Raising a Prince

And we're back on track ....

2010-09-08T08:31:00.000-07:00

Day 1 Tuesday

Today we officially started back at school here at home. The rest of the local kids started last week so we intentionally took the extra time to just relax. It's always a little unnerving to wonder if Charlie and J, our other little 4 yr old guest, will transition smoothly back into our "school" routine. Things went pretty good.

We started our morning over pancakes by playing with the new c-v-c Flashcard Slide, See, and Say I got from Barnes & Noble. These are put out by InnovativeKids. We'll be using lots of items and books from their Now I'm Reading series this year.

For pencil practice we started in our HWT Kindergarten lvl book, as well as writing and going over #1 as a review of numbers.

This year we will be traveling the USA for our unit/book studies. We'll be reading books for each state from the Gale Discover America Series and lots of good picture books set in the various states. To start the whole thing off we'll read, and make a lapbook from HSS, How To Make A Cherry Pie and See the U.S.A by M. Priceman.

Day 2 Wednesday

Things still seem to moving smoothly forward. We've started listening to the 1st Harry Potter, something of a new fascination of Charlie's. Charlie read the 1st book in the Bob Series, out loud to us after morning snack. We then moved into the school room to go over the calendar and weather, and to reread How to make a cherry pie... Today we concentrated on the different states the character traveled to and then marked the route on a little map for our lapbook.

For pencil work we traced our name, concentrating on proper pencil grip and then drew a picture of ourselves. We also traced, drew, colored, and then counted squares on a train picture.

Now it's time to relax and play!

As Summer Comes to a Close

2010-09-03T10:42:00.000-07:00

Summer 2010 Slide Show

It's been a very busy summer! I think we'll be getting back to schooling (and blogging about it) right after the long holiday weekend. But until then, let's take a quick look back at what we've been up to.
We visited many fun places:
     The Museum of Science in Boston
     Imagine That in Lawrence
     Franklin Park Zoo in Boston
     Audubon Society in Auburn, NH
     The See Science Museum in Manchester, NH
     The Children's Museum in Boston

We've played at the beach, many different parks, and discovered the Derry Splashpad. We met new and old friends alike, participated in the library summer program, and became involved in a local homeschooling support group. Letterboxing has also been a new discovery.

Charlie has become enthralled with STAR WARS and LEGOS! If we were not paparticipating all the fun things, previously mentioned, he could be found building with Legos, reenacting the different Star Wars scenes, watching 1 of the 6 movies from the series, or looking at books about Star Wars he would take out from the library.

On a final note ... my major goal this past year/summer has been getting Charlie to the point where he is no longer needing to wear PullUps. I'm happy to say, for the most part, we've reached that milestone!!!

We're back from our short break

2010-06-02T07:10:00.000-07:00

Well we're back! Last week we took a break from "preschool" to enjoy the 1st real hot days of the season. We have finished up our garden unit and lapbook, now we just need to wait until we can pick yummy veggies.

We will be finishing up any loose ends ie: HWT and beginning our summer fun. The first half of summer we will be learning about dinosaurs. We'll keep it fun and light while we enjoy the summer sun. Then round about mid-July we'll move from dinos to dragons for just a bit before we transition into knights.

More about those plans will come in their own posts.

Preschool in the Spring

2010-05-21T11:32:00.000-07:00

Today was "S" day. Since it was such a gorgeous day out we felt our preschool time would be much more enjoyable outside. Anyone who is familiar with HWT will recognize all that we were doing.

First we used our wood pieces and made the letter "S" which we also then traced with our finger.

Second, we chose to use the play dough set instead of the chalkboards to roll Snakes out and shape them into "S"s.

Next and finally the real work ... writing our "S" on our workbook page.

Of course there is no better way to end a lesson than making our own Sock puppet. Our sock puppets then enjoyed some great time in the Sun while swinging on the Swings.

Postcards from ...

2010-05-20T12:11:00.000-07:00

We've been collecting postcards from other homeschool kiddos for about a month. This was started as a way to introduce Charlie to the idea that the world is a bigger place than just here in NH. Next year we'll be learning a little about the 50 states by just reading books set in various states, finding them on a map and where they are in relation to us.

This is our postcard collection so far. Although this is mainly to learn about the USA, some postcards are from overseas. Australia is the furthest but we also have cards from Greece and Italy!

The running list from "the states" is: California,Washington, Maryland, Washington D.C., Texas, Georgia, Colorado, Nebraska, and even from here in New Hampshire.

Hopefully we'll find other like minds that would like to exchange post cards from the remaining states or anywhere else for that matter. Charlie loves getting mail addressed to him! ! !

A Bittersweet Moment

2010-05-15T17:39:00.000-07:00

I'm still trying to wrap my head around this one. The TV show Arthur has a new character named Carl. We only watch it periodically so we really didn't know about him. Yesterday, Charlie was watching it and 1 of the characters was explaining his friend Carl's odd behavior in a child-friendly way. Charlie was mesmerized. Near the end of the episode, Charlie suddenly says to me,

"Mom I sometimes have Asperger's like Carl and sometimes people don't know that. Sometimes that's my worst day ever."

That was such a bittersweet moment, it nearly took my breath away. We've never told Charlie he has Asperger's Syndrome but some how he was able to relate to Carl. Now I'm sure he's overheard us on occasion discussing Asperger's so maybe just seeing it portrayed on television in an age-appropriate manner made it clearer to him.

As for the last part "the worst day ever," that's what Charlie says when he's really frustrated and seems to be having trouble getting his meaning across. It's usually the precursor to a meltdown.

looking toward next school year

2010-05-07T17:37:00.000-07:00

As we work on finishing up the school year here, it's time to start looking at choices and plans for next year. We'll be moving on to the kindergarten level book with HWT for handwriting practice. We'll also keep moving forward with our Funtastic Frogs for math practice. I received this set mid-year from a friend and we really enjoy it. Charlie has already learned what "on the hour" ie: 6:00, time looks like on a regular clock so we'll introduce more as the year goes. Near the holiday season I'll also start introducing money into his curriculum and "practice shopping" with play money for gifts ;-). For reading/phonics, I'm working with Phonics Pathways , also given to me by a fellow HSer, and continuing to use the Bob Books. Well that takes care of the basics, now what?

I asked Charlie what he wants to learn about and here are his selections ... knights & castles, space & astronauts, dinosaurs & paleontologists, pirates, and the rain forest & animal rescuers. Do you see a pattern here? I see a lot reasons to play-act many different roles, which, of course means lots of costumes. Charlie LOVES playing different characters.

Now to find lots of ideas to build units that will include a little science, geography and history, as well as plenty of good read-alouds. I'm sure there will be tons of messy projects and lots of re-enactments to go along with everything.

April vacation is coming to a close ...

2010-05-02T07:26:00.000-07:00

... and it has been a nice break. Charlie is looking forward to the boys coming back from vacation. We've completed some yard work/gardening projects, cleaned house, and had some playtime with friends this week but now we need to get ourselves ready to complete the school year. We're going to try and finish up our HWT PreK book and complete a few more units before summer break.

It's April Vacation here!

2010-04-26T11:16:00.000-07:00

What does that mean ... it means the boys I care for are away for the week with their Dad so Charlie and I get to hang out, just us. We always use this week to get the house, yard, and garden ready for the rest of spring and summer. That being said, we've been busy since the start of the weekend and we're exhausted already. So far we've replaced the old fence in the play-yard area and built a step up retaining wall to keep the sand in there. Also, the garden has been turned and tilled, again, fenced off and planted. This year we are growing 3 types of tomatoes, zuchini, yellow squash, and cucumbers in our garden and a variety of bell peppers in patio pots up on the deck. Grass seed has been spread over the lower half of the yard, as well. Other than the usual upkeep needed for the rest of the season, we're done outside. Good thing because we're expecting rain.

For the rest of today, we'll be relaxing and taking it easy. Tomorrow we start on the indoors :-)

Our Root Vegetable Garden

2010-04-20T09:40:00.001-07:00

This year we are going a little further in learning about gardening by studying roots. I ordered a Root Viewer set and we'll be able to grow carrots, onions and radishes (of course 1 at a time) and watch and record what we see happening. Now that we'll be able to see the "root/vegetable" growing while it is underground we can learn what roots are and what type of roots we eat.

It's A Charlie in a Box

2010-04-18T03:51:00.000-07:00

This is why coffee is so important to me. Charlie thought 5:45am on a Sunday was the perfect time to make his cardboard box "car".

My New eBook Reader!

2010-04-14T06:34:00.000-07:00

For my birthday I wanted an eReader. With all the hype about the Kindle and the Nook, I had a hard time choosing between them. I love the kindle edition I have for my netbook, but the Kindle is all inclusive. You can only read books that you download from Amazon. I've always been a fan of Barnes & Noble so we went to the local store and checked out the Nook. With the Nook you can read any books that they sell or quite a few from other sites as well. They even are compatible to our local library system so you "borrow" eBooks from there, too. That last bit was a big bonus for me because I do that already and read off my computer.

So, the Nook it was, or so we thought.

