The return of Wrestleween
When we asked the kids what we should write about today, Rea immediately wanted to let you know that we LOVE snow. It has snowed so much this year, and it's snowing again as we compose this blog post. We have really enjoyed it. (Except when Mike's car got stuck. But other than that, it's been awesome.) It seems like we got about 5 inches this time through, and it was very wet snow. Perhaps we will make another snowman.
Timmy is growing up into such a big boy. He's in the midst of a language explosion; he adds words almost every day and can really communicate lots of ideas. Sometimes he still has that air of, "I'll just keep repeating this to those stupid big people until they figure it out," but we usually do figure it out in the end. He is also doing really well with potty training. He went at least one solid day with no accidents last week. And he's started the funny phase where he says "no" to everything, even things he really wants.
This was a big week in our Montessori homeschool. Alison and the kids, along with Amy and her kids, toured a charter Montessori school near us. It was great-looking, especially for the high school level; the kids we saw (after school was out) exhibited some of the same camaraderie about learning that Alison and Mike remember fondly from college. But Alison and Rea both prefer homeschooling, at least for now. Unfortunately, it's harder to get in to a charter school at later stages, so we've applied for this fall, just in case. We're definitely keeping the American International School of Utah a possibility.
At home, Alison went on a big Dollar Tree spree and came home with a fabulous haul of soon-to-be Montessori supplies. She was very excited to have found so many things she could use for way cheaper than the online Montessori stores: moveable alphabet, sandpaper and colored globes, containers for sandpaper letters, art supplies, so many good things. She is very close to having all of the essentials of a Primary (age 3-6) Montessori classroom - just in time for Rea to move on to the Elementary level. Good thing we have at least two more kids to use it all!
Alison is also very proud of getting the family outside many days this week. They've started doing Montessori from 8-10:30 every morning, then letting the kids do computerized learning for half an hour, then going outside for a while. We've had lots of fun playing in our own yard or at parks, and Rea especially remembers and urges us all to go out there. Grandma Julie gave Sara a snowsuit that works like magic to keep her warm even in the snow, and Rea learned this week that her snowpants have very good gaiters to keep the snow out of her boots, which keeps everyone happy for longer outside. We made it up to 2 hours a day by the end of the week.
On Saturday I finally got the 3D printer working again. It has been out of commission for nearly the entire time since Christmas. It was really hard to get it working again, but now that it is working here's to hoping that it will continue to work for a long time :)
On Sunday we had Wrestleween. We did three events: elbow wrestles, arm wrestles, and parent jousting. Rea and Sara won the first two events by wearing me out and then having mom make me laugh. It is hard to wrestle when you are laughing. The final match was called off due to lack of interest.
For those who don't know, in elbow wrestling the adults have to only let their head, knees, and hands touch the ground and the girls just need to keep their elbows off the ground. The first person to let two disallowed body parts touch the ground loses, although if one child loses and the other pulls them back up they are back in.
Timmy is growing up into such a big boy. He's in the midst of a language explosion; he adds words almost every day and can really communicate lots of ideas. Sometimes he still has that air of, "I'll just keep repeating this to those stupid big people until they figure it out," but we usually do figure it out in the end. He is also doing really well with potty training. He went at least one solid day with no accidents last week. And he's started the funny phase where he says "no" to everything, even things he really wants.
This was a big week in our Montessori homeschool. Alison and the kids, along with Amy and her kids, toured a charter Montessori school near us. It was great-looking, especially for the high school level; the kids we saw (after school was out) exhibited some of the same camaraderie about learning that Alison and Mike remember fondly from college. But Alison and Rea both prefer homeschooling, at least for now. Unfortunately, it's harder to get in to a charter school at later stages, so we've applied for this fall, just in case. We're definitely keeping the American International School of Utah a possibility.
At home, Alison went on a big Dollar Tree spree and came home with a fabulous haul of soon-to-be Montessori supplies. She was very excited to have found so many things she could use for way cheaper than the online Montessori stores: moveable alphabet, sandpaper and colored globes, containers for sandpaper letters, art supplies, so many good things. She is very close to having all of the essentials of a Primary (age 3-6) Montessori classroom - just in time for Rea to move on to the Elementary level. Good thing we have at least two more kids to use it all!
Alison is also very proud of getting the family outside many days this week. They've started doing Montessori from 8-10:30 every morning, then letting the kids do computerized learning for half an hour, then going outside for a while. We've had lots of fun playing in our own yard or at parks, and Rea especially remembers and urges us all to go out there. Grandma Julie gave Sara a snowsuit that works like magic to keep her warm even in the snow, and Rea learned this week that her snowpants have very good gaiters to keep the snow out of her boots, which keeps everyone happy for longer outside. We made it up to 2 hours a day by the end of the week.
On Saturday I finally got the 3D printer working again. It has been out of commission for nearly the entire time since Christmas. It was really hard to get it working again, but now that it is working here's to hoping that it will continue to work for a long time :)
On Sunday we had Wrestleween. We did three events: elbow wrestles, arm wrestles, and parent jousting. Rea and Sara won the first two events by wearing me out and then having mom make me laugh. It is hard to wrestle when you are laughing. The final match was called off due to lack of interest.
For those who don't know, in elbow wrestling the adults have to only let their head, knees, and hands touch the ground and the girls just need to keep their elbows off the ground. The first person to let two disallowed body parts touch the ground loses, although if one child loses and the other pulls them back up they are back in.
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