Children's Church Prayer

We tried a new church on Sunday, and Daddy took Ryan and Abby to children's church. There was a large group of children and about six adults present. As Daddy was preparing to leave the leader asked if someone would like to lead the group in prayer. Nobody immediately volunteered, but after a small amount of time, Ryan raised his hand and said, "I will." Daddy was a little surprised he volunteered so eagerly when there were so many people and he didn't know any of them, so he stayed to listen to his prayer.

Dear God, thank You for this day. Thank You for sending Jesus to die on the cross to take away our sin. Thank You that we will live with You forever in heaven. Amen.

Needless to say, Daddy was very blessed this Sunday.

Building a Snowman

Ryan wanted to go outside again today and try to build a snowman. We rarely have snow that stays around for an extra day, so the kids are very excited that they got to go out and play in it again today. It snowed a bit more today, while we were outside playing even, and it was a much wetter snow. The temperature was a bit warmer too and beginning to melt our powdery snow. It worked out well for us because it became the perfect snow to build a snowman with! Ryan did a great job rolling the snowballs in the snow for the body and head. He's getting to be so big!

More and More Snow!

We woke up to an inch of snow this morning, and it continued to fall for five more hours! Ryan was dying to go out and play, but it was so cold (24 degrees) and a little windy that I put him off for a while in hopes it would warm up a bit. As of right now, it's still only 29 degrees outside, but Daddy came home early from work so I'm glad we waited so that we could all play together. Also, the wind had stopped blowing, so it didn't feel quite so cold this afternoon.



Now, that's what I call snow tires!

Ryan made his first snow angel, and then he couldn't decided what to do next. He played with his bulldozer and tried to have a snowball fight with Abby. Unfortunately, it was a very dry snow, and it didn't stick together very well. I tried to make a snowman but it just wasn't sticking together enough to fuss with it, so we just got out the sleds and slid down the driveway instead.

10 Commandments on DVD

Ryan memorized the 10 Commandments a while ago. We also have them printed, framed and hung at his level. But I have been trying to find other ways to teach him about God's laws so he will think about them applying to whatever he is doing. When we were at the library last month I ran across a set of DVDs that looked promising. I watched it to make sure it was Biblical and appropriate, and I was very pleased. They handled some touchy subjects well, and best of all, both kids love them! They are short animated stories, and Ryan has been wanting to watch them again and again. They are called Kids 10 Commandments or K10C, if anyone is interested.

Funny Word List

As Ryan was reading to me today he came to the word "peculiar." Usually when he comes to an unfamiliar word he will stumble over it a couple of times trying to figure it out, but as he came to this word he just matter of factly said puke-u-ler and just kept right on reading!

When I was a kid my family would make fun of me because I pronounced certain words in a funny way while reading them and it seemed as if they never forgot (in fact, I'd be willing to bet they could still come up with that list)! I think peculiar just became Ryan's first official word on his very own list. I was never deeply bothered by the teasing I got from it, though it did get monotonous at times. When I couldn't help laughing at his pronunciation today, he just laughed along with me. Hopefully, he will keep his ability to laugh at himself!

A New Year-A Fresh Start

I don't know who made the school year begin in September, but it doesn't work well for me. I suppose since I am homeschooling, I could do whatever I wanted and begin in January instead. But homeschooling seems to clash with enough in our society, so I've gone along with the September start. Actually, this was my first September start since Ryan is only in Kindergarten this year, but it didn't go well for me. We did much better back in April and all the way through the end of August.

Maybe it's because in September my mind turns to fall and then I start thinking about holiday errands and everything that needs to get done in the next four months, but whatever the reason, our school year started out a little sluggish. We did school like usual, but it lacked enthusiasm and commitment. We took three weeks off over Christmas, and now we're beginning again. Mentally, I already feel much more focused and ready to tackle the list of books and things I want Ryan to know before First Grade and Abby for Preschool (though her goals are much more loose).

Hopefully, the next eight months will make up for the last four. Even Ryan was excited and ready to get back to schooling this week! We're learning about calendars (seasons, months, days of the week, etc.), time, money, skip counting, and most importantly--how to tie shoes! We're finishing up level one reading books in our curriculum and beginning level two. Ryan's learning cursive and beginning to tackle some easy multiplication while he solidifies his subtraction and addition math facts.

