GF NEWS!!

I've just received an email from my Gluten-Intolerance Group that General Mills Rice Chex cereal has started rolling off of the conveyor belts GLUTEN-FREE!!!

It has been very difficult to find any mainstream cereal that is GF. In fact, Fruity Pebbles, Cocoa Pebbles and the Dora and Little Einstein cereals are all that we could buy. Not exactly part of a healthy morning routine. There are a lot of cereals that contain mostly corn or rice, but also contain barley malt--a no-no for gluten-free diets.

It will be a little while before they are stocked on the shelves, but nevertheless, YEA!!! Thank you General Mills.

Here is a link that verifies this information, if you're interested.

I'm off to write a thank you note to General Mills! :)

Just when you begin to wonder...

Just when you begin to wonder if all the weeks and months of teaching is accomplishing anything, if all the hours preparing and praying and planning have been at all fruitful, if all the days of reading, phonics, and math have sunk in (even a little bit *fingers crossed*)...you have a day like today. :)

I woke up this morning with a new resolve to teach the kids some things that we've been working at only haphazardly. So, when we sat down at the table this morning, I was one determined momma. And they both were ready to work!

I was intent on helping Elyse get those addition and subtraction facts down pat. We've worked on them nearly daily for the past couple of months, but with no real drive or systematic practicing.

I read an article yesterday in the L.A. Times about the math program we're using. "Singapore Math" has recently been adopted by the California Department of Education as an approved math text. It mentioned that one of the daily things Singaporean students do are "60 second sprints" in which they attempt to answer 30 math facts in 60 seconds. Elyse loves to be timed when we do her flash cards, so I decided to begin including that as part of our math time. So, it came as no surprise that she greeted this new challenge with "yahoo!"s. :) I set the timer for 2 minutes hoping she would be able to come in under that time, but expecting her to probably go over a little bit. Elyse finished her 30 addition problems using the numbers 0-5 in only 1 minute and 22 seconds, and didn't miss one problem! Within the first 60 seconds, she had finished 25 of the problems!




















And then she worked with the Cuisinaire Rods to complete her worksheet all by herself! She even worked the grid adding the two numbers on the top and side and writing the addend where the lines connect. I was thrilled!




















The other task on my agenda was to begin (again!) teaching Aidan the letters of the alphabet and their sounds. This has been an ongoing thing all year, but he has really not shown any interest or retention in the past, so I would give it a rest for a month or so and then try again. It was only recently that Josh and I felt like he was really showing some sign of readiness, and I've just been waiting for the right time to make another concerted attempt.

So, after Elyse's success, I was all the more encouraged to get started with Aidan. I told him that we were going to work on the letter A and he said "that starts Aidan!" I could almost hear the heavenly choir singing, "HA-LLELUJAH!" I got out the Cuisinaire Rods and the Cuisinaire Alphabet Book and put him to work on the letter A. I was astonished. He immediately went to work connecting the single unit white rods to create the lower A. Then with a little guidance he followed the directions and answered the questions on the worksheet correctly as I asked them.




















After the first sheet he asked to do the second "A" page and worked that one almost entirely by himself! This kind of manipulative work is right up his alley!



It was a day of surprises for me--and I'm glad that my kiddos proved me wrong! These are the days I need every once in a while just so I know that we're on the right track. All the effort the whole family puts into our educating is so worth it! I am so proud of my hard-workers today!

Princess Tomboy

Elyse never liked to get dirty. I mean, never. She wouldn't eat her first birthday cake because she couldn't stand to have the icing on her fingers. Whenever she would fall on the ground as a toddler, she didn't want to touch the ground in order to get herself up. She would just hold her hands and feet up and cry, looking somewhat like a helpless beached whale in great distress, waiting for us to come rescue her. Even today, she prides herself on her neat and tidy room, and asks for permission to go and clean it.

Then came Aidan. All I will say is that he is BOY through and through. Give him trucks, swords, dinosaurs, trains, and Star Wars, add a little mud and sweat, and for him that's 100% pure happiness.

So, when Aislinn came along, we expected more of the "eewwwww"s and "grrrroossssss"s that we were used to with our first beloved daughter. Well, so far it is not to be. You know that limerick that says girls are made of sugar 'n spice and everything nice and boys are made of snips and snails and puppy dog tails? I would say Aislinn is a little bit spice and a little bit puppy dog tails. :)
We started out calling her "princess" but I think we'll have to change her nickname to "princess tomboy."

Who do the kids look like?

This is pretty fun... :)

MyHeritage: Look-alike Meter - Family tree online - Old photos

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Picture Day

More random pics from the last few weeks...


Aislinn trying on sister's headbands


















Aidan put his shirt on backwards and refused all day to turn it around...a new style?


















This girl LOVES to brush her teeth!




















The kids helped Nana make me an angel food cake (my first since going GF two years ago!) for my birthday...yum!



















The kids helping me make pancakes for dinner.




















Aislinn got out the bowl and spoon, pulled her chair up to the stove, climbed up into it and started stirring away.




















A rare time that all three of the kids are sitting at the school table working.















Aidan doing one of his "school pages."















Aislinn likes to color a little bit, although mostly she just likes to eat the crayons. :)
















Elyse was using our new foam letters to write out her handwriting verse for the week.




















All Josh's influence---the kids can't peel their eyes away from Star Wars IV. Aidan loves "Dar Fader," but thankfully (for the rest of the family's sake when he's got his light saber out), he usually pretends to be "Lou Skywawker."

Gearing up for a Garden

Last weekend we took advantage of the beautiful weather and the Friday that Josh had off work to work outside. In honor of the month of March finally arriving, the kids and I celebrated by searching our seed catalogs for our picks for this year's vegetable garden.















Aislinn decided that she wants tomatoes.




















Elyse "thinking" about working...





















Elyse and Aidan taking the wagon around the yard picking up stray toys.














Aislinn wanted to do a little digging too.














Sam hanging out with the semi-stray kitties that live under our shed and who I faithfully feed twice a day! :)




















Aislinn playing in her car.



















































Good job, Dad! Half of the garden turned, and he says it was so much easier than last year turning sod!