Move day is Tuesday so we are very busy packing, making daily trips to the house to check out how the final things are coming together, trying to keep the rental house somewhat in order because they are showing it and trying to keep up with our day-to-day regular tasks, such as fixing meals and doing laundry. I can't wait until this is over.
When I am here at the rental house I feel overwhelmed, disorganized and stressed. When I am at the new house I usually feel very calm and happy. It really is a wonderful, calming place. It is very quiet and serene and has the sounds of country living (minus the cows and chickens and such).
The new house has come together quite nicely. I was a bit skeptical they could finish everything in time. It is a good thing we decided to move on Tuesday instead of Monday because it would not have been quite finished. They still have a few final details to take care of on Monday and we still have to do a walk through with them. The final inspection is also scheduled for Monday, although at this point I think it is pretty much a formality.
Last weekend the people who do the clean up started cleaning. They did all of the windows, removing all of the stickers and cleaning them so nicely. They really look great. They were there off and on throughout the week and they were there again on Saturday.
There is a water leak in the yard just in front of the house that they are working to repair. The yard is currently all dirt... actually, it is now all mud - at least what is left of it, as it has been raining here non stop for quite a while now. We were having one of the worst droughts in many years here and then the rains and severe thunderstorms started and now it seems it will never stop. We are to receive over 4 inches of rain in a few days, from last I heard on the weather channel. I checked today and they are showing cloudy but no rain for Tuesday so I am hoping they are right and we have a good day for moving.
The irrigation guy is suppose to start work at the new house on Wednesday but I'm sure that depends on what the weather brings. I am hoping he can because the sooner he is finished, the sooner we will have grass. Until then, all along the bottom of the new house, the rock/brick will stay covered with splashed up mud and dirt. Actually though, the bigger issue is that the boys have no where to play until the grass goes in. They enjoy riding their scooters on the driveway and sidewalk but that does not last very long.
Today I thought Ben was starting to waver on wanting his own bedroom. He was talking about how they would not be able to have pillow fights if they had separate rooms. Nick just thought of reasons they could still do it and seemed to still want his own room. I asked Nick if he thought he would be OK sleeping by himself in his own room and he thought he would. We'll see. I am not convinced. He frequently will not go into a dark room by himself and does not want to be alone in a room away from everyone else.
What else is going on in our lives? This house thing is so all consuming. We have not had any reading lessons in a long time. The funny thing is that the boys are reading everything these days, especially Nick. I can hear them both reading to the dad right now. They are upstairs, reading stories before bed. More and more they want to read them to us. Today during quiet time Nick was reading some of the readers we use for our reading lessons so Ben started reading some too. Ben tends to do it in response to Nick doing it. Nick seems to do it because he really enjoys reading and books. Ben likes and enjoys books too but he stays very busy in pretend land most of the time. Pretend land these days includes a lot of Batman, Robin, the Joker and the Penguin, Peter Pan and anything to do with castles, tree houses, jails and hand cuffs and dressing up as a police man or a pirate. Those are the most popular things lately. We are once again listening to Peter Pan in the car so he is on the radar again.
The boys are still in soccer and swimming once a week and violin lessons, although we will miss violin on Tuesday and they have not practiced in a couple of weeks. I think, after the upcoming week, we will all be looking forward to getting back into a nice groove, having a bit more structure in our lives and having more of a routine. We will start our daily violin practice again and we will also start regular reading lessons again. Sometime this summer, after things settle down again, we will start doing a bit more school, at least three days a week or so.
It has been a long day and time for me to turn in. Hope you all had a Happy Easter.
Sunday, April 24, 2011
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
April 12, 2011
I finally got up the courage to cut my hair short. Here is a picture of how it looked right after I came home from the hair dressers.
It has been dried straight here but I actually like it better when it is curly. If I remember (and find the time), I will take another picture after I wash it and leave it curly so you can see how it looks curly.
I will include a house update with pictures below but, in the meantime, here are a couple of pics I took of my handsome guys.
Aren't they such cuties? Now for the house update.
We are still on track to move in the last week of this month. I'm not quite sure when it became the last week of the month, since we had heard the middle of the month but that is now where we are. We are all holding tight to that date, since we have already given our notice that we will be moving out of this rental house.
We were up there today and they were moving the large piles of dirt around the yard. After that, it should be ready for the sprinkler system and then for sod. Today we met with the landscaper to discuss where the flower beds will go, although this will definitely not be complete when we move in. He is going to provide us with a master plan. His guys will put in the big stuff, such as trees and large bushes, and we are planning to put in the smaller stuff, according to his plan. The husband is also considering to put in the sprinkler system for the backyard himself to help stretch the budget a bit more. He has good knowledge and experience with working on them in the past so hopefully this will work out.
On the inside, which is what HAS to be completed for us to move in, they have most of the knobs and pulls on the cabinets and drawers and handles on many of the doors. The electrician has been working on putting up all of the ceiling fans and light fixtures and it looks as if most of them are up. He has left the largest and most difficult to last so I am anxious to see them, hopefully tomorrow. The painter was there yesterday, putting the final coat of paint on the bathrooms so the plumber was there today, starting on all of the plumbing fixtures. The security guy was there today and I think he might have finished his part.
I'm sure I am leaving somebody/something out. There are so many things going on right now that it is hard to keep track of everything. One thing I have noticed is that there are no air conditioning units outside of the house, on the concrete pads that have recently been poured for them. So I am wondering when those are going in. I'll have to ask about that tomorrow. We are scheduled to have the carpet put in on Monday. Hopefully, by that time, the only big remaining indoor task will be to finish the floors and finish the clean up.
We are definitely in the home stretch. Here are some pics.
The following three pics are from the master bath.
They were also putting the gray coating on the brick, as you can see in the picture above.
Below are my outdoor boys. They absolutely love playing outside at the new house. They will really miss these big mounds of dirt. I have a feeling they will no longer be there when we go to the house next. "Mommy, take a picture of my stick!"
The big tree in the distance is where the dad is planning to build a tree house for the boys. They are so excited about it and they have very high expectations. They have seen the movie The Swiss Family Robinson. The first thing on Ben's wish list is a dungeon or jail. Both boys have talked about a slide coming out of the tree house and also a zip line. This may be a multi-year project.
Give them some sticks and a bunch of dirt and they can stay busy for hours and hours.
That's it for today. Hopefully, after we move, I can start posting a bit more often. I hope your weather has been as nice as ours has this week. Later!
It has been dried straight here but I actually like it better when it is curly. If I remember (and find the time), I will take another picture after I wash it and leave it curly so you can see how it looks curly.I will include a house update with pictures below but, in the meantime, here are a couple of pics I took of my handsome guys.
Aren't they such cuties? Now for the house update.We are still on track to move in the last week of this month. I'm not quite sure when it became the last week of the month, since we had heard the middle of the month but that is now where we are. We are all holding tight to that date, since we have already given our notice that we will be moving out of this rental house.
We were up there today and they were moving the large piles of dirt around the yard. After that, it should be ready for the sprinkler system and then for sod. Today we met with the landscaper to discuss where the flower beds will go, although this will definitely not be complete when we move in. He is going to provide us with a master plan. His guys will put in the big stuff, such as trees and large bushes, and we are planning to put in the smaller stuff, according to his plan. The husband is also considering to put in the sprinkler system for the backyard himself to help stretch the budget a bit more. He has good knowledge and experience with working on them in the past so hopefully this will work out.
On the inside, which is what HAS to be completed for us to move in, they have most of the knobs and pulls on the cabinets and drawers and handles on many of the doors. The electrician has been working on putting up all of the ceiling fans and light fixtures and it looks as if most of them are up. He has left the largest and most difficult to last so I am anxious to see them, hopefully tomorrow. The painter was there yesterday, putting the final coat of paint on the bathrooms so the plumber was there today, starting on all of the plumbing fixtures. The security guy was there today and I think he might have finished his part.
I'm sure I am leaving somebody/something out. There are so many things going on right now that it is hard to keep track of everything. One thing I have noticed is that there are no air conditioning units outside of the house, on the concrete pads that have recently been poured for them. So I am wondering when those are going in. I'll have to ask about that tomorrow. We are scheduled to have the carpet put in on Monday. Hopefully, by that time, the only big remaining indoor task will be to finish the floors and finish the clean up.
We are definitely in the home stretch. Here are some pics.
The following three pics are from the master bath.
They were also putting the gray coating on the brick, as you can see in the picture above.
Below are my outdoor boys. They absolutely love playing outside at the new house. They will really miss these big mounds of dirt. I have a feeling they will no longer be there when we go to the house next. "Mommy, take a picture of my stick!"
The big tree in the distance is where the dad is planning to build a tree house for the boys. They are so excited about it and they have very high expectations. They have seen the movie The Swiss Family Robinson. The first thing on Ben's wish list is a dungeon or jail. Both boys have talked about a slide coming out of the tree house and also a zip line. This may be a multi-year project.
