Week in Review – April 30 – May 4, 2012

Want some {be real}? This week, to my preplanned mind, could have been viewed as a write-off. My under-active thyroid is really living up to its descriptor right now. My thyroid count is about four times off of where it should be. It is probably due to effects from my pregnancy, but regardless, until my new medication level starts to really take effect, I have been less than productive. So, my plans for this week? Largely went awry. But there is beauty and fun to be had in the unscripted versions of our lives. Take my trip to Costco on Monday … these adorable imps were my companions …

Shopping Buddies

Yes, Captain really truly marches to his own drumbeat. He definitely belongs to Christopher and I! 🙂 In case, you aren’t getting the full effect of his outfit, here’s the back view …

Always safety conscious

On a day where I could have crawled back into bed and stayed there, I, instead, had the most delightful, fun two hours with these two boys that I could have ever wanted. It all started with Captain’s outfit. Yes, he dresses himself and yes, I try to swallow my personal opinions and allow him to wear what he wishes, within reason. He found the bag he is carrying a while ago and was thrilled that not only was it mine when I was his age, but lo-and-behold, it holds all of his treasures!! He has a cast-off cell phone, a pack of gum, his wallet and his library card in the bag. He is ready for whatever he might encounter! The safety vest is a rather constant part of his outfit. Still not sure why. Anyway, who couldn’t smile when walking behind a little boy dressed like that?!? On our way out of the first store we went to, Engineer discovered the puddles. He jumped and jumped and jumped in one and then promptly fell on his bum in it. Cue dirty, wet bum. Then he was so excited about jumping in the puddle, that when he finally remembered that he was supposed to be going to the car, he started to skip, tripped and fell and cue two dirty, wet knees (thankfully he wasn’t hurt at all!!). So, the child who left the house 45 minutes earlier with clean, fresh clothes on? Not so clean or fresh now!!

Once we arrived at the second store, Engineer announced that he wanted to wear his bear harness and have Captain hold his strap. I cautioned Captain not to pull on Engineer and in we went. I was looking for the ink I wanted to purchase when I heard behind me “Here puppy! C’mere sweet puppy!” coupled with some strangely familiar little boy “barking” noises. I turn around and Engineer is prancing around on the floor on all fours (yes, with a very dirty, still wet bum up in the air!) barking while Captain is apparently training his new-found “puppy” to do tricks!! Life is never dull – and so much fun when I take the time to see life through the eyes of two little boys!!

Although it seemed like none of the rest of the week went as I had planned, when I chose to look past my expectations, it was truly a fantastic week! Here’s the run-down on my boys …

CAPTAIN

That blur would be my fearless Captain jumping off of the diving board, at the deep end, during swimming lessons.

* I introduced a writing binder to him. It is a zippered binder with the writing activities that we will be working on for the month of May, along with a binder ring with a laminated page for each letter of the alphabet (upper and lower case) that illustrates the proper formation of each letter. Some of the writing activities that are in there for this month include:

May Writing Work Station, which can be found here.
Farm Fun Read, Trace & Glue activity, which can be found here.
And the alphabet formation cards can be found here. (I printed them four to a page to make booklet sized cards, as opposed to posters)
There was also a very fun Mother’s Day project that he completed for my Mom for Mother’s Day. I think Mom may read this blog so I don’t want to spoil the surprise – but I’ll share pictures after I know she has received the gift, because it is priceless!! If you are interested, we used this project (it includes options for mother, grandmother and aunt). Very cute idea!!

* His math journal questions centered on subtraction principles. (Ex: We bought five pizzas. We ate two pizzas. How many pizzas were left?). He copies the question of the day into his math journal, then we decipher it together and usually he draws out the question and concludes what the answer is.

* We continued to read from Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder and Henry Huggins by Beverly Cleary. Both huge hits with him!!

* In phonics we studied about the letter “X” and its phonetic sound. This letter concludes our study of the initial sounds of consonants. After some review next week, we will start working on blending our sounds. I am very excited about this!! 🙂 Hopefully Terence catches my enthusiasm!

* Math was a great hit this week, as we started working on weight measurement. He was thrilled when I produced a balance scale to work on “heavier than / lighter than” concepts. It was definitely worth the $15!!

* Printing practice focused on reviewing the letter “A”. The letter practice sheets that I use come from various free sources that I have found on the internet, but one of our “A” sheets came from an adorable pack that Dawn from Little Monkey Printables created. It is available here. Other printing practice packs that I use can be found here and here and here.

This week we did not get to our Nature Journal or craft. We also did not work specifically on our sight words (a, and, see and the) although we continued to look for them in various things that we saw. Next week I am going to be introducing a poetry journal to Terence, along with starting an exciting Art Appreciation course. I am also waiting on new curriculum to arrive for Language Arts and Creative Writing. I have finally chosen a Science curriculum and plan to order it in the next week or so. I have been easing Captain in to various subjects, as he is still only 4 yrs and 7 months old. Currently we work on:

Literature studies
Sight words
Phonics
Vocabulary
Writing
Math
Social Studies
Handwriting

* Other activities:

Swimming – halfway through lessons for the spring session. Loving every single second of every lesson, as always!
Music – one more lesson to go at the Beckett School of Music.
Cubbies – we missed last Friday as we spent the evening taking Mom to the airport 😦
Kidzone Library Program – today was all about pirates. There was lots of “I’ll make ya walk the plank, matey!!” in our car on the way home today!!
Bible Study Playgroup – this was our last week until September. The boys really enjoy their own social time while I participate in my Mom’s Bible Study group. We are all going to miss it on Tuesday mornings for the summer!

ENGINEER

And that blur is my previously “scared-to-death-screamed-louder-than-all-of-the-other-pool-noise-won’t-go-in-without-a-life-jacket” Engineer jumping in to Daddy WITHOUT a life jacket on and having a blast!

We continued with the letter L / number 1 / color yellow lesson from the Raising Rock Stars Preschool program. We just started this program last week and Engineer is loving it so far. I have the My ABC Bible Verses book on order that goes along with the program, and I plan to wait until it arrives to move on to the next lesson. Engineer’s favorite part of this lesson is learning the song “This Little Light of Mine”. Previously he would only shout “No!” at the appropriate time. At the Dollar Store I found play microphones, so I bought them for our singing time … they brought out the performer in both of my boys! Engineer actually sang the song this time and Captain cranked up his personal volume – simply because of $1.25 microphones!! Great investment, I think!! 🙂

Engineer practicing his singing skills with his new “microphone”

* Other activities:

Swimming – Engineer had his third official lesson this week and there were not any tears shed in the pool. Major success!!

BABY

Sweet Baby

Baby worked very hard this week at getting a new tooth, but alas, no brave teeth have poked through so we can see them!! He wanted to be held a lot and comforted and of course, Momma was very happy to oblige!! Who could resist such a sweet face?? Here’s hoping that the next week will be more comfortable for him!

And that’s a wrap on our week review – happy weekend to you all!