Well its been a busy couple of weeks, Noah broke his finger and is wearing a splint until next week. He will be fine and no surgery necessary! He's just bummed he can't ride his bike for three weeks. This hasn't kept him from being active however, we already had to trade in the plaster brace for a full fiberglass, that he hopefully will not destroy by Friday.
I've been stumped this week on how to get Graham interested in learning letters and numbers. he's memorized all breeds and colors of horses, so I know if he's interested he could do it. I'm getting creative, but any ideas would help!
Braxtyn is beginning to understand, yet not quite give in to, who's in charge around the house. That would be, me and Daniel. But I was encouraged to hear from her teacher at Wed. morning bible study, that she is very obedient to her teachers and very lovingly telling all the other kids what to do in class. At least she bosses in love:)
Cozette is growing and moving constantly! I'm getting very excited to meet her, but I'm also enjoying my time being pregnant. Its much easier this time with all the kids being older. The boys are so helpful and Braxtyn is so cute talking to my belly and telling every stranger we meet that she is having a baby sister.
Daniel and I planted the garden Saturday. What a big job, but such great time to spend outdoors! I'm really hoping for a good corn and bean crop this year. I have two gardens going, one with lettuce, carrots and eggplant and the other has corn, beans, zucchini, okra, tomatoes, onions, peppers, watermelon and pumpkins. I also have a few herbs, basil, cilantro and rosemary. I'm trying my best to keep the critters out. Marigolds, sunflowers, garlic and Epsom salts are just a few ingredients that are helping me out. We'll see if this all works. With all this hard work, if the critters get in I'm going to go for the full strength poison down the gopher holes this year. It'll be like Elmer Fudd and Bugs all over again. I'm just hoping I win. Our cats have survived and seem to be mousers, so that's great! Cats don't have a great survival rate out here. Our chickens are finally earning their keep. I'm getting about 6-10 eggs per day, if all else fails we could probably survive on eggs for a while:) My next project is trying to figure out how to plant and grow successfully some fresh alfalfa to supplement for my horse. Still working on the area and cost effectiveness for this one. Daniel and I are in disagreement over the work vs. payoff.
I read this great book that Doni loaned me, I'll add it my book list - Winter Haven by Athol Dickson (very intriguing and a bit scary at times, but it all works out!)
7 comments:
Hey Brooke,
I am glad to hear that you are doing well. I wish I had your ambition for gardening. I have a brown thumb plus I tend to be on the lazy side! I miss seeing you at the bible study, but I understand that you are very busy. Take care of yourself and I hope to talk to you soon.
We will have to get some tips from you on gardening, we are getting ready to plant ours soon too!
I got all my info from the garden guy, but I have compiled my own list and tips too that you might find helpful. But you have to get it in the ground no later than March 15th. Your watermelons and pumpkins can go in as late as June. How fun!
My kids love our spelling curriculum because of the fun ideas to spell the words & it could easily be adapted to learn letters. You can see if any would work for you. Our favorites are writing in shaving cream on a cookie sheet, w/glitter glue, & with lemon juice (a q-tip on black paper). I can let you know more from our book if you want.
Hey Brooke--I haven't checked in on your blog in awhile. Congrats on your baby girl! I'm so jealous that you have a garden and chickens! That is awesome!!! If Graham is active and on the go a lot (Joshua is that way), I hid pieces of paper with the letter of the day attached to different fun things...tickets he could use for the treasure box, gum, etc. and he knew he was looking for "M" on that day and throughout his day, he would find the letter in different places. He found it fun and interesting and wasn't bored by sitting at a desk writing the letter or number over and over again. That is not Joshua's learning style at all! Don't know if that will work for Graham, but it helped Joshua. Glad to see all of you are doing well!!
Here are a few other ideas from their spelling books:spell w/sidewalk chalk,wet sand,w/an eraser on black paper (a "white" eraser works best),finger paint,play dough,pipe cleaners,or scrabble tiles. We have also used dry sugar instead of sand. A stick in the dirt works just as well.
We sometimes play an alphabet game in the van. Look for the letters on stores,billboards,road signs,license plates,etc. Each person has to find A-Z in order & out loud. First one to Z wins. Q is hard so even if one child zooms through they usually are stuck at Q for awhile & the others can catch up unless you are passing a QT,Dairy Queen,or Quality Inn! Get it?
Please send me some corn!! I am so glad see that you are doing well. I haven't found the right dress yet. You know me it has to be just right. It took me 2 days to find the right one when you were born. As for Noah and the broken finger I think it comes my side genes because I know 3 little Phillips kids (Tim was on his own) who were always in trouble. Daryl and I jumped off the roof to see if the parachute we made would open before we hit the ground. We it the ground first. I slid into home plate 3 days before I graduted 8th grade. I had a scar down my left leg until I was your age. When mom asked why I told her I needed to score the run. We were already up 5runs. I could write a book on what Cheryl and Daryl did the year I was in 1st grade.:) Your grandma Jene and grandpa were just as bad.
That's another book.
Love you,
Aunt Diane
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