Give them some sticks and a bunch of dirt and they can stay busy for hours and hours.
That's it for today. Hopefully, after we move, I can start posting a bit more often. I hope your weather has been as nice as ours has this week. Later!
Saturday, March 26, 2011
March 26, 2011
Lately I am enjoying listening to the boys while they are playing, pretending and talking to themselves. It is so cute. As I type, Nick is playing alone with playdough and just talking away to himself. It is adorable and I wish I could just capture this moment in time and get to watch/listen to it again when he is older. Unfortunately, at this age we can no longer sneak up on them with a video camera and tape them without them knowing. I just heard Nick singing (he has a very high voice) and then stop and say "mom, it's no time for singing".
Ben is also playing right now and talking to himself as he plays, although I cannot hear him so well. He is playing with Batman and Joker and the Joker's hideout, which the boys recently bought after saving the money they earned from violin lessons and practicing. They were so proud of themselves for saving up for it.
One of my nieces just came for a short visit and we really enjoyed having her here. She played lots and lots of games with the boys, which they love, so they had a really fun time.
The house is coming along quite nicely. We are still on track for moving in mid-April. There is a lot of work going on right now. They are laying tile in the bathrooms and still have to finish the backsplash tile in the kitchen and laundry room. They are finishing up all of the painting work on the outside and are laying the stone for the headwalls at the entrance of the driveway, which are required in our neighborhood. They still have to lay the stone in the living room around the fireplace and the columns. In the middle of next week they are going to start sanding and finishing the floors so we won't be able to go in from Wednesday through the weekend. They will also be grading the yard and getting it ready for the sprinkler system and landscaping.
I had mentioned in the past that our new neighborhood has lots of boys. They were having spring break last week and we saw that some of the neighbor boys just behind us had put up tents so they could camp out in their backyard. The next day when I was at the house I notice one of the windows in the back of the house had a b-b-hole in it. The b-b broke through the outer pane of glass and hit the inner pane, cracking it, and it was laying inside of the window between the panes of glass. Our builder said he would talk to one of their parents to alert them to the b-b-gun activity. The neighbors behind us and their sons are very nice people though and boys will be boys:). I'm sure when the parents hear what happened they will discuss it with their sons and try to prevent it from happening again. I'm actually more concerned about one of my sons or pets being shot than I am about the house or windows.
Just a short update today as it is lunch time and I need to feed the little guys. Hope you are having a great weekend. We are all doing great here, although we are still undecided about which church to join, which bugs me. I want to be settled. I will be praying about this though and hopefully we can make a decision soon. Happy weekend!
Ben is also playing right now and talking to himself as he plays, although I cannot hear him so well. He is playing with Batman and Joker and the Joker's hideout, which the boys recently bought after saving the money they earned from violin lessons and practicing. They were so proud of themselves for saving up for it.
One of my nieces just came for a short visit and we really enjoyed having her here. She played lots and lots of games with the boys, which they love, so they had a really fun time.
The house is coming along quite nicely. We are still on track for moving in mid-April. There is a lot of work going on right now. They are laying tile in the bathrooms and still have to finish the backsplash tile in the kitchen and laundry room. They are finishing up all of the painting work on the outside and are laying the stone for the headwalls at the entrance of the driveway, which are required in our neighborhood. They still have to lay the stone in the living room around the fireplace and the columns. In the middle of next week they are going to start sanding and finishing the floors so we won't be able to go in from Wednesday through the weekend. They will also be grading the yard and getting it ready for the sprinkler system and landscaping.
I had mentioned in the past that our new neighborhood has lots of boys. They were having spring break last week and we saw that some of the neighbor boys just behind us had put up tents so they could camp out in their backyard. The next day when I was at the house I notice one of the windows in the back of the house had a b-b-hole in it. The b-b broke through the outer pane of glass and hit the inner pane, cracking it, and it was laying inside of the window between the panes of glass. Our builder said he would talk to one of their parents to alert them to the b-b-gun activity. The neighbors behind us and their sons are very nice people though and boys will be boys:). I'm sure when the parents hear what happened they will discuss it with their sons and try to prevent it from happening again. I'm actually more concerned about one of my sons or pets being shot than I am about the house or windows.
Just a short update today as it is lunch time and I need to feed the little guys. Hope you are having a great weekend. We are all doing great here, although we are still undecided about which church to join, which bugs me. I want to be settled. I will be praying about this though and hopefully we can make a decision soon. Happy weekend!
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
March 15, 2011
We are all so tired. We have been running constantly, picking stuff out for the house and doing this and that, here and there, for the house. I never imagined that building a house would be so much work, especially when someone else is managing the actual building of the house. It really is amazing how much there is to do and how much time is required to do it all.
I picked out all of our light fixtures and was concerned that the light above the island would not be sufficient. Our builder confirmed that the other day, along with the light above the stairs, which hangs too long for the space. So, I have to go back and pick new ones for those two spots, along with the fixture above the kitchen table because it won't look right when I change out the one above the island. The two kitchen fixtures are the hardest ones for me.
We picked out all of the door and cabinet hardware yesterday. The guy from the store went to the house this morning and counted the number of pieces we needed and then we found out we are way over budget with that. So, I need to figure out what made us go over and determine what we need to do to mitigate this issue.
We are in the middle of picking out carpet for the upstairs, the downstairs bedrooms and the library. Fortunately the dear husband is taking the lead on this one and it has required a good amount of research work on his part. We think we have it narrowed down to two and either one is fine with me. He is doing the final research on these two. I am meeting the installer at the house tomorrow morning so they can measure all of the rooms that are to be carpeted.
The counter tops are suppose to be installed tomorrow and I am hoping the timing will work out so I can be there to watch. They have already laid the tile in the laundry room and are waiting for some tile to arrive tomorrow to do the other bathrooms.
The outside of the house is almost completed. I included some pictures below. The house looks kind of white-ish in the pics but it looks very different in real life. It is a very creamy color and turned out to be just perfect to match the rock. The stucco guys will finish up tomorrow and then there is some final painting to be done for the trim, garage doors, shutters, front door, etc. They also paint a thick coating of something on the brick.
We have given our notice for this rental house, that we will be moving at the end of April. We are hoping the new house will be done in mid-April, but I will be a little surprise if it is really done in four weeks. We'll see. I'm skeptical.
The husband and I have both agreed that we would likely never build a house again. It is just way too consuming. I feel blessed and fortunate to be able to do this but I also feel it has required us to put our lives on hold for quite a while. Everything has revolved around this house and it is really getting old. I am ready for our lives to get back to normal. I constantly feel bad that I am not doing enough teaching for the boys. We have not done any reading or writing lessons for quite a while now and we are doing good to practice the violin 3 days a week, although one day is a lesson so we don't practice that day anyway. Still, we should be practicing 5 days a week, very constantly, so it becomes a better habit. Also, I have not been good about teaching the boys to do their daily chores, which I know I will regret later. I just keep putting everything off thinking we will start once we have moved. Oh well. We are in the home stretch now so not too much longer and we'll be done.
Please forgive my complaining. I know we are very blessed to be able to do this and I do appreciate it. I'm just tired tonight. I don't think we have adjusted to the time change yet.
Here are a few of the latest pictures:
I picked out all of our light fixtures and was concerned that the light above the island would not be sufficient. Our builder confirmed that the other day, along with the light above the stairs, which hangs too long for the space. So, I have to go back and pick new ones for those two spots, along with the fixture above the kitchen table because it won't look right when I change out the one above the island. The two kitchen fixtures are the hardest ones for me.
We picked out all of the door and cabinet hardware yesterday. The guy from the store went to the house this morning and counted the number of pieces we needed and then we found out we are way over budget with that. So, I need to figure out what made us go over and determine what we need to do to mitigate this issue.
We are in the middle of picking out carpet for the upstairs, the downstairs bedrooms and the library. Fortunately the dear husband is taking the lead on this one and it has required a good amount of research work on his part. We think we have it narrowed down to two and either one is fine with me. He is doing the final research on these two. I am meeting the installer at the house tomorrow morning so they can measure all of the rooms that are to be carpeted.
The counter tops are suppose to be installed tomorrow and I am hoping the timing will work out so I can be there to watch. They have already laid the tile in the laundry room and are waiting for some tile to arrive tomorrow to do the other bathrooms.
The outside of the house is almost completed. I included some pictures below. The house looks kind of white-ish in the pics but it looks very different in real life. It is a very creamy color and turned out to be just perfect to match the rock. The stucco guys will finish up tomorrow and then there is some final painting to be done for the trim, garage doors, shutters, front door, etc. They also paint a thick coating of something on the brick.
We have given our notice for this rental house, that we will be moving at the end of April. We are hoping the new house will be done in mid-April, but I will be a little surprise if it is really done in four weeks. We'll see. I'm skeptical.
