Year Four: You Blink and Suddenly, It's December!

Exploration really is the essence of the human spirit, and to pause, to falter, to turn our back on the quest for knowledge, is to perish.

~Frank Borman

Y'all, I don't know what happened. I swear that yesterday was late August or mid-September at the latest. But no, it's December. Last you heard, we were traveling. Luckily, we survived it all! I can't even tell you everything that's happened since because I barely recall what all we did last week! 

Let's do a quick recap and call it a day, shall we? Great!

First up, September:

 My sweet world traveler! This was only the beginning of our adventure!

 Just because Mommy is away at school doesn't mean Mr. Sidekick gets a vacation! Although, school with Mimi seems much more fun!

 Tasty too. 😉

 We managed to see the first home game for Sooners before we headed back home. It was bright and hot but we got a win!

 Our travel adventures continued with a cross-country road trip! 

Schooling still got done!

 I cannot express how much joy it brings me to show him amazing things around the world. Above, is the Biltmore. Y'all, amazing. No other words. Oh wait, yummy! That's one because the food was fantastic too!

 Finally! Back at home and back to semi-scheduled days!

 We definitely needed some down time after all our travels!

 Yes, I'm still in school too and sometimes, we work on our school together!

This allows me to sleep at normal hours.

Non-computer learning happening!

 And then, October: 

 We spent a weekend at Myrtle Beach with Grandpa and Nana! It was an amazing and much needed trip for the whole family! 

For a little boy who doesn't like to color, he does wonderful things when he puts in a little effort.  

 Robotics! He got to help print this 3D coin and he's even printed a batarang for his Daddy since! He's learning about capacitors, current, power, voltage, and other words that I couldn't explain if I wanted to. He loves it though!

 Sometimes, we don't quite make it to the table to work in his workbooks! Haha!

His handwriting is slowly getting better! It's like coloring, with effort, it's great. We'll get there. 

Ok, more of October and November coming up soon! (I hope!) With our classes wrapping up, I will definitely have more time to devote to other things. Can't wait to show you more!

Year Two: Week Seven: Snip, Cut, Match

Absence, with all its pains, is, by this charming moment, wiped away.

~ James Thomson

How has it been almost a month? What have we been doing? What have we not been doing?? Sigh. Well, Daddy came home! Yay! A lot of our absence is because of that, and that's okay. We are all stateside now and getting ready for our next adventure. We've been busy with family and errands. It's time to get back into schooling and this is the first step! Get this done and get set up for some schooling days before Thanksgiving. 

Let's catch up on our past weeks, shall we? Have a look:

 Found these through Pinterest, here's the direct link to the website. These were fun, waaaaay back in October, just in time for Halloween. 

 Cutting practice. It had been a while but my sidekick picked it back up very well. Learning to cut can be frustrating both for the cutter and the teacher. We worked though it with only minor aggravation. :) I found a whole Cut it Out Pack from This Reading Mama but, it won't let me link it right now. Good stuff though!

 I found a new website for my schooling needs! TeachersPayTeachers.com. They have lots of freebies in lots of categories and age groups. I will be using this site for a long time.

The pig graph above is by Donna Glynn Kinderglynn and the letter tracing sheet is by Apple Bliss. There is a ton of stuff on that website. Check it out.

Sidekick chose to be Luigi for Halloween. Kid made bank in candy! It was our first real stateside Halloween (he was too little before we moved) and he loved it! He loved the running from house to house, he loved the getting of the candy, and he loved "winning" by racing little neighborhood friends to and from each house. The only downfall? He wanted to go INSIDE every house. And he did not understand why we couldn't go wandering in to stranger's houses and make ourselves comfortable. Overall though, it was a good night.

 Another holiday we celebrated was my sidekick turning FOUR! Every mom says it, and I must agree, how does time go by so fast?! My baby is turning into a little boy and, I'm sure, some time tomorrow, he'll be a man. We had a quiet family dinner, complete with ice cream and a few presents, on his actual birthday and then a party about a week later once Daddy was home. 

Instead of presents at his birthday party, we asked our guests to bring donations for our local animal shelter. Everyone was great in participating and the shelter was very happy to receive our gifts. 

I've had people ask me, "Why no gifts?". My sidekick is special. He doesn't really like or care to open presents. Also, we tend to get him plenty of toys and such throughout the year. This was so much better. It went to a good cause and we didn't offend anyone when he shunned their gift so he could continue playing with his friends.

 Downtime.

