First School Book Completed

Andrew is a joy to teach. He is an avid reader, and it shows. He can read just about anything. In fact, we checked out new library books yesterday, and he is currently reading "The Red Hen" making his voice different for each character. Today was a big day for him too. He completed his first text book which also happened to be his reading and phonics book. As an aside, if you want to teach your child to read (homeschooler or non homeschooler), I highly recommend Reading Made Easy. It's a fun book that Andrew loved. Because he loved it so much, we've completed all 108 lessons in February. I'm very excited b/c now we are going to start a bunch of writing assignments, and he is soooo ready!

If you could include us in your prayers, we are currently trying to decide what to do about Andrew's school for next year. We are still planning to homeschool, but we'd like him to have some outside schooling too. He currently goes to school one day a week, but it's very far away and not quite meeting our expectations. We went to a meeting about Classical Conversations last night, and I very much like the way they do school. I'm going to an open house to actually see how it works tomorrow, and I have another open house with a school on Tuesday of next week. Both schools only meet for one day a week from 9-12, and both schools are much closer to home.

I really want to start sending him to a school in our area where we can make relationships with other children his age and be able to do field trips or play groups with friends locally. I think I've found the right solution, but it's always a leap of faith. After all, it's my son we're talking about!

Kids Fitness

I love Tuesdays. The kids do too b/c they are very full fun packed days. We have several things that happen routinely on Tuesdays that make our days very special. Today was a little bit different b/c of some meetings that are going on, but still, it's been a very fun day.

We all woke up extra early for whatever reason. Maybe it was b/c we left the windows open and the gorgeous days was calling for us to come and enjoy. We were able to get a majority of our school work done early, and by 9am, I decided to go to the YMCA for Lizzy to enjoy a kid fitness class before Andrew's normal homeschool PE class.

Lizzy was beside herself with excitement, but nerves started to get the best of her as her and about 20 other 2 year olds were whisked off to the gym in a cute little line that left everyone watching with a smile. I promised her that I would follow and watch the class although they have plenty of helpers and it isn't a requirement for parents to attend.

I thoroughly enjoyed watching my little toddler try to figure out how to follow the instructors lead. She is a bit shy so at the beginning she just watched. Little by little, she began to copy the movements, and she especially liked the "running" part. It was during one of the running times that another 2 year old girl walked up to Elizabeth, gently grabbed her hand and just started running along side of my little girl. Lizzy was beside herself with joy. Her smile beamed from ear to ear as that little girl stayed by her side and ran along side of her. She was so excited.

I enjoyed watching as Lizzy kept looking down at her hand to see it holding the other girls hand. It was a priceless experience, and I'm so glad I was there to see it. I tried to capture a picture, but it was just too difficult to catch them running without the pic being blurry. After all, they were running at warp speed!

The teacher gave the kids stickers for their participation, and Lizzy has looked down at that sticker countless times with a look of pride on her face. She asked me if we could go back again next week so she could get another sticker for her other hand.

I was deleting some old emails and I came across this (March 8, 2010):
Elizabeth brought me a cook book, turned it to a page, & started licking the picture of this delicious steak dish saying YUM. I went right to the freezer, got out some steak, and prepped the dish in the crock pot for supper. What can I say, the girl has great taste!

I sure do love my little princess. It is such a pleasure to be her mommy! I'm certainly one blessed Mom!

Caribbean Beach

Last night we decided to head out to Disney for our daily exercise. There is only one resort that we had never been to so we decided to head over there for the 2 mile loop around the lake. Caribbean Beach was beautiful. We got in about a mile before Andrew tripped and slid down a hill made of concrete. He was tough, but it did bang him up a bit. He was so excited later that the wound had made an A and a B on his knee...and it really did...crazy! We ended up resting on a hammock while Mat ran his 5K...super relaxing and just perfect. The weather has been gorgeous here. I wanna go back and do more exploring at Caribbean Beach! It's really big with lots of walking so I'm not sure I'd like to stay there on a family vacation. I'm pretty sure my legs would fall off on the walk to my room, but it's nice to visit and would make a great weekend trip for sure. I think I prefer Riverside over all the moderates because it's so pretty with a lake but much less walking than any of the other moderates especially Caribbean and Coronado.

On another note, Lizzy had to go to the doc yesterday. She either has very bad allergies or asthma. The symptoms are similar, and the doc put her on an allergy plan yesterday. We've had to break out the nebulizer for her again, and the doc said that while pollen counts in Florida can get very high it only last 2 months here to the 8 months in Georgia. That's another bonus to living in Florida!

We have a lot to look forward to this weekend. Our friend who cooks authentic Mexican is coming tomorrow for a fiesta! We are super excited! A house full of people always makes me happy!

Sassy or Shy

My daughter is just so sassy. She already has this look about her that just begs to get her way. And when she doesn't, watch out for that terrible two tantrum. The tears just stream out of her eyes. I see where the phrase cry me a river could come from after watching her cry. She can make real puddles with her tears...even on que!

Fridays are always so hard for her. Andrew has school very far from home so we are in the car...a lot! Friday, she got bored and she was just making up all kinds of stuff from her car seat. My favorite was, "Mommy, I'm so sad at you!" I asked her what that was all about, and her response, "I'm not sad at you, Mommy. I'm so sorry." What a sweetheart! She can't even pretend to be upset for a minute.

Tonight we went to a valentines dance party at our local YMCA. She was so shy that my little dancer would hardly dance. She mostly porked it up at the snack table where she likely snuck about 10 hershey kisses. The girl loves her chocolate!

I so love that sweet little sassy shy child.

Booboos

My children make me smile. Even when my heart is heavy and grieving, my children bring me such joy. I always wanted to be a mom...it was my lifelong dream. And I couldn't imagine life any other way. When my heart has a booboo, God uses even and especially my children to bring a smile to it.

Today was no different. I got little sleep after spending a near sleepless night with my brand new nephew. He is just perfect. His face is beautiful...one of the most beautiful newborn faces I've ever seen. He makes these noises that sound like a squeaky toy, and he already both literally and figuratively has wrapped his arm around my heart. I just met him, and we've already bonded. I love that little boy.

When I got home, my children rushed into my arms and didn't want to leave my side. It's very rare for me to be apart from them. Heavens, I even homeschool Andrew, and we are literally always together. Elizabeth is a momma's girl, and she needs me. I love that.

A little while after I got home, Elizabeth stood into a basket that had wheels on it, and the basket flew out from under her toppling her in the process. It wasn't a hard spill, and I was there to comfort her. She picked her brave strong self up, rubbed her sore knee, and rushed over to me. There were no tears, but what she said brought tears of laughter in my eyes. She said, "Mommy, that did hurt my feelings."

Oh, the joy that child brings me. The joy both of my children bring me. I would go to the moon for both of them. Praise Jesus for my babies!