Enrichment

This past Friday was Ben's last day in his Friday Enrichment group. This is the group he's been going to for the last two years and it's always 10 Fridays in the Fall and 10 more at the new year, so it always flies by. Just like last year they had a little program to end the year, and Ben sang and recited nursery rhymes and bible verses with his class. They were all so cute! Here's a sample. Turn up your volume for Ben's solos. :)

Jesus Loves Me, sign language

Love is Patient

The Fruits of the Spirit, Ben solo

Zephaniah 3:17

Little Bo Peep, Ben solo

I say yes to my Lord 

Check out the cutie in the red dress dancing up a storm. When Ben watched this he said, "Well, she just really loves God!". :)

I was kind of emotional the whole time because I knew it might be Ben's last day ever at Enrichment, and we've loved that little program so much. Remember last year when I talked about us touring the 2 day homeschooling supplement school? Well, once Will came home we decided some structure like that might be very helpful. Our hope is that he will learn how to make friends and feel confident in groups of kids his age (all speaking English of course!). He attended full time public school in China before we met, and he's told me before that he prefers "school with mom". I'm really glad that this program will still give him 5 days a week with mom, and 2 days to be with peers and another teacher that can help guide him. I'm also hopeful that Ben and Kate will benefit from the *extras* like art class, Spanish, hands on science experiments, and all the other subjects they cover there that mom sometimes can't get to after everything else we're trying to do. I'm grateful that they really approach things as a supplement to the *real* school you already have at home, and not the other way around.

Of course I'm pretty excited that after almost 12 years I'll be able to schedule a haircut in the middle of the day without needing a babysitter. Or maybe I'll grocery shop alone! But I know those first few days are going to feel very strange and I'll miss them. I can't wait to see what they do and who they meet and what they learn! I'm grateful to have this little school as an option, and we're just going into this year as a trial to see if it's a good fit for our family (Anna and Noah are staying at their current school). This new school has a 2 day per week program going all the way up to 8th grade and then another school has a 2 day per week high school program, so even though I TRY not to let my brain get too far ahead, it's nice to know those long term plans are available should we need them. And if we try it and we feel like we want to go back to the old plan of just 1 day at Enrichment, we can go back to that. The lady that runs the program is so sweet and encouraging and she's made it known that we're welcome to come back any time. I also have some super sweet friends at the new school, who have been incredibly helpful while I figure it all out and determine what's best. In May we meet with the school to decide what's best for Will, and luckily the lady that will lead his class is a friend that goes to our church and lives just around the corner! As of right now they're signed up for Kindergarten (Kate), first grade (Ben), and second grade (Will). Three in a row sounds so crazy to me!

After Ben finished his portion of the Enrichment program we had to leave without seeing the older kids perform. Kate had been sick that morning, so she slept on my lap the entire time, but I wanted to get her out of there as soon as we could. 

Sneaking out early was probably best for my old sentimental heart. I felt so sad leaving, so it was probably best that I couldn't drag it out by talking to everyone and taking a million photos. I reminded myself that Enrichment has always been an a la carte program. If we reeeeally miss it, Ben can always just take 1-2 classes there on Fridays since his new school meets on Tuesday and Thursday mornings. I'm guessing we will need that time at home though, since all of the main subjects will still be done 100% at home, and based on the curriculum order I placed yesterday, it's a lot! But again - I love options and knowing that it might not be a goodbye to Enrichment forever helped me get out the door without tears.

The three youngest kids and I will keep doing school at home through the end of May, and Kate will still have preschool until then as well. This summer we plan to continue with basic school "light" so that we can be prepared for Fall. It helps that Anna and Noah always have summer reading lists and basic math and Latin review too. This will be Will's first summer with us, so we plan to mix that review with a healthy dose of fun and relaxation.

A fellow homeschooling mom and I were laughing the other day about how stressed we were choosing a Kindergarten for our oldest kids and then how relieved we were when that choice was finished and made FOREVER. We would never have to deal with school choice ever again! HA! But both of us had chosen 2 day a week Kindergartens way back when so it was probably a sign of things to come. I'm just glad that we get to make the choice at all, and I know it will all work out in the end. We're excited to see what this new chapter has for us!

