a couple more things

pace finally got in to the pre-k online upstart program.  it's free, totally funded by the state of utah, and it's a pretty great program!  they have to do 15-20 minutes of reading activities 5 days a week, then they can choose to do another 5 minutes or so of math/science activities.  we'd been tearing through the workbooks from costco (i think we've done 3 or 4 this year already), and i could tell pace was getting a little bored with them.  we've been keeping up with our reading every day, but he definitely needed something new.  he was on the waiting list for upstart for at least 8-9 months, so i was so excited when they called that he'd finally gotten in.  i love that it's participant-initiated, and the program completely adapts to the level of the user, even during use.  it's so fun to watch!  i think this photo was from the first time he recorded a reading he did, and he thought it was so cool to hear his own voice playing back to him.

these cute kiddos wanted to split up all the extra flagstone pieces i wasn't using on the patio.  lucy filled up a backpack, then when it was too heavy, pace decided on teamwork.  they'd pick it up and take a few steps, then take deep heaving breaths, sit down for a rest, and then pick it up again and take a few more steps...all the way over to lucy's house. 

i don't normally bring my phone to church, but i had grabbed it instead of my kindle, so why not take a photo of david's etch-a-sketch handiwork?!  he can't draw a stick figure worth his life, but give him an etch-a-sketch, and he will design and draw any and all of pace's requests.  car wash?  check.  penguin?  check.  excavator?  check.  logger truck?  check.  i tried to do a "fish crusher", per pace's demand, and he took one look at it and said, "mommy, you canNOT draw.", then quickly handed it back to david.

this was pace's version of a fish grinder.

on sunday after church we decided to work on our thankful tree.  i had the boys lay down on paper and drew around them for a tree trunk and branches, then we traced their hands and cut out a bunch of "leaves".  we labeled a bunch of leaves that evening of things we were thankful for, and they taped them on the branches.  we'll do a thankful leaf each day with our foundations in the morning until thanksgiving.