For now I'm trying to concentrate on getting back into the habit of writing. It's not easy! Life is good here. We're about to finish up our first term of the school year. We got a (purposefully) late start because of a September beach trip but as long as we keep up the pace, we should get exams done in time to enjoy Thanksgiving. (Well, I mean, we'll stop and have Thanksgiving either way, I'm not a crazy person! But I'll enjoy them more knowing exams are done :-)
The biggest challenge of the term isn't one I'll be talking about in my term wrap up post because it wasn't a student or a subject. It our unofficial homeschool mascots - Jude the dude
and Norah the explorer.
I've try to start the day with Norah and her "school" aka a few picture books, a simply workbook page or two and maybe some playdough or watercoloring. Filling her tank definitely helps but she still misses her siblings attention when they can't play with her 24/7.
Jude upset because I wouldn't let him climb on the counter and play with knives.
My goal with Jude is just to keep him alive. It's not like I've never done the toddler stage before but he's on a whole different level. We know have a crib in our living room to help contain him and his climbing antics and I just bought a leash. Yes I did. And I don't even feel a tiny bit guilty about that. So Montessori moms - just look away! But I'm also starting to see some light at the end of the tunnel. He'll sit in his chair and "paint with water" for a few minutes. And playdough can buy me maybe 15 mintutes of containment. And if Norah is in the right mood (playful but not too crazy because sometimes she can be overly loving with him still), they'll play barn or playmobile for a little while together. Lucy and Jonah are just as excited as I am when this happens and we all race off to be productive at the table. Which makes me laugh. It's probably the only time Jonah willingly stops playing Legos! (He likes school - but he likes Legos more).
But I can't really complain too much because frankly, look at him. He's just too adorable. Lucy even asked me last week which of them was the cutest baby. I told her the truth - I couldn't decide because they were all so cute but she replied "well, I've seen us all as babies in pictures and I think Jude's the cutest." He's certainly in the running. He started to give hugs and all of the kids compete to see who gets the most. Sometimes he'll spend 5 minutes just going from big sibling to big sibling giving hugs. Of course, when its snack time, he shoves his in his mouth and then goes from big sibling to big siblings holding out his hands in an effort to get more - and he almost always gets some so I think it balances out.
This ended exactly as you would think.
It helps when we get outside. Jude is a tornado inside but amazing outside. He loves the sandbox, visiting the chickens, playing basketball on his little hoop right next to the big kids on their big ones. He'd be happy to be outside all the time if I could. I try to accomodate him but the weather is starting to limit that a bit. This week was the first that we had a few days of being cooped up. I, personally, like those hygge sort of days, but he doesn't really understand temperatures yet.
The big kids didn't mind though. They just built this massive fort that occupies a good portion of my basement and leavses me climbing over the lego playtable to reach the washing machine at times. This picture doesn't even do it justice. It's grown since then and inside has multiple compartments. I'm not sure how long I'll let it stay up because I really do need my kitchen stools and extra blankets back eventually but for now, I don't have the heart to make them undo it. I just love watching them play together like this.
And as usual, we've got lots of home projects going on. The latest was a new table. During the summer, Craig added a bench to our kitchen/dining room area.
Then we built ourselves a new table to gain a bit more space. It doesn't look that much bigger but it actually helps a lot. I can fit my planner open when I sit on the end and both kids still have math books open without bumping it. That's all I had asked for! I have to get chairs but I'll get around to that in a few months I guess.
We've also been having fun with scouts. Lucy in her American Heritage Girl troop and Jonah in Trail Life.
Mother Daughter Spa night.
And going on lots of hikes and adventures before it gets too cold. Winter is coming but I hope not too soon, I do so love fall!
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