INSPIRED BY FINN. AGAIN.

Remember when we had the kids wear Baltic Amber necklaces as babies to combat teething pain? Well, whether or not those actually worked (we were inclined to think they helped, since neither James or Cora were overly dramatic about teething and often times we didn't know they were cutting teeth until their heads felt warm or we felt/saw the tooth), we're going to give them a try again. Not for teething (though yes, they are both growing new teeth to replace those they've lost, and Cora is getting her last set of molars - already cutting through on the bottom!), but for behavior issues. While we don't expect miracles, with Cora's behavior track record so far this year at school (and at home... so we know the teacher isn't just being picky or especially hard on her) and James' ADD diagnosis (though he has been doing SO WELL lately, both at home and school, with focusing and following directions), we figured it couldn't hurt to try. Rather than the Baltic Amber necklaces that Inspired by Finn is so popular for, we're trying out their gemstone necklaces (Jean wears one of their gemstone bracelets and likes it).

Cora's necklace is made from beaked hazel wood, amethyst, and rose quartz. The beaked hazel wood has anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and antiradical properties. Among other potential benefits, it could help with teething pain and headaches. Amethyst is touted to "help resolve the root causes of thought and emotional patterns that do not serve us well". I realize that sounds very vague and unconvincing, but what if it works? Maybe just maybe it could help Cora control her temper a bit... Finally, the rose quartz is said to "resonate pure love" and help calm emotions. That is most definitely something she could use a little assistance with... But if nothing else, Cora thinks that the necklace is pretty (it has some of her favorite colors in it) and when I explained what the gemstones represent, she seemed pleased to be "wearing love". Plus, she now gets to wear jewelry to school, so that makes her very happy.

James' necklace is also made from beaked hazel wood, but it is designed to curb hyperactivity (not a problem that James battles, but it's part of the package) and attention deficit, and improve focus. It contains black tourmaline, which buffers negativity and compulsive behaviors, and supports the immune system. While James does not display compulsive behaviors, he is definitely a child that benefits greatly from positive reinforcement and reacts strongly to criticism and negative feedback. Lepidolite is said to promote relaxation and stress relief, and we know he deals with some anxiety now and then, so if this gemstone helps to calm that, then we're willing to try it out. James is happy to wear the necklace because he thinks it will help, so even if it doesn't, the placebo effect could come into play.

We promise our kids (out loud, so they know) that we will always do whatever we can to help them do their best (in all things), and this is just one way that we can contribute to that (not to mention a tangible, visible reminder to them that mama and daddy are always thinking about them and always trying to help them succeed). Between the necklaces, the vitamins (James takes Focus Factor and they both take Kids Smart fish oil for memory/learning/behavior), the essential oils, and our pep talks, we're just doing the best we can for them. James' maturation over the past few weeks is evident and we are just very proud of him and the efforts he's been making at home and at school. Maybe Cora will benefit from that same maturation... soon... but until then, if anyone has any other ideas for curbing sass/back-talk and calming a fiery temper, we're all ears! (Maybe this is what we get for naming her "seething pool"?...)

BACKWARDS SLEEPER

One night she's up on the pillows against the headboards and the next she throws us for a real loop (in the dark) by rearranging all her things to the opposite end of the bed. She has always been the kid that keeps us guessing...

JAMES THE ASTRONAUT

James was very excited to show me the astronaut that he made in class yesterday (they've been studying space for the past couple of week, which has included outdoors orbit games and some fun craft projects) and wanted his photo taken with it (it's the one directly above his head).

"I would Love to be an astronaut. I would de brave in space. it would be fun. Let's go to space! being an astronaut is fun." by, James Lindsay

(We've been practicing with him at home - reminding him to refer to his book/text when it's available to him, to ensure he spells things correctly, rather than just write his paragraphs phonetically all the time - so I was really excited to see this!)

SHARKY SAVIORS

If ever a stuffy earned it's keep, it's these sharks... No matter how much I fussed about Jay buying them as souvenirs. (I kinda wish we had Labor Day weekend plans this year, but alas, we'll call it a staycation and hope to conquer some of the bigger "to do's" off our ever-looming To Do List.) The sharks act as "protectors" from nightmares and bad guys, and make pretty good pillows too. They are the one stuffy never left on the floor overnight (in addition to James' dinosaur and whale, which he hasn't spent a night without in years).

In other news, it just cracked us up that she crawled out from under her sheets, sprawled out across her pillows against her headboard, and tucked herself under the little quilt that one of Grambot's coworkers made for her before she was born. You never know what you're going to find when you go in to check on Cora before bed...

