Once a week, I have Claire doing a special class for Peter.  We call it 'babysitting time'.  She is completely in charge of Peter for about 1 1/2 hours.  She's not allowed to ask for assistance, ideas, or help while she is with him.  She can ask for it beforehand, of course, but I try to encourage her to learn how to think outside the box and come up with her own ideas.  I'm still in the house the whole time, so if something disastrous happens, I'm right there, but the idea is for her to begin to take charge and become a good babysitter.  It has become their MOST favorite thing!  When I tell Peter it's babysitting time, his eyes light up and he says, "I'll go find Claire!"  She is really blossoming, as well!  She has done a GREAT job thinking up ideas and activities!  They play kindergarten games together (like Story Cubes, Tell Tale, Letter Bingo, UNO, Millebornes...), make snacks together (like lemonade and fruit salad), and generally have a fantastic time!  Claire actually has not yet asked me what she should do.  They come up with their fun together.  She pays total attention to him the entire time.  He LOVES it!  It's a win-win!

The other day, Claire's big idea was to have a tea party.  They spent almost an hour carefully chopping up fruit.  They made tea.  They put their favorite stuffed animals in 'chairs' (cups, colanders, large mixing bowls, etc.), then sat down and had a High Tea!  It was SO cute!  These are the things that do my heart good.  Such a wonderful experience for my kiddos!  How I love them! :)

No, I didn't misspell that.  WeDo is Lego Robotics for the younger set.  I got this so the littles could do some robotics and programming just like their big brother, and they have LOVED it!  Even Claire has jumped on the band-wagon and made some pretty sweet robots! :)

Mmmm...Now doesn't THAT look appetizing?  :/ 

I don't think the word 'carcass' should be on a grocery ad. 

Andrew aced his first Snap Circuits test written by Josh.  SOOOOO cute to see this big brother pass his knowledge on to his little brother!  Does my heart good! :)

Now that we have electricity well in-hand, we'll focus on spelling... :D

We've been learning about cells and DNA these first 2 weeks of science.  The kids are so cool--they've now built their own edible cells, know all the parts of the cell, built DNA models, AND they know what DNA stands for!  They keep saying it over and over as they're building things or writing things: "Deoxyribonucleic Acid"  Proud mom, right here!

Did you know that Wednesday comes from the Nordic god Woden?  It used to be Wodensday.  That's why there's a 'd' in the spelling.  Just thought I'd throw that out there.  I thought it was pretty cool.

Wednesdays have to be my new favorite day of the week.  Our days are BUSY BUSY BUSY, as most people around me know.  It's only going to get busier, but that's ok.  We do really well with full schedules.  However, Wednesday is the best. 

On Wednesday early afternoon, I get to go to scripture class with some very lovely ladies where I'm always uplifted!  I love this class!  It is my weekly highlight!!!

The other thing I love about Wednesday is the afternoon classes I have scheduled for my kids.  Josh is an electronics/engineering/robotics fanatic.  Andrew looks up to his brother in all things.  I don't have the first clue how to do any of that stuff, but Andrew needs/wants a working knowledge.  Solution?  Josh is teaching Andrew a class on electronics!  I got a student/teacher manual to go with all the snap circuits we have, and Josh is taking his role as teacher, and Andrew as student, very seriously!  They're having a marvelous time!  Josh gave Andrew his first test today, and Andrew aced it!  I love it! 

While Josh is teaching Andrew, I had to think up something for Claire and Peter to do.  So, I'm having Claire do 'babysitting 101'. :)  She has to come up with ideas of activities/games/crafts, etc., for Peter and herself to enjoy for 1 hour WITHOUT my help or assistance whatsoever!  Peter gets his Kindergarten play time (they've been playing kindergarten math games all afternoon), and Claire is learning how to be more of an independent thinker, which she REALLY needs.  It's a win-win situation! 

Soon, we'll be off to music classes, where Josh is taking violin, Claire is taking flute, and I'm teaching saxophone (of all the things to teach...)!  After music, Josh is going to his very first Boy Scouts meeting, and the kids and I will hang out here and have art with grandma over Skype.  Then, around 10pm, I'll pass out. 

Then, at 5:30am, my alarm will ring and I'll do it all again.  It may sound exhausting, but you know what?  I LOVE IT!!!  I'm SUPER excited to get out of bed every day!  I feel fulfilled and joyful when I see the strides these kiddos are making!  It's not always perfect and full of flowers and rainbows and butterflies, but I'm more than willing to take those cloudy/stormy days along with the ones full of sunshine.