Our first unit study is finished!

We just wrapped up our Home and Family unit study. I can't believe this month has already passed and I'm just so excited about what we have ALL learned in this first month of "school".

Kids:

Topical Learning:
- Relationship between Mommy/Daddy, Child/Parents, Parents/Grandparents, Child/Child, etc.
- Other familial relationships
- We have another brother who's coming very soon!
- Jesus is God's Son. We can be children of God through believing in Jesus.
- Our address
- Details about our home
- Our heart is Jesus' home when we believe in Him
- Being good stewards of our home and things
- We need to be thankful and kind to our neighbors

Practical Learning:
- Sitting and listening
- Cutting (greatly improved Mal's Fine Motor Skills!)
- Gluing
- Following a pattern/instruction
- Following a schedule
- Creating art

Me (and Patrick)
- Patience!
- Schedules cannot always be adhered to, but are very, very useful
- Little things can make a BIG difference
- Persistence is key

There are definitely more things I can add to this list!!! This week, we're going over the days of the week, calendars, seasons, etc. in preparation in talking about our unit study in October of Fall and Harvest. We'll have lots of hands on activities this month, like looking at apples and pumpkins, disecting both, how things grow, how leaves change, etc. I'd like to do more nature stuff, but we'll see how much my overly-large-and-pregnant self can take. We're all having a great time and I'm thankful that God has given me the desire to do this...and Patrick the desire to support me and be interested in what we're doing. There's little else more beautful than watching the mind of a child learn.

Pictures from September:

From the Mouths of Babes

A few recent discussions with Mallory:

Scene: After talking about that Jesus lives in our hearts when we believe in him...

Mommy: So Mallory, can you tell me where Jesus lives?
Mallory: In North Carolina.

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Scene: Mommy is fixing her own hair in the bathroom when Mallory walks in holding her belly.

Mallory (in a very pitiful voice): Does your tummy hurt?
Mommy: Oh, your tummy hurts? How does it hurt, sweetheart?
Mallory: There's a baby in there. He needs to come out.

Soccer!

For the last several weeks, we've enjoyed watching Mallory play stand on the soccer fields in her first-ever team sport adventure. We have her in a 3-5 year-old league through the city and for $20, she gets to play soccer twice a week for about 10 weeks. We have mainly 3 year-olds on our team and Mallory is definitely the littlest one out there. Some of the kids are really good, even at this young age, and some are VERY uninterested. Mallory falls to the latter end of the spectrum, though she at least stands on the field. Whether she chases the ball is another story.

It's been a lot of fun to head out there and watch her on the fields. Though she gets distracted VERY easily, she will sometimes run with the crowd after a ball and at one point, she actually dribbled it for a few feet before the other team stole the ball from her. You would have though she scored a goal the way I reacted!!! We're very proud of her stepping out of her comfort zone of letters and numbers and trying her hand...er, feet I should say...on the soccer fields. Her season lasts through the end of October, but I think we *may* have to stop a little early due to her little brother's arrival, which is expected about that time. :-)

Remembering Grandma...

It's hard to believe it's been a year since my grandma died. My mom is en route to FL to visit my grandpa today, who is recovering from having surgery a week ago to remove colon cancer. Grandpa's been a fighter and I'm glad this cancer was caught early enough to be removed. I know he'll enjoy seeing mom, especially today.

Last year's trip down to FL was such a whirlwind for me...and Ethan...and I'm so glad I was able to go. I have bitter sweet memories...I wish I could have seen her one more time, but I'm glad I was able to be at the funeral, surrounded by my family.

Recap here, here, here, and here.

Labor on Labor Day

I know, I know...silly pun, but I didn't come up with it. Here is a meme that I thought would be fun to do...in anticipation of my upcoming L&D.

How long were your labors?
Kid #1 - 13 hours
Kid #2 - 6 hours

How did you know you were in labor?
Kid #1 - contractions
Kid #2 - my water broke


Where did you deliver?
Kid #1 - Presbyterian Hospital (the Taj Mahal of hospitals) in Charlotte, NC
Kid #2 - Johnson City Medical Center in Johnson City, TN

Drugs?
Kid #1 - Not during labor
Kid #2 - Not during labor

No epi for me...I'm actually scared of them. I'm afraid that I'll be one of the moms that has something wrong with the epi and cause long-term damage. Labor hurts like, well...hurts like hell, but there is an end to the torture. I did have some nice narco as my tearing was being repaired...for both children. I'm hoping for no tearing and, therefore, no drugs at all during this next labor. The nurse at the Med center (for E's birth) loved that I had a "natural" labor, since she said that 98% of the births were "assisted" by drugs. I'm glad that SOMEONE "loved" my labor...

C-section?
Nope. And I hope I don't ever experience one.

Who delivered?
Doctors both times. I was disappointed with my Dr. in Charlotte. No referrals to that practice. My Dr. here in JC is AWESOME!!! I'm one of his "private patients", which means that he'll deliver my baby no matter if he's on call or not. He was a resident at E's delivery and now is an "official" OB/GYN. He's the best Dr. a girl could ask for. Seriously. Love him. Would recommend him to anyone. I loved that he had the audacity to joke with me while I was in labor - he lightened up the mood pretty well. He's so laid back yet encouraging. He's my fave.

Some preschool stuff.

I've really enjoyed doing some preschool work with the kids. It's really not that hard; it just takes a little forthought and planning. My plan is to do preschool 3 days a week and the other 2 are meant for errands, storytime (at library...or Barnes and Noble if the library doesn't start up soon!), and dr appts. So far, we've had 2 days and the kids really liked having my undivided attention, more than anything, I think.

I've broken our "schooling" into 3, 20-30 minute timeframes. The first is a lesson/book time, where we'll talk about things that we're learning and read stories to reiterate my point. Next is a video (30 minutes) and then we do a project that incorporates math, phonics that supports what we've learned. If I can, I'll add some FMS (fine motor skills) activities in the project to help Mallory, who I think has weak FMS. She's already greatly improved in cutting in the two days we've worked on it! The last 30 minutes will be a craft/activity that is more fun than anything...and doesn't require my assistance, like coloring, stickers, puzzles, additional FMS work, etc. The first day, our project lasted an hour, but the kids sat there and were GREAT! I was very impressed!

The first day, we read Col. 3:20 (one of our Sept theme verses), talked about who their parents are (mommy/daddy, mother/father, full names, etc) and that God called parents to be an authority over them. We read books about mommies and daddies. Our project included cutting, gluing, counting, color sorting, and reading. They also matched activities that mommy/daddy do to the appropriate role (Daddy - office, tractor, plays, bible, etc; Mommy - cooks, laundry, play, pray, etc). The second day, we read Col 3:20 again, talked about who children were (Mallory/Ethan, son/daughter, child/children, brother/sister) and that God called children to obey mommy and daddy in order to please Jesus. We read books about children and brothers/sisters. Our project was similar to day #1, but included matching roles to the appropriate child (Mallory - girl, sister, daughter, child, obey; Ethan - boy, brother, son, child, obey). Their projects are on our pantry door (for now) and they both look at them often and talk about what they've learned.

We're also reading out loud at the breakfast table each morning. After I read, I ask them what they hear (without prompting them to the WHAT) and it's so cool for me to hear what they glean. I'm reading each book/reading at least 2 days in a row. So far, we've read "The Little Engine that Could" and the Westminster Shorter Catechism for Children (Questions 1-20).

Anyway, that's a brief summary. We take Wed and Thurs off and start again on Fri. We'll be learning about the baby in mommy's belly, looking at ultrasound pics, and creating finger-paint art to hang in his room. Should be fun!

Pics: