1st Grade Boy Madness!

Recently, Josiah attended Cole & Reed's 7th birthday party. Cole and Reed live nearby and are fraternal twins and they also go to our church. Their mom had 24 (yes, you read correctly) 24 first grade boys over to her house for a big Lego Star Wars birthday party! All the kids came home on the bus with Cole and Reed (they are both in different classes at school) and they all piled in with all their snow paraphernalia and backpacks, which got dumped just inside the back door. It was quite a pile of stuff!

I stayed to assist Libby (Cole & Reed's brave Mom) and helped to be a referee amongst the sword fighting and rough boy play. I wished my camera hadn't died, or I would have had more picture to share, but this one sums up the energy and excitement that most certainly was hard to contain at the party!

After arriving, they all promptly found all the swords and sword-like items in the house and began dueling in the living room and then proceeded to the sweets table and loaded up on all sorts of Star Wars treats including chocolate dipped pretzel light sabers (in a stunning red and green), Death Stars (a large Whopper type candy), Star Wars characters cookies, chocolate covered Ewoks (gummy bears), Yoda Soda (sprite), Vader-ade (Root beer) and eventually some decked out cupcakes as well. I was helping with the drinks and would say, "Do you want Yoda Soda or Vader-ade?" and most of them looked at me really puzzled until I said, "Sprite or Root beer?"

It was little boy heaven there for sure! At one point, a group of boys (Josiah in the mix) ran up the stairs counting down from 10 and apparently when they got to zero a bomb went off downstairs! Good thing they got upstairs fast!

Another funny moment was trying to find everyone's boots and stuff to go outside and play in the snow. One little guy was like, "I can't find my snow pants....they are black." I am looking around and I say, "Well most all of the pants are black." Then another kept coming over to tell me he couldn't find his boots. Well it turns out that he didn't wear his boots there at all, so that would explain it! His Dad put on his shoes when he got there and I had to chuckle to myself about that one.

And I did not leave the party without a significant 1st grade boy party war wound! As I said, I was helping with all the snow gear and was trying to put all the gloves in one area, pants in another, etc. and I leaned down to grab a glove and WHAM-O...a little boy seeing his mom or dad stood up right underneath me and his head made contact with my glasses which went right into my upper left eye and eyebrow! I was seeing stars there for a minute and starting crying (ack!) 'cause it hurt so bad. The poor little guy felt bad and through tears I said, "It's OK, it was an accident, I will be fine." Nikki (a college gal that lives there too) got me an ice pack to hold on my eye for a bit and then I was OK. I did have a nasty bruise though afterward!

Anyway, it was a joy to see all the boys having fun and especially seeing Josiah have a blast too! Thanks to Libby for the fun party and for inviting Josiah!

A Day in the Life

We are really getting into a groove with homeschooling now and Josiah is doing really wonderfully! He is in 2nd grade math (around lesson 46--160 lessons to complete) and he is finishing up 1st grade in the other subjects (should be done in March sometime I think) and I have seen lots of progress in both his academic work and his behavior. We still have some battles about school here and there, but for the most part, it is smooth sailing now (of which I am VERY thankful!) He is making a card here for his friends' birthday party. He wanted to sign his name in cursive and you can see he is working hard here by the drawn mouth.

Daniel is being a tattle tale here to tell me that Caleb is feeding a cracker to his panda bear (a fact that I was well aware of). You can see his workbook in the background. He is just DYING to start school and begs me to do his workbook most every day! I got him this BrainQuest Kindergarten book and he is just whipping through it. He can write almost all his letters (without me really officially teaching them) and numbers and takes such delight in doing the pages. I am working with him though on finishing what he begins, as sometimes he will start a page and want to just move on if he doesn't want to do it. I have been insisting that he finishes before he goes on as I want him to get in the habit of doing this. I know it will pay off later!