TREASURE HUNTER

Jay borrowed a friend's metal detector to search for pins at the soccer fields (have I mentioned that he's a VSO board member this year?), so naturally, he took the kids out into our yard to see what they could find. James gave up after 5 minutes of heat and mosquitoes (he's so sweet that the bugs can never resist him, even with bug spray on, poor little dude), but Cora and Jay lasted at least an hour. And what did they find for their troubles? Not the soccer goal pins they were hoping to find in our yard (two have been missing for about a year), and no fame or fortune, but Cora did score a buried penny and an old, rusty hunk of chain. PRIZES, I tell ya! (She was sure proud!)

RED BRICK ROADS

We joined the Kennedy's for Clinton's Red Brick Roads event this afternoon/evening!

 The popsicles from Brick Street Pops were a hit (Jay and I each had one too).

 The kids spent the majority of their time playing Twister, Jenga (or just building with the giant blocks), and Chess (pretty sure none of them know how to actually play yet...)

(Yes, a friendly police officer stopped to play Twister with Will and Cora.)

(James was very proud of his Jenga Dominoes!)

 (Cora later told me that she wishes she had a little sister)

 I got some much needed time to hang out with Christina and catch up on life while the kids enjoyed each others company, and the guys were able to hang out in the beer garden and try some new things = win-win-win.

We ended the night with a bike ride around the neighborhood, a movie, and plenty more talking and playing until the daddies called it a night!

ALL ABOUT CORA: 6-YEARS-OLD

So..... running just a little behind on posting Cora's yearly update (sorry Baby Doll). Just like with her 20 Questions post, the one downside of traveling on (and leading up to) her birthday is that things get busy and mama gets forgetful. But Cora's 6th year deserves recording, so without further ado...

Cora's 6th year was a good one. She ran her first obstacle course 5K (Tomahawk Tromp, last August), she learned to read (and graduated kindergarten near the top of the STAR Early Reader scale), she got glasses, she lost her first two teeth, and she finally got back on her bike with confidence! She had three wonderful trips to Gramma's house and the Atlantic beach and one awesome trip to Grambot and PawPaw's house and the Pacific beach (and added another National Park to her passport book with Lassen Volcanic). How many 5-year-olds do you know that get to dip their toes into the ocean on both the east and west coast?! Other adventures included Great Wolf Lodge, Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, Rocky Springs, Excalibur, Canton Christmas Lights, Jacksonville Zoo, Curry Farms, Chattanooga and Raccoon Caverns and the Tennessee Aquarium, the Ice Cream Safari at the Jackson Zoo, Legoland and Disney World, and a few beautiful State Parks and Natural Areas. It was a busy year for her between all the adventuring, school (her first year in public school and dealing with larger class sizes and more limitations), fall and spring soccer (she truly is an athletic child, and it really shows on the field when she's in the mood to give it her all), her first year of Girl Scouts (cutest little Daisy you ever did see!) and her first all-girl Campout, and of course dance (including participating in her first production number). I'm not sure I could call last year a true "Fantastic Five" (at least not in the way I imagined it, based on the promises I'd heard of 5-year-old girls becoming significantly calmer, quieter, and less sassy...)

Oh the sass! And the backtalk!! And the fussy noises she makes when she doesn't get her way (that make us want to strangle her)!!! It is such a constant battle (both at home, and at school, starting those last couple of months of kindergarten - she went from nearly all purples every week to MANY yellows and oranges and even some reds), and everything we've tried has yet to curb it. There has been soap, there has been loss of privileges, there has been loss of toys, there have been many MANY instances of being sent to her room, and there has even been some spanking. Nothing has worked and it honestly seems as if the issue is getting worse as we roll into this 7th year... We can stop it quickly when it starts, but we can't stop it from happening to begin with (and it happens EVERY day, often multiple times per day). I always vowed (before having kids) that I would not be "one of those parents" whose children threw tantrums in public places or disrespected adults. We've succeeded on the tantrum front, but I feel like it is even more embarrassing to have to discipline her for sassing me or back-talking me in public. And don't even get me started on how embarrassing it is to have her teacher call me about such behavior in the classroom. She has been writing a LOT of lines lately...

But back to happier topics! Despite her penchant to ruffle the feathers of adults, she seems to consistently be a very good friend. She made a new best friend at Daycamp this past summer (Mary Morgan, who goes to a different school and is soon moving away from our area, unfortunately), had a few close friends at school last year (Alanna, Trey, Ruby Rose, and Willow, before she had to go back to Ohio in January), became closer with some of her dance class girls (she especially loves Cara Beth, who is also a Girl Scout friend), became closer with Lauren (now that Lauren is older, she and Cora can really pair up, and its so nice for Cora to have such a sweet little friend who seems to, for better or for worse, look up to her a bit), and has remained extremely close to her brother (choosing him above all others more often than not and still working the system together).

