Joy in the Simple Moments - 7 Quick Takes

 

Seven Quick Takes is such a fun and great way to wrap up what has been going on when life just keeps flying by!  We do not even have that much going on in life right now, but the weather has been so nice and we are in such a fun routine right now that it seems like I look at the clock and another day has simply passed by!  Here are a few things we have been up to the past week enjoying all of those simple moments.

--- 1 ---

Nature Park Fun

 

Our boys simply adore being outside so they were thrilled when we found a new place to explore!  This nature center is just minutes away from our house and has amazing walking paths, a lake to fish in and fun parks including this nature park.  It is filled with different objects that you would find in nature all specifically arranged for creative play!  It was a blast and we cannot wait to go back and play some more.

 

--- 2 ---

Springtime School Outside

 

We cannot get enough of doing school outside during these mild weather spring days.  Our middle son has been adjusting his nap schedule a bit this past week (by not taking a nap at all!), so he has been awake during school time.  He has been having so much fun helping and learning right along side of his big brother.  Also this week we found a bunch of caterpillars on our sidewalk.  Thankfully we had just purchased the Live Butterfly Garden which includes this awesome net so we have had a lot of fun watching our caterpillars and learning all about them!

 

 

--- 3 ---

Exploring Time

 

We took a morning this week to go explore at Fontenelle Forest which is an amazing forest about 20 minutes from our home with great things to learn about!  They have a great boardwalk to walk along, but this particular day there were a lot of school field trips, being the last week of school for most schools, so it was busy!  We decided to go out on some different back trails that we had never tried before and had quite the adventure!  We found lots of butterflies, deer, squirrels, rabbits and lots of birds!  We also found a place to build a dam in the water and also simply enjoy the beautiful morning.

 

 

 

--- 4 ---

Bath Diving Fun

 

We have been having a fair share of nice weather, but also a decent amount of rain.  One particularly rainy afternoon we decided to pull out our new water goggles that the boys got for their swimming lessons that start next week and dive in the bathtub.  It occupied hours of their time and although they were little prunes by the time they got out they all had a lot of fun!

 

 

--- 5 ---

Cuddling Trio

 

My in-laws sent the boys these adorable sleeping bags from Pottery Barn Kids for the boys.  They have been bringing them out onto the deck to have "camp outs", using them to build forts in the living room and cuddling up with them to watch a movie or read stories!  They are so much fun and the boys simply adore them!  Thanks Grandpa and Grama!

 

--- 6 ---

Baseball, Baseball and MORE Baseball

We have a few different baseball fields near our house and our boys would go play every day if they could!  We had gotten a batting helmet earlier this spring and last week the boys found a catchers helmet at a garage sale (which makes playing baseball so much cooler).  I love how well they play together and how our oldest son lets his little brothers try to pitch the ball (yes that is our almost 2 year old throwing the ball) and also knows to throw them grounders back!  We are so excited for T-Ball to start next week.

--- 7 ---

Our Puppies

 

We have two adorable dogs who bring so much joy and fun to our family.  They have been loving the warmer weather and we have been loving the time to cuddle with them and love them. Our middle son especially adores his puppies and even picked out a brand new "super cool" collar for our miniature dachshund this week!

 

Well, that's all for us for this week!  For more Quick Takes, visit This Ain't The Lyceum!

Honoring Memorial Day

Today we honor Memorial Day.  We are forever thankful for the wonderful men and women who have served our country and given their lives for our freedom.  What an important lesson Memorial Day is to teach our children about our country.  It is so important to teach them that our freedom has been earned, to teach them about the amazing privileges we have in the United States and how to be so thankful for the men and women who have gone before us.

We made some yummy breakfast and our oldest son helped to make some American flag toast with strawberry jam and blueberries.  He also drew an American flag to display in our home today and wrote USA on it.

 

We then went to the cemetery to pray for all of the men and women who have died serving our country and also stopped by our Samuel's gravesite and the kids left some American flags there.  Their dad was working at the hospital today so there are no BBQ's or anything at our home today, but I am ok with that.  We learned about and focused on the real meaning of Memorial Day in remembering those that our country has lost. 

