Young Learners Four Seasons: Summer

Today was all kinds of fun. 

Literature: How Will We Get to the Beach? and When Summer Comes

Cognitive Game: What's missing?

In How Will We Get to the Beach, Roxane tries various ways to travel, while packing an umbrella, a ball, a book, a turtle, and her baby. Each form of transportation leaves one item out. We recreated the activity with a toy dollhouse baby, cocktail umbrella, ping pong ball, tiny board book, and a toy turtle. I covered the items with a blanket, removed one, and let the children guess what was missing. Great fun every time. 

Seashell Sort: the children sorted seashells into groups of small, medium, and large. I pulled out the magnifying glasses for added fun. 

What's better than ice cream in summertime? The dramatic play center was set up like an ice cream stand with scoopers, ice cream, sundae toppings, dishes, bananas, menus, etc. 

Pattern Match: Ice Cream Flavor Scoops 

These boys loved dress up more than the girls, today. 

Fine motor: 4 season floor puzzles 

Handwriting: letter H

Pencils surfing the waves. 

Popsicle Alphabet Match Game 

Sensory: kinetic sand and beach theme sand molds. 

  

Sharing: H is for hat, hair, helicopter, house, hands, hot cocoa, and horse! 

A tooth!

Well look at that. Miss Sloane cut her first tooth today. And we're still smiling! 

Sloane is 8 Months Old

I love having a baby. This morning I am home, waiting on a contractor to arrive, and therefore have nowhere else I have to be. I'm taking full advantage and just playing with my babies today. Legos and books with my Soren, and earlier, I got to just rock and sing and nurse and soak up my dreamy little Sloane. What a blessing she is. She brings us so much happiness. I created a masterpiece. She is a perfected piece of the art of giving life. 

And she gives me life, in return. 

Happy 8th month, baby girl. 

I love you, and I cherish the gift of being your mother. 

Pool Party

Our annual ward pool party was yesterday afternoon.  Aaron and the children had a great time. 

Pool parties stress me out. 

100 children and teens in a pool stresses me out. Everyone had fun (except the stressed out mothers who couldn't wait to get out of there.) I considered saving myself the anxiety by not attending, but my children wanted to attend, and I would have worried as much without being there to watch them.  

Sloane lived it up and got her snuggle on with some of her favorite baby holders, Makenzie, Karah, and Delayney. I was relieved for their service so I could count little heads in the pool and celebrate Quincy's overcome fear of the slide and watch Reese and Corbin do "cool tricks" off the diving board. 

I regret not wearing a suit (I had figured I'd be poolside holding Sloane), especially when I had to get halfway in the water to pull a rougue kidlet out when he didn't want to leave the fun. 

I'm thankful for a few friends who helped wrestle my runaway calf to the car. The parking lot chase me game happens every Sunday and I'm usually in a dress. 

The last two weeks, I've been working on an exercise to help me identify and track my anxiety triggers. It's been really helpful for Aaron to see why some things are no big deal and others completely shut me  down. I collapsed in bed at 9pm last night and slept hard....Until 3 am when I dreamed of pulling unconscious children out of the water over and over.  

Swimming pools are my number 1 trigger for anxiety. I'm feeling ready welcome Fall so I can pack that one away for a season. 

I wish I could've relaxed more, visited more, and gotten to know people yesterday.  I'm so impressed by the calmness of our hosts. I'm thankful to them for hosting a party for 300 people at their home, and to our hardworking ward council for the time they spend planning activities to have fun and unify our ward. There are so many little details that go into planning an event like this and they do a great job.  I hope my pool stress doesn't appear as ungrateful.  I feel like I should specify that "It's not you, it's me."   I just want to accurately document what life is like for the Willardsons, so when we read our blog in future years, we'll have a realistic history. Right now, reality = a mom who doesn't handle crowds or pools, or crowds in pools without a panic attack later. Why, oh why can my children not get this swimming thing figured out? It would relieve SO MUCH worry from my heavy laden mother heart.  Someday, when they do and this phase is over, I'm wearing a party hat to the pool. (Doubtful. I'll probably spend the whole time watching and worrying about the next young batch of non swimmers! Hahaha!) 

Comebacks aren't easy.

I trudged through the Run For A Child 5K today. It was unbearably hot and the sun was blistering. This was my third attempt at a run after having Sloane. I foolishly thought I'd be able to just power through and gut out 3.1 miles. 

