Showing posts with label reading. Show all posts
Showing posts with label reading. Show all posts
Thursday, January 1, 2009
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Some Pictures
Ria took all of the following pictures with very little coaching by Daddy
(and a tripod). I think she's done a really marvelous job and can't
help but think she's one of the most talented 4 year olds I've ever encountered!
The Belly
(and a tripod). I think she's done a really marvelous job and can't
help but think she's one of the most talented 4 year olds I've ever encountered!
The Belly
Kat and The Belly
Kat, Daddy, and Mama
Going for a family photo, but Kat didn't cooperate.
Ria took this picture with the timer! Awesome, right!??
Tori Preggie Belly Pictures
Monday, October 14, 2008
5 days overdue
Daddy holding Kat before her birthday dinner.
The girls waiting for some of Kat's birthday cake.
Notice Jess in the background with the cake in the next picture.
Notice Jess in the background with the cake in the next picture.
Ria and Kat watching a movie.
Ria and her pompoms!
Ria and Kat with their Mama-made dolls.
These are a few of my favorite things!
Check out my YouTube channel, if you haven't already. I'm uploading more little videos! There is at least one (probably more by now) that you can only view if you have the code. Need it? Let me know! They are too cute to miss (the little videos you can only see with it)!
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
Ria Reading
Here's hoping my first effort at a video on my blog works!
In the beginning I moved the view
of the camera around mechanically,
thus the breaks in the audio. Sorry about that.
You DO have to have your volume up pretty high.
The quality it not A+ because it's from our camera,
but it's SOMETHING!
Enjoy? I hope SO!
In the beginning I moved the view
of the camera around mechanically,
thus the breaks in the audio. Sorry about that.
You DO have to have your volume up pretty high.
The quality it not A+ because it's from our camera,
but it's SOMETHING!
Enjoy? I hope SO!
Sunday, August 17, 2008
Something Ria Said
I obviously will not work today, as it is still Sunday, so that frees up a bit of time for things I haven't allowed myself to do much (since it would eat up MORE time with the girls AND/OR time I could work). Like BLOG! ^_^
Okay, so I was gathering some resources for reading class this week. (Ria is interested in learning more about Dinosaurs, so I'm trying to get together some reading material that she can handle on her own as well as some for us to tackle together.) While letting some material print out I remembered something really wonderful that Ria said during Reading Class (you see the connection, I hope).
We were reading one of the books I'd printed from Reading A-Z, which is an internet site for helping teachers and parents teach reading. I purchased a membership a few months ago and printed out bunches of books when we had plenty of ink and haven't been able to do much more because we ran out of ink. We've actually had plenty of ink for the last month or so, but I haven't had plenty of time to print the books, then fit them together, and glue them in together. Homeschooling is a LOT of work when you have very limited resources! Anyway...
Alistaire's Night is the title of the book we were preparing to read. It's an "I" in the reading levels (which go from "A-Z" on the site I mentioned. As part of the public school's expectations for education a K or 1st grader (I'm doing them together, so I don't know which it actually is) should be able to identify basic parts of a book, recognize the author, and illustrator.) So, we were talking about those things. Ria was sort of noticing the book's size and appearance and she commented to me, "Mama," in a very serious and slightly concerned tone of voice, "I think this story is missing a lots of pages!" I soothed her concern and told her all the pages were there. She seemed confused, but accepted what I told her. I was thinking about what she said tonight and realized that she was SO worried because she's become accustomed to reading Henry and Mudge and other books that are at least level 2 Readers (another way of ranking levels and I'm not sure exactly how they compare except that "I" and Level 2 are both somewhere in the first grade of expected reading ability. Anyway... Henry and Mudge books are at least 34 pages long with at least a few lines on each page OR a whole page of words and then a picture page facing it. So, Ria isn't put off by lots of words on a page... AND based on the comment, perhaps even enjoys it!? Isn't that AWESOME!? I LOVE IT!
Just as an added note on the reading level at which Ria is consuming books... I picked out a Barbie ballet reader book the other day (these numbered books are from the library) that was a Level 3, completely expecting that I would have to help her through a lot of it. As it turns out, Ria needed help with MAYBE 5 words and 2 of those were names! She's learned through observation how to break words down into parts so she can sound out long words... which makes almost any word consumable/readable! Isn't she AMAZING!?!? I'm such a pleased Mama!!!!
Okay, so I was gathering some resources for reading class this week. (Ria is interested in learning more about Dinosaurs, so I'm trying to get together some reading material that she can handle on her own as well as some for us to tackle together.) While letting some material print out I remembered something really wonderful that Ria said during Reading Class (you see the connection, I hope).
We were reading one of the books I'd printed from Reading A-Z, which is an internet site for helping teachers and parents teach reading. I purchased a membership a few months ago and printed out bunches of books when we had plenty of ink and haven't been able to do much more because we ran out of ink. We've actually had plenty of ink for the last month or so, but I haven't had plenty of time to print the books, then fit them together, and glue them in together. Homeschooling is a LOT of work when you have very limited resources! Anyway...
Alistaire's Night is the title of the book we were preparing to read. It's an "I" in the reading levels (which go from "A-Z" on the site I mentioned. As part of the public school's expectations for education a K or 1st grader (I'm doing them together, so I don't know which it actually is) should be able to identify basic parts of a book, recognize the author, and illustrator.) So, we were talking about those things. Ria was sort of noticing the book's size and appearance and she commented to me, "Mama," in a very serious and slightly concerned tone of voice, "I think this story is missing a lots of pages!" I soothed her concern and told her all the pages were there. She seemed confused, but accepted what I told her. I was thinking about what she said tonight and realized that she was SO worried because she's become accustomed to reading Henry and Mudge and other books that are at least level 2 Readers (another way of ranking levels and I'm not sure exactly how they compare except that "I" and Level 2 are both somewhere in the first grade of expected reading ability. Anyway... Henry and Mudge books are at least 34 pages long with at least a few lines on each page OR a whole page of words and then a picture page facing it. So, Ria isn't put off by lots of words on a page... AND based on the comment, perhaps even enjoys it!? Isn't that AWESOME!? I LOVE IT!
Just as an added note on the reading level at which Ria is consuming books... I picked out a Barbie ballet reader book the other day (these numbered books are from the library) that was a Level 3, completely expecting that I would have to help her through a lot of it. As it turns out, Ria needed help with MAYBE 5 words and 2 of those were names! She's learned through observation how to break words down into parts so she can sound out long words... which makes almost any word consumable/readable! Isn't she AMAZING!?!? I'm such a pleased Mama!!!!
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Jobs OH, JOBS!
Looking ALL Over
ChaCha
So, in case you didn't catch it in the info above, I didn't make the top guides for ChaCha and now I'm making $.10 per answer. :( WHAT a bummer! Still, I've earned around $120 with what I have done up to this point. Not too shabby, all things considered.