I'm not a big fan of a company requiring my bank account or credit card info be kept on file with them. As it is when I treat myself to anything from BN it's usually with a giftcard. Barnes & Noble required that I register my Nook to a BN account and leave banking information on record. No thank you! So back to the store it went.

I looked deeper into eReaders that BJ's sold and found exacktly what I wanted! The Aluratek Libre Pro was for me! It is 100% compatible with our library system, small and lightweight, has great storage capability, and reads all forms of data (excluding Amazon's Kindle). I can store pictures on it, MP3's, audiobooks, and eBooks as well as loads of my Pdf curriculum forms!

As a Mom that has reached the older half of middle-age, having the ability to change the font size to larger was also very important to me and with my new Aluratek Libre Pro I now have 5 different font size options to choose from. No granny glasses necessary!

Ultimate Blogging Party 2010

2010-04-09T07:24:00.000-07:00

This will be my 1st year participating and I'm really looking forward to it. I'm a daycare providing, homeschooling Mom of a 4 year old boy. He's the light of my life and the thorn in my side all at the same time.

I can't wait to go down the MckLinky list and get a glimpse into other Mom's lives and see that I'm not the only crazy one. Join in the fun for a little "Mom-time" Part of the party is the fun you can have with so many great giveaways. If I had to choose, I'd pick prizes #39 offered by bloggin2noggin for a 2 night stay at any Hilton Garden Inn #3 offered by 5M4M for a gc to A rocking Horse to remember or in order #'sUSC 39, 35, 8, OR 37, US 112,73, 74, 87, 104, 37, 31 or any other GC to Amazon, Target, Paypal, or VISA

Charlie and his IPOD

2010-04-08T06:58:00.000-07:00

Charlie got to play around and check out his new IPOD!

This was the IPOD he won by being a winner in the Sing A Sprout Song contest. Here you can see him watching some of the podcasts downloaded from Sprout.com.

It is a sharp looking blue IPOD NANO but what makes it so special is they had it engraved with "Keep on singing! Your friends at Sprout."

Oops there was milk in that!

2010-04-06T11:41:00.000-07:00

After Easter sunday, where we attended a family gathering, I've come to appreciate the casein-free diet Charlie has been on. He has been CF for almost a year now. In the beginning, there were huge changes in his behavior. I mean HUGE. His socialization has improved, his ability to accept that others might not want what he wants, and his scripting almost completely dissappeared. I say almost because occasionally when he was particularly stressed it would show up again.

But recently, I started to think it was no longer working. There has been scripting reappearing when he would get frustrated with us and there have been some pretty healthy tantrums as well.

I discovered Monday morning, after going through his egg hunt candy and portioning it out into baggies, that when I pulled out all the chocolate candy he got right after the hunt that some of the "jellybeans" that I let him keep were in fact malted milk inside. In hindsight it explained his behavior (isolating himself) later that afternoon. Also, he's been "spacey" walking in circles again, and now 2 days later going through the mood swing withdrawals that usually follows. After discussing it with Charlie, I also learned that he had what he said were "the pretzel kind of crackers" that were really those 2-sided crackers that can be bought to have with cheese. To Charlie, pretzels are usually a safe snack so he didn't check with me 1st when he was offered some from his Uncle. They, too, had milk in them.

So this Easter I learned that yes, the casein definitely makes a difference in Charlie.

Egg Hunting

2010-04-02T17:24:00.000-07:00

Today, to finish off our 2 weeks of getting ready for Easter the boys took part in an egg hunt in the back yard. The weather was perfect for it and they had a great time.

Peter Rabbit Lapbook

2010-04-02T17:00:00.001-07:00

Here's a slideshow of our Peter Rabbit Lapbook that we worked on leading up to Easter. This lapbook had us discussing rabbit traits and colors, gardens, as well as elements from the famous story by Beatrix Potter.

Egg decorating

2010-04-02T09:22:00.000-07:00

Ah the joys of decorating eggs for Easter! The Bunny ain't got nothin' on us

Look it's the Easter Bunny!

2010-03-31T07:19:00.000-07:00

Today the boys wanted to "practice" hunting for Easter eggs. A good plan if you want to be ready for "The Hunt" I guess. Of couse, hunting for eggs means somebody has to pretend to be the Easter Bunny and hide them, right? So, after we finished our storytime and working on our Peter Rabbit Lapbook, we made bunny headbands for wearing when it is our turn to hide the eggs. Nothing like getting ready for Easter.

I wish all days went this well ....

2010-03-30T10:06:00.000-07:00

Life with Charlie is always so unpredictable. Take for instance, yesterday, Charlie was in such a state of disarray all day long. A major meltdown was always just a moment away. We spent most of the day walking on eggshells never knowing what was going to set him off.

Fast-forward to today, Charlie was asking if he can work on his Peter Rabbit Lapbook.

Some days are so productive. We worked alot on our lapbook, read 2 Beatrix Potter stories, played with Kynex together, and then the boys were off playing pretend. Charlie was being Peter Rabbit, J. was being Benjamin Bunny, and they were trying to plan how they could sneak into Mr. McGregor's garden and get Peter's (Charlie) blue coat back. I love when days go like this.

Check out Home Grown Hearts

2010-03-28T14:34:00.000-07:00

Check out the cute giveaway at Home Grown Hearts She has such great ideas for fun ways of teaching!

Our Reading Game

2010-03-27T14:53:00.000-07:00

We have been working with a new game I made to reinforce the reading he is learning with the Bobs Books series. After being able to read the first 3 books in set 1, I wanted to be sure he wasn't just "reading" the books from memory but really reading the words. I used an old egg carton, split it in 2 and glued it along the board. At each cup there is a strip of white where letters, words or sentences can be lined up. In each cup I place a treat ... we've used jellybeans, dry cereal, stickers or like shown here, coins. For game pieces I've used small wooden blocks and glued a magnetic strip on each. This is how we play: I will place a magnetic tile on the block. If it's a letter he must say the sound it makes, if it's a word he must sound it out, and if there are a few words he must read them. When he succeeds he gets to have what I've put in the cup. We always start simply and make it a little harder as we go along and he thinks it is really funny if I can make a sentence that is silly. That is when I know he is understanding what he is reading!

Catch-up pics and post #2

2010-03-27T13:13:00.000-07:00

As you can see, we've been decorating for Easter around here as well as getting "schoolwork" done. On the left you can see Charlie rolling jellybeans in paint all over egg cutouts. This was a great art project that had him shaking and popping jellybeans all over the place ... and yes there were a few "escapees"! On the right you can see him working with his Tag system, searching for eggs on a worksheet, and coloring tissue paper eggs with food coloring while working on mixing colors. We've read a few Easter related books, he's moving along with his reading with The Bob Books System, and we've read a couple more books from the Little Bear Series as well. It's been a busy week!

A Few Brief Catch-Up Photos

2010-03-23T11:38:00.000-07:00

A few shots from St. Patrick's Day when we made green colored playdough.

This was the 1st day that Charlie was up off the couch from being SO sick with the stomach flu. He's even still in his PJs, or truth be told, probably his 3rd or 4th pair by then.

Each boy mixing and making their own playdough was a way they cold play together without sharing too many flu germs.

I Really Am Going to Get Back to This ...

2010-03-23T06:45:00.000-07:00

I really am going to get back to this. I need to make it a habit before I'm reqired to keep a portfolio for Charlie's HSing.

Life just keeps happening and getting in the way. That being said, when Charlie gets as sick as he was last week with the stomach flu, nothing much gets accomplished in any way. He was so sick for 4 days that nothing but bits of freeze pops and nibbles of saltines was all that he could keep in him. For a boy of his size, when he loses 7lbs. it's a lot!

We're doing much better and are getting back on track now.

Preschool time

2010-03-11T10:27:00.000-08:00

Today the boys worked on their Funtastic Frogs Math and then got to spend sometime on the computers before heading outside. This afternoon may just well be an indoor afternoon as its quite cloudy and even sprinkling a bit, too.

Sing a Sprout Song contest winner!

2010-03-10T07:49:00.000-08:00

A couple of weeks ago, I made a video of Charlie singing the opening theme song from the Sprout's Goodnight Show and entered it into the "Sing a Sprout Song" contest they were having. I never really expected to hear anything back from them as our video came out SO dark. Last week I received an email that he was chosen as one of the winners! His video will be on the Sprout's Wiggly Waffle Show 3/16/10 sometime between 8-9:00 am. Boy were we surprised! We will also receive an IPOD Nano load with Sprout songs :-)

Yesterday I receive a phone call from a representative from the Sprout channel. She has arranged a conference call interview with the local paper "The Union Leader" and they are also sending someone out to take a few photos of Charlie. Charlie thinks he will be on the cover of a magazine, now. I guess I better teach him the difference between a newspaper and a magazine ;-)

My goodness ... it's been awhile

2010-03-09T07:32:00.000-08:00

I haven't touched this thing in so long it's a bit scary to start again but here I go.

Lately I've been feeling over-burdened with frustrations in dealing with Charlie. So much time has passed since I last posted yet so many things seem the same. Charlie is now 4, has been casein-free for almost a year and, yes there has been some improvements to his overall development but yet there are so many milestones I thought he would have reached by now.

