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Wednesday, August 27, 2008

First day of School

*Sigh* the first day of school. The boys are happy with their teachers- Jesse and Stephen got who they wanted, (the same teacher their older brother had the year before, so they knew what to expect) Luke, I don't think really knew much about his grade of teachers, but he is happy with the one he got.
They all came home with homework yesterday- one of my pet peeves of public school. Jesse and Stephen's were mild- info about themselves so the teacher would know more about them. Things like: do you like to read by yourself, out loud or have someone read it to you?
Luke had one homework page that was telling the teacher about himself, he started it with "I am weird and proud of it." Yeah, that's my boy! :-D He had to tell her things he was hoping for in the year and things he didn't want the teacher to do, etc. Then he had 2 optional pages, which of course he wanted to do, because it meant extra credit. I have to say here that I do have weird kids! I never would have done an optional piece of homework! And all my boys want to do it- where did they get that from??

Monday, August 25, 2008

School year chores

School starts tomorrow. I never like school... I enjoy having the boys around and spending so much time with them. I enjoy not having much of a schedule. And now I will miss all the time they spend entertaining Naomi- even by them just being around is entertaining to her and keeps her out of trouble.
To keep our house running smoothly and to make sure that things get done, I have some sort of system so the boys have chores to do. They have been doing chores ever since they could understand what I was saying. When they were really little, I didn't have a chart or anything, but I would give them a bucket of water and a rag and let them wash the kitchen floor. I think being involved in things like this make them feel needed and important, plus it teaches them how to keep a house clean out of habit rather than letting the mess build until it's intolerable.
During the summer we had this top chore chart.But I had them doing alot of morning chores so their afternoons were free. So I had to revise it for the school year. I sat down with them and got ideas and they wanted the "Chore Jar" again, so on their "afternoon" chores, they have to do 1 jar chore.
I wrote out 18 chores (well, 19- I stuck in a "kiss or hug mom" paper, when they pull that out they'll do it and then pick another chore... I did it once and they were begging for me to do it again) 1 chore for each boy Monday through Saturday. Sundays are low key, I have them scheduled to fold clothes, take out trash or dry dishes on Sunday, but it's not too often that that is needed. They also don't practice piano on Sunday and we don't play video games, though we will watch a family movie.
All the slips of paper are folded and put into the "To Do" jar, so in the afternoon they will take one out (no searching/looking and picking a different chore), then they will put the paper in the "Completed" jar and get that chore done. So by the end of the week, everything will have gotten done and we will put the chores back into the "To Do" jar.
We post the chore chart up on the fridge. All chores have to be done before they can play video games. We rarely watch TV and normally want to get something done on a video game rather than watching a movie. They have 30 minutes of "screen" time each day and it seems to be the highlight of the day.It might not seem like alot of time, but with the 3 of them playing separately, that's 1 1/2 hours that they are sitting in front of the TV. I personally prefer when they all play together so it's done in 30 minutes and they have to be creative/use their imaginations.
The boys never complain about doing chores. I think the only one they don't care for is folding clothes, but it's not my favorite either, so I can't blame them. But they don't complain. If chores don't get done and they play video games... they are grounded for a week from video games.This is rather funny, because they will do it to themselves! A couple times I've heard one of them in the kitchen "Oh MAN! Mom! I'm grounded from games for a week!". How good is that- they even discipline themselves!!

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Naomi's chair

Some friends from church blessed us with a chair for Naomi on Sunday- I knew she would like it. But it's more than like, she loves it.


Talking on her phone...
Reading a book...

Eating a snack...

Friday, August 15, 2008

Playing with Canning Rings

I've been doing some canning lately and got out all my jars, lids and rings.


Naomi discovered the rings and started putting them in her basket.



Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Naomi walking in Daddy's shoes


Every morning Daddy comes out of the bedroom with his socks and shoes, he sits down and Naomi makes a bee-line for his lap. She loves socks and shoes and knows where they need to go. She used to try to put Daddy's socks on him... and then one day he helped her put one on herself. That was all the encouragement she needed- now she wants to wear his socks and shoes whenever she gets the chance. So now, part of the morning ritual is Naomi putting on Daddy's shoes.


They are a little too heavy for her to take a step- but she gets her feet in them and then says "yay!" and claps her hands.

As per request:

Jesse asked me to post his lego robots that he took pictures of last week- so Jesse, here you go!



Friday, August 8, 2008

Best Investment Ever... Legos of all Sizes

So, the boys dug out their old Duplo blocks and have been busy arranging battles all week.
Luke is always blue, Jesse yellow and Stephen red- thier fortresses are in different areas of the living-room.

Naomi thinks it's great... but she doesn't know when she's helping and when she's destroying. Look: the Red Fortress is weak and defenseless against a toddler... good thing she's napping right now!

Ah, the Red Commander is busy attacking the Blue Fortress... with only one soldier??

Stephen's Creations

Photography, design and construction credits go to Stephen.

Lego Drake

Jesse's Lego Creations

Photography credits as well as design and construction of Lego Machines go to Jesse.

Self-aware Mars Machine



Mega-Man


X-23 Fighter Ship

Friday, August 1, 2008

Naomi Hiding in the Bathroom



If you turn it up really loud you can hear her giggle when I ask where she is. When she opens the door she makes a sound similar to when Brian says "There she is!" She finds this so amusing she does it with every door. Thankfully we have old doors that aren't easy to close so she never shuts them completely.

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