The Girls
Both have been sick in the last 2 weeks! :( How annoying! Kat was the worst, but seems to be much better. I'm so glad. I would MUCH rather be ill than have my children ill!
Ria is still reading amazingly well and Kat is using the potty even more consistently. She even lets us know when she needs to pee when wearing a diaper most of the time. Pretty awesome, right!?
Jess
Is well. He was planning to be the food preparer for our Ward picnic on Saturday, but now has to work. Pretty disappointing. He was really excited about it. Ahwell... what can you do??
Me
I'm all right. Worn out, is all. The belly is getting huge and I'm just not sleeping well. This is upsetting because I was around 34-36 weeks when this hit with the girls. Too EARLY now! I'm only 32 weeks! I have a feeling this baby will come earlier than we've been expecting.
I've walked pretty regularly except for one week (was it last week!?!?). I feel SO much better when I walk regularly. Actually, it's about that time now. Must run! :)
Jess went to Orlando yesterday in search of work. I'm very glad about it. It's amazing how much work I end up doing for these job hunting epeditions. I keenly and clearly remember the time investment I put in when we were still up North and he came down here to check out the market for Chefs.
Jess was gone from around 8 in the morning until around 7:30pm yesterday. Of course, more than 4 hours was driving because of getting from here to there and then from each place to the next, but the rest was spent in interviews and such! He had a request for a second interview with Disney, but it wasn't management. He DID, however, learn how to go about applying for a Sous or Executive Chef position! YEAY!!
Naturally, if you know anything about our lives lately, you KNOW I've had the girls on my own for longer than the time he was gone yesterday, but RARELY after being up until 3:30 in the morning the night before! THAT was rough! why was I up so late? Well, there were a few things that needed to be updated in Jessie's "I LOVE ME BOOK," which I feel is very important for him to have to show prospective employers. There have been many impressed with it and it adds a bit of an edge. In addition to that, I spent a lot of time updating the look of his resume, altering his cover letter a little, updating references, and putting those items together in little packages so he could easily hand them to an interviewer or someone of importance. On top of all that (and, mind you, these things were done ALL day the day before yesterday), I also spent a good deal of time creating directions in Google maps for Jessie to use in traveling to the various locations we'd determined he would go to apply. Can you tell I was busy? Well, I WAS! So, I didn't get much of any ChaCha done that day... Tuesday. Yesterday I was just too darn tired. And then today I find I'm at $.10 a search. I'm pretty bummed about it, but determined to keep going with it for at least SOME additional cash flow. I need to have a way for pay for Ria's dance class and our current income from Jessie's work just won't.
So, today I've done some ChaCha, but I also have looked for writing work. It's SO time consuming! I haven't found anything in the freelance realm of my interests/abilities, BUT I did find something else that's pretty interesting. I'm hopeful about it since I love to write in my blog anyway. It's PayPerPost and it's a way to sort of make a little bit of money by blogging where I already do anyway! I've started the process and looked at a few jobs and it looks like it'll be a more enjoyable work and potentially pay more that ChaCha. Plus, I'll be WRITING! ^_^
Look for some weird and interesting posts for the PayPerPost gig. Hopefully they'll be some things that you're actually amused by or interested in, too! :)
I'm also considering trying for a job with Sylvan... but, without knowing the details, it seems like I'd have to commit to certain hours and such, which is just not terribly workable at this point. We'll see. I know I'm eligle since my teaching certificate was not revoked! :)
Jess was gone from around 8 in the morning until around 7:30pm yesterday. Of course, more than 4 hours was driving because of getting from here to there and then from each place to the next, but the rest was spent in interviews and such! He had a request for a second interview with Disney, but it wasn't management. He DID, however, learn how to go about applying for a Sous or Executive Chef position! YEAY!!
Naturally, if you know anything about our lives lately, you KNOW I've had the girls on my own for longer than the time he was gone yesterday, but RARELY after being up until 3:30 in the morning the night before! THAT was rough! why was I up so late? Well, there were a few things that needed to be updated in Jessie's "I LOVE ME BOOK," which I feel is very important for him to have to show prospective employers. There have been many impressed with it and it adds a bit of an edge. In addition to that, I spent a lot of time updating the look of his resume, altering his cover letter a little, updating references, and putting those items together in little packages so he could easily hand them to an interviewer or someone of importance. On top of all that (and, mind you, these things were done ALL day the day before yesterday), I also spent a good deal of time creating directions in Google maps for Jessie to use in traveling to the various locations we'd determined he would go to apply. Can you tell I was busy? Well, I WAS! So, I didn't get much of any ChaCha done that day... Tuesday. Yesterday I was just too darn tired. And then today I find I'm at $.10 a search. I'm pretty bummed about it, but determined to keep going with it for at least SOME additional cash flow. I need to have a way for pay for Ria's dance class and our current income from Jessie's work just won't.
So, today I've done some ChaCha, but I also have looked for writing work. It's SO time consuming! I haven't found anything in the freelance realm of my interests/abilities, BUT I did find something else that's pretty interesting. I'm hopeful about it since I love to write in my blog anyway. It's PayPerPost and it's a way to sort of make a little bit of money by blogging where I already do anyway! I've started the process and looked at a few jobs and it looks like it'll be a more enjoyable work and potentially pay more that ChaCha. Plus, I'll be WRITING! ^_^
Look for some weird and interesting posts for the PayPerPost gig. Hopefully they'll be some things that you're actually amused by or interested in, too! :)
I'm also considering trying for a job with Sylvan... but, without knowing the details, it seems like I'd have to commit to certain hours and such, which is just not terribly workable at this point. We'll see. I know I'm eligle since my teaching certificate was not revoked! :)
ChaCha
So, in case you didn't catch it in the info above, I didn't make the top guides for ChaCha and now I'm making $.10 per answer. :( WHAT a bummer! Still, I've earned around $120 with what I have done up to this point. Not too shabby, all things considered.
The Girls
Both have been sick in the last 2 weeks! :( How annoying! Kat was the worst, but seems to be much better. I'm so glad. I would MUCH rather be ill than have my children ill!
Ria is still reading amazingly well and Kat is using the potty even more consistently. She even lets us know when she needs to pee when wearing a diaper most of the time. Pretty awesome, right!?
Jess
Is well. He was planning to be the food preparer for our Ward picnic on Saturday, but now has to work. Pretty disappointing. He was really excited about it. Ahwell... what can you do??
Me
I'm all right. Worn out, is all. The belly is getting huge and I'm just not sleeping well. This is upsetting because I was around 34-36 weeks when this hit with the girls. Too EARLY now! I'm only 32 weeks! I have a feeling this baby will come earlier than we've been expecting.
I've walked pretty regularly except for one week (was it last week!?!?). I feel SO much better when I walk regularly. Actually, it's about that time now. Must run! :)
Monday, July 28, 2008
69
days left.