I have a 4 year old boy with Asperger's Syndrome, there I've said it. Again. Socially he is doing better but only when it's just a 1 on 1 situation. His tantrums seemed to lessen for a few months but now they are coming back even stronger. There is no "toilet-trained" boy insight but yet he's beginning to read, go figure.

There are, of course, many plus sides to Charlie but on somedays they can be hard to see. He's smart, very lovey-dovey at times, funny and sweet. He can be very determined both at bad times as well as good times. He can be both predictable and unpredictable at the same time.

I think if I can start keeping this journal/blog again, maybe it will help me deal with all the ups and downs of this ride. Lets hope so.

Hail hail the gangs all here!

2009-06-26T10:06:00.001-07:00

I think I'm crazy .... do you?

Rainy Days

2009-06-10T02:20:00.000-07:00

Rainy days that are suppose to happen in April but instead are in June make for great painting times. Here we have been learning all about Bugs. Caterpillar/butterfly is the end of our unit. We've covered ants, grasshoppers & crickets, spiders, beetles, ladybugs and now the butterflies. The sole purpose of doing this was to help 2 of the boys I watch get over their fear of bugs before the summer ... and it worked! No longer do I have screamers running and yelling "spider" every time the see an ant.

2009-06-05T15:27:00.000-07:00

I've been busy here with the daycare kids and Charlie. There has been so much going on that its just been crazy. I will try and give a brief overview of where everyone is and what they've been up to and then I'll just start going from there.

Aaron has been officially diagnosed with ADHD ... big surprise there, not. That was back in February and it has only taken until now for his parents to accept it and move on with helping him. He will be starting meds this weekend while with Mom. He will be going to public K in September and will be going to the special K prep program in the summer, too. When that happens, that will probably be when he leaves the dayare here. He's been pretty rough to handle lately. His biggest problem here is bullying, he is awful!

Austin, even though he is old enough for K will not be going. Mom and his therapist asked if I would be willing to work another year with him. The hope is maybe he will be ready for 1st grade next year with an intensive 1 on 1 K here with me. If not he can start K next year because he is a late Sept birthday and only makes the cut off by days as it is.

Justin is his same old self. Pretty average for a 3 1/2 year old. Since he started speech in February he has improved tremendously. I often just have to remind him to slow down when he's talking and usually people can understand him pretty well. Cognitively he still has a way to go but he's getting there.

Charlie .... as far as the Asperger's goes, there is so much to go over that it would be a post, in itself. We have put him on a casein-free diet and it has made a difference. Right now we are having a problem with him being teased by the others sometimes. It can be heart breaking.

Academically, Charlie is way ahead of the curve as always, and he has gotten really good at the phonics games on the computer and at almost 3 1/2 he knows all his uppercase letters by name and can connect most of the sounds with the letter. When it comes to hand work like scissors, coloring, writing, etc. he is really lacking. His gross motor is behind a bit as well. He can not catch a ball, throw it too well, or pedal at all yet. Toileting is another problem. He really has no idea if he is wet, has a poop, or a dry diaper. From what I have learned about AS, it seems all these issues are related to it.

So, as far as the daycare/prescool days go, each boy definitely are working on very different things and we just try to keep on moving forward.

Wow! It's been awhile.

2009-06-05T15:18:00.000-07:00

Wow, has it really been since the beginning of March since I've posted? I'm gonna start writing at least once a week, even if its just to recap what we've been up to here.

Many things have changed around here, the least of which, this weekend Jenny and the 2 kids are moving back home. Its gonna be crazy for awhile I'm sure but it will work itself out in time, I'm sure.

Reflecting

2009-03-06T07:00:00.000-08:00

For the past week now I've spent alot more time sitting back and observing the boys and Charlie than I normally do. Normally our days are filled with routines that include "preschool time", story time, structured play (all which are somewhat teacher directed) as well as free play both in and out. It has really opened my eyes.

Charlie very rarely plays with the other kids. He is usually playing near them but never with them. He does sometimes think he's playing with them, I think, but he really isn't.

Also throughout this week, behaviors that have always been apart of Charlie, seem to be taking on different meanings. Like is "doing laps". That has been something Charlie has done since he was a little ove 2. Often, last spring, when he had had enough of the rest of the gangs, bickering or just "preschool boy" type play, he would start running laps around the yard to tune them out.

He always followed the same route.

Then, when we moved here to the new house this past summer, he still did the same thing when he had had enough. Only this time he used the perimeter of the yard as his track. Occassionally the other boys would ask why Charlie was running and we just said he was exercising. They occassionally would join him and turn it into a race but Charlie never changed his running or acknowledge that they were running/racing with him.

Now that winter has been upon us we spend less time outside. When Charlie starts jogging, as he calls it now, its for the same reasons, to tune the others out. Inside his route is a loop through the playroom, tv room, kitchen and to the end of the galley kitchen and back again.

In the past, it didn't occur to me that this behavior could be a sign of something, heck both his sisters were on track teams and Charlie did used to go to their meets when he was a toddler. We knew he used it as a way to not bother with the other kids when things got too much for him but we always thought it was a good thing he found a way to handle situations without getting all worked up like most toddlers did and throw tantrums. Now I see it as possibly his form of styming. Hmm

Boy its been awhile

2009-03-03T16:31:00.000-08:00

Boy its been awhile. There is so much going on between the girls, the daycare and Charlie that who knows where to start.

Charlie had his 3 yr old check up last week. For the most part it was pretty standard. At least physically, that is. As usual he is still in the 5% for both height and weight. He's always been such a peanut.

We have been having other issues that we discussed with the Dr. Charlie has been very reluctant to leave the house for the past few months and when we do it is only about 30 -45 min later before he really starts showing signs of anxiety and wanting to go home. It doesn't seem to matter where or what we are doing it comes on all of a sudden. In light of this new quirk in his personality, the Dr. thinks we might want to think about having him assessed for PDD/Aspergers Syndrome more specifically. This was just the final decision maker. He has always been way ahead of the curve intellectually it seemed, always has had strong fixations on specific topics, and an incredible memory for detail info, as well.

Lately, socially, it seems he does quite get how to play with the other kids. He'll be playing (reenacting skits) from his newest craze The Imagination Movers and not care or seem to notice no one else is interested. Yet, he still continues. He looks forward to the kids coming over or get togethers with his cousins, but once there he really doesn't play with them but hangs on hte outskirts playing his "Movers" characters or just mostly associating with the adults or just playing alone. Adding in the new agoraphobia tendency to this really makes us concerned.

So for now I'm doing lots of reading, researching and talking about it with Chuck and we'll probably go with getting an evaluation in a month or so.

That's it for now.

A Boy and his Dog

2009-01-21T10:16:00.000-08:00

Meet Missy! Charlie has a new puppy. Missy is a 4mth old shepard/lab mix. We got her on Monday from a couple that is no longer able to care for her. So far so good. She's kind of low key and seems very even tempered which is real import around here. With a house full of preschool boys during the day she seems to be taking in all the excitement very well.

The cats, on the other hand, haven't shown their faces down stairs since the 1st encounter Monday night. But I figure they'll work it out soon as eventually they will get hungry.

Snow Day

2009-01-08T14:54:00.001-08:00

Charlie had lots of fun out in the snow today!

Time to relax

2008-12-31T12:23:00.000-08:00

Its been a busy time of year here. Daycare kiddos getting the "holiday hypers", visiting older sisters coming, going, staying over, etc ... poor Charlie seems a bit run down from it all. We are all looking forward to the relaxing routine that comes after all the hoopla.

For Christmas, Santa was able to find a set of Buzz Lightyear and Woody dolls from the movie "Toy Story"... it was the only thing on Charlie's wishlist. Charlie has played with them all day every day since.

Jingle Bells

2008-12-18T13:05:00.000-08:00

http://s173.photobucket.com/albums/w67/sb101z/?action=view&current=100_0895.flv

A little Jingle Bells" serenade from Charlie and his sister Amberlyn.

The 1st snow of the season

2008-12-17T10:07:00.000-08:00

Here's a few shots of the kids enjoying the 1st snow fall of the season. I'm pretty sure Tessa never experienced anything like this, 1st hand, before now.

Charlie has this thing about liking the chin strap of his hat to be worn across his face ... a la race car helmet style.

Lately, with the addition of Aaron to the group, Justin and Charlie have been best of buddies while Aaron and Austin usually hang out together.

Christmas picture

2008-12-16T07:24:00.000-08:00

Here's the new photo for Christmas!!!

Thanksgiving Lessons

2008-12-02T07:24:00.000-08:00

This is Charlie's Thanksgiving Lapbook. We only touched on the simple basics of the holiday like how the pilgrims came here, the Native Americans became their new friends, and helped them out. We talked about how they had a special dinner to show they were thankful.

Inside there is a sample of the napkin rings (we made 20) for Thanksgiving dinner, some paper dolls Charlie glued outfits on and a mini book about all the foods we might eat at dinner.

There are also 3 different mini booklets where I wrote Charlie's answers to questions we talked about. 1) the cornucopia ... Charlie's favorite fruit is "grapes". 2) The turkey recalls what his 5 senses will feel, touch, see, taste, and smell. 3) circle book list 4 things he will be thankful for, and they are ... instruments, mom and dad, his cowboy hat and juice. How age appropriate, LOL

Pumpkin Lapbook

2008-12-02T07:01:00.001-08:00

Here's Charlie's Pumpkin Lapbook. He colored a jack-o-lantern for the front cover. There's all kinds of things inside.

