Welcome Back Weenie Roast

On August 30th Ian's school hosted a "Welcome Back" weenie roast. I guess the boys had never heard of a weenie roast, because they kept making me say "weenie roast" over and over and over again and then laughing hysterically.

The party started with a walk through the woods for all of the kids and their families led by the school director. I had never walked through a planned forest before so it was a bit of an experience for me, too.

Ian was certain this was bamboo.

Nearing the end of the trail. Ready to eat.

We, ahem, brought up the rear.....as you can see.

Preparing a hot dog for everyone in the family.

We had a great time. It was so nice to have a fun evening out that also involved something new for the boys. They also roasted marshmallows. For me, the most memorable moment of the evening was when Eli looked the school director right in the eye and asked, "What? Are you NUTS?!" I thought I was going to die, and yet, here I am typing the memory.

Through the Eyes of a Child

This morning Ian and I had the funniest little conversation. Enjoy!

Ian: When my dad took me to Wal-Mart, he got some change and gave it to me. Then we put the change in a boot.

Me: A boot?

Ian: Yeah, a boot.

Me: (light bulb: firemen raising money for MDA) OOOOHHH, you gave it to a fireman.

Ian: No, it wasn't a fireman, it was just a guy.

Me: I think it was a fireman raising money.

Ian: No, it was just a guy selling stickers.

This absolutely cracked me up! You drop your donation in the boot, and then the fireman gives you a sticker for your child. Of course this looked totally different to a four-year-old. Oh, Ian boy. You make things so much fun!

The Busy Bakers

Ian's school asks children learn to prepare and pack their own lunches, even at three or four years old. It builds confidence, it makes the children feel important and empowered; it's just a great life skill to learn. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday this week, I prepared Ian's lunch. We're still new at the school routine so it's taking some time to figure things out.

But today....today I called Ian into the kitchen and helped him to make his own lunch. This about tripled the time required to pack the lunch, but I want to make sure that we are doing everything at home that we can to reinforce what he is learning at school. I'm not going to pay full tuition for half the education because we aren't following up at home. He stood on a chair and I directed him with spreading hummus onto a tortilla. Some bites are going to be pretty "hummus heavy" while others are going to be quite, ahem, dry, but, hey, he did it himself. Then he rolled it up and sliced it in half to fit in the container. I had to help him cut a little because he couldn't put enough pressure on the knife. He then cut his stick of string cheese in half to fit into another small container. To finish it off, I supervised while he added an appropriate, key word here, amount of grapes and orange wedges to the container. All in all a nice nutritious meal prepared, practically single-handedly, by our freshly turned four-year-old. I was very proud, and Ian was beaming with pride.

He then showed me how they taught him at school to hang one strap of his tote bag on a hook, while the other flops forward, and then slide your lunch in the bag. He was quite proud.

Since Ian got to pack his own lunch, Eli had to pack his own lunch too.

Keeping On Task

I recently saw an idea for a "job chart" online. I think I saw it on I Heart Organizing, but I can't remember. Eek!!! Anyway, this was not my original idea, and I would give credit where credit is due, but I honestly can't remember where I saw this. Sorry to whoever did this first!

I created envelopes for each of Ian's morning responsibilities and stuck them at his eye level on the fridge with painter's tape. The tasks go in order from left to right, and he knows to do them in sequence. Once a task is complete, he moves the green card to the front to show that task has been completed. We are still new to the morning school routine, so a LOT of redirection is needed to keep him focused on getting things done, but I'm hopeful that this will really help. He enjoys getting to put the green card in the front and check things off his to-do list.

I used stickers to spell out the task, and then I drew a very rough sketch of the task since he can't read yet. After being asked a zillion times why everything looked so bizarre (I. Can. Not. Draw.), Ian was totally on board with his little task pockets. Now instead of saying "Get dressed" a thousand times, I tell him, "Check your cards" a hundred times. It's the same amount of talking on my part, but he does seem more engaged with this method since there is something to look at. I'm just trying to remember that after four years of daily freedom, this is an adjustment period for both of us. So far, I'm liking it.

Rug Etiquette

School is in full swing, and Ian is loving it!!! It's incredibly difficult to get ANY information out of him which is really frustrating. But, I did eventually find out that Tuesday he learned about the classroom rugs.