The Belly
I can really not believe that I'm this far along... and then... I CAN! My belly is so big! I'm pretty sure I'm measuring full-term already. I'll find out for sure on Wednesday. But the weird pains I haven't had until the last few weeks have been happening for the last week - ALREADY. You know, the weird pulling sensation on the back of the belly button, the s-tr-e-e-e-t-ch feeling in the front of the belly, and most painfully problematic: the inability to properly gauge belly girth! My belly button is as shallow as it ever has been with either prior pregnancy, so that's a good indicator that the belly is HUGE! Thus far, though, I haven't got a stretch mark to show for all the weirdness. That's pretty cool, I think. Probably this is due to the fact that I'm pretty sure I'm losing fat as the belly gets huge, so the skin is sort of staying in place.... or something. I don't know.
Hunger
I'm hungry all the time now. It started in for real last Wednesday. Basically, I have to eat AT LEAST every 4 hours or I get this really painful nagging in my stomach. I've tried drinking water/my preggie tea to see if I'm just short of liquids, which I think is unlikely with as much as I'm constantly drinking, but it's definitely not hunger pains requesting water! I've even had to get up out of bed in the middle of the night and REALLY early in the morning to get food, which I only remember doing in the last couple of weeks with Ria and Kat's pregnancies. This had better be: a) a boy, or b) twins to be as different an annoying a pregnancy as it is this time around!
Sleeping Beauties
Ria and Kat have been sleeping better, I think. I blacked out the windows in their rooms. This morning they slept until after 9am!!! Prior to the black out they were waking between 7:30am and 8:30am. I know these times probably seem really laid back to lots of Mamas, but considering Jessie's schedule (and how late I have to stay up to spend time with him alone... EVER!) the times they were waking up before were just way too dang early! I can definitely deal with 9am-ish much more easily! :)
Reading
Today Ria spent almost an hour in her room. It was strange because this is not something she normally chooses of her own accord. I mean, she usually gets sent to her room when she's in trouble. So, after about 30 minutes I went back to ask her if I'd sent her to her room. She looked at me in a funny way and told me that I hadn't. I acknowledged that and explained that I thought I hadn't, but I couldn't remember for sure. (Yet another side effect of this pregnancy that is more pronounced that the other two: SERIOUS forgetfulness! I couldn't remember where I put my church bag yesterday! When I found it I commented to one of the members of the Primary Presidency that I was sure I'd put it somewhere smart... and I was glad to realize I was right by finding it where it was! I've been in nursery with Sage, which I love, so keeping my bag with me would not have been the brightest idea.)
So, what was Ria doing? I can just imagine you might wonder, since she was hanging out back there in her room for so long of her own accord. She was sitting next to her book shelf (not yet completely full of books, but nicely stocked) and READING, of course! She is SUCH an awesome reader! I love that she loves to read both to herself and to her sister. What a blessing!!!
Hide and Seek With Daddy
Jessie is SO good at turning silly things into HUGE fun. Today Ria REALLY wanted him to play hide and seek with her. She wanted HIM to take turns in hiding and seeking with her. He didn't feel like it, I guess, so he turned it into hiding Kat for Ria to find. Now, this would totally not work with me because I don't have THE FORCE for making silly things fun as Jess does. He would rush Ria off with over-exaggerated urgency that she hurry off so Kat could hide. (If you know Jess at all, then you know how uncharacteristic it is for him to be really excitably or emotional about much of anything.) Then he would, in the same exaggerated urgency help Kat hide somewhere and then call Ria out. It turned out to be, what looked like to me, the best fun either of them had enjoyed in a while! And it started from something that neither wanted to do! Jess is so great with the girls when he wants to be!!! ^_^ I LOVE IT!
The Belly
I can really not believe that I'm this far along... and then... I CAN! My belly is so big! I'm pretty sure I'm measuring full-term already. I'll find out for sure on Wednesday. But the weird pains I haven't had until the last few weeks have been happening for the last week - ALREADY. You know, the weird pulling sensation on the back of the belly button, the s-tr-e-e-e-t-ch feeling in the front of the belly, and most painfully problematic: the inability to properly gauge belly girth! My belly button is as shallow as it ever has been with either prior pregnancy, so that's a good indicator that the belly is HUGE! Thus far, though, I haven't got a stretch mark to show for all the weirdness. That's pretty cool, I think. Probably this is due to the fact that I'm pretty sure I'm losing fat as the belly gets huge, so the skin is sort of staying in place.... or something. I don't know.
Hunger
I'm hungry all the time now. It started in for real last Wednesday. Basically, I have to eat AT LEAST every 4 hours or I get this really painful nagging in my stomach. I've tried drinking water/my preggie tea to see if I'm just short of liquids, which I think is unlikely with as much as I'm constantly drinking, but it's definitely not hunger pains requesting water! I've even had to get up out of bed in the middle of the night and REALLY early in the morning to get food, which I only remember doing in the last couple of weeks with Ria and Kat's pregnancies. This had better be: a) a boy, or b) twins to be as different an annoying a pregnancy as it is this time around!
Sleeping Beauties
Ria and Kat have been sleeping better, I think. I blacked out the windows in their rooms. This morning they slept until after 9am!!! Prior to the black out they were waking between 7:30am and 8:30am. I know these times probably seem really laid back to lots of Mamas, but considering Jessie's schedule (and how late I have to stay up to spend time with him alone... EVER!) the times they were waking up before were just way too dang early! I can definitely deal with 9am-ish much more easily! :)
Reading
Today Ria spent almost an hour in her room. It was strange because this is not something she normally chooses of her own accord. I mean, she usually gets sent to her room when she's in trouble. So, after about 30 minutes I went back to ask her if I'd sent her to her room. She looked at me in a funny way and told me that I hadn't. I acknowledged that and explained that I thought I hadn't, but I couldn't remember for sure. (Yet another side effect of this pregnancy that is more pronounced that the other two: SERIOUS forgetfulness! I couldn't remember where I put my church bag yesterday! When I found it I commented to one of the members of the Primary Presidency that I was sure I'd put it somewhere smart... and I was glad to realize I was right by finding it where it was! I've been in nursery with Sage, which I love, so keeping my bag with me would not have been the brightest idea.)
So, what was Ria doing? I can just imagine you might wonder, since she was hanging out back there in her room for so long of her own accord. She was sitting next to her book shelf (not yet completely full of books, but nicely stocked) and READING, of course! She is SUCH an awesome reader! I love that she loves to read both to herself and to her sister. What a blessing!!!
Hide and Seek With Daddy
Jessie is SO good at turning silly things into HUGE fun. Today Ria REALLY wanted him to play hide and seek with her. She wanted HIM to take turns in hiding and seeking with her. He didn't feel like it, I guess, so he turned it into hiding Kat for Ria to find. Now, this would totally not work with me because I don't have THE FORCE for making silly things fun as Jess does. He would rush Ria off with over-exaggerated urgency that she hurry off so Kat could hide. (If you know Jess at all, then you know how uncharacteristic it is for him to be really excitably or emotional about much of anything.) Then he would, in the same exaggerated urgency help Kat hide somewhere and then call Ria out. It turned out to be, what looked like to me, the best fun either of them had enjoyed in a while! And it started from something that neither wanted to do! Jess is so great with the girls when he wants to be!!! ^_^ I LOVE IT!
