Mornings with Juju and V

I have come to the realization that I am not productive until at least 10:00am.  No matter how much sleep I get, not matter how great of a mood I am in, no matter my grand plans for the day, unless I have an appointment that must be kept, I am not getting out of my pajamas until 10:00am.  If it's a weekend?  More like noon.

I find it humorous that things I have subconsciously known about myself seem to become definite truths for me the older I get and the more I just start excepting that I am who I am.

Deep, huh?

This ends up being pretty conductive to homeschooling Julia.  How you ask?  Well, first off, she gets to wake up naturally.  Some days, that is before 7am, some days she gets up after 8:30.  There is no rush to eat, no "Hurry up!" to get dressed.  Julia's personality responds better to non rushing anyway.  

 We have a little school schedule that is working well right now.  We get dressed (no school in pajamas, house rules), she sets up the chairs in the play area for calendar time.  We say a morning prayer, go over the date, day, month, year, sing 3 songs of her choice (sometimes she even makes one up and serenades me), and then it's off to do some table work.  Right now, my focus is on penmanship and getting used to sitting to do writing.  I had an ABC workbook she flew through and now we're working on number penmanship. We do art, cutting, and reading for about 45 minutes to an hour. But, here's the kicker for me--Julia's started reading.  No, we aren't working on it, she has just naturally been trying to sound things out and now can read simple sentences.  It's amazing to watch it all unfold.

I realize that it seems ridiculous that a college educated former elementary school teacher seems amazed that she can, you know, TEACH her kid, but I am amazed.  I felt very insecure going in to this endeavor. I am a firm believer that kids don't need pushed to learn, even those who struggle. I also believe that parents are children's first and most important teachers, but that kind of all went to the wayside when we decided that keeping Julia home for kindergarten was best for her and us. I am very, very thankful that what I have always believed came to fruition with Julia.

We still make it to the Y a few days a week. The girls love going to the Y.  They have little friends there and know the teachers well.

 Half the time they don't even say good bye to me. Two days ago, for the first time, Vivian told me "No, Mommy, no leave." She was playing cars and did not want to stop.

 Both girls usually bring a toy to the Y to play with while they are there.  I'm sure you are shocked to know that Pink Baby is usually Julia's toy of choice.  Wednesday, as I waited for them to finish playing cars, I asked Julia where Pink Baby was.  "She's in the swing."  Dude, I thought a real baby was in the swing because it was on!  Nope, the teachers let Julia put Pink Baby in real baby things:

 This is how we roll at the Y:

 This morning, Julia decided to do an art project for school first. She had a wooden bird house from this summer that we never got around to painting.

 Of course, Vivian must do all the things that Julia does, so I got out some paints and paper for her too.

 I'm pretty sure Vivian will just skip kindergarten.  She's got two older sisters that love to teach her.  In fact, I could probably just hire them to teach Vivian and I could stay in my pajamas reading books EVEN LONGER!!!

I joke, I joke...I'd totally get dressed and read. Gotta keep up appearances.

Routine.

The days here are starting to get darker sooner, a little bit cooler (low 90s instead of 100s, which i will gladly take!), and our routine for this school year is set and running.

Julia loves being homeschooled. I'm focusing on practicing handwriting right now, and Julia's penmanship has really improved in just a couple of weeks!!  She loves to learn and is a sponge. I'm pretty sure she doesn't even need me right now. 

For right now, I'm planning on doing monthly science themes, and this month is animals.  We learned about mammals and have moved on to reptiles.  We're going to be spending some time at the zoo to round out the theme. She has so many interests that we should be able to fill out the school months with lots of fun themes.

 I'd definitely say, though, that Julia's strength is art.  The girl expresses all of her ideas and emotions by drawing them out.  She naturally takes things and creates with them. It's such a blessing that she uses this as a tool when upset because it's how we can figure why she broke down and wept like giants were pulling her limbs off when words escape her.

