Tiny Talk Tuesday- August 24, 2010

Last week we were at my parent's house and my mom were getting ready in the bathroom.  Rhythm came in as we were doing our hair... this ensued...
Rhythm, "You're Beautiful."
Nana (my mom), "Oh, you're so sweet!"
Rhythm, "I was talking to my mom."
Oh sheesh!  I quickly pointed out that I look very much like Nana!

__________________________________________

Rhythm, "Oh Mom!  I think your going to have another baby!"
Me, "No, I'm not."
Rhythm, "Yes you are.  Hello in there little baby!" While patting my stomach!
Me, "No, I'm really not.  Why do you say that?  Is my belly sticking out?"
Rhythm, "No, it's just getting bigger and bigger and bigger!  I think you're having a baby!"
Me, "No honey, I'm not having a baby yet!"
Rhythm, "Mom, (putting hands on hips) there is just a child in there!"
If I hadn't been laughing so hard I would have been offended!  Maybe I should look at this as a good thing though since I have been trying to gain weight (because of being fairly severely underweight during my first year of breastfeeding) so that I can safely get pregnant again!

There are more embarrassing cute things from other kiddos around the web linked up over at Not Before 7 in the Tiny Talk Tuesday meme.

Guest Posting on HannahKeeley.com today!

Hello all you lovely ladies visiting from HannahKeeley.com!!  Thank you so much for stopping by! I hope you enjoy your look around.  Stay a while, grab a cup of tea and put up your feet!  The World According to Them is my little corner of the web to share all about our family and homeschooling adventures.  I hope you find it entertaining, relatable and maybe even helpful!

I would love to have you stop back by more often (or even grab a subscription!) and I would especially enjoy hearing what you have to think in a comment- I will be sure to stop by your blog as well!  Also, don't forget to check out the giveaways I am currently hosting (Marmee's Favorites recipe bundle & The Hands on Bible) and my upcoming BOSCH Universal Mixer Raffle!!  If you want to see more about my hodge-podged journey as a homemaker and more talk that is mom-to-mom focused, be sure to take a peek at my other blog, The Mama Kenz Studio.

For those of you who don't know, I am very honored to be guest posting over at HannahKeeley.com today!  If you haven't checked out this Christian Mom of 7's great website you should definitely go and do so!  And while you're there, check out my post about getting ahead of the game!

Tot School for sickies!

Ugh- as I mentioned in our Preschool Corner post, the boys and I have had colds all week!  They have both been waking up throughout the night and on the whole our sleeping schedules have just been really messed up.  Bleh.  So, of course the sickness and sleepless crankiness took their tole and it was difficult to keep Lion Cub happy and occupied during school time.

He did happily do some coloring for a bit, but inevitably ate half the crayon, bringing the activity to an abrupt halt! 

He also worked with his stacking rings some, but mostly enjoyed throwing them on the floor!

The one gem I did discover this week that I actually employed during dinner preparations instead of school to keep Lion Cub from screaming and clinging to my legs, was Rhythm's old bean bin!  

Oh man- is this thing ever going to make its way into Tot School!  They both loved it, but Lion Cub especially could have sat there for hours (and he practically did)!  

Now I must admit- the mess was considerable!  At one point every. last. bean. was on the floor!  But he was happy and content, which is so rare that I didn't even care.  As soon as they began throwing the beans, however, I did have to wrap up this activity, but as soon as I can find a bigger bin (that Lion Cub can actually sit in) I can see this becoming a very regular option for him!

I'm hoping to set aside some time today to get a little bit more organized about our Tot School options for the week (along with school in general).  Now, if a certain little someone will just cease his screaming, whining and clinging...

Find more Tot School posts at 1+1+1=1!

Preschool Corner- Week #2!!

Hmmmm, what is there to say about this week?  We did make it through all of our Raising Rock Stars work, but that pretty much sums it up!  Drat!  It started off with just not getting as prepared for the week as I should have on Sunday evening.  I then found out that an old friend of mine died over the weekend- a big emotional hit even though I haven't seen him in years.  Follow all that up with the boys and I all getting colds, leading to erratic sleeping schedules and general crankiness, and our week couldn't help but culminate in routine and school FAIL.  Arg.

Well, let me show you what we did do:

Rhythm is really enjoying doing his Weekend Report each Monday.  He has taken to coloring much more than he ever has before, and what you see him doing in this picture is actually dictating what he is "writing" about his weekend!  Very cute and funny!  He literally talked and "wrote" for 5 minutes straight!

