Bird Drinking Nectar

Flowers

This week we learned about flowers.  We used a couple of my herbal books for the pictures as well two other flower books from the library.  We also read Chrysanthemum, The Gunniwolf, The Tiny Seed and Planting a Rainbow.

Cedrik discovered flowers have pollen that bees use to make honey and they also have nectar (fruit juice) that butterflies and birds drink.  HHe learned the different parts of a flower and we tried to get them to change colors  using dyed water....the flowers were already dying so only one took any color to it but oh well. He drew a completely awesome picture of a bird sucking nectar that I need to take a picture of.  We sang a couple flower songs including Once There Was a Flower.

He has also finished learning the 5th Article of Faith and he and Freddie love to sing it.

Random Events

We were given a huge supply of tomatoes from a couple in the ward.  I froze most of the big ones to use this winter and gave away some of the smaller ones because it was just too much for us.  Cedrik snacks on them and calls them grapes. :)  Freddie really doesn't like tomatoes but does like to squish them.

My mom sent crib bedding for the baby.  The boys played in the box the rest of the week. They really don't need toys!  

We spent Saturday getting her room ready.  Jordan painted her dresser and we got things oorganized.  He also painted the boys' dresser.  Freddie is now in a big bed and they have new comforters coming on Saturday from Ikea (ummm...when did they start selling online!?!). 

Trees!

This week, Cedrik learned about trees.  We read Fletcher and The Falling Leaves, a book about every kind of tree imaginable which was more of a reference for the week, Little Acorn Grows Up and There was a Tree.

He drew his own tree, colored on the different parts of a tree (trunk, branches, etc), learned how they eat, learned about ladybugs and he loves the word "pupa" the third stage of life of a ladybug.  We also went to the nature center to find bird nests, and only found one.  We did however see owls and that was pretty awesome.  He sang a ladybug song and "there was a tree" song.  Cedrik also made two trees, apple and autumn.

Freddie did much better this week and likes to read, sing and color and will go have his own time when he is bored with us.

Something Big

Jordan had a scout training from 8 to 2ish Saturday.  He had a long day.  But he did say it was productive.  :)

After breakfast the boys got to skype with Mom and Warren for a little bit and they thought it was awesome.

The boys and I made a quick trip to the grocery store and then headed to the park for the morning.

We took Jordan lunch and he really only had about 5 minutes to eat because he was misinformed.

The boys took naps, I made dessert for the night and swept and mopped.

After naps, Jordan was home and we decided to go to the Hyde Park Street Fair.  It was loud there were lots of people.  I hadn't thought to mention this to Cedrik who doesn't like loud sounds or lots of people.  I told him to sqeeze my hand if it got too loud and he did several times.  We found a live band that we could stand back from that was playing nice "country style" music.  Cedrik loved watching the violinist. 

It's hard to say what Freddie thought of everything because he gets the same look on his face that Jordan doors in crowds...they  observe and that can sometimes look like they are uncomfortable.

We find the kids section and the lines were long and slow.  Cedrik loved the obstacle course and they both had their faces painted.  Cedrik told the girl he wanted something big.  He chose black, br brown and red. I told her it didn't need to be extravagant, she ignored me (or was too young to know what that word meant) and he was totally happy. 

Freddie got a Sun that he rubbed immediately. :)

We had dessert with friends a little later and got home late.

It was a long day!

Oceans and Continents

This week Cedrik learned about the ocean and continents.  The first picture is from Monday.  We went to the depot after naps because we had been in the car the whole morning driving home from UT.  It is open to the public on Mondays so we got to go inside the station and look at the display.  They thought it was pretty neat.  

I made up a little chant to learn the ocean names (which he now knows). The continents were a little tougher to learn.  We had books and discussed/colored animals that corresponded with each one.  Although, for Europe, he colored a castle instead of an animal because he mentioned castles one day and Europe followed the next day so it fit better than a....horse? I don't even really know what animal Europe is known for. Anyway...

He got to paint his hand which was probably the highlight of the week.  We jumped like kangaroos (they jumped I bopped my head) to a catchy kangaroo song.  We watched a kangaroo being born and learned their call.  We danced like moose to a random song about a moose named Fred who drank juice and also learned their call.  We stomped like elephants and in the photo you will see Cedrik and Jordan riding elephants before dinner.  :)  We also waddled like penguins to another song. I love YouTube. 

You can also see Freddie's art wall.  It has less, but some things I just toss because he colors now almost every day...something he insists on. :)

A Weekend at Grandma Porters

We were going to try to go to Ut last weekend for Labor Day, but had car problems.  We went this weekend instead.

On Friday we drove down and Jordan was able to tune Chari's piano while she and I played with the kids (rather, they played with themselves, which was nice). 

Saturday, Jordan tuned Carla's piano in the morning and we took the kids to town to get groceries and stop at the bakery.  YUM.  That night Jordan and Shayla practiced their Christmas songs for Jordan's recital that she'll be performing in.  They also gave me some presents for the baby. Carla made cute (of course!) Burp cloths and blankets.  The baby also got some pajamas and baby hats among other things. :)

Sunday, we went to church, ate and played games.  We drove home early this morning.

The funniest two quotes from the weekend:
Carla said, "Freddie you sound like a goose."  (He "honks" instead of talks)
Cedrik was watching Steve eat his breakfast and told him "Sometimes we eat meat when we are starving."

Preschool!

Cedrik has had his first week of preschool (at home!).  He loved it.  I borrowed (stole) some ideas from my friend and her schedule but rearranged/added things that Cedrik was more interested in.  Luckily, our kids have similar interests. :)

Since I have no idea what normal preschools teach, we are probably not being normal.

Each month has a different theme.  Each week is broken up into different categories within the broader theme.  This month is earth.  This week was land and water.  Because it was rainy, we didn't really get a chance to explore land and water outside.  But he loved school.  We read fun books, colored, glued, cut.  He learned the Earth is a sphere, not a circle.

Each day we sing about the month, and day of the week, learn about the weather.  Cedrik drew an amazing picture of rain complete with clouds, rain and grass.  He also drew an awesome earth.  He likes to outline the pictures instead of color them.  We also made earth music shakers.  Each day we count, learn a shape (this week was sphere), he practices writing lines and we talk about colors (this week was blue and green, the colors of the earth duh!).  Some of these things are repetitive for him because he has known them for a long time. 

Freddie wants to be included in every aspect of school, which is difficult because he just mauls everything and if he isn't in my lap, he is crying.  I need to figure out how to balance that.  He likes to color, and chew the crayons. 

Next week we learn about continents and oceans!