I am surprised at how much I love homeschooling. Even in my lackluster period last year, I was so grateful for the blessing of being a stay-at-home mom and having the support of my husband so that I can keep my children at home with me for school!

Snowplowing

We had some snow today, and though it wasn't much, of course the kids were dying to go out and play in it. We bundled up and out we went. There was less than an inch, but they made the most of it. They plowed the whole patio and the kiddie table and just about anyplace they could find to plow. After about 45 minutes, our backyard was just a slushy mud puddle, so we went inside and the kids had a nice warm bubble bath. It's supposed to snow more today, but we're going to enjoy the rest of it from inside by the fire!

Tastes in Food

I fixed Prime Rib on New Year's Eve. Ryan LOVES it, but as I was dishing his up he said, "Mom, could you take off the pine needles for me. I don't like pine needles." LOL...I had rubbed it with rosemary.

Ryan's tastes in food continue to baffle me. He likes some things most kids wouldn't touch: Salmon, steak, green olives, shredded wheat, prime rib, clam strips, feta cheese, halibut, mustard, trout, swiss cheese.

Then he doesn't like things most kids beg for: Fruit Loops, caramel, American Cheese, Lucky Charms (actually, he doesn't like any "kid" cereal), butterscotch, ketchup, Pop Tarts, marshmallows, mashed potatoes, watermelon.

The Great Checkers Match

Ryan loves to play games, and he gets frustrated when we tell him he's not quite ready to play some of Mommy and Daddy's games (like Empire Builder, Settlers of Catan, Power Grid, etc.). However, Daddy is teaching Ryan to play checkers, and he's learning quickly and doing very well! Next Daddy will have to teach him chess, I guess...

Electricity!

This morning Ryan told me, "Either there's a light burned out on the Christmas tree or there's an open loop!" I smiled to myself because he thinks we took a break from homeschooling this week, but in fact he's been learning a lot and begging for more!


Playing with the motor and pinwheel attachment.
My dad gave Ryan an electricity kit, and the last several days we've been learning about open loops and switches and loads. Along with the leads, conductors, and things, it came with a small motor, a light bulb, an LED, and a buzzer. He read the whole book himself before we even opened the kit, and now we've done all the "experiments" in the book. So now we're on to the chemistry set...


Making the light bulb light up.
Another electrical side note: Last month I gave Ryan the exalted privilege of plugging and unplugging the vaccuum all by himself! He loves to vaccuum for me, and he's so responsible (as well as terrified of anything I say may hurt him) that I decided it was time to teach him how to correctly connect and disconnect plugs to outlets. He is thrilled and thinks he's so big!

Five Whole Months

Last week Ryan had his follow-up appointment with his eye surgeon. We expected a long appointment with drops to dilate his eyes (always a treat to watch Ryan freak while she puts the drops in) and testing for a new prescription, etc. However, we were pleasantly surprised to be in and out of there in about ten minutes' time! Dr. Goodman was tremendously pleased with how great his eyes look! She had originally planned to put him in a bifocal to help with upclose crossing, but after examining him she said it wasn't necessary because they look so great.

I had been looking at them myself and thinking they look almost "normal," but she usually sees things I don't. We were very happy to leave there with such a good report, and we don't have to patch or do anything until our next visit five months from now!

Also, Ed's work began providing vision coverage with their insurance beginning December 1st, so we bought Ryan a new pair of frames this month. He's grown out of his current ones, and his lenses are so scratched that it will be nice to get new ones next month when his benefits start all over for the new year. That worked out well for us having one month of coverage this year!

Pirate!

Ryan got one of his favorite books, How I Became a Pirate, and a pirate costume for Christmas from out-of-state family. He was too preoccupied by all his building things to want to put his costume on the first couple of days, but today as Abby was dressing up, he put his costume on too. There's just something so cute seeing kids dressed up!

I suggested that while they were playing, Ryan the Pirate could rescue Princess Belle from some danger, but he said all pirates are bad so he couldn't do that. Ha!

Busy Builder

Daddy helped Ryan put together his Lego truck on Christmas Eve because Ryan was so excited by it that he could hardly stand it! Daddy also put together Abby's easel, though it really wasn't too big of an ordeal.


Since then Daddy has had to go back to work, so I've been the builder. My "free" time has been spent helping build this kind of thing...



and this kind of thing...


