Boys and Art and Books

    Boys

    Oh my sweet boys. They are 12, 10, 9, and 6. Yes, my hands were full when they were little. But they napped back then. Now they're awake for 13 hours a day. And the brutality! I texted my sister a few days ago that it would be nice to go one day without having someone come up from the basement bleeding. "But, Mom! We were just playing the monster game! I didn't MEAN to scratch his face!" 

    These are the drawings my 6-year-old produces and scatters around the house. I appreciate his effort but the quantity of these is overwhelming and the content...slightly alarming? 

Art

    I'm all for letting my boys express themselves in their art, but occasionally I try to direct their focus a bit. We took a field trip to the Nelson Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City, MO a couple of months ago. We don't go very often because I'm not a lunatic, but our visits are always a pleasure. We stood in front of Monet's Water Lilies for 10 minutes as the lights dimmed and then slowly brightened as though day was dawning. Granted, during our visit we got reprimanded several times for stepping over a tape line or accidentally touching a wall. An hour of fine art was a fantastic way to spend a cold winter afternoon.

    As we wind down our school year, I am starting to dream of reclaiming our front living room as a sitting room and a quiet place for me during the day. (Anyone in KC need desks, chairs, and storage drawers? I know a gal...) As much as I'll be glad to have the room put back together, I am also starting to feel sentimental about our homeschool time coming to an end. I thought it would be nice to have the boys create some artwork for my walls as a subtle nod to our homeschool year. Using water, bleeding tissue paper, and four very distinct artistic styles/attention spans, they created these for me! I'm excited to have my boys sign their canvases, and then I'll frame them for my wall.

Books

    You all have no idea how hard it is for me to pretend to understand and/or care about: Legos, Star Wars, Marvel, Minecraft, etc. It's a constant onslaught of information I never wanted to know, but eventually they won't come to me to share every little thing they built, created, or learned. So I politely nod as I listen and try not to let my eyes glaze over.

    What my boys and I do have in common is our love of reading. I'm stupidly proud of the fact that my boys will ask for a break from school work and then go to the living room and do this:

    Our library hauls are pretty impressive, and I still can't figure out a good storage situation for our books.  To my credit, we (knock on wood) haven't lost a library book in 12 years! Maintaining my library account and researching books for the boys is a full time job that I love with all my heart.

  

    My 9-year-old read an I Survived book about the Nazis a couple of weeks ago. We had grandparents visiting us the day he finished it, and as we were serving dinner, he walked up to me and bluntly asked, "How did Hitler die?" So, that wasn't great timing, but I'm just happy they're reading, loving it, and soaking up hundreds of stories. I wish I had thought to keep track of the books these boys have read over the years.

    Thank you for your love and support!

Annie

Nearing the End

     The countdown is on. Everyone wants to know when our last day is (May 21), and we are all looking forward to warm and lazy summer days. Remember that song from Les Miserables, "One Day More?" We have five more weeks, this week included, and I keep thinking/humming, "Five Weeks More!" And I realize that sounds rather negative, but it's very good for the boys and me to have an end goal so that we keep up our hard work. 

    Third quarter flew, thank goodness, and now we are in Week 32 of Week 36! Here are some photo updates for you.

This was a big moment, starting the lesson plans for 4th quarter. Each of the boys has a lesson plan book, and I fill it out every week for the following week. It's plenty of work, but it definitely helps keep them on track.

A rainy day walk with the dog and my 6-year-old. For the record, he regretted this immediately because he had to finish the walk in wet socks. But it's just so cute to watch your kid jump in a puddle.

John and I are both tall, and we never figured we'd have short kids. But I just wasn't mentally prepared to see my 10-year-old's feet match mine.

The kid in orange? Absolutely despises doing any school work, without fail, every single day. But if I suggest he help his little brother with double digit addition? SURE, NO PROBLEM, MOM. This is a source of great frustration and pride for me. 

Speaking of double digit addition, my first grader is getting the hang of it! Proud mom! It really is the coolest thing to see your kids learn a new concept right in front of you.

I found this cute workbook to help my 6yo's writing skills. I just love that no matter the animal, he has to add a happy little smile to its face.

Just a 10-year-old, taking a suspiciously long time to "get my pencil." You do you, buddy.

My parents would agree that math was definitely not my strength in grade school, middle school, high school, etc. I'm happy to report that our 10-year-old is adding, multiplying, and dividing fractions with ease! I try to tell my kids every day that I'm proud of them, and that they should also be proud of themselves for the hard work they're doing.

HOWEVER, some kids work a little bit harder than others. Feast your eyes on the psychotic spelling atrocity that is this chalkboard. I had simply asked the 9-year-old to write his words on the board. I mean, he technically did what I asked... MAJOR EYE ROLL.

Finally, Happy Spring and Happy Easter! We made it through the dark days of winter, and we can all rejoice! Pray for the boys and me as we finish our school year. I will be teaching and grading and submitting grades until the middle of May. I'll write one more blog post then as a grand finale to this year. Thank you to everyone who has encouraged us and prayed for us!