Update on the Kids

Here's two short videos of Bethany playing/fighting with Genevieve. They are like two "peas in a pod" and love to play together. Our puppy has turned into a real baby as you can tell from the following videos. Genevieve lets Bethany know when she has had enough by nipping her in the hand. She never bites hard but the kids can get rough with her so she has to let them know somehow that enough is enough.






Anna has learned to read now and is quite excited about it. She especially likes the "Dick and Jane" series of books. They are from years back but have recently been reprinted in an updated version. In kindergarten the program they use starts the kids off by memorizing key words (Open Court Language Arts). I'm not sure I like it too much but all the parents say their kids learn to read really well and quite early. Anyone else have any experience with that program? I still like old-fashion phonics and so have been teaching Anna at home how to sound words out. She knows all the letter sounds and most combinations as well so it was only a matter of time that she put them all together. It's nice to see her now sitting quietly on the couch reading away!

Naomi is my right-hand helper right now; helping me with baking, cleaning, folding laundry (which she is really good at) and dishes. I think she spends too much time with me though because today she made two comments that made me laugh. The first was in the grocery store while packing groceries. We regularly go to No Frills where you pack your own groceries but today we went to IGA for a few things. Naomi was busy helping pack the groceries when she proceeded to tell the cashier, "Make sure the bread goes on top because we don't like it squished!" The cashier said she'd hire Naomi and told her she would make a great grocery packer. Maybe it's a sign of a part-time job to come!
The next comment came when I was folding laundry and she wanted to put a clean sweater on even though she was already wearing one that was perfectly fine. Her justification was this, "It's okay Mom, I won't come crying to you when it's dirty!" At least she keeps me smiling!
Speaking of smiling, we have a favourite CD that we like to borrow from the library called the "Funky Mamas". They are a group of six moms from Guelph that have put together an excellent CD to keep you and your kids cheery for the day. Playing it loud always get a great reaction from the kids!