I'm sure that sounds weird. Allow me to explain. At his school the kids don't work at desks. Part of the  Montessori method is embracing the fact that small children learn best while in motion. Their young bodies truly need movement in order to learn. So instead of sitting at a desk while working on a lesson, children have rugs they lay on the floor and that is their work space. Personally, I adore this! Can you picture your child just sitting in one place while they played with their toys? No way! They need to move around, so why expect them to be any different when learning?

The rug is sacred space in the class room. No one is allowed to walk on or across someone else's rug. No one is allowed to touch any of the materials on the rug unless invited by the rug's "occupant." The rugs are stored rolled up in a basket. In order to use a rug, the children carry it under their arms to where they want to work, unroll in, and then roll it up again and carry it under their arms back to the basket when they are done.

I had Ian give us a lesson on rugs, after I finally realized he'd learned about the rugs. He even invited Eli and I to join him on his "rug."

A little lesson in rugs before school this morning.

Ian's First Day of School

Well, as much as I hate it, the day finally came: Ian's First Day of School. I've been prepping myself for this since March when I first toured his school. We had a bit of an unofficial countdown going on here at home. Ian could not wait for school to finally start, and this morning it finally did. Yay for Ian, boo for mom.

When Ian woke up this morning he was ALL smiles. Couldn't wait to walk to school. We finally walked over (we only live about four blocks away), Cole had to literally run home after we dropped him off in order to make a 9:00 a.m. meeting in Decatur, and so began life with a student. I don't like it, I tell ya. I don't! However, I know, without a shadow of a doubt, that we have made the right choice for Ian. It is the right time for him to start school, and going with a Montessori education was absolutely the best opportunity we could have given him.

SOOOOOO excited!!!!!

Li-Li insisted on making this ridiculous face.

Chum 1 and Chum 2

A little time with Dad before school

Getting ready to head in for the first day

I spent the morning running errands with Chum 2, and oh boy, did that feel weird! It is so easy to only haul around one child, deal with one car seat, one set of bathroom breaks, etc. Tomorrow, when I don't have a list of errands to tend to, I'm sure the four-hour school day is going to seem MUCH longer.

We picked Ian up on foot. He was VERY quiet. I was a little concerned. After about a block and a half, he dropped to the ground in someone's yard and said, "I just need to take a rest. My school wore me out, and the grass is a great place to lay down." I was astonished. I couldn't believe how tired he was. He finally asked me to bring the car tomorrow because "a car is faster than people."

When we finally got home, he walked inside and said, "I love my school, but it sure is good to be home." I thought for sure he would actually take a nap today, but he didn't. He did chill in his bed for about an hour though. I think to make it through the school week he is just going to need a very, very early bedtime. Hey, whatever works for him.

All I know is that today was a complete success, and as much as I hate that the first four years have gone by so quickly, I'm so happy that he is excited to be a student.

The Camp Out

Ian and Eli got sleeping bags for Christmas. Eli has absolutely adored his and sleeps in it every night. Ian has stuck with his regular bedding because he HATES change. Do not try to switch things up, he will only hate it and be surly for days on end. But since they got their sleeping bags, they've wanted to go camping. Well.....I don't camp. Neither does Cole. But the requests just kept coming, so this week I told them they could camp in Eli's room on Friday night.

As I got them all snuggled in last night, Eli was upset there was no campfire. (silence) Anyway, they eventually fell asleep around 9:30 last night because they stayed in there chit-chatting for an hour and a half!!!! I knew they would go to sleep late, but I was okay with that.

Well, this morning at 6:00 they were wide awake. Surprise, surprise. Our kids do NOT sleep in! No matter what. Cole and I laid in bed for a few minutes, snoozing, when suddenly we heard horrible crashing that just didn't seem to want to stop. We flew out of bed, and ran to Eli's room. Ian was bawling, Eli was yelling at him for ruining his room. Ian had climbed onto the arm of Eli's rocking chair to try to get something off of a shelf. The rocking chair tipped over, and, I'm assuming, Ian clung to the shelf hoping not to fall but instead ripped the shelf off the wall and landed in a big heap of furniture and stuff.

The brackets of the shelf remain in the wall

The shelf hangs no more

Ian was shaking like crazy as I tried to comfort him. It clearly scared the hell out of him. Most thankfully, Ian and Eli were both fine, but it's going to be a LONG time before we have another "camp out."