I love this

My sis-in-law sent me stacks of readers at Christmas and Kai is just eating them up!

Now I keep finding scenes like this all throughout the day and I have to sneak and take a photo of the moment. I absolutely love it! Kai is reading to his brothers!

I can't pinpoint exactly what happened to spark this love of reading, but Kai (7) is insatiable now. He is reading constantly. I wish I knew what it was that caused this to happen so I could ensure that it happens with the other three boys too. I don't know if it's just part of his nature and personality or what? All I do know is I totally love it and as a mom it makes me very happy.

Sibling Love

me and my sis

Having four boys spaced so close together in age, the topic of "sibling rivalry" is a huge one for me. Seeing my boys play together nicely is one of the things that warms my heart the most. At the same time, nothing irritates or frustrates me more than listening to arguing, screaming, crying, hitting and fighting.

This topic is so important to me not just for my own peace, but also because I believe that sibling relationships have a pivotal role in shaping a child's life and view of themselves. In addition, I believe the home is where children begin to develop the skills they will use for all the caring relationships in their life. There's so much they need to know! Problem solving skills are essential - not just for sibling relationships, but for all of life. Unconditional love, respect, kindness, sharing, listening and empathy are other characteristics that need to be developed. But how? Maybe I'll ponder on these things in another post, but for now I wanted to share one simple little thing I do that helps with sibling rivalry and I think other moms might enjoy this too. I tell my boys stories from my childhood growing up.

My older sister and I truly were best buddies and so I share with my boys how special that was for me. I tell about games we used to play, adventures we had together, jokes we thought were funny, and on and on. Especially at times when fighting is at a high point, I'll start throwing in stories casually at random times throughout the day -for instance while eating lunch, bathtime, or bedtime. They find it so fascinating! Down to the smallest, silliest story, they think it's just great! I get frequent request to, "Tell about when you were little." I'd like to think that maybe these stories inspire them to get along and be friends.

I think this idea could work for any parent, no matter how you grew up. If it wasn't so ideal, you could share about that and how hard it was and things from that perspective. You may find, like me, that your children are more interested in your childhood than you would expect and that they can learn from our experiences - positive and negative. As for me, I'm having fun digging up old memories and sharing them with my little ones. What about you - have you found the same to be true? Do you have any tips to share for dealing with sibling rivalry?

More 30 minute blog challenges at Steady Mom

Gratitude

I'm lifting my heart in thankfulness and finding the gifts - sometimes obvious, sometimes hidden - in each day. Counting my way to 1,000....

17. Ezra praying himself to sleep. After thanking God for everything imaginable last night he prayed, "Dear God, help me close my eyes. Help me to feel sleepy..." I'm so thankful that he is learning to talk with God.

18. Giving my crib to Casa Viva. I'm thankful that a foster family will be blessed with a nice crib to put a baby in. I love it when I have the opportunity to give.

19. Hiking yesterday with my family.

20. A move coming up - a chance to trust God with a new adventure, even though I feel nervous I can rest in God's love and trust that He will take care of us all.

21. I'm thankful the time Scott and I had this weekend to reconnect and be "best friends." :) I'm so thankful for him.

22. Koa moving on to a new size of clothes - he's growing and healthy and just perfect.

More Gratitude community here.

City Life

Living in a city is not my ideal life. The traffic, the exhaust, the noise, the crowds. It can really start to get to you. Especially with small children I have trouble finding things we can do as a family (without spending money). We found a park near our house a few weeks ago that is truly an oasis from the city and we've been going every Sunday. I'm so glad we've found a family activity that we can all enjoy. I think it's so important that children have a chance to get out in nature and enjoy God's beauty. It's just good for their little bodies and souls to drink in the beauty of creation.

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!

playdough fun

Today I was in the mood to make some new batches of playdough. This is one of a mom's best tricks. In a small pot just combine 1 c flour, 1 c warm water, 2 tsp. cream of tartar, 1 tsp. oil, 1/4 c salt and food coloring of your choice. Mix all the ingredients together on medium heat until it forms dough. It will last for a long time in an airtight container.

I made three batches - red, blue and yellow, the primary colors for a fun lesson on colors.

I started by giving each kid a small piece of blue and a small piece of yellow. I had them guess what color it would make when they squished it together.

squish it up!

yes, it makes green!

so we made a little bowl of green peas

next was red and yellow

which makes orange. So we made little baby carrots.

Here's our peas and carrots

Finally we did blue and red. The kids are loving me at this point by the way. Ezzy (4 1/2) especially had fun with this. He kept repeating. "This is sooo awesome," and "This is so fun," and he had to get out of his chair to give me a hug and tell me I'm the best mommy in the world! Such enthusiasm! I think it was just really cool for him to squish the colors together and see it turn into another color.

blue and red = purple. So, we made blueberries.

I just so happened to have these three food items on hand, so while they were making playdough blueberries I snuck into the kitchen and made this little snack. I knew they were going to flip!

our finished products - carrots, peas and bluberries!

snack time!

Can you believe it? They loved this snack, ate it all up and asked for seconds. They just thought it was so cool. Who knew a side bonus of this activity would be getting my kids to eat their fruits and veggies?

yay!!!