Spring Pictures!

See more on my phanfare. Contact me if you don't know what I am talking about. :)

Everything is going well here. Ethan is talking more each day. Tyler is totally potty trained finally. Ethan even used a public potty voluntarily yesterday. We just walked in and he started taking his pants and diaper off! Madison is excelling suddenly in math and is reading more than ever, 2-4 books a day. She never watches tv, only a movie if she has a friend over. Tyler watches way too much tv. Ethan just wanders around getting in everyones business.

 I have recently tried eating a "paleo" diet (meat based) and taking some things from that, I am going to try to eat less meat (maybe 2-3 times a week and eat a plant based diet. Not total vegetarian, but I just want to try it out and see how I feel on it. I am not making the rest of the family do it. I just don't care for meat and think it might work for me. But I am fine with going back to paleo if I don't feel great on it because I feel just fine on paleo. I am on Day 2 of no meat, but I will eat it when I feel like it. Guess that's it for now!

Trying to make a comeback

I have not blogged much in the past year. For no other reason other than life is just really busy. With homeschooling and 3 kids, and John coming and going, having a friend living here, and just life, I never take the time to sit and focus on anything. I spend plenty of time on the computer, but I am distracted the whole time. I always think I will update the blog when I get some quite time to focus but that rarely happens. It really only happens late at night when I am too tired to type up a post. I just read, research and go to bed too late and then wonder why I didn't spend that time blogging.

It actually feels like life is settling down now though. I feel like I can fit this in again now that Ethan and Tyler are more independent. Madison and I are finding our routine with school work, still trying some things out, but have a pretty good schedule down and am using a curriculum we both like so that is  going smoothly MOST days. It seems when John is here she thinks she is on vacation and gives me a harder time. Overall though, I  love homeschooling, it fits our lifestyle so perfectly. I can say that today because we had a really good easy day lol! Madison was more than happy to do her work, hummed happily while she did her math an got every answer right, asked "what's next?" when she finished one thing, started on the next assignment without me even explaining it to her. These are the days I live for. We finished in two hours with no breaks or need for one. Other days, not so much! She can give me hell and spend two hours on math alone, when it should take 30 minutes or less. Our curriculum is literature based and perfect for her. She reads 2 books a week for actual school work, but reads books on her own, sometimes finishing two a day. They are smallish chapter books like American Girl, those are her favorite to read on her own time. She also listens to books on audio after her hour of evening reading time, she can't get enough of books and I am so glad. I love them, too. She was behind in math but is catching up. Some days she pretends to not know how to add or subtract. Other days she breezes though and complains that it's kindergarten work. I have been using this website for math flashcards and I think it's helped a TON! http://www.mathfactcafe.com. Her handwriting has improved a lot the past month or two to a more age appropriate level I think, her reading comprehension skills are phenomenal, spelling is excellent for her age. She prefers larger books to small ones, likes to read independently, can read almost anything and understands it better if she reads it herself.

I started using www.abcmouse.com for Tyler last month and he loves it. He was having a hard time learning the color green. He would always call  it red until the one day we did the green book on this website, he knew green from then on. We do a new letter, number and color each week, which has coordinating music, books, coloring sheets, animals, ect. He gets to take care of an internet hamster and fish tank and decorate his own room by shopping with tickets he earns from completing activities. We only spend about 15-20 minutes on it at a time and not every day, it's perfect a 3 year old. It's a great way to get some time in with him while Madison does some reading. I thought it would only be for Tyler but Ethan loves it just as much. He claps to every song. Tyler is doing great, his sensory issues are not as big a problem for me as they used to be. They seem to come and go as far as severity. We may not even notice anything major for a long time then have a really bad day or week. A lot of things that were big issues are non issues now, like brushing his teeth or wearing long sleeves. There are some issues we don't know how to handle still but we will figure it out. He seems pretty normal for the most part, just hypersensitive at times, but what toddler isn't? His speech has exploded, he says anything and everything now. He likes to call people dude, still loves cars and construction equiptment like most boys, still prefers to play alone. John made him a sandbox and he will play out there alone for hours just as happy as can be.

Ethan likes all the same things, but his favorite thing is probably monster trucks, especially the yellow one we have. Ethan is nearing 2 (19 months) and boy is it showing! He is a turd! He has started hitting, biting,  and using this tone of voice that I now for a fact means "Shut up, mama!" But all he  is actually saying is "Mah, Mama!" He is still so emotional like always, running away to fall on the floor face first and cry into the floor when he gets upset about any  little thing, he is so dramatic. He is not hypersensitive lie Tyler to stimulation, but is emotionally so sensitive. He is still clingy to me but not as bad as he used to be. He doesn't take crap from anyone, which seems to be a characteristic of all my kids. He lets you know if you have offended him in any way with his go to hell look,  tone of voice, running off to cry, or actually coming back to hit you repeatedly. Usually all of those at once. He is a mess. What happened to the sweetest baby ever??? When he isn't being evil, he is still so ridiculously adorable and  you just can't help but want to cover him with kisses and squeze him. He loves to give kisses and tight neck hugs, but you never now when that kiss is going to turn into a bite. I don't now what to do about this aggression, gotta work on it though. He has such big beautiful eyes that make you think you could never punish him and he gives the most perfect puppy dog look I have ever seen on a child. He is learning new words each week and understands a lot more than you would think. When I ask him to do things I would not actually expect, he does them. I told him tonight I needed a trash bag for the trash can and he went and got one out of the pantry and put it in, incorrectly of course but he tried. When your a mom such little things make you so proud.

I can go out in public now without Tyler being the main problem, it's usually Ethan now. Sometimes it's both and those are the awful times I wonder why I ever leave the house. I actually like staying home more now than I used to. I guess I am getting old, about to be 30 and all ;). Things seem so different than they were a year ago. We started a garden this month and are getting chickens next month, who would have thought itt? Certainly no me. John is doing pretty good. He is going to start going to college soon. Nicole has been living here for about 6 months but is moving back to Indiana on Monday. I  have not been doing much photography at all. I do miss it, I keep saying I am going to get back to it and just don't. The days seem to full. I have been working on simplifying my life. We don't leave as much, don't have as many extracurricular activities or play dates, just one a week now. I am trying to be a better house wife, not my best quality. I save the fun stuff for when John is home, I am sure he appreciates that ;). I LOVE my church, have a few friends and good homeschool play group and homeschool events with them and still LOVE LOVE LOVE living in the Austin area. I guess that's it for now. That's the several months summed up. I will try to post once every week or two now, as I am also making myself take less phone pics and more pics with my camera.