Peter Pie Progress

Peter



Sometimes he thinks he's a mouse.






He's learning to make time.






He loves math.

What's Izzie Rue up to?

Isabelle

She is left handed and loves art work.





She loves her sister, too.






She loves her big brother a lot.






She even loves her little brother when he shares his Nutella.

Daniel Update

Daniel

He likes Nutella, especially in crepes.



He also likes remotes and hats, the latter sideways.




Occasionally he wears his sister's clothes.



He has two new friends. They are called "dommies." They look like mommies. They are the size of mice. Except on days these characteristics are reversed. They were unavailable for photographs. They frequently get lost and we all have to look for them. They are hard to find. Daniel likes his dommies very much.

Catching up

Due to the lack of recent posts, it has come to our attention that many of our readers are no longer aware of the marvelous talents, tricks and impressive abilities acquired by our overly adorable children in the past weeks. In an attempt to rectify this deplorable situation, in the most timely manner possible, while inflicting the least amount of harm to an already repressive evening schedule, the updates will be presented in the most efficient method.

We will begin with Luciana.

She moves chairs now.



She also does the snaps on her own.



Both of them.


She is proud of herself.



She steals remotes.



She runs fast, but can not open doors yet. We are thankful.


She likes clothes. A lot.


If you try a coat on her, she will expect to go to bed in it.

Our Mascot

Daniel and Max worked on that bolt for ten minutes together.

Free Play Time

In an effort to make our home not so small, little brothers not so destructive, and imaginative play not so impossible, the classroom has graciously accepted its new role as land of infinite possibilities for those old enough to live within the rules, from Friday afternoon until Sunday evening.

Peter and Isabelle have greatly appreciated a land where horse and train can roam free of Lula monsters, as Daniel calls her, and forced evacuations caused by two year old nap times, an unfortunate side effect of shared rooms.


I on the other hand, realized a minor flaw in my efforts to create yet another room in our home, as I gazed at the door, behind which were six loads of my Friday pre-weekend laundry wash, all six of which would need to be navigated through the snares of trains, towers, horse and cattle.

Friday Photos: Prayer Time

(Waking up before mommy could finish prayer time was not enough, they also took my books and chair too.)

Small Successes

1. I juggled a six, four, two and one year old in our classroom this week, and successfully managed to harmonize with the choral background music rather than the defiant rebellion of toddler curiosity so disruptively present in the foreground.

2. I ate lunch every day before 2:00; a success even if it did mean eating PB&J with the kids rather than hoping for something better later.

3. I found a minute; a few more than one really, but the first was well disguised. They have been disappearing over the last couple of years, and I finally discovered, after a critical examination of the "darn, I only have a couple minutes before . . ." statement , which so frequently resulted in an attitude of casual idleness, that an abundance of productivity was there in well camouflaged.
Amazingly, a toilet and sink can both be cleaned in the six and a half minutes before mass!




Read other moms' successes at Faith and Family Live!

Food Slinging Father?

Fr. Leo from Grace Before Meals has been cornered for a Food Network Throwdown!
(also a formator from Uncle Matty's Seminary, Mount St. Mary's)

Wednesday, 09/09/09 at 9 pm est.


Enjoy!

Friday Photo Favorites

Luciana ate an entire tomato for lunch yesterday, which reminded me of her big sister.
Here are some favorite pictures of our Izzie Rue and her food.


A tomato stolen from behind mommy's back.

Broccoli has never looked so good!

We told her, "your water is cold, SEE." She saw.

Small Successes

1. Today. Surviving, that is.
(Three glasses of apple juice spilled in four hours, three full glasses; Two urinary malfunctions by a six month veteran of the toilet; One failed attempt to wait until the last minute, spoiled by a clumsy stool and clingy big boy underwear; One bathroom quarantined after a two year old's attempt to rectify the unexpected movement of his bowels; One set of play dishes washed with delight in the opened, unflushed toilet; And three unplanned baths)

2. Consuming only a glass and a half of wine this evening.

3. Getting this posted.

Saturday Afternoon

For FOUR hours these legs stuck out from under our van, at least the hairier of the two sets. But with perseverance that would make a gold medalist blush, oil was drained, filters were twisted, turned, poked and pounded, fathers consulted, screw drivers broken, WD40 employed, and finally a seal was broken with the resulting resolution to never return to a "quick lube" so obviously incapable of reading the label "hand tighten only."

But in a young boys eyes, a hero was made in a pool of sweat and oil that afternoon, wearing the golden medal of fatherhood.

(And the rest of us sighed with relief at not having to push the van back to the "quick lube" to get our filter off.)

School Days

School officially began for us last Monday, and was promptly interrupted by a much needed visit with Gia, Aunt Ju ju and cousins. And I was greatly relieved to see how well our school adapts to our life, because keeping that order in perspective is exactly why we homeschool right now!

I didn't have the presence of mind to "capture" their first moments of school this year, but here is a close second. They are "disguised" as... well, I am not sure even they had their stories straight.
Do you like Izzie Rue's crimped hair? She LOVED it.


Here is a picture of Peter working on one of our early reading works. He takes the small objects and uses the alphabet letters to spell the objects name. It is a favorite in the classroom. Unfortunately, small objects with three letter names are extremely difficult to locate, so if any one has a minature mop, rat, bed... you know what I want for Christmas.



This week, too, was disrupted, unfortunately by an unwelcome guest who brought with it a 102 fever and body aches. Thankfully his bags seem to be packed, as his unwilling host is back to bouncing off the furniture that so recently cradled him.
(This is how I found him after lunch yesterday. The umbrella is to shade him from the sun, and the blanket to shade him from the wind. He eventually fell asleep with both.)

We are looking forward to resuming class tomorrow, with or without distractions.