Tiny Talk

Me: (reading from Curious George in the Snow) "the man said, 'George, why don't you wait at this table while I get some hot chocolate? I'll be right back, so don't get into any trouble.' "

Punkin: That man with the yellow hat is useless. He knows that George is curious and he keeps leaving him alone. I mean, once would be ok, but he keeps doing it over and over!!

************

I'm sick (again.), so Punkin was helping me with the laundry yesterday, and I let her put the laundry soap in. Last night, she put the clothes in the washer and calls out, "Mom, it's time to put the oil in."

Oh, wouldn't that be fun to clean up.

For more funny things that kids say, visit Mary at Not Before 7.

Balance

Overheard while Punkin was teaching Little Man to set up dominoes upright so that they fall:

P: "You have to put them like this - close enough together so that when they fall, this one will knock that one down."

LM: "oh"

P: "No, no - not too close - that won't work either. It has to be just right."

It struck me when she said it - it's profound in a way. Close, but not too close. Always looking for the balance. Isn't that the way life is?

MON*STER TRUCK JAM!!

Yes, you have to scream it. Preferably in that "Mon*ster Truck Jam" voice - no idea what the right adjective would be for that voice.

I can honestly say that I never thought I would go to a Mon*ster Truck Jam.

But, as you might imagine, Little Man was in little boy heaven. And WeaverDad was not far behind.

To sum up Little Man's take on the whole experience, here is our conversation as we were walking out to the car:

Me: What was your favorite part?
LM: You know!
Me: No, I don't know. What was it?
LM: ALL OF IT!

Punkin enjoyed it too, but I think she was glad when it was over.

One of WeaverDad's friends got us free tickets to a "pit party" before the show, where we got to walk around in on the arena floor where the Monster Trucks were and the crush cars. It was worth going early for - Little Man got to touch a crush car!

Waiting to go in:
(The ear phones were to block the noise. We were warned to take earplugs and I am so glad!)

At the pit party, in front of one of the more famous trucks - Grave Digger.

Showing off before all the action:
Racing: They lined them up in the same spots and they had to race up the ramp, over the crush cars and the first one to hit the ground won.
I couldn't find a better picture of it but the one in the back is the Ninja Turtle truck. It's body was the most unique - shaped like a turtle's shell.

This was how Little Man looked through most of the show.

He was staring and staring! I couldn't hear him because of the noise and the earplugs, but WeaverDad said he was very concerned about the big van in the middle of the arena and "why was no one crushing it??" At the very end, Grave Digger finally bounced on its top and crushed it, and WeaverDad said he could see Little Man visibly relax.

I didn't notice that the van wasn't crushed, and I totally missed that Grave Digger bounced on it at the end. Shows how much I know, huh?

The most animated he became during the show was during the motorcross demonstration. I am not exaggerating when I tell you that watching the motorcycles go up a straight-up ramp and do their tricks and flip over made my stomach hurt. I wanted to grab my Little Man and tell him that he is NEVER doing that.

But, he loved it. Absolutely loved it. And I'm glad we went. *

Middle Name Tag

Tag #2:

I've been tagged by New Teaching Mom.

Here are the rules:
1. You must post the rules before you give your answers.
2. List one fact about yourself beginning with each letter of your middle name. (If you don't have a middle name, use your maiden name).
3. At the end of your blog post, you need to tag one person for each letter of your middle name. (Be sure to leave them a comment telling them they've been tagged and that they need to read your blog for details).

So, this one is a little tricky - cause I don't use my name on the blog. And the name I use in real life IS my middle name, and I don't want to give away my first name either. So, I'm going to say "weaver" is my first name and "mom" is my middle name. (that gives me a short one too - he he. I'll try to compensate by posting things I don't think I've posted before.)

M- Mother's helper. I have a mother's helper that comes for an hour and a half once a week. She has been coming for over 2 years and she's 12 years old now. My kids adore her, and I love the hour and a half to do the things that are hard to do when they are awake and impossible to do when they are asleep. Such as clean out their closets.

