I've had a lovely Sabbath day with my two little puppy dogs. Sacrament was manageable but not perfect. We went over time by a bit but I managed to keep the puppies happy with some stories I read to them quietly. Sooooo nice they love books!
Well this morning I happen to mention Easter and Asher said, "I love Easter mummy" and I said "do you know what Easter is?" and he giggled and said no. So this week I'm going to start preparing for this sacred holiday. I want to put in as much effort and thought as I do for Christmas because clearly these are special seasons of remembering the Saviour and we can get mostly consumed by all,the chocolate!
Some things I want to do are:
Have an Easter advent calendar with scripture stories
Make an Easter tree - have done this now for the past 3 years
Make clay egg ornaments for tree - incorporate words of the Saviour
Make an Easter wreath
Send Easter cards to grandparents and cousins
Prepare an Easter egg hunt with friends/family
Have a family Easter brunch with the missionaries - 2nd year running
Watch an Easter kids movie - Hop
Do Easter crafts with kiddos, find in the Friend magazine
Easter reading, unwrap one each day if theres enough Easter or rabbit themed books in our library
Visit the temple gardens with boys
Take Asher to pick a store bought Easter decoration to add upon each year
Attend General Conference weekend - have a Sunday evening Easter devotional
Decorate our house as tastefully as possible without missing the true meaning of Easter
All of this is to occur before our third baby arrives which is in about 3 weeks. I have decided themed school time will be put aside while we focus on Easter. I hope I can do well and the boys get something from this. All in all I want this time to be another tradition we cherish, building beautiful memories as a family. I hope that these boys will remember the feelings of love such traditions instill within a family. I want them to have a good feeling of the home they grew up in when they look back on these times. And then I want those feelings to still be there when our children and grown and parents of their own when they come back and visit the family home.
I have had a lovely few days with our boys being such a joy. Still tears, still fights and many tantrums but the highs have been flowing well and truly. Just last night Asher and I stayed up and watched Beauty and the Beast. He loved that special time with me. Then we got a quiet moment together after church while we ate a simple lunch. He was adorable and I was capturing his innocence and purity. I was staring at his big eyelashes and all his features just feeling blessed he is my child.
I also had a moment like that with the baby Jet, later in the day. He was repeatedly giving me cuddles and just wanting to giggle and smile and again I took in every detail of his face and my whole body felt warm.
I am now due to have another child in a very short time. People will say you're crazy for going for number three, and all I can think of now is why wouldn't you! Seeing my three year old talk and express love for me daily is an incredible feeling. He is powerful and I often don't like being around him because of his intensity, but seeing things come good from the efforts I have made with that child is an incredible feeling no one can take away from me. A child who tells me that he loves me, or that I'm his best friend or that he thinks I'm pretty on so many occasions throughout the day, is something that I do not want to be missing out on. He is learning love and trust from me and I am amazed how much this affects him. I'm learning even more so into other research I have done how this will affect him as an adult an overall as a human being. My influence for good is reaching so far even if it is just within the walls of this home.
I love my babies, and love that I get to again teach them about the Saviour through the season of Easter.
Sunday 23 March 2014
Friday 7 March 2014
How far we've come
I can't believe that I've almost been doing weekly pre school with Asher now for three months! That is amazing and I can see a difference in how we all feel, there's a point to our day and we get to spend good times together. Just this week I have been able to see the fruit of my labours. Asher recited the alphabet and also memorised the first article of faith. He has only begun big primary this year and already knows it, that makes me very happy and I can see he can focus and learn. These little achievements mean a lot. When I think I'm failing in most areas(house tidy, gourmet meals, behaviour etc.) I realise that I'm not actually doing all that bad, in fact I'm doing well. I love this job of being a mother and Asher has made me realise that.
When he said the article of faith I kissed and hugged him so much and was over the moon happy that he just wanted to keep saying it over and over. That just again shows me how much he wants to please and wants to be approved. It was a really good insight to my attitude toward him.
Another success this week has been implementing "the puppy award". Asher loves pretending to be a puppy, so when I found a reward certificate online called the puppy award I thought this just might work. All this week he has been doing his jobs around the house and it has been a great result for him to see me ticking off the chart. He just wants to keep getting more ticks and get that award. I have been so thrilled with seeing that he CAN do all this, that is, listen to an instruction and follow through with simple responsibilities. Each day our routine is: toy room free play, breakfast, get dressed brush teeth then Sesame Street before heading to the gym and out and about for the day. Evening is Play School at 4:30 dinner at 5:15 then before bath both boys put away all toys and straighten up toy room and rest of the house. Now these kids are 3.5 and 18 months old and they do it! This is teaching them more then just obeying me, but to care for the things we have and helping mummy shows you love her.
