Last Day of 3's Preschool

Eden and Sebastien completed their first year of preschool on May 25. The class got together at the train park to mark the occasion. Adam took the day off so that we could both go and celebrate with the kids. 

We played....

The kids did some of their usual songs...

And prayed....

Had a snack (ice cream!) ...

And made treasure bottles to help them remember all of the fun crafts that they did in Mrs. Vos' class...

All the kids with their teachers...

Sebastien and Eden with Mrs. Vos and Mrs. Alfree...

It was a great year in 3's preschool. The kids are now looking forward to going to the 4 year old classroom with Mrs. DeVries next year. They will be going two mornings a week next year. They are already talking about it, though they are fine "taking a break" from school for the summer.

Swimming

A few weeks ago we spent the afternoon swimming with Grandma and Grandpa Navis and Aunt Corrie at Great Grandma VanderBent's pool. The kids absolutely loved it, so I thought I'd share some pictures.

Sebastien's reading and writing

For a very long time, Sebastien was not at all interested in writing or drawing, or even coloring. He preferred to use crayons and markers as various characters that would dance around or act out stories, rather than using them as tools for writing.

Around Valentine's Day, we had to sign about 15 Valentine's cards. At first, Bash did his usual ask for help - I would sort of guide his hand while he wrote letters. But then I encouraged him to try it without me and before too long, he was writing "Bash" on his own. 

It often looked something like this:

Rather suddenly, Sebastien began to spend a lot of time writing his letters. This next picture was taken around the end of February, and this was one of the first times that he wrote all of the letters in the alphabet on his own.

 He often wants me to write something like "bear" or "love" or "Aunt Corrie" on a different piece of paper so that he can copy what I've done.  He asks me how to spell things, and he will write down what I've said.

Yesterday, I walked up behind him. He had been writing and drawing while I was doing dishes, and this is what I saw:

Within about six weeks, he went from not wanting to write letters at all, to writing words on his own like "bat" and "sat" and "cat." And I have caught him writing "Violet" "Eden" and his full name "Sebastien." Lately he is trying lower case letters and has begun drawing things like faces and he coloring in the lines, rather than scribbling. This has all happened so fast! 

And it has all happened right around the time that he has learned to read. Using sight words, matching beginning sounds with pictures, and actually sounding words out, he can read quite a bit, considering he is only 3 1/2! 

I put a video on Facebook a couple weeks ago, illustrating Bash's reading skills. For example, he sees an animal and the starting letter "J" and figures out jaguar. But then "A Panda can eat up to 88 pounds of bamboo a day" is a good example of him being able to just straight up read.  (I tried to post the video again here with no luck.)

Am I claiming that he can read anything? No! Sometimes I second guess this whole reading thing and think he is just good at memorizing and putting two and two together. (Like Dr. Seuss books that he has heard a lot, he will sit down and read on his own. That definitely is memorizing. Though, while reciting, he points to each word while he says it.) 

But sometimes he demonstrates things in an unquestionable way. For example, over the weekend we spent some time at Adam's grandma's house. Bash picked up books he had never seen before, and he could read a good portion of them.

We are very proud of Sebastien and have loved watching these skills unfold before our eyes!

Not to be totally left out, here is a picture that Eden drew in January. A budding artist, I think. :)

And don't even get me started on Violet, who draws a circle and then and says "eyes, nose, mouth" while she draws dots and a line in the circle...she's 18 months old!

Videos

I haven't attempted to post any videos on this blog in quite some time, mostly because it just didn't work and I didn't have the patience to figure out why. But, I tried again with some videos taken on my iPod and, lo and behold it is working! The first video is just a funny spaghetti moment, followed by a funny pudding moment, both of which feature Violet being a messy eater.

And, finally, we have Violet singing her ABC's while chomping on an apple. Enjoy!

P.S. I realize that all of these take place at the dinner table. I think it's mostly because at meal times it is more likely that my 3 children will all be relatively still. Or maybe I just find my kids to be funny when they eat. 

A Day in the Life...

I got a new camera yesterday, and this inspired me to spend today trying it out. What resulted was 200 pictures, and this was after I deleted all the blurry and dark ones.  

Seemed like a good opportunity to blog. So, here you have it, a day in the life of the Navis'. 

Generally in the morning, before the kids get dressed, Violet gets some nakey time. This is how I found Vi, with her favorite book.

Then we had a little puzzle time, which Bash loves.

Time to grab a Diet Coke and then to the grocery store.

Yes, I took pictures at the grocery store. Much more colorful than my family room.

They were dancing and singing, having a blast.

So, of course, Violet was too.

Then we went home and had some lunch.

People ask me often how Bash is doing with his glasses. He has had them just over a month now and he's doing great. He wears them most of the day. Ok, yes, he has thrown them out of the car door. And every now and then we find them laying in some random place. But he's three, and he's still learning how to take care of these glasses. Most of the time he is fine wearing them.

Violet wants to do it herself.

Eden loves carrots.

Sebastien is done with his banana.

It's after lunch, and where's Bash? Typically staring at the iPod, moving his letter blocks into various combinations of words, listening intently to the music. (Especially if it's new, which today it happened to be.)

My lovely little lady.

Ah, that face.

Next it's time for Violet's nap, so we sit and read "You're All My Favorites," which is Violet's current favorite book.

Next Sebastien and Eden have some time with their markers. Notice, if you will, that Sebastien is matching words and pictures. He and Eden both have a lot of sight words.  I've started keeping a list, and they are picking up more all the time. 

Eden is very into connect the dots lately. She has also started expanding her letter writing beyond her name. E can write almost all of the letters, if not perfectly. She has a few different words that she writes on her own also, like "Mom."

Then Sebastien and Eden have "room time." We first read 3 books together. Notice that we call it "room time" and not "rest time" or "quiet time." There is nothing restful or quiet about their time there. But they are in their room.

Then DADDY comes home!

Violet woke up a little groggy...

Nothing a Nilla Wafer can't fix.

Because it was sunny, we decided to take a walk. We got the wagon out for Violet (her first wagon ride, incidentally) and expected Bash and E to walk. They decided riding in the wagon sounded better.

She loved the wagon!

Great Grandma Plantenga's house is a great destination in all seasons. Especially winter, so we can get some fresh air but not be out too long. 

Plus she has a fun closet to play in.

AND a puppy...

AND if it is 3:30 - 5:00 most days of the week, Grandma and Grandpa Tuls are there.

We love Great Gramma's house!

So, this is where things in my picture taking start falling apart. The kids watched a little TV while we made dinner, then we did dinner, baths and bed. None of which I took pictures of.

But it was a good day!

I Never Thought I'd Hear Myself Say....

I have been keeping track of funny or interesting things that my kids say for about a year now. Not perfectly, but enough that we will have a record of their cuteness and amazing creativity.

But I have also noticed that I find myself saying things that I never thought I'd say. And these little quotes also indicate some things that go on in my house, so I've started keeping track of those too. Here is a random sampling of this new list:

"We do NOT stand on people's heads!" (to Eden.)

"You may not lick the toilet" ... "my jeans" .... "my neck" (To Bash. And this list could go on awhile.)

"Let me check your bum for noodles." (To Eden after she eats spaghetti or lo mien. Just as a disclaimer, this means her bum on the outside of her pants....)

"I know you want to, but we don't actually touch other people's eyeballs, Sweetie." (To Sebastien.)

"You may not take Baby Jesus from your sister/brother." (To either of the twins.)

"No, Honey, God is not going to switch your legs while you are sleeping tonight." (To Eden.)


That's all for now.  I'll end with a picture.