Sunbeam Woes

 

Lincoln has been having a tough time with church lately.  He is in Sunbeams (the group for 3 turning 4 year olds) and was doing well in in the spring - he took a while to warm up to his teacher but was having a great time once he did.  Unfortunately (for him!) she moved, and his class had a string of subs this summer.  He has a new teacher who is amazing and lovely, but he still hasn't warmed up to the idea of going to Primary and Sunbeams alone.  I think he's getting better, but it's been a long couple of months - I think he may just be more stubborn than his mother.  Perhaps.  That coupled with the ability to glare with the best of them (i.e. Viva) has made for a little boy who is determined to be grumpy.

I'm looking forward to seeing smiles every week to make that suit look even better!  :)   We'll get there!

Batman x 2

Lately costumes have been very *in* at our house for the 3 and 4 year old.  The 4 year old, in particular.  He is more often in costume than he is not!  We went through a Batman phase, then a knight phase, and currently he is a crazy construction worker.  Evan is not quite as dedicated as Lincoln, but he was a fan of the Batman phase:

 

It is good to have a bat buddy brother!

Or as these photos from Opa show, a comrade in arms:

Everyday Life: More October

For Halloween the Monster Fighter Legos came out.

Four Boy Pile Up 

(Viva was way too smart to get in on this action!)

Legos with Daddy

Legos with Opa

Reading with Mommy

Jenga!

Craft Time 

(This kit was harder than expected. 

Kara bought it for Lincoln, but Viva and Jake struggled to do it.)

Block Time

We have many (many many) toys around here. Some times the challenge is rotating and using them all! A win with the pattern blocks last week, they occupied the littlest household members for a good amount of time. :) Stacking them high:

Lincoln's imaginative town - he ran off before I could get his picture with it, alas.

School Time Moments

We love our life.  Last week at Activity Day Girls the focus was on thank you notes.  My daughter came home with a note thanking me for homeschooling her.  I'm glad we're all on the same page as to what an awesome time we're having.  :)

Math with the cat (who should not be on the table, but..... so cute!):

Dictionary study together, one in PJs and one in his Sunday clothes just because:

Lots of time for music, music, and more music:

The ability to work together when stumped (and at all hours of the day, no less!) and forge bonds:

And, of course, the ability to make time for important opportunities like enjoying the new snow!

Viva's New Belt Stripe!

Genevieve has been plugging away at karate, although due to other activities she doesn't go as many days as her brothers do.  She just recently received the purple stripe on her blue belt - way to go, Genevieve!  I'm proud of her for working hard on new skills and not giving up.  :)

Everyday Life: October

As is often the case when I look through my photos at the end of the month there were an excessive number of photos of Lincoln and Evan. The older ones spend a lot of the day doing schoolwork and that doesn't make for very interesting photos. The younger two, on the other hand, are busy running around engaging in many different activities. Here are some of them from October:

Life is good!

Evan at Three (Official Photo!)

 

We had the camera and lights out this past weekend, and captured a picture of the cutest three year old around.  (Which I can say without playing favorites, because he is the only three year old in my home.... !)  Cute little guy!  

Late Night Jam

One of the (many) advantages of homeschooling - the flexible hours.  Jake wanted to have a party, so the kids put together a long to do list of activities.  We exhausted Daddy:

(Not his fault, he does have to get up early and go to work....), but the older three partied on.  The evening ended with a dance session in Opa's room, featuring his new electric bass.  :)

Kitchen Helpers

The kids have been asking to help out more in the kitchen lately, which implies to me it's a good time to put my free laborers to work.  Jake made dinner for us this past week:

 

I sense the beginning of a beautiful relationship.  He did good work.

Evan is not QUITE as helpful yet, but he is a great food taster!

Playdate with Daddy!

Matt had the day off today, so I sent him off to the waterpark for toddler time with the little peeps.  Lincoln has been asking to go, and they were both quite excited about it.  They report having an excellent time.  We also convinced Daddy to play lots of games - a great family day!

Dance Update!

 

This week was parent week at dance, so I had a chance to check out what Genevieve's been doing on Thursdays and Saturdays at dance.  Her classes include modern, jazz, and ballet.  She's not one for favorites and tells me she loves them all, but I suspect modern might be her very favorite.  :)  Looking forward to her winter recital next month!

Fun with Fire

Almost all children love fire and ours are no exception. The other day we did a science lesson that had the students burning a marshmallow--the point being that the heat causes a chemical change in the marshmallow. We were fortunate and no fire alarms went off. The kids all really enjoyed the lesson. 

Rick Riordan Rules

At our house currently all three older children are immersed in Rick Riordan books. They have been reading his books for the past month. We have had a few tense moments when two kids wanted the same book and we had to lay down rules for sharing the book. Rick Riordan has three completed series out and one he just started. We own the five book series Percy Jackson and the Olympians and two trilogies: The Heroes of Olympus and The Kane Chronicles. Right now Jake is reading a Percy Jackson, Viva is reading a Heroes of Olympus, and Bentley is reading a Kane Chronicle. No fighting needed! (Opa just read the first in the new series, Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard.)

Everyday Life: More September

Evan loves letters. He knows their names and the sounds they make. He could be reading already if only someone would give him a few reading lessons. Alas (for him), we aren't proponents of three year olds reading.

The trio are arranging their Mexican ceramics (vacation souvenirs) in the kitchen window.

Brownie Batter!

Mud Cake!

Evan practicing the piano. Because our piano is digital, we don't care how long he plays--it doesn't annoy us!

Lincoln & Legos

Bentley doing a music course.

Jake and Viva doing grammar.

Did you know ninjas played croquet?