On the left page is a poem and finger painting about mixing red and yellow to make orange. There is also a tri-fold mini book about emotions using pumpkin faces. Inside the counting book, Charlie placed the appropriate number of pumpkin stickers on each page.

On the right hand side is a photo book of Charlie when we carved the pumpkins, the 5 little pumpkin poem that he also attached stickers to, a spice wheel about the spices that go into making a pumpkin pie, and a mini book about how pumpkins grow.

While working on our pumpkin unit, we did a lot of mix color paintings. We also carved the pumpkins, toasted the seeds, cooked and pureed the meat, and made pumpkin pie. It was a very yummy unit.

Alphabet Notebook - Ee Ff

2008-12-01T07:53:00.001-08:00

Way behind on postings of lapbooks, this will just be the beginning of the catch-up. Here are the next 2 pages for our alphabet notebook. Letter Ee concentrated on easels, elephants, and eagles ... and letter Ff focused on fish, feet and other common Ff words.

Thanksgiving prep time has come

2008-11-17T11:59:00.000-08:00

We're getting ready for Thanksgiving around here. Here's Charlie proudly displaying the centerpiece he made for the table. There's been lots of baking and freezing to get the breads ready, too. The boys have been a great help. Every specialty bread we make, we make 1 reg. size loaf and 2 mini loaves. The reg. loaf is put away for the holidays, 1 mini loaf we get to taste for afternoon snack, and the 2nd mini loaf goes home with the boys to share with their family.
Baking with 3 preschool boys, fun, fun, fun!

Charlie has the sickies :-(

2008-11-11T10:32:00.000-08:00

How I know the little man is about to come down with something ..... he tends to pass out, regardless of what's going on around him, or what he may be doing.

Sunday while playing his guitar and drums (egg carton and rhythm sticks) apparently he just fell asleep. Sure enough later in the afternoon he was losing his voice, sniffling, and coughing. Today, 2 days later, he still has the sniffles, somewhat of a cough but he almost has his voice back.

The Wiggles

2008-11-07T10:36:00.001-08:00

Charlie got to see his 1st concert ... The Wiggles! He had so much fun. Charlie has been a huge Wiggles fan for about a year now, I think he knows every lyric by heart. His favorite Wiggle, by far, is Murray (the red wiggle) mainly because he plays the guitar. Its been over a week and he still talks about "going to a Wiggly Concert" and that it was FUN!

Here we are!

2008-11-06T12:45:00.000-08:00

This blog is being created just for Charlie and all the things that have an affect on his life. I have moved post from the old blog that relate to him and will be moving forward from here. All old post are labeled as such and for now the pictures that went with them have yet to be added, but I'll get there.

Trick or Treat --- Wednesday, October 29, 2008

2008-11-06T12:43:00.001-08:00

Here in Manchester, the kids trick or treat the Sunday afternoon before Halloween. Here you can see Cowboy Charlie and Fairy Tessa waiting to go.

Lapbook catch-up -- Tuesday, October 21, 2008

2008-11-06T12:42:00.000-08:00

Sorry for a few blurry pictures, Ugh!

Here is what the crew has been working on the last 2 weeks along with their Alphabet Notebooks.

The 1st book is The Carrot Seed ... a real classic. The other is Owl Babies. The boys are really enjoying working on the lapbook pieces and learning little tidbits of info as we enjoy the great stories. Check out a slideshow of these lapbooks here:

http://slideshow-3.sfurness.imageloop.com/en/index.htm

Also, the lapbooks are now being used for quiet time while lunch prep is going on. Each boy will go and choose something quiet to do ... among the choices are puzzles, books and lapbooks ;-)

Alphabet Notebook Cc Dd

http://slideshow-2.sfurness.imageloop.com/en/index.htm
Here are 2 more pages that we have added to Charlie's Alphabet Notebook a little while ago.

Pumpkin Carving Time

http://1000593.sfurness.imageloop.com/en/index.htm

Here's the slideshow link to our pumpkin carving fun.
Boy have we been busy! The boys have been working hard at their preschool lessons (will post more details soon), so hard that I haven't had time to post in a while. Well, we're taking a break for the next 2 weeks to enjoy the season and Halloween, starting with pumpkins.

Brown Bear --- Wednesday, October 1, 2008

2008-11-06T12:40:00.000-08:00

Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?

We finished our lapbooks for Brown Bear Brown Bear a little bit ago and it was more of a review of colors for Charlie but it also helped A and J learn their colors. Inside there is some memory game cards and some matching color words/color animal cards. There is also a picture of a real brown bear and one of what the bear tracks look like. The round pocket holds a "sewing" card for fine motor practice lacing around the brown bear.

Alphabet Notebook Aa Bb -- Sunday, September 28, 2008

2008-11-06T12:39:00.000-08:00

Sunday, September 28, 2008
Alphabet Notebook Aa Bb

Here are our 1st pages for our Alphabet Notebook.

http://slideshow-1.sfurness.imageloop.com/en/index.htm

Letter Aa page has apple prints on the front, and on the back there is some colored apples with Aa words on them and colored Aa art book and some apple stickers.

The Letter Bb page is colored with blue and has buttons glued on it. On the back you can see the What begins with B wheel and Charlie's Letter Bb Book.

A brief wrap up on a busy September

2008-11-06T12:00:00.002-08:00

A brief wrap up on a busy September
It has been a busy week and finding time to blog has been hard. As far as the daycare/preschool goes, we have completed our letter Bb page for our alphabet notebooks as well as our small unit on Brown Bear, Brown Bear. I will post pics on a separate post.

I was pleasantly surprised when yesterday while getting his sneakers on, Charlie stated they had a "B" on them. Which they did because they had the "B" emblem for the Boston Red Sox on the side. He also then decided to get the empty box, waiting near the trash, to play with saying "B is for box!" Seems preschooling him is working :-D

Andrea, the oldest, has been visiting recently. She was on a "separation mode" from family, only making brief appearances and phone calls around birthday and holidays. Chuck and I strongly felt that she just needed this time to settle into her new life off on her own, aka grow a little, and would find her way back on her own better if she wasn't pushed. It appears we got that 1 right, Yay! She has been doing so well and we are very happy for her.

Jenn and the kids are the same. They are definitely struggling and its been hard but we see them often (almost daily) and she knows that when and if the time comes there is always room here for the kids and her. I think when that day comes it will be one of the hardest things in her life for Jenn to admit, and do.

Heather is back at school for her final year. I can't believe she will be a college graduate next spring. She's doing very well and keeping VERY busy between her classes and her internship necessary to receive her degree in social work.

And Amby, my original baby (before Charlie) is doing very well. Back at school in her sophomore year, she has taken her 1st apartment and is learning a little of what the "real world" is like. Her 1st audition she was cast into 2 different dance pieces. Now she has had to add those rehearsals into her dance class and academic class schedules. Second semester she is hoping to get into the study abroad program in France. Busy, busy, busy.

So there's the brief wrap up.

Thursday, September 18, 2008

2008-11-06T12:00:00.001-08:00

Thursday, September 18, 2008
Coloring with thought

Charlie's coloring has changed. At 2 1/2, what used to be just a few scribbles with very little pressure has turned into intentional coloring. He now tries to color the picture, not just the whole paper. Also, there is rhyme and reason to the colors he chooses.
In the picture he colored of The Wiggles, he chose the right colors for each member of the band. Very exciting!

Apple Tree Pie & A Haircut -- Monday, September 15, 2008

2008-11-06T11:58:00.000-08:00

Monday, September 15, 2008
The Apple Pie Tree lapbook

We finished our lap books for The Apple Pie Tree by Zoe Hall. We worked on this book and the related activities and lap book components for 1 1/2 weeks. Thanks to HSS for all the ideas and activities.

http://the-apple-pie-tree-lapbook.sfurness.imageloop.com/en/index.htm

Inside our lap books there is a What begins with A wheel, a pocket containing related opposite cards, a counting apples minit book the boys glued apples to, a petal minit book about how bees help make apples, an apple tree they made, and a "recipe" for apple pie they dictated to me. We assembled the lap books today and tomorrow we'll bake our apple pie to finish off this unit.

Hair cut time :-(

Summer is over and the surfer dude in this post was not happy about this at all.

Thursday, September 11, 2008

2008-11-06T11:56:00.002-08:00

Thursday, September 11, 2008
Naptime ... Oh What a Relief it is!

This year there are 2 major reliefs for me regarding homeschooling three preschoolers and a 1yr old.

1st) I love this site and group http://www.homeschoolshare.com/ they have been a saving grace for me! Go and check them out, you'll love 'em.

2nd) Nap time between 12:00 - 2:00 when all 4 children are sleeping. ;-D

Mid-week check in
We have been working on the book The Apple Pie Tree by Zoe Hall. The boys are really enjoying it. As the week has progressed I notice that they are taking the book themselves and "reading" it to each other, and as they do they seem to have picked up new info each time. Yesterday I heard Charlie and J pointing out the robins in the book and the growth of them during the year. I also heard A at 1 point telling J about what season it was in the book on a particular page. This is what I love to see.

