Mommy Teacher

That is what Spicy calls me when we are pretending to play school (with her stuffed animals or Little People) OR when we are partaking in her real homeschooling lessons. She came up with it on her own and it brings a smile to face every time I hear it! 

It is definitely time to document her progress for the family blog book. 

As mentioned previously, she is enrolled in the Classical Liberal Arts Academy's Petty School. The curriculum includes Reading (both in Latin and in English), Writing, and Arithmetic. In addition, she has a weekly 2 hour catechism class structured in a Montessori fashion and then we add plenty of "extra curricular activities" to include art, music, physical activity and field trips to the library, museums, beaches, etc. I never thought I would say this but I feel like this homeschooling gig is going really well and we've got a really good balance going. Spicy, you are one well rounded pre-schooler!  (trust me, no sheltered girl here)

My favorite part of "homeschooling" (that word still scares me a bit due to a number of factors but I'm getting over it) is simply having so much time and so many opportunities throughout the day to use everything as a teaching/learning experience. Using every chance to go deeper. Explaining why we clean as she helps spray the hardwood floor, why we celebrate on Easter with eggs and bunnies and candy as she peels off decals for the glass sliding door, why we share with our sister, etc etc. and then having the opportunity to experience how she absorbs it, responds, and reacts inhibited from any outside influences. It's awesome. And then there are the fun times like drilling our numbers by tens in the car and quizzing each other the 6 diphthongs (The girls memory is incredible and she beats me all the time!)

Although it was a grueling slow and (very) painful start, things are picking up speed and it is so exciting to see the hard work of patience & persistence paying off as things come together quickly & she finally has grown to cooperate.

OK, so a quick run down. 

In the reading department, Spicy we (since I'm learning right along with her) have mastered:

• The old Roman alphabet - all of letters by name and their sounds (& all possible syllables)
• The 6 Diphthongs (& reading words using them)
• The 7 changes in the ecclesiastical (and yes, she can pronounce that word and knows its meaning) or church Latin.
• To sound out and read words (by dividing them into syllables) and their meaning. Here is just a sampling:

 I am very curious and anxious to see how/when the transition to English Reading is made. However, both Daddy and I can already tell that the Latin is laying a solid foundation as you are already sounding out very challenging words in English on your own. 

In Arithmetic, you can:

• Count to 100 in both English and Latin
• Write 1-20 in English numbers and Roman Numerals
• Recognize English & Roman Numerals by 10s to 100. (10, 20, 30, 40, etc) 

After some trial & error, many frustrating sessions & discussions with Daddy, we decided to slow down on the Writing until your chubby little hands fine motor skills progress a bit. For now, your strength is definitely in the other areas so we're taking advantage while you are excited and interested. I have no doubt you will catch up and excel in the other area. (Although, you are able to write your name, all 10 English numbers, many above 10, and the Roman numerals to 10)

I am so amazed when I sit back and realize the fruit that 30 minutes a day (which is about all we can both take because this stuff is intense) 3-4 times a week has bore. And Spicy, you have far surpassed any expectations I had of your ability and potential to learn things that are even difficult for me to keep up with!

This is one of our weekend sessions which is, much less, shall we say conventional?

 It's been quite a journey, this homeschooling venture. The toughest part was having an open mind and heart to simply discern through understanding, reason and prayer what was best for our family. I'm so glad Daddy pushed encouraged me because it has been such an incredible and exciting ride thus far!

A Friendly, Fun, Fruitful Filled Friday Review

It's been a busy week over here at the Soto dwelling. The girls & I had not 1, but 2 lunch dates with dear friends from the old work family; Spicy's regular weekly classes; Aunt Tita's distant birthday celebration that involved a morning birthday card-making craft, a trip to the post office not once but twice & a loud obnoxious lovely singing assemblage; lots of little, fun projects around the house like showcasing our most recent family photo shoot pics & a 2nd hand-made chalkboard...

 painting & relocating this mirror...

 and making some art work (finally) & moving hand-made chalkboard #1 into Spicy's room. 

 It's also been a very busy and productive week on the exterior remodel: digging trenches, laying pipes for electrical, gas, drainage, sprinklers, etc, leveling dirt, breaking up concrete, forming and more all to get ready for pouring cement a week from tomorrow! So excited for that day. Not only will it make a huge difference aesthetically but also functionally (meaning I won't have to vacuum/sweep/mop floors daily. No joke. Not fun!)  This guy is still going strong.

And well, in my down time, I've got a toddler climbing on my back or yanking on twirling my hair to fall asleep while baby numero dos is on my breast. Yes, I am aware it sounds like they are leeches. The thought does cross my mind, you know.  

Phew.  Pause to catch my breath.

