Happenings

Blogging has continued to fall by the wayside - between the school schedule, work, soccer, and various other activities, I find myself exhausted at the end of each day. So, here is a short list of the happenings of late:

- Calvin has his first loose tooth and I am rather emotional about it - just doesn't seem he can be old enough for that. We've discussed losing teeth and the tooth fairy a lot this week (don't judge - yes, the tooth fairy visits. What can I say, I'm a hygienist! :)). We are still deciding what the tooth fairy will bring for the very first tooth lost.

- Patrick has a favorite stuffed animal - a cat. He named her Kati and we currently have to tell Kati "goodnight" and we have to regularly acknowledge her presence. He has been singing all day, every day lately which is kind of cute - I like that he's singing his scripture memory song which is Ephesians 6.

- Titus is rapidly gaining words. He will now try to say almost anything for us - not so much for others. He likes colors - especially blue and yellow and proudly says those words. He really enjoys being included in school and asks me to write "ttttt" on his papers.

- We had a field trip to the apple orchard which prompted the boys to request that we make an apple pie. Today, we did just that and we tried a new recipe. It was delicious! I'll probably share it on the cooking blog.

- Speaking of The Cooks Next Door, we celebrate one year of having the blog up and running this next week! So exciting - it's been a great year! We continue to have lots of ideas, though time has been a challenge. :)

- We continue to plug away at home organization and de-junking. I'm encouraged by the progress and I'm finding that each step is very freeing. I'm looking forward to having more of it behind us!

- I was challenged by Katie @Heart Gone Walking to go through our clothes and find more to give to refugee families in our area. And along those lines, a huge thank-you for the donations from many of you! There is still plenty of need - there are many refugees in our city. You can check out Katie's blog to find out more of what is needed, how to get involved etc.

- It was kind of a tough week overall but I'm learning to seize the teachable moments. And I continue to remind myself that the boys are in kindergarten. :) We have a pretty intense curriculum but they are doing very well.

- After being ready to give up in the first two weeks of homeschooling, I can honestly say that I'm enjoying it. It's been challenging and rewarding. Finding books and resources to re-inforce lessons, coming up with crafts and fun projects, and being involved in every aspect of their education has actually been really awesome. We are all enjoying one another and I'm learning a lot about my kids. All in all, it's been a good first month of school.

And that's about it. :)