Sunday, July 20, 2008
The Need For...
Pee
Kat has had a number of accidents in the last few days, but she's still progressing pretty quickly in her potty training. She actually does REALLY well at telling us she needs to use the potty when she's actually wearing a diaper. The trouble is, if she's in clothing she can take off, she pretty much does and then the diaper is off, too. After 3 accidents, she's in a diaper and a onsey-type outfit and then she tells me really well when she needs to pee. The pooh is pretty okay, though she did have an accident with that one the other day.
Oh, and she tried to strip at church today! UGH! I'm glad I was in nursery as a helper because she probably would have been able to otherwise. And the worst part was her timing... at the end when all the parents are picking up their little ones. It would have been really funny, but totally unacceptable to Mama.
Dress Up
I swear Ria NEEDS to dress up! I actually told her I would take her dress up clothes away if she put on another dress up dress one particular day that she wasn't being obedient about lots of things and I'd already told her not to wear the dress up things. Well, she put another dress up outfit on - so they were ALL taken away. She didn't have them for 4 or 5 days, but each day she was still dressed up! No, she didn't sneak the dress up clothes, THANKFULLY! However, her favorite derss up attire consisted of whatever she was given to wear (preferably a dress!) and then a baby blanket tied around her shoulders or under her arms and a hat of some sort (like her princess hat or Daddy's South Park hat). She even managed to find a necklace that was not confiscated and wore that a bunch. When asked about her attire, she explained that she was a princess or a mermaid or some such character which would, of course, need something to CREATE the image other than just her own clothing. :) Pretty funny... very sweet, to me!
READING
Books books everywhere. Seriously! Ria takes books on our walks, there are books in the van, when we borrowed the car she brought books in it the couple of times she actually rode in it. This morning Ria read most of one of the Cat in The Hat books on the way to church. It's amazing how much I heard that I don't remember reading (even though I've read the book about a zillion times) as I listened to her read.
Her fluency is really amazing! I'm super impressed and feel pretty confident in saying that, for the most part, her reading ability AND comprehension levels are solidly in the first grade level.
Today I was actually asked, by a sister in my Ward who I really like, about the book I've used to teach Ria. She heard about it from a lady in the community with whom I shared the title. The funny thing about THAT is that the lady, Shannon, actually told me she really wasn't interested because she was already using something that she really liked and was working for them. I shared anyway because I love speaking to other parents who are interested in taking an active role in their children's education at home and she subsequently checked it out and has been sharing it all over town! I've actually told some people about it and they told me they heard about it from her! Those people have no idea that it originated with me, but it's SUCH a pleasure to know that I'm spreading A good word and getting some active parenting going! ^_^ Isn't that awesome?
I was really excited to talk to the sister who asked about our reading book. She was pretty interested and we had a lovely conversation about teaching reading and reading comprehension! It's really WONDERFUL to teach! I miss it and wish for opportunities to actively teach people who are truly interested. I think I will someday return to educating others as a profession... but I'll have to get my doctorate first because I think I will not be okay with any level other than college (and high level at that). We'll see. Time will tell. Perhaps there is some way I can teach now, on a larger sort of scale, that I don't know about yet. :) Or, perhaps, I'm meant, in this season, to simply share what I can where there is interest. My difficulty with that lies in the problem I have with discerning between active interest and idle curiosity. Like another lady I really like at church asked me about why we don't do ultrasound and I explained a little and she commented and I explained more. Long story... long... she basically didn't want to hear the truth as I perceive it, she was just idly curious. Ya know? anyway... Another skill set to work on!
Clean
This trimester is often characterized by nesting. It is my natural tendency, I believe, to be in that phase (at least based on the last two). Unfortunately my last nesting phase was disturbed by the fact that I had to PACK not just organize, and plan, and clean the corners of my home with a toothbrush.... I fear the same may happen (or should be happening already) again. I haven't yet started packing, though I feel like I should have by now. How annoying!
I have, however, received yet more pressure from my husband about the order of the home. Keep in mind, after the last blow up we had about it I have kept the living room, dining room, kitchen, hallway, and even Ria's room practically spotless. No, SERIOUSLY! I have been in process in our bedroom and trying to get the energy and feel the motivation to focus on the laundry room (where most of our books are kept). So, what does Jess poke at me about (in a rather not so nice way)? The closet in our bedroom, the laundry room, Ria's toys in her room/closet, and the garage! :( I'm very frustrated, even now (two days later) about it. I tackled Ria's toys yesterday (with her) instead of doing school... which has been a regular occurrence here lately. Instead of school I'm cleaning... Instead of school I'm taking care of laundry. Instead of school I'm washing dishes and getting things cleared off counters.... It's getting absolutely ridiculous. I mean, I like having a clean home just like the next person, but for me the priority is getting the rest that this ridiculous belly requires and taking care of the girls ESPECIALLY the education I have planned for them.
The main problem, I believe, lies in the unrealistic picture of life that husbands often have of what occurs when they are absent. Additionally, there are the little things that they add to the daily burden... not putting one thing away... not taking care of another thing they are either responsible for or asked to do. It's just very frustrating to me because I am so VERY tired and he seems so completely unwilling to understand the issues I was raised with and how they impact our lives. And there was a time, not so distant, when he told me that he felt one thing we BOTH needed to work on was acceptance of one another. I took that TOTALLY seriously and have REALLY worked on that and I feel like he's said it for only my benefit. Like he's the freakin' goose, or something!
I mean, if I have to choose (WHICH I DO because otherwise I'm just going CRAZY!) I would rather NOT pass on the anger issues of my upbringing and try to help my children deal with clutter as adults than feel sorrow over their struggles with yelling, spanking, and feeling generally angry all the time as adults!! Since the big blow out about a month ago I have spanked, I have yelled, and I have been generally angry SO much more than I was when I was trying NOT to care about the house so much. I'm just frustrated!!! Complicated, I'm sure my my need for:
a WALK!
I haven't been able to go for a walk for the last two days. The weather was dreary and drippy both Friday AND Saturday, but yesterday my back was horribly painful after working on the toys. So, no walks! I feel like my body is falling apart as a result. It's probably also due to the back pain caused by yesterday... but I'm absolutely sure that the non-walking and less good movement of the past two days is totally NOT helping. On top of the body feeling CRUDDY, I also feel like I'm WAY less able to deal with the whining and fussing that inevitably comes from my girls at various times of the day. So, I DEFINITELY feel the need for a walk! I try to refrain on Sundays, but I think it's definitely a need and will benefit me AND my family if I take care of myself in this way. So, we're going for a short one in a little while.
