New pics

Our new camera came yesterday. Here are its inaugural pictures and video. Nothing special--just life! :)

Chores and allowance

Did I really go over a week without posting? I guess having no camera has put me in a blogging slump. But I ordered a new camera--yippee!

At MOPS this week, our speaker spoke about teaching responsibility to our children--through chores and allowance. Chores and allowance are not necessarily tied together for her, but she did speak on both. Out of each week's small allowance, each child divides it into his/her own "save," "give," and "spend" boxes. The savings goes into the child's bank account; the give money is for church and giving gifts; the spending money is where the learning occurs! The child is free to do whatever he/she wants with the spend money. So, a child who keeps spending that money on things from the dollar bin at Target will realize (eventually) that if she wants something specific that costs, say, $10, then she'll have to refrain from those $1 purchases until she can save enough for the $10 thing.

The speaker also gave some good ideas on assigning chores to different ages of children, how to implement and keep track of them, and how to present them to the kids (a chart, or individualized index cards presented at breakfast each day, etc.). So I finally kicked in gear in this parenting area and actually assigned some chores this week. Before I even assigned any chores, Nate asked for a chart. (I could have predicted that one!)



The "10 things" is another idea from the speaker (though hers was 20 things): Find 10 things that are in the wrong place. Put them away in the right place.

It's still a work in progress, but Nate was thrilled to do the laundry today. I mean thrilled. (I wrote out step-by-step instructions for him.) And Lucy was very proud about sorting the laundry (which she practiced this morning). Levi already loves "helping" empty the dishwasher; I just have to think of a couple more appropriate yet helpful chores for him.

Homeschooling thoughts

Here has been my train of thought regarding homeschooling over the past few months:

4 months ago
I would never homeschool. I am not cut out for it. I want some hours to myself. I want my children to be in school, for sure. I loved school growing up. They will too. It'll be good for all of us.

3 months ago
Nate sure does fuss about going to school lately. And Christmas break is really nice without having to rush like crazy in the mornings. But Jon thinks I wouldn't like homeschooling. He's right. I wouldn't! I mean, what would I do with Levi? Too much work.

2 months ago
Why do I keep thinking about homeschooling? Well, Nate does love to learn and is so enthusiastic when we do learning-type things together. And he is having some minor behavior issues at school. But if we homeschooled and he got ahead academically, where does that put us if we want to send him back to school? This feels like a life sentence I'd be making. Do I really want a homeschooling high schooler? Instead, we should see if there is any way possible we can budget for his current school and just ask the teacher to offer some more work for him. Yes, that's the solution. Right?

1 week ago
Nate's school is closing down after this year. Now I know why God has been placing this homeschooling idea on my heart! But wait... If I commit to homeschooling Nate, does that mean I have to homeschool the other two children? I'm feeling overwhelmed, and it still feels like I'm making a long-term decision. And there are so many decisions to make, too! Curriculum? Routine? Send Lucy somewhere? Does that make me a bad mom if I homeschool one child but send another to public school?

Now
I'm in the middle of reading The First Year of Homeschooling Your Child on my Kindle, and I am so excited about homeschooling now! I had been worried about some things because I feared how they would look to outsiders. I'd been leaning toward not using a set curriculum but worried how that would look. I wanted to send Lucy 2 or 3 days a week to preschool, because I know she would love it and I think it would help me, but I also worried about how that would look (not only would anti-homeschoolers look down on me because of homeschooling, but then pro-homeschoolers would look down on me for sending Lucy!). Now, I'm confident that I'm just going to do what works for our family.

When I told Nate that I thought he would be home with me for first grade, learning at home with me as his teacher, he was SO excited. I mentioned some of my ideas to him (like doing a quilt together), and he was thrilled. Since then, each day he has said, "So mom, let's talk about homeschooling again!"

I still have a lot to learn, but now that the decision has been made, I am just excited.

Lucy art

Lucy drew this the other day. I scanned it so I could post it (since the camera is broken). Her description: "Daddy, this is you... crying really hard."

Last pictures from the camera

I broke our camera last night--dropped it while taking a video of Levi brushing his teeth (he does this cute imitation "spit" because he sees Nate and Lucy do it). I am so sad.

Here are some of the last pictures I took on the camera, of the embroidery project I finally finished:





Inspiration found here and here.

