Our Family's Birthday Traditions

Age:

1-Family/Friends Celebration

2-Family/Friends Celebration

3-Family/Friends Celebration

4-Friends Birthday Party-Home

5-Friends Birthday Party-Other Venue

6-Hiking/Backpacking/Fishing/Campout with Dad

7-Friends Birthday Party-Home

8-Special Birthday Dinner with Parents

9-Friends Birthday Party-Other Venue

10-Sporting Event with Dad

11-Friends Birthday Party-Home

12-Attend General Conference with Parent

13-Friends Birthday Party-Other Venue

14-Theme Park with Friend/Parent

15-open choice*

16-open choice*

17-open choice*

18-open choice*

*Some possible options:

-Hiking/Backpacking w/ Dad

-Fishing/Campout w/ Dad

-Friends or Family Party

-Dinner at a special restaurant with Mom and Dad

McKay's First Chapter Book!

Well, I have been wondering for a while when McKay would be old enough for chapter books. He turns 5 next month. We read books all the time and he was listening to longer and more advanced picture books, so I thought it was about time to take the plunge. I pulled a book off the shelf called Stuart Little by E. B. White. This is a good one to start with perhaps-- I thought.

Well, it worked! At times I wondered if he was really listening because he'd fidget or play with toys or the baby but I kept at it. I wondered if he was following enough to want to read the next chapter, or understand what he was hearing. Well, we've read several days now and he keeps asking for more. We even started another chapter book by E. B. White: Charlotte's Web! Funny, it just happened that way . . .

Well, I'm proud to say we are officially reading chapter books to our boys now--"boys" because Elijah and Sam are hearing them too--subconsciously!

"Feelings of worth can flourish only in an atmosphere where individual differences are appreciated, mistakes are tolerated, communication is open, and rules are flexible -- the kind of atmosphere that is found in a nurturing family."  

-- Virginia Satir

McKay discovers MATH!

Introducing math to McKay has been a unplanned technique spanning many months. I bought a few "math games" from the Lakeshore Learning Store months ago and he "plays" with them every once in awhile. In the car sometimes we randomly give him equations to figure out in his mind or on his fingers. It's always been a fun thing to do. Someone gave me some old math textbooks with rip-out tests and quizzes some time ago. I decided to show him the book yesterday and he has been wanting to do it non-stop! Mostly number recognition, addition problems, larger or smaller than, etc.,-type stuff but numbers non-the-less! He follows me around the house with the book asking for help, even taking it in the car to work on. We've also been checking books out from the library about money and coins and that has also introduced some numbers and math to him. One thing that has also helped is our neighbor has a pretty snazy remote-control car that McKay recently decided he wanted and now he's "saving up" to buy one (a much cheaper one of course!) and that is quite the incentive for him to be able to save and count his money earnings (from the chores he does). Kind of fun to watch the growth. It's nothing I'm forcing, but I'm trying to find ways to inspire him with numbers.

McKay's Chore and Commission Chart

Today I updated McKay's Chore Chart. (I have time for this because Grandma took both boys last night for a "sleepover"--yeah!) I am trying to incorporate Dave Ramsey's plan for teaching kids about money. If you click on the chart you'll be able to see it bigger. So, the Wake-up and Bedtime Routines are just expected--part of being a Webb Family member. But the other chores are commission based. To start out, McKay can earn 5 cents per chore per day for the ones that he does that day. Ramsey also included a "Fines" section in his plan (where a kid can have money deducted for bad behavior), but I don't want to focus on that with McKay to begin with. I'd rather start out completely positive. I hope to be better about paying him each week and then helping him divide his earnings between "Spending," "Savings," and "Giving" (tithing). We may even open a little bank account for him--we'll see how it goes. Feel free to check in and see how it's going if you're curious!

The boys "read" the classics!

So, I was cleaning the kitchen the other day and listening to Glenn Beck on Facebook ("Restoring Honor Rally 8-28-2010") when the boys took it upon themselves to un-shelve many of our classics, stack them up beside the couch, and literally start to "read" them.

When caught in the act I ask "Boys! WHAT are you DOING with ALL those BOOKS?!?!"
"We're going to read them, mom," was the innocent answer from McKay and echoed by Elijah on the other end of the couch.

They were actually lying on the couch and thumbing through these masterpieces--even asking me to read them to them. Elijah later on asked me to read him the "Treatise on Rhetoric" by Aristotle! Yeah, I wish! I can't even understand that book!

So I made them put all the books back. And they did. Just like so:

Wouldn't it be cool if they really DID read all those books one day?! : )

Just Like Me --by Margaret Hillert

The famous men and women

Who helped our country grow

Weren't always great and famous

Those long, long years ago.

George Washington and Betsy Ross,

Ben Franklin, Paul Revere

All started out as babies

And grew a bit each year.

They started out as children

Just boys and girls like you

Who worked and played and laughed and sang

And cried a little, too

And learned their lessons when they could

And said their prayers at night

They never knew we'd call them great

And keep their mem'ries bright.



They never knew someday they'd be

Famous names in history.