Yesterday was a busy day!
Usually Thursdays don't start out so busy, but we're doing 5 days of school this week so we can introduce 3 word families, which meant we had to get a lesson in before heading to the park.
I woke up at 10 minutes to 6; I had finished getting the manipulatives ready for our lesson the night before, but the school room was a mess, so I needed to get things put away. Unfortunately T-Guy was awake and making unhappy noises before 6:30. He didn't like the idea of waiting for me to finish before we could snuggle, so I asked him if he would like to listen to some music softly. That worked well; he used my iPod but we don't let him use the ear buds, and I set the volume low and locked the controls so he couldn't accidentally turn it up. By 6:50 I knew J-Baby was awake, but he doesn't get out of bed until I go and sing to him (and he pretends to be asleep until he hears the first line of our song). So at 7 I went and sang to J-Baby, then had him come and snuggle in bed with me and T-Guy.
The early morning routine went as usual, with us eating, cleaning the kitchen, dressing, and brushing our teeth. I stripped the beds and started a load of laundry, and remade their bed with an extra sheet so they could still use it as a couch.
We read the story of the "ail/ale" family, which delighted them as the stories are silly and full of rhyming words. This is a really great way to teach word families and help the children understand that you can read words in parts and not just letter-by-letter, sound-by-sound.
Then I had to pack snacks, water, and lunch for the park, and get all of that plus play equipment into the car.
Park day was small but enjoyable. We had a new family and I was pleased out how T-Guy was able to interact with the oldest boy instead of shutting down the way he usually does when there is someone new. We didn't stay to late; it is getting hotter and I wanted some down time before my Enki consult.
We ended up eating our lunch at home, and got to see Papa which we usually don't on Thursdays. I wanted to delay story time until my consult, but it was clear that they needed it at the normal time. What we ended up doing was having them listen to one story CD, come out and have a snack and some time with me, then they went back into their room and listened to a second story CD during the consult. That's what I get for telling them they could listen to one during the consult - I don't really like to do two story CDs in one day. It worked out fine though, and it was probably helpful for them to have so much down time on a really busy day.
My consult went well. I am still processing it, but I think it was helpful to know that I am on the right track and that this isn't going to be as difficult as I thought it might be (using one grade for two children). I was also greatly reassured about the lack-of-reading situation.
We played with pattern blocks and tangrams, and then I made dinner. All day we had been wavering on attending our nephew's middle-school production of "Fiddler on the Roof." In the end we rushed through dinner and clean up, changed the boys clothes, and all of us headed out. I'm really glad that we did; the boys seemed to enjoy the performance even if most of the humor and plot was over their heads. T-Guy was quiet and engaged throughout the performance; J-Baby got just the slightest bit antsy about 2/3 of the way through, so I warmed some beeswax and he worked with that while still watching the performance.
Once it was over the did presentations, which was boring and after that we saw our nephew. At that point J-Baby was ready to go! We went to the car, changed them into pajamas, gave them a snack and water, and headed home. They fell asleep quickly in the car. Once home we made our bed, brushed our teeth, did some yoga (okay, that was just me), read for a bit, and went to sleep.
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