Showing posts with label shawn. Show all posts
Showing posts with label shawn. Show all posts
Monday, November 24, 2008
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Life goes on...
Today Grace wowed me with her astounding mathematical skills. I surprised her with a strawberry and a coconut cookie (and a Slush from Boba Smoothie -I love their Thai Milk Tea with Boba!) and she remembered that there was a third flavor. She said next time I should get 2 of each for myself, her, and her daddy. I asked how many that would be total. She walked herself through the solution- "2 for daddy, plus 2 for mommy, plus 2 for me is 6 of the coconut ... 2 strawberry for mommy, 2 for ... is 6 more, 2 for mommy ... of the green tea ... is 6 more..."
I prompted her with "...and 6 times 3 is...?" she looked at me quizzically. "There are 3 of us, each getting 6 cookies." I said. She just matter of factly said 18. Then she asked me how much they were. I replied, "4 for a dollar." She then solved that on her own in the most amusing way- to me anyway- it just reminded me that we all solve problems a little differently. She said "18 takeaway 4 is.... [squirm, murmur, wiggle].... 14," she held up a little finger, "that's 1 dollar, 14 takeaway 4 is.... [squirm, murmur, wiggle].... 10, that's 2 dollars," up went finger #2 and after counting up to $4 she matter of factly stated, "that leaves 2 cookies, which would be.... [squirm, murmur, wiggle] .... $4.50 for us all to try 2 of each flavor."
I almost popped with pride. I had no idea she could solve a word problem using all 4 mathematical processes that she is studying, all in her head.
I've been thinking her homeschooling has been light this year- but it's just because I'm not doing it, and her daddy takes a different approach. His method is working and it actually balances what I did in Kindergarten by being a bit more math and science based. Maybe we should alternate every year! I do feel that we have very successfully trasitioned to him being primarily responsible for her learning. By successful I mean- I don't hate that he isn't doing it my way! And of course, more importantly, Grace is loving learning again.
And he's doing all this while taking care of a quite demanding 9 month old- what an amazing man I ran off and eloped with almost 12 years ago. Our life together this far has been such a varied adventure.
I prompted her with "...and 6 times 3 is...?" she looked at me quizzically. "There are 3 of us, each getting 6 cookies." I said. She just matter of factly said 18. Then she asked me how much they were. I replied, "4 for a dollar." She then solved that on her own in the most amusing way- to me anyway- it just reminded me that we all solve problems a little differently. She said "18 takeaway 4 is.... [squirm, murmur, wiggle].... 14," she held up a little finger, "that's 1 dollar, 14 takeaway 4 is.... [squirm, murmur, wiggle].... 10, that's 2 dollars," up went finger #2 and after counting up to $4 she matter of factly stated, "that leaves 2 cookies, which would be.... [squirm, murmur, wiggle] .... $4.50 for us all to try 2 of each flavor."
I almost popped with pride. I had no idea she could solve a word problem using all 4 mathematical processes that she is studying, all in her head.
I've been thinking her homeschooling has been light this year- but it's just because I'm not doing it, and her daddy takes a different approach. His method is working and it actually balances what I did in Kindergarten by being a bit more math and science based. Maybe we should alternate every year! I do feel that we have very successfully trasitioned to him being primarily responsible for her learning. By successful I mean- I don't hate that he isn't doing it my way! And of course, more importantly, Grace is loving learning again.
And he's doing all this while taking care of a quite demanding 9 month old- what an amazing man I ran off and eloped with almost 12 years ago. Our life together this far has been such a varied adventure.
Thursday, October 23, 2008
October updates
Our field trip out to Julian was a fun-filled family day- G really enjoyed herself, and Joy was very content the whole time. "Miss Gina" and "Rowdy Ryan" added a theatrical flair to the hands on activities the kids participated in- sluicing, sifting, panning for gold and stones; candle dipping, farm animal feeding and care, game playing, cider pressing and hay riding. Pictures to come as soon as I find the cord...