 Dearest Elisabeth is in her final year of elementary school.  She seems to like her teacher and has made friends in her class.  At her school, they have the opportunity to try out to be in accelerated extra curriculars--music, art, or drama.  They are basically clubs that happen during school hours.  She is trying out for all three (only 20 per extra curricular are chosen), so she's excited to see if she's chosen.

 She's got her sights set for drama, which is fitting for her.  :)

 Evan and I were just discussing the other day how Elisabeth is in this netherworld of childhood--still little enough to want dolls, but old enough to discuss concepts like The Civil War or inflation with (topics of interest to her currently).  Just the other night we were discussing that the other two girls don't seem as old or mature as Elisabeth was at their age.  Then we got to wondering if maybe it just seems that way because Elisabeth is the first--no one to compare her too, no idea how the whole parenting thing worked so learning as we went. We're trying to make sure we soak up this age because pretty soon she won't want those toys anymore, that netherworld will no longer be, and she will be more adult than child.  Being a parent is hard.  Why doesn't anyone ever talk about it?!  ;)

 Vivian is crazy.

 I'm not kidding.  She is just daredevil, future emergency room patient, crazy.

 She is as surefooted as a mountain goat and determined to scale the highest mountain her little 18 month self can find. And, she's just so BUSY. She needs lots of gross motor time, which with the cooler weather slowly rolling in, we can now give her in abundance.

I'm pretty sure if she had it her way, she'd just live on the trampoline and jump all the live long day.

The best part about our routine for the school year shaping out is that Evan has a job where he can be apart of it this year.  I don't have to drag all the girls to dance classes and try to contain Vivian. Evan is home on time for an early dinner and I get to take Elisabeth to her classes on Monday and Wednesday nights by myself!  I get to read for an entire, uninterrupted hour!  Plus, I get some quality alone time with Elisabeth.  Evan takes Julia to her class on Fridays, which is equally nice. We got so used to not having Evan around that I had forgotten how much easier it is to function during the week with two parents available.  He's home on weekends, all week nights, can get days off when needed. Good thing we like him so much, right?

That Baby

I know, three posts in as many days.  What is up? you ask.  Well, I'm ready to be back in the blog world.  After a much too long hiatus, I have found that I have things to talk about again. Some of you have very sweetly sent me messages over the months telling me you miss my blog and wish I'd start it up again.  Thank you, I truly appreciated the words of encouragement. So, forgive me as I try to catch you all back up on the goings on in our family life.  

Let's start with Vivian.  Ah, Vivian.

Vivian turned 18 months in August.  There are lots of words to describe Vivian--fun, crazy, stubborn, wreck-less, smart, sweet, cranky, cute. She's definitely keeping us on our toes, and some days I am holding on to my sanity by the skin of my teeth.

 Vivian refuses to be left behind.  If Elisabeth and Julia have something, there better be one for Vivian.  If Elisabeth and Julia are going somewhere, wait up, cause Vivian's going too.  She pushes her way into what they are doing whether she's been invited or not. This kid will not be a wallflower.

 She is at that stage where she is parroting everything we say, so we've all had to step it up in the attitude department.  Stub your toe and tempted to say that four letter swear word?  Better rethink it unless you want to hear that baby mimic you perfectly.  Vivian is incredible at being able to express herself.  Currently, when she wants your attention she'll say, "(insert name), come here!" in her tiny voice accompanied with a little hand gesture to emphasize her point. It's hard to not comply.

 Vivian's favorites:
Reading books.  She has four books that are must reads at bedtime and she spends a good amount of time during the day looking at books in the play area. Definitely winning her mommy over with the love of reading.

Her pig.  She has a stuffed pig that has recently become her favorite thing ever.  It goes with us places, sits by her when she is on the couch, and sometimes accompanies her to bed.

Running outside when Evan gets home from work.  She likes Evan.

The outside.  She often needs to run, jump on the trampoline, mow the grass with her mower, or get pushed in her car.  It's been so freaking hot lately that we can't just let her out, which infuriates her and makes her a bit of a beast. Thankfully, she and Julia enjoy running laps inside.