Celebrating Pentecost

Today we celebrate Pentecost where the Holy Spirit descended upon the disciples 50 days after Easter Sunday!  Here we celebrate the trinity and also the true birth of the Catholic Church.  To celebrate today we went to mass all wearing red!  Our middle son decided he should wear a fireman shirt since today was all about fire, at least in a 3 year olds mind. 

Acts 2: 1-4: “When the time for Pentecost was fulfilled, they were all in one place together. And suddenly there came from the sky a noise like a strong driving wind, and it filled the entire house in which they were. Then there appeared to them tongues as of fire, which parted and came to rest on each one of them. And they were all filled with the holy Spirit and began to speak in different tongues, as the Spirit enabled them to proclaim.”

After church we made the Pentecost Windsock from Shower of Roses and had a great opportunity to discuss and learn about the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit.  We also colored a coloring page about Pentecost and talked about the Apostles continuing Jesus's ministry here on Earth. 

Pentecost Coloring Page

Last year we made this fun Pentecost craft from Catholic Icing, which was a great easy activity with little ones!  Also, last year we celebrated Pentecost on our youngest son's first birthday.  It was really fun last year for the kids to really understand how we are celebrating the birthday of the Church, just like we celebrate our own birthdays!

Our son celebrating his 1st birthday last year with the Easter Candle

We ended our day this year having Pentecost Sunday Sundaes, which is the most adorable and yummy idea from Catholic Icing!  We were planning on having a bonfire to continue learning about and having fun with fire, but unfortunately the weather isn't really cooperating! 

Overall we had a great time learning about and celebrating Pentecost.  We have had such a wonderful time celebrating the 50 days of Easter and our oldest son got out his liturgical wheel to proudly inform us that Ordinary Time is coming next!  We are looking forward to finding peace, love and more learning during the next few months of Ordinary Time.  Happy Pentecost!

What Ever Happened to Teaching Our Children How to Lose?

Our oldest son finished his first season of sports and he had a blast learning how to play soccer!  We as parents had great fun and many chuckles watching 4 and 5 year olds run across the field (usually in the wrong direction), kicking the ball all over and falling on top of each other.  Sometimes, even amongst all of that, some of them even got a goal!  All joking aside, it was a lot of fun and we are so glad that our son was able to start learning about great topics like team work, cooperation, listening and learning from coaches and having fun with friends.  Although all of those lessons are fantastic there was one thing though that seemed to be missing all season that kind of had me scratching my head.  No one ever lost!  EVER!

To give you a little background about our son, he is a lover of all sports.  He also has a fantastic memory and can tell you the detailed information of some of his favorite games; what the scores were and who won and who lost.  "Mom, the Green Bay Packers beat the Dallas Cowboys on January 11th 26-21".  "Did you know Minnesota Wild lost to the Blackhawks on May 3rd 1-4?"  He watches games and always is keeping track of the score, and also learning what each point means and how it is earned with each sport.  He understood when his favorite teams lost, and of course was disappointed, but always had a great response of "Well, they did their best" or "They will try again next time!"  When he was getting ready to start soccer he asked me how they were going to keep score and if they would have a marker on the side line.  I told him I was not sure.  I didn't know how they kept score, but what ended up happening surprised me.

So, he started his season and did a great job cheering on his little team mates and friends.  Each score that his team made he added a point in his head.  Each time his opponents would score he would add those points up as well.  At the end of each game he would tell me what the final score was and who won and who lost (sometimes his team won and sometimes they lost).  Yet, at the end of every game the coaches ALWAYS told all of the children that they TIED!  EVERY SINGLE GAME!

