Popcorn Words

Ava's class at school has been working on their "popcorn words."  These are words that should "pop" into the student's head and be automatically recognized (without needing to sound them out).  There are 80 words total, 40 that comprise the kindergarten list.  Ava finshed ALL 80 words before Christmas! 

At first taking a word for face value wasn't the easiest thing for her, since she learned phonetically how to read words (with A Beka's reading program at Lighthouse Academy).  Reading phonetically should help her in the long run, though, since she'll be able to sound her way through words that might seem difficult. 

She is quite the reader!  Prior to the holidays, she has been reading up through level "I" in Newmark's rising reader leveled books.  We haven't attempted anything above level I, yet. 

Newmark's "level" chart:

This is the note that was sent home with her, which was attached to a bag of celebratory popcorn!  Now that she has made her way through the popcorn words, she is working on spelling all of the popcorn words correctly.  I think Ava, a little boy named Cody and Ava's friend Ansley are the first three to have moved onto spelling the popcorn words. 

Go Ava!!!

Peace, love and kernels,

Shelly, Doug, Ava and Liam

Ava Reads!

Ava finished her reading assignment for the month of September.  After school today we read for an hour, which allowed her to fill-in four pencils.  She is anxious to turn it in tomorrow.  She mentioned that there haven't been any other students in her class who have completed the assignment. 

Among Ava's favorites are "Green Eggs and Ham", "Hop on Pop" and "Go Dog, Go!"  I wanted to take a few pictures with my phone and she asked if I would take a video of her reading.  :)

The finished homework paper, to turn in:

Peace, love and the big wide world of words!
Shelly, Doug, Ava and Liam

Labor Day Weekend 2011

This year we had a fairly low-key weekend, which was nice.  On Friday we were pretty tuckered out from the week's activities. 


That night, after the kiddos went to bed, Doug used his new chainsaw blade sharpener for the first time.  He has been using his chainsaw so much lately (and wearing out the blades as a result), that he thought it would actually be cheaper in the long run to buy a sharpener.  He sharpened 5 blades on Friday, which would've cost $50...So, the sharpener will definitely pay for itself quickly around here!  I tried to play catch-up on the blog.  :)

Saturday we headed to Ava's gymnastics class.  Doug kept Liam home.  I was thankful he did, as the last few times Liam has gone, he's been a bit antsy.  Before we even left to go to the class on Saturday, Ava said "I want to be the best in class today!  I will try my hardest today."  Wow, all without prompting.  I mentioned earlier in the week that if she listens to her coach that she would learn to do things really well, because her coach is watching her and sees how she could become better.  (I mentioned this because she was having fun with one of the other little girls last Saturday and not really listening to the coach well).  She seriously took the conversation to heart.  On Saturday, she did AMAZING!  Coach Alec made a (good) example out of her at least four times.  She did better than I have ever seen and seemed to really enjoy it.  She has been doing headstands around the house on anything... We seriously need to get this girl a dedicated space so she can do her headstands, cartwheels and somersaults!

She stood up in front of the mat, put her hands down and kicked her feet up before I took this photo.  The coach is trying to get them to go from standing into a handstand position here.

The coach had them jumping with both feet together here, then jumping up with both feet (together) onto each mat.  They jumped up onto three different mats.

On the way home from gymnastics, she asked if we could go to a pool.  I had already been toying around with the idea of going to Whitewater, since this was the last weekend we would be able to use our season passes.  I called Doug and told him about it, asking him if he could get Liam ready before we got there.  I thought Doug might appreciate our being out of his hair, while he concentrated on the retaining wall.  So we packed our bags (complete with contraband of baby carrots, protein bars and drinks) and were off. 

We spent about three hours there, running to all of the attractions.  We ended up at the wave pool, where both kids were wearing life jackets.  Ava and Liam both enjoyed the waves.  Liam crawled  up into my lap when I was sitting in very shallow water.  While the waves were splashing against us, he fell asleep.  In a wave pool.  Yep, he was a tired boy. He had so much fun on all of the rides while we were there.  Ava went a total of 4 times to Whitewater this year (with day care once, with Mom and the boys, Alana's half-birthday party and by ourselves this weekend), while Liam and I got to go 3 times (with Mom and the boys, Alana's half-birthday party and by ourselves this weekend).  Doug was able to go once, with our family, Mom, Daymian and Jordan.

