Her grandmother bought her some lovely new clothes and a really cute hair cut and the reality that the child is just one year shy of being a teenager sunk in today.
Really, I never gave her permission to grow up.
She's turning into such a lovely young woman. Whether I want her to or not. I think she's destined to be a rather short woman, poor thing has inherited the dreaded short jeans from the Rush's. I blame my dad. :)
Her lovely thick hair that has a mind of it's own, I'll take credit for that. Well really it comes from my mom. It's so Farrens. Farrens women have hair and Janie has it. It's gorgeous. At least when she brushes it, it's gorgeous.
Jane still struggles with Kate's Christmas gift. She begged me for an American girl doll for her birthday. It's hard because I know she *thinks* she wants it. I know in her mind, it's all she wants but she's never been a doll girl and she's right at the age where she won't be interested very, very shortly. So for her birthday I compromised. I hope she's happy and enjoys her gift. I bought her the Felicity movie (also has the Samantha movie), a Felicity cookbook and a really nice hard cover Felicity book. So no doll, but lots of American girl stuff in forms that she appreciates.
I had picked up the Addy books but I think I'll save those for Christmas for Kate.
I'll have to cut this short, I need sleep desperately but I had to put in a little nod to my Jane. She is a joy to raise and I feel incredibly blessed to be her mother.
Sunday, February 21, 2010
WHOOO HOOOOO, It's finally happened!
What's the big event? What has changed my life FOREVER? Well, folks after 12 years (a week shy of 12 years to be precise) I no longer have any children in diapers, pull-ups or daily accidents in underwear.
I am *so* within my rights to be excited.
The greener side of me just goes ill to think of the nasty disposables my family alone has piled into landfills. The size of our ecological footprint must be huge. In case you didn't know it's "cool" to use terms like "ecological footprint". Take note if you want to impress, or annoy your friends.
I did have a few years of cloth diapers and I loved using them but the nausea of the twins pregnancy made Ean's toddler poop impossible to deal with. I did use cloth on the twins mostly their first year and off and on after that when I had the time and energy but in the end, it was all sposies baby! If the choice is the type of diaper or mom's sanity, well I chose sanity.
Of course the twins are still in pull-ups for night time and Ean wears "GoodNights" so we're not completely done dumping into the landfills.
Now I can share potty stories!
OK, so I was putting on make-up for church. I did not lock the door, girlies were coming in to brush hair, show me THEIR make-up (I have final veto power on whether or not they get out the door) so locking the door is impractical. Although I'll admit, it would be nice to make myself pretty without a river of bodies in and out of the bathroom.
Anyway! David, oh my David, he came rushing announce "I GO POOP MOM!" pushing me out of his way. Well okay son, you go right ahead and do that. He's doing his business while performing some sort of preschooler aerobics by bobbing his nekkid tushie into the loo. I don't believe he made contact with the water, it's an ecological loo that uses very little water. The show was none the less impressive.
Greg without ceremony comes rushing in, "I go mom, I go NOW" and whips his pants down and proceeds to pee BEHIND DAVE'S BEHIND. Oh to have such a little tush to leave a space at the back of the toilet. David was most indignant with Greg's presumption!
Who wouldn't be?
It's also a challenge for anyone else to use the potty. After all, we have the one toilet upstairs and seven people in the house. There's another toilet in the basement, but I don't let the boys use it. It doesn't need anymore help getting destroyed. :)
So with the enthusiasm exhibited by anyone that's learned a new skill, the boys go, often. Usually pushing themselves in front of the line. No matter what time it is in the afternoon, someone is yelling to me "I POOPIN MOMMY"
I appreciate the regular updates.
I joke but this is still a milestone. My babies are growing up. We are done with babies, done with toddlers and by the fall of 2011 the boys will go to kindergarten.
*sniff*
I am *so* within my rights to be excited.
The greener side of me just goes ill to think of the nasty disposables my family alone has piled into landfills. The size of our ecological footprint must be huge. In case you didn't know it's "cool" to use terms like "ecological footprint". Take note if you want to impress, or annoy your friends.
