Edward's Celebrity Look-A-Likes

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It's a bird.......

This is the Feathery Bird hat Edward and I made for Kindermusik class. Today in Kindermusik the kids were to be birds. They are learning about nature this semester. When the teacher asked him what kind of bird he was, he said he was a Robin.
One more Semester of Imagine that and then Edward promotes to the Young Child I program of Kindermusik. He will learn to play 3 different instruments.
Oh! Yes, there is something on Edward's nose. He fell last Thursday, he skinned his nose and forehead (it wasn't as bad and is already healed) while he was pushing a toy across our back sidewalk. Poor thing! We have been putting Mederma on it to help with any scarring.

Showing off his Homeschool Bowling League Shirt

This is a picture of Edward showing off his Homeschool Bowling League t-shirt. It says: I'm a Holy Roller with Faith to Spare. So cute. These t-shirt are designed by the director for the youth events at the bowling alley. She designs a new one for them every year.

Doing it on his own

Edward is starting to write his last name on his own now. He has been writing his first name now for a few weeks with no help and without looking at his name plate. Last Thursday, we were at Kirk's work and he suddenly asked if he could write his name on Kirk's offices dry erase board. Not only did he want to write his first name but he wanted to try to write his last name (this was the first time he had even tried it). I wrote it on the board for him and he copied it. Then at Co-op last Friday he wanted to show his favorite person that he could write his name. He not only wrote his first name by himself but his the first 5 letters of his last name too. I was so amazed. He had no help from anyone. Then this week on Tuesday he wrote his first and last name on a couple of his papers. I helped a little with his last name but it is so amazing to me how quickly he is picking things up.

Pop! Pop! Popcorn!!!!!!!

This week's Curriculum theme is Popcorn! On Monday, we did a Science Experiment with a colored corn cob, that we popped in the microwave. We didn't pop it in a bag, so we could see what it doesn't when it pops. We used that popcorn to make art projects, it was very dry. We were to find out if the colored kernels would be colored or white like regular popcorn. He had to come up with a hypothesis, record the materials and procedure used. We also had to record the results and then wrote our own conclusion. Edwards conclusion was that it still tasted good. LOL! To Cute!!! Yesterday we made popcorn on the stove to show him that you can get popcorn places other than the microwave. We made a popcorn tree. We also made sand art. He loved doing. We made a tree with apples and a flower. This weeks letters are Ii and Jj. Our color is PURPLE. Our number is 7. Our shape is Square. In case your wondering we didn't do our curriculum last week do to the passing of my Father In Law. We just did a little review but mainly just took the week off. We did go to Kindermusik, Bowling, Co-op and Monart. He did a bicycle clinic. He learned the correct hand signals and the rules of riding your bike in our community. He loved learning all these new things.

Elephants, Horses & Clowns oh My!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We took Edward to the Barnum & Bailey Circus. He absolutely loved it. He loved the clowns. Will add pictures as soon as Kirk gets them uploaded from my phone.

First Crush

Well it has happened, Edward officially has his very first crush on a little gal. Her name is Emma and she is in our homeschool co-op. He just thinks she hung the moon. His way of showing his affections to her was to push her into a recycle bin. We told him how to let a little girl know that he likes her but we also went over personal space and not being forward. Doing nice things for her was the best way to show that he liked her. Awwwwwwwwww Puppy Love, isn't it grand?????

Farming This Week

This week our lessons this week include the letters Hh and Jj, square is our shape, pink our color and our number this week is 6. We are working on Bible Verse Genesis 1:10. We are learning about when God made land that included dirt, gravel, sand and rocks. We have been exploring rocks this week. Edward returns to Homeschooling Bowling League. Our theme is Farms and Farm Animals. We made Pretzels and Butter this week. We are learning that when God made land there it separated the waters that he called Seas. We have also been reviewing previous lessons.We are also working on patterns and categorizing. Edward has found the joy in Ryhming, he loves it.

Making Pretzels from scratch

Today we made Pretzels on top of making the butter. We are learning about Farms and Farm Animals this week. Some of our pretzels were tradition shape and 2 we made into letters.

Rolling out the dough

Edwards 2nd Pretzel

Before cooking

After Cooking

A New Respect

Today we made butter from scratch. It was quiet an interesting experience. It took a whole lot of shaking and time to go through the process. We started with Heavy Whipping Cream, a little salt (to taste) and empty, clean baby food jar. It took about an 30 to 45 minutes over all of total shaking.We put the jar in the refrigerator every 5 minutes to let it get cold again, it helps to quicken the process. It is quite tasty. Edward was amazed at how it went from a milky liquid to a butter.

Writing Name

Edward wrote his name all by himself today. When I say this I mean without looking at his nameplate on his desk. He wrote it from memory and it was very clearly written. We are so proud of him.

Splatter Painting

We have been learning this week about air and how important it is to all living creatures that God made. Today we painted with straws, paint and our air by blowing through the straws. Edward loved this project. He thought it was interesting how the harder that he blew through the straw, the farther from where the straw was pointing on the paper the paint went. He also thought it was interesting how when you moved the straw while blowing through it it caused the paint to cover more of the paper. He loved this project so much that we did 2 paintings. I am going to frame on of them to hang in our class room as Art Work. If you are wondering why the painting is done in the box, I put the paper in the box to help keep the paint from being blown all over the walls and table....not to mention me and my clothes.

This weeks Curriculum

Wow! I can't believe that it is already going to be Thursday. A side note, Edward will be going into see his ped in the morning about his thumb. I am praying it is completely healed and that he can take off the splint. He doesn't keep it on all the time, even hides it from time to time. Talk about frustrating not to mention all the worrying that he might hurt it worse. Anyway, I digress....This week we are learning the letters Ff and Gg. Our number is 5. I have some wonderful books called Numberlies, Alphatales and Numbertales. Each book is about a specific letter or number. I use them to help reinforce what we are learning. Our Colors are Brown and Yellow . Of course this weeks theme is Fire Safety. Circle is our shape. I have also started to incorporate Computer programs in our learning schedule. This week we are learning about Air.Why God made it and that it is important for all living creatures. Our Bible verse is Genesis 1:6. We made a butterfly using a balloon (for the body), a balloon stick (we added it just to help it fly), and a curriculum are picture that was to be used as a part of this project (Edward colored this). Edward writing his name has been improving every day. He still needs to see it to write it but we are progressing and that is what it is all about. He is getting his letters too. He is starting to recognize them every where in everything from street signs, store signs, posters and so forth. I love watching him get excited about it. This is so great and I am so blessed every day to be able to watch him growing knowledge wise.

Fire Safety Week

This week is National Fire Safety Week. This is also our Homeschool theme for the week. Today Edward and I attended a Teaching Parents Association of Wichita Event that they hosted for National Fire Safety Week. There was so much to do. Edward learned more than just Fire Safety at this event. He learned about the importance of wearing a seatbelt (and using his carseat), Safety when it comes to electricity and electrical wires, Bike Safety, first aid and even some health things like the importance of eating right and getting plenty of exercise. He was able to enjoy his first ever professional puppet show. He truly enjoyed himself. We would have never heard of such a wonderful event if it hadn't been for a friend (his Sunday School Teacher) who also homeschools. At home we have also included in our theme Train Safety, plus fire safety & electrical safety. He has also been learning all about 911,when to and when not to call it.

