August 2021

 Well, the remaining weeks of August flew by.  

Atticus started homeschool and started his soccer team on the same day.  The best part about this team?-  I'm not coaching it!  I needed a break and it sounds like Atticus is doing so much better with someone else as his coach.  I can't wait to cheer him on from the sidelines.

Atticus is loving home school.  I don't want to gloat because it is so not perfect but it is such a good fit for us.  Since his friends went back to school on Aug 9 Atticus was begging me to start school the next week.  It was a bit of a scramble but I was able to get it together so we could begin class on Monday, August 16.  A highlight of our first day for Atticus was going skateboarding at Craig Ranch Park's amazing skate park.  We also were able to swim during school, all while still getting a bunch of schoolwork done.

I keep expecting Atticus to fight me about school or complain about missing his friends but I think he still really appreciates the benefits of being at home (and there are many!)  He does NOT miss wearing masks or having to sit still in a desk for long stretches (we do a lot of moving and creating while learning over here.)  He hasn't said this but I can tell that he loves how much of a choice he has about the order of what we do, when and even about the tangents we are able to go off on.  He loves that he can be completely done with class so quickly and still play with friends and go to sports, etc.  He loves being able to play with his brother and really, really loves that he can play with his baby sister. 

Speaking of Lucy, I am so grateful for a milestone that Atticus seems to be crossing.  For years we've noticed that he doesn't really look at people's body language or facial expressions when interacting with them.  While we've tried to instruct him, he just didn't seem to understand (or care) and so very little progress was made.  With Lucy, however, he has been so motivated to make her laugh and to keep her safe that he has been studying her face.  It has been melting my heart these last couple months as I watch him play peek-a-boo with her, tickle her or sing to her.  He is finally observing and responding appropriately!  In fact, we have heard him tell Hinckley on more than one occasion, "Hinckley, she doesn't like that!  I can see her face!"

We love the bond he already has with Lucy.  He wants to be there to wake her up every time, if possible, so he can talk to her and pick her up from her crib.  

Of all that has happened this month I believe Atticus is most excited about skateboarding.  He asked for a skateboard back for Christmas 2019 but did very little with it.  Then, just a few weeks ago, our neighbor got a skateboard for his birthday and Atticus wanted to pull out his skateboard again.  This time, however, he means business.  He has been determined to progress and that is just what he has done.  

(Above: At the skate park on our first day of school.)

He has watched videos of his cousins (who are amazing skateboarders) and wanted to go to a "real" skate park.  After proving me wrong and learning to ride down our driveway in just an  hour or two, Dane took him.  We've taken him a few more times since then.  While he's limited with what he can do, he loves being there and the thrill of trying new things.  I can't offer him any instruction but you can bet that will I be his biggest cheerleader. 

The last highlight of the month for Atticus has been watching Mark Rober videos.  He just can't get enough and Dane and I have to admit that they are entertaining (and highly educational.)  They've certainly gotten his mind going.  He told me that the other night he was doing math in his head and it led to an impromptu discussion about multiplication.  He totally seemed to understand!  It's so fun to see him progressing in this area, as well.

Atticusisms:

• "Mom!  Did you wake up Lucy without me?!" 
• "Look!  I'm a little engineer!"

Hinckley still has his days that are so, so very hard.  I'm finding that getting him breakfast right away is a total game changer as far as how his day will go.  We all got sick just before the last week of August and Hinckley was even harder that week (it can be so hard to sleep when you are stuffy!)  Thank heavens we are all well again, especially Hinckley.  He has been so pleasant these last couple days.  

Something he has been doing for the last couple months that I adore has been his Batman workouts.  He will turn on a Batman song (most often Batman Evolution by the Piano Guys) and he'll do push ups, bicycle ab exercises and run around the house, being sure to flex every so often.  Words simply cannot do it justice.  It is hilarious.

He started Joy School again today.  He was SO excited to go back and was even a little annoyed when I got there, telling me he wanted to keep playing.  Hooray!

