May is Here

What we are watching:
  NBA Playoffs, we have an agreement with Dom that he can only watch 'Do or Die' games.  And really only if it is The Thunder.  At the young age of 9, he is already a little exasperated at how long the playoffs go.  He has his brackets up, but only gets to move a team around every other week.  It takes F.O.R.E.V.E.R!!!

Speaking of drawing out that word, we showed the kids 'The Sandlot'.  They loved it.  We had a friend over for dinner a few days later and the kids all started chanting the word: "Forever" like Specs from the movie.  Sounded a bit cultish, but I thought it was hilarious.  We also heard a lot of: "You play ball like a girl!" being yelled around the backyard for a while.  The funny thing is, Molly uses the paraphrase: "you play ball like a boy!" to also insult.  So...#genderequality?

We've been watching a lot of soccer and as much of the Royals as we can get.  Pioneer Woman is Molly's show of choice.  The kids have also rediscovered Mario.  And I'm pretty sure that John has learned some of his letters thanks to Super Why!  One day, he just pointed at a book and started excitedly telling me: It's an 'H', Mom! An 'H'!  He will point at a few other specific letters too when he sees them.  'P' was noticed at Panera the other day.  Those are the only two he will say unprompted, but he can pick out a few more from a line-up.  Thanks, PBS!

What we are doing:
  Currently the older three are in the garage playing "Mario World".  Not the video game, but jumping around and using weird voices with their new stuffed dolls.  We are now the owners of Mario, Luigi, Toad, Princess Peach, and Yoshi.  The older three have had to give in to John more often than I'm proud of in order to not deal with the screams of a 2-year-old.  But, he will learn to share.  Just not at the end a long day with no nap or probably not enough to eat...The hours of enjoyment though have way outweighed any issues with hoarding.  Princess Peach did have a Toy Story moment yesterday when her arm came apart (what I get with going with the cheap option), but I sewed her back well enough to be played with (Think Andy...not the pro).  But, Will has already informed me that she may be replaced with his own funds.  Poor Peach. I failed you.

When he isn't running around with Toad, Yoshi, Mario, or Luigi, John has been fascinated with the marble run.  He will literally spend an hour just putting marbles through it.  Frankly, it holds his interest better than most tv shows. There is some statistic about how much of physics a child knows by 3, John probably is a year ahead on that.

We've also played a lot of the game The Great Dalmuti.  It is a card game that Dom absolutely loves.  Will and Molly play, too...but, I wouldn't say they love it.  Will likes to declare that it is unfair.  And it totally is, that is the point (and written into the instructions).  He gets it.  Molly is surprisingly good even though her strategy is completely unorthodox.  Anyway, plan on playing if you ever come to visit.  We've introduced it to a few people with mixed reactions. 

The boys are finishing up their rookie season.  I have come to really enjoy the half-innings when we are not batting.  Both Dom and Will have made important outs.  They don't get the hits, but they are very helpful on the other side of the field.  That being said, there have been some exciting last minute heroics on the batting side as well.  Maybe we'll get that elusive win, yet.  But, even if we don't, our boys have loved being on the team and that is what is promoted in this league.  Oddly, I'm totally okay with that. As a nice bonus, John helps me get my steps in for the day during those games.  I tracked my steps this last weekend and got over a mile just chasing him around the stand.

Speaking of steps, now that I've figured out how to charge my fitbit again, I'm trying to make the 10000 step goal everyday.  It helps when John and I and any other willing child goes on a walk with me in the morning.  So far, the only other taker is Dom.  It is a treat to spend that time with my oldest and youngest.  John just quietly watches everything go by and Dom tells me all of the newest baseball trivia he has learned or asks me questions about life.  Today we discussed how much tiredness effects our moods and patience levels.  Which is why sibling arguments and fights generally happen at the end of the day as opposed to the morning.

With that update, I need to go herd my children back to the table.  We have finished up the curriculums for the year, but I still have them working on math concepts and writing.  A couple of weeks ago I started giving them timed Multiplication facts.  They love it, actually.  We figure out how many they do each minute or 30 seconds and look at a graph of their progress.  Dom is very consistent throughout the sheet, while Will starts out super fast and drops off in the middle and then finishes strong.  Yesterday, we used it as a way to see who got to unload the bottom rack (in their minds, easier rack) of the dishwasher.  Will beat Dom by about 15 seconds.  Only the second time that has happened.  We'll see how they do today.  I'm giving them 8's.