Get Behind Me, Santa!

How could such a sweet face manage to get the whole family sick? Well, I can guess actually: open-mouth kisses, sharing her food, chewing on everything. No matter how the transfer happened, it happened. We were supposed to host our fellowship group's Christmas party, but we cancelled an hour before as Esmé woke up from her nap with an "extra blanket," let's call it. We all lost a week to a nasty virus.  I don't really want to rehash what that was like, so how about some cute pictures of the kiddos?

This is how germs spread, guys!

A few days ago, I found our "Christmas Countdown" from last year which we had hung on the mantle.  I had cut out these 25 cute Christmas shapes and each day we would take one down and then do the "special Christmas activity" on the back.  I didn't even think of it this year.  I suddenly worried that we hadn't been anticipating Christmas enough.  We have been using the Jesus Storybook Bible for our advent and I made (read: printed, cut, and taped somebody else's) corresponding ornaments. But now, seeing these pictures, I feel like there's been a lot of Christmassy festivities.

Christmas tree shopping - that bow, Queenie!

Decorating the tree

Caelum got to put the angel on top, which was "a little scary"

Decorating Gingerbread cookies

Christmas at the Biltmore House

Gingerbread house makin' with the homeschool friends

"Winters Tail" Christmas at the Nature Center. Esmé strongly declined sitting with Santa

Gingerbread House Exhibition at the Grove Park Inn with friends

Also, we took a "Journey to Bethlehem" at a local church where they recreated the city.  The boys get more out of it each year.  Caelum was really into the Roman soldiers, of course.  Wait til he sees what he's getting for Christmas (spoiler alert: armor). We also sang Christmas carols to our elderly friends at Highland Farms. So I guess we've been in Christmas mode for a while. 

Zach prepares in his own way: a plate of mashed potatoes and gravy.

Merry Christmas! Enjoy celebrating our Savior's birth!

It's Musiiiiic!

Our Classical Conversations fall semester has been over for a month now, but I feel it would be remiss of me if I didn't post a little bit about the "variety show."

Background: CC South Asheville (the co-op group we did last year) had reached capacity, with about eight families on the waiting list.  They decided to start another South Asheville group which would meet three minutes from our house (as opposed to 15 minutes like the other one).  There were probably six families from our church with us in the original group, and I felt like we needed to branch out and meet some new families - albeit, still mainly Christian homeschoolers...not too stretching, I guess.

 

The new group is much smaller.  Owen is in the 5-7 year old class (pictured above, minus one kid) and as you can guess, he loves it. It's been nice getting to know a new group of people and Owen had no problem making the switch, though some of his best buds were in the other group.  We still see those guys at least once a week between church and our fellowship group, so I knew the friendships would hold strong.

 I am so glad that Cae is such a trooper when it comes to CC.  It is particularly helpful as Esmé is less obliging. Some babies just hate  missing their morning nap

Our little corner that I claimed each week and tried to keep Esmé from scooting out of.

Now on to the good stuff. To celebrate the end of the semester, the director organized a potluck and show for the kids to participate in. Anyone could do anything they wanted to do...on a stage...with a microphone.  You can imagine how that went.  Let me give you one example: Owen.  He played "Mary Had a Little Lamb" on his tin whistle, with Zach and Es holding the music for him.  It was short, sweet, and appropriate, as they had been learning how to play the tin whistle during Music.  After he finished, he grabbed the mic and yelled, "Yeahhhhhhhhh!  Woooooooh!"  This shouldn't have surprised me as Owen was MCing during the rehearsal: "Next up, we have Hope singing a song from Frozen. IN COSTUME!!!" No fear of stage fright for this kid.  We've signed him up for drama classes this January because hey, we're homeschoolers.  That's the kind of stuff we do.  And he is going to love it. 

 

The group of younger kids then sang America the Beautiful and the President's Song, both of which Caelum participated in, loudly and clearly.  My kids placed themselves front and center. We're a shy bunch, we are.  The video clip isn't uploading, but consider yourself spared.

At Home With Owen

It is Owen's turn for a little update.  I thought since he is right here with me (he is my BT, as the Ashtons would say), he could take a look at the pictures I've chosen and provide the commentary on each one.  I'm sure his narration will be revealing as to what he's into these days.

 

"Here's a picture of us watching Clemson football. CLEMSON!"

 

"This is when I crossed a whole big river at a park."

"This is when I was doing something like a tea party for CC."

"This is when we crossed the other side of a big tree to a little island at Biltmore. I was feeling scared but then I felt good because I could look at Caelum and see how he did it."

"Esmé!  You're in this picture. We were going to Tallahassee to see our cousins, but we stopped for pizza in Macon, Georgia.  This is me, Caelum, and Esmé looking out a window."

"Ooh. This is when I rided Tyler's big blue motorcycle that went fast."

 

Upon seeing this picture, Owen started reciting the Clemson schedule and the numbers and positions of thesenior players.  He stares at the schedule a lot because it's right where we do reading and math. "We like this team, the Clemson Tigers."

"This is when I was doing math and I was needing Mom's help."

"This is when we were doing school in our tree house. This is when I was doing math. I like to do math in the tree house."

"This is when we played a game and you had to read the word if it was a different card, but there was a card that you would really like, it was "eat a treat." You would get to eat one of your Cheerios."

{I know, I know.  In what world does one Cheerio equal "a treat"? Still, if you knew how many times we played this "game," you would stop judging me for being so stingy with the sweets."}

"I remember that! This is at Bearwallow Mountain and we're at the top of it where cows used to be."

