our new themed schedule

Today was the first of our "days of the week" theme. For the next couple of months we are doing something specific to enhance our schedule, experiences, and life... Some of the things will be doing are learning orientated for Zeek, or family orientated for all of us, or cleaning/organizing/home beautifying, etc...
And I am loving it! 


With the "new year"-fresh slate-resolution kind of feeling I began brainstorming to come up with a way to motivate and inspire me to get a move on some of the ever growing list of things I'd like us to do in our home and homeschooling.

I’ve learned over time about myself that I really can’t do much of the same thing for TOO long. I can do things passionately just fine for a period of time. But when it’s over, it’s over, and I need a fresh change...I need to craft something more inline with where I am in each season. So this will be revised when that time comes. No guilt, no pressure. Just a loose guideline. 

So far I have decided on this much:

Monday mail: where zeek and I will each prepare something to send to someone. Letter, craft, gift, photos, a hand me down...


Monday make over: where I will chose a room each week that will get a little face lift, be it deep cleaning, rearranging, sorting/purging, added organization, or just a piece of art...


And of course, there's Monday mom’s night: which has always been. Greg has guys night out, and I watch my two favorite recorded evening dramas with something scrumptious to eat and tasty to drink after Zeek goes down for the night. :)

Then Tuesday Treasure Hunt: which will be anything from Zeek doing a reading guided paper hunt, or “bucket everything on this list” hunt, to a full fledged family scavenger hunt in the afternoon. (we LOVE to do these anyway)

Wednesday is going to be Worship and Word Wednesday: I will read the Bible to Zeek in the morning when I do my own devotion time (he has a daily devotion in his school work schedule too), we will do some Worship time together. At night we will have a family devotional (which we so need to incorporate into our lives anyway, now that Zeek is old enough)

I have nothing for Thursday yet, but I usually go out that night with the girls, so I will have to come up with a day time thing.

Friday is Food Fun: picnic, or something like a culture related dinner theme with decorations and or dress up, music, etc... I’d like to invite a family of guests one Friday a month to join us, as well.
And Friday Family night: a game, movie, popcorn, together craft, or an evening out bowling or something fun.

Then it's Story Saturday. Eternally. I want to teach Zeek how to create books. Picture, story, recipe, field journals... I think having a sort of “free day” otherwise delegated to work on it will get the ball rolling nicely.

And finally, Shopping Store Sunday. Zeek needs to learn money. We’re just going to make a little shop for him where we will sell different things (things we already own, toys, and sometimes snacks, or ingredients to a desert we can cook in the end, etc...) 


I'm looking so forward to all the fun we will have doing this new and exciting schedule of activities. 


Today we did our letters to Auntie Judy (or as Zeek wrote Ante Jode). Zeek loved folding his letter, licking the envelope, sticking on the stamp, and walking it out to the mailbox with me. :)

I did the room make over in the craft room. With a little cleaning, organizing the organization, and purging, it is looking so cute and fresh. 


Next: Mama's night! 
WHOOO-HOOOO! HERE I COME! :)

it's a lego life

You got about eight new lego boxes for Christmas. I was not sure what to do with them all, but I KNEW I wasn't about to let them become wandering, aimless, chew options for the Yook. There had to be SOME kind of organized storage containment for them all.

I scoured the internet in search of the smartest lego storage out there. I was surprised to find that even Lego doesn't sell anything brilliant for them.

So, we finally settled on these, from Walmart:

They are three different towers that can (and likely will need to) be added to in the future. The drawers come out easily and can be transported to other areas of the house for play.

We are storing each set in it's own drawer big enough for the completed construction or just the pieces. We have the instruction books in one of the thin top drawers and the green base squares in the other.

It is just what we needed! :)

your first expenditure

While we were at Target the other day, checking out the toy department for after Christmas sales, I gave you a $20 bill to spend on your own for the first time ever.

Usually, when we are in a toy section of a store you don't even ask for anything. Once in a while you will tell me you like something, but you don't act like it's all for you.

Well, armed with $20 of your own, you were an entirely different boy. You were touching and considering EVERYTHING. You changed your mind about a thousand times, finally falling head over heals for this imaginex water grouping complete with scuba guys and tackle.

It was on sale half off, so you were able to replace your desert Lightning McQueen at $3.99 as well. 

You put your stuff up and said, "on the conveyor belt, right?"

Your Daddy and i hung back with our purchases to watch you. 
"$19.95", the sales lady told you. And up came your $20 bill. 
She gave you your change, asked where you wanted your receipt. You took it and stuck it in your big red bag anyway.
Then off you went, ready for home. :)
When the Packer season is over, which will hopefully not be until after the super bowl ;) I am going to start Store Sundays. Every Sunday we are going to set up a little pretend store. I will have products that we own (some treats for you to enjoy) on sale with prices. You will be able to go through the store, chose your items, and then check out.

We will start slow with adding prices to pay for with unlimited money (you have A LOT of real money to play with). Then we will let you use a certain amount of money and add your items costs as you chose them.

Sometimes we can trade places and you can be the cashier.