We are working on lapbook elements daily to highlight different aspects of the book/apple tree seasons. Along with this book we are starting our alphabet notebook. This week we have been working on Aa.

Tuesday our preschool routine was interrupted by a school day off for the older boys. Although it was nice to see them, I'm glad to be back to just the younger crowd. The general atmosphere is more relaxed and the boys all seem to play better when the older 2 are away at school.

Tuesday, September 9, 2008

2008-11-06T11:56:00.001-08:00

Tuesday, September 9, 2008
Pseudo beach time after the heavy rains

After the heavy rains that came by this weekend, we were some of the lucky ones here in Manchester that didn't have any flooding problems. Except for lots of water that needed to be removed from Charlie's sandbox, we had a very nice day and Chuck was able to finish the deck, too.

Monday, September 8, 2008

2008-11-06T11:55:00.000-08:00

Monday, September 8, 2008
P'sghetti
Doesn't it look delicious

Friday, September 5, 2008

2008-11-06T11:54:00.000-08:00

Friday, September 5, 2008
Chicka Chicka Lapbook

Chicka, Chicka, Boom, Boom, will there be enough room?
Today we completed our lapbook. Through out the week we read the book aloud everyday and worked on recognizing our own 1st initial, counting/sequencing, and just a simple basic intro to the preschool routine.
The pictures above are of Charlie's lapbook, the boys will be taking theirs home today. On the front is a picture reflecting the theme of the book and each boy glued on the various pieces to assemble the coconut tree. Inside there are pockets for upper and lowercase letters, an accordion mini-book of their name that they assembled (with help), and a pocket with coconut tree cards that they can work on putting in order per number of coconuts in the tree. As you can see they also enjoyed gluing foam letters all over the inside as well. All are very proud of their finished product.

Wednesday, September 3, 2008

2008-11-06T11:53:00.000-08:00

Wednesday, September 3, 2008
1st official day of school.

Today the older boys went off to school so with A(3), J(2) and Charlie(2) we officially were able to start preschool. It was nice to be able to get back to a "school" routine.

We colored out "1st day of school" papers, attached pictures of each boy to them and they dictated to me a few bits of info about themselves. As a group we read Chicka, Chicka, Boom, Boom by Bill Martin and glued pieces of a coconut tree onto the cover sheet for our lapbook.

We spent lots of time outside playing and "helping" Chuck who was finishing building the deck. The afternoon will be spent playing in the pool and yard. It was a very good day.

Friday, August 29, 2008

2008-11-06T11:51:00.001-08:00

Friday, August 29, 2008
Hair, lots of it

Do you think Charlie could use a trip to the barber shop?

Last days of summer

The last day of summer for the daycare is here. This is what a week of just playing ... aka no curriculum ... looks like around here.

It has been beautiful weather. With sun every day and the temps in the low 70's in the am, 80's in the afternoon we have really been enjoying lots of time outside. Next week school begins for the older boys and we here will start concentrating on our FIAR and Letter of the week curriculum.

Just the little man and me

2008-11-06T11:50:00.000-08:00

Just the little man and me
Its been a busy week. Monday 2 of our girls were shipped off back to college :-( Heather out to Westfield for her final year, and Amberlyn to Pittsburgh for her sophomore year.

Charlie has grown extremely close to Amby this summer and is now old enough to understand that she is away at school and not here. He keeps asking "Amby all done at school?" and "We take a ride and go get Amby?" Its sweet but sad, too. We wont see either girl again until Thanksgiving.

Chuck left for Conn. yesterday and wont be back until late Labor Day night. He has a show out there at the Woodstock Fair. So it is just the little man and myself ... of course I still have the boys and Tessa here for daycare today and Tessa for daycare over the weekend as well. My plan is to use this time to catch up on the unpacking that still needs to be done from the move and to get ahead on curriculum and have most of the prep done for upcoming lapbooks. We'll see how it all plays out ;-)

Monday, August 25, 2008

2008-11-06T11:49:00.002-08:00

Monday, August 25, 2008
Hello Ocean Lapbook

Last week we finished up our summer curriculum and completed our Hello Ocean by Pam Munoz lap books. All the boys made their own, this one here is Charlie's. There is a shell memory game, a sand castle he made, a fan with names and pictures of what you would find in a tide pool. There's some poems and songs, and a mini book about what your 5 senses experience at the ocean. This is a great hands-on lapbook he can look at over and over again. Thanks to http://www.homeschoolshare.com/ for the great unit!

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

2008-11-06T11:49:00.001-08:00

Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Back in the groove ... I hope
Its Wednesday and things seem to have settled back to norm. Boy, I hope I didn't just jinx myself.

Yesterday we worked on a mural of the ocean as a group. The older boys are responsible for the actual mural art that is hanging in the kitchen at the moment. While the younger crew is napping, that is when they can work on the detailed coloring of the ocean floor.

As a group we are painting various sea life so they can be hung on the mural when it is ready.

With only 1 1/2 weeks left before public school starts, I'm hoping this great weather sticks around so we can enjoy the outdoors before the boys head back to sitting in a classroom all day.

Monday, August 18, 2008

2008-11-06T11:48:00.000-08:00

Monday, August 18, 2008
Back to square 1
Hail, hail, the gangs all here .... Everyone is back from the unexpected week off we just had. The boys are in "rare" form as I expected they would be, oh well.

I think school will be put on the back burner as I try to reign in the troops again. That's what so hard with a break in schedule. It seems, every time the boys return from a week in Maine with their Dad the same problems occur. Dylan's ego is shot and he either is saying he's stupid, or he's trying to control all the younger kids and being bossy. Tyler comes back way to full of himself with an attitude that he's always right no matter what and constantly tries to irritate his brothers and get them riled up. Austin returns very whiny and out of control but once he settles in seems to improve quickly, liking the stability. Justin always comes back, back to square 1 with potty training and baby talking and just plain "baby" habits.

This week, as far as schooling goes, is shot. Too bad because Charlie was really doing well and enjoying it.

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

2008-11-06T11:47:00.000-08:00

Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Mid-week random thoughts
Mid-week update....with lots of random thoughts.

As it turned out, its been pretty much Charlie and I for the week. The boys I care for were out Mon. and Tues. because their mom was feeling pretty lousy. Since her childcare is a partial scholarship through the state, she cannot have the kids here unless she is actually at work. Last week she was excused from that ruling while she underwent 5 days of chemo but that was all they allowed. She was planning to be able to go back to work this week but she is still feeling pretty rough. Eventually the boys ended up at their Dad's house in Maine so she could recuperate and he will be keeping them there until Sunday.

Charlie and I started our Hello Ocean by Pam Munoz. We've been reading it everyday and working on a small project to put into his lapbook. Thanks to http://homeschoolshare.com we've had lot of fun working on this together.

Today we had some friends come over to play that we hadn't seen in a while. Charlie had a lot of fun and it was great to see them.

Tessa should be back tomorrow for daycare. We haven't seen her since her birthday party on Saturday ... she made it to 1. I think that has to be the longest time we've gone with out a family visit or daycare. Should be interesting ;-)

On another note regarding the boys in y care. I spoke with their mom after she attended the school meeting today. It was an meeting to go over the results of the testing he had. The school system feels he is not far enough behind to warrant admittance in the spec. ed preschool program. I am completely shocked with that.

He is pre-k age and he cannot count past 2, does not know his colors and shapes or recognize any letters. His speech is very difficult to understand, even to me, and I've been with him daily for since May. In my opinion he also has sensory issues. He doesn't like the feel of sand, will only eat certain food, prefers his shirts inside out so the seams won't touch him to name just a few. He has trouble adjusting to changes in any way. I think Mom is just to sick/tired to fight at the moment. Looks like it will be up to me to try and get him closer to where he needs to be during this coming school year.

Sunday, August 10, 2008

2008-11-06T11:46:00.002-08:00

Sunday, August 10, 2008
Our 1st lapbook
We're moving on. We are ready to go from somewhere in the galaxy to deep in the ocean.

The boys have finished their unit on space. We learned about the sun and the moon and how they effect us here on Earth. We made a mobile of the planets in our solar system, putting them in the correct order. The older boys colored the planets as accurately as they could getting info from various places.

We made our 1st lapbooks with this unit. Each boy chose a picture to color and cut out to glue to the front. Inside they had pictures of all 8 planets, the sun, a moon dial that showed the phases of the moon, and lots of facts about each. We also talked about astronauts and made flip books about what astronauts mights wear, eat, and do in space. They all came up with some fun thoughts and I either wrote them down for them or they wrote it themselves. Here's a few examples:

Charlie (2 1/2) "they wear jammies and go to bed"

Justin (2 1/2)"they eat hotdogs and french fries"

Austin (3 1/2)"They fly"

Tyler (6)"They eat space food, float around and do science stuff"

Dylan (7)"They learn about new stars and look for aliens"

This coming week we will by introducing the FIAR concept to start our ocean theme. We will be reading Hello Ocean by Pam Munoz and working on a lap book that goes along with it from http://www.homeschoolshare.com/ . We'll dig deeper into sea life according to the interest levels of the group. Check out the large shell collection I have and learn all we can.