The other big event happening over here is that Spicy is now officially enrolled in school! Daddy and I teamed up to teach her first lesson last night. Yes, as in homeschooling.  Shriek! Gasp! Cough! Yes, I am very aware of the typical, oh so common, knee-jerk reactions in response to that blasphemous "h" word. Trust me, we've heard it all. But for those of you that are immediately flooded with negative images, like say, an antisocial freak wearing braids and long skirts, let me ease your anguish. Think of it rather as a distance learning, online Academy in which Big D & I are the facilitators & will be assured that our children receive the best (Orthodox) Catholic education possible that we believe even (& especially nowadays) traditional Catholic private schools can not achieve. And I assure you, our kids will be anything but antisocial and unfashionable. Pinky swear. As for weird, I can't make any promises. ha! Anyway, we now have in our possession the curriculum for Reading (to begin with Latin), Writing and Arithmetic. It may take her one year to master or (more than likely) three years but the beauty is we can take it at our pace, tailor it to her specific learning style and maximize her potential accelerating as much as we see fit. I must admit I am both nervous and excited but when my negative, intimidated, anxious nature gets the best of me, Daddy sure has an incredible way using reason, logic and emotion to edify and empower me, refocusing me on my primary purpose to teach my children in the way of holiness. 

Have I stated lately how much I looooove taking care of these two? Well, just in case I haven't and for the scrapbook recording, I absolutely, positively LOVE my job of loving them all day every day! 

But I better not blog the whole nap time break away. I've gotta prep for dinner. We have a special guest coming over tonight...  Give up? Ok, I'll tell you...It's Auntie Neenee!! We have much to catch up on over baked Wild Alaskan salmon, grilled veggies, rice pilaf and wine, of course. Maybe we will end the night with a group trip over to our favorite nearby yogurt shop.

Have a splendid weekend everyone!

Craft Happy

I have recently realized (or been reminded, I can't remember if this is a new discovery or not) that a tendency, and often a weakness of mine is to treat my SAHM job as a free pass to gallivant out and about like a free bird ignoring any need for structure, routine or consistency. I'm not sure when I became so spontaneous but I really enjoy taking the girls out (be it the beach, mass & the park, Mimi's house or a series of errands) and returning just in time to whip something up for dinner minutes before daddy walks in the door from work. I think a large part is due to the fact that I did just that for a whole year, when daddy was oversees and I was a single mommy. I think another factor is that both girls are so flexible and easy to handle on the go. They have no problems or issues getting their necessary naps in the car, stroller, or on a blanket on the floor! I think yet another reason (this is where the weakness part comes in) is that sometimes I run away from my responsibilities and duties as a SAHM (that is, laundry, house cleaning, cooking, teaching & providing the structure the kids really count on). Anyway, I'm realizing more and more that there are wonderful perks to staying put.  Opportunities for:
-creating
-tickling and cuddling and rolling on the floor
-discovering and putting to use toys and supplies I never knew we owned
-longer naps
-overlapping naps which means well-rested, happy kids and quiet, down time for myself
-prayer, reading, blogging time
and well, less distractions from the outside world means we're forced to focus more on each other, interacting, using our imaginations and really getting to know my daughters on deeper levels. Besides, I have always loved crafts and baking which is not achievable if you're not home! 

Meet Mimi & Bapa:

(Other than curling the "hair" and making the bow and a few ideas about where to put some of the parts, Alizea made these completely solo!)

Funny story to go with this.... a few hours after making these, I saw her nearly gagging as she stuck out her tongue which was blue...When I saw the crafts just below her sticky fingers, I realized what had happened and after some questioning she admitted to plucking off & consuming the M&M eyes as well as the raisin eyelashes nearly gagging on the glue. Hey, at least she didn't enjoy the taste of the adhesive, right?)

(Another funny story, this time embarrassing mommy... I was so proud of myself for including Spicy in my baking activities and remembering she had a mitt she could use to help pull out the baked goods. As we both removed the hot dish from the oven she made a face of surprise and discomfort (as if it were too hot) but I shrugged it off, thinking she was being the animated, imaginative "drama queen" she is. Well, a few hours later, I looked down and saw this

In case you can't read it, it says "WARNING: Do not use this oven mitt to handle hot items. This oven mitt is a toy and is intended for pretend play only." Nice, momma, real nice!

Some other projects I've been working on:

This wall  has been bare for about 5 years (the same amount of time we've lived in this house). I finally settled on something I love and the best part is I was able to make it: it's a recycled frame with a coat of chalkboard paint and a hand-written verse that God gave me when I was feeling discouraged which I am now constantly reminded of when I walk past or through the room. 

 

And all of these were made with an 1/8 of a yard of fabric (less than $2!) 

 

The framed little mirror is on its 3rd color; the pail used to be neon green, a find in my garage sweep, and I had JUST enough fabric to make the matching toothbrush holder, woohoo!)