Not sleeping. Vivian is by far the worst sleeper I have ever birthed. She just loves sleeping with people  and wakes up throughout the night seeking us.  I'm pretty sure she'll want to bunk up with Julia, who is also a cuddler.  Maybe we'll get them a double bed and they can feel safe and secure all night long. But, for now, Vivian hangs out in her crib for half the night and by around 1-2am, winds up snuggling up with me in our bed.  Good thing she's cute.

 Vivian does not yet have a nickname.  When we write about her on texts, emails, or facebook, we refer to her as V, but we don't actually call her that.  To be honest, what we do call her is That Baby, as in, "That Baby climbed on the table again." or "That Baby just dumped my full cup of coffee again."  She's the daredevil of our three--pushing the laws of gravity daily, defying death at least once a week, living on the wild side.

 I will say this, Vivian is fun.  She is sweet and has a pretty mature sense of humor for a toddler. She loves giving out hugs and kisses.

 Vivian is Julia's shadow.  She does everything Julia does, says everything Julia says. I recently told someone, Vivian wants to be Julia when she grows up.

 They bicker, of course.  They often both "need" to have the same toy or sit in the same spot and there is no room for compromise.  But, for the most part, they are very sweet together. When I take the girls to our Y kid area, I am constantly told what a great big sister Julia is; she makes sure Vivian is ok and comforts her if Vivian gets upset.  They say that Julia includes her even when Julia's playing with other kids.  It is all things I have witnessed myself, but it's nice to hear that others see them being kind to each other too.

 Elisabeth is like a little mother to Vivian.  She is constantly telling me she'll hold Vivian when we are places or volunteers to clothe, bathe, feed Vivian.  Seeing them together is cute, because there is 9 years between them, but they have a special connection. I have no doubt that Vivian will rely on Elisabeth as a source of counsel as they get older.

So, I guess what I'm saying is, we kind of like Vivian.

 That Baby is going to be a lot of fun. :)

Sunflowers!!

Every year I give gardening a try.  You might remember my first potted garden in Colorado.  It went...ok.  

I just have these grand ideas of what I want a garden to look like and am always unprepared for how much work gardens entail. I have friends back in Illinois who have these gorgeous vegetable gardens, and I think, ooh! I can do that!  And then I remember that I am in Texas, where nothing grows but the temperature, and I am forced to try to only garden a very small flower garden and a few potted vegetables.  Sigh.

I am lucky that Evan likes to garden as well (his dad has a fabulous garden!!!).  The past few Mother's Days, Evan and the girls go out to buy me flowers and we all plant them together on Mother's Day.  It's become a tradition that I absolutely love.  The girls pick out flowers they think I will like and it's fun to see what they choose (this year--marigolds, roses, and some purple bush that is actually growing and thriving, but whose name neither of us can remember) (Evan looked it up--they are blue plumbago!!!).  However, gardening in Texas has proven to be most frustrating.  First off, it's hot as hades and we're always under water restrictions. Secondly, the dirt in our yard sucks (oh, Illinois, how we desperately miss your fertile soil!).  So, it's a game of praying for rain and trying to remember to water enough to keep them alive, but not too much to spoil them as the temperatures keep climbing and it gets more and more dry. I did plant a few garden veggies and was able to eat a few things, but where I set the pots ended up being in too sunny of a spot and the bluejays who nest in our trees ate all my ding dong tomatoes (with me watching! cause they are jerks!!).

Nevertheless, we continue trying.  

Evan has found his signature plant since we moved to Texas, though--sunflowers!!!  He planted them the first year here and they grew!  Like crazy!  This year he planted two varieties in multiple spots in our yard and some of them got to 10 feet high!!!  

 Evan starts off planting seeds and the girls get all excited when they see them sprout. When they get taller than each girl, it is cause for celebration.