No Halloween Celebrated Here

We don't celebrate Halloween in our house. We celebrate Fall/Harvest This is our choice. We feel that Halloween is not a holiday, that we as Christians should celebrate. God laid this heavy on our hearts and we are choosing to follow His wishes (this also applies with Harry Potter Books....he has laid that heavily on our hearts that these books aren't of Christ, nor something that we would want us polluting our minds with). Yes, that means our son, doesn't get to go trick or treating but we don't feel that he is missing out on much. It is just so dangerous to go trick or treating anyway. He is old enough to understand that Halloween is a day (thanks to the fact that people do celebrate it and tend to decorate their homes (some not so tastefully)) that might look fun, but we are trying to give him our Christian values and see that it isn't a day that God would want us to celebrate. This year so far he hasn't wanted to decorate or even look at decorations pertaining to this holiday. He actually gets upset when he sees them. However we did decorate for the fall/harvest time. We have pumpkins (no carvings) and gourds on our front porch, with some fall flowers. A fall wreath on our front door. A welcome Fall Sign on front porch wall. We also have a beautiful fake pumpkin that is engraved with a great saying: Praise God, from whom all blessings flow, on each side of that pumpkin (we bought this last fall). We have some scarecrows (a boy and a girl,...really cute ones...we even have a couple of bigger ones for the front porch) sitting on our front entry hall table with some pumpkin spice potpourri. We have other fall decor that I need to go up to the attic to get that we bought last year (fake pumpkins with no carvings and so forth, nothing haunted, bloody, screaming, scary or questionable). So see we do decorate, we just choose to do it for Fall/Harvest not Halloween. For the most part Edward seems to understand that Halloween is a no no, the Lord has really been letting his heart hear what we are telling us and he hasn't questioned us about this yet. He might in a few years but I have a few great books to refer to incase he has questions and the Lord will help us to get through that too. Praise the Lord for those.

What is his name again mommy?

This afternoon, Edward suddenly got really quiet. I called through the house for him but couldn't find him. I went outside to see if he was out there playing. At first I couldn't see him at all (my heart began to drop) then I looked over our fence to our neighbors yard and there was Edward "helping" our elderly neighbor work on his bright yellow moped scooter. He always is coming in the house and asking me the neighbors name. I think it is cute that Edward wants to help him. The other day, Edward brought in flowers from the neighbors garden that he cut for him. We put them on a vase and put them on Edwards desk. Don't worry the neighbor doesn't allow Edward in his house and his wife is there. He tells Edward to come tell me that he is helping him. I think Edward does but I think it comes out a different way...he is showing the neighbor something (usually something to do with his trains). Edward doesn't have any grandpas around so this is a blessing for him. I did go over with Edward today though that he isn't to go any further than the neighbors yard, he can't go in their house or garage. He is to let us know know that he is over there. If he breaks any of these rules, he will not be allowed to go over there to "help".

It's A Cell

Today in Co-op Class the children learned about the last days of Creation. The listened to stories about this subject and had a snack of different types of fruits. Mrs. Friesen, the teacher, had the children looking through a high power microscope at plant cells and human cells. After this the children made cells using a ziplock bag, jello, a grape and a couple of raisins. She got this activity from a science curriculum called, God's Design For Life, by Richard and Debbie Lawrence. Our cells have 5 parts (the children made these): 1. The Cell Membrane, represented by the zip lock bag 2. The Nucleus, the "brain" of the cell, represented by the large red grape 3. The Vacuoles, which are storage "warehouses" that store food for the cell 4. The Mitochondria, the cell's "power stations", represented by the raisins 5. The Cytoplasm, represented by the jello In addition to these 5 parts, plant cells also have: 6. The Cell Wall, represented by a shoe box 7. The Chloroplasts, the "power plants", where plants make their own food, represented by green grapes (cut into 4th's)

Creation Cut Outs

Edwards Co-op Class did Creation Cut out picture project. Edward is the one up in the Right Hand Corner (with the white horse). Unfortuantly I didn't think to get a better picture of his. I was taking pictures for the class this morning.

Look What I Wrote

Last Saturday, Edward wrote his name all by himself on this chalkboard. I do have to admit it was hard not to help him. I stood behind the easel so I couldn't see what he was doing, to help him or correct him. I want him to see that he could do it all by himself. He was so proud of himself. It was so cute.

By George He's Getting

Today during school like every day for the past 5 1/2 weeks we have been working our way through the alphabet. We are up to Ff now. Everyday we begin with saying the letters and their sounds. Today like every day I ask Edward the sounds that the letters make to see if he knows them before I begin reviewing them with him. He successfully made the A B C and D sounds with no help or reviewing of them. I am so proud of him. He is also working very hard on writing his name all by his self. It is just amazing to watch his learning grow every day.

Hands on Daddy

For those of you who might be wondering if Kirk helps at all with Edwards Homeschooling, I am proud to say that he does. I bought Folders (like the ones the kids bring home in Elementary school), one is See What I Did Folder (this holds all of the work Edward did for the day), one is My Homework Folder (this holds things that Daddy needs to help Edward with when he gets home....like todays was making a list of things that we have in the house that are made from or contain apples in them and the other was coloring red , green and yellow apples (daddy is taking this one to his office to hang it on his board at his work)) and the 3rd one (we wont start using this one yet) is a Reading Folder. Kirk helps with Edward Homeschooling on a daily basis. When Kirk got home tonight they worked on Edward counting to 20 and writing Edward's name besides doing his homework. It is nice hearing them working together. Kirk is so encouraging and patient with Edward.

Apples, Apples, Apples this weeks Curriculum

This week I've added a weekly theme to Edwards Homeschool Lessons. This week is apples. Today we stamped with paints and apples. We are doing a science experiment with two pieces of Apples, one has lemon juice on it and the other doesn't. We are going to see what happens to the two pieces of apple. We also about 4 types of Apples at the store today, a granny smith, a honey crisp, a Golden Delicious and a Gala. We tasted them and talked about difference in taste, look and texture. We also made a book about Apples. Tomorrow we will be making another book about apples using words we come up with to describe Apples. We've also been reading a poem by Robert Frost titled: After Apple Picking. This week we are also working on the letters Ee and Ff. Circle is our shape and Yellow, Black and White are our colors. 4 is the number of the week. Our Memory Verses is Genesis 1:3 "God said let there be light and there was light." We have been learning about light and shadows this week. We measured a trees shadow yesterday in the morning, then went back at 2pm to see where the shadow was at that time. Today we used a pencil and a flashlight to see how a sundial worked. We've been reading books on how a apple tree grows an apple and a great book called the Genesis of It All. We have also been working on Rhyming words and Beginning sounds. We have also been working on Edward writing his name all by himself without my hand steadying his. He is doing pretty good at it. We are very proud of him.

Edward's Curriculum For This Week

This week's curriculum is pretty interesting. Edward is learning about Helen Keller and the Braille system. We have learned what his name looks like in Braille and will be learning what Braille looks like. We are reading a biography about Helen Keller. We have also been learning the letters Cc, Dd and Ee. We have been working on A through E (including the sounds that each letter makes). We are learning the colors BLACK and WHITE and Circle is our shape. We also have a new Memory Verse, Genesis 1:3 (NIV) And the Lord Said "let there be light" and there was light. He pretty much has our first Memory verse, Genesis 1:1 (NIV) In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth, memorized now. Beginning in October we will start having a weekly theme. We are going to be doing Apples the first week of Oct, for the 2nd week Fire Saftey(that week is Nation Fire Safety Week...we'll be covering some other safety issues during this week too), Farm Animals will be the 3rd week, then Popcorn for the 4th week (did you know that October is National Popcorn Month?) and the last week of October we will focus on Autumn, Leaves and Harvest time. 3 is our number this week. Edward is also now writing the first 2 letters of his 1st name by himself. I had been holding the pencil to steady it and guide it for him in the past as we talk about the way the letters go. I am so proud of him. He does tend to make his E huge, jetting way. We've also started incorporating computer learning programs into our curriculum. We've joined both the Preschool Playhouse Disney online program and the myNOGGIN online preschool program, not to mention we utilize alot of the free kids sites like pbs.org and dailynoggin.com too. We also have 3 computer program that are Christian based that came with the Horizon Preschool Curriculum that we are using this year, as a part of it's media program. We also are using Jumpstart Preschool Programs, and other learning programs like Blue's Clues. It is amazing to watch Edward grasping concept after concept. Tomorrow we have Co-op class. Still no Monart or bowling due to the thumb. We are still working on the first pre-reader book. I will not let him move on until he can actually read the words in the book. I have made flashcards with the words on them so that he doesn't use the pictures in the book to help him know what words I want him to say. I want him to see the words and know what it says. I got the rest of his Scholastic Phonics Program in the mail today. We will begin that program in January. I am excited, he'll be able to read by himself before we know it. Which I know he wants to do so bad, he is always looking at books and making up stories about the pictures because he wants to read. Speaking of books, Edward wrote on this week for Kindermusik class. It is cute. Well, that is about it in a nutshell for this week.