 We used our recently cut apples (that he cut himself) and worked on our math skills.

 All these pumpkin, P themed, worksheets are from here. Through Pinterest, per usual. These were great to continue our fall theme that has been present for about a month. After Thanksgiving though, it's onto Winter Wonderland and Christmas! It was easy to break these worksheets up and do a couple a day or even just one in the evening during some down time. 

There you have it! You're as caught up as I am. Now to get ready for next week and set up some travel schooling projects. Wish me luck!

See you soon!

Lesson Nine: A Letter of Love

It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; What is essential is invisible to the eye.

Le Petit Prince (1943) (The Little Prince)

My Sweet Sidekick,

     You are officially three! I am still adjusting to how fast your little life has flown by. You're no longer fully dependent on me for your every need, you no longer need my help with some of the smaller, daily things. Instead, you help me! It's a bit sad for this mommy. BUT! My dear child, I am so proud of you. You astound me daily with your smarts and your silliness. Let me think back to some of my favorite moments.

     One of my favorites is the word you've made up for when something is just too good for one word. "Cool-mazing" has become a household word and we love that you came up with it, all on your own.
     I love your need for family hug time. This is where you crawl up into one of our laps and then call the other over, "Come hug, Momma". And then you wrap your sweet little arms around us with plenty of "aww's" and kisses. It's always a sweet moment and I'm so glad it happens often in our home.
     Some of my favorite phrases are: "how are you?", "what's wrong, baby?", "me sad" (it's just so adorable when you say it!), "come hug!", "kiss! mwah!", "love me!", "aww, so happy Momma!" (this happens every time we hug), "aww, so sweet!", "it's so cute!". This list goes on and more is added to it daily. Your witty, funny, emotional, loving, and just plain amazing, kid.
      One of my favorite things about you, is how you love to help. Anything I'm doing, you must be a part of it. Whether its putting away the dishes, fixing dinner, bathing the dogs, cleaning the house. I love how you want to be big even though I wish you'd just stay small a little longer.
     I'm sure I could think of a million more because you do things daily that I wish I freeze each moment to ensure it's safekeeping in my memory.

     Now, to brag on you a little. I can't help it! You're so smart for such a small human. You know your entire alphabet and can recognize both lower and uppercase letters. You can count to 29 in English, to 10 in Italian, and to 5 in your own language. You can count to 10 on your fingers. You have the uncanny ability to know how many of something there is without really seeming to count them. You know so many shapes, including pentagon and trapezoid. Any color of the rainbow is already known in your smart little brain. You can sign "smart" and "thank you". You know how to say "hello" (ciao) and "please" (por favore) in Italian but you understand much more than that. You love to paint, to create, to make a mess. You are also very polite. You always tell us "thank you" when we've given you something you asked for. You'll even say "you're welcome" for us! You've picked up on "I love you" which you say "love me" back to us.
   
     Before we had you, I knew I wanted to be a mom. It was a deep feeling that I knew only you could fulfill. For the first year, I think I just stared in amazement that I finally had you in my arms. For the second year, I held you close and showed you this big world and was amazed, yet again, at how you were mine. For this third year, I have stood back a little. I let you explore while I watched on trying to see the world through your eyes. I held you hand but let you lead me. Every year, every day, every single moment with you is a gift. My heart is overfilled with love for you. You have brought your daddy and I closer together than ever before. You have showed me what love truly is. You have given us the chance to relive our childhoods and to give you more than we had the first time around. It has been so FUN to have you and to watch you grow. To watch you figure out this world around you, to see you think, to see you play. To get to be a part of your life is a blessing.
     We aren't perfect parents in the least, but you have given us something to strive for. We want to show you that you can do and achieve anything in this world. In order for you to do this, we must believe in that as well. We must do everything we can to SHOW you that you can do anything. We must give you every opportunity to excel. Oh baby, we will do just that. Don't you worry. You deserve the world and more.
    
     I must end this somehow. I know I have forgotten things that I knew I wanted to say to you. But know this, I love you. Simply. More than life. More than anything. You are amazing. You are smart. You have a smile that makes my every day into something wonderful. You have a laugh that can turn around any bad day. You stole my heart before I even saw your face. You alone know what my heart sounds like from the inside and it's you that I hold most dear. I wish I could hold you close forever. To protect from the bad things that are sure to find their way into our happy little world. But I must let you fly. I'll catch you when you need me though. I'll always be here. Happy Birthday my little love. Wishing you everything this world has to offer.

I love you.

Love love,
Mommy