Erector set swingset...very cute!
Actually, of all the things Ryan likes me to play with with him, building things are among my favorite. I don't do very well pretending to play with cars that talk or trains that crash, but following a plan and building things is pretty fun!

Ryan is getting better at following instructions, and he helped me tighten the screws and nuts on the Erector set as well as getting me the parts I needed, but it will be a year or so before he can put together something by himself with the Erector set, I think.

Christmas Day

We had a relaxing Christmas morning. We had opened most of the gifts the day before, so we all stayed in pajamas, played with new toys and enjoyed being together as a family. We ate cinnamon rolls for breakfast and then read the Christmas story from the Bible.


We surprised both kids by setting out their gifts from us after they went to bed Christmas Eve. They were excited to find out they had a few more presents to open along with their stockings Christmas Day.

Christmas Eve

Erector set from Granpa Fraser.
This year was by far the most excited I've seen Ryan about the tree, lights, and of course presents. We decided to open gifts on Christmas Eve this year since Daddy had to go back to work the day after Christmas. We don't have any family to spend the holiday with so we wanted to spend as much time enjoying our kids and playing with them as we could.


Lego truck from Cousin Alisha.
Ryan got lots of building type things this year, including a Lego long-haul truck from Cousin Alisha and an Erector set from Granpa Fraser. We could hardly get Ryan back to opening other presents after he opened the Lego truck! He was dying to put it together and play with it.


Books from Grandma and Granpa Garner.
Ryan had to adjust to Abigail being capable of opening her own presents this year! He had a hard time sitting back and watching her open them without jumping in to help.


Gramie gave Ryan this game, which was one
of several games we got this year.

Poor Baby

Daddy met us as McDonald's after work Wednesday. We were going to have one of our "date nights," and let the kids run and play at the PlayPlace. Just as we were setting our food on the table Ryan vomitted on the floor. Daddy tried to rush him to the bathroom only to have him empty the entire contents of his stomach all over the door, wall, and floor of the PlayPlace. Date night was over, and poor Ryan spent the next eight hours throwing up!



I think this is the first time we've had a sick child that required us to stay up all night. They've been sick and we've had to get up a time or two, but Ryan was getting sick every 45 minutes and needed us there to change sheets and jammies, etc. I finally went to bed at 2:30 which turned out to be the last time Ryan vomitted, but Daddy just stayed in bed with Ryan until almost 5:00am when Ryan finally told Daddy he could go back to his own bed.

He's feeling much better today though he's not eating much. I am hoping and praying no one else will get sick, especially for Christmas!

Sharing

Ryan and Abby were coloring today for a while, and I heard them talking about Tonka trucks. I went over to investigate, and Abby was upset because she didn't have a Tonka coloring book, so Ryan offered to share his. So side by side they colored several pictures.

Cinnamon Ornaments

The kids and I made some fun and fragrant Cinnamon Ornaments last week. The kids had fun rolling out the dough and picking out which cookie cutter they wanted to use. They were a little impatient waiting for the ornaments to dry, but they finally did and we hung them on the tree.

Feeding the Birds

Well, our bird friends apparently only feed off the ground and have been completely ignoring our wonderful pine cone feeders we made for them. So I took them off the tree, put one on a fence post and one on the ground in hopes that the birds would eat them there, and I was pleased to see them eating from them not long afterward. I hadn't told the kids I had done it, and when Ryan saw them on the ground, he came running to me all upset that someone had ruined our pine cone feeders! Fortunately, he was consoled when I explained that I was the culprit and why I had done it.

Christmas Ships

Since we live a few blocks from the Columbia River, we have some fun opportunities to see unusual things. For instance, tonight was the annual Christmas Ships parade. Every Christmas two fleets of ships decorate their ships and follow a parade route along the Oregon side of the river and then come back along the Washington side of the river.


We bundled the kids up, made some hot chocolate, threw blankets and chairs in the van and headed for Pixie Park. There were plenty of people there with us, but we got good seats. We sipped our hot drinks and waited for the ships to arrive. We had to wait almost an hour, but at last they arrived. Some of the ships went all out!


I know these pictures aren't the best, but it will give you an idea of what they looked like. Ryan's favorite was the fire engine...it was complete with siren and flashing lights!