Here he is taping his verse strip up on the wall behind his chair.  He loves all of the cutting activities in the Raising Rock Stars Curriculum- right up his hands-on alley!

We found a Phineas and Ferb (big fans here!) folder at Target before school started and he loves putting all of his completed work in it during the day.  At the end of the week we then put all of his work from the week into his Raising Rock Stars binder as we review.

At the beginning of the week we did manage to complete the assessment sheets that Carisa has to offer on her Raising Rock Stars site (I think they are in the members only section- which is only $10 for a lifetime membership!!  Yeah- serious deal!!  It may be going up slightly soon though so get in while the price is still this crazy!).  Rhythm did better than I expected with some things and other he was right about where I expected.  It was very helpful to have this gage to mark his progress on and will be nice to compare back to and keep a record of throughout the year.

He is so goofy!  Here he is coloring his Ten Commandments craft. He kept getting very distracted (or perhaps he was dawdling- I'm still deciding) by his crayons!  He had to have them all perfectly lined up next to each other and desperately wanted to get out one of his truck and trailers to haul them on (which he did later do!).  

I can see that distractions are going to be a constant battle for him (even the leaves blowing in the wind outside the window have the potential to completely sidetrack him!) and the more organized I can be the easier this battle will be to win.  I have to get back in the game with our routine this week!  Even though our first week was rough, I can so see the difference there was in his ability to follow the flow and stay on task week 1 vs week 2.  I am hoping we will all be feeling better by Monday and I will be able to get everything in place for a much more smooth week!  Wish us luck- better yet, pray very hard!

Just to wrap things up I thought I would include a little video of Rhythm saying his memory verse from week 1! Enjoy!

I have linked this post to Homeschool Creations' Preschool Corner- go there to find lots of great preschool ideas!

My First Printables!! Nature Study and The Weekend Report!

I am so excited to share with you all my very first printables!!!  I have been wanting to offer something to my readers for quite some time but never really knew what I had to offer.  Well, now that we are getting into the swing of things I am starting to get more and more ideas and so I hope that this is just the beginning!  So, here they are!

The first is a printable I call The Weekend Report.  Now I cannot claim this as my own original idea.  We actually started doing this last year while we were working on our Itty Bitty Bookworm curriculum and I liked the idea so much I wanted to tie it into this year as well.  The printable, however, is my little creation. I typically have Rhythm dictate to me what he remembers doing over the weekend and then let him draw a picture of one of those things above.  It is a great way to warm into narration plus helps him have a gentle introduction to school on Monday mornings.

The Weekend Report Form

The second printable I would like to share is our Nature Study form.  This is another one of those things that obviously requires mama participation since Rhythm isn't writing yet, but the questions help guide him into making his own discoveries while we are outside.  I try to point out little things about nature as I notice them and I have naturally seen his interest and observation grow.

As we are getting started I help him a bit with his observations if he can't think of specifics.  For instance, this last week he chose a rock to draw.  So, I asked him things like, "What color is the rock?  Is it smooth or rough?  Is it heavy?  Where did you find it?  What do you like about it?"  As he gets used to this process I suspect he will begin verbalizing more of his own observations and as that happens my guidance will become more general, such as, "Tell me everything you can think of about this rock."

I find it is best to ask the questions on the back of the form after we have come back inside so he is not distracted by whatever it is outside that he wants to be playing with.  Asking these questions afterwards also allows him to think about the things he observed while he was playing and not just limit him to the things he was looking at during our actual nature study time.

Nature Study Form

**A little side note, there is a blank third page in this printable that I couldn't get deleted without deleting half the document.  One of those bazaro, "Why are you doing this to me you dumb computer!?" moments.  Please forgive me and dismiss it!**

Wordless Wednesday- What Mischief?

Ugh- I feel tired all of the sudden!


This post is linked to Wordless Wednesday- where pictures say it all!

Fall version of The Ultimate Homeschool Expo! Great Price!

This past spring I really wanted to attend the Ultimate Homeschool Expo but just didn't have the money.  Well, this Thursday the team behind that great online conference are kicking off a Back-to-School-Blast and it is only $1.99 for the full deal, including access to the Members Only site, MP3 downloads of all the seminars, $50 worth of freebies and an entry to win an iPad!  Hello!  Great deal!