After bath, bed time routine is pretty easy I'm happy to say. I am always exhausted but I'm glad everything is in place and there's not usually a drama. 6pm we get out of the bath and into pjs and we head into ashers room for story time. I will read one book then just have a rest in there with them while the boys read book after book after book. This is a nice way to end the day for me and them. By ten to seven its goodnight. They brush teeth and Asher uses the bathroom and I leave his door open while he drifts off to sleep. He DOES NOT get out of his room which is lovely, he just likes to hear that I am still close by. I can do the dishes then watch a bit of TV and he just stays there quietly. This works because he knows if he made a sound or did get up I would just close the door which he hates...he only tried this once and never has since.
The reason I'm going on about these good points of my kids is that often I never really reflect on them, just the hard stuff - tantrums, hyper active behaviour and how tired I am all the time. I'm glad I've found the goodness amongst the other.
I love my boys, I love that we are about to enjoy another baby and that we are a happy family. Isn't that just what everyone is looking for, to be happy.
On a final note, this week I've had discouraging input from family who don't think that me putting mothering before a career is what I should be doing. It's sad to say that I get this a lot from my family, close family too. There really is a lack of understanding on what I do all day and why I do it. Comments such as, you're not exercising your brain enough, come when they think all I do is baby talk and play with my children....I think I get negative talk from my family every week or whenever we catch up. It is hard to hear that and not let it play on your mind.
But then I refocus and consider the reasoning behind suc comments. Maybe they want what I have, maybe they wish they had of had the family that I have chosen to have, or maybe they just think they know better. It is seriously difficult when every decision is judged, from how I discipline to how tidy I keep the house. ENOUGH! I will strive not to harp on it but to keep being an example and these little ones are going to be the best thing to prove it was all worth it.
When he said the article of faith I kissed and hugged him so much and was over the moon happy that he just wanted to keep saying it over and over. That just again shows me how much he wants to please and wants to be approved. It was a really good insight to my attitude toward him.
Another success this week has been implementing "the puppy award". Asher loves pretending to be a puppy, so when I found a reward certificate online called the puppy award I thought this just might work. All this week he has been doing his jobs around the house and it has been a great result for him to see me ticking off the chart. He just wants to keep getting more ticks and get that award. I have been so thrilled with seeing that he CAN do all this, that is, listen to an instruction and follow through with simple responsibilities. Each day our routine is: toy room free play, breakfast, get dressed brush teeth then Sesame Street before heading to the gym and out and about for the day. Evening is Play School at 4:30 dinner at 5:15 then before bath both boys put away all toys and straighten up toy room and rest of the house. Now these kids are 3.5 and 18 months old and they do it! This is teaching them more then just obeying me, but to care for the things we have and helping mummy shows you love her.
After bath, bed time routine is pretty easy I'm happy to say. I am always exhausted but I'm glad everything is in place and there's not usually a drama. 6pm we get out of the bath and into pjs and we head into ashers room for story time. I will read one book then just have a rest in there with them while the boys read book after book after book. This is a nice way to end the day for me and them. By ten to seven its goodnight. They brush teeth and Asher uses the bathroom and I leave his door open while he drifts off to sleep. He DOES NOT get out of his room which is lovely, he just likes to hear that I am still close by. I can do the dishes then watch a bit of TV and he just stays there quietly. This works because he knows if he made a sound or did get up I would just close the door which he hates...he only tried this once and never has since.
The reason I'm going on about these good points of my kids is that often I never really reflect on them, just the hard stuff - tantrums, hyper active behaviour and how tired I am all the time. I'm glad I've found the goodness amongst the other.
I love my boys, I love that we are about to enjoy another baby and that we are a happy family. Isn't that just what everyone is looking for, to be happy.
On a final note, this week I've had discouraging input from family who don't think that me putting mothering before a career is what I should be doing. It's sad to say that I get this a lot from my family, close family too. There really is a lack of understanding on what I do all day and why I do it. Comments such as, you're not exercising your brain enough, come when they think all I do is baby talk and play with my children....I think I get negative talk from my family every week or whenever we catch up. It is hard to hear that and not let it play on your mind.
But then I refocus and consider the reasoning behind suc comments. Maybe they want what I have, maybe they wish they had of had the family that I have chosen to have, or maybe they just think they know better. It is seriously difficult when every decision is judged, from how I discipline to how tidy I keep the house. ENOUGH! I will strive not to harp on it but to keep being an example and these little ones are going to be the best thing to prove it was all worth it.
