In A Weekend

We...

had a ninja in our house.

relocated many rocks.

dodged an attack from a vicious Red Wing Black Bird. ;)

knit a hat.

got some exercise.

took a nap.

went for a walk with our family.

Papa

There are plenty of times in life and in the life of this blog, that I feel that words fail me. They don't adequately describe the emotion I want to convey. They leave me frustrated and feeling inarticulate. This is one of those times.

I can't believe that I'm writing another blog post about the loss of a parent so soon after Tim's mom's passing in March. It seems unfair, surreal, and simply not possible, but unfortunately it is. Tim's father suffered a stroke at the end of April and was in the hospital being monitored, keeping him comfortable, and at first reports, we thought helping him recover. Things quickly declined though and we were faced with the news that recovery was not longer an option and it was simply a matter of time. He passed on two weeks after entering the hospital.

Bob was a terrific grandfather, the essential Papa to our kiddos. He was the Papa who got down on the floor and played with the kids and asked them questions about what they liked, not the standard issue grown up questions like, "How's school?" He always seemed to be laughing with us and our kids when we visited, just able to relax and enjoy his family. He seemed to relish the fun of being a grandparent and the joy that comes with it.

Needless to say, we will miss him terribly. We already do. It's Spring here and gearing up towards Summer which is when we saw the most of Papa, while visiting at his camp. This summer, we're still certain to go to camp but he won't be there and it won't be quite the same. Instead of avoiding it or treating it differently I hope that we'll revisit it with the same love and excitement that he had for it. At the very least, I'm certain that we'll feel more connected to him simply from visiting his favorite place and the site of so many of our best memories with him.

Mothers Day

I've got it made in the shade, and it's handy to have a day to remind me of it, just in case I didn't have three amazing reminders surrounding me everyday. It's always hilarious to me when I look around and see where my life has led me. I mean that in a wonderful way, but in a very honest moment too, I freely admit this is not what I had anticipated my life looking like at this age, if ever. I had often said, at 14, 18 and 20 that I never planned on having kids. I was determined to be on my own indefinitely and then I met Tim and then Ben was the beginning of our family and Nate and Syda came to join us and now...here I am. Here WE are!

These kids are a brilliant, constant reminder that the best things in life are not planned. They are miraculous surprises that have thrust me into the most thrilling experiences of life. I am grateful for them everyday and full of immeasurable gratitude that I am blessed with the honor, fun, excitement, terror, joy and privilege of being their mother.

Estuary Exploration

The boys discover the boardwalk.

Admiring the decor.

Our summer home and boat. (It's a hallowed out canoe)

Who doesn't love a boardwalk?

Nate always loses his shoe in these rocks.

We went for another exploration of the Great Bay Estuary this weekend. It's become one of our new favorite places to visit. There are a few paths, one involving a boardwalk, and the wigwam pictured above and some boats to play on. Of course, there is also a small beach area with rocks waiting to be skipped. It's a Pratt family tradition in the making. Ben is determined to skip rocks like his Dad one of these days.

Dear Universe

Please give my family a little break ok? Especially my husband, could you lay off just a bit? He'd appreciate it, but is too kind to ask you directly. Fortunately for him, I am loud and sleep deprived and therefore cranky and full of the gusto needed to tell you to step off for a while!!!

Tim's father is in the hospital now, dealing with a possible stroke and seizures. They're not really sure what they're dealing with at the moment, but in any case, all we know is that he's not home, he's stuck in a hospital and not himself at all. This is a very brief summary of what's going on, but I had to put it out there somewhere - so the universe would know and help my father in law get well.

Waking Up

A Glimpse of how Syda wakes up from her nap. She really does wake up smiling and even laughing most of the time. She must have the best dreams.

A Whole New World

Do you see that? Do you see the boy laying on his bed reading a chapter book all by himself?! A CHAPTER book!!! He disappeared in his room for an hour yesterday reading. (and there's a cute little boy amidst the blankies too) I have to write about this, though I warn you that it will be a very braggy post. But hey, I'm his mom, I can brag on him if I want to.

So I took this pic, very secretly I might add, yesterday. I've started asking Ben to do some reading everyday as part of his home work. Usually, he picks from the Beginning Reader books we borrow from the library, and he reads through them. Which means, he reads them, he knows the words and he can read the sentences, but he just reads through it. He doesn't always know exactly what has happened in the story because he was rushing to just get the "Reading" done. When that happens, I ask him to go back and read it again more slowly and he gets it and we move on. I'm happy that he's able to read well and it's been a lot of fun watching him go through the process - but I was still concerned that he wasn't really understanding what he was reading. Flashback to reading comprehension parts of the CAT Testing we had to do in elementary school flood my mind when I try to explain this, that and reading French during high school. I could understand it and tell you what had happened after reading it a few times, but did I enjoy it? No. Did I care about the characters? No. Did I just want to answer the questions and be done? Yes. I was terrified that Ben would feel this way about reading at the rate things were going. But then, something changed.

We've been working on a Lapbook about Ancient Egypt for a couple of weeks now and so I checked out a copy of Mummies In The Morning from the library and started reading it to him on Wednesday. He really enjoyed the first chapter we read and then the next day asked if I could read some more. I really wanted to, I LOVE reading out loud to the kids - but the chaos of the house at that moment just didn't cooperate. So he asked, HE ASKED, if he could read it to himself. I said sure (who wouldn't?) and low and behold he read a chapter on his own. SO, Friday rolls around and I asked him to do some reading. He picked up Mummies, went into his room and read SIX (6) chapters!!! Maybe it's just the excitement of this book, and the tie in to a subject that he's especially interested in right now - but whatever the key, I'm happy. SO happy for Ben!!!

This is a huge deal for him, me, US because at the beginning of this school year, the beginning of our first year of actively homeschooling, I was concerned that Ben wouldn't know how to read at the end of the year. In all reality, the more I've read about it the more at peace I am with the pressure to have kids reading at a certain age. But, this year as a whole has felt like a test for me in some ways when it comes to homeschooling and learning to read felt like the final exam for me.

Learning to read was really a struggle for both of us for a while. It was on the verge of becoming something we both hated. Him, because it was stressful and not fun, me because I wanted him to enjoy reading, to experience what's out there in those books, and to be able to share that with him. But I had to back off. The key with so many things in life seems to be to just allow them to happen. To create a nurturing environment to encourage them to happen, but not push them. I've found whenever I push too hard for something in life, it backfires on me in some way. So, I sat back. We worked on sounding out words and I reading directions to his math and grammar work together, but that was really it. I didn't force him to work on reading. Somehow, somewhere along the line he started sounding things out more and more and as we'd drive around he'd read street signs to me, and then he was reading labels on food and then he was reading the titles of movies on the tv, and before I knew it he was really reading. Now, he's reading a chapter book and he's loving it. That's all I wanted for him; the ability to read and enjoy reading. He's on his way....through Ancient Egypt first!

Not to be outdone, Nate was found in the same spot with one of his books a few hours later. :)