They also have a free version where you can attend all the live workshops if you just sign-up for the newsletter!  Oh, and did I mention that one of my very favorite speakers in the whole darn world is going to be speaking- the one and only Mrs. Lorrie Flem!?  (check out her awesome ministry, TEACH, right here!) I will so be there!

A Day in Our Life!

Just to let you know up front- this post is long and it covers not only our school day but our entire routine for a normal day.  If you want to know just about our school day, feel free to scroll down to just that part!  Thanks for stopping by!

Developing a routine that we can stick with and that is actually reasonable for my family has been one of my biggest missions for this year!  As I have mentioned before, we are kind of in that in between stage of transitioning from having small kids being able to just do whatever whenever, to having a homeschooler who needs some structure and routine.  What a task!  It has been, and in many ways still is, a huge adjustment for all of us but I can already see the efforts paying off.

I put a lot of time, thought and effort into planning out this routine.  I tried to take into account what all I wanted to accomplish in a day and a week (certain tasks happen only on certain days, such as particular chores and errands) and then fuse that with what was actually feasible for our family.  The end result became three color-coded "routines" that detailed our days- one for "At Home Days," one for "Errand Days," and one for "Activity Days," just so I could make sure that I had all our bases covered!

Today I am going to share with you our base, "At Home Day" routine, which is what our day is supposed to look like!  Later this week (hopefully) I will post about what a day actually looks like, but hopefully it will be something close to this!

Morning

• Between 6:00-6:30 I get up, get my tea and have time with the Lord, followed by some blogging and Google Reader time.
• By 7:40 I try to have breakfast going, which, if I have followed my pre-prep schedule, should usually only involve throwing something in the oven.
• At 8:00 I wake up Rhythm, if he isn't up already, and get him upstairs for breakfast (which should be done by now, or very close to).
• During breakfast we read a story from our Jesus Storybook Bible and do some of the questions from our Young Children's Catechism
• As soon as breakfast is over it is chore time for all of us!  Rhythm has a chore pack (which I will be posting on soon) that has things such as putting his dishes in the sink, emptying silverware from the dishwasher, emptying bathroom garbages, making his bed, brushing his teeth and getting dressed.  I empty the dishwasher, do the breakfast dishes, put out some laundry and also do the following things, based on the day:

• I then put on Baby Einstein (which actually has taught Rhythm some signs) and take a quick shower (if I haven't already the night before) and get dressed.

School Time

• We aim to start school between 9:00-9:30 (usually closer to 9:30).  We use a workbox system to keep things organized, and generally our school day goes something like this:

• Calendar Time & Morning Board (which I will also be posting on in detail soon)
• Introduction to our Raising Rock Stars work for the day using the RRSP Board
• Snack while mama reads aloud (books usually focus around our unit theme)
• Our Raising Rock Stars work for the day (during which we usually have our RRSP music for the week playing quietly in the background)
• An extra activity or two (Piano, Nature Study, various preschool printables, file folder games, etc...)
• And eventually, somewhere in there, we will be adding a project to go along with our unit study
• Also, while Rhythm is doing some of his more independent work I start to prep for the following day and begin refilling our bags for our workbox, all the while trying to keep Lion Cub busy as well!

Afternoon

• Around 12:00 we try to start preparing for lunch (which, once again, is hopefully very minimal if I have done my prep-ahead work the day before).  During lunch we read "Leading Little Ones to God"
• Directly after lunch we have free play time and maybe try to get a little bit of time outside (which is currently difficult because our backyard is a weed pit in desperate need of landscaping).
• By 1:00ish I try to get Lion Cub down for a nap.  I usually have Rhythm nap also every few days so that he doesn't get over-tired (his tiredness tends to accumulate).  If it isn't a nap day for Rhythm, we typically try to get in a little bit more reading time together or play a game after Lion Cub is down.  After that Rhythm will typically either play quietly or watch Phineas and Ferb- his end-all, absolute FAVORITE TV show (that the whole family secretly loves!).  He also usually has another snack around now (3:00ish). 
• During that time I try to get in some blogging time, catch up on my Google Reader some more and work on my Prep Work for the next day:

• Between 3:45-4:00 I try to start working on meal prep.  This includes not only dinner but the following day's breakfast and lunch as well.  You can read more about this on The Mama Kenz Studio.