And here is the proof that Caleb was indeed feeding a cracker to his panda bear, as he wanted to be like Miss Naomi who was feeding her dolly. Caleb also is doing a BrainQuest workbook, but I got him the Pre-K one as he isn't quite as interested in academic stuff right now. I am not pushing him to do the pages, but let him choose which page he wants to do. I also insist though that he finishes the pages he chooses though and help him when he is struggling, but he too is also doing very well with his workbook. I have seen a growing interest in him to want to do his workbook and that was the idea with this, to work on his attention span and help him see how fun it can be. I did the same thing with Josiah at first and I found it was very helpful in getting him ready for Kindergarten. There is a certificate in the back of the book and stickers and when they complete a chapter, they get to put a sicker on the certificate. Caleb has completed 3 chapters already!

I came into the kitchen to find that Naomi's dolly was having a soup feast! She also wanted some tomato sauce apparently too! I had to laugh and then seeing the food reminded me it was snack time, and so put Naomi in her chair and let her have her snack with dolly.

Naomi's first idea was to force feed little dolly, but dolly didn't like that too much and so Naomi had to find other ways to get dolly to eat.

Dolly got a nose-ful of cracker too before Naomi finally decided that perhaps the mouth was the best place for a cracker. She was so funny though and I just laughed and laughed watching her play and eat. While we do school, Naomi usually sits in my lap and colors all over the lesson manuals. I am sure she feels important that she is "doing school" too. Thankfully, she doesn't disrupt the learning too much and just is content to play with the crayons and scribble.

New Clothes from Grandma

Grandma send a whole bunch of new clothes for Miss Naomi and some for the brothers too. You can see here her ruby red slippers that she absolutely LOVES! When I get her dressed, she always looks up at her shoe collection on the dresser and says, "Shooo???" and "Other Shoo???" when we put them on.

One time, I had to put her down in her boots (new at the time) because she DID NOT want to take them off for her nap. Daddy came in there ('cause she wasn't sleeping and making noise) and saw the boots and thought they were causing her to wake up (by catching on the blankets) and so he took them off. Soon afterward, I hear this howling from her room, and not knowing what David did, I went down there and she hollered at me when I came in, "Daddy....BOOO, Daddy.....BOOOO!!" This of course is translated too, "How DARE Daddy take off my precious boots!!" I said, "Did Daddy take your boots off?" And she said in tears, "Yeah!" So I put them back on her and she was quiet afterward and went to sleep. A girl has to have her accessories don't you know!!

Naomi is giving her silly smile face here again. She does this whenever I say, "Smile for the camera!"

Daniel and Caleb just got some shirts this time, but they didn't complain and promptly put them on. Daniel was sporting his whining face here (can't remember why now) and Caleb was oblivious to the whole scene and was making maraca music for us all to enjoy.

I love the fact that they nearly have the same expression here. One might actually think they are twins in this photo!

Daniel decided that in order to smile he needed to say, "Cheesy Robot," and Caleb thought that was a good idea as you can see. Josiah got some new clothes too, but he wouldn't pose for me. I will catch him in them some other time.

Snow Storm #2

We had been hearing from our western Washington friends for some time about the "snow-pacolypse" as it was called that they were having over there and finally we got to see some of that snow also. It snowed pretty much all day from morning until evening on the 19th, but on the 18th (as you can see) we also got quite a lot then as well. Naomi was more excited the 2nd time to be out in the snow and I am quite sure she was very warm and dry, so I am sure that had something to do with it!

Daniel is making a funny face here. I had to stand underneath the deck so that the snow didn't fall on the camera too much. I also took some video of them pulling each other in the sled, but haven't uploaded that yet (but will likely do so on our youtube site soon).

Caleb was "pleased as punch" to be out in the snow and his big grin shows it!

Josiah was trying to throw snow at me in this picture, but the snow was so powdery, it was a failed attempt! We tried to make a snowman too, but it was just not wet enough to make anything. We got the sleds out though and I pulled them around in them for a bit. Josiah also pulled Naomi around a little bit and as the snow piled into the front of the sled, she would brush it out just as quickly. She really enjoyed riding around in the snow though and when she sees it outside she says, "No??? No??" We try to tell her it is "ssss---now," but she won't say the "s" with it just yet. Josiah also thought it was fun to make "backwards snow angels." This is where you lay on your tummy and do a snow angel. He remarked, "This snow angel will have no head."

