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During school time today, I saw Arianna writing her 'name' on the white board and I said, "Arianna, that's not how you write your name"!  To which she responded, "I'm writing it in alphabetical order".  She never ceases to amaze me.

Back in the Swing of Things

We've started up again!  I started this post 3 weeks ago and am just now getting around to finishing it!  This year, I have Arianna in Kindergarten and Emma in 2nd grade and of course, Grant in preschool and baby Kate along for kicks.  It really doesn't seem like Arianna is only in Kindergarten, she has been doing this right along with Emma and me for so long.  This time around, the decision to keep on homeschooling was a difficult one.  About a week and a half before school was slated to start, we had a string of bad days together and I about had a meltdown.  Okay, I really did have a meltdown.  The children were misbehaving, heck, I was misbehaving!  I was getting so upset with them for not listening and for whining and fighting and arguing.  I thought to myself, how can I possibly handle homeschooling with this mess of children- and a baby besides.  So, I started looking into enrolling them in public school and got the paperwork I needed and. . .I felt miserable.  I prayed a lot, thought a lot, and really pondered what I should do.  Then, one morning, I woke up and felt so inspired and happy.  I had a stream of ideas, thoughts, quotes, and scriptures pouring into my head; ideas to help me be able to homeschool successfully.  It was an incredible experience.  The stream of ideas kept coming, so I even took time out of my morning to record them so I wouldn't forget the things I had thought and felt.  I was excited to make plans and preparations for a new year.  So, I did some research, ordered books, talked to veteran homeschoolers and Wednesday, August 21, we had our first day.  The morning went well, at least.  It went down hill from there.  By lunch time both Emma and I had been in tears and I wanted to run away and hide.  Lovely.  On top of it all I wasn't feeling great.  Fortunately for us all, the next day went much better.  Since then we will have a really great day, and a bad day.  And so it goes.  Vicissitudes.  That's what it's all about.
The good days have been marvelous.  There are so many times when I think to myself, I really love this.  I am so thankful for my beautiful children and the joy they bring to me.  I am trying to be patient when they are having bad days.  I am also thankful for a loving Father in Heaven who is patient with me when I have bad days.  I want to be more like Him- always patient, always wise and loving. 

Here are some of our adventures so far as we learn together:

The First Day of School pictures:

Our 4 sweetie pies

Grant's photo shoot- he is such a funny guy!

Arianna- the Kindergartener

Funny pose- taking after Uncle Glen- she saw him do this last time we were with him.

Emma is in 2nd Grade this year.

Emma's pose. She picked her outfit especially for the first day of school.

The 'teacher' and her students

Daddy with the munchkins

So, we did a few things to spruce up the school room (which is in the basement) the night before the first day of school and this is the big reveal:

Excited about the big decorative poof balls

Grant checking out the alphabet.  I also added pictures of interesting places around the world as a border to our world map on the far wall.

Grant likes the poof balls, too.  The calendar is up, as well.

The kids were so excited!  In addition to the regular school subjects, we do all kinds of random stuff around here.  Here are some of the other pictures from our first few weeks of school:

Learning to dance the polka!   We are still reading the Little House on the Prairie series and in one of the books they danced the polka, so I pulled up some polka music on Pandora (Grant is holding the phone, the source of the music) and taught them a dance step or two!  Not sure what Arianna is doing- I did NOT teach her that move!

Working in the garden- picking the green beans

Preparing the green beans for dinner

Teaching Kate to empty the dishwasher!  This was so cute!  She actually took out all the plastic plates on the lower level and handed them to the kids!

 Lately, the children have discovered that the chickens will not run away and that they can have them out in the yard to play!  Oh are they ever loving it!  They are out there several times a day 'playing with the chickens!'

Grant the crazy pirate with his chicken (He still has to wear the patch 2 hours/day.  My sister made him a fabric one and he is really preferring it to the adhesive ones we have used up to this point.)

Emma loving Blackie.

Arianna loving the chicken (I am not so sure how the CHICKENS, on the other hand, are loving all this attention!)

Grant and the chickens

The girls with the 2 Americanas

I looked out the window to this the other afternoon.  "Kids!!  The chickens CANNOT be on the trampoline!!!" (Or course, I had to run out there with the camera while I said it!)  Oh my goodness!

 Well, there you have the beginning of our school year.  As you can see, they are getting a pretty well-rounded education- from polka to raising chickens! Ha Ha.
We pretty much work around Kate's nap schedule.  We have our math, literature and language in the morning during her first nap.  In the afternoon, during her second nap, we do history, science, or art, depending on the day.  I must say, I look forward to "doing school" with them each day.  I guess the kids are too- the day before Labor Day we told the kids that Dad didn't have to go to work and asked them what they would like to do together.  They said, "school"!  We said, "Well, we can do a short school day". To which they replied, "No!  The whole day"!  I have had to make some changes in my schedule.  I wake up in the 5 o' clock hour to exercise and shower before the start of the day.  I used to exercise during Kate's first nap, but I must use that time now for school.  It has been a sacrifice for me, but I know this is important.  (Kate is trying to foil my plans many days by waking up at 5:30- we're working on getting her on board with the whole routine!)

Night Owl

Here is my little man taking a nap at 6:15 am in the chair in my room.  He was up at 2 am trying to get dressed for the day and never went back to sleep until around 6.  Unfortunately, he only slept til 6:45 or so.  He woke me several times in that span- trying to get dressed again, playing with the Magna Tiles.  Finally, I turned the light on in his room and told him to read books until he fell asleep again.  That didn't work, either.  Not cool.  Funny thing is, we've been having trouble with Grant being happy and cooperative.  Today?  He was happier than he has been for a long while.  Go figure.  

