It's been a lazy day

We weren't able to make it to the play date in the park. :( It's okay, though, we need to conserve gas, and right now I can't justify driving all the way to Opp, especially with things being so tight. Maybe next time. :)

We printed out a wall calendar to hang over our chore charts since Beau was so interested in that form of a calendar. He likes being able to see how far away certain dates are, like Halloween.

Speaking of Halloween, everyone is getting excited about it. Beau is saying he wants to be something from the movie Cars, Xander wants to be Batman, and Bella is of course leaning towards being a princess (again, hehehe). Hopefully we can make our costumes at home this year in leiu of buying them from the store (which would be so expensive!).

Also, we're starting to think about Bella's birthday party, which will have a princess theme. I'm thinking of buying her a Sleeping Beauty costume and letting her wear it that day, and possibly putting together a few extra things for her dress-up drawer as her gift. We'll probably have the party here at our house again. That seems to work out the best.

We got to play Go Fish with the math flash cards this morning! It was really fun. Beau caught on quickly, and we played three hands of it. Math without even thinking about it!

Then we played the Wow Wow Wubbzy memory game with the cards you match. Xander had to practice sitting patiently and waiting for his turn - he really is getting better at that.

The Green Eggs and Ham interactive storybook has really captured their attention this morning. Beau loves computer games, so one of the main tools he uses is the computer and the educational games Mom and Dad gave us a few years back. They're games Mom used to use in her own classroom when she taught kindergarten.

I came across the House Guidelines the Duggar famiy uses, and I basically love them. I want to make a poster with them written on it to hang in our "classroom." They are:

1. Always use soft words, even if you don't feel well.

2. Always display kind actions, even if you have been mistreated.

3. Show joyful attitudes, even when no one else is looking.

4. Have sincere motives with no thought of self-gain.

5. Think pure thoughts.

6. Always give a good report of others. Never talebear unless physical harm will come to someone. Use Matthew 18.


7. Never raise a hand to hit.


8. Never raise a foot to kick.


9. Never raise an object to throw.

10. Never raise a voice to yell.


11. Never raise an eye to scowl.


12. Use one toy/activity at a time.


13. Never let the sun go down on your wrath. (Don't go to bed angry or guilty.)


14. Amendment J.O.Y. - make serving your family a priority - put Jesus first, others second, and yourself last.

I think all of those are good advice for anyone, really. I also like the way they're called "guidelines" and not "rules." It's the same way we "play games" instead of "do lessons." :)