Keeping M. Busy

Any of you who know me in Real Life know that my youngest child is a firecracker. Perhaps it's the red-head temperament, his status as baby of the family, or just plain being spoiled, but it adds up to a child who hits the floor running every morning, ready for action(and/or mischief).



Additionally, I homeschool a 10th grader, a 7th grader, and a 3rd grader, as well as try to keep everyone clothed, fed, clean, and happy (with varying degrees of success). So...how on earth does one keep a very active and agile little boy alive?!?

The answer lies mainly in keeping M. busy (hence the title of this post). The crucial period occurs in the mornings while his siblings are concentrating on the major portion of their schoolwork. I'll admit that too often we resort to quasi-educational television shows when Mom needs time to work on math with someone. Somehow, this seems to signal to him that he needs to "perform" to get Mom's attention. The truth is, M. would love to be a "Big Boy" and do his schoolwork with Mom, too.

My solution to giving M. some one-on-one time with Mom AND an opportunity to exercise his mind and body has been a Christian curriculum called "Little Hands to Heaven," written by Carrie Austin.





We've both enjoyed the lively song CD, Bible stories, and learning activities. Plus, he's able to tell his big sisters, big brother, and Dad what HE's learning in school :). It's a win-win!





There you have it, a new post and some grandchild pics! I hope I made all (2?) of my blog readers happy :).


Later Days!
Kelly

Time With Family

Friday and Saturday we drove Back Home to celebrate my niece's 14th birthday--Happy Birthday Anna Beth! It's unbelievable how quickly my nieces and nephew are growing and changing. For one thing, I think only one of them is still shorter than me (Hi Casey) but that probably won't last much longer :).

We always love a chance to go visit family and my kiddos are thrilled to see their cousins, if the noise level is any indication.

I don't know if I've mentioned this before, but every time we go Back Home we have to take our basset hound, Annie, with us. She's a good traveler and a well-behaved houseguest (which isn't always true of my children). One thing Annie loooooves about Back Home is walks with Mimi. Now the rest of us take Annie on brief "courtesy" walks when she needs to take care of her business; Mimi takes Annie on treks! I appreciate the way all the grandparents have developed relationships with their "granddog" since she is a fairly frequent houseguest :).

Later Days!
Kelly

P.S. I love this photo of Mimi walking Annie; E. ran out ahead of all of us and encouraged Annie to sprint. When she runs, her ears stream out behind her (the dog's, not Emily's). lol

Interesting weekend....

First of all, I'd like to give a big shout-out to my wonderful in-laws who came to stay with us for a couple of days! It was great to have them here...and it was good timing, too.

Why, you ask? Because I had an allergic reaction to something on Friday night and had to make a trip to the ER to get checked out. It was comforting to know that, while I was swelling and itching and looking more like the Elephant Man by the minute, the grandparents were here to keep the kids calm and get them settled down for the night.

As it turns out, they take allergic reactions pretty seriously at the hospital, especially when your face is swelling. My airway remained clear (thank you, Lord), so all that was needed was several IV medications, including high-powered antihistamines and such, and observation to make sure the reaction didn't continue to worsen. I was released at about 2 a.m. with several prescriptions for steroids and antihistamines to be taken for a few days.

Anyway, I seem to be relatively normal again (debatable, to those who know me). It's still a bit of a mystery what I was allergic to, but it's possible that Annie will have to find a new dog shampoo. Before you ask, I did NOT use the shampoo on myself! In fact, I wasn't even the one who bathed the dog, though I did pet the wet dog and clean up the messy bathroom afterward.

Enough about me...what's going on in your life? I'd love to read some comments, and seriously, don't you have something better than my Elephant Man story to share?

Later Days!
Kelly

P.S. Sorry, no photos of me :).

Teeth...or the absence of....

Yesterday, I had to take all four children to the dentist...ugh. The older ones needed some fillings and/or extractions and M. was along because, at 3 years old, he's just to young to stay home by himself.

The kids did well: poor N. is the one who had to have 3 teeth pulled. He had 3 baby teeth that just didn't ever fall out so the permanent ones were coming in kind of wacky. NOBODY likes to have dental work done, but anybody who knows N. knows that he REALLY wouldn't like to have dental work done. Anyway, he did exceptionally well.

Our family tradition is that those who lose teeth get $$ from the tooth fairy but the WHOLE family gets milkshakes...do we all get 3 milkshakes, I wonder?

Later Days!
Kelly

20-20

This was a big day for K.(8yo)! Lately, it had become apparent that her vision wasn't all that good. Yesterday's visit to the optometrist confirmed it...in fact, her vision was a bit worse than we imagined!

Thankfully, she was quite excited to get glasses! In addition to being able to see clearly, glasses provide another fashion accessory :). The frames she chose beautifully complement her red hair. More importantly, those pretty blue/green eyes of hers are seeing the world perfectly. Praise the Lord!



Later Days!
Kelly

p.s. Notice that her new doll, Kathleen, needed glasses as well :).

Revisiting 01/04/09

Just for kicks I went back through my bloggy archives to see what exciting events happened on this date last year...I'll save you the trouble of doing the same thing and go ahead and tell you that I posted about little M. being sick with a fever and cough. That right there means that January of 2010 is already waaaay better than January of 2009 :)!

Later Days!
Kelly

Someone's in the kitchen with Mom...

My youngest, M., loooooves to be involved in meal-prep. In some cases, meal-prep just involves putting frozen food on a baking pan :), but he still must suit up for the experience with his own little apron and, of course, freshly-washed hands.

Truthfully, most things take much longer to do with a three-year-old, don't they? I must constantly remind myself that accepting his "help" now makes precious memories AND may make him more willing to help in the future.

I can use all the help I can get!

Later Days!
Kelly