We headed home and went out for ice cream with a very tired Doug, who came across yet another rough area of serious tree roots.  He had to use his axe to chop through them, once again.

On Sunday after church I made quite a few desserts for a cook-out at the Quinns'.  It was a party to welcome everyone to their new pool / Labor Day.  It was forecasted to rain on Labor Day, so they moved their cook-out to Sunday at 2 p.m., so we could all use the pool, weather permitting.  I made a black forest trifle, a white cake with carrot cake jam between layers and frosted with a whipped cream icing, and a creamy grape salad.  I knew no one else had volunteered for dessert, thus the lengthy list of desserts.  Everyone seemed to appreciate the goods. 

At the Quinns', Ava, Liam and I were able to swim in the pool, while Doug continued working on the retaining wall.  I had bought some new floaties (on clearance) at Target for Liam, so he wouldn't have to use Ava's fuschia ones any more.  ;-)  With a floatation vest and some floaties, he was able to keep his face out of the water.  Until we put the floaties on, though, he WOULD NOT let go of me.  Once he had the arm floaties on, I showed him how to kick.  And he was off... He really got around the pool well after that!  I was so glad to see him getting around by himself, confident in doing so.  Doug joined us later for dinner.  It sprinkled a little bit while we were there, but we enjoyed hanging out with our neighbors and catching up.  Carine took the cutest picture of all of the kids (including some of their friends that don't live in the neighborhood) up at the edge of the deck they just built.  Seeing this picture, I think Gerald plans on enhancing this area of the deck by building a bigger counter.  :)

Ava, Liam and friends of the Quinns. 
Matthew and friend enjoying a root beer.  This area is part of their new deck.

The Quinns' new pool and deck! 

They are gracious hosts and have invited us over quite a few times already!

Monday it rained and it rained.  There were flash flood warnings for our area.  We weren't affected at all, thankfully.  It did put a stop to Doug's backfill plans for the retaining wall (levels 3 and 4).  He plans on going 9 levels, so he still has quite a bit of work ahead of him.  Luckily the worst of it is over, though, because the remaining dead-men he will have to install won't require much digging. 

We headed to McD's for a quick lunch and were going to go to the dollar show.  The rest of EAST COBB had the same idea we did...We decided not to wait in line, but did decide to check out the regular show and see what was playing.  Spy Kids 2 was playing at 1:30, so we did some browsing for shoes for Liam before heading back to the theater.  Wow.  Everyone in East Cobb must've seen a movie today!  The movie was so cute.  The kids seemed to enjoy it.  We walked out into the rain after the show, too.  We got home and both kids napped. 

After dinner, we continued on with Ava's reading homework.  She has a sheet that has 12 pencils on it.  For each 15 minutes she spends reading with us (or us reading to her), she gets to color in a pencil.  Once she colors in all pencils, she can bring the sheet back, signed by a parent, and will receive a charm ring/bracelet, to which she can add future charms for reading.  She colored in one pencil on Friday night.  Tonight she said she wanted to read 10 books!  We set the timer on the microwave for 15 minutes and would read with her.  She read "Green Eggs and Ham" and "Hop On Pop" by herself, with Mom or Dad occasionally helping with a word.  She is SERIOUSLY reading these days!  We kept resetting the timer for 15 minutes, whenever it would go off.  One hour and 45 minutes later (!), she was able to color in SEVEN more pencils.  She wants to be one of the first to turn in her sheet of pencils, all filled-in.  :)  I think this homework exercise is just what she needed for motivation to want to read.  When she went to bed tonight, only FOUR of the pencils were not filled-in.  I told her I would help her finish them tomorrow after school, if she wanted to do that.  She was excited.  I am so happy that she has such confidence about reading now!  For the longest time she seemed paralyzed and intimidated that she couldn't do it. 


The Christian-based phonics program they used at Lighthouse seems to have given her a leg-up.  At first she seemed frustrated because she didn't read "sight words" quickly.  Now she seems to have passed that up and is definitely using the A Beka phonics teachings to her advantage.  She considers herself to be reading now...I'm thankful for that!