We were all covered in dust and so was our lunch!! I wore Joy in the sling for the first half of the day and nursed her freely amongst the happy homeschooling group we were with. Grace re-connected with a few friends but mostly enjoyed the experience with her daddy, sister and me.
My district manager called Friday, saying that I sufficiently impressed the DM I interviewed with and that they would be promoting me to ASM in 2 weeks- 2 months, depending on the needs of the stores in the district. I am so eager to find out where I will be and start settling into a bit of a regular routine. Although I do hope to get through the RMT training program as quickly as possible and get my own store in 6-8 months. We'll see what the universe has in store for me.
Shawn is still waiting to hear from WebVisible... he is very interested in this job. We pretty much ignored his birthday, poor guy. Things have just been rough and just like on my birthday it seemed better to just sorta get through it... sad, I know.
Joy is 9 months old today- boy is she getting big! Eating like a lumberjack and crawling all over the place. She loves her mama so much, and I wince every time she reaches for me as I crawl from the bed at 3:30 in the morning to go to work. I am just grateful that she has had this time with her daddy.
Grace's homeschool enrichment academy is having an open house on Sunday- I am excited to see what they have been learning, she had been enjoying it quite a bit and I am impressed with what I see her doing so far. She is in Spanish, guitar, wind ensemble, hip hop and tap- quite the little Rennaisance girl!!
We were all covered in dust and so was our lunch!! I wore Joy in the sling for the first half of the day and nursed her freely amongst the happy homeschooling group we were with. Grace re-connected with a few friends but mostly enjoyed the experience with her daddy, sister and me.
My district manager called Friday, saying that I sufficiently impressed the DM I interviewed with and that they would be promoting me to ASM in 2 weeks- 2 months, depending on the needs of the stores in the district. I am so eager to find out where I will be and start settling into a bit of a regular routine. Although I do hope to get through the RMT training program as quickly as possible and get my own store in 6-8 months. We'll see what the universe has in store for me.
Shawn is still waiting to hear from WebVisible... he is very interested in this job. We pretty much ignored his birthday, poor guy. Things have just been rough and just like on my birthday it seemed better to just sorta get through it... sad, I know.
Joy is 9 months old today- boy is she getting big! Eating like a lumberjack and crawling all over the place. She loves her mama so much, and I wince every time she reaches for me as I crawl from the bed at 3:30 in the morning to go to work. I am just grateful that she has had this time with her daddy.
Grace's homeschool enrichment academy is having an open house on Sunday- I am excited to see what they have been learning, she had been enjoying it quite a bit and I am impressed with what I see her doing so far. She is in Spanish, guitar, wind ensemble, hip hop and tap- quite the little Rennaisance girl!!
Thursday, October 02, 2008
Grace's 1st Grade Experience, etc
So far this year we have done a lot of in the moment, review, reading and math practice. She is still only 6 years old I keep reminding myself! She is enrolled in an enrichment program on Thursdays where she learns Spanish through play, guitar, clarinet, hip hop and tap. The kids bring a lunch and move between classes in the dance studio where the program is held. She loves it so far and is really learning a lot- she drew and labelled her guitar, made up her own song, tried out a flute, trumpet and recorder before settling on the clarinet and she is making friends!
I really want to get Joy in a baby signing class and both the girls in swim programs (Joy in a Mommy & Me so I can get in the water some too!) but I have been working 40 hours a week at Starbucks. I open the store at 4:30am 4 days a week and work a mid-shift on Saturdays. I got transferred to Fashion Island and have an interview planned for the end of the month for Assistant Manager... but... well I don't really want to get promoted! I want to cut back to 20 hours and be with my kids more!! Shawn has also been putting in a LOT of hours at OC Nissan and working really hard, doing well; making ok $, but it just isn't worth the hours if I still have to work towards management to provide that stable base.
