math and science fun

i can't say enough about how much we LOVE apologia
science. this year we are studying anatomy and the kiddos LOVE
it! the curriculum has so many 'try its' or simple projects throughout
each chapter that we can do with household objects. they were learning
about vocal chords and how if they are tighter or looser (longer or shorter)
they make different sounds. they are still playing with this weeks afterwards
and make up different songs with their rubberbands and bowls!

making and reading LARGE numbers

at first Cailey wasn't sure about wanting Braden to do math
with her but after the first day she was thrilled! they have a blast
competing on timed math fact worksheets as well as taking turns answering
questions, getting to play games together, and working together
to come up with the right answers. they also do everything else together except
for handwriting.

two cute!

i came in the room to find these two digging in the candy
bowl. they both FULLY expected to be able to have some.
so I, of course, obliged:)

Fall Crafts

we did this craft at co op and the kiddos loved it so
much they decided to make a bunch at home! there are more
but these were the ones i hadn't hung up yet:). all three kiddos
painted with different techniques and colors for our 'stained glass'
leaves

ephram's first handprint craft! **thanks for taking pics, Cailey!**


her own handprint ghost and a 'name' pumpkin patch that she did with do a dots and markers

ephram colored his own pumpkin:)...and kinsey LOVES
painting and coloring in giant coloring books

torn paper pumpkin with a pom pom

kinsey would do crafts all day if someone could be downstairs 'supervising' her! she LOVES to paint, color, glue, pretty much anything that has to do with being crafty and messy:) i gave her this piece of paper and asked her if she wanted to paint a pumpkin. this was the final product! she decided she wanted a pumpkin patch and did it ALL by herself:)

decorating feathers and corn

turkeys and Indian corn

This fall the kiddos have been doing lots of crafts! We all love experimenting and coming up with new ways to do door art and other crafts. They marble painted the top of the tree (which was interesting and messy since it was so big...hence not having pics of the process!) and decided to do a dot the tree trunk. Ephram was sleeping for the marble painting but helped out with the do a dots:). Braden wanted turkeys on the door art, Kinsey wanted Indian corn, and Cailey wanted a pumpkin patch. After seeing how awesome the turkeys turned out Cailey decided we should put the pumpkin patch on another window. It's neat to see them all plan out and make the crafts individually pretty much without assistance from me...they know what they want to do and do it!

For the corn they did a different technique on each one. One is made from gluing beans/seeds, one is from ripped paper, one is finger print painting, one is cut up foam/sequence, and the last one has do a dots.

I helped them draw the circle for their turkeys but they each glued them together and came up with all the ideas for feathers on their own. They turned out SO great! I LOVE their fall door art!

Cailey and Braden did all the same crafts as Kinsey but I just didn't get a chance to take pics of the process:).

fall park days

the little girls spent their time on the slides, swings, chasing, and in the sand

the biggest girl spent her time pushing the babies on the swing (which she loves to do), sliding, swinging HIGH, climbing, chasing babies and making friends.

the baby boys spent their time climbing, sliding, laughing, and swinging

the big boys were hardly seen as they explored, hid, played in the sand and chatted

halloween party

Braden joined Cub Scouts this year and has been having a really fun time going to meetings, making new friends, and going on lots of field trips. They had a Halloween party last week and the kiddos dressed up and had a great time! There are no pics because daddy forgot the camera:( BUT I still wanted to document it.

They had a cake walk and Cailey ended up winning a cupcake which she shared with her siblings. They also had lots of games for the kids to play and animal charades. Braden had an AWESOME time and came home beaming. He decided to dress up in his Tae Kwon Do uniform for the party while the girls wanted to match and be Snow White.

We love his troop because they always include siblings and allow them to come. (Most of the things he does with just one of us and the other Cub scouts but we thought it would be fun to let the girls go to the Halloween party with him.)

this baby will NOT smile for the camera but once again when he saw his siblings getting their pictures taken he wanted to be a part of it and kept smiling SO big and backing up to stand with them so he could be included:) he LOVES doing what they do!

17 months...

being silly with daddy!

Ephram was 17 months old yesterday yet somehow I was thrown off and thought today was the 3rd so my post is a day late:).

