Happy Birthday, Daddy

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

A Cart Full of Kids

Rub a Dub Dub...

...Three (young) Men in a Tub

A Busy Few Days

 Lots of snow.

Lots of crafts.

Lots of giggles and bubbles.

Lots of dishes.  (Our dishwasher broke midcycle and the first step toward fixing it was emptying it of the whole load of dirty dishes.)

Plus snow ice cream - YUM!!

Sentence writing to help someone remember not to climb on the couch.

And a selfie of me and Spencer.

Getting Ready for Christmas

Spencer at Four Months

Stats:
18 pounds (95th percentile)
27 1/2 inches tall (off the charts tall)
Wearing almost all 12 month clothing. 

He hasn't quite figured out how to roll over, but here he is trying to push himself over using his nose.

Our Calendar Board

About a month ago I put together a morning calendar board for the boys.  Every morning during breakfast we talk about the day, date, weather, etc.

Here is the top a little closer...

Starting at the top we discuss the season, the month, the day and upcoming events.  Then we use a wet erase marker to write out yesterday's, today's and tomorrow's days and dates.  Peter tells me how to write out the whole day and date for today and then we make the date using both unit blocks and coins.  In the picture it is the 22nd and we have put up two dimes and two pennies.   Next we mark the thermometer to show the forecasted high and low temperatures for the day (in both Fahrenheit and Celsius) and we draw what clothing we will need.  

I have also incorporated memory work into our morning routine.  We practice our address, phone number and 911.  We sort our vocabulary words into two categories (currently words that mean big and words that mean little).  We recite our We Choose Virtues character trait and say our speech therapy homework words (you can see both hanging on clips in the top picture).

Lastly, we go to our memory box (black file card box in top picture).  We are memorizing various things: geography, famous people, anatomy, prefixes and suffixes, Spanish vocab, etc.  Here are a few examples:

The whole routine takes about 10 minutes.  Sometimes we extend it by reading a story or two about the season or the virtue we are learning.

Swimming at the Y

Winter / Christmas Sensory Bin

One side is a tree decorating station.

The other side is a snowscape with peppermint-scented, coarse kosher salt as the snow.  The red and green noodles can be strung onto the pipe cleaners to make bracelets.

November So Far

We built boats with Papa.

Peter is getting so good at reading.

Doug got new glasses.

Spencer is getting so big.

Halloween 2013

Peter was Timer Rhymer - a superhero of his own creation (he drew me a picture so I would know just how to make it).  Elliot was an octopus...a light blue octopus with big eyes just like he requested.  Spencer got the short end of the stick.  Ostensibly he was a monkey, but really he was just very bundled up, because it was rainy and windy on Halloween.

Zoo Goes Boo

October Catch Up

Things have been super busy around here.

I took the three boys to the dentist while Doug was out of town and Peter and I got our teeth cleaned.  Elliot had a short turn on the chair and got his teeth counted - 20, just like Peter...they are tooth twins.

We also went to the eye doctor and Doug and I are each getting new glasses.  Mine will, of course, be just one more pair in a lifetime of wearing glasses.  Doug's will, hypothetically, be the first pair that he will wear on a daily basis.  We'll see.

Spencer is getting so big.  He loves hanging out with the big boys and talking, talking, talking.

Here he is in his Rubbermaid tub down in the sewing room.  He has been keeping me company while I sew Halloween costumes.  Elliot wants to be an octopus...or, as he will tell you a ha puh puh.  Peter is going to be a super hero of his own design.  He will dress in green and yellow with a clock on his shirt and be called Timer Rhymer.

Over this past weekend we did bubble painting to make cards for Uncle Scott's birthday.  What a fun, messy, splatters-of-paint-everywhere project.

Lastly, we finally finish the rock wall in the basement.

This coming week Peter has school, both boys have speech therapy, and we are hoping to go to the zoo on Friday for special Halloween activities.