Some Fun Videos

The boys skateboarding



An obstacle course in our backyard



And a fight at the mall

this moment: I'm learning to...

For some reason it's really hard for me, but I know my family needs it.

I let my children fight

Yes, it's true.  I'm outnumbered here 5:1, so I learned pretty quickly to let boys be boys.  But we do have some ground rules:

1.  Playfighting is allowed, real fights are not.  If you visit my home you will here me asking, "Is this a playfight or a real fight?"  If both children answer, "playfight!" then it's allowed.  If not, it will stop immediately.

2.  To qualify as a "playfight" both children must agree it's a playfight.  In otherwords, if one child thinks it's a playfight and the other one feels it's a real fight, then it must stop immediately.

3.  There are some risks involved.  If you choose to playfight, you may get hurt.  If this happens, I usually recommend that the child takes a break.  When I recommend this, the child usually all-of-a-sudden feels better and decides that to keep playing would be way more fun than taking a break, and maybe is not feeling so hurt after all.

4.  Koa just can't wait to get in on the action.

Here's what I'm talking about...  beware this video is not for the faint of heart.  You may see some intense moments, but just look and you'll see the smiles on the faces.  It's taken me awhile to understand the strange world of boys - but I think stuff like this is a huge part of it, and possibly very necessary...

Counting Blessings on a Monday

198.  A relatively successful church attendance for the family.
199.  The way Kai takes charge and organizes his day, filling it with fun and productive activities.
200.  Play-fighting with lots of laughter.
201.  The silliness of these boys.
202.  Prayers and advice at women's Bible study.
203.  Hide and go seek at the park.
204.  Writing in my journal consistently again.
205.  Your powerful majestic lightning and thunder.
206.  bookshelves
207.  re-arranging furniture.
209.  benadryl
210.  Walking with my neighbor.
212.  My neighbor starting to homeschool.
214.  Provision
215.  rain, rain and more rain.
217.  Our awesome backyard.
219.  Getting our brakes fixed on the car so quickly.
221.  Christians in Jaco.
222.  Our amazing hermit crabs that are somehow still alive.
223.  Never having to even think about trash or stress about dishes because my husband is so on top of it.
225.  Feeling a flow with homeschool.
226.  Finally, a flexible schedule that Kai likes and sticks to.
227.  Little boys washing dishes.
228.  Koa learning to swim.
229.  Finding a little soccer club for Kai and he loves it.
230.  One-on-one time with Jude.

Cheap Thrills

Learning to swim... Jude style

Those who know Jude, know his infectious personality, his win-you-over smile and contagious laugh. When it comes to learning how to swim, as in most things he does, he doesn't hold back. Right now he has us laughing watching him do belly flop after belly flop. He just runs head first into the pool! He's not one to be left behind, so he's doing double-time to keep up with his big brothers!

Tips for making an ant farm

1. Do not try to put ants barehanded into an ant farm. They will bite, your hands will swell. They will also crawl all over your body - down your shirt and pants, before you can stop them.
2. Do not try this 5x.
3. Do not attack an anthill with a spatula while barefooted and 3 small boys watch. The ants will go crazy, spread quickly and bite.
4. Do put ants you've collected in the fridge for up to 15 minutes before handling them - it does not kill them, but makes them inactive so you can get them into the farm.
5. Realize that the ants will only remain inactive for a few seconds. During this time do not spill dirt and ants all over the counter.
6. If that does happen, screaming won't help the situation.
7. At the end of the process, once the ants are safely inside, enjoy watching them dig their tunnels, it's actually pretty AMAZING.
8. Be sure to read lots of books about ants along with your ant farm project.
9. Beware if guests come and warn them not to SHAKE the ant farm. Yes, this happened. Even my two-year old knows not to shake it. But a full grown adult shook it and in seconds destroyed all the tunnels the ants had spent hours making. I suggest putting a little note or something by your ant farm so guests are warned not to do this. You just never know.
10. Have fun!

More 30-minute Steady Mom challenges are here.

blog comments

As you can probably tell, I've really been enjoying this blog. It's been a great outlet for me and a fun way to document my days spent homeschooling with these four crazy boys. I've really appreciated all the comments and feedback! One thing I couldn't figure out was how to respond to comments. I just installed a new comment moderator that allows me to reply to comments, so I hope it works! Let me know if you have any problems with commenting, in the meantime I've gone through and responded to many of the sweet and thoughtful comments you've left me. Thanks for taking the time to read this and be a part of my life. It means so much to me.

With Love, leslie :)

help for writing

Since starting homeschool I realized pretty quickly that Kai is struggling with writing. He's not very confident and handwriting is a source of frustration for him. He avoids writing anything at all costs. This hinders a lot of areas of school, so I know it's something we need focus on. So we've been practicing writing in different mediums - rice, cornmeal, even oatmeal. Well, I got this idea from my friend, Sarah Dawn's blog in the comments section and had to give it a try. The comment suggested writing in different mediums that are fun to eat - like chocolate syrup. I knew my kids would go nuts over this!

We started with a blob of chocolate syrup on a big plate.

Dip fingers in, make some swirls...

and lick!

More swirls...

...more licks! Can you tell Jude's having fun?

Kai works on his spelling words...

with a smile!

Ezra draws and licks too!

The best part is licking the plate when they finish!

yum!

This is another fun one we tried. We whipped up a batch of whipped cream.


Put a glob on a plate...

...and let the fun begin! Ezzy practices making circles and sticks, which is great preparation for writing.

Kai does his spelling and writing practice

All these activities may look like just too much fun, but I am seeing some huge results. All this practice in different mediums is boosting his confidence and skill, which leads to...

this! Real writing on real paper with a real pencil!

No tears and no fuss.

Very careful, neat work.

It feels so good to do a nice job!

My Night