Daisy Afghan

At our church, we have a "secret sister" thing going on and for my secret sister, I made this afghan. I was going to wait to give it to her at the end of the year, but I finished it early and thought it would be of more use during this cold, winter season!

She apparently likes "Gerber daisies," which are the daisies that are many different colors, so I picked this design because of that. I am hoping she likes the colors. It was a fun afghan to do and didn't really take that long to make. I just did a line or two while David and I watched shows together at night and before I knew it, it was finished! I started around Thanksgiving and finished on Jan. 15th.

Twin Kings

At Awana, the boys learned about King Josiah from the Bible and they made crowns as the craft. The next day they posed for me to show me their handiwork.

Daniel is giving me a big cheesy smile here and Naomi is showing her silly smile face! She squints her eyes and usually makes a funny facial expression of some sort also.

More Christmas Fun

Since we were all sick to some varying degree on Christmas day, we did not get to attend the church service that they had that morning, so Naomi had to wait another week to wear this cute little dress. We have determined she looks very much like Cindy Lou Who from "The Grinch Who Stole Christmas." This outfit seals the deal for sure!

Mommy posed with Miss Cindy Lou here as well.

Daniel paused briefly while he was playing with Woody on Christmas day and it was too cute not to post.

Caleb had just about as much fun with Naomi's toys as she did! He played tea party with her and here is serving her some cakes to go with her tea.

Princess Naomi is sitting in her new chair with her tiara and Caleb is bringing her some cakes to go with her tea. I am glad I got a shot of the tiara as it broke pretty much the same day. It came with a little skirt and some play shoes in the princess castle toy.

Christmas Day--Part 1

Soon after the kids were in bed on Christmas Eve, David and I set to work and got everything set up for the following day. Thankfully because most of the kids were sick on Christmas Eve, they were very subdued and fell asleep right away and did not come upstairs too early! And yes, you heard that right, the kids were sick. Caleb threw up early on Christmas Eve, Josiah came down with a fever and runny nose and Naomi had the tail end of a cold and was coughing with a runny nose also. Meanwhile, I went to the Christmas Eve service to play my flute and felt well enough to do so (though recovering from a cold myself) only later to discover that I too fell ill with Caleb's version of sickness. Ugh. Merry Christmas to me? Not so much! Anyway, I went to bed early on Christmas Eve, but suffered through that night and then all Christmas day as well. After the kids opened their presents, I fell asleep on the couch and then David told me to just go lay down in bed for a bit and so I did.

So enough of all the bad news about this Christmas and on to the good news! We actually had to wake up the kids on Christmas morning, which I found rather ironic since usually they wake us up! David said though they were stirring really early and he went down to settle them and told them to go back to sleep. This was Josiah's reaction as he came up the stairs in his new Lego Star Wars pajamas from Grandma Walker.

And this is the twins' reaction as they came up in their new Lightning McQueen jammies from Grandma & Grandpa Carpenter. When Caleb saw the castle he said, "Whoah!" and went right over to play!

Naomi was really sleepy when Daddy brought her up. When we asked her if she wanted to get down and look at things she said, "No," but then when he put her down she promptly went over the pink house and flopped on her big pink doggie. This Christmas day was definitely Naomi pink approved!

Christmas Day--Part 2

Daddy was in charge of handing out the gifts and I did my best to take pictures and enjoy even though I was feel blah!
Josiah is showing me his new Star Wars Leapster game here. He was really excited about this and also his new Cars Lego set that he got to build with Daddy a little later. Thanks Grandma Walker!

Josiah is posing here with his latest Lego creation in the new clothes that Grandma Walker sent. He also got a Toy Story alien camera as well from Grandma & Grandpa Carpenter that he used to take pictures of lots of things. After he built this set, he took a picture with it, but because it didn't have a flash we used the photo from my camera for the blog instead. Thanks Grandma & Grandpa Carpenter!

Daniel is smiling really big here to see Woody! Thanks to Grandparents Walker! Naomi heard Woody being played with the day after Christmas and she said, "Yee Haw!" Woody says that when you pull his string.

Daniel's favorite gifts were the Leapster games (from Mommy & Daddy and Grandparents Walker) he got though and while he was playing one of the games, he was holding the other cartridge firmly in his other free hand. He was shaking he was so excited to get them!