Arms

Edward loves to point out to Kirk that he only has one arm. He always says "Daddy I have two arms, you only have one arm." Now that Edward has broken his thumb and has to wear a splint like brace on his right hand, he has been saying " Daddy I only have one arm like you." LOL!

Update on Edwards Thumb

Edward went to his Pediatrician this morning. They took more x-rays of his thumb. The crack in the bone is length wise not width. It is the 2nd bone in his thumb. He has to wear a splint that looks like a brace for 4 weeks. In about 2 weeks we can take it off for about 30 minutes 2 times a day and let him begin to exercise it by squeezing a ball. So he will not be able to go to his Monart Classes or Bowling League until the 4 weeks are up. Bummer! Poor Kid. He is taking it well so far. I know that this splint is a lot easier for him to deal with, as it is evident in just the short time he has had it today.

Baking Cookies

Today as a part of our homeschool lesson we baked Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies. Edward had so much fun making them. After they were done backing and came out of the oven, he exclaimed that they weren't done because they weren't flat. I had to explain to him that not all cookies were flat. By the way, they taste YUMMY!!!

Incoming Newsflash...The Great Flood of 2007 hits a Kitchen in Newton, KS

Wondering about the title of my post? LOL! Wait until your read what it is all about.

It was a cool evening in Kansas. Nothing out of the ordinary seemed to be looming over the town of Newton. An unsuspecting family was settling in for a quiet evening at home. The father was off at the store picking up something for the mom, that she need to complete the evening meal. She was in at the computer printing off the recipe that she needed for dinner. The little boy and his 3 faithful four legged companions where outside playing. The mom goes back into the kitchen to begin to prepare the evening meal, when she hears what sounds like rushing water. Having just loaded the dishwasher and started it, she steps over to see if something is amiss with it. She steps in about 3 inches of water. Still hearing the rushing water, her eyes wander to the back door and through the flap in the pet door she sees the little boy holding the backyard hose right next to the pet door....water is just rushing in through it. All of the back part of the kitchen was flooded and was starting to pour into the main part of the kitchen. After she yelled at the little boy to turn off the hose, she grabbed her faithful Floor Mate and sucked up about 7 gallons of water. Thankfully she didn't end up needing a row boat.

Where I stand in my family of boys......

I have to laugh. This morning on the way home from Kindermusik, Edward informed me that he and daddy were going to go on a trip (this weekend) to stay in a hotel and have fun at an amusement park. He also continued to inform me that during this time of his absence and daddy's, that I was to clean (this is what I always do when Kirk takes Edward out of town...I don't get to rest and relax) the playroom, his bedroom, the couch, the front room, the schoolroom, the kitchen and do the laundry. LOL!!!! I think someone (or should I say some people) are a little bit on the spoiled side in this family. I told Kirk what Edward said and he just laughed, he thought it was funny. However, he said he hadn't planned on taking Edward. I think someone might be a little heartbroken when he doesn't get to go somewhere with daddy.

This Weeks Lessons

Let me first begin by saying that this week has been difficult for Edward in the writing department with his broken thumb and all. So I have had to find creative ways of learning the letter Bb. He has a appointment with his pediatrician on Thursday to take x-rays of his thumb to see if it is healed, if so then he can take his splint off. That will be nice because we can do the writing part that we need to. By then he'll also have the letter Cc to learn, too. We are learning the number 2 this week too. We had Kindermusik today, he got a slide whistle for his instrument this session. They are doing that See what I Saw curriculum. We still are working on the colors Blue, Green and Red (will be introducing the color Black at the end of the week). We are also working on Triangles, but will move on to a new shape next week. Genesis 1:1 is our memory verse again this week. Edward is doing really well in school. He is loving it. We will be baking Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies on Thrusday for on of his Science/ Health & Safety Projects. I'll take pictures and put them on my blog for you to see. Of course we also have Co-op class this week. He will do Monart if he is able to get his splint removed, but no bowling this week or next for him. Yesterday he got to do some computer programs and loved that. He knows that letter Aa and the sound it makes, Bb too. He is still working on his pre-reading book. I will not let him move on until he is able to read the words from the flash cards I have made. I want him to actually read it not just go by the pictures. Well, it is off to class we go. He had Kindermusik this morning so it is our late start day.

Pre Dawn Babbler

Edward had a tough night sleeping. He finally ended up in our bed. He tossed and turned for a while then decided around 4:30 am that it was time to talk. We were awake for about an hour. He was just chattering away, including telling some stories that he made up. It was cute but tiring for us needless to say. Daddy wasn't feeling well so he went to sleep on the couch. Edward shortly there after asked to go back to sleep in his bed. I put him in his bed, stretched out in ours but guess what that didn't last that long. Edward was back and after about 15 more minutes of chattering, tossing and turning he finally went back to sleep. THANKFULLY!!! LOL!!!

Ouch, my poor baby!!!

Today Edward broke his right thumb at bowling league. Here's how it happened. He was doing so well, he was doing really well bowling without me being right by his side. I was sitting up at the table watching him. He took about 2 to 3 steps over the line about before I could anything, he raised his bowling ball to throw it and went sailing backwards, ball still in his hand. He was very upset needless to say. We (myself, his coach and the head of the youth bowling league) all checked out his hand the best that we could (he wasn't to keen on us looking at it), we couldn't see any swelling and he seemed to be able to move his hand easily. He just wanted to go home, so we forfeited the 2nd game and left. I went by Starbucks to grab a iced coffee for myself and a frap for Kirk. I stopped by Kirk's work to have him see if Edward would let him look at it and to see what Kirk thought. By the time we got to Kirk's work the fat palm part under his thumb was about 3 times as large as his left hands. We both agreed he needed to be taken to the ER. So I rushed Edward to the Newton ER. They took x-rays and found that he had a non displaced fracture of the thumb. He has to wear a splint for the next 6 to 7 days. He isn't allowed to go bowling for about 2 weeks. He has to go back to his pediatrician in 10 days and get follow up x-rays to ensure that it has healed correctly.