I did have a few years of cloth diapers and I loved using them but the nausea of the twins pregnancy made Ean's toddler poop impossible to deal with. I did use cloth on the twins mostly their first year and off and on after that when I had the time and energy but in the end, it was all sposies baby! If the choice is the type of diaper or mom's sanity, well I chose sanity.
Of course the twins are still in pull-ups for night time and Ean wears "GoodNights" so we're not completely done dumping into the landfills.
Now I can share potty stories!
OK, so I was putting on make-up for church. I did not lock the door, girlies were coming in to brush hair, show me THEIR make-up (I have final veto power on whether or not they get out the door) so locking the door is impractical. Although I'll admit, it would be nice to make myself pretty without a river of bodies in and out of the bathroom.
Anyway! David, oh my David, he came rushing announce "I GO POOP MOM!" pushing me out of his way. Well okay son, you go right ahead and do that. He's doing his business while performing some sort of preschooler aerobics by bobbing his nekkid tushie into the loo. I don't believe he made contact with the water, it's an ecological loo that uses very little water. The show was none the less impressive.
Greg without ceremony comes rushing in, "I go mom, I go NOW" and whips his pants down and proceeds to pee BEHIND DAVE'S BEHIND. Oh to have such a little tush to leave a space at the back of the toilet. David was most indignant with Greg's presumption!
Who wouldn't be?
It's also a challenge for anyone else to use the potty. After all, we have the one toilet upstairs and seven people in the house. There's another toilet in the basement, but I don't let the boys use it. It doesn't need anymore help getting destroyed. :)
So with the enthusiasm exhibited by anyone that's learned a new skill, the boys go, often. Usually pushing themselves in front of the line. No matter what time it is in the afternoon, someone is yelling to me "I POOPIN MOMMY"
I appreciate the regular updates.
I joke but this is still a milestone. My babies are growing up. We are done with babies, done with toddlers and by the fall of 2011 the boys will go to kindergarten.
*sniff*
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Homeschool Update
I was reading a booklet on teaching creative writing to students and decided to employ some of the techniques given. Heaven knows I'm not making great progress on my own. So I chose to focus on memoirs. First we needed to talk about broader definitions. Jane's fairly familiar with fiction and nonfiction (and in sixth grade, she should be!) but the idea of an autobiography was new to her. Once we established the definition for autobiography, we could talk about memoirs.
The booklet I'm reading helped with providing some very descriptive comparisons for memoirs. I explained to Jane that instead of listing or describing a series of events which is more autobiographical, I needed her to capture one memory, just one and paint a picture of that one memory. I let her know that she needed to provide as many details as she could, using descriptive words called (yes, I quizzed her while we talked and she got "adjectives" correct, lol) so the reader could feel like they were there.
I had a revelation while we were talking. Jane doesn't see details. She misses the finer points of conversations, extra objects in a room, even the nuances of color on an object she might talk about are missed. For instance, she sees an apple on the table. She might even notice if it's green or red but that's it. Shape, bruising, if it was laying on it's side, she'd miss all those points. She wouldn't notice shade, if it was dark or light. If asked she only repeats the most basic facts "red" or "green"
AHa. I feel like a door has been opened. No wonder writing is such a struggle for her. On top of spelling and grammar, which are concrete issues, she doesn't know how to observe so she CAN relate information.
Something to work on. Something concrete to work on.
So we talked about a specific memory and she wrote about it. It was terrible. She didn't proofread it, just printed it on her blog. We're working on rewriting her piece. I have the advantage of having the same memory so we've been able to discuss details and what she can add to her draft to make the picture more complete. We'll probably spend the whole month on this, adding, changing to each draft. I'm not letting her delete previous drafts either. Since this piece is on her blog (which is closed to everyone except Kent and grandparents) I make a point to copy her previous entry and then let her make changes on a new post. This will allow her to see her growth as she works through the multiple rewrites. I want her to be able to compare her first draft to the finished product when we're done.
I can also, in every day life talk to her about little details as we see and experience them.
It won't happen over night but just maybe this is the door I need to expand her expressive abilities. To do so wouldn't just help with writing and schoolwork but it would help her with everyday conversations.
That's another point, she misses the nuances of conversation but we've been working on that as well.