I also took these in-progress pictures of Lucy's quilt Sunday and yesterday. The baby clothes were some of my favorites when Lucy was tiny; I cut them up and used them in the flowers on the quilt:







And here's the final video, which includes the fatal drop:

Development

Nate is home sick today after having been sick all weekend. He was so disappointed to miss his favorite day, Sunday (church, lunch after church, and even a birthday party he'd been counting down the days to).

Last week, we received a letter home from school with a big announcement: because of reduced enrollment and continuing financial struggles, the church/school has decided to close the school down after this school year.

Well, there's my definitive answer about whether or not I'll homeschool Nate! Thank you, Lord!

Now I am getting really excited about curricula, materials, and fun things we can do. Nate said he wanted to have a quilt for his bed (since I'm making one for Lucy), and I said he and I could make one together. From figuring out dimensions, yardage required, cutting fabric, allowing for seams, and squaring up the final quilt, there is tons of math involved, and I know Nate would love that. I'd love to implement lots of "real-world" learning like that.

Nate's new hobby

Nate has been writing some cute things lately. It all started when we told him we needed to limit his video game playing and said he could make a schedule and decide which days he would like to play so we could discuss it. So he created this:



("The days I can play my video games
Friday - Thursday - Monday - Tuesday
Nate Varela")

He decided that was fun, because he liked the checkboxes. A few days later, he did this during nap time. It's some sort of discipline tactic he created for his toys (which, by the way, mirrors something his teacher is doing for him at school).



("For all of my toy cars
XXXXX
Oodie
XXX
All Xed means no played
for the rest of the week
Sooril
XXXXX")

He created this one the other morning for Lucy (and, although the last line made me laugh, we had to talk about that one):



("The days Lucy can play
with my Wedgits
Days for Lucy Varela

Lucy can never
come in my room")

This week, he has been creating games for us to play in the car. This one was for me to check off each box as I saw the required object on our drive:



("19 red lights
Only for my mom

My mom has to do this tomorrow")

My new toy

Using some funds from my Etsy shop, I got a new sewing toy: the Accuquilt GO! Baby fabric cutter. I also bought one die to make a few different flower shapes and circles. After just 2 minutes of playing with it, I had these!




The main reason I wanted this cutter is because the quilt I'm planning on making for Lucy (when we switch her to a twin bed) will have lots of appliqued flowers on it. I tried other ways of cutting flowers (using a scalloped-edge rotary cutter was one), but this will make them consistent in shape and size. And I'm so excited about it! (Nerdy, I know.)

Look what else came today:



the fabric I ordered for Lucy's quilt. The cheater print--the hexagons with pinks and greens and blues--will be the quilt back. The polka dot will be a border on the front/top. The stripe is for the binding. The rest of the quilt top will be white (I already have that fabric), with appliqued flowers all over it using all of my pink and green scraps (I have a ton!). I am SO excited to get started on it!

Lucy spurt

Over the past 2 to 3 weeks, Lucy has had some sort of developmental spurt. All of the things she had been struggling with 90% of every day have turned into 10%-of-the-day, manageable issues.

A month ago, she fussed/cried/threw fits in the car about her car seat being too tight: every car ride, the whole car ride, every day. I had to pull the car over for discipline several times a day. Now, we have pleasant car rides, with very little to no complaining, with singing, with pleasant conversation. Somehow, the difference here just came one day. She was pleasant in the car all day, and I made a point to make a big deal about it with Jon when he got home from work. She was so proud. Now, at the end of each day, she tells him, beaming, that she didn't fuss in the car all day.

A month ago, she fussed every day about her clothes and shoes being too tight: every outfit, every shoe, every morning. I purposely picked the least constricting, softest knits, gave her a choice of two outfits, etc. She still threw fits (and received cold-shower disciplines pretty regularly). Now, I still pick soft outfits, but she puts them on without a fuss and even willingly puts on her shoes. Weird. She even wore her AWANA Cubbies uniform vest this past Wednesday for the first time. (I never chose to make the vest a battle, since I knew she'd think it was too tight and just wanted her to behave during Cubbies.)

A month ago, she started having toilet accidents several times a day (one day it was 8 in a day! I called the doctor about an infection, but she didn't have one). Now, not only has she had no accidents, but she is now in regular underwear overnight (no more pull-ups). To me, this is a physical manifestation that something was going on with her developmentally a month ago: her brain was working on a big jump, so the physical took a back seat for a week or two while her brain worked it out. Then, it all clicked.