My First Piggy

I was doing the older girls' hair this morning and they insisted that Kate get her hair done, too.  So, she got her first piggy today!  She looks so grown up for just 7 months old!  She seems especially grown up to me because she is moving so much and is so busy and curious!  I love, love, love this lady!

Happy Fourth Birthday, Grant!

Our little man turned four years old!  Wow.  Where does the time go!  I feel like I say that more and more the older my children get.  We had a great day.  It started with a breakfast of breakfast burritos and the famed Birthday Caterpillar, both at Grant's request.  He opened a couple of gifts in the morning.
Then Kenneth and I had to get moving to get ready for Grant's party.  We had a few families over for lunch to celebrate.  Kenneth barbecued chicken, Larchar style, and we had a pinata, tug-of-war, and fun on the slip 'n' slide and in the kiddie pool.  It was a pretty good day- even if it was 99 degrees out!!

Here is his Birthday Interview:

How old are you today?  Four

Do you have a nick name?   Grant ___ Larchar (we didn't want to put his full name out there)
What?! That's not your nickname.  What's your nickname? I have three names...Grant ____ Larchar
Mom: What do we call you for fun: Sweetie

What is your favorite animal? Buffalo...no actually horse, a bucking horse...You have to ask what's my favorite tractor, Dad
Dad: What's your favorite tractor? A mower...a lawn mower.  That's my favorite tractor, Dad.

What is your favorite color? Green and blue and red...that's all my favorite colors

What is your favorite treat? Ummmm lollypop...they're in my pinata right over there.
What is your favorite food?  Cold cereal

What is your favorite song? I am a Child of God

What is your favorite movie or show?   Lightning McQueen and my favorite movie...what's a fun movie Dad?
Dad: Turbo?  Yeah, that's my favorite.
Who is your best friend?  Isaac - my cousin

What is your favorite book?  I don't know..A fun book ...
Dad: Like the Doctor Seuss books? yeah that's my favorite

What do you want to be when you grow up?  Construction truck worker

Who loves you the most?  Isaac

What is your favorite thing to do? Play with the remote controlled plane - the air blaster.

Where is your favorite place to go?  Park

What is your favorite toy? Remote controlled airplane, the air blaster

What is your favorite time of the day?  Going outside ...feeding the chickens  That's all I'm doing - now it is time to open the presents
Why?  Because it is...now I'm done.  I'm not taking any more.

What have you learned today?  Birthday

Grant, is there anything you would like to say on your Birthday?  Happy Birthday!!

Here are the pictures of the day:

The Birthday Breakfast.  Grant was so excited when the caterpillar entered the room!

Here he is with the Birthday Caterpillar

Here he is opening his first gift, 'A Things that Go' sticker book.  So excited!

Opening his Birthday card from Grandma Pilz- he knew there would be $4 inside.  Can you tell he is very pleased!

Hmmm. . .what can I buy with this?  Whaddaya think Arianna?

 

Opening his next gift- a building set from Mom and Dad.

Kenneth did a great job barbecuing the chicken- it was delicious!

Enjoying lunch- I love the age range of the kids on this blanket- so cool.

This week we prepared the pinata.  I asked Grant what picture he wanted me to draw so he could color it to put on the pinata.  He said,  "a crow; a blackbird".  I said, "What about a tractor? Or Turbo?"  "No, a Crow."  I thought it was a little weird, but hey, it's HIS Birthday!

the pinata

The Birthday boy taking a whack at the pinata.

He even got to make the final blow!

Kenneth tossed the candy up in the air and they were off!

Attack!

After the pinata they had an impromptu game of tug-of-war.

I did it again.  I just can't make a regular cake for my children.  I have to do something funky.  But, this time it turned out great!  I saw a recipe for a scrumptious cake which just happened to be gluten free.  So, I made it.  (We did have a gluten-free guest, so it was nice for her!)  It was delicious and you'd never guess that the secret ingredient was cooked quinoa!  When Kenneth found out how I was decorating the cake, he was not okay with it.  He told me it was a girl cake.  To quote him..."Enough with all this girl stuff - Just because the boys are out numbered doesn't mean we need to continue the 'froufrou' girly crap all year." So, he and I stayed up til 11:30 pm making a cake set-up for a real boy.  Wait til you see what Kenneth came up with!!!

I made the cake the day before and Grant helped lick the whisk from the frosting.

Happy boy!

The cake.

The unveiling. (The cake is under the barn)

The excitement!

The awe!  Grant's expressions were hilarious.  It was back and forth between 'where is the cake? and the excitement of new tractors.  Is that barn mine!?...I thought we were having cake?...Look at those cool tractors!...I'm going to drive over all the girl dolls with them!...are we having cake?

I think it was a hit!!!  The other little boys at the party wanted those tractors and that barn, let me tell you!!!

Make a wish!  My poor sweaty boy!  I told you it was hot!  If you look closely, you can see that all my chocolate garnishes are melted. =( 

Grant loved his cake- he even had seconds.  Shhhh. . .don't tell him there's quinoa in it!

While Grant wanted to be inside all afternoon after the party playing with his tractors, the girls stayed outside all afternoon!  They were loving the pool and sprinklers.

For his Birthday dinner, Grant chose corn-on-the-cob and kettle corn.  Funny guy.

We had a wonderful day.  I hope he will remember it for years to come!