First Week Of Official Curriculum

Well this week has been exciting so far. Monday we started our Official Curriculum for Preschoolers by Horizons (published by Alpha Omega Publications). Edward is able to write the Letter A both upper and lower case on his own. He is able to pick a upper case A out of a word. He is reading a pre-reader book all by himself (called Polar Opposites..it has pictures with words below like Big and Little, Cold and Hot). He is so excited that he can do this. This week we are also doing the colors :Red, Blue and Green. Triangle is our shape of the week and 1 is our number. Our memory verse for the next two weeks is Genesis 1:1. Edward is learning that God is always listening and that He made the world and us. He really likes the globe of the world and he knows where Kansas is on the globe and can find it if you twirl the globe around away from the US. It is just amazing to watch him learning and catching on to things. Next week I will begin supplementing his curriculum with other activities. I needed to know basically how long the main curriculum will take daily, that seems to be about 2 to 2 1/2 hours. He is also learning self space and general space. Name recognition (he pretty can pick his name out of any list of words, he has been able to do this for over a year now since he has been "writing" his name for a while now). He has also been learning about Families, Fathers. Today we learned about Firefighters and Police Officers. Of course that included the use of 911. We took Edward to the Kansas State Fair this past weekend, of course it was used as a learning opportunity. We didn't get to see all what we wanted, so weather permitting we plan to go back this coming weekend to see the rest. Edward started Monart last Friday. He says he doesn't like it but it has only been 1 week so far, I asked him to give it a chance. If he still doesn't like it after this session, we will hold off on another session until next year. He started Kindermusik today. He seems to like his new teacher. They are doing the Kindermusik See What I saw curriculum this session. There are 4 other little boys and 1 little girl in his class, only 3 of the little boys beside Edward showed up today. The only thing that I am not to thrilled about is that they cut down the 15 week curriculum to 12 weeks because some parents felt inconvenienced by the length of the 15 week curriculum. I hope that next session they will offer a shorter curriculum for those who like that but also a original 15 week curriculum for those of us who want our children to get the most out of the experiences.

Bubbles, Bubbles, Giant Bubbles

Edward's co-op teacher gave us a wire coated hanger shaped in a circle, with rope. We were told to wrap the rope around the hanger and tie it to the top of the hanger. We had to make sure that the rope didn't hang down because it could pop the bubbles. With these the do it yourself wand, she sent us home with a recipe to make homemade bubble solution.
Here's that recipe (we doubled ours...this is the orginal recipe not doubled):
6 cups warmish water ( I found that it helps to disolve the soap and corn syrup)
1/2 cup Dish Soap (Dawn Orginal works best, we used orginal Dawn Ultra Concentrated....worked wonderfully)
1/8 cup light corn syrup
Mix very gently and pour slowly into a aluminum turkey roasting pan (or the lide of a large trash can). Avoid agitating soap mixture into foam, so bubbles form easily. This works best on a humid day with no wind.
We used this as a Science Project/Experiment. Edward was so excited about this as soon as his teacher gave us the items for the project. All the way home from Co-op Class I heard "We need to go to the store to get the items to make my bubbles". He enjoyed playing with the bubbles and seeing how big he could get the bubbles. We had a perfect day for doing this project.

Edwards Co-op Nature Box

This is the lid to Edwards Homeschool Co-op Class Nature Box. We were given these plastic shoes boxes to put our nature collection things in. We were asked to decorate the box lid. Edward helped me paint the background of the lid, then we applied the stickers and decoupaged it. It was a fun project to work on together.

Summer Bowling League Fun

Above are pictures of Edward and his favorite Bowling Coach, Karina. She has been his coach since we started bowling. Edward just loves her. However since this year we switched to the Homeschool Bowling League through the Bowling Alley, she isn't his coach because she herself is in public school at the time our league plays. He really misses her. The other picture is of Edward and his team mate (this is the first session that Edward has had a team mate since we begun bowling league with him), William. The bowling ball that they are holding, is Edwards own personal ball. Edward and William called their team the Speedy Rollers. LOL! They did awesome. Edwards game has improved so much. We are so proud of him.

Edward and Cake

I have to share this. Edward is so funny when it comes to cake or cupcakes.....he will eat all the frosting off of the cake or cupcake but refuses to eat the actual cake part of the dessert. Instead he gives it to the dogs. I can't get him to eat it for anything. What a silly kid.

First Day of Homeschool Bowling League

Today was the first day of Edwards Homeschool Bowling League. They said this is the biggest turn out for this league.....60 kids (this is their 11th year for this league). He did Awesome. He scored a 71 his first game and a 86 his second, plus he got a spare. He could have had 3 more spares but one of the pins kept giving him a hard time and not falling even when it encountered his ball. He has a little gal on his team this year. She is only 3 and so petite, the 6lb ball is as big as she is.
This week we have been working on the new Curriculum flashcards, we are working on Pre-Reader books. We are also doing paper work (not Curriculum....we will officially start the Curriculum work next week....wanted to ease Edward into the school year) and Brain Quest Cards. Today we also finger painted. Tomorrow is a BUSY day for us. We have school early in the morning, so that we can get to our Co-op class by 10:45am, then we have Monart for Homeschoolers at 4pm ( I think that is the time).

Why We Choose To Homeschool Edward

I have been having some difficulties with people not understanding why we are choosing to homeschool our son. There are so many reasons and I find it hard to verbalize the reasons to them correctly, so I thought that maybe if I wrote about it it would help me to be able to get the reasons across correctly. Of course there is the freedom of being able to worship and learn about God. Teaching Edward the TRUE reasons why this country was founded. School is in no way like it was when I was in the education system (not saying it was the greatest then either) and it defiantly is nothing like it was back when our parents and grandparents went to school. School has become an institutional setting. It is a proven fact that children who are homeschooled are more socialized than those who attend a public (and sometimes Private) school setting. Children are made to act like as the teacher thinks all children should act, there is no room for individualized personalities....you risk your child being slapped with a label if they don't conform to the way their teacher(s) feel that a child should be. Children in public school are required to sit still for hours on end at desks, they are not allowed to move, talk or do the things that come natural to a child. I know that schools have lots of great programs for advanced learns and if the teacher is really on top of things they might catch one or two who are struggling in reading or writing. But there are those students who might be so great at math but wonderfully smart at science. This student is usually overlooked, instead of working on the child's strengths and helping them with their struggles they are just shuffled into the mix. Yes there are some good school districts but you have to realize that ME ME ME is the structure of ALL public school systems. A child's individual interests are not used as a way to help make learning more interesting and fun for them because so many children are shoved together into one classroom that it is hard to individualize their learning behaviors let alone their interests. Homeschool tends to be more hands on, individualized to each child. Yes even if there is more than one or two children being taught by one person (even when they are of different ages. I wont even go into the fact that public school is dangerous to our children in so many ways. God didn't make children, let alone people, to all fit into one "cookie cutter mold". We are all different and unique, we all learn in different matters and to make school the best for our children their learning situations need to be individualized for each child. Homeschooling allows us to do that. My son does not lack for socialization, he is able to socialized daily with everyone from the elderly to babies. He is able to learn according to his unique learning behaviors (some people learn by sight, others by doing, others by repetition and so forth) that God has given to him, he is able to incorporate his interests into his learning situations so that it makes learning more interesting to him. He is able to go to locations and see things (daily if we choose) that teach him how things work, are made and so forth. He is able to learn history right were it happened, if we want to take him to those locations. We are able to educate him during the time of the day that is best for him, when he is alert and able to grasp concepts. We are able to go at his pace not a pace that is made to accommodate the average child in the room (therefore those ahead of the average learn are forced to lag behind in their learning experiences unless they are able to meet the requirements for advanced learning classes. Those who struggle and are unable to grasp a certain concept of the subject being taught them are forced to struggle and usually lag behind the rest of those in their class...which causes them to stand out to the other children and they are usually ridiculed by their peers for being slow or having less than average grades. Yes there are special education classes for the slowest of learners but once again you have to meet the requirements for those classes that have been set forth by the public school system. So those that don't quite meet these requirements for advanced classes or special ed classes are forced to learn at the pace of the average learner in their class(es).) I will force myself not to get on my soapbox about recesses being shortened in lots of public school and in some place done away with all together, no more music and art classes, PE being done away with in some schools, and my favorite of all right now.....free constructive play time being taken away from Kindergartners when it is one of the most important aspects of their education at that age. Kindergartners are now forced to sit for long periods at desks and learn like the older children. In case you were unaware Kindergarten is now being considered the new FIRST GRADE. SAD is all I will say about all these topics, sad for our children, sad for our society. I wouldn't doubt that if in a few years if Preschool was considered the new FIRST GRADE and 3 & 4 yrs olds were required to sit for hours on end doing paper work and being drilled with facts. Our government through our public school systems are slowly taking away our children's only chance at CHILDHOOD. So Preschoolers will be required to do hours of homework after they come home from a long day at school, cutting out all chances for playing. SAD SAD SAD!!!!! I hope that this has given some insight as to why we have chosen to educate our son at home and not through the public school system. Please note that I do realize that for some the public school system is the only option, but please be your child(ren)s advocate.....stand up for what you want your child(ren)s learning experience(s) to be. You know your child(ren) better than any teacher ever could, you know their learning behaviors, where they excel and where they struggle. Be their voice when educators choose not to listen. This is not to say that there aren't awesome educators out there but you have to remember sometimes their hands too are tied by the government and the public school system.
I have a personal quote that I think says it best: As Homeschoolers, we are not limited by where and what books might teach us, or what a building can provide for learning experiences and materials. The World is our teaching resource....our learning palette, we learn from it by seeing, hearing, touching, and hands on experiencing it personally.~Desiree Thompson 9/6/07