Evening

• We aim to eat dinner right around 5:00.  Directly following dinner (or while Rhythm is still eating- he's even slower than ME!) we do family devotions, typically reading from the One Year Bible for Kids.
• After dinner the boys typically play with dad while I clean up the kitchen and try to get some laundry put away.  We occasionally try to sneak in a family game, which I am hoping to make more consistent.
• Throughout the evening I try to do the following:

• At 7:30 I bathe the boys if it is a bath night or at 7:45 we start having the boys clean up their toys and and begin winding down.  
• At 8:00 we head downstairs where I, generally, get Rhythm ready for bed and put him down and then take Judah in and nurse him to sleep.  My aim is to be back upstairs by 8:45 but no later than 9:00.
• The rest of the evening is usually spent watching a favorite show and sometimes even reading together with Jer.  We also both usually end up on our computers at some point during this time.
• This is where it gets really difficult for me.  My plan is to be heading downstairs to get ready for bed between 10:00-10:30.  The idea is that I could be downstairs, ready by 10:30 with a half an hour to read and have lights out by 11:00.  This has yet to happen, but I keep telling myself that if I continue to get up early and not nap with the boys, one of these days I am just going to be so flat out exhausted that I will have no choice but to go to bed early!  Ok, hopefully it won't come to that- it is just a really hard adjustment for this night owl!

So there is our day, all boiled down.  I am still tweaking and reconfiguring things, but for the most part it seems to be working and giving us more of a predictable rhythm which is helping me to accomplish more and feel more on top of my game.

I have linked this post up to The Heart of the Matter Not-Back-to-School Blog Hop.  Head over there to see more Days in the Life of more homeschool families across the nation!

Tot School- On the Fly!

I always planned to do Tot School with Lion Cub this year, and by "planned" I mean this is actually the only thing that I didn't plan but intended to do.  I figured it would be on a fairly small scale since he is still so young, but fun none the less and would help him feel included during school time.  After all, with Rhythm it was a fun thing to do but never something that ended up being terribly consistent (as much as I wanted it to be!).  It just wasn't my priority... until this last week!  I had no idea that Tot School wouldn't just be a fun thing to do- it would be necessary to my survival and the survival of my children (specifically Lion Cub)!!

You see, without something structured to do Lion Cub has a tendency to... well...

get into mischief (yes, that would be the kitchen sink, a lemon and a box grater!)...

or scream uncontrollably (or haven't you noticed?!).  

So, after Monday, when I literally thought I was going to loose my mind (see below), I got so far as to realizing that we needed to do the bulk of school at the kitchen table, hence enabling me to tie down my wild child kindly strap Lion Cub into his table seat.

Awww... what a difference!

Happy little yogurt face!

For a good part of school on Tuesday I was able to keep him busy with snacks, but when the interest faded there (which took a while- this kid eats more than I do half the time!) I realized that I was going to have to get creative, and fast!

Thank goodness for Dutch Bros kid's cups and toothpicks!  Once he got the hang of it, this silly little project kept him busy for nearly 20 minutes!  A total savior!  Throughout the rest of the week we broke out the stacking cups, his little recycling truck that you feed cards into while it counts, and some fun "tearing" time with the remnants of some of Rhythm's projects, but none were so popular as this cup and toothpicks!

Check out those monster paws of his!

So, needless to say I am feeling the urgency to get more on the ball with Tot School!  Hopefully within the next few days I will be scouring the Tot School section of Carisa's blog and perusing the link-ups to get inspired and more on the ball.  If not, I may soon be posting from Betty Ford- I'll let ya know!

Despite my lack of planning, Lion Cub did work in a little bit of Life school of his own this past week that was rather fun (and sometimes frightening- keep an eye out for Wednesday's post!) to watch!

Don't ya just love boxes?!

Maybe mama should look at the actual camera and not just her boys!

Sweet Smiles!

If you too are in need of some awesome ideas to keep your little one busy, then head over to Carisa's Tot School Link up on 1+1+1=1!

Preschool Corner- First Week of School!

 

Wow- what a week!  Much more difficult than I expected but I suppose it is a work in progress.  We had our first "official" school day on Monday and for all intents and purposes we did accomplish pretty much everything I intended to and we did stick with our routine.  HOWEVER, I would still pretty much classify it as nightmare!  We tried to do all of our work at the kids table in our school room and Lion Cub screamed the ENTIRE time.  It was horrible.  Rhythm was trying to concentrate but it was near impossible for either of us and he kept asking when we would be done because he just wasn't used to it yet.  I walked away from that morning actually seriously doubting (for the first time) if this was actually going to work.  