The husband and I have both agreed that we would likely never build a house again. It is just way too consuming. I feel blessed and fortunate to be able to do this but I also feel it has required us to put our lives on hold for quite a while. Everything has revolved around this house and it is really getting old. I am ready for our lives to get back to normal. I constantly feel bad that I am not doing enough teaching for the boys. We have not done any reading or writing lessons for quite a while now and we are doing good to practice the violin 3 days a week, although one day is a lesson so we don't practice that day anyway. Still, we should be practicing 5 days a week, very constantly, so it becomes a better habit. Also, I have not been good about teaching the boys to do their daily chores, which I know I will regret later. I just keep putting everything off thinking we will start once we have moved. Oh well. We are in the home stretch now so not too much longer and we'll be done.
Please forgive my complaining. I know we are very blessed to be able to do this and I do appreciate it. I'm just tired tonight. I don't think we have adjusted to the time change yet.
Here are a few of the latest pictures:
Friday, March 04, 2011
March 4, 2011
We have been so busy here lately that my head is spinning half the time. So, this post is a general update on what we have been up to lately.
My birthday was last week, which is always nice. Well, the part about getting gifts and attention is nice. The part about being a year older is only nice relative to the alternative. My mom's birthday is the day after mine and she and my sister came over and stayed the night with us. So we all celebrated my birthday and mom's birthday together and it was really nice. Every birthday celebration is more fun with children around. They get so excited about blowing out the candles, eating cake and opening gifts, even when it is not for them. It's too cute.
We went to Kansas City the week before last (did I already write about that?) We had an awesome time and the boys really enjoyed playing with the daughters of my friend, who are also from Volgograd Russia. All the kids really got along exceptionally well. They were all very cute together.
The boys are still growing, learning, changing daily (surprise!). Funny how that happens. They are getting so leggy lately and Nick's hair is really getting dark. For the past week or two, there are times when I look at him and have to look twice because he just looks so different to me. It seems to me that it has happened very suddenly.
We finally bought new bikes for the boys yesterday evening and they are so excited. Their old bikes are so small (12 inch) that Ben was actually having trouble riding sometimes because his knee would hit the handlebars and he was afraid it would make him have a wreck. Their new bikes are 16 inch and fit them perfectly. The small 12 inch bikes were excellent for allowing them to learn to ride without training wheels though. Those are the bikes that I bought off of Craigslist and one of them is a girl's bike. The boys still did not give a hoot that one was a girl's bike though. If the subject came up, they thought it was funny that they had a girl's bike. Other than that, I don't think they ever thought about it. But they are both very happy to now have their own new bike. I found them at Academy Sports for $35 each a couple of weeks ago. Unfortunately, by the time we decided to go ahead and get them (we had thought about waiting until we moved), the price had changed to $49. But the funny thing was that the price had gone from $35 to $42 to $49 and, when they changed the price from $42 to $49, they only changed it on one bike that was hanging on the second row up. Hanging on the third row up, were 7 or 8 bikes that still had the $42 price tag on them. So I found someone to help me get them down and I told him that I wanted two of the $42 bikes on the third row up. They acknowledged their mistake and gave me the lower price.
These bikes came with training wheels so the dad removed them and put on a kick-stand. They are also very excited to have a kick stand. It is fun to see them enjoying their new bikes. They are a bit wobbly on them, as they become accustomed to the difference in size. Hopefully we will all enjoy many bike rides together this summer.
The other popular thing here currently is games, especially for Ben but Nick likes them too. But Ben thinks that everyone should be willing to play games with him pretty much all day, or at least anytime he asks. One new favorite is Monopoly Junior and we also just got an I Spy game too. I bought them these two games with birthday money:). The great thing is that the Monopoly Junior helps them practice adding. We even keep an abacus nearby so they can use it to add if they need to. It is perfect for their level. The next favorite game is Shoots and Ladders. The boys will bargain. Nick will agree to play Monopoly Junior with Ben if Ben will play Shoots and Ladders with him.
Violin lessons are going pretty well. We are increasing the number of times a week that we practice, albeit slowly, but we are getting there. They are working on memorizing their first song this week. It is VERY short; only 18 notes and 5 rests, or something like that. I wanted to get them excited so they would really do their best to try to learn it this week so I upped the ante. I told them they could earn an extra dollar at their lesson on Tuesday if they could do a good job of playing the little song from memory for their teacher. So they are very excited now and I think we will get some very good practice time Saturday, Sunday and Monday. Once they can see their own progress, when they learn the first song that they know (such as Old McDonald, or something like that), then I think they will own their excitement, rather than me trying to think of incentives to build their excitement. So, we'll see how it goes.
The house is really coming along, now that all the trim is finished and all the cabinets are in. All of the staining is finished, along with the trim, and they are now caulking closet shelves, taping off the trim and painting walls. Next week they will start laying floor tile, the master bathtub will be delivered and installed and the granite people will come out to make a template so they will know how to cut the granite for the countertops.
We are done picking colors, although we are still debating what paint to use on the garage doors (dark trim color, light stucco color, or both). I am voting for light stucco color but I told the husband that he can make this decision because I have made to many lately. I met with the lighting people and spent HOURS looking for the right lights for various spots in the house. I also met with the plumbing and picked out plumbing fixtures. And then I had the plumbing people calling me over and over to verify this or that or tell me about an issue with something or whatever. I also had the tile place calling me to verify what we had picked out and I thought we had finalized that weeks ago. There are way too many things to pick out when building a home. Having a budget helps because it keeps you focused on a smaller set of choices...but then, I have expensive tastes and inevitably will pick out the most expensive thing in the store. We still need to pick out a pedestal sink for the powder bath, review how the back splash should look on the wall behind the cook top and pick out carpet. I think that might be all. I hope it is and I really hope we are happy with the wall colors we picked out for inside the house. We tested it on walls but you just never know until you see it on the walls.
On the outside, they have one last stucco coat to apply, the one with the color. Then it is painting trim, pouring concrete sidewalks and driveway, grading the lawn, landscaping, etc. As long as the house is finished, we can move in before the lawn work is done.
Oh, and we are now targeting mid-April for our move in date.
Well, those are the highlights. I am falling asleep as I type so please forgive anything that doesn't make sense. Goodnight!
My birthday was last week, which is always nice. Well, the part about getting gifts and attention is nice. The part about being a year older is only nice relative to the alternative. My mom's birthday is the day after mine and she and my sister came over and stayed the night with us. So we all celebrated my birthday and mom's birthday together and it was really nice. Every birthday celebration is more fun with children around. They get so excited about blowing out the candles, eating cake and opening gifts, even when it is not for them. It's too cute.
We went to Kansas City the week before last (did I already write about that?) We had an awesome time and the boys really enjoyed playing with the daughters of my friend, who are also from Volgograd Russia. All the kids really got along exceptionally well. They were all very cute together.
The boys are still growing, learning, changing daily (surprise!). Funny how that happens. They are getting so leggy lately and Nick's hair is really getting dark. For the past week or two, there are times when I look at him and have to look twice because he just looks so different to me. It seems to me that it has happened very suddenly.
We finally bought new bikes for the boys yesterday evening and they are so excited. Their old bikes are so small (12 inch) that Ben was actually having trouble riding sometimes because his knee would hit the handlebars and he was afraid it would make him have a wreck. Their new bikes are 16 inch and fit them perfectly. The small 12 inch bikes were excellent for allowing them to learn to ride without training wheels though. Those are the bikes that I bought off of Craigslist and one of them is a girl's bike. The boys still did not give a hoot that one was a girl's bike though. If the subject came up, they thought it was funny that they had a girl's bike. Other than that, I don't think they ever thought about it. But they are both very happy to now have their own new bike. I found them at Academy Sports for $35 each a couple of weeks ago. Unfortunately, by the time we decided to go ahead and get them (we had thought about waiting until we moved), the price had changed to $49. But the funny thing was that the price had gone from $35 to $42 to $49 and, when they changed the price from $42 to $49, they only changed it on one bike that was hanging on the second row up. Hanging on the third row up, were 7 or 8 bikes that still had the $42 price tag on them. So I found someone to help me get them down and I told him that I wanted two of the $42 bikes on the third row up. They acknowledged their mistake and gave me the lower price.
These bikes came with training wheels so the dad removed them and put on a kick-stand. They are also very excited to have a kick stand. It is fun to see them enjoying their new bikes. They are a bit wobbly on them, as they become accustomed to the difference in size. Hopefully we will all enjoy many bike rides together this summer.
The other popular thing here currently is games, especially for Ben but Nick likes them too. But Ben thinks that everyone should be willing to play games with him pretty much all day, or at least anytime he asks. One new favorite is Monopoly Junior and we also just got an I Spy game too. I bought them these two games with birthday money:). The great thing is that the Monopoly Junior helps them practice adding. We even keep an abacus nearby so they can use it to add if they need to. It is perfect for their level. The next favorite game is Shoots and Ladders. The boys will bargain. Nick will agree to play Monopoly Junior with Ben if Ben will play Shoots and Ladders with him.
