Tire(d)

I haven’t fallen off the face of the earth. This week just got away from me. We’ve been busy, including spending four hours at the car dealership getting new tires and brakes. If I knew it would take that long, Nicholas and I would not have gone. We just happened to have an appointment right after swimming lessons. Nicholas did really well for his age though and slept over 12 hours last night after that tiring wait! I only got about half that amount, so I’m the one that is dragging.


Anyway . . . this week we had story time and swimming and church and school. We did have a fun time watching Nicholas at swimming yesterday. For some reason, he won’t jump in the pool at the end of his lesson without holding his teacher’s fingers. We know he can do it and he will land on his feet in the shallow end. Evan and I bribed him with some money as a little incentive. As he was going to jump, Evan and I flashed the money from the sidelines. He still jumped while holding his teacher’s fingers anyway.

I called Nicholas over to me and told him to stand up straight. I was going to help him with his jump. He stood up and I gently nudged him into the pool. When he came up out of the water he said, “I did it, Mommy! I get my dollar!” Apparently, he’d like me to give him a nudge next time too. We like to add a little humor and excitement to his lessons.

In school this week, we worked on spelling words with the short a sound. Nicholas used the letter tiles and then was able to write them out when I dictated them to him.

He received a letter from Poppy in the mail, which was in response to the one Nicholas sent him last week. Then, he wrote a letter to Grandma and Grandpa. He likes writing letters and putting them in the mailbox, but he likes receiving them more. With where the postal service is headed, I probably should have taught him e-mail instead. Just kidding. :)


Nicholas struggles with handwriting each week because we are trying to get him to stay in the lines. We know that he’ll get better the more he practices. That’s why I like doing letter writing. He is having fun and practicing at the same time. Today he also got some more practice without even knowing it. Yesterday he bought a present for his cousin’s first birthday. So, today he made a card to go along with it. He is very sweet to his little cousin and that is something I want to continue. I’ve said it before, but I love when older kids are kind to younger kids. It is something we are continually working on with him. Nicholas is really happy about his gift though, so hopefully she will like it.

He's telling me not to take his picture because he is picking out a sticker.

We also had craft time today where Nicholas could make whatever he wanted. I gave him some crazy scissors and he loved those a lot. That’s probably why I have small jagged pieces of green paper still hiding in my carpet. He ended up making trees with eyes.

Last night I was doing some research for future subjects that Nicholas will be studying. I kept saying to Evan, “This is so interesting! I can’t wait to learn about this.” This is why I love homeschooling. This is why it fits so well with my personality. I love learning! I always did well in school, but over the years I just did what I had to do to get by (with good grades). I didn’t enjoy school. But, I want that to be different for my kids. I think this is one of my top reasons for homeschooling. Even Evan, who didn’t care for school, is really interested too. He was telling me which subjects he would like to help teach. I am so glad that God gave me a love for homeschooling many, many years ago.

Well, we are relaxing most of today. We have a very busy weekend ahead. I think the males in my life are very happy though – it involves lots of cake!