Happy Birthday R-Man!!!

My little man isn't so little anymore!  I remember the days when he was so tiny and I would look at moms with 4-year-olds and think, "Wow.  Their kids are so old!  They are like bon-a-fide moms!"  So, I guess that now makes me a bon-a-fide mom!

R-Man's birthday (April 23) turned out to by really eventful and a lot of fun!  He woke up to the house being decorated with streamers and lots of presents on the table.  When he came up the stairs I surprised him with silly string and a big, loud "Happy Birthday"- which actually shocked the living daylights out of him because he wasn't quite awake yet.  Poor guy screamed "NO!" and started crying!  Once he woke up all the way and I explained to him a little better what was going on he was in a much more amiable mood though!

Since daddy was still out of town he only got to open up his special Viking birthday hat- the rest of the gifts had to wait for daddy to arrive later that day (after having been gone for 2 whole weeks!).  He then gobbled down some special blue birthday pancakes and green eggs!  These were a big hit and have been requested (and denied!) almost everyday since!

In the middle of breakfast we were shocked to get a knock on the door which turned out to be Spiderman, in the flesh (sent by Grammy and Pappy).  He had gifts and balloons and I was expecting him to just wish R-Man Happy Birthday at the door and be on his way, but oh no, he welcomed himself right on in, told me to shut the door and carried on for the next 10 minutes with letters from the grandparents, cards and gifts.  I would be lying if I said that having a masked man in my home wasn't a worrisome experience for me, and honestly, I still wonder just why I allowed him in the door- occasionally worrying that that decision could come back to haunt us- let's hope not!

R-Man wasn't entirely sure what to make of Spiderman either.  When he came in he said, "Hi, I'm Spiderman!"

To which R-Man replied, "Well, I'm Iron Man!"  So funny!  He did seem to enjoy it overall, however, and especially had fun with the party horns and candy necklace!

He also was apparently not a fan of his red shoes!  He said that he thought blue and white shoes would look better.  He is very particular about shoes!

Lion Cub didn't know quite what to make of everything either but he tried his darndest to blow the party horn!

From that point on on Friday we pretty much went about our day as normal until daddy got home at about 7:00.  We were so excited to see him because it had been so long!  Almost right after he got home we drove up to a friend's house who we borrowed a crew-cab truck from (so that we could all fit), grabbed dinner on the run and drove the 1 1/2 hour drive back to the town daddy had been working in to pick up his tool trailer (he had pulled his 5th wheel trailer back when he came home the first time).  R-Man got to watch a movie on his mini-DVD player and eventually fell asleep since we didn't actually roll into the town until midnight, and not back home until 1:45am!  Yikes!  R-Man was still thrilled to have been able to go!

The next day things got exciting again!  We had told R-Man that he was having a party but hadn't been told where, so when we arrived at a local mega-jump house (basically a warehouse with 5 big bounce/slide/obstacle houses) he was in awe and soooo excited!  We had a great turnout of about 13 kids and even the parents got in on the fun!  Daddy and one of the other dads even raced through one of the obstacle houses- it was hilarious!

Eventually we did manage to get a group photo, although it did take a pretty concerted amount of effort!

After 1 hour & 15min of jumpin' fun we headed into the party room for cupcakes and gifts!

We were so blessed by the gifts that R-Man was given by his friends!  Some of his favorites were a volume of Curious George Adventures, a kite, fake tattoos, Iron Man figurines, and a magnet set! 

 

The celebrating didn't stop there though!  This past Saturday we had our family party for both R-Man and me (since my birthday was April 29).  We had dessert with my side of the family at my Grandma's house and it was especially fun since Lion Cub had just started walking a couple of days before!  

Once again, R-Man was showered with gifts!  He received a great CARS puzzle book (Mama's favorite- learning and fun combined!), an Iron Man with a car, and a remote control dump truck to name a few.  The big gifts will be coming throughout the summer though, since my Grandma helped pay for R-Man's summer T-Ball program and Nana & Papa bought R-Man a (plug your ears!)... drum set!!!  AHHHHHH!!  I know he is going to love it but I very well might loose my mind in the process!  Oh well!

R-Man w/ Cousin J

R-Man w/ Great Grandma K & Grandpa in the background!

It was a great birthday that he didn't want to end!  He still insists that it is, in fact, still his birthday, but we keep reminding him that is will come again next year- for now he can just enjoy being 4!

Preschool Corner- Long overdue update...

I have been meaning to post for weeks (okay, months) about how preschool is going but it is difficult enough to make preschool happen, let alone post about it!  With that said, we are still plugging along!

February was a bit of a crazy month while I tried to get all of our business accounting in order to do our taxes, and March (and now early April) have been plagued with what seems to be a never-ending sickness!  We had one good week and then it started all over again!  We had many more trips to the doctor than I ever bargained for, but I think things are finally starting to look up!  Plus, we found out that since last summer R-Man has grown 5 inches!!!!  Crazy huh?!  He is now 3'4" and 31 lbs (he gained 2 lbs in the time it took him to grow that much taller!  Skinny mini!).