Communication:
He's reached the point where he says so many new words that I can no longer remember them all by the end of the day when I write everything down. He puts two and three words together constantly and imitates EVERYTHING. He doesn't like to 'show off' what he knows on demand but we've figured out that he'll do it if the other kids do it first. SO...if I want him to tell Nonny his new phrases I'll say, Cailey...what does a cow say? and she'll say "cow mooo"...which is IMMEDIATELY imitated by ephram. (He can totally do it on his own and does all day...just not when we want him to share it:) The funniest thing he's learned are 'knock knock' jokes. The kids are CONSTANTLY doing 'knock knock' jokes in the car and he's picked up on them and is always saying, "knock knock."

I was keeping track of his new words until a week ago so here's the list I have for this month until that point: "carker" (for carter) "here ya go mama" "i will" "knock knock" "mama here?" "slide" "whee" "wipey" "diaper" "bottom" "turtle" "open" "down" "your welcome" "i don't know" "poop" "juice" "moon" "nose" "bounce" "eyes" "ears" "shirt" "hat" "wagon" "ride" "chalk" "hot" "cold" "popcorn" "kinsey" "cailey" "elmo"....which we found out a couple weeks later was "animal" and "spoon". We made a list of all his words/phrases/animal sounds and he can say a little over 100.

Ephram usually says please and thank you unprompted but in the few times we have to prompt him he will sign it instead of saying it. He still signs more and all done occasionally but mainly uses verbal language now.

Physical:
Ephram LOVES to climb and go down slides by himself, loves to be pushed on the swings and loves to be chased. He's started running too which is super cute because he'll laugh SO loud as he's being chased.

Sleep:
Ephram just went down to one nap a couple of days ago. He was having trouble falling asleep in the afternoon so we dropped the morning nap and he's been doing great with it. We moved up his nap to start at 1:30 instead of 2:00. The only sleep problem we're having is that he will NOT go to sleep unless Braden (or sometimes someone else) is in his room with him. It was never a problem before but lately Braden's been out for scouts, parties, Halloween, etc. and ephram just cries and cries because he wants someone in his room with him. I LOVE LOVE LOVE that he loves his brother and wants to be with him but I never thought going to sleep without him would be a problem:).

i just love these footie jammies and it's finally cold enough for him to wear them.
i can remember braden wearing both of these and just loved them on him...i can't believe
ephram is big enough to fit in them already!

Ephram will actually BRING books to us to read...but will become uninterested in 30 sec:). It's a step though and I'll keep trying to get him to sit and listen to books because he has SO much language and points to everything on the book and labels it. He also turns the pages, says animal sounds, and even a couple colors or imitates verbs (ex. crying, laughing, etc.) in the stories. "Row Row Row" is his favorite song but "Itsy Bitsy Spider" and "Wheels on the Bus" come in close second.

he LOVES his siblings...and socks and shoes...and bananas:)

Eating:
There's a picky eater in every family, right?? Sweet Ephram isn't crazy about veggies but will eat (or at least try) a teeny tiny bit of what's put in front of him. If he doesn't like it he just won't eat it. I don't make different meals for him but will sometimes give him banana or applesauce if I don't think he's had enough dinner. I also still puree veggies into his yogurt or applesauce if he hasn't had enough. He can feed himself the big stuff but we still spoon feed him yogurt, etc.

he LOVES popcorn as a snack and will ask for it
after his nap

Ephram is well behaved (so far:) and very helpful around the house. He loves to bring me trash and clean up with the other kiddos. He's discovered markers and got into a bit of trouble after coloring on the wall and himself but other than that he spends most of his time playing with toys and with his siblings.

i can definitely say that ephram is the only one of my babies who has played the guitar
or listened to the IPOD before:) funny how having older siblings means different
toys to play with...he wants to do the same things they do so it means he plays with trains,
LEGOS, etc. at a much younger age.

Ephram's FAVORITE thing to do is be outside. He is happiest when he's either in the front yard pushing around toys and riding on things or when he's in the backyard playing and exploring. In the evening after his nap we send him out with a snack (and a couple big kids) and he's content to play for a long time. The 'big kids' love pushing him in the wagon, playing with him on the see saw, chasing him, and pushing him in the cars.