Doug just came down from putting them to bed and mentioned how excited Ava is about her reading.  He said she wouldn't stop talking about reading, and she mentioned that Mrs. McKenzie said she is the "best reader" in the class, as well as the "best singer".  Ha.  That's my Ava-girl!  She has quite the vibrato, if she's trying to be dramatic.  If you see her, ask her to sing "Once Upon A Dream" from Sleeping Beauty!  (She sounds like she is 20 years-old singing it...)

Over this weekend...

She's hoping to turn in her sheet on Wednesday! :)

I also signed her up for the Sunshine Math Program.  It is done outside of school hours and with a parent.  They send home a packet which has to be completed and sent back within six weeks.  It doesn't count for or against her grades, but her involvement in it is seen as beneficial.  She will also receive special recognition for being involved with the program, and also if she turns in her completed packet.  She is seriously interested in patterns lately, so I think this type of program might be a logical next step for her.  I'm sure the math problems won't be too tough in the beginning.  If she doesn't want to continue on with it, we don't have to do it.  I pray she will be able to learn perserverance through involvement in this program, though.  The program continues through 5th grade, so I thought it might be nice to start her out early in it.  We'll see what it's all about!

Ava is excited to go back to school after a long weekend.  We were bummed that not as much progress could've been made on the retaining wall on such a long weekend.  We know it will happen, but we're just anxious for the end result to get here!

Back to the grind tomorrow,
Shelly, Doug, Ava and Liam

Griffith Thanksgiving 2010, Stitches, Home Repairs, Bring On Christmas!

We had such an amazing visit with family over Thanksgiving this year. I didn't seem to catch any pi,ctures at Dad's house over Thanksgiving this year, I did snap a few of the kids with my phone while we were at a restaurant.  For now, I do want to be sure to capture these memories before they escape me...

Liam is officially voicing his own opinion these days. For the most part, he's been entirely sweet. There is the occasional time when he won't take "no" for an answer, won't want to take his coat or shoes off, etc. He is really starting to talk well. We hold long conversations with him now. :-) For those that he just meets, they think that he doesn't talk. THEN they get to know him. :-) He is quite the little entertainer. Especially when he is tired and slap-happy. Who knew? He sings "Jesus Loves Me" in quite a loud, gruff voice. It's hard not to laugh!

Liam also had his first stitches (and hopefully ONLY!) three Sundays ago. He was in class at church, kneeling on the ground while playing with a toy, when he fell over. When he fell, his head landed on a toy. It wasn't a big cut, but was to the outer portion of his left eyebrow. A little bead of blood kept coming back when we would dab it, so we decided it would be best to have it looked at by a doctor. I was helping with a baby shower later that day, so Doug took him to a kids' clinic near our house (the place is a God-send!). They gave him some baby Valium and some topical numbing cream and stitched him up with two stitches. Doug said it was pretty hilarious to see Liam stoned out of his mind and not able to walk straight. :( While they were stitching him up, he wiggled his arms out of the papoose board. The doctor mentioned how strong Liam was, and that he had not had one "that strong in quite a while...." Oy. Doug said they gave Liam a popsicle afterward, which made him happy. After he finished the popsicle, he got really angry (thanks to the Valium). When the doc came in to check on Liam, he asked why he was upset, that the worst was over. Doug mentioned that he was crying because he was finished with his popsicle. The doc said "So, let's get him another one!" I guess that was enough to make Liam happy. The stitches were supposed to stay in for 5-7 days. We were in Michigan when they were supposed to come out, so we asked Doug's sister and brother-in-law (both a nurse and a Cardiologist respectively) if they wouldn't mind taking them out. They happily obliged. I held Liam's head while Uncle Tim took out the stitches. Liam didn't blink, fortunately. Ah, the adventures of a two year-old...

