Last week, we focused on the letter O. Grandma and Papa were so kind to have the children sleep separate nights at their house, which allowed them to have special time with grandparents and parents. Tobias and Philomena had a special sleepover Tuesday night, and Tobias had some man time fixing a lawnmower with Uncle Josh. Magdalene and I had a special day at her favorite museum (well the only museum I know of around me), Panera, and Target. It was so much fun to really have deep conversations with her without interruptions.
Magdalene has grown into such a lovely little girl. The latest conversations with her have been about marriage, Easter, doing her duties, coloring, sleepovers, and playing outside. She believes God is calling her to get married. I think watching a new baby in our house gets her very excited.
"I'm going to marry Tobias."
"You can't marry your brother, Magdalene." After we discussed who she couldn't marry, she pondered for a bit about who the suitable mate would be.......then she mentioned a little boy at our church. I guess you never know!
Easter has been and is still a very exciting conversation for her. We have been working on a our Garden of the Good Shepherd sticker book. It has led to great discussions about Jesus being the good shepherd, and we are his sheep. We have spread out our Easter activities the next few weeks. We just can't fit in everything in one week so we will dye eggs this weekend, and hopefully very soon make a lamb cake.
Lately, Jordan and I have been brainstorming ways the children can help out more beyond picking up toys. We thought of age appropriate duties (chores) they could do around the house. They each have a morning, mid-day, and evening duty.
Magdalene has setting the table (with assistance), helping Mommy with Theodore and dishes, and organizing the books at the end of the day. We have implemented the setting the table duty and helping with the dishes. It has gone very well so far.
Tobias has feeding Percy, helping with the laundry, and squeezing the water out of the toys after bathtime. He told me he put water in Percy's bowl....now that I think about it.....I did feel a lot of water near his bowl while walking by it. I must have been so distracted that I didn't connect the two. At least he is taking care of the dog! He loves throwing clothes in the washer so it seemed like a good duty although I would like to switch him into something else soon since Philomena loves doing that as well. Brenda's voice about squeezy bath toys is in my head. Yes, the water in them is very annoying so assign a child to squeeze it out every night!
Philomena's duties are throwing away the diapers and helping with laundry. She has been doing a great job!
Now back to our special days with the children. I had a special Mommy, Magdalene, and Teddy day. Magdalene had a special sleepover Friday night which allowed Jordan and I to have a special Saturday morning with Tobias, Philomena, and Theodore. Here are some pictures:
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| Her friend "China" from last year. Although she did not call her China this year....her name is Mulan now. |
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| She went on stage and did a performance. |
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| She was big enough this year to handle making a fun craft in their arts and crafts room. |
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"Papa, Grandma, Tobias, and Philomena!" |
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| This picture is for the Alves side. She is following in her Vavo's footsteps with milking a cow! |
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| Special time at Panera....We love this place! |
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| Our fun finger puppets we got at the museum. |
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| Throwing rocks at the river Saturday morning |
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| Making eggs for church |