First Day of Homeschool Co-op

Well, today was Edwards first Day at Homeschool Co-Op. He is taking a Storytime, Music and Movement Class. The first 6 weeks is about creation. He has to make a Nature Box, keep a Nature Notebook, take Nature Walks and collect pieces of God's Creation all around us. He did exceptional in class. This is so good for him and for me. We get to be with others who also choose to Homeschool as we do. There is about 30 plus families in the Co-op. He will be able to join PE and other classes next year when he is in Kindergarten. We start official Homeschool next Tuesday. He will do a review week and then we will jump right into the Horizon's Preschool Curriculum. I have been busy getting lesson plans together, getting things copied and prepared for when we need them. Edward starts his Homeschool Bowling League next Thrusday and his Monart Class on Friday afternoon...plus he will have his co-op class on Fridays too. He will start Kindermusik on the following Tuesday. So that is it so far.

Edward's Terminology

I don't think I have shared this but I think it is cute. Edward loves to sleep in footie pj's. He absolutely loves them. He calls them Zip em up, foot holders. I am not sure as to where he came up with this but he has been calling them this since he was 3.

This Is The Day That The Lord Hath Made

Edward has a Veggie Tales Toddler CD that he loves to listen to on his portable DVD player, we recently bought him earphones so that we don't have to listen to his DVD movies while we are watching TV or listening to our CDs on the CD Player. Anyway, on the CD is the song "This is the Day that the Lord Hath Made" He will start belting this song out, not all the words come through clearly when he is singing it. This is especially funny to hear when he has his earphones on because you don't hear the song or the music, just Edward belting out the song. At the end of the song, he literally scream sings the end. To Funny. I need to get this on video some day.

Edwards Funny This Morning

LOL!!! Edward came up to me this morning and said to me: "Mommy, I still love you!" What a crack up. He is so funny sometimes. I don't know where this came from or even why he said it, but it was funny probably because it was so out of the blue.

Newflash from the Thompson Household

I am in the middle of cleaning the house so the maids can come in and do a deep clean, so we can start off the year in a spic and span environment. He and his daddy are going to have a boys weekend this weekend, so I can get the main parts of the house clean without Edwards "help". He tends to go behind me and re-mess up what I have already cleaned. I have our upstairs all done. Going to do the Entryway, Kitchen and downs stairs bath today.
Still working on catching up the laundry from when I was sick in July. Now my brand new washer is coding on me that its having issues with draining, so I will have to have a service repairman come out next week and fix it for me. It is frustrating. I can get a load or two done then it starts to act up on me. So that is making it even harder for me to catch up on the laundry.
Next week, on Monday, I have an exterminator coming in to do a spray, he'll come every 3 months and do it. Then on Wednesday, the Maids are coming in to do a deep clean. Plus I hope to get the repair man in to fix the washer next week. Kirk is going out of state next Friday for the 3 day weekend with his dad in Las Vegas. Then things get really exciting for me. Edward will start school either the Tuesday after Labor Day or the following Monday. However Friday the 31st, we will be attending our first Homeschooling Co-op class. He is going to be taking a Storytime & Music Movement Class for 4 to 7 yr olds. I have volunteered to do a P.E. class for Preschoolers and Pre-Kindergarteners.We will also be doing Kindermusik again this year, however the classes will be on Tuesday Mornings. We will be joining the Homeschooling Bowling League on Thursdays this year, instead of participating in the bowling league on Friday and Saturdays. This is the first year that he can join the HBL at the bowling alley. We will be joining the Homeschooling Monart class on Fridays too, a lot of the children from the Co-op participate in this class. Edward will learn to draw using all types of mediums. He will be learning about famous artist this session, like Van Gogh and Gloria O'Keefe. If you would like to learn more about Monart or what see what types of things Edward will be learning you can go to www.Monart.com . He will be learning actual drawing techniques. I am pretty excited about this class for him. I plan to do homeschooling Monday through Friday from 9:30 to about 12:30/1:30. But that is just a general time for now, because with the new Horizon's Preschool Curriculum that we bought through Alpha Omega, I am not sure how long each section will take, I used their time line but after a couple of weeks I should have a better idea of how school will take us. I want to allow Edward time to be a child too and have free time to enjoy too. So as you can imagine our lives are about to get extremely busy and exciting. I will scan Edwards first Monart Picture that he brings home, to share with you all.
Well that is us in a nutshell.

Wanted to Cry

Today, I went to buy Edward some new Underwear and Socks. I about broke down in the store, I had to go to the boys section, not the baby/toddler section to get my "baby" these new items. He now wheres a 6 in underwear and a medium in boys socks. He even can wear a XS shirt from that area now. He wears a 5T or a 5 now in shirts and a 4T (which he seems to be quickly growing out of) in pants. Granted he still needs the adjustable waist bands. Before I know it he will be in the BIG BOYS section.....boooooo hoooooooo. :0( Time just flies by way to fast.

1st official year of homeschooling

Well, we have received our first official Homeschool Curriculum. We will be starting our School Year on Tuesday, September 4th. We will be using the new Horizons Preschool Curriculum this year. School will be 36 weeks long. Our last week of school, barring any illness or unforeseen circumstances should be the last week of May. I am looking forward to the school year. I am excited to be able to watch Edward learning, growing, and becoming more self confident on a day to day basis, as he masters the basics in learning and beyond. I am so impressed with this curriculum, towards the end of the year Edward will be introduced to our skeletons, heart, brain & inner ears. He will be learning to tell time and beginning basic reading. He is already wanting to read, so I know this will be right up his alley. I plan to get the house cleaned at the end of August by having some maids come in and do the deep cleaning while I get our "classroom" in order, so we can start out in a nice clean, organized environment. I will be working on the first months lessons plans here shortly. This Curriculum comes with Teacher Guides and a basic lesson plan. I plan to add to it and supplement this curriculum with other learning materials and activities. Edward is now signed up for a Homeschooling Bowling League through the bowling alley. This new league (for us) will start in September and goes through April. We are hoping to be able to get into Kindermusik again this fall. Edward might take swimming lessons again this fall. We will be bumping him up possibly to the next level.

