Onset of Autumn in Austin

November was ushered in very decisively with fall weather. That's not to say that we haven't had warm afternoons, but the chilly mornings have become a mainstay, along with cooler evenings. Today brings in a storm system that is supposed to rain here for a day and a half. The heavy rains are supposed to arrive before dinner, so I'm hoping to get a run in before then.

My husband's been in Houston over the weekend and is to return home today. The kids and I have been carrying on, and my time has been very restricted as a result. Fortunately, the monster (the dog) has been behaving himself relatively well, but I imagine that he will take it all out on my hubby when he gets back.

It's been almost two years since I posted last. I opened a notebook that I'd begun when the Engineer was 3.5yo and the Artist was 16.5mo and read the few entries that are in there. My kids enjoyed hearing them. I'll add them here:

Tue 1.24.06
(3.5yo) runs around house yelling, "Push my button! Push my button!" while wearing a large one-button toy remote clipped to the neck of his shirt.
I asked him about this the next day when he clipped it on again, to which he replied, "It makes everyone stop, that's how I get through." When I asked if I could borrow it sometime, he heartily agreed.

Wed 1.25.06
(16.5mo) asked for crackers when we got in the car to go to MOPS after dropping off at preschool. She had not eaten much breakfast and I had some baby cereal (hot) to feed her at MOPS. So I said, "no, honey. You'll get some cereal at MOPS," and buckled her in. As I got in the driver's seat, she said her first full sentence, "Pweeth, mom, kkakk kkakk. Pweeth." (Please, mom, cracker, please.) Of course I couldn't resist rewarding her with a laugh and a cracker!

In the evening, as I was changing diaper, she spilled some Goldfish crackers on her chest. I said, "oh, did you make a mess on your shirt?" to which she replied, "kkakk kkakk en shur" (cracker on shirt). :)

(3.5yo) continues to dress himself! He loves to paint and create various art pieces for myself, Dad, or .

January 31, 2006 (Tue)
words at almost 17 mos (in 4 days [meaning a 4-day time period] in no particular order)
Mama (Mom / want to nurse)
Daddy
Baby
Dad (Grandad/Gran)
Dog
Meow (cat)
Duck
Ee (eat)
Kkakkakk (cracker)
Peess / Pweeth (please)
Eye
Shoe
Juice
My (mine)
Do-Tee (Dora)
Ba-pa (Backpack)
Gurbur (video / Gerbert --I have no idea what "Gerbert" refers to)
Aisy (Maisy)
No
Bath
Uh-oh
T (t.v. / video)
Uh-muh peess (I want some more please)
boo [as in book wthout the "k"] (book)
tee (toothbrush / teeth)
star
horsie
yes
ball (ball / balloon)
pee-pee (where pee-pee comes from / diaper / crotch)
pah-tee (potty)
ti-shoo (nose running / tissue / nose congested)
op (help)
kachoo (catch you! chase)
weahyu (where are you?)
shur (shirt)
dat (that / this)
pay (play)
pate (plate)
wow
ddejoo (thank you)
ba (banana)
walk
pats (pants)
hi
bye
ashy ashy...(all) down! (ashes, ashes, we all fall down)
adee (raisins)
money
adee (Eddie from Maisy)
boo! (hide-n-seek)
towch (couch)
tiss (kiss)
Max
all done
cow
dance
watch
'kay
aw done
achee (ouchie)
bird
bug
box

March 11, 2006 (Sat)
3.5yo
As I'm washing up in the bathroom, walks in and I say, "hi, shortie" followed by walking in to whom I say, "hi, shortie. Hi to both my shorties. How long you going to be short, ?"
"I dunno"
me "you think you'll be short a long time?"
"I hope so"
me (laughing) "I hope so, too!"

So that's all I have in that notebook. Of course I feel terrible that I didn't record more of their lives while they were so little.   :-(    I am very glad, on the other hand, to have this record of my kids' lives, although it is sporadic and can only capture a small portion of them. Well, it is obvious that I felt compelled to write about them so that they will have some record of their young lives that can entertain and elucidate them in future years. I hope one day to turn these posts into a book for each of them that they can carry with them. I suppose I could make the settings private so that I could truly personalize these posts and add their names, but all of the information would be stored online anyway, and I don't want to risk their privacy for that. My kids will know of whom I'm speaking when they read these anyway.

The Engineer is working at a 7th grade level this year, and the Artist has graduated to working at a 5th grade level. They continue to take homeschool P.E. once a week, and they each have a class at One Day Academy that they take. The Engineer is taking Physical Science, and the Artist is taking an art class called Building Art Skills. She has been unhappy with this class so far this year, and I'm hoping things will change for the better soon. I spoke with the teacher last week, who informed me that they had been doing a foundational basics approach for the last 6 weeks and that they were beginning on projects now, which should be much more challenging and engaging for her.

This year is our first "real" year of Latin. We'd used Getting Started with Latin last year because I'd been so discouraged at my kids' inability to learn foreign languages with other curricula. Getting Started take almost a remedial approach and is very slow. Well, lo and behold, the kids started to retain some Latin! They did well enough with that last year that I took the leap for this year and invested in First Form Latin by Memoria Press. They're really doing well with it, and I'm so happy. The program is laid out very well (although it is not perfect), and they don't struggle with it as they struggle in some other areas of school subjects.

We are still involved in Boy Scouts and American Heritage Girls. In fact, the Artist and I are going to a family campout for our troop this weekend. The Engineer and their dad don't go with us. The Engineer usually doesn't have any peers to hang out with, and their dad just doesn't like camping. :-)

Well, I've got a lot to get to, so I'll wrap it up here for today.