I should totally get on the ball and write about my trip to Amsterdam. However, I’ve been so engaged in my current project: scrapbooking the pictures and momentos from the trip, that I haven’t taken the time to do so. I had such a fun time, but I really do need to get serious about documenting my experiences. I promise I’ll get to it in time–along with our 10 day whirlwind European tour.
Today, while driving home from our 4th of July picnic with some American friends (which was great! We grilled by a lake that was totally enticing to the boys. Yeah, they were soaked!) I couldn’t help but marvel at how beautiful the southern Swedish countryside is: green everywhere, beautiful rolling hills, fields stuffed with crops growing away, and a gorgeous sky with interesting clouds. I love driving in Sweden. My boys started making up stories about all the cloud shapes they saw. I thought about long summer days lying in the grass looking at the clouds. Summer is so sweet. And I love that I get to enjoy it with the boys.
I’ve been spending a lot of time doing things with my boys. I’ve been working with Walter to develop routines so that he is better able to finish assignments at school. We’ve had a lot of fun with a planner that he writes in everyday. He also reads to me for 15 minutes. The other day he read to his sister, Brooke. Other than lunging at the pictures, she seemed to enjoy the exercise. I’ve been meaning to do some painting with the boys. We checked out a book at the library called “The Crocodiles True colors” which explains in a simple way through a story the purpose of cubism, expressionism, futurism, and dada”. It explains it so clearly that I think we could really have fun trying out the different styles. Walter is also doing some piano review. He is doing really well!
Trent and I have been working on some reading exercises in Teach your child to read in 100 easy lessons. I’ve discovered that you have to be firm with Trent and insist on doing the work. He gets plenty of playtime. But I want him to remember how to sit still and concentrate for short periods of time. We are also working on his oboe. I’m seeing some real progress which makes me so happy considering the last couple of months made me despair of him.
I read a Swedish story to Josef and Trent everyday and we talk about the words, story and things. I’m hoping this exercise will be beneficial to their Swedish. And I’ve been playing games with Josef quite a bit. He loves them and it is a fun way to get in some good personal time with him.
I guess this is really a random entry because I didn’t explain that I borrowed an idea from my friend to work with the kids on activities in the morning. They earn coupons for the tasks they complete. Then they redeem the coupons in the afternoon for fun things like trips to the library, Ikea, beach, computer time, watching a video, baking, etc. We’ve been doing quite a bit of learning. But don’t worry, the kids really do have a lot of playtime.
I probably should include some tidbits about Brooke. She is lean mean crawling machine. And she is now getting into everything. Her favorite is emptying the dish cupboard of the plastic dishes. She has been playing with new sounds and working on some different combinations “la-la-la”. She loves to sing, particularly at church where she really pumps up the volume.
Well, it really is late and I have to get up very early tomorrow morning.
Have a great 4th of July!
A Stranger Here 