DINNER TIME must run.
Kat has had a number of accidents in the last few days, but she's still progressing pretty quickly in her potty training. She actually does REALLY well at telling us she needs to use the potty when she's actually wearing a diaper. The trouble is, if she's in clothing she can take off, she pretty much does and then the diaper is off, too. After 3 accidents, she's in a diaper and a onsey-type outfit and then she tells me really well when she needs to pee. The pooh is pretty okay, though she did have an accident with that one the other day.
Oh, and she tried to strip at church today! UGH! I'm glad I was in nursery as a helper because she probably would have been able to otherwise. And the worst part was her timing... at the end when all the parents are picking up their little ones. It would have been really funny, but totally unacceptable to Mama.
Dress Up
I swear Ria NEEDS to dress up! I actually told her I would take her dress up clothes away if she put on another dress up dress one particular day that she wasn't being obedient about lots of things and I'd already told her not to wear the dress up things. Well, she put another dress up outfit on - so they were ALL taken away. She didn't have them for 4 or 5 days, but each day she was still dressed up! No, she didn't sneak the dress up clothes, THANKFULLY! However, her favorite derss up attire consisted of whatever she was given to wear (preferably a dress!) and then a baby blanket tied around her shoulders or under her arms and a hat of some sort (like her princess hat or Daddy's South Park hat). She even managed to find a necklace that was not confiscated and wore that a bunch. When asked about her attire, she explained that she was a princess or a mermaid or some such character which would, of course, need something to CREATE the image other than just her own clothing. :) Pretty funny... very sweet, to me!
READING
Books books everywhere. Seriously! Ria takes books on our walks, there are books in the van, when we borrowed the car she brought books in it the couple of times she actually rode in it. This morning Ria read most of one of the Cat in The Hat books on the way to church. It's amazing how much I heard that I don't remember reading (even though I've read the book about a zillion times) as I listened to her read.
Her fluency is really amazing! I'm super impressed and feel pretty confident in saying that, for the most part, her reading ability AND comprehension levels are solidly in the first grade level.
Today I was actually asked, by a sister in my Ward who I really like, about the book I've used to teach Ria. She heard about it from a lady in the community with whom I shared the title. The funny thing about THAT is that the lady, Shannon, actually told me she really wasn't interested because she was already using something that she really liked and was working for them. I shared anyway because I love speaking to other parents who are interested in taking an active role in their children's education at home and she subsequently checked it out and has been sharing it all over town! I've actually told some people about it and they told me they heard about it from her! Those people have no idea that it originated with me, but it's SUCH a pleasure to know that I'm spreading A good word and getting some active parenting going! ^_^ Isn't that awesome?
I was really excited to talk to the sister who asked about our reading book. She was pretty interested and we had a lovely conversation about teaching reading and reading comprehension! It's really WONDERFUL to teach! I miss it and wish for opportunities to actively teach people who are truly interested. I think I will someday return to educating others as a profession... but I'll have to get my doctorate first because I think I will not be okay with any level other than college (and high level at that). We'll see. Time will tell. Perhaps there is some way I can teach now, on a larger sort of scale, that I don't know about yet. :) Or, perhaps, I'm meant, in this season, to simply share what I can where there is interest. My difficulty with that lies in the problem I have with discerning between active interest and idle curiosity. Like another lady I really like at church asked me about why we don't do ultrasound and I explained a little and she commented and I explained more. Long story... long... she basically didn't want to hear the truth as I perceive it, she was just idly curious. Ya know? anyway... Another skill set to work on!
Clean
This trimester is often characterized by nesting. It is my natural tendency, I believe, to be in that phase (at least based on the last two). Unfortunately my last nesting phase was disturbed by the fact that I had to PACK not just organize, and plan, and clean the corners of my home with a toothbrush.... I fear the same may happen (or should be happening already) again. I haven't yet started packing, though I feel like I should have by now. How annoying!
I have, however, received yet more pressure from my husband about the order of the home. Keep in mind, after the last blow up we had about it I have kept the living room, dining room, kitchen, hallway, and even Ria's room practically spotless. No, SERIOUSLY! I have been in process in our bedroom and trying to get the energy and feel the motivation to focus on the laundry room (where most of our books are kept). So, what does Jess poke at me about (in a rather not so nice way)? The closet in our bedroom, the laundry room, Ria's toys in her room/closet, and the garage! :( I'm very frustrated, even now (two days later) about it. I tackled Ria's toys yesterday (with her) instead of doing school... which has been a regular occurrence here lately. Instead of school I'm cleaning... Instead of school I'm taking care of laundry. Instead of school I'm washing dishes and getting things cleared off counters.... It's getting absolutely ridiculous. I mean, I like having a clean home just like the next person, but for me the priority is getting the rest that this ridiculous belly requires and taking care of the girls ESPECIALLY the education I have planned for them.
The main problem, I believe, lies in the unrealistic picture of life that husbands often have of what occurs when they are absent. Additionally, there are the little things that they add to the daily burden... not putting one thing away... not taking care of another thing they are either responsible for or asked to do. It's just very frustrating to me because I am so VERY tired and he seems so completely unwilling to understand the issues I was raised with and how they impact our lives. And there was a time, not so distant, when he told me that he felt one thing we BOTH needed to work on was acceptance of one another. I took that TOTALLY seriously and have REALLY worked on that and I feel like he's said it for only my benefit. Like he's the freakin' goose, or something!
I mean, if I have to choose (WHICH I DO because otherwise I'm just going CRAZY!) I would rather NOT pass on the anger issues of my upbringing and try to help my children deal with clutter as adults than feel sorrow over their struggles with yelling, spanking, and feeling generally angry all the time as adults!! Since the big blow out about a month ago I have spanked, I have yelled, and I have been generally angry SO much more than I was when I was trying NOT to care about the house so much. I'm just frustrated!!! Complicated, I'm sure my my need for:
a WALK!
I haven't been able to go for a walk for the last two days. The weather was dreary and drippy both Friday AND Saturday, but yesterday my back was horribly painful after working on the toys. So, no walks! I feel like my body is falling apart as a result. It's probably also due to the back pain caused by yesterday... but I'm absolutely sure that the non-walking and less good movement of the past two days is totally NOT helping. On top of the body feeling CRUDDY, I also feel like I'm WAY less able to deal with the whining and fussing that inevitably comes from my girls at various times of the day. So, I DEFINITELY feel the need for a walk! I try to refrain on Sundays, but I think it's definitely a need and will benefit me AND my family if I take care of myself in this way. So, we're going for a short one in a little while.
DINNER TIME must run.
