Just life.

Not too much going on as of late. Just life. Just taking each day as it comes and trying to handle it the best way.

We've made some changes in our TV and video game usage. We severely restricted the time the kids are allowed to watch and play and, of course, this means that there needs to be something else to fill that time. Its been amazing to see how cutting the TV has immediately resulted in more positive behavior and play. I've started reading them a chapter from the Little House On The Prairie series. We're in the first book, but Ethan wanted to read about boys, so I'm also doing a chapter here and there from Farmer Boy too. Just a few months ago I tried this with them and they were not interested in sitting and listening for that long. But now they eagerly sit and listen. It was funny, at first they were really bummed by the lack of pictures. We had to kind of walk them through how to use their imaginations to "see" what we're reading to them. They're very imaginative kids, but they hadn't thought to use it quite in that way. Now you can see the little wheels turning when I read something... they really are making those pictures in their minds.

Today was supposed to be our first day of homeschooling. However, all the kids and J came down with colds last night and they were not in shape to do school. I had also forgotten about some preliminary work I needed to do and so I scratched the whole thing and decided to start tomorrow, while Gwen is at pre-k.

I should get some video of Elsa and put it up here. She’s been amazing us daily it seems. She talks very well. She understands so much more than she can say. She is, as my Mom put it, quite precocious. The other day she laid down on a stool, put her hands and legs out (think Superman) and started saying, “Whee! Whee!'”. Never before had I seen her do that or say that word. How I wish I’d gotten the camera in time! Last week I was distracted during dinner so she kept chanting, “Momma, Momma, Momma, Momma”. Finally I turned and said, “Yes honey” and she showed me her food and said, “Icky!” and threw it on the floor and looked quite pleased with herself. Oh my, so hard not to laugh.

Ethan and Gwen are doing well, though both are growing up so fast mentally that its hard for us to keep up sometime. They will say something and we’ll do a double take… “They said what?”.

We make little chore charts for them and after they’ve done their work for a set amount of time with no fuss, they get a reward. Gwen wanted a tutu very badly, and we’d been looking for awhile because the kind she wanted we couldn’t find in stores. We finally ordered one online from that wonderful site of handmade things, Etsy.

Its a little big, but that’s GOOD! Its very thick and wonderful. She loves it!

Ethan’s reward was a box of Legos, which him and Daddy assembled one evening. Unfortunately, things don’t stay assembled long, because Ethan likes to play very imaginative and rough games with the figures. But that is ok. The nice thing about Lego is that you can always put them back together again :)

Gwen started dance classes at Martha La Valley School of Dance last week. You may remember that we tried her in ballroom dancing at the beginning of the summer and hated how terribly intense and involved it was. This one is just right. We got a surprise when one of the little girls in Gwen’s class was also in Ethan's preschool class last year. Its just 4 little girls and the teacher. While she was serious and kept them on track, there was lots of joy and fun in that room. Good times.

Ethan started swimming lessons on Saturday and those did not go as smooth. He got freaked out when he realized he was in a class with no one he knew and not even his sister was there. He would only put his feet in. We’re hoping that next week goes better…