One.
I am enjoying twitter. They call it 'microblogging' because you basically keep a mini blog running of your life with a 140 character limit. It's challenging to summarize both the silly and meaningful events of the day into short snippets. Try it out if you're brave enough !! You can follow me on twitter here.
Two.
Ways to entertain two two year olds while you are trying to do anything else that requires attention and arms: (first put them in their high chairs with seatbelts fastened)
- black construction paper (or any dark color) and chalk.
- fingerpaint and paper (only as a last resort as this gets really messy)
- popsicle tray with the sticks neatly placed in each 'hole' so they can pull them all out and then put them all back in again.
- thin layer of flour spread on cookie sheet. (show them they can draw pictures with their fingers.
- clean egg carton with one chocolate chip in each egg spot... and extras to spare. This ensures they don't eat them all in one gulp, and maybe they'll try to put the spares in their own holes too.
Three.
I'm afraid. The twins know how to do too many things by themselves. This week alone I found them
- 'unloading' the dishwasher by themselves
- watching a dvd that they had put into the computer themselves and turned on (no kidding!)
- inside the pantry getting out various snack foods that look appealing. (if they don't look appealing they throw them on the floor out of the way)
- trying to see what happens when you drop 12 eggs on the floor (ok, grandma found them doing this)
Four.
Jelly Telly. From the creator of Veggie Tales. It's a new online TV station for kids with games and short 20 min segments of programming each day. Instead of vegetables, the station features puppets, similar in style to the muppets. It's pretty silly. They are trying to 'connect the dots between sundays' for the kids. I like their mission. However, like I need any more catchy kids tunes stuck in my head... Am I the only one who goes around singing these silly songs?
They have a weeks worth of shows archived at any time, and they also have sunday movies for the family to watch together. You can sign up for a free month, and after that it costs $2.99/month. Pretty reasonable.
Five.
Speaking of watching shows online, we have enjoyed EWTN kids online for a few years now, but you have to turn it on at the right time, (2pm mountain time), or you'll end up watching something that isn't very interesting to children (like a tour of the vatican art gallery or the history of the renaissance saints). There are shows like My Little Angels, Truth in the Heart, Image of God, The Donut Man, The Story Keepers, and more.
Six.
I just bought my advent candles... and while I was at it I bought some pretty gold ones too (to replace the purple and pink ones on christmas morning). You have a week and a half to get ready. It's such a beautiful season to celebrate as a family. We love advent, and it gives so much for meaning to christmas for us. If the only thing you do this year for advent is get an advent wreath, you'll be adding traditions that you children will never forget. Christmas would not be christmas in our house without the nightly lighting of the advent candles.
Seven.
We are just about at the end of term 1 for homeschooling. I can see the horizon, and it's looking clear and beautiful. We are done on the 28th of november. Just in time to start advent. We will be doing school-light during advent to give ourselves time to prepare our house, our minds, and our hearts for the coming of baby Jesus. Math and spelling will stay, but we will emphasize read-alouds, crafts, card making, baking, and religion. I'm looking forward to a shift in our focus. Maybe we'll even have time to do a few lapbooks again.
Any suggestions for some good read alouds for advent? I'll be closely following the great blogs out there for inspiration in the craft department.
1 comment:
I so completely agree on the kids songs thing...there are just too many Veggie Tales songs that pop up throughout my day!
As for your twins...I've got a singleton about the same age, and she's been found doing most of the stuff yours have...other than the dozen eggs...Instead, when she was just a little over a year, she found a potato at her level at grandma's house, walked it into the bathroom, and stuck it in the toilet...
of course, no one SAW her do this, and no one saw the potato until my FIL tried to flush the toilet...he had to take the toilet off the floor to get the potato out after that one!
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