Violin lessons are going pretty well. We are increasing the number of times a week that we practice, albeit slowly, but we are getting there. They are working on memorizing their first song this week. It is VERY short; only 18 notes and 5 rests, or something like that. I wanted to get them excited so they would really do their best to try to learn it this week so I upped the ante. I told them they could earn an extra dollar at their lesson on Tuesday if they could do a good job of playing the little song from memory for their teacher. So they are very excited now and I think we will get some very good practice time Saturday, Sunday and Monday. Once they can see their own progress, when they learn the first song that they know (such as Old McDonald, or something like that), then I think they will own their excitement, rather than me trying to think of incentives to build their excitement. So, we'll see how it goes.
The house is really coming along, now that all the trim is finished and all the cabinets are in. All of the staining is finished, along with the trim, and they are now caulking closet shelves, taping off the trim and painting walls. Next week they will start laying floor tile, the master bathtub will be delivered and installed and the granite people will come out to make a template so they will know how to cut the granite for the countertops.
We are done picking colors, although we are still debating what paint to use on the garage doors (dark trim color, light stucco color, or both). I am voting for light stucco color but I told the husband that he can make this decision because I have made to many lately. I met with the lighting people and spent HOURS looking for the right lights for various spots in the house. I also met with the plumbing and picked out plumbing fixtures. And then I had the plumbing people calling me over and over to verify this or that or tell me about an issue with something or whatever. I also had the tile place calling me to verify what we had picked out and I thought we had finalized that weeks ago. There are way too many things to pick out when building a home. Having a budget helps because it keeps you focused on a smaller set of choices...but then, I have expensive tastes and inevitably will pick out the most expensive thing in the store. We still need to pick out a pedestal sink for the powder bath, review how the back splash should look on the wall behind the cook top and pick out carpet. I think that might be all. I hope it is and I really hope we are happy with the wall colors we picked out for inside the house. We tested it on walls but you just never know until you see it on the walls.
On the outside, they have one last stucco coat to apply, the one with the color. Then it is painting trim, pouring concrete sidewalks and driveway, grading the lawn, landscaping, etc. As long as the house is finished, we can move in before the lawn work is done.
Oh, and we are now targeting mid-April for our move in date.
Well, those are the highlights. I am falling asleep as I type so please forgive anything that doesn't make sense. Goodnight!
Sunday, February 13, 2011
February 13, 2011
Today we went to church and then out to lunch. We had been home for a few minutes. Nick was coloring at the art table. I was puttering around in the kitchen and getting ready to go sit down and rest for a few minutes with a book. Ben said to me he was ready to do some more school, which meant that he wanted to work on writing his letters again. He is very into this lately. I told him I was getting ready to sit down and rest for a bit. He said, "Nobody wants to do what I want" and I said "yes, I guess that's true". He looked at me surprised and said "you sound like you think that's OK". I can't remember exactly how I responded to that but it was just so cute, I had to write it down.
We are having beautiful weather here now and will have this week. It is 56 degrees and very sunny right now and it is suppose to get up into the 60's and 70's all week, I believe. I'm loving it. It is such a nice change after back-to-back snow storms.
I was up at the new house on Friday. The painters have started caulking and filling in nail holes and stuff, preparing to stain the cabinets and paint the trim. The trim guys are still working on trim. I didn't ask but I'm sure they probably have several more days worth of work, if not a full week. He was in the process of putting trim around the large windows and french doors in the living room. He is also working putting the wood treads and risers on the stairs and putting up the rails, which is nice. I will be glad when the rails are up. It has made me nervous having these big areas where someone could fall and hurt themselves badly and I have to watch the boys like a hawk when they are there, although they are pretty careful about it.
I am anxious to see the kitchen cabinets but they are holding off on those until last because they have their big saws set up in the living room / kitchen / dining areas and they need some room to get around with these long pieces of trim. Hopefully they will have them in by the end of this week. I am so ready for this to be done. With the bad weather we received, we know we have definitely moved out to April for our finish and move in date. I am hopeful it will be early April but who knows at this point. I need to call our builder tomorrow and discuss where we are, how much we have left and deadlines for remaining items we have to pick out.
We have ramped up our reading around here lately. It seemed that the boys had gotten to where they were so busy playing, they were not into having us read to them as often. I had not been getting as many books at the library and the used bookstore because we have so many that we have not read yet. I started getting a few here and there and now the boys are very into it again. We just finished listening to The Trumpet of the Swan in the car and we just finished reading the second book about Ralph and his motorcycle by Beverly Clearly. We all really enjoyed those two books and we have one more to go. We listened to the first one in the car and then I realized I had all three of them in my stash. I keep a stash of good books that I want to read with the boys but then I forget about them at times, as some of them are still a bit above their level. Many of them are not though now so we have some fun books ahead of us.
Well, time to get some things done around here. Have a wonderful Sunday!
We are having beautiful weather here now and will have this week. It is 56 degrees and very sunny right now and it is suppose to get up into the 60's and 70's all week, I believe. I'm loving it. It is such a nice change after back-to-back snow storms.
I was up at the new house on Friday. The painters have started caulking and filling in nail holes and stuff, preparing to stain the cabinets and paint the trim. The trim guys are still working on trim. I didn't ask but I'm sure they probably have several more days worth of work, if not a full week. He was in the process of putting trim around the large windows and french doors in the living room. He is also working putting the wood treads and risers on the stairs and putting up the rails, which is nice. I will be glad when the rails are up. It has made me nervous having these big areas where someone could fall and hurt themselves badly and I have to watch the boys like a hawk when they are there, although they are pretty careful about it.
I am anxious to see the kitchen cabinets but they are holding off on those until last because they have their big saws set up in the living room / kitchen / dining areas and they need some room to get around with these long pieces of trim. Hopefully they will have them in by the end of this week. I am so ready for this to be done. With the bad weather we received, we know we have definitely moved out to April for our finish and move in date. I am hopeful it will be early April but who knows at this point. I need to call our builder tomorrow and discuss where we are, how much we have left and deadlines for remaining items we have to pick out.
We have ramped up our reading around here lately. It seemed that the boys had gotten to where they were so busy playing, they were not into having us read to them as often. I had not been getting as many books at the library and the used bookstore because we have so many that we have not read yet. I started getting a few here and there and now the boys are very into it again. We just finished listening to The Trumpet of the Swan in the car and we just finished reading the second book about Ralph and his motorcycle by Beverly Clearly. We all really enjoyed those two books and we have one more to go. We listened to the first one in the car and then I realized I had all three of them in my stash. I keep a stash of good books that I want to read with the boys but then I forget about them at times, as some of them are still a bit above their level. Many of them are not though now so we have some fun books ahead of us.
Well, time to get some things done around here. Have a wonderful Sunday!
Wednesday, February 09, 2011
February 9, 2011
Well, here we go again. Our city is so unprepared to handle this much snow. The neighborhood streets are still in terrible shape from the last round and we are now getting a significant amount added to it. The kids were out of school around here all of last week and Monday and Tuesday of this week, due to the snow storm we had early last week. Because of today's storm, they will be out of all of this week and possibly much of next week. Actually, even without today's storm, they probably would not have been able to go back to school for another day or two or possibly not even until Monday. With this new snow, it may be sometime into next week before they get to go back. My sister was wondering if they would cancel spring break at this point because they have already been out so much and it will really extend how long they have to go this summer.
We did have a couple of days this week when we were able to get out and get a few things done. We made it to the library and got some books and some audio books. We listened to The Mouse and the Motorcycle and the boys loved it. Turns out, I had that book in my stash, along with the sequel so we are now reading the sequel. We are also now listening to The Trumpet of the Swam in the car and the boys are really enjoying it. I checked this one out a year or two ago and the boys were not quite old enough to enjoy but I really did. I am enjoying it a second time and happy to see they like it a lot too. We had some small chalkboard slates and chalk so they figured out a way to hang that from their neck and have been having fun pretending they are Louie.
We have started working on writing again. I started this with them back in August but I pushed them to do too much in one sitting and they ended up not liking it and not wanting to do it. Can't blame them. I am still learning the best way to teach:). We started again and I cut back on what I expect and now they think it's fun. Funny how that works, isn't it? They also worked on adding to their number chart and they are doing very well on learning to write their numbers.
In reading, we just finished lesson 79 and will do lesson 80 sometime today. They are really enjoying their reading now. As long as I give them 15 minutes notice before we begin a lesson, they are perfectly fine with doing it and are usually on the couch ready before I am. We went to the used bookstore the other day and we picked out a number of books that are at their level. A couple of them are old books that have some cute jokes and riddles and Nick especially likes reading these. He picked this book for his book to read last night before bed and every time I started to read it, he would cut in and say "I can read this part". It was really cute. And then he and Ben started taking turns reading it and I would get to read every once in a while.