Monday, August 4, 2008

2008-11-06T11:46:00.001-08:00

Monday, August 4, 2008
Pre-preschool has begun!
Pre-preschool has begun! Today we started our space exploration unit and everyone enjoyed it. The theme was chosen by Tyler (6). I read the book "The Sun: Our Nearest Star" by F. M. Branley. We sponge painted yellow suns that we will use later in the week to make solar system mobiles. After lunch the boys were able to sit at the table and color a choice of space vehicle pictures while everyone finished eating.

The older boys worked on some of the fun activity sheets that I had for them while the younger half napped. They also chose to cut out the space ship they colored and glued it to their space folders. By the time school starts they should be already in the swing of learning :-) That's the plan anyways.

We spent time outside in the morning and in the afternoon. Everyone had a pretty good day. Hopefully now that we are settled in and starting "school" the routine and focus will keep mischievous mayhem at bay.

Tonight, Charlie and I will start "The Wind in the Willows" for our read out loud book.

Friday, August 1, 2008

2008-11-06T11:45:00.001-08:00

Friday, August 1, 2008
TGIF
TGIF

Its been a long one, that's for sure. The boys and Tessa all came back for daycare Wed - Fri and it was one of the longest 3 days ever. But, we managed to get through it.

The house is semi-set up. That's to say that yes there are still many boxes left to unpack, but they are mostly clothing and up on the 2nd floor. The kitchen, playroom, dining room, and for the most part, TV room are easy to move around in and safe for the kids.

Austin has had a hard time dealing with the change. He's been easily set off and excitable and his 2 older brothers delight in doing just that. That has been the hardest part of the days. Hopefully next week he will have settled in enough that Dylan and Tyler wont be able to get him all riled up so easily. Austin's Mom will get the results and recommendations from the school department on the 13th from the evaluation he went through at the beginning of the month. I am almost positive he will be attending the public sp. ed. preschool at least 3 days a week.

This weekend I will be (hopefully) finishing the unpacking. Hey, maybe I can even find my desk and sewing table under the boxes. I also need to set up the example lapbook on space and get ready for that topic next week. The 2 older boys chose space and ocean as our last themes of the summer.

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

2008-11-06T11:44:00.001-08:00

Tuesday, July 29, 2008
We made it!
We have arrived. The move was a bit hectic but in the end we got pretty much everything here by 4:00. The house is a maze of boxes and random stuff that needs sorting out and slowly but surely I am finding the floors in each room.

Of course, all the kids return for daycare tomorrow so today is crunch day. At the very least, I need the 1st floor useable and safe for Tessa.

More later, right now its back to work.

Thursday, July 24, 2008

2008-11-06T11:43:00.000-08:00

Thursday, July 24, 2008
Ready for September
Today is my last day for Internet access until all is set up at the new house. Over the last week or so, I've been busy searching and deciding on the homeschooling curriculum for preschool we will be attacking next year.

At 1st we were going to stick to a theme, color, and shape and lightly introduce #s and letters, but that has changed. Mainly because Charlie is further along than I realized. A few weeks ago while eating ABC type cookies he correctly identified the letter A. I was surprised so I "tested" him on a few others and sure enough he can recognized almost half of the alphabet. I am thrilled to say the least. He loves being read to and "reading" books on his own.

As far as #s go, he can correctly count by rote to 14 (then it gets a little fuzzy). He recognizes the #s 1 and 8 (random, I know) and can count actual items up to 10 so he's doing great there, too.

I've decided to go with a literature based curriculum using a combination of FIAR and lapbooking units from http://www.homeschoolshare.com/ While using http://www.letteroftheweek.com/ to work on the letters/phonics.

I will, of course, also have Justin (who is a few months older than Charlie) full time and Austin (who will be four soon) on a part time basis because he will be in the sped preschool program. Neither can count past 3 or identify letters. They know most of their colors and some shapes, though so we'll expose them to everything and see how much they can absorb.

So, since I wont have the Internet for a little bit I've been busy downloading and working up the plan so that at least for the 1st month everything is in place and I can take the next few weeks to settle in and unpack/organize the new house. We're ready for September!

Provided we survive the rest of the summer that is.

Monday, July 21, 2008

2008-11-06T11:42:00.002-08:00

Monday, July 21, 2008
The Home Stretch
The final week is finally here! We're into the home stretch and I can't wait 'til its over. We're hoping to have everything but the furniture moved before Saturday.

The whole gang is here for daycare and it will be very interesting to see how it works keeping them from killing each other all while I'm trying to pack and clean. Plus, daily we'll be making trips to the new house at the end of the day so toys will be slowly disappearing as the week goes.

Saturday we pick up the rental truck, the guys should be here around 8:00am and the tentative plan is to be moved ... hopefully ... by lunch.

We'll see.

Friday, July 18, 2008

2008-11-06T11:42:00.001-08:00

Friday, July 18, 2008
TGIF
TGIF .... Its been a very tiring week. Between entertaining the 5 boys all day and packing/purging when I can, I'm beat by the end of the day. Then at night we've been taking runs to the new house to drop off what I managed to get packed during the day. Charlie hasn't been getting to bed until 9:00 which leaves me all of 15 - 20 minutes before I want to crash.

I'm so LAME.

Thank God it the weekend. We still will be packing, purging,and dropping off at the new house (a lot actually) but I will only have Charlie and Tessa. Its been so hot that all week I've had the kids outside and in the pool all day but nap time .... but with just the 2 little ones I plan to keep them in for the weekend ... Yay! Believe me that's a break.

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

2008-11-06T11:39:00.000-08:00

Tuesday, July 15, 2008
They best laid plans ....
The whole gangs here. The boys are back from their 2 weeks with their father in Maine. As it turns out, they will not be going back again this summer, sooo I have them all, all summer. Eek!

Actually the day went rather smoothly and there were no real problems. But I think it will be tough keeping 5 boys between 2 1/2 and 7 entertained all summer. Add to that craziness is the upcoming move.

Now that they are not going back to their Dad's, they will be here right up until the move. I was planning to move most of the toys and daycare supplies next week while they were gone and then get everything set up the following week after the move before they came back. You know what they say " The best laid plans ..."

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

2008-11-06T11:38:00.000-08:00

Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Ugh!
Its been a long day.

The day started at 5:00am, which normally isn't too bad because it means I get coffee in peace. Today, though, Charlie decided to let Mom only get 2 sips into her coffee before he woke up. Ugh!

He also woke up on the wrong side of the bed ... which is quite a feat considering his bed runs flat along the wall. Needless to say its been a day of whining and lots of grumpy rebellion from him, something very rare around here. Ugh!!

The boys arrived still wearing cruddy green noses and full of all kinds of energy, another thing Charlie wasn't up for. Tessa arrived and proceeded to puke on Jenn right as she was leaving for work. She had a very pukie day today ... all day, Ugh!!!

Luckily it was beautiful out all day and we spent almost every waking moment outside playing. For Pirates week, we did finish the spy scopes they were making and we used them to watch for trucks going by on the rode.

During nap I did get to start the purge process for the move. I filled 4 kitchen size trash bags of clothes that I'm donating to the Goodwill. Of course it was all from my closet, too. It was stuff I haven't worn in a long time, stuff that was many sizes bigger than I am now, and just random clothes. Scary, huh?

Anyways, the Purge and Pack has official begun, Ugh!!!!!

Monday, June 23, 2008

2008-11-06T11:33:00.000-08:00

Monday, June 23, 2008

We're moving!

We're moving. It's official, we got the house and we're moving.

I'm psyched about the house and all the room we'll be gaining but I hate the idea of packing up what's here. I'm a pack rat in some ways. So it'll be more of a purging and packing scene. I have 4-5 weeks to take care of it all but that doesn't seem enough.

The house, here's the official description:

First Floor:

* Foyers - one for front door and one for side/back door

* Double Living Room with large wood stove, helps to take the edge of the gas heating costs.

* Dining Room with slate floor

* Kitchen has counter space for all your appliances and more, extremely long galley type kitchen.
* Office space located at front of the house with view of the street with high speed Internet access and extra phone hookups to enable second phone line for that in-home business.

* Downstairs bathroom is a MUST SEE!! It is as large as a normal sized bedroom!! A hot tub is located in an alcove in the bathroom.

* Laundry room off the kitchen with washer and dryer included.

Second Floor:

* Master Bedroom with built in drawers & cabinets and private bath

* 2 additional bedrooms

* Large sitting area (could also be used as a bedroom/or nursery)

House is over 100 years old and is a typical New England style home. Over sized 1 car garage and shed included; Some yard maintenance equipment is available in the garage. Fenced yard with additional back lot yard. Currently the exterior of the home is a little rough and needs a little cosmetic work, nothing major, just paint and general stuff. The house had an entire new roof installed December 2005 and new gas heating system installed September 2005.

I really like the ground level. The kitchen / dining space is huge and there is about 5x more cabinet and counter space than what we currently have. I have a dishwasher!!!!!! I also love the idea of the laundry room right off the kitchen ... no more yucky basement!

