An Afternoon Outside :)

Well it was a BEAUTIFUL day, so we went outside. Being the lady who wants to get out....I really wanted to go to the nearest park!! But the kids needed morning naps and they haven't played with their own outside toys in months!!!

One of their favorite activities -besides bike riding- is playing with sand. Yes, it's just an old hospital bucket (I think I got it from Anna's delivery) with some sand, rocks, shells and beach toys!!! Ohh, and the blanket is the key.....all the sand they drop on the blanket goes back into the bucket.......


And I've been waiting for this for many, many, many months now. But I was able to watch them play outside while I quietly read a book for a little while. How amazing is that!!!!!

"Well" Check ups

We made the journey this afternoon to the BIG city to take the kids to the doctors. Christopher and Lydia had their well check-ups scheduled. The younger kids always do a little better at the doctor than Anna.....but I still had Daddy come because it's hard to have two getting check-ups at the same time (Erica will really know how to handle that one with the twins regular check-ups!)

Although I'd been a little worried about Christopher's weight (he just looks too skinny) both kids are doing well. Lydia was a little smaller than I had thought but most of that is due to her not drinking soymilk yet or having an dairy protein/fat (cheese, yogurt) because of her allergies. Here are the stats for them:

Christopher is 28 lbs and 34 inches

Lydia is 21 lbs 5oz and 29 inches

Two humorous things about the doctors' visit:

1. In filling out the development assessment, I realized that all the things that they do that causes messes and can be sooo frustrating/annoying are KEY developmental goals that the kids are supposed to be doing. For example, taking all the toys out of the toy bins and then putting them in the cart to push around the house!!! So the assessments caused many "ahhh-haa" moments and maybe the house will have to be a little messier and my kids "develop"!!!

2. The kids have had cold symptoms for about a week and a half or so. They actually seem to be much better...not as fussy! So lo and behold, the doctor found that both Lydia and Christopher have been dealing with double ear infections....poor things!! I really don't want to use antibotics but if they've these infections for a week now, the doctor was pretty sure that medication was the best way to be sure the infection would clear up and not get any worse.......we've had their first dose and they took it like I was feeding them candy....I think Anna is a little jealous she doesn't get any :(

Ohhh, Brian just reminded me that we got the kids tested for TB...long story, I am a treated carrier. Since this is in their family history the doctor felt that it might be a good idea to get them tested. TB testing is not the four-prong prick in the inner forearm anymore...not it's a needle put under the skin to see if the body reacts (2 days later). We only tested Christopher and Lydia (since Anna freaked out at getting her ears checked). They sent in TWO nurses to do this test....both nurses were a little uptight and double and triple checked to see if we really wanted them to be tested!!! Anyway, long story......both Lydia and Christopher sat sooo STILL and watched the needle go under their skin- they didn't make a peeep!! We were soo PROUD of them:) And we'll be checking their little arms..... and in TWO days I'll be heading back to the BIG city to get their arms checked and documented.

Update on Erica

Erica had her babies!!!

Anna's First Reading Lesson

Well the title tells the story.....Anna and I started working through a reading program. I choose the program based on some reviews from other homeschooling moms (most who have many children). Anyway, I've had the book since Christmas and I have second guessed my decision to choose this program......

Finally I just decided to go with it and if it doesn't fit us then we'd try something different....she's soo young (we have plenty of time)!!! Anyway, we went through the first lesson today and it was easy to understand and she did well. This exercise is really going to have us practice the delicate mother/teacher - child/student relationship that I hear every pre-homeschooling parent worries about.



She was soo proud of her work this morning that she gladly posed for a picture:) Anna has been asking to know what words say. And last week she wrote "ZOO" on a piece of paper and then called me over to tell me that "Christopher and I have been writing zoo on this piece of paper."
She's ready...we'll see how the next few lessons go :)

An Early Riser (sort of)

For weeks now our Little Lydia has woken up early....at least for us....when it's still dark outside and we don't have a really busy day, it's hard to get up :) So our little Lydia nurses and then snuggles back to sleep with us.

The funny thing has been that this week she hasn't fallen asleep so quickly but has had to "get comfortable". One time last week she finally fell back to sleep with her head at my stomach, her diaper at my face and her feet under Brian's chin !!!! We'll enjoy this stage since we know it won't last too long:)