The first thing Nick did when he woke up this morning was to get that book, plant himself on the couch and ask the dad to read it with him. Ben joined them and they took turn reading it again. Nick continues to read pretty much every thing he sees. Ben does sometimes; he can but is less likely to think about doing it. Nick seems very motivated to read. I think he enjoys the independence of it all. He is definitely a guy who likes to do things for himself.
I forgot to mention that Nick had minor elective surgery this past Friday. The surgeon corrected his left ear so it now matches his right ear. Nick never had any pain with it at all. I thought for sure he would need to take some medicine after the surgery but he never did. He was playing and acting as if it had never happened. We had a follow up appointment yesterday and they took the wrapping off of his head. They had wrapped his head up so it looked as if he was wearing a helmet. It even went under his chin. They said that was pretty much the only way to keep the dressing on an active child's ear and it also had some padding in case he bumped it. It looked like he had had brain surgery or something major, the way it was wrapped up. He never showed any indication that the wrapping bothered him at all though. The day before they took it off, his head started itching a little but that was all. It really felt good to him to have it taken off though.
I had very mixed feelings about the whole thing. Now that it is over and it was so uneventful, I am glad it is done and I think he will appreciate it when he is old enough to understand. What made it worse though was that the surgery was on Friday morning and the streets were still very bad. It took us an hour to drive what would normally take about 15 or 20 minutes. Even worse, it started snowing again while we were there. When we came out, with a sleepy child that had a tummy ache (he drank a whole can of apple juice very quickly when he woke up from the anesthesia), it was snowing very heavily, the visibility was very poor and the streets were even worse than when we had driven there earlier. I was very unhappy about this situation as I had wanted to cancel and move it out because of the bad weather (and because I had mixed feelings about the whole thing). I was also concerned that he might start hurting before we could get him home and get his prescription filled. As it turned out, once we got home, he started playing again and was perfectly fine the entire day and night, never needing any pain medicine at all. It was quite amazing.
The boys are now dressing up in the dads shoes, boots and his big winter coats. They are having fun. They need to get outside and wear off a bit of energy though. It is challenging when the weather is like this. I am ready for spring...and it should be here soon. On Monday it is suppose to be in the 40's or 50's and should be in the 60's by next weekend. So we are going to have a very warm week and all of the snow will melt quickly....and they can start making some progress on our house again too, which will be nice. We are now looking at moving in sometime in April:).
Hope you are having a great day!
We did have a couple of days this week when we were able to get out and get a few things done. We made it to the library and got some books and some audio books. We listened to The Mouse and the Motorcycle and the boys loved it. Turns out, I had that book in my stash, along with the sequel so we are now reading the sequel. We are also now listening to The Trumpet of the Swam in the car and the boys are really enjoying it. I checked this one out a year or two ago and the boys were not quite old enough to enjoy but I really did. I am enjoying it a second time and happy to see they like it a lot too. We had some small chalkboard slates and chalk so they figured out a way to hang that from their neck and have been having fun pretending they are Louie.
We have started working on writing again. I started this with them back in August but I pushed them to do too much in one sitting and they ended up not liking it and not wanting to do it. Can't blame them. I am still learning the best way to teach:). We started again and I cut back on what I expect and now they think it's fun. Funny how that works, isn't it? They also worked on adding to their number chart and they are doing very well on learning to write their numbers.
In reading, we just finished lesson 79 and will do lesson 80 sometime today. They are really enjoying their reading now. As long as I give them 15 minutes notice before we begin a lesson, they are perfectly fine with doing it and are usually on the couch ready before I am. We went to the used bookstore the other day and we picked out a number of books that are at their level. A couple of them are old books that have some cute jokes and riddles and Nick especially likes reading these. He picked this book for his book to read last night before bed and every time I started to read it, he would cut in and say "I can read this part". It was really cute. And then he and Ben started taking turns reading it and I would get to read every once in a while.
The first thing Nick did when he woke up this morning was to get that book, plant himself on the couch and ask the dad to read it with him. Ben joined them and they took turn reading it again. Nick continues to read pretty much every thing he sees. Ben does sometimes; he can but is less likely to think about doing it. Nick seems very motivated to read. I think he enjoys the independence of it all. He is definitely a guy who likes to do things for himself.
I forgot to mention that Nick had minor elective surgery this past Friday. The surgeon corrected his left ear so it now matches his right ear. Nick never had any pain with it at all. I thought for sure he would need to take some medicine after the surgery but he never did. He was playing and acting as if it had never happened. We had a follow up appointment yesterday and they took the wrapping off of his head. They had wrapped his head up so it looked as if he was wearing a helmet. It even went under his chin. They said that was pretty much the only way to keep the dressing on an active child's ear and it also had some padding in case he bumped it. It looked like he had had brain surgery or something major, the way it was wrapped up. He never showed any indication that the wrapping bothered him at all though. The day before they took it off, his head started itching a little but that was all. It really felt good to him to have it taken off though.
I had very mixed feelings about the whole thing. Now that it is over and it was so uneventful, I am glad it is done and I think he will appreciate it when he is old enough to understand. What made it worse though was that the surgery was on Friday morning and the streets were still very bad. It took us an hour to drive what would normally take about 15 or 20 minutes. Even worse, it started snowing again while we were there. When we came out, with a sleepy child that had a tummy ache (he drank a whole can of apple juice very quickly when he woke up from the anesthesia), it was snowing very heavily, the visibility was very poor and the streets were even worse than when we had driven there earlier. I was very unhappy about this situation as I had wanted to cancel and move it out because of the bad weather (and because I had mixed feelings about the whole thing). I was also concerned that he might start hurting before we could get him home and get his prescription filled. As it turned out, once we got home, he started playing again and was perfectly fine the entire day and night, never needing any pain medicine at all. It was quite amazing.
The boys are now dressing up in the dads shoes, boots and his big winter coats. They are having fun. They need to get outside and wear off a bit of energy though. It is challenging when the weather is like this. I am ready for spring...and it should be here soon. On Monday it is suppose to be in the 40's or 50's and should be in the 60's by next weekend. So we are going to have a very warm week and all of the snow will melt quickly....and they can start making some progress on our house again too, which will be nice. We are now looking at moving in sometime in April:).
Hope you are having a great day!
Wednesday, February 02, 2011
February 2, 2011
For the second day, we are stuck at home. I'm not complaining though. It is actually nice to be at home, have all the chores done and just have time to relax and have fun together with no demands from the outside world.
We probably got around 10 to 12 inches where we are. At our new house, they got around 22 inches. The husband shoveled out the driveway yesterday and the boys had a very fun time playing in the huge snow drifts. We saw several four-wheel drive vehicles out yesterday and a few today and many of those were getting stuck or could not make it back up a hill. The roads are pretty much impassable to a two-wheel vehicle. The major highways had been shut down but I think they are probably trying to get all of the major highways and streets plowed today. The temperature is 8 degrees so the wind chill factor is quite low today.
There is a snow drift in our backyard that is almost as high as the fence. There is another one against the front door that is probably about three feet tall. The way the wind blew the snow across the front yard makes the snow look like it has waves. It is really beautiful. I would love to see what it looks like up at the new house. With 22 inches of snow, they must have massive snow drifts (for Oklahomans anyway:).
The boys have been playing lots of games. The dad has been teaching them to play checkers and chess and we recently got Sorry and Battleship, which they have enjoyed.
I am guessing we will likely not be able to get out and about until at least Friday because the snow is so deep in the roads in our neighborhood. In our old neighborhood, we always had plows come through pretty quickly after a snow but the roads were owned by the homeowners and we paid for it through our association dues. I do not know how it works in this neighborhood where we are renting. If there are no plows, it may be later than Friday before we get out. It is suppose to stay very frigid for quite a while I think so there probably won't be much melting.
Not much else to report around here. Hope you are staying warm!
We probably got around 10 to 12 inches where we are. At our new house, they got around 22 inches. The husband shoveled out the driveway yesterday and the boys had a very fun time playing in the huge snow drifts. We saw several four-wheel drive vehicles out yesterday and a few today and many of those were getting stuck or could not make it back up a hill. The roads are pretty much impassable to a two-wheel vehicle. The major highways had been shut down but I think they are probably trying to get all of the major highways and streets plowed today. The temperature is 8 degrees so the wind chill factor is quite low today.
There is a snow drift in our backyard that is almost as high as the fence. There is another one against the front door that is probably about three feet tall. The way the wind blew the snow across the front yard makes the snow look like it has waves. It is really beautiful. I would love to see what it looks like up at the new house. With 22 inches of snow, they must have massive snow drifts (for Oklahomans anyway:).
The boys have been playing lots of games. The dad has been teaching them to play checkers and chess and we recently got Sorry and Battleship, which they have enjoyed.