Tuesday, though, I got up a little earlier, got a little bit more prepared, had my morning tea and my time with the Lord and vowed to not give up.  Awwww... what a better way to start the day!  I also changed a few things about how we did school!  After our Calendar time (which I will be posting on in more detail soon) we grab our workbox and Raising Rockstars Preschool learning board and move out to the dining room table.  This way I can strap Lion Cub into his seat and have Rhythm in his chair on the other side (key#1- keep them separated!).  I was then able to keep Lion Cub busy with snacks and Tot School activities (key#2- plan things for the 14 month old to do!  More on this soon!), thus allowing Rhythm (and myself) to be less distracted.  Thank Jesus for how smooth this morning went-it completely restored my hope and confidence!

Each day has been different and I won't say that it has been a picnic since Tuesday, but we are starting to get into a rhythm.  Both boys seem to be getting used to how our days are beginning to flow now and they kind of know what to expect.  Every day I have learned a little bit more about how I should arrange our school schedule and our daily routine to better fit our needs, so every day it gets a little bit better.  There is still some tweaking to do, but I already feel more confident and can see that after a few weeks our new routine will feel like old hat for all of us.  Be sure to stop back by on Monday for more details of how I have set up our routine!

But now, on to the actual school work!!  We started using Carisa's AMAZING Raising Rockstars Preschool curriculum this week and we LOVE it!!  It composes the core of what we are working on and it is a terrific fit for us.  Rhythm really enjoys all of the activities and I am amazed at how quickly he is picking up new (or in some cases remembering old) skills.  I can really see his sense of pride and satisfaction when he finishes his work also, which I think will be key to his success and love of learning.

Here is what we did this week:

First day in the classroom...

Rhythm working on his Weekend Report (this printable coming soon!).  He was really trying but....

it was difficult!

Day 2- our new set-up... 

much better!

Saying his verse with hand motions that we added.  By Thursday (we only do a 4-day week) he had his verse down pat! (me- beaming with pride!)

Cutting out his vocab cards.  It took him a while but he didn't complain once!  

He really enjoyed putting them all in their spots!  

Just delighted with himself!

Of course, this is the picture he wanted me to take!  Don't you love his little eyes peeking through?!

Here is a pic from his perspective!  Obviously, this wasn't Day 1!!!

Working hard on writing his "L"s!

This boy isn't huge on coloring but he LOVES to paint (although markers are used more than crayons)!  He keeps telling me that he is an artist!

Other things we did this week that weren't pictured were:

• Clothes Pin Number Match from Confessions of a Homeschooler
• Bastien Piano for Young Beginners
• Nature Study (printable coming soon for this one too!)
• Lots of reading about Farms!  We are gearing up for our field trip to the fair so this week we were learning all about farm machines.  I am going light on this unit though, so we are just doing the reading portion and no other activities.  We are breaking in slow!
• Finishing up Winnie the Pooh!  I am still so surprised by how much Rhythm enjoys this book and look forward to wrapping it up and beginning Charlotte's Web next week.

We also LOVED the music we downloaded to go with our Raising Rockstars Curriculum!  I downloaded 5 of the suggested songs that Carisa posted with the Letter L week on her site from iTunes and we not only listed to them to sing along to during the lesson, but we also played them quietly in the background while Rhythm did his other work and also various times throughout the day.  We especially loved the song from the Seeds Family Worship CD and enjoyed the songs from Praise Baby as well.  It was so nice to have God's word sung through our home all day, especially since we would get the songs stuck in our heads.  The music also seemed to have a calming effect on both boys, helping things be a little less hectic, and promoted concentration.

Alright, I know this post was a little wordy, but it was honest and I hope some of you can relate!  Like I mentioned above, keep your eyes open for some upcoming printables I am going to debut and a post about our routine and school schedule on Monday!  Be sure you don't miss out on the giveaway I am having for The Hands on Bible too!!

Oh, and if you haven't checked out my main blog lately (The Mama Kenz Studio), I have lots of cool stuff going on over there with my new sponsor, Marmee's Bread Market, and I am going to have a big announcement about an upcoming raffle for a Bosch Universal Plus mixer AND a giveaway with multiple winners starting Monday!  So, be sure to drop by and check it out!

OH!!  AND!!  

(I know, you're thinking, "More?  Seriously?!")  But this is my 100th post on this blog!!  Happy dance!  Sorry- I couldn't help myself!