The end-of-year crunch is officially underway. Gifts to be bought, projects to wrap-up, goals to accomplish. So, life has been busy! We've been working on finishing the garage / sprucing it up. It always bugged me to see the back side of the insulation in the gargage, oil stains on the floor, etc. Doug added drywall to all the walls and then mudded / sanded them. I primed them and helped paint, as well. He then etched the floor and added a layer of epoxy paint with some flecks in it. It looks so nice! I think it will be so much easier to keep clean, which will hopefully keep our house clean (as our garage is a drive-under garage, directly under our master bedroom). We will also hopefully be able to use our old kitchen door in the basement, to seal off the area between our storage and the garage itself. In that way, it will help keep the items in our storage (i.e. Kitchenaid mixer) with less dust on them. Our furnace is directly on the other side of the wall which separates the garage from the storage area. So, with a sealed off door, the dirt from our vehicles will hopefully stay contained in the garage, and not make it's way to the air filter in the furnace. I promise I'm not a germaphobe, but do like to minimize dust, if at all possible.

With trim:

And finally this is the reason why I wanted to post... Last night, when Doug was putting Ava and Liam to bed, Ava gave Doug her ring and said "Here Daddy, this is something for you to remember me by." Doug, confused, said "Why do I need this to remember you? I will always remember you, even without a ring, but why are you giving it to me?" She explained to Doug that she knows that when she grows up, she won't live in the same house with us. That made Doug pretty sad. I cried when I heard that, of course. :( She is one smart cookie. I will give her that!

The trip up for Thanksgiving was a great one. The kids did amazingly well. We made it home in 10 hours and 45 minutes, as compared with a 15 hour ride last year. We stopped ONCE for gas / lunch / bathroom break, but made it the rest of the way. While in Michigan, we had a DVD player installed in the ceiling of our car (thanks for arranging that, Dad!) so that helped pacify the kids during the car ride.

It was nice to talk to Doug about what we would like to happen in the next year. I am vowing to be more purposeful about things, and try to think more long-term. Doug will be finishing up his chronological year-long Bible reading at the end of this year, so I hope to read through the same Bible next year. In the purposeful category, I know I need to be more consistent with praying, watching where money is spent, teaching our kids what I feel is important, taking the time to exercise, increasing my knowledge of technology while at work. This is the draft list for the coming New Year's resolutions.

We got approval from the state to proceed with our landscaping on the creek-side of our house, so finally the stacked timbers in our back yard will get used. We have some ideas for our house (replace front door, wire above the mantle for a flat screen, etc, still dreaming of the tiered garden I envision on the non-creek side of our house). By the end of this year, we should have our mortgage down to just under $90k. (We were hoping this would happen this year, and it did!) We're upping how much we'll be paying on our mortgage by a smidge each month, so we're going to shoot to have our 15-year mortgage paid-off in the next 6 years (or sooner), hopefully saving us a bundle (over $20k!) in interest. I can only imagine how freeing that would be. Hoping that this will come to fruition. We'll see, and plug along at it, in the meantime.

We had our first fire IN YEARS in the fireplace last night. I broke down and bought a cord of firewood and a Duraflame log. It's that time of year, and we've had a few rainy, chilly days. I was a little weary of how the kids would do around the fire, but they actually did well. Liam kept telling me that it was hot. :-) While Liam and Doug went to Home Depot, Ava and I even had a dance party in the dark. Our dance party was set to Christmas swing tunes, lit only by the fire and our neon glow sticks. :-) Memories made.

While in Michigan, we went ate dinner at a place called Italia Gardens with Dad and Dolly, the night before Thanksgiving. At this restaurant, they let kids make their own pizzas. Here are some camera phone pictures of Ava making her pizza (and Liam's). She thought Liam would like ham. She does not like ham. :-) At this restaurant, Liam ate his first salad! He started picking at Doug's croutons, asked for some lettuce from my place and ate it (it had Italian dressing tossed in with it). He kept eating more, so I put some salad on his own plate. He ate at least 10 bites with a fork. I didn't want to force it on him, but was very surprised that he would eat this. Especially considering that he and Ava don't like lettuce on soft tacos, when we get them from Taco Bell. Maybe he is my son, after all? ;-)

Ava really stretched out (taller) lately. She is growing up so fast, and is such a sweetie. She has also been selected to become part of an "advanced" class at school, where they will focus more on reading, and receive more one-on-one attention in doing so. She smiled VERY big this morning when I told her how proud I was of her, and how fun it was going to be. She is anxious to read more.

Peace, love and fireside dance parties,
Shelly, Doug, Ava and Liam