She is still a night owl more than a morning person. Bedtime is 8:00pm (or a little later) in the summer, but during the school year she's in bed closer to 7:30pm most nights (not including soccer practice nights). Now whether she's goes to sleep at that time (or even before 8:00pm) is a consequence of whether she received ample time to run/swim/swing/play/dance that day... Sometimes I go back to check on her at 9:00pm and she's still reading books by the light of her LED "Elsa" Christmas Tree (and her rainbow, and her MANY nightlights - there isn't a bare plug in her room). Sometimes she drifts off before I pry myself from her bed after our song and snuggles. She almost never falls asleep in the car (excepting summer Daycamp evenings) or naps on weekends, so I assume she's getting the sleep she needs.

Cora is still our busy, happy little girl. She is never bored and is fully capable of entertaining herself in almost any situation. Her imagination seems to know no limits, and she often recruits James into her make believe worlds (though that goes both ways, since he's just as creative as she is). She loves to help take care of the chickens and rarely complains about helping with yardwork (mainly just clearing sticks off the lawns/walkways and making burn piles). If she has a choice between outside and inside, she'll choose outside every time, even if it's insanely hot and humid and buggy. She'd wash the dishes if I let her (but it takes too much time and wastes way too much water), she still helps with laundry (sorting socks and transferring loads), she LOVES to help me bake (not that I do it very often), and when I clean house on weekends she'll usually offer to help with at least one task. Though she doesn't like cleaning her room. And especially not her closet. She is SO GOOD about doing her own chores though (of which she has very few, and feeding Jude is her main task each morning and evening) and never needs to be told twice (and often remembers on her own before needing to be asked at all), and sometimes we catch her doing James' chores too. Our girl has a very tender and giving heart. And she is clever and independent and just plain adorable. We consider ourselves very lucky to be on this adventure with her.

6-Year-Old Top Three:

Movies: Frozen, How to Train your Dragon 2, The Lego Movie

TV shows: Teen Titans, Wild Kratts, My Little Ponies

Toys: costumes, baby dolls, Barbie's
Games: playing house or school, cards (Uno and Slamwich)

6-Year-Old Stats:

44 lbs and 46.5"

LITTLE MISS CLAIREE

The only thing that separates us from the animals is our ability to accessorize.

Clairee Belcher

 Cora hasn't seen Steel Magnolias, but I have a feeling she'd like Miss Clairee... When shopping for school shoes last month, I showed her a few pairs online (including the blue Vans that she wore on the first day of school, that she insisted on getting with the pink stripe instead of the white stripe). I had wanted to get her a pair of black Mary Janes to wear with her dresses (and to double as dressy shoes for the inevitable Thanksgiving/Christmas programs and other potential dress-up opportunities this fall/winter), but she vetoed every single pair and said she needed something "colorful". Well, when you Google (I mean, Amazon-search) "colorful Mary Janes", you get quite a selection. Rainbows it is!

P.S. James had near zero input when selecting school shoes (or uniforms in general - Cora wanted ONLY blue and white, and ONLY dresses and skirts, though I did get her one pair of shorts). The only thing he requested was "light up shoes", which he hasn't had in a couple years, so I acquiesced. Besides, the red looks good with the navy and white (and now he loves it when I tell him he "looks sharp").

TINY TUMBLER

HOMEWORK STARS

This is what homework looks like so far this year. 

 Cora usually has just 1 or 2 pages of math and/or vocabulary/writing, sometimes a short reading passage in her textbook, and a monthly sight word list to study (they are tested at the end of each month). James usually has 1 page of math, 1 page of vocabulary/writing, a reading passage (from his textbook) followed by a writing challenge (5 sentence paragraph based on the leading question at the end of the passage), and weekly vocabulary and spelling lists of words to study (which he is tested on every Friday). They're both starting AR books this week (they had to wait for their STAR Exam scores so that their teachers would know which levels to assign them, even though we'd have been happy starting back right where we left off last spring), which are to be read each night (even nights without assigned homework) so that they can test as soon as they're ready. Sometimes I think this seems like a lot, sometimes I don't. Depends on my mood. I would generally prefer the kids to just read at home (both to us and silently in their rooms) and leave the paperwork at school, but I admit it's nice to see their progress in math and writing (and be able to assist or make suggestions when needed, especially since James and his phonetic writing style leave a lot to be desired in the spelling department, so some gentle reminders from his parents that the words he writes are usually written plain as day for him to refer to in the text is not a bad thing...) I won't complain regardless though, because homework is only ever assigned on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays here (Wednesdays are church nights here in the Bible Belt and we're too young for weekend homework), so it could be worse. On the plus side, James has been AWESOME about staying on task and finishing his homework in 20-30 minutes (the above workload would have taken us 1-2 hours last year) and Cora is always done quickly. And it's been very nice retiring to the couch together after homework and chores are done to all read quietly to ourselves for 20 minutes or so - no better way to relax after a long day at work! (I really enjoyed Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, by the way!)

