Learning to read activities

Javari has learned how to write his name recently and that is so cool. Preschool has been very fun and motivating for him. It's also fun to watch him try to write other words. It's random letters floating on the paper. I just finished reading a book called Raising Confident Readers by Dr. J. Richard Gentry and was inspired. The book gives suggestions on reading activites to do with your baby up to kids ages 7. It suggests that you start with reading at birth and then slowly introduce other activities such as drawing and labeling a few items in the baby's room to book making and using blocks and letter tiles. My oldest is in second grade and he started reading shortly after turning 5. I was doing a lot of the suggestions in the book before he started school. I didn't read anything on the topic, it was just natural. I read books aloud to him almost nightly; he would draw sometimes; we had magnetic letters and letter puzzles; he watched the Leap Frog video The Letter Factory and learned all the phonics from it; he occassionally did workbooks and many other activities. Shortly after I started moving my finger under the text while reading Hakeem started reading all of a sudden. I was really surprised because I didn't think I was actually teaching him to read. It was the best feeling listening to him read, right up there with his first baby steps. I think it was good for him to be reading before starting Kindergarten so he wasn't behind in any way. I want to make sure my other two boys can do that as well.

Javari wrote his name really good today. I will give him a marker next time so you can see better.

You can get this book from the library.

Unfortunately with my 4-year-old I haven't been doing as much home teaching as I did with my first child. You just get busier the more kids you have. That's partly why I wanted him to go to preschool at least a little bit. He only goes two days a week for two hours at a time. He started six weeks ago but I already see him benefiting from it. He knew about half the alphabet before he started and I think by the end of the spring semester he will be reading a little bit or at least recognizing some words. Literacy is so exciting!

My baby is 11 months old now and there's quite a few reading activities I can do with him already. Reading aloud is very important. Earlier this week I got him some baby crayons and markers, you know the ones from Crayola with the big plastic grips for baby hands. It's for babies 18 months and up but the book suggests that I let him draw, or scribble rather, so we'll try. I have only tried once so far and he was just banging the crayons on the paper. I'm sure he'll catch on soon though.

They have the Tadoodles at pretty much any store, including Walmart.

A few days ago I decided to try the labeling around the room activity. It is recommended for both phase 0 and 1 (more on the phases later), i.e. for both Javari (age 4) and Dequan (age 11 months). I took a bunch of blank index cards and a marker and called all three kids into their room. After I wrote a couple of cards the older two were really into it and wanted to help (they pretty much snatched the marker out of my hand!). I wrote some of the cards in Swedish and surprisingly Hakeem wanted to help with that. He often says he "hates" Swedish. Spanish is cooler of course since he learns it in school and he has classmates who speak Spanish. Javari used his kid writing to spell words, which is really interesting to watch. It's important to praise, not correct.

Hand has the same spelling in both English and Swedish.

Javari's writing on top.

Hakeem wrote Jersey.

All in all a good start on Dequan's literacy journey and a continuation on Javari's. I will update more on their progress as we go. I'm taking down notes from the book so I can share some of the reading activities with you soon.

We had a dear visitor in town

My mom went home yesterday so now everything's back to normal I guess. It was a really intensive two weeks where we did stuff almost daily. I'm still recovering, and now all the kids are home sick so we're getting some extra rest. Hopefully I won't catch their bug. Yeah right, I have no immune system! Here are some things we have done while mom was here...

Shopping at Town Square:

Train ride in Boulder City:

Art Festival in Boulder City:

Hiking at Red Rock: 

Shopping in Primm:

Watching Dequan walking in new shoes he got from mormor (grandma):



Walking the Strip:

Hiking at Red Rock again:

Does that look scary or what?!

Saying bye bye (time went by too fast):

We went on a family hike at Mt Charleston just the 5 of us:

Robber's Roost trail

It's always easy up but down was a different (scary!) story.

At the picnic area where it was pretty cold.

Hakeem and Javari exploring in the forest.

Talk about temper tantrum!

Tomorrow is my mom's birthday so "Happy Birthday to You!" if you read this.

Look who's walking!

I had a dream last night that Dequan was running around in the house. I didn't remember the dream until I was sitting at the library today watching Hakeem and Javari building with LEGO during LEGO Club. I thought maybe it is a true dream and he will walk today. Maurice came to the library straight from church and I put Dequan a bit away from him and he walked to daddy. We were doing it over and over and at the most he took about 10 steps. It was so exciting! :) There's nothing like the first steps. He can also say "Mamma", so cute. Here's a video of Dequan walking a little bit, but he did better than that too.

Some pics...

Cutie.

Javari built a "ladder".

Lotsa LEGO.

Hakeem built an alien and a house.

