The Letter C

This week we learned about the letter C.  We read It's C! by Oona Gaarder-Juntti a couple of times.  We talked about words that started with the letter C (like Miss F's little sister's name!).  We watched The Letter C Song and C is for Cookie from Sesame Street. Everything's been really lax, but today I decided to do something more special and purposeful:  chocolate chip cookies in the shape of the letter C!  What could be more c-tastic than that?

We made the cookies together - I'd scoop ingredients and Miss F would dump them in the KitchenAid.  We even had a learning moment for both of us when I was at the cabinet getting more ingredients and she turned the mixer on all the way up to 10!  I haven't moved like that in a while - I was hurdling toys left and right in the 20 feet to the mixer.

 

We made three C's and an A because Miss F requested it.  I'm posting a before picture because the after picture was (unsurprisingly) four large blobs of cookie not at all resembling the letters we made.  They were tasty though, even if I might be regretting pumping her full of sugar an hour before naptime... :o)

 

Cheese!

Recharging and Appreciating My Family

My mom had knee surgery a week ago Monday.  She lives about 45 minutes away, so I don't get to see her every week, but I do see her frequently.  We had a pediatrician appointment halfway between our houses yesterday, so we went to visit.  She was out, so we beat her there by about half an hour.

Before my mom got home, I was on my last nerve.  Miss F had a very pooey diaper, so I was trying to change her.  But no amount of bargaining was making this diaper go well.  Miss F was arching her back, stomping her feet, trying to roll over, and driving me nuts.  I threatened her (we'll leave before Grammy gets here), begged her (PLEASE just stop moving), and generally griped at her.  I got her diaper on, then had to go wash it out.  My mom's water pressure is atrocious, so it took me ten minutes to wash it out.

Meanwhile, Miss C is screaming.  I kept asking Miss F to give her a pacifier, but she was busy getting into things.  When I came out of the bathroom, she was trying to use pliers on my mom's dog.  Thankfully, she was just opening and closing the pliers near the dog and did no harm.  One kid screaming, one kid getting into trouble, and I was fried.  I hated all the yelling and pleading and threatening, and I knew it wasn't working.  When my mom came home, everything had *just* calmed down.  I was about to lose it.  So Grammy, eight days post surgery, and Nana (my grandmother) decided to have Miss F stay the night with them.

Last night, Mr. B and I used the time to get some canning done and it was past Miss F's bedtime by the time I got off of work anyway, so we didn't really notice the difference.  This morning, though, was a totally different story.  I've had time to think about how our family's been living the last five weeks or so.  I know I've been really snarky with Mr. B, even though I know it's not right.  To some extent, I feel like he's been too sensitive, and in some ways, I know that my "jokes" are cheap shots for no reason.  I have no idea why I've been behaving the way I have, except maybe hormones and stress.

So I've taken this morning with Miss C to really appreciate her this morning and to think about how life has been since her birth.   She was wide awake and pretty darn happy.  Usually when she's like this, I don't notice because I'm too busy dealing with Miss F or working on housework.  This has to change.

So I'm going to try a project.  I love projects if you haven't noticed.  I need to appreciate my family more and communicate what I need and want more often.  Every day, I'm going to make it a point to tell Mr. B that I appreciate something he's doing.  He does SO MUCH for us.  I'm so lucky to have him.  He never complains about being asked to do something - changing a baby, washing dishes or diapers, cleaning, he does it all.  We believe that if we both try to give 100%, then we'll end up somewhere 50/50. 

I'm also going to spend some one-on-one time with Miss F while working on being present.  I need to stop worrying about things I need to do, I won't put her off for the baby (if I can help it), and I'll let her direct the time.  I'm sick of nagging her when it doesn't really work anyway.

And I've got to spend some one-on-one time with Miss C aside from midnight nursing sessions.  She deserves the time and attention that Miss F got as a baby.  Right now, I've been handing her off to Mr. B or putting her in a cradle as soon as she's done eating or being changed.  She's waking up and growing now that she's a month old, and I haven't noticed at all until today.

Every day I shape my family, and I don't want to wake up one day with a henpecked husband, a tantrum-throwing and attention seeking toddler, and an ignored baby.

 

Miss C looking happy to see me this morning 

B is for Beer!

Mr. B's work schedule is changed so that he's home on Fridays and Saturdays, and works Sunday through Thursday.  So today begins our weekend.  He was very sweet and let me sleep three hours longer than usual this morning while he took care of the girls.  When I woke up, something smelled different - good, but different.

Turns out he got up at 5:30 (roughly his normal wake up time) with Miss C and decided to finally bite the bullet and brew some beer.  He's had the ingredients since my dad bought it for him at Christmas, but he hasn't had the time.  Each five gallon batch makes about 50 bottles of beer.  While the physical brewing is hot and time intensive, I love the bottling process near the end.  When the primary fermentation is done, I'll post on the progress of the batch.

 Miss F looking mischievous as Daddy checks the temperature of the brew.

