January things

I can't believe that January is over already!! With the the temperature in the 40's and 50's, I can almost believe that spring is right around the corner. I'm hoping we don't get any surprise "arctic blasts" this year like we did last year!

*UPDATE: It's been a couple weeks since I started this post and, indeed, we got a nice snow storm and some very cold days, but it's back to nice weather today. Ha!*

We've been sick off and on quite a bit this winter. Last week Desy had a fever for a few days but almost no other symptoms. He kept falling asleep in the evenings around 6:00-6:30. Poor guy. Thankfully, everyone else stayed healthy and all the kids are feeling good this week. I feel like I could be getting a cold but have my fingers crossed that my sinuses are just mad from the wild temperature shifts.

*UPDATE: We've managed to get colds or something again. Desy has had a cough for a couple weeks that won't go away. Cece is all snotty. Gross.*

We've been staying busy, of course. Nathan has been really busy at work (did I ever post here that he got a job as the Social Ministries Project Coordinator for the Salvation Army in Cincinnati?), the kids and I have school at home and homeschool co-op once a week, Nathan is teaching a Wednesday night Bible study at our house as well as Sunday School, we have friends over a couple times a week, and we have been trying to buy a house for months... that epic will get its own post soon.

My first child ever to sleep in a shopping cart! It was a red letter day!

School has been going pretty well at home. The boys really like it and often ask to do school. This year we're mostly just doing math and handwriting. I really like our math curriculum (RightStart) and plan on continuing to use it. A friend gave me a couple Sonlight curriculum teacher books and I really like the look of those (it's a very literature based curriculum. Yay!), so I think I'll give it a try next year. I need to focus on working with Desy on his letters because he will be in Kindergarten in the fall! What?!

We love our co-op and look forward to it every week. It's good socially for all of us, teaches the kids classroom skills, and allows them to have other teachers! They get to do all the fun school stuff like packing lunches, show and tell, class parties, and field trips. I'm so thankful that my friends invited me to join!

One of our favorite places to visit is the Boonshoft Museum of Discovery in Dayton. Orion prays to go there (and McDonald's) every single night. There are so many fun things to do and see! We also go to the library for story time every week, or when there's no story time we meet up with our friends somewhere else. I like to get out of the house a lot so we don't all kill each other. It's hard in the winter because it's so cold... I'm officially ready for spring!

Not that these kids have any trouble entertaining themselves at home. They have been getting a lot better at playing nicely together. They do fight a lot, but less often than they actually get along. We've noticed that Desy is almost always the instigator. He likes to make his siblings mad. But he's SO CUTE. Oh dear.

We took the boys to see the new Star Wars movie, and Nathan watches the cartoons with them at home. So you could say they're fans. They also love Spiderman, Power Rangers, and love to dress up in costumes. Today they're carrying around their Viking shields and swords. It's pretty great.

And then there's this girl. She is WILD. She has learned to climb out of her crib and pack and play and is constantly climbing on something. She loves to dance. She likes to hit her brothers, especially with swords. She used to have separation anxiety, but has gotten much better about staying in the nursery at church or co-op. She hates it when anyone leaves home without her, though. She wants to GO! She has decided that she wants to use the potty (with some success!), so I have to figure out what to do with that development! My boys were both three when they were ready to potty train, so having a less-than-two-year-old wanting to use the potty is a little baffling for me! I'll get it figured out. Cece is SO cute and cracks us up. She's such a mix between the boys, but definitely has a personality all her own!

I hope the next time I write it will be spring for real! Come on, sunshine!