Order In Chaos

Torn

The computer:

I like that it keeps my sons busy.

I just don’t like what they are busy doing!

Or perhaps, more accurately, I don’t like what they are not doing. They are not creating their own entertainment, but are instead consuming what has been provided. Yes, its “educational.” But it is still simply consumption.

A nice cardboard box keeps them just as entertained, but without the glazed over eyes:

🙂 (no, don’t ask about the knife in my 4 year old’s hand. He is a bigger boy and can, according to him, do all the bigger boy stuff)

Today is…Tuesday, Sept 28 2010

Gymnastics today. So our morning routine was, yes, rushed.

But we did:

-Pray

-Talk about the boy Samuel being called by God, and about how we need to prepare ourselves and homes to be able to hear God when He talks to us through the Spirit:

-Read our message (though I missed writing the numeral for our dots):

Ettin and Galoot were content during this time to be in the next room (I share this because my biggest homeschooling question is always, what are the other kids doing?!):

As I nursed Galoot, I could hear Giant talking about how he knew which number it was (referring to our message), and how we needed to write the numbers above the dots. But I wasn’t paying much attention.

Then he showed me what he was talking about:

Cool! He had put the correct numeral over the different number families (tens and ones)!

Then we walked to the Civic Centre—where gymnastics is held in our tiny town. Giant loves it, and I love having an activity to take him to  through the winter. When we are there, Ettin gets to play with the little brother of Giant’s friend who is also taking gymnastics. And Galoot eats and sleeps and fusses. Just so you know.

After gymnastics, we started the walk home.

Giant started to grump wanting to ride on the stroller too.

In an effort to distract him (and not due to anything brilliantly planned on my part) I started to ask him about the leaves on the ground. What colours and shapes he saw. And we collected a few samples.

I tell you this because these distracting leaves became a really neat art project when we got home. Read on!

We came home (with our stash of fall leaves), and had a snack.

Then I read a couple of stories while Galoot had a snack too:

Ettin joined us eventually:

Then we went back to the table and cleaned up snack plates, and started our impromptu craft.

We taped the leaves onto paper:

Turned the paper over and rubbed a crayon over top of the paper to bring out the veins and shapes of the leaves (Ettin really wanted to use felts. Whatever.):

[Galoot was not happy being left out of the fun:

…so he came to help (that’s me rolling tape and holding a Galoot)] :

We cut out the leaves:

We taped them up:

And we admired our work (I love the “fallen” pile of leaves and apples at the base of the tree):

Today is…Monday, Sept 27 2010

Our morning message:

…was interrupted as we rushed out to the gym. Rushing, rushing, always rushing.

We did get in a prayer and discussed the importance of running away from bad choices, like Joseph did.

At the gym (mothers group/exercise group) I entertained Giant and Ettin and some other little people with my skipping rope and hula hoop attempts. They seemed to enjoy playing with these new fangled toys 😉

Instead of getting back home right away, we went and picked a few handfuls of black currants at a friends home. A wonderful mom who lived next door invited my boys to play with her little girl while I picked…I could hardly get them away when it was time to go back home!

After lunch, Giant built a computer and coloured.

Although I did have a lovely picture of a leaf (our theme this week is “Fall”), he wanted to colour some pictures of animals. This was hard for me. I had plans, and he wanted to do something else. But I considered the situation, and decided that because it was still working his fine motor skills, and involved colouring and cutting to boot, I was okay with it:

There were, actually, more coloured critters. But art has a very short life around here and, if I remember correctly, his poor snake and fish met with a tragic and untimely demise.

[Ettin and I coloured the leaf after Ettin woke up from his nap. Mostly for my own need for completion. Yes, it is a sickness of mine]:

My Sister-In-Law

I love her.

Honestly, I love all my sisters-in-law.

But tonight I am thinking about the sister-in-law that brought me this:

Beans, Corn, Salsa, Chicken, and — most importantly— Cream Cheese. In whichever ratio pleases you most.

I don’t cook with cream cheese very often. She does. She also makes cookies like this. I don’t.

I love her. And all her yummy goodness.

Ain’t dead

Long naps are wonderful.

Especially when I have them.

When my baby sleeps longer than expected, however, I find my mind is often drawn towards this door:

and the sweet little baby who is sleeping so nerve-wrackingly long inside.

I start to debate: do I check to make sure he “ain’t dead” and potentially wake him up, or do I let him sleep peacefully only to find out that he has, in fact, perished (as my overactive imagination/mom-brain would have me believe).

I get some more tasks finished. Then  I start to feel guilty that I’d put my tasks before checking on the well-being of my child (who is really just fine. But may, possibly, be not fine).

So I check:

Yup. Just fine.

And I didn’t even wake him up, having thoughfully turned off the flash of my camera so as not to disturb him. Can you tell?