conrad jay - week 38

Conrad and I have been getting up early to exercise!  Isn't he cute?  Ok, that's only true about one of us!  And thankfully, it's not Conrad!

This week felt like we were getting back into a good groove with school.  Those first few weeks after Christmas break it was hard for all of us to stop what we were doing and begin school.  I like it much better this way.  When everyone knows it is coming and is excited about it.

Our school is still pretty laid back.  We sing, pray, read the Bible and do some memory work on the couch.  Then we head to our school table for a math game, handwriting, reading and an extra (social studies, art, poetry, geography, nature study).

The boys really liked Crazy 8s this week.  The luck was not with Amos, but he kept losing graciously.  If our games have taught him nothing else, the practice has helped him become and better loser and winner!  No more tears...most of the time.

This little boy is reading like no ones business!  It's fun for so many reasons.  He reads to us.  He reads to his brothers.  He reads to entertain himself.  He reads and learns stuff and then comes and tells me!  I love it.  I'm working through the 100 Easy lessons with Silas now.  It's so funny how differently the two boys go about learning.  Amos wanted to read it all perfectly the first time and got upset it he didn't.  I had to coax him into it.  Silas loves doing the lessons.  If he messes up a word, he just laughs and laughs.  And when he gets one right, he's always so surprised!  He's got such a good attitude about it, he'll be reading yet!

These three share a room.  They all have their own bed, but by "wake-up" time, they normally look more like this!  And "this" is why they share a room!

Ivan's two year old side has made quite the appearance these last two weeks.  His favorite response is NO!  And at the top of his lungs!  Oh boy!  And then other times, he finishes all his sentences with "thank you, Mama" "no, thank you, Mama"!  We will survive!

This guy has been a little cranky this week.  BUT, I do believe he's about to have some teeth AND he finally wants to crawl.  The frustration of wanting to go somewhere and no way to do it!   

Why didn't I start this sooner?  Before, the boys have casually helped me with the dishwasher.  I've now given them just a little more training and they completely unload it!!! Intentional laziness!!  

And Ivan covers the silverware!  Notice the drawer.  We may need a little more training with this one.

Toward the end of the week, we got to spend a lot of time with friends.  We had a play date on Thursday.  I had a Mom's night out on Friday night and then we went to our friend Scout's birthday on Saturday!  It was a Lego Birthday and couldn't be anymore up our alley!

Last night, right after Jason got home, we hit the trails for a quick walk before dinner!  This weather!  Unbelievable!

conrad jay - week 37

Conrad wasn't too sure about the heights of the rope bridge at the Amazeum!  Maybe next time, Conrad!

Captain Hook made another appearance in our house this week!  With that beard, he really pulls the whole look off!  These boys love to play!

A little post-bathtime, pre-bedtime fun with Dad's camera!  We do not have a good bath routine at our house.  It's pretty random and squeezed in when we find the time.  I console myself with the fact that it's winter and a little dirt is good for them.  That's a proven fact.

Most of our days consist of building something. Thanks to our generous family, we have lots of new things we can build!

Silas surprised me with a story he wrote during rest time!  He cracked up when he told me it was about a boy who peed in his pants.  Oh, potty humor.

Graham crackers have become one of Conrad's new favorite things.  He does a good job at eating most things I offer him.  He's taking to table food so well.  Bring on the messy baby face.

Ivan's always happy with a snack in one hand and milk in the other.  After his nap, he likes to play a new game where I have to come and find him before he'll come out of his bedroom.  I'm always welcomed with a huge smile.

Nice weather brought us all outside!  Here's our attempt at a selfie on the hammock.  

Our main event happened this weekend.  We met up with some friends at the Amazeum in Rogers, AR.  We've only heard great things about it, so we were thrilled to get to experience it ourselves!

The whole place was full of open-ended fun!  From climbing, to water play to dress up and make believe!  And it was perfectly suited for our kids' ages.

The even had a nice place for Conrad and me to hang out for a while.  He was ready to take a break from the stroller.

From our spot, we spied some high climbers!

We brought a picnic lunch and explored outside!  The weather stayed nice for the whole visit.

conrad jay - week 36

Conrad is trying his legs out on the ice!! haha!

Our sweet baby is getting a little more daring, but the only movement that's happening is while he's on his back and he doesn't accomplish very much that way.  I thought about what it would be like IF he were moving, and have decided he can take as long as he would like.  He doesn't need any help from me!

He's eating a lot more table food!  Bring on the mess.  He may be my most proficient table food eater.  He does such a good job "chewing' despite the fact that he doesn't have any teeth.  

Due to an overlook of the Joplin calendar, Jason found out that he was getting Monday (MLK Jr Day) off and with Friday being cancelled, we had Jason home with us 4 of the last 7 days.  An unexpected break has a different feel than one anticipated.

How crazy to think that the beginning of the week was warm enough even for this guy to be outside!  And did he love it?  Yes!  He kept squirming off the blanket to get some good clean dirt in his hands.  Only toward the end did he start to try to eat it!

Jason came home Thursday already knowing that he didn't have school on Friday.  He took the three older boys to a Joplin wresting match and left me home with a sleeping Conrad!  Ivan told me not to be too sad, and I thought that I would be able to find something to do with me time.  haha!

The early start to the weekend brought lots of playing with legos!  These boys could barely tear themselves away!

Saturday brought a little bit of actual ice, but Jason didn't let that stop him from getting out for a brisk run!  We love that the Ruby Jack is so close to our house.

Sunday was spent very casually!  And we kept saying, "You have tomorrow off too!"  

The boys are always asking for a cup of their own coffee when they see Jason making ours.  On Monday, he gave in and poured them each their own.  He then added a bunch of sugar and milk.  They loved it.

We'd been trying to fit a drive into our four day weekend.  Monday was the day.  Jason packed the boys' lunch.  We stopped at Sonic for a treat and hit the road.  Jason had the drive all mapped out.  We ended at the Joplin library.

Now begins another week.  It'll be good, even without the four day weekend!

conrad jay - week 35

Conrad started clapping his hands this week.  He loves when I sing to him and tries to join along.  

We started our co-op this week!  It was actually our first day back to real life after the holiday break.  It was a busy morning, so this is the only picture I managed to snap, but things went really, really well.  I was surprised and pleased with how smooth things went.  At this point, we are only meeting once a month for a formal meeting and then doing one field trip together!  Everyone has pretty young kids and we're all trying to figure out this homeschooling thing.  It should be fun to do it together.

We broke out a new Christmas present this week! After reading a book about microscopes, Amos and Silas were super excited to try out our new microscope!  Jason and I were blown away too!

This little one is still not crawling, but he's definitely starting to show interest.  This is his new move.  Normally he ends up on stomach and then on his back.  He is my back lover.  Don't put me on my stomach!

His stableness graduated him to big boy bath tub!  Ivan proved to be the most excited about the whole thing.

We were glad our first week back to normal was a short one.  Our "school" time consisted of reading on the couch together!

And then on Saturday, we headed to Grammy and Gramps once again to see Uncle Joe and Shaylynn.  The table was full and the laughter was contagious!

We played all the games and ate all the food!

The two are A-DORABLE!

Double time!

Watch ya mouth!  Everybody had to try it out!

And then there was a birthday celebration too!  Somebody turned 30!

I spent most of my actual birthday back in my bedroom making my way through my pile of books!  It was glorious!

Monday brought 50 degree weather and a hike on the Ruby Jack!!  We've got to take what we can in January!  Spring is still a ways off.