And when I'm ready to poke a pencil through my eye, she gives me a ray of sunshine.

First, she cut and sorted these words all by herself. I only had to ask her once.


And clouds parted and angels started singing!

Then we went through the words. Usually she just stares blankly at me when we do this. Or she asks repeatedly when she will be done. But, this time...

Me: These words have the og sound at the end. O-G says og. The first one is..
P: Dog!
Me: Great! Yea! High five! You read the word dog. What about the next one? The first letter says?
P: fffff (This is a hard sound for her to make, so we practiced it a few times. She actually practiced. Usually, she gets grumpy.)
Me: Now put the og sound on it
P (whispering, because she doesn't like messing up): ffog.
Me: Yea!!!! High Five. How about the next one? That says hhh
P: hhog
Me:Yea!!!!!!!

And that's how it went folks. I was about to pass out from shock.

You know, when she wants to, it can be a piece of cake.

I am sure the rest of our week won't be like this. This little ray of sunshine will hopefully get me through the next month or two.

Shaving Cream Prints

We made shaving cream prints today. The kids had fun. More importantly, my outside table is now clean.

Put some food coloring and shaving cream down.

Mix

Ask for your hands to be cleaned frequently.

When you are finished, you just press a pieces of white paper down and let it dry. If you want to to make a print of your drawings in the shaving cream, start with a very thin layer and don't press very hard.

I think neon food coloring would work better. I bet gel paste is even better, but it isn't as forgiving as the liquid stuff.

So, how's it going?

I get this question on occasion. When Providence's pre-K teachers as, they understand when I shrug and say: "you know, it's Providence."

Fynn is so much more pleasant to work with. He likes to do it. He will draw and match and sort for me. He is just as much an over achiever as his brother, it's just currently presenting itself in the gross motor department.

Some days I want to bang my head repeatedly against the wall with Providence, though I love her dearly. Yesterday for example, went like this:

10am: Attempt to get started.
10:15: Still discussing how "I can't do it! It's too hard! I hate school!"
10:20: I give up.
1:00: Try again.
1:15: Providence has completed 4 phonics pages on her own.
1:25: Providence has finished her math.
1:30-2:00: We learn about dinosaurs and draw pictures.


Please, child, give me a little consistency. I completely get that your biggest challenge , is often your biggest reward. When you finally convince that underachiever to achieve, wow, how accomplished you both feel.

Here's hoping that happens sooner, rather than later. I may end up with a very bruised head.

Memory Verse

I turned off the camera right before a classic moment. A few seconds after I said "God wants what's best for us," Providence said:

"Like vegetables?"

I like the suggested verses in this book, because my kids can learn them in one sitting.