celebrating a birthday:

Grace is 1!!!!

It's hard to believe a year has flown by already! She's cruising the furniture and trying to talk and she's such a little lady! We'll be down in central Illinois this week visiting family and checking out the state fair!

But if you want to see what we've been up to this week, check out these posts:

Sensory Bin: 


Our bug sensory bin was a huge hit this week:

We practiced spooning and pouring the grassy green rice. Jonathan had fun matching the bugs up to some insect flashcards I found in the Target $1 Spot. We also used some Montessori printables that Carisa designed.

Books 


We read several great books this week. Jonathan's favorite was The Very Busy Spider by Eric Carle. He loved this so much we checked out a few more of Carle's buggy books. They were a big hit!

Games 


We had gorgeous weather this week so we went on a "bug safari". I hid ten of his bugs in the grass outside and Jonathan and his friend T. hunted for them. We used our Sunny Patch magnifying glass to explore and attempt to identify the real bugs we found outside as well.


Bible 


We talked about Joseph this week. Look for a summary post soon!




Thanks for stopping by! Be sure to check out 1+1+1=1 for more Tot School ideas. 

Go Cardinals!

I honestly don't have a real preference when it comes to baseball. Everyone routed for the Phillies where I grew up. My husband grew up in Cardinals country and now we're in Cubs territory.

As an early Father's Day present, all the boys on my husband's side of the family went to a Cardinals-Cubs game. This was Jonathan's first baseball game and he was so excited. He talked about it for days!

The boys before the game

At the ballpark

It was 95 degrees outside!

It was so hot outside, the boys ended up leaving at the 7th inning. The game actually went into overtime and the Cardinals won.

The girls stayed at Nana's house and sewed. I finally got a couple pillows made for my family room couches. This was my first sewing project in a long time- I love the feeling that I accomplished something!

It was a fun weekend that Jonathan keeps talking about!

RSV

Last week, Gracie was wheezing and when we brought her in to the doctor they put her on nebulizer treatments four times a day. My poor girl hated them at first, it broke my heart to have to give them to her. Last Friday was the roughest day for me. At least during the weekend my husband was home to help take care of her. On Tuesday, we got good news for the pediatrician that the worst had passed and she seemed to be starting to feel better apart from a lingering cough.

But Tuesday night Jonathan woke up with a croupy cough and was struggling to breathe. My husband rushed him into the ER where he was given a steroid to help him breathe as well as a couple nebulizer treatments. We were told that he had RSV which had manifested itself in a severe attack of croup. (Jonathan always gets croup whenever he gets sick.) So, we need to keep his activity level down.

Fortunately, Jonathan loves LeapFrog. We own several of their movies (such as Letter Factory) and I recently discovered that Netflix has several of the newer LeapFrog movies available for streaming. So this is how we've finished out our week:

So my plans for b is for ball and b is for boat will have to wait until he's feeling better. I'll try to get my Tot School post up this weekend and maybe share some more Reading Our Library posts. But, if I don't get to them, you'll understand why. Life comes first.

In the meantime, if you wouldn't mind lifting up a prayer for my little ones, I would appreciate it. Hopefully we'll be feeling better soon!

Thanksgiving Recap

The last couple weeks were very full for our family. Unexpectedly, I had some (minor) outpatient surgery on my hand that left me unable to type. Then we traveled down to central Illinois to spend a week with my husband's family. Grace got to meet some of her relatives for the first time!

Anyways, we continued to do activities about Baby Moses, which I hope to share in a later post... I'm still pretty new to this blogging thing.