Look out 2nd grade

He did it!  Benjamin made it through first grade.  We had many dramatic, crazy, ridiculous, pull your hair out kind of days when I never thought we'd see this day.  Thankfully, we pushed through and now we have a second grader.     

A few days ago Jon said something about Bens grades.  I reminded him that one of the perks of homeschooling was we didn't have to grade him the same way he would be graded in public school.  But, of course, since he mentioned it, I got curious on how he would stack up.  Yesterday and today were scheduled review days.  I went through each subject and asked a few random questions to see just how much he retained and what areas we'll need to review over the summer.  If he were to get traditional grades, this is how Ben would measure up: Math 95%  Grammar 94% Spelling and Writing 90%  French 84%  Science 81%  Art 60%.  Ouch!  
Art mainly consisted of learning the artist name, where he was from and studying 4-6 paintings (each painting was given 2 weeks) by each artist.  While I don't think that grade is completely representative of what he knows, we will be spending a decent amount of time reviewing our artists and works this summer.  
We also studied music and history.  Music was a lot like art. We reviewed the composer and listened to several pieces and discussed what he liked or didn't like about the music. I'm not giving him a grade for music.  History is something that deserves a grade, but based on the curriculum we're using and the switch we made in the middle of the year, I've decided not to go there just yet.  
I'm not putting a lot of stock into these grades, but I'm glad I have an idea of where he's at.  He seemed so bored by math so I'm surprised he did so well.  He was so excited to learn about space, but that was the part of science where he missed the most questions.   

Ben is so excited to have the summer off--not counting his review time.  I'm also excited to be able to relax a bit over the summer, but I'm also looking forward to coming up with a better plan for next year.  I've learned a lot about my teaching style and Bens learning style over the 9 months and I'm excited to incorporate some new strategies for a smoother school year.  

Wolf

Benjamin completed his first year of Cub Scouts last week. He has graduated from tiger to wolf.  While I miss having our nights to ourselves rather than running kids in every direction, I'm glad this is something Ben likes.  He is doing things he normally wouldn't be exposed to like the regatta and pine wood derby (race cars).  They toured the fire station and the old stone house in Lakewood.  They do kick ball, swim parties and camping.  They also reinforce (and get credit for) basic things we do at home every day like set the table, ask dad how his day was at work, chores, helping to keep the house running smoothly etc etc.  I know Ben is already looking forward to starting back in the fall, but I'm glad to have the summer off.

Removing the tiger scarf.

Crossing the bridge.

The newest wolf:

The zone

We've been limiting the kids tv time so when they do get to watch a show, they watch the show.  There is no time for distractions from mom.  At least the babies aren't completely sucked into the magic of the tv...yet!

Soccer

Today was the final game of Sams spring soccer season. Overall he did pretty well.  He scored in a couple games. He had some great steals and assists and he saw a lot of airplanes.  In a few games he was also nice enough to share the ball with the other team!  If this kid had some focus and a sense of urgency, he could be pretty good!

Ben wanted in on some action:

Zach thought dad was funny:

Our babies:

Sam got his first medal today.  He's pretty excited about it.

Team practice drill:

Sleepy girl

Some days she just needs a break!

Wordless Wednesday: Waiting for daddy

Lookin' good

Just taking a moment to show off some cute kids!

Country life

We took a field trip with Corrie to Sauder Village a few days ago.  Its like Hale Farm and Village, just further away! They had glass blowing, a black smith, weaving, an old time doctors office etc etc.  Out of the 25-30 buildings, we only saw a handful.  We spent most of our time in the kids area. Sam absolutely loved the cow.  You could actually milk it. It was a little odd, but he thought it was the coolest thing and asked to go back to it repeatedly.

They had "chickens" with the cow and fake eggs.  Ellie loved carrying around the basket full of eggs.  

Zach wasn't too into pictures, but he had a blast playing in the house with the rocker and pretend food.

Its really not a sombrero!

Sam is a great cook!

Finally, a smile for butter.

We finished the trip with some great ice cream.  It was so good, Sam managed to got it on his hands, arms, legs, ankles and face.

Graduate!

Sam graduated from his preschool class this week.  We grabbed aunt Corrie and headed over to celebrate Sam.  

They sang a handful of songs for us.

Then they passed out awards to the kids based on their personality.  Sam "won" Mr Fix it.  That doesn't surprise me at all.

Enjoy:

Wordless Wednesday: When toddlers roam free

Trick

I walked into the babies room yesterday and found Ellie attempting to climb out of her crib.  I told her repeatedly to stay in her crib for nap time and she listened...until it was time to get up.  Ben opened up the door and Ellie climbed out all on her own.  Luckily, she has some pretty good control and was able to do it several more times for us so we could get it on video.  

Jon pulled out the toddler bed for her.  She was excited for about 5 seconds then she wanted nothing to do with it. She refused to climb on it or sit on it.  It took a lot of coaxing to get her to check it out.

I was hoping she was over the shock once she started climbing on it.  Unfortunately for Jon I had Bible study last night so he was left to deal with bed time on his own.  Ellie only cried for about 15minutes.  Even though Zach was upgraded from pack and play to a real crib, he was not happy and let everyone know it for about 40minutes.  

I checked on them before bed time and they were both sound asleep with all their stuffed animals.  Ellie slept until 7am and was nice enough to wake Zach up by screaming at him.  However, once they were awake they  played happily. It was the quietest and most calm morning we've had in months.  I'm hoping for a better reaction tonight.  If not, Ben will be happy to share the toddler bed fun.

Camping

This weekend was the annual Boy Scouts camping trip.  I spent half of Mothers Day weekend with out 2 of my kids. It was kind of sad, but it was nice to be able to devote more time to the babies for a while.  They headed out Friday after work, you know, in the middle of the monsoon--the day that the temperature dropped from 75 to 45degrees--just in time to be cold and muddy!

Luckily, they were in a cabin so they didn't have to worry about how sturdy the tent is.  Ben was very excited to have the top bunk.  I can already hear the bunk bed conversation starting up again.

It sounds like they went non stop.  After Ben got to help raise the flag on Saturday, they went on a scavenger hunt, played games, made their own candles, hiked, played in a fort etc etc etc.

They also went fishing and both boys caught their first fish. Ben caught 2 and Sam caught 1.

Of course the highlight of the whole trip: s'mores of course!

I'm so glad they woke up extra early Sunday to make it home for church and some quality time.  It was great hanging out with Corrie, but its just not Mothers Day with only half my kids!

Happy Mothers Day

Jumpers

The mall has had 2 large trampolines taunting Ben and Sam for as long as I can remember.  They beg to go on them pretty much every time we step foot in the mall.  We told them they could go on them if they saved their money. They've been side tracked with bug vacuums, carnival type games and other random silliness, but trampoline day finally came.  They saved up so we headed over to watch them savor their 5 minutes of bliss.  

Sam had a smile from beginning to end.  We were concerned Ben might lose his lunch, but he came though with everything in its place and said it was great.