You love coins, but you are struggling to care what each is called or is worth. This will be our "homeschool" approach to teaching you money, and adding it.

I can't wait to start! :)

i'm feeling dreamish

thank you cards

After Christmas we made thank you cards to send out. We used an adorable photo of you in your dino box costume.

I photoshopped out the box markings, added a white paper look and the words. I left the spaces for you to address the names and sign your own.

You did a great job writing them in place of your writing for school, and they were in the mailbox just days after Christmas.

You have done thank you cards for Christmas every year. It's important to us that you learn to give tokens of gratitude to people who do nice things for you. We will be working on this more and more now that you are learning to write.

talky-talky

“{Sigh} this crooked world!”

“Um Mom! Apparently Dad is coming back home right now.”

me: well, go check upstairs
zeek: I’m pretty afraid goin’ up there by myself.
me: well turn on a light.
zeek: aaaaalriiiiight. Ya’ big ol’ knooower!
Later.
zeek: aaa. I’m afraid it’s not in there, mom.

"Only the packers get touchdowns, right? Cuz the cardinals aren’t any good."

me: it’s breakin’ my heart.
zeek: anyone who breaks your heart, I’m going to break their heart. And fight with them a little.

Upon waking, Zeek says to me, “let me go! I wanna go see what my Dad’s up to.”

While I’m trying to put the tracks back on his lego digger he says,
“the conveyor belt is really hard to contrapt, you know?”

“I’m just boring boring boring with no tattoos like my Dad. He has hundreds of tattoos. Why won’t anyone give me any tattoos!?” 

To my not-so-tiny sweetness,

Today, I wrote this to a friend who I do "three things" with:


Three things I MISS about my “little” boy turned big.

1. the way he wanted ME more than anything in the world. ALWAYS. Today he woke up, untangled himself from my arms and said, “move, I gotta go see what my Dad is up to!” :(
2. the sweet way he looked at me like I was the most beautiful, intelligent, amazing, princesest, fabulous woman alive. Today, I’m lucky if he sees anything but through me on his was past my boring, rule enforcing, food making, otherwise nothingness, shell of a woman. :(
3. the way I understood every little thing there was about him and how it got there. Today, I barely recognize my own kid and what he’s made of. Not that it’s bad stuff, it’s just so HIM and not me or us at all. Just BOY and ZEEK. Fast and furious and full of stuff I didn’t put in there. It hurts. 

Tonight it is just you and me. Your Daddy is held up at work with a catastrophe that he called us at around noon for prayer about. :( It will probably be a late night for him.

Today was a mix for us. I'm not sure if you have the weird sleepy cold thing I have or if you are just reacting to me having it, but you are a piece of work. Off and on with sweet and sass. All day long.

You like to try to wear big daddy sized pants, and it gets you into a lot of trouble. You say things like, "good, now get it out of my face" and you like to rebuttal to my discipline with threats like, "I'll send YOU to your room!"

I have been consistently working on you about your lip and how you talk to you Mom. I honestly think you don't fully understand. And I'll take the blame for that. I guess.

In between sassy you have been SO sweet. Cuddly a little. Friendly for sure.

When I got out of the shower and dressed today I was laying on the bed in my room just thinking. You came in and compassionately asked, "what's the matter, Mama?" You crawled up to cuddle me and I assured you nothing was wrong. I was just resting and thinking. You were giving me love and you touched my hair. You said, "well, you didn't take a shower so why do you smell like tangerines?"

I just hadn't washed my hair, but I DO use tangerine body wash. :)

Tonight, I told you that you could sleep in my bed with me since Daddy wasn't going to be here. You were very excited. Later you did some more sassing to me while we were sorting your legos into their new storage containers. I told you that you would not be sleeping in my room if you couldn't talk nice. You kept up the sass, so I decided to have you write as a consequence for the first time.

I gave you your lined paper and a pencil and told you to sit at the table and write mama a note telling me you were sorry and you wouldn't do it again.

I worked on your dinner while you wrote at the table. You were so diligent and adorable with your tongue out, I had to take a photo. of course.

You asked me how to spell "you" and I told you. And later you asked what to put at the end. I said "who are you? you just write who you are, like signing your name."

This was your letter:

Translation:

dEr mome (dear mommy)

i Em sorE (i am sorry)

i WL B GD (I will be good)

I Luv YoYou (i love you)

I eM A sBeShAL BY Zip (i am a special boy. zip) 

SO special. I LOVE it.

and you are sleeping in my bed as I type this. :)

You are getting so big. It is hard to let go of the "little" things about you. But I am learning to enjoy the many new "big" things that you can do now that you never did in your cuddly, sweet, Mama's boy days.