 But even better than all of this crafting is the carefree timelessness these 2 are sharing:

Food Art

So as I mentioned previously, all of a sudden, Spicy has been much more enchanted by turning her food into finger paints, body paints or any kind of  messy creative play rather than by its palatable qualities. Frankly, it was really driving me nuts, causing me to lose my patience, get way more upset than I should and then feel guilty. I wasn't sure what to do. Well, when it doubt, say a quick little prayer (ie: whine and complain and vent to our Heavenly Father and Mother). Then it hit me like a ton of bricks! (my prayers get answered very quickly these days, probably because they know I'm about to make a major parenting fax pas)...those crafts I used to love making when I was little?....faces or houses or anything? ...well, they were made out of dried macaroni and beans...FOOD, which was probably the coolest part! ...and I was about 3 years old...the same age as A....DUH!!!!So my intense frustration shifted to excitement as I removed the applesauce 'paint' and replaced it with leftover stale trail mix....As I explained to Spicy that she could make cars and trains and use the raisins and M&Ms as wheels, her face immediately lit up! She didn't even want to consume the chocolate which was saying A LOT for her! For the next 30 minutes, her imagination took off and it was so fun to partake in! This is her very long "choo choo train", caboose and all!

Didn't want to leave Sweet G out so I took off that bib and let her go to town with the mashed squash, creating a masterpiece of her own...

When I pointed out the shapes correlating with the "wheels" or "carts" A cleverly insisted that we needed more shapes, which then challenged my creativity a bit...out came the Cheez-it squares from the cupboards and cut-up cheese triangles!

 

And that's why I just love being home with the girls. They make every ordinary day extraordinary!

Goin' Against the Tide

So today at church, we sat right behind a large family, which isn't that rare since:

a) the average family size at our parish is probably about 6.5 and

b) all the families with children under the age of 10 choose to sit in the "cry room" or the very back of the church (where we were).

I had to count several times as it seemed the kids were playing musical chairs before the mass actually started but there was a bunch. I got to five and though "ah, how cute", then another head popped up who must have been playing on the floor and I could barely see the hair from the top of the bench in front of me. Six. I thought "wow! That's cool" Then a few minutes later, mom came from the "cry room" with numero siete as the others scrunched in with beaming smiles. That's right, Seven offspring. This time I found myself thinking "Hmmmm" (quite curious how the next hour-ish would play out) I sat in awe with my jaw dropped as the dad kept 4 kids under the age of 10 in check. The fifth and sixth were older and self sufficient in terms of sitting still and helping mom and the seventh was in her arms. No joke, this man looked like a baseball coach flashing his own sort of different signals with a few fingers to correct posture, signal time for kneeling, keeping eyes forward, hands in lap or folded, etc etc. it was hilarious and like I said, I stared and stared and stared in utter admiration. I found myself smiling from ear to ear as the boy directly in front of me would trade off between tickling his sister and pinching her. Then again as the 2nd oldest girl (there were 3 in all) was holding the youngest girl (about 5) in her lap like a natural mom, caressing her hair and yet again as four of the children literally fought with their dad with purely facial expressions (this was all done in silence, mind you) to hold their baby brother, nudging him with they got impatient and wanted a turn. The pure, unconditional, joyful L O V E that these children exuded for their siblings was beautiful! You could almost feel it oozing out & seeping into our pew.
Before I knew it, it was the liturgy of the Eucharist and I realized I had completely missed the readings, not to mention the homily. Oops! Big self-realization and lesson to myself that I need to work on my discipline and that I am weak in the area of focus despite surrounding "distractions" (although these kids were extremely well behaved and the parents had total control of the situation, hence my obsession). Anyway, after the final prayer and closing song, I tapped the father on the shoulder and complimented his authority, leadership and said he would make a great 1st base baseball coach. The mom was quick to apologize assuming they were a distraction to me, which was only the case because of my particular curiosity for large families. We joked and introduced ourselves and then found ourselves talking again outside in more detail as kids ran past us in every direction squealing and laughing. I asked a lot of questions from ages to his job which provided for the needs of the clan to how you cargo nine people around at one time! (I'm telling you, I was fascinated!) I reiterated how impressed I was by the children's behavior (maybe it was just their "Sunday best") and the last thing I asked was "you don't by chance home-school, do you?" He smirked and said "yeah, I'm afraid that's the secret." We joked some more about the common stereotypes people (including myself) had (the guy was funny) & said goodbye...A thought-provoking trip to church in a very simple yet unexpected way...I thanked God for the opportunity to meet a family who was proudly going against the tide of today's culture and giving us some food for thought (not to mention great discussion between the spousal unit). I wish I had a picture of those kids with their varying shades of blue eyes (they were cuuute) but instead, these shots of a homeschooling proponent with his look alike baby will have to suffice...

just playin'...only smiles around here