Down for the count

Sorry I haven't been keeping up with this the past 2 weeks but I have been extremely sick. It started 2 Thursday's ago when I woke up with a sore throat. I thought it was just allergies so I didn't pay much attention to it. By night fall, I was running a temp of about 103 and had the chills bad. Saturday found me running over a 105 temp, so off to the ER we went. They said I was extremely dehydrated and needed to have an IV of fluids. I was told I had a Urinary Tract Infection and a Sinus Infection. I was sent home with antibiotics, thinking okay I will be great in a few days. Wrong, by Wednesday I was in to see my own Family Physician. They took chest x-rays. When she showed them to me I could see that my lungs were full of fluids and I am just a layman at this stuff. Diagnosis, Walking Pneumonia. Trust me I would never wish this or any form of Pneumonia on my worst enemy. It is awful. So I was prescribed a 2nd antibiotics, still had to take the first ones because they were for the UTI and the new ones wouldn't help with that. The timing for this sucked, I was suppose to go get Regan the first Friday that I was sick but of course not wanting to get her sick postponed that. So now I will get her this Friday but she will only be able to stay for 1 1/2 weeks and not 2 now. I feel so bad. At least I am starting to feel better. Praying for no relapses, trying to take it easy but get the house back in order before I go get her Friday.

Can You Spell Pitiful??

Well it is official, Edward has his very first ear infection. He has been so pitiful all day, bless his heart. We had to skip his swimming lessons this morning, I was so afraid that he had gotten Swimmers Ear and that is why he had woken up this morning crying that his ear hurt. I of course took him to his doctor as soon as they could get us in, which ended up being at the same time as his swimming lessons would have been this morning. She told me it wasn't do to Swimmers Ear, that it was an actual infection of the ear itself. Poor thing, I feel so bad for him. Hopefully this is the only one he will have to endure. She put him on Pain Ear Drops, Amoxicillin and Motrin. I bought some ear pillows for him to use next week during swimming lessons, too keep the water out of his ears....so as not to make the issue worse for him.

What was in the bag??

Today was the birthday party that Edward was invited too. We bought a couple of things to give as a present for the little boy. I put them in a gift bag with some tissues and included the card that Edward picked out for him. While I was putting together the bag and stuffing it with tissue paper, Edward was eating a lunchable. Zoom ahead about 2 hours, we are the part of the party where the little boy is opening his present. He gets to Edwards and is basically just pulling the things out (he was overwhelmed) and not paying much attention to all the contents of the bag. The mom picked it up to see what else was in it, she reached in and took out a small block of cheese and 3 crackers....she said "I especially liked this part of the present." Everyone laughed. I was so embarrassed at first and began apologizing profusely. She smailed and said that there was nothing to be sorry about, it could have just as easily been her and both the other moms said the same thing. Too funny. I would have never thought that Edwards snack ended up in the gift bag.

The Next Camp Snoopy Idol

We went to see a kids show at Camp Snoopy and Edward got up on the stage and sang Dry Bones with Snoopy, it was so cute. He was acting light he was meant to be up there, he did great until a few other families walked in (we had been the only ones in there for a while)....then suddenly he became very shy.
Once we get the pictures and video from Kirk's Cell Phone, I will upload them to this blog.

Heart Break on the Red Barron

We were in the Camp Snoopy part of the Worlds of Fun Park, Edward asked to ride the Red Barron Ride. Well just before the ride was going to be start a little girl about a year or two older than Edward wanted to ride. She got into Edward's plane (note there were a few empty planes and others with just one child in them). The whole time the ride was, Edward kept turning around talking to the little girl and grinning. When the ride was over he waited to walk out with her, he wanted to go again. He thought the little girl had followed him for another ride. He turned around saying "Follow me, let's ride again." and she was gone.

Watery Fun

We are in Salina KS overnight. We are staying in a hotel that has an indoor pool with a huge indoor curvy water slide. This is the first time Edward has ever been on a water slide of any type. HE LOVED IT!!! I rode down with him the 2 times, then I went first, then he came after I was in the water waiting to catch him. Then he went about 4 times by himself with me waiting to catch him at the bottom. Then we went 2 more times where I went first and then he came after I was in the water to catch him. Sorry didn't get pictures, camera not water friendly. Next time I will bring a water proof camera. He has so much fun. Tomorrow we will go to a train museum here in Salina, then we are head to Kansas City overnight so we can go to the Worlds of Fun Amusement Park there, then off to Topeka (maybe not a 100% sure on that one) overnight then home Monday morning in time for swimming lessons.

First Birthday Party Invite

Edward is so excited he got his first invite to a birthday party. He was invited to a party for another little boy here in town, that was on his blast ball team. It is this coming Monday. It is at 3pm, he has bowling league on Mondays too at 1pm so I set up for him to do a pre-bowl this Friday instead, so he can go to the party.

Thank Heaven's

Last night (kirk is out of town for the next few days on business), Edward ended up in my bed about 230 in the morning, saying he had a bad dream. About an hour later, I thought his side of the bed felt wet (mind you I can count on both my hands how many times he has had an accident since he was potty trained in Jan 06). He had an accident. He was rather upset about the whole situtation. I got up and changed the bedding hoping I had the mattress cover that had a water proof lining (I bought it so sippy cups that tend to leak wouldn't ruin our temprupetic mattress pad). Thankfully it was on our bed and the mattress and mattress pads were as dry as a bone. I gave him a hug and reminded him accidents happen to everyone. I wouldn't have been mad at him even if I had had the other mattress cover on. He's just a little boy and things like this will happen from time to time.

Update on Edward's Sleeping

I am proud to announce that Edward has been successfully sleeping in his bed 97% of the time from bedtime to sunrise, for the past 7 weeks. He is doing great and we have made even more changes to his bedtime routine. He now starts out in his bed, we read him 3 stories, kiss him and hug him goodnight, tuck him in, turn on his lullaby music and turn out the lights. He stays there and will sleep the whole night through unless he has a bad dream, then he comes to our bed. He must have been ready this time to sleep in his own bed because we didn't have the issues we had before with getting him to sleep in his bed.

Ummmmmmmm, Daddy!!!

Sebastian had knocked over Kirk's soda while scrounging from something that he thought was up on the TV tray to eat. Kirk said some expletives at Sebastian. Edward walked up to Kirk, and said "Ummmmm, Daddy you're suppose to say Oh Pickles, not naughty words."

Edward's Bowling

Edward had his second week of league today. His average so far is 79 (that was averaged out of last weeks two games...doesn't include todays games). He is now bowling with a 8lb ball. He got one strike last week. This week he got 3 spares and bowled, get this, a 103 the first game and a 74 the second one. He got an announcement over the intercom for everyone to hear. She said that Edward Thompson in the Bumpers League just bowled a 103 game. He was so excited to hear that. He is doing amazing this season, I hope that he keeps it up. He gets so excited when he does well. He does have team this year, with another little boy named William (who is also home schooled). Their team had the second highest combined game score last week. Not bad for a 2 4 yr olds. The name of their team is Speedy Rollers. Cute, huh?

