A Muddy Week

The boys had another good week at CC.  I spent the time in Henry's class this week and he did really well.  He's the only boy in it, with six girls.  For his presentation, he brought his favorite book, a hidden picture book of sorts.  (Not really hidden, you just have to find certain objects in the picture.)  He got up there, said his name, said it was his favorite book, and then proceeded to show them every single page of the book.  "And then there's this (turns the page), and then there's this (turns the page), and then there's this..."  It's a 64 page book.  He has taken to a little boy there, Ezra, who just turned 3.  We know him from last year (they were in nursery together), and during lunch, Henry sat with him and showed him all the pages in the book, too.  Ezra is really receptive to Henry and they call each other friends.  Henry "saved" Ezra last week on the playground.  Ezra had climbed too high on the outside of the playground and couldn't get down.  Henry said there was no one else around, and so he helped Ezra get down.  I guess if someone saves your life, you're friends for life.

I got to talk with Josiah's tutor over our lunch break as well.  He was described as, "very high energy, very smart, and very good at reading."  So we talked about that (the high energy part).  He's doing fine in class it seems.  I sit in his class at our next meeting, so I'll verify that one.  :)

Todd braved standing on our roof to trim some tree branches that were hanging over it.  The kids looked on with a lot of interest.  They were talking to him almost continuously (welcome to my world).   They told him to beware of the bee that they saw to his right.  They told him to be careful not to fall off the roof.  My favorite was when Josiah called out, "Daddy, I love you."  Henry chimed in right after with, "Daddy, I love you."  Followed by Caroline, "Mommy, I love you."

Daddy's tools were interesting, too.

By that time, it had already been a busy day for the kids.  Our history book began with the two questions, "What is history?"  and "What is archaeology?"  We had read a book from the library about archaeology as well.  And then we finally got to have our own archaeology dig.  Our friend from Virginia, Ms. Jennifer, gave us a Smithsonian gem and rock find.  It was perfect because it had the mallet hammer, a spike, a magnifying glass, and a brush.  All the right tools when going to a dig.  The boys did really well with it.



They kept talking about how they wanted to find the jewels that were pictured on the box.  Henry said they were going to be rich.

Smashing the dirt with your shoe is probably not protocol with the National Association of Archaeologists, but when you're 4 and 6, your hands get tired of using the hammer and spike.  They did have to learn that it takes a while to make finds.  Even Caroline woke up from her nap and joined in the fun.  She figured out how to use the tools on her first try.  I was impressed!

After our dig, Josiah asked to dig in the dirt in the yard.  It was fine with me, but it had just rained really hard all morning long.  Dig in it, they did.  They were incredibly dirty, but they had a good time.  This is one of the benefits of homeschooling - we can have bath time in the middle of the afternoon if necessary. :)

Caroline is starting to take to the CC material as well.  She now sings, "Timeline, this is my timeline. Timeline, this is my timeline."  It is very cute, but it frustrates Henry to no end, because she likes to sing it continuously when HE wants to sing it.  Apparently, they cannot sing it together.  Henry needs total silence from all family members to sing it.

Caroline had a rough night on Thursday.  She threw up 7 or 8 times from 10 p.m. to 12:30 a.m., but then woke up the next morning feeling fine.  Todd had warned the boys that I had had a rough night with her and to be helpful throughout the day.  Josiah took this to heart.  He wanted to make us breakfast in bed, so up he brought me a tray (cookie sheet) with a cup of mandarin oranges and a sandwich of apple slices.  He said he couldn't get the peanut butter and jelly jars opened.  What I noticed were apple slices.  How did the apple get peeled and sliced?  So I came down and discovered he had out the egg slicer, the zester, and the cheese slicer and it was the cheese slicer that he used to peel the apple and a knife to cut it.  He only had one knick on his hand, which was pretty good all things considered.  We did have a discussion later about what he is and is not allowed to use in the kitchen.  He and Henry also did the dishes for us.  I could hear at one point that Henry told Josiah he was using the wrong soap, but I sort of forgot about it.  Then when I went to start the dishwasher in the evening, I noticed the soap container was already closed.  So, I opened it to see it full of Dawn dish soap.  That would have made for a kitchen full of bubbles.  It was hard to say anything since they were so enthusiastic (but I did, kindly).  Josiah even made Henry and himself a snack - a chocolate syrup frozen waffle.

Josiah thought that since Caroline was sick, that his job was to take care of us all day.  He was not a happy camper when she went down for a nap and I announced we were going to get some school work done.  That was not on his list of things to do for the day.

Saturday brought more rain and more playing in the mud.  The boys brought their homeschooling lesson full circle.  We had talked about nomads and the first farmers this week.  Then Josiah and Henry tried to build a house with mud bricks and sticks.

Henry working on the mud brick/stick house.

Even right now, on Sunday, they are back outside working on their house.  I checked on them and Josiah was in the tree saying he was a nomad and had made himself a grass and tree branch bed on our patio.  He wants to sleep in it tonight.  Probably not going to happen.  I am inside, in the air conditioning.  :)  It is still quite hot here.  Even though it is the low 90s, the humidity makes it feel like 100 at least.  We cannot wait for cooler weather.
So that was our muddy week.