Smooth Seas

We went on a fun hike with Julia and her boys on Tuesday in Golden. The weather was fantastic and the boys really enjoyed themselves. They pretended to be mountain goats, climbing on the rocks and running around collecting treasures (e.g. weeds, flowers, etc). Tate carried the backpack with lunch and water while I toted Chase on my back, as it was pretty steep with some rock-climbing. I took the camera (the small one that doesn’t take good pictures), but unfortunately I realized it was out of juice while trying to take a picture on the hike…oh well, next time.

But one thing I keep thinking about from the hike was a sign that I read in front of a church while driving through Golden on our way to the trailhead, it read:

Smooth seas don’t make for skilled sailors.

This sign struck a cord with me. It hits on a truth that I have been becoming more and more aware of lately. If life had no bumps, hiccups, or challenges to work our way through, how would we build character? Or learn to be more patient…compassionate…faithful? I want to be a skilled sailor and I want my children to be skilled sailors, dealing with life’s waves and storms joyfully, prayerfully, and with a Christ-like calmness and grace….good thing I have a few more years to try to get it right! :)   

Reading lessons

I started Tate’s summer reading lessons today with a book Carmen recommended. They are pretty simple lessons, so we are just kickin’ around, no stress. Today was the sounds mmmmm and ssssss. How fun!

Summer fun

Tate loves to push Chase around, in anything. Speed is the object of the game. So we have these toy bins with wheels. I knew they weren’t made for “car rides” but, of course, boys will be boys. It was cute while it lasted (for about 10 minutes), then the wheels just broke right off. I would have to say, it was worth it! Look at how much fun Chase is having!

After this little car race around the deck, Tyler turned to me and said, “me doing things like this to my brother is what made him a cop….the need for speed!”

We are also scheduling some learning time into most every day. Chase started blanket time a few weeks ago. I set out a blanket, give him some toys and put on the timer. He is up to 6 minutes. Tate really liked blanket time when he was a little guy, just like Chase. It helped him learn to focus on just a few toys, figure out that things have an end (timer) and to stay where mommy says to stay.

Once I took Tate to the dentist and put him on blanket time while I had a cleaning and everyone was so impressed! They still mention it every once in awhile when I go in. It really centered Tate during the day and gave him a little chill out time. So now it is Chase’s turn to learn and he sure is catching on fast! Usually I have him do it near me in the kitchen while I am cleaning or cooking. He often wants to stay on longer after the timer goes off. Here I caught him signing doggy (Gizmo was coming up beside him).

Chase is big enough now that he rumbles with Daddy and Tate on the floor. Here is their “double airplane,” they all just giggle and giggle.

Reward Chart Surprise

Reward charts have become quite the feature in our home as of late. It is a win-win for everyone and such a positive way to encourage behaviors in Tate. The Jorgensen’s sent Tate these very cool fuzzy monkey stickers. We wanted to find a special way to use them. So Tyler and Tate drew a jungle chart and each time Tate obeyed the first time  - right away, all the way, with a happy heart is what we call it - he got a monkey and a high-five! When he got all his monkey’s, his surprise was a big wheel (this is the “original” but without the hand break, which Tyler said was the best part!).

Another cool thing is, we wanted to get Tate a big wheel anyway to have something fun to ride outside on the deck this Spring and Summer. Worked out perfectly! I find all kind of “surprises” that work beautifully – books are my favorite, a new playdo color, a board game the family can play all together, or sometimes it is just a big ol’ fat kiss! He loves them all!

Oatmeal! Really?

We started a reward chart a few weeks back for "Sweet Sleep". To earn a mark on his chart, Tate needed to allow us to leave his room without fussing or squawking like a hawk (which he likes to do to see if we will come back into the room and respond in some way) and wake up quiet (he wakes up sometimes before 6 AM, so he stays in his room and reads or plays quietly while the rest of the house is still resting). There were only a few days when he didn't get his mark. We told him there was a surprise when he achieved all 10 marks! So today was the day, he got his 10th mark on his chart!

 

 

 

His surprise consisted of 2 used matchbox cars (which he totally digs - boys can't seem to have enough cars!) and his choice of breakfast. Now, I will preface this story by saying, Tate does not really know all the "choices" out there - like boxed cereals or whatnot. When I told Tate he got to choose breakfast, there was not one ounce of hesitation - OATMEAL!! I said, OK then, oatmeal is it! Tyler was pretty shocked!

Where is the Green Sheep?

Tate loves this book! Sometimes it is the simplest books that Tate just latches on to. He basically reads the book, it is adorable.

I found this idea on another blog written by this homeschooling mom of 10 (WOW!). I traced a few sheep, Tate colored them and then we cut them out and laminated them. So now when we read the book he can pull out his sheep and match them to the story...he though it was fairly cool...not out of this world cool, but hey, everything can't be mind-blowing awesome! :)

I'm the Biggest Thing in the Ocean

We just picked up this book from the library.

Tate really likes it! It is actually pretty funny. WARNING SPOILER: This squid thinks he is the biggest thing in the ocean, but it turns out he gets eaten by something even bigger...a whale! So, we went to YouTube and found a cool video about the big blue whale, which really is the biggest animal that has ever lived on the planet!

"My Calendar"

We also started "My Calendar" this week. I found this idea surfing the web for fun ways to teach preschoolers the days of the week, months of the year and the seasons. It was made of felt on the website, but  I decided I could make it pretty easily on my computer. So I made the background and posted it on a poster frame. Then laminated all the numbers, months, days, seasons, etc. Then put velcro on all the spots where they go and are stored. It turned out cute and Tate is getting a kick out of changing the velco tabs each day!

Tate is getting all educational!

My cool and most generous friend Christina came over the other day and gifted us a heap of homeschooling materials! We have started to use some of the fun stuff, Tate is especially fond of the Clifford early reader books (not that he is reading them yet, but he is thinks Clifford is the coolest dog ever) and the count and sort bears! Here he is counting and sorting...very cool...thanks my friend! Your materials are going to be put to good use and I will be sure to pass them on for another family to enjoy after we are through with them.

"Activity time"

Tate and I have added "activity time" to our day. Our first activity was making a ball-hungry box face we named George. He eats ping pong balls that are tossed from a desired distance. Yesterday we started making Valentines for his classmates for school on Thursday. I can only pray that they don't feed him any sugar tomorrow!