Soooo... he talked them into allowing him to work less hours and we will see what happens- this week certainly went better. I was able to get more than 3-4 hours of sleep a day unlike the previous few weeks. Joy was sleeping well until we started this crazy schedule now she wakes up every couple of hours to nurse and she is teething so she can be quite a handful when you are barely conscious and trying to listen to a 6 year old with no front teeth sounding out letters.
Grace has been such a tremendous help, so thoughtful and considerate- making me sandwiches or warming me leftovers when I get home from work, so I can feed the baby. She often watches over Joy so I can do chores or even rest for a bit. I really like the little girl she is becoming. She has quite the fashion sense and she loves to design clothes for herself and Joy- maybe in the spring we'll put together a unit study around fashion design.
Life is back on TV. I like that.
I really want to get Joy in a baby signing class and both the girls in swim programs (Joy in a Mommy & Me so I can get in the water some too!) but I have been working 40 hours a week at Starbucks. I open the store at 4:30am 4 days a week and work a mid-shift on Saturdays. I got transferred to Fashion Island and have an interview planned for the end of the month for Assistant Manager... but... well I don't really want to get promoted! I want to cut back to 20 hours and be with my kids more!! Shawn has also been putting in a LOT of hours at OC Nissan and working really hard, doing well; making ok $, but it just isn't worth the hours if I still have to work towards management to provide that stable base.
Soooo... he talked them into allowing him to work less hours and we will see what happens- this week certainly went better. I was able to get more than 3-4 hours of sleep a day unlike the previous few weeks. Joy was sleeping well until we started this crazy schedule now she wakes up every couple of hours to nurse and she is teething so she can be quite a handful when you are barely conscious and trying to listen to a 6 year old with no front teeth sounding out letters.
Grace has been such a tremendous help, so thoughtful and considerate- making me sandwiches or warming me leftovers when I get home from work, so I can feed the baby. She often watches over Joy so I can do chores or even rest for a bit. I really like the little girl she is becoming. She has quite the fashion sense and she loves to design clothes for herself and Joy- maybe in the spring we'll put together a unit study around fashion design.
Life is back on TV. I like that.
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Monday, May 05, 2008
Barefoot in the Park
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
Entry for February 14, 2007
While we were working on part 2 of the "cleaning out the garage" saga we came across a bat and ball.
Sunday, January 28, 2007
Geocaching!
Our first geocaching adventure!
Today we set out with the (much less intimidating- thanks to downloading and reading the manual!) GPS unit. We set our "waypoint" for a local, small cache, GCWA56.
After a delicious and fortifying "lunch" -okay it was after 4:00- our meal times are unconvential, too- where we took our bearings and plotted our course, we headed out. We encountered a dead end at Butterfield Park and had to backtrack. Grace was the navigator...
Today we set out with the (much less intimidating- thanks to downloading and reading the manual!) GPS unit. We set our "waypoint" for a local, small cache, GCWA56.
After a delicious and fortifying "lunch" -okay it was after 4:00- our meal times are unconvential, too- where we took our bearings and plotted our course, we headed out. We encountered a dead end at Butterfield Park and had to backtrack. Grace was the navigator...
We turned the wrong way when bactracking, but the genius of GPS got us there anyway- over a dirt road, past horse filled ranches and bare vined vineyards. I should have taken more shots along the way...
But eventually we arrived...
Photo Sharing - Upload Video - Video Sharing - Share Photos
And we searched for the cache...
Photo Sharing - Upload Video - Video Sharing - Share Photos
Photo Sharing - Upload Video - Video Sharing - Share Photos
We found some delightful "treasures" (Grace chose a small rubber flippy thingy toy, and I picked a Jr Tribal Ranger sticker) and left our own (a "ruby" ring from Grace and 2 wetnaps from me.) We signed the log, and continued on our merry way...
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Puzzles!
Shawn last finished Da Vinci's Last Supper in Nov! No time for puzzles this fall- can't wait until we are in our own place again!!
Are you a puzzler? Want to trade?
Are you a puzzler? Want to trade?