About that Sabbatical....

Okay, so Teddy took the play station away from Evan for a week without really consulting me first. Not that he has to - he's his parent too. It was just that I was going to do it in a little more smoother manner and it wasn't going to be as a punishment. This has botched my plans a little. My ability to procrastinate has been taken away from me (ha ha!). Furthermore, Evan is going to be CLAMORING to get it back in a week rather than enjoying his time away from the video games. Well... maybe not. Maybe if I make it fun he won't notice it's gone. Wow - that sounds like wishful thinking!

Teddy surprised the kids this morning with one of those throw rugs that has the town and roads on it. They are busy playing with matchbox cars on it and creating some type of pretend story line to go with it. They are currently occupied but I plan on introducing a few other ideas to them. Here they are...

1) Make a loaf of banana bread.
     Both Evan and Kaya have been enjoying their newfound love for cooking. I have been loving every minute of this because it allows me to bring math into our day to day without forcing the subject on them. I have learned SO much about their math strengths and weaknesses by observing them through this process. Evan (9), who attended public school for three years, has a REALLY hard time wrapping his brain around fractions. Kaya (5), who has never had any formal education, grasps the fraction concept very easily. I am realizing that Evan missed some logic development during his mathematical education in the public school setting. I have also observed that he clamors to give me the right answer rather than use logic to problem solve. We have been working on basic logic skills so we can get him over his hang-up of giving the "right" answer. 

2) Make a bird feeder. 

Spring is here. The children and I are ecstatic. This winter was particularly harsh for us having spent the last two winters in Phoenix, AZ. To make it all the more difficult, we have been a one car family since July. It would be days on end that it would just be too cold & wet to walk anywhere these last few months. We have truly had cabin fever. In the last three weeks, we have moved into our new place and have enjoyed some great and not so great weather that comes this time of year, especially here in Hampton Roads.  We have a really neat Holly Tree that is outside the Northwest side of our duplex. You get a great view of the treetop from the kids room and the bottom from the living room. There is a Mockingbird (or a cat bird - does anyone know if they are two different names for the same bird?) that lives in the tree. She is VERY territorial over the tree and its berries. Every so often though, the other birds invade. The other day we spotted five female blue jays! Anyway, I digress... I think it would be a great idea for the kids and I to construct a bird feeder  to place somewhere  away from the tree for the other birds. I'd like it to be at good place to view from the interior of our home so that way the cats can get some entertainment as well. The birds are a sure sign that spring is here and I want to embrace this :) 

3) Explore two new books. 

 Meet James a.k.a. Uncle Jimmy: 

This is Teddy's Uncle. He lives in Tucson, AZ. We became very close while we lived in Phoenix. James has never had any children. When Teddy and I first married, he told me about his Uncle who "hates kids". This made me anxious when we first had him for a visit in Phoenix. I am not one to put up with my children being treated in a ill manner, especially in THEIR home. Well, long story short,  he LOVED (and continues to love) our children. This was a metamorphosis that shocked Teddy and pleased me very much. We have all missed James very much since leaving Arizona. James has missed us as well. He has sent the kids two books in the last three months that are just out of this world. 

The first one he sent was "Make it Work! : Native Americans. The hands - on approach to history" 

The second book he sent was this one: 

The first book has multiple hands on activities on every page. I think that if we dive deep enough into this book, we could stay busy with it alone for two months. I am not expecting it to hold my children's attention exclusively though. The second book features a different jazz artist for each letter of the alphabet. I for one know NOTHING about these wonderful artists. I was thinking we could read the book, head to the library and see which CD's we can find by each artist. Again, depending on how enthralled the kids are, we could really dive deep in this book as well. 

Well, I could keep going, listing all of my ideas, but the children are done being occupied. Time to log off for the week! I'll let you guys know what the results are when we are done :) 

Wish me luck!!