Our biggest change has been finally signing up for an online interactive program called "Time4learning". I've heard very good things from multiple friends and decided it was worth a try. I don't think I've done terrible as Jane's teacher so far but of course, have had this nagging feeling I could do better.
She loves it. She woke up this morning and begged to get on the computer to do some schoolwork. I think in tandem with some important concepts we're already working on, like the memoir piece will provide her with the well rounded education she needs.
My goal has always been to give her a strong base, and I think we're finally on our way.
The booklet I'm reading helped with providing some very descriptive comparisons for memoirs. I explained to Jane that instead of listing or describing a series of events which is more autobiographical, I needed her to capture one memory, just one and paint a picture of that one memory. I let her know that she needed to provide as many details as she could, using descriptive words called (yes, I quizzed her while we talked and she got "adjectives" correct, lol) so the reader could feel like they were there.
I had a revelation while we were talking. Jane doesn't see details. She misses the finer points of conversations, extra objects in a room, even the nuances of color on an object she might talk about are missed. For instance, she sees an apple on the table. She might even notice if it's green or red but that's it. Shape, bruising, if it was laying on it's side, she'd miss all those points. She wouldn't notice shade, if it was dark or light. If asked she only repeats the most basic facts "red" or "green"
AHa. I feel like a door has been opened. No wonder writing is such a struggle for her. On top of spelling and grammar, which are concrete issues, she doesn't know how to observe so she CAN relate information.
Something to work on. Something concrete to work on.
So we talked about a specific memory and she wrote about it. It was terrible. She didn't proofread it, just printed it on her blog. We're working on rewriting her piece. I have the advantage of having the same memory so we've been able to discuss details and what she can add to her draft to make the picture more complete. We'll probably spend the whole month on this, adding, changing to each draft. I'm not letting her delete previous drafts either. Since this piece is on her blog (which is closed to everyone except Kent and grandparents) I make a point to copy her previous entry and then let her make changes on a new post. This will allow her to see her growth as she works through the multiple rewrites. I want her to be able to compare her first draft to the finished product when we're done.
I can also, in every day life talk to her about little details as we see and experience them.
It won't happen over night but just maybe this is the door I need to expand her expressive abilities. To do so wouldn't just help with writing and schoolwork but it would help her with everyday conversations.
That's another point, she misses the nuances of conversation but we've been working on that as well.
Our biggest change has been finally signing up for an online interactive program called "Time4learning". I've heard very good things from multiple friends and decided it was worth a try. I don't think I've done terrible as Jane's teacher so far but of course, have had this nagging feeling I could do better.
She loves it. She woke up this morning and begged to get on the computer to do some schoolwork. I think in tandem with some important concepts we're already working on, like the memoir piece will provide her with the well rounded education she needs.
My goal has always been to give her a strong base, and I think we're finally on our way.
What? One of MY children STUBBORN?
I hear stories about children. How well they listen, and "oh my what a rough day, they didn't make their bed before school". I wonder what it's like to worry about such trivial things. Yes I said trivial. I mean, *I* don't always make my bed. :)
However we do have all other types of rebellion around here. I don't know why the Lord sent such strong personalities to our home, maybe Kent's patience, maybe so I can learn patience, but they're here. The latest string of stubborn is probably my least favorite to deal with as a mother.
Tantrums I can handle.
However refusal to poop in the toilet, drives me insane and we're on kid number four, yes FOUR OUT OF FIVE that have refused to have bowel movements in the toilet. I won't name names. Oh hell, yes I will. Jane, Kate, Ean and now GREG all refused after their third birthday to poop in the toilet. With Greg he's four and still refuses to poop. He knows. He stays dry and clean all day at school and waits until he gets home and THEN he poops.
That leaves me David. The one I worried about because his system has always been wonky is the one that has embraced what the potty is truly about.
That doesn't mean he doesn't have accidents but dang, he's TRYING. Greg is not.
I know, I know, I'm not suppose to compare the boys. Comparing children lessons their ability to believe in themselves. Each child is an individual, etc. But I'm pretty sure that even if Greg was a singleton, I'd still be frustrated to the max with him filling his underwear after staying dry and clean all day at school.
