Oh Blah Dee Oh Blah Da

Finn's bottom teeth are definitely in.  He holds his own bottle, he sits up and rolls over. All that's left is fetch, I think. We are working through his 3rd ear infection, but he is the best medicine taker I have, so that's nice.

Max loves going to preschool and would probably enjoy more than two days a week.  But with his fall birthday, he'll have plenty of preschool.  I can't believe we are on the cusp of his 4th birthday, though he's probably as tall as most 6 year olds.  He is a verbose fellow.  His "nick knack name" could really be Motor Mouth.  Sometimes it's whining but mostly its just talking, talking, and talking.  I feel bad, but sometimes I have to tell him to can it because I just can't take anymore.

He has the most interesting dreams and is able to recount them right down to the most minute detail.  Sometimes, they are cause for some major sleep disturbances but I can't blame him once he tells me what they were about.  Last night was when the clothes on the rack at the store came alive, took us home and put us in a pot of spaghetti, meatball style and were going to eat us.  No lie.

Imagination to spare, for sure.

We recently bought Luke a new lego set. He had done his others ones so many times, he practically had the directions memorized.  He was completing them in just minutes and he was getting bored.  So this creator set we'd been eyeing went on sale and we bought it.  But it was huge and while we were waiting on it to ship, Dan and I had second thoughts.  618 pieces is a lot of pieces.

It arrived though, and Luke set right to it.  Comparatively, it took forever. He had to set his pieces out on 2 pans and a plate.  But he did it. He's done them all now, a few times, but he says next time he doesn't want so many pieces, maybe only three or four hundred instead.

School is going well for him but the length of the day isn't his favorite.  From what I can tell he still has some issues with processing directions and I hope to broach the subject with his teacher at our upcoming conference.  I don't really know how to deal with his math at school.  He probably wouldn't qualify for their gifted program, based on his language skills but he does have this pocket of giftedness that I feel badly is not being fostered at all.   I guess it's another subject for our conference.

Soccer is going ok.  He still loves it despite the coach being majorly intense. Luke's skills seem to be on a roller coaster.  We saw huge improvement quickly and then he plateaued and even regressed. He plays at home in the backyard with a totally different passion than he does at practice or a game.  He is intimidated by the coach. But he wants to play everyday and I think that it could be a really great sport for him as he grows.  We're thinking about the spring season and joining a new team.

Luke tells me, "Heavenly Father and Jesus are my favorite and you're next, Mom." And I can't complain about that.

Ava is growing so much, so fast.  I truly cannot believe it.  Sometimes I look at her and I can see how her face has changed overnight, even catching glimpses of how she's going to look as an adult.

 We've entered the world of training bras and deodorant and I keep thinking, this can't be right.  But my nose tells me it's right.

Her legs have a near constant ache.  I remember those pains so well as my own legs grew and grew.  And between me and Dan it's a safe bet that her legs will be growing for a while.

She loves reading and drawing.  She has rightly earned the title, Doodler. In fact, she finds it nearly impossible to just watch TV, she must draw while she watches. When I pick up the family room after the kids are in bed, I collect literal stacks of pictures.  I love them all.  But I just can't keep them. So I settle for taking pictures.

School continues to be a struggle at least in some areas.  In others, she thrives and is happy.  Between this year's adoption of Ipads for all, I really I fight an internal battle.  I like ipads and I like our school and I like our teachers and I like technology.  But I do not like the overuse of technology. It's almost as if the school is trying to convince us how awesome ipads are and have made it their mission to use them in every possible setting, even where there is no need or benefit. I have no idea what happened to the American Pediatric Associations recommendation of two hours of screen time per day.  But we are racking up close to 5 even before they get home. I cringe as I see the PE teacher sending home requests for more apps.  I cringe when the art teacher explains that minecraft is appropriate for art class (in creative mode!)  I cringe as Ava has no one to play with during indoor recess because every single student in her class would rather be on their ipad. I cringe when the teacher has to explain, and remind, and threaten elementary students that they can't text their friends while she's teaching. I cringe as I hear that at a recent parent meeting demonstrating the great filtering system, where the parents were instructed to type in a questionable website, THE FILTER DID NOT WORK and all involved got a school board induced peep show.  I cringe when the first grader says he listens to Drake on his ipad on the bus and his mom doesn't even care.


Between all of that and having to reteach a lot of material to Ava in a way that she understands anyway, I am genuinely wondering why I am sending them to school.  At least once everyday, I think that I should home school my kids.  Like I am seriously about 10 feet away from being that crazy mother I never thought I would be.

I don't know what's happening to me. I am appalled by song lyrics and all these new-fangled notions. At my core I am a lover, not a fighter, but if an asteroid was going to hit the earth and kill somebody I wouldn't be sad if it was Katie Perry. And yes, I realize that this is me, basically giving you permission to buy me a 12 pack of Ensure on my next birthday. I like the chocolate best. But when your eight year old tells you she loves to imagine the stories while she listens to music and begins to ask you "what does that mean?" in regards to a song we just heard on the radio, and you find yourself unable to articulate it in an appropriate way, it is a red flag. Or when you watch and hear your child singing words to certain songs, it makes you really think twice about what's coming out of their mouth. I am old now.  That's all there is to it.


But skanky singers and song lyrics aside, my consideration for home school is reaching an all time high and I truly don't know which way to go.  All I know is that I keep coming back to it.  I'm waiting to get struck by lightning, because this is a huge deal to me.  So many pros and cons to be weighed.

Heavenly Father wants the best for my babies even more than I do.  I know He will help me know what to do.  But He might have put me on hold right now.  That's what it feels like anyway; no need for rash decisions.

In the meantime, we will take a trip to Houston for the BYU game next weekend, Dan and I will rendevous for a weekend in NYC for one last hurrah before my parents are missionaries instead of babysitters.  We're thinking about Thanksgiving in Chicago and Christmas in Utah.  Because as much as I would like to know exactly what the future holds, the days keep coming, the kids keep growing, and life goes on.