He started his little soccer team that same day in the evening.  He has been begging to be on a team for months and months and he was just beaming from ear to ear as we put put on his gear and headed to practice.  As he walked to the field he told me, "I'll do my best, Mom!"  And he sure did.  

Did I mention how stinking cute those kids are?  I was dying watching them. 

Here he is enjoying a culinary creation: mustard strawberries.  He loved it.  Atticus was less sure...

He is so independent.  He will play with his toys and make up conversations for an hour at a time if you let him.  When I ask the boys to sit for a book he often will go off like you see in the above picture to look at his own book.  When he learns to read he will just take off.

When we all got a bug toward the end of the month we decided it would be wise to use the nebulizer for our little guy.  It did the trick and he was able to work through his illness much faster.

Hinckley Speaks:

• "Don't tell them my name!" (When meeting new friends at a park.)
• "Someone is stinky!  I fink it's _________________." (He is always trying to blame someone else!)
• "Don't bothew me!  I'm suhcling stuff!" (While randomly circling things in a magazine.)
• ("Please be sure to lock the door!") "So a cwiminal can't come in?"
• "I wook wike Bane!" (While using the nebulizer.)  
• "I'm not supposed to talk to stwangos."  (To a stranger at the park.)
• "I don't want to be a man when I gwow up."  ("What?!") "I don't want to have a beyowed!(beard)"  (Phew!)
• "Alexa, pway Bayatman Evolution by the Piano Guys."  (At least once a day.)
• "Alexa, yoh dumb."  (After trying, in vain, to get his song to play.)

Lucy has shown so much personality this month.  She has shown, again and again, how much she loves shoes.  She will go to the shoe organizer on her door and pick out a pair of shoes.  Then she'll try to put them on her feet or just look at them.  Next, she'll crawl around the house looking for someone to help her put them on.  She doesn't fight at all- she loves putting them on and is very patient as the shoes are fastened.  Once they are on she looks so pleased.  She'll kick her little feet and stare at the shoes some more. She's also started putting on necklaces.  Unlike her brothers she leaves them on and will even get sad sometimes if you take any of these accessories off too soon.

She turned 11 months on the 6th (she'll be a year in a week!)  

She is definitely talking, more and more.  Her first word has been confirmed, "Dada" for "Dad."  She does say "dat" for Max or "dog."  She has occasionally said, "Mmmmmmah!" for "more" but more often she just yells or claps for more.  Then, when she's done eating, she'll wave her arms and after I ask her if she's "all done" she'll repeat, "Da-dat" with the same intonation as "All done."  She also is the earliest child to say, "Mama" and does it fairly often.  It is the best.

She is crawling faster but what really cracks us up is all the bear crawling she does.  I think it may have something to do with dresses.  She doesn't wear them often but when she does, it makes crawling difficult, if not impossible on her knees.  But she does it often, even in rompers so...  Maybe she doesn't like being on her knees?  She also is coasting along furniture much faster and reaching to transition from one piece of furniture to a neighboring one.

This month she has really taken off with her walker.  She crawls over to it all the time to practice with a big grin on her face and is learning to move it about when she gets stuck in a corner.  She even uses our stools as walkers now.  

She loves playing peek-a-boo, riding on our rocking horse, the slide or on swings.  She especially loves the trampoline and chasing her brothers- either in a stroller or while being held.  She starts to pant excitedly and wave her arms like she's going to get them.  

She still LOVES dancing and does it all the time.  Most often it's in her high chair next to the speaker while we listen to music but, honestly, she'll sway from side to side just about anywhere.  When the boys play piano (they play a little each day) she will dance and then crawl excitedly over to the piano so that she can play, too.  Even when one of us sings a song that she knows she'll get excited and sway.  It's just so cute.  It's no wonder that her brothers are so into her.  She is pretty darn adorable.

