Up With the Sun!

For some inexplicable reason, I woke up at dawn this morning and could not go back to sleep. I think it was because Greyson actually slept in his crib all night long for the first time in I don't know how long. In fact, I think he's only done it a handful of times in his entire life. So anyway, when I woke up at 6am and realized that the warm body beside me was Cassia and not Greyson, lol, I guess it just sparked that Mommy Worry thing (I hope he isn't sick. Was that seed pod he had in his mouth yesterday poisonous? What was that noise? Did he crawl out of his crib on his own??) You just can't go back to sleep after those musings. So I got up, verified that everyone was indeed just sleeping peacefully and then I went and made some coffee. I know, I know... I should've done some yoga but I was convinced that someone was going to wake up at any second. Turns out, no one got up until 8:00 but I sure did enjoy my two hours of quiet computer time!

Somehow, we still managed to get a late start on the day, lol. I was showered and dressed by 9 but we didn't start school until after 10 and since Greyson had slept so well and so long, he didn't want to take his usual mid-morning nap. Cassia decided that she wanted to do school at the same time Cameron did so that brought a whole new set of challenges into the day. She was able to work independently with a few pages of her Explode the Code primer while Cameron and I suffered through phonics (I did offer him a Star Wars reader instead but he refused) but once he moved on to math she had also moved on to pages where she needed help. So here I am trying to instruct them both at the same time while Greyson makes five kajillion attempts at crawling onto the dining room table. Eeek. We did get through it eventually and I don't even think I actually yelled at anyone. ;)

Next we did science and read a introductory chapter on the systems of the human body and then a chapter dedicated to the digestive system. We also did a workbook exercise for the first chapter and an activity book activity for the other - though it was a pretty workbooky activity, lol. Cameron loved it though. They had made a "maze" through the digestive system and he thought it was just the coolest. I don't think I'm going to bother with too much extra stuff on this. There is a Magic School Bus episode on the digestive system that they've seen a million times (and recently too) so they pretty much have that knowledge down. I may attempt some interest in the digestive tract pages of our Kingfisher First Human Body Encyclopedia but I'm not going to worry about it in the slightest if they aren't interested.

We also watched the Bill Nye the Science Guy video on archaeology again today because I hadn't watched it yet and wanted to see it, lol. The kids think he's funny. I do too, but the fast-paced, constantly moving, shockiness of the show gets on my nerves. And you wonder why so many kids are diagnosed with ADD. Cameron also asked to watch the Walking With Dinosaurs dvd that I had gotten from the library for next week. Close enough, so why not? It was a nice progression from archaeology to dinosaurs. He really seems to get the whole process now. He's asking tons of questions like, "but how did they know that??" and really seems to understand when I tell him the evidence to led to those particular assumptions. I really like that. Quote of the moment: when Cassia just now asked if he'd like to play something with her he said "No, thanks. I'd rather watch and learn about dinosaurs." :D

I think I'm going to give up on the simulated archaeological dig that I had planned. They're not too interested in the process and I haven't gotten around to secretly burying anything yet anyway. Tomorrow we are going to a park with a huge sand area that they all love digging in so I may just bring some things for them to excavate as a joke. They still haven't done any work on their family history albums, but I haven't exactly brought it up either. This weekend I will definitely try to have them interview their Dad and at least one Grandma (over the phone). The next weekend, at their combined birthday party, there will be several other relatives available for interview so hopefully I can spark some interest in that.

LOL, I took a writing break to have dinner and we actually had an archaeological dig during dinner! In the midst of the Grain Sea, we excavated a tooth of the Green Asparagusaurus. Ancient Asparagusaurus was almost rescued from the depths of the Grain Sea by his friend Meat, but Meat was tragically speared by a metal Fork Gun and finally done in by Fork Gun's friend, Digestive System. Meat had another friend, Big Meat, who could not be killed by Fork Gun but, sadly, was still not immune to the killing power of Digestive System. Science at it's best. ;)