Hahahaha. I finished. It was brutal, though! I think it took almost 37 minutes. Thankful for supportive friends Chris and Kasey (my ultimate running buddy), who pulled me along, even though I'm pretty sure we've both got heat stroke! Even though it was only 3 miles, I'm glad I carried my own water. The aid stations always run out and that would have been awful, today. 

The more I try to do things that make me feel like myself, the more I realize it's not the actual THING I'm doing, but the effort I made that helps me feel like me. I like goals. I like results and I like the process of change. 

I'm good about daily reading, but made a goal in September to use a study guide every day. And I made a promise that if my children's naps overlap, I will devote a given amout of time to scripture study first, instead of waiting until everyone is in bed for the night to read.  Some days, I have exactly 20 minutes between when Soren goes to bed and Sloane wakes up. Other days, I only had 12 minutes of overlap.  Just enough time to have taken a shower. One day, I had 7 minutes. I feel a difference in my study when I make a greater sacrifice and I know I used my time wisely. 

Here's to making a comeback and investing a little more time in a few things that make me stronger. 

Tender Mercies

Corbin brought this certificate home from school for being an independent reader. 

I texted this photo to my brother, Scott, who replied with an audio text singing in his best Destiny's Child Voice to Independent Woman, "All the readers  independent throw your hands up at me!"  

It was hilarious. Uncle Scott for the win! 

Really though, the little certificate was well timed to remind me that even though Corbin is currently struggling (a lot) at home, at least he is crushin' it at school.

Great work, Corbin!   

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The other day, the children were fighting the instant they got into the van after school. A little brawl broke out in the back seat on the way down the street and I pulled into our driveway just in time to break it up. Lots of crying and claims of injustice followed, and I felt discouraged as I walked into the house. I remembered praying over the weekend to not feel alone in the currently overwhelming mothering challenges I'm facing. Before opening the front door, I looked to the sky for help and drew in a deep breath. "I can do this. I am a peacekeeper." 

I opened the door and my weekend prayer was answered. 

It might be hard to tell from the photo, but it was a tender mercy for me. If I seek Him, I will find His presence everywhere. He is with me always. I am not alone. He is the pathway to peace. 

Young Learners are Back in Session!

Today was a rush! A rush of excitement, and a literal rush of movement! I just got a 3 hour workout in! I'm so happy to be feeling 90% better than this weekend, and grateful to be able to do my job again.  I'm also looking forward to next week when I have even more energy. We really take the blessing of health for granted when we've got it, don't we? 

I love my class, this year. Ok I love them every year, but after one day I can already tell that I will cry on the last day. 

The first week of school is so much fun. We establish a schedule, learn class rules, and get to know one another. 

Soren loved his first day of preschool with mommy as his teacher.

I love being Mrs Meg. 

All About Me

Books: Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes, Tikki Tikki Tembo by Arlene Mosel, Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin Jr.. 

Last night, I added some coconut trees to the classroom ceiling. They look cheezy in the photo, but they add a fun dimension for the children. I think I'll leave them up for beach play/summer theme next week. 

Sensory: play dough with rolling pins and pizza slicers were the perfect tools for creating chrysanthemum flowers and coconut tree leaves. The children rolled "coconuts" and added them to our tree with a little chicka chicka boom BOOM. 

Literacy: we used alphabet magnetic letters to hang the alphabet in our coconut tree. I sang the song and the students hunted for the letters.

"Dare double dare! Can't catch me" 

The kitchen was set up in the dramatic play center. I was served up many plastic donuts today. The children know my love language! ;) 

Peek a boo! 

"Mrs Meg, I already know the pledge o' poh-leegiace"

In circle time, the children shared photos and talked about their families and home life. 

Motor skills: peg puzzles and floor puzzles. I put the children into pairs and they used teamwork to put some floor puzzles together. It was a challenge, but they did it! 

Art/Math: sequencing my name up the coconut tree.

I have the children squares with the letters to their names on them. They placed them in order and then matched letters to the glue-squeezed shape on the paper, rearranging their names from horizontal to vertical displays. 

Life Skills: we worked on turn taking with a gross motor jack-be-nimble game with their names: "Soren be nimble, Soren be fit, soren go down the slide, then sit!" 

And the sun goes down on the first day at school.