The last thing I'll mention about our sweet babe is her cake smash photo shoot.  I feel bad because I didn't really even know that this was a thing with my boys.  There are so many things I would do differently now but I know that's the way it goes for parenting.  In any case, we took Lucy's year-old photos almost a week ago and that little stinker would not eat her cake.  She was so sweet and photogenic for her photos for the first half hour or so.  Then we brought out her cake and she was not the least bit interested.  I put a little piece in her mouth and she made a face and shoved the cake away.  We moved the cake back so it was next to her.  Again, she shoved it away.  After she shoved it away a third time we gave up.  It was no use!  

This means that we have a discouraging 0 out of 3 of our children who have eaten their birthday cake.  It's really quite hilarious when I stop to think about it.  We'll be having cake again for Dane's birthday and then again for her actual birthday so we'll see if she warms up to it by then.

We ended the month with a celebration of Dane's 35th birthday.  He is a simple man, so we didn't go too crazy.  We had a fun date night planned on Saturday but poor Atticus got a stomach bug early that morning, so we had to cancel.  Thankfully, we were able to make up for that yesterday with cards, yummy treats and bone of his favorite meals (he requested chicken fettuccine alfredo.)  

We are all so grateful that Dane is a part of our life.  As I mentioned elsewhere, I love how our children's eyes light up when they see him.  I know the feeling.  

HOME SCHOOL LOG-

Now for a home school entry (feel free to skip this, I just don't want to have a separate blog for this information!)

I'm sure things will change over the years but I really like some of the tips I've picked up on from other homeschooling moms.

First, I have a morning basket that has, at minimum, a song and a scripture for the week that we are trying to memorize (it correlates with the Come Follow Me lesson for the week.)  I'm now trying to include a work of fine art and at least one memorization piece (poetry of some kind.)  I have the boys' church journals in there to copy the scripture once at the beginning of the week, as well as religious magazines and materials.  

I'm finding that, though imperfect, it's a great way to get them going right away in the morning while I'm getting breakfast on the table.  

Then I'll send them up to get their beds made and to get ready for the day.  They come back down and we have a set of Routine Cards that have all the subjects we plan to cover for the day.  Sometimes I'll have an activity or book in mind and I'll steer them that way but, more often, I let them look over what we need to accomplish and they will let me know.  

Just FYI, for Math and Language Arts we have been using The Good and the Beautiful.  I highly, highly recommend their materials.  

Aside from that, we have been using the resources and rotation schedule found on Marlene Peterson's Libraries of Hope website.  Using her philosophy (she says she found it, she didn't create it, which I love), known as the Well Educated Heart, we try to nurture our children's hearts first with less emphasis on facts or the "mind."  The way to nurture them is through Music, Art, Poetry, Stories and Nature.  We sprinkle a little of each of these throughout our week.  

For now, I've settled on this loose schedule: Nature on Mondays (Atticus will have a lego class and soccer in the afternoon), Poetry Tea time on Tuesdays (Hinckley will have Joy School in the morning and soccer that evening), Music on Wednesdays, Spanish and more Nature on Thursdays (Nature means we'll try to be in nature, maybe listen to some nature poetry or stories and do some nature journaling), and P.E. will be on Fridays as well as art or a craft based on the area of the world we're studying.  Saturdays seem to be a great day to try a recipe or two from that area.  Then, on Saturday or Sunday, we'll try to watch a movie or two based on the area we've been studying, as well.

This month, we've studied Scandinavia and it has been fun!  Highlights include learning about Vikings, making viking shields and a viking meal (Tavern bread and mushroom soup), making Tomten figurines, a Dala horse and eating cinnamon buns, Swedish meatballs and Swedish Rye Crisp Bread.  

Earlier in the month we learned about Edvard Grieg and his music, especially the Peer Gynt Suite (my boys really, really love "In the Hall of the Mountain King."  Atticus can even play the first part on the piano!)

Now that we're in September we'll be studying Columbus and the Age of Exploration as well as China, India and Japan (some of the places Columbus had been trying to reach.)  Our nature studies have been and will continue to be Stars and the Heavens.

That's all for now!