I am guessing we will likely not be able to get out and about until at least Friday because the snow is so deep in the roads in our neighborhood. In our old neighborhood, we always had plows come through pretty quickly after a snow but the roads were owned by the homeowners and we paid for it through our association dues. I do not know how it works in this neighborhood where we are renting. If there are no plows, it may be later than Friday before we get out. It is suppose to stay very frigid for quite a while I think so there probably won't be much melting.
Not much else to report around here. Hope you are staying warm!
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
January 25, 2011
We are staying very busy these days, to the point where I may be spreading us a bit thin, but we are also having a lot of fun.
I have just started a Bible study at a nearby church and I think I am really going to get a lot out of it. The boys and I have visited this church twice now and the dad has visited once and we all really like it. It looks like we might have found our new home church, although we will have a bit of a drive once we move to the new house. I think it will be worth it though.
The boys are currently still in soccer and swimming and doing well, although their classes were all cancelled last week due to the 1 to 3 inches of snow we got (depending on where you lived). I was totally shocked that these places closed down. The boys and I went to the swimming place without a thought that they might closed. When we first signed them up for lessons, they had told me that they hardly ever shut down and the weather has to be pretty bad before they close. I beg to differ:). Must be an Oklahoma thing but their idea of bad and my idea of bad are very different.
The boys have also started taking violin lessons and so far so good. We have only had a hand full of lessons so far. I need to be better about having them practice during the week the things they are learning in their lesson. I am having a hard time keeping up because I have to make all of the flashcards we need for playing the games.
During this beginning time, when their attention span can wander at times, I have told them that they will each earn a dollar if they work hard during lessons. This includes paying close attention, participating with a good attitude and minding the teacher promptly. This is a magic charm for now. So far they have worked pretty well with me at home but I have kept it very short and sweet. We will eventually work up to 15 to 20 minutes of practice at home per day tops for this age.
We continue to plod along with our reading lessons, albeit very slowly because of me:). I think we are around lesson 75 in The Ordinary Parents Guide to Teaching Reading. I think the half way point is around lesson 94, at which time it is recommended we start spelling lessons. Today I decided to institute a new rule for our quiet time. They have to pick one of their readers to read to themselves during quiet time. While one is reading his reader, the other practices violin with me and then they switch. After that they can do whatever they normally do (usually they play with quiet toys, work puzzles or look at books). They are choosing their reader from the readers they used when they first started learning to read, so these are very easy for them and they can read through them quickly. It will be good practice though and help improve their fluency. Nick is now constantly noticing that he can read various signs, book titles, labels, etc. He is always excited about it and reads everything he can out loud to me. Ben does not seem to notice much, although they both do equally well when we practice our reading. I think Ben's attention is just drawn to other things. He is always thinking about something and I know this because he talks to me a lot;).
Upon completion of The Ordinary Parents Guide to Teaching Reading, a child will be reading at the 4th grade level. From what I have read, most homeschoolers tend to finish this book anywhere between K and the end of second grade. There is a very wide range to when homeschoolers begin teaching their young ones to read. Currently we are only doing one to three lessons a week normally and there are weeks when we don't do one at all. We are very relaxed about our preschool learning here at the Pisarik Academy:). Much of this has to do with building the new house, as it tends to take up a lot of our time and, well..., they are only in pre-K this year:). I am also still spending a lot of time reading about what other homeschoolers are doing and investigating homeschooling materials, still working through how we are going to do what we want to do for our homeschool and what materials we want to use. This really is one of my hobbies now:).
We have played around a bit with some beginning geography and they love it. When I get it out, they always want to do several pages at a time. The lessons we have done so far are about how to read a map.
I have created number charts for them to give them more practice writing and recognizing higher numbers. I put a big chart on the wall for each of them and we decorated them. I marked rows on the chart and then cut out 2 inch by 2 inch pieces of paper. They write a number on a piece of paper and then paste it to the chart in the correct place. They have written 1-30 so far. They have been doing 10 at a time so they have only done it three times so far. For numbers up to 30, they practiced them in a Kumon book once or twice and then they wrote it on the chart. The Kumon book only goes through 30 though so now they will just write on the small piece of paper. I made a lot of extras so they can try again if they don't feel it is their best. So far they are having fun doing this. Ben is usually finished first, as he has practiced writing a lot more on his own. He is always coming in to the kitchen to ask me how to spell something and he writes little notes to my mom and sister a lot and also to me and the dad. Nick tends to take more time but also seems to maybe be a bit more exact about what he is doing.
I recently ordered them a great Melissa and Doug coloring pad for boys and a bunch of new markers with 100 colors to choose from. I also happened to find a coloring book at the used homeschool curriculum store we go to that had lots of knights and their horses. So they have been coloring tons and it has been so good for Nick because it has given him or strength in his fingers. He can color or write for longer periods of time now. This is where I have been seeing a difference in their approach. Nick tends to take a lot longer to finish a picture and he does a better job of staying within the lines. Ben tends to get done very quickly because staying in the lines is not as important to him. They both like to pick very bright colors and seem to have no interest, most of the time, of coloring something the 'right' color (the horse might be several different bright colors, including bright pinkish legs and an orange body in the front and green in the back, etc.) They know the right colors but I guess they think their picks make it look nicer. They really do look very nice most of the time. If I can find some inexpensive frames, I would like to frame some of them for their new rooms.
Today I was introducing them to addition with some tally sticks. I was showing them how to write the equation that went with what we were doing with the tally sticks (0+1=1; 1+1=2; etc.) using a spiral notebook I had. Nick asked for some pages out of my notebook when we were finished. He went into the next room where we keep our supplies and he stapled it along the left side to make his own book. He came back and said this was his dictionary. He wrote his name on top and asked me how to spell dictionary. I wrote it on the white board for him and he copied it and then proceeded to write words that he knew, such as dad, doc, mom, mop, etc. He thought of quite a few, although I think they were all three letter words, whereas they can now sound out and read words up to 6 letters I think...maybe even a couple with seven. We have done very little with spelling but he was just sounding out the words like he does some words when he reads. I was quite surprised because it is normally Ben who spends time writing. Nick seems to be doing more and more of it lately. The other day, he was in the other room being quiet for a while. Eventually, he came to me and showed me his piece of paper where he had taken the time to write the alphabet in upper case letters. He got most of them correct, with a few small exceptions, such as his J was hooked to the right instead of to the left. He really surprised me because he had shown no interest in doing this sort of thing, while Ben had been doing it for quite a while now. I have to remind myself that Nick is almost 2 months younger than Ben and, even excluding that, all kids just develop differently when it comes to reading and writing.
Time to close this book. I started writing it at quiet time today and now it is bedtime and I am tired. Goodnight.
I have just started a Bible study at a nearby church and I think I am really going to get a lot out of it. The boys and I have visited this church twice now and the dad has visited once and we all really like it. It looks like we might have found our new home church, although we will have a bit of a drive once we move to the new house. I think it will be worth it though.
The boys are currently still in soccer and swimming and doing well, although their classes were all cancelled last week due to the 1 to 3 inches of snow we got (depending on where you lived). I was totally shocked that these places closed down. The boys and I went to the swimming place without a thought that they might closed. When we first signed them up for lessons, they had told me that they hardly ever shut down and the weather has to be pretty bad before they close. I beg to differ:). Must be an Oklahoma thing but their idea of bad and my idea of bad are very different.
The boys have also started taking violin lessons and so far so good. We have only had a hand full of lessons so far. I need to be better about having them practice during the week the things they are learning in their lesson. I am having a hard time keeping up because I have to make all of the flashcards we need for playing the games.
During this beginning time, when their attention span can wander at times, I have told them that they will each earn a dollar if they work hard during lessons. This includes paying close attention, participating with a good attitude and minding the teacher promptly. This is a magic charm for now. So far they have worked pretty well with me at home but I have kept it very short and sweet. We will eventually work up to 15 to 20 minutes of practice at home per day tops for this age.
We continue to plod along with our reading lessons, albeit very slowly because of me:). I think we are around lesson 75 in The Ordinary Parents Guide to Teaching Reading. I think the half way point is around lesson 94, at which time it is recommended we start spelling lessons. Today I decided to institute a new rule for our quiet time. They have to pick one of their readers to read to themselves during quiet time. While one is reading his reader, the other practices violin with me and then they switch. After that they can do whatever they normally do (usually they play with quiet toys, work puzzles or look at books). They are choosing their reader from the readers they used when they first started learning to read, so these are very easy for them and they can read through them quickly. It will be good practice though and help improve their fluency. Nick is now constantly noticing that he can read various signs, book titles, labels, etc. He is always excited about it and reads everything he can out loud to me. Ben does not seem to notice much, although they both do equally well when we practice our reading. I think Ben's attention is just drawn to other things. He is always thinking about something and I know this because he talks to me a lot;).
