life in alaska

Today I heard myself say (to Emmie) "Four plus four is eight, and don't put that pencil in your nose [at which point she stuck it in her mouth] or your mouth!" She was telling Logan (who had asked) that four plus four was ten. Not too far off though.

Anyway, that's my life. Always reminding, always warning, always trying to head off the next imminent disaster. Stop running through the house with that pencil in your mouth. Don't launch yourself onto your brother's head. Don't kick. Don't bite. Stuff like that. It makes my head tired.

Today as we were doing school Logan finished half his math sheet without me telling him what to do. He can't read. I asked how he knew what to do and he looked at me like I was stupid. (But not in a mean way.) He had just assumed that certain instructions were the same and gone ahead with it. His self-motivation is a blessing.

Riley reads really well. I had her reading something for me today and was very happy that I haven't permanently damaged her reading ability. It's scary to homeschool!

Emmie...well, she took a pencil and scribbled all over her playhouse, dumped out the crayons, put orange clay (that's Arkansas dirt) all over herself - twice, and smeared her pbj all over the table. That's just scratching the surface. On a cute note, she asks for "jolly" on her "peenabotter" sandwich. I like that. She also sits with her Olivia book and tells herself the whole story from the pictures. All in all she's a good baby (although she's coming up on three and trying my patience.) Although she tells me that she's NOT a baby, she's a big kid now. I heard her tell Logan and Riley each, apart from one another, yesterday "I'm big now like you!"