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Feeling a Bit Under the Weather
The Weather
I missed my walk today (second day in a row now) because it was raining. I believe this is actually a blessing because Kitty Kat had a fever for most of the day and a bit of diarrhea. She's also told me that her back, foot, and head hurt her at different (and multiple) times during the day. She hasn't felt well. So, it's really a blessing that we actually could NOT go because that meant I got dinner ready and the girls were in bed by about 8:30pm, which is completely unheard of when we leave for the walk at 7pm. We're usually getting home and barely eating at 8:30pm! So, we're literally under the weather (a big storm that took the electricity out for a little while!) and figuratively with Kitty Kat feeling ill.
Reading
Ria read a difficult Finding Nemo book to her Daddy and sister this morning. Kitty Kat spent that time doing three things: looking at her own book, paying attention to what Ria was reading, and practicing praying! I got this second hand, but the way Jess talked about it the whole thing was very cute. Kat does like to begin prayers (sitting or standing reverently). If it lasts longer than a blessing, though, she's off doing something else before long. Obviously she's a toddler.
Ria is just doing amazingly well with her reading. She is getting a little careless with articles, some prepositions, and conjunctions. I think she's just being a little lazy because when it comes to larger words she gets them correct nine times out of ten. She's just rushing a bit too much. We are also working on appropriate pausing. That can be a real humdinger sometimes. She stops at the end of a line rather than the end of a sentence. And then rushes right through the periods. No worries, though, I'm sure she'll catch on and have it figured out before too long. :)
Dissatisfaction
Jess is becoming more and more easily annoyed and aggravated by the seemingly foolish choices made by some people he works for. He's having an increasingly difficult time fitting his knowledge into the "peon" position he's stuck in for various reasons. This is difficult for him, but this is yet another thing to add to the blog post: WHAT HUSBANDS DON'T KNOW. When he is frustrated and upset about his work, I feel frustrated and upset long after he leaves. I just want him to be happy! I know that every job is going to have its ups and downs, but when it feels like there are only downs (from the vented upon perspective that's what it feels like right now), I just want him to get to work on finding other work! So, while he may feel dissatisfied, I feel agitated AND dissatisfied because I am really unable to do anything but listen! Oh, what a difficult position. I would certainly NOT prefer to take over the work role as well as everything else I do and worry about, but sometimes I think it would really be a lot easier if all I really had to worry about was working and spending time with my kiddos when I was home! I know this is simplifying a guy's position a LITTLE bit, but I'm thinking it's not MUCH more complicated than that.
I believe I'm not too terribly far off in the fundamental difference between Jessie's situation (mental and emotioal, but also in reality as well) and mine because of this little joke Jessie LOVES!!! Here it is. Yes, it IS a picture.
Believe it or not, I totally did NOT get it the first time I saw it. I didn't actually see the labels "Man" and "Woman," either, so that's my excuse and I'm stickin to it! Anyway... I just needed to vent somewhere about my state of dissatisfaction with Jessie's work. I would still have some issues with his jobs even if he didn't simply because he's held accountable for far more than he's paid to be, but that's a whole new screen of buttons, knobs, and lights! heehee ;)
I missed my walk today (second day in a row now) because it was raining. I believe this is actually a blessing because Kitty Kat had a fever for most of the day and a bit of diarrhea. She's also told me that her back, foot, and head hurt her at different (and multiple) times during the day. She hasn't felt well. So, it's really a blessing that we actually could NOT go because that meant I got dinner ready and the girls were in bed by about 8:30pm, which is completely unheard of when we leave for the walk at 7pm. We're usually getting home and barely eating at 8:30pm! So, we're literally under the weather (a big storm that took the electricity out for a little while!) and figuratively with Kitty Kat feeling ill.
Reading
Ria read a difficult Finding Nemo book to her Daddy and sister this morning. Kitty Kat spent that time doing three things: looking at her own book, paying attention to what Ria was reading, and practicing praying! I got this second hand, but the way Jess talked about it the whole thing was very cute. Kat does like to begin prayers (sitting or standing reverently). If it lasts longer than a blessing, though, she's off doing something else before long. Obviously she's a toddler.
Ria is just doing amazingly well with her reading. She is getting a little careless with articles, some prepositions, and conjunctions. I think she's just being a little lazy because when it comes to larger words she gets them correct nine times out of ten. She's just rushing a bit too much. We are also working on appropriate pausing. That can be a real humdinger sometimes. She stops at the end of a line rather than the end of a sentence. And then rushes right through the periods. No worries, though, I'm sure she'll catch on and have it figured out before too long. :)
Dissatisfaction
Jess is becoming more and more easily annoyed and aggravated by the seemingly foolish choices made by some people he works for. He's having an increasingly difficult time fitting his knowledge into the "peon" position he's stuck in for various reasons. This is difficult for him, but this is yet another thing to add to the blog post: WHAT HUSBANDS DON'T KNOW. When he is frustrated and upset about his work, I feel frustrated and upset long after he leaves. I just want him to be happy! I know that every job is going to have its ups and downs, but when it feels like there are only downs (from the vented upon perspective that's what it feels like right now), I just want him to get to work on finding other work! So, while he may feel dissatisfied, I feel agitated AND dissatisfied because I am really unable to do anything but listen! Oh, what a difficult position. I would certainly NOT prefer to take over the work role as well as everything else I do and worry about, but sometimes I think it would really be a lot easier if all I really had to worry about was working and spending time with my kiddos when I was home! I know this is simplifying a guy's position a LITTLE bit, but I'm thinking it's not MUCH more complicated than that.
I believe I'm not too terribly far off in the fundamental difference between Jessie's situation (mental and emotioal, but also in reality as well) and mine because of this little joke Jessie LOVES!!! Here it is. Yes, it IS a picture.
Believe it or not, I totally did NOT get it the first time I saw it. I didn't actually see the labels "Man" and "Woman," either, so that's my excuse and I'm stickin to it! Anyway... I just needed to vent somewhere about my state of dissatisfaction with Jessie's work. I would still have some issues with his jobs even if he didn't simply because he's held accountable for far more than he's paid to be, but that's a whole new screen of buttons, knobs, and lights! heehee ;)
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
The Princess and the Pea
The title of the day is the title of the book Ria read today. This is a book that she received from her Aunt Evelyn for Christmas a few years ago. This book is NOT an easy reader. It is 29 pages long, though the writing is only on one page of every two... it covers the majority of each of those pages. The lesson, today, took 35-45 minutes, but Ria read the WHOLE story today! She did a really GREAT job, too. I was rather impressed and I'm not often impressed with her reading lately because she's just become that competent. ^_^ So, I'm a VERY very VERY pleased Mama.
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Story Time, Playground, and Preparations
Luckily, Ria was able to find the two library books she got from the library last week. The whole "missing books issue" has been a pretty big problem lately because she doesn't keep them where they are supposed to be and there are two that have been missing for more than a month. So, we didn't check out any books this week. Hopefully we'll be able to find the MIA books so we can get some next week. She WAS able to get a couple movies of her choice, which she'll get to watch after reading classes. MAN she is reading SO well. I'm so impressed and pleased with her progress!
