Monday, January 24, 2011 at 07:20AM My quote this week is:
It's not what happens to you, but how you react to it that matters. –Epictetus
This one goes along with the last. I said before that life is all about choices. And, yes, you may not always have control over the things that happen to you…you may not choose for something to happen. But. You always have control over your reaction to it. You can choose to move forward.
Tuesday, January 18, 2011 at 09:06AM 1. Here's that pile of Lego instructional booklets that I threw out last weekend:
;)
(The pic doesn't really do it justice...there are hundreds of booklets here, piled within and on top of and next to each other.) And. Don't judge me, but in the end I just couldn't bring myself to throw them all away. As it turns out, Nathan's parents had felt the same way...because I found all sorts of vintage instruction booklets in the pile. (They belonged to the sets Nathan had growing up...the sets that the boys inherited years ago...that Nathan at one point had thought would be plenty to last them for years of play, LOL.) So, I pulled the older booklets (because I just thought they looked cool) and saved the cover of each of the other booklets. I figure one day I could wallpaper the Lego room with them or something. ;)
2. Micah's "R" word this week in kindergarten was "rhombus." (I know you were wondering, lol.) For the record, we've not covered shapes like that in Micah's math lessons as of yet...he got it out of Noah's lesson book, which he apparently likes to look through for kicks.
3. Just gotta pat myself on the back for a moment because during the last couple weekends, amidst watching football playoff games, I managed to sort, reorganize and finally label all of my scrapbook albums and also finally put all of the boys' school work and such, that I'd had in boxes, into binders by year. Woohoo!
4. Does anyone have any experience with whether teaching kids another language will confuse their learning of English spelling and phonetics? I really want to start Latin with the boys but am concerned that new rules for what the letters say and whatnot will possibly set us back with our English lessons. Input? Hmmm. Actually, I think I'm just going to go for it. I can always stop if it becomes a problem. Thanks for listening to me ramble. Would still love any input if you do have some!
5. Watching the Seahawks lately has reminded me of my dad. :) So. I made this layout:
;)
(Click on it to make it larger...you can read the journaling then.)
6. In case you were wondering, Asher and his casted arm are doing fine. My paranoia and stress level, on the other hand, could use some TLC. The boy just isn't built to be still or "safe" or calm. I know this. I do. I've been trying very hard to stop cautioning him, particularly of late. But today the boy found himself falling/slipping while playing tag outside...obviously couldn't catch himself with his hands...so decided to somersault out of it. Oy. Really, really looking forward to the start of February when this is hopefully all over. :)
7. I'm hereby taking any recommendations on places that print digital scrapbook layouts. In reorganizing my albums earlier, I've realized that I have a number of layouts that I've done digitally but never printed. I'd like to print them individually and slide them in with the other layouts rather than print them altogether into a book of their own. Suggestions?
8. I just realized that in my zeal to get the house back to rights after the holidays, I neglected to take pictures of some of the ornaments that made their debut this Christmas. Poo. Remind me next December, okay? Thanks.
9. Later today, I really am going to have the boys diagram Yoda dialogue for part of our grammar lesson. I'll let you know how it goes. ;)
10. No particular reason but I just felt like saying how much I appreciate our local library. Love it there...love that I can reserve things via their online system and then just pick things up there...love that if they don't have something I can still usually get it via their partner libraries...love that the branch we frequent is right next to Spooners... ;) (Yes, we're likely headed to the library this afternoon...)
How's your Tuesday going?
Monday, January 17, 2011 at 01:11PM My quote for this week is:
Once you choose hope, anything’s possible.
–Christopher Reeve
I just like this one. ;) One, I love Christopher Reeve and the whole Superman thing. Two, I firmly believe (and tell my boys) that life is all about choices. Here’s to making your own and growing from them.
Sunday, January 16, 2011 at 06:47PM Just a quick post with the boys' Matisse inspired works from last week:
Basically, we just talked briefly about Matisse and his use of cut paper and color to evoke feelings and tell a story. I showed the boys a number of examples. Then I let them loose with construction paper, scissors and glue. This is what we ended up with. The boys were quite happy when Nathan came home from work and was able (pretty accurately, oddly enough) to figure out what emotion each boy was going for. Noah's (top) was simply cheerfulness. Asher's (middle) was confusion (I find this hilarious). And, Micah's (bottom) was a sunset.
(To be quite honest, this was an on-the-fly sort of art lesson for me. I decided on it right then for the sake of having an art "project." The lesson I'd "planned" got scratched, as I decided that the glue and water involved might not be the best thing for a one handed boy. ;) I really need/want to do better in 2011 about having more art lessons, though. This is a classic case for me of letting the planning (and the wanting to get things "just so" before proceeding) get in the way of the doing. And it's really too bad because the boys love everything I suggest, even when I don't think it's a good enough lesson or whatever.)
Saturday, January 15, 2011 at 04:02PM Just wanted to share the New Year's "card" we sent this year...we took the pic a few weeks ago in our front yard:
;)
That was all. ;) Hope your 2011 is going well!