Upon completion of The Ordinary Parents Guide to Teaching Reading, a child will be reading at the 4th grade level. From what I have read, most homeschoolers tend to finish this book anywhere between K and the end of second grade. There is a very wide range to when homeschoolers begin teaching their young ones to read. Currently we are only doing one to three lessons a week normally and there are weeks when we don't do one at all. We are very relaxed about our preschool learning here at the Pisarik Academy:). Much of this has to do with building the new house, as it tends to take up a lot of our time and, well..., they are only in pre-K this year:). I am also still spending a lot of time reading about what other homeschoolers are doing and investigating homeschooling materials, still working through how we are going to do what we want to do for our homeschool and what materials we want to use. This really is one of my hobbies now:).
We have played around a bit with some beginning geography and they love it. When I get it out, they always want to do several pages at a time. The lessons we have done so far are about how to read a map.
I have created number charts for them to give them more practice writing and recognizing higher numbers. I put a big chart on the wall for each of them and we decorated them. I marked rows on the chart and then cut out 2 inch by 2 inch pieces of paper. They write a number on a piece of paper and then paste it to the chart in the correct place. They have written 1-30 so far. They have been doing 10 at a time so they have only done it three times so far. For numbers up to 30, they practiced them in a Kumon book once or twice and then they wrote it on the chart. The Kumon book only goes through 30 though so now they will just write on the small piece of paper. I made a lot of extras so they can try again if they don't feel it is their best. So far they are having fun doing this. Ben is usually finished first, as he has practiced writing a lot more on his own. He is always coming in to the kitchen to ask me how to spell something and he writes little notes to my mom and sister a lot and also to me and the dad. Nick tends to take more time but also seems to maybe be a bit more exact about what he is doing.
I recently ordered them a great Melissa and Doug coloring pad for boys and a bunch of new markers with 100 colors to choose from. I also happened to find a coloring book at the used homeschool curriculum store we go to that had lots of knights and their horses. So they have been coloring tons and it has been so good for Nick because it has given him or strength in his fingers. He can color or write for longer periods of time now. This is where I have been seeing a difference in their approach. Nick tends to take a lot longer to finish a picture and he does a better job of staying within the lines. Ben tends to get done very quickly because staying in the lines is not as important to him. They both like to pick very bright colors and seem to have no interest, most of the time, of coloring something the 'right' color (the horse might be several different bright colors, including bright pinkish legs and an orange body in the front and green in the back, etc.) They know the right colors but I guess they think their picks make it look nicer. They really do look very nice most of the time. If I can find some inexpensive frames, I would like to frame some of them for their new rooms.
Today I was introducing them to addition with some tally sticks. I was showing them how to write the equation that went with what we were doing with the tally sticks (0+1=1; 1+1=2; etc.) using a spiral notebook I had. Nick asked for some pages out of my notebook when we were finished. He went into the next room where we keep our supplies and he stapled it along the left side to make his own book. He came back and said this was his dictionary. He wrote his name on top and asked me how to spell dictionary. I wrote it on the white board for him and he copied it and then proceeded to write words that he knew, such as dad, doc, mom, mop, etc. He thought of quite a few, although I think they were all three letter words, whereas they can now sound out and read words up to 6 letters I think...maybe even a couple with seven. We have done very little with spelling but he was just sounding out the words like he does some words when he reads. I was quite surprised because it is normally Ben who spends time writing. Nick seems to be doing more and more of it lately. The other day, he was in the other room being quiet for a while. Eventually, he came to me and showed me his piece of paper where he had taken the time to write the alphabet in upper case letters. He got most of them correct, with a few small exceptions, such as his J was hooked to the right instead of to the left. He really surprised me because he had shown no interest in doing this sort of thing, while Ben had been doing it for quite a while now. I have to remind myself that Nick is almost 2 months younger than Ben and, even excluding that, all kids just develop differently when it comes to reading and writing.
Time to close this book. I started writing it at quiet time today and now it is bedtime and I am tired. Goodnight.
Thursday, January 20, 2011
January 20, 2011
Edited to add one additional picture, including our CWA facilitator in Moscow.:
Four years ago we were in Russia and had newly become parents of two beautiful, precious little boys.
My first time to dress Nick, as I was getting him ready to leave the baby home. As it turned out, our agency people were in a hurry to get to court with another family so we were rushed. The husband had to run to dress Ben and we did not get a picture of it.
First stop, passport picture place.
Next stop, home to the Hotel Volgograd. This was after we had given them their first bath and they smelled so baby fresh.
They really enjoyed standing here and looking out the window.
And then, off to Moscow.
And then home to Oklahoma. The perfect match. Ben was still learning to walk so he really enjoyed pushing this little ride-on toy. Nick was already walking so he was very into riding it.
About a month after they had been home, they already had chubby cheeks and chubby everything else!
Look at that belly!
Within a month of being home, Ben had learned to walk and to feed himself.
Our thumb sucker. At some point he ended up getting a boo-boo on his thumb which required a bandaid. That was the end of the thumb sucking.
Best buddies! Great memories! Looking forward to making many more!
Four years ago we were in Russia and had newly become parents of two beautiful, precious little boys.
My first time to dress Nick, as I was getting him ready to leave the baby home. As it turned out, our agency people were in a hurry to get to court with another family so we were rushed. The husband had to run to dress Ben and we did not get a picture of it.
First stop, passport picture place.
Next stop, home to the Hotel Volgograd. This was after we had given them their first bath and they smelled so baby fresh.
They really enjoyed standing here and looking out the window.
And then, off to Moscow.
And then home to Oklahoma. The perfect match. Ben was still learning to walk so he really enjoyed pushing this little ride-on toy. Nick was already walking so he was very into riding it.
About a month after they had been home, they already had chubby cheeks and chubby everything else!
Look at that belly!
Within a month of being home, Ben had learned to walk and to feed himself.
Our thumb sucker. At some point he ended up getting a boo-boo on his thumb which required a bandaid. That was the end of the thumb sucking.
Best buddies! Great memories! Looking forward to making many more!
Thursday, January 13, 2011
January 13, 2011
Here are some of the latest pictures taken of the house. I think these were taken a little over a week ago so things already look a bit different on the inside. I have not posted inside pics because they were hard to tell what's what before the sheetrock went up. So I thought I would post some. Not sure if you can tell what's what but I will attempt to describe it.
These first two are of the outside and the rest are inside. They are preparing to put on the stucco. They have been delayed with this quite a bit lately because of the cold weather. I am not going up to the house as often these days so not sure exactly how far they have come now.
On the inside, things have moved along nicely since these photos. They have hung most of the doors and installed many of the cabinets. They have also finished most of the trim work upstairs, including the closets. They have finished some of the trim work downstairs but will likely make good progress on the rest of it this week. The last time we had an update on an estimated finish date, they predicted mid-March. Now for the tour.
The pic below was taken as I was coming into the house from the garage. You can see the wood floors are down, although they wait until towards the end to stain and finish them. To my immediate right will be the mud area. The first doorway to the right will be the laundry room and the second will be the powder bath. The last doorway on the right will be to the husband's office. The lighter area just through the hall door straight ahead is where it opens to the main living room on the left and the front door on the right. The doorway all the way at the end leads to the master and guest bedrooms.
Standing in the same spot as in the first pic, looking to the left. From the landing that you can see at the top of this section of the staircase, you can see into the library and there is also a staircase there so you could go down into the library or on up the stairs. The door next to the staircase will be for the small pantry, as the kitchen is just to the right of the pantry.
Now you can see the door to the kitchen.
Here, I have stepped into the door to the kitchen and this is straight in front of that door, looking through the kitchen and into the main living room, which has a cathedral ceiling.
Now I have moved into the main living room, to the right of the fireplace and I am looking back into the kitchen/dining room. The kitchen is more to the left and the dining room to the right. The double door opening leads back into the library. The windows in the main living room look out onto the screened back porch.
In this picture, I am still in the main living room only now I am standing to the left of the fireplace. So the windows/screened back porch are behind me and the kitchen is now to my right. You can see the front door and just to the right of that is the husband's office. There is a small coat closet on the right side of the picture. The larger door to the right of the coat closet leads back down the hallway that was shown in the very first picture. The large square hole in the wall up above is in the upstairs hallway and will have a railing;). Looking to the right side of the balcony opening, you can see in through the door to B's room.
Here I am still standing in the same place. The windows looking out on the screened porch are to my right. The kitchen is straight ahead and you can now see the door I walked through when I came into the kitchen from the garage and through the hallway. You can see the stairs that are in the earlier picture also. The thing on the left wall just inside the kitchen that looks like a doorway is actually where the refrigerator will go. The black thing sticking up in the middle of the kitchen floor is the plumbing for the sink that will be in the island. The wall oven and microwave will be right next to the refrigerator and the cooktop will be on the back wall, just across from the sink.