Life is so much more pleasant. Yesterday, when she did start fussing about her car seat, I pulled the car over, got out, and spoke calmly but firmly to her. She responded with, "OK, Mama. I will stop." What?! A month ago, when I spoke calmly but firmly to her, it did nothing (and would then escalate into further discipline and crying).

Thank you, God, for this breakthrough.

How kids care for their toys

Daddy tells a story about me when I was little (maybe 3?). My toy shopping cart had broken, and he spent some time fixing it. After I got it back from him, I promptly smashed it into the wall several times, breaking it again. I told him, "See Daddy? It isn't fixed!"

Mini quilt project with Lucy

Lucy and I finished decorating those mini dresses together. She loved hanging them up in her chosen location.



My favorite is the green one. Lucy loves the yellow one with the tutu.





I stitched around the outsides of two of the dresses, so now they look like appliques. I got tired of all the stitching and didn't do it on the third dress. ;)

Mama's visit

We had a great time with Mama/Mimi last weekend. Her visits are always too short!

School decisions

I've been praying about decisions for the kids' schooling over the next couple of years. I still don't know exactly what we'll do, but here's where I'm leaning:

Lucy, who will be 4 and a half in the fall, would go to preschool 3 days/week. She's been dying to start school.
Nate will homeschool with me for 1st grade.

Wait, did I just say homeschool? That is not me. I'm the mom who has been counting down the days until all my kids are in school. (I love my kids--I really, really do--but I'm also an introvert and crave some daily alone time.)

There are many reasons I'm leaning in this direction. One main factor is cost. Nate's current school had to raise tuition, and we'd also be paying nearly twice as much anyway because he'd switch from half-day kindergarten to full-day school. If we send Lucy to preschool instead (at the place where Nate did his "mainstreamed" preschool), the cost would be about 1/4. Then I could set aside some funds for field trips and homeschool supplies.

If cost were the only factor, then public school would probably be the easy choice for Nate. But the second factor is boredom. Nate comes home telling me the "sight words" they went over in class ("Mom, we learned the new site words 'as' and 'the' this week")--all while he is able to read chapter books on his own. When they do learn something new to him in school (there have been math concepts he didn't know), he loves it. If I can help it, I don't want Nate to believe that learning is boring, slow, with nothing new or exciting. (I initially put "school" in that sentence instead of "learning"--but it's learning that he loves now, and I don't want him to lose that.) All of this isn't meant to say "I have such a smart, smart little snowflake and I don't want inferior schooling to tarnish him!" Not at all. I do want to figure out what's best for him, though. And I also realize that if he homeschools and eventually wants to go back to school, the grade level issue will still be there.

One of the reasons I think I might be able to do this is if Lucy is at preschool. The combination of all 3 children at once is what I feel might put me over the edge of overwhelmedness (is that a word?). Even with Luce in school, I'm still quite apprehensive about homeschooling (the organization required. the decisions about materials. the actual teaching time. the space). But on Lucy's days off from preschool, we could do our field trips or easy school days.

I've been mulling all of this over for a couple of months now, and I feel like God has been nudging me with different encouragements over that time. A friend from church gave a talk at a recent MOPS about changing our mentality about learning and how our kids learn, allowing them to pursue their interests and passions, not bogging them down with what they "should" be learning compared to other kids. Then Nate's school's announcement came about tuition increases.

I'm still unsure. :)

Just like Lulu!

Lucy did her own styling the other day and told me, "Mama, look! I'm wearing this scarf just like Lulu wears her purse!"

Why'd it take me so long to figure this out?

Although Nate loves school, he doesn't like getting ready in the mornings. Each day was the same thing: me reminding him several times to get dressed, then to eat, then to put on his shoes, then to brush his teeth, etc. Each time, he'd whine. This is obviously an attitude-obedience-discipline issue, BUT I also needed to figure out something that worked better. WHY did it take me so long to think of writing up a schedule for him? When I printed this out and posted it (in his bedroom and also in the kitchen), he loved it.



He likes to know when things need to be done, and of course he loves that it's the same each day. Now, it's amazing. I usually have to remind him about the first step or two, but then by brushing-teeth time, he usually does it on his own before I even say a thing. It's a miracle!

