She Reads!

One of the scariest things for me when we decided to homeschool was that I was responsible for teaching my children how to read.  Me.  No one else.  I had to do it.  I had never taught anyone how to read before!  Scary!!  She did not come out of preschool reading.  She knew letters and all the sounds, that was it. 

It was recommended to get the book Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons.  It started out too easy and was super boring to her.  So it was recommended to skip and jump ahead.  And we did.  She still didn’t like it.  Every time I got out the book she moaned and groaned.  But she did it.  And she was good at it!  She nailed it!  Then I started introducing some Bob Books that I picked up at a garage sale last year. She was reading them perfectly.  I was so impressed at how fast she was reading the sentences.

Then I was stuck again.  She needed to be challenged again and I had no idea what to get.  It was Dr. Sueus week and I grabbed a few books and handed that one to her and told her I think you can read this… and she did!!  I can’t remember what book it is now, but she read it.  I took video of her reading it even… but it is kind of long so I’ll spare you.  But you would probably get a kick out of the way she reads!

She twists the book and wiggles and twists and wiggles.  I have no idea how she can focus like that!  When we do her actual reading lessons she can’t sit still.  Stands, then sits, stands, sits, it goes on and on and on until I want to pull my own hair out!  I talked to other mom’s and her kids do the EXACT same thing!  I am not kidding when I say that Mallory fell off her chair one time and landed on the ground she was standing and sitting so much she lost her chair and *bam* hit the floor.  She laughed. 

Just a few weeks ago she read another one to me, One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish!  And she nailed it!  Girl can read!  Whew!

Melanie rolled around on the floor listening to Mallory read until it was time for her nap.

And its February Again

We are going back to February when these pictures where taken. 

Back to when Menie only had a tooth or two.

When she would sit and play toys without a care in the world.

Squeal with excitement when Mally and Max entered the room.

Sister time!

That brother who has to smoother her!

Squeeze her and get in her face until she yells.

Oh how quickly the events changed.

Melanie continues on with her book she is reading and Mally and Max start fighting.

She has no idea the chaos that is happening right behind her.

Max is knocked over.

Or she is really good at ignoring it.

And if that is the case.  I need her to give me some lessons!  Fighting drives me straight to crazy land!!  Like straight!  Express ticket!

I Need A Princess–ASAP!

A few months ago the kids and I driving our long trek into awanas and for some reason I asked them what they wanted to be when they were big grown-ups.

Mallory:  A princess.

Me:  Bad news!  I am not a queen and your daddy is not a king!  You can not be a princess.

Mallory: silence

Me:  So if you can’t be a princess what else do you want to be?

Mallory:  I am going to get a babysitter for my kids and I am going to be a doctor!

Me: mumbled under my breath I said the same thing sister!  Minus the doctor part.

I think when I was about Mally’s age I wanted to be a bartender.  Yup!  Set those standards real high!!

So I am trying not to take it personally at all of Mallory insisting that she will not stay home with her kids she will run off and be a doctor.  And actually when she says “doctor” she really means a veterinarian.  She wants to be an animal doctor. 

I said the same thing!  Not when I wanted to be a bartender, but when I wanted to be a big shot paralegal in a massive high rise building!  (I did do it for two months and then realized big city life was so not for my small town blood.)  I was pretty sure that 1) I was going to have kids and 2) I was going to be a working mom. 

Funny how life changes.  I stay home and *gasp* homeschool!!! 

Alright my second story…

I need Disney to make me a movie about a princess who wears leggings when it is below 40 degrees out!!  I am not kidding! 

Miss Mallory loves (and I mean love love love love) to wear dresses.  Not skirts.  But dresses!  And I’ll be damned if she is going to wear a cardigan to cover up her bare arms or leggings/tights to cover up her bare legs.  And if you think you are going to comb her hair!  Ha!  Give up now! 

Princess don’t wear leggings!  That is what she tells me.

I like my hair like this!  That is what she tells me.

I am going to take this sweater off when I get inside!  That is what she tells me.

So my new Mom-self is trying so hard to let her control go away and guess what… Mallory is learning that Wisconsin is kind of cold!!! 

I have seen her outside this week in her dresses with a winter jacket on and gloves and hat and pretty boots!!

And bare legs!!!

Disney I need a princess that wears leggings!!  ASAP!

Ninja!

I got Max a Ninja Turtle figure for Christmas and then I got him a Ninja Turtle mask and sword.  So he has been fascinated with Ninjas lately.  However, he does not like to watch the cartoons or the movies of the Ninja Turtles.  Too scary. 

Then for school we read the Magic Tree House series.  Both the kids absolutely LOVE them!  Lots of imagination!  One of the books was about Ninjas and then we started reading about real Ninjas… so now Max wants to be a fighter.