Tuesday 4 March 2014
Gardening
Play school episodes are all about gardening this week, and the week started off with some lovely rain. I got to talk to Asher about what plants need to grow and he was interested to know they need food and water just like us, and the Sun!
One morning we just sat in the toy room reading "the little red hen" such a good book about gardening and things growing. We then pretended to be seeds and grew tall into flowers/plants/wheat, Asher loved acting this out.
I took the boys to the huge Bunnings near our place and roamed around the gardening section while my two little puppy dogs scooted about with the kids trolleys, they are in love with them. We got to see ride on lawn mowers for sale too, then walked around the BBQ section an Asher was telling us how they all worked. When it was time to go there was a huge meltdown from them both....so draining but I'm glad I took them still.
Asher recited his ABCs this week and it was so cute. I recently hung the alphabet in our dining room so with every meal we say the alphabet, and looks like he completely know it. That's fantastic to me, for such an active little boy who I thought would take so long to focus and learn.
We did letter craft with food colouring paint and bits of glitter, this was a hit and I really love the pages I found online for these letters.
We played with our alphabet book and puzzle and little baby even had a turn at singing the alphabet...so cute that he only knows how to say B and just mumbles everything else in a singing voice :)
One morning we just sat in the toy room reading "the little red hen" such a good book about gardening and things growing. We then pretended to be seeds and grew tall into flowers/plants/wheat, Asher loved acting this out.
I took the boys to the huge Bunnings near our place and roamed around the gardening section while my two little puppy dogs scooted about with the kids trolleys, they are in love with them. We got to see ride on lawn mowers for sale too, then walked around the BBQ section an Asher was telling us how they all worked. When it was time to go there was a huge meltdown from them both....so draining but I'm glad I took them still.
Asher recited his ABCs this week and it was so cute. I recently hung the alphabet in our dining room so with every meal we say the alphabet, and looks like he completely know it. That's fantastic to me, for such an active little boy who I thought would take so long to focus and learn.
We did letter craft with food colouring paint and bits of glitter, this was a hit and I really love the pages I found online for these letters.
We played with our alphabet book and puzzle and little baby even had a turn at singing the alphabet...so cute that he only knows how to say B and just mumbles everything else in a singing voice :)
Machines
If I remember right I think Asher hugged me when I told him we would be learning about Machines for school time this week. Boy does that kid love machines.
One morning the boys just watched how our washing machine works and sat there for a long time as it went through the different steps in the cycle. This was fantastic to talk about machines!
Daddy also took the boys for a walk and came upon a construction site with a huge digger and bob cat. They loved watching them work and Asher mimicked with his hand how the digger scooped up the dirt. I loved seeing how happy this made him. Not happy when it was time to go though...
I opened up daddy's tool box one day and let them both just go for it. I got Asher to hammer with real nails into a milk bottle, it was so nice to see his enjoyment. He spoke very properly to his brother telling him exactly what he was doing...very cute.
We spent an afternoon outdoors in our play kitchen in the garden, the boys got busy filling pots and pans up with water and transferring dirt and water into different containers, such a busy little kitchen it was.
I set up the boys diggers one morning along with different bits of play dough and scrunched up alfoil to be as a pretend quarry. Asher liked this but I thought it would be more of a hit then it was.
I also got out daddy's spare headset and had a decent play session of airports :)
There was lots of reading as I found a couple of very factual books on diggers and tractors...each page was detailed with how each machine operated. These kind of books have always been his favourite.
One morning the boys just watched how our washing machine works and sat there for a long time as it went through the different steps in the cycle. This was fantastic to talk about machines!
Daddy also took the boys for a walk and came upon a construction site with a huge digger and bob cat. They loved watching them work and Asher mimicked with his hand how the digger scooped up the dirt. I loved seeing how happy this made him. Not happy when it was time to go though...
I opened up daddy's tool box one day and let them both just go for it. I got Asher to hammer with real nails into a milk bottle, it was so nice to see his enjoyment. He spoke very properly to his brother telling him exactly what he was doing...very cute.
We spent an afternoon outdoors in our play kitchen in the garden, the boys got busy filling pots and pans up with water and transferring dirt and water into different containers, such a busy little kitchen it was.
I set up the boys diggers one morning along with different bits of play dough and scrunched up alfoil to be as a pretend quarry. Asher liked this but I thought it would be more of a hit then it was.
I also got out daddy's spare headset and had a decent play session of airports :)
There was lots of reading as I found a couple of very factual books on diggers and tractors...each page was detailed with how each machine operated. These kind of books have always been his favourite.
