The girls have finally joined Tommy in obsessive love for the Oz books, so we squeezed in one more year of literature themed family costumes. (Honestly, I think Tommy just said yes because he realized being the Tin Woodman would give him another large plastic weapon…) No trick or treating for these covid-aware kiddos, so […]
Category Archive for 'Janie'
Our California girls have the old master bedroom, with pink walls picked by Janie and our old beachy striped curtains for a little nod to their birth state. I had pictures hung until I decided to move all the furniture around again, and I haven’t gotten them back up yet, but this was as clean […]
The Kids’ 13, 11, 9, 7, and 3.5 year stats
Posted in Annie, Elizabeth, Janie, Susanna, Tommy on Jul 1st, 2020
All the kids got in to see Dr. Vallance one last time in June, and besides Susie’s ear and Annie’s eyes (both might require surgery), we had pretty good check-ups. We’ve loved Conejo Children’s Medical Group for the last 9 years, and we’re sad to say goodbye. Tommy’s 13 year stats (just going to put […]
I’ve officially reached the chest pains, shaking, having trouble breathing level of panic right now. After Dr. Vallance was concerned about the appearance of Susie’s ear yesterday, we got in today to see Dr. Tseng, her ENT. Despite finishing a course of antibiotics two days ago and Dr. Vallance seeing no pus yesterday, her ear […]
We tried to make Easter as festive as possible with the traditional hot cross buns for breakfast, wearing our adoption ceremony outfits for couch church (and a photo shoot courtesy of Kristin, who traded family Easter pictures with me from a safe social distance), and enjoying our Easter treats from the grandparents. Our kids and […]
Good thing we did back-to-back hikes, because now the governor has closed all the state parks. On Monday we took the Garnetts’ suggestion and explored Cobus Creek. It felt great to be outside together!
The weather is finally warm enough that we’re able to venture outside more. I’d been looking forward to hiking around Potato Creek State Park with the Raglands, Skeens, and Page-Woods, but social distancing means we just took a family hike today. The kids were big fans and can’t wait to come back with our nature […]
Lots of reading going on. With the libraries closing and the kids having already read through the few hundred books we brought along, we invested in a new Kindle Fire to expand our ereader capabilities. But the little girls are still going old school with actual picture books. Annie’s current obsessions include Goodnight Moon, Ten […]
Happy Seventh Birthday, Janie!
Posted in Janie on Mar 22nd, 2020
Janie’s birthday was filled with lots of cooking and baking of treats. Chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast, followed by presents (seven books for seven years, of course, plus her own ESV Bible and lots of legos!). In the afternoon, we had a heavily sanitized birth-tea party with the Romine girls and Ella. I’d been really […]
Done with Phonics!
Posted in Homeschooling, Janie on Feb 27th, 2020
Today Janie finished her phonics book! I have been using The Ordinary Parents’ Guide to Teaching Reading nonstop with one kid after another for the past eight years, and I loved it just as much the fourth time through. Simple presentation, no distracting pictures that make kids guess instead of sounding out, and steady progress […]