Schultz Family Christmas–in August!!!

I have been going to the Schultz Family Christmas since before I was a legal Schultz!  It’s always so much fun to get together and see how the family is doing.  It used to be held on Christmas day.  But as the family got larger it became more difficult to hold it then.  So we had changed it to the Saturday before or the Saturday after Christmas – which ever was actually closer to Christmas.  This worked for a while, but then also became difficult to manage.  So now we hold it whenever the person in charge can manage it.  There are 6 Schultz siblings Robert, Martha, Herb, Louise, John, and Doris – though Uncle Herb passed away a few years ago, Aunt Barb still takes her turn.  This year it was Andy’s parents turn to host and it turned out to be a beautiful day!  I was a little worried as we have been having terrible storms – but God was good and provided a beautiful breeze and blue skies!  It was great to see much of the family, but still missed seeing those that just live too far away to make it in!  I didn’t take too many pictures – maybe I can get a few from Uncle Donald later – but we did have fun!Our newest craze – Qwirkle!  Such a fun family game!Do you see the look I’m getting?  That’s because I had just taken several wonderful pictures of him and he was saying “Really?  You want me to smile MORE?!?!?”Here are a few of the wonderful pictures!  Man, I love this kid!!!! Daniel and his PopPop!  I am so thankful for Andy’s family heritage!  All Godly men and women.  So thankful for the influence and example they are to me and my kids!  God is so good!

First Day of School!

Today was our first day of school!  It is later than we usually start – but we’ve had a very busy summer and this was the first day I had all the kids together!  I surprised them with a field trip to the Franklin Institute to see “Mummies of the World”.  What an amazing display!  if you get the opportunity to do this tour – go for it!  Andy was able to go with us!  I so love it when he goes to these type of things as he can easily translate the dates of the mummies to Biblical times.  It was really neat to see these people who had lived so long ago.  I was a bit worried about how Daniel would handle it – but he loved it!  He was fascinated with all the details and examples of mummies.  I really wish I could have taken photos – but with the delicate nature of the objects that was not allowed. 

After the Mummies exhibit we toured around the different rooms.  Isaac’s Loft is always a favorite……as is the newly redone Benjamin Franklin room.  The kids also enjoyed the new Changing Earth room.Here they are making a news cast about the weather via green screen.  Afterwards you could watch it on a TV outside of the room.Matt rode the Sky Bike and was showing off a bit!

It was a good first day!  Now only about 179 to go!  Tomorrow we are going to start Math, English, Spelling/ Vocab, Spanish (for Matt) and Science.  I am waiting on Literature, Writing, and History until after our staff retreat next week.  I’m really praying that this will be a better year than last! 

To Beebee or Not to Beebee?

That is the question that is currently on my mind! Last week, in an effort to get Daniel weaned off the "beebee" (his pacifier), I told him that it needed to stay on his bed. If it wasn't there when he went down for a nap or to bed, I wasn't going to hunt around for it any longer. Sunday through Wednesday nap was great. He left where it belonged. But after his nap on Wednesday he had it in his mouth and refused to put it away. I gave him a warning, but he failed to put it on his bed. When he went to bed that night, there was no beebee. I stuck to my guns and did not look for it. He had chosen the day he was going off the beebee. He only cried for about 90 minutes. He handled it MUCH better than I thought he would. The next few naps and bedtimes he asked for it, but didn't cry and fuss. I soon figured out why. He has taken to sucking his thumb or finger! When I asked him about it his response was, "It's just like my beebee!" UGH!!!!!! Now I am wondering, is it better to let him have the pacifier or let him use his thumb? I am planning on calling both the pediatrician and the dentist to get their takes. I had no idea Daniel would do the thumb thing when we took the beebee away. Unbelievable! So if any of you parents out their who have dealt with this kind of thing have any sage words of wisdom, I could gladly use them!

Tot School

Daniel is really enjoying his "school" time! I am constantly amazed at what he knows! I guess he is learning by osmosis while I teach the other kids. Maybe he'll learn to read on his own, too!!!

