Playing Catch Up!

*Hope your Thanksgiving was full of gratitude!  Really, both that day and every day.
We spent the day at my Grandma Lucy's.  Mom and Dad were there along with mom's sister.  Of course there was plenty of delicious food.  Even snow.  Very picturesque!

*Last night I had a chance to go to the Virginia Tech/UVA football game.  Super fun and super cold!  I think it was something like 28 degrees at kickoff.  Brrr.... 

*The kids are itching to decorate for Christmas so I let them pull out a few things.  I'm noticing more and more that Kayla is so capable and willing to take on some of these tasks.  She put up the greenery on the stair rail and helped the younger two hang stockings.  She also baked cut-out sugar cookies yesterday- start to finish.  I love that because as much as I like the idea of cutting out cookies and decorating them, I don't really enjoy the process.  But she does!

*Tonight I told Sam he was so loveable.  He asked what that meant and I told him a few things.  Then he said, "So basically I'm easy to love."  Aaahhhh...yes.  That's exactly what it means.

 

Since I am so very far behind on posting pictures I think I'll add a few here and there.  This one is from sometime this summer when the boys rode bikes and I ran.

Kayla got to go to a VT game back in October.  It was just a bit warmer then!  Jack's been to two games but doesn't always like to have his picture taken...

 

This picture is so Sam.  The girls covered him up in pine needles and he came out like a monster.

The guys took their annual trip to the Raptor Observatory in September or October- can't remember which!

This is pretty much how Sam starts most mornings although now he wears a robe and slippers.

Lucy in all  her cuteness.

Kayla giving Sammy a spelling test.

 

Snuggling up with Daddy.

 

These two found a snake in the road one morning and shoveled into a pencil box.  Fortunately it was already dead.  They were so proud.  We had to keep it all day before they finally buried it.

 

Kayla really wanted to be a bridesmaid for Halloween.  She borrowed a dress and had so much fun getting ready.  However.  Halloween was cold and rainy so she decided to change costumes right after pictures.   

Don't Forget to Read to the Kids!

One day last week I walked into the kitchen and it was 10:00.  

I  thought to myself- we haven't done a thing yet.  The day is getting away from us.

And then I remembered- we had been reading.  Together in the living room.

That's our usual routine- to read aloud in the morning after we do Bible reading and prayer.  

I had called it unimportant that day- as if reading together had somehow not counted.

I'm struck by how easily reading can get pushed to the side in favor of "more pressing" tasks: math, picking up, doing laundry, washing dishes, etc...  

I'm finally understanding that age old advice people give you- "the laundry will still be there..."

That used to drive me crazy!  The laundry has to get done!  So do other chores.

But here's the thing- I will not always have time to spend with these guys when they are young. I will wish I had spent more time chatting with them, coloring, exploring.  

I will not regret the time we spent reading together.

So what is it about read-aloud times that is so important?  Even with the oldest kids?  (And they are always in on it, too!)

*It's family time.  Away from the tv and the store and whatever else can pull families in different directions.  Together in comfy chairs, spread out on the floor.  Sometimes with blankets, sometimes with a snack.  It's all of us hearing the same story, laughing, talking about the same characters, the same events.  I especially like being able to tackle and discuss tough issues together.

*It's language.  Strong words and details and ideas that the littlest can't read yet and the oldest might skim past.  It's pouring in all that good vocabulary and structure so that it becomes familiar and one day will be used.

*It's memories.  I still remember my mom reading A Wrinkle in Time to me.  Jack and Kayla will always remember their dad reading  the Harry Potter books to them.  I hope Sam and Lucy will remember snuggling up before bed and reading Henry and Mudge and Earl the Squirrel and The Peterkin's and whatever else we got into.

So get those kids- even the ones who can read on their own- and settle in this chilly night with a good book.

Here are some of our favorite read-aloud chapter books over the years:

Little House series

The Family Under the Bridge

Rabbit Hill

The Best Christmas Pageant Ever

Johnny Tremain (current)

Carry on Mr. Bowditch

The Phantom Tollbooth

Island of the Blue Dolphins

Strawberry Girl

The Railway Children

The Saturdays

.

We keep finding her-just like this

 and this

and this.

Sweetness.