The main bathroom is off the kitchen and is huge! Not only does it have the typical bath/shower unit, sink and toilet; it has a fully functional four person hot tub in an alcove and a fully non-functional (at the moment) enclosed sauna.

The front living room will be specifically set up just as a daycare/playroom and the adjoining office will be my space. Yes I have my own space! A place for my sewing table, daycare supplies, etc, etc. The TV and furniture will be in the larger living room with the wood stove.

Oh, and Chuck has his own space, too. He's claimed the garage, LOL, big surprise.

The outside is nice, too, especially for being in the heart of the city. There is a fully fenced deck and yard right off the slider door in the kitchen. This section of the yard has great thick green grass, but no shade. We will be opening the fence to include the back half of the yard. There there is a great shade tree, but not the greatest grass. Its more typical of an area that has been played on, dug in, and rode all over by kiddos and all that comes with them. It needs some work but, hey I got kiddos, too, so that's where all the sandbox, bikes, truck ,etc. etc. etc. can go.

Upstairs is a little weird. The landing at the top of the stairs is the size of a nursery, complete with a small closet and a window that lets a lot of light in. Unfortunately it is not an enclosed space as all the bedrooms are off of it. The front bedroom is the one Chuck and I will take. We need the space, we have big furniture.

The middle room will be Charlie's (maybe Aydan's, too). It's about the same size as the one he has now but there is not very much light. It also has a full size wall mural of a wooded stream scene which I'm not fond of, although Charlie seemed to like it. I may try to see how hard it is to remove it or paint the room or, who knows, we'll see. The back bedroom (master bedroom) is nice and bright but with the eaves and the built in drawers I think it will just be a little to small for us. It has a private, but small, full bathroom. Hopefully we'll get Jenn to take that room for her and Tessa. Its plenty big enough for them.

The driveway is long, narrow, and sort of straight with a small incline. So, yes we still have a driveway with a hill, but nothing as obnoxious as what we have here in Hooksett. After this past winter here and the amount of snow we had, we're so happy that we'll have an easier driveway next year.

Well that's it for now. I need to start thinking (have to start somewhere) about how and where and with what to start the purge and pack fun.

Argh! Its Pirate Week
We've left the circus behind along with the movie Dumbo, our clown hats, clown puppets, circus trains, tents, and books. We're heading for the high seas and some great pirate adventures.

Saturday I picked up lots of new books with pirate stories, the DVD Dora's Pirate Adventure, and the VHS Madeline and the Pirates. We have many crafts planned staring with the pirate hats we made today. Hopefully we wont have any scurvy pirates that will have to walk the plank ;-)

Friday, June 13, 2008

2008-11-06T11:32:00.000-08:00

Friday, June 13, 2008
Friday Update
It was a really good first week with the new daycare kiddos. I was actually anticipating a much rougher adjustment then what really happened. Maybe that's why it seemed like such a good week.

Austin and Justin were very accepting of the routines a rules of the house. By Wednesday most of the kinks were worked out and everyone was playing well. Charlie has connected with Justin and they spend a lot of time playing together. Austin sometimes finds it a little difficult because I think he is used to playing and controlling the play with Justin but he's handling it. Even when Tessa was here things went smoothly.

We were able to work on Flag Day activities the 1st half of the week and then Father's Day cards and gifts on Thursday and Friday.

Because everyone adjusted so well I think we will be able to start themed curriculum sooner than planned.

Monday, June 9, 2008

2008-11-06T11:31:00.000-08:00

Monday, June 9, 2008
Welcome Austin & Justin
The boys are here and Charlie couldn't be happier. Austin and Justin started daycare today.

Austin (3 1/2) has had a terrible time at his old sitters but has had a GREAT day here today. I was expecting to see some of the rough to handle behavior that I saw when Mom first came to visit (tantrums, screaming, hitting, out of control energy) but it lasted all of 1 minute while Mom was telling him he couldn't play outside until later. Together we got him inside and he immediately calmed down after I explained that we needed to wait until Mom left and we changed into bathing suit. He set off to play in the housekeeping area and was fine. Justin (2 1/2) came right in this morning and set off to play with the trains and had no problem starting our day.

Around 9:00 we cleaned up, hit the bathroom and changed into bathing suits. My plan for today was to just tucker them out and set up the boundaries and routine they needed to learn and hopefully they will nap after lunch, something they haven't been able to get the boys to do. We brought out snack and juice and played in the water and yard until 10:45.

All three boys got along great. Austin was very well behaved and when he did take toys or the likes, he readily handed them back when told to, apologized and waited his turn. Not a tantrum in sight. Justin definately tried to push the limits, testing what would be allowed or not. He did have to sit for a "time out" after not listening 1 too many times but seemed better after that. Just a typical 2 yr old behavior. Charlie shared his toys very well, as usual, and really enjoyed having friends to play in the pool with.

I herded 3 wet and muddy boys to the porch, stripped them, dried them, and sent them into the house. I think the AC shocked all their little bodies, they were very giggly. We all did the "potty" thing, got dressed and played cars.

During lunch, I established the sleeping arrangements for the boys so they would know the drill....Charlie upstairs in his bed, Austin on the couch, and Justin on the cot. Everybody seemed agreeable to the plan.

After they were each done eating and washed up, both Austin and Justin went directly to where they were to sleep and settled in. It was GREAT! So all three are sleeping, I've enjoyed a peaceful lunch and have had time to sit and relax here at the computer...and I was expecting a rough day.

Thursday, June 5, 2008

2008-11-06T11:30:00.000-08:00

Thursday, June 5, 2008
Summer Curriculum Themes
I've stared working on and putting together plans for the daycare/Charlie's curriculum. We'll be working within themes to learn the basics. To start with, for the summer our themes will be camping, the ocean, and pirates. The new boys start daycare next week and the first week will definately be a time of adjustment. Routines, expectations, and rules will be worked on and one day we'll make a Father's Day gift for their Dad. We'll hopefully be able to get into some of the fun ideas planed in our themes the following week.

Tuesday, June 3, 2008

2008-11-06T11:28:00.000-08:00

Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Summer's coming ....
Today Charlie and I dragged the pool out from winter storage and gave it a thorough cleaning. Puddle jumping is a fine art he seems to be mastering very well. Its amazing how far water can splash.

After previously mentioned washing, the pool was filled just high enough to fully cover the drain hole and plug. I wanted to make sure it was in good working order before summer temps arrived this coming weekend.

A 2 yr old boy, ankle deep water, grass & dirt, and water shoes make for lots of fun but a very gross wading pool very quickly LOL

Charlie the Conductor
Charlie is back on the the "potty train" and sitting in the conductor's seat again. Since it's going to be such a nice day today, and there is no other kiddos around, he's going pantless. Except of course when we head outside to play. Wouldn't it be a wonder to have this over and done with before the new crew starts Monday for daycare. One can dream, right?

Tuesday, May 27, 2008

2008-11-06T11:27:00.000-08:00

Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Weekend update
Saturday ---
Its been a busy long-weekend, but a really good one. Saturday was spent relaxing at my sister-in-laws house. After the 2hr ride down there (of course Charlie didn't nap) we thought it might be a short visit due to Charlie getting cranky/tired. Boy were we wrong.

We arrived just before noon. Both of Chuck's sisters were there working on food prep and we joined right in. Charlie kept himself busy playing with the toys that are kept there for the other kids to play with. Somewhere around 1:00 our niece showed up with her almost 4 yr old son Ryan. Charlie loves playing with Ryan and even though we only get together every 4-6 weeks he talks about Ryan, and Kyra the other 4 yr old "cousin", all the time.

The day was spent BBQ'ing, and letting the boys play together. Later, closer to 5:00 Kira showed up withe her Dad and Ryan's Dad showed up, too. The grill was once again fired up and dinner was remarkably similar to dinner ;-) but just as tasty. After PJ's and good-bye kisses, we finally left MA around 9:00 pm for the long ride home. Charlie was great, especially for a young man who normally takes a 1 1/2-3 hr nap and didn't get any nap at all.

Of course on the ride home we needed to stop at the 24hr Walmart super center to pick up coffee, cream, milk and other breakfast needs because we were all out and at 7:00 am Aydan and Tessa were coming over because Jenn needed to work at 8:00.

Sunday ---
The kids arrived as expected, full of all kinds of energy and ready to play, and we here were exhausted from the busy day prior and not getting home until 11:45pm. After a breakfast of pancakes and sausages for all, we headed outside to play. Right around 8:15am, I had an appt show up for a prospective daycare family.

They, too, were full of all kinds of energy. She's a single mom of 4 boys ages 7, 6, 3 1/2, and 2 1/2. Just the younger 2 will be in my care fulltime. There will be occassional times ie. holidays, snow days, and vacations that I'll watch the older 2. So as I said, the family showed up at 8:15 ... hence the reason we were already outside ... and they all clambered out. Let's see, Tyler (7), Dylan (6) and Aydan played great although the unexpected surprise of "big kids" to play with got Aydan a little over excited at 1st but a few reminders and he was good to go. Austin (3) will be a handful but I think after a few weeks he'll settle in to a calmer groove. He definately has some developmental delays (speech and behavior) that need to be addressed. The Mom has already taken the 1st steps in that direction. She has set up a therapist that will be doing some evaluations on him. I can see that he'll be looking at a spec ed preschool for sure. Then there is Justin (2), and he's just a few months older than Charlie, with and much quieter disposition, too. When things got a little crazy at times, he sort of seperated himself from the others and watched quietly from a distance until things quieted down again ... very much like Charlie tends to do. I can see them becoming friends.

