These kids are too smart for me

I've been worrying about Forster lately.  Maybe because I don't have anything better to do.  But mostly, it's because he's a boy and my only previous mothering-of-a-3-year-old experience has been with a very different girl.

I've gotten out my Teach Your Child To Read In 100 Easy Lessons book because that's how I taught Solei to read - of course, I don't think I used it the first time until just before she turned 4 and Forster is just barely 3, but I'm anxious.  Is it even possible with him??  So far he's done well.  His attention span isn't as long as hers, we muddle through, just slower than the first time.  I love that book because I'm a big fan of phonics.  Who isn't? 

But I've started to realize one of the reasons why Solei was so fast was because she's a visual learner - she sees something and knows it immediately -  and Forster is kinesthetic.  And while the book involves him touching the page a lot, I realized I need to supplement it with some movement activities.  I've been slightly obsessed with it since I know nothing about it.  So this morning I looked up some activities found this great blog post on what sight words to teach and why.  We've been blessed with some great homeschool friends that donated their old materials and I have a TON of flash cards for all subjects.  I got out some beginning words and put them around the floor and had him find me whatever word I told him.

I thought we'd work up to five, but he already knew five.  In fact, we were up to 30 before I decided we should take a break.  I have no idea where he learned all these words.  I go in two mornings a week to help out in Solei's kindergarten class and Forster is already ahead of most of the kids there.  Good golly, Jared's smart genes are strong with these two.

So now, he's starting violin lessons, is well on his way to reading like a champ, and I have yet to get him fully potty trained.  My priorities are so messed up :)

Now if we could just get Forster to stop hugging the tree...

Family Fotos

I must admit I'm pretty proud of these pictures.  last Sunday as I was on an errand with Solei I drove past Circus World and realized at that time of day, the lighting was fabulous and those newly-painted doors would look fabulous for some pictures.  So I screeched the car into a parking lot and took a few with my camera phone.

I came home and told Jared I'd really like to try taking some family pictures there before the weather turned. And in true Jared fashion, he looked at the forecast and found out exactly when it would turn and came home early the day before Thanksgiving, declared this would be our last chance for family pictures and we threw on some finery and headed down the street to Circus World with the camera, tripod and remote.  And, very luckily, with a recently arrived Nana and Papa to dance behind the camera and and get Forster to possibly behave a little bit.

Not bad for taking them all ourselves!  If you look closely, you can see one of us holding the remote in some of the pictures.  Now we have some documentation of our little family of four.  Next up, five! (next Feb/March, btw)

Orange Blossom Christmas

Here's a little preview of the Christmas album that's forthcoming!  We got lucky and our good friend Brad came over to jam with us on sushi night!

Busy being thankful.

More tomorrow!

Holy adorable, Batman!

We made an attempt at a family photo shoot today.  More to come after the holiday - but aren't these two just precious??

Yo

Almost Thanksgiving ... so tired... and yet Forster begged for his violin lesson again. This time we did rhythms and he is GOOD! I know I've said it before, but this kid is going to be a fabulous drummer someday!

Tomorrow the family descends on the house! I hope it'll be ready!

Borster's biolin lesson

I'm a whirlwind of crazy busy over here, trying to get everything ready for the families to descend for Thanksgiving this week.  But I could never skimp on Solei's violin lesson - so after school today, we took our usual few minutes and worked on her new song.

Side note - her new song is MINUET 3!!  That's the third to last song in the Suzuki book 1!!  I have taken my sweet time with her progress and I'm still all pins and needles about her technique, but every now and then I stop and look at what she CAN do and I'm baffled we've managed to make it this far.  The Suzuki method ROCKS!

So when I asked her to put her violin away, Forster ran up to me yelling hopefully "Borster's turn??  Borster's turn biolin and mouse house*??"  How could I refuse?  I had Solei run to get the red circle rug I used to give her lessons on (a portable learning space) and tried giving him a wee lesson on bowhold and sang some bowhold songs while he tried to not poke my eye out.  Or unsuccessfully tried to poke my eye out.

It was so sweet and precious!  I am more and more aware every day how how vastly different the two of them are and how skewed my ideas on education are from having a visual/aural learner/genius first.  Whatever successes I may have had with Solei are NOT a given with Forster and I have had to let go of the expectation of him reading at age three or playing the violin and piano - we're taking it one day at a time and seeing what he is capable of and interested in.

But I can't say I wasn't THRILLED to give him a wee violin lesson, just the same :)

*I'd shown him how to make a bowhold last week and had called the inside of his hand a mouse house  - just to keep the space open so that a mouse could run in and out.  Apparently he'd remembered!

the Dude's got rhythm

You have probably seen quite a few videos of your friend's kids dancing on youtube lately.  And here's another one!  But right at 19 seconds, you can see his seriously keen ear for timing.  And sweet moves.  We love Forster!

To do

Shopping, decluttering the pantry so I can fit more food in there for Thanksgiving, recording for the annual Christmas album, going to a baptism, and fast food on the way to the Holly Jolly Light Parade. Saturday, you tire me.

Bring it on, Thanksgiving week!

Sibling reunion 2012

It looks like we forgot to mention the monumental happening on early July - we hosted my entire side of the family for a reunion up here in Wisconsin.  It was over 100 degrees every day but we braved it to get some serious fun in.  Massive amounts of root beer (a KEG of it!), Pewitt's Nest, Circus World, Mom and Dad's 40th wedding anniversary - it was INSANE!  

So without further ado, here are a kajillion pictures, without order or explanation.  Enjoy!