20 QUESTIONS: CORA AT 6 YEARS

Mama forgot to do these back in June (traveling on/near the kids birthdays can make it hard to remember all the "traditions" we keep, especially as I get older and my memory struggles), but better late than never!

1. What is your favorite color? blue and pink

2. What is your favorite toy? my baby doll (Aurora, when pressed to name one in particular, AKA the one she traded Cinderella for while in California)

3. What is your favorite thing to eat? popcorn and ice cream

4. What is your favorite thing to drink? water and juice and milk

5. What is your favorite thing to wear? my new Elsa dress up clothes that I got for my birthday

6. What is your favorite game? Uno and Slamwich

7. What is your favorite animal? deer and cats

8. What is your favorite song? Let it Go (yes, she's serious - I checked - seems we'll never be rid of this song)

9. What is your favorite book? (ran to go get it, though I suspect she just grabbed whatever was on top of the pile in her bed) Clifford's Birthday Party

10. Who is your best friend? Alanna! ooh, and don't forget Willow!

11. What is your favorite thing to do with James? play with him

12. What is your favorite thing to do with Mama? read with you

13. What is your favorite thing to do with Daddy? wrestle

14. What do you want to be when you grow up? a ballerina dancer

15. What are you afraid of? bears and tigers (said with much fake drama and sound effects and running to hide)

16. What’s your favorite type of adventure? going on mountains

17. What makes you happy? mama kissing and loving on me (melt my heart!)

18. What makes you sad? when James hurts me

19. What is your favorite movie? Frozen (again, she's serious - still obsessed)

20. What is your favorite TV show? My Little Ponies

BREATHING EASIER

 Now that breathing treatments are finished, we have more time in the mornings for longer dog walks before school (which makes everyone happy - well, the kids and Buster, at least - Jay and I will be happier when a slow half mile walk at 7:30am doesn't cause us to sweat through our clothes before work...)

SUNDAY EVENING PLAY

When Jay got home from brewing late this afternoon and got his gear settled and the new brew bubbling away, we headed out for ice cream and park play, followed by dinner out. I can't even remember the last time we went to a playground (in Vicksburg, anyway) and the kids were thrilled to be able to run wild (and burn off that sugar) and get some fresh (muggy) air.

 

 

Sorry Grambot, we tried to get her on the new scooter out there, but she insisted on the old one.

QUIET CRAFTERS

I awoke at the wonderfully late hour of 7:30 this morning to the whisperings of the kids (Jay had left the house before 7:00 to go brew with his friend Nate and I had easily drifted back to sleep), followed by silence. After about 15 minutes, I decided I better go walk Buster and then see what they were up to back in their rooms. I walked into the dark kitchen and was greeted with two silent kids (yes, I jumped - I wasn't expecting them to be in there), crafting away with their Perler Beads (this activity has been a constant project of theirs for weeks, hence the many creations displayed on the kitchen table).Naturally, I turned on the lights and opened the windows. And took their picture. How can I resist them when they behave so nicely AND let mama sleep in a little?!

SCOUTS AND SIBLINGS SLIDE-FEST

 

Cub Scouts started back this weekend with a quick awards ceremony for the boys who completed badges over the summer, then turned into a wet and muddy end-of-summer slip-n-slide fest for the kids (lots of siblings attended today) down one of the steeper hills at Camp Wilkerson!

 Right after this photo the girls started down again, thinking James was way behind them, but he ran up the hill, scooted around the other side of the slide, and tackled Cora into a downward spiral. She was not amused, but Jay and I were! (And he looked a little guilty ambling back up the hill afterward!)

 The pristine white tarp and grassy hill were a disaster by the end and the kids were caked in mud (requiring a good hose-off before getting into their parents vehicles), but they had a great afternoon sliding and playing together (and completely wore themselves out running up that hill dozens and dozens of times!)