At the end of the season each child was congratulated for their hard work with a gold medal and they went on their way.  "Mom, my medal says I'm #1" our son exclaimed.  "But Mom, I didn't get any goals this season?  How can I be number 1?"  Even at 5, he knew that people lose and people win and that that is part of a game.  We talked about how even if he did not physically score a goal himself this season that he helped his team mates work toward different goals that they made when he was out on the field.  But then we also talked about that it is ok and good to win AND to lose and more importantly how to process our emotions with either result.  It is great to be able to cheer and feel excitement in a win, and it that it feels that much better when you have been working really hard for and deserve it.  We also discussed that it is ok to feel disappointed and bummed out when you lose, but then you can use that feeling to excel yourself to practice before the next game and try harder! 

Since when were we so afraid of our children failing that we fail to teach them how to lose?  I want each of my children to learn the important lessons of team work, cooperation, and the skill of the game, but I also want them to learn how to win and lose!  Of course as a parent I will cheer on each success and win, but I also want the opportunities to be there to console and talk through a loss.  Let's not be so afraid to let our children fall and let them fail.  Let's take the time to learn how to teach our children to lose.

7 Reasons I Love Having Boys - 7 Quick Takes

 

 

Life continues to fly by but we are having a blast.  Our house is loud, rowdy, fun, and full of boys!  Having grown up originally wanting four daughters of my own, I cannot believe how much I now LOVE having boys!  Here are a few things that we have been up to and a few reasons I simply adore having boys!

 

--- 1 ---

Creighton Baseball Games

We have gone to a few baseball games for our Alma Mater Creighton University and the boys have a blast.  This week though the most entertaining part was learning how to break open and eat peanuts, more than actually watching the game!  Also, a fly ball from the game was a caught a few rows behind us by some college aged gentlemen and they gave the ball to our oldest son, you would have thought he won the lottery! 

--- 2 ---

Getting Ready for T-ball

Sports are a big thing around our house, and our oldest son is a fan of EVERY SINGLE SPORT!  As soon as one season is over he is ready to learn what sport comes next.  His soccer season ends next week and he is already so excited to be getting ready for T-ball which starts in June.  There is an adorable little kids baseball field blocks from our house where we like to go play together!  I guess we are really one our way of creating our own little baseball team.

--- 3 ---

Exploring the New Playground - OR instead the Woods

The playground closest to our house just got all new park equipment, but when we go to check it out our boys still prefer to play and explore in the woods and creek behind the park.  They much prefer the sticks, mud and leaves.  Such boys, but I love it!

--- 4 ---

Digging Time

We are blessed with a beautiful fenced in back yard at our home with a swing set and lots of outdoor toys.  When we moved in the area underneath our deck was all dirt and my husband and I were brainstorming if we would want to pour a cement pad or put in rocks, but the dirt has become our boys FAVORITE place to play.  They get out all of their trucks and play in the dirt for hours.  Also, our 3 1/2 year old is obsessed with writing his name right now, and so he is commonly found practicing in the dirt!

 

 

--- 5 ---

Our Garden is Growing

Remember when we started our new science curriculum and planted our first vegetable garden?  Well, this spring we have had so much rain and lots of sun and it is exploding!  The boys love taking care of the garden and we will commonly find them outside picking weeds or watering it all by themselves!  Plus, sometimes they even find worms and snails in the garden, which you know is simply super cool for little boys!

 

 

--- 6 ---

School Fun

 

We quickly have learned how much our son loves to explore, especially with science.  We got him his very first microscope and he is in love!  We got a bunch of cool pre-made slides and then also a kit where he can make his own with leaves, the dogs fur, flowers, or anything else he finds.  It entertains him for hours and he has been learning a lot, which is a win - win for everyone around here!

--- 7 ---

A New Library Subject - Waterworks

 

We have completely exhausted our libraries resources on subjects like snakes, bats, tornadoes, volcanoes and a few other very boy like topics.  Due to our awesome homeschool co-op here in our town, this week we found a new subject topic for the library after they went on a tour of our town's water plant.  Since you had to be at least 5 years old to go I was not able to go with our little ones, so our oldest son got to go with Dad!  He had been reading The Magic School Bus: At the Waterworks for a while before the fieldtrip and then found some great new books at the library this week all about how the water system works! 

Well, that's what we have been up to!  For more Quick Takes, visit This Ain't The Lyceum