Trying hard new things

Schedule continues to mingle with chaos around here, but we have had some interesting things in our crazy lately.

Carolyn was a geography bee finalist for her school. (In her words, she got in on luck. I'm pretty sure so did all the contestants. Fortunately, her luck ran out, so we don't have to fit in the next level competition to the calendar.)

Gideon's starting to be interested in self-feeding. He enjoys us loading the fork/spoon and him getting it to mouth. (He loves shells and cheese, which is our Wednesday Thermos lunch box day for the school kids.)

The chair I picked up for free before Gideon was born and that I finally stripped last summer has now been refinished. My goal is to recover it before the end of summer. :) (Yes, I know that's 6 months away - realistic goals!)

Right before grad school started, we switched out the bifold doors of the playroom (downstairs bedroom) closet to normal doors. Can you tell what's missing?

I need to paint them (they came primed only) and then Rob can put door knobs on them.

Alee likes that her toy kitchen is mostly in the closet with minimal stuff outside the closet. She's very particular and notices if her organization is disturbed. (Wonder how I get her to feel that way about her bedroom?)

We had a box of chocolates (russell stover) that a neighbor had given us. We love chocolate, but most of them are ruined with nuts, so after day 1, everyone's taking things they are settling for (and will probably just suck the chocolate off). Gideon got a coconut chocolate (because no one wanted that one). I thought he'd reject it and not beg for chocolates anymore. WRONG. He loved it and begged for another "Nuh nuh".)

Gideon loves stacking blocks. Five is usually his max before they topple.

I don't have a picture, but Seth is also learning and growing. He finally needed to shave for the first time. (Just peach fuzz, but it was going to be a fuzz-stache that would be noticeable soon.)

Another Gideon moment (but no picture) - Gideon is potty training!
Several women at church have noticed us in the bathroom and ask, "How old is he?" "Do you always potty train this early?" To which I laugh and say a definite "no". :) I usually admit I nearly failed potty training 101 the first 5 times. (Kaitlyn was my next easiest and next earliest; she started asking to go right before she turned 2.)

So I just took him one morning when he woke up dry and was still dry after school drop off. And he went. I was sure it was an accident, but it happened 2-3 more times that week. The next week it was half a dozen times and he started asking to go. It's not a miracle story and I expect he will be working on this until summer (that is, I'm not going to deal with real underwear until summer). Some days he uses his diaper every single time. Some days he uses the potty most of the day. He's usually cooperative, but if he isn't, I don't push. It's just nice that he understands how to use the potty intentionally now.


The twins are old enough now to go to the temple, so they went (with us and older siblings) for the first time in January. Kaitlyn asked if we could go weekly. :) So glad that she wants to serve the Lord so freely.

We used Martin Luther King Jr. school holiday to go to the museum. Alee had wanted the zoo and was sorely disappointed, but it was really cold that day (and Seth likes the museum).

Rob had a piece of wood like this and made a bowl like that. (And then the semester started.)
Really pretty isn't it?

Six little ducks that I once knew....Row row row your boat...Splish splash I was taking a bath...

Put your shoes beside Daddy's shoes. (Or in them)

Birthday celebrations! (Rob is 40 and the twins are 12 - big year for both)
This was one of several celebrations of the month.

Look what we found! It's like a pepper growing within a pepper. (We looked it up; it's safe to eat. Yes, both. We just ate the outer "real" pepper.) Fun stuff.

Alee had an awards day for 2nd quarter. She got most improved in ELA and a music award and honor roll. We were in the midst of decision making. This will be her last awards ceremony this school year. Keep reading...(Not really disappointed either.)

After a few minutes of observing, Gideon realized what he was supposed to do and clapped and cheered for every name called. He, of course, got lots of cute looks for being so cute.

The rest of them are weird. And I like them that way. :)

Officially 12 years old! (We had Natalie's dinner followed by Kaitlyn's sugar cookie cake on their birthday. The next night we had Kaitlyn's dinner, and on Sunday, Natalie's "cake" - ice cream pie.) Having twins and keeping everyone happy is always an adventure.
We did the blowing out of the candles on Kaitlyn's cake. They decided to put in 12 and blow together, rather than 24 candles on one small cake.

Job Shadowing day with Dad at work.

We see Rob's father about once or twice a year, but we haven't seen his brother (and his family) in person in probably 4-6 years. The kids got along so well with their cousins; I wish we saw them more often. We had a good time with all of them.

In addition to "potty", Gideon has learned "share" from Daniel Tiger. About a month ago, we got him to share with Alee when we sang "You can take a turn...and then I'll get it back!" from Daniel Tiger. But when we encouraged him to share with his cousin, he picked up his toys, moved them around him, and said "No share." (Two-word phrases are relatively new to Gideon, and I'd never heard him say share before, but he wanted us to understand!)

And after much prayer, we've decided to withdraw Alee from school and homeschool her the remainder of the year. Both she and I are excited about it (and that's big for her right now to be excited about learning). We will see how that goes the rest of the year. I'm going to try to teach to her learning style, but it's not all fun and games (although I plan to throw in as many as I can for the subjects she doesn't like.)  Hopefully, her love for learning will grow and her excitement for homeschooling will last.
We're official, and technically started today (she wanted to start immediately), so we're one day in, but really Monday is when we'll start testing the waters and figuring out the schedule that works for us and Gideon while everyone else is still in public school.

Today was all over the place -
The twins started the day with a science fair (after having had a group of 6th graders over after school yesterday to start working on a performance they want to do).
Seth is earning money so he can pay for a prom date, so he removed a bush/tree thing for us (borrowing an ax or something from another guy at church to finish the job). **
Carolyn had a friend over this afternoon (all the kids played outside and inside) and she joined Seth and Carolyn at the youth valentine dance tonight.
And Alee homeschooled and played in between subjects.
Rob almost finished his next-due assignment for grad school, I worked with Alee and got myself organized for school next week, and we both ran everyone around to things.
Gideon? He was in a little of all of it.

**Just realized I didn't explain this! Seth is going to the church prom (for ages 16+ because it's more than a dance, it's a date.) So he asked a friend he's had for years. She said yes, and Carolyn immediately started planning with the girl for color, etc. Funny quote of this conversation: Seth: "What's a corsage?"

Goal: Not wait so long next time so that I can write a quick post of something instead of covering a month's worth of pictures skimmed over. (Yep, there was more going on, but it's long enough as it is, right?) :)
I also left out pictures of friends. I'll include those in my someday blog book, volume 5. :)