Today, I pulled out the Tall-Stacker Pegs and Pegboard by Lauri. I have managed to save these for this year. He was so excited to have something new to use and play with. He had a blast! First he built a tower with all 25 pegs! He had to have a little help from his big sister to put the top pegs into place. We then went over colors and categorizing them into groups.

The last thing we did was to find the peg that was "different" from the others. This was something new to him and he now loves saying the word "different"!

The next thing we took out was the Fit-a-Space puzzles by Lauri. Today was the first day he had seen these as well. He isn't too much into puzzles, so I wondered how this activity would go. He LOVED these small "cookies", as he called them.

What shocked me when we were putting them together was his statement and question "I need an oval. Where is an oval?" and then proceeded to find the oval and put it into place! I knew he knew the basic shapes, square, circle, triangle, but I had no idea he knew an oval! I wonder what else he's hiding in that little brain of his!

We also read a few books: Guess Who's Coming, Jesse Bear by Nancy White Carlstrom, Summer Is Summer by Phillis and David Gershator, Flora's Blanket by Debi Gliori. I love the bunny books! He enjoyed it because it's about a blanket and he LOVES his blankee!

It was a good day with Daniel. The other two are another story. I feel it's going to be rough year of homeschooling. I know God has a plan, but as of right now I cannot see the big picture and it frustrates me. The constant circle of arguments we get from Matt are already tiring us out. To think we have 163 days more is daunting to say the least. We are praying and hanging onto God for his wisdom and strength.

Tot School

For a while now, my friend Carisa has been posting Tot School posts on her homeschool blog. I am always amazed at all that she does with her two year old. Though I try to read to Daniel on a regular basis and do some other small fun things with him I have to admit my time often gets eaten up by the older two and their schooling. I am determined to make an effort in changing things this summer so that in the fall he will be more in the schedule of school.

The past few days I have been making the time after our morning walk "Tot School" time. We usually read books or put a puzzle together. Today we pulled out a great activity that I recommend to all parents or grandparents of children under 3 that love to paint! I hate painting - I hate the mess it makes and all the clean-up. But this is great! It is called "Water Wow! Doodle Book". We got ours at KB Toys for $5.99 - so don't get it at amazon. I just have the link there to show you what it looks like. (I can't believe they are selling it for $25!) He sat and painted each page carefully and then we went through some of the questions for each page. The best thing about this book is that the color disappears after a while (about an hour) and you can reuse it!!! I love it! Like I said, I highly recommend this activity book!

A Day of Peace

Today was a pretty quiet day - I love these days. I am not feeling well (sinus trouble) and so need calm days when that is the case. We got up and went to Sunday School and Matt received a medal for completing his Discipleship Class. He had to take a test and everything! I LOVE his Sunday School teacher - Miss Denise. She is so amazing. She works full time and volunteers for all kinds of things at the church, including the 4th-5th grade Sunday School - which has mostly Pastor Kids - you know what trouble they are!!! It can be a brutal group! But she loves them and teaches them the most amazing things! He learned a lot through this class, my prayer is that it is not only head knowledge, but will become heart knowledge as well.

After Sunday School Daniel and I came home. He was falling asleep during worship and I was feeling miserable. I came home, fed him lunch and put him down for his nap. I probably should have taken a nap as well, but I know if I sleep during the day it will hard to go to sleep at night. So I cleaned my kitchen, we are having a terrible problem with ants, and cleaned the living room from most of the stuff we brought home from being gone a week. I still have a few loads of laundry to complete, but it will get done by Wednesday.

Tonight we had fun just hanging, playing the Wii. My mom got this for Matt and Sarah as their birthday present this year. It is a lot of fun! We laugh and giggle at each other for the silly things we do. We really like the Sports program - my favorites are golf and bowling! We are saving up for two more remotes - they are pretty expensive. Then all four of us can play at the same time. While we were playing Daniel was running around like a goof with a swimmy diaper on his head - a little trick his daddy taught him! He is just too funny!

Tomorrow is a school day for us and I am not sure how much we will get done as I am sure our street will have a block party - meaning lots of loud music. We will do the best we can and catch up on another day whatever we don't finish.