We LOVE MARCH MADNESS around here! This is the funnest year we have EVER had with college basketball b/c we have our 3 favorite teams still in the running.
BYU
SDSU
and
OHIO STATE
We are loving it! Tonight BYU plays and also SDSU. We have a fun get together with some friends.
Speaking of TV. We have made some changes in our house about how we do TV. I keep the TV unplugged (and hide the power cord) so that kids can't watch TV at all. Today I let them have an hour since Lex is sick and grumpy, and of course we watch our sports but usually we go the full week w/o TV. It has been FABULOUS! The kids find so many more ways to entertain themselves and play together more and use their cute little imaginations so much more when they know they can't just switch on the tv when they are bored. yesterday in the car Clare said, "we only turn on the TV for sports with daddy, right mom?" Yes, Clare, that's about it! WE do love our sports.
There are two down sides to not having the TV crutch available at all times: 1. I have a hard time getting my shower in b/c you just never know what the kids will get into when they are unsupervised for 20-30 min. The TV was a great babysitter so that I could shower in the morning. Don't worry I still do manage to keep myself hygenic...it just takes some planning or me dragging myself out of bed before the kids. 2. no news. Not that I watched much news before, but now I really have no idea about what is going on in the world.
This was NO TV week at school and so it has been on my mind. It was no work at all for us to go the week w/o TV since we are already adjusted to this!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ALEXEY TODAY. She is 3. B-day post to follow soon :)
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
the baby name game
So, as you know we will be adding another baby girl to this family in a few months. So far, we have NO names in mind. And up to a few days ago Dave was still "not ready" to discuss girl names. Now it seems he is wrapping his mind around the idea that this child is coming and this child will need a name, and if he doesn't give input it will be up to me and Clare to find a name! Clare is very opinionated about names. For kicks, I will sometimes pick up a baby name book and read to her some name choices. here's how that usually goes. anna- "love it" adam - "too boyish" ariel "love it" alanna "hate it". Every name is one of those things "love, hate or too boyish." It is a crack up!
The other kids like to think about names too. At least a couple of times a week Calvin will meet someone new (today it was a girl named Renae) and he will say, "Mom, how do you like the name Renae? Maybe it would be a good name for our new baby." he is very sweet.
Lex suggests Mollie. This is the name of her doll and also happens to be a favorite girl name of Dave and I also.
This week Dave decided he should start suggesting some names. here are a few of his crazy and funny ideas:
Joyce - his all time favorite girl name but not available to us since we have a Calvin in the family. Joyce is my grandma's name and Calvin is my grandpa's name (yes, they're married). He suggests the name every time we have a girl. I told him that maybe on our 5th girl we could use the name. NO WAY!! is his reply.
Parker - the name of our nephew but can also be used for a girl. Obviously not a good choice for us since we already have one darling parker in the family! but kind of funny to consider.
Davida- Since Dave has lost all hope of having another boy, he is considering making this girl his namesake.
Danielle - Also coming from Dave's name (his middle name). This has an added bonus. We could tell uncle Dan and Dave's Dad (dan) that we named the baby after them too!
Sandy Eggo -- Just one of the many options for a San Diego type theme name. We do love it here.
Neurosurgery themed names yet to come!
We are starting to get a few ideas, all joking aside, and hope that come July we will have something we really like. :)
The other kids like to think about names too. At least a couple of times a week Calvin will meet someone new (today it was a girl named Renae) and he will say, "Mom, how do you like the name Renae? Maybe it would be a good name for our new baby." he is very sweet.
Lex suggests Mollie. This is the name of her doll and also happens to be a favorite girl name of Dave and I also.
This week Dave decided he should start suggesting some names. here are a few of his crazy and funny ideas:
Joyce - his all time favorite girl name but not available to us since we have a Calvin in the family. Joyce is my grandma's name and Calvin is my grandpa's name (yes, they're married). He suggests the name every time we have a girl. I told him that maybe on our 5th girl we could use the name. NO WAY!! is his reply.
Parker - the name of our nephew but can also be used for a girl. Obviously not a good choice for us since we already have one darling parker in the family! but kind of funny to consider.
Davida- Since Dave has lost all hope of having another boy, he is considering making this girl his namesake.
Danielle - Also coming from Dave's name (his middle name). This has an added bonus. We could tell uncle Dan and Dave's Dad (dan) that we named the baby after them too!
Sandy Eggo -- Just one of the many options for a San Diego type theme name. We do love it here.
Neurosurgery themed names yet to come!
We are starting to get a few ideas, all joking aside, and hope that come July we will have something we really like. :)
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
calvin's baptism
Last Saturday was Calvin's baptism. It was a great day. Calvin was very excited all day and made sure to get himself and his dad ready so that they could be really really early!
After the baptism we came back to our house for cake and friends. It was really fun for the kids to run around a bit and give everyone a chance to be together!
Calvin picked his cake. He wanted orange and blue and a football cake. Aztecs is the SDSU team name!
We had some Gonda's come to town for the baptism which was really nice. Sunday afternoon the kids had a lot of fun playing together and the adults had fun catching up!
cousin Aislee
cousin Andy
lex
clare
After the baptism we came back to our house for cake and friends. It was really fun for the kids to run around a bit and give everyone a chance to be together!
Calvin picked his cake. He wanted orange and blue and a football cake. Aztecs is the SDSU team name!
We had some Gonda's come to town for the baptism which was really nice. Sunday afternoon the kids had a lot of fun playing together and the adults had fun catching up!
cousin Aislee
cousin Andy
lex
clare
Thursday, March 3, 2011
homeschooling thoughts
Calvin has been home with me for more than a month. I have really enjoyed having him home. I can't say we're doing a ton of formal school at home because neither one of us could tolerate it at this point. However, I am trying to change the way we do things at home and make home a learning environment for him.