My Awesome Weekend

We had an Awesome time! Friday night after we arrived we just stayed in. I had a fruit and cheese tray along with a small bottle of white wine in the room for when we arrived. So we enjoyed that when we got in. We had a separate sitting room with it's own 1/2 bath, mini bar & TV. There was a small balcony. However there wasn't really a view to see so we didn't use that. There were 2 double beds, a TV and full bathroom in the other bedroom portion of the suite. We ordered room service for dinner (which were so wonderful...she had chicken and I had steak) and played Here and Now Monopoly, while visiting....we also watched a little TV. We got up Saturday went to Inspirations Tea Room for lunch. This tearoom is owned by Christians. It is fabulous, we both have been there other times. I told the waitress that we were celebrating Trisha's Birthday. When she brought back our dessert (we were sharing, it was a Strawberry Shortcake) it had a candle in it. They also gave her a little gift back with some of their scones (yummmy) and a few teas. We wandered around their gift shop afterwards until we had to leaver for the spa. I have to say that I went to another spa last Feb and that spa has nothing on the one we went to. It was so relaxing, tranquil, and serene. The treatments that we had were just fabulous. We started with a Lavender Hand Luxury Treatment. We soaked our hands in this water that had a lavender fizzing marble in it, then they took our hands and massaged them with lavender lotion and then dipped them in paraffin wax, we sat there with our hands in the wax, covered with plastic bags and these towels that were sewn like huge mittens, while they did our feet. We had the Grape Peel Foot Treatment. Our feet were soaked in Champagne fizz. Then they were exfoliated with Grape Pedi Peel and Champagne Oil (it was a foot mask), then they put our feet in plastic bags and they blue slippers. They looked like Smurf booties. LOL!!! While our feet sat in these booties, they finished our hands. They removed the paraffin wax, and massaged our hands with lavender oils. Then they removed the booties and finished our feet. We were able to stay together during these two treatments, we visited and just had a great time. Then we were taken to separate rooms for our facials. We had Chocolate Champagne Facials. First we had to remove our tops including our bras and done the soft spa towel tops that snapped closed. Then we laid down on massage tables and covered with sheets. They started our facials with a facial cleansing with Chocolate milk (LOL....that is what they call what ever it is), that was followed with hot stones rubbed on the face, then removed with a steaming hot cloth massage. Next came Exfoliation with a Revitalizing Exfoliating Scrub, and another rub down with hot stones, then removed with another steaming hot cloth massage. Then the Chocolate Masque was applied. While that was being allowed to do it's thing. We received a Champagne and Rose Butter Oil Massaged to the hands, arms, shoulders, neck and scalp. The Chocolate Masque was removed with a steaming hot cloth massage after it was rubbed down with hot stones. Then we had ultra hemp moisturizer put on our faces followed by a cold stone rub down on the face to help with the redness. This was heavenly. We finished up the day at the spa with Chocolate Strawberry crepes and tea in the fireside room. When we checked out we were given some Ultra Hemp Moisturizer and Eye Pillows that you can heat or put in the freezer. We went shopping at Target afterwards, then back to the hotel. We decided that we were going to go to Brick Town for dinners at an awesome Mexican Restaurant called Abelous. We were just about to leave when my cell phone rang. It was Kirk. He was Frantically asking me where Edward and I go for walks. I was trying to figure out why he was so frantic about going for a walk and why it was important that he took Edward where we go. I kept asking why he wanted to know and was so frantic about it. Finally he tells me he can't find Edward anywhere. He explains that he hadn't seen or heard Edward in almost 30 minutes. That he had looked all over the house but he was no where to be found. That he had called the cops and that they were there searching the house too. He told me he had to go, leaving me hanging and not know much more of what was happening. I called my mom, my step mom and Jennifer to ask them to start praying that Edward was found. Trisha called her mom and did the same. I called Kirk back and asked if they had found him. He said no, that he was looking for something that Edward had been wearing for the scent sniffing dogs that they were bringing in. Our elderly neighbor was searching the alleys and streets for Edward. Kirk hangs up on me. I can tell he is frantic. I am trying to stay calm and not just jump in the van and fly home, thinking how long do I wait before I do so. I felt that Edward had just fallen asleep somewhere in the house like he does at times with me and that Kirk just couldn't see him. I wanted to give ample time for them to look and not have Kirk worrying about me driving frantically home. Kirk called back and I asked him if they had found him. He was saying no, then in the back ground I hear a cop say that they had found him. Relief filled me so much, and Kirk too, I could instantly hear it in his voice. Kirk asked where they found him at, Edward had gone and curled up in his big butterfly chair back in the little reading nook in the playroom and fallen asleep. This chair is full of stuffed animals. He had crawled under all of them (probably had been playing there and fell asleep unplanned), the only thing that was sticking out was his hair and a tiny portion of his head. They brought Edward to Kirk and I could hear Kirk squeezing the stuffing out of Edward. PTL That he was safe. I finally got the rest of the story. Kirk was trying to surprise me while I was gone with redoing our downstairs bathroom. Edward had been going back and forth, and then Kirk realized that Edward hadn't come around for about 20 to 30 minutes, it was awful quiet so he went looking for him. Couldn't find him and this freaked him because there had been a yard sale just a few houses down the road with lots of people coming and going in the neighborhood. So he called the cops after he was unsuccessful in locating Edward. He says now he feels like an idiot but I told him not too. He did the right thing, minutes are so important in finding a lost little one. After everything was calmed down, Trisha and I decided to still go to dinner. We hoped the downtown trolley (caught it unfortunately at the beginning of the route so we had to ride it the whole route...it was only a quarter though) to Brick Town. We had a great dinner at the Mexican Restaurant, went back to the hotel, rented a movie (Because I Said So with Diane Keaton and Mandy Moore) , order a midnight snack from room service and then went to sleep. We woke up Sunday morning, ordered breakfast from room service, packed up and left. She went to her aunts, I went shopping (had to get some things for father's day to make for Kirk), then I went to see the Wilkinson's (my first nanny family).....visited for almost 2 hours then came home. It was a nice weekend minus the missing Edward thing.

Temper, Temper, Temper

What are we going to do? I pray that this is just a phase but Edward has gotten a temper going on ever since he turned 4 last month. He has taken to hitting, biting, screaming so hard his face turns beat red (I can only imagine what that is doing to this little guys blood pressure level), chocking and clawing at us when we are trying to punish him or he is not getting his way. Does anyone have any suggestions? I just don't know where all this anger is coming from.

Will They Survive???

I keep wondering if my going away for a whole weekend is a great idea. I am not sure Edward and Kirk (or my house for that matter) will surive the weekend. I keep wondering if I should just cancel. I wont, I need to go but I know that I will be spending time worrying if they are killing each other. I guess you never can truly leave your family, can you?

Edward's 4yr Well Child Check-up

Edward had his 4 yr well child check up a few weeks ago. He measured in at 40 1/4 inches tall. He weighed in at 36lbs (at this rate, he will be riding in a booster seat until he can drive a car...lol!!!). He is where he should be in somethings and ahead in others. They tried to do an eye exam on him but it wasn't really very helpful. I am sure next year will be a better time for him to do it. He had his ears checked, they are good his right ear was a little off but she felt that, that could be due to fluid behind the ears due to allergies. He seems to have inherited that from me, poor kid. Sneezes like crazy some days. We have him on Claritin for Kids daily now. He seems much better.

Edward's Day

Today was Edward's first day Summer Bowling League. He has a team mate this session, which is great. Last 2 sessions he was the only one on his team. He scored a 73 his first game and a 69 his second game. He started off the very first frame of the session with a Strike. The 2 boys (Edward and his team mate, William) decided to name their team the Speedy Rollers. He also had his first day of his week long Kindermusik camp. He loved it. We go every morning this week, it is an early rise week for us. I am considering doing the Homeschooling Bowling League in the fall, William is homeschooled and they were a part of that league. She said it was great. They also had the cutest T-shirts for their league. That league is during the school year from Sept to April.

