I can't believe my wee-one is now an official two-year-old. That's not even fair. Callen Levi has turned into a handful, for sure, but also a sweet, smart little man as well. He's adding more words to his vocabulary every day. He can jump with both feet off the ground, enjoys racing through the house with his brother, swinging, sliding, and throwing things (anything, really!).
Brotherly Love
He enjoys chasing after "bubba" and getting thrown around by "dada." I love to wake up to him saying, "mama, up, morning!" (though I may not always show it, lol). We celebrated his birthday today by having a few friends over for a little birthday party.
A little yearly comparison:
Newborn Callen & giraffe
1 year old Callen & giraffe
2 year old Callen & giraffe
Mommy, Daddy and Bubba love you so much, Callen! Happy birthday, baby!
Well, we scored a van this week so I have been busy going places! I had two Usborne events yesterday, at opposite ends of the Metroplex - and the van was awesome! Praise God!! That kept me busy all week... car stuff and book stuff. Oh, and Callen's birthday and party!
In our Homeschool this week...
Tot School: Callen is just racking up the new words... finally!!! He still enjoys dry-erase markers and the white board. When I tell Preston it's time for school, Callen runs over to his drawer, points at his markers and says, "ME!" He can't be left out! A few days ago, we were out running errands and as we were heading home from our last stop he fell asleep in the van. I decided to stop and get gas, and when I was done pumping, Preston needed to go to the bathroom. So, I had to unbuckle Callen and pull him out of the warm car seat and out into the chilly, drizzly weather... he suddenly sprung awake and started asking, "What?! What?!!" It was so cute... he hadn't really used that word before, so him using it like, "What's going on?" was so great!
Bible: Preston and I worked on memorizing and understanding Proverbs 21:30, "There is no wisdom, no insight, no plan that succeed against the Lord." Also went over Philemon through 1 Peter in the New Testament books, as well as talked about the prophets Elijah and Elisha.
Reading/Writing: Reviewed alphabetical order.
Math: Continued working on 2-digit adding and subtracting in his Complete Book of Math.
Science: This week's science them was "Tricks with Water & Air in Science With Water.
Music/Art: This week we started the hymn, "America, the Beautiful." We talked about the cello and stringed bass! We looked an abstract landscape paitning. And we skipped Drawing with Children this week... just didn't have time (again).
Spanish: We continued with school/classroom words and worked in the Complete Book of Spanish.
We are using My Father's World First Grade. See our curriculum here.
After nearly two years of being a one-car family, we now have two cars again! I got a 1997 Honda Odyssey!!! It's runs great, handles well, only needs a few minor things worked on and has a bit of cosmetic distress (the hood is all primer, I think) and the inside is rather nasty right now... but all in all, it's AWESOME!!! And, best of all, it was in our extremely limited price range! :::doing a happy dance:::
I know that not having a second car was certainly a "first world problem" to have, but the freedom of just knowing I can take the kids to the doctor without having to track down a ride or inconvenience other people is such a relief! I can run to the store whenever I need to, don't have wait 4 days till I'll have access to a vehicle. We can go on field trips and drive across town to visit grandma without making her come to us all the time. I'm so excited!!! Thank You, Jesus, for Your blessings!!!
Wow, we were super busy. Or, I guess I was the one who had more going on than usual. Tues-Fri I worked an Usborne table at the Rhea Lana's Children's Consignment Sale in Mansfield. It was a bit slow for us this time around, but picked up towards the end, thank goodness. I had a great time, though... getting to meet people, talk about books and hang out with the other vendor ladies.
Our tax return finally deposited on Tuesday morning, but since I was booked this week we waited till today (Saturday) to go try to find us a van. Unfortunuately, the two we found online that looked like our best options turned out to be nothing of the sort. The one that was affordable had too much wrong with it, and the one we THOUGHT was a great deal wasn't really priced that way at all. Really? Grr. So, I dunno. I think maybe we had unrealistic expectations. All we want is a super cheap, but reliable minivan... but I guess our "super cheap" budget needs to come up a bit to fit the "reliable" part. =/
A story to share...
Sigh. Callen loves to take our kitchen chairs and move 'em around so he can climb up on things, lately the cabinets. Well, after several good scoldings about not moving the chairs, I went to the bathroom, came back and found him like this.
Oh my stars, this boy is a handful! =)
He has pushed the large ottoman (not the chairs!) from the living room into the kitchen, climbed up on the stove (not the cabinet!), dumped out a box of toothpicks, opened the olive oil, was playing with my Fiestaware salt shaker. Yes, before I scolded him, I took a picture. I couldn't help it. It was too ridiculous. This boy is a live one, I tell ya!
In our Homeschool this week...
Tot School: Callen came out with a bunch of new words again this week, and doing a much better job at repeating stuff we try to get him to say. We're working on his name, but he's having a really difficult time making the hard "C" sound, poor kid. He still loves sitting at the table during school going crazy with the dry-erase markers, lol. I think he thinks that what "school" means, 'cause when I tell Preston it's time for school, Callen will run over and start pointing for his dry-erase board and markers. And this evening he got so messy at dinner that I just threw him in the bath afterwards. Before the bath, I sat him on his potty, but nothing. Afterwards I was drying him off and he pulled away from me, sat down on his little potty and went pee pee! We had a big, loud, happy celebration - and he was so excited! Hopefully that's really the start of something with the potty training!!!
Bible: Preston and I worked on memorizing and understanding Proverbs 29:25, "The fear of man will prove to be a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord will be kept safe." Also went over 2 Thessalonians through Titus in the New Testament books, as well as talked about King Saul, David and Solomon.
Reading/Writing: Talked about -er and -est (as in great, greater, greatest) and some more silent letters, like "wr" and "mb."
Math: Worked on 2-digit adding in his Complete Book of Math. Preston caught on to this easily enough!
Science: This week's science them was "Water Power." We were too busy, and school was rushed, so we didn't really do anything but read from Science With Water about the subject.
Music/Art: This week we continued with the hymn, "Take My Life, and Let It Be." We talked about the violin and viola, and read the book Play It Again, Rosie! We looked at a Picasso portrait. And we skipped Drawing with Children this week... just didn't have time (again).
Spanish: We continued with school/classroom words and worked in the Complete Book of Spanish.
We are using My Father's World First Grade. See our curriculum here.
