Today I was slow getting up and slow to do my regular chores. I got things done little by little, but not systematically, and some chores and duties were skipped. Usually, my example is what sets the tone for the day, so I am curious to see how the rest of this day goes.
6:40ish I got up, made coffee, and mooned around on the computer
7:00ish I heard noises coming from Nick's room but nobody emerged
7:30ish Nick came out to be officially up for the day. I served him yogurt, peanut butter honey toast, and strawberry milk with Vitamin D added (I often use Carlson's Vitamin D drops for children based on tips from pharmacist moms who read Valerie's Babywise Mom blog and from our pediatrician). I also put on a load of laundry and got dressed. Nick got a pair of shorts on. That's all. His underwear stash has been depleted by the number of times I threw away his messy accidents. I guess I need to go buy more; they're kind of a necessity. Nick has gone #2 in the potty on his own a couple of times in the last few days, by the way!!!!!!!!!!!!
8:00ish Erik got up and I took Nick to the porch to paint a watercolor painting. I'm so glad I did that, because my one-on-one attention to Nick is suffering while I homeschool Xander. I still have one-on-one time with him, but the only things we tend to do during this time are reading and cuddling and talking. Not that those things are bad, but the poor boy wants to do other things, too. Watercolor painting requires a lot of my supervision because he doesn't remember to put his brush in the water between every color yet. Erik didn't get a packed lunch because we were painting instead of putting together the final touches of a lunch.
Nick made a snake shape, whether on purpose or by accident, and told me it was a snake. When he used green paint, that was a frog. Other things were battle droids, apparently.
I am so glad that we will be doing preschool so that Nick gets fun one-on-one time with me surrounded by amazing materials. That reminds me, part of our homework this week is to have Nick decorate the cover of a notebook that will serve as our goals journal. That will be a good activity for him while Xander and I are doing school work.
Between 8:30 and 9:00 I switched the load of laundry to the dryer and mooned around on the computer more. Xander got up. I fed him the same menu Nick had eaten. Nick had been sitting on the couch reading for a while, and somehow Xander immediately antagonized him by making conversation. (Not Xander's fault, probably.) I put on the TV and the kids watched Super Why!, Dinosaur Train, and Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood. TV in general is really rubbing me the wrong way lately, so I wish I wouldn't turn it on at vulnerable moments like lazy mornings and late afternoons. Bad me. During this time, Xander was drawing pictures using his markers and our animal stamps. He made a dragon out of a few different animal stamps put together "because I don't know how to draw a dragon."
I gave Nick (and me) a snack of turkey bacon, and more milk for Nick. I considered making more coffee even though I've already had three small mugs this morning.
10:30 I put Nick into independent playtime. He was very tired and even resorted to slapping himself in the face. I assume that was to banish the feelings of drowsiness. Xander and I got ready for school by clearing the table and saying the pledges. I wrote our schedule down on the dry erase board titled "Wonderful Wednesday."
10:45 We listened to "How the Camel Got His Hump" in Just So Stories. We had extra time and Xander really wanted to listen to another one, so we put on "How the Rhinoceros Got His Skin." He wanted to listen to another after that, but there wasn't enough time. As I got out his next activity, he told me, "This is the worst morning ever. All because of what you are doing." He didn't sound very upset, though, so I think he was trying to get a rise out of me. I said, "Oh, I'm sorry to hear that. Your math activity is on the table and I'll explain it when you get there."
And everything went smoothly until he decided the activity was too hard. I think he didn't like seeing how big the stack of cards was. I had one card for each for numbers 4 through 11.
11:00 I put on "Scarborough Fair" while Xander did the hole-punching math activity. I decided he could do two cards per day.
11:15 We read "Summer Afternoon" three times and played around with reciting the first line with most of the words erased on our dry erase board. I am surprised at how he views this as a game. He hasn't complained once about memorizing a poem.
Nick had a peanut butter honey sandwich. Both boys had milk. We are low on milk.
11:30 Half hour break; Xander said he had a sore throat; I learned we are out of Children's Advil; I planned a trip to the store.
I helped Nick use materials like stickers, glue, tissue paper, and paintbrush markers to decorate the cover of his new school journal. The cover was decorated, then he wanted to put a large piece of tissue paper over all of it, like so:
Then we all went to WalMart. I almost never go there, but today we needed toddler underwear and I didn't want the wheedling that usually goes with our Target trips (Legos, Goldfish, and ice cream, oh my). Our local WalMart doesn't seem to have prices much lower than Target, and HEB beats them out, so I don't normally go there. Unfortunately, HEB does not carry underwear.
I decided to go ahead and try to get the week's groceries while we were there without having planned out all our meals first. This is a major no-no in my book, but then again, taking advantage of being out while we're out is a good thing. I think we are nearly done with our week's shopping. Hurray!
Nick and Xander are having their first caramel apples ever. I told Xander the apple might pull his loose teeth out but he was welcome to take the risk if he wanted. This is their "fall treat." We agreed they would only have it once a year.
Nick went down for his nap pretty late today at 2:00. At his age, the difference between 1:00 and 2:00 doesn't seem to matter. 1:30 seems to be a really good time for him right now. He slept until 4:00ish.
Xander got to play. I was too tired myself to make him finish his last two school activities. I laid down instead.
We had meatballs and spiral noodles and fruit salad for dinner. With a LOT of prompting from Erik and enforcing that Nick could not get down until he finished, Nick finished his whole plate. (It was a small plate of small portions.) He did this the evening before, too. Everyone finished his or her dinner and we all clapped for each other.
After I got dressed for my run, Xander and Nick and I jogged down our street and back again. They were playing Star Wars the whole time. Xander was pretending to run and fight with his light saber and Nick kept saying something about there being "too many" enemies.
Then I went on my two-mile run. I'm guessing it was two miles based on past runs. I was out for almost 21 minutes. Erik had the boys watching a PBS documentary on lions and humans and the book and movie Born Free. They filmed the movie using untrained, as in non-circus, lions, can you imagine?
The book Born Free was written by Joy Adamson. She and her husband, George, raised a lion cub to adulthood in Kenya and then released her. It seems that the lion (Elsa) was always imprinted on and loyal to them. Both Joy and George were later murdered, Joy by a former employee they had fired and George by poachers when he rushed in to save a tourist who had gotten caught up with them. I find it telling that, in the wilds of Kenya, sometimes on intimate terms with full-grown lions and cheetahs, they were both killed by human beings.
Xander and I drew a Chinese dragon using a step by step tutorial. I wanted to show him that it is possible to draw something even if you think you don't know how. I had him look for the different shapes that we needed to draw. For example, the spikes along the dragon's body were not quite triangles, but I showed him how they were basically triangles but with curved tops.
Then Nick and I and Sandy went outside in the twilight. Sandy always seems calm and interested outside. He stretches his neck up whenever he feels a breeze. I could never let him run around out there because we have plenty of flying predators in the area, but I do hold him out there every once in a great while. Nick got to see the first star of the night. And the second, and third. Etc. He loves being outside.
After that, it was bedtime. I invited Xander to ask me any questions he wanted to. He asked me how markers are made, why their tips are always pointed, why they draw thinner than crayons, and how Legos are made and put into boxes.
Erik and I tasted a wine (which happened to be very bitter - yuck) and played Star Trek Expeditions. We were blown out of the sky and basically failed to the utmost in all our missions. It was a good time together, though. :)
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