Summer Review

The weather has been in the ninety degree range for awhile now, and I finally had to break down and have Rich put in the air conditioners, because we couldn't even focus long enough to do any sort of learning in a room that was 93 degrees hot.  Since the a/c's went in and the garden has started to flounder, thanks to an obnoxious and persistent woodchuck who loves leafy and cruciferous veggies, we have finally had some time to just sit together and do some real lessons.  CJ is reading all the time, though I am not pushing him when he has trouble, or when he really doesn't want to do it.  We want him to love to read of course.  We have been reviewing all the letter sounds, and the colors, and the shapes.  We have officially moved to identifying 3D shapes.  We have been spending time at the library and practicing counting.  Both kids can count to 100, by ones, twos, fives and tens.  They can consistently read a digital clock, since we practice that every day.  They have memorized the days of the week and months of the year.  They now know their birthdays, address, phone number and CJ knows Memere and Pepere's phone number.  One of the other things I have been focusing on is reading stories with all different cultures represented, looking at pictures of different ethnicities, and emphasizing that all people are the same in some ways even if they don't look the same.  I think this is something that they know instinctually, but I really feel it is important to reinforce it.  I have been spending their library class time looking through some homeschooling and lesson books at the library, finding some great preschool/kindergarten plans having to do with familiar nursery rhymes, and some great science combined with art projects that are age appropriate.  When I actually implement them I will post and add pictures.  I have simply been too tired and hot and cranky to want to post anything of substance, and I have been mostly disorganized and inconsistent this summer.  I am on the upswing though, getting back to normal, even though Rich now has a new work schedule.  He is home Tuesday, Wednesday Saturday, and works 10 hour days the rest of the week.  Hard to get used to, and the kids have been sleeping on a strange schedule.  My goal for August is to regulate the schedule and sleep patterns, as well as get back on my organizational track.  Also time to update learning centers and spend some time just playing word games and math games with the kiddos.  We all need it.  Their behavior is starting to show my lack of time and energy to spend with them.  So next month the goal is to make a new schedule that works for us and stick to it.  And read more together and play more together.  It will be a great month!

Two Parents, Two Kids, a Cat and a Chinchilla!

We are now the proud owners of an absolutely adorable chinchilla.  You have got to love Craig's List!  Free for the taking a few miles from our house was an animal that would cost us hundreds of dollars to buy, plus he came with all of his gear, cage, food and the like.  So we took a book about chinchillas out at the library the day we found out we would be getting him, and we learned all about these cool animals.  He is four years old, and the previous owners never named him.  We are thinking it is a him anyway, they didn't know the gender!  The kids named him Auryn Shelby Hansen, ASH for short.

And here he is!  He is so so soft!  We are learning so much about responsibility for pets with him.  He is far more maintenance than Logan, our cat.

And here she is, checking out Ash.  She hasn't gone after him a bit, and when Ash was rolling around in his ball while we cleaned the cage, they ended up napping together with Logan wrapped around Ash and his ball.

He is quite the interesting addition to our family, and the kids adore him.  Logan seems to like having another animal in the house.  We just can't believe our luck.  Even after this animal suffered through neglect he seems very happy and well adjusted.  We take him out and groom his fur nightly (since he is nocturnal) and let him exercise in his ball through the house.  Each night he gets a raisin for a treat, and he seems to love being around the kids.  He lets them pet his head and he even tries petting himself on their hands.  He isn't skittish, but is quite energetic.  We cleaned his cage really well, which I am sure hadn't been done in months at least.  We got him a wheel large enough for him, and a few other little things.  Dust for his dust bath, and a pumice stone for him to chew on and stand on.  He is so much fun to watch and we are all enjoying this new learning experience.

 Don't those faces just say it all?