I love you, Special Boy, Zip.

summer in january

it's funny how much it feels like summer in here. the light in the windows, which we don't usually have in the summer because of the tree coverage, makes everything feel so warm and endorphin-y.

the three of us and God. yuki and this house... warm and endorphin-y, too.

today we had a tasty breakfast, built another giant lego design, and i just finished cleaning the house for company. greg and zeek are playing video games downstairs and i'm about to shower. we are going to see the chipmunk movie and picking up some lego storage containers and art supplies. then the fusons are coming over for dinner with the kids. it's been too long.

and it all feels so much like summer

ezekiel

you are growing up so fast i can not even stand it or believe it.
you are so tall.
your actions are so personal and specifically "you".
you are saying things that are all yours, too. not the way you used to, when you would make something cute up. no. things i can more consistently characterize as your things.

you are SUCH a boy.

you want to race cars and "ka-chow!"
you love to speed and zoom and crash and you are so bellowing and commanding. not really in a loud way, just in an all guy kind of way. :)

you sing EVERYTHING in a rap-like dictation. you're playing "da-da-da-daddy car" or eating "ch-ch-chereos!" or "watch me drive fast fast FASTER!!!"

you love chereos. all of them. yogurt, fruity, honey nut, banana nut, regular...
you love feta cheese THE MOST. you love chicken cheddar cheese nibblers, and mac n cheese, and spaghetti, meatballs, pb&j, and fish fingers!!! :)
you are eating a little more like Uncle Tony than like Withering Zeeky, now a days.
sometimes i don't know where you are putting it all. :)

you play xbox360.
you love to play our iphone applications.
you love to watch Kipper the dog, Diego, Dinosaur Train, Wow wow wubzy...
you LOVE doing artsy things.
you love to play with Yuki.
you love Steve your stuffed dog and greenie your moving mewing cat.
legos, matchbox cars, tracks of any kind...

you love info-mercials. especially oxy clean, which you call "opsy clean", and the toothpaste dispenser that hangs on the wall. both of which we have bought for you.

you love to learn. you do school a little less enthusiastically but that's because you aren't a compliant guy. you'd rather not do something that someone else wants you to. ever.

you can count to 100 with very little guidance (mostly at the ten stops).
you are reading (lesson 55 in teach your child to read in 100 easy lessons).
you are learning money and adding. we are waiting for your math-u-see primer program to come in. you are too ready for it.

you are still in "play school" two days a week for three hours a day. we are considering starting you three days a week soon. you like it a lot, but you are very particular about who you play with and talk to. you don't like to just jump into things at play school. you are skeptical and a little leery.

i feel bad for you when you struggle with the boys. you're not big on the rambunctious, hyper, kick butt kind of behavior they display with one another. you don't watch the things that they watch on TV, or play the things they play in video games, so all that aggression isn't yours.
you also don't see people talking mean to others. so being called "kid" in a derogatory way by another kid hits hard.
i wonder if you think there is something wrong with you because you don't get it.
because you don't want swords and guns and fists and meanness.
i wonder if i'm doing something wrong keeping you (a boy) from those things for the most part.

my main intention in steering clear of it is to stay consistent with the "he who is first is last and he who is last will be first" molding. i can't imagine that fighting, swording, shooting, lipping off or taking aim at someone else in anyway to fire off so they will lose, fake-die, be hit, hurt, punished, pushed away, turned away, etc... would be good training for your heart.
everything you're allowed to do is practice right now. practice for the man you are growing into.

we are influenced in our minds and hearts by what we see. people don't see things differently. we all see the same thing. it's what we DO with what we've seen that's different. i want you to remain humane. i want bad things being done to people "for real" or not, to disgust you. not enthuse.
and it's one of the very few things i am sure of. one of the things i'm willing to be wrong about rather than slide and compromise on.

you go to bed at night between 6:30 and 7:30 depending on how you hang. you have NO problem going to bed or to sleep. you get your jams on, brush your teeth, say goodnight to which of us isn't reading to you. then we pick books, get in your bed, pray, coodle and talk a little usually, then read. you fall asleep SO fast. like, within minutes. and you sleep until between 6:30 and 7:30. funny. i never put together that 12 hour on the dot time span. :)

you are a GOOD sleeper. but you do get up once in the night, sometime between midnight and 4am. and every night you come down to our room to snuggle in with us.
i love this because i get to wake up with you all wrapped up in my arms. but honestly, at four years old, we are trying to figure out a way to teach you to sleep in your room all night. we are not going to make you, or tell you that you can't come down.
that would not be consistent with our style at all. (aka: we can't handle the thought of you being on your own and sad. not proud, but true.)
we'll figure it out. together.
you're smart, and capable. :)


and hot off the press; you are no longer interested in me. :( in fact, if it weren't for food and drink you would hardly have anything to do with me these days.
Mama = Boring. Rules. Discipline.
I don't get coodles, snoogles, loovin', or kisses unless i take them. and even then they are briefly tolerated.
you don't even want me to read to you at night anymore. you ask for your Daddy.
it is sad and hard for me.
i miss you.
baby boy.

HAPPY New Year

New Year

New Plans

New Heart

New Season

New Perspective

New Hopes

New Dreams

New Intentions

I never do resolutions. But this year I have some:

get fully purged from top to bottom.
stay that way.

end distracting myself.
schedule scantly and focus on God, Zeek, and Greg FIRST.

provide a bird feeding refuge outside.

do at least one creative photo album for me.

make the quilt.

grow things.