Do you want some cheese with that whine?

Today, while extremely productive, was grating to me.  CJ just kept whining, about everything.  He wasn't listening, and didn't want to do anything I asked him to.  He would finally do everything but I had to resort to really yelling at him, which I hate doing.  Especially since I scared Mason by doing so.  Since I rarely need to yell Mason hadn't heard me yell before and he got a little nervous when I yelled.  Cleaning up took FOREVER!!!  But by naptime, they were all asking to go to bed. 

We read all about the letter B in several different books.  We counted pairs of things around the house, since two is our number this week.  We did a treasure hunt around the house for B, 2, orange and squares.  Everyone participated, and had fun with that activity.  We read a story about seeds, and discussed again how plants grow.  I had them pick out some seeds, and we planted lettuce seeds in trays, and put them in the greenhouse.  We are going to check them and water them everyday and see how they grow.  They all seem excited about it, and it is a good way to make predictions or hypotheses and test them.  I may even show them how to make a chart with the information we gather. 

We listened to songs about the letter B and number 2.  We listened to music about bugs, and talked about what we learned about buffalo/bison yesterday.  We also watched the Elmo Potty DVD since Mason and Eliza are both learning to use the potty.  We made some bread to have as a snack, and we ran around doing ballet in the living room.  We did our daily weather report and calendar.  We practiced writing in CJ's carpet and added to our letter B poster.  A very productive day.  However I am really REALLY tired of the whining.  Once CJ starts Eliza thinks she should.  Mason doesn't follow that, thank goodness.  Three whining toddlers would make the day extremely difficult.  After nap, CJ wanted nothing but to snuggle with me on the couch, and that of course made my day after the whiny morning.  I think that CJ and Eliza are just really tired, recovering from the busy napless weekend.  They got so much fresh air and exercise their little bodies are just worn out. 

Tomorrow we are planning on doing some coloring, more counting, some writing practice, and several more books to read.  I am going to start work on sight words, mostly with CJ, but some simpler words I will also do with Eliza and Mason.  We are going outside to collect leaves for a project, and look at the pumpkin plants still in the yard.  I think we will also make some pumpkin pie play dough.  I want to try making some letters out of play dough with the kids.  Since CJ dislikes writing so much I am hoping that I can find some way to make letters that he likes doing.  I may try the shaving cream writing again tomorrow.  Wish me luck!