July Wrap Up!

July was a quiet month compared to June.  I enjoyed it.  A little slow, which is nice after all the craziness we have been through.  Sometimes I feel like I'm still recovering from our move eight or nine months ago.  

So here are the random pictures of July...

Sunday pictures...This one is pretty good!

Kira likes to do her silly face.

Sweet Kira.

Silly Isak.  Do you like his red shoes?  He's decided that red is his favorite color right now...like mine.  :)  So he was so excited when we found these red vans shoes.

One night I took the kids to the ice cream social at the library.  It was so fun to just be with my big kids and enjoy two of my favorite things...ice cream and books!

I like Kira's hot pink shoes too and Isak's batman shoes with his cubs hat.

Dentist appointments.  The big kids needed appointments before kindergarten so I took all four.  They were awesome and the babies and I just hung out in the waiting room.  No cavities.  Yay!

The kids "helped" me make my birthday cake.  I made Death by Chocolate Cake with raspberries and whip cream.

One Sunday evening we made homemade banana ice cream.  Just old frozen bananas and milk in a Vitamix.  Yum!

We made a homemade magic shell.  But no one liked it...not sweet enough and ended up being a weird texture.

haha.  Nels and I teach the ten-twelve year olds.  I was teaching the lesson on Samson in the Old Testament.  I got this idea and went with it.  Long hair out of construction paper.  The class had fun with it.

For my birthday dinner I made my grandpa's enchiladas with an egg on top.  I just love that meal.

I made the kids ribbons to play and dance with.

Just relaxing in the beach chair.

Same with these two. haha.

Sofie insists on wearing Kira's underpants almost all of the time now.  It just cracks me up every time I look at her!!!

We got out for an evening walk all together.  There were a lot of wildflowers in bloom and it was a gorgeous walk.

They all wanted to be on this big rock we found.

I tried to go on bike rides with the kids.  Here's Isak.

He loves to go fast.

Here's Kira.  She loves to go slow.  I take them out separately while Nels watches the rest of the kids at home.

Matching jammies!!  Sleepy Sister Squad.

They asked for this picture by standing up against the wall and saying "cheese!"

Oh Sofie!!  You're such a mess sweetie!  She decided to play with her yogurt and wash her hands in it.  Yuck.

Cool Strainer Hat.

Just some down time on the couch together.

Yes Noah, we know you are two and they are terrible for you a lot of the time...lots of crying from this one.

Jump ropes.

Look at the pretty flowers that are in my backyard.  Yay!

I got to go to the temple one weekend.  Yay!

Afterwards I ate lunch at my new favorite restaurant Buttermilk.  Apples with honey and cinnamon on them...try it.  You'll love it.  And the best ham and cheese sandwich ever.

Nels took Isak and Kira to the local Cougar Cane County Baseball game.  It was family night and $5/ticket.

They had a blast.

Of course, treats help...blue snow cone for Kira.

Big bag of popcorn for Isak.

That's what summer is for though right?  I spent the night with the babies. We ate ice cream and played outside and then went to bed.

Nels and I even got to go on a date.  I planned it...I took him to my new favorite restaurant Buttermilk...yep I got to eat there twice this month and Nels loved it too!

Other randomness:

• I took the big kids out and we trimmed the trees and bushes.  Isak was a big helper and happy too.  He carried the cut branches to the big pile and helped with anything else I needed.  Kira came and went.  :)
• My niece had her baby.  A little girl born July 12, 2018 at 10:29 p.m.  7 lbs and some ounces...Navy Blair Ash.  I'm a great Aunt and my brother is a grandpa and my parents are great grandparents!!!  And Navy was born on my brother (so her grandpa's) birthday!
• We finished reading the book The Hundred Dresses.  I enjoyed this book about being kind to others who are different.
• I did the 7 day media fast.  I really enjoyed it and did it again in August.   
• I decided to learn Spanish.  So I downloaded Duolingo and I learn Spanish for five minutes a day.  I try to do it everyday...if I miss I just start up again.
• I made new hooded towels for the kids.
• I helped the kids do a jellyfish and octopus project.
• One FHE we just played duck, duck, goose outside.  Then with the older kids I read a story about prayer in the Friend.
• I'm reading a biography called A. Lincoln by Ronald C. White, Jr.  I'm learning lots.  I love it.
• Right before I take my afternoon nap, I've been studying Preach My Gospel.  I'm really enjoying that.  
• I met with the missionaries and helped teach two investigators.  The daughter is in my primary class.  So awesome to be able to be a part of it.
• I took cookies to my neighbor.  Yay!
• We've been grilling food and just enjoying the summer.

That's all for July!!

Reading and Writing

I remember when Isak and Kira were two a friend of mine mentioned that she had taught all of her kids how to read before they went to kindergarten.  I thought that was so cool!  She told me about the book she used and how much she loved it.  

Then in California, Isak and Kira went to full day school for three months until we moved to Geneva.

Once we moved they didn't go to school because the age limit was different.  And I learned that kindergarten was just half day and started in August.   

So in January, I decided to start teaching the kids how to read.  I bought the book from amazon...

And then we got started.  I tried to do 3-4 lessons a week.  We started out doing them together and then about 1/3 of the way through I did each child separately.  The beginning is very slow, but it builds a great foundation.  I was absolutely thrilled when they started reading and catching on!!  I thought it was so cool.  And I'm super proud of them.  

We finished the 100th lesson on July 31st.  I feel like they can read pretty well and independently too.  They read beginner (level 1) reading books by themselves.  For example they like the Dear Dragon books:

and Mo Willems books

I just love hearing them read and seeing them read on their own too.  At the same time we started reading lessons, we also started reading one page of the Book of Mormon at night with them.  They would each read one verse.  It was so neat to see them need less and less help.  I feel like they learned to read from the scriptures too!  

Here's a picture of Isak reading for his reading lesson.

And Kira too. 

Reading lessons happened in many different places.  We had to improvise with the babies...so sometimes it was on the couch, other times we would hide in a bedroom.  My favorite was when we did them outside on our beach chairs.

At the end of each lesson we practiced writing two lower case letters.  Kira really excelled at this.  She is a good little writer.

She wrote this story all by herself and then showed it to me...  The horse and the cow and the man.  An Ant met a horse. Den the hose (Then the horse) said you are not an ant you are a chicken. Does the horse know who it is?  Stop. Stop. Stop. This is not the end. There is more to come. Yay! You did it!

She also wrote out the alphabet with upper and lower case letters.  Then She wrote You did it!  I like to cheer for summer!  Happy Family!  They know all of their letters!  Happy Birthday!  I love my mom.  I love you Mom!  Love, Kira

 

I'm so glad I spent that time with them teaching them to read.  I love to read so it's extra special that I got to share something I love with them too.