The girls made Corduroy (the bear) today after listening to two stories about him. It was cute, of course. Ria sits in rapt attention for the stories while Kat wanders from sitting to try to pay attention to moving through the room to see what mischief she can get into. Kat loves to read with me or Jess at home and she'll even sit quietly for Ria to read to her. But, for whatever reason, she doesn't seem to get much at all out of the stories read during story time. ahwell I'm sure her desire to focus will improve as she gets older.
The girls had a good time playing at the playground after story time. A friend from GA is in town, so Ria had a chance to play with her daughter, which Ria always loves! I wish they didn't live so far away. But we certainly enjoy the time we are able to spend together.
This friend who is in town right now will leave Saturday morning, so I'm trying to think of a way to hang out with her even though my Dad will be coming into town tomorrow morning! Probably she and I will walk together tomorrow night... we'll see how that works out.
My Dad arrives in Orlando tomorrow to attend Ria's dance recital on Saturday night. Ria is very excited to have her Papa come for HER!!! ^_^ I'm glad he'll be able to see her very first stage performance!
So, my day has already been busy with efforts to make the house a bit more presentable. I don't know if I've mentioned specifically that I've not been as strict with myself about the appearance of our home. It's not totally out of control, but if I'm tired, I rest instead of push myself to clean yet again (or more). I've felt better about my life, in general, since I haven't been super-anal-head-mama about the house! So, I will just have to make my appologies to my Dad for it not being in tip-top shape for his visit. He probably won't mind too much... he'll only have to be IN it for a few days and nights.
The girls made Corduroy (the bear) today after listening to two stories about him. It was cute, of course. Ria sits in rapt attention for the stories while Kat wanders from sitting to try to pay attention to moving through the room to see what mischief she can get into. Kat loves to read with me or Jess at home and she'll even sit quietly for Ria to read to her. But, for whatever reason, she doesn't seem to get much at all out of the stories read during story time. ahwell I'm sure her desire to focus will improve as she gets older.
The girls had a good time playing at the playground after story time. A friend from GA is in town, so Ria had a chance to play with her daughter, which Ria always loves! I wish they didn't live so far away. But we certainly enjoy the time we are able to spend together.
This friend who is in town right now will leave Saturday morning, so I'm trying to think of a way to hang out with her even though my Dad will be coming into town tomorrow morning! Probably she and I will walk together tomorrow night... we'll see how that works out.
My Dad arrives in Orlando tomorrow to attend Ria's dance recital on Saturday night. Ria is very excited to have her Papa come for HER!!! ^_^ I'm glad he'll be able to see her very first stage performance!
So, my day has already been busy with efforts to make the house a bit more presentable. I don't know if I've mentioned specifically that I've not been as strict with myself about the appearance of our home. It's not totally out of control, but if I'm tired, I rest instead of push myself to clean yet again (or more). I've felt better about my life, in general, since I haven't been super-anal-head-mama about the house! So, I will just have to make my appologies to my Dad for it not being in tip-top shape for his visit. He probably won't mind too much... he'll only have to be IN it for a few days and nights.
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Oh Where Oh Where Have My Pictures Gone....
I tried to add some today and it totally froze my computer... AGAIN. I'm going to try in a few minutes, but I'm getting really tired of not being able to do any work after trying to put pictures up! I may end up using my photobucket and flickr for pictures I would otherwise post here. Photobucket you have to be my friend to view because I'm going to use that for LOTS of my family pictures. My flickr account should be pretty open access. It's already got some shots from my work and other random old pictures. I'm using Torimade as my username. You could check it out already, but you won't see anything really pertinent more than you've seen here. Anyway, I'll include links at a later time, if the need arises (I guess persists is really more accurate).
The real reason I was writing again today was because I was feeling super impressed with Ria and wanted to share. I don't know if I've really shared with you how well she's reading. If I have, you'll have to forgive this pleased Mama for blabbering on about her precocious daughter.
Ok, so Ria and I worked really hard last year and a little bit early this year to finish How To Teach Your Child To Read In 100 Easy Lessons. THAT is an AWESOME book!!! I hightly recommend it as an AWESOME, perhaps even THE PERFECT way for a parent to begin teaching their child to read; whether you plan to homeschool or not. One note about describing letters, though: you should check your area's SOLs (Standards Of Learning), or whatever they are called where you are, to determined how they want you to refer to letters. For example, my area requires that the large ones are called Upper Case and the small ones Lower Case. When I was in school we called 'em Capital AND Upper Case, but whatever.
So, Ria and I finished the book well before her 4th birthday and she has been sky-rocketing ever since! I actually caught her on video reading to herself, but I cannot figure out how to get the video to change perspective, so I haven't tried putting it up here because you'd have to watch it with your head tilted to the side. Anyway, I haven't tested all her bechmarks (I've been doing a bit of research on teaching reading!), but I'm confident that she is solidly in the middle of expected reading ability for Kindergardeners. I would even wager that she's probably closer to a first grade reading level BECAUSE we've borrowed some reading lesson books from the library and they ARE for first grade reading level. I do have to help her with some of the more difficult words, but she astounds me with her ability to sound out some words that I think might be too hard, but give her a chance to try anyway! Her fluency (reference my research!) is not high, but she is improving daily. No, seriously... she's getting faster with words often referred to as Sight Words (many of which she has been sounding out). I'm totally okay with her Sight Words moving into that category for HER more slowly because it's strengthening her ability to decode.
Just as a sort of peak into Ria's love of reading I would like to share a regularly occuring scene AND a scene I was lucky enough to witness because the girls didn't know I was watching! :)
On a daily basis Ria picks up any number of books and sits down to read out loud to herself. She does have a few that are pretty much memorized. I think she "reads" them as sort of confidence builders. (See, she really IS smart. She finds ways to encourage her own love of reading!!) But she picks up books we haven't read together in AGES and wades through them ever-so-slowly. It's a really wonderful thing to see! I'm a VERY pleased Mama!!!
A few mornings ago I was late out of bed and the girls didn't realize I was out of my room. They were in their room and BOTH of them were on Ria's bed. Ria was sitting on the inside and Kat was lying down near the edge pulling the blanket over herself and trying to get comfy. All the while Ria was reading TO Kat! :) It was so very sweet to see!!! I was even able to snap a picture before they knew I was there AND I got a second one before Kat ran to give me hugs!!! This is a JOY for me because I love to read and feel that not only have I instilled that love in Ria, but by so doing she is helping me instill it in Kat!!!
~Switching gears and changing subjects~
I'm sure I've mentioned that I made a trade with another ETSIAN for some of her product. I made the Angel Sheltering Nursing Mother and Baby for Sher of http://savonara.etsy.com/ and she sent me three of her products that I specifically requested. I'll probably repost much of this in a later entry that will be ALL about her products, but I REALLY had to mention TONIGHT that I had my first experience with a soap I requested as part of the trade.