A Edward Funny on the way to the Zoo yesterday

Yesterday, while we were driving to the zoo for Kirk's company. Edward was sitting in the back of the van in his car seat behind his wagon (had to take one seat out to fit it), says to his daddy in a very stern tone of voice: "Daddy we're going to the zoo today! There are lots of animals there, so you need to stay with us and not get lost. If you get lost then you will be in LOTS of trouble."

Evel Knievel the next generation

I just found my son trying to roller skate down our stairs (luckily it wasn't the top of the staircase were I can't see him (wall in the way). I told him no and he took of his roller skates. He has those Little Tike Adjustable Roller Skates that you can put over their shoes. He loves them. LOL!!!! What will that boy try to do next? Everytime I turn around he is trying to do something that might hurt him, like jumping off the deck railing, climbing the fence, hanging over a railing and so forth. Oh the life of a little boy, always excitement!!!

Mommy, Can We Chase the Ice Cream Man?

Today, I was out mowing the lawn. I was doing the lawn by the carport/garage first. Edward was riding his bike on the driveway area. He heard the music of the ice cream man. He came over to me, so I stopped mowing. He said "Mommy, Can We Chase the Ice Cream Man?". I told him that I didn't have any cash, he said you do to, in the car (we keep change in there from when we are given it back from buying something). So I told him if the Ice Cream Man was out front when we were up there for me to mow the front lawn, I would buy him an ice cream. He took this to mean that we were going to chase the Ice Cream man. He grabbed his bike and started running down the back alley with me following pushing the mower with me. Needless to say I was about half of the way done with the front yard before we saw the Ice Cream Man's Van. He was about 2 streets down from ours (we could see him). Edward went to the road (I was with him) and was waving him down, screaming "STOP HERE ICE CREAM MAN!!" It took everything I had not to bust up laughing right there in the street. Guess we will be seeing a lot of the ice cream man this summer since Edward seems to be able to hone in on the music that the Ice Cream Man plays, even in the house.

Such a little Gentleman!

Yesterday Edward and I went to the post office while we were doing errands. He saw some women with their arms full, and he went and held the door open for them. He was very polite and so sweet. I was so proud of my son in that very moment, I know that we are raising him well.

Backwards Underwear

This morning, I noticed that Edward had his underwear on backwards. I told them that the hole in the underwear needed to be in the front. Well he turned them around, and show me that the hole was in the front with pulling his penis out. I told him that that was exactly what the whole in the underwear was for, so that he didn't have to pull down his underwear to go pee. He said no, that he goes pee like this. He pulled his penis out over the top of his underwear, I said that that was okay too but they put in hole in the underwear so that you could do it that way too. I thought that this was the end of the conversation. NO!!! I picked up the phone to call Kirk to see what he wanted for dinner and when he might be home from his trip, Edward takes the phone from me. He doesn't say hi daddy, not I miss you.....just goes right into telling Kirk that He pees like this (showing daddy who is not even in the room, let alone the state but on the other end of the phone) and he doesn't want to use the hole to pee, he wont put his penis in the hole. Kirk has no clue what Edward is talking about other than peeing and something to do with a hole. I can't help myself, I am cracking up the whole time. Picturing what Kirk is thinking in his mind about this subject that Edward is being very adament about with him. Edward hands me back the phone, not good-bye daddy, not I will see you soon, just stops talking about peeing and the hole and hands the phone back to me. I asked Kirk if he had any idea what that was all about. Kirk said peeing in holes? I laughed and told him, well sorta. I explained the whole thing and then he understood. That child!!

Mother's Day 2007

I hope that your Mother's Day was a joyous one. I was able to spend this Mother's Day with my own mother. We got her a new Digital Camera. It was great to be able to bless her with something that she wanted. The Digital Camera that she was using was slow responding after you clicked and the pictures were dark even with the flash. She needed a new, more up to date one. She helped Edward to make some presents for me. They painted a ceramic bird house, made me a sun catcher and a purse that I can hang around my neck when I go places like the zoo or the park and don't want to lug my purse with me but still need to have my id, credit cards, cash and or passes with me. Very cute and will be very useful. Kirk also took Edward to our local Rec center to make Mother's Day Gifts for me. He painted me a hand towel, lamented hand prints, a card, and a picture frame. I also received a pink bowling ball and a bowling bag (as per my request). I also got roses, a card and a balloon. It was a great day for me. Now it is time for me to get things done for Edward to give to Kirk on Father's Day. We will do that the week right before Father's Day. We are going to make him a t-shirt that Says: Property of my Kid...it will have Edward's hand prints on the front and footprints on the back. We also got him another T-shirt about Dad's and a leather travel dual, foldable picture frame for him to use when he travels. Still need to find a few more things for Kirk plus something special from me for him, after all he is the love of my life and the father of my child....I want him to know that I think he is an awesome Daddy and that I appreciate all he does for Edward.

Nana Comes to Visit

My mom (aka...NANA to Edward) came to visit us for 2 weeks from May 3rd to May 16th. She got to experience our busy daily lives. She was able to enjoy 1 bowling league session with Edward (he bowled a 73 and a 77 that week with his New 8lb Toy Story Bowling Ball...he broke the 6lb ball he got in Feb....he is doing awesome with the 8lb ball...thought it might be to heavy for him but he handles it quite well). She also got to go to his Bowling Awards Ceremony the following Friday with us. He received another trophy, which is now proudly displayed in his bedroom. She also got to see his participate in 2 games of blastball. She also was able to go to 2 of his Kindermusik classes with us. He had one of his 3 birthday parties on the 11th with his Kindermusik pals, so she was there to help out with that. She was also here for his other 2 parties. More on his parties in a later blog post. I hope that she had fun. She helped him to make a couple neat Mother's Day Presents for me. More about Mother's Day in another blog post. LOL!! We of course also enjoyed going to Yoder (a local Amish community) together and we went and saw Georgia Rules together. I personally loved the movie thought it was a good flick. We also visited and she helped me get some things caught up around here...which was a thankful help to me. I already miss her. We plan to go see her in March for her birthday, it had dawned on me that Edward and I haven't ever spent her birthday with her. I thought he would enjoy that.

BlastBall

Edward just finished Blastball (these are pictures from his one and only practice). They had 4 games altogether....Every Monday for a Month. The name of his team was The Bears and they work Green (this color) t-shirts to their games that said Blastball on them. It was a great introduction to T-ball. Next year he will still be young enough to play Blastball, so we will sign him up for that again. He seemed to enjoy himself greatly and learned a lot of valuable lessons about Sportsmanship, Teamwork and Sharing. Being an only child, who is homeschooled we felt that these were very important lessons for him to learn. You could tell that he was the only child on the team without siblings, because he was the one out in the field laying in the grass throwing a screaming fit because someone else caught the ball. His Nana got to come and see him play 2 of his 4 games. Of course both daddy and mommy were there to cheer him on at all his games and his practice. We have a ton more pictures. I just haven't uploaded them to my computer yet because it desperately needs to be reloaded. For those of you who aren't familiar with what Blastball is, the children hit the ball off of a tee. The ball is soft (like a nerf ball) and so is the bat. The children only run to 1st base and when they jump on it, it honks. There is no score left and the games only were 45 minutes long. If you hadn't played all four innings by then, that was okay. The game was still over. Great for little ones and to see if they even like the sport. They also have Munchkin Tennis through our rec center but Edward is fully booked both set of sessions with that, so we will not be able to do that this year. Maybe next year. We just want to give him the opportunity to try all sports, even though neither Kirk or I are sporty people. We don't want our dislikes and likes to flow over on Edward, we want him to decide for himself....after all he is his own person. We try very hard to take this attitude towards everything from food to activities. Of course there are a few activities that because of being homeschooled that we do feel aren't optional choices....we do them as a part of his curriculum.