Thursday, November 26, 2015

One of the perks of homeschooling


Is all the sunlit hours of playtime they get to enjoy on these short fall/winter days. And yes, they got soaked. They usually end up needing a change of clothes after our morning playtime! And unlike summer, they have to wear more clothes outside. Oh well!


Wednesday, November 25, 2015

Brothers

Another post that I started a year ago and never finished! I love that they were and still are great friends!






Tuesday, November 24, 2015

Landon at the pool

I started a draft this summer with some swimming pictures but never finished. I'm going to go ahead and post it!








Monday, November 23, 2015

A warm week in the yard

Oh dear! I found this unpublished draft but I saved over it and don't know when the "date" was. It was from almost a year ago probably!


The past week was warm so we spent every day out in the yard. Typically we spent from 2 hours to 5 hours each day! For my boys that's pretty much a record. It helps a lot that we now have some fun backyard toys!




Sunday, November 22, 2015

"First Day" Reflections


It wasn't his first day, but it was the first day of public school for a lot of the kids that he has grown-up with so far. I wasn't prepared for the sleepless night and the nostalgia that came with it. After all, we already started school "officially" and we had already been working on school off an on during the summer. Somehow though, nothing felt more "official" than having school start for his peers (and their Mommies) and realizing that our paths had started to diverge. Life still feels similar but it will never be exactly the same as it was when they were all pre-school kids together. In the beginning there were some growing pains as we started to find our new normal. While our normal is still changing and evolving we have begun a new routine. I have a feeling that we will go through this every year and probably again during the summer. Finding a "normal" may be an ever changing thing! I do know that I love having them both home. It's not always easy, but in the end things that are worth it often aren't. Many of ours days are magical and filled with sunlight, playing outdoors, socializing and breezing through a day of school lessons in an hour or two. But not all. My house is messier than ever. I love seeing a concept "click" and my child being excited about learning. Teaching handwriting to a boy is an exercise in patience. I love not having homework in the evening and seeing my children strengthen their friendship. I never set out on the path of parenthood with the intention of homeschooling but now that we are I can't help but feel that I am living the dream I never knew I had and we are blessed by it.

Friday, November 20, 2015

Monday, November 16, 2015

An afternoon at the Perot Museum of Nature and Science


Over the last two years that we have had a membership, we have gone many many times but I don't always have my camera with me. Today I chose to take pictures to capture part of what we do. We can't seem to go and spend less than 3-5 hours here when we go and we never see all the exhibits in one visit. Somehow it never gets old.



Landon's favorite part was the rock with the bioluminescent properties. He enjoyed watching the lights go on and off and seeing the rock glow.




Ethan, you were in awe with all of it. Last year it was the space exhibit that you would eagerly run to and spend all your time. This year, its the gemstones and minerals.



We spent an hour just in the gemstone section this time. We didn't even make it to the other exhibits on this floor before it was time to go see the special exhibit that we had tickets for. Nature's Bioluminescence.

Another favorite part of the museum is the Children's section. We will typically spend an hour here as well and not play at every section. Today, Ethan spent a good part of his time at the pretend grocery store making a healthy cookie made from vegetables. We also did some veggie math. ;-)





Landon spent the majority of his time at the water table experimenting with the pipes.



We always spend part of our time at the mini city of Dallas section with the construction blocks too.


After playing we headed outside to have our picnic lunch and play on the frogs.






After lunch it was time to see the Dinosaurs! Landon's request.








A quick trip up to the bird floor and Mom and Dad were ready to go. Boys still wanted to explore the robot floor and do the dinosaur dig but at 5 hours in we were ready to head home. Next time boys!


Saturday, November 14, 2015

{Daily Moments} Busy

Friday, November 13, 2015

Wrestling


(photos from September) We have this one blanket that is really fuzzy and both of you love it. Ethan, you call it your big booskgar and you are especially partial to it. Y'all also like to pretend to be baby animals together. Cats, snakes, etc. On this day, you were being a pile of baby kittens. And wrestling for the blanket. It reminded me a lot of this shot from when you were younger so I grabbed the camera.