My cuties at about 11 months...

Everyone tells me that C looks just like his brother.  While I do agree that they do have similar features, tend to see more  E in C than I do X.  However, they are all their own person and have features that look similar and features that are completely unique to them.  Aren't genetics interesting?!

Here's a look at them all today...

It is so much easier to get a picture when they are almost 1 and just love smiling for the camera...

What are they doing????

Can you guess what my monkeys are doing?

I had to ask because I couldn't tell

Although, maybe it is obvious to you

and just I was lacking a scope of imagination

because they certainly were enjoying themselves

while they were dressed in their bathing suits pretending to water ski.

Beginning Dance

We enrolled E in dance this fall.  She was so excited.  When she'd say prayer for a meal, she'd always include, "Thank you that I can go to dance."  Seriously super excited.  That was probably an understatement.

Our wonderful [former] neighbors went to dance and E always thought that it sounded like fun.  When I talked to their mom about starting dance, she graciously gave E a bunch of leotards.  It made E's day.

On the first day of class, E could hardly contain herself.  She was ready.  She was a bit nervous once we got there but she knew one of the little girls from our activities around town...and then she was good to go.  She had lots of fun and looks forward to it every week.

This should be interesting.

A Nature Walk

The first week of our homeschooling journey, we used the book Moose on the Loose for the base of our studies.  I choose the Five in a Row curriculum, but due to my inability to make a decision, the curriculum didn't get ordered quickly enough to get here by the first week of September.  However, I found a curriculum similar to FIAR using Moose on the Loose...so for week one, we improvised.





One of the things we discussed was moose habitats.  What better thing to do than go explore some habitats?!  Maybe we don't have moose habitats here...but we have some other great wildlife habitats that we can explore.  It was a beautiful fall afternoon and we headed out to a local nature area to do some exploring.


We had a great time looking for signs of animals...we found numerous 'deer' trails (cousins to the moose), some scat, small animal paths, some deer beds, etc.  It was fun to have Jut along because we 'see' very different things to point out to the kids...he was finding deer beds, and pointing out the direction the deer were headed on their paths.  I pointed out all the milkweed plants and monarchs surrounding us or the couple of frogs that jumped across our path.  





Both the olders loved being the scouts and getting close to what they were investigating/exploring.  We could tell they were finally getting tired when they stopped being on point and started walking with us. 

There were lots of paths to choose and directions to explore on our walk.  Both kids had chosen different directions...we had to do some mediation to keep the peace with our leaders.


Did I mention that they loved running on ahead of us?  Fortunately, they always stopped when there was a fork in the path.


It was a beautiful place to explore and enjoy a beautiful fall day.  E is all excited to go back sometime this month and observe all the changes that have occurred.



Fun, fun times.  Plus, to end our exploration, Jut splurged for ice cream...How can you beat that in an afternoon?!

Wordless Wednesday (almost)

Is anything more precious than a napping child snuggled up on your bed with all your pillows?  [especially when they are so adept at causing 'confusion and delay']

1st day of School

E "officially" started school on Tuesday, September 4th with the rest of the Michigan public schools.  However, my little school girl didn't head to the local public school.  We set up school right here at home.

She was so excited to get started that morning.  But, a late night from visiting friends over Labor Day got our day off to a slow start.  Then, C had a few drops of blood in his diaper when I pulled off his night diaper...so a trip to the dr with a subsequent trip to the hospital to drop off a urine sample took up our morning.  By lunch, my poor little school girl was beside herself because she just wanted to go to 'school'.  {Thankfully nothing was really wrong with C.}

Once lunch was over and C was down for a nap, we got busy with kindergarten business and all was well.  We did a little craft, some writing, some reading...and satisfied the craving for learning of my oldest learner.

The day didn't start out so smoothly but the afternoon went pretty smoothly.

I got feeling pretty puny as the afternoon wore on.  So, Jut fed the kids supper while I rested.  When I came back downstairs, everyone was outside.  The olders were riding their bikes and having a good time until X got going a bit too fast, lost control, hit our neighbors car and tried to take a chunk out of the sidewalk with his mouth.  I thought that he was going to lose a tooth for certain.  His tooth was bleeding, his mouth was bleeding, his lip was bleeding.  I'm so thankful Jut was home to deal with all the blood.  This mom doesn't do very well with large amounts of blood...especially when teeth are involved...{although, I have gotten better with practice}.  He ended our day with a very swollen lip and mouth.  Poor guy.  But, it didn't slow him down too much and a month later, he's back to riding as fast as he can down the sidewalk.

Thankfully, the rest of the week went much more smoothly for everyone.  Although, I am learning that balancing homeschooling on top of everything else around here is challenging...but we are managing.

11 Months

C is 11 months old!  Only 30 days until he turns 1!  Crazy.  My baby is becoming less and less of a baby all the time.  He's getting more sounds.  He has a definite screech for the cat.  I can always tell when he's spotted Pumpkin.  He's waving 'bye bye'.  He'll stand a few seconds independently.  He'll walk holding on to your hands.  He's cruising a bit inside of the crib but I haven't caught him doing it with the furniture yet.  A toddler he is rapidly becoming and leaving the baby stage behind.

Morning naps only occur once or twice a week...he's never still...nursing is winding down...he wants 'real' toys and not baby ones...he's eating more 'real' food....I'll miss my baby but I love watching my toddler grow and learn.

Tooth #7 finally popped two days ago.  The second tooth on the bottom left finally erupted.  I keep holding my breath for more since he popped 4 in June and hasn't popped one since, but he may just get one in this time around.  I can feel the bumps in the back where his molars are going to come in...oh the joys of more teeth.

He stands all the time.  His reach is growing daily.  He loves seeing what he can knock off the table, tv stand, etc.  He can't see up there but he can feel and knock it down.

Climbing is another favorite past-time.  He climbs up the stairs any chance he gets.  He climbs on top of the kids' picnic table.  He climbs to the top of the step stool in the kitchen to mess with things on the table.  Up, up and away he goes.  He keeps me on my toes.

He discovered the joys of the toilet bowl this month.  He can smell the open toilet lid and away he goes to play in the water.  Oh the wonder of exploring the world.