Christmas Day--Part 3

Caleb was very excited to see Rex given by Grandma & Grandpa Walker. When you squeeze him he "roars" but it sounds more like a squeak and it is louder if you squeeze harder. It sounds pretty funny actually and is characteristic of the Toy Story character in that he is not that scary of a dinosaur really.

Caleb has really been enjoying the castle given by Grandparents Carpenter! He and Daniel both have had fun with the knights and horses that came with it and have had lots of pretend play with them! The horses drop knight bombs down into the castle courtyard and the drawbridge lets people and toys in and out. The castle has also been destroyed a few times and so Mommy has to be the "carpenter" to rebuild. Ahhh...the irony. Anyway, fun times!

Naomi was having great fun going in and out of her playhouse that Grandparents Walker gave and was playing Peek-a-Boo here with me.

She also enjoyed the tea set that we got her as well as her purse that Grandparents Walker gave as well. The teapot makes sounds/music when you have it on various settings and she has had great fun serving us tea and cakes. Her purse also makes sounds/music on various settings and there are many items to "use" in it. There is pretend lipstick, a small hand mirror, a bracelet, a set of keys (plastic of course), & a piece of play money to take in and out of the purse. She just loves it!

Overall the kids had a great day and played with their toys all day without stopping. We had planned to go to church originally since there was a service that day, but because we were all sick to some varying degree, we decided to stay home. However, we did talk about coming up to Christmas and during the day about why we give gifts and why we celebrate. Jesus is the reason for the season and we are thankful that He came to Earth that we may all have eternal life with him should we choose to follow Him. Thank you Jesus for your precious gift to us all!

Taekwondo

Josiah has adjusted well to his new Do Jang here in Spokane. He still misses Master Kim, but he also loves to study under Master Justin and enjoys his Taekwondo classes. This picture is of Josiah and Master Justin after he received his orange belt. Because we moved, he took a bit of a step back with the belts and also they have a different belt system (here it is yellow then orange and there it was orange then yellow) but it was good for him to learn the new routines and ways of doing things here.

This is a picture of Josiah receiving his orange belt. He is the one looking back toward the camera with the yellow belt on standing in the front. Daddy was the one who got to go to his actual test, since I needed to stay home with the other kids and I got to go to the belt ceremony, which was two weeks later. We decided that since these tests were so frequent (one every 2 months) that we would do it this way to save on babysitting costs.

And then on December 22nd, I got to see Josiah test for his green belt. This will be his very first green belt that he has earned, so that is pretty cool. In this picture, you can see Josiah in the front with his orange belt and then Josiah's friend Reid in the back with a white belt. His friends (who live right near us) Cole and Reid and their sister Allison started at the same Do Jang a while back and now will have their yellow belts.

I think Josiah was a little distracted to have his buddies there as his focus was really low. Master Justin had him do his Poomseh (phonetic spelling) twice and after he finished he told him he did not pass his test and would have to do it again.

However, when he did his Sabancheck (also phonetic), he did just fine and also was able to recite the 11 commandments of Taekwondo. Master Justin told him he only had to say 5 of them, but he knew all 11. It is funny that people think that 1st graders can't memorize much because I think it is just because people don't require them to do it! I suppose though because Josiah has been doing Awana that the memorization isn't as hard for him.

Here he is doing his Poomseh for his test. After all the tests were completed, Master Justin had Josiah do his Poomseh again for him with him standing near him and Josiah was much more focused and was able to do it right. Josiah came running up to me and said, "I passed my test," and I said I didn't think so because I didn't hear what Master Justin had said to him. Apparently, Master Justin told me that what he did afterward was sufficient and that he would get his green belt after all. It was very kind of him to have mercy on Josiah and allow him to try again I thought! I also found out that they only have to break a board every other test! That was a relief also!

I really think Josiah's way of showing nervousness is to be unfocused. He was like this sometimes at the old Do Jang too. Taekwondo has been really good for him though, I think and will continue to be a good outlet for him to express himself and work through some of these things! I am very proud of his work and progress, he has come a long way!