Insomnia

Nyla woke up quite early Tuesday morning and woke up Bohdin, Cora, and I in the process. We were very grumpy the rest of the way. Bohdin spent the day saying he was tired. We weren't able to do anything that day as a result. I thought Nyla would go to bed early that night but she didn't. She was actually the last one to go to bed. She laid in her room listening to music. I fell asleep at one point but woke back up again. She finally came into my bed and said she couldn't sleep because she had lost her powers. A few minutes later she was asleep. The late night didn't cause her to sleep in yesterday morning. She was up at 8 which is her usual time. She had a short nap in the car and once again she couldn't go to sleep in the evening. She lay in her room listening to music. Eventually I convinced her to come to bed with me and she was asleep in no time.

Bohdin

Buddy introduced Bohdin to computer games which he will play way too much. During the weekdays I don't want him playing at all. His job is schoolwork and playing with things that don't involve screens. When I came down with my new laptop to kick him off the computer he asked me why I could be on the computer and he couldn't. I pulled out the book I had made from the blogposts when he was three and read several entries to him. He enjoyed hearing it. I told him I needed to write down what five year old Bohdin is like. He wants me to write that he likes popcorn.

I'm continuing with schoolwork on weekday mornings. This morning he practiced the letter G, spelled eleven words, and did two pages of math. It was a page with subtraction and the first problem was [ ] = 9-2. I completely misread it and waited for him to answer 11. When he said 7 I told him to try again. He said "Didn't you say 9-2?". Oops. Our study of Japan and India have fizzled out probably partly because we were doing them at the same time. The other problem is that we didn't find engaging books like we had for China. We read a ton of only fair books. Last week at storytime I decided to do a little about Iran and Iraq since they are in the news so much. I picked up a few books and we have one definite winner. It is the Stories From the Arabian Nights. He was loved them so far. This morning we read Sinbad the Sailor which was really entertaining. Since I've kicked him off the computer Bohdin is sort of recreating Alladin and Ali Babba. He's filled up a cave with treasure. I'm not sure what will happen next because organizing the treasure is actually his favorite part.

I was looking through Bohdin's math textbook on Saturday and asked him what 43+20 equals. He was able to figure out the correct answer easily using his blocks. This morning he explained how he figured out that 60+60 equals 120. I'm really impressed with his grasp of math especially since I haven't taught him a thing.

On Friday we went to a class on the solar system taught by a homeschooled teenager. I thought it would be interesting for him and also get him in a situation where he is among the youngest. It didn't work out that well. The teenager teaching the class is very knowledgeable but was unable to keep the subject appropriate for an elementary audience. It was college level stuff and I found it fascinating. Bohdin was tired and combined with his young age it was awful. He was squirmy and couldn't even pretend to pay attention. I brought Nyla a blank notebook and crayons which kept her occupied.

Bohdin has another loose tooth. I noticed the other day that his other bottom tooth seemed a bit skewed so I asked to feel it. By Halloween he will be missing four front teeth.

We have no more chickens. Our last two died a grisly death. We suck at keeping chickens alive but are very good at feeding the local wildlife. Something broke into the chicken coop and found dinner. Maybe we'll try again next year.

Memorable

Tuesday we went to see the stage performance of If You Give A Mouse A Cookie. The book is very short but somebody managed to write a screenplay to make it nearly an hour long. Whoever did this should never write again. I thought it was boring. The kids seemed to like it okay. Afterward we went to the store to get new pillows. The bed bug scare has hit Buddy and he thought we should replace all of our pillows even though we don't have bed bugs. We walked out of the store with a lot of pillows. That evening at the dinner table I told the kids to tell daddy what we had done that day. They both mentioned the pillows. When I asked what we had before that Nyla said we looked at toys. I asked even before that. She thought really hard and then said home. Neither child recalled having seen the play that day without me mentioning it.

Yesterday the AC guy was here for the third time. Someday we'll get the air conditioning running. The weather has cooled to a very pleasant 80 degrees so we don't need it but our home warranty expires in November so it needs to be fixed by then. We did a great job doing schoolwork directly after breakfast yesterday morning. It's a routine I would like to continue. Nyla did some light math and Bohdin did several things. I pulled out his math workbook and it talked about pairs that made the number five. After it was done I wanted him to give me some additional ones. I thought he would say something like 1+1+1+2 because he does that often. Instead he gave me all subtraction. I don't think he could have done this for the number six. I'll find out soon when we do that page. Bohdin is still stuck on words with initial blends. We'll be working on that lesson for who knows how long. He did do a few correct today so he's getting it very slowly. He's having trouble segmenting those initial blends but I know someday he's going to wake up and just be able to do it. Then we can move on.