Asian Moon Festival

We went to the Springs Preserve yesterday and met up with my friend Rebecca and her three kids plus her oldest son's friend. So altogether we had 6 boys and one girl. Some acting up was to be expected but Javari was just out of control when we left. We were walking around for over 4 hours and still he didn't want to leave and actually tried to run back in there - twice! I was so mad. Thankfully he went to sleep when we came home and slept for two hours and woke up in a good mood.

Anyway, before all that we had a great time although it was hot (about 100 degrees F or 38 degrees C) and crowded. We have been to the preserve before but only checked out the gardens and the playground as that part is free. Yesterday the museum buildings were free as well and they were even more fun than I expected. There were so many things to do for all ages, even a baby play area for Dequan. The older kids built with LEGO, played in tunnels similar to the ones at McDonald's, went inside a train, saw a flash flood and spiders, played at a water table and a sand table, dumped balls in a slide thingy, and so much more. I had fun playing some kind of water preserving game. And still we didn't see everything. We missed the animals so we have to go back and see that when it's less crowded. Hopefully we can get a membership and go every month. Click here to see the website.

Here's a few things that we did...

This kept them busy for a long time.

Playing with LEGO.

Rebecca and Kaleb.

Dequan's turn to play.

My little monkey.

Learning some facts.

Look at that nerd!

They had Asian dancers on stage.

Sew great

Hmm, I don't know what I was thinking last night when I set the alarm for one hour earlier than I needed to. I guess I was thinking Javari starts preschool at 10:30 instead of 11:30. So I slept less than 6 hours - again. Oh well, maybe I'll feel like cleaning the fridge or something. Dequan just went back to sleep so I could do it. Nah.

I have a new obsession....sewing. I want to get a sewing machine and some fabric and just get started. I love getting started on things and then I never keep up with it for long. Prime example: scrapbooking, I do it twice a year. So I don't know if I should spend money on a sewing machine. I think I will really sew some clothes though. It will be cheaper and I can buy some fun Swedish fabrics (it's great quality too) and make typical Swedish children's clothes for my kids. I haven't sewed in years but how hard can it be to make a T-shirt or shorts for example. I would like to sew some toys too, maybe baby blocks. I used to live in Eskilstuna, Sweden for a year because I went to college there. There in the building next to my apartment building they had a place where you could use the computers, a wood shop, and a sewing machine. I went there a couple of times and used the sewing machine to sew curtains. It was free. I doubt there's a place like that here but I really wish there was. I wish I could open up a cozy little tea shop with yummy Scandinavian pastries, sandwiches, and exotic teas from all over the world (maybe some coffee and ice cream too). I would have computers with Internet and sewing machines for use for a small fee. There would be a kids' area with some toys and games. The decor would be Scandinavian or cozy European. Anyone got the start-up funds? :)

Upcoming agenda:

Friday - Playdate @ McDonald's
Saturday: Asian Moon Festival @ the Springs Preserve
Sunday: Lego Club at the library (Hakeem finally got a spot, he's so excited)
Monday: Cleaning and laundry day
Tuesday: My mom and sister are coming to town! :)

Hakeem with the poster he made for the student council election. He did it all by himself and even came up with the message. :)

This picture is really bad but you get an idea of Javari at gymnastics. He's in the orange shirt to the right.

Dequan "watching" Javari at gymnastics.

New pictures

Here are some new pictures from the past couple of weeks...

Dequan testing a friend's high chair and making a funny face.

Pool playdate with friends.

Crazy Dequan waiting for Hakeem to get off the bus.

So crazy.

I love my daddy.

Hakeem getting on the bus one morning.

Javari looking at birds.

Thinking...

Will he bite me?

I wish I could ride in the backseat too. It looks so cozy.

Big boy on a ride at Chuck E. Cheese's.

Busy bees + movies

I've been pretty busy lately like I always am after school is back in session. Hakeem is gone from 7:45am to 4:30pm Mon through Friday, and Javari has preschool Tuesdays and Thursdays from 11:30am-1:30pm, plus gymnastics on Tuesday mornings. And then of course we have playdates, homework help, cooking, cleaning, and everything else. The cleaning seems to be my last priority as the house is a mess. My mom and sister are coming to visit in a week and a half so this coming week I will have to clean everything up. That invloves organizing as well sine we have too much stuff that doesn't have a place and we have way more stuff than we need. I took 5 big bags of clothes to Safe Nest/Savers yesterday and I still have several more bags. I hope we can have a yardsale soon. My husband is a mover and his customers like to give him stuff they don't need anymore, and my husband unfortunately has a hard time saying no. He stuffs the stuff in the garage and says he's going to give it away or sell it but that rarely happens. It stresses me out when there's too much stuff. Imagine how much harder it is to clean when you have to move stuff around. Aahhhh! I'm gonna keep sneaking stuff out of here while hubby is at work, hehe. We've been trying to sell a bedroom set on craigslist for forever and people say they're gonna come by and look at it but they never do. Someone is supposedly coming by today but I doubt it. It's a very nice king size set but we don't have any need for it.