 Here are some of them in our garden bed in our back yard:

 This year, we had house finches come and chow down on the sunflower seeds.  I had never seen finches like this before, so I had to take pictures (shocking, I know).  I was inside the house and taking them through the blinds all sneaky and paparazzi like...

 but they totally saw me.

 How creepy is this guy?!  He is making eye contact with me:

The sunflowers have since died and Evan hatchet-ed them down (he rarely gets to use his hatchet...because why would he need it? He's a lawyer, not Davy Crockett).  Next year, besides the obvious sunflowers, we're going to actually check to see what is native to our area in Texas and plant things that will survive in these hellish conditions.

We're freaking geniuses, I tell you.

Swimming.

This past week, school started.  Many people on facebook have started talking about going apple picking, thinking about upcoming fall traditions they will be participating in soon, and grumping that the pools are already closed when, of course, the weather is smoking hot and perfect for swimming this last weekend of summer known as Labor Day Weekend.

What about us, you say? Well, thankfully the pools stay open longer here, because summer is not even close to being over. The highs this weekend over 100 degrees and I have already promised the girls a trip to our neighborhood pool this weekend.

 What's funny is, last year, we barely went swimming. Yes, I had an infant at the time, but when looking back, it wasn't just that Vivian was so little, it was a whole crop of reasons--Evan had started the JAG job from hell and worked obscene hours, Julia was in the middle of her constipation issues, and I was having some post partum depression issues.  It just wasn't on the radar. This year, though, we are taking advantage of having such a great pool on Ft Sam that is for residents. It's an awesome pool for us because it's zero depth, has spouts, is deep enough for some snorkeling and cannon ball jumping, and is 3 minutes from our house. It's rarely busy, too.

 See that swimming aide that Julia is sporting below?

 That thing is fabulous!! Julia has blossomed as a swimmer since we strapped it to her this year.  She's grown confident enough to float, swim underwater, jump in unassisted, and even try swimming WITHOUT the aide!  Plus, as she gets better, we can take off a layer as needed so that she is swimming more and more on her own.  I must publicly thank Kyle for recommending it, as she is our professional pool guru.

 I have only taken the kiddos to the pool solo for one very good reason: Vivian.  That child is crazy. She loves the water, but every now and then she'll get it into her head that she needs to climb out and run super fast to the deep end and try to jump in.

 I kid you not, I had a panicky drowning moment while chasing her because i was still IN the water and she was out, but she was trying to jump in to the 5'6" area and I COULDN'T TOUCH THE BOTTOM. So, I was trying to push her out of the water while trying to keep my head above.  I finally pushed her back hard enough that she fell backwards onto the pool deck and I hollered at Evan to come help me. (To be fair, he was helping Julia on the other end of the pool and couldn't see me...because he was doing handstands.  But, he rushed as soon as I hollered, so no worries.)  Vivian wasn't even phased, she thought I was roughhousing.  Crazy baby.  Anyhoo, as the summer has progressed, Vivian has gotten much better about listening, so going to the pool has been fun!

(Just for the record, Elisabeth spends 80% of her time underwater when we are at the pool, and is very hard to photograph the few minutes I have the camera out.  I am not deliberately neglecting to post pictures of her. Thank you.)

My Elisabeth

My Elisabeth is 10.

She wears exactly one shoe size smaller than me (she's a 7.5). She is in the last size of girls clothes. She is 4'8" and is always checking her height against my mom because she can't wait to be taller than her Memaw (who is maybe 5'1").

My Elisabeth has read all of The Hunger Game trilogy. She has her own little library in her room. She still asks me to read to her and wants to start reading The Chronicles of Narnia series with me.

My Elisabeth loves listening to fun., Coldplay, Taylor Swift, Maroon 5, Frank Sinatra, and The Beach Boys. She has such a sweet singing voice. One of my favorite things is singing along to the radio with her in the car.

My Elisabeth wants to be a teacher. And an author. She wants to go to Bradley University just like Evan did. She'll live with her Nina and Papa while she's in college and work at Nina's school with her.