I  told him one day that I can’t wait for him to grow up and be a hunter because I want to have a freezer full of venison sausage.  And he told me, “I am going to be a fighter now.”  Now, if you know our Max at all you know that he is a pretty sensitive boy.  So we were sure to point out to him that when he becomes a fighter the other person is going to try to fight him.  He doesn’t just get to fight them.  And that he will more then likely get hurt.  He better go back to hunting. 

So now my kids sneak quietly around the house trying to be ninjas and trying to scare me!  I hate being scared!  And I get scared really easily!  Jesse gets so frustrated with me because he will just walk into a room (not trying to scare me) and I am not expecting him and I will scream.  I will be blow drying my hair totally deep into thought about something so crazy like… when will I have time to paint my toes because I am still wearing polish from October… and BAM!  He is standing there!  Scream!  He doesn’t understand why I have to scream.  I tell him I just can’t control it.  It isn’t like I want to scream!  I don’t.  It just comes out. 

The kids don’t scare me though.  They do not understand the concept of light on your feet.  You can hear them coming a mile away!  Or you see a head dramatically look around the corner at you!  If I acknowledge them they get mad at me… Mom!  I was being a Ninja!  So then I have to pretend they scared me! 

Sometimes they do scare me and then I get mad!  Like the time I sent them downstairs to get ready to go somewhere.  The instructions were to get shoes, jacket & hats on.  Then they sit on the bench and wait.  I have to send them down like 10 minutes early because it literally takes them that long to do this.  And typically when I get down there I am still waiting for them.  So one day I went down there and it was silent.  No kids.  Hm.  BOOOO!  They jump out from behind the curtain that separates our mud room from our laundry room.  I jumped! 

Quiz time:  How well do you know the Frey Kids!!  Did they put their jacket, shoes and hat on before hiding on me?!

Now I have a new rule for getting ready… get your shoes, jacket and hat on and no hiding behind the curtain!

Answer: No!  They were bare feet and no jacket!

Big Sister Mallory

Mally Rae!

Oh this sweet girl!

She takes the “big sister” role to heart!  When we go to events and gatherings with other kids she makes sure Max is taken care of.  He is a bit shy and so she makes sure he is playing with her or she finds him a good friend.  If he struggles with something she is right there to help him out.  In school she likes to help as well.  Teaching him the ropes.  The best part is he lets her… About 90% of the time.  They are your typical siblings and they do fight!  Trust me!  But most of the time they are good friends watching out for each other. 

This day she was looking at a book with him.

Mallory loves loves loves loves loves really loves to wear dresses and skirts!  Love to the millionth degree!  I am good with it most of the time, but she tends to wear dresses when it is going to be the coldest day ever!  So I am constantly saying that is a great outfit Mallory, but I really would like you to wear some leggings.  She huffs and tries to reason with me and then runs off and grabs leggings.

This day she didn’t even try to get away with no leggings she just put them on.  Hawaiian print skirt + cat leggings + purple polka dot socks pulled OVER the cat leggings!!  Oh she was a beaut!! 

A have this serious issue with letting my kids be kids.  And I cringe and hate to say it but I think it is getting worse.  I think I need to read the book No More Perfect Moms and then follow it up with No More Perfect Kids!  Book club anyone?!  So letting her keep this outfit on while we attended story hour… I had to do it!  I had to let her be!  But then I felt like I needed to tell everyone… she dressed herself.  Instead of just running with it.  Obviously people know I didn’t dress her.  Well at least I hope they know. 

Later that afternoon Max was down for a nap and Mally and I just finished up her schooling and she was about to go lay down (it was going to be a late night) but I had her sit with Melanie while I ran and got the mail.  Came back in and they were doing this!

Mallory loves her baby sister to the moon and back!!  There is no jealousy!  None!  At least at this stage in the game.  Fingers crossed it stays that way.  She loves being with her.  She loves helping her.  She loves teaching her tricks.  Right now she has Melanie shaking her head back and forth.  And she can get Melanie to repeat some noises that she makes.  She absolutely loves it when she can get her to giggle.  Mennie is one tough cookie to get to get a good belly laugh so we all feel pretty special when it happens. 

Mally Rae!

She is a great leader to our little tribe of munchkins! 

Fire Drill

One night Jesse is putting the kids to bed and he spontaneously deems it the best time to give the kids the “fire talk”.  I am sitting in the living room with Melanie thinking… oh man!  Before bed!  A fire talk before bed!  This is not going to go well.  But I let them continue.

The talk takes a while.  Questions after questions come up.  And I don’t totally remember how he ended it but I remember kissing Max in his bed and he kind of had this glazed over look.  Kissed Mallory and she is our thinker and you can just see the wheels turning in her head and she is just a thinking about what if there is a fire in the house. 