Music
It's always hard to introduce school time while daddy is home. This music theme had so much potential, but then lots of distractions came up. We managed to do letter V craft, for violin, watched an orchrestra online and spoke about all the different sounds the instruments made, and we also played a hearing game, where you take turns being blind folded then listen to an instrument being played then you have to guess it. Asher loves this, especially being blind folded. I did manage to also do a milk/food colouring/dish liquid experiment which was a hit. The colours blending were mesmorizing for asher. That was pretty much it, I didn't get any library books on our theme and then things just faded. Will try to pick it up again next week.
Day and Night
I have missed a few school theme posts, and finding it not as easy to navigate from my phone since the Galazy died. New phone is just not as flash. Oh well, so here is our day and night themed week...
I have found the best way to reinforce what we are focusing on is with books as Asher just loves reading. Isn't that incredible, I suppose all young children do but I'm so happy he really really loves books. He can seriously be satisfied with a pile of books for up to an hour, that is amazing. So these little readers I found at the library have almost every pre school theme imaginable and day and night was in there. It was quite long but everyday he would read it and would barely let his brother as much as touch the cover...still working on sharing. The book had great pictures of what animals are awake during the day and the ones awake at night. This was surprisingly helpful as we have possums stomping around on our roof which makes little boy scared, so learning that they are just awake doing their thing (and not monsters) settled ashers fears. I managed to get a book on owls also and he loved reading it to his baby brother.
I set up some black construction paper one morning along with some white chalk and glitter glue pens for him to make his own night time picture. He stayed with this for some time which means success! We also had a turn at a day time picture, drawing birds and trees and garbage trucks, as they come visit sooooo early at our place. Every Wednesday morning the day starts just that little bit earlier as they wake us all up.
Everyday Asher recognised what we had been learning for the week and would say randomly, "we're learning about day and night today"....then one evening before bed he yelled mummy look its the moon! It was huge and very bright and actually out quite early so we got daddy's telescope out to have a look. Silly me couldn't figure out how to work it so it was just a bit of a pretend astronomy lesson :) Asher loved looking as much as he did anyway.
We played with bi carb and vinegar again, little boy loves this activity and he is always there for ages!
At the end of the week I took the boys to the planetarium. It was a pretty cool place, lots of astranaut set ups and pictures of planets and the moon. We watched a brief film on rockets and going into space. There wasn't a lot of serious educating going on, more just running around looking at things, but that was ok.
This has been a fun theme and in the end turned into including space. I'd like to incorporate more specific goals with each theme, although its play school, I would love to see some more focus on things like shapes numbers letters words/reading etc. But I am finding Asher to enjoy each theme I introduce so the more I bog him down with "work" and not play, I think I might loose him. Have to just see how things go.
I have found the best way to reinforce what we are focusing on is with books as Asher just loves reading. Isn't that incredible, I suppose all young children do but I'm so happy he really really loves books. He can seriously be satisfied with a pile of books for up to an hour, that is amazing. So these little readers I found at the library have almost every pre school theme imaginable and day and night was in there. It was quite long but everyday he would read it and would barely let his brother as much as touch the cover...still working on sharing. The book had great pictures of what animals are awake during the day and the ones awake at night. This was surprisingly helpful as we have possums stomping around on our roof which makes little boy scared, so learning that they are just awake doing their thing (and not monsters) settled ashers fears. I managed to get a book on owls also and he loved reading it to his baby brother.
I set up some black construction paper one morning along with some white chalk and glitter glue pens for him to make his own night time picture. He stayed with this for some time which means success! We also had a turn at a day time picture, drawing birds and trees and garbage trucks, as they come visit sooooo early at our place. Every Wednesday morning the day starts just that little bit earlier as they wake us all up.
Everyday Asher recognised what we had been learning for the week and would say randomly, "we're learning about day and night today"....then one evening before bed he yelled mummy look its the moon! It was huge and very bright and actually out quite early so we got daddy's telescope out to have a look. Silly me couldn't figure out how to work it so it was just a bit of a pretend astronomy lesson :) Asher loved looking as much as he did anyway.
We played with bi carb and vinegar again, little boy loves this activity and he is always there for ages!
At the end of the week I took the boys to the planetarium. It was a pretty cool place, lots of astranaut set ups and pictures of planets and the moon. We watched a brief film on rockets and going into space. There wasn't a lot of serious educating going on, more just running around looking at things, but that was ok.
This has been a fun theme and in the end turned into including space. I'd like to incorporate more specific goals with each theme, although its play school, I would love to see some more focus on things like shapes numbers letters words/reading etc. But I am finding Asher to enjoy each theme I introduce so the more I bog him down with "work" and not play, I think I might loose him. Have to just see how things go.
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