I found out a few weeks ago that Cora is sensitive to me eating buckwheat. It makes her throw up. Tuesday night I ate quinoa and hazelnuts for the first time since having Cora. She was not happy yesterday. She was grumpy because her stomach hurt. She spit up a lot and threw up once. I woke up to my happy smiley girl this morning so all is well today. Well it would be except now she's tired and cranky.

Considerate

We've been so busy the last few days that I haven't had time to write. It's unfortunate that when I have the time there is nothing to write. Bohdin lost his tooth sometime on Friday. I noticed it was missing Friday evening. I think I may have seen it there before dinner. We were all surprised that he hadn't noticed. Bohdin was excited and didn't mind that the tooth fairy wouldn't come. That was his idea. I thought she might still come.

We haven't been to Lowes for the building projects in quite some time. Saturday I asked Bohdin if he wanted to go and he said yes. Buddy and I were still up in the bedroom. I was on the computer trying to confirm that they had one yesterday. Of course while I was on I checked my email and the date of Irish festival. I checked the clock and saw that we would have to leave soon. I went to the basement to talk to Bohdin about the Irish festival but he wasn't there. When I came back upstairs I looked outside and saw Bohdin waiting in the minivan already buckled up. There is no telling how long he had been in there. Maybe ten minutes. I came back inside and grabbed everybody else so we could go. From Lowes we went to the Irish festival. I can't believe people paid to get in. They had free admission for military which was nice. There was music, some vendors, a little bit of food and beer, and crafts. The kids really enjoyed the crafts. They each made a shield and crown. Nyla had her arm painted. Bohdin caught gold leprechauns in a bottle. We didn't stay for the puppet or magic show. Bohdin thanked us for taking him there. I don't think he learned much about Ireland but he had fun.

 
 

Yesterday evening I made banana bread and the kids wanted to help. I like that they want to help but I wish it wasn't so messy. After they came out of the oven I went upstairs with Buddy to watch tv. The older kids were in the basement playing. Bohdin came up with a nicely arranged plate of banana bread for us. Then he brought us water. Then he started cleaning. He just kept wanting to do nice things last night. Finally I had to draw the line and tell him that it was too late and he had to go to bed.

 

I woke up this morning to the sound of dishes being put away in the kitchen. I assumed it was Buddy but Bohdin came up a few minutes later and said he had done it. He also emptied the drier, brought dirty dishes from the basement, and organized the shoes by the front door. Then he brought Buddy and I banana bread. Nyla was sleeping so he placed a doll beside her. He gave Cora a clean diaper. He has been on a cleaning and helping kick. He just came upstairs right now asking if I'm ready to help him harvest. I better go.

Picures

Hopeully they work this time.

 
 

Bubbles

The second season of Glee started last night and I wanted to watch it. I decided to get into the bathtub a few minutes before it started because I knew the kids would join without me saying a word. It worked like a charm. I got out to help Nyla unbutton since she was having trouble with the last one and never went back in. As I was watching the show I heard Nyla laughing uproariously in the bathroom. I was pretty sure I didn't want to see what all the fun was. In the past they've done washcloth wars but I knew it was something different this time. I finally went in and saw a bathtub almost overflowing with bubbles. Nyla normally hates the jets but a little bit of shampoo accidentally spilled into the bathtub changed her mind. They were in there for an hour with the exception of the few minutes it took me to put the chickens away. I made them get out while I did that. I bet they'll take another bath tonight now that they've discovered how to make so many bubbles.

 

 

This morning I went to get my haircut. My friend did an awesome thing and watched all three kids in addition to her two. I was really nervous about leaving Cora since she is so small. They were right outside though and I trusted her to bring her in if anything was wrong. Nevertheless I cried just a little. They walked down to the McDonalds down the street and must have tired themselves out because all three kids are napping right now. I even had a little nap earlier. I don't know what impact this will have on bedtime but I'm enjoying the quiet right now.

Fight!

Grandpa stopped by for a very brief visit Saturday evening. We have a very similar picture with Bohdin and baby Nyla from September 2007.

 

Bohdin's tooth looks like it could fall out any moment. He's not rushing it though. He's not even playing with it. Buddy offered to help him along but Bohdin said he could be patient. We think it will be out by the end of the week.

 

When Cora awakes naturally from sleep which generally only happens in the morning she stretches and smiles for several minutes. I love seeing her short arms stretch just barely past her head. Right now she's impatient to get back to sleep.

 
 

Buddy left for Boston early yesterday morning. I was a little apprehensive about putting three kids to bed by myself but it wasn't hard at all last night. The kids played fight! in the other bedrooms while I put Cora to sleep. I asked this morning and their new game is going around to the bedrooms looking for weapons and then chasing each other. They used pillows, hats, shoes, socks, and who knows what else. They were really disappointed that play time was over.