I’m Still Here

    At the Ob/Gyn visit this morning, my doctor could not feel the baby’s head, and thought she might have turned breech – but she’s just still floating in lots of amniotic fluid and not engaged yet, we checked with a quick ultra-sound.  So, 39 weeks and still here.
    So, what have we done in the mean time?  I’ve finished sewing the interlining into my coat, DH has put away the collateral clutter, the clutter we have left is the stuff we didn’t sort through before moving the workshop, and since there is less floor space than in the old one, it’s more cluttered than the old one.  The boy’s room is all moved accept their posters and art work, and we haven’t quite engineered the bedside table substitute, dragon and rocketship aren’t up yet, they would probably tear anyway if they guys loaded them with Bibles, books, comic books, Legos and other bedside stuff – we might hang  them near a mirror when we hang a  mirror – combs don’t get super heavy.
    I’ve started sewing the orange chair cushions for the boy’s rocker in their room.  I bought safety goggles for the boys so they can be in the same room with me when I pull out the tacks in the old chair for the apolstry part.
    On the school front, we are easing back into B’s independent work after about 2 sporatic weeks.  We never gave up the read alouds, although the other regular stuff has been sitting in a box.  I managed some handwriting work with both boys, and part of a spelling dictation with B.  He was getting so tired after this weeks phonogram review, with spelling word review, that I cut the lesson short and let them run outside in the rain and mud. 
    I met them at the door with a laundry basket, and they stripped down right in the back hallway.  B is washing the dirty clothes right now, and I made them cocoa to warm up with.  The mud was glorious apparently.
    He’s been writing independently on a Lego contest project where he needs to make a Bionicle and write an essay about it.  His frustration was that he could not read his notes.  I realized that we needed to focus on handwriting for a while, until that can be a reliable tool for him.  He’s been printing in the mean time to focus more on the writing than the handwriting part.  
    We’ve been using "Cursive First" with M since it includes so many gross moter-won’t burn out your preschooler sorts of activities, and goes step by step. (He demanded to know when I was going to teach him to read and write since he is homeschooled too a few months ago.  So far he still doesn’t want to just play during school time, and does want his mom and me time before I work with B.  That works out great as B then gets time to finish his chores before school without little brother tagging along.)   I had been planning on doing both boys separately at their own levels, but decided that as a soon to be mother of 3, I should make things easy on myself and let B have a review of forming the numerals right along with M learning them.  He hasn’t complained.
    It turns out that the student who likes the big picture, discovery sorts of learning is ME, B likes the details one at a time, especially lately, so he is liking "Cursive First."  Also, it gives step by step oral instructions for forming the letters and connectors, instead of telling him to watch me form the letters and imitate them.  If we are outside, I will miss the red tailed hawk, the cool airplane and all the stuff that moves, and B will see it.  But if I tell him to just watch and imitate me in a writing or drawing session, we are both in for a frustrating time.  He really likes it when he watches, listens, and then imitates.  Sometimes he won’t watch, just listen.
    So that’s what we’ve been up to, just keeping busy while we can, trying not to get too excited about contractions, and that’s about it.