Stubborn is still around with all the other kids too. Kate yells unfair. Ean melts at the mention of chores but dang, that stuff just doesn't make ya want to hurl like the poop does.
*sigh*
We're not going back now. We're using pull-ups for bedtime ONLY. David has embraced the potty and Greg will have to catch up on this one. Hopefully he does before Dave earns all the "I went poop on the potty reward" matchbox cars on top of the medicine cabinet.
However we do have all other types of rebellion around here. I don't know why the Lord sent such strong personalities to our home, maybe Kent's patience, maybe so I can learn patience, but they're here. The latest string of stubborn is probably my least favorite to deal with as a mother.
Tantrums I can handle.
However refusal to poop in the toilet, drives me insane and we're on kid number four, yes FOUR OUT OF FIVE that have refused to have bowel movements in the toilet. I won't name names. Oh hell, yes I will. Jane, Kate, Ean and now GREG all refused after their third birthday to poop in the toilet. With Greg he's four and still refuses to poop. He knows. He stays dry and clean all day at school and waits until he gets home and THEN he poops.
That leaves me David. The one I worried about because his system has always been wonky is the one that has embraced what the potty is truly about.
That doesn't mean he doesn't have accidents but dang, he's TRYING. Greg is not.
I know, I know, I'm not suppose to compare the boys. Comparing children lessons their ability to believe in themselves. Each child is an individual, etc. But I'm pretty sure that even if Greg was a singleton, I'd still be frustrated to the max with him filling his underwear after staying dry and clean all day at school.
Stubborn is still around with all the other kids too. Kate yells unfair. Ean melts at the mention of chores but dang, that stuff just doesn't make ya want to hurl like the poop does.
*sigh*
We're not going back now. We're using pull-ups for bedtime ONLY. David has embraced the potty and Greg will have to catch up on this one. Hopefully he does before Dave earns all the "I went poop on the potty reward" matchbox cars on top of the medicine cabinet.
Kent's Trailer
Kent finally bought himself a camp trailer. He found two online that fit his basic specifications of being cheap and not being junk. Well having enough room to sleep everyone helps as well. Both trailers were cheap enough Kent thought they'd be sold pretty quick. There was no scary descriptions about "past fires" and both had pictures.
One was a little older but had lots of sleeping space. There's enough bunks to sleep the entire family. The newer one, Kent wondered if he could modify it to sleep more, the description stated that it officially slept six. Anyone familiar with campers knows that the number is misleading, some pretty small places are often designated for multiple bodies. So only close family should ever go camping together in the same trailer. :)
The downside, Both trailers were about ninety minutes away, but in opposite directions. Kent wisely decided he should look at the one that had sleep space for the entire family. He bought it for $1,500 and considering we sold the tent trailer for $1,300 he did really well on price.
I did make the mistake of referring to the camper as "this disaster" when he pulled up, but only because it was super late and I still had to go to work.
So we'll be camping this summer. We'll see how this goes. It's a little hard to coordinate every one's schedule but hopefully my work partner will be willing to do a few long weekends making longer trips possible.
So keeping my lack of enthusiasm to myself, because camping just isn't my thing, I'll work on focusing on cheap family time. And hey, the kids will love it, that is what matters isn't it?
One was a little older but had lots of sleeping space. There's enough bunks to sleep the entire family. The newer one, Kent wondered if he could modify it to sleep more, the description stated that it officially slept six. Anyone familiar with campers knows that the number is misleading, some pretty small places are often designated for multiple bodies. So only close family should ever go camping together in the same trailer. :)
The downside, Both trailers were about ninety minutes away, but in opposite directions. Kent wisely decided he should look at the one that had sleep space for the entire family. He bought it for $1,500 and considering we sold the tent trailer for $1,300 he did really well on price.
I did make the mistake of referring to the camper as "this disaster" when he pulled up, but only because it was super late and I still had to go to work.
So we'll be camping this summer. We'll see how this goes. It's a little hard to coordinate every one's schedule but hopefully my work partner will be willing to do a few long weekends making longer trips possible.
So keeping my lack of enthusiasm to myself, because camping just isn't my thing, I'll work on focusing on cheap family time. And hey, the kids will love it, that is what matters isn't it?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)