About 15 minutes later Jesse walked by their bedroom and they called him into their room.  They were scared.  So he started telling them stories of when he was a little boy and his fire experiences.

I can’t remember how he started the fire when he was a little boy, but he used his Mom’s rug that was drying on the clothes line to put out the fire.  Then put the rug back on the clothes line. 

The kids asked if he was scared.  He told them he was not scared of the fire.  He was scared of getting in trouble and having Grandpa Dave yell at him. 

Believe it or not sharing his personal experiences eased their anxiety and they went right to sleep.

Fast forward a few days later and Mallory wants to climb out the window and eat snow.  Never before had she thought of climbing out the window… a fire chat later and she wants to climb out the window!

Max was totally scared and was sure to let us know what Mallory was planning.  Which hopefully this will happen when they are in their teens.  Mallory shares her secret plans with Max.  Max comes and tells us!!

Jesse was home when this was all going down and he told her to go for it.  Climb out and eat snow.  If it would have been just me I would of told her heck no!

So in all good 5-year old sense she went and grabbed her jacket.  Just a jacket.  Bare feet was acceptable to her.

First she opened the window.

Then she was a little bit scared and a little embarrassed that I was taking her picture.

Then out she went!

Ate some snow while Max watched.

Then came back in.

Max kind of wanted to give it a try… but then decided not to.

Peas and Rice

Mennie is onto finger foods and sippy cups!!

I love love love the way she shovels it in.  Had to grab a few pictures to remember this.

Oh my goodness this baby girl!!  The looks she gives me!!  Her personality is growing rapidly!

Colors of the Rainbow

A few weekends ago I was painting a bedroom and Mallory really really really really wanted to take over my paintbrush and paint the walls.  She told me no few then 1,397 times.

I promised we would paint in school.  I didn’t really have a painting project in mind but a big coloring sheet and all the paints was wonderful in their eyes.

This is what an art class looks like in Frey academy!  Stuff from one of end of the kitchen to the other end of the living room.

Daddy & His Girls

This Mom and Dad roll is such a funny thing.  In the first two years my kids only wanted me.  Dad was okay… but if they could see me they wanted me instead.  Now that they have hit the ages of 5 and 3 it has switched.  If Dad is around they follow him like a little puppy.  They want to do everything he does.  And he is amazing at allowing them to help in whatever he is doing.  From using a screw gun to washing a dirt bike to mowing the lawn to snow blowing the driveway.

Jesse must have been getting ready to go outside and do something and I stopped him and had him hold Melanie for a bit.  If Melanie has her nuk and blanket I am guess she was in a moment of someone must hold me and I probably needed to pump or go to the bathroom and couldn’t hold her.  Jesse sat on the couch and if he sits he is going to get a Mallory snuggling him too!  It was too sweet I had to get a picture. 

Hunting Lunch

One of the things I miss from when I worked is having a lunch hour.  I would either sit by myself in the lunch room (I was the only girl that worked there… and we had to rotate lunch times so someone was always on duty and my office was 30-40 minutes from all my friends) and read a book (way before smart phones, kindles and ipads) or I would go tanning in the winter months.  It is true how the rain and gloom gets to a person out there!  I wouldn’t eat out much because there was no way I was going to be seen eating alone in public.  For some reason that was totally awkward and scary!  Oh my foolish younger pre-kid self!!

Anyway…

I miss the ability to eat out during the lunch hour.  I never went by myself but every month (if we had a record month, which was about every month) our boss would buy us all lunch.  During the summer break Jesse would come and we would go for lunch.  It was fun.  It was fun to get away from the office for a bit.  It was refreshing!

So a month ago I was craving the salad bar and pizza at the restaurant here in town.  I sent Jesse an email that we should meet for lunch sometime.  He replied back with… lets go today.  So it was totally on a whim and the kids were dressed up in hunting gear and playing hunting during their school break.

They so badly wanted to go to lunch in their hunting gear.  What the heck!  Go!  Mallory even has on her frilly girly Christmas dress underneath her overalls!  (Yup, Natalie, Allie’s dress is just not for Christmas according to Mallory!)

Well meeting up for lunch and having three kids tagging along and it being like 2 degrees with a snappy miserable wind was not everything I was craving for my getting out for the lunch hour.  1) I had not stepped outside and had no idea how cold it was!  2) Hauling three kids around by yourself is way more work then it sounds!

But!

I did not have to cook a lunch.  I did not have to clean a kitchen after lunch.  I did not have to do lunch dishes! 

Winning!

So I guess that all out weighs the extra work it was.

By the way my post-kid self will totally walk in a restaurant and eat alone!  And not feel a bit funny or silly or awkward!  People watching and listening to the conversation around me can be quite entertaining.