This Week at Our House #3 2 Birthdays

Monday through Thursday, we had school, full on in its intensity. The kids did fine for the most part. The days are long and the studies are reasonably intense, but the kids are working well. I can't remember any one melt down, so it can't have been too bad. Our weather was quite warm for January, and I am wishing for snow, but we might not get any this winter. Joshua and Gideon had their birthdays each a day apart on Friday and Saturday and that worked better than I thought it would. All in all, it was a decent week with the family.

1. Ruth is inking in the pictures she drew for my next book. Next we will photograph it and see if it looks okay with color. 
2. Kate has been working on another book of her own-- about ducks, though I think she plans to do more with mega-dragonsaurus. Kate and I read a book together this week. In fact, we read half the book in one night.
3. Johnny has been doing a lot of graphics for a computer game he is programming. We have the computers together, so it is working more easily to get everyone the time they need on the computers that have the needed programs. 
4. Adam is doing really, really well with school. He is top notch in his grammar and spelling which I am pleased about. I was worried that he did not know enough at the end of last year.
5. Rachel is still mourning that she has to do school, and falling behind everyone else. Though I know it has 100% to do with her choice and not with her ability. She is capable enough. Rachel has grown some more. She has my long legs and arms, which make her look taller than she actually is. She has gotten real pretty in the last 6 months.
   
6. Anya is so easy going. She does her school without any nagging and she does her chores in the same manner. She sits next to me and rests her head on my arm, when the little ones don't push her away, and I love that. 
7. Joseph loves his chickens. He goes outside to check on them several times throughout the day, and cries when he cannot see them all right away. Today, I asked Joseph if he got 50 chickens, would he keep track of them all, and he said that he would.
8. Joshua had his birthday. We let him choose what he would during the day, and I was pleasantly surprised that he did not choose to play computer games the whole day. He played board games, and drawing games, and outside games too. 
9. Arwen is funny and tells it like it is. If you want to know if you aren't looking your best, she might just say it to you. When Arwen told Ruth how much she liked her drawings for my book, and how good they are, Ruth knew Arwen meant what she said. On a similar note, Arwen gets upset when anyone tells her she lied, and I think she has that right because Arwen does not lie. She is very straight forward, and sometimes rude.
10. Suzy Q writes her name Susan Q. 
11. Sam loves Gideon's birthday present, and he knows what he is going spend his Christmas money on now.

Gideon had his first birthday, and as first birthdays usually go, he did not care too much. I would be sad, but he still breast feeds several times a day and wakes up in the night. He is still definitely my baby.