To see other fun preschool posts take a look see over at Homeschool Creations for the latest Preschool Corner Link-up!

Hands on Bible Review & Giveaway!!

What a great Bible- for not only kids but the whole family!  Just to start off, I think this Bible does a really good job of personalizing the experience of reading God's word for kids and truly encourages them to get involved with it.

Each book features a great intro page that tells important facts, shows a timeline of the book's events and gives a synopsis that is written in a fun and engaging way- just to name a few.   There are also great bios of the heroes of the Bible; fun facts that make the Biblical text relate-able; and, of course, hands-on activities sprinkled throughout that literally give kids the chance to experience the meaning of God's word and grasp it in a more tangible way.

Possibly one of my favorite aspects of this Bible are "The Jesus Connection" segments that explain how everything in the Bible relates back to Jesus.  What a valuable and useful tool!  In that way it reminds me a lot of the Jesus Storybook Bible, which we love!

The last thing I absolutely love about this Bible, and simply couldn't close my post without mentioning, is the website that accompanies it!  You can check it out at MyHandsOnBible.com.  This site is packed with great resources for learning about the Bible and even a wonderful, downloadable family study book.

I have been truly impressed with this Bible and am quite sure that we will be using it in our home devotions and homeschool for many years to come.  It is a fantastic first Bible for Rhythm and will probably even purchase one for Lion Cub when he gets old enough!

Do you think this might be a Bible you would like for your children?  If so, you can purchase one right here.

Or, if you want to try your hand at a little contest to win one first, here is how you can enter:

Mandatory Entry- Visit MyHandsOnBible.com and then come back here and tell me what feature you would find the most helpful or interesting!

Extra Entries (one separate comment per entry):

• Follow or subscribe to The Mama Kenz Studio (my main blog- right sidebar)
• Become a Fan of The Mama Kenz Studio on Facebook
• Follow or Subscribe to The World According to Them
• Add The Mama Kenz Studio button to your blog (Left sidebar- leave address where I can find it!)
• Add The World According to Them button to your blog (leave address where I can find it!)
• Write a blog post about this giveaway, linking back to this post (leave address where I can find it!)
• Write a blog post about any other giveaway I am hosting during the same period of time (giveaways on The Mama Kenz Studio are included.  Leave address where I can find it!)
• Tweet about this giveaway!  (this can be done once daily) Feel free to copy and paste the following message:

@Chic_Mama is hosting a giveaway for The Hands on Bible- head on over to enter! http://tinyurl.com/28adz7c

Thanks for Entering!  Best of Luck!

This contest will run from August 18- September 1, 2010 at 8:00PM PST.  Please make sure that you enter your e-mail address so that I have a way of contacting you if you win.  Winner will be drawn via random.org.  Please go here to see additional rules and terms.

This book was provided by Tyndale House Publishers for honest review.  All opinions are completely mine- I would tell you if I didn't like it!

Tiny Talk Tuesday- August 17, 2010

Lion Cub has his first official addition to our Tiny Talk posts this week!  Not so much from the words he is saying but his attempts at words!  We are finding that he is very good at grunting syllables!  He has very distinct grunt patterns that we clearly recognize as "Thank You," "Hear You Go," and "Roman."  He says "Ny Ny" before bed now and refers to both Jer and I as "Mama" (okay- he occasionally says "Dada")!  He even sneaks in a little "Nana" every once and a while to my mom! He says "Uh" sometimes for up and if he could just unstick his tongue from the roof of his mouth I think he could probably talk our ears off!

__________________________________

Rhythm: Mom, I'm very proud of you for just not spanking me. :-)
hmmmm.... then perhaps that's an indication that I should have!

__________________________________

The other day we began reading Winnie the Pooh, and of course I had to read it with an English accent!  After a few sentences Rhythm turned to me with a silly and quizzical look on his face and said, "You are just making the voices."  I asked him if he liked them, which of course he did, and now if I am not reading with an accent he just doesn't think it sounds quite right!

A few days after we started Winnie the Pooh we were at my parent's house and my mom started talking in an English accent to him, out of the blue, just for fun (a common occurrence in our family.  What can I say- I grew up in the theatre!), and he said, "Hey!  Mommy talks like that too!"  Pretty cute and funny!

Check out other funny kid sayings at the Tiny Talk Tuesday linkup over at Not Before 7!