Children's Museum

A few weeks ago we took the kids up to the Children's Museum. We always try to sneak in a few visits as our membership gets close to expiring, and Will had never been, so it felt like a perfect time to take the short drive and spend the day playing there.

Look! All five of them in the same photo!

I was happy that the big kids didn't think they were too big for the dinosaur digging area. I think we have pictures of them in here from when they were little bitty!

They were happy to see that the slide was still up from the last time we were here. 

The cash register is always a hot commodity. They had to take turns being in charge, but Kate didn't mind being the shopper over and over.

The China exhibit is still there too, though it had changed a little from when we first saw it. They liked cooking the plush food and serving Nathan and I at our table. Writing Chinese characters with water was a big hit again as well.

Had to ride the carousel. Will shouted in surprise to see one indoors!

Ben went full on George Costanza on this little bench. We couldn't stop laughing at him!

The water exhibit was changed too and they all had fun playing in there. Nathan and I decided to sit for just a few minutes on a bench near a wall when suddenly we were covered in fog. We were accidentally sitting right under the fog machine that makes the fake storms every few minutes. It was hilarious how much came pouring down on us!

It was a fun day. The kids played all day and we had a short dinner before we headed home. Looking forward to more trips later this year!

How's It Going?

I can't believe it's been over a month since I popped in here. Sweet friends have texted and emailed to see if everything is okay, and I can honestly say things have been going really well. We're just busy! In some ways adding a 5th child didn't change as much as we expected in our day to day lives, but I will say that any free time I had with 4 kids is not happening with 5! But our days are filled with good things and we can't complain at all.

Here's a recap of the last 6ish weeks, though most of this has already been shared on Instagram if you follow along over there.

We celebrated Chinese New Year with our adoption group. Will was a little shy but he loved the bounce houses, crafts, and bingo game. He ate zero helpings of all the yummy Chinese food, just like his mei mei. There were more families there than we've ever had, but this photo shows the adoption mamas that I have dinner with each month, plus or minus a few that weren't in the picture.

And this wasn't even all of the kids! Specifically, it's missing Noah, who was in the bathroom with a nosebleed after a bounce house incident.

Noah's school basketball team finished up their season for the Spring. This was the first year that the school has ever had a 4th grade boys' team and they worked so hard! Right now Noah and most of his teammates are in a skills clinic together that meets way too late at night for 4th graders. But it only lasts a few more weeks, and pretty soon it will still be light outside at 9pm.

Noah also went to his first church overnighter and had a blast. He really is the sweetest boy.

Will went to kids' church for the first time. They allowed him to be in Ben's class for as long as he needs and they seem to have fun together every week. Ben tells me that Will doesn't stand up for singing and he just kind of sits and waits for everyone to finish, but we know that will come with time. Those kids' worship times can be overwhelming and loud even for adults! He skips in every week with a smile, and we're so happy he's enjoying it! This was the first church craft he ever made. Jesus loves you, happy face and sad face, and...volcano?  ;)

We celebrated Kate's 5th Birthday on Valentines Day, which will get its' own post eventually. She had several celebrations at home and school and she loved it all. Here she is cheesing it up at preschool. Will went with me and enjoyed the toys and snacks, even if the many little eyes on him was a tad intimidating!

We spent tons of time outside soaking up the way above average temperatures at the end of February and beginning of March. To be honest I wasn't really ready for summer just yet so I'm happy to be back in jeans and sweaters, but it really was a nice boost in a normally grey and cold month.

Will went from not knowing how to swing at all, to doing this just two days later. Now he's making me nervous daily with how high he goes. Ignore the tree that my caveman husband pushed down with his bare hands.

Anna had her first Strings concert at school a few weeks ago. She's had a million solo recitals but this was her first time playing in a group. She was nervous, but it went well. She's in the advanced group so she's in the back of this photo, right in the middle.

She also completed the massive task of reciting Horatius at the Bridge from memory - all 70 stanzas, all 589 lines of this. She worked on this for months and we are so proud of all of her hard work. She just wanted that little pin for her collar more than anything else, ha! We are all relieved that it's over for the year, and Noah is already worrying about his turn which is two years from now!

There is so much more to catch up on but it's already time to go to another carpool line! Next time I won't wait a month before coming back. :)