Lizards and Handwriting and a Very Messy Desk

We finished up our year of CC on Monday.  Caroline still had her cough, so she was kept isolated.  I think she actually enjoyed having a room to play in by herself.

Many families brought treats to share.  Josiah got sugar overload on vegan cupcakes brought in by a couple families.  He was quite rowdy and loud for most of the school day.  After he finished speaking on Robin Hood for his presentation, he asked if there were any questions.  Many hands went in the air, which was a good sign that the other students had interest in the topic.  In typical Josiah fashion, he put his hand on his chin like a professor and said, "Oh my."  I learned later that the ladies in the class thought he was quite funny.

For the past several weeks, the favorite pastime of the CC kids has been hunting for lizards on the playground.  Josiah has watched the other kids do it, and this past Monday he found his own.  He held on to this lizard for at least 15 minutes.  The poor little lizard.  Hopefully, he survived his ordeal of being a much-loved recess pet.

We did end up taking Caroline to the doctor who diagnosed her with bronchitis.  The medicine helped her very quickly with the cough, so we were grateful for that.  Despite being sick, she still has not been interested in taking naps.  So, she threw a few tired-girl tantrums.  I offended her greatly by not allowing her to watch T.V. indefinitely.  Then while she was throwing a tantrum about that, she asked for her "wanket."  I had the audacity to wash it since she had been coughing all over it for the previous 10 days, so it was unavailable.  Let's just say that tantrum did not get any better for a while.  Her go-to line during times like that is always, "I want Daddy."

She also has a penchant for yelling at us when she doesn't get her way.  Case in point, this past Saturday night.  She was overly-tired, she had gotten out of the bathtub and was all wrapped up in her towel.  Unaware of the battle before him, Todd told her to get her pajamas on.  She yelled at Todd that she did not want to put on her pajamas.  And so back and forth it went with a very naked girl.  After finally clothing herself, she stubbornly refused to apologize to Todd for yelling at him.  I looked up the definition of the word stubborn:
1-unreasonable obstinate; obstinately unmoving - You better believe it!
2-fixed or set in purpose or opinion; resolute - Daily!
3-obstinately maintained, as a course of action - Yes!
4-difficult to manage or suppress - Oh Yes!
Basically, it was the definition of a toddler.  Todd and I just packed it up, said good night, and moved on downstairs for the evening.  We heard the kids get out of their beds and laugh and talk.  Then about half an hour later, Henry came downstairs with Caroline and he told her to apologize to Todd. He told her what to say and to ask for forgiveness.  With a big smile on her face, she apologized to Todd.  Henry is one amazing big brother.

Henry has been focusing on his artwork all week again.  He first made a 3-D picture of a volcano, and then he helped Josiah make an Egyptian pyramid.

Josiah actually got quite frustrated trying to make it, and Henry eagerly said he'd help him and showed him how to do it (using 3 triangles, instead of 4).  Josiah, had to dress up as King Tut to do it.  He felt that King Tut only wore underwear, so he initially walked around in his skivvies.  I explained that that wasn't going to fly.

Henry has been working on his wall of art as well.  He's added his latest theme of sports pictures.  He's done a soccer, football, hockey, baseball, and basketball picture.

Henry has also been working on his handwriting a lot lately.  He has enjoyed it and even after writing a whole paper of letters/words, he will ask for more.  He has taken it seriously and tries to form his letters properly.

Then later in the week, after dealing with Caroline, I came back in the school room to find that Josiah had started to teach himself cursive.

He's been asking me to sign all of his artwork by writing his name in cursive.  He found the cursive alphabet in the front of his spelling book and managed to write everything on that paper above.  So, we started cursive lessons that afternoon.  I had intended to teach him cursive, but hadn't decided yet whether to do it for second or third grade.  Now, I need to quickly find a cursive workbook to make sure I'm teaching him the proper way.  The only thing I write in cursive anymore is my signature!

I took a glimpse inside Josiah's school desk.  Every organizing bone in my body shuddered.  :)  I told him to take everything out, organize it in piles, and put the markers/pens/pencils/crayons/scissors/etc. back where they belonged.  He went through every paper, handed me a few old math worksheets, and decided everything else was a "keeper."  I spent one week in 8th grade with a messy desk to see how the other side lived.  My mind couldn't handle it.  I organized it back and enjoyed the remainder of my school year.  For Josiah to not mind a messy desk is a parent fail of mine...that I intend to change.

We spent a few hot days mid-week when our air conditioning wasn't working.  It's hot here.  It got up to 88 degrees in the house kind of hot.  The kids took the opportunity to sit and watch the cars go by.  That and look for ladybugs, lizards, cats, and any other living creature that passed by the window.  Fortunately the air conditioning was fixed without them having to order a part.  I was worried that it would be a hot weekend waiting for a part to arrive.

This evening Josiah made us laugh.  Todd read the story of Passover during our Bible time.  Josiah asked why we didn't celebrate Passover, so Todd told him how God gave that to the Jewish people to celebrate and that they still celebrate it today.  Then Josiah asked what they drank for the meal and Todd told him wine.  Then Josiah asked why we didn't drink wine, so Todd explained why we didn't drink beer/wine/alcohol.  And then Josiah confessed to us, "Oh.  I ate a root beer lollipop."  That's okay son.

And that was our week. Our pastor challenged us to be a blessing to three people this week (someone older, younger, and around the same age), so maybe we will have some blessing stories to share for next week.