Here is a project we did in January where we put salt and food coloring on a block of ice and let it melt throughout the day. It turned out so cool!  I was even surprised by just how cool it was!  Very fun and R-Man loved it!

In addition to our Itty-Bitty Bookworm curriculum I have decided to supplement a bit with some more montessori-type activities for things like cutting and games for letter and number memory.  A few weeks ago we were reading Mouse Paint and I made some simple cutting cards for R-Man to help the mouse get to the cheese.  He did a much better job than I expected him to and at the end he even cut the mouse and the cheese off the cards so that they actually could get to each other!

He liberated them.

He's a clever one!

Here he is playing a letter memory game I made with puff paints.  He really enjoys tracing these letters with his fingers too!

I have also started to add some more information to round out the themes of the books we are trying to incorporate lapbooking and tie things together into a bit more of a unit study that extends throughout the month.  Don't get me wrong, I am really liking Itty-Bitty Bookworm, the lapbooking just seems to help us tie our learning together more from week to week and it is a great tool for R-Man to teach things back to me, helping him remember more.  It is also good practice for me in writing curriculum/lesson plans since I am strongly considering using homemade unit studies with Charlotte Mason methods for our preschooling next year (taking some ideas from Heart of Wisdom too).  Homeschool Share has been a regular stop for me lately as I continue to research and delve into all of our options!

In March we worked on a Weather unit with the books The Wind Blew and The Mushroom in the Rain.  I borrowed Vicki Cobb's Science Play book Face the Wind from the library and we have been having so much fun with it (the most important part at this age!)!  R-Man is really enjoying the different experiments with air and absorbing so much information it blows me away!

And yet, there's more!  With our units we are trying to incorporate more nature study also, especially since the weather has been so nice off and on (low 60s in March!!)!  R-Man is enjoying digging in the dirt and observing the birds and squirrels in our own backyard! 

 

He likes working outside with dad- he calls it his job!

 

Cooking with mom is a fun job that he always likes to get in on too!

Music is still huge for R-Man!  There is a rare moment in our house that isn't filled with song!  He sings half of what he says and can often be found with a guitar or make-shift drumsticks in his hands (yes, that's a kayak!)!

And here he is drumming with his feet!  What a guy!  Multi-talented for sure!  Haha!

Lately I have really been seeing him round that corner into being a 4 year old.  He is responding better to discipline and trying so much harder to obey.  He seems to be better comprehending my directions (when he is paying attention!) and is such a huge help to me!  He is a little gem and I can't put into words how much I love this little almost-4-year-old!

Wordless Wednesday- Just having fun!

I just found these from 5 or six months ago on my phone and they were too fun to pass up!  Enjoy our weirdness!

Tiny Talk Tuesday- April 13, 2010

 

This is the conversation we had one night before bed.

R-Man: "Mom, I just need to get all of the poop out of my heart so that Jesus can come into my heart."

Mama (trying not to laugh): "Do you think you have poop in your heart?"

R-Man:  "Well, yeah.  I just need to get it all out so that Jesus can come into my heart."

Mama: "Well, honey, if you pray for forgiveness Jesus will make your heart clean and come into it whenever you ask him.  Do you want Jesus to be in your heart?"

R-Man: "Yeah!"

Mama: "Well go ahead and ask Him then."

R-Man: "Jesus, please come into my heart.  Amen"

Upon conveying this little exchange to my husband he explained to me that earlier that evening he had checked in on R-Man while he was using the bathroom and told him to "Go ahead and poop your little heart out!"  Apparently R-Man interpreted this very spiritually!  Haha!  I couldn't stop laughing!

Easter 2010!

Well, this year Easter was not as spectacular as we had intended since we were all sick.  We did, however, manage to pull ourselves out of bed long enough to join my side of the family at my grandma's house.  My mom and grandma put together a fun little hunt for the two oldest boys.

Probably the sweetest part of the day was when R-Man, unprompted, wanted to recite his latest memory verse for the family during brunch!  He did such a good job and I of course was incredibly proud!  In the end it was nice to spend time with the fam, even if we were all completely wiped!

At Work with Dad!

About a month ago Jer had a big excavator on the job he was working on and he invited R-Man to come up an the d check it out!  The first day we went up he just got to look and get inside but the second day he got to ride around with him for the whole afternoon!  Trust me, that was this little boy's DREAM COME TRUE!!  He L-O-V-E-S big machines and trucks, so having his dad make a special little seat for him right behind the driver's seat and get to ride around and "help" for hours on end was just about the best thing ever!

He is so funny because he is very specific in his speech- he always wants to call things by their proper names (trucks are to be called trucks, not EVER cars, etc...).  Well, he knew most of it before, but now he can really name every different part of a trackhoe and tell you what it does!  It is adorable!  What a great learning experience!

Waiting in eager anticipation!

So excited... and a little goofy!

Snugglin' Lion Cub just trying to pass the time!

Soakin' up daddy loves!

And some pictures he took while waiting!

He also has a thing for forklifts and bobcats!

Lion Cub was clearly thrilled to be there!  Someday buddy, someday!

Kisses!

Awww... he loves me!

Wordless Wednesday- What a Ham!

"Take my picture mom!"