Back to School!

 Someone is becoming more of a troublemaker! He got into the cupboard and pulled out the Sam's Club size baking soda.

 Maryn and I made this decoupage box for Josiah's new big boy room early one morning, before we even ate breakfast.

 I love this picture above, simply because my sweetie pie Maryn is actually smiling so cute.  Josiah and I look like we're a bit possessed, but since it's usually the other way around, I just had to post it anyway.  ;-)

We were on our way to church in this picture, and Maryn got moved up to a new class.  She loved it, and woke up very excited.  John and I have been attending a "new class" for the last 6 months or so and we are enjoying it very much.  It's just a small group, and while the teacher isn't Dr. Moore, and there aren't famous people everywhere, the people are real, they know and love our kids, and we are getting to know all of them.

 John has gone back to school.  He is taking one class on Mondays and one class on Fridays.  On Tuesday, I almost has a meltdown.  This semester is going to be tough.  Please pray for us.  Above, you see how Maryn feels about it.  Here you see John sitting at his desk (see his desk light?) and he is about to be swallowed by a big fish (the stripey thing).

 I'm trying not to be such a lazy fatty, so here we were taking a walk Monday morning.  It was 65 degrees and the kiddos were "freezing" so I went up and grabbed them some blankets.  I walked about 1/4 of a mile and thought I might die.

Maryn and I have been getting along much better lately.  One thing that brings us together is being partners in crime as we stick bath foamies all over her little brother.  We giggle and giggle and giggle as he tries to find them, spinning around like a little doggy chasing his tail.  Oh, they are so cute.

Maryn, Josiah and I are doing school on Mondays and Fridays just like daddy.  I put new crayons and scissors in a "new" backpack for her, and she woke up on Monday so excited to open it and play school.  We painted, played Hi-Ho Cherry-O, did a fun craft with foil, yarn and markers, laced buttons, played some file folder games (Big and Small), read Not a Box, and did two worksheets.  I put the worksheets in a plastic sheet so we can reuse them.  One showed how to draw a kite step by step, and one was choosing which picture was "bigger."

We have been practicing saying things like, "Mommy is big.  Daddy is bigger."  This is a part of language that is hard to learn, and I remember that from teaching second language learners.  My daughter is a language learner as well, and this is a difficult concept.  She kept wanting to say, "Mommy is big.  Daddy is big."  Or, she wants to sort her Care Bears by size but puts any Care Bear wearing a diaper in the "small" pile, because if they wear a diaper, they must be "little."  Interesting to see!

Having her do the step-by-step kite was interesting too, because of her perception at this age.  She wanted to make the  lines that were supposed to be on the kite, on top of the kite.  And the crossing of two lines is difficult at this age.  So it was just interesting to see how her mind is developing.

What did Josiah do all day while we had school?  He played!  He just loves to play, play, play.  And normally, he does not get into the baking soda!  :)