I have seen some good changes in Calvin. I think he is overall doing better than he had been at school. I have been surprised how much down time he needs, especially in the first couple of weeks at home I am pretty sure he spent several HOURS a day sitting in my bed (no tv, music or computer -- just singing, reading or fidgeting or sleeping). I was amazing at how much physical recovery he needed.
Here is a quote I saw in a homeschooling book I read that sums up a few of the things that have been thinking about. The book is The Homeschooling Book of Answers by Linda Dobson. "Some young people, especially boys, are active and curious, focusing on several activities simultaneous -- building with Lego blocks, watching television, listening to a conversation on the phone, humming a song. These children need, thrive on, and deserve an environment where they can move freely, change activities as their minds shift gears, and be able to eat, sleep, dance and use the bathroom as their bodies require." (emphasis added)
I am pretty sure Calvin has gained 5 lbs this month (so have I!!) because he has been able to eat when he is hungry (ALL THE TIME!!)
continuing the quote: "Conventional schools can be failure traps for children who are not by nature quiet, compliant, morning people who are able to concentrate for long periods of time on disconnected, unrelated tasks and who are able to screen out lots of distracting sounds and activities." This is for sure not Calvin! Combining the above two quotes basically sums up ALL of the problems he was having at school!
Other observations/good things:
#1. of meltdowns has decreased. Why? 1. I do not send Calvin to school during the good time of his day and then receive him back tired, starving and probably frustrated. I have ALL of his quality time and can use that to do good things together which strengthen our relationship. Also because we have so much time together I can accomplish what we need to accomplish with lots of down time in between. 2. Meltdowns are actually highly predictable. I hate to admit this, but my mood and pace is usually the best gage at how probable a meltdown is for the day. Too fast of a pace means less food, less patience and more frustration = meltdown.
#2. I thought it would be a huge pain to have Calvin home all day. After all he is my hardest child. However, I have thoroughly enjoyed having him home most days! and find that he is more plesant than I had expected! (see #1. )
#3. Having him home helped me potty train Lex. he goes to the bathroom so frequently it helped me rememeber to make sure Lex goes often enough to not have accidents!
#4. MORE QUALITY TIME
#5. I love the field trips to the museum, beach, sea world, etc! However, now that gas is almost $4/gallon and today I spent $150 filling up my car I am not sure if I can afford to drive to san diego as often!
Down sides:
#1 and only: It is harder for me to get things done...I have less time ... I am busier.
I have seen some good changes in Calvin. I think he is overall doing better than he had been at school. I have been surprised how much down time he needs, especially in the first couple of weeks at home I am pretty sure he spent several HOURS a day sitting in my bed (no tv, music or computer -- just singing, reading or fidgeting or sleeping). I was amazing at how much physical recovery he needed.
Here is a quote I saw in a homeschooling book I read that sums up a few of the things that have been thinking about. The book is The Homeschooling Book of Answers by Linda Dobson. "Some young people, especially boys, are active and curious, focusing on several activities simultaneous -- building with Lego blocks, watching television, listening to a conversation on the phone, humming a song. These children need, thrive on, and deserve an environment where they can move freely, change activities as their minds shift gears, and be able to eat, sleep, dance and use the bathroom as their bodies require." (emphasis added)
I am pretty sure Calvin has gained 5 lbs this month (so have I!!) because he has been able to eat when he is hungry (ALL THE TIME!!)
continuing the quote: "Conventional schools can be failure traps for children who are not by nature quiet, compliant, morning people who are able to concentrate for long periods of time on disconnected, unrelated tasks and who are able to screen out lots of distracting sounds and activities." This is for sure not Calvin! Combining the above two quotes basically sums up ALL of the problems he was having at school!
Other observations/good things:
#1. of meltdowns has decreased. Why? 1. I do not send Calvin to school during the good time of his day and then receive him back tired, starving and probably frustrated. I have ALL of his quality time and can use that to do good things together which strengthen our relationship. Also because we have so much time together I can accomplish what we need to accomplish with lots of down time in between. 2. Meltdowns are actually highly predictable. I hate to admit this, but my mood and pace is usually the best gage at how probable a meltdown is for the day. Too fast of a pace means less food, less patience and more frustration = meltdown.
#2. I thought it would be a huge pain to have Calvin home all day. After all he is my hardest child. However, I have thoroughly enjoyed having him home most days! and find that he is more plesant than I had expected! (see #1. )
#3. Having him home helped me potty train Lex. he goes to the bathroom so frequently it helped me rememeber to make sure Lex goes often enough to not have accidents!
#4. MORE QUALITY TIME
#5. I love the field trips to the museum, beach, sea world, etc! However, now that gas is almost $4/gallon and today I spent $150 filling up my car I am not sure if I can afford to drive to san diego as often!
Down sides:
#1 and only: It is harder for me to get things done...I have less time ... I am busier.
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
words that do NOT build self esteem!
1. From Dave "Tressel is feeling a little uncomfortable now that you out-weigh him again."
2. Denise "I feel like my tummy grew 10 inches this week"
Dave "I was just thinking that same thing" (WRONG ANSWER!!!!!)
3. Alexey "Momma, you have a big butt."
Denise "No, Lex, it's not that big."
Alexey "Yes, it is sooo sooo big." "i have little but, you have big big butt"
2. Denise "I feel like my tummy grew 10 inches this week"
Dave "I was just thinking that same thing" (WRONG ANSWER!!!!!)
3. Alexey "Momma, you have a big butt."
Denise "No, Lex, it's not that big."
Alexey "Yes, it is sooo sooo big." "i have little but, you have big big butt"
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