Puzzles

Hunter has loved puzzles since he was a baby. He used to love doing those wooden cut-out puzzles, the kind with little knobs that you fit into matching pictures. Now, for the past couple years, he has progressed to jigsaw puzzles.


Mommy loves puzzles too. It has always been a habit of mine to let Hunter play with puzzles on the bathroom floor while I take a shower. Which is, in my opinion, a way better option than many parents' shower solution - park them in front of the TV. It's not that I'm totally opposed to TV but I don't think it's a "must" as an electronic babysitter and I know that there are many beneficial alternatives. Parents have survived for thousands of years without the black box, after all.

In school supply shopping this year I have got Hunter some new puzzles. He is moving up to the 60-100 piece puzzles now and doing really good with them. One great thing that I love about them is that they are so inexpensive - you can find all kinds of small puzzles ranging from 24 to 100 pieces for just a dollar. And even when you get up to higher level puzzles, you can get nice 200-5000 piece puzzles for $5-$10 at many places. These 60-piece Disney puzzles where $1 from the Family Dollar. I got some geography ones at Target for $1, too.

Another thing I love about this practice is that it teaches self-control, too. It's not that he's really tempted to get up and run around when he's doing a puzzle - he's usually enthralled in it. But he knows that when Mommy is in the shower he is to play with the puzzle and stay seated and not get into anything.

He has been doing a lot of puzzles these days - as well as other sit-down activities, such as drawing, coloring, or logic and thinking skills games. It is always nice to know that even when I have to be busy with something else, he can still be actively involved in something educational and fun.

"From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part..."

Ephesians 4:16

Hunter is 4 years, 4 months old

Read, read, read...

Hunter reading from a phonics reader, inspired to earn stickers on his new reading chart.

This book, by Son Light curriculum, has a lot of funny stories and ends with your child reading at a about 2nd grade level. He really likes this one nowadays and has been really inspired to read.

"Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth."

2 Timothy 2:15

Hunter is 4 years, 4 months old

It's been a while..

Sorry I haven't posted hardly anything in the last month. Between planning for a wedding, packing for a cross-country move, trying to prepare a whole year's worth of schooling materials ahead, and many others, life has been a little busy lately, and I've gotten behind. Did I mention that my sister is getting married this month too? Yeah. Lots of excitement lately.

Hunter is currently sitting across the room from me in his desk eating eggs and toast (his favorite meal), listening to the infamous "Space" songs. We just came inside from riding his scooter (picture at right) and I thought I'd take a few minutes to post an update.

The wedding is in three weeks. It has been proved interesting planning a wedding in three months, but it has been doable, and everything came together surprisingly well (sometimes I could almost say miraculously). Brandon, as I'm sure you probably assumed since we're still planning for the wedding, didn't end up getting deployed. We still don't know when we're moving. It could be September or October, it could be later if military housing takes a while to go through.

(below: Hunter helping put together decorations for the wedding)

I've been working on getting most everything packed before the wedding, or at least the things we don't use on a daily basis. It has been great, because in all this packing I have been getting the opportunity to organize a lot of long-neglected odds and ends, re-think my systems (like cleaning routines, menus), and get a lot of school stuff ready for the year. Getting a handle on my desk has been one of the most rewarding tasks of all. There was a lot of "stuff" sitting in files for months, even years, and seeing what's there, throwing out what's outdated, and planning for what's to come has been refreshing and motivating. I've been able to see the simplicity of it all instead of being overwhelmed by the great pile of unknowns.

It's been fun and exciting seeing what stuff we have for our new home as we pack. It's funny how thrilled you can get about finding an available mop bucket or end table or knick-knack shelf, envisioning its potential use in your unfurnished soon-to-be home.

(below: Hunter watching from a distance as a friend buzzes off the railing to our front porch. We have been doing a lot of cleaning and home repairs in preparation for the out-of-town guests that will be visiting this month)

Hunter's had a lot of fun packing, cleaning, and getting excited about the move and wedding, too. He keeps telling everyone that he is going to California "tomorrow", but I keep reminding him that he still has a few weeks to go. He is excited, and I know he will love California and have a good life there, but I realize that he doesn't really grasp or understand the fullness of the change that is about to occur. He's lived in the same house his whole life, currently with ten family members taking residence, and his cousins Anthony and Jordan have been like brothers to him. We come from a pretty close-nit family, and it is going to be strange living thousands of miles away from everyone and having a household of just three people.

It's going to be a big adjustment moving away from all that is familiar to him, making new friends, and missing his relatives. He will be fine, but keep us in your prayers as we transition into this new season of life.

Things are going to be crazy for the next few weeks. I recently got a new phone, under my soon-to-be husband's account, which isn't yet set up with twitter or mobile blogging. I had better get on that, since it will probably be the main source of updates for a while.

I hope to blog more about Hunter's academic life than I have been. Recently, we have been focusing mostly on reading (practicing reading aloud, so he can become more fluent) and math (keeping up the mental math). He's been doing great at both, which is encouraging. We've also been reading a lot of books about science (astronomy) and ancient history. That has been, for the most part, the majority of our schooling activities. I hope to soon start up again his piano lessons, start his art curriculum, spend more time on foreign languages, and get into a regular physical excellence program again, among other things. It'll all come together, soon.

"Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths."

Proverbs 3:5-6