Ok, so this soap is GORGEOUS! I knew that because that's partially why I requested it as my part of the trade, but it's even prettier in person. (heeheehee) It's called Moonlit Snow. You really should check it out! I'd love to hear what you think about it as well as Sher's other products. Well, I wanted to take a shower the minute I got my package, but I didn't because it wouldn't fit my schedule and my girls aren't particularly good at letting me shower in the middle of the day!
Well, I finally took my shower tonight and it was blissful! I washed my hair with my coconut shampoo - just some stuff from the grocery store. But I love it because the scent it nice and sweet and sort of soothes me. I was almost worried that I wouldn't enjoy the soap as much as I hoped because I love my shampoo's smell so much. Well, that was utterly silly; I now know. Oh MY! This soap is WONDERFUL! (I'm NOT a big soap person since I learned the benefits of smelling like myself for my nurslings.) It is silky and rinses off very easily. The most amazing part is that I enjoyed the scent of my Moonlit Snow even MORE than my shampoo!!!!!!!!! Now, I'm the kind of girl who really loves sweet scents. When I was using Bath and Body Works my favorite was the Vanilla and/or Honey Almond. Savonara's Moonlit Snow totally blows them out of the water! When it was dry it didn't smell sweet in the slightest, but in the shower there's this soft almost not there sweet smell that titilated my nose. I actually used more soap than I really should have just because I wanted to smell it REALLY strongly more than just the one soap-up. I keep smelling my hands, even now, to have the scent in my nose! I LOVE IT!!!!!! I'm so excited to try my other soap AND the all-natural deodorant I requested. Updates about my experiences are sure to follow. And, if I can afford any gifts this holiday, I'm pretty sure it will be soaps by Savonara!!! ^_^ (By the way, in case you didn't already guess, I instigated/ requested the trade and Sher was sweet and consented. Luckily for me, she's very pleased with her angel, too.)
The real reason I was writing again today was because I was feeling super impressed with Ria and wanted to share. I don't know if I've really shared with you how well she's reading. If I have, you'll have to forgive this pleased Mama for blabbering on about her precocious daughter.
Ok, so Ria and I worked really hard last year and a little bit early this year to finish How To Teach Your Child To Read In 100 Easy Lessons. THAT is an AWESOME book!!! I hightly recommend it as an AWESOME, perhaps even THE PERFECT way for a parent to begin teaching their child to read; whether you plan to homeschool or not. One note about describing letters, though: you should check your area's SOLs (Standards Of Learning), or whatever they are called where you are, to determined how they want you to refer to letters. For example, my area requires that the large ones are called Upper Case and the small ones Lower Case. When I was in school we called 'em Capital AND Upper Case, but whatever.
So, Ria and I finished the book well before her 4th birthday and she has been sky-rocketing ever since! I actually caught her on video reading to herself, but I cannot figure out how to get the video to change perspective, so I haven't tried putting it up here because you'd have to watch it with your head tilted to the side. Anyway, I haven't tested all her bechmarks (I've been doing a bit of research on teaching reading!), but I'm confident that she is solidly in the middle of expected reading ability for Kindergardeners. I would even wager that she's probably closer to a first grade reading level BECAUSE we've borrowed some reading lesson books from the library and they ARE for first grade reading level. I do have to help her with some of the more difficult words, but she astounds me with her ability to sound out some words that I think might be too hard, but give her a chance to try anyway! Her fluency (reference my research!) is not high, but she is improving daily. No, seriously... she's getting faster with words often referred to as Sight Words (many of which she has been sounding out). I'm totally okay with her Sight Words moving into that category for HER more slowly because it's strengthening her ability to decode.
Just as a sort of peak into Ria's love of reading I would like to share a regularly occuring scene AND a scene I was lucky enough to witness because the girls didn't know I was watching! :)
On a daily basis Ria picks up any number of books and sits down to read out loud to herself. She does have a few that are pretty much memorized. I think she "reads" them as sort of confidence builders. (See, she really IS smart. She finds ways to encourage her own love of reading!!) But she picks up books we haven't read together in AGES and wades through them ever-so-slowly. It's a really wonderful thing to see! I'm a VERY pleased Mama!!!
A few mornings ago I was late out of bed and the girls didn't realize I was out of my room. They were in their room and BOTH of them were on Ria's bed. Ria was sitting on the inside and Kat was lying down near the edge pulling the blanket over herself and trying to get comfy. All the while Ria was reading TO Kat! :) It was so very sweet to see!!! I was even able to snap a picture before they knew I was there AND I got a second one before Kat ran to give me hugs!!! This is a JOY for me because I love to read and feel that not only have I instilled that love in Ria, but by so doing she is helping me instill it in Kat!!!
~Switching gears and changing subjects~
I'm sure I've mentioned that I made a trade with another ETSIAN for some of her product. I made the Angel Sheltering Nursing Mother and Baby for Sher of http://savonara.etsy.com/ and she sent me three of her products that I specifically requested. I'll probably repost much of this in a later entry that will be ALL about her products, but I REALLY had to mention TONIGHT that I had my first experience with a soap I requested as part of the trade.
Ok, so this soap is GORGEOUS! I knew that because that's partially why I requested it as my part of the trade, but it's even prettier in person. (heeheehee) It's called Moonlit Snow. You really should check it out! I'd love to hear what you think about it as well as Sher's other products. Well, I wanted to take a shower the minute I got my package, but I didn't because it wouldn't fit my schedule and my girls aren't particularly good at letting me shower in the middle of the day!
Well, I finally took my shower tonight and it was blissful! I washed my hair with my coconut shampoo - just some stuff from the grocery store. But I love it because the scent it nice and sweet and sort of soothes me. I was almost worried that I wouldn't enjoy the soap as much as I hoped because I love my shampoo's smell so much. Well, that was utterly silly; I now know. Oh MY! This soap is WONDERFUL! (I'm NOT a big soap person since I learned the benefits of smelling like myself for my nurslings.) It is silky and rinses off very easily. The most amazing part is that I enjoyed the scent of my Moonlit Snow even MORE than my shampoo!!!!!!!!! Now, I'm the kind of girl who really loves sweet scents. When I was using Bath and Body Works my favorite was the Vanilla and/or Honey Almond. Savonara's Moonlit Snow totally blows them out of the water! When it was dry it didn't smell sweet in the slightest, but in the shower there's this soft almost not there sweet smell that titilated my nose. I actually used more soap than I really should have just because I wanted to smell it REALLY strongly more than just the one soap-up. I keep smelling my hands, even now, to have the scent in my nose! I LOVE IT!!!!!! I'm so excited to try my other soap AND the all-natural deodorant I requested. Updates about my experiences are sure to follow. And, if I can afford any gifts this holiday, I'm pretty sure it will be soaps by Savonara!!! ^_^ (By the way, in case you didn't already guess, I instigated/ requested the trade and Sher was sweet and consented. Luckily for me, she's very pleased with her angel, too.)
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