"This is at Biltmore when we were riding bikes before we got ice cream at a Biltmore ice cream shop."

"This is when we were at somewhere by Chimney Rock.  We were learning about the American Revolution. This is when I was drawing with a feather pen."

"This is in the kitchen of my house and that's the shirt I was wearing."

"Ahh, that's when we saw the band play before Clemson played NC State and we went to the game and Clemson won: 41 to 0. Zero is what NC State had."

"This is when we were at the game watching Clemson play NC State. Dad was taking the picture. And I'm sure the score from now was 28 to 0."

"This is when we were watching a fire that Dad made. Esmé was with us too by the blazing heat."

"This is when Esme keeped on hugging me so that I couldn't get out and she did it for maybe five minutes."

"This is at Craggy Gardens when we were at the top, when we were looking down and we saw our car. Clemson fans we are!"

"this is when me and mom were in a leaf pile." <He typed this one by himself.

So, there you have it.  Owen, through his own eyes. My sweet, cautious, handsome, Clemson-obsessed boy.  This post was going to feature details on our homeschooling, but turns out Owen basically covered it: some reading games, math, and lots of field trips. I can't believe we're halfway through his Kindergarten year!  He'll be six in two months.  We sure do love this guy.

Big Little Baby

Speaking of Caelum...well, was anyone?  I think it must be hard to be the middle child. I can't speak from much experience, as the very spoiled and well loved on baby of four, but I do know it's hard to be a younger sibling.  I remember wanting to do what Rachel did, and being told that I had to wait until I was older.  That's hard to hear, especially when it's something SO AMAZING like getting my ears pierced. For Caelum, it's playing soccer, doing VBS in the summer, and being tall enough for his Cars bike.

It's crazy to think that he's only three and a half because he is so very capable and brave. But he's three! He's just a little boy still: setting up picnics and feeding Horsey, making a mess with paints or food, and needing monkey blankie to go to sleep. I'm glad that he's still a little boy and I don't want him to grow up quickly. I'm glad he chose to have a unicorn painted on his face at our church's BBQ, especially since he specified that it could shoot ice out of its horn.

 He says amazing, hilarious things. We went to Panera for breakfast the other day, and Owen was hassling me for another chocolate chip bagel. Caelum turned to him and said, "Food is not your god, Owen." He loves to ask for new prayer requests when we pray at night and has been very faithfully praying for my Aunt Phyllis who is in bad health. Caelum also has a "shark 'maginary friend" who is always up for some antics or teaching him complex rules to a new game. He (Caelum, not the shark) still loves to cuddle and has sweet chubby little boy arms, but he's barrel-chested and drops his shoulder to tackle. His new favorite game is being "Josh" who plays for Clemson. Owen is Dabo and makes Caelum run drills. It's fantastic. They are going to love attending a real live Clemson game this fall. Going to the First Friday Parade got them all fired up...for making silly faces with Mantis, if nothing else.

Last weekend, we went to the fair and there were some very cool stilt puppet creatures that looked like Skeksis from The Dark Crystal.  I grant you, they were a little scary, but I was shocked to find Caelum had hidden in the bushes and did not want to be within 50 feet of these things.

Caelum wanted to go on every ride (he's a ball of contradictions, that one), but of course he was not tall enough for most of the cool ones.  Not even the Ferris Wheel.  If you look very closely in this picture, you can see Zach, Caelum and Esmé waiting while Owen and I went on the Ferris Wheel. It was Owen's first time on one, and he loved it, but don't tell Caelum how awesome it was. And don't worry, he got to go on plenty of lame kiddie rides.

Caelum's been getting a lot of, "You can when you're older." Each week starts off with a morning at Classical Conversations, where Caelum is still too young to officially be in the class.  He spends a few hours in the back of the classroom at his own desk or playing on the floor with the other younger siblings. They'll do puzzles or workbooks or play with blocks.  Then he participates now and then.  He is quite capable, if I can brag a bit.  When he plays the review games with the big kids (5 to 7 years old), he's able to answer most of the questions. All that information is sinking into his little brain.  This year, CC has been going much better, as Caelum is content to do his own thing and then participate in things that look interesting to him (science projects, art, and so on).  Also, I think this year's tutor is much more welcoming toward him. It sets a whole different tone.

When we're doing school at home, Caelum is more excited about it than Owen.  He asks what he gets to do next, and when it will be his turn to do math and reading. I'm learning that I really need to plan just as much for Caelum as I do for Owen.  He's not content to "just go play;" he wants in on the school action.

The other weekly activity that Caelum is still somehow too young to be in is Kids Camp at our church. It's a great program where the kids learn about music, play games, and memorize some verses and catechism. Having taught Caelum's Sunday School class, I know he could totally handle it, but he has to be four to be involved. So, we've been doing special outings instead while Owen is at camp. The favorite so far was the mall where he could go on a little ride with his sister. It was pretty sweet.

  

 Speaking of sweet, Esmé and Caelum were taking a bath together the other night and I caught a sweet kiss on camera. Be still my heart. He's wonderfully protective and kind to her, and enjoys having a sister much more now that she's so interactive. I'll hear him repeatedly saying to her, "Can I please have that? Can I please have that?" when she has yanked a toy away from him.

 

 Also, Caelum just about saved her life the other day. I didn't realize the gate at the top of our stairs was down, and of course, Esmé scooted as fast as she could toward the stairs. Caelum grabbed her shoulders and was holding her back, yelling, "Help, help! Esmé's going down the stairs!" Good boy, Caelum. We sure love you.

 

I see you rocking in the background there, Owen.  Your post will come soon enough.  Like a month or two.