They do keep me laughing

In the middle of what I think is a serious conversation about the importance of knowing that some parts of our bodies are private and we keep them covered and to ourselves even if there is something really cool that we want to show our brothers (dear me!)Ethan says to me, "So, about privacy...." (pause)

"Yes," I reply wondering if I am really equipped to answer any questions on these topics.

"Privacy rhymes with wii, right?"

"Uhh, sort of."

"They both end with the eeee sound," he says as if this is more than evident. Then he slides his dancing feet over, tucks his head close to mine, smiles with that big toothy grin, and says "So, can we play wii?"

That's not the question I was expecting but certainly one I can answer and for now, I think that is just fine.

Free-write Fridays

We donned our writing hats which had some vague connection to famous authors - I can't really explain the transformer mask that Ezra had or why he is perpetually shirtless.  Anyhow, with our writing headgear, we gathered round and spent five minutes putting pencil to paper.




Then, we made our selection of tea or hot chocolate and sat down with a few sandwiches and cookies to hear and applaud each other's stories. Ezra's story was taken by dictation and was so interesting that the others wanted to hear it again.

Jude says, "I think we need to this every Friday." The others agreed, even the one who just that morning had made up and sang repeatedly the most atrocious song about how much he hates writing.

"Sure, sounds like a great idea," I say hiding the tiniest of grins - or was it a smirk?

Idea of free write came from LoraLynn who has some of her own non-writers and it seems great success with this process.

"If God is in your heart, then is He also in your blood?" says Ethan from the very back row in the van with absolutely no preface.

Then ensues a conversation on what it means to have Jesus in your heart, where is the soul, and other such deep topics on a sunny afternoon drive home.

And I thought I must jot this down to remember how sweet they can be...

Poetry

Courtesy of Nathaniel and a new app called Word Mover. This is completely undirected on my part and must be way better than writing on paper because that is not something that this child enjoys in the slightest. This is when I think that interest-led learning has much more merit than I fully understand.

Some days

... we get lots done, we play, we learn, babies nap, and generally everything goes as it should.  Today worked out that way.  There have been enough days these couple weeks that haven't been that way that I think I need to halt and remember this one.

Also, notes to self:

Your attitude makes a difference.
Let them know what's expected of them.  Your oldest loves a checklist!
Give them choices and let them be accountable for their decisions.
Make time to run off some energy.