I've been collecting points with coca cola (from the bottle caps) and this week I traded some points in for a coupon at Blockbuster. We went there last night and got for free: two movies, two 20 oz drinks, and a tub of popcorn. And then we ended up with two more movies and a bunch of candy so we still spent $18, ouch! I'm so used to getting movies for $1 at the redbox so it really hurts to pay $5 per movie at Blockbuster. That's why I haven't been there in a few years. The kids watched Marmaduke while we watched Janky Promoters. It was just ok to me but hubby was laughing. We don't always have the same sense of humor. After the kids went to bed we watched Shutter Island. I hated it, so confusing and dumb. We seriously thought there was something wrong with the DVD when they skipped to another scene. We took it out and cleaned it but then realized it was done on purpose, so bad. I didn't get the point with the movie at all. It could have been really good if they had done it differently and changed the storyline a little. Hubby was smart to sleep through most of it. Well, we have one more movie to watch tonight and hopefully it will be worth our time.

I don't have any pictures to post today as they are on the PC and I'm on the laptop right now. Will go on there and post some later.

List it

I don't normally do lists since I'm a little too old for that now, but I'm bored right now so here goes...

Your name: Liza

Nickname: Mama

Addicted to: Chocolate!

What do you mostly get complimented on: Lately it's been on losing weight. Always nice to hear, especially when it's true. :)

What's a good way to impress you: Be nice to me and make me laugh. Easy right? Oh, and if you give me chocolate you're my best friend.

Do you laugh by yourself: Yes, sometimes. It could be while reading, watching a movie/TV. The last time it was when I thought I said something funny and clever online. I laughed out loud, corny I know.

What does your last incoming text message say: "yep and could care less. :-)"

Where do you live: Las Vegas, USA

Do you like it there: Not really. If it wasn't for nice friends I would hate it here.

How do you answer your cell phone: Hello.

Who was the last person you called: I called hubby earlier today while I was at the grocery store.

How many hours did you sleep last night: I slept 8-9 hours, for once. Hubby took Hakeem to the school bus this morning.

Did you sleep alone: No, I had two men in my bed last night, one big and one very small.

Are you usually on time: I wish I could say yes, but everyone I know would say it's the opposite. :/ I blame the kids.

How do you feel right now: A little tired, it's time to go to bed (11pm).

The color on most of your clothes: Black, I love black. It's skinnyfying.

How do you feel about feet: If you put your naked foot on me I'll freak.

What do you miss: My family and friends in Sweden, and Swedish food and candy, especially candy.

Did you have a good time last night: I don't remember what I did last night. Probably the usual, eat, watch TV, surf the Internet, read a book with the kids, put the kids to bed, nursed the baby a 100 times...

Favorite drink in the morning: Water.

When do you usually go to bed: This week I've been going to bed around midnight because school started again. Last week and all summer it was between 1 and 4am.

Are you shy: Rarely, but I'm very quiet around people I don't know.

Do you do any sports: No.

Do you believe in love at first sight: It hasn't happened to me but I have certainly felt strong attraction or like at first sight.

What would you do if you was a boy/girl for one day: Haha, not something I've ever thought about, but I suppose the shopping would be easier so maybe I would do that. Not a typical guy thing maybe. :)

Are you satisfied with your life: I could use some more cash but other than that, great.

Are you spoiled: Absolutely not.

What are you doing tomorrow: We're going to barbeque and swim in the pool with a few families from our playgroup. The best part will be eating.

Do you have good friends and true friendship: Yes.

What is the most beautiful thing you have ever received: My three beautiful boys from God.

A special day you remember: I can't say just one...my wedding and the birth of my three beautiful boys.

What do you collect: Memories and scrapbook paper (I have to say collect because I rarely use it).

Who do you call when you are angry/sad: No one, mostly keep it to myself. Or if it's not so serious/personal I'll blast it on Facebook.

When was the last time you cried: I don't know but it must have been within the past month.

What would you do if you won a million: SO many things, but I would buy a house and two working cars to start. Then travel, invest, pay off debt, share with family...I would love to buy a summer house in Sweden and go home every summer.

Do you want to get married: I already am.

Do you want to have kids: I already do.

Are you musical: I listen to music...does that count?

What do you prefer to drink when you are thirsty: Water or margaritas.

Do your parents live together: No, they divorced when I was 14 I think.

Have you ever cried yourself to sleep: Pretty sure I have some time but long time ago.

Do you bite your nails: Yes, I hate to admit it. It's a yucky habit.