The Letter B

Our letter of the week "lessons" have settled into a flow where every day has at least a reference of the letter, and it's very laid back. On Monday, we read Ben, Billy, and the Birdhouse by Cecilia Mendin and Joanne Meier.  We've actually read it probably 30 times already since getting it from the library last week, but it was our official activity yesterday.  On her own, Miss F sang the "buh" sound to the tune of Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.  I think I'm going to count it, even though - or especially since - I didn't come up with the idea.

  

Miss F has been asking for pancakes lately, so today, for the letter B, I made blueberry pancakes.

 

For good measure, I also made a lowercase b out of batter.

 

Apparently, I took too long, because Miss F filled up on pears while I was making pancakes and wouldn't touch them when they were ready. But we still talked about B making the "buh" sound, blueberries, and other things that started with B. I think I'll freeze the letter I made and break it out for the letter d :o)

Day Two Success

Today was a good day for the letter A!

 

Grammy came over to spend some time with the girls, and she reread It's A! with Miss F. When she left, Miss F and I took some homemade play-doh outside and made letters. I was pleasantly surprised when Miss F identified A without any prompting! Of course, I prompted her a couple more times just to make sure she could do it :o)

I made her an apple out of the play-doh, and we talked about things that started with the letter A.  Then, I gave her free play time with the play-doh while I made some lunch.

 

 

I'm not going to post every homeschooling activity we do, but I was rather pleased with the goings-on today.

Our First Day!

Our first day of homeschooling started out with a whimper on a casual note.  Our letter of the week is A (obviously).  A lady for whom I tutor gave us some animal crackers for Miss F yesterday, so I took advantage of the opportunity.  Miss F found the baggie today, and we counted out crackers for her snack.  We talked about "A is for animal crackers" and tried to identify the animals as she ate them.  As a kid, I remember the animals being much more distinct, but we gave them all names anyway.

We got several books from the library, and read the first one:  It's A! by Mary Elizabeth Salzmann.  It's a nice little book about the sounds A makes and the words that start with and include those sounds.

While at the library, I also picked up Let them Play by Jeff A. Johnson and Denita Dinger.  It's funny, since I'm trying to institute a somewhat vaguely structured learning experience, and at the same time, I am interested in and am actively pursuing learning through play.  I can't wait until we move, because poor Miss F has been stifled in the play arena due to the nature of our yard.  Since almost everything in our yard is edible, she tries to rip up and eat everything she can find.  That means that I have to watch her constantly - not because I'm afraid that she'll hurt herself, but because I'm afraid we will have no plants left when she's done.  Everything that's not gardened is on a steep slope.  So she can either play on the hill, or on the very splintery deck.  Poor kiddo.

Tomorrow is Mr. B's first day back to work since Miss C's birth, so I'll get my first full day experiencing life as a SAHM of two.

A New Chapter

Miss F turned two in June, and we welcomed her new baby sister, Miss C, two weeks ago. We've quickly learned that I need to be very conscious about the quantity and quality of one-on-one time I give Miss F. One night just before bed, she collapsed in my lap for a prolonged snuggle - she missed her mama. We also realized that she didn't mature overnight just because she became a big sister.  Mr. B and I found ourselves getting frustrated with her for being a two year old. She was playing with the baby's car seat when we told her not to, dumping puzzle pieces all over, and even tossed her glass of milk on the living room floor. Since the baby was born, Miss F has learned to climb into Miss C's crib and to open doors.  I had hoped to have at least a few months before either of those particular milestones.  Miss C's arrival has been an adjustment for all of us, but one we're happy to make.

At the same time, we're trying to sell our house. We found the perfect house for us - an old four bedroom farmhouse on 2/3 of an acre with mature fruit trees that costs less than our house now -  but we can't find anyone to buy our townhouse. It's frustrating, but we're carrying on here as if nothing's different. We're still canning and gardening as if we're not leaving. At worst (or at best, I'm not sure), someone else will harvest our crops.

Mr. B is still looking for a job in his field. He has been looking since graduating college in 2009, but he earned his masters in December, so we're hoping for more luck now in his search. Just in the last week, he's gotten some interviews, but the pay is *significantly* lower than his current pay. As it is, we're barely making ends meet.  I had been working five - yes, five - part time jobs simultaneously in the last year, but I quit them all (except a couple hours of private tutoring sessions) in July.  We were miserable when I worked at night, and we ended up spending extra money on transportation and food to allow me to work jobs I didn't love.  I read Your Money or Your Life by Joe Dominguez and Vicki Robin this week, and we're starting to follow the program so that we can afford to live on a smaller income.

Since Miss F is now two, I'm starting to plan activities with homeschooling in mind.  I really liked how Mrs. Mordecai of Be It Ever So Humble approached letters with her son, so I'm doing letters of the week with Miss F starting the day after Labor Day.  It's in no way a formal thing, but if we happen to make the letter A during play-doh time or sing a song about A or read a book about A, well that's a little more exposure each time.  I'm looking forward to posting about our letter activities (and other things) as the weeks go on.

 

Miss F loves her little sister.

 

Miss F is showing her daddy and little sister the apple we foraged on the way to the park.