O - Old houses. I grew up in an old, fixer-upper Victorian house that was built in 1906. It was built as a residence, but was a funeral home for a time in the 1940s. Don't you know my house was a fun place for sleepovers in high school? :)

M - My dream. When the kids are older, I would like to take some time and travel all around the United States on one big field trip. I'm not sure how this could happen as WeaverDad is not too keen on the idea, and I'm not sure how we could possibly afford to do it, but I think that would be SO MUCH FUN and such a great experience. Except for the computer addiction withdrawal. And the 4 6-feet tall people in one "itty-bitty living space". But, hey, it's still a dream of mine. :)

I'm not going to tag, but if you want to play - please do!

6 things

I have some "tags" to catch up on. Here's the first!

Penless Writer tagged me to list six unimportant things/habits/quirks about myself.

These are the rules: (1) Link to the person that tagged you. (2) Post the rules on your blog. (3) Share six non-important things/habits/quirks about yourself. (4) Tag six random people at the end of your post by linking to their blogs. (5) Let each random person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their website.

1. I'm 6 feet tall.
2. I don't like wearing shoes.
3. I believe a great set of knives is the secret to enjoying cooking.
4. I think my biggest weakness is that I do not take criticism well.
5. I love blogging. YOU may not think that is a quirk, but my real life friends do. :)
6. I have a good friend that I have known since she was born - because I'm 5 months older than she is. It is one of my regrets for my children that they will not have a true "forever" friend like that.

And, 7 - I must be a rebel at heart, 'cause I'm breaking the rules and am not tagging for this - but if you haven't done it, please consider yourself tagged! Leave me a comment if you decide to do it so I can come check out your 6 quirky things.

Table 7?

Overheard while the kids were playing restaurant:

Punkin to Little Man: "You go ask Table 7 if they would like strawberry or vanilla. I need to call Mr. Bloomsberry and order some more items."

For more funny things kids are saying this week, hop on over to Mary's at Not Before Seven.

Back to School

I finally feel better. Still tired, but better. Thanks for all your sweet comments!

Punkin's enrichment program started back Friday, and we start back to our homeschool schedule tomorrow.

I feel like it is the beginning of a new semester - we have new chore charts and a new schedule that we are going to try that includes some activities for Little Man. I know he is only 3, but he is begging daily to practice reading, and he wants to to do workbook pages with us. I have an activity guide for 3 year olds, so we are going to try to do a little more that is on his level. He is very excited.

I've also started a "kitchen helper" chart. I love having the kids in the kitchen with me, but it has gotten to be a little much when they are both there. They are bickering a lot lately, and Punkin is not very good at letting Little Man do what he can do without "mothering" the poor boy - which makes him screech. Joy. So, I printed a calendar and marked the days to show who is the kitchen helper that day. We've done this for a few days now and so far it is working really well. They both love it, and it is a lot less stressful for me at the end of the day. Hope that success continues!

In Weaver, we are in the middle of a unit about the 10 Plagues of Egypt. This upcoming week we are focusing on insects and livestock.

Our last unit was based on Moses and the Burning Bush. The unit was on Godly leadership - I honestly thought it would be a little dry and boring, but Punkin surprised me by being very interested in the lives of the men we studied. We talked about George Washington, Ben Franklin, Abraham Lincoln and Thomas Edison. Not all of these men were Christians, but it was an interesting study of their lives and contributions - I learned a lot.

We made a big mural that we took at least 2 weeks to complete. They aren't great, but here are the pictures:

The whole mural:

George Washington

Ben Franklin

Thomas Edison

Abraham Lincoln

I thought she did a great job with the writing and the drawings!

While I'm updating on homeschool, I think I shared before that I purchased Singapore Math. I LOVE it! It is a good fit for us, and it has a special teacher's manual that is geared toward homeschoolers that was exactly what I was hoping for - a little structure for me with ideas for fun games and activities to reinforce the math concepts. I desperately needed some additional structure. I also got the computer program that goes with the curriculum - it's called Rainbow Rock. It's very well done, both kids love it, and Punkin asks to play it.

I have to share something funny. When I told Punkin that we were taking a 2 week break, she started crying and asked if she could still play her math game! That cracked me up! Even though preserving their natural love of learning is one of our reasons for homeschooling, it still takes me by surprise when Little Man begs to read and Punkin cries because she might not be able to play her math game.

Crazy kids! :) Gotta love 'em.