Now I have walked through the kitchen / dining room, through the double doors that lead to the library. The kitchen is now to my left. The landing at the top of the first section of stairs is the same landing in the picture taken above, where I had just come into the house from the garage. The door to the left of the stairs leads to the storm shelter. The double door to the kitchen / dining room is to my left.
This picture was taken from the top of the staircase, looking back down into the library. You can also see the set of stairs that lead down to the hallway in front of the door to the garage.
Now I am standing in front of the attic door, looking down the upstairs hallway. The stairs to go down are just to the left. The area to my right, with the slanted ceiling, is the loft area.
Now I have moved down the upstairs hallway and am shooting this picture from that big balcony opening above the main living room, looking down and to the left. You can see the kitchen, dining room, part of the main living room and some of the windows that look out onto the screened back porch.
This picture is taken from the same spot as the last picture, now looking straight ahead. These are the windows in the main living room that look out on to the screened back porch. You can also see the two Solatubes in the ceiling. They look like lights but the lights are not yet working so this is just the sunlight coming in through the Solatubes. You can also see the scaffolding on the porch, which they will use to do the stucco.
Again from the same spot, now looking down and to the right. There will be built-ins on each side of the fireplace and the fireplace will have stone around it up to the mantle.
Now I am standing in the same spot but I have turned, looking back down the hallway from which I came. You can see a large linen closet to the left and the loft area further down. The work out room is to the right; you can just barely make out the edge of the doorway to the work out room on the right side of the hall. B's bedroom is on the left, just before the linen closet. N's is behind me, also on the left. Their bathroom is between their bedrooms and does not have access from the hallway. The only access to their bathroom is from their rooms. The door at the very end of the hallway is the door to the attic, where I was standing when I took that first picture above of the upstairs hallway.
This picture was taken from the landing, as I was coming back down the stairs and is again of the library. I really like how the ceiling turned out in this room. You can also see the windows that look out on the back yard. The wall to the left will be all built-in bookshelves. As I am standing on this landing, the storm shelter is underneath me. The double door to the kitchen / dining room is down and to my right.
And here is the double door to the dining room / kitchen, which is down and to my right:).
Now I am back in the same doorway in the kitchen where I took one of the first pictures up above, looking out straight at the fireplace in the main living room. Now I have turned to the left a bit so you can see the windows from the dining room that look out on to the screened back porch. You can also see some of the windows in the main living room that also look out onto the screened back porch. You can once again see the pipes for the sink that will be in the kitchen island.
Now I am standing in the hall doorway that leads to the master bedroom (to my immediate right) and the guest room (to my immediate left). Straight ahead of me is the hallway that leads to the garage. You can see the doorway to the garage at the end of the hallway. The front door is to the left, the main living room is to the right and you can see just a bit of the kitchen.
Another picture from the same spot, looking right into the main living room / kitchen / dining room.
From the main living room, looking up. You can see the cathedral ceiling, the Solatubes and also the ceiling of the screened back porch, which is a nice wood that will be stained a pretty color.
Standing in the kitchen, looking up at the opening to the upstairs hallway. You can see the doorway to Nick's bedroom. You can also see the front door again. I'm really sorry we chose so much glass for the front doorway. Too much exposure. But we'll make it work.
That's it for now. Hope you enjoyed the tour!
These first two are of the outside and the rest are inside. They are preparing to put on the stucco. They have been delayed with this quite a bit lately because of the cold weather. I am not going up to the house as often these days so not sure exactly how far they have come now.
On the inside, things have moved along nicely since these photos. They have hung most of the doors and installed many of the cabinets. They have also finished most of the trim work upstairs, including the closets. They have finished some of the trim work downstairs but will likely make good progress on the rest of it this week. The last time we had an update on an estimated finish date, they predicted mid-March. Now for the tour.The pic below was taken as I was coming into the house from the garage. You can see the wood floors are down, although they wait until towards the end to stain and finish them. To my immediate right will be the mud area. The first doorway to the right will be the laundry room and the second will be the powder bath. The last doorway on the right will be to the husband's office. The lighter area just through the hall door straight ahead is where it opens to the main living room on the left and the front door on the right. The doorway all the way at the end leads to the master and guest bedrooms.
Standing in the same spot as in the first pic, looking to the left. From the landing that you can see at the top of this section of the staircase, you can see into the library and there is also a staircase there so you could go down into the library or on up the stairs. The door next to the staircase will be for the small pantry, as the kitchen is just to the right of the pantry.
Now you can see the door to the kitchen.
Here, I have stepped into the door to the kitchen and this is straight in front of that door, looking through the kitchen and into the main living room, which has a cathedral ceiling.
Now I have moved into the main living room, to the right of the fireplace and I am looking back into the kitchen/dining room. The kitchen is more to the left and the dining room to the right. The double door opening leads back into the library. The windows in the main living room look out onto the screened back porch.
In this picture, I am still in the main living room only now I am standing to the left of the fireplace. So the windows/screened back porch are behind me and the kitchen is now to my right. You can see the front door and just to the right of that is the husband's office. There is a small coat closet on the right side of the picture. The larger door to the right of the coat closet leads back down the hallway that was shown in the very first picture. The large square hole in the wall up above is in the upstairs hallway and will have a railing;). Looking to the right side of the balcony opening, you can see in through the door to B's room.
Here I am still standing in the same place. The windows looking out on the screened porch are to my right. The kitchen is straight ahead and you can now see the door I walked through when I came into the kitchen from the garage and through the hallway. You can see the stairs that are in the earlier picture also. The thing on the left wall just inside the kitchen that looks like a doorway is actually where the refrigerator will go. The black thing sticking up in the middle of the kitchen floor is the plumbing for the sink that will be in the island. The wall oven and microwave will be right next to the refrigerator and the cooktop will be on the back wall, just across from the sink.
Now I have walked through the kitchen / dining room, through the double doors that lead to the library. The kitchen is now to my left. The landing at the top of the first section of stairs is the same landing in the picture taken above, where I had just come into the house from the garage. The door to the left of the stairs leads to the storm shelter. The double door to the kitchen / dining room is to my left.
This picture was taken from the top of the staircase, looking back down into the library. You can also see the set of stairs that lead down to the hallway in front of the door to the garage.
Now I am standing in front of the attic door, looking down the upstairs hallway. The stairs to go down are just to the left. The area to my right, with the slanted ceiling, is the loft area.
Now I have moved down the upstairs hallway and am shooting this picture from that big balcony opening above the main living room, looking down and to the left. You can see the kitchen, dining room, part of the main living room and some of the windows that look out onto the screened back porch.
This picture is taken from the same spot as the last picture, now looking straight ahead. These are the windows in the main living room that look out on to the screened back porch. You can also see the two Solatubes in the ceiling. They look like lights but the lights are not yet working so this is just the sunlight coming in through the Solatubes. You can also see the scaffolding on the porch, which they will use to do the stucco.
Again from the same spot, now looking down and to the right. There will be built-ins on each side of the fireplace and the fireplace will have stone around it up to the mantle.
Now I am standing in the same spot but I have turned, looking back down the hallway from which I came. You can see a large linen closet to the left and the loft area further down. The work out room is to the right; you can just barely make out the edge of the doorway to the work out room on the right side of the hall. B's bedroom is on the left, just before the linen closet. N's is behind me, also on the left. Their bathroom is between their bedrooms and does not have access from the hallway. The only access to their bathroom is from their rooms. The door at the very end of the hallway is the door to the attic, where I was standing when I took that first picture above of the upstairs hallway.
This picture was taken from the landing, as I was coming back down the stairs and is again of the library. I really like how the ceiling turned out in this room. You can also see the windows that look out on the back yard. The wall to the left will be all built-in bookshelves. As I am standing on this landing, the storm shelter is underneath me. The double door to the kitchen / dining room is down and to my right.
And here is the double door to the dining room / kitchen, which is down and to my right:).
Now I am back in the same doorway in the kitchen where I took one of the first pictures up above, looking out straight at the fireplace in the main living room. Now I have turned to the left a bit so you can see the windows from the dining room that look out on to the screened back porch. You can also see some of the windows in the main living room that also look out onto the screened back porch. You can once again see the pipes for the sink that will be in the kitchen island.
Now I am standing in the hall doorway that leads to the master bedroom (to my immediate right) and the guest room (to my immediate left). Straight ahead of me is the hallway that leads to the garage. You can see the doorway to the garage at the end of the hallway. The front door is to the left, the main living room is to the right and you can see just a bit of the kitchen.
Another picture from the same spot, looking right into the main living room / kitchen / dining room.
From the main living room, looking up. You can see the cathedral ceiling, the Solatubes and also the ceiling of the screened back porch, which is a nice wood that will be stained a pretty color.
Standing in the kitchen, looking up at the opening to the upstairs hallway. You can see the doorway to Nick's bedroom. You can also see the front door again. I'm really sorry we chose so much glass for the front doorway. Too much exposure. But we'll make it work.
That's it for now. Hope you enjoyed the tour!
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