1. Last Saturday, we took the boys to the Red Butte Gardens at the University of Utah. They are amazing! Scott and I loved the Fragrence Garden, which smelled fantastic and the boys loved the Children's Garden. There was a little house made out of wire and covered in vines with little stump chairs inside that Carl enjoyed. Soren ran around in a vine covered maze shaped like a snake until he found the giant fiberglass lizards on the lawn. Then he spent the rest of the morning playing on the lizards. We saw a lot of bees in the garden so we looked in the gift shop for honey and we found some! We tried it on toast for lunch and--yum!--it was so good!
2. The New Super Schedule! My neighbor and I made new daily schedules (for us and for our kids) to try out this week and it has been really AWESOME! Whining is at an all-time low and productivity is at an all-time high.
3. As part of The New Super Schedule, I am running a "neighborhood Kindergarten" for my boys and their friend Ethan. We have had Kindergarten every day from 1 pm - 2 pm this week and all four of us are really enjoying it. I like spending some structured time with my kids and they like the stories, songs, and especially art supplies. As an added bonus, Ethan's opinion of me is changing. He used to think I was the meanest mom on the block. Now, he smiles when we come pick him up and sometimes says nice things to me!
4. I told the story of "The Enormous Turnip" all week in Kindergarten. The boys took to it with surprising enthusiasm, pretending to see turnips all over the yard and pulling them up with all of their strength. Soren imagined himself strong enough to pull it up all by himself while Carl imagined getting help from Chomsky, our cat. I was so happy to see immediate results from my efforts to involve them in a new story. Their play went in fun, new directions.
5. Scott continues to work on his novel, which is now 48,000 words long! Wow! I am so proud of him!
6. In exchange for taking Ethan every afternoon for Kindergarten, my neighbors have decided to do a Friday morning "gym class" with the 3 boys during my harp lesson. Since I am writing this early Friday morning, I don't know how it will go, but I am excited for Soren and Carl to work on their gross motor skills and have a fun time doing "manly" stuff. I think they are learning to throw a baseball today. Great!
7. Soren has been pretending to have a baby all week long, which is pretty funny. The baby's name is "Agatha" and is actually a cleaned-out plastic juice container.
8. Soren has also been practicing writing Japanese characters all this week during his free time. He has borrowed his dad's Japanese primer and copies out the syllabaries every morning. He also writes notes in Japanese and "translates" them for us.
9. Scott has stayed home as much as possible this week, only going to campus for classes and doing his work on the couch. He says that he is actually more productive in the hustle and bustle of family life and we LOVE having him here. I especially like having lunch together as a family, which motivates me to make good food. Sometimes he is gone for dinner (late classes) so it is nice to have a family meal anyways.
10. Carl has been helping me with housework this week, something I have done with Soren for awhile but just recently started with Carl. I hadn't really noticed how big and capable he's gotten! He likes to wipe and scrub and can actually dry the dishes effectively (when he is paying attention). I have two little minions!
2. The New Super Schedule! My neighbor and I made new daily schedules (for us and for our kids) to try out this week and it has been really AWESOME! Whining is at an all-time low and productivity is at an all-time high.
3. As part of The New Super Schedule, I am running a "neighborhood Kindergarten" for my boys and their friend Ethan. We have had Kindergarten every day from 1 pm - 2 pm this week and all four of us are really enjoying it. I like spending some structured time with my kids and they like the stories, songs, and especially art supplies. As an added bonus, Ethan's opinion of me is changing. He used to think I was the meanest mom on the block. Now, he smiles when we come pick him up and sometimes says nice things to me!
4. I told the story of "The Enormous Turnip" all week in Kindergarten. The boys took to it with surprising enthusiasm, pretending to see turnips all over the yard and pulling them up with all of their strength. Soren imagined himself strong enough to pull it up all by himself while Carl imagined getting help from Chomsky, our cat. I was so happy to see immediate results from my efforts to involve them in a new story. Their play went in fun, new directions.
5. Scott continues to work on his novel, which is now 48,000 words long! Wow! I am so proud of him!
6. In exchange for taking Ethan every afternoon for Kindergarten, my neighbors have decided to do a Friday morning "gym class" with the 3 boys during my harp lesson. Since I am writing this early Friday morning, I don't know how it will go, but I am excited for Soren and Carl to work on their gross motor skills and have a fun time doing "manly" stuff. I think they are learning to throw a baseball today. Great!
7. Soren has been pretending to have a baby all week long, which is pretty funny. The baby's name is "Agatha" and is actually a cleaned-out plastic juice container.
8. Soren has also been practicing writing Japanese characters all this week during his free time. He has borrowed his dad's Japanese primer and copies out the syllabaries every morning. He also writes notes in Japanese and "translates" them for us.
9. Scott has stayed home as much as possible this week, only going to campus for classes and doing his work on the couch. He says that he is actually more productive in the hustle and bustle of family life and we LOVE having him here. I especially like having lunch together as a family, which motivates me to make good food. Sometimes he is gone for dinner (late classes) so it is nice to have a family meal anyways.
10. Carl has been helping me with housework this week, something I have done with Soren for awhile but just recently started with Carl. I hadn't really noticed how big and capable he's gotten! He likes to wipe and scrub and can actually dry the dishes effectively (when he is paying attention). I have two little minions!
Comments
Love to your family.
Karen