Valentine creation: Love lives here

Here's what I've been working on all week. (It's 99% done, anyway.) I woke up on February 1 with a lot of craft energy (sometimes I have it and sometimes I don't) after having seen this adorable Valentine's advent/count-down calendar on Leslie's blog. The idea is you write a little love note to each member of the family and put it in their pocket for that day--one for each day in February leading up to Valentine's Day. We've been reading the notes written the previous day during breakfast each morning. By the time Valentine's Day hits, each person will have 50+ notes of love in their pockets.


Nate and Lucy are loving this. On Tuesday night at MOPS, we moms did a love language evaluation for our children (to determine what we thought our kids' love languages are), and it confirmed what I already knew about Nate: he is a words-of-affirmation lover. So this love note thing is right up his alley. (Plus, he's all about routine, calendars, and schedule, so seeing the 14 days and 5 people organized visually appeals to him.)


I was able to make this whole thing with materials I had on hand (except for the fabric for the binding, which I bought on sale). It is basically a quilt (two layers of white fabric with batting in between), with the pockets sewn straight onto it, embroidered numbers (which, yes, are unfinished--I wanted to take pictures in daylight so only made it up to 4 this morning), and "Love lives here" letters made using fabric and Heat n Bond (which lets you turn fabric into iron-ons).


I'm excited to do this every year, save the notes, and document how our family is growing--in age and also in love toward one another.

Fun desktop backgrounds

While I try to finish sewing up the craft I wanted to post, here's something fun:

Each month, I like to use the free desktop backgrounds found on this site. I pick pictures from the previous month and get to enjoy seeing them each time I sit at the computer. Here's our February desktop:

Some pictures

I'm working on a fun craft that I think will be finished today. I can't wait to post and explain it. For now, here are Lucy and Levi.

Levi lately

I love Levi's language lately (how's that for alliteration?):

• Putting down a toy he didn't want: "I don't want it that."
• Seeing a picture of Nate riding a bike: "Dere's Nate ride biking."
• For a few weeks, he has called me "mummy" in a decidedly British way.
• Hearing Jon say it often, he has now taken to saying, "You un'stan me?" to Lucy and Nate.
• He loves Kix, which he calls either "Glix" or "Klix."
• He calls his blanket his "glanky."
• Balloon is a one-syllable one for him: "bloon!"
• And, as Casey noted in the comments, he is quite adamant when he is being feisty. One morning, I made a soft-boiled egg for him like I usually do. He didn't want it. "No eggs ever GAIN!!!" ("ever 'gain" is definitely an everyday part of his vocabulary)
  

Quilt show inspiration

Colleen and I went to a quilt show in Ontario on Sunday. It was so fun. There were several booths I could have spent lots of time in, including one that had every cute vintage and new ribbon, trim, button, ric rac, and lace you could imagine, sorted and displayed by color on vintage spools and in vintage glass bottles. I also got LOTS of inspiration for my next quilt, which will be a twin size for Lucy's room (when we switch the boys to bunk beds and give the twin bed to Luce).

Here's the only picture I managed to take at the show, since the booth vendors don't want you to take pictures of their stuff:



I liked the scalloped border and think I'll do at least one or two edges of Lucy's quilt scalloped like this.

I also loved a quilt a vendor had in her booth that had several different girl dresses adorned with tiny buttons, ric rac, lace, etc. It was just very sweet. I told her as much, and since it was getting toward the end of the day, she said if I came back at 3:30, she would give me her last piece of fabric that she used for the quilt. I couldn't pass that up! So I came home with about 1/2 a yard of the fabric, with 6 dresses on it. Lucy and I are making it a mini-quilt project. Here are 5 of the dress squares cut, pinned, and ready to be quilted (all of which Lucy helped with):




Then we will adorn the dresses (think fabric belts, mini buttons, ric rac, aprons, etc.). I plan to frame a few for Lucy's walls and use 2 to make a pillow. Lucy is SO excited.

A favorite stage

One of my favorite things about little kids has always been their art. Lucy just started doing the "sticks coming out of the head as arms and legs" thing, and I love it.

Levi counting

Levi counted some cars for me today. He always skips 11, and then all the teens sound the same (sir-teen). :)

A January beach day

It is in the 80s today, so we packed up and went to the beach for a couple of hours. I love where we live!





Lucy posing as she waits for the waves: