...but for all the sleep I've been getting I may as well have. Poor Matteas has had a rough go of it lately, battling successive illnesses which resulted in massively interrupted sleep for everyone. It's been kind of a hazy week, but there have been some bright spots.
Matteas is finally big enough to navigate his boots with some degree of control, if not finesse. Definitely not finesse. He tried running across the rocks at Picnic Point and suffered a major fall, but after he learned his lesson he remembered to reach for Mama's hand before breaking into a trot.
He's admiring a fish, of which I could not get a satisfactory picture because the darn thing wouldn't hold still. It was a very wiggly bullhead which I managed to catch with that bucket and a little shovel, plus some bad-ass wilderness skills. If I didn't hate bugs and being cold, I could have my own Survivor Girl show. But since there are bugs and cold to contend with in the wild, I prefer to limit my foraging skills to demonstrations close to home where I can have a warm bath and eat roast beef for dinner, which is far tastier than bullhead. Also, roast beef can't sting you.
I think this is one my favorite Jack projects ever. He loves, loves to write with permanent marker and is generally very careful about where he does it so as to avoid having his Sharpie privileges revoked. This morning he went out and gathered a bunch of rocks, cleaned them off with diaper wipes and then turned them into dinosaur skulls. The biggest one is the skull of a T-Rex, in case the fierceness of the teeth didn't clue you in.
In other news, our house is coming along. Tristan has been devoted in his efforts to tear down what was once a make-shift(ghetto) "sun room." The paint smears around the window are color samples which will one day grow into full-on coverage, at which point we'll have a big party to celebrate.
I don't know if it's the weather or the progress on the outside of the house that's been inspiring me, but I've been working on the interior or our house as well. I haven't done anything major, but I have begun what I hope will be a thorough culling of the flocks that are our too-many belongings. It began a few weeks ago after a particularly squirrelly morning with the boys during which they made one disaster after another, demanding multiple snacks and wiping of bottoms all the while. By the time I took Jack to school I was frazzled and wondering how we were going to get through the rest of the day. As I walked Jack into school, I was struck by the quiet hum of activity. I actually stood there and counted how many children were in there; 16 kids, most of them only four years-old, all working quietly with the supervision of only two adults. How is it possible that 16 kids can be quieter, more organized and more peacefully engaged than just my own two at home with me?
I've concluded that the key to success lies in the organization of their environment and have henceforth decided that I'm going to organize my home more like a Montessori classroom. I want them to be able to access work independently and put it away independently, which will require me to better enforce the way things are organized. I want them to be able to respect a few things that are not for touching, but I don't want to frustrate them by filling their space with lots of things that aren't meant to be touched. I also have serious Ikea fantasies involving enclosed storage space so that things with lots of little pieces or that are special projects for a special time can be out of sight and out of reach.
And now, I'm off to my trainer's where I will hopefully find the motivation to power through the rest of my day. I discovered that while the kitchen faucet was leaking(which lasted for approximately four months), dirty dishwater was slowly collecting in the caddy of cleaning supplies underneath. I'm afraid. As should you be also, because I'm going to post before and after pictures.
...but for all the sleep I've been getting I may as well have. Poor Matteas has had a rough go of it lately, battling successive illnesses which resulted in massively interrupted sleep for everyone. It's been kind of a hazy week, but there have been some bright spots.
Matteas is finally big enough to navigate his boots with some degree of control, if not finesse. Definitely not finesse. He tried running across the rocks at Picnic Point and suffered a major fall, but after he learned his lesson he remembered to reach for Mama's hand before breaking into a trot.
He's admiring a fish, of which I could not get a satisfactory picture because the darn thing wouldn't hold still. It was a very wiggly bullhead which I managed to catch with that bucket and a little shovel, plus some bad-ass wilderness skills. If I didn't hate bugs and being cold, I could have my own Survivor Girl show. But since there are bugs and cold to contend with in the wild, I prefer to limit my foraging skills to demonstrations close to home where I can have a warm bath and eat roast beef for dinner, which is far tastier than bullhead. Also, roast beef can't sting you.
I think this is one my favorite Jack projects ever. He loves, loves to write with permanent marker and is generally very careful about where he does it so as to avoid having his Sharpie privileges revoked. This morning he went out and gathered a bunch of rocks, cleaned them off with diaper wipes and then turned them into dinosaur skulls. The biggest one is the skull of a T-Rex, in case the fierceness of the teeth didn't clue you in.
In other news, our house is coming along. Tristan has been devoted in his efforts to tear down what was once a make-shift(ghetto) "sun room." The paint smears around the window are color samples which will one day grow into full-on coverage, at which point we'll have a big party to celebrate.
I don't know if it's the weather or the progress on the outside of the house that's been inspiring me, but I've been working on the interior or our house as well. I haven't done anything major, but I have begun what I hope will be a thorough culling of the flocks that are our too-many belongings. It began a few weeks ago after a particularly squirrelly morning with the boys during which they made one disaster after another, demanding multiple snacks and wiping of bottoms all the while. By the time I took Jack to school I was frazzled and wondering how we were going to get through the rest of the day. As I walked Jack into school, I was struck by the quiet hum of activity. I actually stood there and counted how many children were in there; 16 kids, most of them only four years-old, all working quietly with the supervision of only two adults. How is it possible that 16 kids can be quieter, more organized and more peacefully engaged than just my own two at home with me?
I've concluded that the key to success lies in the organization of their environment and have henceforth decided that I'm going to organize my home more like a Montessori classroom. I want them to be able to access work independently and put it away independently, which will require me to better enforce the way things are organized. I want them to be able to respect a few things that are not for touching, but I don't want to frustrate them by filling their space with lots of things that aren't meant to be touched. I also have serious Ikea fantasies involving enclosed storage space so that things with lots of little pieces or that are special projects for a special time can be out of sight and out of reach.
And now, I'm off to my trainer's where I will hopefully find the motivation to power through the rest of my day. I discovered that while the kitchen faucet was leaking(which lasted for approximately four months), dirty dishwater was slowly collecting in the caddy of cleaning supplies underneath. I'm afraid. As should you be also, because I'm going to post before and after pictures.
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