Mom seemed very interested in switching to here for daycare and on Monday night confirmed the plan.

Monday ---
Memorial Day was a peaceful day here. Only Tessa came while Jenn worked. We relaxed, food shopped, played outside and in the evening we built a campfire in the firepit and relaxed some more. It was a nice end to a busy weekend.

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

2008-11-06T11:26:00.001-08:00

Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Camping ... Relay style
This past weekend we had our first camping trip. Chuck had the Relay for Life this weekend and it meant we would be there Friday-Sunday. We bought a new tent and its nice and large. It comfortably fit the queen-size air mattress we bought, Charlie's cot, all our clothes, Charlie's toys, and even a heater on Saturday night and still there was room to move around. It also has a small attached screen porch area that we really liked.

Friday it started misting and drizzling in the afternoon. With all the time it takes to get the stage area and gear up and running, we didn't get to the tent until about 5:30. Luckily it sets up pretty quickly. We didn't have an official campsite, we were just set up behind the stage ... the advantage being we got to have electricity fed from the stage to our area :-)

Since the Relay wasn't to start until Saturday morning, everyone was to be off the fairgrounds by 7:00 Fri night ... that is everyone but us. We had permission to stay overnight. We went out for pizza at the local shop to warm up from being in the rain all day and returned to an eerily empty fairgrounds. All the gates were suppose to be locked, but they latched but didn't lock the service gate so we could come and go as needed.By 9:00 I had Charlie bundled up in 2 pairs of PJ's and snuggled up on his cot under 2 heavy fleece blankets. He went to sleep pretty quickly, fresh air (even damp) does wonders. Chuck and I sat out in the screened porch area and just listened to the rain. That night it rained pretty constant and the wind was whipping pretty good, too. The temp dropped to the low forties IT WAS SO COLD but surprisingly we survived.

I got up to start the day around 5:00 and got the coffee going. Did I mention we had electricity, yeah! We started the fire pit, enjoyed coffee and bagels (cooked on the grill) and then the rest of the staff and crew started arriving. The sun came out and it ended up being a great, although windy, first day of Relay.

For the 2nd night, someone brought us a portable heater to keep plugged in in the tent. It made such a difference that Charlie didn't feel the need to stayed curled up in a ball under his blanket. Somewhere around 3:30 am he decided to climb onto the bed with us. So sweet, yes, but that meant Mom, me, got pushed nearly off the air mattress and barely had any quilt covering her. Also, since Charlie was dressed, again, in double "feetie" PJ's, he had no interest in being under any blankets so he kept kicking off what was barely covering him and consequently me.

This year was Charlie's 3rd Relay, even though he's not quite 2 1/2. Everybody there knows him and marvels at how much he grows when they see him ... which is only about twice a year. He really enjoyed himself this year. He spent time walking the track, getting pony rides, dancing the "electric slide" and even took the Sunday morning kick box - cardio class LOL. Of course the latter 2 were his attempts at such, but they were good. He loved sitting in the "jeep" aka staff golf cart when ever he got a chance and everyone was lovin' giving him just that chance.

One very memorable moment happen quite quietly. During set up on Friday afternoon, Charlie was playing with the drum set that was stashed, until needed, in the side area of the stage. He was contently tapping the drums and the cymbals here and there. All of a sudden it seemed he got a little quiet (easy to notice when a 2 yr old stops hitting drums and cymbals). I look over at him and call to Chuck to take a look. There was Charlie standing close to the end of one of the cymbal stands, which to him must have looked like a "Charlie-size" microphone on a mike stand, singing into it like a pro. It was the cutest thing! He was completely in his own world, singing without a care. Its a picture I will never forget.

The rest of Relay went great and officially wrapped up at 11:00 am with a total fund-raising amount of + $740,000!! We didn't get to leave until about 4:00 when everything was taken down and loaded back onto the truck. It was a long, tiring weekend but also, as always, a "feel good" weekend.

Wednesday, May 7, 2008

2008-11-06T11:24:00.000-08:00

Wednesday, May 7, 2008

Stuttering .....
Truckkkk, outsideddd, housessss and so it goes. Charlie has been stuttering so much lately its unbelievable. Of course, being his very original self, his stutter is at the end of his words, LOLLLL. At least it makes it easier to wait out what he's saying ;-)

Monday, May 5, 2008

2008-11-06T11:23:00.000-08:00

Monday, May 5, 2008
Better luck next time .....
Well, Charlie is better off in Pull-ups. I have learned, that with all his recent cognitive/language growth, the physical growth has taken a rest, which is very normal. The results being, he WANTS to wear "big boy" pants, does run in to go when he feels a lrg urge to go, goes almost always when asked to go .... but still pees almost constantly in small amounts all day long. Which means he's emotionally and mentally ready to be potty trained but physically doesn't have the bladder control yet to not have accidents all day. Having wet pants was getting him upset.

So we're going back to pull-ups so he can still go potty all the time when he needs to but not have wet pants and be all upset all the time. For now, we'll watch for the change when Charlie starts to show signs of new motor skills growth and hope that he can then learn to control his bladder ..... and maybe give our heads a rest from the constant questions, talking, singing, reading and counting that he's doing now LOL.

Friday, May 2, 2008

2008-11-06T11:06:00.000-08:00

Friday, May 2, 2008
Day 1 down ... bring on tomorrow
Its 8:00 pm and Charlie is sleeping. Whew! What a long day. Charlie did pretty well wearing underwear for the 1st time. After a few reminders and being taken to the potty to try, twice before naptime he ran to the bathroom by himself to use the potty!!! After lunch I put on "bedtime pants" aka pull-ups and almost immediately he pooped while getting settled in bed for nap. He never poops in bed, well not since he was a baby, so I know he now knows he can hold it ... even if it is for a diaper for now.

After nap he had 2 more accidents, 1 because he was outside and 1 mainly I think because he was just tired by the end of the day. After his bath he got into "bedtime pants" again before his jammies.

We spent sometime cleaning and organizing the clothes in his closet. I have clothes all the way up to size 5T waiting to be grown into from my niece's son. Then he wanted to look at the picture album on his shelf. So we stopped what we were doing, curled up on the bed and went through the photos. We never got to the bedtime story as he was getting sleepy so we called it a night.

He was a little weepy going to bed probably because Daddy left this afternoon for the weekend and wasn't here to tuck him in ... that's his gig. He has become quite the Daddy's Boy recently.

Well back to the clothes spread all over my bed that still need sorting out :-/

Big boy pants !!!!
Today starts the big "potty" weekend. Charlie has been using the potty very regularly but also wets in his pull-ups. Since Chuck is going away for the weekend, we went out last night to do a few last minute errands. One of those errands was picking out "big boy" pants with Charlie. He picked out Elmo ones with sports themes on them all. Mom also picked up the Gerber extra think padded ones that were on clearance.

With no other distractions planned or errands to do I wanted to start with the big boy pants this weekend. Once up, Charlie and I talked about no more diapers and then he picked out the soccer underwear to wear. He has had 1 accident so far and used the potty 3 times .... and its only 9:40 am. Its going to be a long day but we'll survive LOL

Wish me/him luck.

Thursday, May 1, 2008

2008-11-06T10:59:00.000-08:00

Thursday, May 1, 2008

What's the differences .......
Charlie seems to have a new fascination with gender labels. I guess it comes with the whole potty scene. He is constantly labeling who is a boy and who is a girl, he's just over 2 so its really cute. Amazingly he seems to get it right most of the time.

So. I ask, what is it that makes him able to see the difference between girls and boys. Yes he is always joining Dad or I in the bathroom, but we've never had the "Daddy has a p***s, Charlie has one, too" or the "No, Mommy doesn't have one" conversations. Heck, I don't even think it has anything to do with that.

In our house, both Dad and Mom cook, clean, etc. Charlie has both many cars and trucks, as well as a kitchen set and baby doll. Even when it comes to his cousins, or babies, he seems accurate more often than not. It makes me wonder what he sees while he's noticing differences.

Just thinking ......

Monday, April 28, 2008

2008-11-06T10:58:00.001-08:00

Monday, April 28, 2008
So this is Charlie

He turned 2 in February and he hasn't stopped jabbering since. From the moment he rises until the moment he goes to sleep he is always talking or singing. He's goofy, smart and quite a charmer.
Its been sooo many years since his sisters were that little that I have forgotten all the simple and amazing discoveries that happen when you're 2.
Today he came up to me all in a fluster and excited to show me the lines in his palms. Yep, that's what I said, palms. We then compared my palms to his and traced the lines and creases in our palms. That's just one little example. There are so many moments like this in our days, days filled with new discoveries and adventures.
So everyone, raise a palm, and cheer for the simple things in life.

A brief wrap up on a busy September ... from old blog

2008-11-06T10:55:00.000-08:00